Mazmur 5:4

5:4 Certainly ¹  you are not a God who approves of evil; ² 

evil people ³  cannot dwell with you. ⁴ 

Mazmur 10:3

10:3 Yes, ⁵  the wicked man ⁶  boasts because he gets what he wants; ⁷ 

the one who robs others ⁸  curses ⁹  and ¹⁰  rejects the Lord. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 22:6

22:6 But I ¹²  am a worm, ¹³  not a man; ¹⁴ 

people insult me and despise me. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 31:5

31:5 Into your hand I entrust my life; ¹⁶ 

you will rescue ¹⁷  me, O Lord, the faithful God.

Mazmur 36:4

36:4 He plans ways to sin while he lies in bed;

he is committed to a sinful lifestyle; ¹⁸ 

he does not reject what is evil. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 38:20

38:20 They repay me evil for the good I have done;

though I have tried to do good to them, they hurl accusations at me. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 41:6

41:6 When someone comes to visit, ²¹  he pretends to be friendly; ²² 

he thinks of ways to defame me, ²³ 

and when he leaves he slanders me. ²⁴ 

Mazmur 55:21

55:21 His words are as smooth as butter, ²⁵ 

but he harbors animosity in his heart. ²⁶ 

His words seem softer than oil,

but they are really like sharp swords. ²⁷ 

Mazmur 74:4

74:4 Your enemies roar ²⁸  in the middle of your sanctuary; ²⁹ 

they set up their battle flags. ³⁰ 

Mazmur 79:12

79:12 Pay back our neighbors in full! ³¹ 

May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord! ³² 

Mazmur 89:39

89:39 You have repudiated ³³  your covenant with your servant; ³⁴ 

you have thrown his crown to the ground. ³⁵ 

Mazmur 89:50

89:50 Take note, O Lord, ³⁶  of the way your servants are taunted, ³⁷ 

and of how I must bear so many insults from people! ³⁸ 

Mazmur 107:40

107:40 He would pour ³⁹  contempt upon princes,

and he made them wander in a wasteland with no road.

Mazmur 112:10

112:10 When the wicked ⁴⁰  see this, they will worry;

they will grind their teeth in frustration ⁴¹  and melt away;

the desire of the wicked will perish. ⁴² 

Mazmur 119:85

119:85 The arrogant dig pits to trap me, ⁴³ 

which violates your law. ⁴⁴ 

Mazmur 129:6

129:6 May they be like the grass on the rooftops

which withers before one can even pull it up, ⁴⁵ 

[5:4]  ¹ tn Or “for.”

[5:4]  ² tn Heb “not a God [who] delights [in] wickedness [are] you.”

[5:4]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has simply the singular form רע, which may be taken as an abstract noun “evil” (the reference to “wickedness” in the preceding line favors this; cf. NEB, NASB, NRSV) or as a substantival adjective “evil one” (the references to evil people in the next two verses favor this; cf. NIV “with you the wicked cannot dwell”).

[5:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “cannot dwell as a resident alien [with] you.” The negated imperfect verbal form here indicates incapability or lack of permission. These people are morally incapable of dwelling in God’s presence and are not permitted to do so.

[5:4]  sn Only the godly are allowed to dwell with the Lord. Evil people are excluded. See Ps 15.

[10:3]  ⁵ tn The translation assumes כִּי (ki) is asseverative: “indeed, certainly.” Another option is to translate “for,” understanding v. 3 as giving the reason why the wicked so arrogantly seek to destroy the helpless (so NASB, NRSV).

[10:3]  ⁶ tn The representative or typical evildoer is described in vv. 3-11, 13, 15. Since the singular form predominates in these verses, it has been retained in the translation.

[10:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “the wicked [one] boasts on account of the desire of his appetite.” The translation assumes that the preposition עַל (’al) introduces the reason why the wicked boasts (cf. this use of עַל with הָלַל (halal) in Ps 119:164 and Ezra 3:11). In this case, the “desire of his appetite” refers by metonymy to the object desired and acquired.

[10:3]  ⁸ tn The translation assumes the active participle is substantival, referring to the wicked man mentioned in the preceding line. The substantival participle is then understood as the subject of the following verbs. For other examples of the participle of בָּצַע (batsar) used of those who desire and/or acquire wealth through dishonest and/or violent means, see Prov 1:19; 15:27; Jer 6:13; 8:10; Hab 2:9.

[10:3]  ⁹ tn The verb בָּרַךְ (barakh) normally means “to bless,” but in a few cases it exhibits the polarized meaning “to curse” (1 Kgs 21:10, 13; Job 1:5-11; 2:5-9). (Some regard this use of בָּרַךְ as a mere euphemism.) The verb refers to the act of pronouncing or calling down a formal curse upon the object of one’s anger.

[10:3]  ¹⁰ tn The conjunction “and” is supplied in the translation; it does not appear in the Hebrew text.

[10:3]  ¹¹ tn Another option is to translate, “he blesses one who robs others, [but] he curses the Lord.” In this case the subject of the verbs is “the wicked man” mentioned in the previous line, and “the one who robs others” is the object of the verb בָּרַךְ (barakh), which is understood in its usual sense of “bless.”

