READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS
PART XLI
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Psalms 54 and 55
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Psalms 54 and 55 are individual petitions.
The tacked-on superscription of Psalm 54 links the psalm to 1 Samuel 23, in which David, on the run from King Saul, took refuge in the territory of the Ziphites. 1 Samuel 23 tells us that some Ziphites told Saul where David was hiding (verses 19 and 20). The superscription contradicts Psalm 54:
For strangers have risen up against me,
and ruthless men seek my life.
they are unmindful of God.
–Verse 5, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985, 1999)
Saul and David knew each other well.
The author of Psalm 54, beset by foes, trusts in God to issue a favorable judgment, as in a legal proceeding. The psalmist affirms that God is more powerful than the enemies and will act from hesed–steadfast love. Yet the psalmist is vengeful; he prays that God will exterminate the enemies, literally.
The translation by Father Mitchell J. Dahood, S.J., places that verse in the past tense:
He made the evil recoil on my defamers,
in his fidelity he annihilated them completely.
Revenge fantasies abound in the Book of Psalms. Psalm 54 is not the first text in this series to contain them. Neither is it the last. My comments about the folly of revenge are on the record in this series of posts, so I move along.
Psalm 55 is a challenging text. m Not only does it contain difficult vocabulary, but it also seems to be the product of splicing two poems together. The psalm opens in the midst of a threat by armed enemies. The psalm addresses God then a treacherous former friend then God again. The text concludes with a prayer that God bring “those murderous, treacherous men” down to Sheol, followed by an expression of trust in God.
The text in verses 19-22 (Jewish versification) is difficult, especially in the first half of verse 20. A comparison of translations of verses 19 and 20 demonstrates this point. TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures reads:
He redeems me unharmed
from the battle against me;
it is as though many are on my side.
God who has reigned from the first,
who will have no successor,
hears and humbles those who have no fear of God.
Robert Alter’s translation reads:
He has ransomed my life unharmed from my battle,
for many were against me–
Ishmael and Jalam and the dweller in the east,
who never will change and do not fear God.
Mitchell J. Dahood’s translation reads:
And the Ransomer heard my voice,
making payment for my life.
He drew near to me
when full many were against me.
El heard me and answered,
the Primeval One sent his reply
because in him there is no variation.
But they did not fear God.
What is happening in verse 20a? Based on the three translations I have quoted, we have either “Ishmael and Jalam and the dwellers in the east,” “God who has reigned from the first,/who will have no successor,” or “El heard me and sent me his reply/because in him there is no variation.” A literal translation of the Masoretic Text is gibberish:
God hears and answers them and is seated as of old.
Robert Alter’s translation follows one scholarly approach to verse 20a: listing some enemies by name. Alter’s commentary is the only I have read that refers to this approach in verse 20a.
The concluding petition of Psalm 55 suits the text:
And You, O God, bring them down
to the pit of destruction.
Men of bloodshed and deceit
will not finish half their days.
But I shall trust in you.
–Verse 24, Robert Alter
In contrast, these enemies were attempting to kill the psalmist. Yet I detect revenge again. Yet I cannot dispute that those who live by the sword will also die by it.
One commentary I consult argues that these passages in Psalms 54 and 55 are not prayers for revenge. J. Clinton McCann, Jr., writing in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 4 (1996), insists that they are petitions for justice instead. So, where is the line that separates justice from revenge? It may be difficult to identify sometimes. May we, by grace, favor justice and eschew revenge.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 15, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER AND MARTYR, 1968
THE FEAST OF BERTHA PAULSSEN, GERMAN-AMERICAN SEMINARY PROFESSOR, PSYCHOLOGIST, AND SOCIOLOGIST
THE FEAST OF GUSTAVE WEIGEL, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND ECUMENIST
THE FEAST OF JOHN COSIN, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DURHAM
THE FEAST OF JOHN MARINUS VERSTEEG, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT NIKOLAUS GROSS, GERMAN ROMAN CATHOLIC OPPONENT OF NAZISM, AND MARTYR, 1945
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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