Ps. 41.8 (a devilish disease)

“A devilish disease / has been put / upon him – He has lain down; / he will not / rise again.” These are the only words directly spoken by the psalmist’s enemies in the psalm. As we indicated in our previous reflection, the words spoken by the enemy are outside of the psalmist’s presence and represent the treacherous gatherings/reconnaissance of those who “come to see me”. They are not mere reportings. Rather, they represent the “wicked thoughts” (vs. 6) and “plotting” (vs. 7) of his enemies. They are fully invested with self-interest and the desire on their part to undo the psalmist. For that reason, there is clearly a sub-text to these lines. That is, the enemies are now convinced that the psalmist is utterly unable to defend himself and is therefore at his most vulnerable. They need merely wait, or accomplish their final attack, and the psalmist’s threat to them will be extinguished. As we have said before, the psalmist has been an obstacle to these ‘enemies’. Along these lines, there is a secondary question: to whom are these words spoken? Do they represent the internal dialogue between the enemies, or, are these the words they spread within the community, fostering the psalmist’s “misery” (vs. 7)? If they are internal, one wonders if the enemies ‘plotting’ was not a form of curse-dealing, and this ‘devilish disease’ is but the result of their attempts to remove him as the obstacle to their own will/desires. On the other hand, if they are some form of public pronouncement, they would serve to infect the rest of the community with the belief that the psalmist is suffering from some evil (and perhaps deserved) disease. This could have the effect of destroying any authority the psalmist possessed, and therefore destroy his ability to influence those opposed to the enemies. It would be, in other words, an attempt to destroy his “name” (vs. 5).  As we will see, I think this second interpretation more likely given the following verse and the fact that his ‘closest companion’ now rebels against him. It shows that their words have truly, virus-like, spread throughout the community extending their roots even to the most intimate depths of the psalmist’s companions.