34:18 The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
he delivers 1 those who are discouraged. 2
69:20 Their insults are painful 3 and make me lose heart; 4
I look 5 for sympathy, but receive none, 6
for comforters, but find none.
69:21 They put bitter poison 7 into my food,
and to quench my thirst they give me vinegar to drink. 8
69:22 May their dining table become a trap before them!
May it be a snare for that group of friends! 9
69:23 May their eyes be blinded! 10
Make them shake violently! 11
69:24 Pour out your judgment 12 on them!
May your raging anger 13 overtake them!
69:25 May their camp become desolate,
their tents uninhabited! 14
69:26 For they harass 15 the one whom you discipline; 16
they spread the news about the suffering of those whom you punish. 17
69:27 Hold them accountable for all their sins! 18
Do not vindicate them! 19
69:28 May their names be deleted from the scroll of the living! 20
Do not let their names be listed with the godly! 21
69:29 I am oppressed and suffering!
O God, deliver and protect me! 22
69:2 I sink into the deep mire
where there is no solid ground; 23
I am in 24 deep water,
and the current overpowers me.
16:11 You lead me in 25 the path of life; 26
I experience absolute joy in your presence; 27
you always give me sheer delight. 28
A prayer 30 of David.
16:1 Protect me, O God, for I have taken shelter in you. 31
1 tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form highlights the generalizing statement and draws attention to the fact that the
2 tn Heb “the crushed in spirit.”
3 tn Heb “break my heart.” The “heart” is viewed here as the origin of the psalmist’s emotions.
4 tn The verb form appears to be a Qal preterite from an otherwise unattested root נוּשׁ (nush), which some consider an alternate form of אָנַשׁ (’anash, “be weak; be sick”; see BDB 60 s.v. I אָנַשׁ). Perhaps the form should be emended to a Niphal, וָאֵאָנְשָׁה (va’e’onshah, “and I am sick”). The Niphal of אָנַשׁ occurs in 2 Sam 12:15, where it is used to describe David’s sick child.
5 tn Heb “wait.”
6 tn Heb “and I wait for sympathy, but there is none.” The form נוּד (nud) is an infinitive functioning as a verbal noun:, “sympathizing.” Some suggest emending the form to a participle נָד (nad, “one who shows sympathy”). The verb נוּד (nud) also has the nuance “show sympathy” in Job 2:11; 42:11 and Isa 51:19.
7 tn According to BDB 912 s.v. II רֹאשׁ the term can mean “a bitter and poisonous plant.”
8 sn John 19:28-30 appears to understand Jesus’ experience on the cross as a fulfillment of this passage (or Ps 22:15). See the study note on the word “thirsty” in John 19:28.
9 tc Heb “and to the friends for a snare.” The plural of שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) is used in Ps 55:20 of one’s “friends.” If the reading of the MT is retained here, the term depicts the psalmist’s enemies as a close-knit group of friends who are bound together by their hatred for the psalmist. Some prefer to revocalize the text as וּלְשִׁלּוּמִים (ulÿshillumim, “and for retribution”). In this case the noun stands parallel to פַּח (pakh, “trap”) and מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “snare”), and one might translate, “may their dining table become a trap before them, [a means of] retribution and a snare” (cf. NIV).
10 tn Heb “may their eyes be darkened from seeing.”
11 tn Heb “make their hips shake continually.”
12 tn Heb “anger.” “Anger” here refers metonymically to divine judgment, which is the practical effect of God’s anger.
13 tn Heb “the rage of your anger.” The phrase “rage of your anger” employs an appositional genitive. 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.
14 tn Heb “in their tents may there not be one who dwells.”
15 tn Or “persecute”; Heb “chase.”
16 tn Heb “for you, the one whom you strike, they chase.”
17 tn Heb “they announce the pain of your wounded ones” (i.e., “the ones whom you wounded,” as the parallel line makes clear).
18 tn Heb “place sin upon their sin.”
19 tn Heb “let them not come into your vindication.”
20 tn Heb “let them be wiped out of the scroll of the living.”
21 tn Heb “and with the godly let them not be written.”
22 tn Heb “your deliverance, O God, may it protect me.”
23 tn Heb “and there is no place to stand.”
24 tn Heb “have entered.”
25 tn Heb “cause me to know”; or “cause me to experience.”
26 tn This is a metaphorical way of saying, “you preserve my life.” The phrase “path of life” stands in contrast to death/Sheol in Prov 2:18-19; 5:5-6; 15:24.
27 tn Heb “abundance of joy [is] with your face.” The plural form of the noun שִׂמְחָה (simkhah, “joy”) occurs only here and in Ps 45:15. It may emphasize the degree of joy experienced.
28 tn Heb “delight [is] in your right hand forever.” The plural form of the adjective נָעִים (na’im, “pleasant, delightful”) may here emphasize the degree of delight experienced (see Job 36:11).
29 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.
30 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מִכְתָּם (mikhtam) is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”
31 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results (see 7:1; 11:1).
32 tn The word means “Father” in Aramaic.
33 sn This cup alludes to the wrath of God that Jesus would experience (in the form of suffering and death) for us. See Ps 11:6; 75:8-9; Isa 51:17, 19, 22 for this figure.