¹ tn Heb “you cause [i.e., “permit, allow”] him to rule over the works of your hands.”

² tn The perfect verbal form probably has a present perfect nuance here. It refers to the continuing effects of God’s original mandate (see Gen 1:26-30).

³ tn Heb “under his feet.”

sn Placed everything under their authority. This verse affirms that mankind rules over God’s creation as his vice-regent. See Gen 1:26-30.

⁴ tn Heb “the counsel of the oppressed you put to shame.” Using a second person plural verb form, the psalmist addresses the wicked. Since the context indicates their attempt to harm the godly will be thwarted, the imperfect should be taken in a subjunctive (cf. NASB, NRSV) rather than an indicative manner (cf. NIV). Here it probably expresses their desire or intent (“want to humiliate”).

⁵ tn It is unlikely that כִּי (ki) has a causal force here. The translation assumes a concessive force; another option is to understand an asseverative use (“certainly, indeed”).

⁶ tn Heb “his.” The antecedent of the singular pronoun is the singular form עָנִי (’ani, “oppressed”) in the preceding line. The singular is collective or representative here (and thus translated as plural, “they”).

⁷ tn Or “scoff at, deride, mock.”

⁸ tn Heb “they separate with a lip.” Apparently this refers to their verbal taunting.

⁹ sn Shake their heads. Apparently this refers to a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 109:25; Lam 2:15.

¹⁰ tn “They” refers to the psalmist’s enemies, who in the previous verse are described as “powerful bulls.”

¹¹ tn Heb “they open against me their mouth[s].” To “open the mouth against” is a Hebrew idiom associated with eating and swallowing (see Ezek 2:8; Lam 2:16).

¹² tn Heb “a lion ripping and roaring.”

¹³ tn Heb “Give to them according to their work, and according to the evil of their deeds. According to the work of their hands give to them. Return their due to them.” The highly repetitive style reflects the psalmist’s agitated emotional state and draws attention to his yearning for justice.

¹⁴ tn Heb “the one who forms together their heart[s].” “Heart” here refers to human nature, composed of intellect, emotions and will. The precise force of יָחַד (yakhad, “together”) is unclear here. The point seems to be that the Lord is the creator of every human being.

¹⁵ tn Heb “to save from death their live[s].”

¹⁶ tn Heb “and to keep them alive in famine.”

¹⁷ tc Heb “they look to him and are radiant and their faces are not ashamed.” The third person plural subject (“they”) is unidentified; there is no antecedent in the Hebrew text. For this reason some prefer to take the perfect verbal forms in the first line as imperatives, “look to him and be radiant” (cf. NEB, NRSV). Some medieval Hebrew mss and other ancient witnesses (Aquila, the Syriac, and Jerome) support an imperatival reading for the first verb. In the second line some (with support from the LXX and Syriac) change “their faces” to “your faces,” which allows one to retain more easily the jussive force of the verb (suggested by the preceding אַל [’al]): “do not let your faces be ashamed.” It is probable that the verbal construction in the second line is rhetorical, expressing the conviction that the action in view cannot or should not happen. See GKC 322 §109.e.

¹⁸ tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord [are] toward the godly, and his ears [are] toward their cry for help.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “they” (i.e., the godly mentioned in v. 15).

²⁰ tn The three perfect verbal forms are taken in a generalizing sense in v. 17 and translated with the present tense (note the generalizing mood of vv. 18-22).

²¹ tn The prefixed verbal form is distinctly jussive, indicating this is a prayer.

²² tn Heb “laughs.” As the next line indicates, this refers to derisive laughter (see 2:4). The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes the action from the perspective of an eye-witness who is watching the divine response as it unfolds before his eyes.

²³ tn Heb “for he sees that his day is coming.” As the following context makes clear (vv. 15, 17, 19-20), “his day” refers to the time when God will destroy evildoers.

²⁴ tn Heb “for the arms of the evil ones will be broken.”

²⁵ tn The active participle here indicates this is characteristically true.

