Rashi on TanakhPsalms 35

O Lord, strive with those who strive against me Make a quarrel with those who make quarrels with me.

battle Heb. לחם an expression of war (מלחמה), and so לחמי, battle those who battle with me.

And arm Yourself with a spear Heb. והרק. Arm Yourself, as (in Exod. 15:9) “I will arm myself (אריק) with my sword”; (Gen. 14:14), “And he armed (וירק) his trained men.”

and bar the way before my pursuers Protect between me and them, as a barrier.

to my soul A moi meme in French, to myself, as (in Jer. 18:20): “for they have dug a pit for me (לנפשי).”

dark and slippery Both together, so that their feet should slip on the slippery places and the darkness should not allow them to beware of the slippery places, as it is written (in Jer. 23: 12): “Therefore, their way shall be for them like slippery places in the dark: ‘let them be thrust and fall therein.’ “

they have dug it for my soul they have dug a pit into which I should fall.

darkness Heb. שואה, darkness, broine in Old French, obscurity.

and his net that he hid So is the custom to hide the net and to cover it with straw or with earth, in order that the one who passes over it should not notice it until he is trapped in it.

And my soul shall exult when I see their downfall.

All my bones will praise You for everything, for now...

False witnesses rise up constantly against me, etc.

and may my prayer return upon my bosom That is to say: If they say that I afflicted myself only for their detriment, that their illness should become more serious, may my prayer that I prayed for them return to me.

I walked about as though it were a friend or as though it were my own brother As though it were my brother or my friend; I walked about depressed because of their distress.

as the mourning of a mother As a son who mourns for his mother or as a mother who mourns for her son.

with gloom Heb. קדר, an expression of blackness.

I was bowed An expression of humility.

And, when I limped, they rejoiced and gathered And when I limped because I suffered a fracture, they rejoiced and gathered [around me].

lame people gathered about me Heb. נכים, lame people, as we translate “Pharaoh-neco,” חגירא, lame. Menachem (p. 122f.) associated it with (Isa. 16: 7), נכאים, broken-hearted, amenuyze in Old French, crushed.

Were they to tear, they would not draw blood Were they to tear my flesh, my blood would not flow to the ground when they embarrass me [lit. make my face white].

Because of the flattery of scorn for food, they gnash, etc. Because of the flattery of scorn of eating and drinking, that they flatter Saul in order that he give them to eat and drink, they gnash their teeth against me.

food Heb. מעוג, an expression of eating, as (in I Kings 17:12): “if I have food (מעוג),” written regarding Elijah, but Menachem (p. 130) interpreted it as an expression of a loaf of bread, and so “if I have a cake (מעוג).”

how long will You look on? How much patience do You have to look upon all these?

from their darkness Heb. משאיהם, from their darkness.

my only one from young lions This refers to “Return my soul.” Return my only one from young lions.

those who are my enemies for an unjust cause who hate me because of a false matter, that they testify against me what never entered my mind. Let them not rejoice at my downfall.

who hate me Let those who hate me not wink their eyes at me, to mock my downfall with their eyes.

יקרצו means seynt in Old French, signal.

and against the crushed people of the earth Heb. רגעי, on the crushed people of the earth, and so (in Jer. 31:34): “Who stirs up (רגע) the sea”; (Job 7:5), “my skin wrinkled (רגע).” And so did Dunash explain it.

Aha! Aha! Heb. האח, an expression of joy of one who boasts with the lust of his heart, out of their [sic] great joy, that they see their lust gratified.

Arouse Yourself and awaken the heavenly retinue to judge my cause from my enemies.