Psalms 5:6

5:6 You destroy ¹  liars; ² 

the Lord despises ³  violent and deceitful people. ⁴ 

Psalms 9:5-6

9:5 You terrified the nations with your battle cry; ⁵ 

you destroyed the wicked; ⁶ 

you permanently wiped out all memory of them. ⁷ 

9:6 The enemy’s cities have been reduced to permanent ruins; ⁸ 

you destroyed their cities; ⁹ 

all memory of the enemies has perished. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 9:18

9:18 for the needy are not permanently ignored, ¹¹ 

the hopes of the oppressed are not forever dashed. ¹² 

Psalms 37:20

37:20 But ¹³  evil men will die;

the Lord’s enemies will be incinerated ¹⁴  –

they will go up in smoke. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 41:5

41:5 My enemies ask this cruel question about me, ¹⁶ 

‘When will he finally die and be forgotten?’ ¹⁷ 

Psalms 49:10

49:10 Surely ¹⁸  one sees ¹⁹  that even wise people die; ²⁰ 

fools and spiritually insensitive people all pass away ²¹ 

and leave their wealth to others. ²² 

Psalms 68:2

68:2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away. ²³ 

As wax melts before fire,

so the wicked are destroyed before God.

Psalms 102:26

102:26 They will perish,

but you will endure. ²⁴ 

They will wear out like a garment;

like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear. ²⁵ 

Psalms 112:10

112:10 When the wicked ²⁶  see this, they will worry;

they will grind their teeth in frustration ²⁷  and melt away;

the desire of the wicked will perish. ²⁸ 

Psalms 119:176

119:176 I have wandered off like a lost sheep. ²⁹ 

Come looking for your servant,

for I do not forget your commands.

Psalms 143:12

143:12 As a demonstration of your loyal love, ³⁰  destroy my enemies!

Annihilate ³¹  all who threaten my life, ³² 

for I am your servant.

[5:6]  ¹ tn The imperfect verbal form indicates God’s typical response to such individuals. Another option is to translate the verb as future (“You will destroy”); the psalmist may be envisioning a time of judgment when God will remove the wicked from the scene.

[5:6]  ² tn Heb “those who speak a lie.” In the OT a “lie” does not refer in a general philosophical sense to any statement that fails to correspond to reality. Instead it refers more specifically to a slanderous and/or deceitful statement that promotes one’s own selfish, sinful interests and/or exploits or harms those who are innocent. Note the emphasis on violence and deceit in the following line.

[5:6]  ³ tn The imperfect verbal form highlights the Lord’s characteristic attitude toward such individuals.

[5:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “a man of bloodshed and deceit.” The singular אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) is used here in a collective or representative sense; thus the translation “people” is appropriate here. Note the plural forms in vv. 5-6a.

[9:5]  ⁵ tn The verb גָּעַר (ga’ar) is often understood to mean “rebuke” and in this context taken to refer to the Lord’s “rebuke” of the nations. In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Pss 68:30; 106:9; and Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 18:15; 76:6; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.

[9:5]  ⁶ tn The singular form is collective (note “nations” and “their name”). In the psalms the “wicked” (רְשָׁעִים, rÿsha’im) are typically proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). In this context the hostile nations who threaten Israel/Judah are in view.

[9:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “their name you wiped out forever and ever.” The three perfect verbal forms in v. 5 probably refer to a recent victory (definite past or present perfect use), although they might express what is typical (characteristic use).

[9:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “the enemy – they have come to an end [in] ruins permanently.” The singular form אוֹיֵב (’oyev, “enemy”) is collective. It is placed at the beginning of the verse to heighten the contrast with יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) in v. 7.

[9:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you uprooted cities.”

