Psalm 109

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 109:1 sn Psalm 109. Appealing to God’s justice, the psalmist asks God to vindicate him and to bring severe judgment down upon his enemies.
2. Psalm 109:1 tn Heb “do not be deaf.”
3. Psalm 109:2 tn Heb “for a mouth of evil and a mouth of deceit against me they open, they speak with me [with] a tongue of falsehood.”
4. Psalm 109:3 tn Heb “and [with] words of hatred they surround me.”
5. Psalm 109:4 tn Heb “in place of my love they oppose me.”
6. Psalm 109:4 tn Heb “and I, prayer.”
7. Psalm 109:5 tn Heb “and they set upon me evil in place of good.”
8. Psalm 109:6 sn In vv. 6-19 the psalmist calls on God to judge his enemies severely. Some attribute this curse-list to the psalmist’s enemies rather than the psalmist. In this case one should paraphrase v. 6: “They say about me, ‘Appoint an evil man, etc.’” Those supporting this line of interpretation point out that vv. 2-5 and 20 refer to the enemies’ attack on the psalmist being a verbal one. Furthermore in vv. 1-5, 20 the psalmist speaks of his enemies in the plural, while vv. 6-19 refer to an individual. This use of the singular in vv. 6-19 could be readily explained if this is the psalmist’s enemies’ curse on him. However, it is much more natural to understand vv. 6-19 as the psalmist’s prayer against his enemies. There is no introductory quotation formula in v. 6 to indicate that the psalmist is quoting anyone, and the statement “may the Lord repay my accusers in this way” in v. 20 most naturally appears to be a fitting conclusion to the prayer in vv. 6-19. But what about the use of the singular in vv. 6-19? Often in the psalms the psalmist will describe his enemies as a group, but then speak of them as an individual as well, as if viewing his adversaries collectively as one powerful foe. See, for example, Ps 7, where the psalmist uses both the plural (vv. 1, 6) and the singular (vv. 2, 4-5) in referring to enemies. Perhaps by using the singular in such cases, the psalmist wants to single out each enemy for individual attention, or perhaps he has one especially hostile enemy in mind who epitomizes the opposition of the whole group. This may well be the case in Ps 109. Perhaps we should understand the singular throughout vv. 6-19 in the sense of “each and every one.” For a lengthy and well-reasoned defense of the opposite view—that vv. 6-19 are a quotation of what the enemies said about the psalmist—see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 72-73.
9. Psalm 109:6 tn Heb “appoint against him an evil [man].”
10. Psalm 109:6 tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive here (note the imperative in the preceding line).
11. Psalm 109:7 tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as a jussive, but the use of the imperfect form in the following line suggests that v. 7 anticipates the outcome of the accusation envisioned in v. 6.
12. Psalm 109:7 tn Heb “he will go out [as] a criminal” (that is, guilty).
13. Psalm 109:8 tn The prefixed verbal forms (except those with vav [ו] consecutive) in vv. 8-20 are taken as jussives of prayer. Note the distinct jussive forms used in vv. 12-13, 15, 19.
14. Psalm 109:8 tn The Hebrew noun פְּקֻדָּה (p^equddah) can mean “charge” or “office,” though BDB 824 s.v. suggests that here it refers to his possessions.
15. Psalm 109:9 tn Or “sons.”
16. Psalm 109:10 tn Or “sons.”
17. Psalm 109:10 tn Heb “and roaming, may his children roam and beg, and seek from their ruins.” Some, following the LXX, emend the term וְדָרְשׁוּ (v^edar^eshu, “and seek”) to יְגֹרְשׁוּ (y^egor^eshu; a Pual jussive, “may they be driven away” [see Job 30:5; cf. NIV, NRSV]), but דָּרַשׁ (darash) nicely parallels שִׁאֵלוּ (shiʾelu, “and beg”) in the preceding line.
18. Psalm 109:11 tn Heb “lay snares for” (see Ps 38:12).
19. Psalm 109:11 tn Heb “the product of his labor.”
20. Psalm 109:12 tn Heb “may there not be for him one who extends loyal love.”
21. Psalm 109:12 tn Perhaps this refers to being generous (see Ps 37:21).
22. Psalm 109:13 tn Or “offspring.”
23. Psalm 109:13 sn On the expression cut off see Ps 37:28.
24. Psalm 109:13 tn Heb “in another generation may their name be wiped out.”
25. Psalm 109:14 tn Or “fathers’ sins.”
26. Psalm 109:14 tn Heb “not be wiped out.”sn According to ancient Israelite theology and its doctrine of corporate solidarity and responsibility, children could be and often were punished for the sins of their parents. For a discussion of this issue see J. Kaminsky, Corporate Responsibility in the Hebrew Bible (JSOTSup). (Kaminsky, however, does not deal with Ps 109.)
27. Psalm 109:15 tn Heb “may they [that is, the sins mentioned in v. 14] be before the Lord continually.”
28. Psalm 109:15 tn Heb “their memory.” The plural pronominal suffix probably refers back to the children mentioned in v. 13, and for clarity this has been specified in the translation.
