Psalm 10. The Afflicted One Complains About the Corrupt

Transcription

1 Psalm 10 Psalm 10:1 18 Th Afflictd On Complains About th Corrupt Outlin of Chaptr 10: vv. 1 2 Why dos God not dal with th malvolnt? vv Th actions and charactristics of th malvolnt vv God is calld upon th brak th strngth of th malvolnt vv God has ha th d sir of th grac-orintd and H will vindicat th opprssd Charts and Maps Introduction Barns Outlins Psalm 10 v. 4 Th L ss Lit ral Translations of Psalm 10:4 v. 4 Ex g sis of th S ptuagint V rsion of Psalm 10:4 v. 6 Job 21:7 21 v. 7 Th Fiv Catgoris of Vrbal Sins v. 8 Th L ss Lit ral Translations of Psalm 10:8 v. 10 Th Lss Litral Translations of Psalm 10:10 v. 14 Th Exgsis of Psalm 10:14 from th Grk v. 14 Th Lss Litral Translations of Psalm 10:14 v. 15 Th Lss Litral Translations of Psalm 10:15 Addndum Psalm 10:3 Addndum Addndum Commntary Addndum Introduction: As I hav mntiond bfor, I will plac svral of th psalms topically rathr than by th tim that thy wr writtn. Psalm 10 is a paralll psalm to Psalm 73 and th Job 21. You will rcall that Job s frinds hav assumd that h is vil in som way or anothr, basd upon th awful things which had happnd to him. Svral of thm say that this dats way back to tims of old and that this is a part of accptd wisdom. In Job 21, which would sm to b a fitting nd for th discussion btwn Job and his associats, Job points out that thir stand is just so much hooy. Thr ar tons of popl who ar infidls, who ar unblivrs, who lad livs apart from God and, at tims, in opposition to God, and thy ar rich and succssful. Job says that this is obsrvabl anywhr. So, if prosprity dos not indicat blssing from God, thn pain and suffring dos not ncssarily indicat dsrvd cursing from God. In this particular psalm, w hav th cry of a man who fls as though God stands away from him during this tims of troubl. Th implication is that th wickd hav pursud and hurt him, although that is not dirctly statd. H calls upon God to not forgt th poor, and thn asks for God to brak th strngth of th wrongdor. In th Grk and Latin, Psalms 9 and 10 ar on psalm, which is why th numbring of th psalms in th Vulgat and th Sptuagint ar diffrnt from thos in th Hbrw and English Bibls. T his is not somthing writtn in ston, howvr, as my Sptuagint kpt th English and Hbrw numbring of th psalms. A scond argumnt for ths psalms bing joind as on is that th first tn strophs of Psalm 9 bgin with succssiv lttrs of th Hbrw alphabt, bginning with th first lttr and trminating with th tnth. Thn w hav v. 20, which bgins th with a qôwph ( ), which is not th 11 lttr of th Hbrw alphabt (although it sounds th sam as a kaph (ë), th th which is th 11 lttr of th alphabt. Th first vrs of Psalm 10 bgins with th 12 lttr of th Hbrw

2 Psalm 10 2 alphabt. Now, w would xpct th nxt svral stanzas of Psalm 10 to continu this pattrn, but thy do not, until w gt to th bginning of v. 12, which bgins with a qôwph and thn continus, ach stanza matching th succssiv lttr of th Hbrw alphabt. Now, thr ar xactly nough stanzas btwn vv. 1 and 12 to match 1 with th missing succssiv lttrs of th alphabt; thy just arn t found thr, howvr. Dos this tll us that ths ar on psalm? Not ncssarily, although it could point to th sam author composing on psalm and thn th nxt (which is probably what this dos man). Now, although an argumnt could b mad for Psalms 9 and 10 as bing two sids of th sam coin, thy ar not thmatically idntical. Psalm 9, a psalm of David, praiss God for His powr in dstroying th nmis of Isral. In Psalm 10, th psalmist asks God why H is standing afar off whil th corr u p t a ttack and xploit th poor. Whras Psalm 9 dals with th nation Isral, Psalm 10 dal with individuals. Psalm 9 is a thanksgiving Psalm 2 and Psalm 10 is a supplicatory psalm. In othr wos, thr ar probably dozns of adjacnt psalms which could b sn just as rasonably pai as ths two. Furthrmor, Psalm 10 sms to hav its own introduction which appars out of plac as a continuanc of Psalm 9; and th ndings of ach psalm appar to b uniquly suitd to that psalm. Th NIV Study Bibl points out a similarity of th ndings of th psalms, but that dos not support thir bing on and th sam psalm; hav a conclusion at th nd of Psalm 9 obviously indicats that is th nd of Psalm 9. It is lss likly for Psalm 10 to continu Psalm 9, if Psalm 9 has an nding. Taking both psalms as a unifid whol dos damag to th thm and structur of ach; vn taking th psalms as Part On and Part Two maks littl sns, bcaus of thir thmatic diffrncs. Thrfor, I s no rason that ths psalms should b joind at th hip. Th xplanation for why ths psalms ar joind in th Sptuagint and th Vulgat? Psalm 10 dos not hav an inscription. Without th inscription, a prson might run th two psalms togthr. Now is it possibl that King David composd both psalms, on right aftr th othr? Crtainly. Would th unusual lttr pattrn that w find indicat this? Affirmativ. Howvr, this dos not mak thm into on psalm. 3 In th first book of th Psalms, David is said to b th author of 39 of th 41 psalms. Only this psalm and Psalm 33 lack inscriptions (or, suprscriptions). Thr ar diffring points of viws with rgas to ths inscriptions; som rga thm as bing addd somtim aftr th writing of th psalm itslf. I bliv thm to gnrally b a part of th original txt; howvr, caution should b notd, as thr ar a fw diffrncs btwn th inscriptions of th Massortic txt and of th Sptuagint, indicating th manuscripts usd by th translators of th Sptuagint did not match th Hbrw manuscripts that w hav today. Thrfor, w approach th intrprtation as w would with any passag which diffrs significantly in th Hbrw and th Grk. Thmatically, Psalm 10 is loosly tid to Job 21. Job in that chaptr points out xampls of th prosprity of th wickd and h indicats that ths mn, from arly lif to th grav, ar not disciplind by God. Whras, Job dos not appar to call upon God to right ths wrongs, th psalmist dos. W bgin with th psalmist complaining that God is afar off, which indicats that God dos not appar to b doing anything in his lif. It is not ncssarily so go-cntric as that, howvr. Th psalmist will go into grat dtail as to th charactristics of th corrupt man, about whom h complains for most of th psalm (vv. 2 11). Th wickd prson prscuts th poor (or afflictd) (v. 2); h boasts about his own lusts (v. 3a); h curss and turns away from God (v. 3b); not only dos h not sk God, h dos not bliv that God xists (v. 4); h is arrogant byond blif, thinking that his opinions ar lik thos coming from God (v. 5), bliving himslf to b absolutly stabl in his walth (v. 6). H curss continually (v. 7) and compltly taks advantag of th poor in all ways (vv. 8 10). H blivs that h is not accountabl to God in any way (v. 11). 1 This is illustratd in Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 5, pp , Th psalms ar translatd, but in front of ach psalm, w hav th appropriat Hbrw lttr. I should point out that it is fin to mak such obsrvations as ths, but to mak ths obsrvations apart from noting th contnt of th two ps alm s is foolis h. As will b notd, both psalms hav a bginning, a middl, an nding and diffrnt thms. Contnt is th biggr (and far mor important) pictur. 2 Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 5, p Approximatly 100 of th psalms hav bn associatd with spcific authors in thir inscriptions.

3 3 Th Book of Job (Th End of Job 21) In th scond main portion of th psalm, th psalmist asks God to intrvn on bhalf of th poor and th afflictd, as it is only to God that th poor and th unfortunat can turn. H asks for God to brak th arm (i.., th strngth) of th rprobat (vv ). Th psalmist concluds by saying th Jhovah is King forvr and that H has crtainly ha th cris of th grac-orintd, and that H will proprly vindicat th lss fortunat prson (vv ). Barns Outlins Psalm 10 Evn though I hav givn you a brif rundown of this psalm in th prvious paragraph, Barns offrs us an outlin 4 which is apropos to this chaptr. I hav addd to and ditd th outlin somwhat. I. Th psalmist asks, Whr is God? v. 1 II. Th charactristics of th nmy (or th rprobat). vv A. H is proud, and, for that rason, prscuts th poor (v. 2) B. H was a braggart and h oftn boastd of his own walth (v. 3) C. H was a practical athist; h was too proud to sk aftr God and too proud to acknowldg his dpndnc upon Him (v. 4). D. His ways wr always grivous and dsignd to produc vil. H had no corrct viws on moral subjcts th grat principls of truth and right wr far abov him and out of his sight (v. 5). E. H was a man who had no apprhnsions about th futur. H flt that th cours of his lif would b on of continud prosprity and that advrsity would nvr com upon him (v. 6). F. H was profan and opnly fraudulnt (v. 7). G. H was insidious, artful and undrhandd in his doings; h would stoop to any act of duplicity and trachry to accomplish his purposs (vv. 8 10) H. H actd as if God had forgottn; i.., as though God would simply pass ovr his offnss, as if H did not s thm or rga thm. III. Th psalmist thn appals to God to dlivr him from th machinations of this fo (vv ). A. H maks a solmn appal to God, asking Him to rmmbr th cry of th grac-orintd and th afflictd (v. 12). B. H thn maks two argumnts as to why God should intrpos (vv ): 1. God has obsrvd all that this rprobat has don; h has not hiddn anything from God. 2. Th poor and th afflictd had placd thir trust in God with a firm confidnc that H would protct thos who rlid upon Him. C. Thn th psalmist xprsss a solmn and full conviction that God would thrfor intrfr, and sav thos who hav put thir trust in Him (vv ). Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Authorship: Bcaus of whr Psalm 9 is found, w would assum Davidic authorship. Psalms 3 9, and ar all attributd to David. In fact, of all th psalms in Book 1, only four ar not attributd to David (and thy ar not attributd to anyon ls). For this rason, most hav assumd that King David wrot this psalm. Thr is nothing in th psalm to prclud this assumption; but thr is littl to affirm it as wll. Thr is nothing in this psalm which would ti it to a particular tim or ra. Howvr, th psalmist obsrvs that God appars to b standing afar off and that th malvolnt ar taking advantag of poor. Th psalmist calls upon God to intrvn, to vindicat th poor and th opprssd. Givn this, it is unlikly that David would b author during th tim that h ruld Isral, as that position of powr would hav allowd him to intrvn dirctly. Thrfor, w can rul that tim priod out. Th surrounding psalms ar writtn to th various choir dirctors, which could hav bn submittd whil David was undr Saul in th royal palac, and thy could hav bn writtn whil h was king ovr Isral. This psalm, howvr, was not writtn during that tim priod. 4 Takn from Barns Nots; Psalms, Volum 1; F. C. Cook, ditor; rprintd 1996 by Bakr Books; p. 86.

4 Psalm 10 4 Grammatical concrns: I should warn you up front that thr ar som pculiaritis in this psalm. First of all, many of th wos ar rpatd throughout. Scondly, w will go from vrss which ar vry difficult to undrstand and translat to thos which ar quit asy to translat. Th vocabulary is rlativly asy throughout and th sntnc structur is rlativly asy. What w had in Psalm 73, whr w knw xactly to whom th psalmist was rfrring to by th gndr, numbr and prson, is not what w hav hr in Psalm 10. Th 3 prson masculin singular in on vrs could rfr to th sam prson (or popl) in th nxt vrs whr thr is a 3 prson masculin plural. W might find th 3 masculin singular twic in th sam vrs and it can rturn to two diffrnt sts of popl. So, w will oftn gt th gist of th vrs, but undrstanding ach and vry nuanc might b difficult. Th fact that you s undr charts, svral rfrncs to th lss litral translation of... indicats that thr will b considrabl problms with th original txt. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Why Dos God Not Dal with th Malvolnt? Unlik most of th psalms, this psalm dos not hav an inscription. It just starts right in. Howvr, this is not so much of a rarity as to suspct thr is a problm. Thr ar 34 psalms which lack titls or inscriptions. Psalm 10 and Psalm 43 could rasonably carry with thm th titl of th prcding psalm. Th Grk Sptuagint apparntly has 17 psalms without titls or inscriptions. For what [rason], O Y howah, do You [tak a] stand in a distanc? [Why do] you concal yourslf to tims of drought. Psalm 10:1 Why do You [tak a stand] at a distanc, O Y howah? [Why do] You hid [Yourslf] in tims of dstitution? Why, Jhovah, do You stand afar off hiding Yourslf in tims of dstitution? Thr ar svral psalms whrin th psalmist fls strangd from God, and th rason is, is that h has put himslf out of fllowship. Psalm 51 is on of thos psalms. What you nd to know from th vry bginning is that this psalmist has not don anything wrong. H is not out of fllowship. H is not undr disciplin. In fact, his concrn appars to b with thi partis hr and not with his own prsonal wlfar (although it is possibl that h ss himslf as on who has bn takn advantag of). Lt's s what othrs hav don with this vrs: NASB NLT Th Sptuagint Young's Litral Translation Why dost thou stand afar off, O LORD? Why dost Thou hid Thyslf [or, Thin ys] in tims of troubl?. O LORD, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hid whn I nd you th most? Why do You stand far off, O Lo? [Why] do You ovrlook [us] in tims of nd, in affliction? Why, Jhovah, dost Thou stand at a distanc? Thou dost hid in tims of advrsity,... W bgin this vrs with th intrrogativ lâmâh (ä îè ìè ) [pronouncd law-maw], which mans for what rason, why, to what purpos. Th lâmd prposition = Strong s #non BDB #510. Mâh = Strong s #4100 BDB #552 nd (BDB #554). This is followd by th propr nam for God Y howah, followd by th 2 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct of âmad (ãî Ç È ò) [pronouncd ìaw-mahd], which mans to tak a stand, to stand, to rmain, to ndur, to withstand. Strong's #5975 BDB #763. This is followd by th bêyth prposition and th adjctiv râchôq ( ç øè ) [pronouncd raw-khohk], which mans adjctiv, distant, far. Strong s #7350 BDB #935. This givs us: For what rason, O Jhovah, do you [tak a] stand at a distanc? In or for this to b Scriptur, it has to b writtn by a blivr. So, this blivr asks, immdiatly, Why do you stand afar off, O Jhovah? It is, to som dgr, a subjctiv fling. It will b mad clar in this psalm why this blivr fls this way, but h dos fl as though God is far from him. So that thr is no misundrstanding, God is omniprsnt.

