41:2 May the Lord protect him and save his life! 1
May he be blessed 2 in the land!
Do not turn him over 3 to his enemies! 4
41:5 My enemies ask this cruel question about me, 5
‘When will he finally die and be forgotten?’ 6
41:6 When someone comes to visit, 7 he pretends to be friendly; 8
he thinks of ways to defame me, 9
and when he leaves he slanders me. 10
41:7 All who hate me whisper insults about me to one another; 11
they plan ways to harm me.
41:13 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise 12
in the future and forevermore! 13
We agree! We agree! 14
1 tn The prefixed verbal forms are taken as jussives in the translation because the jussive is clearly used in the final line of the verse, suggesting that this is a prayer. The psalmist stops to pronounce a prayer of blessing on the godly individual envisioned in v. 1. Of course, he actually has himself primarily in view. He mixes confidence (vv. 1, 3) with petition (v. 2) because he stands in the interval between the word of assurance and the actual intervention by God.
2 tc The translation follows the consonantal Hebrew text (Kethib), which has a Pual (passive) prefixed form, regarded here as a jussive. The Pual of the verb אָשַׁר (’ashar) also appears in Prov 3:18. The marginal reading (Qere) assumes a vav (ו) consecutive and Pual perfect. Some, with the support of the LXX, change the verb to a Piel (active) form with an objective pronominal suffix, “and may he bless him,” or “and he will bless him” (cf. NIV).
3 tn The negative particle אַל (’al) before the prefixed verbal form indicates the verb is a jussive and the statement a prayer. Those who want to take v. 2 as a statement of confidence suggest emending the negative particle to לֹא (lo’), which is used with the imperfect. See the earlier note on the verbal forms in line one of this verse. According to GKC 322 §109.e, this is a case where the jussive is used rhetorically to “express that something cannot or should not happen.” In this case one might translate, “you will not turn him over to his enemies,” and take the preceding verbal forms as indicative in mood.
4 tn Heb “do not give him over to the desire of his enemies” (see Ps 27:12).
5 tn Heb “my enemies speak evil concerning me.”
6 tn Heb “and his name perish.”
7 tn Heb “to see.”
8 tn Heb “he speaks deceitfully.”
9 tn Heb “his heart gathers sin to itself.”
10 tn Heb “he goes outside and speaks.”
11 tn Heb “together against me they whisper, all those who hate me.” The Hitpael of לָחַשׁ (lakhash) refers here to whispering to one another (see 2 Sam 12:19).
12 tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21.
13 tn Heb “from everlasting to everlasting.” See 1 Chr 16:36; Neh 9:5; Pss 90:2; 106:48.
14 tn Heb “surely and surely” (אָמֵן וְאָמֵן [’amen vÿ’amen], i.e., “amen and amen”). This is probably a congregational response to the immediately preceding statement about the propriety of praising God.