¹tn Heb “Really [in] silence, what is right do you speak?” The Hebrew noun <l#a@ (“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 <l!a@, which in turn is understood as a defectively written form of <yl!ya@ (“rulers”; a metaphorical use of ly]a^, “ram,” see Exod 15:15; Ezek 17:13). The rhetorical question is sarcastic, challenging their claim to be just. Elsewhere the collocation of rbd (“speak”) with qdx (“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.
²tn Heb “the sons of mankind.” The translation assumes the phrase is the object of the verb “to judge.” Some take it as a vocative, “Do you judge fairly, O sons of mankind?” (Cf. NASB; see Ezek 20:4; 22:2; 23:36.)
³tn The particle [a (“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 BDB 65 and Ps 44:9).
⁴tn 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 hl*w+u^ (“injustice”) is collocated with lup (“do”) here and in Job 36:23 and Ps 119:3. Some emend the plural form tlwu (“unjust deeds”; see Ps 64:6) to the singular lw\u* (“injustice”; see Job 34:32), taking the final tav as dittographic (note that the following verbal form begins with tav). Some then understand lw\u* (“injustice”) as a genitive modifying “heart” and translate, “with a heart of injustice you act.”
⁵tn Heb “in the earth the violence of your hands you weigh out.” The imagery is from the economic realm. The addressees measure out violence, rather than justice, and distribute it like a commodity. This may be ironic, since justice was sometimes viewed as a measuring scale (see Job 31:6).
⁶tn Heb “from the womb.”
⁷tn Heb “speakers of a lie go astray from the womb.”
⁸tn Heb “[there is] venom to them according to the likeness of venom of a snake.”
⁹tn Or perhaps “cobra” (cf. NASB, NIV). Other suggested species of snakes are “asp” (NEB) and “adder” (NRSV).
¹⁰tn Heb “[that] stops up its ear.” The apparent Hiphil jussive verbal form should be understood as a Qal imperfect with “i” theme vowel (see GKC §63.n).
¹¹tn Heb “does not listen to the voice of.”
¹²tn On the meaning of this rare term see HALOT 595. The noun is a metathesized alternative form of twultm (see HALOT 654).
¹³tn 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 sam (which is a homonym of the more common sam, “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.
¹⁴tn 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.”
¹⁵tc The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult and the meaning uncertain. The text reads literally, “he treads his arrows (following the Qere; Kethib has “his arrow”), like they are cut off/dry up.” It is not clear if the verbal root is llm, “circumcise” (BDB 576) or the homonymic llm, “wither” (KB, 593-94). Since the verb llm, “to wither,” is used of vegetation, it is possible that the noun ryxj, “grass” (which is visually similar to wyxj, “his arrows”) originally appeared in the text. The translation above assumes that the text originally was wllmty ryxj wmk, “like grass let them wither.” If original, it could have been accidentally corrupted to wllmty wmk wxj, “his arrow(s) like they dry up,” with ird, “to tread,” being added later in an effort to make sense of “his arrow(s).”
¹⁶tn 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.
¹⁷tn Heb “like a melting snail [that] moves along.” A. Cohen (Psalms, Soncino Books of the Bible, 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.”
¹⁸tn The words “let them be like” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. The jussive mood is implied from the preceding context, and “like” is understood by ellipsis (see the previous line).
¹⁹tn This rare word also appears in Job 3:16 and Eccles 6:3.
²⁰tn Heb “before your pots perceive thorns.”
²¹tn Apparently God (v. 6) is the subject of the verb here.
²²tn Heb “like living, like burning anger he will sweep it away.” The meaning of the text is unclear. The translation assumes that within the cooking metaphor (see the previous line) yj (“living”) refers here to raw meat (as in 1 Sam 2:15, where it modifies rcb [“flesh”]) and that /wrj (which always refers to God’s “burning anger” elsewhere) here refers to food that is cooked. (Another option is to emend the form to rwrj [“burned.”]) The pronominal suffix on the verb “sweep away” apparently refers back to the “thorns” of the preceding line. The image depicts swift and sudden judgment. Before the fire has been adequately kindled and all the meat cooked, the winds of judgment will sweep away everything in their path.
²³tn The singular is representative here, as is the singular from “wicked” in the next line.
²⁴tn Following the imperfects of v. 10, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunctive probably indicates a result or consequence of what precedes.
²⁵tn Heb “man.” The singular is representative here.
²⁶tn Heb “surely [there] is fruit for the godly.”
²⁷tn The plural participle is unusual here if the preceding <yhla is here a plural of majesty, referring to the one true God. Occasionally the plural of majesty does take a plural attributive (see GKC §132.h). It is possible that the final mem on the participle is enclitic, and that it was later misunderstood as a plural ending. Another option is to translate, “Yes indeed, there are gods who judge in the earth.” In this case, the statement reflects the polytheistic mindset of pagan observers who, despite their theological ignorance, nevertheless recognize divine retribution when they see it.
²⁸sn Psalm 59. The psalmist calls down judgment on his foreign enemies, whom he compares to ravenous wild dogs.
²⁹tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the superscription to Pss 57-58, 75.
³⁰tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word <tkm (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-58, 60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 defines it as “inscription.”
³¹tn Heb “when Saul sent and they watched his house in order to kill him.”
sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm on the occasion when Saul sent assassins to surround David’s house and kill him in the morning (see 1 Sam 19:11). However, the psalm itself mentions foreign enemies (vv. 5, 8). Perhaps these references reflect a later adaptation of an original Davidic psalm.