Mazmur 39:1--41:13
KonteksFor the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.
39:1 I decided, 2 “I will watch what I say
and make sure I do not sin with my tongue. 3
I will put a muzzle over my mouth
while in the presence of an evil man.” 4
I held back the urge to speak. 6
My frustration grew; 7
39:3 my anxiety intensified. 8
As I thought about it, I became impatient. 9
Finally I spoke these words: 10
39:4 “O Lord, help me understand my mortality
and the brevity of life! 11
Let me realize how quickly my life will pass! 12
39:5 Look, you make my days short-lived, 13
and my life span is nothing from your perspective. 14
Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor. 15
39:6 Surely people go through life as mere ghosts. 16
Surely they accumulate worthless wealth
without knowing who will eventually haul it away.” 17
39:7 But now, O Lord, upon what am I relying?
You are my only hope! 18
39:8 Deliver me from all my sins of rebellion!
Do not make me the object of fools’ insults!
39:9 I am silent and cannot open my mouth
because of what you have done. 19
39:10 Please stop wounding me! 20
You have almost beaten me to death! 21
39:11 You severely discipline people for their sins; 22
like a moth you slowly devour their strength. 23
Surely all people are a mere vapor. (Selah)
39:12 Hear my prayer, O Lord!
Listen to my cry for help!
Do not ignore my sobbing! 24
For I am dependent on you, like one residing outside his native land;
I am at your mercy, just as all my ancestors were. 25
39:13 Turn your angry gaze away from me, so I can be happy
before I pass away. 26
For the music director; By David, a psalm.
40:1 I relied completely 28 on the Lord,
and he turned toward me
and heard my cry for help.
40:2 He lifted me out of the watery pit, 29
out of the slimy mud. 30
He placed my feet on a rock
and gave me secure footing. 31
40:3 He gave me reason to sing a new song, 32
praising our God. 33
May many see what God has done,
so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord! 34
40:4 How blessed 35 is the one 36 who trusts in the Lord 37
and does not seek help from 38 the proud or from liars! 39
40:5 O Lord, my God, you have accomplished many things;
you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us. 40
No one can thwart you! 41
I want to declare them and talk about them,
but they are too numerous to recount! 42
40:6 Receiving sacrifices and offerings are not your primary concern. 43
You make that quite clear to me! 44
You do not ask for burnt sacrifices and sin offerings.
40:7 Then I say,
“Look! I come!
What is written in the scroll pertains to me. 45
40:8 I want to do what pleases you, 46 my God.
Your law dominates my thoughts.” 47
40:9 I have told the great assembly 48 about your justice. 49
Look! I spare no words! 50
O Lord, you know this is true.
40:10 I have not failed to tell about your justice; 51
I spoke about your reliability and deliverance;
I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness. 52
40:11 O Lord, you do not withhold 53 your compassion from me.
May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me! 54
40:12 For innumerable dangers 55 surround me.
My sins overtake me
so I am unable to see;
they outnumber the hairs of my head
so my strength fails me. 56
40:13 Please be willing, O Lord, to rescue me!
O Lord, hurry and help me! 57
40:14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life
be totally embarrassed and ashamed! 58
May those who want to harm me
be turned back and ashamed! 59
40:15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
be humiliated 60 and disgraced! 61
40:16 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you!
May those who love to experience 62 your deliverance say continually, 63
“May the Lord be praised!” 64
40:17 I am oppressed and needy! 65
May the Lord pay attention to me! 66
You are my helper and my deliverer!
O my God, do not delay!
For the music director; a psalm of David.
41:1 How blessed 68 is the one who treats the poor properly! 69
When trouble comes, 70 the Lord delivers him. 71
41:2 May the Lord protect him and save his life! 72
May he be blessed 73 in the land!
Do not turn him over 74 to his enemies! 75
41:3 The Lord supports 76 him on his sickbed;
you completely heal him from his illness. 77
“O Lord, have mercy on me!
Heal me, for I have sinned against you!
41:5 My enemies ask this cruel question about me, 79
‘When will he finally die and be forgotten?’ 80
41:6 When someone comes to visit, 81 he pretends to be friendly; 82
he thinks of ways to defame me, 83
and when he leaves he slanders me. 84
41:7 All who hate me whisper insults about me to one another; 85
they plan ways to harm me.
