Psalms 82:2-8

82:2 He says, ¹  “How long will you make unjust legal decisions

and show favoritism to the wicked? ²  (Selah)

82:3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless! ³ 

Vindicate the oppressed and suffering!

82:4 Rescue the poor and needy!

Deliver them from the power ⁴  of the wicked!

82:5 They ⁵  neither know nor understand.

They stumble ⁶  around in the dark,

while all the foundations of the earth crumble. ⁷ 

82:6 I thought, ⁸  ‘You are gods;

all of you are sons of the Most High.’ ⁹ 

82:7 Yet you will die like mortals; ¹⁰ 

you will fall like all the other rulers.” ¹¹ 

82:8 Rise up, O God, and execute judgment on the earth!

For you own ¹²  all the nations.

Psalms 94:8

94:8 Take notice of this, ¹³  you ignorant people! ¹⁴ 

You fools, when will you ever understand?

Proverbs 1:22

1:22 “How long will you simpletons ¹⁵  love naiveté? ¹⁶ 

How long ¹⁷  will mockers ¹⁸  delight ¹⁹  in mockery ²⁰ 

and fools ²¹  hate knowledge?

Proverbs 8:5

8:5 You who are naive, discern ²²  wisdom!

And you fools, understand discernment! ²³ 

Proverbs 9:6

9:6 Abandon your foolish ways ²⁴  so that you may live, ²⁵ 

and proceed ²⁶  in the way of understanding.”

[82:2]  ¹ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation to indicate that the following speech is God’s judicial decision (see v. 1).

[82:2]  ² tn Heb “and the face of the wicked lift up.”

[82:3]  ³ tn The Hebrew noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9). Because they were so vulnerable and were frequently exploited, fatherless children are often mentioned as epitomizing the oppressed (see Pss 10:14; 68:5; 94:6; 146:9; as well as Job 6:27; 22:9; 24:3, 9; 29:12; 31:17, 21).

[82:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “hand.”

[82:5]  ⁵ sn Having addressed the defendants, God now speaks to those who are observing the trial, referring to the gods in the third person.

[82:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “walk.” The Hitpael stem indicates iterative action, picturing these ignorant “judges” as stumbling around in the darkness.

[82:5]  ⁷ sn These gods, though responsible for justice, neglect their duty. Their self-imposed ignorance (which the psalmist compares to stumbling around in the dark) results in widespread injustice, which threatens the social order of the world (the meaning of the phrase all the foundations of the earth crumble).

[82:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “said.”

[82:6]  ⁹ sn Normally in the OT the title Most High belongs to the God of Israel, but in this context, where the mythological overtones are so strong, it probably refers to the Canaanite high god El (see v. 1, as well as Isa 14:13).

[82:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “men.” The point in the context is mortality, however, not maleness.

[82:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “like one of the rulers.” The comparison does not necessarily imply that they are not rulers. The expression “like one of” can sometimes mean “as one of” (Gen 49:16; Obad 11) or “as any other of” (Judg 16:7, 11).

[82:8]  ¹² tn The translation assumes that the Qal of נָחַל (nakhal) here means “to own; to possess,” and that the imperfect emphasizes a general truth. Another option is to translate the verb as future, “for you will take possession of all the nations” (cf. NIV “all the nations are your inheritance”).

[94:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “understand.” The verb used in v. 7 is repeated here for rhetorical effect. The people referred to here claim God is ignorant of their actions, but the psalmist corrects their faulty viewpoint.

[94:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[you] brutish among the people.”

[1:22]  ¹⁵ tn Wisdom addresses three types of people: simpletons (פְּתָיִם, pÿtayim), scoffers (לֵצִים, letsim) and fools (כְּסִילִים, kÿsilim). For the term “simpleton” see note on 1:4. Each of these three types of people is satisfied with the life being led and will not listen to reason. See J. A. Emerton, “A Note on the Hebrew Text of Proverbs 1:22-23,” JTS 19 (1968): 609-14.

[1:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “simplicity” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “inanity.” The noun פֶּתִי (peti) means “simplicity; lack of wisdom” (BDB 834 s.v.; HALOT 989 s.v. II פֶּתִי). It is related to the term פְּתָיִם (pÿtayim) “simpletons” and so forms a striking wordplay. This lack of wisdom and moral simplicity is inherent in the character of the naive person.

[1:22]  ¹⁷ tn The second instance of “How long?” does not appear in the Hebrew text; it is supplied in the translation for smoothness and style.

[1:22]  ¹⁸ sn The term לֵצִים (leysim, “scoffers; mockers”) comes from the root לִיץ (lits, “to scorn; to mock; to speak indirectly” (BDB 539 s.v. לִיץ). They are cynical and defiant freethinkers who ridicule the righteous and all for which they stand (e.g., Ps 1:1).

[1:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “delight.” The verb (חָמַד, khamad) is often translated “to take pleasure; to delight” but frequently has the meaning of a selfish desire, a coveting of something. It is the term, for example, used for coveting in the Decalogue (Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21) and for the covetous desire of Eve (Gen 3:6) and Achan (Josh 7:21). It is tempting to nuance it here as “illicit desire” for mockery.

[1:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for themselves.” The ethical dative לָהֶם (lahem, “for themselves”) is normally untranslated. It is a rhetorical device emphasizing that they take delight in mockery for their own self-interests.

[1:22]  ²¹ sn The term “fool” (כְּסִיל, kÿsil) refers to the morally insensitive dullard (BDB 493 s.v.).

[8:5]  ²² tn The imperative of בִּין (bin) means “to understand; to discern.” The call is for the simple to understand what wisdom is, not just to gain it.

[8:5]  ²³ tn Heb “heart.” The noun לֵב (lev, “heart”) often functions metonymically for wisdom, understanding, discernment.

[9:6]  ²⁴ tn There are two ways to take this word: either as “fools” or as “foolish ways.” The spelling for “foolishness” in v. 13 differs from this spelling, and so some have taken that as an indicator that this should be “fools.” But this could still be an abstract plural here as in 1:22. Either the message is to forsake fools (i.e., bad company; cf. KJV, TEV) or forsake foolishness (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT).

[9:6]  ²⁵ tn The two imperatives are joined with vav; this is a volitive sequence in which result or consequence is expressed.

[9:6]  ²⁶ tn The verb means “go straight, go on, advance” or “go straight on in the way of understanding” (BDB 80 s.v. אָשַׁר).