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Psalm 31
New English Translation

Psalm 31[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

31 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter.
Never let me be humiliated.
Vindicate me by rescuing me.[b]
2 Listen to me.[c]
Quickly deliver me.
Be my protector and refuge,[d]
a stronghold where I can be safe.[e]
3 For you are my high ridge[f] and my stronghold;
for the sake of your own reputation[g] you lead me and guide me.[h]
4 You will free me[i] from the net they hid for me,
for you are my place of refuge.
5 Into your hand I entrust my life;[j]
you will rescue[k] me, O Lord, the faithful God.
6 I hate those who serve worthless idols,[l]
but I trust in the Lord.
7 I will be happy and rejoice in your faithfulness,
because you notice my pain
and you are aware of how distressed I am.[m]
8 You do not deliver me over to the power of the enemy;
you enable me to stand[n] in a wide open place.
9 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress!
My eyes grow dim[o] from suffering.[p]
I have lost my strength.[q]
10 For my life nears its end in pain;
my years draw to a close as I groan.[r]
My strength fails me because of[s] my sin,
and my bones become brittle.[t]
11 Because of all my enemies, people disdain me;[u]
my neighbors are appalled by my suffering[v]—
those who know me are horrified by my condition;[w]
those who see me in the street run away from me.
12 I am forgotten, like a dead man no one thinks about;[x]
I am regarded as worthless, like a broken jar.[y]
13 For I hear what so many are saying,[z]
the terrifying news that comes from every direction.[aa]
When they plot together against me,
they figure out how they can take my life.
14 But I trust in you, O Lord!
I declare, “You are my God!”
15 You determine my destiny.[ab]
Rescue me from the power of my enemies and those who chase me.
16 Smile[ac] on your servant.
Deliver me because of your faithfulness.
17 O Lord, do not let me be humiliated,
for I call out to you.
May evil men be humiliated.
May they go wailing to the grave.[ad]
18 May lying lips be silenced—
lips[ae] that speak defiantly against the innocent[af]
with arrogance and contempt.
19 How great is your favor,[ag]
which you store up for your loyal followers.[ah]
In plain sight of everyone you bestow it on those who take shelter[ai] in you.[aj]
20 You hide them with you, where they are safe from the attacks[ak] of men;[al]
you conceal them in a shelter, where they are safe from slanderous attacks.[am]
21 The Lord deserves praise[an]
for he demonstrated his amazing faithfulness to me when I was besieged by enemies.[ao]
22 I jumped to conclusions and said,[ap]
“I am cut off from your presence!”[aq]
But you heard my plea for mercy when I cried out to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you faithful followers[ar] of his!
The Lord protects those who have integrity,
but he pays back in full the one who acts arrogantly.[as]
24 Be strong and confident,[at]
all you who wait on the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 31:1 sn Psalm 31. The psalmist confidently asks the Lord to protect him. Enemies threaten him and even his friends have abandoned him, but he looks to the Lord for vindication. In vv. 19-24, which were apparently written after the Lord answered the prayer of vv. 1-18, the psalmist thanks the Lord for delivering him.
  2. Psalm 31:1 tn Heb “in your vindication rescue me.”
  3. Psalm 31:2 tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”
  4. Psalm 31:2 tn Heb “become for me a rocky summit of refuge.”
  5. Psalm 31:2 tn Heb “a house of strongholds to deliver me.”
  6. Psalm 31:3 sn The metaphor of the high ridge pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.
  7. Psalm 31:3 tn Heb “name.” The Hebrew term שֵׁם (shem, “name”) refers here to the Lord’s reputation. (The English term “name” is often used the same way.)
  8. Psalm 31:3 tn The present translation assumes that the imperfect verbal forms are generalizing, “you lead me and guide me.” Other options are to take them as an expression of confidence about the future, “you will lead me and guide me” (cf. NASB), or as expressing a prayer, “lead me and guide me” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).
  9. Psalm 31:4 tn Heb “bring me out.” The translation assumes that the imperfect verbal form expresses the psalmist’s confidence about the future. Another option is to take the form as expressing a prayer, “free me.”
  10. Psalm 31:5 tn Heb “my spirit.” The noun רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) here refers to the animating spirit that gives the psalmist life.