‘An awful disease 87 overwhelms him, 88
and now that he is bed-ridden he will never recover.’ 89
41:9 Even my close friend 90 whom I trusted,
he who shared meals with me, has turned against me. 91
41:10 As for you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up,
so I can pay them back!” 92
41:11 By this 93 I know that you are pleased with me,
for my enemy does 94 not triumph 95 over me.
41:12 As for me, you uphold 96 me because of my integrity; 97
you allow 98 me permanent access to your presence. 99
41:13 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise 100
in the future and forevermore! 101
We agree! We agree! 102
[39:1] 1 sn Psalm 39. The psalmist laments his frailty and mortality as he begs the Lord to take pity on him and remove his disciplinary hand.
[39:1] 3 tn Heb “I will watch my ways, from sinning with my tongue.”
[39:1] 4 sn The psalmist wanted to voice a lament to the
[39:2] 5 tn Heb “I was mute [with] silence.”
[39:2] 6 tn Heb “I was quiet from good.” He kept quiet, resisting the urge to find emotional release and satisfaction by voicing his lament.
[39:2] sn I held back the urge to speak. For a helpful discussion of the relationship (and tension) between silence and complaint in ancient Israelite lamentation, see E. S. Gerstenberger, Psalms, Part I (FOTL), 166-67.
[39:2] 7 tn Heb “and my pain was stirred up.” Emotional pain is in view here.
[39:3] 8 tn Heb “my heart was hot within me.”
[39:3] 9 tn Heb “In my reflection fire burned.” The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite (past tense) or an imperfect being used in a past progressive or customary sense (“fire was burning”).
[39:3] 10 tn Heb “I spoke with my tongue.” The phrase “these words” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
[39:4] 11 tn Heb “Cause me to know, O
[39:4] 12 tn Heb “Let me know how transient I am!”
[39:5] 13 tn Heb “Look, handbreadths you make my days.” The “handbreadth” (equivalent to the width of four fingers) was one of the smallest measures used by ancient Israelites. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 309.
[39:5] 14 tn Heb “is like nothing before you.”
[39:5] 15 tn Heb “surely, all vapor [is] all mankind, standing firm.” Another option is to translate, “Surely, all mankind, though seemingly secure, is nothing but a vapor.”
[39:6] 16 tn Heb “surely, as an image man walks about.” The preposition prefixed to “image” indicates identity here.
[39:6] sn People go through life (Heb “man walks about”). “Walking” is here used as a metaphor for living. The point is that human beings are here today, gone tomorrow. They have no lasting substance and are comparable to mere images or ghosts.
[39:6] 17 tc Heb “Surely [in] vain they strive, he accumulates and does not know who gathers them.” The MT as it stands is syntactically awkward. The verb forms switch from singular (“walks about”) to plural (“they strive”) and then back to singular (“accumulates and does not know”), even though the subject (generic “man”) remains the same. Furthermore there is no object for the verb “accumulates” and no plural antecedent for the plural pronoun (“them”) attached to “gathers.” These problems can be removed if one emends the text from הֶבֶל יֶהֱמָיוּן (hevel yehemaun, “[in] vain they strive”) to הֶבְלֵי הָמוֹן (hevley hamon, “vain things of wealth”). This assumes a misdivision in the MT and a virtual dittography of vav (ו) between the mem and nun of המון. The present translation follows this emendation.
[39:7] 18 tn Heb “my hope, for you it [is].”
[39:9] 19 tn Heb “because you acted.” The psalmist has in mind God’s disciplinary measures (see vv. 10-13).
[39:10] 20 tn Heb “remove from upon me your wound.”
[39:10] 21 tn Heb “from the hostility of your hand I have come to an end.”
[39:11] 22 tn “with punishments on account of sin you discipline a man.”
[39:11] 23 tc Heb “you cause to dissolve, like a moth, his desired [thing].” The translation assumes an emendation of חֲמוּדוֹ (khamudo, “his desirable [thing]”) to חֶמְדוֹ (khemdo, “his loveliness” [or “beauty”]), a reading that is supported by a few medieval Hebrew
[39:12] 24 tn Heb “do not be deaf to my tears.”
