Psalm 59

Psalm 59
"Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God"
Inscription of a line from the psalm at a bridge in Hochosterwitz
Other name
  • Psalm 58
  • "Eripe me de inimicis meis Deu"
LanguageHebrew (original)
Psalm 59
BookBook of Psalms
Hebrew Bible partKetuvim
Order in the Hebrew part1
CategorySifrei Emet
Christian Bible partOld Testament
Order in the Christian part19

Psalm 59 is the 59th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the 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.

  1. ^ Parallel Latin/English Psalter / Psalmus 58 (59) Archived 7 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine medievalist.net
  2. ^ "Comparison of Enumeration of the Psalms in the Book of Divine Worship and in the Vulgate". The Daily Office of the Catholic Church According to the Anglican Use. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  3. ^ Greenbaum, Rabbi Avraham (2007). "The Ten Psalms: English Translation". Azamra. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
  4. ^ Rodd, C. S., ‘18. Psalms’ in Barton, J. & Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary Archived 2017-11-22 at the Wayback Machine, pp. 383–4.