Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 10 Dec. 2023
We are continuing our study of Psalm 55, the last of the four wisdom-psalms of David in this part of the Psalms.
Jewish tradition locates this Psalm at the time in David’s life when his son Absalom staged an insurrection against him, aided and abetted by one of David’s cabinet members named Ahithophel, and David had to flee for his life away from Jerusalem.
The Targum Aramaic paraphrase of the Psalms explicitly says that verses 14-16 refer to Ahithophel1.
And while some modern Christian scholars have walked back from that a bit, they haven’t offered any other historical context that makes any better sense, so I’m sticking with the traditional interpretation.
The first 8 verses (which we studied previously) show us an example of how to pray when we are emotionally distraught:
Requesting a hearing from God (vs. 1-2),
Making a case why God should intervene, based on the wickedness of the ungodly (v.3),
Respectfully, yet honestly telling God how you feel (vs. 4-5),
And then hoping and dreaming of God’s salvation (vs. 6-8).
Now we will be focusing on the middle section of this Psalm, where David continues to talk with God about the problem he is experiencing and how he feels about it, but he also calls out to God to mete out justice and to save him.
Read
my translation:
{For
the concertmaster with strings, a thoughtful one by David.}
Please give ear, O God, to my prayer. And don’t act like you
didn’t hear about my petition! Please be attentive to me and
answer me! I am restless in my complaint, so I am going to make some
noise as a result of the voice of an enemy {and} as a result of the
oppression of the wicked, for they are passing off iniquity on me,
and they are antagonizing me angrily. As for my heart, it writhes in
my innards, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and
trembling enters into me, and shivering overwhelms me. And I say,
“If only I could be given a wing like the dove! I would fly away
and then settle down! Hey, I would go fleeing far away, {and} I
would spend the night in the wilderness. {Selah}
I will hurry
to the one who brings deliverance to me from the rushing wind –
from the storm. Put [them] down, my Master! Split up their
languages! For I have seen violence and contention in the city! Day
and night they circulate around her - upon her walls, and iniquity
and trouble are close to her, {as well as} empty-desire {}. Indeed,
divisiveness and deceit do not budge from her mall{s}. For it is not
an enemy who insults me (in which case I could bear it) – it’s
not one who hates me who increases against me (in which case I could
hide myself from him), but it is you, a man according to my rank, my
clan-leader, and known to me, together with whom we enjoyed sweet
{food} – we walked in {agreement} at the house of God. May death
take its toll upon them. They will go down to Sheol alive, for evils
are in their lodging – in their vicinity. {But} as for me, it is
to God that I will call, and Yahweh will make me safe.
When we are hurting, it is easy to stay stuck in the mode of complaining to God, but complaining, as John Calvin put it, is a “barren species of comfort2.” Eventually we must reach a point where we can discern through the fog of pain what practical steps would lead forward and advance God’s will, and then make them into petitions before God. That’s what David did. In verse 9, he identifies two things that urgently need to happen:
The imperative that begins v.9 בַּלַּ֣ע appears somewhat abruptly, but perhaps that word came to David’s mind because3 he had just heard it in the message from Hushai, his spy in Jerusalem, who had said in 2 Samuel 17:16 “...Don't spend the night tonight at the plains of the wilderness, but instead you must urgently cross over, otherwise the king will be swallowed up along with all the people who are with him.”
The ancient versions interpreted this verb to mean “drown” rather than swallow, and Jesus used the verb from the Greek translation in Matthew 18:6, when He said, “...whoever shall scandalize one of these little ones who believe in me… [deserved to] be drowned in the deep part of the lake.” (NAW)
This might also be an allusion to Moses’ song of God’s deliverance from the Egyptian army at the Red Sea in Exodus 15:10-13 “You blew with Your wind, The sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters... The earth swallowed them. You in Your mercy have led forth The people whom You have redeemed…” (NKJV)
In order for the nation of Israel to survive and for God’s glory to be maintained, this insurrection of Absalom and Ahithophel needs to be swallowed up/drowned/put down, so in the midst of David’s pain, he prays for God to do this.
David’s second imperative is for God to “divide their tongues,” or “split them up by their languages,” as God did long ago at the tower of Babel (Gen. 10:25; 1 Chr. 1:19).
David is remembering God’s previous interventions in judgment against the wicked and asking for God to do it again.
Men have banded together in an unholy alliance against God’s anointed and risen up against him, so David prays for that alliance to be broken up and for their insurrection to be put down4.
And, God answered David’s petition in a very specific way by splitting Absalom’s considerations two ways between Ahithophel advising an immediate assassination of David and Hushai advising a slow and steady build-up of the army followed by a full-on war. This disagreement between the two counselors resulted in David escaping and David’s followers putting down the insurrection.
“Ahithophel went his way to be hanged with a rope, and Absalom to be hanged without one.”5
We need to remember that when unbelievers combine forces to advance falsehood or oppression, they may seem so powerful that it seems hopeless, but God can easily split them up and bring their schemes to nothing.
For instance, when Gideon the Judge led 300 Israelites into battle against tens of thousands of invading Midianites. God caused the Midianites to start killing each other, so the Israelites were saved and apparently didn’t even suffer any casualties!
God has done that kind of thing in the past, and we can pray with David that He will do it again.
In the second half of v.9, David starts giving reasons for these two petitions to God to punish the wicked. He mentions two evils in particular which he had witnessed:
Hamas/violence – Absalom was threatening to use the edge of the sword against anyone in Jerusalem who stood in his way, and his first act as king in Jerusalem was to rape a bunch of women. That is violence; that calls for God to bring justice.
