Psalms 83:2-5

83:2 For look, your enemies are making a commotion;

those who hate you are hostile. ¹ 

83:3 They carefully plot ²  against your people,

and make plans to harm ³  the ones you cherish. ⁴ 

83:4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation! ⁵ 

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

83:5 Yes, ⁶  they devise a unified strategy; ⁷ 

they form an alliance ⁸  against you.

[83:2]  ¹ tn Heb “lift up [their] head[s].” The phrase “lift up [the] head” here means “to threaten; to be hostile,” as in Judg 8:28.

[83:3]  ² tn Heb “they make crafty a plot.”

[83:3]  ³ tn Heb “and consult together against.”

[83:3]  ⁴ tn The passive participle of the Hebrew verb צָפַן (tsafan, “to hide”) is used here in the sense of “treasured; cherished.”

[83:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “we will cause them to disappear from [being] a nation.”

[83:5]  ⁶ tn Or “for.”

[83:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “they consult [with] a heart together.”

[83:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”