Psalms 9:6

9:6 The enemy’s cities have been reduced to permanent ruins; ¹ 

you destroyed their cities; ² 

all memory of the enemies has perished. ³ 

Psalms 31:21

31:21 The Lord deserves praise ⁴ 

for he demonstrated his amazing faithfulness to me when I was besieged by enemies. ⁵ 

Psalms 46:4

46:4 The river’s channels bring joy to the city of God, ⁶ 

the special, holy dwelling place of ⁷  the sovereign One. ⁸ 

Psalms 48:1

Psalm 48 ⁹ 

A song, a psalm by the Korahites.

48:1 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise

in the city of our God, ¹⁰  his holy hill.

Psalms 55:9

55:9 Confuse them, ¹¹  O Lord!

Frustrate their plans! ¹² 

For I see violence and conflict in the city.

Psalms 60:9

60:9 Who will lead me into the fortified city?

Who will bring me to Edom? ¹³ 

Psalms 69:35

69:35 For God will deliver Zion

and rebuild the cities of Judah,

and his people ¹⁴  will again live in them and possess Zion. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 101:8

101:8 Each morning I will destroy all the wicked people in the land,

and remove all evildoers from the city of the Lord.

Psalms 108:10

108:10 Who will lead me into the fortified city?

Who will bring me to Edom? ¹⁶ 

[9:6]  ¹ tn Heb “the enemy – they have come to an end [in] ruins permanently.” The singular form אוֹיֵב (’oyev, “enemy”) is collective. It is placed at the beginning of the verse to heighten the contrast with יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) in v. 7.

[9:6]  ² tn Heb “you uprooted cities.”

[9:6]  ³ tn Heb “it has perished, their remembrance, they.” The independent pronoun at the end of the line is in apposition to the preceding pronominal suffix and lends emphasis (see IBHS 299 §16.3.4). The referent of the masculine pronoun is the nations/enemies (cf. v. 5), not the cities (the Hebrew noun עָרִים [’arim, “cities”] is grammatically feminine). This has been specified in the present translation for clarity; many modern translations retain the pronoun “them,” resulting in ambiguity (cf. NRSV “their cities you have rooted out; the very memory of them has perished”).

[31:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord.”

[31:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “for he caused his faithfulness to be amazing to me in a besieged city.” The psalmist probably speaks figuratively here. He compares his crisis to being trapped in a besieged city, but the Lord answered his prayer for help. Verses 19-24 were apparently written after the Lord answered the prayer of vv. 1-18.

[46:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “A river, its channels cause the city of God to be glad.”

[46:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “the holy [place] of the dwelling places of.” The adjective “holy” is used here in a substantival manner and placed in construct with the following noun (see GKC 428 §132.c). Origen’s transliterated text assumes the reading קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holiness; holy place”), while the LXX assumes a Piel verbal form קִדֵּשׁ (qidesh, “makes holy”) and takes the following form as “his dwelling place.” The plural form מִשְׁכְּנֵי (mishkÿney, “dwelling places of”) is probably a plural of degree, emphasizing the special character of this dwelling place. See GKC 397 §124.b. The form stands as an appositional genitive in relation to the preceding construct noun.

[46:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Pss 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 21:7; 47:2.

[48:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 48. This so-called “Song of Zion” celebrates the greatness and glory of the Lord’s dwelling place, Jerusalem. His presence in the city elevates it above all others and assures its security.

[48:1]  ¹¹ sn The city of our God is Jerusalem, which is also referred to here as “his holy hill,” that is, Zion (see v. 2, as well as Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 15:1; 43:3; 87:1; Dan 9:16).

[55:9]  ¹³ tn Traditionally בַּלַּע (bala’) has been taken to mean “swallow” in the sense of “devour” or “destroy” (cf. KJV), but this may be a homonym meaning “confuse” (see BDB 118 s.v. בַּלַּע; HALOT 135 s.v. III *בֶּלַע). “Their tongue” is the understood object of the verb (see the next line).

[55:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “split their tongue,” which apparently means “confuse their speech,” or, more paraphrastically, “frustrate the plans they devise with their tongues.”

[60:9]  ¹⁶ sn In v. 9 the psalmist speaks again and acknowledges his need for help in battle. He hopes God will volunteer, based on the affirmation of sovereignty over Edom in v. 8, but he is also aware that God has seemingly rejected the nation (v. 10, see also v. 1).

[69:35]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[69:35]  ²⁰ tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to “Zion” (see Pss 48:12; 102:14); thus the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[108:10]  ²² sn The psalmist speaks again and acknowledges his need for help in battle. He hopes God will volunteer, based on the affirmation of sovereignty over Edom in v. 9, but he is also aware that God has seemingly rejected the nation of Israel (v. 11).