Psalms 141:5

Verse Psalms 141:5. Let the righteous smite me] This verse is extremely difficult in the original. The following translation, in which the Syriac, Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic, and Arabic nearly agree, appears to me to be the best: "Let the righteous chastise me in mercy, and instruct me: but let not the oil of the wicked anoint my head. It shall not adorn (יני yani, from נוה navah) my head; for still my prayer shall be against their wicked works."

The oil of the wicked may here mean his smooth flattering speeches; and the psalmist intimates that he would rather suffer the cutting reproof of the righteous than the oily talk of the flatterer. If this were the case, how few are there now-a-days of his mind! On referring to Bishop Horsley, I find his translation is something similar to my own: -

Let the just one smite me, let the pious remove me.

Let not the ointment of the impious anoint my head.

But still I will intrude in their calamities.