¹ sn Psalm 86. The psalmist appeals to God’s mercy as he asks for deliverance from his enemies.

¹ tn Heb “name.” By forgiving the sinful psalmist, the Lord’s reputation as a merciful God will be enhanced.

³ sn Joining a fear of God to mercy is an important balance when involved in disciplinary action. On the one hand, being merciful without fear can turn to unwarranted sympathy for the individual, absolving him of personal responsibility, but fearing God without showing mercy can turn into personal judgment and condemnation.

¹ tn The term חֶסֶד (khesed) can mean “mercy, loyal love, covenant love.” The two words חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת (khesed veʾemet, “mercy and truth”) are used together over two dozen times. Sometimes they are treated in parallel clauses and sometimes they are paired in a hendiadys, to be understood as “faithful mercy.” Here they are pictured as concrete objects to tie around one’s neck, so at that level they are distinct even though they complement each other.

³ sn Caught in the violent wind, the ship was driven along. They were now out of control, at the mercy of the wind and sea.

⁴ sn Have mercy on me is a request for healing (cf. 17:13). It is not owed the man. He simply asks for God’s kind grace.

² sn God’s loyal love (steadfast love) is again the topic, reflected in the phrase tender mercy; see Luke 1:72.

² sn Mercy refers to God’s loyal love (steadfast love) by which he completes his promises. See Luke 1:50.

² sn God’s mercy refers to his “loyal love” or “steadfast love,” expressed in faithful actions, as the rest of the psalm illustrates.

³ sn Have mercy on me is a request for healing. It is not owed the man. He simply asks for God’s kind grace.

³ sn Have mercy on us is a request for healing. It is not owed to the men. They simply ask for God’s kind grace.

¹ tn Grk “falling therefore the slave bowed down to the ground.” The redundancy of this expression signals the desperation of the slave in begging for mercy.

³ sn Have mercy on us is a request for healing. Implicit in the request is the assumption that Jesus had the power to heal them and restore their sight.

² tn The verb יָשׁוּב (yashuv, “he will return”) is here used adverbially in relation to the following verb, indicating that the Lord will again show mercy.

² tn Heb “let my plea for mercy fall before you.” That is, let it come before you and be favorably received (= granted; by metonymical extension).

³ tn Heb “he will indeed show you mercy at the sound of your crying out; when he hears, he will answer you.”

¹ tn The verb is once again functioning in an adverbial sense. The text has “it hurls itself against him and shows no mercy.”

³ tc The MT reads לֹא חָמָלְתָּ (loʾ khamalta, “You showed no mercy”). However, many medieval Hebrew mss and most of the ancient versions (Aramaic Targum, Syriac Peshitta and Latin Vulgate) read וְלֹא חָמָלְתָּ (v^eloʾ khamalta, “and You showed no mercy”).

⁵ tn Heb “He has overthrown and has not shown mercy.” The two verbs חָרַס וְלֹא חָמָל (kharas v^eloʾ khamal) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first retains its verbal sense and the second functions adverbially: “He has overthrown you without mercy.” וְלֹא חָמָל (v^eloʾ khamal) alludes to 2:2.

³ tn The form יֻחַן (yukhan) is a Hophal imperfect from חָנַן (khanan); it means “to be shown mercy”—here negated to mean “he will not be shown mercy.” The person who lives to satisfy his own craving for evil will not be interested in meeting the needs of others.