Psalms 64:8

Their slander will bring about their demise. ¹  All who see them will shudder, ² 

He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.

So they will make him stumble; Their own tongue is against them; All who see them will shake the head.

Their own words will be turned against them, destroying them. All who see it happening will shake their heads in scorn.

Fall flat on their faces in full view of the grinning crowd.

The evil of their tongues is the cause of their fall; all those who see them are shaking their heads at them.

Because of their tongue he will bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake with horror.

So He will make them stumble over their own tongue; All who see them shall flee away.

Their slander will bring about their demise. ¹  All who see them will shudder, ² 

¹ tc The MT reads literally, “and they caused him to stumble, upon them, their tongue.” Perhaps the third plural subject of the verb is indefinite with the third singular pronominal suffix on the verb being distributive (see Ps 63:10). In this case one may translate, “each one will be made to stumble.” The preposition עַל (’al) might then be taken as adversative, “against them [is] their tongue.” Many prefer to emend the text to וַיַּכְשִׁילֵמוֹ עֲלֵי לְשׁוֹנָם (vayyakhshilemo ’aley lÿshonam, “and he caused them to stumble over their tongue”). However, if this reading is original, it is difficult to see how the present reading of the MT arose. Furthermore, the preposition is not collocated with the verb כָּשַׁל (kashal) elsewhere. It is likely that the MT is corrupt, but a satisfying emendation has not yet been proposed.

² tn The Hitpolel verbal form is probably from the root נוּד (nud; see HALOT 678 s.v. נוד), which is attested elsewhere in the Hitpolel stem, not the root נָדַד (nadad, as proposed by BDB 622 s.v. I נָדַד), which does not occur elsewhere in this stem.