Discovery BoxPsalms 69:13-21
Context69:13 O Lord, may you hear my prayer and be favorably disposed to me! 1
O God, because of your great loyal love,
answer me with your faithful deliverance! 2
69:14 Rescue me from the mud! Don’t let me sink!
Deliver me 3 from those who hate me,
from the deep water!
69:15 Don’t let the current overpower me!
Don’t let the deep swallow me up!
Don’t let the pit 4 devour me! 5
69:16 Answer me, O Lord, for your loyal love is good! 6
Because of your great compassion, turn toward me!
69:17 Do not ignore 7 your servant,
for I am in trouble! Answer me right away! 8
69:18 Come near me and redeem me! 9
Because of my enemies, rescue me!
69:19 You know how I am insulted, humiliated and disgraced;
you can see all my enemies. 10
69:20 Their insults are painful 11 and make me lose heart; 12
I look 13 for sympathy, but receive none, 14
for comforters, but find none.
69:21 They put bitter poison 15 into my food,
and to quench my thirst they give me vinegar to drink. 16
[69:13] 1 tn Heb “as for me, [may] my prayer be to you, O
[69:13] 2 tn Heb “O God, in the abundance of your loyal love, answer me in the faithfulness of your deliverance.”
[69:14] 3 tn Heb “let me be delivered.”
[69:15] 5 tn Heb “well,” which here symbolizes the place of the dead (cf. Ps 55:23).
[69:15] 6 tn Heb “do not let the well close its mouth upon me.”
[69:16] 7 tn Or “pleasant”; or “desirable.”
[69:17] 9 tn Heb “do not hide your face from.” The Hebrew idiom “hide the face” can (1) mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).
[69:18] 11 tn Heb “come near my life and redeem it.” The verb “redeem” casts the
[69:19] 13 tn Heb “before you [are] all my enemies.”
[69:20] 15 tn Heb “break my heart.” The “heart” is viewed here as the origin of the psalmist’s emotions.
[69:20] 16 tn The verb form appears to be a Qal preterite from an otherwise unattested root נוּשׁ (nush), which some consider an alternate form of אָנַשׁ (’anash, “be weak; be sick”; see BDB 60 s.v. I אָנַשׁ). Perhaps the form should be emended to a Niphal, וָאֵאָנְשָׁה (va’e’onshah, “and I am sick”). The Niphal of אָנַשׁ occurs in 2 Sam 12:15, where it is used to describe David’s sick child.
[69:20] 18 tn Heb “and I wait for sympathy, but there is none.” The form נוּד (nud) is an infinitive functioning as a verbal noun:, “sympathizing.” Some suggest emending the form to a participle נָד (nad, “one who shows sympathy”). The verb נוּד (nud) also has the nuance “show sympathy” in Job 2:11; 42:11 and Isa 51:19.
[69:21] 17 tn According to BDB 912 s.v. II רֹאשׁ the term can mean “a bitter and poisonous plant.”
[69:21] 18 sn John 19:28-30 appears to understand Jesus’ experience on the cross as a fulfillment of this passage (or Ps 22:15). See the study note on the word “thirsty” in John 19:28.
