Discovery BoxPsalms 69:21-36
Context69:21 They put bitter poison 1 into my food,
and to quench my thirst they give me vinegar to drink. 2
69:22 May their dining table become a trap before them!
May it be a snare for that group of friends! 3
69:23 May their eyes be blinded! 4
Make them shake violently! 5
69:24 Pour out your judgment 6 on them!
May your raging anger 7 overtake them!
69:25 May their camp become desolate,
their tents uninhabited! 8
69:26 For they harass 9 the one whom you discipline; 10
they spread the news about the suffering of those whom you punish. 11
69:27 Hold them accountable for all their sins! 12
Do not vindicate them! 13
69:28 May their names be deleted from the scroll of the living! 14
Do not let their names be listed with the godly! 15
69:29 I am oppressed and suffering!
O God, deliver and protect me! 16
69:30 I will sing praises to God’s name! 17
I will magnify him as I give him thanks! 18
69:31 That will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull
with horns and hooves.
69:32 The oppressed look on – let them rejoice!
You who seek God, 19 may you be encouraged! 20
69:33 For the Lord listens to the needy;
he does not despise his captive people. 21
69:34 Let the heavens and the earth praise him,
along with the seas and everything that swims in them!
69:35 For God will deliver Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah,
and his people 22 will again live in them and possess Zion. 23
69:36 The descendants of his servants will inherit it,
[69:21] 1 tn According to BDB 912 s.v. II רֹאשׁ the term can mean “a bitter and poisonous plant.”
[69:21] 2 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.
[69:22] 3 tc Heb “and to the friends for a snare.” The plural of שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) is used in Ps 55:20 of one’s “friends.” If the reading of the MT is retained here, the term depicts the psalmist’s enemies as a close-knit group of friends who are bound together by their hatred for the psalmist. Some prefer to revocalize the text as וּלְשִׁלּוּמִים (ulÿshillumim, “and for retribution”). In this case the noun stands parallel to פַּח (pakh, “trap”) and מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “snare”), and one might translate, “may their dining table become a trap before them, [a means of] retribution and a snare” (cf. NIV).
[69:23] 5 tn Heb “may their eyes be darkened from seeing.”
[69:23] 6 tn Heb “make their hips shake continually.”
[69:24] 7 tn Heb “anger.” “Anger” here refers metonymically to divine judgment, which is the practical effect of God’s anger.
[69:24] 8 tn Heb “the rage of your anger.” The phrase “rage of your anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971), 17-81.
[69:25] 9 tn Heb “in their tents may there not be one who dwells.”
[69:26] 11 tn Or “persecute”; Heb “chase.”
[69:26] 12 tn Heb “for you, the one whom you strike, they chase.”
[69:26] 13 tn Heb “they announce the pain of your wounded ones” (i.e., “the ones whom you wounded,” as the parallel line makes clear).
[69:27] 13 tn Heb “place sin upon their sin.”
[69:27] 14 tn Heb “let them not come into your vindication.”
[69:28] 15 tn Heb “let them be wiped out of the scroll of the living.”
[69:28] 16 tn Heb “and with the godly let them not be written.”
[69:29] 17 tn Heb “your deliverance, O God, may it protect me.”
[69:30] 19 tn Heb “I will praise the name of God with a song.”
[69:30] 20 tn Heb “I will magnify him with thanks.”
[69:32] 21 sn You who seek God refers to those who seek to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him (see Ps 53:2).
[69:32] 22 tn Heb “may your heart[s] live.” See Ps 22:26.
[69:33] 23 tn Heb “his prisoners he does not despise.”
[69:35] 25 tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[69:35] 26 tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to “Zion” (see Pss 48:12; 102:14); thus the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[69:36] 27 tn Heb “the lovers of his name.” The phrase refers to those who are loyal to God (cf. v. 35). See Pss 5:11; 119:132; Isa 56:6.
[69:36] 28 sn Verses 35-36 appear to be an addition to the psalm from the time of the exile. The earlier lament reflects an individual’s situation, while these verses seem to reflect a communal application of it.
