Psalms 5:5-6

5:5 Arrogant people cannot stand in your presence; ¹ 

you hate ²  all who behave wickedly. ³ 

5:6 You destroy ⁴  liars; ⁵ 

the Lord despises ⁶  violent and deceitful people. ⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “before your eyes.”

² 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.

³ tn Heb “all the workers of wickedness.”

⁴ 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 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.

⁶ tn The imperfect verbal form highlights the Lord’s characteristic attitude toward such individuals.

⁷ 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.