Mazmur 17:14-15

17:14 Lord, use your power to deliver me from these murderers, ¹ 

from the murderers of this world! ² 

They enjoy prosperity; ³ 

you overwhelm them with the riches they desire. ⁴ 

They have many children,

and leave their wealth to their offspring. ⁵ 

17:15 As for me, because I am innocent I will see your face; ⁶ 

when I awake you will reveal yourself to me. ⁷ 

Mazmur 26:8-10

26:8 O Lord, I love the temple where you live, ⁸ 

the place where your splendor is revealed. ⁹ 

26:9 Do not sweep me away ¹⁰  with sinners,

or execute me along with violent people, ¹¹ 

26:10 who are always ready to do wrong ¹² 

or offer a bribe. ¹³ 

Mazmur 141:4-5

141:4 Do not let me have evil desires, ¹⁴ 

or participate in sinful activities

with men who behave wickedly. ¹⁵ 

I will not eat their delicacies. ¹⁶ 

141:5 May the godly strike me in love and correct me!

May my head not refuse ¹⁷  choice oil! ¹⁸ 

Indeed, my prayer is a witness against their evil deeds. ¹⁹ 

[17:14]  ¹ tc Heb “from men [by] your hand, Lord.” The translation assumes an emendation (both here and in the following line) of מִמְתִים (mimtim, “from men”) to מִמְמִתִים (mimmitim, “from those who kill”). For other uses of the plural form of the Hiphil participle of מוּת (mut, “die”), see 2 Kgs 17:26 (used with lions as subject), Job 33:22 (apparently referring to the agents of death), and Jer 26:15 (used of those seeking Jeremiah’s life).

[17:14]  ² tn Heb “from men, from [the] world.” On the emendation of “men” to “murderers,” see the preceding note on the word “murderers.”

[17:14]  ³ tn Heb “their portion, in life.”

[17:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “and [with] your treasures you fill their belly.”

[17:14]  sn You overwhelm them with the riches they desire. The psalmist is not accusing God of being unjust; he is simply observing that the wicked often prosper and that God is the ultimate source of all blessings that human beings enjoy (see Matt 5:45). When the wicked are ungrateful for God’s blessings, they become even more culpable and deserving of judgment. So this description of the wicked actually supports the psalmist’s appeal for deliverance. God should rescue him because he is innocent (see vv. 3-5) and because the wicked, though blessed abundantly by God, still have the audacity to attack God’s people.

[17:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “they are satisfied [with] sons and leave their abundance to their children.”

[17:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “I, in innocence, I will see your face.” To “see” God’s “face” means to have access to his presence and to experience his favor (see Ps 11:7; see also Job 33:26 [where רָאָה (ra’ah), not חָזַה (khazah), is used]). Here, however, the psalmist may be anticipating a mystical experience. See the following note on the word “me.”

[17:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will be satisfied, when I awake, [with] your form.” The noun תְּמוּנָה (tÿmunah) normally carries the nuance “likeness” or “form.” In Job 4:16 it refers to a ghostlike spiritual entity (see v. 15) that revealed itself to Eliphaz during the night. The psalmist may anticipate a mystical encounter with God in which he expects to see a manifestation of God’s presence (i.e., a theophany), perhaps in conjunction with an oracle of deliverance. During the quiet darkness of the night, God examines the psalmist’s inner motives and finds them to be pure (see v. 3). The psalmist is confident that when he awakens, perhaps sometime during the night or in the morning, he will be visited by God and assured of vindication.

[17:15]  sn When I awake you will reveal yourself to me. Some see in this verse an allusion to resurrection. According to this view, when the psalmist awakens from the sleep of death, he will see God. It is unlikely that the psalmist had such a highly developed personal eschatology. As noted above, it is more likely that he is anticipating a divine visitation and mystical encounter as a prelude to his deliverance from his enemies.

[26:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “the dwelling of your house.”

[26:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “the place of the abode of your splendor.”

[26:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “do not gather up my life with.”

[26:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “or with men of bloodshed my life.” The verb is supplied; it is understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).

[26:10]  ¹² tn Heb “who [have] in their hands evil.”

[26:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “and their right hand is full of a bribe.”

[141:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “do not turn my heart toward an evil thing.”

[141:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to act sinfully in practices in wickedness with men, doers of evil.”

[141:4]  ¹⁶ sn Their delicacies. This probably refers to the enjoyment that a sinful lifestyle appears to offer.

[141:5]  ¹⁷ tn The form יָנִי (yaniy) appears to be derived from the verbal root נוּא (nu’). Another option is to emend the form to יְנָא (yÿna’), a Piel from נָאָה (na’ah), and translate “may choice oil not adorn my head” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 271). In this case, choice oil, like delicacies in v. 4, symbolize the pleasures of sin.

[141:5]  ¹⁸ sn May my head not refuse choice oil. The psalmist compares the constructive criticism of the godly (see the previous line) to having refreshing olive oil poured over one’s head.

[141:5]  ¹⁹ tc Heb “for still, and my prayer [is] against their evil deeds.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult; the sequence -כִּי־עוֹד וּ (kiy-’od u-, “for still and”) occurs only here. The translation assumes an emendation to כִּי עֵד תְפלָּתִי (“indeed a witness [is] my prayer”). The psalmist’s lament about the evil actions of sinful men (see v. 4) testifies against the wicked in the divine court.