Psalms 139:19-22

139:19 If only ¹  you would kill the wicked, O God!

Get away from me, you violent men! ² 

139:20 They ³  rebel against you ⁴  and act deceitfully; ⁵ 

your enemies lie. ⁶ 

139:21 O Lord, do I not hate those who hate you,

and despise those who oppose you? ⁷ 

139:22 I absolutely hate them, ⁸ 

they have become my enemies!

[139:19]  ¹ tn The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (see Pss 81:8; 95:7, as well as GKC 321 §109.b).

[139:19]  ² tn Heb “men of bloodshed.”

[139:20]  ³ tn Heb “who.”

[139:20]  ⁴ tc Heb “they speak [of] you.” The suffixed form of the verb אָמַר (’amar, “to speak”) is peculiar. The translation assumes an emendation to יַמְרֻךָ (yamrukha), a Hiphil form from מָרָה (marah, “to rebel”; see Ps 78:40).

[139:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “by deceit.”

[139:20]  ⁶ tc Heb “lifted up for emptiness, your cities.” The Hebrew text as it stands makes no sense. The form נָשֻׂא (nasu’; a Qal passive participle) should be emended to נָשְׂאוּ (nosÿu; a Qal perfect, third common plural, “[they] lift up”). Many emend עָרֶיךָ (’arekha, “your cities”) to עָלֶיךָ (’alekha, “against you”), but it is preferable to understand the noun as an Aramaism and translate “your enemies” (see Dan 4:16 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 253).

[139:21]  ⁷ tc Heb “who raise themselves up against you.” The form וּבִתְקוֹמְמֶיךָ (uvitqomÿmekha) should be emended to וּבְמִתְקוֹמְמֶיךָ (uvÿmitqomÿmekha), a Hitpolel participle (the prefixed mem [מ] of the participle is accidentally omitted in the MT, though a few medieval Hebrew mss have it).

[139:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “[with] completeness of hatred I hate them.”