A prayer 5 of David.
16:1 Protect me, O God, for I have taken shelter in you. 6
25:20 Protect me 7 and deliver me!
Please do not let me be humiliated,
for I have taken shelter in you!
31:2 Listen to me! 8
Quickly deliver me!
Be my protector and refuge, 9
a stronghold where I can be safe! 10
43:1 Vindicate me, O God!
Fight for me 12 against an ungodly nation!
Deliver me 13 from deceitful and evil men! 14
For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; 16 a prayer 17 of David, written when Saul sent men to surround his house and murder him. 18
59:1 Deliver me from my enemies, my God!
Protect me 19 from those who attack me! 20
59:2 Deliver me from evildoers! 21
Rescue me from violent men! 22
119:134 Deliver me 23 from oppressive men,
so that I can keep 24 your precepts.
142:6 Listen to my cry for help,
for I am in serious trouble! 25
Rescue me from those who chase me,
for they are stronger than I am.
18:19 A relative 26 offended 27 is harder to reach than 28 a strong city,
and disputes are like the barred gates 29 of a fortified citadel. 30
6:13 And do not lead us into temptation, 33 but deliver us from the evil one. 34
1 tn Heb “and said.”
2 tn Heb “the Ashtarot” (plural). The words “images of” are supplied in both vv. 3 and 4 for clarity.
3 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.
4 sn Psalm 16. The psalmist seeks divine protection because he has remained loyal to God. He praises God for his rich blessings, and is confident God will vindicate him and deliver him from death.
5 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מִכְתָּם (mikhtam) is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”
6 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results (see 7:1; 11:1).
7 tn Or “my life.”
8 tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”
9 tn Heb “become for me a rocky summit of refuge.”
10 tn Heb “a house of strongholds to deliver me.”
11 sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew
12 tn Or “argue my case.”
13 tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.
14 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.
15 sn Psalm 59. The psalmist calls down judgment on his foreign enemies, whom he compares to ravenous wild dogs.
16 tn 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 superscription to Pss 57-58, 75.
17 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-58, 60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”
18 tn Heb “when Saul sent and they watched his house in order to kill him.”
19 tn Or “make me secure”; Heb “set me on high.”
20 tn Heb “from those who raise themselves up [against] me.”
21 tn Heb “from the workers of wickedness.”
22 tn Heb “from men of bloodshed.”
23 tn Or “redeem me.”
24 tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
25 tn Heb “for I am very low.”
26 tn Heb “brother,” but this is not limited to actual siblings (cf. NRSV “an ally”; CEV, NLT “friend”).
27 tn The Niphal participle from פָּשַׁע (pasha’) modifies “brother”: a brother transgressed, offended, sinned against.
28 tc The LXX has a clear antithetical proverb here: “A brother helped is like a stronghold, but disputes are like bars of a citadel.” Accordingly, the editors of BHS propose מוֹשִׁיעַ (moshia’) instead of נִפְשָׁע (nifsha’, so also the other versions and the RSV). But since both lines use the comparison with a citadel (fortified/barred), the antithesis is problematic.
29 tn Heb “bars,” but this could be understood to mean “taverns,” so “barred gates” is employed in the translation.
30 sn The proverb is talking about changing a friend or a relative into an enemy by abuse or strife – the bars go up, as it were. And the “walls” that are erected are not easily torn down.
31 tc The ancient versions typically avoid the conditional element of v. 17.
32 tn The Aramaic expression used here is very difficult to interpret. The question concerns the meaning and syntax of אִיתַי (’itay, “is” or “exist”). There are several possibilities. (1) Some interpreters take this word closely with the participle later in the verse יָכִל (yakhil, “able”), understanding the two words to form a periphrastic construction (“if our God is…able”; cf. H. Bauer and P. Leander, Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen, 365, §111b). But the separation of the two elements from one another is not an argument in favor of this understanding. (2) Other interpreters take the first part of v. 17 to mean “If it is so, then our God will deliver us” (cf. KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB). However, the normal sense of ’itay is existence; on this point see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 45, §95. The present translation maintains the sense of existence for the verb (“If our God…exists”), even though the statement is admittedly difficult to understand in this light. The statement may be an implicit reference back to Nebuchadnezzar’s comment in v. 15, which denies the existence of a god capable of delivering from the king’s power.
33 tn Or “into a time of testing.”
34 tc Most