Psalms 34:21

34:21 Evil people self-destruct; ¹ 

those who hate the godly are punished. ² 

Psalms 5:10

5:10 Condemn them, ³  O God!

May their own schemes be their downfall! ⁴ 

Drive them away ⁵  because of their many acts of insurrection, ⁶ 

for they have rebelled against you.

Psalms 34:22

34:22 The Lord rescues his servants; ⁷ 

all who take shelter in him escape punishment. ⁸ 

[34:21]  ¹ tn Heb “evil kills the wicked [one].” The singular form is representative; the typical evil person is envisioned. The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the typical nature of the action.

[34:21]  ² tn Heb “are guilty,” but the verb is sometimes used metonymically with the meaning “to suffer the consequences of guilt,” the effect being substituted for the cause.

[5:10]  ³ tn Heb “declare/regard them as guilty.” Declaring the psalmist’s adversaries guilty is here metonymic for judging them or paying them back for their wrongdoing.

[5:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “may they fall from their plans.” The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation. The psalmist calls judgment down on the evildoers. Their plans will be their downfall in that God will judge them for their evil schemes.

[5:10]  ⁵ tn Or “banish them.”

[5:10]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew noun used here, פֶּשַׁע (pesha’), refers to rebellious actions. The psalmist pictures his enemies as rebels against God (see the next line).

[34:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “redeems the life of his servants.” The Hebrew participial form suggests such deliverance is characteristic.

[34:22]  ⁶ 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; 31:19).