5 5 Th Book of Job (Th End of Job 21) H is vrywhr. Whn th Bibl spaks of God rlativ to plac, thn that is a figur of spch. In this cas, it rfrs to th flings of th writr. H fls as though God is afar off. Barns: That is, what is th rason why You do this? Th though on which this is basd is that God might b xpctd to intrpos in a tim of troubl, and that His aid might thn b lookd for. Yt in this cas, H smd to b an indiffrnt spctator of th sorrows and afflictions of th wrongd and opprssd. This filld th mind of th writr with surpris, and h could not account for it, spcially 5 in viw of th charactr of th prson or prsons who had wrongd th author of th psalm. In th scond lin, w continu with th qustion, vn though thr is not a rpat of lâmâh. Thn w hav th nd 2 prson masculin singular, Hiphil imprfct of âlam (í ìç òè ) [pronouncd ìaw-lahm] mans to vil from sight, to hid from th ys, to turn away from. By application, it could also man to concal, to covr ovr. Strong's #5956 BDB #761. W thn hav th lâmd prposition (to, for) and th fminin plural substantiv construct êth (ú òå ) [pronouncd ìayth], which mans tim, th right tim, th propr tim. Strong s #6256 BDB #773. This is followd by th fminin singular noun bâtstsârâh (ä ø È È ) [pronouncd bahts-tsaw-raw], - which mans darth, dstitution, rstraint, drought. This may sm lik som variant idas, but rstraint sms to b th pominant on, indicating a rstraint of rain, which is a drought, which rsults in darth, dstitution. Strong s #1226 BDB #131. This givs us: [Why do] You concal [Yourslf] for tims of drought. Obviously th author of this psalm fls that h is in a tim of nd, and God is not thr for him. Th Opn Bibl commnts: [This] a typical complaint of th rightous suffrr. For xampl, Job crid out, Why do you turn away from m? (S Job 13:23 24). God s sming absnc in th midst of suffring always adds to our anxity. But w must rmmbr that th fling of alonnss is du to our blindnss, not to God s absnc. 6 Th vanglist, your Christian associats and/or your pastor might hav told you to bliv in Jsus and vrything would b grat. Th author of this psalm asks God why is H standing afar off (and it will b clar in this psalm that th problm is not that h is out of fllowship). Psalm 22:1 bgins with, My God, my God, why hav You forsakn m? Although this is clarly a Mssianic psalm, it had to hav som prvious historical valu. That is, it is rasonabl to assum that it had happnd to David th author (obviously at a much, much lowr intnsity). Psalm 13:1: How long, O Jhovah? Will You forgt m forvr? How long will You hid Your fac from m? Basd upon ths thr psalms alon, you cannot xpct your Christian lif to b rosy smils and happy things all th tim. In fact, if you do not xprinc tims of doubt, if God dos not fl as though H is nar you, if you don t suffr whn you ar out of fllowship, thn you may want to qustion your own salvation. I guarant you that whn I sin, I am disciplind. I gt tstd and I gt disciplind. Thy ar facts of my lif. You should xpct th sam not bcaus that is in th ralm of my own xprinc, but bcaus it is right hr in front of your fac in th Wo of God. Psalm 10 is a psalmist who dos not fl God s prsnc. In Psalm 13, David spaks of his fling that God has tmporarily abandond him and that his nmy sms to b gtting th uppr hand. Psalm 22 dscribs a blivr in grat pain (and it crtainly dscribs th cross of our Lo). Psalm 51 spaks of th pain and suffring that David ndu whn out of fllowship (as wll as th svral chaptrs in 2Sam ). Th book of Job dscribs incibl suffring ndu by a man who was th spiritual Atlas of his gnration. So, right hr in this on paragraph, I hav rattld off 12 chaptrs plus th book of Job which indicat that th blivr will suffr in this lif. And, don t think this is only an Old Tstamnt phnomna. Th Apostl Paul ndu grat suffrings, which h numrats in 2Cor. 11: H ndu that famous thorn in th flsh for what appars to b th last svral yars of his lif (2Cor. 12:7). I know what you want. You want to fly just undr th radar. You want to b in th plac whr you gt a littl blssing, but God forgts to disciplin you and H forgts to put any prssur on you. Sorry, that s not going to happn. You ar not going to b flying undr th radar. You ar not going to avoid pain and suffring. Furthrmor, you ar going to ndur injustics from both blivrs and unblivrs. In my lif, th worst tratmnt I hav rcivd has bn at th hands of fllow blivrs. 5 Barns Nots; Psalms, Volum 1; F. C. Cook, ditor; rprintd 1996 by Bakr Books; pp Th Opn Bibl; th Nw Living Translation; Thomas Nlson Publishrs, Nashvill, TN; 1996, p. 721.