[9:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “it has perished, their remembrance, they.” The independent pronoun at the end of the line is in apposition to the preceding pronominal suffix and lends emphasis (see IBHS 299 §16.3.4). The referent of the masculine pronoun is the nations/enemies (cf. v. 5), not the cities (the Hebrew noun עָרִים [’arim, “cities”] is grammatically feminine). This has been specified in the present translation for clarity; many modern translations retain the pronoun “them,” resulting in ambiguity (cf. NRSV “their cities you have rooted out; the very memory of them has perished”).

[9:18]  ¹³ tn Or “forgotten.”

[9:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the hope of the afflicted does [not] perish forever.” The negative particle is understood by ellipsis; note the preceding line. The imperfect verbal forms express what typically happens.

[37:20]  ¹⁷ tn Or “for,” but Hebrew כי in this case would have to extend all the way back to v. 17a. Another option is to understand the particle as asseverative, “surely” (see v. 22).

[37:20]  ¹⁸ tc The meaning of the MT (כִּיקַר כָּרִים [kiqar karim], “like what is precious among the pastures/rams”) is uncertain. One possibility is to take the noun כָּרִים as “pastures” and interpret “what is precious” as referring to flowers that blossom but then quickly disappear (see v. 2 and BDB 430 s.v. יָקָר 3). If כָּרִים is taken as “rams,” then “what is precious” might refer to the choicest portions of rams. The present translation follows a reading in the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QpPs37), כיקוד כורם (“like the burning of an oven”). The next line, which pictures the Lord’s enemies being consumed in smoke, supports this reading, which assumes confusion of the Hebrew letters resh (ר) and dalet (ד) at the end of the first word in the sequence.

[37:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they perish in smoke, they perish.” In addition to repeating the verb for emphasis, the psalmist uses the perfect form of the verb to picture the enemies’ demise as if it had already taken place. In this way he draws attention to the certitude of their judgment.

[41:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “my enemies speak evil concerning me.”

[41:5]  ²² tn Heb “and his name perish.”

[49:10]  ²⁵ tn The particle כִּי (ki) is understood here as asseverative (emphatic).

[49:10]  ²⁶ tn The subject of the verb is probably the typical “man” mentioned in v. 7. The imperfect can be taken here as generalizing or as indicating potential (“surely he/one can see”).

[49:10]  ²⁷ tn The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to what is characteristically true. The vav (ו) consecutive with perfect in the third line carries the same force.

[49:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “together a fool and a brutish [man] perish.” The adjective בַּעַר (ba’ar, “brutish”) refers to spiritual insensitivity, not mere lack of intelligence or reasoning ability (see Pss 73:22; 92:6; Prov 12:1; 30:2, as well as the use of the related verb in Ps 94:8).

[49:10]  ²⁹ sn Death shows no respect for anyone. No matter how wise or foolish an individual happens to be, all pass away.

[68:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “as smoke is scattered, you scatter [them].”

[102:26]  ³³ tn Heb “stand.”

[102:26]  ³⁴ tn The Hebrew verb חָלַף (khalaf) occurs twice in this line, once in the Hiphil (“you will remove them”) and once in the Qal (“they will disappear”). The repetition draws attention to the statement.

[112:10]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew text uses the singular; the representative wicked individual is in view as typifying the group (note the use of the plural form in v. 10).

[112:10]  ³⁸ tn Heb “his teeth he will gnash.” In Pss 35:16 and 37:12 this action is associated with a vicious attack.

[112:10]  ³⁹ tn This could mean that the desires of the wicked will go unfulfilled. Another possibility is that “desire” refers by metonymy to the object desired and acquired. In this case the point is that the wicked will lose what they desired so badly and acquired by evil means (see Ps 10:3).

[119:176]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “I stray like a lost sheep.” It is possible that the point of the metaphor is vulnerability: The psalmist, who is threatened by his enemies, feels as vulnerable as a straying, lost sheep. This would not suggest, however, that he has wandered from God’s path (see the second half of the verse, as well as v. 110).

[143:12]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”

[143:12]  ⁴⁶ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the mood of the preceding imperfect.

[143:12]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “all the enemies of my life.”