Psalms 41

 

לַמְנַצֵּחַ מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד׃   41:1

Psal. 41:1   A psalm of David's, for the leader:

אַשְׁרֵי מַשְׂכִּיל אֶל־דָּל בְּיוֹם רָעָה יְמַלְּטֵהוּ יְהוָה׃   41:2

Psal. 41:2   Happy is the one giving attention to the poor;

                               in a time of distress the Lord will deliver him.

The word I translate as poor can also mean ill or feeble.  This can be interpreted to imply that the one being described in this psalm is himself ill.  I don’t know if I agree with this viewpoint.  The psalm refers to enemies of the one who pays attention to the poor.  Why would he need to be sick for this psalm to make sense?

יְהוָה יִשְׁמְרֵהוּ וִיחַיֵּהוּ (יֶאְשֹּׁר) [וְאֻשַּׁר] בָּאָרֶץ וְאַל־תִּתְּנֵהוּ בְּנֶפֶשׁ אֹיְבָיו׃   41:3

Psal. 41:3   The Lord shall preserve him and keep him alive;

                               he will be called blessed in the land,

                      and You will not deliver him to the passion of his enemies.

The word in the parentheses is assumed to be misspelled; presumably it should have a vav in place of the yad, as shown in the “correction” in the brackets.    More >>

יְהוָה יִסְעָדֶנּוּ עַל־עֶרֶשׂ דְּוָי כָּל־מִשְׁכָּבוֹ הָפַכְתָּ בְחָלְיוֹ׃   41:4

Psal. 41:4   The Lord shall support us on the bed of illness;

                               in his sickness You turn one's lying down about.

אֲנִי־אָמַרְתִּי יְהוָה חָנֵּנִי רְפָאָה נַפְשִׁי כִּי־חָטָאתִי לָךְ׃   41:5

Psal. 41:5   I say, “Lord, be gracious to me.

                              Heal my soul, for I have sinned toward You.”

אוֹיְבַי יֹאמְרוּ רַע לִי מָתַי יָמוּת וְאָבַד שְׁמוֹ׃   41:6

Psal. 41:6   My enemies would speak evil about me:

                               “When will he die and his name perish?”

וְאִם־בָּא לִרְאוֹת שָׁוְא יְדַבֵּר לִבּוֹ יִקְבָּץ־אָוֶן לוֹ יֵצֵא לַחוּץ יְדַבֵּר׃   41:7

Psal. 41:7   And if one comes inspecting, he would speak falsehood;

                               his heart will have gathered iniquity to itself;

                      going outside, he would speak.

יַחַד עָלַי יִתְלַחֲשׁוּ כָּל־שֹׂנְאָי עָלַי יַחְשְׁבוּ רָעָה לִי׃   41:8

Psal. 41:8   Together all hating me would whisper against me;

                               they would plot my injury against me:

דְּבַר־בְּלִיַּעַל יָצוּק בּוֹ וַאֲשֶׁר שָׁכַב לֹא־יוֹסִיף לָקוּם׃   41:9

Psal. 41:9   “A wicked thing has been pouring into him;

                               now that he is lying down,

                      he will not again be rising up.”

גַּם־אִישׁ שְׁלֹומִי אֲשֶׁר־בָּטַחְתִּי בֹו אֹוכֵל לַחְמִי הִגְדִּיל עָלַי עָקֵב׃   41:10

Psal. 41:10   Even a man of my friendship,

                               whom I trusted in him eating my bread,

                        has brought up a heel against me.

וְאַתָּה יְהוָה חָנֵּנִי וַהֲקִימֵנִי וַאֲשַׁלְּמָה לָהֶם׃   41:11

Psal. 41:11   But You, Lord, be gracious to me,

                               and raise me up that I may repay to them.

בְּזֹאת יָדַעְתִּי כִּי־חָפַצְתָּ בִּי כִּי לֹא־יָרִיעַ אֹיְבִי עָלָי׃   41:12

Psal. 41:12   By this I know that You delight in me,

                               that my enemy will not shout for joy over me.

וַאֲנִי בְּתֻמִּי תָּמַכְתָּ בִּי וַתַּצִּיבֵנִי לְפָנֶיךָ לְעוֹלָם׃   41:13

Psal. 41:13   But I, because of my integrity, You hold fast to me

                                and have set me before You forever.

בָּרוּךְ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵהָעוֹלָם וְעַד הָעוֹלָם אָמֵן וְאָמֵן׃   41:14

Psal. 41:14   Blessed is the Lord, God of Israel,

                                from everlasting and to everlasting.

                        Amen and amen.

 

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