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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 40:14 - 40:14
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In the midst of such sufferings, which, the longer they last, discover him all the more to himself as a sinner, he prays for speedy help. The cry for help in Psa 40:14 turns with רְצֵה towards the will of God; for this is the root of all things. As to the rest, it resembles Psa 22:20 (38:23). The persecuted one wishes that the purpose of his deadly foes may as it were rebound against the protection of God and miserably miscarry. לִסְפֹּותָהּ, ad abripiendam eam (with Dagesh in the פ according to Ges. §45, 2, Ew. §245, a, and not as Gesenius, Thesaurus, p. 1235, states, aspirated),
(Note: After ל the aspirate usually disappears, as here and in Psa 118:13; but there are exceptions, as לִנְתֹושׁ וְלִנְתֹוץ, Jer 1:10, and frequently, לִשְׁדֹוד, ib. Psa 57:4. After ב and כ it usually remains, as in Psa 87:6, Job 4:13; Job 33:15; 2Sa 3:34; 1Ki 1:21; Ecc 5:10; but again there are exceptions, as בִּשְׁכֹּן, Gen 35:22, בִּזְכֹּר, Jer 17:2. In Gen 23:2 it is pointed לִבְכֹּתָהּ according to the rule, and in my Comment. S. 423 it is to be read “with a Dagesh.”)
is added to מְבַקְשֵׁי נַפְשִׁי by way of explanation and definiteness. יָשֹׁמּוּ, from שָׁמֵם, to become torpid, here used of outward and inward paralysis, which is the result of overpowering and as it were bewitching surprise or fright, and is called by the Arabs ro‛b or ra‛b (paralysis through terror) cf. Job, note at Psa 18:12. An עַל following upon יָשֹׁמּוּ looks at first sight as though it introduced the object and reason of this fright; it is therefore not: as a reward, in consequence of their infamy, which would not be עַל־עֵקֶב, but merely the accusative עֵקֶב (Isa 5:23, Arabic ‛qîba), it is rather: on account of the reward (Psa 19:12) of their disgrace (cf. as belonging to the same period, Psa 109:29; Psa 35:26), i.e., of the reward which consists in their being put to shame (Hitzig). לִי as in Psa 3:3; Psa 41:6 : with reference to me. הֶאָח הֶאָח (Aquila, ἀὰ ἀὰ, αὐτῇ συγχρησάμενος, as Eusebius says, οὕτως ἐχούσῃ τῇ Ἑβραΐκῆ φωνῇ) is an exclamation of sarcastic delight, which finds its satisfaction in another's misfortune (Psa 35:25).