  11. Psalm 31:5 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.
  12. Psalm 31:6 tn Heb “the ones who observe vain things of falsehood.” See Jonah 2:9.
  13. Psalm 31:7 tn Heb “you know the distresses of my life.”
  14. Psalm 31:8 tn Heb “you cause my feet to stand.”
  15. Psalm 31:9 tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”
  16. Psalm 31:9 tn Cf. Ps 6:7, which has a similar line.
  17. Psalm 31:9 tn Heb “my breath and my stomach [grow weak].” Apparently the verb in the previous line (“grow dim, be weakened”) is to be understood here. The Hebrew term נפשׁ can mean “life,” or, more specifically, “throat, breath.” The psalmist seems to be lamenting that his breathing is impaired because of the physical and emotional suffering he is forced to endure.
  18. Psalm 31:10 tn Heb “and my years in groaning.”
  19. Psalm 31:10 tn Heb “stumbles in.”
  20. Psalm 31:10 tn Heb “grow weak.”
  21. Psalm 31:11 tn Heb “because of all my enemies I am a reproach.”
  22. Psalm 31:11 tc Heb “and to my neighbors, exceedingly.” If the MT is retained, then these words probably go with what precedes. However the syntactical awkwardness of the text suggests a revision may be needed. P. C. Craigie (Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 258) suggests that the initial mem (מ) on מְאֹד (meʾod, “exceedingly”) be understood as an enclitic mem (ם) which was originally suffixed to the preceding form and then later misinterpreted. The resulting form אֵד (ʾed) can then be taken as a defectively written form of אֵיד (ʾed, “calamity”). If one follows this emendation, then the text reads literally, “and to my neighbors [I am one who experiences] calamity.” The noun פַחַד (fakhad, “[object of] horror”) occurs in the next line; אֵיד and פַחַד appear in parallelism elsewhere (see Prov 1:26-27).
  23. Psalm 31:11 tn Heb “and [an object of ] horror to those known by me.”
  24. Psalm 31:12 tn Heb “I am forgotten, like a dead man, from [the] heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the center of one’s thoughts.
  25. Psalm 31:12 tn Heb “I am like a broken jar.” One throws away a broken jar without a second thought because it is considered worthless and useless.
  26. Psalm 31:13 tn Heb “the report of many.”
  27. Psalm 31:13 tn Heb “the terror from all around.”
  28. Psalm 31:15 tn Heb “in your hand [are] my times.”
  29. Psalm 31:16 tn Heb “cause your face to shine.”
  30. Psalm 31:17 tn The verb יִדְּמוּ (yiddemu) is understood as a form of דָּמַם (damam, “wail, lament”). Another option is to take the verb from דָּמַם (“be quiet”; see BDB 198-99 s.v. I דָּמַם), in which case one might translate, “May they lie silent in the grave.”
  31. Psalm 31:18 tn Heb “the [ones which].”
  32. Psalm 31:18 tn Or “godly.”
  33. Psalm 31:19 tn Or “How abundant are your blessings!”
  34. Psalm 31:19 tn Heb “for those who fear you.”
  35. Psalm 31:19 tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 34:21-22).
  36. Psalm 31:19 tn Heb “you work [your favor] for the ones seeking shelter in you before the sons of men.”
  37. Psalm 31:20 tn The noun רֹכֶס (rokhes) occurs only here. Its meaning is debated; some suggest “snare,” while others propose “slander” or “conspiracy.”
  38. Psalm 31:20 tn Heb “you hide them in the hiding place of your face from the attacks of man.” The imperfect verbal forms in this verse draw attention to God’s typical treatment of the faithful.
  39. Psalm 31:20 tn Heb “you conceal them in a shelter from the strife of tongues.”
  40. Psalm 31:21 tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord.”
  41. Psalm 31:21 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.
  42. Psalm 31:22 tn Heb “and I, I said in my haste.”
  43. Psalm 31:22 tn Heb “from before your eyes.”
  44. Psalm 31:23 tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).
  45. Psalm 31:23 tn The participial forms in the second and third lines characterize the Lord as one who typically protects the faithful and judges the proud.
  46. Psalm 31:24 tn Heb “be strong and let your heart[s] be confident.”
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Psalm 30
Psalm 32
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Psalm 6-7
New English Translation

Psalm 6[a]

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments, according to the sheminith style;[b] a psalm of David.

6 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger.
