Psaume 56:6

6 Ils complotent, ils épient, ils observent mes traces, Parce qu'ils en veulent à ma vie.

Psaume 56:6 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 56:6

They gather themselves together
And meet in some one place, to contrive ways and means to do hurt, and then assemble together again to put them in execution; as did the Jews with respect to Christ, ( Matthew 26:3 Matthew 26:4 ) ( Acts 4:27 Acts 4:28 ) . Aben Ezra supposes a various reading without any reason; and that, instead of (wrwgy) which Jarchi renders "they lodge", and the Septuagint, and the versions following that, "they sojourn", it should be read (wdwgy) , "they assemble in troops": because they were many: but the sense is, "they stay" F24, or continue in some certain place:

they hide themselves;
the Targum adds, "in ambush": they lay in wait, and caused others to lie in wait for him, in order to take him; as did Saul and his men, and the servants of the king of Gath;

they mark my steps;
they observed where he went, that they might seize him; or they observed his heels, as the old serpent did the Messiah's, that he might bruise them; or they watched for his halting, as Jeremiah's familiars did for his;

when they wait for my soul;
to take away his life, to destroy him; see ( Psalms 119:95 ) ; they wanted not a will to do it, they only waited for an opportunity. The Targum is,

``as they waited, they did to my soul:''

or rather, "after they had hoped for my soul" F25: when they had entertained hopes of taking him, this animated them to do the above things.


FOOTNOTES:

F24 "Commorabuntur", Montanus; "simul ipsi morantur", Vatablus; so Gussetius, p. 166.
F25 Vid. Gusset. Ebr. Comment. p. 361.

Psaume 56:6 In-Context

4 Je me glorifierai en Dieu, en sa parole; Je me confie en Dieu, je ne crains rien: Que peuvent me faire des hommes?
5 Sans cesse ils portent atteinte à mes droits, Ils n'ont à mon égard que de mauvaises pensées.
6 Ils complotent, ils épient, ils observent mes traces, Parce qu'ils en veulent à ma vie.
7 C'est par l'iniquité qu'ils espèrent échapper: Dans ta colère, ô Dieu, précipite les peuples!
8 Tu comptes les pas de ma vie errante; Recueille mes larmes dans ton outre: Ne sont-elles pas inscrites dans ton livre?
The Louis Segond 1910 is in the public domain.