Psalm 59 is the 59th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in the English King James Version: "Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me". In the slightly different numbering system of the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible and the Latin Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 58. In Latin, it is known as "Eripe me de inimicis meis Deu".[1][2] It is described as "a prayer composed when Saul sent messengers to wait at the house in order to kill him",[3] and commentator Cyril Rodd describes it as a "vigorous plea for the destruction of the psalmist's enemies".[4]
The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It has been set to music.
Heinrich Schütz set Psalm 59 in a metred version in German, "Hilf, Herre Gott, errette mich", SWV 156, as part of the Becker Psalter, first published in 1628.
Text
The following table shows the Hebrew text[8][9] of the Psalm with vowels, alongside the Koine Greek text in the Septuagint[10] and the English translation from the King James Version. Note that the meaning can slightly differ between these versions, as the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text come from different textual traditions.[note 1] In the Septuagint, this psalm is numbered Psalm 58.
↑In the Jewish verse numbering, the ascription of this psalm is verse 1, and the rest of the psalm begins from verse 2. However, the Christian verse numbering does not count the ascription.
↑This text, connected with an incident recorded in 1 Samuel 19:11–17, may be an editorial addition.[4] "Altaschith", or "Do Not Destroy", may refer to an ancient song whose tune was to be used in singing the psalms.[11]
