5:6 You destroy 1 liars; 2
the Lord despises 3 violent and deceitful people. 4
35:11 Violent men perjure themselves, 5
and falsely accuse me. 6
59:2 Deliver me from evildoers! 7
Rescue me from violent men! 8
26:9 Do not sweep me away 9 with sinners,
or execute me along with violent people, 10
139:19 If only 11 you would kill the wicked, O God!
Get away from me, you violent men! 12
1 tn The imperfect verbal form indicates God’s typical response to such individuals. Another option is to translate the verb as future (“You will destroy”); the psalmist may be envisioning a time of judgment when God will remove the wicked from the scene.
2 tn Heb “those who speak a lie.” In the OT a “lie” does not refer in a general philosophical sense to any statement that fails to correspond to reality. Instead it refers more specifically to a slanderous and/or deceitful statement that promotes one’s own selfish, sinful interests and/or exploits or harms those who are innocent. Note the emphasis on violence and deceit in the following line.
3 tn The imperfect verbal form highlights the
4 tn Heb “a man of bloodshed and deceit.” The singular אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) is used here in a collective or representative sense; thus the translation “people” is appropriate here. Note the plural forms in vv. 5-6a.
5 tn Heb “witnesses of violence rise up.”
6 tn Heb “[that] which I do not know they ask me.”
7 tn Heb “from the workers of wickedness.”
8 tn Heb “from men of bloodshed.”
9 tn Heb “do not gather up my life with.”
10 tn Heb “or with men of bloodshed my life.” The verb is supplied; it is understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).
11 tn The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (see Pss 81:8; 95:7, as well as GKC 321 §109.b).
12 tn Heb “men of bloodshed.”