50:19 You do damage with words, 1
and use your tongue to deceive. 2
34:13 Then make sure you don’t speak evil words 3
or use deceptive speech! 4
36:3 The words he speaks are sinful and deceitful;
he does not care about doing what is wise and right. 5
52:4 You love to use all the words that destroy, 6
and the tongue that deceives.
55:11 Disaster is within it;
violence 7 and deceit do not depart from its public square.
5:6 You destroy 8 liars; 9
the Lord despises 10 violent and deceitful people. 11
10:7 His mouth is full of curses and deceptive, harmful words; 12
his tongue injures and destroys. 13
A prayer of David.
17:1 Lord, consider my just cause! 15
Pay attention to my cry for help!
Listen to the prayer
I sincerely offer! 16
24:4 The one whose deeds are blameless
and whose motives are pure, 17
who does not lie, 18
or make promises with no intention of keeping them. 19
35:20 For they do not try to make peace with others, 20
but plan ways to deceive those who are unsuspecting. 21
38:12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me; 22
those who want to harm me speak destructive words;
all day long they say deceitful things.
43:1 Vindicate me, O God!
Fight for me 24 against an ungodly nation!
Deliver me 25 from deceitful and evil men! 26
109:2 For they say cruel and deceptive things to me;
they lie to me. 27
55:23 But you, O God, will bring them 28 down to the deep Pit. 29
Violent and deceitful people 30 will not live even half a normal lifespan. 31
But as for me, I trust in you.
1 tn Heb “your mouth you send with evil.”
2 tn Heb “and your tongue binds together [i.e., “frames”] deceit.”
3 tn Heb “guard your tongue from evil.”
4 tn Heb “and your lips from speaking deception.”
5 tn Heb “he ceases to exhibit wisdom to do good.” The Hiphil forms are exhibitive, indicating the outward expression of an inner attitude.
7 tn Heb “you love all the words of swallowing.” Traditionally בַּלַּע (bala’) has been taken to mean “swallowing” in the sense of “devouring” or “destructive” (see BDB 118 s.v. בָּלַע). HALOT 135 s.v. III *בֶּלַע proposes a homonym here, meaning “confusion.” This would fit the immediate context nicely and provide a close parallel to the following line, which refers to deceptive words.
9 tn Or “injury, harm.”
11 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.
12 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.
13 tn The imperfect verbal form highlights the
14 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.
13 tn Heb “[with] a curse his mouth is full, and lies and injury.”
14 tn Heb “under his tongue are destruction and wickedness.” The words translated “destruction and wickedness” are also paired in Ps 90:10. They also appear in proximity in Pss 7:14 and 55:10.
15 sn Psalm 17. The psalmist asks God to intervene on his behalf because his life is threatened by dangerous enemies. He appeals to divine justice, for he is certain of his own innocence. Because he is innocent, he expects to encounter God and receive an assuring word.
16 tn Heb “hear,
17 tn Heb “Listen to my prayer, [made] without lips of deceit.”
17 tn Heb “the innocent of hands and the pure of heart.” The “hands” allude to one’s actions, the “heart” to one’s thought life and motives.
18 tn Heb “who does not lift up for emptiness my life.” The first person pronoun on נַפְשִׁי (nafshiy, “my life”) makes little sense here; many medieval Hebrew
19 tn Heb “and does not swear an oath deceitfully.”
19 tn Heb “for they do not speak peace.”
20 tn Heb “but against the quiet ones of the land words of deceit they plan.” The imperfect verbal forms in v. 20 highlight their characteristic behavior.
21 tn Heb “lay snares.”
23 sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew
24 tn Or “argue my case.”
25 tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.
26 tn Heb “from the deceitful and evil man.” The Hebrew text uses the singular form “man” in a collective sense, as the reference to a “nation” in the parallel line indicates.
25 tn Heb “for a mouth of evil and a mouth of deceit against me they open, they speak with me [with] a tongue of falsehood.”
27 tn The pronominal suffix refers to the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 19).
28 tn Heb “well of the pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 103:4).
29 tn Heb “men of bloodshed and deceit.”
30 tn Heb “will not divide in half their days.”