Mazmur 109:9-15

109:9 May his children ¹  be fatherless,

and his wife a widow!

109:10 May his children ²  roam around begging,

asking for handouts as they leave their ruined home! ³ 

109:11 May the creditor seize ⁴  all he owns!

May strangers loot his property! ⁵ 

109:12 May no one show him kindness! ⁶ 

May no one have compassion ⁷  on his fatherless children!

109:13 May his descendants ⁸  be cut off! ⁹ 

May the memory of them be wiped out by the time the next generation arrives! ¹⁰ 

109:14 May his ancestors’ ¹¹  sins be remembered by the Lord!

May his mother’s sin not be forgotten! ¹² 

109:15 May the Lord be constantly aware of them, ¹³ 

and cut off the memory of his children ¹⁴  from the earth!

[109:9]  ¹ tn Or “sons.”

[109:10]  ² tn Or “sons.”

[109:10]  ³ tn Heb “and roaming, may his children roam and beg, and seek from their ruins.” Some, following the LXX, emend the term וְדָרְשׁוּ (vÿdoreshu, “and seek”) to יְגֹרְשׁוּ (yÿgoreshu; a Pual jussive, “may they be driven away” [see Job 30:5; cf. NIV, NRSV]), but דָּרַשׁ (darash) nicely parallels שִׁאֵלוּ (shi’elu, “and beg”) in the preceding line.

[109:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “lay snares for” (see Ps 38:12).

[109:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “the product of his labor.”

[109:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “may there not be for him one who extends loyal love.”

[109:12]  ⁷ tn Perhaps this refers to being generous (see Ps 37:21).

[109:13]  ⁸ tn Or “offspring.”

[109:13]  ⁹ sn On the expression cut off see Ps 37:28.

[109:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in another generation may their name be wiped out.”

[109:14]  ¹¹ tn Or “fathers’ sins.”

[109:14]  ¹² tn Heb “not be wiped out.”

[109:14]  sn According to ancient Israelite theology and its doctrine of corporate solidarity and responsibility, children could be and often were punished for the sins of their parents. For a discussion of this issue see J. Kaminsky, Corporate Responsibility in the Hebrew Bible (JSOTSup). (Kaminsky, however, does not deal with Ps 109.)

[109:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “may they [that is, the sins mentioned in v. 14] be before the Lord continually.”

[109:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “their memory.” The plural pronominal suffix probably refers back to the children mentioned in v. 13, and for clarity this has been specified in the translation.