Psalms 31:9-18

Context

31:9 Have mercy on me, for I am in distress!

My eyes grow dim¹ from suffering.²

I have lost my strength.³

31:10 For my life nears its end in pain;

my years draw to a close as I groan.⁴

My strength fails me because of⁵ my sin,

and my bones become brittle.⁶

31:11 Because of all my enemies, people disdain me;⁷

my neighbors are appalled by my suffering⁸ –

those who know me are horrified by my condition;⁹

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

31:12 I am forgotten, like a dead man no one thinks about;¹⁰

I am regarded as worthless, like a broken jar.¹¹

31:13 For I hear what so many are saying,¹²

the terrifying news that comes from every direction.¹³

When they plot together against me,

they figure out how they can take my life.

31:14 But I trust in you, O Lord!

I declare, “You are my God!”

31:15 You determine my destiny!¹⁴

Rescue me from the power of my enemies and those who chase me.

31:16 Smile¹⁵ on your servant!

Deliver me because of your faithfulness!

31:17 O Lord, do not let me be humiliated,

for I call out to you!

May evil men be humiliated!

May they go wailing to the grave!¹⁶

31:18 May lying lips be silenced –

lips¹⁷ that speak defiantly against the innocent¹⁸

with arrogance and contempt!

[31:9] ¹tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”

[31:9] ²tn Cf. Ps 6:7, which has a similar line.

[31:9] ³tn Heb “my breath and my stomach [grow weak].” Apparently the verb in the previous line (“grow dim, be weakened”) is to be understood here. The Hebrew term נפשׁ can mean “life,” or, more specifically, “throat, breath.” The psalmist seems to be lamenting that his breathing is impaired because of the physical and emotional suffering he is forced to endure.

[31:10] ⁴tn Heb “and my years in groaning.”

[31:10] ⁵tn Heb “stumbles in.”

[31:10] ⁶tn Heb “grow weak.”

[31:11] ⁷tn Heb “because of all my enemies I am a reproach.”

[31:11] ⁸tc 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] ⁹tn Heb “and [an object of ] horror to those known by me.”

[31:12] ¹⁰tn 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] ¹¹tn 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] ¹³tn Heb “the report of many.”

[31:13] ¹⁴tn Heb “the terror from all around.”

[31:15] ¹⁶tn Heb “in your hand [are] my times.”

[31:16] ¹⁹tn Heb “cause your face to shine.”

[31:17] ²²tn The verb יִדְּמוּ (yiddÿmu) is understood as a form of דָּמַם (damam, “wail, lament”). Another option is to take the verb from דָּמַם (“be quiet”; see BDB 198-99 s.v. I דָּמַם), in which case one might translate, “May they lie silent in the grave.”

[31:18] ²⁵tn Heb “the [ones which].”

[31:18] ²⁶tn Or “godly.”