Psa 141:4 | KD | STEP | The prayer now begins to be particularized, and that in the first instance as a petition fore the grace of silence, calling to mind old Davidic passages like ; Psa 34:14. The situation of David, the betrayed one, requires caution in speaking; and the consciousness of having sinned, not indeed against the rebels, but against God, who would not visit him thus without his deserving it, stood in the way of any outspoken self-vindication. In pone custodiam ori meo שׁמרה is ἅπ. λεγ., after the infinitive form דּבקה, עזבה, עצמה. In דּל is ἅπ. λεγ. for דּלת; cf. “doors of the mouth” in Mic 7:5, and πύλαι στόματος in Euripides. נצּרה might be imper. Kal : keep I pray, with Dag. dirimens as in Pro 4:13. But נצר על is not in use; and also as the parallel word to שׁמרה, which likewise has the appearance of being imperative, נצּרה is explicable as regards its pointing by a comparison of יקּהה in , דּבּרה in , and קרבה in Psa 73:28. The prayer for the grace of silence is followed in by a prayer for the breaking off of all fellowship with the existing rulers. By a flight of irony they are called אישׁים, lords, in the sense of בּני אישׁ, (cf. the Spanish hidalgos = hijos d'algo , sons of somebody). The evil thing (רע | דּבר, with Pasek between the two ר, as in Num 7:13; between the two מ, and in between the two )ל, to which Jahve may be pleased never to incline his heart (תּט, fut. apoc. Hiph . as in ), is forthwith more particularly designated: perpetrare facinora maligne cum dominis, etc. עללות of great achievements in the sense of infamous deeds, also occurs in ; Psa 99:8. Here, however, we have the Hithpo . התעלל, which, with the accusative of the object עללות, signifies: wilfully to make such actions the object of one’s acting (cf. Arab. ta‛allala b - 'l - š' , to meddle with any matter, to amuse, entertain one’s self with a thing). The expression is made to express disgust as strongly as possible; this poet is fond of glaring colouring in his language. In the dependent passage neve eorum vescar cupediis, לחם is used poetically for אכל, and בּ is the partitive Beth , as in Job 21:25. מנעמּים is another hapaxlegomenon, but as being a designation of dainties (from נעם, to be mild, tender, pleasant), it may not have been an unusual word. It is a well-known thing that usurpers revel in the cuisine and cellars of those whom they have driven away.

‏ Psalms 141:4

The prayer now begins to be particularized, and that in the first instance as a petition fore the grace of silence, calling to mind old Davidic passages like Psa 39:2; Psa 34:14. The situation of David, the betrayed one, requires caution in speaking; and the consciousness of having sinned, not indeed against the rebels, but against God, who would not visit him thus without his deserving it, stood in the way of any outspoken self-vindication. In pone custodiam ori meo שׁמרה is ἅπ. λεγ., after the infinitive form דּבקה, עזבה, עצמה. In Psa 141:3 דּל is ἅπ. λεγ. for דּלת; cf. “doors of the mouth” in Mic 7:5, and πύλαι στόματος in Euripides. נצּרה might be imper. Kal: keep I pray, with Dag. dirimens as in Pro 4:13. But נצר על is not in use; and also as the parallel word to שׁמרה, which likewise has the appearance of being imperative, נצּרה is explicable as regards its pointing by a comparison of יקּהה in Gen 49:10, דּבּרה in Deu 33:3, and קרבה in Psa 73:28. The prayer for the grace of silence is followed in Psa 141:4 by a prayer for the breaking off of all fellowship with the existing rulers. By a flight of irony they are called אישׁים, lords, in the sense of בּני אישׁ, Psa 4:3 (cf. the Spanish hidalgos = hijos d'algo, sons of somebody). The evil thing (רע | דּבר, with Pasek between the two ר, as in Num 7:13; Deu 7:1 between the two מ, and in 1Ch 22:3 between the two )ל, to which Jahve may be pleased never to incline his heart (תּט, fut. apoc. Hiph. as in Psa 27:9), is forthwith more particularly designated: perpetrare facinora maligne cum dominis, etc. עללות of great achievements in the sense of infamous deeds, also occurs in Psa 14:1; Psa 99:8. Here, however, we have the Hithpo. התעלל, which, with the accusative of the object עללות, signifies: wilfully to make such actions the object of one’s acting (cf. Arab. ta‛allala b - 'l - š', to meddle with any matter, to amuse, entertain one’s self with a thing). The expression is made to express disgust as strongly as possible; this poet is fond of glaring colouring in his language. In the dependent passage neve eorum vescar cupediis, לחם is used poetically for אכל, and בּ is the partitive Beth, as in Job 21:25. מנעמּים is another hapaxlegomenon, but as being a designation of dainties (from נעם, to be mild, tender, pleasant), it may not have been an unusual word. It is a well-known thing that usurpers revel in the cuisine and cellars of those whom they have driven away.