Psalms 12:1

Psalm 12 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the sheminith style; ²  a psalm of David.

12:1 Deliver, Lord!

For the godly ³  have disappeared; ⁴ 

people of integrity ⁵  have vanished. ⁶ 

Psalms 31:19

31:19 How great is your favor, ⁷ 

which you store up for your loyal followers! ⁸ 

In plain sight of everyone you bestow it on those who take shelter ⁹  in you. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 39:5

39:5 Look, you make my days short-lived, ¹¹ 

and my life span is nothing from your perspective. ¹² 

Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor. ¹³ 

Psalms 39:11

39:11 You severely discipline people for their sins; ¹⁴ 

like a moth you slowly devour their strength. ¹⁵ 

Surely all people are a mere vapor. (Selah)

Psalms 53:2

53:2 God looks down from heaven ¹⁶  at the human race, ¹⁷ 

to see if there is anyone who is wise ¹⁸  and seeks God. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 57:4

57:4 I am surrounded by lions;

I lie down ²⁰  among those who want to devour me; ²¹ 

men whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are a sharp sword. ²² 

Psalms 58:1

Psalm 58 ²³ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ²⁴  a prayer ²⁵  of David.

58:1 Do you rulers really pronounce just decisions? ²⁶ 

Do you judge people ²⁷  fairly?

Psalms 62:9

62:9 Men are nothing but a mere breath;

human beings are unreliable. ²⁸ 

When they are weighed in the scales,

all of them together are lighter than air. ²⁹ 

[12:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 12. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene, for society is overrun by deceitful, arrogant oppressors and godly individuals are a dying breed. When the Lord announces his intention to defend the oppressed, the psalmist affirms his confidence in the divine promise.

[12:1]  ² tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.

[12:1]  ³ tn The singular form is collective or representative. Note the plural form “faithful [ones]” in the following line. A “godly [one]” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[12:1]  ⁴ tn Or “have come to an end.”

[12:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “the faithful [ones] from the sons of man.”

[12:1]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew verb פָּסַס (pasas) occurs only here. An Akkadian cognate means “efface, blot out.”

[31:19]  ⁷ tn Or “How abundant are your blessings!”

[31:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “for those who fear you.”

[31:19]  ⁹ tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 34:21-22).

[31:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you work [your favor] for the ones seeking shelter in you before the sons of men.”

[39:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “Look, handbreadths you make my days.” The “handbreadth” (equivalent to the width of four fingers) was one of the smallest measures used by ancient Israelites. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 309.

[39:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “is like nothing before you.”

[39:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “surely, all vapor [is] all mankind, standing firm.” Another option is to translate, “Surely, all mankind, though seemingly secure, is nothing but a vapor.”

[39:11]  ¹⁹ tn “with punishments on account of sin you discipline a man.”

[39:11]  ²⁰ tc Heb “you cause to dissolve, like a moth, his desired [thing].” The translation assumes an emendation of חֲמוּדוֹ (khamudo, “his desirable [thing]”) to חֶמְדוֹ (khemdo, “his loveliness” [or “beauty”]), a reading that is supported by a few medieval Hebrew mss.

[53:2]  ²⁵ sn The picture of the Lord looking down from heaven draws attention to his sovereignty over the world.

[53:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “upon the sons of man.”

[53:2]  ²⁷ tn Or “acts wisely.” The Hiphil is exhibitive.

[53:2]  ²⁸ tn That is, who seeks to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him.

[57:4]  ³¹ tn The cohortative form אֶשְׁכְּבָה (’eshkÿvah, “I lie down”) is problematic, for it does not seem to carry one of the normal functions of the cohortative (resolve or request). One possibility is that the form here is a “pseudo-cohortative” used here in a gnomic sense (IBHS 576-77 §34.5.3b).

[57:4]  ³² tn The Hebrew verb לָהַט (lahat) is here understood as a hapax legomenon meaning “devour” (see HALOT 521 s.v. II להט), a homonym of the more common verb meaning “to burn.” A more traditional interpretation takes the verb from this latter root and translates, “those who are aflame” (see BDB 529 s.v.; cf. NASB “those who breathe forth fire”).

[57:4]  ³³ tn Heb “my life, in the midst of lions, I lie down, devouring ones, sons of mankind, their teeth a spear and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword.” The syntax of the verse is difficult. Another option is to take “my life” with the preceding verse. For this to make sense, one must add a verb, perhaps “and may he deliver” (cf. the LXX), before the phrase. One might then translate, “May God send his loyal love and faithfulness and deliver my life.” If one does take “my life” with v. 4, then the parallelism of v. 5 is altered and one might translate: “in the midst of lions I lie down, [among] men who want to devour me, whose teeth….”

[58:1]  ³⁷ sn Psalm 58. The psalmist calls on God to punish corrupt judges because a vivid display of divine judgment will convince observers that God is the just judge of the world who vindicates the godly.

[58:1]  ³⁸ tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the heading to Pss 57, 59, and 75.

[58:1]  ³⁹ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam) which also appears in the heading to Pss 16 and 56-57, 59-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[58:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Really [in] silence, what is right do you speak?” The Hebrew noun אֵלֶם (’elem, “silence”) makes little, if any, sense in this context. Some feel that this is an indictment of the addressees’ failure to promote justice; they are silent when they should make just decisions. The present translation assumes an emendation to אֵלִם (’elim), which in turn is understood as a defectively written form of אֵילִים (’elim, “rulers,” a metaphorical use of אַיִל, ’ayil, “ram”; see Exod 15:15; Ezek 17:13). The rhetorical question is sarcastic, challenging their claim to be just. Elsewhere the collocation of דָּבַר (davar, “speak”) with צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “what is right”) as object means “to speak the truth” (see Ps 52:3; Isa 45:19). Here it refers specifically to declaring what is right in a legal setting, as the next line indicates.

[58:1]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the sons of mankind.” The translation assumes the phrase is the object of the verb “to judge.” Some take it as a vocative, “Do you judge fairly, O sons of mankind?” (Cf. NASB; see Ezek 20:4; 22:2; 23:36.)

[62:9]  ⁴³ tn Heb “only a breath [are] the sons of mankind, a lie [are] the sons of man.” The phrases “sons of mankind” and “sons of man” also appear together in Ps 49:2. Because of the parallel line there, where “rich and poor” are mentioned, a number of interpreters and translators treat these expressions as polar opposites, בְּנֵי אָדָם (bÿney ’adam) referring to the lower classes and בְּנֵי אִישׁ (bÿney ’ish) to higher classes. But usage does not support such a view. The rare phrase בְּנֵי אִישׁ (“sons of man”) appears to refer to human beings in general in its other uses (see Pss 4:2; Lam 3:33). It is better to understand the phrases as synonymous expressions.

[62:9]  ⁴⁴ tn The noun הֶבֶל (hevel), translated “a breath” earlier in the verse, appears again here.