Mazmur 59:11

59:11 Do not strike them dead suddenly,

because then my people might forget the lesson. ¹ 

Use your power to make them homeless vagabonds and then bring them down,

O Lord who shields us! ² 

Mazmur 143:7

143:7 Answer me quickly, Lord!

My strength is fading. ³ 

Do not reject me, ⁴ 

or I will join ⁵  those descending into the grave. ⁶ 

[59:11]  ¹ tn Heb “do not kill them, lest my people forget.”

[59:11]  sn My people might forget the lesson. Swift, sudden destruction might be quickly forgotten. The psalmist wants God’s judgment to be prolonged so that it might be a continual reminder of divine justice.

[59:11]  ² tn Heb “make them roam around by your strength and bring them down, O our shield, the Lord.”

[143:7]  ³ tn Heb “my spirit is failing.”

[143:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “do not hide your face from me.” The idiom “hide the face” (1) can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) can carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).

[143:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will be equal with.”

[143:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “the pit.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit; cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. See Ps 28:1.