Net English TranslationPsalms 55 =
Psalm 551
55

1 For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song2 by David.

Listen, O God, to my prayer!
Do not ignore3 my appeal for mercy!
2 Pay attention to me and answer me!
I am so upset4 and distressed,5 I am beside myself,6
3 because of what the enemy says,7
and because of how the wicked8 pressure me,9
for they hurl trouble10 down upon me11
and angrily attack me.
4 My heart beats violently12 within me;
the horrors of death overcome me.13
5 Fear and panic overpower me;14
terror overwhelms15 me.
6 I say,16 “I wish I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and settle in a safe place!
7 Look, I will escape to a distant place;
I will stay in the wilderness. (Selah)
8 I will hurry off to a place that is safe
from the strong wind17 and the gale.”
9 Confuse them,18 O Lord!
Frustrate their plans!19
For I see violence and conflict in the city.
10 Day and night they walk around on its walls,20
while wickedness and destruction21 are within it.
11 Disaster is within it;
violence22 and deceit do not depart from its public square.
12 Indeed,23 it is not an enemy who insults me,
or else I could bear it;
it is not one who hates me who arrogantly taunts me,24
or else I could hide from him.
13 But it is you,25 a man like me,26
my close friend in whom I confided.27
14 We would share personal thoughts with each other;28
in God’s temple we would walk together among the crowd.
15 May death destroy them!29
May they go down alive into Sheol!30
For evil is in their dwelling place and in their midst.
16 As for me, I will call out to God,
and the Lord will deliver me.
17 During the evening, morning, and noontime
I will lament and moan,31
and he will hear32 me.33
18 He will rescue34 me and protect me from those who attack me,35
even though36 they greatly outnumber me.37
19 God, the one who has reigned as king from long ago,
will hear and humiliate them.38 (Selah)
They refuse to change,
and do not fear God.39
20 He40 attacks41 his friends;42
he breaks his solemn promises to them.43
21 His words are as smooth as butter,44
but he harbors animosity in his heart.45
His words seem softer than oil,
but they are really like sharp swords.46
22 Throw your burden47 upon the Lord,
and he will sustain you.48
He will never allow the godly to be upended.49
23 But you, O God, will bring them50 down to the deep Pit.51
Violent and deceitful people52 will not live even half a normal lifespan.53
But as for me, I trust in you.
1sn Psalm 55. The suffering and oppressed author laments that one of his friends has betrayed him, but he is confident that God will vindicate him by punishing his deceitful enemies. 2tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52. 3tn Heb “hide yourself from.” 4tn Or “restless” (see Gen 27:40). The Hiphil is intransitive-exhibitive, indicating the outward display of an inner attitude. 5tn Heb “in my complaint.” 6tn The verb is a Hiphil cohortative from הוּם (hum), which means “to confuse someone” in the Qal and “to go wild” in the Niphal. An Arabic cognate means “to be out of one’s senses, to wander about.” With the vav (ו) conjunctive prefixed to it, the cohortative probably indicates the result or effect of the preceding main verb. Some prefer to emend the form to וְאֵהוֹמָה (vÿ’ehomah), a Niphal of הוּם (hum), or to וְאֶהַמֶה (vÿ’ehameh), a Qal imperfect from הָמָה (hamah, “to moan”). Many also prefer to take this verb with what follows (see v. 3). 7tn Heb “because of [the] voice of [the] enemy.” 8tn The singular forms “enemy” and “wicked” are collective or representative, as the plural verb forms in the second half of the verse indicate. 9tn Heb “from before the pressure of the wicked.” Some suggest the meaning “screech” (note the parallel “voice”; cf. NEB “shrill clamour”; NRSV “clamor”) for the rare noun עָקָה (’aqah, “pressure”). 10tn Heb “wickedness,” but here the term refers to the destructive effects of their wicked acts. 11tc The verb form in the MT appears to be a Hiphil imperfect from the root מוֹט (mot, “to sway”), but the Hiphil occurs only here and in the Kethib (consonantal text) of Ps 140:10, where the form יַמְטֵר (yamter, “let him rain down”) should probably be read. Here in Ps 55:3 it is preferable to read יַמְטִירוּ (yamtiru, “they rain down”). It is odd for “rain down” to be used with an abstract object like “wickedness,” but in Job 20:23 God “rains down” anger (unless one emends the text there; see BHS). 12tn Heb “shakes, trembles.” 13tn Heb “the terrors of death have fallen on me.” 14tn Heb “fear and trembling enter into me.” 15tn Heb “covers.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the descriptive (present progressive) force of the preceding imperfect. 16tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the descriptive (present progressive) force of the verbs in v. 5. 17tn Heb “[the] wind [that] sweeps away.” The verb סָעָה (sa’ah, “sweep away”) occurs only here in the OT (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 120). 18tn 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). 19tn Heb “split their tongue,” which apparently means “confuse their speech,” or, more paraphrastically, “frustrate the plans they devise with their tongues.” 20tn Heb “day and night they surround it, upon its walls.” Personified “violence and conflict” are the likely subjects. They are compared to watchmen on the city’s walls. 21sn Wickedness and destruction. These terms are also closely associated in Ps 7:14. 22tn Or “injury, harm.” 23tn Or “for.” 24tn Heb “[who] magnifies against me.” See Pss 35:26; 38:16. 25sn It is you. The psalmist addresses the apparent ringleader of the opposition, an individual who was once his friend. 