תהלים 17:1

Hebrew Modern Translation

תפלה לדוד שמעה יהוה צדק הקשיבה רנתי האזינה תפלתי בלא שפתי מרמה׃

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Aleppo Codex
לדוד שמעה יהוה צדק הקשיבה רנתי האזינה תפלתי בלא שפתי מרמה

Biblia Hebrica Stuttgartensia (1967/77)
תְּפִלָּ֗ה לְדָ֫וִ֥ד שִׁמְעָ֤ה יְהוָ֨ה ׀ צֶ֗דֶק הַקְשִׁ֥יבָה רִנָּתִ֗י הַאֲזִ֥ינָה תְפִלָּתִ֑י בְּ֝לֹ֗א שִׂפְתֵ֥י מִרְמָֽה ׃

Westminster Leningrad Codex
תְּפִלָּה לְדָוִד שִׁמְעָה יְהוָה ׀ צֶדֶק הַקְשִׁיבָה רִנָּתִי הַאֲזִינָה תְפִלָּתִי בְּלֹא שִׂפְתֵי מִרְמָֽה ׃

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

am 2942, bc 1062 - Title Psalms 86:1, Psalms 142:1, *titles

Hear: Psalms 7:8, Psalms 18:20, Psalms 43:1, Psalms 140:12, 1 John 3:21

the right: Heb. justice

attend: Psalms 5:2, Psalms 55:2, Psalms 55:3, Psalms 61:1, Psalms 66:19, Psalms 142:6, 2 Chronicles 7:15, Nehemiah 1:6, Daniel 9:18, Daniel 9:19

not out of feigned lips: Heb. without lips of deceit, Psalms 18:44, *marg. Psalms 145:18, Jeremiah 3:10, Matthew 15:8, John 1:47

Reciprocal: 2 Chronicles 6:40 - thine ears 2 Chronicles 20:15 - Be not afraid Psalms 5:1 - Give Psalms 55:1 - Give Psalms 86:6 - General Psalms 130:2 - let thine ears Proverbs 15:8 - the prayer Isaiah 29:13 - Forasmuch John 4:23 - in truth 2 Timothy 1:5 - unfeigned 2 Timothy 2:22 - call

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Hear the right, O Lord,.... The psalmist appeals to the Lord as a Judge, sitting on the throne judging right, that he would hear his cause litigated between him and his adversaries, determine and give the decisive sentence about it; so Christ committed himself to him that judgeth righteously, 1 Peter 2:23; for by "right" may be meant his right and cause, or his righteous cause, as in Psalms 9:4; unless rather his righteous prayer should be intended, so the Targum paraphrases it, "my prayer in righteousness"; not presented for the sake of his own righteousness, but on account of the righteousness of Christ, and for the vindication of his righteous cause before men: the Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions, render it "my righteousness", meaning his righteous cause; but rather the word may be rendered "righteousness" z, or the "righteous one", and may design the psalmist himself, who was a righteous person, and such the Lord hears; or Christ, whose name is the Lord our righteousness, Jeremiah 23:6; and who, as an advocate or intercessor for himself and for his people, is Jesus Christ the righteous, 1 John 2:1. The Septuagint version takes it to be an epithet of the Lord himself, translating it, "O Lord of my righteousness", as in Psalms 4:1; and so the Syriac version, "hear, O holy Lord"; and in this manner does Christ address his father in prayer,

John 17:11; and the consideration of the holiness and righteousness of God is of use in prayer to glorify God, and to command a proper awe and reverence of him;

attend unto my cry; the word for "cry" signifies both a noise made in a way of joy and grief; wherefore the Chaldee paraphrase renders it, "attend to my praise", or hymn of praise, and which arises from sorrow and distress; and intends not mental prayer attended with groanings which cannot be uttered, but vocal prayer expressed in a loud and mournful manner, signifying the distress the person is in, and his earnestness and importunacy for help; and of this sort were some of Christ's prayers; see Hebrews 5:7;

give ear unto my prayer, [that goeth] not out of feigned lips; hypocritical and deceitful ones; but this went forth from his heart, which was lifted up with his hands to God, to whom he drew nigh with a true heart, and called upon him in the sincerity and uprightness of his soul; and of this sort were all Christ's prayers, in whose mouth there is no guile: the various expressions, "hear, attend, give ear", which signify the same thing, show the distress the supplicant was in, the fervency of his prayer, and his vehement and earnest desire to be heard and answered immediately; and since the accent "athnach" is upon the word תפלתי, "my prayer", this last clause is not to be joined only to that, but refers to all that is said before; as that his "right" and his "cry", as well as his prayer, were unfeigned.

z צדק "justitiam", Vatablus, Cocceius, Gejerus; το δικαιον, Aquila in Drusius; "justitiam", i.e. "me qui sum justus", Piscator.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Hear the right - Margin, as in Hebrew, “justice.” The prayer is, that God would regard that which was “right” in the case, or that he would vindicate the psalmist from that which was wrong. It is the expression of his confident assurance even in the presence of God that his cause was right, and that he was asking only that which it would be consistent for a “just” God to do. We can offer an acceptable prayer only when we are sure that it would be right for God to answer it, or that it would be consistent with perfect and eternal justice to grant our requests. It is to be observed here, however, that the ground of the petition of the psalmist is not that “he” was righteous, that is, he did not base his petition on the ground of his own merits, but that his “cause” was righteous; that he was unjustly oppressed and persecuted by his enemies. We cannot ask God to interpose in our behalf because we have a claim to his favor on the ground of our own merit; we may ask him to interpose because wrong is done, and his glory will be promoted in securing that which is just and right.

Attend unto my cry - The word used here - רנה rinnâh - means either a shout of joy, Psalms 30:5; Psalms 42:4; Psalms 47:1; or a mournful cry, outcry, wailing, Psalms 61:1; et soepe. It is expressive, in either case, of deep feeling which vents itself in an audible manner. Here it denotes the earnest “utterance” of prayer.

Give ear unto my prayer - See the notes at Psalms 5:1.

That goeth not out of feigned lips - Margin, as in Hebrew, “without lips of deceit.” That is, that is sincere, or that proceeds from the heart. The utterance of the lips does not misrepresent the feelings of the heart. True prayer is that in which the lips “do” represent the real feelings of the soul. In hypocritical prayer the one is no proper representation of the other. It is evident that the prayer here was not mere mental prayer, or a mere desire of the heart. It was uttered prayer, or oral prayer; and, though private, it was in the form of uttered words. The feeling was so great that it was expressed in an audible cry to God. Deep emotion usually finds vent in such audible and fervent expressions. Compare the Saviour’s earnest prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, Luke 22:41 ff.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

PSALM XVII

David implores the succour of God against his enemies; and

professes his integrity and determination to live to God's

glory, 1.

He prays for support, and expresses strong confidence in God,

5-9;

describes the malice and cruelty of his enemies, and prays

against them, 10-14;

receives a strong persuasion of support and final victory, 15.

NOTES ON PSALM XVII

The title is, A prayer of David; in which there is nothing that requires explanation. David was most probably the author of this Psalm; and it appears to have been written about the time in which Saul had carried his persecution against him to the highest pitch. See 1 Samuel 27:1-12. The Arabic calls it "A prayer of a perfect man, of Christ himself, or of any one redeemed by him." Dr. Delaney, in his life of David, supposes that this poem was written just after parting with Jonathan, when David went into exile.

Verse Psalms 17:1. Hear the right — Attend to the justice of my cause, יהוה צדק Yehovah tsedek, righteous Jehovah. "O righteous Jehovah, attend unto my cry."

Goeth not out of feigned lips. — My supplication is sincere: and the desire of my heart accompanies the words of my lips.