[39:12] 25 tn Heb “For a resident alien [am] I with you, a sojourner like all my fathers.”
[39:12] sn Resident aliens were dependent on the mercy and goodwill of others. The Lord was concerned that resident aliens be treated properly. See Deut 24:17-22, Ps 146:9.
[39:13] 26 tn Heb “Gaze away from me and I will smile before I go and am not.” The precise identification of the initial verb form (הָשַׁע, hasha’) is uncertain. It could be from the root שָׁעָע (sha’a’, “smear”), but “your eyes” would be the expected object in this case (see Isa 6:10). The verb may be an otherwise unattested Hiphil form of שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “to gaze”) meaning “cause your gaze to be.” Some prefer to emend the form to the Qal שְׁעֵה (shÿ’eh, “gaze”; see Job 14:6). If one does read a form of the verb “to gaze,” the angry divine “gaze” of discipline would seem to be in view (see vv. 10-11). For a similar expression of this sentiment see Job 10:20-21.
[40:1] 27 sn Psalm 40. The psalmist combines a song of thanksgiving for a recent act of divine deliverance (vv. 1-11) with a confident petition for renewed divine intervention (vv. 12-17).
[40:1] 28 tn Heb “relying, I relied.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form to emphasize the verbal idea. The emphasis is reflected in the translation through the adverb “completely.” Another option is to translate, “I waited patiently” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[40:2] 29 tn Heb “cistern of roaring.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “cistern, pit”) is used metaphorically here of Sheol, the place of death, which is sometimes depicted as a raging sea (see Ps 18:4, 15-16). The noun שָׁאוֹן (sha’on, “roaring”) refers elsewhere to the crashing sound of the sea’s waves (see Ps 65:7).
[40:2] 30 tn Heb “from the mud of mud.” The Hebrew phrase translated “slimy mud” employs an appositional genitive. Two synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.
[40:2] 31 tn Heb “he established my footsteps.”
[40:3] 32 sn A new song was appropriate because the Lord had intervened in the psalmist’s experience in a fresh and exciting way.
[40:3] 33 tn Heb “and he placed in my mouth a new song, praise to our God.”
[40:3] 34 tn Heb “may many see and fear and trust in the
[40:4] 35 tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).
[40:4] 36 tn Heb “man.” See the note on the word “one” in Ps 1:1.
[40:4] 37 tn Heb “who has made the
[40:4] 38 tn Heb “and does not turn toward.”
[40:4] 39 tn Heb “those falling away toward a lie.”
[40:5] 40 tn Heb “many things you have done, you, O
[40:5] 41 tn Heb “there is none arrayed against you.” The precise meaning of the text is unclear, but the collocation עָרַךְ אֶל (’arakh ’el, “array against”) is used elsewhere of military (Judg 20:30; 1 Chr 19:17) or verbal opposition (Job 32:14).
[40:5] 42 tn Heb “I will declare and I will speak, they are too numerous to recount.” The present translation assumes that the cohortatives are used in a hypothetical manner in a formally unmarked conditional sentence, “Should I try to declare [them] and speak [of them]…” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). For other examples of cohortatives in the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, see GKC 320 §108.e. (It should be noted, however, that GKC understands this particular verse in a different manner. See GKC 320 §108.f, where it is suggested that the cohortatives are part of an apodosis with the protasis being suppressed.) Another option is to take the cohortatives as a declaration of the psalmist’s resolve to announce the truth expressed in the next line. In this case one might translate: “I will declare and speak [the truth]: They are too numerous to recount.”
[40:6] 43 tn Heb “sacrifice and offering you do not desire.” The statement is exaggerated for the sake of emphasis (see Ps 51:16 as well). God is pleased with sacrifices, but his first priority is obedience and loyalty (see 1 Sam 15:22). Sacrifices and offerings apart from genuine allegiance are meaningless (see Isa 1:11-20).
[40:6] 44 tn Heb “ears you hollowed out for me.” The meaning of this odd expression is debated (this is the only collocation of “hollowed out” and “ears” in the OT). It may have been an idiomatic expression referring to making a point clear to a listener. The LXX has “but a body you have prepared for me,” a reading which is followed in Heb 10:5.
