38:14 I am like a man who cannot hear
and is incapable of arguing his defense. 1
38:15 Yet 2 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; 3
when my foot slips they will arrogantly taunt me. 4
38:17 For I am about to stumble,
and I am in constant pain. 5
38:18 Yes, 6 I confess my wrongdoing,
and I am concerned about my sins.
38:19 But those who are my enemies for no reason are numerous; 7
those who hate me without cause outnumber me. 8
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. 9
38:21 Do not abandon me, O Lord!
My God, do not remain far away from me!
38:22 Hurry and help me, 10 O Lord, my deliverer!
1 tn Heb “and there is not in his mouth arguments.”
2 tn Or perhaps “surely.”
3 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).
4 tn Heb “they will magnify against me.” See Pss 35:26; 55:13.
5 tn Heb “and my pain [is] before me continually.”
6 tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is asseverative here.
7 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”).
8 tn Heb “are many.”
9 tn Heb “the ones who repay evil instead of good accuse me, instead of my pursuing good.”
10 tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Ps 22:19.