Psalms 109:1--111:10 
ContextFor the music director, a psalm of David.
109:1 O God whom I praise, do not ignore me! 2
109:2 For they say cruel and deceptive things to me;
they lie to me. 3
109:3 They surround me and say hateful things; 4
they attack me for no reason.
109:4 They repay my love with accusations, 5
but I continue to pray. 6
109:5 They repay me evil for good, 7
and hate for love.
109:6 8 Appoint an evil man to testify against him! 9
May an accuser stand 10 at his right side!
109:7 When he is judged, he will be found 11 guilty! 12
Then his prayer will be regarded as sinful.
May another take his job! 14
109:9 May his children 15 be fatherless,
and his wife a widow!
109:10 May his children 16 roam around begging,
asking for handouts as they leave their ruined home! 17
109:11 May the creditor seize 18 all he owns!
May strangers loot his property! 19
109:12 May no one show him kindness! 20
May no one have compassion 21 on his fatherless children!
109:13 May his descendants 22 be cut off! 23
May the memory of them be wiped out by the time the next generation arrives! 24
109:14 May his ancestors’ 25 sins be remembered by the Lord!
May his mother’s sin not be forgotten! 26
109:15 May the Lord be constantly aware of them, 27
and cut off the memory of his children 28 from the earth!
109:16 For he never bothered to show kindness; 29
he harassed the oppressed and needy,
and killed the disheartened. 30
109:17 He loved to curse 31 others, so those curses have come upon him. 32
He had no desire to bless anyone, so he has experienced no blessings. 33
109:18 He made cursing a way of life, 34
so curses poured into his stomach like water
and seeped into his bones like oil. 35
109:19 May a curse attach itself to him, like a garment one puts on, 36
or a belt 37 one wears continually!
109:20 May the Lord repay my accusers in this way, 38
those who say evil things about 39 me! 40
109:21 O sovereign Lord,
intervene on my behalf for the sake of your reputation! 41
Because your loyal love is good, deliver me!
109:22 For I am oppressed and needy,
and my heart beats violently within me. 42
109:23 I am fading away like a shadow at the end of the day; 43
I am shaken off like a locust.
109:24 I am so starved my knees shake; 44
I have turned into skin and bones. 45
109:25 I am disdained by them. 46
When they see me, they shake their heads. 47
109:26 Help me, O Lord my God!
Because you are faithful to me, deliver me! 48
109:27 Then they will realize 49 this is your work, 50
and that you, Lord, have accomplished it.
109:28 They curse, but you will bless. 51
When they attack, they will be humiliated, 52
but your servant will rejoice.
109:29 My accusers will be covered 53 with shame,
and draped in humiliation as if it were a robe.
109:30 I will thank the Lord profusely, 54
in the middle of a crowd 55 I will praise him,
109:31 because he stands at the right hand of the needy,
to deliver him from those who threaten 56 his life.
A psalm of David.
110:1 Here is the Lord’s proclamation 58 to my lord: 59
“Sit down at my right hand 60 until I make your enemies your footstool!” 61
110:2 The Lord 62 extends 63 your dominion 64 from Zion.
Rule in the midst of your enemies!
110:3 Your people willingly follow you 65 when you go into battle. 66
On the holy hills 67 at sunrise 68 the dew of your youth 69 belongs to you. 70
110:4 The Lord makes this promise on oath 71 and will not revoke it: 72
“You are an eternal priest 73 after the pattern of 74 Melchizedek.” 75
110:5 O sovereign Lord, 76 at your right hand
he strikes down 77 kings in the day he unleashes his anger. 78
110:6 He executes judgment 79 against 80 the nations;
he fills the valleys with corpses; 81
he shatters their heads over the vast battlefield. 82
110:7 From the stream along the road he drinks;
then he lifts up his head. 83
111:1 Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the godly and the congregation.
111:2 The Lord’s deeds are great,
eagerly awaited 85 by all who desire them.
