Psalms 10:1

Psalm 10 ¹ 

10:1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?

Why do you pay no attention during times of trouble? ² 

Psalms 13:1-3

Psalm 13 ³ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

13:1 How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me? ⁴ 

How long will you pay no attention to me? ⁵ 

13:2 How long must I worry, ⁶ 

and suffer in broad daylight? ⁷ 

How long will my enemy gloat over me? ⁸ 

13:3 Look at me! ⁹  Answer me, O Lord my God!

Revive me, ¹⁰  or else I will die! ¹¹ 

Psalms 35:22

35:22 But you take notice, ¹²  Lord!

O Lord, do not remain far away from me!

Psalms 38:21

38:21 Do not abandon me, O Lord!

My God, do not remain far away from me!

Psalms 69:1-2

Psalm 69 ¹³ 

For the music director; according to the tune of “Lilies;” ¹⁴  by David.

69:1 Deliver me, O God,

for the water has reached my neck. ¹⁵ 

69:2 I sink into the deep mire

where there is no solid ground; ¹⁶ 

I am in ¹⁷  deep water,

and the current overpowers me.

Psalms 69:18

69:18 Come near me and redeem me! ¹⁸ 

Because of my enemies, rescue me!

Psalms 71:12

71:12 O God, do not remain far away from me!

My God, hurry and help me! ¹⁹ 

John 16:32

16:32 Look, a time ²⁰  is coming – and has come – when you will be scattered, each one to his own home, ²¹  and I will be left alone. ²²  Yet ²³  I am not alone, because my Father ²⁴  is with me.

Hebrews 5:7

5:7 During his earthly life ²⁵  Christ ²⁶  offered ²⁷  both requests and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his devotion.

[10:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 10. Many Hebrew mss and the ancient Greek version (LXX) combine Psalms 9 and 10 into a single psalm. Taken in isolation, Psalm 10 is a petition for help in which the psalmist urges the Lord to deliver him from his dangerous enemies, whom he describes in vivid and terrifying detail. The psalmist concludes with confidence; he is certain that God’s justice will prevail.

[10:1]  ² tn Heb “you hide for times in trouble.” The interrogative “why” is understood by ellipsis; note the preceding line. The Hiphil verbal form “hide” has no expressed object. Some supply “your eyes” by ellipsis (see BDB 761 s.v. I עָלַם Hiph and HALOT 835 s.v. I עלם hif) or emend the form to a Niphal (“you hide yourself,” see BHS, note c; cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[13:1]  ³ sn Psalm 13. The psalmist, who is close to death, desperately pleads for God’s deliverance and affirms his trust in God’s faithfulness.

[13:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “will you forget me continually.”

[13:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “will you hide your face from me.”

[13:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “How long will I put counsel in my being?”

[13:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “[with] grief in my heart by day.”

[13:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “be exalted over me.” Perhaps one could translate, “How long will my enemy defeat me?”

[13:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “see.”

[13:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Give light [to] my eyes.” The Hiphil of אוּר (’ur), when used elsewhere with “eyes” as object, refers to the law of God giving moral enlightenment (Ps 19:8), to God the creator giving literal eyesight to all people (Prov 29:13), and to God giving encouragement to his people (Ezra 9:8). Here the psalmist pictures himself as being on the verge of death. His eyes are falling shut and, if God does not intervene soon, he will “fall asleep” for good.

[13:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “or else I will sleep [in?] the death.” Perhaps the statement is elliptical, “I will sleep [the sleep] of death,” or “I will sleep [with the sleepers in] death.”

[35:22]  ¹² tn Heb “you see, O Lord.” There is a deliberate play on words. In v. 21 the enemies say, “our eye sees,” but the psalmist is confident that the Lord “sees” as well, so he appeals to him for help (see also v. 17).

[69:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 69. The psalmist laments his oppressed condition and asks the Lord to deliver him by severely judging his enemies.

[69:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “according to lilies.” See the superscription to Ps 45.

[69:1]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew term נפשׁ (nefesh) here refers to the psalmist’s throat or neck. The psalmist compares himself to a helpless, drowning man.

[69:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and there is no place to stand.”

[69:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “have entered.”

[69:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “come near my life and redeem it.” The verb “redeem” casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Ps 19:14).

[71:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “hurry to my help.”

[16:32]  ²⁰ tn Grk “an hour.”

[16:32]  ²¹ tn Grk “each one to his own”; the word “home” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The phrase “each one to his own” may be completed in a number of different ways: “each one to his own property”; “each one to his own family”; or “each one to his own home.” The last option seems to fit most easily into the context and so is used in the translation.

[16:32]  ²² sn The proof of Jesus’ negative evaluation of the disciples’ faith is now given: Jesus foretells their abandonment of him at his arrest, trials, and crucifixion (I will be left alone). This parallels the synoptic accounts in Matt 26:31 and Mark 14:27 when Jesus, after the last supper and on the way to Gethsemane, foretold the desertion of the disciples as a fulfillment of Zech 13:7: “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” Yet although the disciples would abandon Jesus, he reaffirmed that he was not alone, because the Father was still with him.

[16:32]  ²³ tn Grk “And” (but with some contrastive force).

[16:32]  ²⁴ tn Grk “the Father.”

[5:7]  ²⁵ tn Grk “in the days of his flesh.”

[5:7]  ²⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:7]  ²⁷ tn Grk “who…having offered,” continuing the description of Christ from Heb 5:5-6.