²⁶ tn Heb “but mankind in honor does not remain.” The construction vav (ו) + noun at the beginning of the verse can be taken as contrastive in relation to what precedes. The Hebrew term יְקָר (yÿqar, “honor”) probably refers here to the wealth mentioned in the preceding context. The imperfect verbal form draws attention to what is characteristically true. Some scholars emend יָלִין (yalin, “remains”) to יָבִין (yavin, “understands”) but this is an unnecessary accommodation to the wording of v. 20.

²⁷ tn Or “cattle.”

²⁸ tn The verb is derived from דָּמָה (damah, “cease; destroy”; BDB 198 s.v.). Another option is to derive the verb from דָּמָה (“be silent”; see HALOT 225 s.v. II דמה, which sees two homonymic roots [דָּמָה, “be silent,” and דָּמָה, “destroy”] rather than a single root) and translate, “they are like dumb beasts.” This makes particularly good sense in v. 20, where the preceding line focuses on mankind’s lack of understanding.

²⁹ tn Heb “this [is] their way, [there is] folly [belonging] to them.” The Hebrew term translated “this” could refer (1) back to the preceding verse[s] or (2) ahead to the subsequent statements. The translation assumes the latter, since v. 12 appears to be a refrain that concludes the psalm’s first major section and marks a structural boundary. (A similar refrain [see v. 20] concludes the second half of the psalm.) The noun דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) often refers to one’s lifestyle, but, if it relates to what follows, then here it likely refers metonymically to one’s destiny (the natural outcome of one’s lifestyle [cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV “fate”]). (See the discussion in K. Koch, TDOT 3:285.) If one prefers the more common nuance (“lifestyle”), then the term would look back to the self-confident attitude described in the earlier verses.

³⁰ tn Heb “and after them, in their mouth they take delight.” The meaning of the MT is not entirely clear. “After them” is understood here as substantival, “those who come after them” or “those who follow them.” “Their mouth” is taken as a metonymy for the arrogant attitude verbalized by the rich. In the expression “take delight in,” the preposition -ב (bet) introduces the object/cause of one’s delight (see Pss 147:10; 149:4). So the idea here is that those who come after/follow the rich find the philosophy of life they verbalize and promote to be attractive and desirable.

³¹ tn Traditionally בַּלַּע (bala’) has been taken to mean “swallow” in the sense of “devour” or “destroy” (cf. KJV), but this may be a homonym meaning “confuse” (see BDB 118 s.v. בַּלַּע; HALOT 135 s.v. III *בֶּלַע). “Their tongue” is the understood object of the verb (see the next line).

³² tn Heb “split their tongue,” which apparently means “confuse their speech,” or, more paraphrastically, “frustrate the plans they devise with their tongues.”

³³ tn Heb “[there is] venom to them according to the likeness of venom of a snake.”

³⁴ tn Or perhaps “cobra” (cf. NASB, NIV). Other suggested species of snakes are “asp” (NEB) and “adder” (NRSV).

³⁵ tn Heb “[that] stops up its ear.” The apparent Hiphil jussive verbal form should be understood as a Qal imperfect with “i” theme vowel (see GKC 168 §63.n).

³⁶ tn Heb “they will deliver him over to the sword.” The third masculine plural subject must be indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f) and the singular pronominal suffix either representative or distributive (emphasizing that each one will be so treated). Active verbs with indefinite subjects may be translated as passives with the object (in the Hebrew text) as subject (in the translation).

³⁷ tn Heb “they will be [the] portion of jackals”; traditionally, “of foxes.”

³⁸ tn Heb “the mocking songs of the drinkers of beer.”

³⁹ tn Heb “place sin upon their sin.”

⁴⁰ tn Heb “let them not come into your vindication.”

⁴¹ tn Or “redeem their lives.” The verb “redeem” casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Pss 19:14; 69:18).

⁴² tn Heb “their blood will be precious in his eyes.”

⁴³ tn In Isa 58:6, the only other occurrence of this word in the OT, the term refers to “bonds” or “ropes.” In Ps 73:4 it is used metaphorically of pain and suffering that restricts one’s enjoyment of life.

⁴⁴ tn Or “bellies.”

