Psalm 13:1-3

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 13:1 sn Psalm 13. The psalmist, who is close to death, desperately pleads for God’s deliverance and affirms his trust in God’s faithfulness.
2. Psalm 13:1 tn Heb “will you forget me continually.”
3. Psalm 13:1 tn Heb “will you hide your face from me.”
4. Psalm 13:2 tn Heb “How long will I put counsel in my being?”
5. Psalm 13:2 tn Heb “[with] grief in my heart by day.”
6. Psalm 13:2 tn Heb “be exalted over me.” Perhaps one could translate, “How long will my enemy defeat me?”
7. Psalm 13:3 tn Heb “see.”
8. Psalm 13:3 tn Heb “Give light [to] my eyes.” The Hiphil of אוּר (ʾur), when used elsewhere with “eyes” as object, refers to the law of God giving moral enlightenment (Ps 19:8), to God the creator giving literal eyesight to all people (Prov 29:13), and to God giving encouragement to his people (Ezra 9:8). Here the psalmist pictures himself as being on the verge of death. His eyes are falling shut and, if God does not intervene soon, he will “fall asleep” for good.
9. Psalm 13:3 tn Heb “or else I will sleep [in?] the death.” Perhaps the statement is elliptical, “I will sleep [the sleep] of death,” or “I will sleep [with the sleepers in] death.”