Mazmur 104:20

104:20 You make it dark and night comes, ¹ 

during which all the beasts of the forest prowl around.

Mazmur 12:8

12:8 for the wicked seem to be everywhere, ² 

when people promote evil. ³ 

[104:20]  ¹ tn Heb “you make darkness, so that it might be night.”

[12:8]  ² tn Heb “the wicked walk all around.” One could translate v. 8a as an independent clause, in which case it would be a concluding observation in proverbial style. The present translation assumes that v. 8a is a subordinate explanatory clause, or perhaps a subordinate temporal clause (“while the wicked walk all around”). The adverb סָבִיב (saviv, “around”), in combination with the Hitpael form of the verb “walk” (which indicates repeated action), pictures the wicked as ubiquitous. They have seemingly overrun society.

[12:8]  ³ tn Heb “when evil is lifted up by the sons of man.” The abstract noun זֻלּוּת (zulut, “evil”) occurs only here. On the basis of evidence from the cognate languages (see HALOT 272 s.v.), one might propose the meaning “base character,” or “morally foolish behavior.”