David adds that this antagonism against godliness was not practiced in secret but right out in the open, in the “streets/markets/government malls.”
When you see wickedness practiced that openly and without restraint, you can anticipate, as David did, that it won’t be too long before God intervenes in judgment and salvation6.
The second evil David mentions is riv, which can mean “strife” as in “military warfare” or in terms of “courtroom litigation.”
The mention of “division of tongues” earlier in the verse suggested to ancient translators that this word should be translated in terms of verbal disputes, thus the Vulgate and LXX “gain-saying” and Peshitta “judgment.”
The word chosen by the ancient Greek translators is used once in the NT in relation to Christ in Hebrews 12:3 “Indeed, y'all must start thinking logically about the One who persevered through such antagonism under the agency of sinners toward Himself, in order that y'all might not continue to be weary, coming undone in your souls.” (NAW)
This Psalm is full of second-level fulfillments in the sufferings of Christ. But although both Christ and David suffered from enemies, neither one of them curled up in a ball and gave in to the evil. They kept standing against it. We can follow David’s example of standing up against evil by praying for God to put a stop to it when we don’t have the power to stop it ourselves.
David continues giving reasons for God to intervene in verses 10-11.
The Hebrew is a little unclear as to the subject of the first verb in v.10 – what it is that is going around on the walls, whether it is the wicked “enemy” in v.3 or whether it is the “violence and strife” in v.9, or the “iniquity and trouble” in the latter half of v.10. I lean towards the “violence and strife” in v.9, but it could well be all of the above7.
There is only one other instance in the Hebrew O. T. of anybody “going around” the “walls” of a city, and that is the city’s own watchmen in Song of Solomon 5:7.
The threat seems to be coming from treacherous people within the city walls rather than from an army outside the city walls.
David has mentioned similar situations earlier in the Psalms:
Ps. 22:16 “...dogs have surrounded me – a crowd of hoodlums close in around me” (NAW)
Ps. 49:5 “...during evil days... The iniquity of those at my heels surrounds me” (NAW)
But whatever the case, the threat is relentless – it’s “day and night”
Psalm 42:3 “My tears were a daily and nightly meal to me while they were saying to me all the day, ‘Where is your God?’” (NAW)
It may feel like it’s never going to end, but one day Christ will cast down Satan, “the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night.8”
The words in the second half of v.10 describing what’s going on in the city don’t sound like war atrocities to me; I think they are describing crimes and injustices committed by the residents of David’s own city: iniquity, malice, mischief, trouble, abuse, sorrow.
These are words used by David earlier to describe Saul in Psalm 7:14 “Behold, he is in labor with iniquity, yes, he conceived trouble, and he will give birth to falsehood.” (NAW)
Talk to God, like David did, about the problems you see around you, and ask God to intervene.
David continues his list of what’s wrong in his town in v.11 – there is “wickedness/ruin/destruction/empty desire... oppression and deceit...”
Ancient Greek and Latin translators considered the word for “oppression” (translated “threats” in the NIV) to be specifically describing the oppression of charging interest on loans to the poor. On the other hand, the Hebrew word could have something to do with splitting people into factions and being divisive and partisan.
This reminds me of the “wicked” in Psalm 10:7 “It is a curse that fills His mouth – also deceit and oppression; under his tongue are trouble and iniquity.” (NAW)
This description also sounds a lot like things in Isaiah’s day: Isaiah 59:12-14 “For our rebellions have become many before you, and our sins have testified against us; for our rebellions are with us, and, as for our iniquities, we know them: rebellion and being untrue with Yahweh, and turning back from following our God, speaking injury and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. Justice is forced back, and righteousness stands from afar, for truth has stumbled in the open squares, and straightforwardness is not able to come.” (NAW)
Romans 1:28-30 describes the same conditions in New Testament times: “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things…” (NKJV)
So when you encounter these things today, don’t be surprised, don’t despair over it, talk with God about it and identify with Him what needs to be done.
By the way, just as the threat to David’s kingdom came from within, so also today, it’s not just the sinners outside the church that need to repent of these things. It is a form of oppression to hold a grudge. Have you ever found your conscience hesitating at the part of the Lord’s Prayer where we are supposed to say, “as we forgive our debtors” because there are hurtful things other people have done to you that you haven’t really been able to let go of.9 When we pray to God about things that are bothering us, we also let Him shine His light into our own hearts to expose the beams in our own eyes that need to be extracted.
Now, as David prays, the locus of evil gets more personal. One person in particular comes into view as the primary source of all the problems plaguing David, so he talks to God about this person in verses 12-14.
In v.13,
this person is literally “of [David’s] rank,”
he is also described as as an alluph,
which, I think, comes from the Hebrew number 1,000, and can be translated “man over a thousand/clan leader/chief/guide,”
or it could come from a rare Hebrew root that denotes “friendship/companionship,” which the newer English versions followed.
As usual, both meanings could be true at the same time.
Thirdly, in v.13, this man is described as “well-known” to David, and the connotation seems to be that he is even a blood-relative.
In v.14, David notes that their association was close both in public at the tabernacle and in private, over meals discussing state secrets. (Delitzsch)
The first phrase in v.14 could be translated literally “whom together we sweetened counsel,” although some versions have translated it “together we ate special food.” David had been in regular contact with this guy and had enjoyed the conversations and the times they had spent together.
And while the first half v.14 might or might not be referring to religious feasts, the second half certainly refers to worshiping God together at the tabernacle.
Luke 1:6 says of John the Baptizer’s parents that they, “...were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” (NKJV) That’s what David thought was going on with him and his buddy as they attended worship services together.
