Psalms 56:5-6

56:5 All day long they cause me trouble; ¹ 

they make a habit of plotting my demise. ² 

56:6 They stalk ³  and lurk; ⁴ 

they watch my every step, ⁵ 

as ⁶  they prepare to take my life. ⁷ 

[56:5]  ¹ tn Heb “my affairs they disturb.” For other instances of דָּבָר (davar) meaning “affairs, business,” see BDB 183 s.v.. The Piel of עָצַב (’atsav, “to hurt”) occurs only here and in Isa 63:10, where it is used of “grieving” (or “offending”) the Lord’s holy Spirit. Here in Ps 56:5, the verb seems to carry the nuance “disturb, upset,” in the sense of “cause trouble.”

[56:5]  ² tn Heb “against me [are] all their thoughts for harm.”

[56:6]  ³ tn The verb is from the root גּוּר (gur), which means “to challenge, attack” in Isa 54:15 and “to stalk” (with hostile intent) in Ps 59:3.

[56:6]  ⁴ tn Or “hide.”

[56:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “my heels.”

[56:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “according to,” in the sense of “inasmuch as; since,” or “when; while.”

[56:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “they wait [for] my life.”