Page:04.BCOT.KD.PoeticalBooks.vol.4.Writings.djvu/433

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cause.

24 Do justice to me according to Thy righteousness, Jahve,

my God, And let them not rejoice over me.

25 Let them not say in their heart: Aha, it is our desire! Let them not say: We have swallowed him up.

26 Let those be ashamed and be covered with confusion

together Who rejoice at my hurt,

Let those be clothed with shame and dishonour Who magnify themselves against me.

27 Let those shout for joy and rejoice who do not envy mc

my right. And let them say continually: Jahve be magnified, Who hath pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.

28 And my tongue shall declare Thy righteousness, Thy praise at all times.


This Psalms 35 and Ps 34 form a pair. They are the only Psalms in which the name מלאך יהוה is mentioned. The Psalms that belong to the time of David's persecution by Saul are the Psalms which are more especially pervaded by such retrospective references to the Tôra. And in fact this whole Psalm is, as it were, the lyrical expansion of that which David expresses before Saul in 1Sa 24:15. The critical opinion as to the authorship of this Psalm is closely allied with that respecting the author of Ps 40 and 69 to which Ps 35 is nearly related; cf. Psa 35:21, Psa 35:27 with Psa 40:16.; Psa 35:13 with Psa 69:11.; whereas the relation of Ps 71 to Ps 35 is decidedly a secondary one. Hitzig conjectures it to be Jeremiah; but Psa 35:1 are appropriate in the lips of a persecuted king, and not of a persecuted prophet. The points of contact of the writings of Jeremiah with our Psalm (Jer 18:19., Jer 23:12; Lam 2:16), may therefore in this instance be more safely regarded as reminiscences of an earlier writer than in Ps 69. Throughout the whole Psalm there prevails a deep vexation of spirit (to which corresponds the suffix  מו-, as in Ps 59; Psa 56:1-13; Psa 11:1-7; Psa 17:1-15; 22; [[Bible_(King_James)/Psalms|Psa 6