Mazmur 139:1--141:10
KonteksFor the music director, a psalm of David.
139:1 O Lord, you examine me 2 and know.
139:2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;
even from far away you understand my motives.
139:3 You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest; 3
you are aware of everything I do. 4
139:4 Certainly 5 my tongue does not frame a word
without you, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it. 6
139:5 You squeeze me in from behind and in front;
you place your hand on me.
139:6 Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension;
it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it. 7
139:7 Where can I go to escape your spirit?
Where can I flee to escape your presence? 8
139:8 If I were to ascend 9 to heaven, you would be there.
If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be. 10
139:9 If I were to fly away 11 on the wings of the dawn, 12
and settle down on the other side 13 of the sea,
139:10 even there your hand would guide me,
your right hand would grab hold of me.
139:11 If I were to say, “Certainly the darkness will cover me, 14
and the light will turn to night all around me,” 15
139:12 even the darkness is not too dark for you to see, 16
and the night is as bright as 17 day;
darkness and light are the same to you. 18
139:13 Certainly 19 you made my mind and heart; 20
you wove me together 21 in my mother’s womb.
139:14 I will give you thanks because your deeds are awesome and amazing. 22
You knew me thoroughly; 23
139:15 my bones were not hidden from you,
when 24 I was made in secret
and sewed together in the depths of the earth. 25
139:16 Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. 26
All the days ordained for me
were recorded in your scroll
before one of them came into existence. 27
139:17 How difficult it is for me to fathom your thoughts about me, O God! 28
How vast is their sum total! 29
139:18 If I tried to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
Even if I finished counting them,
I would still have to contend with you. 30
139:19 If only 31 you would kill the wicked, O God!
Get away from me, you violent men! 32
139:20 They 33 rebel against you 34 and act deceitfully; 35
your enemies lie. 36
139:21 O Lord, do I not hate those who hate you,
and despise those who oppose you? 37
139:22 I absolutely hate them, 38
they have become my enemies!
139:23 Examine me, and probe my thoughts! 39
Test me, and know my concerns! 40
139:24 See if there is any idolatrous tendency 41 in me,
and lead me in the reliable ancient path! 42
For the music director; a psalm of David.
140:1 O Lord, rescue me from wicked men! 44
Protect me from violent men, 45
140:2 who plan ways to harm me. 46
All day long they stir up conflict. 47
140:3 Their tongues wound like a serpent; 48
a viper’s 49 venom is behind 50 their lips. (Selah)
140:4 O Lord, shelter me from the power 51 of the wicked!
Protect me from violent men,
who plan to knock me over. 52
140:5 Proud men hide a snare for me;
evil men 53 spread a net by the path;
they set traps for me. (Selah)
140:6 I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
O Lord, pay attention to my plea for mercy!
140:7 O sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, 54
you shield 55 my head in the day of battle.
140:8 O Lord, do not let the wicked have their way! 56
Do not allow their 57 plan to succeed when they attack! 58 (Selah)
140:9 As for the heads of those who surround me –
may the harm done by 59 their lips overwhelm them!
140:10 May he rain down 60 fiery coals upon them!
May he throw them into the fire!
From bottomless pits they will not escape. 61
140:11 A slanderer 62 will not endure on 63 the earth;
calamity will hunt down a violent man and strike him down. 64
140:12 I know 65 that the Lord defends the cause of the oppressed
and vindicates the poor. 66
140:13 Certainly the godly will give thanks to your name;
the morally upright will live in your presence.
A psalm of David.
141:1 O Lord, I cry out to you. Come quickly to me!
Pay attention to me when I cry out to you!
141:2 May you accept my prayer like incense,
my uplifted hands like the evening offering! 68
141:3 O Lord, place a guard on my mouth!
Protect the opening 69 of my lips! 70
141:4 Do not let me have evil desires, 71
or participate in sinful activities
with men who behave wickedly. 72
I will not eat their delicacies. 73
141:5 May the godly strike me in love and correct me!