6 Psalm 10 6 Application: Now, lt s mak anothr application of this vrs. Contmporary Christianity abounds with holy rollrs, most of whom xpct God to play spctacular parts in thir mdiocr livs. Thy xpct to s miracls, halings and all th powrs of God manifstd at last a fw tims on Sunday, if not mor oftn. Whn I tll thm that God dos not prform multipl miracls in th livs of blivrs, thy tll m that thy bliv in a Big God. I must admit that whn I har this, I want to smack thm in th had. I want to rpatdly pound thm ovr th had with on of my hacovr Bibls and ask, You vr rad this bfor? Hr w hav th psalmist David and is h writing about th grat miracls which h watchd God prform that day? Hll, no! H asks, Why do You stand afar off, O Jhovah? Dosn t David bliv in a Big God? Dosn t David know that with nough faith, God will bring him a miracl? Wll, God is not going to bring David a miracl. Is David a man of faith? Damnd right h is (I smd to b gtting workd up ovr this topic). Dos h hav mor faith than th avrag holy rollr? Way mor. Whr s th abundanc of miracls? Thr is no abundanc of miracls. If you xamind th livs of David and Solomon, you would b ha-prssd to find a miracl that ithr on actually obsrvd. David s killing of Goliath? Thr is no rason to assum that a miracl occur thr. Was God s powr involvd? Absolutly; but thr was no miracl. Thr was nothing which occur that was outsid th laws of natur (I should say, outsid th ralm of God s physical laws). Thr will b priods of tim whr it is not apparnt that God is working. Thr ar going to b tims whr injustics occur and thy ar not immdiatly rightd. So, dos this man that you should xpct to s miracls and halings vry Sunday at your church? No, not unlss you r stoopid. If you vr actually obsrv a ral miracl on whr God s natural laws ar tmporarily suspndd thn it should about knock your socks off. What w find hr is what w should xpct much mor oftn. Thr will b dry splls, so to spak. In fact, thr may b many dry splls in your lif. It is psalms lik ths that tll you that this is normal. God is still in this world; H is still paying attntion; H is still involvd. H may not b manifsting Himslf as w think that H should; H may not b righting wrongs as fast as w think H should. Not bad six pags and w ar alrady on v. 2! In prid of a wickd on, h burns a poor [on]. Thy hav bn takn in schms which thy hav thought out. Psalm 10:2 In th arroganc of th corrupt, h [th corrupt man] hotly pursus th poor [man]. Thy [th poor] hav bn takn by th schms which thy [th rich] hav dvisd. In his own grat arroganc, th rich man continus to prscut th poor. Th poor hav bn takn in my schms dvisd by th rich. In th introduction, I xplaind that, unlik Psalm 73, on could not simply look at th pronoun to dtrmin about whom th author is spaking. To mak this absolutly clar from th bginning, th first lin will us masculin singular s to rfr to both th rprobat and th poor prson; and th scond lin will us masculin plural s to rfr to ach of thm as wll. Lt s s first what othrs hav don: JPS (Tanakh) NASB NIV Th Sptuagint Young's Litral Translation Th wickd in his arroganc hounds th lowly may thy b caught in th schms thy dvis [or, thy (i.., th lowly) ar caught by th schms thy dvisd]! In prid th wickd hotly pursu [lit., burn] th afflictd; Lt thm b caught [or, Thy will b caught] in th plots which thy hav dvisd. In his arroganc, th wickd man hunts down th wak, who ar caught in th schms h dviss. Whil th ungodly on acts proudly, th poor ar inflamd; thy ar takn in th crafty counsls which thy imagin.. Through th prid of th wickd, Is th poor inflamd, Thy ar caught in dvics thy hav dvisd. Thr ar thr intrprtations which suggst thmslvs from a prcursory rading: (1) th poor ar takn in th dvics which th wickd dvis; (2) th wickd tak thmslvs in thir own dvics; or, (3) th psalmist is asking for th wickd to b takn in his own wickdnss. Th gist of th psalm lts out th scond intrprtation. If th corrupt ar capturing thmslvs in thir own wb of dcit, thn th psalmist has no complaints. God is in His havn and all is right with th world. That, howvr, gos against th tnor of this psalm, whrin th psalmist

7 7 Th Book of Job (Th End of Job 21) asks, Whr is God? Why dos h concal Himslf? Lt s thrfor pick this apart wo-by-wo to gt a bttr ida how w ar to tak it: W bgin with th bêyth prposition and th fminin singular noun ga ãvâh (ä åè àâ ) [pronouncd gah-uh-vaw], - which mans majsty, prid. It is gnrally usd in a ngativ sns. Strong s #1346 BDB #144. This is th scond wo in this chaptr which is also found in Psalm 73, indicating a similar thm. Spaking of wos from Psalm 73 (and Job 21), w thn hav th masculin singular adjctiv râshâ (ò È øè ) [pronouncd raw-shawì], which mans malvolnt, lawlss, corrupt, criminal. Strong s #7563 BDB #957. Th main vrb (which could b in th first or scond lin) is th 3 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct of dâlaq ( ì - È ) [pronouncd daw-lahk], which mans to burn, to hotly pursu. Th primary maning is to burn, to flam. Howvr, it has varid manings basd upon th ida of burning. For instanc, it can rfr to th glow of lov; to burning lips (not ncssarily rlatd to th burning of lov, but to on s oratory skills); and it can rfr to th hat of pursuit. Strong s #1814 BDB #196. Th last wo in this sntnc is th adjctiv ânîy (éð. òè ) [pronouncd ìaw-nee], which mans poor, afflictd, humbl; thos in circumstancs of humiliation and povrty. It is apparntly usd as a substantiv as wll. Strong s #6041 BDB #776. Litrally, what w hav is: In arroganc of th corrupt, h [th corrupt prson] hotly pursus th poor. In th English, w might shortn it to: In arroganc, th corrupt hotly pursus th poor. This may, at first, sm nonsnsical to you, but thos who ar succssful and corrupt somtims bcom that way by xploiting th poor and th ndy. Evn whn it appars as though th corrupt hav stoln from th poor until thy ar down to thir last dim, th rich want that last dim. This is th arroganc of th corrupt man. Thir prid is thir ncklac; a garmnt of violnc covrs thm...thy mock and wickdly spak of opprssion (Psalm 73:6). Barns: Th maning is, that th fact that th wickd prscutd th poor, in th cas rfr to, was to b tracd to his prid, haughtinss, ambition; that is, in pursuing his own slfish and ambitious purposs, h bcam uttrly rgalss of th rights and comforts of othrs. H stmd thir intrst and happinss as unworthy of rga in comparison with his own aims and purposs, and trampld down all thir rights in proscuting his own nds. 7 In th scond lin (or th thi lin, if you ar following Young, w bgin with th 3 prson masculin plural, Niphal imprfct of tâphas ( ô Ç È ) [pronouncd taw-fahs] and it mans to lay a hold of, to manipulat, to siz. Th Niphal, which is th passiv stm, mans to b takn a hold of. Strong's #8610 BDB #1074. Unlik Psalm 73, whr a chang of numbr or prson would indicat a chang of th subjcts; hr, both th poor and th corrupt hav bn rfr to in th masculin singular; now w hav a rfrnc to th masculin plural. Thn w hav th bêyth prposition and th fminin plural noun mzimmâh (ä Èæò î) [pronouncd mzim-maw], which mans purpos, discrtion, dvic. Strong s #4209 BDB #273. Th wo it coms from mans pr-mditatd vil, wllthought out wickdnss, pr-plannd harm. I think that w could go with schms, plots, vil purposs. Thn w b hav th rlativ pronoun followd by th 3 prson plural, Qal prfct of châsha v (á Ç çè ) [pronouncd khaw- SHAHBV], which mans to think, to rga, to account, to count, to dtrmin, to calculat. Strong s #2803 BDB #362. Now, whras I will agr that th psalmist would hav likd to hav sn th corrupt takn in thir own schms, that dos not appar to b what w hav hr. Othrwis, w would hav xpctd th vrb to b cohortativ. Th Niphal is simply th passiv form of th vrb, indicating that thy (th poor) would b caught in th dvics or plans of th wickd. Litrally, w hav: Thy hav bn takn a hold of in [th] schms which thy had thought out. Givn that this psalmist is not compltly clar as to who is th masculin singular and who is h masculin plural (actually, it is quit clar that thy can rfr to th sam class of popl), w will, by intrprtation, apply th first masculin plural to th poor, who hav bn xploitd, and th scond to th succssful infidls, who do not fl that thy hav flcd thir subjcts nough. Thrfor, w hav: Thy [th poor] hav bn takn a hold of in th schms which thy [th corrupt] hav thought out. Th maning is asy to ascrtain. Th rich s th poor as asy pry and thy hav st up various ways to stal from thm. Now, this obviously is not what th psalmist wants to s happn. What h wants to s is Psalm 7:16: His wrongdoing will rturn upon his own had and his violnc will dscnd upon his own crown. Or, 7 Barns Nots; Psalms, Volum 1; F. C. Cook, ditor; rprintd 1996 by Bakr Books; p. 87.

