Psalms 36:12

36:12 I can see the evildoers! They have fallen! ¹ 

They have been knocked down and are unable to get up! ² 

Psalms 57:6

57:6 They have prepared a net to trap me; ³ 

I am discouraged. ⁴ 

They have dug a pit for me. ⁵ 

They will fall ⁶  into it! (Selah)

Psalms 69:9

69:9 Certainly ⁷  zeal for ⁸  your house ⁹  consumes me;

I endure the insults of those who insult you. ¹⁰ 

[36:12]  ¹ tn Heb “there the workers of wickedness have fallen.” The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here for dramatic effect, as the psalmist envisions the evildoers lying fallen at a spot that is vivid in his imagination (BDB 1027 s.v.).

[36:12]  ² tn The psalmist uses perfect verbal forms in v. 12 to describe the demise of the wicked as if it has already taken place.

[57:6]  ³ tn Heb “for my feet.”

[57:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “my life bends low.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[57:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “before me.”

[57:6]  ⁶ tn The perfect form is used rhetorically here to express the psalmist’s certitude. The demise of the enemies is so certain that he can speak of it as already accomplished.

[69:9]  ⁵ tn Or “for.” This verse explains that the psalmist’s suffering is due to his allegiance to God.

[69:9]  ⁶ tn Or “devotion to.”

[69:9]  ⁷ sn God’s house, the temple, here represents by metonymy God himself.

[69:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “the insults of those who insult you fall upon me.”