Psalms 6:1

Psalm 6 ¹ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments, according to the sheminith style; ²  a psalm of David.

6:1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger!

Do not discipline me in your raging fury! ³ 

Psalms 22:14-18

22:14 My strength drains away like water; ⁴ 

all my bones are dislocated;

my heart ⁵  is like wax;

it melts away inside me.

22:15 The roof of my mouth ⁶  is as dry as a piece of pottery;

my tongue sticks to my gums. ⁷ 

You ⁸  set me in the dust of death. ⁹ 

22:16 Yes, ¹⁰  wild dogs surround me –

a gang of evil men crowd around me;

like a lion they pin my hands and feet. ¹¹ 

22:17 I can count ¹²  all my bones;

my enemies ¹³  are gloating over me in triumph. ¹⁴ 

22:18 They are dividing up my clothes among themselves;

they are rolling dice ¹⁵  for my garments.

Psalms 34:19

34:19 The godly ¹⁶  face many dangers, ¹⁷ 

but the Lord saves ¹⁸  them ¹⁹  from each one of them.

[6:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 6. The psalmist begs the Lord to withdraw his anger and spare his life. Having received a positive response to his prayer, the psalmist then confronts his enemies and describes how they retreat.

[6:1]  ² tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit, “sheminith”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.

[6:1]  ³ sn The implication is that the psalmist has sinned, causing God to discipline him by bringing a life-threatening illness upon him (see vv. 2-7).

[22:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “like water I am poured out.”

[22:14]  ⁵ sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s strength and courage.

[22:15]  ⁶ tc Heb “my strength” (כֹּחִי, kokhiy), but many prefer to emend the text to חִכִּי (khikiy, “my palate”; cf. NEB, NRSV “my mouth”) assuming that an error of transposition has occurred in the traditional Hebrew text.

[22:15]  ⁷ tn Cf. NEB “my jaw”; NASB, NRSV “my jaws”; NIV “the roof of my mouth.”

[22:15]  ⁸ sn Here the psalmist addresses God and suggests that God is ultimately responsible for what is happening because of his failure to intervene (see vv. 1-2, 11).

[22:15]  ⁹ sn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the progressive nature of the action. The psalmist is in the process of dying.

[22:16]  ¹⁰ tn Or “for.”

[22:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “like a lion, my hands and my feet.” This reading is often emended because it is grammatically awkward, but perhaps its awkwardness is by rhetorical design. Its broken syntax may be intended to convey the panic and terror felt by the psalmist. The psalmist may envision a lion pinning the hands and feet of its victim to the ground with its paws (a scene depicted in ancient Near Eastern art), or a lion biting the hands and feet. The line has been traditionally translated, “they pierce my hands and feet,” and then taken as foreshadowing the crucifixion of Christ. Though Jesus does appropriate the language of this psalm while on the cross (compare v. 1 with Matt 27:46 and Mark 15:34), the NT does not cite this verse in describing the death of Jesus. (It does refer to vv. 7-8 and 18, however. See Matt 27:35, 39, 43; Mark 15:24, 29; Luke 23:34; John 19:23-24.) If one were to insist on an emendation of כָּאֲרִי (ka’ariy, “like a lion”) to a verb, the most likely verbal root would be כָּרָה (karah, “dig”; see the LXX). In this context this verb could refer to the gnawing and tearing of wild dogs (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV). The ancient Greek version produced by Symmachus reads “bind” here, perhaps understanding a verbal root כרך, which is attested in later Hebrew and Aramaic and means “to encircle, entwine, embrace” (see HALOT 497-98 s.v. כרך and Jastrow 668 s.v. כָּרַךְ). Neither one of these proposed verbs can yield a meaning “bore, pierce.”

[22:17]  ¹² tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 17-18 draw attention to the progressive nature of the action.

[22:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “they.” The masculine form indicates the enemies are in view. The referent (the psalmist’s enemies) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they gaze, they look upon me.”

[22:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “casting lots.” The precise way in which this would have been done is not certain.

[34:19]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew text uses the singular form; the representative or typical godly person is envisioned.

[34:19]  ¹⁷ tn Or “trials.”

[34:19]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form highlights the generalizing statement and draws attention to the fact that the Lord typically delivers the godly.

[34:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “him,” agreeing with the singular form in the preceding line.