Psalm 64–65

Footnotes

1. 26 Psalm 64. The psalmist asks God to protect him from his dangerous enemies and then confidently affirms that God will destroy his enemies and demonstrate his justice in the sight of all observers.
2. 1 Heb “my voice.”
3. 2 The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s request.
4. 3 Heb “from the terror of [the] enemy.” “Terror” is used here metonymically for the enemy’s attacks that produce fear because they threaten the psalmist’s life.
5. 4 Heb “workers of wickedness.”
6. 5 Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
7. 6 Heb “a bitter word.”
8. 7 The psalmist uses the singular because he is referring to himself here as representative of a larger group.
9. 8 Heb “and are unafraid.” The words “of retaliation” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
10. 9 Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].”
11. 10 Heb “they report about hiding.”
12. 11 Heb “they say.”
13. 12 If this is a direct quotation (cf. , ), the pronoun “them” refers to the snares mentioned in the previous line. If it is an indirect quotation, then the pronoun may refer to the enemies themselves (cf. , which is ambiguous). Some translations retain the direct quotation but alter the pronoun to “us,” referring clearly to the enemies (cf. ).
14. 13 Heb “search out, examine,” which here means (by metonymy) “devise.”
15. 14 The has תַּמְנוּ (tamnu, “we are finished”), a Qal perfect first common plural form from the verbal root תָּמַם (tamam). Some understand this as the beginning of a quotation of the enemies’ words and translate, “we have completed,” but the Hiphil would seem to be required in this case. The present translation follows many medieval Hebrew in reading טָמְנוּ (tomnu, “they hide”), a Qal perfect third common plural form from the verbal root טָמַן (taman).
16. 15 Heb “a searched-out search,” which is understood as referring here to a thoroughly planned plot to destroy the psalmist.
17. 16 Heb “and the inner part of man, and a heart [is] deep.” The point seems to be that a man’s inner thoughts are incapable of being discovered. No one is a mind reader! Consequently the psalmist is vulnerable to his enemies’ well-disguised plots.
18. 17 The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive is normally used in narrative contexts to describe completed past actions. It is possible that the conclusion to the psalm (vv. 7–10) was added to the lament after God’s judgment of the wicked in response to the psalmist’s lament (vv. 1–6). The translation assumes that these verses are anticipatory and express the psalmist’s confidence that God would eventually judge the wicked. The psalmist uses a narrative style as a rhetorical device to emphasize his certitude. See §111.w.
19. 18 The perfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s certitude about the coming demise of the wicked.
20. 19 The translation follows the traditional accentuation of the . Another option is to translate, “But God will shoot them down with an arrow, suddenly they will be wounded” (cf. , ).
21. 20 The reads literally, “and they caused him to stumble, upon them, their tongue.” Perhaps the third plural subject of the verb is indefinite with the third singular pronominal suffix on the verb being distributive (see Ps 63:10). In this case one may translate, “each one will be made to stumble.” The preposition עַל (’al) might then be taken as adversative, “against them [is] their tongue.” Many prefer to emend the text to וַיַּכְשִׁילֵמוֹ עֲלֵי לְשׁוֹנָם (vayyakhshilemo ’aley léshonam, “and he caused them to stumble over their tongue”). However, if this reading is original, it is difficult to see how the present reading of the arose. Furthermore, the preposition is not collocated with the verb כָּשַׁל (kashal) elsewhere. It is likely that the is corrupt, but a satisfying emendation has not yet been proposed.
22. 21 The Hitpolel verbal form is probably from the root נוּד (nud; see נוד), which is attested elsewhere in the Hitpolel stem, not the root נָדַד (nadad, as proposed by 622 I נָדַד), which does not occur elsewhere in this stem.
23. 22 Many medieval Hebrew read וַיִּרְאוּ (vayyir’u, “and they will see”) instead of וַיִּירְאוּ (vayyiré’u, “and they will proclaim”).
24. 23 Heb “the work of God,” referring to the judgment described in v. 7.
25. 24 Heb “upright in heart.”
26. 25 That is, about the Lord’s accomplishments on their behalf.
27. 26 Psalm 65. The psalmist praises God because he forgives sin and blesses his people with an abundant harvest.
28. 1 Heb “for you, silence, praise.” Many prefer to emend the noun דֻּמִיָּה (dumiyyah, “silence”) to a participle דּוֹמִיָּה (domiyyah), from the root דָּמָה (damah, “be silent”), understood here in the sense of “wait.”
29. 2 Heb “O one who hears prayer.”
30. 3 Heb “to you all flesh comes.”
31. 4 Heb “the records of sins are too strong for me.”
32. 5 Or “make atonement for.”
33. 6 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; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).
34. 7 Heb “[whom] you bring near [so that] he might live [in] your courts.”
35. 8 Or “temple.”
36. 9 Heb “[with] awesome acts in deliverance you answer us, O God of our salvation.”
37. 10 Heb “a source of confidence [for] all the ends of the earth.” All the ends of the earth trust in you. This idealistic portrayal of universal worship is typical hymnic hyperbole, though it does anticipate eschatological reality.
38. 11 Heb “and [the] distant sea.” The plural adjective is problematic after the singular form “sea.” One could emend יָם (yam, “sea”) to יָמִים (yamim, “seas”), or emend the plural form רְחֹקִים (rékhoqim, “far”) to the singular רָחֹק (rakhoq). In this case the final mem (ם) could be treated as dittographic; note the mem on the beginning of the first word in v. 6.
39. 12 Heb “[the] one who establishes [the] mountains by his power.”
40. 13 Heb “one [who] is girded with strength”; or “one [who] girds himself with strength.”
41. 14 Heb “the roar of the seas.”
42. 15 The raging seas … the commotion made by the nations. The raging seas symbolize the turbulent nations of the earth (see Ps 46:2–3, 6; Isa 17:12).
43. 16 Heb “and the inhabitants of the ends fear because of your signs.” God’s “signs” are the “awesome acts” (see v. 5) he performs in the earth.
44. 17 Heb “the goings out of the morning and the evening you cause to shout for joy.” The phrase “goings out of the morning and evening” refers to the sunrise and sunset, that is, the east and the west.
45. 18 The verb form is a Polel from שׁוּק (shuq, “be abundant”), a verb which appears only here and in Joel 2:24 and 3:13, where it is used in the Hiphil stem and means “overflow.”
46. 19 Heb “you greatly enrich it.”
47. 20 Heb “[with] a channel of God full of water.” The divine name is probably used here in a superlative sense to depict a very deep stream (“a stream fit for God,” as it were).
48. 21 The pronoun apparently refers to the people of the earth, mentioned in v. 8.
49. 22 Heb “for thus [referring to the provision of rain described in the first half of the verse] you prepare it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix attached to the verb “prepare” refers back to the “earth,” which is a feminine noun with regard to grammatical form.
50. 23 Heb “saturating” [the form is an infinitive absolute].
51. 24 Heb “flatten, cause to sink.”
52. 25 Heb “trenches,” or “furrows.”
53. 26 Heb “soften it,” that is, the earth.
54. 27 Heb “its vegetation you bless.” Divine “blessing” often involves endowing an object with special power or capacity.
55. 28 Heb “your good,” which refers here to agricultural blessings.
56. 29 Heb “and your paths drip with abundance.”
57. 30 Heb “drip.”
58. 31 That is, with rich vegetation that brings joy to those who see it.