C. F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch on Psalms 64:1-4

Psa 64:1-4

The Psalm opens with an octostich, and closes in the same way. The infinitive noun שׂיח signifies a complaint, expressed not by the tones of pain, but in words. The rendering of the lxx (here and in Psa 55:3) is too general, ἐν τῷ θέεσθαί με. The “terror” of the enemy is that proceeding from him (gen. obj. as in Deu 2:15, and frequently). The generic singular אויב is at once particularized in a more detailed description with the use of the plural. סוד is a club or clique; רגשׁה (Targumic = המון, e.g., Eze 30:10) a noisy crowd. The perfects after אשׁר affirm that which they now do as they have before done; cf. Psa 140:4 and Psa 58:8, where, as in this passage, the treading or bending of the bow is transferred to the arrow. דּבר מר is the interpretation added to the figure, as in Psa 144:7. That which is bitter is called מר, root מר, stringere, from the harsh astringent taste; here it is used tropically of speech that wounds and inflicts pain (after the manner of an arrow or a stiletto), πικροὶ λόγοι. With the Kal לירות (Psa 11:2) alternates the Hiph. ירהוּ. With פּתאם the description takes a new start. ולא ייראוּ, forming an assonance with the preceding word, means that they do it without any fear whatever, and therefore also without fear of God (Psa 55:20; Psa 25:18).