Text -- Psalms 43:1-2 (NET)

Psalm 43

43:1 Vindicate me, O God! Fight for me against an ungodly nation! Deliver me from deceitful and evil men! 43:2 For you are the God who shelters me. Why do you reject me? Why must I walk around mourning because my enemies oppress me?

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 43:1

¹ sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalm 43 and Psalm 42 into one psalm. Psalm 43 is the only psalm in Book 2 of the Psalter (Psalms 42-72) that does not have a heading, suggesting that it was originally the third and concluding section of Psalm 42. Ps 43:5 is identical to the refrain in Ps 42:11 and almost identical to the refrain in Ps 42:5.

² tn Or “argue my case.”

³ tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.

⁴ tn Heb “from the deceitful and evil man.” The Hebrew text uses the singular form “man” in a collective sense, as the reference to a “nation” in the parallel line indicates.

NET Notes: Psa 43:2

¹ tn Heb “God of my place of refuge,” that is, “God who is my place of refuge.” See Ps 31:4.

² tn The question is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but זָנַח (zanakh, “reject”) is a stronger verb than שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”).

³ tn The language is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but the Hitpael form of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh; as opposed to the Qal form in 42:9) expresses more forcefully the continuing nature of the psalmist’s distress.

⁴ sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar statement.