Net English TranslationPsalms 64 =
Psalm 641
64

1 For the music director; a psalm of David.

Listen to me,2 O God, as I offer my lament!
Protect3 my life from the enemy’s terrifying attacks.4
2 Hide me from the plots of evil men,
from the crowd of evildoers.5
3 They6 sharpen their tongues like a sword;
they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge,7
4 in order to shoot down the innocent8 in secluded places.
They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation.9
5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed.10
They plan how to hide11 snares,
and boast,12 “Who will see them?”13
6 They devise14 unjust schemes;
they disguise15 a well-conceived plot.16
Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered.17
7 But God will shoot18 at them;
suddenly they will be19 wounded by an arrow.20
8 Their slander will bring about their demise.21
All who see them will shudder,22
9 and all people will fear.23
They will proclaim24 what God has done,
and reflect on his deeds.
10 The godly will rejoice in the Lord
and take shelter in him.
All the morally upright25 will boast.26
1sn Psalm 64. The psalmist asks God to protect him from his dangerous enemies and then confidently affirms that God will destroy his enemies and demonstrate his justice in the sight of all observers. 2tn Heb “my voice.” 3tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s request. 4tn Heb “from the terror of [the] enemy.” “Terror” is used here metonymically for the enemy’s attacks that produce fear because they threaten the psalmist’s life. 5tn Heb “workers of wickedness.” 6tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons. 7tn Heb “a bitter word.” 8tn The psalmist uses the singular because he is referring to himself here as representative of a larger group. 9tn Heb “and are unafraid.” The words “of retaliation” are supplied in the translation for clarification. 10tn Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].” 11tn Heb “they report about hiding.” 12tn Heb “they say.” 13tn If this is a direct quotation (cf. NASB, NIV), the pronoun “them” refers to the snares mentioned in the previous line. If it is an indirect quotation, then the pronoun may refer to the enemies themselves (cf. NEB, which is ambiguous). Some translations retain the direct quotation but alter the pronoun to “us,” referring clearly to the enemies (cf. NRSV). 14tn Heb “search out, examine,” which here means (by metonymy) “devise.” 15tc The MT has תַּמְנוּ (tamnu, “we are finished”), a Qal perfect first common plural form from the verbal root תָּמַם (tamam). Some understand this as the beginning of a quotation of the enemies’ words and translate, “we have completed,” but the Hiphil would seem to be required in this case. The present translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading טָמְנוּ (tomnu, “they hide”), a Qal perfect third common plural form from the verbal root טָמַן (taman). 16tn Heb “a searched-out search,” which is understood as referring here to a thoroughly planned plot to destroy the psalmist. 17tn Heb “and the inner part of man, and a heart [is] deep.” The point seems to be that a man’s inner thoughts are incapable of being discovered. No one is a mind reader! Consequently the psalmist is vulnerable to his enemies’ well-disguised plots. 18tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive is normally used in narrative contexts to describe completed past actions. It is possible that the conclusion to the psalm (vv. 7-10) was added to the lament after God’s judgment of the wicked in response to the psalmist’s lament (vv. 1-6). The translation assumes that these verses are anticipatory and express the psalmist’s confidence that God would eventually judge the wicked. The psalmist uses a narrative style as a rhetorical device to emphasize his certitude. See GKC 329-30 §111.w. 19tn The perfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s certitude about the coming demise of the wicked. 20tn The translation follows the traditional accentuation of the MT. Another option is to translate, “But God will shoot them down with an arrow, suddenly they will be wounded” (cf. NIV, NRSV). 21tc The MT reads literally, “and they caused him to stumble, upon them, their tongue.” Perhaps the third plural subject of the verb is indefinite with the third singular pronominal suffix on the verb being distributive (see Ps 63:10). In this case one may translate, “each one will be made to stumble.” The preposition עַל (’al) might then be taken as adversative, “against them [is] their tongue.” Many prefer to emend the text to וַיַּכְשִׁילֵמוֹ עֲלֵי לְשׁוֹנָם (vayyakhshilemo ’aley lÿshonam, “and he caused them to stumble over their tongue”). However, if this reading is original, it is difficult to see how the present reading of the MT arose. Furthermore, the preposition is not collocated with the verb כָּשַׁל (kashal) elsewhere. It is likely that the MT is corrupt, but a satisfying emendation has not yet been proposed. 22tn The Hitpolel verbal form is probably from the root נוּד (nud; see HALOT 678 s.v. נוד), which is attested elsewhere in the Hitpolel stem, not the root נָדַד (nadad, as proposed by BDB 622 s.v. I נָדַד), which does not occur elsewhere in this stem. 23tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read וַיִּרְאוּ (vayyir’u, “and they will see”) instead of וַיִּירְאוּ (vayyirÿ’u, “and they will proclaim”). 24tn Heb “the work of God,” referring to the judgment described in v. 7. 25tn Heb “upright in heart.” 26tn That is, about the Lord’s accomplishments on their behalf.
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