78:39 He remembered 1 that they were made of flesh,
and were like a wind that blows past and does not return. 2
109:14 May his ancestors’ 3 sins be remembered by the Lord!
May his mother’s sin not be forgotten! 4
1 tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive signals a return to the narrative.
2 tn Heb “and he remembered that they [were] flesh, a wind [that] goes and does not return.”
3 tn Or “fathers’ sins.”
4 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.)