143:7 Answer me quickly, Lord!
My strength is fading. 1
Do not reject me, 2
or I will join 3 those descending into the grave. 4
1 tn Heb “my spirit is failing.”
2 tn Heb “do not hide your face from me.” The idiom “hide the face” (1) can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) can carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).
3 tn Heb “I will be equal with.”
4 tn Heb “the pit.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit; cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. See Ps 28:1.