38:12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me; 1
those who want to harm me speak destructive words;
all day long they say deceitful things.
38:13 But I am like a deaf man – I hear nothing;
I am like a mute who cannot speak. 2
38:14 I am like a man who cannot hear
and is incapable of arguing his defense. 3
38:15 Yet 4 I wait for you, O Lord!
You will respond, O Lord, my God!
38:16 I have prayed for deliverance, because otherwise they will gloat over me; 5
when my foot slips they will arrogantly taunt me. 6
38:17 For I am about to stumble,
and I am in constant pain. 7
38:18 Yes, 8 I confess my wrongdoing,
and I am concerned about my sins.
38:19 But those who are my enemies for no reason are numerous; 9
those who hate me without cause outnumber me. 10
38:20 They repay me evil for the good I have done;
though I have tried to do good to them, they hurl accusations at me. 11
38:21 Do not abandon me, O Lord!
My God, do not remain far away from me!
38:22 Hurry and help me, 12 O Lord, my deliverer!
1 tn Heb “lay snares.”
2 sn I am like a deaf man…like a mute. The psalmist is like a deaf mute; he is incapable of defending himself and is vulnerable to his enemies’ deception (see v. 14).
3 tn Heb “and there is not in his mouth arguments.”
4 tn Or perhaps “surely.”
5 tn Heb “For I said, ‘Lest they rejoice over me.’” The psalmist recalls the motivating argument of his petition. He probably prefaced this statement with a prayer for deliverance (see Pss 7:1-2; 13:3-4; 28:1).
6 tn Heb “they will magnify against me.” See Pss 35:26; 55:13.
7 tn Heb “and my pain [is] before me continually.”
8 tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is asseverative here.
9 tn Heb “and my enemies, life, are many.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “life”) fits very awkwardly here. The translation assumes an emendation to חִנָּם (khinam, “without reason”; note the parallelism with שֶׁקֶר [sheqer, “falsely”] and see Pss 35:19; 69:4; Lam 3:52). The verb עָצַם (’atsam) can sometimes mean “are strong,” but here it probably focuses on numerical superiority (note the parallel verb רָבַב, ravav, “be many”).
10 tn Heb “are many.”
11 tn Heb “the ones who repay evil instead of good accuse me, instead of my pursuing good.”
12 tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Ps 22:19.