Psalms 41:6-9

41:6 When someone comes to visit, ¹  he pretends to be friendly; ² 

he thinks of ways to defame me, ³ 

and when he leaves he slanders me. ⁴ 

41:7 All who hate me whisper insults about me to one another; ⁵ 

they plan ways to harm me.

41:8 They say, ⁶ 

‘An awful disease ⁷  overwhelms him, ⁸ 

and now that he is bed-ridden he will never recover.’ ⁹ 

41:9 Even my close friend ¹⁰  whom I trusted,

he who shared meals with me, has turned against me. ¹¹ 

[41:6]  ¹ tn Heb “to see.”

[41:6]  ² tn Heb “he speaks deceitfully.”

[41:6]  ³ tn Heb “his heart gathers sin to itself.”

[41:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “he goes outside and speaks.”

[41:7]  ⁵ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “is poured out on him.” The passive participle of יָצַק (yatsaq) is used.

[41:8]  ¹² tn Heb “and he who lies down will not again arise.”

[41:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “man of my peace.” The phrase here refers to one’s trusted friend (see Jer 38:22; Obad 7).

[41:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “has made a heel great against me.” The precise meaning of this phrase, which appears only here, is uncertain.