143:3 Certainly 1 my enemies 2 chase me.
They smash me into the ground. 3
They force me to live 4 in dark regions, 5
like those who have been dead for ages.
143:7 Answer me quickly, Lord!
My strength is fading. 6
Do not reject me, 7
or I will join 8 those descending into the grave. 9
1 tn Or “for.”
2 tn Heb “an enemy.” The singular is used in a representative sense to describe a typical member of the larger group of enemies (note the plural “enemies” in vv. 9, 12).
3 tn Heb “he crushes on the ground my life.”
4 tn Or “sit.”
5 sn Dark regions refers to Sheol, which the psalmist views as a dark place located deep in the ground (see Ps 88:6).
6 tn Heb “my spirit is failing.”
7 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).
8 tn Heb “I will be equal with.”
9 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.