Psalms 63:9

63:9 Enemies seek to destroy my life, ¹ 

but they will descend into the depths of the earth. ² 

Psalms 106:43

106:43 Many times he delivered ³  them,

but they had a rebellious attitude, ⁴ 

and degraded themselves ⁵  by their sin.

Psalms 55:21

55:21 His words are as smooth as butter, ⁶ 

but he harbors animosity in his heart. ⁷ 

His words seem softer than oil,

but they are really like sharp swords. ⁸ 

Psalms 88:5

88:5 adrift ⁹  among the dead,

like corpses lying in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

and who are cut off from your power. ¹⁰ 

[63:9]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[106:43]  ³ tn The prefixed verbal form is either preterite or imperfect, in which case it is customary, describing repeated action in past time (“he would deliver”).

[106:43]  ⁴ tn Heb “but they rebelled in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite or imperfect, in which case it is customary, describing repeated action in past time (“they would have a rebellious attitude”).

[106:43]  ⁵ tn Heb “they sank down.” The Hebrew verb מָכַךְ (makhakh, “to lower; to sink”) occurs only here in the Qal.

[55:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “the butter-like [words] of his mouth are smooth.” The noun מַחְמָאֹת (makhma’ot, “butter-like [words]”) occurs only here. Many prefer to emend the form to מֵחֶמְאָה (mekhem’ah, from [i.e., “than”] butter”), cf. NEB, NRSV “smoother than butter.” However, in this case “his mouth” does not agree in number with the plural verb חָלְקוּ (kholqu, “they are smooth”). Therefore some further propose an emendation of פִּיו (piv, “his mouth”) to פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”). In any case, the point seems to that the psalmist’s former friend spoke kindly to him and gave the outward indications of friendship.

[55:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “and war [is in] his heart.”

[55:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “his words are softer than oil, but they are drawn swords.”

[88:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “set free.”

[88:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “from your hand.”