Psalms 119:3

119:3 who, moreover, do no wrong,

but follow in his footsteps. ¹ 

Psalms 37:1

Psalm 37 ² 

By David.

37:1 Do not fret ³  when wicked men seem to succeed! ⁴ 

Do not envy evildoers!

Psalms 82:2

82:2 He says, ⁵  “How long will you make unjust legal decisions

and show favoritism to the wicked? ⁶  (Selah)

Psalms 107:42

107:42 When the godly see this, they rejoice,

and every sinner ⁷  shuts his mouth.

Psalms 7:3

7:3 O Lord my God, if I have done what they say, ⁸ 

or am guilty of unjust actions, ⁹ 

Psalms 43:1

Psalm 43 ¹⁰ 

43:1 Vindicate me, O God!

Fight for me ¹¹  against an ungodly nation!

Deliver me ¹²  from deceitful and evil men! ¹³ 

Psalms 58:2

58:2 No! ¹⁴  You plan how to do what is unjust; ¹⁵ 

you deal out violence in the earth. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 64:6

64:6 They devise ¹⁷  unjust schemes;

they disguise ¹⁸  a well-conceived plot. ¹⁹ 

Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered. ²⁰ 

Psalms 89:22

89:22 No enemy will be able to exact tribute ²¹  from him; ²² 

a violent oppressor will not be able to humiliate him. ²³ 

Psalms 92:15

92:15 So they proclaim that the Lord, my protector,

is just and never unfair. ²⁴ 

Psalms 53:1

Psalm 53 ²⁵ 

For the music director; according to the machalath style; ²⁶  a well-written song ²⁷  by David.

53:1 Fools say to themselves, ²⁸  “There is no God.” ²⁹ 

They sin and commit evil deeds; ³⁰ 

none of them does what is right. ³¹ 

Psalms 125:3

125:3 Indeed, ³²  the scepter of a wicked king ³³  will not settle ³⁴ 

upon the allotted land of the godly.

Otherwise the godly might

do what is wrong. ³⁵ 

[119:3]  ¹ tn Heb “walk in his ways.”

[37:1]  ² sn Psalm 37. The psalmist urges his audience not to envy the wicked, but to trust in and obey the Lord, for he will destroy sinners and preserve the godly. When the smoke of judgment clears, the wicked will be gone, but the godly will remain and inherit God’s promised blessings. The psalm is an acrostic; every other verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[37:1]  ³ tn The verb form is singular (see vv. 3-10 as well, where the second person verbs and pronouns are also singular). The psalmist’s exhortation has a wisdom flavor to it; it is personalized for each member of his audience.

[37:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “over sinners.” The context indicates that the psalmist has in mind the apparent power and success of sinners. See v. 7b.

[82:2]  ³ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation to indicate that the following speech is God’s judicial decision (see v. 1).

[82:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the face of the wicked lift up.”

[107:42]  ⁴ tn Heb “all evil,” which stands metonymically for those who do evil.

[7:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “if I have done this.”

[7:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “if there is injustice in my hands.” The “hands” figuratively suggest deeds or actions.

[43:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalm 43 and Psalm 42 into one psalm. Psalm 43 is the only psalm in Book 2 of the Psalter (Psalms 42-72) that does not have a heading, suggesting that it was originally the third and concluding section of Psalm 42. Ps 43:5 is identical to the refrain in Ps 42:11 and almost identical to the refrain in Ps 42:5.

[43:1]  ⁷ tn Or “argue my case.”

[43:1]  ⁸ tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.

[43:1]  ⁹ 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.

[58:2]  ⁷ tn The particle אַף (’af, “no”) is used here as a strong adversative emphasizing the following statement, which contrasts reality with the rulers’ claim alluded to in the rhetorical questions (see Ps 44:9).

[58:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the heart unjust deeds you do.” The phrase “in the heart” (i.e., “mind”) seems to refer to their plans and motives. The Hebrew noun עַוְלָה (’avlah, “injustice”) is collocated with פָּעַל (pa’al, “do”) here and in Job 36:23 and Ps 119:3. Some emend the plural form עוֹלֹת (’olot, “unjust deeds”; see Ps 64:6) to the singular עָוֶל (’avel, “injustice”; see Job 34:32), taking the final tav (ת) as dittographic (note that the following verbal form begins with tav). Some then understand עָוֶל (’avel, “injustice”) as a genitive modifying “heart” and translate, “with a heart of injustice you act.”

