Psalms 35:8

35:8 Let destruction take them by surprise! ¹ 

Let the net they hid catch them!

Let them fall into destruction! ² 

Psalms 35:17

35:17 O Lord, how long are you going to just stand there and watch this? ³ 

Rescue ⁴  me ⁵  from their destructive attacks;

guard my life ⁶  from the young lions!

Psalms 63:9

63:9 Enemies seek to destroy my life, ⁷ 

but they will descend into the depths of the earth. ⁸ 

[35:8]  ¹ tn Heb “let destruction [which] he does not know come to him.” The singular is used of the enemy in v. 8, probably in a representative or collective sense. The psalmist has more than one enemy, as vv. 1-7 make clear.

[35:8]  ² tn The psalmist’s prayer for his enemies’ demise continues. See vv. 4-6.

[35:17]  ³ tn Heb “O Lord, how long will you see?”

[35:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “bring back, restore.”

[35:17]  ⁵ tn Or “my life.”

[35:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “my only one.” The psalmist may mean that his life is precious, or that he feels isolated and alone (see Ps 22:20). The verb “guard” is supplied in the translation, because the verb “rescue” is understood by ellipsis (see the previous line).

[63:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “but they for destruction seek my life.” The pronoun “they” must refer here to the psalmist’s enemies, referred to at this point for the first time in the psalm.

[63:9]  ⁶ sn The depths of the earth refers here to the underworld dwelling place of the dead (see Ezek 26:20; 31:14, 16, 18; 32:18, 24). See L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 167.