TheBibleNet: Psalm 54

Psalms:

Bk 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Bk 2: 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72

Bk 3: 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89

Bk 4: 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106

Bk 5: 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119a 119b 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132
133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150

Additional Psalms: 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 Samuel Chronicles

Essays: Intro - Music - Form & Language

KJ merges both verses 2 and 3 into verse 1, adjusting its numbering for the purpose.

54:1 LA MENATSE'ACH BIN'GIYNOT MASKIL LE DAVID

לַמְנַצֵּחַ בִּנְגִינֹת מַשְׂכִּיל לְדָוִד

KJ (King James translation): (To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?) Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength.

BN (BibleNet translation): For the Leader of the string-section. A Maskil. For David.

LA MENATSE'ACH: See my note on this at Psalm 51.

54:2 BE VO'O HA ZIYPHIM VA YOMRU LE SHA'UL HA LO DAVID MISTATER IMANU

בְּבוֹא הַזִּיפִים וַיֹּאמְרוּ לְשָׁאוּל הֲלֹא דָוִד מִסְתַּתֵּר עִמָּנוּ

KJ: as above

BN: When the Ziyphim came and said to Shau'l: "Is David not hiding with us?"

This logically follows Do'eg in the last Psalm, and picks up the same theme of betrayal; after fleeing Nov (where Do'eg reported seeing him to Sha'ul), David went down into the southern desert, where the Ziphim betrayed his whereabouts to Sha'ul (however, the incident with Naval came very shortly after this, so perhaps the appearance of that word in the last Psalm was pure coincidence).

This verse is the sub-title.

54:3 ELOHIM BE SHIMCHA HOSHIYENI U VIG'VURAT'CHA TEDIYNENI

אֱלֹהִים בְּשִׁמְךָ הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי וּבִגְבוּרָתְךָ תְדִינֵנִי

KJ: as above

BN: Elohim, save me in your name, and do right by me through your strength.

HOSHIYENI...TEDIYNENI: Simple internal rhyme, iambs and trochees and dactyls noch! A verse caesuraed and hemi-stitched. Lots more throughout this Psalm.

ELOHIM: once again this is an Elohim Psalm, though there is one YHVH reference in verse 8.

54:4 ELOHIM SHEM'A TEPHILATI HA'AZIYNAH LE IMREY PHI

אֱלֹהִים שְׁמַע תְּפִלָּתִי הַאֲזִינָה לְאִמְרֵי פִי

KJ (54:2): Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

BN: Elohim, hear my prayer; listen to the words of my mouth.

This is very similar to the prefatory line for the Amidah, which we encountered just a Psalm or two ago (Psalm 51:17).

Internal rhyme again, but fewer syllables.

54:5 KI ZARIM KAMU ALAI VE ARIYTSIM BIKSHU NAPHSHI LO SAMU ELOHIM LE NEGDAM (SELAH)

כִּי זָרִים קָמוּ עָלַי וְעָרִיצִים בִּקְשׁוּ נַפְשִׁי לֹא שָׂמוּ אֱלֹהִים לְנֶגְדָּם סֶלָה

KJ (54:3): For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.

BN: For strangers have risen up against me, and violent men are seeking after my soul; {N} they have not set Elohim before them. (Selah)

54:6 HINEH ELOHIM OZER LI ADONAI BE SOMCHEY NAPHSHI

הִנֵּה אֱלֹהִים עֹזֵר לִי אֲדֹנָי בְּסֹמְכֵי נַפְשִׁי

KJ (54:4): Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.

BN: Behold, Elohim is my helper; my Lord is for me the upholder of my soul.

54:7 YASHUV HA RA LE SHORERAI BA AMIT'CHA HATSMIYTEM

יָשׁוֹב הָרַע לְשֹׁרְרָי בַּאֲמִתְּךָ הַצְמִיתֵם

KJ (54:5): He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth.

BN: He will pay back the wickedness of those who lie in wait for me. Destroy them with your truth.

Which sounds like he wants Elohim to wage an intellectual argument, not a physical war.

54:8 BIN'DAVAH EZBECHAH LACH ODEH SHIMCHA YHVH KI TOV

בִּנְדָבָה אֶזְבְּחָה לָּךְ אוֹדֶה שִּׁמְךָ יְהוָה כִּי טוֹב

KJ (54:6): I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good.

BN: I will make a freewill sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, YHVH, for it is good.

EZBECHAH: And this in spite of the discussion in several recent Psalms about the values and merits of sacrifice.

Does it begin to seem as if Psalms 51 through 54 are in some way the same Psalm, or at least interconnected parts of some greater whole: Arias in a Grand Opera so to speak, which obviously is true of the whole Book of Psalms; but I mean this little group specifically?

YHVH: And suddenly to YHVH, not Elohim - I wonder if this verse was a late addition to a much older hymn. Which would also provide a very different explanation for why these seem so interconnected.

54:9 KI MI KOL TSARAH HITSIYLANI U VE OYEVAI RA'ATAH EYNI

כִּי מִכָּל צָרָה הִצִּילָנִי וּבְאֹיְבַי רָאֲתָה עֵינִי

KJ (54:7): For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies.

BN: For he has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eye has gazed upon my enemies. {P}

RA'ATAH EYNI: I take this to be an idiom; do we have a modern equivalent? And please can someone show me which word in this verse translates as "his desire".

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Psalms:

Bk 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41