The Hebrew word that describes the feel of that worship (at the end of v.14)
is interpreted by some as the “hubbub” of the crowd they worshiped with,
but the ancient Greek, Latin, and Aramaic versions all translated with words that emphasized the unity of the people.
Both the excitement of being in a crowd and the camaraderie of everybody being there for the same reason are delightful parts of corporate worship.
But all was not as it seemed.
In my opinion, Ahithophel fits the description:
He could be an elderly man who was both a “clan leader” in Judea and a member of the King’s “council,” thus an extended family member whom David counted an “equal,” and who “guided” David, even while David was king.
They had “walked” together, worshipped at the “house of God” together, eaten together and “made plans” together, yet now Ahithophel he was trying to overthrow David’s government and kill him. How could he?!
Setting aside speculation on which historical character this was describing, the point is that this threat carries the heavy emotional freight of being a betrayal.
Most of us can shrug it off if a total stranger drives by and gives you “the finger,” but when it’s your own husband or wife or brother or sister turning against you, or a co-worker who knows enough to sabotage your work, or when a beloved friend-of-the-family turns out to be a sexual predator, it can be utterly dismaying. How could they?!!
David could let the taunts of Shimei go, but the treason of Ahithophel rocked his world. Treachery from someone you trusted is something you can’t really defend yourself against.
David has expressed this devastating feeling before in:
Psalm
42:10 “With a wrecking-ball to my bones my oppressors mock
me while they say to me all the day, 'Where is your God?'” (NAW)
and
Psalm 44:15-16 “All the time, my humiliation is
before me, and my blush has covered my face, because of the voice
of the fault-finder and reviler, because of the presence of
an enemy and an avenger.” (NAW)
In the New Testament, Jesus suffered the betrayal of Judas and endured this kind of “taunting/insulting/reproach” on the cross.
“Our blessed Lord had to endure at its worst the deceit and faithlessness of a favoured disciple; let us not marvel when we are called to tread the road which is marked by His pierced feet.” ~Charles Spurgeon, Treasury of David, 1885 AD
“[T]his traitor had seemed a saint…” (M. Henry). Perhaps you too have experienced the disorienting grief of someone you looked up to as a Christian – maybe you attended church together or maybe you listened to their podcasts for years, and then suddenly they began denying the very truths that had bonded you together, or a sin of unspeakable depravity was revealed which silenced their voice in your life. Such betrayal is a heavy weight emotionally!
Jesus implied in His parable of “The Two Men Praying in the Temple” that we would see such things in church, but it doesn’t make it any easier to bear.
The hardest thing for me about pastoring a church has been when our own parishioners have broken their word to me or intentionally deceived the elders, or turned against our church and left it and published slanderous things about us. Some of those things I wonder if the pain of them will ever go away.
1 Peter 4:14 “When y'all are being taunted using the name of Christ, you are happily blessed because the Spirit of glory – even the Spirit of God is resting upon y'all. [According to them He is being blasphemed, but according to y'all He is being glorified!]” (NAW)
But in the midst of the most emotionally-troubling events, God’s word gives us perspective to guide us; it helps us see clearly the future of both the ungodly and the godly, and that’s what the next verses bring out:
In verse 15, we see the character of the ungodly and what they deserve.
For evil to be “in the midst of their dwelling” implies that not only is this evil known by them, it is invited into their home, and placed in the center of their lifestyle. This evil is not an outside temptation to which they may fall occasionally, it is on the inside, influencing everything they do!
If somebody were commissioned to walk into your home today and look around to identify what is at the center of your home life – what is it that influences everything you do, what would they say after observing your home?
Brothers and sisters, be ever so careful about what you allow into your home and what you allow to exert insider influence on yourself and your family!
Because of the pervasive influence of evil upon them, David says, “May death steal/surprise/seize/come/take its toll upon them, [and] may they go down to Sheol/hell.”
The stakes are high. This is what evil deserves. “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23, KJV) It’s the “broad way that leads to destruction” (Matt. 7:13, NAW).
The specific verb David chooses here pictures a lord confronting someone who owes him money and demanding that it be paid now10.
The ancient Jewish oral tradition of the Targums comments: “He will condemn them to the judgement of death, and he will decree for them evil things, for Doeg and Achitophel.”11
By the way, the only other time anyone in the Bible is described as “going down to Sheol alive” was Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in Numbers 16:30-33 who tried to usurp Moses and replace the whole government of Israel “...the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.” (NKJV)
David was probably thinking of that as he reviewed legal precedents for this case of Absalom and Ahithophel’s treason and what should be done about it. David, of course, was a king and therefore had legal power to pronounce this kind of judgment.
And David is also a type of Christ, who likewise has the power to judge:
King Jesus can condemn to death and hell, as He determined with the people of His hometown in Matthew 11:23 “And you, Capernaum, you won't be lifted up to heaven will you? You will be brought down as low as Hell, because if the miracles which occurred in you had occurred in Sodom, it would have remained until today.” (NAW)
King Jesus can also save and give life, as He determined in John 5:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” (NKJV)
In light of this, the Apostle Peter commented in 1 Peter 1:17 “And since the Father y'all are calling upon is the One who judges against the work of each man without showing favoritism, y'all should start lifestyling the time of your temporary residence with respectfulness” (NAW).
