Mazmur 57:5-7

57:5 Rise up ¹  above the sky, O God!

May your splendor cover the whole earth! ² 

57:6 They have prepared a net to trap me; ³ 

I am discouraged. ⁴ 

They have dug a pit for me. ⁵ 

They will fall ⁶  into it! (Selah)

57:7 I am determined, ⁷  O God! I am determined!

I will sing and praise you!

[57:5]  ¹ tn Or “be exalted.”

[57:5]  ² tn Heb “over all the earth [be] your splendor.” Though no verb appears, the tone of the statement is a prayer or wish. (Note the imperative form in the preceding line.)

[57:6]  ³ tn Heb “for my feet.”

[57:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “my life bends low.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[57:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “before me.”

[57:6]  ⁶ tn The perfect form is used rhetorically here to express the psalmist’s certitude. The demise of the enemies is so certain that he can speak of it as already accomplished.

[57:7]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps “confident”; Heb “my heart is steadfast.” The “heart” is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s volition and/or emotions.