Mazmur 109:14-15

109:14 May his ancestors’ ¹  sins be remembered by the Lord!

May his mother’s sin not be forgotten! ² 

109:15 May the Lord be constantly aware of them, ³ 

and cut off the memory of his children ⁴  from the earth!

[109:14]  ¹ tn Or “fathers’ sins.”

[109:14]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “may they [that is, the sins mentioned in v. 14] be before the Lord continually.”

[109:15]  ⁴ 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.