Mazmur 5:6

5:6 You destroy ¹  liars; ² 

the Lord despises ³  violent and deceitful people. ⁴ 

Mazmur 5:10-11

5:10 Condemn them, ⁵  O God!

May their own schemes be their downfall! ⁶ 

Drive them away ⁷  because of their many acts of insurrection, ⁸ 

for they have rebelled against you.

5:11 But may all who take shelter ⁹  in you be happy! ¹⁰ 

May they continually ¹¹  shout for joy! ¹² 

Shelter them ¹³  so that those who are loyal to you ¹⁴  may rejoice! ¹⁵ 

[5:6]  ¹ tn The imperfect verbal form indicates God’s typical response to such individuals. Another option is to translate the verb as future (“You will destroy”); the psalmist may be envisioning a time of judgment when God will remove the wicked from the scene.

[5:6]  ² tn Heb “those who speak a lie.” In the OT a “lie” does not refer in a general philosophical sense to any statement that fails to correspond to reality. Instead it refers more specifically to a slanderous and/or deceitful statement that promotes one’s own selfish, sinful interests and/or exploits or harms those who are innocent. Note the emphasis on violence and deceit in the following line.

[5:6]  ³ tn The imperfect verbal form highlights the Lord’s characteristic attitude toward such individuals.

[5:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “a man of bloodshed and deceit.” The singular אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) is used here in a collective or representative sense; thus the translation “people” is appropriate here. Note the plural forms in vv. 5-6a.

[5:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “declare/regard them as guilty.” Declaring the psalmist’s adversaries guilty is here metonymic for judging them or paying them back for their wrongdoing.

[5:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “may they fall from their plans.” The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation. The psalmist calls judgment down on the evildoers. Their plans will be their downfall in that God will judge them for their evil schemes.

[5:10]  ⁷ tn Or “banish them.”

[5:10]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew noun used here, פֶּשַׁע (pesha’), refers to rebellious actions. The psalmist pictures his enemies as rebels against God (see the next line).

[5:11]  ⁹ sn Take shelter. “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[5:11]  ¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive of wish or prayer. The psalmist calls on God to reward his faithful followers.

[5:11]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps more hyperbolically, “forever.”

[5:11]  ¹² tn As in the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form is a jussive of wish or prayer.

[5:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “put a cover over them.” The verb form is a Hiphil imperfect from סָכַךְ (sakhakh, “cover, shut off”). The imperfect expresses the psalmist’s wish or request.

[5:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the lovers of your name.” The phrase refers to those who are loyal to the Lord. See Pss 69:36; 119:132; Isa 56:6.

[5:11]  ¹⁵ tn The vav (ו) with prefixed verbal form following the volitional “shelter them” indicates purpose or result (“so that those…may rejoice).