Psalms 31:11-13

31:11 Because of all my enemies, people disdain me; ¹ 

my neighbors are appalled by my suffering ²  –

those who know me are horrified by my condition; ³ 

those who see me in the street run away from me.

31:12 I am forgotten, like a dead man no one thinks about; ⁴ 

I am regarded as worthless, like a broken jar. ⁵ 

31:13 For I hear what so many are saying, ⁶ 

the terrifying news that comes from every direction. ⁷ 

When they plot together against me,

they figure out how they can take my life.

Psalms 55:3

55:3 because of what the enemy says, ⁸ 

and because of how the wicked ⁹  pressure me, ¹⁰ 

for they hurl trouble ¹¹  down upon me ¹² 

and angrily attack me.

Psalms 69:9-10

69:9 Certainly ¹³  zeal for ¹⁴  your house ¹⁵  consumes me;

I endure the insults of those who insult you. ¹⁶ 

69:10 I weep and refrain from eating food, ¹⁷ 

which causes others to insult me. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 69:20

69:20 Their insults are painful ¹⁹  and make me lose heart; ²⁰ 

I look ²¹  for sympathy, but receive none, ²² 

for comforters, but find none.

Psalms 89:51

89:51 Your enemies, O Lord, hurl insults;

they insult your chosen king as they dog his footsteps. ²³ 

Romans 15:3

15:3 For even Christ did not please himself, but just as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” ²⁴ 

[31:11]  ¹ tn Heb “because of all my enemies I am a reproach.”

[31:11]  ² tc Heb “and to my neighbors, exceedingly.” If the MT is retained, then these words probably go with what precedes. However the syntactical awkwardness of the text suggests it is textually corrupt. P. C. Craigie (Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 258) suggests that the initial mem (מ) on מְאֹד (me’od, “exceedingly”) be understood as an enclitic mem (ם) which was originally suffixed to the preceding form and then later misinterpreted. The resulting form אֵד (’ed) can then be taken as a defectively written form of אֵיד (’ed, “calamity”). If one follows this emendation, then the text reads literally, “and to my neighbors [I am one who experiences] calamity.” The noun פַחַד (fakhad, “[object of] horror”) occurs in the next line; אֵיד and פַחַד appear in parallelism elsewhere (see Prov 1:26-27).

[31:11]  ³ tn Heb “and [an object of ] horror to those known by me.”

[31:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “I am forgotten, like a dead man, from [the] heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the center of one’s thoughts.

[31:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “I am like a broken jar.” One throws away a broken jar without a second thought because it is considered worthless and useless.

[31:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “the report of many.”

[31:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “the terror from all around.”

[55:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “because of [the] voice of [the] enemy.”

[55:3]  ⁹ tn The singular forms “enemy” and “wicked” are collective or representative, as the plural verb forms in the second half of the verse indicate.

[55:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from before the pressure of the wicked.” Some suggest the meaning “screech” (note the parallel “voice”; cf. NEB “shrill clamour”; NRSV “clamor”) for the rare noun עָקָה (’aqah, “pressure”).

[55:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “wickedness,” but here the term refers to the destructive effects of their wicked acts.

[55:3]  ¹² tc The verb form in the MT appears to be a Hiphil imperfect from the root מוֹט (mot, “to sway”), but the Hiphil occurs only here and in the Kethib (consonantal text) of Ps 140:10, where the form יַמְטֵר (yamter, “let him rain down”) should probably be read. Here in Ps 55:3 it is preferable to read יַמְטִירוּ (yamtiru, “they rain down”). It is odd for “rain down” to be used with an abstract object like “wickedness,” but in Job 20:23 God “rains down” anger (unless one emends the text there; see BHS).

[69:9]  ¹³ tn Or “for.” This verse explains that the psalmist’s suffering is due to his allegiance to God.

[69:9]  ¹⁴ tn Or “devotion to.”

[69:9]  ¹⁵ sn God’s house, the temple, here represents by metonymy God himself.

[69:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the insults of those who insult you fall upon me.”

[69:10]  ¹⁷ sn Fasting was a practice of mourners. By refraining from normal activities such as eating food, the mourner demonstrated the sincerity of his sorrow.

[69:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and it becomes insults to me.”

[69:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “break my heart.” The “heart” is viewed here as the origin of the psalmist’s emotions.

[69:20]  ²⁰ tn The verb form appears to be a Qal preterite from an otherwise unattested root נוּשׁ (nush), which some consider an alternate form of אָנַשׁ (’anash, “be weak; be sick”; see BDB 60 s.v. I אָנַשׁ). Perhaps the form should be emended to a Niphal, וָאֵאָנְשָׁה (va’e’onshah, “and I am sick”). The Niphal of אָנַשׁ occurs in 2 Sam 12:15, where it is used to describe David’s sick child.

[69:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “wait.”

[69:20]  ²² tn Heb “and I wait for sympathy, but there is none.” The form נוּד (nud) is an infinitive functioning as a verbal noun:, “sympathizing.” Some suggest emending the form to a participle נָד (nad, “one who shows sympathy”). The verb נוּד (nud) also has the nuance “show sympathy” in Job 2:11; 42:11 and Isa 51:19.

[89:51]  ²³ tn Heb “[by] which your enemies, O Lord, taunt, [by] which they taunt [at] the heels of your anointed one.”

[15:3]  ²⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 69:9.