Mazmur 10:4

10:4 The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks,

“God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.” ¹ 

Mazmur 59:7

59:7 Look, they hurl insults at me

and openly threaten to kill me, ² 

for they say, ³ 

“Who hears?”

Mazmur 64:5

64:5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed. ⁴ 

They plan how to hide ⁵  snares,

and boast, ⁶  “Who will see them?” ⁷ 

[10:4]  ¹ tn Heb “the wicked [one], according to the height of his nose, he does not seek, there is no God, all his thoughts.” The phrase “height of his nose” probably refers to an arrogant or snooty attitude; it likely pictures one with his nose turned upward toward the sky in pride. One could take the “wicked” as the subject of the negated verb “seek,” in which case the point is that the wicked do not “seek” God. The translation assumes that this statement, along with “there is no God,” is what the wicked man thinks to himself. In this case God is the subject of the verb “seek,” and the point is that God will not hold the wicked man accountable for his actions. Verse 13 strongly favors this interpretation. The statement “there is no God” is not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that he is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see v. 11).

[59:7]  ² tn Heb “look, they gush forth with their mouth, swords [are] in their lips.”

[59:7]  ³ tn The words “for they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The following question (“Who hears?”) is spoken by the psalmist’s enemies, who are confident that no one else can hear their threats against the psalmist. They are aggressive because they feel the psalmist is vulnerable and has no one to help him.

[64:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].”

[64:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “they report about hiding.”

[64:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “they say.”

[64:5]  ⁷ tn If this is a direct quotation (cf. NASB, NIV), the pronoun “them” refers to the snares mentioned in the previous line. If it is an indirect quotation, then the pronoun may refer to the enemies themselves (cf. NEB, which is ambiguous). Some translations retain the direct quotation but alter the pronoun to “us,” referring clearly to the enemies (cf. NRSV).