Now, the question arises that if David and Jesus have the authority to call down judgment on the wicked, can we pray the same way they did against our enemies? Let me quote four great commentaries on this:
The oldest commentaries I read were by Augustine and by John Calvin. Both of them underscored the importance of having no anger or revenge in your heart when you pray. “In imprecating this curse he was not influenced by any bad feeling towards them, and must be understood as speaking not in his own cause but in that of God, and under the immediate guidance of his Spirit. This was no wish uttered in a moment of resentment or of reckless and ill-considered zeal, and which would justify us in launching maledictions against our enemies upon every trivial provocation. The spirit of revenge differs widely from the holy and regulated fervor with which David prays for the judgment of God against wicked men, who had already been doomed to everlasting destruction.” ~J. Calvin, 1554 AD
Another principle is that your prayers need to be in pursuit of what you know God’s will to be, not petty personal wishes. “His prayers against them… we are both to stand in awe of and to comfort ourselves in, as prophecies, but not to copy into our prayers against any particular enemies of our own.” ~Matthew Henry, 1714 AD
And yet we should aggressively pursue what we know God’s will to be and not pull any punches when we pray against evil: “Read the words as a warrior's imprecation… The soldier, as such, desires the overthrow of his foes, for this very end he fights; and viewed as a matter of law and justice, David was right in his wish; he was waging a just, defensive war... pity to rebels against God, as such, is no virtue - we pray for them as creatures, we abhor them as enemies of God. We need in these days far more to guard against the disguised iniquity which sympathises with evil, and counts punishment to be cruelty, than against the harshness of a former age.” ~Charles Spurgeon, 1885 AD
We are not our own personal saviors, we pray because we are going to God to deliver us from evil. “We have much to learn from the Psalmist here. Often when I am attacked, I want to fight back… I want to set people straight about the true character of that rumor monger who is running me down. I want to give as good as I get, and then some. The psalmist calls out to God for refuge (the ability to stand up to the attacks of the enemy), rescue (deliverance from the distress and danger), and redress (setting things right).” ~G. Wilson, 2002 AD
In contrast to the evil person in v.15 (whose end is death and hell), is David in v.16.
David is characterized by “calling out to God” to be saved. That is the most important thing that David does, and he does it a lot!
Does that characterize you? How often do you call upon God?
And what is the result? “The LORD will make me safe.” That is the result in every age.
In David’s time: Psalm 34:6 “[For] this lowly man called out, and Yahweh Himself heard and made him safe from all his crises.” (NAW)
Hundreds of years later in Isaiah’s time: Isaiah 19:20 “...When they cry to Yahweh because of oppressors, He will send to them a Savior and Defender, and He will deliver them.” (NAW12)
And hundreds of years later in the New Testament: Acts 2:21 “And it shall come to pass That whoever calls13 on the name of the LORD Shall be saved14.” (NKJV, quoting Joel 2:32, also quoted in Rom. 10:13)
“The Psalmist would not endeavour to meet the plots of his adversaries by counterplots, nor imitate their incessant violence, but in direct opposition to their godless behaviour would continually resort to his God. Thus Jesus did, and it has been the wisdom of all believers to do the same. As this exemplifies the contrast of their character, so it will foretell the contrast of their end - the righteous shall ascend to their God, the wicked shall sink to ruin.” ~Charles Spurgeon
Vulgate (Ps. 54)B |
LXXC
|
Brenton (Vaticanus)D |
KJVE |
NAW |
Masoretic TxtF |
PeshittaG |
9 expectabam eum qui salvum me fecit a pusillanimitate spiritus [et] a tempestate |
9
προσεδεχόμηνH
τὸν σῴζοντάI
με ἀπὸ Jὀλιγοψυχίας
|
8
I waited
for
him that should
deliver me from distress
of spirit
|
8
I would
hasten
my escape
from the windy storm
|
8 I will hurry to the one who brings deliverance to me from the rushing wind – from the storm. |
9 [ו]כתרת [למן] דמפצא לי מן רוחא X דעלעלא |
|
10 praecipitaN Domine divide linguas eorum quoniam vidi iniquitatem et contradictionem in civitate |
10 καταπόντισον, κύριε, [καὶ] καταδίελε τὰςO γλώσσας αὐτῶν, ὅτι εἶδον ἀνομίαν καὶ ἀντιλογίαν ἐν τῇ πόλειP. |
9 DestroyQ, O Lord, [and] divide their tongues: for I have seen iniquity and gainsaying in the city. |
9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city. |
9 Put [them] down, my Master! Split up their languages! For I have seen violence and contention in the city! |
(י) בַּלַּעR אֲדֹנָיS פַּלַּגT לְשׁוֹנָם כִּי רָאִיתִי חָמָס וְרִיבU בָּעִיר. |
10
טבע
|
11
die et nocte circumdab |
11
ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς κυκλώσ |
10
Day and night |
10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. |
10 Day and night they circulate around her - upon her walls, and iniquity and trouble are close to her, |
(יא) יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה יְסוֹבְבֻהָY עַל חוֹמֹתֶיהָ וְאָוֶן וְעָמָל Z בְּקִרְבָּהּ. |
