Psalms 54:3-4

54:3 For foreigners ¹  attack me; ² 

ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life. ³  (Selah)

54:4 Look, God is my deliverer! ⁴ 

The Lord is among those who support me. ⁵ 

[54:3]  ¹ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read זֵדִים (zedim, “proud ones”) rather than זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”). (No matter which reading one chooses as original, dalet-resh confusion accounts for the existence of the variant.) The term זֵדִים (“proud ones”) occurs in parallelism with עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Ps 86:14 and Isa 13:11. However, זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”) is parallel to עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Isa 25:5; 29:5; Ezek 28:7; 31:12.

[54:3]  ² tn Heb “rise against me.”

[54:3]  ³ tn Heb “and ruthless ones seek my life, they do not set God in front of them.”

[54:4]  ⁴ tn Or “my helper.”

[54:4]  ⁵ tn Or “sustain my life.”