¹tn The Hebrew term vpn here refers to the psalmist’s throat or neck (see HALOT 712). The psalmist compares himself to a helpless, drowning man.
²tn Heb “and there is no place to stand.”
³tn Heb “have entered.”
⁴tn Or perhaps “raw”; Heb “burned; enflamed.”
⁵tn Heb “my eyes fail from waiting for my God.” The psalmist has intently kept his eyes open, looking for God to intervene, but now his eyes are watery and bloodshot, impairing his vision.
⁶tn Heb “[with] a lie.” The Hebrew noun rqv (“lie”) is used here as an adverb, “falsely, wrongfully” (see Pss 35:19; 38:19).
⁷tn The Hebrew verb <xu can sometimes mean “are strong,” but here it probably focuses on numerical superiority; note the parallel verb bbr (“be many”).
⁸tn Heb “that which I did not steal, then I restore.” Apparently za (“then”) is used here to emphasize the verb that follows.
sn They make me “pay back” what I did not steal. The psalmist’s enemies falsely accuse him and hold him accountable for alleged crimes he did not even commit.
⁹tn Heb “you know my foolishness.”
¹⁰sn The psalmist is the first to admit that he is not perfect. But even so, he is innocent of the allegations which his enemies bring against him (v. 5b). God, who is aware of his foolish sins and faults, can testify to the truth of his claim.
¹¹tn Heb “O Master, Lord of hosts.” Both titles draw attention to God’s sovereign position.
¹²tn Heb “carry, bear.”
¹³tn Heb “on account of you.”
¹⁴tn Heb “and shame covers my face.”
¹⁵tn Heb “and I am estranged to my brothers, and a foreigner to the sons of my mother.”
¹⁶tn Or “for.” This verse explains that the psalmist’s suffering is due to his allegiance to God.
¹⁷tn Or “zeal for.”
¹⁸sn God’s temple here represents by metonymy God himself.
¹⁹tn Heb “the insults of those who insult you fall upon me.”
sn Jn 2:17 applies the first half of this verse to Jesus’ ministry in the context of John’s account of Jesus cleansing the temple.
²⁰sn Fasting was a practice of mourners. By refraining from normal activities such as eating food, the mourner demonstrated the sincerity of his sorrow.
²¹tn Heb “and it becomes insults to me.”
²²tn Heb “and I am an object of ridicule to them.”
²³tn Heb “the mocking songs of the drinkers of beer.”
²⁴tn Heb “as for me, [may] my prayer be to you, O Lord, [in] a time of favor.”
²⁵tn Heb “O God, in the abundance of your loyal love, answer me in the faithfulness of your deliverance.”
²⁶tn Heb “let me be delivered.”
²⁷tn Heb “well,” which here symbolizes the place of the dead (see Ps 55:23 and HALOT 106).
²⁸tn Heb “do not let the well close its mouth upon me.”
²⁹tn Heb “is good,” that is, “pleasant; desirable.”
³⁰tn Heb “do not hide your face from.” The Hebrew idiom “hide the face” can (1) mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).
³¹tn Or “quickly.”
³²tn Heb “come near my life and redeem it.” The verb “redeem” casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Ps 19:14).
³³tn Heb “before you [are] all my enemies.”
³⁴tn Heb “break my heart.” The “heart” is viewed here as the origin of the psalmist’s emotions.
³⁵tn The verb form appears to be a Qal preterite from an otherwise unattested root vwn, which some consider an alternate form of vna (“be weak; be sick”; see BDB 60). Perhaps the form should be emended to a Niphal, hv*n+a*a@w` (“and I am sick”). The Niphal of vna occurs in 2 Sam 12:15, where it is used to describe David’s sick child.
<sup>36</sup>tn Heb “wait.”
<sup>37</sup>tn Heb “and I wait for sympathy, but there is none.” The form dwn is an infinitive functioning as a verbal noun, “sympathizing.” Some suggest emending the form to a participle dn` (“one who shows sympathy”). The verb dwn also has the nuance “show sympathy” in Job 2:11; 42:11 and Isa 51:19.
