Mazmur 10:6-7
Konteks“I will never 2 be upended,
because I experience no calamity.” 3
10:7 His mouth is full of curses and deceptive, harmful words; 4
his tongue injures and destroys. 5
Mazmur 52:2-5
Konteks52:2 Your tongue carries out your destructive plans; 6
it is as effective as a sharp razor, O deceiver. 7
52:3 You love evil more than good,
lies more than speaking the truth. 8 (Selah)
52:4 You love to use all the words that destroy, 9
and the tongue that deceives.
52:5 Yet 10 God will make you a permanent heap of ruins. 11
He will scoop you up 12 and remove you from your home; 13
he will uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)
Mazmur 53:1
KonteksFor the music director; according to the machalath style; 15 a well-written song 16 by David.
53:1 Fools say to themselves, 17 “There is no God.” 18
They sin and commit evil deeds; 19
none of them does what is right. 20
Mazmur 64:3
Konteks64:3 They 21 sharpen their tongues like a sword;
they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge, 22
Mazmur 64:5
Konteks64:5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed. 23
They plan how to hide 24 snares,
and boast, 25 “Who will see them?” 26
Mazmur 120:2-4
Konteks120:2 I said, 27 “O Lord, rescue me 28
from those who lie with their lips 29
and those who deceive with their tongue. 30
120:3 How will he severely punish you,
you deceptive talker? 31
120:4 Here’s how! 32 With the sharp arrows of warriors,
with arrowheads forged over the hot coals. 33
Mazmur 140:2-3
Konteks140:2 who plan ways to harm me. 34
All day long they stir up conflict. 35
[10:6] 1 tn Heb “he says in his heart/mind.”
[10:6] 2 tn Heb “for a generation and a generation.” The traditional accentuation of the MT understands these words with the following line.
[10:6] 3 tn Heb “who, not in calamity.” If אֲשֶׁר (’asher) is taken as a relative pronoun here, then one could translate, “[I] who [am] not in calamity.” Some emend אֲשֶׁר to אֹשֶׁר (’osher, “happiness”; see HALOT 99 s.v. אֹשֶׁר); one might then translate, “[I live in] happiness, not in calamity.” The present translation assumes that אֲשֶׁר functions here as a causal conjunction, “because, for.” For this use of אֲשֶׁר, see BDB 83 s.v. אֲשֶׁר 8.c (where the present text is not cited).
[10:7] 4 tn Heb “[with] a curse his mouth is full, and lies and injury.”
[10:7] 5 tn Heb “under his tongue are destruction and wickedness.” The words translated “destruction and wickedness” are also paired in Ps 90:10. They also appear in proximity in Pss 7:14 and 55:10.
[52:2] 6 tn Heb “destruction your tongue devises.”
[52:2] 7 tn Heb “like a sharpened razor, doer of deceit.” The masculine participle עָשָׂה (’asah) is understood as a substantival vocative, addressed to the powerful man.
[52:3] 8 tn Or “deceit more than speaking what is right.”
[52:4] 9 tn Heb “you love all the words of swallowing.” Traditionally בַּלַּע (bala’) has been taken to mean “swallowing” in the sense of “devouring” or “destructive” (see BDB 118 s.v. בָּלַע). HALOT 135 s.v. III *בֶּלַע proposes a homonym here, meaning “confusion.” This would fit the immediate context nicely and provide a close parallel to the following line, which refers to deceptive words.
[52:5] 10 tn The adverb גַּם (gam, “also; even”) is translated here in an adversative sense (“yet”). It highlights the contrastive correspondence between the evildoer’s behavior and God’s response.
[52:5] 11 tn Heb “will tear you down forever.”
[52:5] 12 tn This rare verb (חָתָה, khatah) occurs only here and in Prov 6:27; 25:22; Isa 30:14.
[52:5] 13 tn Heb “from [your] tent.”
[53:1] 14 sn Psalm 53. This psalm is very similar to Ps 14. The major difference comes in v. 5, which corresponds to, but differs quite a bit from, Ps 14:5-6, and in the use of the divine name. Ps 14 uses “the
[53:1] 15 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מָחֲלַת (makhalat, “machalath”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. The term also appears in the heading of Ps 88.
[53:1] 16 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.
[53:1] 17 tn Heb “a fool says in his heart.” The singular is used here in a collective or representative sense; the typical fool is envisioned.
[53:1] 18 sn There is no God. This statement is probably not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that he is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see Ps 10:4, 11).
[53:1] 19 tn Heb “they act corruptly, they do evil [with] injustice.” Ps 14:1 has עֲלִילָה (’alilah, “a deed”) instead of עָוֶל (’aval, “injustice”). The verbs describe the typical behavior of the wicked. The subject of the plural verbs is “sons of man” (v. 2). The entire human race is characterized by sinful behavior. This practical atheism – living as if there is no God who will hold them accountable for their actions – makes them fools, for one of the earmarks of folly is to fail to anticipate the long range consequences of one’s behavior.
[53:1] 20 tn Heb “there is none that does good.”
[64:3] 21 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[64:3] 22 tn Heb “a bitter word.”
[64:5] 23 tn Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].”
[64:5] 24 tn Heb “they report about hiding.”
[64:5] 26 tn If this is a direct quotation (cf. NASB, NIV), the pronoun “them” refers to the snares mentioned in the previous line. If it is an indirect quotation, then the pronoun may refer to the enemies themselves (cf. NEB, which is ambiguous). Some translations retain the direct quotation but alter the pronoun to “us,” referring clearly to the enemies (cf. NRSV).
[120:2] 27 tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the introductory note for this psalm.
[120:2] 29 tn Heb “from a lip of falsehood.”
[120:2] 30 tn Heb “from a tongue of deception.”
[120:3] 31 tn Heb “What will he give to you, and what will he add to you, O tongue of deception?” The psalmist addresses his deceptive enemies. The
[120:4] 32 tn The words “here’s how” are supplied in the translation as a clarification. In v. 4 the psalmist answers the question he raises in v. 3.
[120:4] 33 tn Heb “with coals of the wood of the broom plant.” The wood of the broom plant was used to make charcoal, which in turn was used to fuel the fire used to forge the arrowheads.
[140:2] 34 tn Heb “they devise wicked [plans] in [their] mind.”
[140:2] 35 tc Heb “they attack [for] war.” Some revocalize the verb (which is a Qal imperfect from גּוּר, gur, “to attack”) as יְגָרוּ (yÿgaru), a Piel imperfect from גָרָה (garah, “stir up strife”). This is followed in the present translation.
[140:3] 36 tn Heb “they sharpen their tongue like a serpent.” Ps 64:3 reads, “they sharpen their tongues like sword.” Perhaps Ps 140:3 uses a mixed metaphor, the point being that “they sharpen their tongues [like a sword],” as it were, so that when they speak, their words wound like a serpent’s bite. Another option is that the language refers to the pointed or forked nature of a serpent’s tongue, which is viewed metaphorically as “sharpened.”
