Psalms 5:10-12

5:10 Condemn them, ¹  O God!

May their own schemes be their downfall! ² 

Drive them away ³  because of their many acts of insurrection, ⁴ 

for they have rebelled against you.

5:11 But may all who take shelter ⁵  in you be happy! ⁶ 

May they continually ⁷  shout for joy! ⁸ 

Shelter them ⁹  so that those who are loyal to you ¹⁰  may rejoice! ¹¹ 

5:12 Certainly ¹²  you reward ¹³  the godly, ¹⁴  Lord.

Like a shield you protect ¹⁵  them ¹⁶  in your good favor. ¹⁷ 

[5:10]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Or “banish them.”

[5:10]  ⁴ 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).

[5:11]  ⁵ sn Take shelter. “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 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[5:11]  ⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive of wish or prayer. The psalmist calls on God to reward his faithful followers.

[5:11]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps more hyperbolically, “forever.”

[5:11]  ⁸ tn As in the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form is a jussive of wish or prayer.

[5:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “put a cover over them.” The verb form is a Hiphil imperfect from סָכַךְ (sakhakh, “cover, shut off”). The imperfect expresses the psalmist’s wish or request.

[5:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the lovers of your name.” The phrase refers to those who are loyal to the Lord. See Pss 69:36; 119:132; Isa 56:6.

[5:11]  ¹¹ tn The vav (ו) with prefixed verbal form following the volitional “shelter them” indicates purpose or result (“so that those…may rejoice).

[5:12]  ¹² tn Or “For.”

[5:12]  ¹³ tn Or “bless.” The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line highlight how God characteristically rewards and protects the godly.

[5:12]  ¹⁴ tn Or “innocent.” The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense.

[5:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “surround.” In 1 Sam 23:26 the verb describes how Saul and his men hemmed David in as they chased him.

[5:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “him.” The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense and is thus translated “them.”

[5:12]  ¹⁷ tn Or “with favor” (cf. NRSV). There is no preposition before the noun in the Hebrew text, nor is there a pronoun attached. “Favor” here stands by metonymy for God’s defensive actions on behalf of the one whom he finds acceptable.