3:3 That is why the rains have been withheld,
and the spring rains have not come.
Yet in spite of this you are obstinate as a prostitute. 1
You refuse to be ashamed of what you have done.
6:15 Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things?
No, they are not at all ashamed.
They do not even know how to blush!
So they will die, just like others have died. 2
They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,”
says the Lord.
For the music director; a well-written song 4 by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: “David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech.” 5
52:1 Why do you boast about your evil plans, 6 O powerful man?
God’s loyal love protects me all day long! 7
52:7 “Look, here is the man who would not make 8 God his protector!
He trusted in his great wealth
and was confident about his plans to destroy others.” 9
3:9 The look on their faces 10 testifies to their guilt; 11
like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. 12
Too bad for them! 13
For they bring disaster on themselves.
3:5 The just Lord resides 14 within her;
he commits no unjust acts. 15
Every morning he reveals 16 his justice.
At dawn he appears without fail. 17
Yet the unjust know no shame.
1 tn Heb “you have the forehead of a prostitute.”
2 tn Heb “They will fall among the fallen.”
3 sn Psalm 52. The psalmist confidently confronts his enemy and affirms that God will destroy evildoers and vindicate the godly.
4 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.
5 tn Heb “when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, ‘David has come to the house of Ahimelech.’”
6 tn Heb “Why do you boast in evil?”
7 tn Heb “the loyal love of God [is] all the day.” In this context, where the psalmist is threatened by his enemy, the point seems to be that the psalmist is protected by God’s loyal love at all times.
8 tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to the ongoing nature of the action. The evildoer customarily rejected God and trusted in his own abilities. Another option is to take the imperfect as generalizing, “[here is the man who] does not make.”
9 tn Heb “he was strong in his destruction.” “Destruction” must refer back to the destructive plans mentioned in v. 2. The verb (derived from the root עָזַז, ’azaz, “be strong”) as it stands is either an imperfect (if so, probably used in a customary sense) or a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive). However the form should probably be emended to וַיָּעָז (vayya’az), a Qal preterite (with vav [ו] consecutive) from עָזַז. Note the preterite form without vav (ו) consecutive in the preceding line (וַיִּבְטַח, vayyivtakh, “and he trusted”). The prefixed vav (ו) was likely omitted by haplography (note the suffixed vav [ו] on the preceding עָשְׁרוֹ, ’oshro, “his wealth”).
10 sn This refers to their proud, arrogant demeanor.
11 tn Heb “answers against them”; NRSV “bears witness against them.”
12 tn Heb “their sin, like Sodom, they declare, they do not conceal [it].”
13 tn Heb “woe to their soul.”
14 tn The word “resides” is supplied for clarification.
15 tn Or “he does no injustice.”
16 tn Heb “gives”; or “dispenses.”
17 tn Heb “at the light he is not missing.” Note that NASB (which capitalizes pronouns referring to Deity) has divided the lines differently: “Every morning He brings His justice to light; // He does not fail.”
18 tn Grk “whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly and glory is their shame, these who think of earthly things.”