Do not discipline me in your raging fury.[c]
2 Have mercy on me,[d] Lord, for I am frail.
Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking.[e]
3 I am absolutely terrified,[f]
and you, Lord—how long will this continue?[g]
4 Relent, Lord, rescue me![h]
Deliver me because of your faithfulness.[i]
5 For no one remembers you in the realm of death.[j]
In Sheol who gives you thanks?[k]
6 I am exhausted as I groan.
All night long I drench my bed in tears;[l]
my tears saturate the cushion beneath me.[m]
7 My eyes[n] grow dim[o] from suffering;
they grow weak[p] because of all my enemies.[q]
8 Turn back from me, all you who behave wickedly,[r]
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.[s]
9 The Lord has heard my appeal for mercy;
the Lord has accepted[t] my prayer.
10 They will be humiliated[u] and absolutely terrified.[v]
All my enemies will turn back and be suddenly humiliated.

Psalm 7[w]

A musical composition[x] by David, which he sang to the Lord concerning[y] a Benjaminite named Cush.[z]

7 O Lord my God, in you I have taken shelter.[aa]
Deliver me from all who chase me. Rescue me!
2 Otherwise they will rip[ab] me[ac] to shreds like a lion;
they will tear me to bits and no one will be able to rescue me.[ad]
3 O Lord my God, if I have done what they say,[ae]
or am guilty of unjust actions,[af]
4 or have wronged my ally,[ag]
or helped his lawless enemy,[ah]
5 may an enemy relentlessly chase[ai] me[aj] and catch me;[ak]
may he trample me to death[al]
and leave me lying dishonored in the dust.[am] (Selah)
6 Stand up angrily,[an] Lord.
Rise up with raging fury against my enemies.[ao]
Wake up for my sake, and execute the judgment you have decreed for them.[ap]
7 The countries are assembled all around you;[aq]
take once more your rightful place over them.[ar]
8 The Lord judges the nations.[as]
Vindicate me, Lord, because I am innocent,[at]
because I am blameless,[au] O Exalted One.[av]
9 May the evil deeds of the wicked[aw] come to an end.[ax]
But make the innocent[ay] secure,[az]
O righteous God,
you who examine[ba] inner thoughts and motives.[bb]
10 The Exalted God is my shield,[bc]
the one who delivers the morally upright.[bd]
11 God is a just judge;
he is angry throughout the day.[be]
12 If a person[bf] does not repent, God will wield his sword.[bg]
He has prepared to shoot his bow.[bh]
13 He has prepared deadly weapons to use against him;[bi]
he gets ready to shoot flaming arrows.[bj]
14 See the one who is pregnant with wickedness,
who conceives destructive plans,
and gives birth to harmful lies—
15 he digs a pit[bk]
and then falls into the hole he has made.[bl]
16 He becomes the victim of his own destructive plans[bm]—
and the violence he intended for others falls on his own head.[bn]
17 I will thank the Lord for[bo] his justice;
I will sing praises to the Lord Most High![bp]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 6:1 sn Psalm 6. The psalmist begs the Lord to withdraw his anger and spare his life. Having received a positive response to his prayer, the psalmist then confronts his enemies and describes how they retreat.
  2. Psalm 6:1 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (sheminit, “sheminith”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.
  3. Psalm 6:1 sn The implication is that the psalmist has sinned, causing God to discipline him by bringing a life-threatening illness upon him (see vv. 2-7).
  4. Psalm 6:2 tn Or “show me favor.”
  5. Psalm 6:2 tn Normally the verb בָּהַל (bahal) refers to an emotional response and means “tremble with fear, be terrified” (see vv. 3, 10). Perhaps here the “bones” are viewed as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. However, the verb may describe one of the effects of his physical ailment, perhaps a fever. In Ezek 7:27 the verb describes how the hands of the people will shake with fear when they experience the horrors of divine judgment.
  6. Psalm 6:3 tn Heb “my being is very terrified.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
  7. Psalm 6:3 tn Heb “and you, Lord, how long?” The suffering psalmist speaks in broken syntax. He addresses God, but then simply cries out with a brief, but poignant, question: How long will this (= his suffering) continue?
  8. Psalm 6:4 tn Heb “my being,” or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
  9. Psalm 6:4 sn Deliver me because of your faithfulness. Though the psalmist is experiencing divine discipline, he realizes that God has made a commitment to him in the past, so he appeals to God’s faithfulness in his request for help.
  10. Psalm 6:5 tn Heb “for there is not in death your remembrance.” The Hebrew noun זֵכֶר (zekher, “remembrance”) here refers to the name of the Lord as invoked in liturgy and praise. Cf. Pss 30:4; 97:12. “Death” here refers to the realm of death where the dead reside. See the reference to Sheol in the next line.
