Psalms 7:12

7:12 If a person ¹  does not repent, God sharpens his sword ² 

and prepares to shoot his bow. ³ 

Psalms 25:5

25:5 Guide me into your truth ⁴  and teach me.

For you are the God who delivers me;

on you I rely all day long.

Psalms 37:14

37:14 Evil men draw their swords

and prepare their bows,

to bring down ⁵  the oppressed and needy,

and to slaughter those who are godly. ⁶ 

Psalms 58:7

58:7 Let them disappear ⁷  like water that flows away! ⁸ 

Let them wither like grass! ⁹ 

Psalms 64:3

64:3 They ¹⁰  sharpen their tongues like a sword;

they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge, ¹¹ 

[7:12]  ¹ tn Heb “If he”; the referent (a person who is a sinner) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The subject of the first verb is understood as the sinner who fails to repent of his ways and becomes the target of God’s judgment (vv. 9, 14-16).

[7:12]  ² tn Heb “if he does not return, his sword he sharpens.” The referent (God) of the pronominal subject of the second verb (“sharpens”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:12]  ³ tn Heb “his bow he treads and prepares it.” “Treading the bow” involved stepping on one end of it in order to string it and thus prepare it for battle.

[25:5]  ⁴ sn The Lord’s commandments are referred to as truth here because they are a trustworthy and accurate expression of the divine will.

[37:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “to cause to fall.”

[37:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “the upright in way,” i.e., those who lead godly lives.

[58:7]  ¹⁰ tn Following the imperatival forms in v. 6, the prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive expressing the psalmist’s wish. Another option is to take the form as an imperfect (indicative) and translate, “they will scatter” (see v. 9). The verb מָאַס (ma’as; which is a homonym of the more common מָאַס, “to refuse, reject”) appears only here and in Job 7:5, where it is used of a festering wound from which fluid runs or flows.

[58:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “like water, they go about for themselves.” The translation assumes that the phrase “they go about for themselves” is an implied relative clause modifying “water.” Another option is to take the clause as independent and parallel to what precedes. In this case the enemies would be the subject and the verb could be taken as jussive, “let them wander about.”

[58:7]  ¹² tc The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult and the meaning uncertain. The text reads literally, “he treads his arrows (following the Qere; Kethib has “his arrow”), like they are cut off/dry up.” It is not clear if the verbal root is מָלַל (malal, “circumcise”; BDB 576 s.v. IV מָלַל) or the homonymic מָלַל (“wither”; HALOT 593-94 s.v. I מלל). Since the verb מָלַל (“to wither”) is used of vegetation, it is possible that the noun חָצִיר (khatsir, “grass,” which is visually similar to חִצָּיו, khitsayv, “his arrows”) originally appeared in the text. The translation above assumes that the text originally was כְּמוֹ חָצִיר יִתְמֹלָלוּ(kÿmo khatsir yitmolalu, “like grass let them wither”). If original, it could have been accidentally corrupted to חִצָּיר כְּמוֹ יִתְמֹלָלוּ (“his arrow(s) like they dry up”) with דָּרַךְ (darakh, “to tread”) being added later in an effort to make sense of “his arrow(s).”

[64:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[64:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a bitter word.”