Mazmur 140:1--142:7
KonteksFor the music director; a psalm of David.
140:1 O Lord, rescue me from wicked men! 2
Protect me from violent men, 3
140:2 who plan ways to harm me. 4
All day long they stir up conflict. 5
140:3 Their tongues wound like a serpent; 6
a viper’s 7 venom is behind 8 their lips. (Selah)
140:4 O Lord, shelter me from the power 9 of the wicked!
Protect me from violent men,
who plan to knock me over. 10
140:5 Proud men hide a snare for me;
evil men 11 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, 12
you shield 13 my head in the day of battle.
140:8 O Lord, do not let the wicked have their way! 14
Do not allow their 15 plan to succeed when they attack! 16 (Selah)
140:9 As for the heads of those who surround me –
may the harm done by 17 their lips overwhelm them!
140:10 May he rain down 18 fiery coals upon them!
May he throw them into the fire!
From bottomless pits they will not escape. 19
140:11 A slanderer 20 will not endure on 21 the earth;
calamity will hunt down a violent man and strike him down. 22
140:12 I know 23 that the Lord defends the cause of the oppressed
and vindicates the poor. 24
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! 26
141:3 O Lord, place a guard on my mouth!
Protect the opening 27 of my lips! 28
141:4 Do not let me have evil desires, 29
or participate in sinful activities
with men who behave wickedly. 30
I will not eat their delicacies. 31
141:5 May the godly strike me in love and correct me!
May my head not refuse 32 choice oil! 33
Indeed, my prayer is a witness against their evil deeds. 34
141:6 They will be thrown down the side of a cliff by their judges. 35
They 36 will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.
141:7 As when one plows and breaks up the soil, 37
so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
141:8 Surely I am looking to you, 38 O sovereign Lord.
In you I take shelter.
Do not expose me to danger! 39
141:9 Protect me from the snare they have laid for me,
and the traps the evildoers have set. 40
141:10 Let the wicked fall 41 into their 42 own nets,
while I escape. 43
A well-written song 45 by David, when he was in the cave; 46 a prayer.
142:1 To the Lord I cry out; 47
to the Lord I plead for mercy. 48
142:2 I pour out my lament before him;
I tell him about 49 my troubles.
142:3 Even when my strength leaves me, 50
you watch my footsteps. 51
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
142:4 Look to the right and see!
No one cares about me. 52
I have nowhere to run; 53
no one is concerned about my life. 54
142:5 I cry out to you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my shelter,
my security 55 in the land of the living.”
142:6 Listen to my cry for help,
for I am in serious trouble! 56
Rescue me from those who chase me,
for they are stronger than I am.
that I may give thanks to your name.
Because of me the godly will assemble, 58
for you will vindicate me. 59
[140:1] 1 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] 2 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] 3 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] 4 tn Heb “they devise wicked [plans] in [their] mind.”
[140:2] 5 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] 6 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] 7 tn The Hebrew term is used only here in the OT.
[140:4] 10 tn Heb “to push down my steps.”
[140:5] 11 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] 12 tn Heb “the strength of my deliverance.”
[140:8] 14 tn Heb “do not grant the desires of the wicked.”
[140:8] 15 tn Heb “his.” The singular is used in a representative sense (see v. 1).
[140:8] 16 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] 17 tn Heb “harm of their lips.” The genitive here indicates the source or agent of the harm.
[140:10] 18 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] 19 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] 20 tn Heb “a man of a tongue.”
[140:11] 21 tn Heb “be established in.”
[140:11] 22 tn Heb “for blows.” The Hebrew noun מַדְחֵפֹה (madkhefoh, “blow”) occurs only here in the OT.
[140:12] 23 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
[140:12] 24 tn Heb “and the just cause of the poor.”
[141:1] 25 sn Psalm 141. The psalmist asks God to protect him from sin and from sinful men.
[141:2] 26 tn Heb “may my prayer be established [like] incense before you, the uplifting of my hands [like] an evening offering.”
[141:3] 27 tn Heb “door.” The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
[141:3] 28 sn My mouth…my lips. The psalmist asks God to protect him from speaking inappropriately or sinfully.
[141:4] 29 tn Heb “do not turn my heart toward an evil thing.”
[141:4] 30 tn Heb “to act sinfully in practices in wickedness with men, doers of evil.”
[141:4] 31 sn Their delicacies. This probably refers to the enjoyment that a sinful lifestyle appears to offer.
[141:5] 32 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] 33 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] 34 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] 35 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] 36 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] 37 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] 38 tn Heb “my eyes [are] toward you.”
[141:8] 39 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] 40 tn Heb “and the traps of the doers of evil.”
[141:10] 41 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate, “the wicked will fall.”
[141:10] 43 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.”
[142:1] 44 sn Psalm 142. The psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.
[142:1] 45 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.
[142:1] 46 sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm while in “the cave.” This probably refers to either the incident recorded in 1 Sam 22:1 or to the one recorded in 1 Sam 24:3. See the superscription of Ps 57.
[142:1] 47 tn Heb “[with] my voice to the
[142:1] 48 tn Heb “[with] my voice to the
[142:2] 49 tn Heb “my trouble before him I declare.”
[142:3] 50 tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”
[142:3] 51 tn Heb “you know my path.”
[142:4] 52 tn Heb “there is no one who recognizes me.”
[142:4] 53 tn Heb “ a place of refuge perishes from me.”
[142:4] 54 tn Heb “there is no one who seeks for the sake of my life.”
[142:5] 55 tn Heb “my portion.” The psalmist compares the
[142:6] 56 tn Heb “for I am very low.”
[142:7] 57 tn Heb “bring out my life.”
[142:7] 58 tn Or “gather around.”
[142:7] 59 tn The Hebrew idiom גָּמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense.
