7:3 O Lord my God, if I have done what they say, 1
or am guilty of unjust actions, 2
64:6 They devise 3 unjust schemes;
they disguise 4 a well-conceived plot. 5
Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered. 6
82:2 He says, 7 “How long will you make unjust legal decisions
and show favoritism to the wicked? 8 (Selah)
1 tn Heb “if I have done this.”
2 tn Heb “if there is injustice in my hands.” The “hands” figuratively suggest deeds or actions.
3 tn Heb “search out, examine,” which here means (by metonymy) “devise.”
4 tc The MT has תַּמְנוּ (tamnu, “we are finished”), a Qal perfect first common plural form from the verbal root תָּמַם (tamam). Some understand this as the beginning of a quotation of the enemies’ words and translate, “we have completed,” but the Hiphil would seem to be required in this case. The present translation follows many medieval Hebrew
5 tn Heb “a searched-out search,” which is understood as referring here to a thoroughly planned plot to destroy the psalmist.
6 tn Heb “and the inner part of man, and a heart [is] deep.” The point seems to be that a man’s inner thoughts are incapable of being discovered. No one is a mind reader! Consequently the psalmist is vulnerable to his enemies’ well-disguised plots.
7 tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation to indicate that the following speech is God’s judicial decision (see v. 1).
8 tn Heb “and the face of the wicked lift up.”