Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 41:1

"Blessed is he that considereth the poor: Jehovah will deliver him in the day of evil." — Psalms 41:1 (ASV)

Blessed is he. —This general statement of the great law of sympathy and benevolence—fine and noble however we take it—may be explained in different ways, depending on how we take the Hebrew word dal as poor, with the Septuagint and Vulgate , or with the margin, as sick, weak in body , or give it an ethical sense, sick at heart (Compare 2 Samuel 13:4). The context favors one of the two latter, and the choice between them depends on whether we take the author’s sickness to be real or figurative.Psalms 41:3 strongly favors the view that the sickness is physical.

Considereth. —The Hebrew word implies wise as well as kindly consideration. So the Septuagint and Vulgate, “he that understands.”