Psalm 55

¹Listen, O God, to my prayer!

Do not ignore my appeal for mercy!

²Pay attention to me and answer me!

I am so upset and distressed, I am beside myself,

³because of what the enemy says,[#tn Heb “because of [the] voice of [the] enemy.”]

and because of how the wicked pressure me,

for they hurl trouble down upon me

and angrily attack me.

⁴My heart beats violently within me;[#tn Heb “shakes, trembles.”]

the horrors of death overcome me.

⁵Fear and panic overpower me;[#tn Heb “fear and trembling enter into me.”]

terror overwhelms me.

⁶I say, “I wish I had wings like a dove![#tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the descriptive (present progressive) force of the verbs in v. 5.]

I would fly away and settle in a safe place!

⁷Look, I will escape to a distant place;

I will stay in the wilderness. (Selah)

⁸I will hurry off to a place that is safe

from the strong wind and the gale.”

⁹Confuse them, O Lord![#tn Traditionally בַּלַּע (bala’) has been taken to mean “swallow” in the sense of “devour” or “destroy” (cf. KJV), but this may be a homonym meaning “confuse” (see BDB 118 s.v. בַּלַּע; HALOT 135 s.v. III *בֶּלַע). “Their tongue” is the understood object of the verb (see the next line).]

Frustrate their plans!

For I see violence and conflict in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they walk around on its walls,[#tn Heb “day and night they surround it, upon its walls.” Personified “violence and conflict” are the likely subjects. They are compared to watchmen on the city’s walls.]

while wickedness and destruction are within it.

¹¹Disaster is within it;

violence and deceit do not depart from its public square.

¹²Indeed, it is not an enemy who insults me,[#tn Or “for.”]

or else I could bear it;

it is not one who hates me who arrogantly taunts me,

or else I could hide from him.

¹³But it is you, a man like me,[#sn It is you. The psalmist addresses the apparent ringleader of the opposition, an individual who was once his friend.; #tn Heb “a man according to my value,” i.e., “a person such as I.”]

my close friend in whom I confided.

¹⁴We would share personal thoughts with each other;[#tn Heb “who together we would make counsel sweet.” The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to the ongoing nature of the actions (the so-called customary use of the imperfect). Their relationship was characterized by such intimacy and friendship. See IBHS 502-3 §31.2b.]

in God’s temple we would walk together among the crowd.

¹⁵May death destroy them![#tc The meaning of the MT is unclear. The Kethib (consonantal text) reads יַשִּׁימָוֶת עָלֵימוֹ (yashimavet ’alemo, “May devastation [be] upon them!”). The proposed noun יַשִּׁימָוֶת occurs only here and perhaps in the place name Beth-Jeshimoth in Num 33:49. The Qere (marginal text) has יַשִּׁי מָוֶת עָלֵימוֹ (yashi mavet ’alemo). The verbal form יַשִּׁי is apparently an alternate form of יַשִּׁיא (yashi’), a Hiphil imperfect from נָשַׁא (nasha’, “deceive”). In this case one might read “death will come deceptively upon them.” This reading has the advantage of reading מָוֶת (mavet, “death”) which forms a natural parallel with “Sheol” in the next line. The present translation is based on the following reconstruction of the text: יְשִׁמֵּם מָוֶת (yeshimmem mavet). The verb assumed in the reconstruction is a Hiphil jussive third masculine singular from שָׁמַם (shamam, “be desolate”) with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix attached. This reconstruction assumes that (1) haplography has occurred in the traditional text (the original sequence of three mems [מ] was lost with only one mem remaining), resulting in the fusion of originally distinct forms in the Kethib, and (2) that עָלֵימוֹ (’alemo, “upon them”) is a later scribal addition attempting to make sense of a garbled and corrupt text. The preposition עַל (’al) does occur with the verb שָׁמַם (shamam), but in such cases the expression means “be appalled at/because of” (see Jer 49:20; 50:45). If one were to retain the prepositional phrase here, one would have to read the text as follows: יַשִּׁים מָוֶת עָלֵימוֹ (yashim mavet ’alemo, “Death will be appalled at them”). The idea seems odd, to say the least. Death is not collocated with this verb elsewhere.]

May they go down alive into Sheol!

For evil is in their dwelling place and in their midst.

¹⁶As for me, I will call out to God,

and the Lord will deliver me.

¹⁷During the evening, morning, and noontime

I will lament and moan,

and he will hear me.

¹⁸He will rescue me and protect me from those who attack me,[#tn The perfect verbal form is here used rhetorically to indicate that the action is certain to take place (the so-called perfect of certitude).; #tn Heb “he will redeem in peace my life from [those who] draw near to me.”]

even though they greatly outnumber me.

¹⁹God, the one who has reigned as king from long ago,

will hear and humiliate them. (Selah)

They refuse to change,

and do not fear God.

²⁰He attacks his friends;[#sn He. This must refer to the psalmist’s former friend, who was addressed previously in vv. 12-14.; #tn Heb “stretches out his hand against.”; #tc The form should probably be emended to an active participle (שֹׁלְמָיו, sholÿmayv) from the verbal root שָׁלַם (shalam, “be in a covenant of peace with”). Perhaps the translation “his friends” suggests too intimate a relationship. Another option is to translate, “he attacks those who made agreements with him.”]

he breaks his solemn promises to them.

²¹His words are as smooth as butter,[#tn Heb “the butter-like [words] of his mouth are smooth.” The noun מַחְמָאֹת (makhma’ot, “butter-like [words]”) occurs only here. Many prefer to emend the form to מֵחֶמְאָה (mekhem’ah, from [i.e., “than”] butter”), cf. NEB, NRSV “smoother than butter.” However, in this case “his mouth” does not agree in number with the plural verb חָלְקוּ (kholqu, “they are smooth”). Therefore some further propose an emendation of פִּיו (piv, “his mouth”) to פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”). In any case, the point seems to that the psalmist’s former friend spoke kindly to him and gave the outward indications of friendship.]

but he harbors animosity in his heart.

His words seem softer than oil,

but they are really like sharp swords.

²²Throw your burden upon the Lord ,[#tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here.]

and he will sustain you.

He will never allow the godly to be upended.

²³But you, O God, will bring them down to the deep Pit.[#tn The pronominal suffix refers to the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 19).; #tn Heb “well of the pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 103:4).]

Violent and deceitful people will not live even half a normal lifespan.

But as for me, I trust in you.