Discovery BoxPsalms 59:5-13 
Context59:5 You, O Lord God, the invincible warrior, 1 the God of Israel,
rouse yourself and punish 2 all the nations!
Have no mercy on any treacherous evildoers! (Selah)
59:6 They return in the evening;
they growl 3 like a dog
and prowl around outside 4 the city.
59:7 Look, they hurl insults at me
and openly threaten to kill me, 5
for they say, 6
“Who hears?”
59:8 But you, O Lord, laugh in disgust at them; 7
you taunt 8 all the nations.
59:9 You are my source of strength! I will wait for you! 9
For God is my refuge. 10
59:10 The God who loves me will help me; 11
God will enable me to triumph over 12 my enemies. 13
59:11 Do not strike them dead suddenly,
because then my people might forget the lesson. 14
Use your power to make them homeless vagabonds and then bring them down,
O Lord who shields us! 15
59:12 They speak sinful words. 16
So let them be trapped by their own pride
and by the curses and lies they speak!
59:13 Angrily wipe them out! Wipe them out so they vanish!
Let them know that God rules
in Jacob and to the ends of the earth! (Selah)
1 tn Heb “
2 tn Heb “wake up to punish” (see Pss 35:23; 44:23).
3 tn Or “howl”; or “bark.”
4 tn Heb “go around.”
5 tn Heb “look, they gush forth with their mouth, swords [are] in their lips.”
6 tn The words “for they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The following question (“Who hears?”) is spoken by the psalmist’s enemies, who are confident that no one else can hear their threats against the psalmist. They are aggressive because they feel the psalmist is vulnerable and has no one to help him.
7 sn Laugh in disgust. See Pss 2:4; 37:13.
8 tn Or “scoff at”; or “deride”; or “mock” (see Ps 2:4).
9 tc Heb “his strength, for you I will watch.” “His strength” should be emended to “my strength” (see v. 17). Some also emend אֶשְׁמֹרָה (’eshmorah, “I will watch”) to אֱזַמֵּרָה (’ezammerah, “I will sing praises [to you]”) See v. 17.
10 tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).
11 tn Heb “the God of my [Qere (marginal reading); the Kethib (consonantal text) has “his”] loyal love will meet me.”
12 tn Heb “will cause me to look upon.”
13 tn Heb “those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 56:2.
14 tn Heb “do not kill them, lest my people forget.”
sn My people might forget the lesson. Swift, sudden destruction might be quickly forgotten. The psalmist wants God’s judgment to be prolonged so that it might be a continual reminder of divine justice.
15 tn Heb “make them roam around by your strength and bring them down, O our shield, the Lord.”
16 tn Heb “the sin of their mouth [is] the word of their lips.”
