Psalms 109:6-8

109:6 ¹ Appoint an evil man to testify against him! ² 

May an accuser stand ³  at his right side!

109:7 When he is judged, he will be found ⁴  guilty! ⁵ 

Then his prayer will be regarded as sinful.

109:8 May his days be few! ⁶ 

May another take his job! ⁷ 

Acts 1:16-20

1:16 “Brothers, ⁸  the scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit foretold through ⁹  David concerning Judas – who became the guide for those who arrested Jesus – 1:17 for he was counted as one of us and received a share in this ministry.” ¹⁰  1:18 (Now this man Judas ¹¹  acquired a field with the reward of his unjust deed, ¹²  and falling headfirst ¹³  he burst open in the middle and all his intestines ¹⁴  gushed out. 1:19 This ¹⁵  became known to all who lived in Jerusalem, so that in their own language ¹⁶  they called that field ¹⁷  Hakeldama, that is, “Field of Blood.”) 1:20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his house become deserted, ¹⁸  and let there be no one to live in it,’ ¹⁹  and ‘Let another take his position of responsibility.’ ²⁰ 

Acts 2:23

2:23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed ²¹  by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. ²² 

Jude 1:4

1:4 For certain men ²³  have secretly slipped in among you ²⁴  – men who long ago ²⁵  were marked out ²⁶  for the condemnation I am about to describe ²⁷  – ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil ²⁸  and who deny our only Master ²⁹  and Lord, ³⁰  Jesus Christ.

¹ sn In vv. 6-19 the psalmist calls on God to judge his enemies severely. Some attribute this curse-list to the psalmist’s enemies rather than the psalmist. In this case one should paraphrase v. 6: “They say about me, ‘Appoint an evil man, etc.’” Those supporting this line of interpretation point out that vv. 2-5 and 20 refer to the enemies’ attack on the psalmist being a verbal one. Furthermore in vv. 1-5, 20 the psalmist speaks of his enemies in the plural, while vv. 6-19 refer to an individual. This use of the singular in vv. 6-19 could be readily explained if this is the psalmist’s enemies’ curse on him. However, it is much more natural to understand vv. 6-19 as the psalmist’s prayer against his enemies. There is no introductory quotation formula in v. 6 to indicate that the psalmist is quoting anyone, and the statement “may the Lord repay my accusers in this way” in v. 20 most naturally appears to be a fitting conclusion to the prayer in vv. 6-19. But what about the use of the singular in vv. 6-19? Often in the psalms the psalmist will describe his enemies as a group, but then speak of them as an individual as well, as if viewing his adversaries collectively as one powerful foe. See, for example, Ps 7, where the psalmist uses both the plural (vv. 1, 6) and the singular (vv. 2, 4-5) in referring to enemies. Perhaps by using the singular in such cases, the psalmist wants to single out each enemy for individual attention, or perhaps he has one especially hostile enemy in mind who epitomizes the opposition of the whole group. This may well be the case in Ps 109. Perhaps we should understand the singular throughout vv. 6-19 in the sense of “each and every one.” For a lengthy and well-reasoned defense of the opposite view – that vv. 6-19 are a quotation of what the enemies said about the psalmist – see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 72-73.

² tn Heb “appoint against him an evil [man].”

³ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive here (note the imperative in the preceding line).

⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as a jussive, but the use of the imperfect form in the following line suggests that v. 7 anticipates the outcome of the accusation envisioned in v. 6.

⁵ tn Heb “he will go out [as] a criminal” (that is, guilty).

⁶ tn The prefixed verbal forms (except those with vav [ו] consecutive) in vv. 8-20 are taken as jussives of prayer. Note the distinct jussive forms used in vv. 12-13, 15, 19.

⁷ tn The Hebrew noun פְּקֻדָּה (pÿquddah) can mean “charge” or “office,” though BDB 824 s.v. suggests that here it refers to his possessions.

⁸ tn Grk “Men brothers.” In light of the compound phrase ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί (andre" adelfoi, “Men brothers”) Peter’s words are best understood as directly addressed to the males present, possibly referring specifically to the twelve (really ten at this point – eleven minus the speaker, Peter) mentioned by name in v. 13.

⁹ tn Grk “foretold by the mouth of.”

¹⁰ tn Or “and was chosen to have a share in this ministry.” The term λαγχάνω (lancanw) here and in 2 Pet 1:1 can be understood as referring to the process of divine choice and thus be translated, “was chosen to have.”

¹¹ tn The referent of “this man” (Judas) was specified in the translation for clarity.

¹² tn Traditionally, “with the reward of his wickedness.”

¹³ tn Traditionally, “falling headlong.”

¹⁴ tn Or “all his bowels.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “And this.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

¹⁶ sn Their own language refers to Aramaic, the primary language spoken in Palestine in Jesus’ day.

¹⁷ tn Grk “that field was called.” The passive voice has been converted to active in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.

¹⁸ tn Or “uninhabited” or “empty.”

¹⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 69:25.

²⁰ tn Or “Let another take his office.”

²¹ tn Or “you killed.”

²² tn Grk “at the hands of lawless men.” At this point the term ἄνομος (anomo") refers to non-Jews who live outside the Jewish (Mosaic) law, rather than people who broke any or all laws including secular laws. Specifically it is a reference to the Roman soldiers who carried out Jesus’ crucifixion.

²³ tn Grk “people.” However, if Jude is indeed arguing that Peter’s prophecy about false teachers has come true, these are most likely men in the original historical and cultural setting. See discussion of this point in the note on the phrase “these men” in 2 Pet 2:12.

²⁴ tn “Among you” is not in the Greek text, but is obviously implied.

²⁵ tn Or “in the past.” The adverb πάλαι (palai) can refer to either, though the meaning “long ago” is more common.

²⁶ tn Grk “written about.”

²⁷ tn Grk “for this condemnation.” τοῦτο (touto) is almost surely a kataphoric demonstrative pronoun, pointing to what follows in vv. 5-18. Otherwise, the condemnation is only implied (in v. 3b) or is merely a statement of their sinfulness (“ungodly” in v. 4b), not a judgment of it.

²⁸ tn Grk “debauchery.” This is the same word Peter uses to predict what the false teachers will be like (2 Pet 2:2, 7, 18).

²⁹ tc Most later witnesses (P Ψ Ï sy) have θεόν (qeon, “God”) after δεσπότην (despothn, “master”), which appears to be a motivated reading in that it explicitly links “Master” to “God” in keeping with the normal NT pattern (see Luke 2:29; Acts 4:24; 2 Tim 2:21; Rev 6:10). In patristic Greek, δεσπότης (despoth") was used especially of God (cf. BDAG 220 s.v. 1.b.). The earlier and better witnesses (Ì^72,78 א A B C 0251 33 81 323 1241 1739 al co) lack θεόν; the shorter reading is thus preferred on both internal and external grounds.

³⁰ tn The terms “Master and Lord” both refer to the same person. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. For more discussion see ExSyn 270-78. See also Titus 2:13 and 2 Pet 1:1