Psalms 7:15

7:15 he digs a pit ¹ 

and then falls into the hole he has made. ² 

Psalms 16:6

16:6 It is as if I have been given fertile fields

or received a beautiful tract of land. ³ 

Psalms 18:38

18:38 I beat them ⁴  to death; ⁵ 

they fall at my feet. ⁶ 

Psalms 20:8

20:8 They will fall down, ⁷ 

but we ⁸  will stand firm. ⁹ 

Psalms 22:18

22:18 They are dividing up my clothes among themselves;

they are rolling dice ¹⁰  for my garments.

Psalms 37:24

37:24 Even if ¹¹  he trips, he will not fall headlong, ¹² 

for the Lord holds ¹³  his hand.

Psalms 55:4

55:4 My heart beats violently ¹⁴  within me;

the horrors of death overcome me. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 91:7

91:7 Though a thousand may fall beside you,

and a multitude on your right side,

it ¹⁶  will not reach you.

Psalms 105:38

105:38 Egypt was happy when they left,

for they were afraid of them. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 141:10

141:10 Let the wicked fall ¹⁸  into their ¹⁹  own nets,

while I escape. ²⁰ 

Psalms 145:14

145:14 ²¹ The Lord supports all who fall,

and lifts up all who are bent over. ²² 

[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.

[16:6]  ³ tn Heb “measuring lines have fallen for me in pleasant [places]; yes, property [or “an inheritance”] is beautiful for me.” On the dative use of עַל, see BDB 758 s.v. II.8. Extending the metaphor used in v. 5, the psalmist compares the divine blessings he has received to a rich, beautiful tract of land that one might receive by allotment or inheritance.

[18:38]  ⁵ tn Or “smash them.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “and I wiped them out and smashed them.”

[18:38]  ⁶ tn Heb “until they are unable to rise.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “until they do not rise.”

[18:38]  ⁷ sn They fall at my feet. For ancient Near Eastern parallels, see O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 294-97.

[20:8]  ⁷ tn Or “stumble and fall down.”

[20:8]  ⁸ tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronominal subject) highlights the contrast between God’s victorious people and the defeated enemies mentioned in the previous line. The perfect verbal forms either generalize or, more likely, state rhetorically the people’s confidence as they face the approaching battle. They describe the demise of the enemy as being as good as done.

[20:8]  ⁹ tn Or “rise up and remain upright.” On the meaning of the Hitpolel of עוּד (’ud), see HALOT 795 s.v. I עוד. The verbal forms (a perfect followed by a prefixed form with vav [ו] consecutive) either generalize or, more likely, state rhetorically the people’s confidence as they face the approaching battle.

[22:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “casting lots.” The precise way in which this would have been done is not certain.

[37:24]  ¹¹ tn Other translation options for כִּי in this context are “when” (so NASB) or “though” (so NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[37:24]  ¹² tn Heb “be hurled down.”

[37:24]  ¹³ tn The active participle indicates this is characteristically true. See v. 17.

[55:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “shakes, trembles.”

[55:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the terrors of death have fallen on me.”

[91:7]  ¹⁵ tn Apparently the deadly disease mentioned in v. 6b is the understood subject here.

[105:38]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for fear of them had fallen upon them.”

[141:10]  ¹⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate, “the wicked will fall.”

[141:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “his.”

[141:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “at the same [that] I, until I pass by.” Another option is to take יַחַד (yakhad) with the preceding line, “let the wicked fall together into their own nets.”

[145:14]  ²¹ tc Psalm 145 is an acrostic psalm, with each successive verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. However, in the traditional Hebrew (Masoretic) text of Psalm 145 there is no verse beginning with the letter nun. One would expect such a verse to appear as the fourteenth verse, between the mem (מ) and samek (ס) verses. Several ancient witnesses, including one medieval Hebrew manuscript, the Qumran scroll from cave 11, the LXX, and the Syriac, supply the missing nun (נ) verse, which reads as follows: “The Lord is reliable in all his words, and faithful in all his deeds.” One might paraphrase this as follows: “The Lord’s words are always reliable; his actions are always faithful.” Scholars are divided as to the originality of this verse. L. C. Allen argues for its inclusion on the basis of structural considerations (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 294-95), but there is no apparent explanation for why, if original, it would have been accidentally omitted. The psalm may be a partial acrostic, as in Pss 25 and 34 (see M. Dahood, Psalms [AB], 3:335). The glaring omission of the nun line would have invited a later redactor to add such a line.

[145:14]  ²² tn Perhaps “discouraged” (see Ps 57:6).