111:3 His work is majestic and glorious, 86
and his faithfulness endures 87 forever.
111:4 He does 88 amazing things that will be remembered; 89
the Lord is merciful and compassionate.
111:5 He gives 90 food to his faithful followers; 91
he always remembers his covenant. 92
111:6 He announced that he would do mighty deeds for his people,
giving them a land that belonged to other nations. 93
111:7 His acts are characterized by 94 faithfulness and justice;
all his precepts are reliable. 95
111:8 They are forever firm,
and should be faithfully and properly carried out. 96
111:9 He delivered his people; 97
he ordained that his covenant be observed forever. 98
His name is holy and awesome.
111:10 To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living; 99
all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight. 100
He will receive praise forever. 101
1 sn Psalm 109. Appealing to God’s justice, the psalmist asks God to vindicate him and to bring severe judgment down upon his enemies.
2 tn Heb “do not be deaf.”
3 tn Heb “for a mouth of evil and a mouth of deceit against me they open, they speak with me [with] a tongue of falsehood.”
4 tn Heb “and [with] words of hatred they surround me.”
5 tn Heb “in place of my love they oppose me.”
6 tn Heb “and I, prayer.”
7 tn Heb “and they set upon me evil in place of good.”
8 sn In vv. 6-19 the psalmist calls on God to judge his enemies severely. Some attribute this curse-list to the psalmist’s enemies rather than the psalmist. In this case one should paraphrase v. 6: “They say about me, ‘Appoint an evil man, etc.’” Those supporting this line of interpretation point out that vv. 2-5 and 20 refer to the enemies’ attack on the psalmist being a verbal one. Furthermore in vv. 1-5, 20 the psalmist speaks of his enemies in the plural, while vv. 6-19 refer to an individual. This use of the singular in vv. 6-19 could be readily explained if this is the psalmist’s enemies’ curse on him. However, it is much more natural to understand vv. 6-19 as the psalmist’s prayer against his enemies. There is no introductory quotation formula in v. 6 to indicate that the psalmist is quoting anyone, and the statement “may the
9 tn Heb “appoint against him an evil [man].”
10 tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive here (note the imperative in the preceding line).
11 tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as a jussive, but the use of the imperfect form in the following line suggests that v. 7 anticipates the outcome of the accusation envisioned in v. 6.
12 tn Heb “he will go out [as] a criminal” (that is, guilty).
13 tn The prefixed verbal forms (except those with vav [ו] consecutive) in vv. 8-20 are taken as jussives of prayer. Note the distinct jussive forms used in vv. 12-13, 15, 19.
14 tn The Hebrew noun פְּקֻדָּה (pÿquddah) can mean “charge” or “office,” though BDB 824 s.v. suggests that here it refers to his possessions.
15 tn Or “sons.”
16 tn Or “sons.”
17 tn Heb “and roaming, may his children roam and beg, and seek from their ruins.” Some, following the LXX, emend the term וְדָרְשׁוּ (vÿdoreshu, “and seek”) to יְגֹרְשׁוּ (yÿgoreshu; a Pual jussive, “may they be driven away” [see Job 30:5; cf. NIV, NRSV]), but דָּרַשׁ (darash) nicely parallels שִׁאֵלוּ (shi’elu, “and beg”) in the preceding line.
18 tn Heb “lay snares for” (see Ps 38:12).
19 tn Heb “the product of his labor.”
20 tn Heb “may there not be for him one who extends loyal love.”
21 tn Perhaps this refers to being generous (see Ps 37:21).
22 tn Or “offspring.”
23 sn On the expression cut off see Ps 37:28.
24 tn Heb “in another generation may their name be wiped out.”
25 tn Or “fathers’ sins.”
26 tn Heb “not be wiped out.”
sn According to ancient Israelite theology and its doctrine of corporate solidarity and responsibility, children could be and often were punished for the sins of their parents. For a discussion of this issue see J. Kaminsky, Corporate Responsibility in the Hebrew Bible (JSOTSup). (Kaminsky, however, does not deal with Ps 109.)
