4:4 Tremble with fear and do not sin! 1
Meditate as you lie in bed, and repent of your ways! 2 (Selah)
41:8 They say, 3
‘An awful disease 4 overwhelms him, 5
and now that he is bed-ridden he will never recover.’ 6
1 sn The psalmist warns his enemies that they need to tremble with fear before God and repudiate their sinful ways.
2 tn Heb “say in your heart(s) on your bed(s) and wail/lament.” The verb דֹמּוּ (dommu) is understood as a form of דָמָם (“wail, lament”) in sorrow and repentance. Another option is to take the verb from II דָמָם (damam, “be quiet”); cf. NIV, NRSV “be silent.”
3 tn The words “they say” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to make it clear that v. 8 contains a quotation of what the psalmist’s enemies say about him (see v. 7a).
4 tn Heb “thing of worthlessness.” In Ps 101:3 the phrase refers to evil deeds in general, but here it appears to refer more specifically to the illness that plagues the psalmist.
5 tn Heb “is poured out on him.” The passive participle of יָצַק (yatsaq) is used.
6 tn Heb “and he who lies down will not again arise.”