Psalms 1:1

Book 1
(Psalms 1-41)

Psalm 1 ¹ 

1:1 How blessed ²  is the one ³  who does not follow ⁴  the advice ⁵  of the wicked, ⁶ 

or stand in the pathway ⁷  with sinners,

or sit in the assembly ⁸  of scoffers! ⁹ 

Psalms 3:7

3:7 Rise up, ¹⁰  Lord!

Deliver me, my God!

Yes, ¹¹  you will strike ¹²  all my enemies on the jaw;

you will break the teeth ¹³  of the wicked. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 11:2

11:2 For look, the wicked ¹⁵  prepare ¹⁶  their bows, ¹⁷ 

they put their arrows on the strings,

to shoot in the darkness ¹⁸  at the morally upright. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 28:3

28:3 Do not drag me away with evil men,

with those who behave wickedly, ²⁰ 

who talk so friendly to their neighbors, ²¹ 

while they plan to harm them! ²² 

Psalms 36:1

Psalm 36 ²³ 

For the music director; written by the Lord’s servant, David; an oracle. ²⁴ 

36:1 An evil man is rebellious to the core. ²⁵ 

He does not fear God, ²⁶ 

Psalms 37:28

37:28 For the Lord promotes ²⁷  justice,

and never abandons ²⁸  his faithful followers.

They are permanently secure, ²⁹ 

but the children ³⁰  of evil men are wiped out. ³¹ 

Psalms 39:1

Psalm 39 ³² 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.

39:1 I decided, ³³  “I will watch what I say

and make sure I do not sin with my tongue. ³⁴ 

I will put a muzzle over my mouth

while in the presence of an evil man.” ³⁵ 

Psalms 75:8

75:8 For the Lord holds in his hand a cup full

of foaming wine mixed with spices, ³⁶ 

and pours it out. ³⁷ 

Surely all the wicked of the earth

will slurp it up and drink it to its very last drop.” ³⁸ 

Psalms 104:35

104:35 May sinners disappear ³⁹  from the earth,

and the wicked vanish!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Praise the Lord!

[1:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 1. In this wisdom psalm the author advises his audience to reject the lifestyle of the wicked and to be loyal to God. The psalmist contrasts the destiny of the wicked with that of the righteous, emphasizing that the wicked are eventually destroyed while the godly prosper under the Lord’s protective care.

[1:1]  ² tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see v. 3; Pss 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[1:1]  ³ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” (Generic “he” is employed in vv. 2-3). Since the godly man described in the psalm is representative of followers of God (note the plural form צַדִּיקִים [tsadiqim, “righteous, godly”] in vv. 5-6), one could translate the collective singular with the plural “those” both here and in vv. 2-3, where singular pronouns and verbal forms are utilized in the Hebrew text (cf. NRSV). However, here the singular form may emphasize that godly individuals are usually outnumbered by the wicked. Retaining the singular allows the translation to retain this emphasis.

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “walk in.” The three perfect verbal forms in v. 1 refer in this context to characteristic behavior. The sequence “walk–stand–sit” envisions a progression from relatively casual association with the wicked to complete identification with them.

[1:1]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew noun translated “advice” most often refers to the “counsel” or “advice” one receives from others. To “walk in the advice of the wicked” means to allow their evil advice to impact and determine one’s behavior.

[1:1]  ⁶ tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21).

[1:1]  ⁷ tn “Pathway” here refers to the lifestyle of sinners. To “stand in the pathway of/with sinners” means to closely associate with them in their sinful behavior.

[1:1]  ⁸ tn Here the Hebrew term מוֹשַׁב (moshav), although often translated “seat” (cf. NEB, NIV), appears to refer to the whole assembly of evildoers. The word also carries the semantic nuance “assembly” in Ps 107:32, where it is in synonymous parallelism with קָהָל (qahal, “assembly”).

[1:1]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew word refers to arrogant individuals (Prov 21:24) who love conflict (Prov 22:10) and vociferously reject wisdom and correction (Prov 1:22; 9:7-8; 13:1; 15:12). To “sit in the assembly” of such people means to completely identify with them in their proud, sinful plans and behavior.

[3:7]  ¹⁰ tn In v. 2 the psalmist describes his enemies as those who “confront” him (קָמִים [qamim], literally, “rise up against him”). Now, using the same verbal root (קוּם, qum) he asks the Lord to rise up (קוּמָה, qumah) in his defense.

