Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 69:14

Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 69:14 - 69:14

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Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 69:14 - 69:14

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In this second part the petition by which the first is as it were encircled, is continued; the peril grows greater the longer it lasts, and with it the importunity of the cry for help. The figure of sinking in the mire or mud and in the depths of the pit (בְּאֵר, Ps 55:24, cf. בֹור, Psa 40:3) is again taken up, and so studiously wrought out, that the impression forces itself upon one that the poet is here describing something that has really taken place. The combination “from those who hate me and from the depths of the waters” shows that “the depths of the waters” is not a merely rhetorical figure; and the form of the prayer: let not the pit (the well-pit or covered tank) close (תֶּאְטַּר with Dagesh in the Teth, in order to guard against its being read תֶּֽאֱטַר; cf. on the signification of אִטֵּר, clausus = claudus, scil. manu) its mouth (i.e., its upper opening) upon me, exceeds the limits of anything that can be allowed to mere rhetoric. “Let not the water-flood overflow me” is intended to say, since it has, according to Psa 69:3, already happened, let it not go further to my entire destruction. The “answer me” in Psa 69:17 is based upon the plea that God's loving-kindness is טֹּוב, i.e., good, absolutely good (as in the kindred passion-Psalm, Psa 109:21), better than all besides (Psa 63:4), the means of healing or salvation from all evil. On Psa 69:17 cf. Psa 51:3, Lam 3:32. In Psa 69:18 the prayer is based upon the painful situation of the poet, which urgently calls for speedy help (מַהֵר beside the imperative, Psa 102:3; Psa 143:7; Gen 19:22; Est 6:10, is certainly itself not an imperative like הֶרֶב, Psa 51:4, but an adverbial infinitive as in Psa 79:8). קָרְבָה, or, in order to ensure the pronunciation ḳorbah in distinction from ḳārbah, Deu 15:9, קֳרְבָה (in Baer,

(Note: Originally - was the sign for every kind of o6, hence the Masora includes the חטוף also under the name קמץ חטף; vid., Luther. Zeitschrift, 1863, S. 412,f., cf. Wright, Genesis, p. xxix.))

is imperat. Kal; cf. the fulfilment in Lam 3:57. The reason assigned, “because of mine enemies,” as in Psa 5:9; Psa 27:11, and frequently, is to be understood according to Psa 13:5 : the honour of the all-holy One cannot suffer the enemies of the righteous to triumph over him.

(Note: Both נַפְשִׁי and אֹיְבַי, contrary to logical interpunction, are marked with Munach; the former ought properly to have Dechî, and the latter Mugrash. But since neither the Athnach-word nor the Silluk-word has two syllables preceding the tone syllable, the accents are transformed according to Accentuationssystem, xviii. §2, 4.)

The accumulation of synonyms in Psa 69:20 is Jeremiah's custom, Jer 13:14; Jer 21:5, Jer 21:7; Jer 32:37, and is found also in Ps 31 (Psa 31:10) and Ps 44 (Psa 44:4, Psa 44:17, Psa 44:25). On הֶרְפָּה שָֽׁבְרָה לִבִּי, cf. Psa 51:19, Jer 23:9. The ἅπαξ γεγραμ, וָֽאָנוּשָׁה (historical tense), from נוּשׁ, is explained by עָנוּשׁ from אָנַשׁ, sickly, dangerously ill, evil-disposed, which is a favourite word in Jeremiah. Moreover נוּד in the signification of manifesting pity, not found elsewhere in the Psalter, is common in Jeremiah, e.g., Psa 15:5; it signifies originally to nod to any one as a sign of a pity that sympathizes with him and recognises the magnitude of the evil. “To give wormwood for meat and מֵי־רֹאשׁ to drink” is a Jeremianic (Jer 8:14; Jer 9:14; Jer 23:15) designation for inflicting the extreme of pain and anguish upon one. רֹאשׁ (רֹושׁ) signifies first of all a poisonous plant with an umbellated head of flower or a capitate fruit; but then, since bitter and poisonous are interchangeable notions in the Semitic languages, it signifies gall as the bitterest of the bitter. The lxx renders: καὶ ἔδωκαν εἰς τὸ βρῶμά μου χολήν, καὶ εἰς τὴν δίψαν μου ἐπότισάν με ὄξος. Certainly נָתַן בְּ can mean to put something into something, to mix something with it, but the parallel word לִצְמָאִי (for my thirst, i.e., for the quenching of it, Neh 9:15, Neh 9:20) favours the supposition that the בְּ of בְּבָרוּתִי is Beth essentiae, after which Luther renders: “they give me gall to eat.” The ἅπαξ γεγραμ. בָּרוּת (Lam 4:10 בָּרֹות) signifies βρῶσις, from בָּרָה, βιβρώσκειν (root βορ, Sanscrit gar, Latin vor-are).