6:2 Have mercy on me, 1 Lord, for I am frail!
Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking! 2
6:3 I am absolutely terrified, 3
and you, Lord – how long will this continue? 4
6:10 May all my enemies be humiliated 5 and absolutely terrified! 6
May they turn back and be suddenly humiliated!
1 tn Or “show me favor.”
2 tn Normally the verb בָּהַל (bahal) refers to an emotional response and means “tremble with fear, be terrified” (see vv. 3, 10). Perhaps here the “bones” are viewed as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. However, the verb may describe one of the effects of his physical ailment, perhaps a fever. In Ezek 7:27 the verb describes how the hands of the people will shake with fear when they experience the horrors of divine judgment.
3 tn Heb “my being is very terrified.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
4 tn Heb “and you,
5 tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist concludes his prayer with an imprecation, calling judgment down on his enemies.
6 tn Heb “and may they be very terrified.” The psalmist uses the same expression in v. 3 to describe the terror he was experiencing. Now he asks the