Psalms 58:1

Psalm 58 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ²  a prayer ³  of David.

58:1 Do you rulers really pronounce just decisions? ⁴ 

Do you judge people ⁵  fairly?

Psalms 59:1

Psalm 59 ⁶ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ⁷  a prayer ⁸  of David, written when Saul sent men to surround his house and murder him. ⁹ 

59:1 Deliver me from my enemies, my God!

Protect me ¹⁰  from those who attack me! ¹¹ 

[58:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 58. The psalmist calls on God to punish corrupt judges because a vivid display of divine judgment will convince observers that God is the just judge of the world who vindicates the godly.

[58:1]  ² tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the heading to Pss 57, 59, and 75.

[58:1]  ³ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam) which also appears in the heading to Pss 16 and 56-57, 59-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[58:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “Really [in] silence, what is right do you speak?” The Hebrew noun אֵלֶם (’elem, “silence”) makes little, if any, sense in this context. Some feel that this is an indictment of the addressees’ failure to promote justice; they are silent when they should make just decisions. The present translation assumes an emendation to אֵלִם (’elim), which in turn is understood as a defectively written form of אֵילִים (’elim, “rulers,” a metaphorical use of אַיִל, ’ayil, “ram”; see Exod 15:15; Ezek 17:13). The rhetorical question is sarcastic, challenging their claim to be just. Elsewhere the collocation of דָּבַר (davar, “speak”) with צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “what is right”) as object means “to speak the truth” (see Ps 52:3; Isa 45:19). Here it refers specifically to declaring what is right in a legal setting, as the next line indicates.

[58:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “the sons of mankind.” The translation assumes the phrase is the object of the verb “to judge.” Some take it as a vocative, “Do you judge fairly, O sons of mankind?” (Cf. NASB; see Ezek 20:4; 22:2; 23:36.)

[59:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 59. The psalmist calls down judgment on his foreign enemies, whom he compares to ravenous wild dogs.

[59:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the superscription to Pss 57-58, 75.

[59:1]  ⁸ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-58, 60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[59:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “when Saul sent and they watched his house in order to kill him.”

[59:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “make me secure”; Heb “set me on high.”

[59:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from those who raise themselves up [against] me.”