Psalms 72:9

72:9 Before him the coastlands ¹  will bow down,

and his enemies will lick the dust. ² 

Psalms 18:39

18:39 You give me strength ³  for battle;

you make my foes kneel before me. ⁴ 

Psalms 20:8

20:8 They will fall down, ⁵ 

but we ⁶  will stand firm. ⁷ 

Psalms 95:6

95:6 Come! Let’s bow down and worship! ⁸ 

Let’s kneel before the Lord, our creator!

Psalms 17:13

17:13 Rise up, Lord!

Confront him! ⁹  Knock him down! ¹⁰ 

Use your sword to rescue me from the wicked man! ¹¹ 

Psalms 78:31

78:31 when the anger of God flared up against them.

He killed some of the strongest of them;

he brought the young men of Israel to their knees.

Psalms 22:29

22:29 All of the thriving people ¹²  of the earth will join the celebration and worship; ¹³ 

all those who are descending into the grave ¹⁴  will bow before him,

including those who cannot preserve their lives. ¹⁵ 

[72:9]  ¹ tn Or “islands.” The term here refers metonymically to those people who dwell in these regions.

[72:9]  ² sn As they bow down before him, it will appear that his enemies are licking the dust.

[18:39]  ³ tn Heb “clothed me.” See v. 32.

[18:39]  ⁴ tn Heb “you make those who rise against me kneel beneath me.”

[20:8]  ⁵ tn Or “stumble and fall down.”

[20:8]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.

[95:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “kneel down.”

[17:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “Be in front of his face.”

[17:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “bring him to his knees.”

[17:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “rescue my life from the wicked [one] [by] your sword.”

[22:29]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fat [ones].” This apparently refers to those who are healthy and robust, i.e., thriving. In light of the parallelism, some prefer to emend the form to יְשֵׁנֵי (yÿsheney, “those who sleep [in the earth]”; cf. NAB, NRSV), but דִּשְׁנֵי (dishney, “fat [ones]”) seems to form a merism with “all who descend into the grave” in the following line. The psalmist envisions all people, whether healthy or dying, joining in worship of the Lord.

[22:29]  ¹² tn Heb “eat and worship.” The verb forms (a perfect followed by a prefixed form with vav [ו] consecutive) are normally used in narrative to relate completed actions. Here the psalmist uses the forms rhetorically as he envisions a time when the Lord will receive universal worship. The mood is one of wishful thinking and anticipation; this is not prophecy in the strict sense.

[22:29]  ¹³ tn Heb “all of the ones going down [into] the dust.” This group stands in contrast to those mentioned in the previous line. Together the two form a merism encompassing all human beings – the healthy, the dying, and everyone in between.

[22:29]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and his life he does not revive.”