Discovery BoxPsalms 38:9-22
Context38:9 O Lord, you understand my heart’s desire; 1
my groaning is not hidden from you.
38:10 My heart beats quickly;
my strength leaves me;
I can hardly see. 2
38:11 Because of my condition, 3 even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance; 4
my neighbors stand far away. 5
38:12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me; 6
those who want to harm me speak destructive words;
all day long they say deceitful things.
38:13 But I am like a deaf man – I hear nothing;
I am like a mute who cannot speak. 7
38:14 I am like a man who cannot hear
and is incapable of arguing his defense. 8
38:15 Yet 9 I wait for you, O Lord!
You will respond, O Lord, my God!
38:16 I have prayed for deliverance, because otherwise they will gloat over me; 10
when my foot slips they will arrogantly taunt me. 11
38:17 For I am about to stumble,
and I am in constant pain. 12
38:18 Yes, 13 I confess my wrongdoing,
and I am concerned about my sins.
38:19 But those who are my enemies for no reason are numerous; 14
those who hate me without cause outnumber me. 15
38:20 They repay me evil for the good I have done;
though I have tried to do good to them, they hurl accusations at me. 16
38:21 Do not abandon me, O Lord!
My God, do not remain far away from me!
[38:9] 1 tn Heb “O Lord, before you [is] all my desire.”
[38:10] 2 tn Heb “and the light of my eyes, even they, there is not with me.” The “light of the eyes” may refer to physical energy (see 1 Sam 14:27, 29), life itself (Ps 13:3), or the ability to see (Prov 29:23).
[38:11] 3 tn Or “wound,” or “illness.”
[38:11] 4 tn Heb “stand [aloof].”
[38:11] 5 tn Heb “and the ones near me off at a distance stand.”
[38:12] 6 tn Heb “lay snares.”
[38:13] 7 sn I am like a deaf man…like a mute. The psalmist is like a deaf mute; he is incapable of defending himself and is vulnerable to his enemies’ deception (see v. 14).
[38:14] 8 tn Heb “and there is not in his mouth arguments.”
[38:15] 9 tn Or perhaps “surely.”
[38:16] 10 tn Heb “For I said, ‘Lest they rejoice over me.’” The psalmist recalls the motivating argument of his petition. He probably prefaced this statement with a prayer for deliverance (see Pss 7:1-2; 13:3-4; 28:1).
[38:16] 11 tn Heb “they will magnify against me.” See Pss 35:26; 55:13.
[38:17] 12 tn Heb “and my pain [is] before me continually.”
[38:18] 13 tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is asseverative here.
[38:19] 14 tn Heb “and my enemies, life, are many.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “life”) fits very awkwardly here. The translation assumes an emendation to חִנָּם (khinam, “without reason”; note the parallelism with שֶׁקֶר [sheqer, “falsely”] and see Pss 35:19; 69:4; Lam 3:52). The verb עָצַם (’atsam) can sometimes mean “are strong,” but here it probably focuses on numerical superiority (note the parallel verb רָבַב, ravav, “be many”).
[38:20] 16 tn Heb “the ones who repay evil instead of good accuse me, instead of my pursuing good.”
