Psalms 62:10-12

62:10 Do not trust in what you can gain by oppression! ¹ 

Do not put false confidence in what you can gain by robbery! ² 

If wealth increases, do not become attached to it! ³ 

62:11 God has declared one principle;

two principles I have heard: ⁴ 

God is strong, ⁵ 

62:12 and you, O Lord, demonstrate loyal love. ⁶ 

For you repay men for what they do. ⁷ 

[62:10]  ¹ tn Heb “do not trust in oppression.” Here “oppression” stands by metonymy for the riches that can be gained by oppressive measures, as the final line of the verse indicates.

[62:10]  ² tn Heb “and in robbery do not place vain hope.” Here “robbery” stands by metonymy for the riches that can be gained by theft, as the next line of the verse indicates.

[62:10]  ³ tn Heb “[as for] wealth, when it bears fruit, do not set [your] heart [on it].”

[62:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “one God spoke, two which I heard.” This is a numerical saying utilizing the “x” followed by “x + 1” pattern to facilitate poetic parallelism. (See W. M. W. Roth, Numerical Sayings in the Old Testament [VTSup], 55-56.) As is typical in such sayings, a list corresponding to the second number (in this case “two”) follows. Another option is to translate, “God has spoken once, twice [he has spoken] that which I have heard.” The terms אַחַת (’akhat, “one; once”) and שְׁתַּיִם (shÿtayim, “two; twice”) are also juxtaposed in 2 Kgs 6:10 (where they refer to an action that was done more than “once or twice”) and in Job 33:14 (where they refer to God speaking “one way” and then in “another manner”).

[62:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “that strength [belongs] to God.”

[62:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “and to you, O Master, [is] loyal love.”

[62:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “for you pay back to a man according to his deed.” Another option is to understand vv. 11b and 12a as the first principle and v. 12b as the second. In this case one might translate, “God has declared one principle, two principles I have heard, namely, that God is strong, and you, O Lord, demonstrate loyal love, and that you repay men for what they do.”