11[ב]איממא
ובלליא כריכין
X
|
12
[et] iniustitia
X X X et non defecit de
plate |
[καὶ]
ἀδικίαAB
X X X,
12 καὶ οὐκ ἐξέλιπενAC
ἐκ τῶν πλατει |
[and] unrighteousness X X X 11 and usury and craft have not failed from its street[s]. |
11
Wickedness
is
in the midst thereof: X |
11 {as well as} empty-desire {}. Indeed, divisiveness and deceit do not budge from her mall{s}. |
(יב) הַוּוֹתAF בְּקִרְבָּהּAG וְלֹא יָמִישׁAH מֵרְחֹבָהּAI תֹּךְAJ וּמִרְמָה. |
12
[ו]עתא
XXXAK
ולא
ענד מן שׁוק |
13
quoniam |
13
ὅτι |
12
For |
12 For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: |
12 For it is not an enemy who insults me (in which case I could bear it) – it’s not one who hates me who increases against me (in which case I could hide myself from him), |
(יג) כִּי לֹאAN אוֹיֵב יְחָרְפֵנִיAO וְאֶשָּׂא לֹאAP מְשַׂנְאִי עָלַי הִגְדִּיל וְאֶסָּתֵר מִמֶּנּוּ. |
13
לא
|
14 tu vero homo unianimis X dux meus et notus meus |
13 But thou, O man like X minded, my guide, and my acquaintance, |
13 But it was thou, a man X mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. |
13 but it is you, a man according to my rank, my clan-leader, and known to me, |
(יד) וְאַתָּהAT אֱנוֹשׁAU כְּעֶרְכִּיAV אַלּוּפִיAW וּמְיֻדָּעִיAX. |
14 Xאנת הו ברנשׁא דאכותי קריבי ורחמי |
|
15
qui simul mecum dulces capiebas |
15
ὃς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό [μοι] ἐγλύκανας
|
14
who in companionship
with |
14
X We took
sweet counsel
together, and
walked |
14 together with whom we enjoyed sweet {food} – we walked in {agreement} at the house of God. |
(טו) אֲשֶׁר יַחְדָּו נַמְתִּיקBA סוֹדBB בְּבֵית אֱלֹהִים נְהַלֵּךְBC בְּרָגֶשׁBD. |
15
דאיך
חדא |
16
veniat mors
super illos et descendant in infernum
viventes quoniam nequitiae in habitacul |
16
ἐλθέτω θάνατος
ἐπ᾿ αὐτούςBE,
καὶ καταβήτωσαν εἰς ᾅδου
ζῶντες, ὅτι πονηρίαι ἐν ταῖς
παροικί |
15
Let death
come
upon them, and let them go down alive into Hades,
for iniquit |
15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickednessX is in their dwelling[s], and among them. |
15 May death take its toll upon them. They will go down to Sheol alive, for evils are in their lodging – in their vicinity. |
(טז) יַשִּׁימָוֶתBG עָלֵימוֹ יֵרְדוּ שְׁאוֹל חַיִּיםBH כִּי רָעוֹת בִּמְגוּרָם בְּקִרְבָּם. |
16 איתא עליהון מותא [ו]נחתון כד חיין לשׁיול מטל דבישׁתא אית XXX בגוהון |
17 ego [autem]; ad Deum clamavi et Dominus salvabit me |
17
ἐγὼ [δὲ]
πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἐκέκραξα, καὶ ὁ
κύριος |
16
X I cried to
God, and the Lord |
16 As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. |
16 {But} as for me, it is to God that I will call, and Yahweh will make me safe. |
(יז) אֲנִי אֶל אֱלֹהִים אֶקְרָאBI וַיהוָה יוֹשִׁיעֵנִי. |
17
[אנא]
דין
לאלהא אקרא ו |
1Matthew Henry, Charles Spurgeon, and Franz Delitzsch, in their treatments of this part of Psalm 55, also explicitly mentioned Absalom and Ahithophel as fulfilling the historical circumstances of vs. 9-15. Calvin however, expressed skepticism about it being Ahithophel. See commentary on v.1 for notes on this from other commentators.
2“Had he indulged longer in the strain of complaint, he might have given his sanction to the folly of those who do themselves more harm than good by the excessive use of this barren species of comfort. There will occasionally escape from the lips of a saint, when he prays, some complaining exclamations which cannot be altogether justified, but he soon recalls himself to the exercise of believing supplication.” ~J. Calvin, 1554 AD
3Delitzsch’s explanation that David was thinking of the tower of Babel and that the word בלל in Gen. 11 suggested the word בלע seems too far-fetched.
4“Wherefore ‘sink’? Because themselves they have lifted up. Wherefore ‘divide’? Because for an evil thing they have united.” ~Augustine, c. 400 AD
5“The prayer of David was heard, the rebels were soon divided in their councils; Ahithophel went his way to be hanged with a rope, and Absalom to be hanged without one.” ~Ch. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, 1885 AD
6“For his own encouragement in prayer, the Psalmist proceeds to insist upon the wickedness and malignity of his adversaries, this being a truth never to be lost sight of, that just in proportion as men grow rampant in sin, may it be anticipated that the divine judgments are about to descend upon them. From the unbridled license prevailing amongst them, he comforts himself with the reflection that the deliverance of God cannot be far distant...” ~J. Calvin
7Calvin and M. Henry came out in favor of the subject being “their crimes,” but Delitzsch and G. Wilson asserted that it was Absalom’s cronies.
8Revelation 12:10 “...Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.” (NKJV)
9“There is also another usury worse, when thou forgivest not that which to thee is owed; and the eye is disturbed in that verse of the prayer, ‘Forgive us our debts—as we too forgive our debtors.’” ~Augustine
10“The precise image in the original is the exaction of payment...” ~Footnote by the editor of Calvin’s commentary
11Translation by Edward Cook at http://targum.info/pss/ps2.htm
12Dotted underlining represents the same Greek word in the LXX of both Psalm 55:16 (Eng.) and this passage, and regular underlining represents the same Hebrew word in the MT and the same Greek word in the LXX of Psalm 55:16 (Engl.) and this passage.
