Psalms 41:3-13

41:3 The Lord supports ¹  him on his sickbed;

you completely heal him from his illness. ² 

41:4 As for me, I said: ³ 

“O Lord, have mercy on me!

Heal me, for I have sinned against you!

41:5 My enemies ask this cruel question about me, ⁴ 

‘When will he finally die and be forgotten?’ ⁵ 

41:6 When someone comes to visit, ⁶  he pretends to be friendly; ⁷ 

he thinks of ways to defame me, ⁸ 

and when he leaves he slanders me. ⁹ 

41:7 All who hate me whisper insults about me to one another; ¹⁰ 

they plan ways to harm me.

41:8 They say, ¹¹ 

‘An awful disease ¹²  overwhelms him, ¹³ 

and now that he is bed-ridden he will never recover.’ ¹⁴ 

41:9 Even my close friend ¹⁵  whom I trusted,

he who shared meals with me, has turned against me. ¹⁶ 

41:10 As for you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up,

so I can pay them back!” ¹⁷ 

41:11 By this ¹⁸  I know that you are pleased with me,

for my enemy does ¹⁹  not triumph ²⁰  over me.

41:12 As for me, you uphold ²¹  me because of my integrity; ²² 

you allow ²³  me permanent access to your presence. ²⁴ 

41:13 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise ²⁵ 

in the future and forevermore! ²⁶ 

We agree! We agree! ²⁷ 

[41:3]  ¹ tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive, continuing the prayer of v. 2, but the parallel line in v. 3b employs the perfect, suggesting that the psalmist is again speaking in the indicative mood (see v. 1b). The imperfect can be understood as future or as generalizing (see v. 1).

[41:3]  ² tn Heb “all his bed you turn in his illness.” The perfect is used here in a generalizing sense (see v. 1) or in a rhetorical manner to emphasize that the healing is as good as done.

[41:4]  ³ sn In vv. 4-10 the psalmist recites the prayer of petition and lament he offered to the Lord.

[41:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “my enemies speak evil concerning me.”

[41:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “and his name perish.”

[41:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “to see.”

[41:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “he speaks deceitfully.”

[41:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “his heart gathers sin to itself.”

[41:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “he goes outside and speaks.”

[41:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “together against me they whisper, all those who hate me.” The Hitpael of לָחַשׁ (lakhash) refers here to whispering to one another (see 2 Sam 12:19).

[41:8]  ¹¹ tn The words “they say” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to make it clear that v. 8 contains a quotation of what the psalmist’s enemies say about him (see v. 7a).

[41:8]  ¹² tn Heb “thing of worthlessness.” In Ps 101:3 the phrase refers to evil deeds in general, but here it appears to refer more specifically to the illness that plagues the psalmist.

[41:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “is poured out on him.” The passive participle of יָצַק (yatsaq) is used.

[41:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he who lies down will not again arise.”

[41:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “man of my peace.” The phrase here refers to one’s trusted friend (see Jer 38:22; Obad 7).

[41:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “has made a heel great against me.” The precise meaning of this phrase, which appears only here, is uncertain.

[41:10]  ¹⁷ tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) here indicates purpose or result (“Then I will repay them”) after the preceding imperatives.

[41:11]  ¹⁸ sn By this. Having recalled his former lament and petition, the psalmist returns to the confident mood of vv. 1-3. The basis for his confidence may be a divine oracle of deliverance, assuring him that God would intervene and vindicate him. The demonstrative pronoun “this” may refer to such an oracle, which is assumed here, though its contents are not included. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 319, 321.

[41:11]  ¹⁹ tn Or “will.” One may translate the imperfect verbal form as descriptive (present, cf. NIV) or as anticipatory (future, cf. NEB).

[41:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “shout.”

[41:12]  ²¹ tn Or “have upheld.” The perfect verbal form can be taken as generalizing/descriptive (present) or as a present perfect.

[41:12]  ²² sn Because of my integrity. See Pss 7:8; 25:21; 26:1, 11.

[41:12]  ²³ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect. It is either generalizing/descriptive (present) or has a present perfect nuance (“you have allowed”).

[41:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and you cause me to stand before you permanently.”

[41:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21.

[41:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “from everlasting to everlasting.” See 1 Chr 16:36; Neh 9:5; Pss 90:2; 106:48.

[41:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “surely and surely” (אָמֵן וְאָמֵן [’amen vÿ’amen], i.e., “amen and amen”). This is probably a congregational response to the immediately preceding statement about the propriety of praising God.