27 tn Heb “may they [that is, the sins mentioned in v. 14] be before the
28 tn Heb “their memory.” The plural pronominal suffix probably refers back to the children mentioned in v. 13, and for clarity this has been specified in the translation.
29 tn Heb “he did not remember to do loyal love.”
30 tn Heb “and he chased an oppressed and needy man, and one timid of heart to put [him] to death.”
31 sn A curse in OT times consists of a formal appeal to God to bring judgment down upon another. Curses were sometimes justified (such as the one spoken by the psalmist here in vv. 6-19), but when they were not, the one pronouncing the curse was in danger of bringing the anticipated judgment down upon himself.
32 tn Heb “and he loved a curse and it came [upon] him.” A reference to the evil man experiencing a curse seems premature here, for the psalmist is asking God to bring judgment on his enemies. For this reason some (cf. NIV, NRSV) prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” as conjunctive and translate the verb as a jussive of prayer (“may it come upon him!”). The prefixed form with vav consecutive in the next line is emended in the same way and translated, “may it be far from him.” However, the psalmist may be indicating that the evil man’s lifestyle has already begun to yield its destructive fruit.
33 tn Heb “and he did not delight in a blessing and it is far from him.”
34 tn Heb “he put on a curse as [if it were] his garment.”
35 tn Heb “and it came like water into his inner being, and like oil into his bones.” This may refer to this individual’s appetite for cursing. For him cursing was as refreshing as drinking water or massaging oneself with oil. Another option is that the destructive effects of a curse are in view. In this case a destructive curse invades his very being, like water or oil. Some who interpret the verse this way prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” to a conjunctive vav and interpret the prefixed verb as a jussive, “may it come!”
36 tn Heb “may it be for him like a garment one puts on.”
37 tn The Hebrew noun מֵזַח (mezakh, “belt; waistband”) occurs only here in the OT. The form apparently occurs in Isa 23:10 as well, but an emendation is necessary there.
38 tn Heb “[may] this [be] the repayment to my accusers from the
39 tn Or “against.”
40 tn The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being; soul”) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
41 tn Heb “but you,
42 tc The verb in the Hebrew text (חָלַל, khalal) appears to be a Qal form from the root חלל meaning “pierced; wounded.” However, the Qal of this root is otherwise unattested. The translation assumes an emendation to יָחִיל (yakhil), a Qal imperfect from חוּל (khul, “tremble”) or to חֹלַל (kholal), a polal perfect from חוּל (khul). See Ps 55:4, which reads לִבִּי יָחִיל בְּקִרְבִּי (libbiy yakhil bÿqirbbiy, “my heart trembles [i.e., “beats violently”] within me”).
43 tn Heb “like a shadow when it is extended I go.” He is like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness. See Ps 102:11.
44 tn Heb “my knees stagger from fasting.”
45 tn Heb “and my flesh is lean away from fatness [i.e., “lean so as not to be fat”].”
46 tn Heb “as for me, I am a reproach to them.”
47 sn They shake their heads. Apparently shaking the head was a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 22:7; Lam 2:15.
48 tn Heb “deliver me according to your faithfulness.”
49 tn After the preceding imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose or result.
50 tn Heb “that your hand [is] this.”
51 tn Another option is to translate the imperfect as a prayer/request (“may you bless”).
52 tn The verbal sequence is perfect + prefixed form with vav (ו) consecutive. Since the psalmist seems to be anticipating the demise of his enemies, he may be using these forms rhetorically to describe the enemies’ defeat as if it were already accomplished. Some emend the text to קָמוּ יֵבֹשׁוּ (qamu yevoshu, “may those who attack me be humiliated”). See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 75.
53 tn Heb “clothed.” Another option is to translate the prefixed verbal forms in this line and the next as jussives (“may my accusers be covered with shame”).
