Mazmur 86:2

86:2 Protect me, ¹  for I am loyal!

O my God, deliver your servant, who trusts in you!

Mazmur 86:4

86:4 Make your servant ²  glad,

for to you, O Lord, I pray! ³ 

Mazmur 86:16-17

86:16 Turn toward me and have mercy on me!

Give your servant your strength!

Deliver your slave! ⁴ 

86:17 Show me evidence of your favor! ⁵ 

Then those who hate me will see it and be ashamed, ⁶ 

for you, O Lord, will help me and comfort me. ⁷ 

[86:2]  ¹ tn Heb “my life.”

[86:4]  ² tn Heb “the soul of your servant.”

[86:4]  ³ tn Heb “I lift up my soul.”

[86:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “the son of your female servant.” The phrase “son of a female servant” (see also Ps 116:16) is used of a son born to a secondary wife or concubine (Exod 23:12). In some cases the child’s father is the master of the house (see Gen 21:10, 13; Judg 9:18). The use of the expression here certainly does not imply that the Lord has such a secondary wife or concubine! It is used metaphorically and idiomatically to emphasize the psalmist’s humility before the Lord and his status as the Lord’s servant.

[86:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “Work with me a sign for good.” The expression “work a sign” also occurs in Judg 6:17.

[86:17]  ⁶ tn After the imperative in the preceding line (“work”), the prefixed verb forms with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive indicate purpose or result.

[86:17]  ⁷ tn The perfect verbal forms are understood here as dramatic/rhetorical, expressing the psalmist’s certitude that such a sign from the Lord will be followed by his intervention. Another option is to understand the forms as future perfects (“for you, O Lord, will have helped me and comforted me”).