translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: PSA

label: NET translator note

text: 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 .


text: Or “show me favor.”


text: Normally the verb בָּהַל ( bahal ) refers to an emotional response and means “tremble with fear, be terrified” (see vv. 3, 10 ). Perhaps here the “bones” are viewed as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. However, the verb may describe one of the effects of his physical ailment, perhaps a fever. In Ezek 7:27 the verb describes how the hands of the people will shake with fear when they experience the horrors of divine judgment.


text: Heb “my being is very terrified.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ ( nefesh , “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.


text: Heb “and you, Lord , how long?” The suffering psalmist speaks in broken syntax. He addresses God, but then simply cries out with a brief, but poignant, question: How long will this (= his suffering) continue?


text: Heb “my being,” or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ ( nefesh , “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.


text: Heb “for there is not in death your remembrance.” The Hebrew noun זֵכֶר ( zekher , “remembrance”) here refers to the name of the Lord as invoked in liturgy and praise. Cf. Pss 30:4; 97:12 . “Death” here refers to the realm of death where the dead reside. See the reference to Sheol in the next line.


text: The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.” sn In Sheol who gives you thanks? According to the OT, those who descend into the realm of death/Sheol are cut off from God’s mighty deeds and from the worshiping covenant community that experiences divine intervention ( Pss 30:9; 88:10-12 ; Isa 38:18 ). In his effort to elicit a positive divine response, the psalmist reminds God that he will receive no praise or glory if he allows the psalmist to die. Dead men do not praise God!


text: Heb “I cause to swim through all the night my bed.”


text: Heb “with my tears my bed I flood/melt.”


text: The Hebrew text has the singular “eye” here.


text: Or perhaps, “are swollen.”


text: Or perhaps, “grow old.”


text: Heb “all [you] workers of wickedness.” See Ps 5:5 .


text: The prefixed verbal form is probably a preterite here; it is parallel to a perfect and refers to the fact that the Lord has responded favorably to the psalmist’s request.


text: The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist concludes his prayer with an imprecation, calling judgment down on his enemies.


text: Heb “and may they be very terrified.” The psalmist uses the same expression in v. 3 to describe the terror he was experiencing. Now he asks the Lord to turn the tables and cause his enemies to know what absolute terror feels like.