translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: PSA

label: NET translator note

text: The Hebrew text reads simply, “to cause to remember.” The same form, the Hiphil infinitive of זָכַר ( zakhar , “remember”), also appears in the heading of . Some understand this in the sense of “for the memorial offering,” but it may carry the idea of bringing one’s plight to God’s attention (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 303).


text: The verb Hebrew נָחַת ( nakhat ) apparently here means “penetrate, pierce” (note the use of the Qal in Prov 17:10 ). The psalmist pictures the Lord as a warrior who shoots arrows at him (see Ps 7:12-13 ).


text: Heb “and your hand [?] upon me.” The meaning of the verb נָחַת ( nakhat ) is unclear in this context. It is preferable to emend the form to וַתָּנַח ( vattanakh ) from the verb נוּחַ ( nuakh , “rest”). In this case the text would read literally, “and your hand rests upon me” (see Isa 25:10 , though the phrase is used in a positive sense there, unlike Ps 38:2 ).


text: Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh from before your anger.” “Anger” here refers metonymically to divine judgment, which is the practical effect of God’s anger at the psalmist’s sin.


text: Heb “there is no health in my bones from before my sin.”


text: Heb “pass over my head.”


text: Heb “my wounds stink, they are festering” (cf. NEB).


text: Heb “from before my foolishness.”


text: The verb’s precise shade of meaning in this context is not entirely clear. The verb, which literally means “to bend,” may refer to the psalmist’s posture. In Isa 21:3 it seems to mean “be confused, dazed.”


text: Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”


text: Heb “for my loins are filled with shame.” The “loins” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. The present translation assumes that נִקְלֶה ( niqleh ) is derived from קָלָה ( qalah , “be dishonored”). Some derive it instead from a homonymic root קָלָה ( qalah ), meaning “to roast.” In this case one might translate “fever” (cf. NEB “my loins burn with fever”).


text: Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh” (see v. 3 ).


text: Heb “I am numb and crushed to excess.”


text: Heb “I roar because of the moaning of my heart.”


text: Heb “O Lord, before you [is] all my desire.”


text: Heb “and the light of my eyes, even they, there is not with me.” The “light of the eyes” may refer to physical energy (see 1 Sam 14:27, 29 ), life itself ( Ps 13:3 ), or the ability to see ( Prov 29:23 ).


text: Or “wound,” or “illness.”


text: Heb “stand [aloof].”


text: Heb “and the ones near me off at a distance stand.”


text: Heb “lay snares.”


text: Heb “and there is not in his mouth arguments.”


text: Or perhaps “surely.”


text: Heb “For I said, ‘Lest they rejoice over me.’” The psalmist recalls the motivating argument of his petition. He probably prefaced this statement with a prayer for deliverance (see Pss 7:1-2; 13:3-4; 28:1 ).


text: Heb “they will magnify against me.” See Pss 35:26; 55:13 .


text: Heb “and my pain [is] before me continually.”


text: Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי ( ki ) is asseverative here.


text: Heb “and my enemies, life, are many.” The noun חַיִּים ( khayyim , “life”) fits very awkwardly here. The translation assumes an emendation to חִנָּם ( khinam , “without reason”; note the parallelism with שֶׁקֶר [ sheqer , “falsely”] and see Pss 35:19; 69:4 ; Lam 3:52 ). The verb עָצַם (’ atsam ) can sometimes mean “are strong,” but here it probably focuses on numerical superiority (note the parallel verb רָבַב , ravav , “be many”).


text: Heb “are many.”


text: Heb “the ones who repay evil instead of good accuse me, instead of my pursuing good.”


text: Heb “hurry to my help.” See Ps 22:19 .