13The Greek word in the LXX of Psalm 55:16 (Eng.) is ἐκέκραξα (“cry out”), but the word in the GNT here is the synonym ἐπικαλέσηται (“call upon”). The Hebrew root in both verses is the same (considering this to be a quote of Joel 2:32).
14The Hebrew word in Joel is יִמָּלֵ֑ט (“be delivered”), a synonym to the Hebrew word in Psalm 55:16 (Eng) יושיע (“make safe”). The LXX of Psalm 55:16 mistakenly translated it “heed.”
AMy
original chart includes the NASB, NIV, and ESV, but their copyright
restrictions force me to remove them from the publicly-available
edition of this chart. (NAW is my translation.) When a translation
adds words not in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done
so by the use of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words
in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is
different from all the other translations, I underline it.
When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either
departs too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs
too far from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout.
And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I
insert an X. (I also place an X at the end of a word if the original
word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I
occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between
the various editions and versions when there are more than two
different translations of a given word. There are no known Dead Sea
Scrolls containing Psalm 55. Where the DSS is legible and reads the
same as the MT, the Hebrew text is colored purple. Where the DSS and
ancient versions support each other against the MT in such a way
that I suspect they are the original reading, I have highlighted
them with
yellow.
BJerome's Latin Vulgate w/ Deuterocanon using Gallican Psalter, 405 AD. As published electronically by E-Sword.
CThis Greek New Testament (GNT) is the 1904 "Patriarchal" edition of the Greek Orthodox Church. The Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine majority text of the GNT and the Textus Receptus are very similar. The Westcott-Hort, Nestle-Aland, and UBS editions are a slightly-different family of GNTs developed in the modern era as a break from the traditional Greek Bible by compiling just a few of the oldest-known manuscripts, but even so, the practical differences in the text between these two editing philosophies are minimal.
DEnglish translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, 1851, “based upon the text of the Vaticanus” but not identical to the Vaticanus. As published electronically by E-Sword.
E1769 King James Version of the Holy Bible; public domain. As published electronically by E-Sword.
FFrom
the Wiki Hebrew Bible
https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%A1%D7%A4%D7%A8_%D7%AA%D7%94%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9D.
DSS text comes from https://downloads.thewaytoyahuweh.com
GThe Leiden Peshitta, Copyright © 2012 by The Peshitta Foundation c/o Leiden University Institute for Religious Studies, as published electronically in BibleWorks.
H2nd century Greek translators Aquilla, Theodotion, and Symmachus favored the MT reading with speusw/exaifnhV epoihsa (“I will hurry/make haste”).
ICf. synonyms from Aquilla & Theodotion: diaswsmon (“safety” – this form of sozw is used to denote “healing” in the gospels {Matt. 14:36; Lk. 7:3}, and to denote safety from drowning in the rest of the NT {Acts 23:24; 27:43-44; 28:1, 4; 1 Pet. 3:20}), and Symmachus: ekfeuxin (“refuge”). In the N.T., this passive participle of sozw is used exclusively of persons who are saved by Jesus (Lk. 13:23; Acts 2:47; 1 Cor. 1:18; 2 Cor. 2:15).
JA.Q. = lailapwdouV (“waterspout?”), S. epairontoV (“sweeping” close to the meaning of the Targum’s word – this was the meaning Tate preferred in his commentary on the Psalms).
K2nd Century Greek versions all used the practical synonym lailapoV (“hurricane”).
LHapex Legomenon, but the root is common as a verb, meaning “escape.” LXX renders it “salvation.”
MHapex
Legomenon. BDB suggested a
meaning of “rushing” (as of “wind”), Holladay
suggested a meaning of “slander” (as in a “spirit of
slander”?), LXX & Vulgate suggest a meaning of “small/weak,”
Targum suggests נטלא
(Which
seems to be translated “sweeping”
in the
Hebrew Union College Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon, and
translated “shelter” in
Edward Cook’s
translation of the Targums),
and the Peshitta ignores it.
This word rhymes with the next,
containing the same first two root letters and ending with a
guttural.
N“cast down” – somewhere in-between the meanings of the LXX and Peshitta (“drown”) and that of the MT (“swallow”).
OSymmachus rendered this verb with the synonymous phrase asumfwnon poihson (“make so as not to be unified in voice”).
PSymmachus was less accurate to the MT with oti eqewrhsa biaion adikian kai diadikasian en th polei. (“because I marveled that they were violently unrighteous and perverted? in the city.”)
QLiterally “put under water” i.e. “drown”
RAJV
= “Destroy,” but Cohen vouched for “confuse.”
This
verb appears somewhat abruptly, but perhaps it appears because it
was in the message that David had just received from Hushai, his spy
in Jerusalem in 2 Sam. 17:16. (This might also be an allusion
to Moses’ song of God’s deliverance at the Red Sea in Exodus
15:10-13.)The only other instance of this word in Israel’s
history was when the earth “swallowed up” Korah, Dathan, and
Abiram when they rebelled against Moses. Jesus used the LXX’s verb
when He said, “...whoever shall scandalize one of these little
ones who believe in me, it bears together for him that a
donkey-millstone might be hanged about his neck and that he might be
drowned in the deep part of the lake.” (Matt. 18:6, NAW)
SAs is often the case, this Hebrew word is pointed to indicate a 1st person singular pronominal ending “my,” but no versions translate it that way.
TTwo of the three other times this verb is used in the Old Testament refer to the division of tongues at the tower of Babel (Gen. 10:25; 1 Chr. 1:19, the third being the political division of land at a river in Job 38:25), so this could be an allusion to another one of God’s interventions in judgment. 2 Sam. 15:31 could be considered a specific answer to this prayer.
