Mazmur 10:11

10:11 He says to himself, ¹ 

“God overlooks it;

he does not pay attention;

he never notices.” ² 

Mazmur 139:11

139:11 If I were to say, “Certainly the darkness will cover me, ³ 

and the light will turn to night all around me,” ⁴ 

Mazmur 139:13

139:13 Certainly ⁵  you made my mind and heart; ⁶ 

you wove me together ⁷  in my mother’s womb.

[10:11]  ¹ tn Heb “he says in his heart.” See v. 6.

[10:11]  ² tn Heb “God forgets, he hides his face, he never sees.”

[139:11]  ³ tn The Hebrew verb שׁוּף (shuf), which means “to crush; to wound,” in Gen 3:15 and Job 9:17, is problematic here. For a discussion of attempts to relate the verb to Arabic roots, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 251. Many emend the form to יְשׂוּכֵּנִי (yesukkeniy), from the root שׂכך (“to cover,” an alternate form of סכך), a reading assumed in the present translation.

[139:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “and night, light, around me.”

[139:13]  ⁵ tn Or “for.”

[139:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “my kidneys.” The kidneys were sometimes viewed as the seat of one’s emotions and moral character (cf. Pss 7:9; 26:2). A number of translations, recognizing that “kidneys” does not communicate this idea to the modern reader, have generalized the concept: “inmost being” (NAB, NIV); “inward parts” (NASB, NRSV); “the delicate, inner parts of my body” (NLT). In the last instance, the focus is almost entirely on the physical body rather than the emotions or moral character. The present translation, by using a hendiadys (one concept expressed through two terms), links the concepts of emotion (heart) and moral character (mind).

[139:13]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew verb סָכַךְ (sakhakh, “to weave together”) is an alternate form of שָׂכַךְ (sakhakh, “to weave”) used in Job 10:11.