67:7 May God bless us! 1
Then all the ends of the earth will give him the honor he deserves. 2
101:5 I will destroy anyone who slanders his neighbor in secret.
I will not tolerate anyone who has a cocky demeanor and an arrogant attitude. 3
For the music director; according to the yonath-elem-rechovim style; 5 a prayer 6 of David, written when the Philistines captured him in Gath. 7
56:1 Have mercy on me, O God, for men are attacking me! 8
All day long hostile enemies 9 are tormenting me. 10
1 tn The prefixed verb forms in vv. 6b-7a are understood as jussives.
2 tn Heb “will fear him.” After the jussive of the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive is understood as indicating purpose/result. (Note how v. 3 anticipates the universal impact of God showing his people blessing.) Another option is to take the verb as a jussive and translate, “Let all the ends of the earth fear him.”
3 tn Heb “[one who has] pride of eyes and wideness [i.e., arrogance] of heart, him I will not endure.”
5 sn Psalm 56. Despite the threats of his enemies, the psalmist is confident the Lord will keep his promise to protect and deliver him.
6 tn The literal meaning of this phrase is “silent dove, distant ones.” Perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a type of musical instrument.
7 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16 and 57-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”
8 sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm when the Philistines seized him and took him to King Achish of Gath (see 1 Sam 21:11-15).
9 tn According to BDB 983 s.v. II שָׁאַף, the verb is derived from שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to trample, crush”) rather than the homonymic verb “pant after.”
10 tn Heb “a fighter.” The singular is collective for his enemies (see vv. 5-6). The Qal of לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) also occurs in Ps 35:1.
11 tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the continuing nature of the enemies’ attacks.