Passage

Psalms 13

Book: Psalms · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

^{For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.} How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou forget me for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? 2. How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? 3. Consider and answer me, O Jehovah my God: Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; 4. Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; Lest mine adversaries rejoice when I am moved. 5. But I have trusted in thy lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. 6. I will sing unto Jehovah, Because he hath dealt bountifully with me. (Psalms 13:1-6, ASV)

WEB

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2. How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart every day? How long shall my enemy triumph over me? 3. Behold, and answer me, Yahweh, my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death; 4. Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him”; Lest my adversaries rejoice when I fall. 5. But I trust in your loving kindness. My heart rejoices in your salvation. 6. I will sing to Yahweh, because he has been good to me. (Psalms 13:1-6, WEB)

KJV

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? ^{chief: or, overseer} 2. How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? 3. Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; 4. Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. 5. But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. 6. I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me. (Psalms 13:1-6, KJV)

YLT

To the Overseer., A Psalm of David. Till when, O Jehovah, Dost Thou forget me?, for ever? Till when dost Thou hide Thy face from me? 2. Till when do I set counsels in my soul? Sorrow in my heart daily? Till when is mine enemy exalted over me? 3. Look attentively; Answer me, O Jehovah, my God, Enlighten mine eyes, lest I sleep in death, 4. Lest mine enemy say, 'I overcame him,' Mine adversaries joy when I am moved. 5. And I, in Thy kindness I have trusted, Rejoice doth my heart in Thy salvation. 6. I do sing to Jehovah, For He hath conferred benefits upon me! (Psalms 13:1-6, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the psalmist; the superscription assigns the psalm to David
Audience: Israel gathered in worship; the Psalter is the congregation's book
Location: the sanctuary and its liturgy, rather than a narrative setting
Time period: the monarchy or later; individual psalms are difficult to date and the Psalter was compiled over centuries

Theological reading

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? Four times the question, in two verses.

The psalm is the standard model of the lament form, and it is short enough to show the whole shape: complaint, petition, and turn. The complaint occupies verses 1 and 2, the petition verses 3 and 4, and then the turn at verse 5, "but I have trusted in your steadfast love," with the closing intention to sing.

The turn is what makes the form theologically interesting. Nothing in the psalmist's circumstance has changed between verse 4 and verse 5; the enemy has not been defeated and no answer is reported. What changes is the ground he stands on, and the psalm models moving to it without pretending the trouble has lifted.

Its brevity is part of its usefulness. The lament is the largest single category in the Psalter, which is a fact worth stating to anyone who thinks faith requires suppressing complaint.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Divine Hiddenness Objection Defeater

Concepts:

Lexicon:

H3824 - lebab, via Psalms 13.5

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.