Mazmur 41:8-11

41:8 They say, ¹ 

‘An awful disease ²  overwhelms him, ³ 

and now that he is bed-ridden he will never recover.’ ⁴ 

41:9 Even my close friend ⁵  whom I trusted,

he who shared meals with me, has turned against me. ⁶ 

41:10 As for you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up,

so I can pay them back!” ⁷ 

41:11 By this ⁸  I know that you are pleased with me,

for my enemy does ⁹  not triumph ¹⁰  over me.

[41:8]  ¹ tn The words “they say” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to make it clear that v. 8 contains a quotation of what the psalmist’s enemies say about him (see v. 7a).

[41:8]  ² tn Heb “thing of worthlessness.” In Ps 101:3 the phrase refers to evil deeds in general, but here it appears to refer more specifically to the illness that plagues the psalmist.

[41:8]  ³ tn Heb “is poured out on him.” The passive participle of יָצַק (yatsaq) is used.

[41:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he who lies down will not again arise.”

[41:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “man of my peace.” The phrase here refers to one’s trusted friend (see Jer 38:22; Obad 7).

[41:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “has made a heel great against me.” The precise meaning of this phrase, which appears only here, is uncertain.

[41:9]  sn The language of this verse is applied to Judas Iscariot in John 13:18.

[41:10]  ⁷ tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) here indicates purpose or result (“Then I will repay them”) after the preceding imperatives.

[41:11]  ⁸ sn By this. Having recalled his former lament and petition, the psalmist returns to the confident mood of vv. 1-3. The basis for his confidence may be a divine oracle of deliverance, assuring him that God would intervene and vindicate him. The demonstrative pronoun “this” may refer to such an oracle, which is assumed here, though its contents are not included. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 319, 321.

[41:11]  ⁹ tn Or “will.” One may translate the imperfect verbal form as descriptive (present, cf. NIV) or as anticipatory (future, cf. NEB).

[41:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “shout.”