Psalms 55:11-15

55:11 Disaster is within it;

violence and deceit do not depart from its public square.

55:12 Indeed, it is not an enemy who insults me,

or else I could bear it;

it is not one who hates me who arrogantly taunts me,

or else I could hide from him.

55:13 But it is you, a man like me,

my close friend in whom I confided.

55:14 We would share personal thoughts with each other;

in God’s temple we would walk together among the crowd.

55:15 May death destroy them!

May they go down alive into Sheol!

For evil is in their dwelling place and in their midst.


tn Or “injury, harm.”

tn Or “for.”

tn Heb “[who] magnifies against me.” See Pss 35:26; 38:16.

sn It is you. The psalmist addresses the apparent ringleader of the opposition, an individual who was once his friend.

tn Heb “a man according to my value,” i.e., “a person such as I.”

tn Heb “my close friend, one known by me.”

tn Heb “who together we would make counsel sweet.” The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to the ongoing nature of the actions (the so-called customary use of the imperfect). Their relationship was characterized by such intimacy and friendship. See IBHS 502-3 §31.2b.

tc The meaning of the MT is unclear. The Kethib (consonantal text) reads יַשִּׁימָוֶת עָלֵימוֹ (yashimavetalemo, “May devastation [be] upon them!”). The proposed noun יַשִּׁימָוֶת occurs only here and perhaps in the place name Beth-Jeshimoth in Num 33:49. The Qere (marginal text) has יַשִּׁי מָוֶת עָלֵימוֹ (yashi mavetalemo). The verbal form יַשִּׁי is apparently an alternate form of יַשִּׁיא (yashi’), a Hiphil imperfect from נָשַׁא (nasha’, “deceive”). In this case one might read “death will come deceptively upon them.” This reading has the advantage of reading מָוֶת (mavet, “death”) which forms a natural parallel with “Sheol” in the next line. The present translation is based on the following reconstruction of the text: יְשִׁמֵּם מָוֶת (yeshimmem mavet). The verb assumed in the reconstruction is a Hiphil jussive third masculine singular from שָׁמַם (shamam, “be desolate”) with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix attached. This reconstruction assumes that (1) haplography has occurred in the traditional text (the original sequence of three mems [מ] was lost with only one mem remaining), resulting in the fusion of originally distinct forms in the Kethib, and (2) that עָלֵימוֹ (’alemo, “upon them”) is a later scribal addition attempting to make sense of a garbled and corrupt text. The preposition עַל (’al) does occur with the verb שָׁמַם (shamam), but in such cases the expression means “be appalled at/because of” (see Jer 49:20; 50:45). If one were to retain the prepositional phrase here, one would have to read the text as follows: יַשִּׁים מָוֶת עָלֵימוֹ (yashim mavetalemo, “Death will be appalled at them”). The idea seems odd, to say the least. Death is not collocated with this verb elsewhere.

sn Go down alive. This curse imagines a swift and sudden death for the psalmist’s enemies.