Psalm 9:12-14

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 9:12 tn Heb “for the one who seeks shed blood remembered them.” The idiomatic expression “to seek shed blood” seems to carry the idea “to seek payment/restitution for one’s shed blood.” The plural form דָּמִים (damim, “shed blood”) occurs only here as the object of דָּרַשׁ (darash, “to seek”); the singular form דָּם (dam, “blood”) appears with the verb in Gen 9:5; 42:22; Ezek 33:6. “Them,” the pronominal object of the verb “remembered,” refers to the oppressed, mentioned specifically in the next line, so the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2. Psalm 9:12 tn Heb “did not forget.”
3. Psalm 9:12 tn Heb “the cry for help of the oppressed.” In this context the “oppressed” are the psalmist and those he represents, whom the hostile nations have threatened.
4. Psalm 9:13 tn The words “when they prayed,” though not represented in the Hebrew text, are supplied in the translation for clarification. The petition in vv. 13-14 is best understood as the cry for help which the oppressed offered to God when the nations threatened. The Lord answered this request, prompting the present song of thanksgiving.
5. Psalm 9:13 tn Or “show me favor.”
6. Psalm 9:13 tn Heb “see my misery from the ones who hate me.”
7. Psalm 9:13 tn Heb “one who lifts me up.”
8. Psalm 9:14 tn Or “so that I might.”
9. Psalm 9:14 tn Heb “all your praise.” “Praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt it.
10. Psalm 9:14 sn Daughter Zion is an idiomatic title for Jerusalem. It appears frequently in the prophets, but only here in the psalms.
11. Psalm 9:14 tn Heb “in your deliverance.”