Psalm 64:1-6

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 64:1 sn Psalm 64. The psalmist asks God to protect him from his dangerous enemies and then confidently affirms that God will destroy his enemies and demonstrate his justice in the sight of all observers.
2. Psalm 64:1 tn Heb “my voice.”
3. Psalm 64:1 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s request.
4. Psalm 64:1 tn Heb “from the terror of [the] enemy.” “Terror” is used here metonymically for the enemy’s attacks that produce fear because they threaten the psalmist’s life.
5. Psalm 64:2 tn Heb “workers of wickedness.”
6. Psalm 64:3 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
7. Psalm 64:3 tn Heb “a bitter word.”
8. Psalm 64:4 tn The psalmist uses the singular because he is referring to himself here as representative of a larger group.
9. Psalm 64:4 tn Heb “and are unafraid.” The words “of retaliation” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
10. Psalm 64:5 tn Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].”
11. Psalm 64:5 tn Heb “they report about hiding.”
12. Psalm 64:5 tn Heb “they say.”
13. Psalm 64:5 tn If this is a direct quotation (cf. NASB, NIV), the pronoun “them” refers to the snares mentioned in the previous line. If it is an indirect quotation, then the pronoun may refer to the enemies themselves (cf. NEB, which is ambiguous). Some translations retain the direct quotation but alter the pronoun to “us,” referring clearly to the enemies (cf. NRSV).
14. Psalm 64:6 tn Heb “search out, examine,” which here means (by metonymy) “devise.”
15. Psalm 64:6 tc The MT has תַּמְנוּ (tamnu, “we are finished”), a Qal perfect first common plural form from the verbal root תָּמַם (tamam). Some understand this as the beginning of a quotation of the enemies’ words and translate, “we have completed,” but the Hiphil would seem to be required in this case. The present translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading טָמְנוּ (tam^enu, “they hide”), a Qal perfect third common plural form from the verbal root טָמַן (taman).
16. Psalm 64:6 tn Heb “a searched-out search,” which is understood as referring here to a thoroughly planned plot to destroy the psalmist.
17. Psalm 64:6 tn Heb “and the inner part of man, and a heart [is] deep.” The point seems to be that a man’s inner thoughts are incapable of being discovered. No one is a mind reader! Consequently the psalmist is vulnerable to his enemies’ well-disguised plots.