Psalms 10:1-2

Psalm 10 ¹ 

10:1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?

Why do you pay no attention during times of trouble? ² 

10:2 The wicked arrogantly chase the oppressed; ³ 

the oppressed are trapped ⁴  by the schemes the wicked have dreamed up. ⁵ 

Psalms 10:15

10:15 Break the arm ⁶  of the wicked and evil man!

Hold him accountable for his wicked deeds, ⁷ 

which he thought you would not discover. ⁸ 

Psalms 73:3

73:3 For I envied those who are proud,

as I observed ⁹  the prosperity ¹⁰  of the wicked.

Jeremiah 12:1-2

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ¹¹ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ¹² 

Why are wicked people successful? ¹³ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

12:2 You plant them like trees and they put down their roots. ¹⁴ 

They grow prosperous and are very fruitful. ¹⁵ 

They always talk about you,

but they really care nothing about you. ¹⁶ 

[10:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 10. Many Hebrew mss and the ancient Greek version (LXX) combine Psalms 9 and 10 into a single psalm. Taken in isolation, Psalm 10 is a petition for help in which the psalmist urges the Lord to deliver him from his dangerous enemies, whom he describes in vivid and terrifying detail. The psalmist concludes with confidence; he is certain that God’s justice will prevail.

[10:1]  ² tn Heb “you hide for times in trouble.” The interrogative “why” is understood by ellipsis; note the preceding line. The Hiphil verbal form “hide” has no expressed object. Some supply “your eyes” by ellipsis (see BDB 761 s.v. I עָלַם Hiph and HALOT 835 s.v. I עלם hif) or emend the form to a Niphal (“you hide yourself,” see BHS, note c; cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[10:2]  ³ tn Heb “because of the pride of [the] wicked he burns [i.e. hotly pursues] [the] oppressed.” The singular forms רָשָׁע (rasha’, “wicked”) and עָנִי (’aniy, “oppressed”) are collective and representative, as indicated in the next line, which uses plural verb forms to describe the actions of both.

[10:2]  ⁴ tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 2 describe either what typically happens (from the psalmist’s perspective) or what the psalmist was experiencing at the time he offered this prayer.

[10:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “they are trapped in the schemes which they have thought up.” The referents of the two pronominal suffixes on the verbs have been specified in the translation for clarity. The referent of the first suffix (“they”) is taken as the oppressed, while the referent of the second (“they”) is taken to be the wicked (cf. NIV, which renders “wicked” in the previous line as a collective singular). Others take the referent of both occurrences of “they” in the line to be the wicked (cf. NRSV, “let them be caught in the schemes they have devised”).

[10:15]  ⁶ sn The arm symbolizes the strength of the wicked, which they use to oppress and exploit the weak.

[10:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “you seek his wickedness.” As in v. 13, the verb דָרַשׁ (darash, “seek”) is used here in the sense of “seek an accounting.” One could understand the imperfect as describing a fact, “you hold him accountable,” or as anticipating divine judgment, “you will hold him accountable.” However, since the verb is in apparent parallelism with the preceding imperative (“break”), it is better to understand the imperfect as expressing the psalmist’s desire or request.

[10:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “you will not find.” It is uncertain how this statement relates to what precedes. Some take בַל (bal), which is used as a negative particle in vv. 4, 6, 11, 18, as asseverative here, “Indeed find (i.e., judge his wickedness).” The translation assumes that the final words are an asyndetic relative clause which refers back to what the wicked man boasted in God’s face (“you will not find [i.e., my wickedness]”). See v. 13.

[73:3]  ⁹ tn The imperfect verbal form here depicts the action as continuing in a past time frame.

[73:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “peace” (שָׁלוֹם, shalom).

[12:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[12:1]  ¹² tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).

[12:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”

[12:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “You planted them and they took root.”

[12:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they grow and produce fruit.” For the nuance “grow” for the verb which normally means “go, walk,” see BDB 232 s.v. חָלַךְ Qal.I.3 and compare Hos 14:7.

[12:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “You are near in their mouths, but far from their kidneys.” The figure of substitution is being used here, “mouth” for “words” and “kidneys” for passions and affections. A contemporary equivalent might be, “your name is always on their lips, but their hearts are far from you.”