54 tn Heb “I will thank the
55 tn Heb “many.”
56 tn Heb “judge.”
57 sn Psalm 110. In this royal psalm the psalmist announces God’s oracle to the Davidic king. The first part of the oracle appears in v. 1, the second in v. 4. In vv. 2-3 the psalmist addresses the king, while in vv. 5-7 he appears to address God.
58 tn The word נְאֻם (nÿ’um) is used frequently in the OT of a formal divine announcement through a prophet.
59 sn My lord. In the psalm’s original context the speaker is an unidentified prophetic voice in the royal court. In the course of time the psalm is applied to each successive king in the dynasty and ultimately to the ideal Davidic king. NT references to the psalm understand David to be speaking about his “lord,” the Messiah. (See Matt 22:43-45; Mark 12:36-37; Luke 20:42-44; Acts 2:34-35).
60 tn To sit at the “right hand” of the king was an honor (see 1 Kgs 2:19). In Ugaritic myth (CTA 4 v. 108-10) the artisan god Kothar-and Khasis is described as sitting at the right hand of the storm god Baal. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 61-62.
sn The Lord’s invitation to the Davidic king to sit down at his right hand reflects the king’s position as the Lord’s vice-regent.
61 sn When the Lord made his covenant with David, he promised to subdue the king’s enemies (see 2 Sam 7:9-11; Ps 89:22-23).
62 tn Since the
63 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing, though it could be taken as future.
64 tn Heb “your strong scepter,” symbolic of the king’s royal authority and dominion.
65 tn Heb “your people, free will offerings.” Perhaps the people, in their willingness to volunteer, are compared metaphorically to freewill offerings. Following the LXX, some revocalize the text and read “with you is nobility.”
66 tn Heb “in the day of your power.”
67 tc Heb “in splendor of holiness.” The plural construct form הַדְרֵי (hadrey, from הָדַר, hadar, “splendor”) occurs only here; it may indicate degree or perhaps refer by metonymy to garments (see Pss 29:2 and 96:9, where the phrase הַדְרַת קֹדֶשׁ [hadrat qodesh] refers to “holy attire”). If one retains the reading of the MT, this phrase should probably be taken with the preceding line. However, because of the subsequent references to “dawn” and to “dew,” it is better to emend the text to הַרְרֵי קֹדֶשׁ (harrey qodesh, “mountains of holiness”), a reading found in many medieval Hebrew
68 tn Heb “from the womb of dawn.” The Hebrew noun רֶחֶם (rekhem, “womb”) is probably used here metonymically for “birth.” The form מִשְׁחָר (mishkhar) occurs only here and should be emended to שַׁחַר (shakhar, “dawn”) with the mem (מ) being understood as dittographic (note the final mem [ם] on the preceding word). The phrase “womb [i.e., “birth”] of dawn” refers to sunrise.
69 sn The point of the metaphor is not entirely clear. The dew may symbolize the king’s youthful vitality or, more likely (note the parallelism), may refer to his army of strong, youthful warriors.
70 tn Heb “to you [is].”
71 tn Or “swears, vows.”
72 tn Or “will not change his mind.” The negated Niphal imperfect of נָחַם (nakham) is a way of marking an announcement as an irrevocable decree. See 1 Sam 15:29; Ezek 24:14, as well as R. B. Chisholm, “Does God ‘Change His Mind’?” BSac 152 (1995): 387-99.
73 sn You are an eternal priest. The Davidic king exercised a non-Levitical priestly role. The king superintended Judah’s cultic ritual, had authority over the Levites, and sometimes led in formal worship. David himself instructed the Levites to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem (1 Chr 15:11-15), joined the procession, offered sacrifices, wore a priestly ephod, and blessed the people (2 Sam 6:12-19). At the dedication of the temple Solomon led the ceremony, offering sacrifices and praying on behalf of the people (1 Kgs 8).
