Psalms 35:27

35:27 May those who desire my vindication shout for joy and rejoice!

May they continually say, ¹  “May the Lord be praised, ²  for he wants his servant to be secure.” ³ 

Psalms 5:4

5:4 Certainly ⁴  you are not a God who approves of evil; ⁵ 

evil people ⁶  cannot dwell with you. ⁷ 

Psalms 34:12

34:12 Do you want to really live? ⁸ 

Would you love to live a long, happy life? ⁹ 

Psalms 40:14

40:14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life

be totally embarrassed and ashamed! ¹⁰ 

May those who want to harm me

be turned back and ashamed! ¹¹ 

Psalms 70:2

70:2 May those who are trying to take my life

be embarrassed and ashamed! ¹² 

May those who want to harm me

be turned back and ashamed! ¹³ 

[35:27]  ¹ tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 27a are understood as jussives (see vv. 24b-26).

[35:27]  ² tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, “may the Lord be magnified [in praise].” Another option is to take the verb as an imperfect, “the Lord is great.”

[35:27]  ³ tn Heb “the one who desires the peace of his servant.”

[5:4]  ⁴ tn Or “for.”

[5:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “not a God [who] delights [in] wickedness [are] you.”

[5:4]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text has simply the singular form רע, which may be taken as an abstract noun “evil” (the reference to “wickedness” in the preceding line favors this; cf. NEB, NASB, NRSV) or as a substantival adjective “evil one” (the references to evil people in the next two verses favor this; cf. NIV “with you the wicked cannot dwell”).

[5:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “cannot dwell as a resident alien [with] you.” The negated imperfect verbal form here indicates incapability or lack of permission. These people are morally incapable of dwelling in God’s presence and are not permitted to do so.

[34:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “Who is the man who desires life?” The rhetorical question is used to grab the audience’s attention. “Life” probably refers here to quality of life, not just physical existence or even duration of life. See the following line.

[34:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “[Who] loves days to see good?”

[40:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed together, the ones seeking my life to snatch it away.”

[40:14]  ¹¹ tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse (“may those…be…embarrassed and ashamed…may those…be turned back and ashamed”) are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies.

[70:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed, the ones seeking my life.” Ps 40:14 has “together” after “ashamed,” and “to snatch it away” after “my life.”

[70:2]  ¹⁴ tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies.