¹tn According to BDB 983, the verb is derived from [av (“to trample, crush”) rather than the homonymic verb “pant after.”
²tn Heb “a fighter.” The singular is collective for his enemies (see vv. 5-6). The Qal of <jl (“fight”) also occurs in Ps 35:1.
³tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to continuing nature of the enemies’ attacks.
⁴tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 59:10.
⁵tn Or “for.”
⁶tn Some take the Hebrew term <wrm (“on high; above”) as an adverb modifying the preceding participle and translate, “proudly” (cf. NASB; NIV “in their pride”). The present translation assumes the term is a divine title here. The Lord is pictured as enthroned “on high” in Ps 92:8. (Note the substantival use of the term in Isa 24:4 and see C. A. Briggs, Psalms, 2:34, who prefers to place the term at the beginning of the next verse.)
⁷tn Heb “[in] a day.”
⁸tn Heb “in God I boast, his word.” The syntax in the Hebrew text is difficult. (1) The line could be translates, “in God I boast, [in] his word.” Such a translation assumes that the prepositional phrase “in God” goes with the following verb “I boast” (see Ps 44:8) and that “his word” is appositional to “in God” and more specifically identifies the basis for the psalmist’s confidence. God’s “word” is here understood as an assuring promise of protection. Another option (2) is to translate, “in God I will boast [with] a word.” In this case, the “word” is a song of praise. (In this view the pronominal suffix “his” must be omitted as in v. 10.) The present translation reflects yet another option (3): In this case “I praise his word” is a parenthetical statement, with “his word” being the object of the verb. The sentence begun with the prepositional phrase “in God” is then completed in the next line, with the prepositional phrase being repeated after the parenthesis.
⁹tn Heb “flesh,” which refers by metonymy to human beings (see v. 11, where “man” is used in this same question), envisioned here as mortal and powerless before God (see BDB 142).
¹⁰tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential.
¹¹tn Heb “my affairs they disturb.” For other instances of rbd meaning “affairs, business,” see BDB 183. The Piel of bxu (“to hurt”) occurs only here and in Isa 63:10, where it is used of “grieving” (or “offending”) the Lord’s holy Spirit. Here in Ps 56:5, the verb seems to carry the nuance “disturb, upset,” in the sense of “cause trouble.”
¹²tn Heb “against me [are] all their thoughts for harm.”
¹³tn The verb is from the root rwg, which means “to challenge, attack” in Isa 54:15 and “to stalk” (with hostile intent) in Ps 59:3.
¹⁴tn Or “hide.”
¹⁵tn Heb “my heels.”
¹⁶tn Heb “according to,” in the sense of “inasmuch as; since,” or “when; while.”
¹⁷tn Heb “they wait [for] my life.”
¹⁸tc Heb “because of wickedness, deliverance to them.” As it stands, the MT makes no sense. The negative particle /ya (“there is not,” which is due to dittography of the immediately preceding /wa, “wickedness”), should probably be added before “deliverance” (see BHS, n. a). The presence of an imperative in the next line (note “bring down”) suggests that this line should be translated as a prayer as well, “may there not be deliverance to them.”
¹⁹tn Heb “in anger.” The pronoun “your” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
²⁰tn Or perhaps “people” in a general sense.
²¹tn Heb “my wandering you count, you.” The Hebrew term dn (“wandering,” derived from the verbal root dwn, “to wander”; cf. NASB) here refers to the psalmist’s “changeable circumstances of life” and may be translated “misery” (see HALOT 671). The verb rps (“count”) probably carries the nuance “assess” here (see HALOT 765) Cf. NIV “my lament”; NRSV “my tossings.”
²²tn Traditionally “your bottle.” Elsewhere the Hebrew word dan (“leather container”) refers to a container made from animal skin which is used to hold wine or milk (see Josh 9:4, 13; Judg 4:19; 1 Sam 16:20). If such a container is metaphorically in view here, then the psalmist seems to be asking God to store up his tears as a reminder of his suffering.
²³tn The word “recorded” is supplied in the translation for clarification. The rhetorical question assumes a positive response (see the first line of the verse).
²⁴tn Heb “then my enemies will turn back in the day I cry out.” The Hebrew particle za (“then”) is probably used here to draw attention to the following statement.
²⁵tn Heb “this I know, that God is for me.”
²⁶tn Heb “in God I praise a word.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult. The statement is similar to that of v. 4, except that the third person pronominal suffix is omitted here, where the text has simply “a word” instead of “his word.” (1) One could translate, “in God I will boast [with] a word.” In this case, the “word” refers to a song of praise. (2) If one assumes that God’s word is in view, as in v. 4, then one option is to translate, “in God I boast, [in] his word.” In this case the prepositional phrase “in God” goes with the following verb “I boast” (see Ps 44:8) and “[his] word” is appositional to “in God” and more specifically identifies the basis for the psalmist’s confidence. God’s “word” is here understood as an assuring promise of protection. (3) The present translation reflects another option: In this case “I praise [his] word” is a parenthetical statement, with “[his] word” being the object of the verb. The sentence begun with the prepositional phrase “in God” is then completed in v. 11, with the prepositional phrase being repeated after the parenthesis.
²⁷tn The phrase “in the Lord” parallels “in God” in the first line. Once again the psalmist parenthetically remarks “I boast in [his] word” before completing the sentence in v. 11.
²⁸tn The statement is similar to that of v. 4, except “flesh” is used there instead of “man.”
²⁹tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential.
³⁰tn Heb “upon me, O God, [are] your vows.”
³¹tn Heb “I will repay thank-offerings to you.”
³²tn The perfect verbal form is probably future perfect; the psalmist promises to make good on his vows once God has delivered him (see Pss 13:5; 52:9). (2) Another option is to understand the final two verses as being added later, after the Lord intervened on the psalmist’s behalf. In this case one may translate, “for you have delivered.” Other options include taking the perfect as (3) generalizing (“for you deliver”) or (4) rhetorical (“for you will”).
³³tn Heb “are not my feet [kept] from stumbling?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course they are!” The question has been translated as an affirmation for the sake of clarification of meaning.
³⁴tn Heb “walk before.” For a helpful discussion of the background and meaning of this Hebrew idiom, see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 254; cf. the same idiom in 2 Kgs 20:3; Isa 38:3.
³⁵tn Heb “in the light of life.” The phrase is used here and in Job 33:30.
³⁶sn Psalm 57. The psalmist asks for God’s protection and expresses his confidence that his ferocious enemies will be destroyed by their own schemes.
³⁷tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the heading to Pss 58-59, 75.
³⁸tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word <tkm (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56, 58-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 defines it as “inscription.”
³⁹sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm on the occasion when he fled from Saul and hid 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.