4:2 You men, 1 how long will you try to turn my honor into shame? 2
How long 3 will you love what is worthless 4
and search for what is deceptive? 5 (Selah)
37:25 I was once young, now I am old.
I have never seen a godly man abandoned,
or his children 6 forced to search for food. 7
1 tn Heb “sons of man.”
2 tn Heb “how long my honor to shame?”
3 tn The interrogative construction עַד־מֶה (’ad-meh, “how long?”), is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
4 tn Heb “emptiness.”
5 tn Heb “a lie.” Some see the metonymic language of v. 2b (“emptiness, lie”) as referring to idols or false gods. However, there is no solid immediate contextual evidence for such an interpretation. It is more likely that the psalmist addresses those who threaten him (see v. 1) and refers in a general way to their sinful lifestyle. (See R. Mosis, TDOT 7:121.) The two terms allude to the fact that sinful behavior is ultimately fruitless and self-destructive.
6 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
7 tn Heb “or his offspring searching for food.” The expression “search for food” also appears in Lam 1:11, where Jerusalem’s refugees are forced to search for food and to trade their valuable possessions for something to eat.