Psalms 40:14-17

40:14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life

be totally embarrassed and ashamed! ¹ 

May those who want to harm me

be turned back and ashamed! ² 

40:15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”

be humiliated ³  and disgraced! ⁴ 

40:16 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you!

May those who love to experience ⁵  your deliverance say continually, ⁶ 

“May the Lord be praised!” ⁷ 

40:17 I am oppressed and needy! ⁸ 

May the Lord pay attention to me! ⁹ 

You are my helper and my deliverer!

O my God, do not delay!

[40:14]  ¹ tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed together, the ones seeking my life to snatch it away.”

[40:14]  ² tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse (“may those…be…embarrassed and ashamed…may those…be turned back and ashamed”) are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies.

[40:15]  ³ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive in this imprecation.

[40:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “May they be humiliated according to their shame, those who say to me, ‘Aha! Aha!’”

[40:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “those who love,” which stands metonymically for its cause, the experience of being delivered by the Lord.

[40:16]  ⁶ tn The three prefixed verbal forms prior to the quotation are understood as jussives. The psalmist balances out his imprecation against his enemies with a prayer of blessing upon the godly.

[40:16]  ⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, “may the Lord be magnified [in praise].” Another option is to take the verb as an imperfect, “the Lord is great” (cf. NRSV). See Ps 35:27.

[40:17]  ⁸ sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.

[40:17]  ⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a jussive of prayer (as in the present translation; cf. NIV) or as an imperfect, “The Lord will pay attention to me” (cf. NRSV). The parallel in Ps 70:5 has, “O God, hurry to me!” For this reason some prefer to emend יַחֲשָׁב (yakhashav, “may he pay attention”) to חוּשָׁה (khushah, “hurry!”). The syntax of the Hebrew text is awkward; elsewhere when the Qal of חָשַׁב (khashav, “reckon; consider”) is collocated with the preposition -ל (lamed) and a pronominal suffix there is an accompanying direct object or additional prepositional phrase/adverbial accusative (see Gen 15:6; 2 Sam 19:19; Job 13:24; 19:11; 33:10; Pss 32:2; 41:7; Amos 6:5).