[58:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the earth the violence of your hands you weigh out.” The imagery is from the economic realm. The addressees measure out violence, rather than justice, and distribute it like a commodity. This may be ironic, since justice was sometimes viewed as a measuring scale (see Job 31:6).

[64:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “search out, examine,” which here means (by metonymy) “devise.”

[64:6]  ⁹ tc The MT has תַּמְנוּ (tamnu, “we are finished”), a Qal perfect first common plural form from the verbal root תָּמַם (tamam). Some understand this as the beginning of a quotation of the enemies’ words and translate, “we have completed,” but the Hiphil would seem to be required in this case. The present translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading טָמְנוּ (tomnu, “they hide”), a Qal perfect third common plural form from the verbal root טָמַן (taman).

[64:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a searched-out search,” which is understood as referring here to a thoroughly planned plot to destroy the psalmist.

[64:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the inner part of man, and a heart [is] deep.” The point seems to be that a man’s inner thoughts are incapable of being discovered. No one is a mind reader! Consequently the psalmist is vulnerable to his enemies’ well-disguised plots.

[89:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “an enemy will not exact tribute.” The imperfect is understood in a modal sense, indicating capability or potential.

[89:22]  ¹⁰ tn The translation understands the Hiphil of נָשַׁא (nasha’) in the sense of “act as a creditor.” This may allude to the practice of a conqueror forcing his subjects to pay tribute in exchange for “protection.” Another option is to take the verb from a homonymic verbal root meaning “to deceive,” “to trick.” Still another option is to emend the form to יִשָּׂא (yisa’), a Qal imperfect from נָאַשׂ (na’as, “rise up”) and to translate “an enemy will not rise up against him” (see M. Dahood, Psalms [AB], 2:317).

[89:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and a son of violence will not oppress him.” The imperfect is understood in a modal sense, indicating capability or potential. The reference to a “son of violence” echoes the language of God’s promise to David in 2 Sam 7:10 (see also 1 Chr 17:9).

[92:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “so that [they] proclaim that upright [is] the Lord, my rocky summit, and there is no injustice in him.”

[53:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 53. This psalm is very similar to Ps 14. The major difference comes in v. 5, which corresponds to, but differs quite a bit from, Ps 14:5-6, and in the use of the divine name. Ps 14 uses “the Lord” (יְהוָה, yÿhvah, “Yahweh”) in vv. 2a, 4, 6, and 7, while Ps 53 employs “God” (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim) throughout, as one might expect in Pss 42-83, where the name “Yahweh” is relatively infrequent. The psalmist observes that the human race is morally corrupt. Evildoers oppress God’s people, but the psalmist is confident of God’s protection and anticipates a day when God will vindicate Israel.

[53:1]  ¹² tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מָחֲלַת (makhalat, “machalath”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. The term also appears in the heading of Ps 88.

[53:1]  ¹³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.

[53:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a fool says in his heart.” The singular is used here in a collective or representative sense; the typical fool is envisioned.

[53:1]  ¹⁵ sn There is no God. This statement is probably 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 Ps 10:4, 11).

[53:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they act corruptly, they do evil [with] injustice.” Ps 14:1 has עֲלִילָה (’alilah, “a deed”) instead of עָוֶל (’aval, “injustice”). The verbs describe the typical behavior of the wicked. The subject of the plural verbs is “sons of man” (v. 2). The entire human race is characterized by sinful behavior. This practical atheism – living as if there is no God who will hold them accountable for their actions – makes them fools, for one of the earmarks of folly is to fail to anticipate the long range consequences of one’s behavior.

[53:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

[125:3]  ¹² tn Or “for.”

[125:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “a scepter of wickedness.” The “scepter” symbolizes royal authority; when collocated with “wickedness” the phrase refers to an oppressive foreign conqueror.

[125:3]  ¹⁴ tn Or “rest.”

[125:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “so that the godly might not stretch out their hands in wrongdoing.” A wicked king who sets a sinful example can have an adverse moral and ethical effect on the people he rules.