May my head not refuse 74 choice oil! 75
Indeed, my prayer is a witness against their evil deeds. 76
141:6 They will be thrown down the side of a cliff by their judges. 77
They 78 will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.
141:7 As when one plows and breaks up the soil, 79
so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
141:8 Surely I am looking to you, 80 O sovereign Lord.
In you I take shelter.
Do not expose me to danger! 81
141:9 Protect me from the snare they have laid for me,
and the traps the evildoers have set. 82
141:10 Let the wicked fall 83 into their 84 own nets,
while I escape. 85
[139:1] 1 sn Psalm 139. The psalmist acknowledges that God, who created him, is aware of his every action and thought. He invites God to examine his motives, for he is confident they are pure.
[139:1] 2 tn The statement is understood as generalizing – the psalmist describes what God typically does.
[139:3] 3 tn Heb “my traveling and my lying down you measure.” The verb זָרָה (zarah, “to measure”) is probably here a denominative from זָרָת (zarat, “a span; a measure”), though some derive it from זָרָה (zarat, “to winnow; to sift”; see BDB 279-80 s.v. זָרָה).
[139:3] 4 tn Heb “all my ways.”
[139:4] 6 tn Heb “look, O
[139:6] 7 tn Heb “too amazing [is this] knowledge for me, it is elevated, I cannot attain to it.”
[139:7] 8 tn Heb “Where can I go from your spirit, and where from your face can I flee?” God’s “spirit” may refer here (1) to his presence (note the parallel term, “your face,” and see Ps 104:29-30, where God’s “face” is his presence and his “spirit” is the life-giving breath he imparts) or (2) to his personal Spirit (see Ps 51:10).
[139:8] 9 tn The Hebrew verb סָלַק (salaq, “to ascend”) occurs only here in the OT, but the word is well-attested in Aramaic literature from different time periods and displays a wide semantic range (see DNWSI 2:788-90).
[139:8] 10 tn Heb “look, you.”
[139:9] 12 sn On the wings of the dawn. This personification of the “dawn” may find its roots in mythological traditions about the god Shachar, whose birth is described in an Ugaritic myth (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 126) and who is mentioned in Isa 14:12 as the father of Helel.
[139:9] 13 tn Heb “at the end.”
[139:11] 14 tn The Hebrew verb שׁוּף (shuf), which means “to crush; to wound,” in Gen 3:15 and Job 9:17, is problematic here. For a discussion of attempts to relate the verb to Arabic roots, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 251. Many emend the form to יְשׂוּכֵּנִי (yesukkeniy), from the root שׂכך (“to cover,” an alternate form of סכך), a reading assumed in the present translation.
[139:11] 15 tn Heb “and night, light, around me.”
[139:12] 16 tn The words “to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
[139:12] 17 tn Heb “shines like.”
[139:12] 18 tn Heb “like darkness, like light.”
[139:13] 20 tn Heb “my kidneys.” The kidneys were sometimes viewed as the seat of one’s emotions and moral character (cf. Pss 7:9; 26:2). A number of translations, recognizing that “kidneys” does not communicate this idea to the modern reader, have generalized the concept: “inmost being” (NAB, NIV); “inward parts” (NASB, NRSV); “the delicate, inner parts of my body” (NLT). In the last instance, the focus is almost entirely on the physical body rather than the emotions or moral character. The present translation, by using a hendiadys (one concept expressed through two terms), links the concepts of emotion (heart) and moral character (mind).
[139:13] 21 tn The Hebrew verb סָכַךְ (sakhakh, “to weave together”) is an alternate form of שָׂכַךְ (sakhakh, “to weave”) used in Job 10:11.
