Mazmur 10:13
Konteks10:13 Why does the wicked man reject God? 1
He says to himself, 2 “You 3 will not hold me accountable.” 4
Mazmur 44:16
Konteks44:16 before the vindictive enemy
who ridicules and insults me. 5
Mazmur 139:20
Konteks139:20 They 6 rebel against you 7 and act deceitfully; 8
your enemies lie. 9
[10:13] 1 tn The rhetorical question expresses the psalmist’s outrage that the wicked would have the audacity to disdain God.
[10:13] 2 tn Heb “he says in his heart” (see vv. 6, 11). Another option is to understand an ellipsis of the interrogative particle here (cf. the preceding line), “Why does he say in his heart?”
[10:13] 3 tn Here the wicked man addresses God directly.
[10:13] 4 tn Heb “you will not seek.” The verb דָרַשׁ (darash, “seek”) is used here in the sense of “seek an accounting.” One could understand the imperfect as generalizing about what is typical and translate, “you do not hold [people] accountable.”
[44:16] 5 tn Heb “from the voice of one who ridicules and insults, from the face of an enemy and an avenger.” See Ps 8:2.
[139:20] 7 tc Heb “they speak [of] you.” The suffixed form of the verb אָמַר (’amar, “to speak”) is peculiar. The translation assumes an emendation to יַמְרֻךָ (yamrukha), a Hiphil form from מָרָה (marah, “to rebel”; see Ps 78:40).
[139:20] 8 tn Heb “by deceit.”
[139:20] 9 tc Heb “lifted up for emptiness, your cities.” The Hebrew text as it stands makes no sense. The form נָשֻׂא (nasu’; a Qal passive participle) should be emended to נָשְׂאוּ (nosÿu; a Qal perfect, third common plural, “[they] lift up”). Many emend עָרֶיךָ (’arekha, “your cities”) to עָלֶיךָ (’alekha, “against you”), but it is preferable to understand the noun as an Aramaism and translate “your enemies” (see Dan 4:16 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 253).
