Psalm 141: a Prayer for Discipline and Protection 101 b. The plural tw[r (‘evil things’) could in itself refer to behaviour (‘wicked deeds’, Ps 55,16; Jer 44,5) as well as to experiences (‘calamities, troubles’, Ps 34,20; 88,4; 1 Sam 10,19). As we will see, the latter meaning suits the context. The preposition b, in connection with µhytw[r, can hardly mean other than ‘through, because of’ (cf. e.g. Deut 9,4.5; Ps 5,8.11; 6,8; 90,7) (33). It is not by accident that v. 5b is a nominal clause: this form enables us to relate the praying in v. 5 with that in v. 2 (both ytlpt, ‘my prayer’). Furthermore, we may notice the contrast between µhytw[r (‘their evil things’) at the end of v. 5, and µhym[nm (‘their pleasant things’, ‘their delicacies’) at the end of v. 4. c. Verse 5b formulates the reason (yk) why the speaker appreciates the discipline so much: “for my prayer, in the end, will be because of their troubles”. At present the profiteers’ ‘delicacies’ are the reason for his prayer; in the future it will be their troubles. That the speaker will pray for the ‘workers of mischief’ is not in the text. I think rather that he will pray for his people: that, in the great turn-about, their hearts will not be ‘turned to an evil thing’. In what the profiteers experience, good or evil, is temptation. Their ‘delicacies’, now, are a temptation for the speaker; their troubles, then, will be temptation for the people. (5) The image conjured up in v. 5b is specified in v. 6. a. Verse 6a is about an execution. The verb fmv is used in its common sense of ‘drop, let go, let fall’ (see esp. 2 Kgs 9,33), while dy, in ydyb, stands for ‘side’ (34). The form wfmvn, which could be translated as 1st person plural imperfect qal, is more likely to be a perfect nif‘al: the execution is relevant just as a fact. The word µyfpv may mean ‘rulers’ or ‘judges’. However, by talking of ‘their rulers’ (not ‘our rulers’) the speaker would suggest that his statements are made, as it were, from outside the national community (cf. Hos 7,7; 13,10). As this is contrary to v. 7, judges must be meant — to be precise, judges honoured by the ‘gentlemen’: “their judges”. The form w[mvw is apparently a consecutive perfect, since facts of different nature are mentioned in v. 6 (35); the first clause, with perfect, can be assumed to indicate the situation presupposed in the second (cf. Isa 6,7; Jer 50,43; Ezek 7,25; Prov 29,9). Being a result of the discipline referred to in v. 5, ‘hearing’ in v. 6b is a thing not yet realized; as so often then, the consecutive perfect refers to the future. b. The apparent connection between the gentlemen’s troubles (v. 5) and the downfall of ‘their judges’ suggests that these judges perverted justice (cf. Ps 94,20-21; Isa 1,21-23; Mic 7,3; Zeph 3,3) (36). The day when they are (33) BROWN–DRIVER–BRIGGS s.v., III, 5 (p. 90). The seemingly natural translation ‘in’ (Authorized Version: “... my prayer also shall be in their calamities”) appears to be hardly justifiable. (34) See BROWN–DRIVER–BRIGGS s.v., 3, and 5, d, f, h (3) (pp. 390, 391). (35) In the coordination of similar notions, perfect is succeeded by perfect with simple Waw; see e.g. 1 Sam 12,2; Isa 1,2; Ps 131,2. Cf. DRIVER, Treatise, § 131-132. (36) Some take µhyfpv as a plural of excellence relating to YHWH: see HERKENNE, Psalmen, 439; R.J. TOURNAY, “Le Psaume cxli”, VT 9 (1959) 58-64, 60; “Psaume cxli: nouvelle interprétation”, RB 90 (1983) 321-331, 324 (referring to Ps 58,12); B. HARTMANN, “Exegetische und religionsgeschichtliche Studie zu Psalm 141:5d-7”, Tradition and Re- Interpretation in Jewish and Early Christian Literature. Essays in honour of Jürgen C.H. Lebram (ed. J.W. VAN HENTEN et al.) (StPB 36; Leiden 1986) 27-37, 28.