Psalms 35:5

35:5 May they be ¹  like wind-driven chaff,

as the Lord’s angel ²  attacks them! ³ 

Psalms 76:12

76:12 He humbles princes; ⁴ 

the kings of the earth regard him as awesome. ⁵ 

Psalms 78:39

78:39 He remembered ⁶  that they were made of flesh,

and were like a wind that blows past and does not return. ⁷ 

Psalms 83:13

83:13 O my God, make them like dead thistles, ⁸ 

like dead weeds blown away by ⁹  the wind!

Psalms 148:8

148:8 O fire and hail, snow and clouds, ¹⁰ 

O stormy wind that carries out his orders, ¹¹ 

[35:5]  ¹ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive. See v. 4.

[35:5]  ² sn See the mention of the Lord’s angel in Ps 34:7.

[35:5]  ³ tn Heb “as the Lord’s angel pushes [them].”

[76:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “he reduces the spirit of princes.” According to HALOT 148 s.v. II בצר, the Hebrew verb בָּצַר (batsar) is here a hapax legomenon meaning “reduce, humble.” The statement is generalizing, with the imperfect tense highlighting God’s typical behavior.

[76:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “[he is] awesome to the kings of the earth.”

[78:39]  ⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive signals a return to the narrative.

[78:39]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he remembered that they [were] flesh, a wind [that] goes and does not return.”

[83:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “tumbleweed.” The Hebrew noun גַּלְגַּל (galgal) refers to a “wheel” or, metaphorically, to a whirling wind (see Ps 77:18). If taken in the latter sense here, one could understand the term as a metonymical reference to dust blown by a whirlwind (cf. NRSV “like whirling dust”). However, HALOT 190 s.v. II גַּלְגַּל understands the noun as a homonym referring to a “dead thistle” here and in Isa 17:13. The parallel line, which refers to קַשׁ (qash, “chaff”), favors this interpretation.

[83:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “before.”

[148:8]  ¹³ tn In Ps 119:83 the noun refers to “smoke,” but here, where the elements of nature are addressed, the clouds, which resemble smoke, are probably in view.

[148:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[that] does his word.”