8 Psalm 10 8 Psalm 9:16: Jhovah has mad Himslf known. H has xcutd judgmnt. In th work of his own hands, th wickd is sna. Throughout th rst of this psalm, it will b clar that th wickd appars to oprat unftt by God. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Actions and Charactristics of th Malvolnt For has clbratd, th wickd [man] byond dsirs of his soul; and finishing, h blssd [or, cursd], h dspisd Y howah. Psalm 10:3 For th corrupt man clbrats th lusts of his soul, and, whn finishd, h curss [and] h dspiss Y howah. For you s, th corrupt man will, on th on hand, clbrat th lusts of his soul, but, whn finishd satiating ths lusts, thn curss and dspiss Jhovah. First, lt s s how this was translatd by th othrs: JPS (Tanakh) NASB NIV NLT Own's Translation Th Sptuagint Young's Litral Translation Th wickd crows about his unbridld lusts; th grasping man rvils and scorns th LORD. For th wickd boasts of his hart s dsir, And th gy man curss and spurns th LORD. H boasts of th cravings of his hart; h blsss th gy and rvils th LORD. For thy brag about thir vil dsirs; thy prais th gy and curs th LORD. For boasts th wickd of th dsirs of his hart; and th man gy for gain curss [and] rnouncs Yahwh. Bcaus th sinnr praiss himslf for th dsirs of his hart; and th unjust on blsss himslf. Bcaus th wickd hath boastd Of th dsirs of his soul, And a dishonst gainr h hath blssd, H hath dspisd Jhovah. With bgin with th xplanatory conjunction and th 3 prson masculin singular, Pil prfct of hâlal (ì ìç äè ) [pronouncd haw-lahl], which mans to b boastful, to prais. In th Pil, it mans to sing, to clbrat, to prais, to boast. Strong s #1984 BDB #237. Thn w hav th masculin singular adjctiv corrupt, wickd on again. Thn w hav th hast working prposition in th Hbrw languag, al (ì òç ) [pronouncd ìahl ], which mans upon, byond, on, against, abov, ovr, by, bsid. It can also man on th ground of (or upon th basis) somthing is don (Dut. 17:11 Psalm 94:20) or, on account of, bcaus of as in Gn. 20:2 21:12). Strong s #5920, #5921 BDB #752. This is followd by th fminin singular noun ta ãvâh (ä åè àâ ) [pronouncd tahuh-vasw], which mans dsir, lust. This wo can b usd in a good way (longing, that which is longd for) or - in a bad. Strong s #8378 BDB #16. This is followd by of his soul. Our first lin, thrfor rads: For th corrupt man clbrats th dsirs of his soul;... Lt m usd my oftn usd living illustration: Hugh Hfnr, foundr of Playboy Magazin h clbrats th dsirs of his soul. Th hippi gnration that I grw up with thy clbratd th dsirs and lusts of thir soul. Th lusts of th soul wr not sn as somthing to b undr our control, subjct to right and wrong, but somthing to b satisfid at all costs. Rathr than dfin any of this in trms of right and wrong, such notions wr rplacd by a clbration of on s carnal dsirs. Barns: Th main ida in this vrs sms to b that h is a boastr a man who maks som proclamation about himslf as bing suprior to othrs, and who, in that proportion, looks with disdain or contmpt on othrs. H vaunts himslf, or mak s an ostntatious display of somthing on which h prids himslf, as walth, strngth, bauty, talnt, prowss, tc. Th particular thing hr, it would sm, of which h boastd, was his natural inclinations; th propnsitis and passions of his soul; that is, h took prid in himslf, in his own passions, dsirs, lusts, tasts, and mad a boastful display of thm, as if h rgad thm as somthing honourabl, or as somthing fittd to xcit admiration in

9 9 Th Book of Job (Th End of Job 21) othrs. This is not a vry uncommon charactristic of wickd m; at last it is found in a crtain class of wickd mn. Thy prid thmslvs in whatvr thy hav in thir charactr that is pculiar, or that is thir own, for th vry rason that it is thirs; and th bcom so shamlss that thy do not hsitat to publicly to boast of that which should b rgad as a disgrac. 8 Th corrupt man boasts or clbrats a grat many things which h should not. Evn thos who trust in thir walth and boast in th abundanc of thir richs (Psalm 49:6). Almost vry rich man attributs his own brillianc and ha wo as th rasons for his walth, vn though thr ar mn who ar much mor intllignt and mn who work much har, and do not achiv th sam lvl of matrial prosprity. God allows som mn to bcom rich and othrs h dos not. Most blivrs ar nvr rwad with grat matrial prosprity bcaus thy would not know how to handl it. On of th first things to go in thir livs would b Bibl doctrin, bcaus thy would bcom to involvd with th making of mor mony. Som malvolnt simply xalt thmslvs, as if thy wr somthing grat. Thy poor forth wos, thy spak arrogantly. All who do immoral things vaunt thmslvs (Psalm 94:4). Thy mistaknly bliv that thy thmslvs ar somon to b admi, rspctd, fa and mulatd. On th flip sid, thos who ar lss famous who hav rjctd divin authority, prais thos who ar succssful and hav also rjctd divin authority. Thos who forsak th Law prais th corrupt; but thos who kp th Law striv with thm (Psalm 28:4). Illustrations abound hr. Thr ar thos who idoliz or hold in vry high rga mn lik Hugh Hfnr or Howa Strn. If you vr attnd a concrt of a contmporary artist whos lyrics glorify immorality, hunds at th concrt will war a t-shirt mblazond with thir imag. Th fans will mmoriz and sing out thir lyrics, oftn th most horrid of thm. And finally, thr will b a significant numbr of popl in th audinc who will imitat thir hairstyl, drss and mannrisms. Som will look lik clons of th artist (I rcall sing too many popl who would attmpt to look lik Frank Zappa at his concrts it was sad to s somon whos ntir idntity and ssnc