³⁸sn John 19:28-30 appears to understand Jesus’ experience on the cross as a fulfillment of this passage (or Ps 22:15). See the study note on the word “thirsty” in John 19:28.
³⁹tc Heb “and to the friends for a snare.” The plural of <wlv (“peace”) is used in Ps 55:20 of one’s “friends.” If the reading of the MT is retained here, the term depicts the psalmist’s enemies as a close-knit group of friends who are bound together by their hatred for the psalmist. Some prefer to revocalize the text as <ym!WLv!luW (“and for retribution”). In this case the noun stands parallel to jp (“trap”) and vqwm (“snare”), and one might translate, “may their dining table become a trap before them, [a means of] retribution and a snare” (cf. NIV).
⁴⁰tn Heb “may their eyes be darkened from seeing.”
⁴¹tn Heb “make their hips shake continually.”
⁴²tn Heb “anger.” “Anger” here refers metonymically to divine judgment, which is the practical effect of God’s anger.
⁴³tn Heb “the rage of your anger.” The phrase “rage of your anger” employs an appositional genitive. 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, Semitics 2 (1971), 17-81.
⁴⁴sn In Acts 1:20 Peter applies the language of this verse to Judas’ experience. By changing the pronouns from plural to singular, he is able to apply the ancient curse, pronounced against the psalmist’s enemies, to Judas in particular.
⁴⁵tn Or “persecute”; Heb “chase.”
⁴⁶tn Heb “for you, the one whom you strike, they chase.”
⁴⁷tn Heb “they announce the pain of your wounded ones” (i.e., “the ones whom you wounded,” as the parallel line makes clear).
sn The psalmist is innocent of the false charges made by his enemies (v. 4), but he is also aware of his sinfulness (v. 5) and admits that he experiences divine discipline (v. 26) despite his devotion to God (v. 9). Here he laments that his enemies take advantage of such divine discipline by harassing and slandering him. They “kick him while he’s down,” as the expression goes.
⁴⁸tn Heb “place sin upon their sin.”
⁴⁹tn Heb “let them not come into your vindication.”
⁵⁰tn Heb “let them be wiped out of the scroll of life.”
sn The phrase the scroll listing the living (Heb “scroll of life”) occurs only here in the OT. It pictures a scroll or census list containing the names of the citizens of a community. When an individual dies, that person’s name is wiped out of the list. So this curse is a very vivid way of asking that the enemies die.
⁵¹tn Heb “and with the godly let them not be written.”
sn Do not let their names be listed with the godly. This curse pictures a scroll in which God records the names of his loyal followers. The psalmist makes the point that his enemies have no right to be included in this list of the godly.
⁵²tn Heb “your deliverance, O God, may it protect me.”
⁵³tn Heb “I will praise the name of God with a song.”
⁵⁴tn Heb “I will magnify him with thanks.”
⁵⁵sn You who seek God refers to those who seek to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him (see Ps 53:2).
⁵⁶tn Heb “may your heart[s] live.” See Ps 22:26.
⁵⁷tn Heb “his prisoners.” The psalmist here compares the objects of divine discipline (see v. 26) to prisoners.
⁵⁸tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁵⁹tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to “Zion” (see Pss 48:12; 102:14); thus the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁶⁰tn Heb “the lovers of his name.” The phrase refers to those who are loyal to God (cf. v. 35). See Pss 5:11; 119:132; Isa 56:6.
⁶¹sn Verses 35-36 appear to be an addition to the psalm from the time of the exile. The earlier lament reflects an individual’s situation, while these verses seem to reflect a communal application of it.
⁶²sn Psalm 70. This psalm is almost identical to Ps 40:13-17. The psalmist asks for God’s help and for divine retribution against his enemies.
⁶³tn Heb “to cause to remember.” The same form, a Hiphil infinitive of rkz (“remember”), also appears in the superscription of Ps 38. Some understand this in the sense of “for the memorial offering,” but it may carry the idea of bringing one’s plight to God’s attention (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50, 303).