  11. Psalm 6:5 tn The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”sn In Sheol who gives you thanks? According to the OT, those who descend into the realm of death/Sheol are cut off from God’s mighty deeds and from the worshiping covenant community that experiences divine intervention (Pss 30:9; 88:10-12; Isa 38:18). In his effort to elicit a positive divine response, the psalmist reminds God that he will receive no praise or glory if he allows the psalmist to die. Dead men do not praise God!
  12. Psalm 6:6 tn Heb “I cause to swim through all the night my bed.”
  13. Psalm 6:6 tn Heb “with my tears my bed I flood/melt.”
  14. Psalm 6:7 tn The Hebrew text has the singular “eye” here.
  15. Psalm 6:7 tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”
  16. Psalm 6:7 tn Or perhaps, “grow old.”
  17. Psalm 6:7 sn In his weakened condition the psalmist is vulnerable to the taunts and threats of his enemies.
  18. Psalm 6:8 tn Heb “all [you] workers of wickedness.” See Ps 5:5.
  19. Psalm 6:8 sn The Lord has heard. The psalmist’s mood abruptly changes because the Lord responded positively to the lament and petition of vv. 1-7 and promised him deliverance.
  20. Psalm 6:9 tn The prefixed verbal form is probably a preterite here; it is parallel to a perfect and refers to the fact that the Lord has responded favorably to the psalmist’s request.
  21. Psalm 6:10 tn In the structure of the Psalm, this verse is either another petition or a statement of confidence. If a petition, the four prefixed verbal forms in this verse should be understood as jussives. By form, many prefixed verbs can be either imperfect or jussive. But the third verb in the series, יָשֻׁבוּ (yashuvu), can be distinguished as an imperfect by its qibbuts theme vowel, and is not a jussive (which would have had a qamets hatuph or holem). Expecting all four verbs to be the same due to parallelism leads to the conclusion that this section is a statement of confidence, in which the imperfect verbs should be treated as future.
  22. Psalm 6:10 sn The psalmist uses the same expression in v. 3 to describe the terror he was experiencing. He is confident that the tables will be turned and his enemies will know what absolute terror feels like.
  23. Psalm 7:1 sn Psalm 7. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and deliver him from his enemies. He protests his innocence and declares his confidence in God’s justice.
  24. Psalm 7:1 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term שִׁגָּיוֹן (shiggayon; translated here “musical composition”) is uncertain. Some derive the noun from the verbal root שָׁגָה (shagah, “swerve, reel”) and understand it as referring to a “wild, passionate song, with rapid changes of rhythm” (see BDB 993 s.v. שִׁגָּיוֹן). But this proposal is purely speculative. The only other appearance of the noun is in Hab 3:1, where it occurs in the plural.
  25. Psalm 7:1 tn Or “on account of.”
  26. Psalm 7:1 sn Apparently this individual named Cush was one of David’s enemies.
  27. Psalm 7:1 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.
  28. Psalm 7:2 tn The verb is singular in the Hebrew text, even though “all who chase me” in v. 1 refers to a whole group of enemies. The singular is also used in vv. 4-5, but the psalmist returns to the plural in v. 6. The singular is probably collective, emphasizing the united front that the psalmist’s enemies present. This same alternation between a collective singular and a plural referring to enemies appears in Pss 9:3, 6; 13:4; 31:4, 8; 41:6, 10-11; 42:9-10; 55:3; 64:1-2; 74:3-4; 89:22-23; 106:10-11; 143:3, 6, 9.
  29. Psalm 7:2 tn Heb “my life.” The pronominal suffix attached to נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is equivalent to a personal pronoun. See Ps 6:3.
  30. Psalm 7:2 tn Heb “tearing and there is no one rescuing.” The verbal form translated “tearing” is a singular active participle.
  31. Psalm 7:3 tn Heb “if I have done this.”
  32. Psalm 7:3 tn Heb “if there is injustice in my hands.” The “hands” figuratively suggest deeds or actions.
  33. Psalm 7:4 tn Heb “if I have repaid the one at peace with me evil.” The form שׁוֹלְמִי (sholemi, “the one at peace with me”) probably refers to a close friend or ally, i.e., one with whom the psalmist has made a formal agreement. See BDB 1023 s.v. שָׁלוֹם 4.a.
