Psalms 54:3-5

Context

54:3 For foreigners¹ 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

54:5 May those who wait to ambush me⁶ be repaid for their evil!⁷

As a demonstration of your faithfulness,⁸ destroy them!

[54:3] ¹tc 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] ²tn Heb “rise against me.”

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

[54:4] ⁴tn Or “my helper.”

[54:4] ⁵tn Or “sustain my life.”

[54:5] ⁷tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 56:2.

[54:5] ⁸tn The Kethib (consonantal text) reads a Qal imperfect, “the evil will return,” while the Qere (marginal reading) has a Hiphil imperfect, “he will repay.” The parallel line has an imperative (indicating a prayer/request), so it is best to read a jussive form יָשֹׁב (yashov, “let it [the evil] return”) here.

[54:5] ⁹tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”