4:4 Tremble with fear and do not sin! 1
Meditate as you lie in bed, and repent of your ways! 2 (Selah)
119:11 In my heart I store up 3 your words, 4
so I might not sin against you.
5:14 After this Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “Look, you have become well. Don’t sin any more, 5 lest anything worse happen to you.”
1 sn The psalmist warns his enemies that they need to tremble with fear before God and repudiate their sinful ways.
2 tn Heb “say in your heart(s) on your bed(s) and wail/lament.” The verb דֹמּוּ (dommu) is understood as a form of דָמָם (“wail, lament”) in sorrow and repentance. Another option is to take the verb from II דָמָם (damam, “be quiet”); cf. NIV, NRSV “be silent.”
3 tn Or “hide.”
4 tn Heb “your word.” Some medieval Hebrew
5 tn Since this is a prohibition with a present imperative, the translation “stop sinning” is sometimes suggested. This is not likely, however, since the present tense is normally used in prohibitions involving a general condition (as here) while the aorist tense is normally used in specific instances. Only when used opposite the normal usage (the present tense in a specific instance, for example) would the meaning “stop doing what you are doing” be appropriate.
6 tc The earliest and best