Psalms 64:7

64:7 But God will shoot ¹  at them;

suddenly they will be ²  wounded by an arrow. ³ 

Psalms 74:5

74:5 They invade like lumberjacks

swinging their axes in a thick forest. ⁴ 

Psalms 78:28

78:28 He caused them to fall right in the middle of their camp,

all around their homes.

Psalms 89:44

89:44 You have brought to an end his splendor, ⁵ 

and have knocked ⁶  his throne to the ground.

Psalms 105:16

105:16 He called down a famine upon the earth;

he cut off all the food supply. ⁷ 

Psalms 107:16

107:16 For he shattered the bronze gates,

and hacked through the iron bars. ⁸ 

[64:7]  ¹ tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive is normally used in narrative contexts to describe completed past actions. It is possible that the conclusion to the psalm (vv. 7-10) was added to the lament after God’s judgment of the wicked in response to the psalmist’s lament (vv. 1-6). The translation assumes that these verses are anticipatory and express the psalmist’s confidence that God would eventually judge the wicked. The psalmist uses a narrative style as a rhetorical device to emphasize his certitude. See GKC 329-30 §111.w.

[64:7]  ² tn The perfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s certitude about the coming demise of the wicked.

[64:7]  ³ tn The translation follows the traditional accentuation of the MT. Another option is to translate, “But God will shoot them down with an arrow, suddenly they will be wounded” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[74:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “it is known like one bringing upwards, in a thicket of wood, axes.” The Babylonian invaders destroyed the woodwork in the temple.

[89:44]  ⁷ tc The Hebrew text appears to read, “you have brought to an end from his splendor,” but the form מִטְּהָרוֹ (mittÿharo) should be slightly emended (the daghesh should be removed from the tet [ת]) and read simply “his splendor” (the initial mem [מ] is not the preposition, but a nominal prefix).

[89:44]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew verb מָגַר (magar) occurs only here and perhaps in Ezek 21:17.

[105:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and every staff of food he broke.” The psalmist refers to the famine that occurred in Joseph’s time (see v. 17 and Gen 41:53-57).

[107:16]  ¹³ sn The language of v. 16 recalls Isa 45:2.