Mazmur 5:10

5:10 Condemn them, ¹  O God!

May their own schemes be their downfall! ² 

Drive them away ³  because of their many acts of insurrection, ⁴ 

for they have rebelled against you.

Mazmur 59:3

59:3 For look, they wait to ambush me; ⁵ 

powerful men stalk ⁶  me,

but not because I have rebelled or sinned, O Lord. ⁷ 

[5:10]  ¹ tn Heb “declare/regard them as guilty.” Declaring the psalmist’s adversaries guilty is here metonymic for judging them or paying them back for their wrongdoing.

[5:10]  ² tn Heb “may they fall from their plans.” The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation. The psalmist calls judgment down on the evildoers. Their plans will be their downfall in that God will judge them for their evil schemes.

[5:10]  ³ tn Or “banish them.”

[5:10]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew noun used here, פֶּשַׁע (pesha’), refers to rebellious actions. The psalmist pictures his enemies as rebels against God (see the next line).

[59:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “my life.”

[59:3]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew verb is from the root גּוּר (gur), which means “to challenge, attack” in Isa 54:15 and “to stalk” (with hostile intent) in Ps 56:8.

[59:3]  ⁷ sn The point is that the psalmist’s enemies have no justifiable reason for attacking him. He has neither rebelled or sinned against the Lord.