[3:7]  ¹¹ tn Elsewhere in the psalms the particle כִּי (ki), when collocated with a perfect verbal form and subordinated to a preceding imperative directed to God, almost always has an explanatory or causal force (“for, because”) and introduces a motivating argument for why God should respond positively to the request (see Pss 5:10; 6:2; 12:1; 16:1; 41:4; 55:9; 56:1; 57:1; 60:2; 69:1; 74:20; 119:94; 123:3; 142:6; 143:8). (On three occasions the כִּי is recitative after a verb of perception [“see/know that,” see Pss 4:3; 25:19; 119:159]). If כִּי is taken as explanatory here, then the psalmist is arguing that God should deliver him now because that is what God characteristically does. However, such a motivating argument is not used in the passages cited above. The motivating argument usually focuses on the nature of the psalmist’s dilemma or the fact that he trusts in the Lord. For this reason it is unlikely that כִּי has its normal force here. Most scholars understand the particle כִּי as having an asseverative (emphasizing) function here (“indeed, yes”; NEB leaves the particle untranslated).

[3:7]  ¹² tn If the particle כִּי (ki) is taken as explanatory, then the perfect verbal forms in v. 7b would describe God’s characteristic behavior. However, as pointed out in the preceding note on the word “yes,” the particle probably has an asseverative force here. If so, the perfects may be taken as indicating rhetorically the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s assault on his enemies as if it had already happened. Such confidence is consistent with the mood of the psalm, as expressed before (vv. 3-6) and after this (v. 8). Another option is to take the perfects as precative, expressing a wish or request (“Strike all my enemies on the jaw, break the teeth of the wicked”). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[3:7]  ¹³ sn The expression break the teeth may envision violent hand-to hand combat, though it is possible that the enemies are pictured here as a dangerous animal (see Job 29:17).

[3:7]  ¹⁴ tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and his people.

[11:2]  ¹⁹ tn In the psalms the “wicked” (רְשָׁעִים, rÿsha’im) are typically proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and threaten his people (Ps 3:8).

[11:2]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form depicts the enemies’ hostile action as underway.

[11:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “a bow.”

[11:2]  ²² sn In the darkness. The enemies’ attack, the precise form of which is not indicated, is compared here to a night ambush by archers; the psalmist is defenseless against this deadly attack.

[11:2]  ²³ tn Heb “pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).

[28:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “workers of wickedness.”

[28:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “speakers of peace with their neighbors.”

[28:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and evil [is] in their heart[s].”

[36:1]  ³⁷ sn Psalm 36. Though evil men plan to harm others, the psalmist is confident that the Lord is the just ruler of the earth who gives and sustains all life. He prays for divine blessing and protection and anticipates God’s judgment of the wicked.

[36:1]  ³⁸ tn In the Hebrew text the word נאם (“oracle”) appears at the beginning of the next verse (v. 2 in the Hebrew text because the superscription is considered v. 1). The resulting reading, “an oracle of rebellion for the wicked [is] in the midst of my heart” (cf. NIV) apparently means that the psalm, which foresees the downfall of the wicked, is a prophetic oracle about the rebellion of the wicked which emerges from the soul of the psalmist. One could translate, “Here is a poem written as I reflected on the rebellious character of evil men.” Another option, followed in the translation above, is to attach נאם (nÿ’um, “oracle”) with the superscription. For another example of a Davidic poem being labeled an “oracle,” see 2 Sam 23:1.

[36:1]  ³⁹ tn Heb “[the] rebellion of an evil man [is] in the midst of my heart.” The translation assumes a reading “in the midst of his heart” (i.e., “to the core”) instead of “in the midst of my heart,” a change which finds support in a a few medieval Hebrew mss, the Hebrew text of Origen’s Hexapla, and the Syriac.

[36:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “there is no dread of God before his eyes.” The phrase “dread of God” refers here to a healthy respect for God which recognizes that he will punish evil behavior.

[37:28]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the Lord’s commitment to principles of justice causes him to actively promote these principles as he governs the world. The active participle describes characteristic behavior.

[37:28]  ⁴⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to this generalizing statement.

[37:28]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “protected forever.”

[37:28]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:28]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “cut off”; or “removed.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 28b state general truths.

[39:1]  ⁵⁵ sn Psalm 39. The psalmist laments his frailty and mortality as he begs the Lord to take pity on him and remove his disciplinary hand.

[39:1]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “I said.”

[39:1]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “I will watch my ways, from sinning with my tongue.”

[39:1]  ⁵⁸ sn The psalmist wanted to voice a lament to the Lord (see vv. 4-6), but he hesitated to do so in the presence of evil men, for such words might be sinful if they gave the wicked an occasion to insult God. See C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 1:345.

[75:8]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “for a cup [is] in the hand of the Lord, and wine foams, it is full of a spiced drink.” The noun מֶסֶךְ (mesekh) refers to a “mixture” of wine and spices.

[75:8]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “and he pours out from this.”

[75:8]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “surely its dregs they slurp up and drink, all the wicked of the earth.”

[104:35]  ⁷³ tn Or “be destroyed.”