[22:6]  ¹² tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist’s experience and that of his ancestors. When he considers God’s past reliability, it only heightens his despair and confusion, for God’s present silence stands in stark contrast to his past saving acts.

[22:6]  ¹³ tn The metaphor expresses the psalmist’s self-perception, which is based on how others treat him (see the following line).

[22:6]  ¹⁴ tn Or “not a human being.” The psalmist perceives himself as less than human.

[22:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a reproach of man and despised by people.”

[31:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “my spirit.” The noun רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) here refers to the animating spirit that gives the psalmist life.

[31:5]  ¹⁷ tn Or “redeem.” The perfect verbal form is understood here as anticipatory, indicating rhetorically the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer that he can describe his deliverance as if it had already happened. Another option is to take the perfect as precative, expressing a wish or request (“rescue me”; cf. NIV). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[36:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he takes a stand in a way [that is] not good.” The word “way” here refers metaphorically to behavior or life style.

[36:4]  ¹⁹ tn The three imperfect verbal forms in v. 4 highlight the characteristic behavior of the typical evildoer.

[38:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the ones who repay evil instead of good accuse me, instead of my pursuing good.”

[41:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “to see.”

[41:6]  ²² tn Heb “he speaks deceitfully.”

[41:6]  ²³ tn Heb “his heart gathers sin to itself.”

[41:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he goes outside and speaks.”

[55:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the butter-like [words] of his mouth are smooth.” The noun מַחְמָאֹת (makhma’ot, “butter-like [words]”) occurs only here. Many prefer to emend the form to מֵחֶמְאָה (mekhem’ah, from [i.e., “than”] butter”), cf. NEB, NRSV “smoother than butter.” However, in this case “his mouth” does not agree in number with the plural verb חָלְקוּ (kholqu, “they are smooth”). Therefore some further propose an emendation of פִּיו (piv, “his mouth”) to פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”). In any case, the point seems to that the psalmist’s former friend spoke kindly to him and gave the outward indications of friendship.

[55:21]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and war [is in] his heart.”

[55:21]  ²⁷ tn Heb “his words are softer than oil, but they are drawn swords.”

[74:4]  ²⁸ tn This verb is often used of a lion’s roar, so the psalmist may be comparing the enemy to a raging, devouring lion.

[74:4]  ²⁹ tn Heb “your meeting place.”

[74:4]  ³⁰ tn Heb “they set up their banners [as] banners.” The Hebrew noun אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) here refers to the enemy army’s battle flags and banners (see Num 2:12).

[79:12]  ³¹ tn Heb “Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their lap.” The number seven is used rhetorically to express the thorough nature of the action. For other rhetorical/figurative uses of the Hebrew phrase שִׁבְעָתַיִם (shiv’atayim, “seven times”) see Gen 4:15, 24; Ps 12:6; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.

[79:12]  ³² tn Heb “their reproach with which they reproached you, O Lord.”

[89:39]  ³³ tn The Hebrew verb appears only here and in Lam 2:7.

[89:39]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the covenant of your servant.”

[89:39]  ³⁵ tn Heb “you dishonor [or “desecrate”] on the ground his crown.”

[89:50]  ³⁶ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read here יְהוָה (yehvah, “the Lord”).

[89:50]  ³⁷ tn Heb “remember, O Lord, the taunt against your servants.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the singular here, “your servant” (that is, the psalmist).

[89:50]  ³⁸ tn Heb “my lifting up in my arms [or “against my chest”] all of the many, peoples.” The term רַבִּים (rabbim, “many”) makes no apparent sense here. For this reason some emend the text to רִבֵי (rivey, “attacks by”), a defectively written plural construct form of רִיב (riv, “dispute; quarrel”).

[107:40]  ³⁹ tn The active participle is understood as past durative here, drawing attention to typical action in a past time frame. However, it could be taken as generalizing (in which case one should translate using the English present tense), in which case the psalmist moves from narrative to present reality. Perhaps the participial form appears because the statement is lifted from Job 12:21.

[112:10]  ⁴⁰ tn The Hebrew text uses the singular; the representative wicked individual is in view as typifying the group (note the use of the plural form in v. 10).

[112:10]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “his teeth he will gnash.” In Pss 35:16 and 37:12 this action is associated with a vicious attack.

[112:10]  ⁴² tn This could mean that the desires of the wicked will go unfulfilled. Another possibility is that “desire” refers by metonymy to the object desired and acquired. In this case the point is that the wicked will lose what they desired so badly and acquired by evil means (see Ps 10:3).

[119:85]  ⁴³ tn Heb “for me.”

[119:85]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “which [is] not according to your law.”

[129:6]  ⁴⁵ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁלַף (shalaf) normally means “to draw [a sword]” or “to pull.” BDB 1025 s.v. suggests the meaning “to shoot up” here, but it is more likely that the verb here means “to pluck; to pull up,” a nuance attested for this word in later Hebrew and Aramaic (see Jastrow 1587 s.v. שָׁלַף).