Mazmur 58:9

58:9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots, ¹ 

he ²  will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat. ³ 

Mazmur 4:3

4:3 Realize that ⁴  the Lord shows the godly special favor; ⁵ 

the Lord responds ⁶  when I cry out to him.

[58:9]  ¹ tn Heb “before your pots perceive thorns.”

[58:9]  ² tn Apparently God (v. 6) is the subject of the verb here.

[58:9]  ³ tn Heb “like living, like burning anger he will sweep it away.” The meaning of the text is unclear. The translation assumes that within the cooking metaphor (see the previous line) חַי (khay, “living”) refers here to raw meat (as in 1 Sam 2:15, where it modifies בָּשָׂר, basar, “flesh”) and that חָרוּן (kharun; which always refers to God’s “burning anger” elsewhere) here refers to food that is cooked. The pronominal suffix on the verb “sweep away” apparently refers back to the “thorns” of the preceding line. The image depicts swift and sudden judgment. Before the fire has been adequately kindled and all the meat cooked, the winds of judgment will sweep away everything in their path.

[4:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and know that.”

[4:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “that the Lord sets apart a faithful one for himself.” The psalmist states a general principle, though the singular form and the parallel line indicate he has himself in mind as the representative godly person. A חָסִיד (khasid; here translated as “the godly”) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[4:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “hears.”