Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 7:4

"If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (Yea, I have delivered him that without cause was mine adversary;)" — Psalms 7:4 (ASV)

Indeed, I have — i.e., on the contrary, so far from returning evil for good, I have returned good for evil. With allusion, there can be little doubt, to the incidents referred to in the last Note. From metrical reasons, and also to avoid the abruptness of the change of construction, Ewald conjectures that two clauses have dropped out of the text, and restores as follows—

“If I have rewarded evil to him who treated me kindly,
(And cunning to him who was at peace with me,
Indeed, if I have not rewarded his soul with good)
And delivered him who without cause is my enemy.”

Milton’s translation lends another shade of meaning to the passage—

“If I have done
Ill to him who meant me peace,
Or to him have rendered less,
And not freed my foe for nought.”

The conjecture of a corruption of the text is supported by the rendering of the Septuagint and Vulgate, and a very slight change gives the probable rendering: “If I have returned evil to him who treated me kindly, and injured my enemy without cause.”