Text -- Psalms 140:1-8 (NET)

Psalm 140

140:1 For the music director; a psalm of David. O Lord, rescue me from wicked men! Protect me from violent men, 140:2 who plan ways to harm me. All day long they stir up conflict. 140:3 Their tongues wound like a serpent; a viper’s venom is behind their lips. (Selah) 140:4 O Lord, shelter me from the power of the wicked! Protect me from violent men, who plan to knock me over. 140:5 Proud men hide a snare for me; evil men spread a net by the path; they set traps for me. (Selah) 140:6 I say to the Lord, “You are my God.” O Lord, pay attention to my plea for mercy! 140:7 O sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, you shield my head in the day of battle. 140:8 O Lord, do not let the wicked have their way! Do not allow their plan to succeed when they attack! (Selah)

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 140:1

¹ sn Psalm 140. The psalmist asks God to deliver him from his deadly enemies, calls judgment down upon them, and affirms his confidence in God’s justice.

² tn Heb “from a wicked man.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).

³ tn Heb “a man of violent acts.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).

NET Notes: Psa 140:2

¹ tn Heb “they devise wicked [plans] in [their] mind.”

² tc Heb “they attack [for] war.” Some revocalize the verb (which is a Qal imperfect from גּוּר, gur, “to attack”) as יְגָרוּ (yÿgaru), a Piel imperfect from גָרָה (garah, “stir up strife”). This is followed in the present translation.

NET Notes: Psa 140:3

¹ tn Heb “they sharpen their tongue like a serpent.” Ps 64:3 reads, “they sharpen their tongues like sword.” Perhaps Ps 140:3 uses a mixed metaphor, the point being that “they sharpen their tongues [like a sword],” as it were, so that when they speak, their words wound like a serpent’s bite. Another option is that the language refers to the pointed or forked nature of a serpent’s tongue, which is viewed metaphorically as “sharpened.”

² tn The Hebrew term is used only here in the OT.

³ tn Heb “under.”

NET Notes: Psa 140:4

¹ tn Heb “hands.”

² tn Heb “to push down my steps.”

NET Notes: Psa 140:5

¹ tn Heb “and ropes,” but many prefer to revocalize the noun as a participle (חֹבְלִים, khovÿlim) from the verb חָבַל (khaval, “act corruptly”).

NET Notes: Psa 140:7

¹ tn Heb “the strength of my deliverance.”

² tn Heb “cover.”

NET Notes: Psa 140:8

¹ tn Heb “do not grant the desires of the wicked.”

² tn Heb “his.” The singular is used in a representative sense (see v. 1).

³ tn Heb “his plot do not promote, they rise up.” The translation understands the final verb as being an unmarked temporal clause. Another option is to revocalize the verb as a Hiphil and take the verb with the next verse, “those who surround me lift up [their] head,” which could refer to their proud attitude as they anticipate victory (see Ps 27:6).