Discovery BoxPsalms 94:4-8 
Context94:4 They spew out threats 1 and speak defiantly;
all the evildoers boast. 2
94:5 O Lord, they crush your people;
they oppress the nation that belongs to you. 3
94:6 They kill the widow and the one residing outside his native land,
and they murder the fatherless. 4
94:7 Then they say, “The Lord does not see this;
the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.” 5
94:8 Take notice of this, 6 you ignorant people! 7
You fools, when will you ever understand?
1 tn Heb “they gush forth [words].”
2 tn The Hitpael of אָמַר (’amar) occurs only here (and perhaps in Isa 61:6).
3 tn Or “your inheritance.”
4 tn The Hebrew noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9). Because they were so vulnerable and were frequently exploited, fatherless children are often mentioned as epitomizing the oppressed (see Pss 10:14; 68:5; 82:3; 146:9; as well as Job 6:27; 22:9; 24:3, 9; 29:12; 31:17, 21).
5 tn Heb “does not understand.”
6 tn Heb “understand.” The verb used in v. 7 is repeated here for rhetorical effect. The people referred to here claim God is ignorant of their actions, but the psalmist corrects their faulty viewpoint.
7 tn Heb “[you] brutish among the people.”
