Psalms 10:4

10:4 The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks,

“God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.” ¹ 

Psalms 10:6

10:6 He says to himself, ² 

“I will never ³  be upended,

because I experience no calamity.” ⁴ 

Psalms 10:11

10:11 He says to himself, ⁵ 

“God overlooks it;

he does not pay attention;

he never notices.” ⁶ 

Psalms 10:18

10:18 You defend ⁷  the fatherless and oppressed, ⁸ 

so that mere mortals may no longer terrorize them. ⁹ 

Psalms 21:2

21:2 You grant ¹⁰  him his heart’s desire;

you do not refuse his request. ¹¹  (Selah)

Psalms 21:7

21:7 For the king trusts ¹²  in the Lord,

and because of the sovereign Lord’s ¹³  faithfulness he is not upended. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 21:11

21:11 Yes, ¹⁵  they intend to do you harm; ¹⁶ 

they dream up a scheme, ¹⁷  but they do not succeed. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 46:5

46:5 God lives within it, ¹⁹  it cannot be moved. ²⁰ 

God rescues it ²¹  at the break of dawn. ²² 

Psalms 58:8

58:8 Let them be ²³  like a snail that melts away as it moves along! ²⁴ 

Let them be like ²⁵  stillborn babies ²⁶  that never see the sun!

Psalms 96:10

96:10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!

The world is established, it cannot be moved.

He judges the nations fairly.”

Psalms 140:10-11

140:10 May he rain down ²⁷  fiery coals upon them!

May he throw them into the fire!

From bottomless pits they will not escape. ²⁸ 

140:11 A slanderer ²⁹  will not endure on ³⁰  the earth;

calamity will hunt down a violent man and strike him down. ³¹ 

Psalms 147:20

147:20 He has not done so with any other nation;

they are not aware of his regulations.

Praise the Lord!

[10:4]  ¹ tn Heb “the wicked [one], according to the height of his nose, he does not seek, there is no God, all his thoughts.” The phrase “height of his nose” probably refers to an arrogant or snooty attitude; it likely pictures one with his nose turned upward toward the sky in pride. One could take the “wicked” as the subject of the negated verb “seek,” in which case the point is that the wicked do not “seek” God. The translation assumes that this statement, along with “there is no God,” is what the wicked man thinks to himself. In this case God is the subject of the verb “seek,” and the point is that God will not hold the wicked man accountable for his actions. Verse 13 strongly favors this interpretation. The statement “there is no God” is not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that he is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see v. 11).

[10:6]  ² tn Heb “he says in his heart/mind.”

[10:6]  ³ tn Heb “for a generation and a generation.” The traditional accentuation of the MT understands these words with the following line.

[10:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “who, not in calamity.” If אֲשֶׁר (’asher) is taken as a relative pronoun here, then one could translate, “[I] who [am] not in calamity.” Some emend אֲשֶׁר to אֹשֶׁר (’osher, “happiness”; see HALOT 99 s.v. אֹשֶׁר); one might then translate, “[I live in] happiness, not in calamity.” The present translation assumes that אֲשֶׁר functions here as a causal conjunction, “because, for.” For this use of אֲשֶׁר, see BDB 83 s.v. אֲשֶׁר 8.c (where the present text is not cited).

[10:11]  ³ tn Heb “he says in his heart.” See v. 6.

[10:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “God forgets, he hides his face, he never sees.”

[10:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “to judge (on behalf of),” or “by judging (on behalf of).”

[10:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “crushed.” See v. 10.

[10:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “he will not add again [i.e., “he will no longer”] to terrify, man from the earth.” The Hebrew term אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh, “man”) refers here to the wicked nations (v. 16). By describing them as “from the earth,” the psalmist emphasizes their weakness before the sovereign, eternal king.

[21:2]  ⁵ tn The translation assumes the perfect verbal forms in v. 2 are generalizing, stating factually what God typically does for the king. Another option is to take them as present perfects, “you have granted…you have not refused.” See v. 4, which mentions a specific request for a long reign.

[21:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the request of his lips you do not refuse.”

[21:7]  ⁶ tn The active participle draws attention to the ongoing nature of the action.

[21:7]  ⁷ tn Traditionally “the Most High’s.” The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. Note the focus of vv. 8-12 and see Ps 47:2.

[21:7]  ⁸ tn Another option is to translate the imperfect verbal form as future, “he will not be upended” (cf. NRSV “he shall not be moved”). Even if one chooses this option, the future tense must be understood in a generalizing sense.

[21:11]  ⁷ tn Or “for.”

[21:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “they extend against you harm.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 11 are taken as generalizing, stating factually what the king’s enemies typically do. Another option is to translate with the past tense (“they intended…planned”).

[21:11]  ⁹ sn See Ps 10:2.

[21:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they lack ability.”

[46:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “God [is] within her.” The feminine singular pronoun refers to the city mentioned in v. 4.

[46:5]  ⁹ tn Another option is to translate the imperfect verbal form as future, “it will not be upended.” Even if one chooses this option, the future tense must be understood in a generalizing sense. The verb מוֹט (mot), translated “upended” here, is used in v. 2 of the mountains “tumbling” into the seas and in v. 6 of nations being “upended.” By way of contrast, Jerusalem, God’s dwelling place, is secure and immune from such turmoil and destruction.

[46:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “helps her.” The imperfect draws attention to the generalizing character of the statement.

[46:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “at the turning of morning.” (For other uses of the expression see Exod 14:27 and Judg 19:26).

[58:8]  ⁹ tn There is no “to be” verb in the Hebrew text at this point, but a jussive tone can be assumed based on vv. 6-7.

[58:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “like a melting snail [that] moves along.” A. Cohen (Psalms [SoBB], 184) explains that the text here alludes “to the popular belief that the slimy trail which the snail leaves in its track is the dissolution of its substance.”

[58:8]  ¹¹ tn The words “let them be like” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. The jussive mood is implied from the preceding context, and “like” is understood by ellipsis (see the previous line).

[58:8]  ¹² tn This rare word also appears in Job 3:16 and Eccles 6:3.

[140:10]  ¹⁰ tn The verb form in the Kethib (consonantal Hebrew text) appears to be a Hiphil imperfect from the root מוּט (mut, “to sway”), but the Hiphil occurs only here and in Ps 55:3, where it is preferable to read יַמְטִירוּ (yamtiru, “they rain down”). In Ps 140:10 the form יַמְטֵר (yamter, “let him rain down”) should probably be read.

[140:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “into bottomless pits, they will not arise.” The translation assumes that the preposition -בְּ (bet) has the nuance “from” here. Another option is to connect the line with what precedes, take the final clause as an asyndetic relative clause, and translate, “into bottomless pits [from which] they cannot arise.” The Hebrew noun מַהֲמֹרָה (mahamorah, “bottomless pit”) occurs only here in the OT.

[140:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a man of a tongue.”

[140:11]  ¹² tn Heb “be established in.”

[140:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “for blows.” The Hebrew noun מַדְחֵפֹה (madkhefoh, “blow”) occurs only here in the OT.