Psalms 54:3

54:3 For foreigners ¹  attack me; ² 

ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life. ³  (Selah)

Psalms 79:1

Psalm 79 ⁴ 

A psalm of Asaph.

79:1 O God, foreigners ⁵  have invaded your chosen land; ⁶ 

they have polluted your holy temple

and turned Jerusalem ⁷  into a heap of ruins.

[54:3]  ¹ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read זֵדִים (zedim, “proud ones”) rather than זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”). (No matter which reading one chooses as original, dalet-resh confusion accounts for the existence of the variant.) The term זֵדִים (“proud ones”) occurs in parallelism with עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Ps 86:14 and Isa 13:11. However, זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”) is parallel to עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Isa 25:5; 29:5; Ezek 28:7; 31:12.

[54:3]  ² tn Heb “rise against me.”

[54:3]  ³ tn Heb “and ruthless ones seek my life, they do not set God in front of them.”

[79:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 79. The author laments how the invading nations have destroyed the temple and city of Jerusalem. He asks God to forgive his people and to pour out his vengeance on those who have mistreated them.

[79:1]  ⁵ tn Or “nations.”

[79:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “have come into your inheritance.”

[79:1]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.