Psalms 7:15

7:15 he digs a pit ¹ 

and then falls into the hole he has made. ² 

Psalms 10:15

10:15 Break the arm ³  of the wicked and evil man!

Hold him accountable for his wicked deeds, ⁴ 

which he thought you would not discover. ⁵ 

Psalms 18:8

18:8 Smoke ascended from ⁶  his nose; ⁷ 

fire devoured as it came from his mouth; ⁸ 

he hurled down fiery coals. ⁹ 

Psalms 18:19

18:19 He brought me out into a wide open place;

he delivered me because he was pleased with me. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 19:5

19:5 Like a bridegroom it emerges ¹¹  from its chamber; ¹² 

like a strong man it enjoys ¹³  running its course. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 34:19

34:19 The godly ¹⁵  face many dangers, ¹⁶ 

but the Lord saves ¹⁷  them ¹⁸  from each one of them.

Psalms 83:4

83:4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation! ¹⁹ 

Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”

Psalms 94:23

94:23 He will pay them back for their sin. ²⁰ 

He will destroy them because of ²¹  their evil;

the Lord our God will destroy them.

Psalms 113:7

113:7 He raises the poor from the dirt,

and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile, ²² 

Psalms 147:18

147:18 He then orders it all to melt; ²³ 

he breathes on it, ²⁴  and the water flows.

[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.

[10:15]  ³ sn The arm symbolizes the strength of the wicked, which they use to oppress and exploit the weak.

[10:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “you seek his wickedness.” As in v. 13, the verb דָרַשׁ (darash, “seek”) is used here in the sense of “seek an accounting.” One could understand the imperfect as describing a fact, “you hold him accountable,” or as anticipating divine judgment, “you will hold him accountable.” However, since the verb is in apparent parallelism with the preceding imperative (“break”), it is better to understand the imperfect as expressing the psalmist’s desire or request.

[10:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “you will not find.” It is uncertain how this statement relates to what precedes. Some take בַל (bal), which is used as a negative particle in vv. 4, 6, 11, 18, as asseverative here, “Indeed find (i.e., judge his wickedness).” The translation assumes that the final words are an asyndetic relative clause which refers back to what the wicked man boasted in God’s face (“you will not find [i.e., my wickedness]”). See v. 13.

[18:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “within”; or “[from] within.” For a discussion of the use of the preposition -בְּ (bÿ) here, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 163-64.

[18:8]  ⁶ tn Or “in his anger.” The noun אַף (’af) can carry the abstract meaning “anger,” but the parallelism (note “from his mouth”) suggests the more concrete meaning “nose” here. See also v. 15, “the powerful breath of your nose.”

[18:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “fire from his mouth devoured.” In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. Note the two perfect verbal forms in the verse.

[18:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “coals burned from him.” Perhaps the psalmist pictures God’s fiery breath igniting coals (cf. Job 41:21), which he then hurls as weapons (cf. Ps 120:4).

[18:19]  ⁷ tn Or “delighted in me.”

[19:5]  ⁹ tn The participle expresses the repeated or regular nature of the action.

[19:5]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew noun חֻפָּה (khufah, “chamber”) occurs elsewhere only in Isa 4:5 and Joel 2:16 (where it refers to the bedroom of a bride and groom).

[19:5]  ¹¹ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the regularity of the action.

[19:5]  ¹² tn Heb “[on] a path.”

[34:19]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the singular form; the representative or typical godly person is envisioned.

[34:19]  ¹² tn Or “trials.”

[34:19]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form highlights the generalizing statement and draws attention to the fact that the Lord typically delivers the godly.

[34:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “him,” agreeing with the singular form in the preceding line.

[83:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “we will cause them to disappear from [being] a nation.”

[94:23]  ¹⁵ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive is used in a rhetorical sense, describing an anticipated development as if it were already reality.

[94:23]  ¹⁶ tn Or “in.”

[113:7]  ¹⁷ sn The language of v. 7 is almost identical to that of 1 Sam 2:8.

[147:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he sends his word and melts them.”

[147:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he blows his breath.”