  34. Psalm 7:4 tn Heb “or rescued my enemy in vain.” The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive (the verb form is pseudo-cohortative; see IBHS 576-77 §34.5.3) carries on the hypothetical nuance of the perfect in the preceding line. Some regard the statement as a parenthetical assertion that the psalmist is kind to his enemies. Others define חָלַץ (khalats) as “despoil” (cf. NASB, NRSV “plundered”; NIV “robbed”), an otherwise unattested nuance for this verb. Still others emend the verb to לָחַץ (lakhats, “oppress”). Most construe the adverb רֵיקָם (reqam, “emptily, vainly”) with “my enemy,” i.e., the one who is my enemy in vain.” The present translation (1) assumes an emendation of צוֹרְרִי (tsoreri, “my enemy”) to צוֹרְרוֹ (tsorero, “his [i.e., the psalmist’s ally’s] enemy”) following J. Tigay, “Psalm 7:5 and Ancient Near Eastern Treaties,” JBL 89 (1970): 178-86, (2) understands the final mem (ם) on רֵיקָם as enclitic, and (3) takes רִיק (riq) as an adjective modifying “his enemy.” (For other examples of a suffixed noun followed by an attributive adjective without the article, see Pss 18:17 (“my strong enemy”), 99:3 (“your great and awesome name”) and 143:10 (“your good spirit”). The adjective רִיק occurs with the sense “lawless” in Judg 9:4; 11:3; 2 Chr 13:7. In this case the psalmist affirms that he has not wronged his ally, nor has he given aid to his ally’s enemies. Ancient Near Eastern treaties typically included such clauses, with one or both parties agreeing not to lend aid to the treaty partner’s enemies.
  35. Psalm 7:5 tn The vocalization of the verb form seems to be a mixture of Qal and Piel (see GKC 168 §63.n). The translation assumes the Piel, which would emphasize the repetitive nature of the action. The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a jussive. The psalmist is so certain that he is innocent of the sins mentioned in vv. 3-4, he pronounces an imprecation on himself for rhetorical effect.
  36. Psalm 7:5 tn Heb “my life.” The pronominal suffix attached to נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is equivalent to a personal pronoun. See Ps 6:3.
  37. Psalm 7:5 tn Heb “and may he overtake.” The prefixed verbal form is distinctly jussive. The object “me,” though unexpressed, is understood from the preceding statement.
  38. Psalm 7:5 tn Heb “and may he trample down to the earth my life.”
  39. Psalm 7:5 tn Heb “and my honor in the dust may he cause to dwell.” The prefixed verbal form is distinctly jussive. Some emend כְבוֹדִי (khevodi, “my honor”) to כְבֵדִי (khevedi, “my liver” as the seat of life), but the term כְבוֹדִי (khevodi) is to be retained since it probably refers to the psalmist’s dignity or honor.
  40. Psalm 7:6 tn Heb “in your anger.”
  41. Psalm 7:6 tn Heb “Lift yourself up in the angry outbursts of my enemies.” Many understand the preposition prefixed to עַבְרוֹת (ʿavrot, “angry outbursts”) as adversative, “against,” and the following genitive “enemies” as subjective. In this case one could translate, “rise up against my furious enemies” (cf. NIV, NRSV). The present translation, however, takes the preposition as indicating manner (cf. “in your anger” in the previous line) and understands the plural form of the noun as indicating an abstract quality (“fury”) or excessive degree (“raging fury”). Cf. Job 21:30.
  42. Psalm 7:6 tc Heb “Wake up to me [with the] judgment [which] you have commanded.” The LXX understands אֵלִי (ʾeliy, “my God”) instead of אֵלַי (ʾelay, “to me”; the LXX reading is followed by NEB, NIV, NRSV.) If the reading of the MT is retained, the preposition probably has the sense of “on account of, for the sake of.” The noun מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “judgment”) is probably an adverbial accusative, modifying the initial imperative, “wake up.” In this case צִוִּיתָ (tsivvita, “[which] you have commanded”) is an asyndetic relative clause. Some take the perfect as precative. In this case one could translate the final line, “Wake up for my sake! Decree judgment!” (cf. NIV). However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.
  43. Psalm 7:7 tn Heb “and the assembly of the peoples surrounds you.” Some understand the prefixed verbal form as a jussive, “may the assembly of the peoples surround you.”
  44. Psalm 7:7 tn Heb “over it (the feminine suffix refers back to the feminine noun “assembly” in the preceding line) on high return.” Some emend שׁוּבָה (shuvah, “return”) to שֵׁבָה (shevah, “sit [in judgment]”) because they find the implication of “return” problematic. But the psalmist does not mean to imply that God has abandoned his royal throne and needs to regain it. Rather he simply urges God, as sovereign king of the world, to once more occupy his royal seat of judgment and execute judgment, as the OT pictures God doing periodically.
