Psalms 56:6

6 They shall dwell, and they shall hide; they shall ambush mine heel. As they abide my life (But though they lie in wait for my life),

Psalms 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Psalms 56:6 In-Context

4 In God I shall praise my words; I hoped in God, I shall not dread what thing flesh, or man, shall do to me. (Yea, I shall praise God with my words; for I trust in God, and I shall not fear what any person shall do to me.)

5 All day they cursed my words; against me all their thoughts were into evil. (All day long they cursed my words; all their thoughts were against me for evil.)

6 They shall dwell, and they shall hide; they shall ambush mine heel. As they abide my life (But though they lie in wait for my life),

7 for nought shalt thou make them safe; in ire thou shalt break (al)together peoples. (it is they who shall not escape; for in thy anger, God, thou shalt break them all in pieces.)

8 God, I showed my life to thee; thou hast set my tears in thy sight. As and in thy promise, Lord; (God, thou knowest my troubles; thou hast set my tears before thee. Be they not in thy Book, O Lord?)