[139:14] 22 tc Heb “because awesome things, I am distinct, amazing [are] your works.” The text as it stands is syntactically problematic and makes little, if any, sense. The Niphal of פָּלָה (pala’) occurs elsewhere only in Exod 33:16. Many take the form from פָלָא (pala’; see GKC 216 §75.qq), which in the Niphal perfect means “to be amazing” (see 2 Sam 1:26; Ps 118:23; Prov 30:18). Some, following the LXX and some other ancient witnesses, also prefer to emend the verb from first to second person, “you are amazing” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 249, 251). The present translation assumes the text conflates two variants: נפלאים, the otherwise unattested masculine plural participle of פָלָא, and נִפְלָאוֹת (nifla’ot), the usual (feminine) plural form of the Niphal participle. The latter has been changed to a verb by later scribes in an attempt to accommodate it syntactically. The original text likely read, נוראות נפלאותים מעשׂיך (“your works [are] awesome [and] amazing”).
[139:14] 23 tc Heb “and my being knows very much.” Better parallelism is achieved (see v. 15a) if one emends יֹדַעַת (yoda’at), a Qal active participle, feminine singular form, to יָדַעְתָּ (yada’ta), a Qal perfect second masculine singular perfect. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 252.
[139:15] 24 tc The Hebrew term אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) should probably be emended to כֲּאַשֶׁר (ka’asher, “when”). The kaf (כ) may have been lost by haplography (note the kaf at the end of the preceding form).
[139:15] 25 sn The phrase depths of the earth may be metaphorical (euphemistic) or it may reflect a prescientific belief about the origins of the embryo deep beneath the earth’s surface (see H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 96-97). Job 1:21 also closely associates the mother’s womb with the earth.
[139:16] 26 tn Heb “Your eyes saw my shapeless form.” The Hebrew noun גֹּלֶם (golem) occurs only here in the OT. In later Hebrew the word refers to “a lump, a shapeless or lifeless substance,” and to “unfinished matter, a vessel wanting finishing” (Jastrow 222 s.v. גּוֹלֶם). The translation employs the dynamic rendering “when I was inside the womb” to clarify that the speaker was still in his mother’s womb at the time he was “seen” by God.
[139:16] 27 tn Heb “and on your scroll all of them were written, [the] days [which] were formed, and [there was] not one among them.” This “scroll” may be the “scroll of life” mentioned in Ps 69:28 (see the note on the word “living” there).
[139:17] 28 tn Heb “and to me how precious are your thoughts, O God.” The Hebrew verb יָקַר (yaqar) probably has the sense of “difficult [to comprehend]” here (see HALOT 432 s.v. יקר qal.1 and note the use of Aramaic יַקִּר in Dan 2:11). Elsewhere in the immediate context the psalmist expresses his amazement at the extent of God’s knowledge about him (see vv. 1-6, 17b-18).
[139:17] 29 tn Heb “how vast are their heads.” Here the Hebrew word “head” is used of the “sum total” of God’s knowledge of the psalmist.
[139:18] 30 tc Heb “I awake and I [am] still with you.” A reference to the psalmist awaking from sleep makes little, if any, sense contextually. For this reason some propose an emendation to הֲקִצּוֹתִי (haqitsoti), a Hiphil perfect form from an otherwise unattested verb קָצַץ (qatsats) understood as a denominative of קֵץ (qets, “end”). See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 252-53.
[139:19] 31 tn The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (see Pss 81:8; 95:7, as well as GKC 321 §109.b).
[139:19] 32 tn Heb “men of bloodshed.”
[139:20] 34 tc Heb “they speak [of] you.” The suffixed form of the verb אָמַר (’amar, “to speak”) is peculiar. The translation assumes an emendation to יַמְרֻךָ (yamrukha), a Hiphil form from מָרָה (marah, “to rebel”; see Ps 78:40).
[139:20] 35 tn Heb “by deceit.”
[139:20] 36 tc Heb “lifted up for emptiness, your cities.” The Hebrew text as it stands makes no sense. The form נָשֻׂא (nasu’; a Qal passive participle) should be emended to נָשְׂאוּ (nosÿu; a Qal perfect, third common plural, “[they] lift up”). Many emend עָרֶיךָ (’arekha, “your cities”) to עָלֶיךָ (’alekha, “against you”), but it is preferable to understand the noun as an Aramaism and translate “your enemies” (see Dan 4:16 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 253).
