54:5 May those who wait to ambush me 4 be repaid for their evil! 5
As a demonstration of your faithfulness, 6 destroy them!
38:13 I cry out 7 until morning;
like a lion he shatters all my bones;
you turn day into night and end my life. 8
1 tn Aram “caused to go up.”
2 tn The Aramaic verb is active.
3 tn Aram “the flame of the fire” (so KJV, ASV, NASB); NRSV “the raging flames.”
4 tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 56:2.
5 tn The Kethib (consonantal text) reads a Qal imperfect, “the evil will return,” while the Qere (marginal reading) has a Hiphil imperfect, “he will repay.” The parallel line has an imperative (indicating a prayer/request), so it is best to read a jussive form יָשֹׁב (yashov, “let it [the evil] return”) here.
6 tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”
7 tn The verb form in the Hebrew text is a Piel from שָׁוַה (shavah). There are two homonyms שָׁוַה, one meaning in the Piel “level, smooth out,” the other “set, place.” Neither fits in v. 13. It is likely that the original reading was שִׁוַּעְתִּי (shivva’ti, “I cry out”) from the verbal root שָׁוַע (shava’), which occurs exclusively in the Piel.
8 tn Heb “from day to night you bring me to an end.”