¹tn Heb “Why do you boast in evil?”
²tn Heb “the loyal love of God [is] all the day.” In this context, where the psalmist is threatened by his enemy, the point seems to be that the psalmist is protected by God’s loyal love at all times.
³tn Heb “destruction your tongue devises.”
⁴tn Heb “like a sharpened razor, doer of deceit.” The masculine participle hcu is understood as a substantival vocative, addressed to the powerful man.
⁵tn Or “deceit more than speaking what is right.”
⁶tn Heb “you love all the words of swallowing.” Traditionally ulb has been taken to mean “swallowing” in the sense of “devouring” or “destructive” (see BDB 118). HALOT proposes a homonym here, meaning “confusion” (HALOT 135). This would fit the immediate context nicely and provide a close parallel to the following line, which refers to deceptive words.
⁷tn The adverb <g (“also; even”) is translated here in an adversative sense (“yet”). It highlights the contrastive correspondence between the evildoer’s behavior and God’s response (see BDB 169).
⁸tn Heb “will tear you down forever.”
⁹tn This rare verb (htj) occurs only here and in Prov 6:27; 25:22; Isa 30:14.
¹⁰tn Heb “from [your] tent.”
¹¹tn Heb “and the godly will see and will fear and at him will laugh.”
¹²tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to the ongoing nature of the action. The evildoer customarily rejected God and trusted in his own abilities. Another option is to take the imperfect as generalizing, “[here is the man who] does not make.”
¹³tn Heb “he was strong in his destruction.” “Destruction” must refer back to the destructive plans mentioned in v. 2. The verb (derived from the root zzu [“be strong”]) as it stands is either an imperfect (if so, probably used in a customary sense) or a preterite (without vav consecutive). However the form should probably be emended to zu*Y`w~, a Qal preterite (with vav consecutive) from zzu. Note the preterite form with vav consecutive in the preceding line (jfbYw [“and he trusted”]). The prefixed vav was likely omitted by haplography (note the suffixed vav on the preceding wrvu [“his wealth”]).
¹⁴tn The disjunctive construction (vav + subject) highlights the contrast between the evildoer’s destiny (vv. 5-7) and that of the godly psalmist’s security.
¹⁵tn Or “luxuriant, green, leafy.”
¹⁶tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever and ever.”
¹⁷tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”
¹⁸tn Or “for.”
¹⁹tn Heb “you have acted.” The perfect verbal form (1) probably indicates a future perfect here. The psalmist promises to give thanks when the expected vindication has been accomplished. Other options include (2) a generalizing (“for you act”) or (3) rhetorical (“for you will act”) use.
²⁰tn Or “wait.”
²¹tn Heb “your name.” God’s “name” refers here to his reputation and revealed character.
²²tn Heb “for it is good in front of your loyal followers.”
²³sn Psalm 53. This psalm is very similar to Ps 14. The major difference comes in v. 5, which corresponds to, but differs quite a bit from, Ps 14:5-6, and in the use of the divine name. Ps 14 uses “the Lord” (hwhy, “Yahweh”) in vv. 2a, 4, 6, and 7, while Ps 53 employs “God” (<yhla) throughout, as one might expect in Pss 42-83, where the name “Yahweh” is relatively infrequent. The psalmist observes that the human race is morally corrupt. Evildoers oppress God’s people, but the psalmist is confident of God’s protection and anticipates a day when God will vindicate Israel.
²⁴tn The meaning of the Hebrew term tljm (“machalath”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. The term also appears in the heading of Ps 88.
²⁵tn The meaning of the Hebrew term lykcm (“maskil”) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.