109:14 May his ancestors’ 1 sins be remembered by the Lord!
May his mother’s sin not be forgotten! 2
109:16 For he never bothered to show kindness; 3
he harassed the oppressed and needy,
and killed the disheartened. 4
1 tn Or “fathers’ sins.”
2 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.)
3 tn Heb “he did not remember to do loyal love.”
4 tn Heb “and he chased an oppressed and needy man, and one timid of heart to put [him] to death.”