Psalms 56:1-2

Psalm 56 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the yonath-elem-rechovim style; ²  a prayer ³  of David, written when the Philistines captured him in Gath. ⁴ 

56:1 Have mercy on me, O God, for men are attacking me! ⁵ 

All day long hostile enemies ⁶  are tormenting me. ⁷ 

56:2 Those who anticipate my defeat ⁸  attack me all day long.

Indeed, ⁹  many are fighting against me, O Exalted One. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 61:7

61:7 May he reign ¹¹  forever before God!

Decree that your loyal love and faithfulness should protect him. ¹² 

Numbers 23:24

23:24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness,

and like a lion raises himself up;

they will not lie down until they eat their ¹³  prey,

and drink the blood of the slain.” ¹⁴ 

Job 31:31

31:31 if ¹⁵  the members of my household ¹⁶  have never said, ¹⁷ 

‘If only there were ¹⁸  someone

who has not been satisfied from Job’s ¹⁹  meat!’ –

Micah 3:2-3

3:2 yet you ²⁰  hate what is good, ²¹ 

and love what is evil. ²² 

You flay my people’s skin ²³ 

and rip the flesh from their bones. ²⁴ 

3:3 You ²⁵  devour my people’s flesh,

strip off their skin,

and crush their bones.

You chop them up like flesh in a pot ²⁶  –

like meat in a kettle.

[56:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 56. Despite the threats of his enemies, the psalmist is confident the Lord will keep his promise to protect and deliver him.

[56:1]  ² tn The literal meaning of this phrase is “silent dove, distant ones.” Perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a type of musical instrument.

[56:1]  ³ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16 and 57-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[56:1]  ⁴ sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm when the Philistines seized him and took him to King Achish of Gath (see 1 Sam 21:11-15).

[56:1]  ⁵ tn According to BDB 983 s.v. II שָׁאַף, the verb is derived from שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to trample, crush”) rather than the homonymic verb “pant after.”

[56:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “a fighter.” The singular is collective for his enemies (see vv. 5-6). The Qal of לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) also occurs in Ps 35:1.

[56:1]  ⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the continuing nature of the enemies’ attacks.

[56:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 59:10.

[56:2]  ⁹ tn Or “for.”

[56:2]  ¹⁰ tn Some take the Hebrew term מָרוֹם (marom, “on high; above”) as an adverb modifying the preceding participle and translate, “proudly” (cf. NASB; NIV “in their pride”). The present translation assumes the term is a divine title here. The Lord is pictured as enthroned “on high” in Ps 92:8. (Note the substantival use of the term in Isa 24:4 and see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [ICC], 2:34), who prefer to place the term at the beginning of the next verse.)

[61:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “sit [enthroned].” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive here, expressing the psalmist’s prayer.

[61:7]  ¹² tn Heb “loyal love and faithfulness appoint, let them protect him.”

[23:24]  ¹³ tn The pronoun “their” has been supplied for clarity; it is not present in the Hebrew text.

[23:24]  ¹⁴ sn The oracle compares Israel first to a lion, or better, lioness, because she does the tracking and hunting of food while the lion moves up and down roaring and distracting the prey. But the lion is also the traditional emblem of Judah, Dan and Gad, as well as the symbol of royalty. So this also supports the motif of royalty as well as power for Israel.

[31:31]  ¹⁵ tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.

[31:31]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.

[31:31]  ¹⁷ sn The line is difficult to sort out. Job is saying it is sinful “if his men have never said, ‘O that there was one who has not been satisfied from his food.’” If they never said that, it would mean there were people out there who needed to be satisfied with his food.

[31:31]  ¹⁸ tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”

[31:31]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the ones who.”

[3:2]  ²¹ tn Or “good.”

[3:2]  ²² tn Or “evil.”

[3:2]  ²³ tn Heb “their skin from upon them.” The referent of the pronoun (“my people,” referring to Jacob and/or the house of Israel, with the Lord as the speaker) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”

[3:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “who.”

[3:3]  ²⁶ tc The MT reads “and they chop up as in a pot.” The translation assumes an emendation of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher, “as”) to כִּשְׁאֵר (kish’er, “like flesh”).