⁴⁵ tc Or “fat.” The MT of v. 4 reads as follows: “for there are no pains at their death, and fat [is] their body.” Since a reference to the death of the wicked seems incongruous in the immediate context (note v. 5) and premature in the argument of the psalm (see vv. 18-20, 27), some prefer to emend the text by redividing it. The term לְמוֹתָם (lÿmotam,“at their death”) is changed to לָמוֹ תָּם (lamo tam, “[there are no pains] to them, strong [and fat are their bodies]”). The term תָּם (tam, “complete; sound”) is used of physical beauty in Song 5:2; 6:9. This emendation is the basis for the present translation. However, in defense of the MT (the traditional Hebrew text), one may point to an Aramaic inscription from Nerab which views a painful death as a curse and a nonpainful death in one’s old age as a sign of divine favor. See ANET 661.

⁴⁶ tn Heb “they come to an end, they are finished, from terrors.”

⁴⁷ tn This verb is often used of a lion’s roar, so the psalmist may be comparing the enemy to a raging, devouring lion.

⁴⁸ tn Heb “your meeting place.”

⁴⁹ tn Heb “they set up their banners [as] banners.” The Hebrew noun אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) here refers to the enemy army’s battle flags and banners (see Num 2:12).

⁵⁰ tn Heb “it is known like one bringing upwards, in a thicket of wood, axes.” The Babylonian invaders destroyed the woodwork in the temple.

⁵¹ tn Heb “a [legal] decision,” or “sentence.”

⁵² tn “The earth” stands here by metonymy for its inhabitants.

⁵³ tn Heb “the covenant of God.”

⁵⁴ tn Heb “walk in.”

⁵⁵ tn Heb “and they tested God in their heart.” The “heart” is viewed here as the center of their volition.

⁵⁶ tn Heb “with their mouth.”

⁵⁷ tn Heb “and with their tongue they lied to him.”

⁵⁸ tn Heb “and he sent an insect swarm against them and it devoured them.”

⁵⁹ tn Heb “and a swarm of frogs and it destroyed them.”

⁶⁰ tn Heb “and I sent him away in the stubbornness of their heart.”

⁶¹ tn Heb “they walked in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite (“walked”) or a customary imperfect (“were walking”).

⁶² sn Endor is not mentioned in the accounts of Gideon’s or Barak’s victories, but both battles took place in the general vicinity of the town. (See Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-Yonah, The Macmillan Bible Atlas, 46, 54.) Because Sisera and Jabin are mentioned in v. 9b, many understand them to be the subject of the verbs in v. 10, though they relate v. 10 to Gideon’s victory, which is referred to in v. 9a, 11. (See, for example, Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 263.)

⁶³ tn Heb “they were manure.” In addition to this passage, corpses are compared to manure in 2 Kgs 9:37; Jer 8:2; 9:21; 16:4; 25:33.

⁶⁴ tn Heb “fill.”

⁶⁵ tn After the preceding imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose or result (“then they will seek”).

⁶⁶ tn Heb “your name,” which stands here for God’s person.

⁶⁷ tn Heb “lifted up.”

⁶⁸ tn Heb “covered over.”

⁶⁹ tn Heb “may your work be revealed to your servants.” In this context (note v. 17) the verb form יֵרָאֶה (yera’eh) is best understood as an unshortened jussive (see Gen 1:9; Isa 47:3).

⁷⁰ tn Heb “and your majesty to their sons.” The verb “be revealed” is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

⁷¹ tn The Hebrew adjective עַרְעָר (’arar, “destitute”) occurs only here in the OT. It is derived from the verbal root ערר (“to strip oneself”).

⁷² tn Heb “despise.”

⁷³ tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 16-17 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 15.

⁷⁴ tn Heb “lie down.”

⁷⁵ tn Heb “man goes out to his work, and to his labor until evening.”

⁷⁶ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷⁷ tn Heb “him,” referring to “his people.”

⁷⁸ tn Heb “his,” referring to “his people.”

⁷⁹ tn Heb “he gave their rains hail.”

⁸⁰ tn Heb “fire of flames [was] in their land.”

⁸¹ tn Heb “remained.”

