on shoshannim Concerning Israel, who are like a rose (שושנה) among the thorns, pricked by the thorns, and he prayed for them.

for water has come up the nations.

in muddy depths In the mire, the mud of the deep.

and the current That is the flood of the strength of the river, fil in Old French, current.

has become parched Heb. נחר, dry, as (Job 30:30): “are burned (חרה) with heat.”

my eyes fail Any drawn-out hope is called “failure of the eyes,” as (Deut. 28:32): “and pine after them all day”. [Similarly] (Lev. 26:16): “that cause the eyes to pine away”; (Job 11:20), “and the eyes of the wicked will pine away.”

who are my enemies because of lies They hate me because of a lie, because I do not pursue their lies to adopt their error.

I will then return When they gather against me, I bribe them with money that I did not steal from them.

Do not let those who hope for You be shamed Do not leave me in their hands lest those who hope for You be shamed by what happens to me and say, “Didn’t that happen to one who hopes to the Holy One, blessed be He?”

to my brothers To Esau.

the envy of Your house They saw the love that You showed us when Your house was still existing, and they envied me.

And I bewailed my soul in fast In my fast.

and it was a disgrace for me When I weep and fast before You, they mock me.

and melodies they made of me for those who imbibe strong drink.

But, as for me, may my prayer to You, O Lord, be may the time of my prayer be a desirable time.

and let not...close And let it not close over me.

a well This strange trouble [shall not close] its mouth to swallow me up.

close Heb. תאטר, as (Jud. 3:15): “with a shriveled (אטר) right hand” that he does not use it.

Come close to my soul (Come close to me.)

redeem it Heb. גאלה, [equivalent to] גְאוֹל אוֹתָה.

and I have become ill Heb. ואנושה, I am ailing and sick, as (Micah 1:9): “For she is mortally ill (אנושה) [from] her wounds,” and as (II Sam. 12:15): “and the child (sic) became mortally ill (ויאנש),” of Bathsheba. Now if you ask how this “aleph” serves as a radical and also as a prefix denoting the first person, this is the way of a word beginning with “aleph.” For example, (Mal. 1:2): “and I loved (וָאֹהַב) Jacob”; (Prov. 8:17), “I will love (אֵהָב) those who love me.” It is equivalent to וָאֶאֶהַב Similarly, (Zeph. 1:2): “I will totally destroy (אָסֹף אָסֵף),” like אֶאֶסֹף.

for sympathy Heb. לנוד, to shake. That friends should come to me to shake [their heads] over me and to comfort me.

into my food Heb. בברותי, into my food, as (II Sam. 13:6): “Let my sister Tamar come now, etc., that I may eat (ואברה) from her hand.”

and for peace When they hope for peace, may their peace be turned into a snare.

For this nation, which You smote.

they pursued For You were a little angry, and they helped cause harm.

and about the pain of those whom You wounded they tell their words, to plot: “Let us destroy them while they are in pain.”

And it will appeal to the Lord My praise to the Lord.

more than a young bull that is mature That is the bull sacrificed by Adam, which was created at its height. On the day it was called שּׁוֹר, on that very day, he brought it, for a bull on day of its birth is called שּׁוֹר, as it is said (Lev. 22:27): “A bull (שור), a lamb, or a goat, that is born.” On that very day, it resembled a פַּר, which is a three-year old.

with horns and hooves Its horns preceded its hooves, because it was created at its height with its horns, and its head emerged from the ground first; the earth thrust them forth in the manner in which all creatures are born, so that its horns preceded its feet.