Discovery BoxNehemiah 6:14
Context6:14 Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat in light of these actions of theirs – also Noadiah the prophetess and the other prophets who were trying to scare me!
Psalms 59:5-13
Context59:5 You, O Lord God, the invincible warrior, 1 the God of Israel,
rouse yourself and punish 2 all the nations!
Have no mercy on any treacherous evildoers! (Selah)
59:6 They return in the evening;
they growl 3 like a dog
and prowl around outside 4 the city.
59:7 Look, they hurl insults at me
and openly threaten to kill me, 5
for they say, 6
“Who hears?”
59:8 But you, O Lord, laugh in disgust at them; 7
you taunt 8 all the nations.
59:9 You are my source of strength! I will wait for you! 9
For God is my refuge. 10
59:10 The God who loves me will help me; 11
God will enable me to triumph over 12 my enemies. 13
59:11 Do not strike them dead suddenly,
because then my people might forget the lesson. 14
Use your power to make them homeless vagabonds and then bring them down,
O Lord who shields us! 15
59:12 They speak sinful words. 16
So let them be trapped by their own pride
and by the curses and lies they speak!
59:13 Angrily wipe them out! Wipe them out so they vanish!
Let them know that God rules
in Jacob and to the ends of the earth! (Selah)
Psalms 59:2
Context59:2 Deliver me from evildoers! 17
Rescue me from violent men! 18
Psalms 4:1
ContextFor the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of David.
4:1 When I call out, answer me,
O God who vindicates me! 20
Though I am hemmed in, you will lead me into a wide, open place. 21
[59:5] 1 tn Heb “
[59:5] 2 tn Heb “wake up to punish” (see Pss 35:23; 44:23).
[59:6] 3 tn Or “howl”; or “bark.”
[59:7] 5 tn Heb “look, they gush forth with their mouth, swords [are] in their lips.”
[59:7] 6 tn The words “for they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The following question (“Who hears?”) is spoken by the psalmist’s enemies, who are confident that no one else can hear their threats against the psalmist. They are aggressive because they feel the psalmist is vulnerable and has no one to help him.
[59:8] 7 sn Laugh in disgust. See Pss 2:4; 37:13.
[59:8] 8 tn Or “scoff at”; or “deride”; or “mock” (see Ps 2:4).
[59:9] 9 tc Heb “his strength, for you I will watch.” “His strength” should be emended to “my strength” (see v. 17). Some also emend אֶשְׁמֹרָה (’eshmorah, “I will watch”) to אֱזַמֵּרָה (’ezammerah, “I will sing praises [to you]”) See v. 17.
[59:9] 10 tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).
[59:10] 11 tn Heb “the God of my [Qere (marginal reading); the Kethib (consonantal text) has “his”] loyal love will meet me.”
[59:10] 12 tn Heb “will cause me to look upon.”
[59:10] 13 tn Heb “those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 56:2.
[59:11] 14 tn Heb “do not kill them, lest my people forget.”
[59:11] 15 tn Heb “make them roam around by your strength and bring them down, O our shield, the Lord.”
[59:12] 16 tn Heb “the sin of their mouth [is] the word of their lips.”
[59:2] 17 tn Heb “from the workers of wickedness.”
[59:2] 18 tn Heb “from men of bloodshed.”
[4:1] 19 sn Psalm 4. The psalmist asks God to hear his prayer, expresses his confidence that the Lord will intervene, and urges his enemies to change their ways and place their trust in God. He concludes with another prayer for divine intervention and again affirms his absolute confidence in God’s protection.
[4:1] 20 tn Heb “God of my righteousness.”
[4:1] 21 tn Heb “in distress (or “a narrow place”) you make (a place) large for me.” The function of the Hebrew perfect verbal form here is uncertain. The translation above assumes that the psalmist is expressing his certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s deliverance as if it had already happened. Such confidence is consistent with the mood of the psalm (vv. 3, 8). Another option is to take the perfects as precative, expressing a wish or request (“lead me”). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.
