Footnotes

1. Psalm 86:1 sn Psalm 86. The psalmist appeals to God’s mercy as he asks for deliverance from his enemies.
2. Psalm 86:1 tn Heb “turn your ear.”
3. Psalm 86:2 tn Heb “my life.”
4. Psalm 86:3 tn Or “show me favor.”
5. Psalm 86:4 tn Heb “the soul of your servant.”
6. Psalm 86:4 tn Heb “I lift up my soul.”
7. Psalm 86:5 tn Or “for.”
8. Psalm 86:5 tn Heb “good.”
9. Psalm 86:8 tn Heb “and there are none like your acts.”
10. Psalm 86:9 tn Or “bow down before you.”
11. Psalm 86:11 tn Heb “teach me your way.” The Lord’s “way” refers here to the moral principles he expects the psalmist to follow. See Pss 25:4; 27:11.
12. Psalm 86:11 tn Heb “I will walk in your truth.” The Lord’s commandments are referred to as “truth” here because they are a trustworthy and accurate expression of the divine will. See Ps 25:5.
13. Psalm 86:11 tn Heb “Bind my heart to the fearing of your name.” The verb translated “bind” occurs only here in the Piel stem. It appears twice in the Qal, meaning “be joined” in both cases (Gen 49:6; Isa 14:20). To “fear” God’s name means to have a healthy respect for him which in turn motivates one to obey his commands (see Pss 61:5; 102:15).
14. Psalm 86:12 tn Or “forever.”
15. Psalm 86:13 tn Heb “for your loyal love [is] great over me.”
16. Psalm 86:13 tn Or “for he will have delivered my life.” The verb form indicates a future perfect here.
17. Psalm 86:13 tn Or “lower Sheol.”
18. Psalm 86:14 tn Heb “rise up against me.”
19. Psalm 86:14 tn Or “assembly.”
20. Psalm 86:14 tn Heb “seek my life and do not set you before them.” See Ps 54:3.
21. Psalm 86:15 tn Heb “slow to anger.”
22. Psalm 86:15 tn Heb “and great of loyal love and faithfulness.”sn The psalmist’s confession of faith in this verse echoes Exod 34:6.
23. Psalm 86:16 tn Heb “the son of your female servant.” The phrase “son of a female servant” (see also Ps 116:16) is used of a son born to a secondary wife or concubine (Exod 23:12). In some cases the child’s father is the master of the house (see Gen 21:10, 13; Judg 9:18). The phrase may be used metaphorically and idiomatically to emphasize the psalmist’s humility before the Lord and his status as the Lord’s servant. Or it may be a reference to the psalmist’s own mother who also was a servant of the Lord.
24. Psalm 86:17 tn Heb “Work with me a sign for good.” The expression “work a sign” also occurs in Judg 6:17.
25. Psalm 86:17 tn After the imperative in the preceding line (“work”), the prefixed verb forms with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive indicate purpose or result.
26. Psalm 86:17 tn The perfect verbal forms are understood here as dramatic/rhetorical, expressing the psalmist’s certitude that such a sign from the Lord will be followed by his intervention. Another option is to understand the forms as future perfects (“for you, O Lord, will have helped me and comforted me”).