[40:7] 45 tn Heb “in the roll of the scroll it is written concerning me.” Apparently the psalmist refers to the law of God (see v. 8), which contains the commandments God desires him to obey. If this is a distinctly royal psalm, then the psalmist/king may be referring specifically to the regulations of kingship prescribed in Deut 17:14-20. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 315.
[40:8] 47 tn Heb “your law [is] in the midst of my inner parts.” The “inner parts” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s thought life and moral decision making.
[40:9] 48 sn The great assembly is also mentioned in Pss 22:25 and 35:18.
[40:9] 49 tn Heb “I proclaim justice in the great assembly.” Though “justice” appears without a pronoun here, the
[40:9] 50 tn Heb “Look! My lips I do not restrain.”
[40:10] 51 tn Heb “your justice I have not hidden in the midst of my heart.”
[40:10] 52 tn Heb “I have not hidden your loyal love and reliability.”
[40:11] 53 tn Some (cf. NIV, NRSV) translate the verb as a request (“do not withhold”), but elsewhere in the psalms the second masculine singular prefixed form, when addressed to God and preceded by לֹא (lo’), is always indicative in mood and never has the force of a prayer (see Pss 16:10; 22:2; 44:9 51:16-17; 60:10; 108:11; cf. NEB, NASB).
[40:11] 54 tn In this line the psalmist makes the transition from confidence to petition (see v. 13). Since the prefixed verbal form in the preceding line is imperfect/indicative, one could take the verb in this line as imperfect as well and translate, “your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me” (cf. NEB). However, the כִּי (ki) at the beginning of the next verse, if causal (“because”), is best understood as introducing a motivating argument in support of a petition. For this reason v. 11b is best taken as a prayer with the prefixed form being understood as jussive (cf. NIV, NRSV). For parallels to the proposed construction (jussive followed by כִּי + perfect introducing motivating argument), see Ps 25:21, as well as Pss 10:2-3; 22:8.
[40:12] 55 tn Or “sinful deeds.” The Hebrew term used here can have a nonmoral nuance (“dangers”) or a moral one (“sinful deeds”) depending on the context. The next line (see “my sins”) seems to favor the moral sense, but the psalmist also speaks of enemies shortly after this (v. 14).
[40:12] 56 tn Heb “and my heart abandons me.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of emotional strength and courage. For a similar idea see Ps 38:10.
[40:13] 57 tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Pss 22:19; 38:22.
[40:14] 58 tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed together, the ones seeking my life to snatch it away.”
[40:14] 59 tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse (“may those…be…embarrassed and ashamed…may those…be turned back and ashamed”) are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies.
[40:14] sn See Ps 35:4 for a similar prayer.
[40:15] 60 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive in this imprecation.
[40:15] 61 tn Heb “May they be humiliated according to their shame, those who say to me, ‘Aha! Aha!’”
[40:16] 62 tn Heb “those who love,” which stands metonymically for its cause, the experience of being delivered by the
[40:16] 63 tn The three prefixed verbal forms prior to the quotation are understood as jussives. The psalmist balances out his imprecation against his enemies with a prayer of blessing upon the godly.
[40:16] 64 tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, “may the
[40:17] 65 sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.
[40:17] 66 tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a jussive of prayer (as in the present translation; cf. NIV) or as an imperfect, “The
[41:1] 67 sn Psalm 41. The psalmist is confident (vv. 11-12) that the Lord has heard his request to be healed (vv. 4-10), and he anticipates the joy he will experience when the Lord intervenes (vv. 1-3). One must assume that the psalmist is responding to a divine oracle of assurance (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 319-20). The final verse is a fitting conclusion to this psalm, but it is also serves as a fitting conclusion to the first “book” (or major editorial division) of the Psalter. Similar statements appear at or near the end of each of the second, third, and fourth “books” of the Psalter (see Pss 72:19, 89:52, and 106:48 respectively).
[41:1] 68 tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).
[41:1] 69 sn One who treats the poor properly. The psalmist is characterizing himself as such an individual and supplying a reason why God has responded favorably to his prayer. The Lord’s attitude toward the merciful mirrors their treatment of the poor.
