Psalms 5:4-5

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

evil people ³  cannot dwell with you. ⁴ 

5:5 Arrogant people cannot stand in your presence; ⁵ 

you hate ⁶  all who behave wickedly. ⁷ 

¹ tn Or “for.”

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

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”).

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 tn Heb “before your eyes.”

⁶ sn You hate. The Lord “hates” the wicked in the sense that he despises their wicked character and deeds and actively opposes and judges them for their wickedness. See Ps 11:5.

⁷ tn Heb “all the workers of wickedness.”