  45. Psalm 7:8 sn The Lord judges the nations. In hyperbolic fashion the psalmist pictures the nations assembled around the divine throne (v. 7a). He urges God to take his rightful place on the throne (v. 7b) and then pictures him making judicial decisions that vindicate the innocent (see vv. 8-16).
  46. Psalm 7:8 tn Heb “judge me, O Lord, according to my innocence.”
  47. Psalm 7:8 tn Heb “according to my blamelessness.” The imperative verb translated “vindicate” governs the second line as well.
  48. Psalm 7:8 tn The Hebrew form עָלָי (ʿalay) has been traditionally understood as the preposition עַל (ʿal, “over”) with a first person suffix. But this is syntactically awkward and meaningless. The form is probably a divine title derived from the verbal root עָלָה (ʿalah, “ascend”). This relatively rare title appears elsewhere in the OT (see HALOT 824-25 s.v. I עַל, though this text is not listed) and in Ugaritic as an epithet for Baal (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 98). See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:44-45, and P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 98.
  49. Psalm 7:9 tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (reshaʿim, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and his people.
  50. Psalm 7:9 tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation here.
  51. Psalm 7:9 tn Or “the godly” (see Ps 5:12). The singular form is collective (see the plural “upright in heart” in v. 10), though it may reflect the personal focus of the psalmist in this context.
  52. Psalm 7:9 tn The prefixed verbal form expresses the psalmist’s prayer or wish.
  53. Psalm 7:9 tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 11:4; 26:2; 139:23.
  54. Psalm 7:9 tn Heb “and [the one who] tests hearts and kidneys, righteous God.” The translation inverts the word order to improve the English style. The heart and kidneys were viewed as the seat of one’s volition, conscience, and moral character.
  55. Psalm 7:10 tn Traditionally, “my shield is upon God” (cf. NASB). As in v. 8, עַל (ʿal) should be understood as a divine title, here compounded with “God” (cf. NIV, “God Most High”). See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:45-46. The shield metaphor pictures God as a protector against deadly attacks.
  56. Psalm 7:10 tn Heb “pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 11:2; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).
  57. Psalm 7:11 tn Heb “God (the divine name אֵל [ʾel] is used) is angry during all the day.” The verb זֹעֵם (zoʿem) means “be indignant, be angry, curse.” Here God’s angry response to wrongdoing and injustice leads him to prepare to execute judgment as described in the following verses.
  58. Psalm 7:12 tn Heb “If he”; the referent (a person who is a sinner) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The subject of the first verb is understood as the sinner who fails to repent of his ways and becomes the target of God’s judgment (vv. 9, 14-16).
  59. Psalm 7:12 tn Heb “if he does not return, his sword he wields.” The referent (God) of the pronominal subject of the second verb (“sharpens”) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The verb לָטַשׁ (latash) appears only five times in the Bible. It is typically taken as a reference to sharpening, as in 1 Sam 13:20. But the meaning “wield” known from Ugaritic, a close cognate language, seems to fit the context better. The following verbs describe past actions of having gotten instruments prepared for battle. It is more consistent with that setting to picture God taking his sword and swinging it as a final act of preparation or as an immediate threat.
  60. Psalm 7:12 tn Heb “his bow he has stepped [on] and prepared it.” “Treading the bow” involved stepping on one end of it in order to bend and string it and thus prepare it for battle. The verbs are a perfect and a preterite, thus referring to past action.
  61. Psalm 7:13 tn Heb “and for him he has prepared the weapons of death.”
  62. Psalm 7:13 tn Heb “his arrows into flaming [things] he makes.” The verb is a prefixed form and understood as an imperfect. As a parallel to the first verb in the series, יִלְטֹשׁ (yiltosh; he will wield), it describes a final act of preparation or the beginning of engaging in battle. It is also possible that the form is a preterite and should be understood as past tense, like the preceding perfect and preterite verbs.
  63. Psalm 7:15 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.
  64. Psalm 7:15 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.
  65. Psalm 7:16 tn Heb “his harm [i.e., the harm he conceived for others, see v. 14] returns on his head.”
  66. Psalm 7:16 tn Heb “and on his forehead his violence [i.e., the violence he intended to do to others] comes down.”
  67. Psalm 7:17 tn Heb “according to.”
  68. Psalm 7:17 tn Heb “[to] the name of the Lord Most High.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his divine characteristics as suggested by his name, in this case the compound “Lord Most High.” The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן, ʿelyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.
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