was wrappd up in th prsonag of anothr, particularly in th prsonag of on who was that immoral, who rjctd authority so strongly, and who ridiculd that which was associatd with God. In any cas, all ths things about which th corrupt and malvolnt prais will vntually prish. Th corrupt man will s rightousnss and b vxd. H will gnash his tth and bcom discouragd. Th dsir of th corrupt will prish (Psalm 112:10). Com now, you rich, wp and howl for your misris which ar coming upon you. You richs hav rottd and your garmnts hav bcom moth-atn. You gold and your silvr hav rustd and thir rust will b a witnss against you and will consum your flsh lik a fir (Jams 5:1 3a). And, thy prais thmslvs as wll, and thy will also prish (in th sns of burning forvr). And if anyon s nam was not found writtn in th book of lif, h was thrown into th lak of fir (Rv. 20:15). Th scond lin bgins with th wâw conjunction and th Qal activ participl of bâtsa (ò ö Ç È ) [pronouncd baw- TZAHÌ], rnd both to cut off, to brak off, to gain by violnc (Isa. 38:12 Ezk. 22:12 Habak. 2:9); and to prfct, to complt, to finish (Isa. 10:12 Lam. 2:17 Zch. 4:9). Although it appars as though w hav an homonym hr, th dal is that bâtsa coms from th a wo coms from a wavr, who, whn finishd with his work, cuts off th wb btwn th thrum (whatvr th hll that is) and th loom. Strong s #1214 BDB #130. This is followd by two mor vrbs: first, th 3 prson masculin singular, Pil prfct of bârak ( ø Ç ) È [pronouncd baw-rahk ], which mans to knl down, to bnd th kns, and thrfor to blss, to mak happy, to prospr. Now, this is a vry difficult wo in a handful of cass, as it appars to man just th opposit of what it gnrally mans. Thr ar a coupl of wos in Hbrw which bhav that way, which ar of no littl constrnation to on 9 who is translating th passag. Now, although w find this wo translatd, and rasonably so, to blss, to mak happy, tc. in litrally hunds of passags, w com up to a passag lik this (or, for instanc, 1Kings 21:10, 13) whr it appars as though th opposit maning would b much mor apropos. It is calld an antiphrastic uphmism, maning th us of a wo or phras that usually has on maning in common spch, but is usd 8 Barns Nots; Psalms, Volum 1; F. C. Cook, ditor; rprintd 1996 by Bakr Books; p For instanc, in Job 1:11 2:5, 9, w find th sam wo, and various translators giv it opposit translations. S th Psalm 10:3 addndum.

10 Psalm to man th opposit. You might think of it as th ironic or th sarcastic us of th wo. So now, you might b thinking, wll, that s just total crap, so lt m giv you an English illustration. You v just had a marvlous $30 mal, srvd by a wait prson who was attntiv, yt non-intrusiv. You hand thm $30.25 and thy will probably say thank you, but thy won t man thank you, but somthing quit th opposit. Strong s #1288 BDB #138. Our scond (actually, thi) vrb is th 3 prson masculin singular, Pil prfct of nâ ats (õà Ç È ð) [pronouncd naw- AHTZ], which mans to abhor, to dspis, to spurn, to disgust, which may or may not hav a dirct objct. Strong s #5006 BDB #610. Th final wo in this vrs is th propr noun Y howah. This givs us: And braking off, h curss, h dspiss Y howah. Th othr maning of bâtsa would giv us: And finishing, h curss, h dspiss Y howah. Th intrprtation would b that such a on clbrats his lusts, satiats himslf, and thn, aftr njoying himslf, both curss and dspiss Jhovah. H is proud of his lusts and dsirs; h clbrats ths lusts and dsirs as things to b satisfid rgalss. And thn, upon compltion of th satisfaction of ths dsirs, which God has allowd him to do, h thn turns around and curss and rvils God, dspising Him. W might rndr this: Aftr finishing, h blsss, h dspiss Y howah. This would b th sarcastic or ironic us of th wo bârak. Bullingr givs an ntirly diffrnt xplanation for th wo blss. Hr, as wll as in 1Kings xxi. 10, 13; Job i. 5, 11; ii. 5, 9, th wo which was in th primitiv Txt was ì ì È (kalal), to curs, or ó ã âè (gadaph), to blasphm, and - - to avoid having to pronounc ths wos in connction with God, th wo êøá (brch), to blss, was substitutd, and a not to this ffct was put in th margin. Th maning, howvr, is so transparnt that th translators hav rnd it curs, instad of th printd Hbrw Txt, which is blss; and commntators, ignorant of th ral fact of th mndation, hav labo to prov that êøá (brch) mans both to blss and to curs, which is not th 11 cas. Now, whras this maks prfct sns, th problm is that I am not awar of any not mad in th margins. Obviously, in my Hbrw Bibl, thr would b no nots in th margins. Sinc Bullingr was not crtain of th wo that blongs thr, that mans that wo was not found in th margin. That is, h suspcts that it is kalal or gadaph, but h dosn t know. So, if thr is a not in th margin, it dos not tll us what th wo should actually b. Now, is such a thing rasonabl and possibl? Crtainly. Rcall that thos who rad th txt, would not rad th nam Y howah (which is why w can only spculat as to its pronunciation), but thy would rad Lo instad (obviously th Hbrw quivalnt), bcaus thy flt th nam was too holy to rad aloud, vn though thy wr in th synagogu doing a Bibl rading (off th top of my had, I don t know whn this practic bgan). Thrfor, it would mak sns that any passag which dalt with a man cursing th Lo would b difficult for thm to rad it would go so much against th rligious snsibilitis, that thy simply substitutd in th wo to blss. I will go into mor dtail on ths mndations whn w gt to 1Sam. 3:13. Bullingr s scond possibl xplanation, which is lss satisfying, is that thy insrtd th wo to blss, and placd to blasphm in