Psalms 7:8-16
8 The Lord judges the nations. ▼
Vindicate me, Lord, because I am innocent, ▼
▼tn Heb “judge me, O Lord, according to my innocence.”
because I am blameless, ▼
▼tn Heb “according to my blamelessness.” The imperative verb translated “vindicate” governs the second line as well.
O Exalted One. ▼▼tn The Hebrew form עָלָי (ʿalay) has been traditionally understood as the preposition עַל (ʿal, “over”) with a first person suffix. But this is syntactically awkward and meaningless. The form is probably a divine title derived from the verbal root עָלָה (ʿalah, “ascend”). This relatively rare title appears elsewhere in the OT (see HALOT 824-25 s.v. I עַל, though this text is not listed) and in Ugaritic as an epithet for Baal (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 98). See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:44-45, and P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 98.
9 May the evil deeds of the wicked ▼ come to an end. ▼
▼tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation here.
But make the innocent ▼ secure, ▼
▼tn The prefixed verbal form expresses the psalmist’s prayer or wish.
O righteous God,
you who examine ▼ inner thoughts and motives. ▼
▼tn Heb “and [the one who] tests hearts and kidneys, righteous God.” The translation inverts the word order to improve the English style. The heart and kidneys were viewed as the seat of one’s volition, conscience, and moral character.
10 The Exalted God is my shield, ▼
the one who delivers the morally upright. ▼
11 God is a just judge;
he is angry throughout the day. ▼
▼tn Heb “God (the divine name אֵל [ʾel] is used) is angry during all the day.” The verb זֹעֵם (zoʿem) means “be indignant, be angry, curse.” Here God’s angry response to wrongdoing and injustice leads him to prepare to execute judgment as described in the following verses.
12 If a person ▼ does not repent, God will wield his sword. ▼
▼tn Heb “if he does not return, his sword he wields.” The referent (God) of the pronominal subject of the second verb (“sharpens”) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The verb לָטַשׁ (latash) appears only five times in the Bible. It is typically taken as a reference to sharpening, as in 1 Sam 13:20. But the meaning “wield” known from Ugaritic, a close cognate language, seems to fit the context better. The following verbs describe past actions of having gotten instruments prepared for battle. It is more consistent with that setting to picture God taking his sword and swinging it as a final act of preparation or as an immediate threat.
He has prepared to shoot his bow. ▼
▼tn Heb “his bow he has stepped [on] and prepared it.” “Treading the bow” involved stepping on one end of it in order to bend and string it and thus prepare it for battle. The verbs are a perfect and a preterite, thus referring to past action.
13 He has prepared deadly weapons to use against him; ▼
▼tn Heb “and for him he has prepared the weapons of death.”
he gets ready to shoot flaming arrows. ▼
▼tn Heb “his arrows into flaming [things] he makes.” The verb is a prefixed form and understood as an imperfect. As a parallel to the first verb in the series, יִלְטֹשׁ (yiltosh; he will wield), it describes a final act of preparation or the beginning of engaging in battle. It is also possible that the form is a preterite and should be understood as past tense, like the preceding perfect and preterite verbs.
14 See the one who is pregnant with wickedness,
who conceives destructive plans,
and gives birth to harmful lies—
15 he digs a pit ▼
▼tn Heb “a pit he digs and he excavates it.” Apparently the imagery of hunting is employed; the wicked sinner digs this pit to entrap and destroy his intended victim. The redundancy in the Hebrew text has been simplified in the translation.
and then falls into the hole he has made. ▼
16 He becomes the victim of his own destructive plans ▼ —
and the violence he intended for others falls on his own head. ▼
▼tn Heb “and on his forehead his violence [i.e., the violence he intended to do to others] comes down.”
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