Passage

Psalms 59

Book: Psalms · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. ^{For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of David. Michtam; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.} Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: Set me on high from them that rise up against me. 2. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, And save me from the bloodthirsty men. 3. For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul; The mighty gather themselves together against me: Not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Jehovah. 4. They run and prepare themselves without my fault: Awake thou to help me, and behold. 5. Even thou, O Jehovah God of hosts, the God of Israel, Arise to visit all the nations: Be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. [[Selah 6. They return at evening, they howl like a dog, And go round about the city. 7. Behold, they belch out with their mouth; Swords are in their lips: For who, say they, doth hear? 8. But thou, O Jehovah, wilt laugh at them; Thou wilt have all the nations in derision. 9. Because of his strength I will give heed unto thee; For God is my high tower. 10. My God with his lovingkindness will meet me: God will let me see my desire upon mine enemies. 11. Slay them not, lest my people forget: Scatter them by thy power, and bring them down, O Lord our shield. 12. For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips, Let them even be taken in their pride, And for cursing and lying which they speak. 13. Consume them in wrath, consume them, so that they shall be no more: And let them know that God ruleth in Jacob, Unto the ends of the earth. [[Selah 14. And at evening let them return, let them howl like a dog, And go round about the city. 15. They shall wander up and down for food, And tarry all night if they be not satisfied. 16. But I will sing of thy strength; Yea, I will sing aloud of thy lovingkindness in the morning: For thou hast been my high tower, And a refuge in the day of my distress. 17. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing praises: For God is my high tower, the God of my mercy." (Psalms 59:1-17, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David, when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him. Deliver me from my enemies, my God. Set me on high from those who rise up against me. 2. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity. Save me from the bloodthirsty men. 3. For, behold, they lie in wait for my soul. The mighty gather themselves together against me, not for my disobedience, nor for my sin, Yahweh. 4. I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me. Rise up, behold, and help me! 5. You, Yahweh God of Armies, the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish the nations. Show no mercy to the wicked traitors. Selah. 6. They return at evening, howling like dogs, and prowl around the city. 7. Behold, they spew with their mouth. Swords are in their lips, “For”, they say, “who hears us?” 8. But you, Yahweh, laugh at them. You scoff at all the nations. 9. Oh, my Strength, I watch for you, for God is my high tower. 10. My God will go before me with his loving kindness. God will let me look at my enemies in triumph. 11. Don’t kill them, or my people may forget. Scatter them by your power, and bring them down, Lord our shield. 12. For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride, for the curses and lies which they utter. 13. Consume them in wrath. Consume them, and they will be no more. Let them know that God rules in Jacob, to the ends of the earth. Selah. 14. At evening let them return. Let them howl like a dog, and go around the city. 15. They shall wander up and down for food, and wait all night if they aren’t satisfied. 16. But I will sing of your strength. Yes, I will sing aloud of your loving kindness in the morning. For you have been my high tower, a refuge in the day of my distress. 17. To you, my strength, I will sing praises. For God is my high tower, the God of my mercy." (Psalms 59:1-17, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him. Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me. ^{Altaschith: or, To the chief Musician, destroy not, a golden Psalm of David} ^{defend: Heb. set me on high} 2. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men. 3. For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O LORD. 4. They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold. ^{help: Heb. meet} 5. Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah. 6. They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. 7. Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear? 8. But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision. 9. Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence. ^{defence: Heb. high place} 10. The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies. ^{enemies: Heb. observers} 11. Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield. 12. For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak. 13. Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah. 14. And at evening let them return; and let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. 15. Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied. ^{for meat: Heb. to eat} ^{and grudge: or, if they be not satisfied, then they will stay all night} 16. But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. 17. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy." (Psalms 59:1-17, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. To the Overseer., 'Destroy not,' by David., A secret treasure, in Saul's sending, and they watch the house to put him to death. Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God, From my withstanders set me on high. 2. Deliver me from workers of iniquity, And from men of blood save me. 3. For, lo, they laid wait for my soul, Assembled against me are strong ones, Not my transgression nor my sin, O Jehovah. 4. Without punishment they run and prepare themselves, Stir up to meet me, and see. 5. And Thou, Jehovah, God of Hosts, God of Israel, Awake to inspect all the nations. Favour not any treacherous dealers of iniquity. Selah. 6. They turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And go round about the city. 7. Lo, they belch out with their mouths, Swords [are] in their lips, for 'Who heareth?' 8. And Thou, O Jehovah dost laugh at them, Thou dost mock at all the nations. 9. O my Strength, unto Thee I take heed, For God [is] my tower, the God of my kindness. 10. God doth go before me, He causeth me to look on mine enemies. 11. Slay them not, lest my people forget, Shake them by Thy strength, And bring them down, O Lord our shield. 12. The sin of their mouth [is] a word of their lips, And they are captured in their pride, And from the curse and lying they recount. 13. Consume in fury, consume and they are not, And they know that God is ruling in Jacob, To the ends of the earth. Selah. 14. And they turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And they go round about the city. 15. They, they wander for food, If they are not satisfied, then they murmur. 16. And I, I sing [of] Thy strength, And I sing at morn [of] Thy kindness, For thou hast been a tower to me, And a refuge for me in a day of adversity. 17. O my Strength, unto Thee I sing praise, For God [is] my tower, the God of my kindness!" (Psalms 59:1-17, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

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.

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TBD
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Quoted in

God and the Killing of Children

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.