th margin. Howvr, what occur, is both wos wr placd togthr in th txt latr by a scrib. Thn, on would simply rmov th wo to blss in or to hav th original txt. This would xplain both 12 th wo to blss and why w hav two vrbs right nxt to ach othr without a conjunction btwn thm. Th problm with this xplanation is that both changs would hav to occur arly, arly on, and thraftr b found in vry availabl manuscript. To mak two changs lik that, and thn to find th rsult of both changs in all vrsions of th Massortic txt, is a bit of a strtch. Barns suggsts an intrprtation as this: And winning (i.., whn h wins), h [vrbally] blsss but dspiss [in his hart] Jhovah. In othr wos, h hypocritically thanks God for his succss, but dspiss him in his hart. 13 I prsonally don t buy into this, as thr is nothing to suggst that w ar spaking of a man whos lusts ar out of control, but who maintains som sort of spiritual facad. That kind of intrprtation is compltly outsid th contxt of this Psalm. Barns also offrs a fw othr intrprtations as wll, including th ida of th rprobat blssing himslf. Th problm, of cours, is that th wo himslf could hav b insrtd in th Hbrw, but was not (and thr is no altrnat manuscript vidnc for that thory ithr). Barns thn sttls upon, as I hav, th antithtical (or, sarcastic; or, ironical) maning of bârak, which is to curs, and blivs that to b th most corrct 10 Whn Critics Ask; Gislr and How, 1992, Victor Books, p Figurs of Spch Usd in th Bibl; E. W. Bullingr; horiginally 1898; rprintd 1968 Bakr Books; p Figurs of Spch Usd in th Bibl; E. W. Bullingr; horiginally 1898; rprintd 1968 Bakr Books; p Barns Nots; Psalms, Volum 1; F. C. Cook, ditor; rprintd 1996 by Bakr Books; p. 88.

11 11 Th Book of Job (Th End of Job 21) 14 intrprtation of this wo and this vrs. As you can tll by th past two vrss: vn though th vocabulary of th author is gnrally not that high-pow; this is still a difficult psalm to translat and to intrprt. Corrupt, as a hight of his nostril, dos not sk; [thr is] no God [in] all his schms. Psalm 10:4 Th corrupt [man], accoing to th prid of his angr dos not sk [God], [thr is] no God, [accoing to] all thir schms. Th rprobat, accoing to his angry prid, dos not sk God; in fact, thr is no thought of Dity in him. In xamining what Own has translatd, as vrss what I can s in th Hbrw, I can tll that this could b a difficult vrs. Lt s s what othrs hav don first of all. Th Amplifid Bibl Th Emphasizd Bibl JPS (Tanakh) NASB NIV NKJV Own's Translation Th Sptuagint Young's Litral Translation Th wickd in th prid of his countnanc will not sk, inquir for and yarn for God; all his thoughts ar that thr is no God [so H nvr punishs]. 5Th lawlss on5 <in th loftinss of his countnanc> will not nquir, God is not in any of his plots [or prhaps, All his thoughts (ar) Thr is no God!]; Th wickd, arrogant as h is, in all his schming [thinks], H dos not call to account; God dos not car [lit., thr is no God]. Th wickd, in th haughtinss of his countnanc, dos not sk Him. All his thoughts ar, Thr is no God. In his prid, th wickd dos not sk him; in all his thoughts, thr is no room for God. Th wickd in his proud countnanc dos not sk God; God is in non of his thoughts [or, All his thoughts ar, thr is no God]. Th wickd, in th prid of his countnanc, dos not sk him. Thr is no God, all his thoughts. Th sinnr has provokd th Lo, accoing to th abundanc of his angr, h will not sk aftr Him; th God is not bfor him. Th wickd, accoing to th hight of his fac, God is not! ar all his dsirs. W bgin with th adjctiv usd as a substantiv for wickd, corrupt, malvolnt. Thr is no dfinit articl, although, in th English, it just dosn t sound corrct without on. Thr ar two Hbrw lttrs, both usd as singl prfixd prpositions, which look alik. On is th kaph prposition (ë), which mans as, lik, accoing to, whn; and th othr is th bêyth prposition (á), which mans in, at, by, with, against (th lattr is a bit mor flxibl. In th Hbrw, what w hav is th kaph prposition, rnd as a bêyth prposition by th NASB, NIV and Own. b b This is followd by th masculin singular construct of gô vahh ( áé ) [pronouncd GOH -VAH], which mans - hight. Howvr, it mans, mor mtaphorically, majsty, magnificnc (in th positiv sns) and prid, arroganc (in th ngativ sns). W crtainly still uss th wo in th sam way, in both th positiv and 15 ngativ sns, as in, Look at hr, actin so high and mighty! Or, in th positiv sns, H has a high position in th firm. Strong s #1363 BDB #147. Intrprting this in th ngativ sns is not a big lap. This is followd by th masculin singular noun aph (ó àç ) [pronouncd ahf], which mans nos, nostril, but is also translatd fac, brow, angr. Strong s #639 BDB #60. Thn w hav th ngativ and th main vrb of th first lin, which is th 3 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct of dârash ( ø Ç È ) [pronouncd dah-rawsh], which mans to sk, to mak inquiris concrning, to consult, to invstigat, to study, to follow, to inquir. Strong s #1875 BDB #205. W would xpct a dirct objct to follow, or, at th vry last, a masculin singular suffix, but w do not hav that, and must infr on from th us of Jhovah, at th nd of th prvious vrs; as wll as th wo God in this vrs. This givs us: [Th] corrupt [man], accoing to [th] prid of his angr, dos not sk [God]. Hr is th concrn of th psalmist. A blivr with som doctrin is apprciativ, to som xtnt, of th food that God provids, and 14 Barns spnds approximatly an ntir pag covring this. Barns Nots; Psalms, Volum 1; F. C. Cook, ditor; rprintd 1996 by Bakr Books; pp Yah, I know, I v livd in th South too long.

