Psalms 38:12

38:12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me; ¹ 

those who want to harm me speak destructive words;

all day long they say deceitful things.

Psalms 40:14

40:14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life

be totally embarrassed and ashamed! ² 

May those who want to harm me

be turned back and ashamed! ³ 

Psalms 42:6

42:6 I am depressed, ⁴ 

so I will pray to you while I am trapped here in the region of the upper Jordan, ⁵ 

from Hermon, ⁶  from Mount Mizar. ⁷ 

Psalms 59:3

59:3 For look, they wait to ambush me; ⁸ 

powerful men stalk ⁹  me,

but not because I have rebelled or sinned, O Lord. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 70:2

70:2 May those who are trying to take my life

be embarrassed and ashamed! ¹¹ 

May those who want to harm me

be turned back and ashamed! ¹² 

[38:12]  ¹ tn Heb “lay snares.”

[40:14]  ² tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed together, the ones seeking my life to snatch it away.”

[40:14]  ³ tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse (“may those…be…embarrassed and ashamed…may those…be turned back and ashamed”) are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies.

[42:6]  ³ tn Heb “my God, upon me my soul bows down.” As noted earlier, “my God” belongs with the end of v. 6.

[42:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan.” “Remember” is here used metonymically for prayer (see vv. 8-9). As the next line indicates, the region of the upper Jordan, where the river originates, is in view.

[42:6]  ⁵ tc Heb “Hermons.” The plural form of the name occurs only here in the OT. Some suggest the plural refers to multiple mountain peaks (cf. NASB) or simply retain the plural in the translation (cf. NEB), but the final mem (ם) is probably dittographic (note that the next form in the text begins with the letter mem) or enclitic. At a later time it was misinterpreted as a plural marker and vocalized accordingly.

[42:6]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term מִצְעָר (mits’ar) is probably a proper name (“Mizar”), designating a particular mountain in the Hermon region. The name appears only here in the OT.

[59:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “my life.”

[59:3]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew verb is from the root גּוּר (gur), which means “to challenge, attack” in Isa 54:15 and “to stalk” (with hostile intent) in Ps 56:8.

[59:3]  ⁶ sn The point is that the psalmist’s enemies have no justifiable reason for attacking him. He has neither rebelled or sinned against the Lord.

[70:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed, the ones seeking my life.” Ps 40:14 has “together” after “ashamed,” and “to snatch it away” after “my life.”

[70:2]  ⁶ tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies.