Bible Commentaries
Psalms 41

Verses 1-13

XLI. The Prayer of a Sick man against Cruel and Treacherous Foes.

Psalms 41:1 . Kindness to the poor is a favourite virtue in the OT, but seems to have no natural place at the beginning of this Ps. We gain a better connexion by reading: “ Blessed is he who acts circumspectly though poor.”

Psalms 41:3 . thou makest all his bed is a rendering which the Heb. scarcely admits, and the change from the third to the second person is suspicious. A plausible conjecture is, “ On his couch he supporteth him in his sickness.”

Psalms 41:8 . Follow mg.

Psalms 41:9 . lifted up his heel: read probably, “ Made his mouth (?) against me.”

Psalms 41:10 is far removed, further perhaps than any verse in the Psalter, from Christian feeling. The Psalmist desires to recover that he may requite his enemies.

Psalms 41:13 is no part of the previous Ps. It is a doxology added to mark the close of Book I.