74 tn The phrase עַל־דִּבְרָתִי (’al-divratiy) is a variant of עַל־דִּבְרָת (’al-divrat; the final yod [י] being an archaic genitival ending), which in turn is a variant of עַל דָּבַר (’al davar). Both phrases can mean “concerning” or “because of,” but neither of these nuances fits the use of עַל־דִּבְרָתִי in Ps 110:4. Here the phrase probably carries the sense “according to the manner of.” See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 81.
75 sn The Davidic king’s priestly role is analogous to that of Melchizedek, who was both “king of Salem” (i.e., Jerusalem) and a “priest of God Most High” in the time of Abraham (Gen 14:18-20). Like Melchizedek, the Davidic king was a royal priest, distinct from the Aaronic line (see Heb 7). The analogy focuses on the king’s priestly role; the language need not imply that Melchizedek himself was “an eternal priest.”
76 tn As pointed in the Hebrew text, this title refers to God (many medieval Hebrew
77 tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 5-6 are understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing. Another option is to take them as rhetorical. In this case the psalmist describes anticipated events as if they had already taken place.
78 tn Heb “in the day of his anger.”
79 tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 6-7 are understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing, though they could be taken as future.
80 tn Or “among.”
81 tn Heb “he fills [with] corpses,” but one expects a double accusative here. The translation assumes an emendation to גְוִיּוֹת גֵאָיוֹת(בִּ) מִלֵּא or מִלֵּא גֵאָיוֹת גְּוִיוֹת (for a similar construction see Ezek 32:5). In the former case גֵאָיוֹת(ge’ayot) has accidentally dropped from the text due to homoioteleuton; in the latter case it has dropped out due to homoioarcton.
82 tn Heb “he strikes [the verb is מָחַץ (makhats), translated “strikes down” in v. 5] head[s] over a great land.” The Hebrew term רַבָּה (rabbah, “great”) is here used of distance or spatial measurement (see 1 Sam 26:13).
83 tn Here the expression “lifts up the head” refers to the renewed physical strength and emotional vigor (see Ps 3:3) provided by the refreshing water. For another example of a victorious warrior being energized by water in the aftermath of battle, see Judg 15:18-19 (see also 1 Sam 30:11-12, where the setting is different, however).
84 sn Psalm 111. The psalmist praises God for his marvelous deeds, especially the way in which he provides for and delivers his people. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
85 tn Heb “sought out.”
86 tn For other uses of the Hebrew phrase וְהָדָר-הוֹד (hod-vÿhadar, “majesty and splendor”) see 1 Chr 16:27; Job 40:10; Pss 21:5; 96:6; 104:1.
87 tn Or “stands.”
88 tn Or “did,” if this refers primarily to the events of the exodus and conquest period (see vv. 6, 9).
89 tn Heb “a memorial he had made for his amazing deeds.”
90 tn Or “gave,” if the events of the exodus and conquest period (see v. 6, 9) are primarily in view.
91 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
92 tn Or “he remembers his covenant forever” (see Ps 105:8).
93 tn Heb “the strength of his deeds he proclaimed to his people, to give to them an inheritance of nations.”
94 tn Heb “the deeds of his hands [are].”
95 tn That is, fair and for man’s good.
96 tn Heb “done in faithfulness and uprightness.” The passive participle probably has the force of a gerund. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 89.
97 tn Heb “redemption he sent for his people.”
98 tn Heb “he commanded forever his covenant.”
99 tn Heb “the beginning of wisdom [is] the fear of the
100 tn Heb “good sense [is] to all who do them.” The third masculine plural pronominal suffix must refer back to the “precepts” mentioned in v. 7. In the translation the referent has been specified for clarity. The phrase שֵׂכֶל טוֹב (shekhel tov) also occurs in Prov 3:4; 13:15 and 2 Chr 30:22.
101 tn Heb “his praise stands forever.”
