20:10 I 1 hear many whispering words of intrigue against me.
Those who would cause me terror are everywhere! 2
They are saying, “Come on, let’s publicly denounce him!” 3
All my so-called friends 4 are just watching for
something that would lead to my downfall. 5
They say, “Perhaps he can be enticed into slipping up,
so we can prevail over 6 him and get our revenge on him.
38:12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me; 7
those who want to harm me speak destructive words;
all day long they say deceitful things.
56:5 All day long they cause me trouble; 8
they make a habit of plotting my demise. 9
56:6 They stalk 10 and lurk; 11
they watch my every step, 12
as 13 they prepare to take my life. 14
56:7 Because they are bent on violence, do not let them escape! 15
In your anger 16 bring down the nations, 17 O God!
64:4 in order to shoot down the innocent 18 in secluded places.
They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation. 19
64:5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed. 20
They plan how to hide 21 snares,
and boast, 22 “Who will see them?” 23
140:5 Proud men hide a snare for me;
evil men 24 spread a net by the path;
they set traps for me. (Selah)
22:15 Then the Pharisees 25 went out and planned together to entrap him with his own words. 26
1 tn It would be difficult to render accurately the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) that introduces this verse without lengthening the English line unduly. It probably means something like “This is true even though I…,” i.e., the particle is concessive (cf. BDB s.v. כִּי 2.c). No other nuance seems appropriate. The particle is left out of the translation, but its presence is acknowledged here.
2 tn The phrase translated “Those who would cause me terror are everywhere” has already occurred in 6:25 in the context of the terror caused by the enemy from the north and in 20:3 in reference to the curse pronounced on Pashhur who would experience it first hand. Some have seen the phrase here not as Jeremiah’s ejaculation of terror but of his assailant’s taunts of his message or even their taunting nickname for him. But comparison of this passage with the first two lines of Ps 31:13 (31:14 HT) which are word for word the same as these two will show that it refers to the terror inspired by the plots of his enemies to do away with him. It is also clear from the context of that passage and the following context here that the “whispering of many” (the literal translation of “many whispering words of intrigue against me) refers to intrigues to take vengeance on him and do away with him.
3 tn Heb “Denounce and let us denounce him.” The verb which is translated “denounce” (נָגַד, nagad) does not take an accusative object of person as it does here very often. When it does it usually means to inform someone. The only relevant passage appears to be Job 17:5 where it means something like “denounce.” What is probably involved here are the attempts to portray Jeremiah as a traitor (Jer 26:10) and a false prophet (see his conflict with Hananiah in Jer 28).
4 tn Heb “the men of my peace [who are concerned about my welfare].” For this phrase compare Ps 41:9 (41:10 HT); Jer 38:22. It is generally agreed that irony is being invoked here, hence “so-called” is supplied in the translation to bring out the irony.
5 tn Heb “watching my stumbling [for me to stumble].” Metaphorically they were watching for some slip-up that would lead to his downfall. Compare the use in Pss 35:15 and 38:17 (38:18 HT).
6 tn All the text says literally is “Perhaps he can be enticed so that we can prevail over him.” However the word “enticed” needs some qualification. As W. McKane (Jeremiah [ICC], 1:479) notes it should probably be read in the context of the “stumbling” (= “something that would lead to my downfall”). Hence “slipping up” has been supplied as an object. It is vague enough to avoid specifics as the original text does but suggests some reference to “something that would lead to my downfall.”
7 tn Heb “lay snares.”
8 tn Heb “my affairs they disturb.” For other instances of דָּבָר (davar) meaning “affairs, business,” see BDB 183 s.v.. The Piel of עָצַב (’atsav, “to hurt”) occurs only here and in Isa 63:10, where it is used of “grieving” (or “offending”) the Lord’s holy Spirit. Here in Ps 56:5, the verb seems to carry the nuance “disturb, upset,” in the sense of “cause trouble.”
9 tn Heb “against me [are] all their thoughts for harm.”
10 tn The verb is from the root גּוּר (gur), which means “to challenge, attack” in Isa 54:15 and “to stalk” (with hostile intent) in Ps 59:3.
11 tn Or “hide.”
12 tn Heb “my heels.”
13 tn Heb “according to,” in the sense of “inasmuch as; since,” or “when; while.”
14 tn Heb “they wait [for] my life.”
15 tc Heb “because of wickedness, deliverance to them.” As it stands, the MT makes no sense. The negative particle אַיִן (’ayin, “there is not,” which is due to dittography of the immediately preceding אָוֶן, ’aven, “wickedness”), should probably be added before “deliverance” (see BHS, note a). The presence of an imperative in the next line (note “bring down”) suggests that this line should be translated as a prayer as well, “may there not be deliverance to them.”
16 tn Heb “in anger.” The pronoun “your” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
17 tn Or perhaps “people” in a general sense.
18 tn The psalmist uses the singular because he is referring to himself here as representative of a larger group.
19 tn Heb “and are unafraid.” The words “of retaliation” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
20 tn Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].”
21 tn Heb “they report about hiding.”
22 tn Heb “they say.”
23 tn If this is a direct quotation (cf. NASB, NIV), the pronoun “them” refers to the snares mentioned in the previous line. If it is an indirect quotation, then the pronoun may refer to the enemies themselves (cf. NEB, which is ambiguous). Some translations retain the direct quotation but alter the pronoun to “us,” referring clearly to the enemies (cf. NRSV).
24 tn Heb “and ropes,” but many prefer to revocalize the noun as a participle (חֹבְלִים, khovÿlim) from the verb חָבַל (khaval, “act corruptly”).
25 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
26 tn Grk “trap him in word.”