Psalms 89:32

89:32 I will punish their rebellion by beating them with a club, ¹ 

their sin by inflicting them with bruises. ² 

Psalms 106:4

106:4 Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people!

Pay attention to me, when you deliver,

Psalms 109:6

109:6 ³ Appoint an evil man to testify against him! ⁴ 

May an accuser stand ⁵  at his right side!

Psalms 8:4

8:4 Of what importance is the human race, ⁶  that you should notice ⁷  them?

Of what importance is mankind, ⁸  that you should pay attention to them, ⁹ 

Psalms 17:3

17:3 You have scrutinized my inner motives; ¹⁰ 

you have examined me during the night. ¹¹ 

You have carefully evaluated me, but you find no sin.

I am determined I will say nothing sinful. ¹² 

Psalms 31:5

31:5 Into your hand I entrust my life; ¹³ 

you will rescue ¹⁴  me, O Lord, the faithful God.

Psalms 80:14

80:14 O God, invincible warrior, ¹⁵  come back!

Look down from heaven and take notice!

Take care of this vine,

Psalms 59:5

59:5 You, O Lord God, the invincible warrior, ¹⁶  the God of Israel,

rouse yourself and punish ¹⁷  all the nations!

Have no mercy on any treacherous evildoers! (Selah)

Psalms 65:9

65:9 You visit the earth and give it rain; ¹⁸ 

you make it rich and fertile ¹⁹ 

with overflowing streams full of water. ²⁰ 

You provide grain for them, ²¹ 

for you prepare the earth to yield its crops. ²² 

[89:32]  ¹ tn Heb “I will punish with a club their rebellion.”

[89:32]  ² tn Heb “with blows their sin.”

[109:6]  ³ sn In vv. 6-19 the psalmist calls on God to judge his enemies severely. Some attribute this curse-list to the psalmist’s enemies rather than the psalmist. In this case one should paraphrase v. 6: “They say about me, ‘Appoint an evil man, etc.’” Those supporting this line of interpretation point out that vv. 2-5 and 20 refer to the enemies’ attack on the psalmist being a verbal one. Furthermore in vv. 1-5, 20 the psalmist speaks of his enemies in the plural, while vv. 6-19 refer to an individual. This use of the singular in vv. 6-19 could be readily explained if this is the psalmist’s enemies’ curse on him. However, it is much more natural to understand vv. 6-19 as the psalmist’s prayer against his enemies. There is no introductory quotation formula in v. 6 to indicate that the psalmist is quoting anyone, and the statement “may the Lord repay my accusers in this way” in v. 20 most naturally appears to be a fitting conclusion to the prayer in vv. 6-19. But what about the use of the singular in vv. 6-19? Often in the psalms the psalmist will describe his enemies as a group, but then speak of them as an individual as well, as if viewing his adversaries collectively as one powerful foe. See, for example, Ps 7, where the psalmist uses both the plural (vv. 1, 6) and the singular (vv. 2, 4-5) in referring to enemies. Perhaps by using the singular in such cases, the psalmist wants to single out each enemy for individual attention, or perhaps he has one especially hostile enemy in mind who epitomizes the opposition of the whole group. This may well be the case in Ps 109. Perhaps we should understand the singular throughout vv. 6-19 in the sense of “each and every one.” For a lengthy and well-reasoned defense of the opposite view – that vv. 6-19 are a quotation of what the enemies said about the psalmist – see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 72-73.

[109:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “appoint against him an evil [man].”

[109:6]  ⁵ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive here (note the imperative in the preceding line).

[8:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “What is man[kind]?” The singular noun אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh, “man”) is used here in a collective sense and refers to the human race.

[8:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “remember him.”

[8:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the son of man.” The phrase “son of man” is used here in a collective sense and refers to human beings. For other uses of the phrase in a collective or representative manner, see Num 23:19; Ps 146:3; Isa 51:12.

[8:4]  ⁸ tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 4 describe God’s characteristic activity.

[17:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “you tested my heart.”

[17:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “you visited [at] night.”

[17:3]  ⁹ tc Heb “you tested me, you do not find, I plan, my mouth will not cross over.” The Hebrew verbal form זַמֹּתִי (zammotiy) is a Qal perfect, first person singular from the root זָמַם (zamam, “plan, plan evil”). Some emend the form to a suffixed form of the noun, זִמָּתִי (zimmatiy, “my plan/evil plan”), and take it as the object of the preceding verb “find.” However, the suffix seems odd, since the psalmist is denying that he has any wrong thoughts. If one takes the form with what precedes, it might make better sense to read זִמּוֹת (zimmot, “evil plans”). However, this emendation leaves an unclear connection with the next line. The present translation maintains the verbal form found in the MT and understands it in a neutral sense, “I have decided” (see Jer 4:28). The words “my mouth will not cross over” (i.e., “transgress, sin”) can then be taken as a noun clause functioning as the object of the verb.

[31:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “my spirit.” The noun רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) here refers to the animating spirit that gives the psalmist life.

[31:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “redeem.” The perfect verbal form is understood here as anticipatory, indicating rhetorically the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer that he can describe his deliverance as if it had already happened. Another option is to take the perfect as precative, expressing a wish or request (“rescue me”; cf. NIV). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[80:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “O God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also vv. 4, 7 for a similar construction.

[59:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “Lord, God, Hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי (’elohey) before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”). See Ps 89:9, but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yÿhvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 80:4, 19; 84:8 as well.

[59:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “wake up to punish” (see Pss 35:23; 44:23).

[65:9]  ¹⁵ tn The verb form is a Polel from שׁוּק (shuq, “be abundant”), a verb which appears only here and in Joel 2:24 and 3:13, where it is used in the Hiphil stem and means “overflow.”

[65:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “you greatly enrich it.”

[65:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “[with] a channel of God full of water.” The divine name is probably used here in a superlative sense to depict a very deep stream (“a stream fit for God,” as it were).

[65:9]  ¹⁸ tn The pronoun apparently refers to the people of the earth, mentioned in v. 8.

[65:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for thus [referring to the provision of rain described in the first half of the verse] you prepare it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix attached to the verb “prepare” refers back to the “earth,” which is a feminine noun with regard to grammatical form.