[139:21] 37 tc Heb “who raise themselves up against you.” The form וּבִתְקוֹמְמֶיךָ (uvitqomÿmekha) should be emended to וּבְמִתְקוֹמְמֶיךָ (uvÿmitqomÿmekha), a Hitpolel participle (the prefixed mem [מ] of the participle is accidentally omitted in the MT, though a few medieval Hebrew
[139:22] 38 tn Heb “[with] completeness of hatred I hate them.”
[139:23] 39 tn Heb “and know my heart.”
[139:23] 40 tn The Hebrew noun שַׂרְעַפַּי (sar’apay, “concerns”) is used of “worries” in Ps 94:19.
[139:24] 41 tn Many understand the Hebrew term עֹצֶב (’otsev) as a noun meaning “pain,” and translate the phrase דֶּרֶךְ עֹצֶב (derekh ’otsev) as “of pain,” but this makes little sense here. (Some interpret it to refer to actions which bring pain to others.) It is preferable to take עֹצֶב as “idol” (see HALOT 865 s.v. I עֹצֶב) and understand “way of an idol” to refer to idolatrous actions or tendency. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 253.
[139:24] 42 tn Heb “in the path of antiquity.” This probably refers to the moral path prescribed by the
[140:1] 43 sn Psalm 140. The psalmist asks God to deliver him from his deadly enemies, calls judgment down upon them, and affirms his confidence in God’s justice.
[140:1] 44 tn Heb “from a wicked man.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).
[140:1] 45 tn Heb “a man of violent acts.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).
[140:2] 46 tn Heb “they devise wicked [plans] in [their] mind.”
[140:2] 47 tc Heb “they attack [for] war.” Some revocalize the verb (which is a Qal imperfect from גּוּר, gur, “to attack”) as יְגָרוּ (yÿgaru), a Piel imperfect from גָרָה (garah, “stir up strife”). This is followed in the present translation.
[140:3] 48 tn Heb “they sharpen their tongue like a serpent.” Ps 64:3 reads, “they sharpen their tongues like sword.” Perhaps Ps 140:3 uses a mixed metaphor, the point being that “they sharpen their tongues [like a sword],” as it were, so that when they speak, their words wound like a serpent’s bite. Another option is that the language refers to the pointed or forked nature of a serpent’s tongue, which is viewed metaphorically as “sharpened.”
[140:3] 49 tn The Hebrew term is used only here in the OT.
[140:4] 52 tn Heb “to push down my steps.”
[140:5] 53 tn Heb “and ropes,” but many prefer to revocalize the noun as a participle (חֹבְלִים, khovÿlim) from the verb חָבַל (khaval, “act corruptly”).
[140:7] 54 tn Heb “the strength of my deliverance.”
[140:8] 56 tn Heb “do not grant the desires of the wicked.”
[140:8] 57 tn Heb “his.” The singular is used in a representative sense (see v. 1).
[140:8] 58 tn Heb “his plot do not promote, they rise up.” The translation understands the final verb as being an unmarked temporal clause. Another option is to revocalize the verb as a Hiphil and take the verb with the next verse, “those who surround me lift up [their] head,” which could refer to their proud attitude as they anticipate victory (see Ps 27:6).
[140:9] 59 tn Heb “harm of their lips.” The genitive here indicates the source or agent of the harm.
[140:10] 60 tn The verb form in the Kethib (consonantal Hebrew text) appears to be a Hiphil imperfect from the root מוּט (mut, “to sway”), but the Hiphil occurs only here and in Ps 55:3, where it is preferable to read יַמְטִירוּ (yamtiru, “they rain down”). In Ps 140:10 the form יַמְטֵר (yamter, “let him rain down”) should probably be read.
