Mazmur 59:5

59:5 You, O Lord God, the invincible warrior, ¹  the God of Israel,

rouse yourself and punish ²  all the nations!

Have no mercy on any treacherous evildoers! (Selah)

Mazmur 59:1

Psalm 59 ³ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ⁴  a prayer ⁵  of David, written when Saul sent men to surround his house and murder him. ⁶ 

59:1 Deliver me from my enemies, my God!

Protect me ⁷  from those who attack me! ⁸ 

Yohanes 3:9

3:9 Nicodemus replied, ⁹  “How can these things be?” ¹⁰ 

[59:5]  ¹ tn Heb “Lord, God, Hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי (’elohey) before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”). See Ps 89:9, but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yÿhvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 80:4, 19; 84:8 as well.

[59:5]  ² tn Heb “wake up to punish” (see Pss 35:23; 44:23).

[59:1]  ³ sn Psalm 59. The psalmist calls down judgment on his foreign enemies, whom he compares to ravenous wild dogs.

[59:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the superscription to Pss 57-58, 75.

[59:1]  ⁵ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-58, 60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[59:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “when Saul sent and they watched his house in order to kill him.”

[59:1]  sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm on the occasion when Saul sent assassins to surround David’s house and kill him in the morning (see 1 Sam 19:11). However, the psalm itself mentions foreign enemies (vv. 5, 8). Perhaps these references reflect a later adaptation of an original Davidic psalm.

[59:1]  ⁷ tn Or “make me secure”; Heb “set me on high.”

[59:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “from those who raise themselves up [against] me.”

[3:9]  ⁹ tn Grk “Nicodemus answered and said to him.”

[3:9]  ¹⁰ sn “How can these things be?” is Nicodemus’ answer. It is clear that at this time he has still not grasped what Jesus is saying. Note also that this is the last appearance of Nicodemus in the dialogue. Having served the purpose of the author, at this point he disappears from the scene. As a character in the narrative, he has served to illustrate the prevailing Jewish misunderstanding of Jesus’ teaching about the necessity of a new, spiritual birth from above. Whatever parting words Nicodemus might have had with Jesus, the author does not record them.