UThis Hebrew word can mean “strive” in terms of “military warfare” or in terms of “courtroom litigation.” The mention of “division of tongues” earlier in the verse suggested to the ancient translators that this word should be translated in terms of verbal disputes, thus the Vulgate and LXX “gain-saying” and Peshitta “judgment.” In the NT, Jude and Hebrews use this word to denote controversies, but there is one passage which is Christological: Hebrews 12:3 “...He who persevered through such antagonism under the agency of sinners toward Himself...” (NAW)
VInstead of “divide” like the MT, LXX, Vulgate, and Peshitta read “the conversation of.”
WAquilla added “and harm” (anwfeleia), supporting the LXX and some editions of the Peshitta over the shorter reading of the MT.
XSymmachus instead reads with a list of only two synonyms: odunhn kai talaipwrian (“pain and misery”).
YLXX
& Vulgate read singular “he/it,” but Targums and Peshitta
support the MT with plural “they.”
Calvin and Henry
interpreted the subject as the crimes of the treacherous persons
inside the walls, whereas Delitzsch and G. Wilson interpreted it of
the people themselves inside the walls.
ZLXX & Vulgate = hard labor, English versions: sorrowKJV, mischiefNASB, abuseNIV, troubleESV, Aramaic Targums & Peshitta = lies. Cf. the same two nouns in reverse order in Psalm 10:7 “It is a curse that fills His mouth – also deceit and oppression; under his tongue are trouble and iniquity.” (NAW)
AABauscher’s translation of the Peshitta seems to be following a different edition with three nouns like the LXX and a different versification scheme. Lamsa’s translation reads like the Leiden Peshitta I have.
ABAquilla (epiboulh – “plotting”) and Symmachus (ephreiaV endon authV – “insurrections are in her”) made closer translations to the MT.
ACcf. Symmachus’ synonym acwriston (“did not vacate”).
ADThis is actually a transliteration of the Hebrew word, but the LXX translators equated it with the Hebrew terms for usury and interest neshek and tarbit.
AEcf. Symmachus’ synonyms zhmian kai epiqesin (“damage/loss and laying-it-on”).
AFcf. use of this noun in Psalm 5:9, 38:12, and 52:2&7. Cohen suggests “treacherous plots.”
AGLXX, Vulgate, and Leiden Peshitta do not repeat this word which was at the end of the previous verse, as the MT and Targums do. Since the word is already in the text in the previous verse, the meaning does not change by omitting it.
AHThe only other use of this verb in the Psalms is translated “feel/handle” (Psalm 115:7 “They have hands, but they cannot feel…” NASB), but in most other uses in the O.T., it is translated in terms of movement away from a place.
AIAlthough this word is singular in the MT, it is plural in the LXX, Vulgate, Targums, and Peshitta, as well as in the English versions. Cohen cites Kimchi describing this as “The public square where civic business is transacted.” G. Wilson also suggested “plaza.”
AJThis word occurs only 3 other places in the Hebrew O.T.: Psalm 10:7 (which also contains three other words from this verse and the previous); Psalm 72:14, and Prov. 29:13. It is generally translated “oppression,” although the LXX and Vulgate specify “usury” as the form of oppression.
AKLamsa does not omit “in the midst of her,” so perhaps there is another edition of the Peshitta he was following.
ALSymmachus used the synonym proephlakise (“forced”). The LXX verb is found in Matt. 5:11, Rom. 15:3, & 1Pet. 4:14
AMSymmachus used the synonym bastaxw (“I could bear”).
ANLXX & Vulgate read “if” instead of the MT/Peshitta/Targum “not.” Peshitta, however omits the “for.” NIV follows the Peshitta instead of the MT or LXX or Vulgate.
AOThis verb is found earlier in Goliath’s taunts of David in 1 Samuel, as well as in the Psalms of Korah: 42:10 & 44:15-16.
APLXX and Vulgate substitute “if” for “not,” but the Peshitta and Targums support the MT.
AQ“was raised up” (instead of MT “he increased”)
ARSymmachus used the synonym ‘omotropoV (“same type as”), which is closer to the MT. The only other instance of this word in the Greek Bible is Philippians 2:20, referring to Timothy.
ASSymmachus used the alternate translation sunhqhV (“habitual/customary/friend”), rejecting the valid interpretation of the MT which the LXX had made for “leader” for the other possible meaning of the Hebrew word in the MT. This was also Delitzsch’s approach.
ATTargums add “Ahithophel” here and “counselor” at the end.
AUIn the NIV Application Commentary, G. Wilson notes, “The use of ‘enosh (‘vulnerable human/man,’ 55:13) in this context emphasizes the openness and vulnerability of the relationship between these two.”
AVThe
root meaning of arok is “order/arrangement/value,” not
“equality,” and in none of its 32 other occurrences in the O.T.
do English versions translate it “equal.” However, in this
context, “my equal” ends up meaning the same thing as “according
to my rank.”
“What heart-piercing significance this word
obtains when found in the mouth of the second David, who, although
the Son of God and peerless King, nevertheless entered into the most
intimate human relationship as the Son of man to His disciples
[Hebrews 2:11], and among them to that Iscariot!” ~Franz
Delitzsch, 1891 AD
AWThis word has two meanings: 1) “Man of a thousand” – that is, commander of 1,000 troops, generally: the same as a clan leader, chief (“governor” in the N.T. Roman civil scheme), 2) “docility/friendship/association” thus a term for domesticated cattle. Most contemporary English versions translate along the lines of the second meaning, but the older versions translate according to the former (LXX & Vulgate = “leader,” Targums = “teacher,” KJV = “guide.” Peshitta is the exception with “neighbor”). It seems to me that the first applies better to Ahithophel. 61 out of the 69 times that this noun occurs in the NT, it uses the first meaning, and 100% of the instances in the Bible previous to Psalm 55 use the first meaning. Delitzsch however advocated for the latter meaning: “...from אָלַף, Arabic alifa, to be accustomed to anything, assuescere, signifies one attached to or devoted to any one...”
