40:2 He lifted me out of the watery pit, 1
out of the slimy mud. 2
He placed my feet on a rock
and gave me secure footing. 3
For the music director; according to the tune of “Lilies;” 5 by David.
69:1 Deliver me, O God,
for the water has reached my neck. 6
69:2 I sink into the deep mire
where there is no solid ground; 7
I am in 8 deep water,
and the current overpowers me.
3:54 The waters closed over my head;
I thought 9 I was about to die. 10
1 tn Heb “cistern of roaring.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “cistern, pit”) is used metaphorically here of Sheol, the place of death, which is sometimes depicted as a raging sea (see Ps 18:4, 15-16). The noun שָׁאוֹן (sha’on, “roaring”) refers elsewhere to the crashing sound of the sea’s waves (see Ps 65:7).
2 tn Heb “from the mud of mud.” The Hebrew phrase translated “slimy mud” employs an appositional genitive. Two synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.
3 tn Heb “he established my footsteps.”
4 sn Psalm 69. The psalmist laments his oppressed condition and asks the Lord to deliver him by severely judging his enemies.
5 tn Heb “according to lilies.” See the superscription to Ps 45.
6 tn The Hebrew term נפשׁ (nefesh) here refers to the psalmist’s throat or neck. The psalmist compares himself to a helpless, drowning man.
7 tn Heb “and there is no place to stand.”
8 tn Heb “have entered.”
9 tn Heb “I said,” meaning “I said to myself” = “I thought.”
10 tn Heb “I was about to be cut off.” The verb נִגְזָרְתִּי (nigzarti), Niphal perfect 1st person common singular from גָּזַר (gazar, “to be cut off”), functions in an ingressive sense: “about to be cut off.” It is used in reference to the threat of death (e.g., Ezek 37:11). To be “cut off” from the hand of the living means to experience death (Ps 88:6).