Psalms 69:23-33

23 Their eyes be made dark, that they see not; and ever[more] bow down the back of them. (May their eyes be made dark, or dim, so that they cannot see; and bow down their backs forevermore/and make their backs crooked forevermore.)

24 Shed out thine ire on them; and the strong vengeance of thine ire take them. (Pour out thy anger upon them; and let the fury of thy anger take hold of them.)

25 The habitation of them be made forsaken; and be there none that dwell in the tabernacles of them. (May their homes be made empty; and may there be none of them left to live in their tents.)

26 For they pursued him, whom thou hast smitten; and they added on(to) the sorrow of my wounds. (For they pursued after those whom thou hast struck down; yea, they added to the sorrow of those whom thou hast wounded.)

27 Add thou wickedness on(to) the wickedness of them; and enter they not into thy rightwiseness.

28 Be they done away from the book of living men; and be they not written with just men. (Let them be done away from The Book of the Living; and let their names be not written in The List of the Righteous.)

29 I am poor and sorrowful; God, thine health took me up. (I am in pain and full of sorrow; God, lift me up, and save me.)

30 I shall praise the name of God with song; and I shall magnify him with praising.

31 And it shall please God more than a new calf bringing forth horns and claws. (And this shall please God more than the offering of a new calf that hath horns and claws.)

32 Poor men see, and be glad; seek ye God, and your soul shall live. (Let the poor see this, and be glad; seek ye God, and ye shall live.)

33 For the Lord heard poor men; and despised not his bound men. (For the Lord heareth the poor; and despiseth not his people who be imprisoned/and despiseth not those who be bound to his service.)

Psalms 69:23-33 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, [A Psalm] of David. Of the word "shoshannim," See Gill on "Ps 45:1," title. The Targum renders it, "concerning the removal of the sanhedrim;" which was about the time of Christ's death. The Talmudists {t} say, that forty years before the destruction of the temple, the sanhedrim removed, they removed from the paved chamber, &c. But it can hardly be thought that David prophesied of this affair; nor of the captivity of the people of Israel, as the Targum, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Arama, and R. Obadiah interpret it: and so Jarchi takes the word "shoshannim" to signify lilies, and applies it to the Israelites, who are as a lily among thorns. But not a body of people, but a single person, is spoken of, and in sorrowful and suffering circumstances; and, if the Jews were not blind, they might see that they are the enemies of the person designed, and the evil men from whom he suffered so much. And indeed what is said of him cannot be said of them, nor of any other person whatever but the Messiah: and that the psalm belongs to Christ, and to the times of the Gospel, is abundantly evident from the citations out of it in the New Testament; as

Psalm 69:4 in John 15:25;
Psalm 69:9 in John 2:17;
Psalm 69:21 in Matthew 27:34;
Psalm 69:22 in Romans 11:9;
Psalm 69:25 in Acts 1:16.

The inscription of the psalm in the Syriac version is, "'a psalm' of David, according to the letter, when Shemuah (Sheba), the son of Bichri, blew a trumpet, and the people ceased from following after him (David); but the prophecy is said concerning those things which the Messiah suffered, and concerning the rejection of the Jews." And Aben Ezra interprets Psalm 69:36 of the days of David, or of the days of the Messiah.

{t} T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 8. 2. & Roshhashanah, fol. 31. 1, 2.