[41:1] 70 tn Heb “in the day of trouble” (see Ps 27:5).
[41:1] 71 tn That is, the one who has been kind to the poor. The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive of prayer (“may the
[41:2] 72 tn The prefixed verbal forms are taken as jussives in the translation because the jussive is clearly used in the final line of the verse, suggesting that this is a prayer. The psalmist stops to pronounce a prayer of blessing on the godly individual envisioned in v. 1. Of course, he actually has himself primarily in view. He mixes confidence (vv. 1, 3) with petition (v. 2) because he stands in the interval between the word of assurance and the actual intervention by God.
[41:2] 73 tc The translation follows the consonantal Hebrew text (Kethib), which has a Pual (passive) prefixed form, regarded here as a jussive. The Pual of the verb אָשַׁר (’ashar) also appears in Prov 3:18. The marginal reading (Qere) assumes a vav (ו) consecutive and Pual perfect. Some, with the support of the LXX, change the verb to a Piel (active) form with an objective pronominal suffix, “and may he bless him,” or “and he will bless him” (cf. NIV).
[41:2] 74 tn The negative particle אַל (’al) before the prefixed verbal form indicates the verb is a jussive and the statement a prayer. Those who want to take v. 2 as a statement of confidence suggest emending the negative particle to לֹא (lo’), which is used with the imperfect. See the earlier note on the verbal forms in line one of this verse. According to GKC 322 §109.e, this is a case where the jussive is used rhetorically to “express that something cannot or should not happen.” In this case one might translate, “you will not turn him over to his enemies,” and take the preceding verbal forms as indicative in mood.
[41:2] 75 tn Heb “do not give him over to the desire of his enemies” (see Ps 27:12).
[41:3] 76 tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive, continuing the prayer of v. 2, but the parallel line in v. 3b employs the perfect, suggesting that the psalmist is again speaking in the indicative mood (see v. 1b). The imperfect can be understood as future or as generalizing (see v. 1).
[41:3] 77 tn Heb “all his bed you turn in his illness.” The perfect is used here in a generalizing sense (see v. 1) or in a rhetorical manner to emphasize that the healing is as good as done.
[41:4] 78 sn In vv. 4-10 the psalmist recites the prayer of petition and lament he offered to the Lord.
[41:5] 79 tn Heb “my enemies speak evil concerning me.”
[41:5] 80 tn Heb “and his name perish.”
[41:6] 82 tn Heb “he speaks deceitfully.”
[41:6] 83 tn Heb “his heart gathers sin to itself.”
[41:6] 84 tn Heb “he goes outside and speaks.”
[41:7] 85 tn Heb “together against me they whisper, all those who hate me.” The Hitpael of לָחַשׁ (lakhash) refers here to whispering to one another (see 2 Sam 12:19).
[41:8] 86 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] 87 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] 88 tn Heb “is poured out on him.” The passive participle of יָצַק (yatsaq) is used.
[41:8] 89 tn Heb “and he who lies down will not again arise.”
[41:9] 90 tn Heb “man of my peace.” The phrase here refers to one’s trusted friend (see Jer 38:22; Obad 7).
[41:9] 91 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] 92 tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) here indicates purpose or result (“Then I will repay them”) after the preceding imperatives.
[41:11] 93 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] 94 tn Or “will.” One may translate the imperfect verbal form as descriptive (present, cf. NIV) or as anticipatory (future, cf. NEB).
[41:12] 96 tn Or “have upheld.” The perfect verbal form can be taken as generalizing/descriptive (present) or as a present perfect.
[41:12] 97 sn Because of my integrity. See Pss 7:8; 25:21; 26:1, 11.
[41:12] 98 tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect. It is either generalizing/descriptive (present) or has a present perfect nuance (“you have allowed”).
[41:12] 99 tn Heb “and you cause me to stand before you permanently.”
[41:13] 100 tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21.
[41:13] 101 tn Heb “from everlasting to everlasting.” See 1 Chr 16:36; Neh 9:5; Pss 90:2; 106:48.
[41:13] 102 tn Heb “surely and surely” (אָמֵן וְאָמֵן [’amen vÿ’amen], i.e., “amen and amen”). This is probably a congregational response to the immediately preceding statement about the propriety of praising God.