26tn Heb “a man according to my value,” i.e., “a person such as I.” 27tn Heb “my close friend, one known by me.” 28tn Heb “who together we would make counsel sweet.” The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to the ongoing nature of the actions (the so-called customary use of the imperfect). Their relationship was characterized by such intimacy and friendship. See IBHS 502-3 §31.2b. 29tc The meaning of the MT is unclear. The Kethib (consonantal text) reads יַשִּׁימָוֶת עָלֵימוֹ (yashimavet ’alemo, “May devastation [be] upon them!”). The proposed noun יַשִּׁימָוֶת occurs only here and perhaps in the place name Beth-Jeshimoth in Num 33:49. The Qere (marginal text) has יַשִּׁי מָוֶת עָלֵימוֹ (yashi mavet ’alemo). The verbal form יַשִּׁי is apparently an alternate form of יַשִּׁיא (yashi’), a Hiphil imperfect from נָשַׁא (nasha’, “deceive”). In this case one might read “death will come deceptively upon them.” This reading has the advantage of reading מָוֶת (mavet, “death”) which forms a natural parallel with “Sheol” in the next line. The present translation is based on the following reconstruction of the text: יְשִׁמֵּם מָוֶת (yeshimmem mavet). The verb assumed in the reconstruction is a Hiphil jussive third masculine singular from שָׁמַם (shamam, “be desolate”) with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix attached. This reconstruction assumes that (1) haplography has occurred in the traditional text (the original sequence of three mems [מ] was lost with only one mem remaining), resulting in the fusion of originally distinct forms in the Kethib, and (2) that עָלֵימוֹ (’alemo, “upon them”) is a later scribal addition attempting to make sense of a garbled and corrupt text. The preposition עַל (’al) does occur with the verb שָׁמַם (shamam), but in such cases the expression means “be appalled at/because of” (see Jer 49:20; 50:45). If one were to retain the prepositional phrase here, one would have to read the text as follows: יַשִּׁים מָוֶת עָלֵימוֹ (yashim mavet ’alemo, “Death will be appalled at them”). The idea seems odd, to say the least. Death is not collocated with this verb elsewhere. 30sn Go down alive. This curse imagines a swift and sudden death for the psalmist’s enemies. 31tn The first verb is clearly a cohortative form, expressing the psalmist’s resolve. The second verb, while formally ambiguous, should also be understood as cohortative here. 32tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive normally appears in narrational contexts to indicate past action, but here it continues the anticipatory (future) perspective of the preceding line. In Ps 77:6 one finds the same sequence of cohortative + prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive. In this case as well, both forms refer to future actions. 33tn Heb “my voice.” 34tn The perfect verbal form is here used rhetorically to indicate that the action is certain to take place (the so-called perfect of certitude). 35tn Heb “he will redeem in peace my life from [those who] draw near to me.” 36tn Or “for.” 37tn Heb “among many they are against me.” For other examples of the preposition עִמָּד (’immad) used in the sense of “at, against,” see HALOT 842 s.v.; BDB 767 s.v.; IBHS 219 §11.2.14b. 38tc Heb “God will hear and answer them, even [the] one who sits [from] ancient times.” The prefixed verbal from with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the anticipatory force of the preceding imperfect. The verb appears to be a Qal form from עָנָה (’anah, “to answer”). If this reading is retained, the point would be that God “answered” them in judgment. The translation assumes an emendation to the Piel וַיְעַנֵּם (vay’annem; see 2 Kgs 17:20) and understands the root as עָנָה (’anah, “to afflict”; see also 1 Kgs 8:35). 39tn Heb “[the ones] for whom there are no changes, and they do not fear God.” 40sn He. This must refer to the psalmist’s former friend, who was addressed previously in vv. 12-14. 41tn Heb “stretches out his hand against.” 42tc The form should probably be emended to an active participle (שֹׁלְמָיו, sholÿmayv) from the verbal root שָׁלַם (shalam, “be in a covenant of peace with”). Perhaps the translation “his friends” suggests too intimate a relationship. Another option is to translate, “he attacks those who made agreements with him.” 43tn Heb “he violates his covenant.” 44tn Heb “the butter-like [words] of his mouth are smooth.” The noun מַחְמָאֹת (makhma’ot, “butter-like [words]”) occurs only here. Many prefer to emend the form to מֵחֶמְאָה (mekhem’ah, from [i.e., “than”] butter”), cf. NEB, NRSV “smoother than butter.” However, in this case “his mouth” does not agree in number with the plural verb חָלְקוּ (kholqu, “they are smooth”). Therefore some further propose an emendation of פִּיו (piv, “his mouth”) to פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”). In any case, the point seems to that the psalmist’s former friend spoke kindly to him and gave the outward indications of friendship. 45tn Heb “and war [is in] his heart.” 46tn Heb “his words are softer than oil, but they are drawn swords.” 47tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here. 48tn The pronoun is singular; the psalmist addresses each member of his audience individually. 49tn Heb “he will never allow swaying for the righteous.” 50tn The pronominal suffix refers to the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 19). 51tn Heb “well of the pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 103:4). 52tn Heb “men of bloodshed and deceit.” 53tn Heb “will not divide in half their days.”
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