AXThe root of this word is “know.” Targums instead = “imparted wisdom to me.” The LXX word, when used in the NT Gospels, seems to indicate a relative (Lk. 2:44; 23:49; Jn. 18:15-16).
AYAquilla: aporrhton (“partings?”), Symmachus ekoinologoumeqa (“made small talk?”).
AZSymmachus: anestrefomeqa sundiaitoumenoi (“habituated ourselves to dieting together?”).
BAThis
verb only occurs 5 other times in the Bible: Exod. 15:25 (“sweet
water”); Job 20:12 (“evil” in the “mouth” – the only
other Hiphil); 21:33 (dirt “clods” to a buried body); 24:20 (a
“worm” eating a dead body); Prov. 9:17 (“stolen water”), but
its adjective form is more common, and is compared to “honey”
(Judges 14:18; Psalms 19:10; Prov. 16:24; 24:13; 27:7; Ezekiel 3:3),
“words” (Prov. 16:24), “light” (Eccl. 11:7), and “sleep”
(Eccl. 5:12), and is the opposite of “bitter” (Prov. 27:7, Isa.
5:20). LXX and Vulgate = “sweetened, Peshitta = “ate,” Targums
(ntritz) & 2nd century Greek versions
translated in terms of “talk.”
Regarding
the verb tense, Delitzsch commented, “because the principal clause
has a retrospective meaning that the futures נַמְתִּיק
and
נְהַלֵּךְ
describe
what was a custom in the past.”
BBThis word is not used in historical books in the O.T., so it is hard to pin down to a particular occasion. After this word comes disjunctive cantillation, separating the two strophes, so, “in the house of God” goes with “walked,” not with “made sweet counsel.” However, all the ancient versions translate this as some kind of food. Targums translates it rza = mystery/sacrament.
BCLike John the Baptizer’s parents whom Luke 1:6 says, “...were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” (NKJV)
BDPossibly Hapex legomenon, lexicographers define it in terms of “tumult,” with only about 5 other forms of the same root in the O.T. : Ps. 2:1 (the heathen “rage”); 64:2 (council of the wicked); and Dan. 6:6,11,15 (perhaps the gatherings of Daniel’s antagonists were ribald). Targums = srhwbiia (“haste”), but the ancient versions all read instead consensusLatin, concordLXX, harmony/agreementPeshitta.
BEBoth Aquilla (epaxei “come upon”) and Symmachus (aifnidiwV epelqoi “suddenly come upon”) interpreted the Hebrew verb as more complex than the LXX “come,” but all interpreted the last part of this verb as “death.”
BFAquilla and Symmachus both translated with the synonym sustrofh (“seditious gathering”).
BGHapex Legomenon assumed to mean “desolation” (from the root ישם found in Gen. 47:19 and Ezek. 6:6, 12:19, and 19:7), requiring the verb to be an understood verb of being, which is not unusual. Alternately, the Qere (Masoretic margin note) suggests putting a space in the middle of this word (יַשִּׁי מָוֶת), changing it to a verb with an object “let death destroy,” using a verb only found here and in Ps. 35:17 & 89:23 (where it is translated “destruction, ravages, attacks, exact, outwit, deceive, get the better of, defeat,” among the KJV, NKJV, NASB, NIV, ESV, and NLT). LXX and Vulgate and most English versions which include the word “death” support the Qere. Bauscher’s translation of the Peshitta (“plague upon them”) appears to support the original MT, but the Leiden Peshitta, and Lamsa’s translation of it “Bring death upon them” supports the Qere. Targums also support the Qere – with added commentary (“He will condemn them to the judgement of death, and he will decree for them evil things, for Doeg and Achitophel” ~http://targum.info/pss/ps2.htm). Medieval Jewish commentators also supported the Qere: Rashi “may He incite death against them,” Kimchi “May He command that death overtake them.”
BHAn
allusion to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram’s judgment in Numbers 16.
Concerning the meaning of “alive”:
Cohen cites
Metsudath David explaining, “Let them perish suddenly, while in
good health, so that it be made obvious... that their death is…
Divine visitation.”
Augustine: “What is ‘living’?
knowing that they are perishing, and yet perishing… therefore unto
the lower places living they go down, because the evil which they
do, they know evil to be.”
Calvin: “...imprecating
sudden and unexpected ruin upon them...”
Henry: “The
souls of impenitent sinners go down quick, or alive, into hell, for
they have a perfect sense of their miseries, and shall therefore
live still, that they may be still miserable.”
Spurgeon:
“While in the rigour of life into sheol let them sink, let them
suddenly exchange the enjoyment of the quick or living of the
dead.”
Delitzsch:
“like the company of Korah, while their life is yet vigorous, that
is to say, let them die a sudden, violent death”
G.
Wilson: “abrupt and
unexpected”
BITargums translate this “pray” instead of its literal meaning “call,” and then translate the last verb in the verse “redeem” instead of its literal meaning “make safe.” In neither case is it a hostile edit, but not the most accurate.
BJCuriously, the Peshitta does not use “Lord” like the MT and LXX, but substitutes “God.”