29. Psalm 109:16 tn Heb “he did not remember to do loyal love.”
30. Psalm 109:16 tn Heb “and he chased an oppressed and needy man, and one timid of heart to put [him] to death.”
31. Psalm 109:17 sn A curse in OT times consists of a formal appeal to God to bring judgment down upon another. Curses were sometimes justified (such as the one spoken by the psalmist here in vv. 6-19), but when they were not, the one pronouncing the curse was in danger of bringing the anticipated judgment down upon himself.
32. Psalm 109:17 tn Heb “and he loved a curse and it came [upon] him.” A reference to the evil man experiencing a curse seems premature here, for the psalmist is asking God to bring judgment on his enemies. For this reason some (cf. NIV, NRSV) prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” as conjunctive and translate the verb as a jussive of prayer (“may it come upon him!”). The prefixed form with vav consecutive in the next line is emended in the same way and translated, “may it be far from him.” However, the psalmist may be indicating that the evil man’s lifestyle has already begun to yield its destructive fruit.
33. Psalm 109:17 tn Heb “and he did not delight in a blessing and it is far from him.”
34. Psalm 109:18 tn Heb “he put on a curse as [if it were] his garment.”
35. Psalm 109:18 tn Heb “and it came like water into his inner being, and like oil into his bones.” This may refer to this individual’s appetite for cursing. For him cursing was as refreshing as drinking water or massaging oneself with oil. Another option is that the destructive effects of a curse are in view. In this case a destructive curse invades his very being, like water or oil. Some who interpret the verse this way prefer to repoint the verb from the preterite form וַתָּבֹא (vattavoʾ, “and it came”) to a jussive form וְתָבֹא (v^etavoʾ, “and may it come!”).
36. Psalm 109:19 tn Heb “may it be for him like a garment one puts on.”
37. Psalm 109:19 tn The Hebrew noun מֵזַח (mezakh, “belt; waistband”) occurs only here in the OT. The form apparently occurs in Isa 23:10 as well, but an emendation is necessary there.
38. Psalm 109:20 tn Heb “[may] this [be] the repayment to my accusers from the Lord.”
39. Psalm 109:20 tn Or “against.”
40. Psalm 109:20 tn The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being; soul”) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
41. Psalm 109:21 tn Heb “but you, Lord, Master, deal with me for the sake of your name” or “on account of your name.” Here “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation. The Psalmist’s appeal is for God to act consistently with, and therefore maintain, his reputation (as a deliverer of the righteous and one who punishes evildoers). Note that “for your name’s sake” is paralleled by “because your loyal love is good.” The point is that the Psalmist is making an appeal not based on his own personal whim or vendetta but is calling for judicial penalties (or the fulfillment of prior prophetic indictment).
42. Psalm 109:22 tc The verb in the Hebrew text (חָלַל, khalal) appears to be a Qal form from the root חלל meaning “pierced; wounded.” However, the Qal of this root is otherwise unattested. The translation assumes an emendation to יָחִיל (yakhil), a Qal imperfect from חוּל (khul, “tremble”) or to חֹלַל (kholal), a Polal perfect from חוּל (khul). See Ps 55:4, which reads לִבִּי יָחִיל בְּקִרְבִּי (libbi yakhil b^eqirbbi, “my heart trembles [i.e., “beats violently”] within me”).
43. Psalm 109:23 tn Heb “like a shadow when it is extended I go.” He is like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness. See Ps 102:11.
44. Psalm 109:24 tn Heb “my knees stagger from fasting.”
45. Psalm 109:24 tn Heb “and my flesh is lean away from fatness [i.e., “lean so as not to be fat”].”
46. Psalm 109:25 tn Heb “as for me, I am a reproach to them.”
47. Psalm 109:25 sn They shake their heads. Apparently shaking the head was a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 22:7; Lam 2:15.
48. Psalm 109:26 tn Heb “deliver me according to your faithfulness.”
49. Psalm 109:27 tn After the preceding imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose or result.
50. Psalm 109:27 tn Heb “that your hand [is] this.”
51. Psalm 109:28 tn Another option is to translate the imperfect as a prayer/request (“may you bless”).
52. Psalm 109:28 tn The verbal sequence is perfect + prefixed form with vav (ו) consecutive. Since the psalmist seems to be anticipating the demise of his enemies, he may be using these forms rhetorically to describe the enemies’ defeat as if it were already accomplished. Some emend the text to קָמוּ יֵבֹשׁוּ (qamu yevoshu, “may those who attack me be humiliated”). See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 75.
53. Psalm 109:29 tn Heb “clothed.” Another option is to translate the prefixed verbal forms in this line and the next as jussives (“may my accusers be covered with shame”).
54. Psalm 109:30 tn Heb “I will thank the Lord very much with my mouth.”
55. Psalm 109:30 tn Heb “many.”
56. Psalm 109:31 tn Heb “judge.”