[140:10] 61 tn Heb “into bottomless pits, they will not arise.” The translation assumes that the preposition -בְּ (bet) has the nuance “from” here. Another option is to connect the line with what precedes, take the final clause as an asyndetic relative clause, and translate, “into bottomless pits [from which] they cannot arise.” The Hebrew noun מַהֲמֹרָה (mahamorah, “bottomless pit”) occurs only here in the OT.
[140:11] 62 tn Heb “a man of a tongue.”
[140:11] 63 tn Heb “be established in.”
[140:11] 64 tn Heb “for blows.” The Hebrew noun מַדְחֵפֹה (madkhefoh, “blow”) occurs only here in the OT.
[140:12] 65 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
[140:12] 66 tn Heb “and the just cause of the poor.”
[141:1] 67 sn Psalm 141. The psalmist asks God to protect him from sin and from sinful men.
[141:2] 68 tn Heb “may my prayer be established [like] incense before you, the uplifting of my hands [like] an evening offering.”
[141:3] 69 tn Heb “door.” The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
[141:3] 70 sn My mouth…my lips. The psalmist asks God to protect him from speaking inappropriately or sinfully.
[141:4] 71 tn Heb “do not turn my heart toward an evil thing.”
[141:4] 72 tn Heb “to act sinfully in practices in wickedness with men, doers of evil.”
[141:4] 73 sn Their delicacies. This probably refers to the enjoyment that a sinful lifestyle appears to offer.
[141:5] 74 tn The form יָנִי (yaniy) appears to be derived from the verbal root נוּא (nu’). Another option is to emend the form to יְנָא (yÿna’), a Piel from נָאָה (na’ah), and translate “may choice oil not adorn my head” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 271). In this case, choice oil, like delicacies in v. 4, symbolize the pleasures of sin.
[141:5] 75 sn May my head not refuse choice oil. The psalmist compares the constructive criticism of the godly (see the previous line) to having refreshing olive oil poured over one’s head.
[141:5] 76 tc Heb “for still, and my prayer [is] against their evil deeds.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult; the sequence -כִּי־עוֹד וּ (kiy-’od u-, “for still and”) occurs only here. The translation assumes an emendation to כִּי עֵד תְפלָּתִי (“indeed a witness [is] my prayer”). The psalmist’s lament about the evil actions of sinful men (see v. 4) testifies against the wicked in the divine court.
[141:6] 77 tn Heb “they are thrown down by the hands of a cliff, their judges.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult and the meaning uncertain. The perfect verbal form is understood as rhetorical; the psalmist describes the anticipated downfall of the wicked as if it had already occurred. “Their judges” could be taken as the subject of the verb, but this makes little, if any, sense. The translation assumes the judges are the agents and that the wicked, mentioned earlier in the psalm, are the subjects of the verb.
[141:6] 78 tn It is unclear how this statement relates to the preceding sentence. Perhaps the judges are the referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) of the verb “will listen,” and “my words” are the referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) of the phrase “are pleasant.” The psalmist may be affirming here his confidence that he will be vindicated when he presents his case before the judges, while the wicked will be punished.
[141:7] 79 tn Heb “like splitting and breaking open in the earth.” The meaning of the statement and the point of the comparison are not entirely clear. Perhaps the psalmist is suggesting that he and other godly individuals are as good as dead; their bones are scattered about like dirt that is dug up and tossed aside.
[141:8] 80 tn Heb “my eyes [are] toward you.”
[141:8] 81 tn Heb “do not lay bare my life.” Only here is the Piel form of the verb collocated with the term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”). In Isa 53:12 the Lord’s servant “lays bare (the Hiphil form of the verb is used) his life to death.”
[141:9] 82 tn Heb “and the traps of the doers of evil.”
[141:10] 83 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate, “the wicked will fall.”
[141:10] 85 tn Heb “at the same [that] I, until I pass by.” Another option is to take יַחַד (yakhad) with the preceding line, “let the wicked fall together into their own nets.”
