¹tn God’s “name” refers here to his reputation and revealed character, which would instill fear in the psalmist’s enemies (see C. A. Briggs, Psalms, 2:17).
²tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.
³tn Heb “to the words of my mouth.”
⁴tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read <ydz (“proud ones”) rather than <yrz (“foreigners”). (No matter which reading one chooses as original, dalet-resh confusion accounts for the existence of the variant.) The term <ydz (“proud ones”) occurs in parallelism with <yxyru (“violent ones”) in Ps 86:14 and Isa 13:11. However, <yrz (“foreigners”) is parallel to <yxyru (“violent ones”) in Isa 25:5; 29:5; Ezek 28:7; 31:12.
⁵tn Heb “rise against me.”
⁶tn Heb “and ruthless ones seek my life, they do not set God in front of them.”
⁷tn Or “my helper.”
⁸tn Or “sustain my life.”
⁹tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 56:2.
¹⁰tn The Kethib (consonantal text) reads a Qal imperfect, “the evil will return,” while the Qere (marginal reading) has a Hiphil imperfect, “he will repay.” The parallel line has an imperative (indicating a prayer/request), so it is best to read a jussive form bv)y` (“let it [the evil] return”) here.
¹¹tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”
¹²tn The cohortative verbal form expresses the psalmist’s resolve/vow to praise.
¹³tn Or “for,” indicating a more specific reason why he will praise the Lord’s name (cf. v. 6).
¹⁴tn The perfects in v. 7 are probably rhetorical, indicating the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s deliverance and his own vindication as if they were occurring or had already occurred.
¹⁵tn Heb “and on my enemies my eyes look.”
¹⁶sn Psalm 55. The suffering and oppressed author laments that one of his friends has betrayed him, but he is confident that God will vindicate him by punishing his deceitful enemies.
¹⁷tn The meaning of the Hebrew term lykcm (“maskil”) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.