Mazmur 55:2

55:2 Pay attention to me and answer me!

I am so upset ¹  and distressed, ²  I am beside myself, ³ 

Mazmur 116:1-2

Psalm 116 ⁴ 

116:1 I love the Lord

because he heard my plea for mercy, ⁵ 

116:2 and listened to me. ⁶ 

As long as I live, I will call to him when I need help. ⁷ 

[55:2]  ¹ tn Or “restless” (see Gen 27:40). The Hiphil is intransitive-exhibitive, indicating the outward display of an inner attitude.

[55:2]  ² tn Heb “in my complaint.”

[55:2]  ³ tn The verb is a Hiphil cohortative from הוּם (hum), which means “to confuse someone” in the Qal and “to go wild” in the Niphal. An Arabic cognate means “to be out of one’s senses, to wander about.” With the vav (ו) conjunctive prefixed to it, the cohortative probably indicates the result or effect of the preceding main verb. Some prefer to emend the form to וְאֵהוֹמָה (vÿ’ehomah), a Niphal of הוּם (hum), or to וְאֶהַמֶה (vÿ’ehameh), a Qal imperfect from הָמָה (hamah, “to moan”). Many also prefer to take this verb with what follows (see v. 3).

[116:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 116. The psalmist thanks the Lord for delivering him from a life threatening crisis and promises to tell the entire covenant community what God has done for him.

[116:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “I love because the Lord heard my voice, my pleas.” It is possible that “the Lord” originally appeared directly after “I love” and was later accidentally misplaced. The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a preterite. The psalmist recalls that God heard his cry for help (note the perfect in v. 2a and the narrative in vv. 3-4).

[116:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “because he turned his ear to me.”

[116:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and in my days I will cry out.”