translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: PSA

label: NET translator note

text: The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.


text: The pronominal suffix attached to נֶפֶשׁ ( nefesh ) is equivalent to a personal pronoun. See Ps 6:3 .


text: In the psalms the “wicked” ( רְשָׁעִים , rÿsha ’ im ) are typically proud, practical atheists ( Ps 10:2, 4, 11 ) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander ( Ps 50:16-20 ), and cheat others ( Ps 37:21 ). They oppose God and threaten his people ( Ps 3:8 ).


text: The Hebrew imperfect verbal form depicts the enemies’ hostile action as underway.


text: Heb “a bow.”


text: Heb “pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11 ).


text: The precise meaning of this rare word is uncertain. An Ugaritic cognate is used of the “bottom” or “base” of a cliff or mountain (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends , 47, 159). The noun appears in postbiblical Hebrew with the meaning “foundation” (see Jastrow 1636 s.v. שָׁת ).


text: The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense. Note the plural form “pure [of heart]” in the previous verse.


text: Because of the royal imagery involved here, one could translate “lofty palace.” The Lord ’s heavenly temple is in view here (see Mic 1:2-4 ).


text: The two Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this verse describe the Lord ’s characteristic activity.


text: Heb “eyelids.”


text: For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18 ; Pss 7:9; 26:2; 139:23 .


text: Heb “test the sons of men.”


text: Heb “examines,” the same verb used in v. 4 b. But here it is used in a metonymic sense of “examine and approve” (see Jer 20:12 ).


text: The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense. Note the plural form “pure (of heart)” in v. 2 .


text: Heb “his [very] being.” A נֶפֶשׁ ( nefesh , “being, soul”) is also attributed to the Lord in Isa 1:14 , where a suffixed form of the noun appears as the subject of the verb “hate.” Both there and here the term is used of the seat of one’s emotions and passions.


text: Heb “the wicked [one] and the lover of violence.” The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense. Note the plural form רְשָׁעִים ( rÿsha ’ im , “wicked [ones]”) in vv. 2 and 6 .


text: The verb form is a jussive, indicating that the statement is imprecatory (“May the Lord rain down”), not indicative (“The Lord rains down”; see also Job 20:23 ). The psalmist appeals to God to destroy the wicked, rather than simply stating his confidence that God will do so. In this way the psalmist seeks to activate divine judgment by appealing to God’s just character. For an example of the power of such a curse, see Judg 9:7-57 .


label: NET textual note

text: The MT reads “traps, fire, and brimstone,” but the image of God raining traps, or snares, down from the sky is bizarre and does not fit the fire and storm imagery of this verse. The noun פַּחִים ( pakhim , “traps, snares”) should be emended to פַּחֲמֵי ( pakhamey , “coals of [fire]”). The rare noun פֶּחָם ( pekham , “coal”) occurs in Prov 26:21 and Isa 44:12; 54:16 .


text: Heb “[may] a wind of rage [be] the portion of their cup.” The precise meaning of the rare noun זִלְעָפוֹת ( zil ’ afot ) is uncertain. It may mean “raging heat” (BDB 273 s.v. זַלְעָפָה ) or simply “rage” ( HALOT 272 s.v. זַלְעָפָה ). If one understands the former sense, then one might translate “hot wind” (cf. NEB, NRSV). The present translation assumes the latter nuance, “a wind of rage” (the genitive is attributive) referring to a “whirlwind” symbolic of destructive judgment. In this mixed metaphor, judgment is also compared to an allotted portion of a beverage poured into one’s drinking cup (see Hab 2:15-16 ).


text: Or “for.”


text: Or “righteous.”


text: Heb “he loves righteous deeds.” The “righteous deeds” are probably those done by godly people (see v. 5 ). The Lord “loves” such deeds in the sense that he rewards them. Another option is to take צְדָקוֹת ( tsÿdaqot ) as referring to God’s acts of justice (see Ps 103:6 ). In this case one could translate, “he loves to do just deeds.”


text: Heb “the upright will see his face.” The singular subject (“upright”) does not agree with the plural verb. However, collective singular nouns can be construed with a plural predicate (see GKC 462 §145. b ). Another possibility is that the plural verb יֶחֱזוּ ( yekhezu ) is a corruption of an original singular form. To “see” God’s “face” means to have access to his presence and to experience his favor (see Ps 17:15 and Job 33:26 [where רָאָה ( ra ’ ah ), not חָזָה ( khazah ), is used]). On the form פָנֵימוֹ ( fanemo , “his face”) see GKC 300-301 §103. b , n. 3.