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1Do you rulers really pronounce just decisions?[#tn Heb “Really [in] silence, what is right do you speak?” The Hebrew noun אֵלֶם (’elem, “silence”) makes little, if any, sense in this context. Some feel that this is an indictment of the addressees’ failure to promote justice; they are silent when they should make just decisions. The present translation assumes an emendation to אֵלִם (’elim), which in turn is understood as a defectively written form of אֵילִים (’elim, “rulers,” a metaphorical use of אַיִל, ’ayil, “ram”; see Exod 15:15; Ezek 17:13). The rhetorical question is sarcastic, challenging their claim to be just. Elsewhere the collocation of דָּבַר (davar, “speak”) with צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “what is right”) as object means “to speak the truth” (see Ps 52:3; Isa 45:19). Here it refers specifically to declaring what is right in a legal setting, as the next line indicates.]
Do you judge people fairly?
2No! You plan how to do what is unjust;[#tn The particle אַף (’af, “no”) is used here as a strong adversative emphasizing the following statement, which contrasts reality with the rulers’ claim alluded to in the rhetorical questions (see Ps 44:9).; #tn Heb “in the heart unjust deeds you do.” The phrase “in the heart” (i.e., “mind”) seems to refer to their plans and motives. The Hebrew noun עַוְלָה (’avlah, “injustice”) is collocated with פָּעַל (pa’al, “do”) here and in Job 36:23 and Ps 119:3. Some emend the plural form עוֹלֹת (’olot, “unjust deeds”; see Ps 64:6) to the singular עָוֶל (’avel, “injustice”; see Job 34:32), taking the final tav (ת) as dittographic (note that the following verbal form begins with tav). Some then understand עָוֶל (’avel, “injustice”) as a genitive modifying “heart” and translate, “with a heart of injustice you act.”]
you deal out violence in the earth.
3The wicked turn aside from birth;[#tn Heb “from the womb.”]
liars go astray as soon as they are born.
4Their venom is like that of a snake,[#tn Heb “[there is] venom to them according to the likeness of venom of a snake.”]
like a deaf serpent that does not hear,
5that does not respond to the magicians,[#tn Heb “does not listen to the voice of.”]
or to a skilled snake-charmer.
6O God, break the teeth in their mouths!
Smash the jawbones of the lions, O Lord !
7Let them disappear like water that flows away![#tn Following the imperatival forms in v. 6, the prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive expressing the psalmist’s wish. Another option is to take the form as an imperfect (indicative) and translate, “they will scatter” (see v. 9). The verb מָאַס (ma’as; which is a homonym of the more common מָאַס, “to refuse, reject”) appears only here and in Job 7:5, where it is used of a festering wound from which fluid runs or flows.; #tn Heb “like water, they go about for themselves.” The translation assumes that the phrase “they go about for themselves” is an implied relative clause modifying “water.” Another option is to take the clause as independent and parallel to what precedes. In this case the enemies would be the subject and the verb could be taken as jussive, “let them wander about.”]
Let them wither like grass!
8Let them be like a snail that melts away as it moves along![#tn There is no “to be” verb in the Hebrew text at this point, but a jussive tone can be assumed based on vv. 6-7.; #tn Heb “like a melting snail [that] moves along.” A. Cohen (Psalms [SoBB], 184) explains that the text here alludes “to the popular belief that the slimy trail which the snail leaves in its track is the dissolution of its substance.”]
Let them be like stillborn babies that never see the sun!
9Before the kindling is even placed under your pots,[#tn Heb “before your pots perceive thorns.”]
he will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat.
10The godly will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out;[#tn The singular is representative here, as is the singular from “wicked” in the next line.]
they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11Then observers will say,[#tn Following the imperfects of v. 10, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates a result or consequence of what precedes.; #tn Heb “man.” The singular is representative here.]
“Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded!
Yes indeed, there is a God who judges in the earth!”