Psalms 7:15-16

7:15 he digs a pit ¹ 

and then falls into the hole he has made. ² 

7:16 He becomes the victim of his own destructive plans ³ 

and the violence he intended for others falls on his own head. ⁴ 

Psalms 58:9

58:9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots, ⁵ 

he ⁶  will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat. ⁷ 

Psalms 59:12-13

59:12 They speak sinful words. ⁸ 

So let them be trapped by their own pride

and by the curses and lies they speak!

59:13 Angrily wipe them out! Wipe them out so they vanish!

Let them know that God rules

in Jacob and to the ends of the earth! (Selah)

[7:15]  ¹ tn Heb “a pit he digs and he excavates it.” Apparently the imagery of hunting is employed; the wicked sinner digs this pit to entrap and destroy his intended victim. The redundancy in the Hebrew text has been simplified in the translation.

[7:15]  ² tn The verb forms in vv. 15-16 describe the typical behavior and destiny of those who attempt to destroy others. The image of the evildoer falling into the very trap he set for his intended victim emphasizes the appropriate nature of God’s judgment.

[7:16]  ³ tn Heb “his harm [i.e., the harm he conceived for others, see v. 14] returns on his head.”

[7:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “and on his forehead his violence [i.e., the violence he intended to do to others] comes down.”

[58:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “before your pots perceive thorns.”

[58:9]  ⁶ tn Apparently God (v. 6) is the subject of the verb here.

[58:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “like living, like burning anger he will sweep it away.” The meaning of the text is unclear. The translation assumes that within the cooking metaphor (see the previous line) חַי (khay, “living”) refers here to raw meat (as in 1 Sam 2:15, where it modifies בָּשָׂר, basar, “flesh”) and that חָרוּן (kharun; which always refers to God’s “burning anger” elsewhere) here refers to food that is cooked. The pronominal suffix on the verb “sweep away” apparently refers back to the “thorns” of the preceding line. The image depicts swift and sudden judgment. Before the fire has been adequately kindled and all the meat cooked, the winds of judgment will sweep away everything in their path.

[59:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “the sin of their mouth [is] the word of their lips.”