Mazmur 50:3-6

50:3 Our God approaches and is not silent; ¹ 

consuming fire goes ahead of him

and all around him a storm rages. ² 

50:4 He summons the heavens above,

as well as the earth, so that he might judge his people. ³ 

50:5 He says: ⁴ 

“Assemble my covenant people before me, ⁵ 

those who ratified a covenant with me by sacrifice!” ⁶ 

50:6 The heavens declare his fairness, ⁷ 

for God is judge. ⁸  (Selah)

[50:3]  ¹ tn According to GKC 322 §109.e, the jussive (note the negative particle אַל, ’al) is used rhetorically here “to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen.”

[50:3]  ² tn Heb “fire before him devours, and around him it is very stormy.”

[50:4]  ³ tn Or perhaps “to testify against his people.”

[50:4]  sn The personified heavens and earth (see v. 1 as well) are summoned to God’s courtroom as witnesses against God’s covenant people (see Isa 1:2). Long before this Moses warned the people that the heavens and earth would be watching their actions (see Deut 4:26; 30:19; 31:28; 32:1).

[50:5]  ⁴ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. God’s summons to the defendant follows.

[50:5]  ⁵ tn Or “Gather to me my covenant people.” The Hebrew term חָסִיד (khasid, “covenant people”) elsewhere in the psalms is used in a positive sense of God’s loyal followers (see the note at Ps 4:3), but here, as the following line makes clear, the term has a neutral sense and simply refers to those who have outwardly sworn allegiance to God, not necessarily to those whose loyalty is genuine.

[50:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “the cutters of my covenant according to sacrifice.” A sacrifice accompanied the covenant-making ceremony and formally ratified the agreement (see Exod 24:3-8).

[50:6]  ⁷ tn Or “justice.”

[50:6]  ⁸ tn Or “for God, he is about to judge.” The participle may be taken as substantival (as in the translation above) or as a predicate (indicating imminent future action in this context).