Psalms 62:11

God has declared one principle; two principles I have heard: ¹  God is strong, ² 

One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong,

Once God has spoken; Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God;

God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times: Power, O God, belongs to you;

God said this once and for all; how many times Have I heard it repeated? "Strength comes Straight from God."

Once has God said, twice has it come to my ears, that power is God’s:

Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God,

God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God.

God has declared one principle; two principles I have heard: ¹  God is strong, ² 

¹ tn Heb “one God spoke, two which I heard.” This is a numerical saying utilizing the “x” followed by “x + 1” pattern to facilitate poetic parallelism. (See W. M. W. Roth, Numerical Sayings in the Old Testament [VTSup], 55-56.) As is typical in such sayings, a list corresponding to the second number (in this case “two”) follows. Another option is to translate, “God has spoken once, twice [he has spoken] that which I have heard.” The terms אַחַת (’akhat, “one; once”) and שְׁתַּיִם (shÿtayim, “two; twice”) are also juxtaposed in 2 Kgs 6:10 (where they refer to an action that was done more than “once or twice”) and in Job 33:14 (where they refer to God speaking “one way” and then in “another manner”).

² tn Heb “that strength [belongs] to God.”