Mazmur 69:14-20

69:14 Rescue me from the mud! Don’t let me sink!

Deliver me ¹  from those who hate me,

from the deep water!

69:15 Don’t let the current overpower me!

Don’t let the deep swallow me up!

Don’t let the pit ²  devour me! ³ 

69:16 Answer me, O Lord, for your loyal love is good! ⁴ 

Because of your great compassion, turn toward me!

69:17 Do not ignore ⁵  your servant,

for I am in trouble! Answer me right away! ⁶ 

69:18 Come near me and redeem me! ⁷ 

Because of my enemies, rescue me!

69:19 You know how I am insulted, humiliated and disgraced;

you can see all my enemies. ⁸ 

69:20 Their insults are painful ⁹  and make me lose heart; ¹⁰ 

I look ¹¹  for sympathy, but receive none, ¹² 

for comforters, but find none.

[69:14]  ¹ tn Heb “let me be delivered.”

[69:15]  ² tn Heb “well,” which here symbolizes the place of the dead (cf. Ps 55:23).

[69:15]  ³ tn Heb “do not let the well close its mouth upon me.”

[69:16]  ⁴ tn Or “pleasant”; or “desirable.”

[69:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “do not hide your face from.” The Hebrew idiom “hide the face” can (1) mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).

[69:17]  ⁶ tn Or “quickly.”

[69:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “come near my life and redeem it.” The verb “redeem” casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Ps 19:14).

[69:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “before you [are] all my enemies.”

[69:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “break my heart.” The “heart” is viewed here as the origin of the psalmist’s emotions.

[69:20]  ¹⁰ tn The verb form appears to be a Qal preterite from an otherwise unattested root נוּשׁ (nush), which some consider an alternate form of אָנַשׁ (’anash, “be weak; be sick”; see BDB 60 s.v. I אָנַשׁ). Perhaps the form should be emended to a Niphal, וָאֵאָנְשָׁה (va’e’onshah, “and I am sick”). The Niphal of אָנַשׁ occurs in 2 Sam 12:15, where it is used to describe David’s sick child.

[69:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “wait.”

[69:20]  ¹² tn Heb “and I wait for sympathy, but there is none.” The form נוּד (nud) is an infinitive functioning as a verbal noun:, “sympathizing.” Some suggest emending the form to a participle נָד (nad, “one who shows sympathy”). The verb נוּד (nud) also has the nuance “show sympathy” in Job 2:11; 42:11 and Isa 51:19.