⁸² tn Heb “their glory.” According to an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition, the text originally read “his glory” or “my glory.” In Jer 2:11 the Lord states that his people (Israel) exchanged “their glory” (a reference to the Lord) for worthless idols.

⁸³ sn They grumbled in their tents. See Deut 1:27.

⁸⁴ tn Heb “did not listen to the voice of.”

⁸⁵ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

⁸⁶ tn Heb “and to cause their offspring to fall.” Some emend the verb to “scatter” to form tighter parallelism with the following line (cf. NRSV “disperse”).

⁸⁷ tn Heb “among the lands.” The word “foreign” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁸⁸ tn Heb “They made angry [him].” The pronominal suffix is omitted here, but does appear in a few medieval Hebrew mss. Perhaps it was accidentally left off, an original וַיַּכְעִיסוּהוּ (vayyakh’isuhu) being misread as וַיַּכְעִיסוּ (vayyakh’isu). In the translation the referent of the pronominal suffix (the Lord) has been specified for clarity to avoid confusion with Baal of Peor (mentioned in the previous verse).

⁸⁹ tn Heb “darkness and deep darkness.” See the note on the word “darkness” in v. 10.

⁹⁰ tn Heb “all food their appetite loathed.”

⁹¹ tn Only here does the Hebrew verb חָגַג (khagag; normally meaning “to celebrate”) carry the nuance “to sway.”

⁹² tn The Hitpael of בָלַע (vala’) occurs only here in the OT. Traditionally the form is derived from the verbal root בלע (“to swallow”), but HALOT 135 s.v. III בלע understands a homonym here with the meaning “to be confused.”

⁹³ tn Or “sons.”

⁹⁴ tn Heb “and roaming, may his children roam and beg, and seek from their ruins.” Some, following the LXX, emend the term וְדָרְשׁוּ (vÿdoreshu, “and seek”) to יְגֹרְשׁוּ (yÿgoreshu; a Pual jussive, “may they be driven away” [see Job 30:5; cf. NIV, NRSV]), but דָּרַשׁ (darash) nicely parallels שִׁאֵלוּ (shi’elu, “and beg”) in the preceding line.

⁹⁵ tn Heb “as for me, I am a reproach to them.”

⁹⁶ sn They shake their heads. Apparently shaking the head was a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 22:7; Lam 2:15.

⁹⁷ tn The referent of the pronominal suffix is “the nations” (v. 2).

⁹⁸ tn Heb “the work of the hands of man.”

⁹⁹ tn Heb “they cannot mutter in their throats.” Verse 5a refers to speaking, v. 7c to inarticulate sounds made in the throat (see M. Dahood, Psalms [AB], 3:140-41).

¹⁰⁰ tn Or “[source of] help.”

¹⁰¹ tn Heb “and their shield.”

¹⁰² tn Heb “house.”

¹⁰³ tn Or “[source of] help.”

¹⁰⁴ tn Heb “and their shield.”

¹⁰⁵ tn Heb “[you] fearers of the Lord.” See Ps 15:4.

¹⁰⁶ tn Or “[source of] help.”

¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “and their shield.”

¹⁰⁸ tn Heb “their heart is insensitive like fat.”

¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord.”

¹¹⁰ tn Heb “[the one] who.”

¹¹¹ tn Or “redeem.”

¹¹² tn The Hebrew noun עָוֹן (’avon) can refer to sin, the guilt sin produces, or the consequences of sin. Only here is the noun collocated with the verb פָּדָה (padah, “to redeem; to deliver”). The psalmist may refer to forgiveness per se (v. 4), but the emphasis in this context is likely on deliverance from the national consequences of sin. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 192.

¹¹³ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate, “the wicked will fall.”

¹¹⁴ tn Heb “his.”

¹¹⁵ tn Heb “at the same [that] I, until I pass by.” Another option is to take יַחַד (yakhad) with the preceding line, “let the wicked fall together into their own nets.”

¹¹⁶ tn Heb “man,” or “mankind.”

¹¹⁷ tn Heb “his days [are] like a shadow that passes away,” that is, like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness. See Ps 102:11.

¹¹⁸ tn Heb “[May] praises of God [be] in their throat, and a two-edged sword in their hand.”