Psalms 59:2

59:2 Deliver me from evildoers! ¹ 

Rescue me from violent men! ² 

Psalms 66:12

66:12 You allowed men to ride over our heads;

we passed through fire and water,

but you brought us out into a wide open place. ³ 

Psalms 73:5

73:5 They are immune to the trouble common to men;

they do not suffer as other men do. ⁴ 

Psalms 90:3

90:3 You make mankind return ⁵  to the dust, ⁶ 

and say, “Return, O people!”

Psalms 139:19

139:19 If only ⁷  you would kill the wicked, O God!

Get away from me, you violent men! ⁸ 

[59:2]  ¹ tn Heb “from the workers of wickedness.”

[59:2]  ² tn Heb “from men of bloodshed.”

[66:12]  ³ tc The MT reads רְוָיָה (“saturation”) but this should be emended to רְוָחָה (rÿvakhah, “wide open place”; i.e., “relief”), a reading supported by several ancient versions (LXX, Syriac, Jerome, Targum).

[73:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the trouble of man they are not, and with mankind they are not afflicted.”

[90:3]  ⁷ tn In this context the shortened prefix form does not function as a preterite, but indicates what is typical of the world.

[90:3]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term דַּכָּא (daka’) carries the basic sense of “crushed.” Elsewhere it refers to those who are “crushed” in spirit or contrite of heart (see Ps 34:18; Isa 57:15). If one understands this nuance here, then v. 3 is observing that God leads mankind to repentance (the term שׁוּב, shuv, “return,” which appears twice in this verse, is sometimes used of repentance.) However, the following context laments mankind’s mortality and the brevity of life, so it is doubtful if v. 3 should be understood so positively. It is more likely that דַּכָּא here refers to “crushed matter,” that is, the dust that fills the grave (see HALOT 221 s.v. s.v. I דַּכָּא; BDB 194 s.v. דַּכָּא). In this case one may hear an echo of Gen 3:19.

[139:19]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (see Pss 81:8; 95:7, as well as GKC 321 §109.b).

[139:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “men of bloodshed.”