1 O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
2 For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.
6 I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.
7 For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.
9 Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.
10 My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.
11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.
12 They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.
13 But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.
14 Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.
15 For in thee, O Lord, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.
16 For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.
17 For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me.
18 For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.
19 But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
20 They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.
21 Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me.
22 Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.
<html><b>A song of David, to make remembrance</b> To recite it in time of distress, to make remembrance of the distress of Israel before the Holy One, blessed be He, and he recited it as relating to all Israel.</html>
<html><b>have been shot</b> Heb. נחתו, have been cast. The expression of נחת applies to the bending of a bow, and since the arrows are shot by bending the bow, he wrote נחתו בי [literally] “were bent in me.” Similarly, (in Exod. 15:9): “I will unsheath my sword (אריק חרבי),” [lit. I emptied my sword.] The Torah should have written: אריק תערי, I will empty my sheath, but because when they draw the sword from its sheath, the sheath is emptied of it, he therefore relates the emptying to the sword. Similarly, (above 18:35): “a copper bow was bent (ונחתה).” The “nun” is not a radical, because, if it were a radical, it would have to be ננחתו, but the “nun” of נחתו, and so ותנחת, is not a radical but is sometimes dropped, like the “nun” of נגף, to smite; נשך, to bite; נדר, to vow; נקם, to avenge. And when it is passive we say: נִגַּף, smitten; נִִִשַׁךְ, bitten; נִדַּר, vowed; נִקַּם, avenged, like נִנְקַם, נִנְדַּר, נִנְשַׁךְ, נִנְגַּף. The “dagesh” in the word replaces the “nun.” Similarly (in Lev. 26:36), a rattling (נִדַף) leaf,” (in Lam. 3:49), “My eyes stream (נִגְרָה),” like נִנְגְּרָה. So does he say נִחֲתוּ like נִנְחֲתוּ, and so (above 18:35): “and a copper bow was bent (וְנִּחֲתָה),” like וְנִנְחֲתָה. It was customary for the “cheth” to be treated like the letters that do accept a “dagesh” in most places, e.g. (in I Kings 13:18): “He lied (כִּחֶשׁ) to him,” in the form that is punctuated by a “dagesh,” [i.e., the pi’el conjugation,] like דִבֶּר spoke, from the same conjugation as וַיְדַבֶּר, כִּחֶשׁ from the same conjugation as (Gen. 18: 15): “And Sarah lied (וַתְּכַחֵשׁ),” and we do not say כֵּחַשׁ as we say from הַמְבָרֵךְ, בֵּרַךְ and we do not say בִּרֵךְ as we say דִּבֵּר, because the power of the “dagesh”; is not recognizable in the “resh,” but in the “cheth” the power of the “dagesh” is recognizable, and so (in Deut. 32:5): “Have they injured (שִׁחֵת) Him?” like כִּפֵר, atoned, דִּבֵּר, spoke. Here, too, he says, נִחֲתוּ like נִגְּשׁוּ they approached, נִתְּנוּ, they were given, from the roots נחת, נגש, נתן, the “nun” being a defective radical, replaced by a “dagesh” in the passive voice. So is (I Sam. 2: 4): “The bows of the mighty are broken (חתים),” from the root נחת and חתת as you say from נסב, סבב, from נשם, שמם ; (Lev. 26:22), “and your ways shall become desolate (וְנָשַׁמוּ),” (ibid. verse 32), “shall wonder (וְשָׁמְמוּ) over it.” Similarly, בָּלַל, נָבֹל, (Gen. 11:9) “for there the Lord confused בָּלַל” (ibid. verse 7) “and let us confuse (וְנָבְלָה) their language there.” So does he say נחת and חתת in the active voice. <b>and Your hand has come down upon me</b> This is the explanation of “Your arrows have been shot into me.” And this is its interpretation: What bent the bow to shoot the arrows? Your hand has come down upon the bow to shoot arrows at me. ותנחת is an expression of ותרד, it came down, and in this the “nun” is a radical. Similarly (18:35), “and a copper bow was broken (ונחתה),” in which the “nun” is not a radical.</html>
<html><b>soundness</b> Perfection, anterin in Old French, wholeness.</html>
<html><b>are too heavy</b> Heb. יכבדו, are heavy.</html>
<html><b>I am…stunned</b> Heb. נעויתי an expression of (Chullin 60b): “Convulsions (עוית) seize him.” Etourdissant in French, stunning.</html>
<html><b>For my loins are full of self-effacement</b> In my thoughts, I am insignificant in my own eyes.</html>
<html><b>I passed out</b> Heb. נפוגתי, I passed out, an expression of (Gen. 45:26), “and his heart fainted (ויפג) .” (Lam. 3:49), “without respite (הפגת).”</html>
<html><b>all my desire</b> You know my needs.</html>
<html><b>engulfed</b> Heb. סחרחר, surrounded by grief. This is one of the double words, like (Lev. 13: 49), “dark green (ירקרק), dark red (אדמדם),” (Ned. 66b) “round (סגלגל)” (Lam. 1:20), “my spirits are troubled (חמר מרו).”</html>
<html><b>stand aloof from my affliction</b> Those who appear to me as lovers in time of their pleasure, and when they see that the affliction comes upon me, they do not stand up for me in the time of my strait, but stand aloof and do not aid me. <b>and those close to me</b> who showed themselves to be close to me.</html>
<html><b>And those who seek my life lay traps</b> They seek traps for me.</html>
<html><b>But I am as a deaf person</b> Israel hears their reproach from the nations but does not respond. Why? Because I hoped for You, O Lord, that You would redeem me and save me from them.</html>
<html><b>For I said, “Lest they rejoice over me”</b> For this reason we remain silent, because we say to ourselves, “If we answer them brazenly, they may witness our downfall and rejoice over us when our feet falter, and they will magnify themselves over us saying, ‘Weren’t you boasting of your salvation?’”</html>
<html><b>For I am ready for disaster</b> For this reason, we are concerned lest they rejoice over us, because we are accustomed to blows and are always ready and prepared for disaster. <b>and my pain is always before me</b> It is always prepared to come before me.</html>
<html><b>For I relate my iniquity</b> My heart tells me my iniquity. Therefore, I worry, and fear my sin, lest it cause me disaster and pain.</html>
<html><b>are in the vigor of life</b> They are in the vigor of life with tranquility and goodness. <b>have become great</b> And those who hate me because of false words have become exalted.</html>
<html><b>for my pursuit of goodness</b> Because we cleave to the Holy One, blessed be He, and to His commandments.</html>