12 Psalm of th matrial blssings which God givs him. Evn, whn th blivr is mor spiritually advancd, h can thank God for th trauma and suffring which h wnt through. Howvr, for th corrupt infidl, basd upon th arroganc of his own angr, dspit th fact that God has actually blssd him, or, at th vry last, allowd him to pursu his own lusts, dos not sk out or inquir of God. H is givn a rlativly asy lif and h dos not hav any tru apprciation of it. Scond lin. W bgin with th ngativ particl ayin (ï éòà) [pronouncd AH-yin], which mans naught, nothing; - or it can b usd as a particl of ngation; no, not. W oftn must supply a vrb for this substantiv and rndr it thr is no. Strong s #369 BDB #34. Thn w hav God (Elohim), followd by all his and th fminin plural noun m zimmâh, from v. 2. M zimmâh (ä Èæò î) [pronouncd m zim-maw] mans purpos, discrtion, dvic. In th plural, it would man schms, plots, vil purposs. Strong s #4209 BDB #273. This givs us: [Thr is] no God [in] all thir schms. My guss, bcaus all bgins with th lttr kaph, is that thr was ithr a bêyth or a kaph prposition which was droppd out. [Thr is] no God, [accoing to] all thir schms. Barns: Th fact that h would not sk God, and that h had said that God had forgottn (vr. 11), shows that h had som thoughts of God. Th languag hr is proprly xprssiv of blif or dsir; ithr that all his thoughts wr that thr is no God, i.., that such was th rsult of all his mditations and rasonings on th subjct; or that h wishd that it might b found to b so. Th languag will admit of ithr construction, and in ithr sns it would xprss th thoughts of th wickd both as a mattr of practical blif, and as a mattr of dsir th languag of th wickd is, no God. T h wickd wish that thr wr non; h practically blivs that thr is non. 16 As you can s, thr is no littl difficulty in translating and undrstanding this vrs. Thrfor, lt s xamin: Th L ss Lit ral Translations of Psalm 10:4 Complt Jwish Bibl CEV God s Wo NAB NEB NJB NLT REB TEV Evry schm of th wickd in his arroganc [says], T hr is no God, [so] it won t b hld against m. Th wickd ar too proud to turn to you or vn think about you. H turns up his nos [and says], God dosn t car. His vry thought [concluds], Thr is no God. In thir insolnc th wickd boast: God dosn t car, dosn t vn xist....arrogant as h is, h scorns th LORD and lavs no plac for God in all his schms. Th wickd in his arroganc dos not look vry far; Thr is no God, is his only thought. Ths wickd popl ar too proud to sk God. Thy sm to think that God is dad. Th wickd in thir prid do not sk God; thr is no plac for God in any of thir schms. A wickd man dos not car about th LORD; in his prid h thinks that God dosn t mattr. You will not that thr ar a coupl of approachs to this vrs. On, found in th mor litral translations as wll, is that thr is a quot or possibly two from th wickd man. Th vrs nds with: No God, all his schms, which could b asily takn as: All his thinking [is], [Thr is] no God! In th first lin, w gnrally agr on bginning with th wickd man, but thn it falls apart aftr that. Thr is oftn a rfrnc to prid, occasionally to angr or to countnanc, and most of thm includ th vrb to sk (or a synonym). Howvr, in th Hbrw, thr is no objct of this vrb. Bcaus this litrally maks littl sns, w hav a varity of ways that th first lin is dalt with. 16 Barns Nots; Psalms, Volum 1; F. C. Cook, ditor; rprintd 1996 by Bakr Books; pp

13 13 Th Book of Job (Th End of Job 21) Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Ex g sis of th S ptuagint V rsion of Psalm 10:4 Bcaus of th difficulty xprincd with v. 4, w will xgt th Grk of this. Now, rcall that th Grk is not inspi by God (although many of th Apostls usd this translation to mak thir thological points), and rcall that th Sptuagint translation is spotty at tims, ranging from bing vry litral to this is what th vrs mans to m. Th vrs bgins with th vrb paroxunô (ðáñïîýíù) [pronouncd par-ox-oo-noh], which mans, litrally, to sharpn along sid of (looking at its componnt parts and thn putting thm togthr). Howvr, compound wos ar not simply th sum of thir parts. It mans to urg on, to stimulat, to provok to wrath, to irritat. Strong s #3947. Thn w hav th Lo th sinnr, giving us: Th sinnr provoks to wrath th Lo. Obviously, this is much diffrnt than w hav in th Hbrw. This is bcaus this is still v. 3, markd as v. 4 in my Sptuagint. What follows is v. 4 in th Hbrw, but is a continuation of th sntnc abov. W hav accoing to th followd by plêthos (ðë èïò) [pronouncd PLAY-thoss], which mans a larg numbr, a multitud of. Strong s #4128. Thn w hav th fminin singular gnitiv of orgê ( ñãþ) [pronouncd ohr-gay], which mans angr, indignation, wrath. It is a wo usd both of God and of man. Strong s #3709. Thn w hav of his, giving us:...accoing to a multitud of his angr. It is not clar whthr w ar spaking of th angr of th sinnr or th angr of God. Howvr, sinc God s angr is prtty much confind to rightous angr, w can assum that w ar spaking of th angr of th sinnr. Howvr, I could s this maning...accoing to th quantity of His angr. Thn w hav th ngativ and th vrb kzêtô ( êæçôýù) [pronouncd k-zay-teh-oh], which mans to sk out, to sarch for. It can also man to dsir, to sk to gt, to charg with, to rquir of. Strong s #1567. Again, w xpct a dirct objct, but w do not find on, which could indicat that th translators wr trying to stay vry clos to th Hbrw that thy had to work with. W thn hav th ngativ along with th 3 prson singular, prsnt indicativ of imi (å ìß) [pronouncd y- ME], which mans to b. Strong s #1510. Th noun is th God. Thn w hav th impropr prposition nôpion ( íþðéïí) [pronouncd n-oh-p-on], which mans bfor, in front of, in th sight of, in th prsnc of. Strong s #1799. This is followd by him, giving us: Th sinnr provoks to wrath th Lo, accoing to [th] abundanc of his angr. H will not sk aftr [Him]. Th God is not bfor him. Th intrprtation of th Grk is much asir. Th rprobat, who is th cntr of this psalm, has provokd God s wrath or angr. This ithr coms out of th innat angr of th rprobat or it is accoing to th norm or standa of God s rightous angr. Th rprobat dos not sk aftr God, God is not bfor him (in his thoughts). Lt s add on thought: th rprobat should provok th angr of God, accoing to th quantity of His angr. This is what th psalmist would xpct. What th rprobat dos should angr God and bring His wrath upon him. Th intrprtation of th Hbrw is a bit trickir, and thr may hav bn som corruption of th txt. Howvr, thy (thos who ar corrupt and immoral) rally hav no rason to b upst, angry or ngativ about thir livs, but thy ar. Thy ar pridful of thir angr, of thir opposition to God and that which is good. Thy hav no intrst in sking out aftr God, and, to thir way of thinking, thr is no God. In fact, accoing to all of thir schms (prsumably to satisfy thir lusts), thr is no thought givn to God. Approaching this with th translation of th NKJV (Th wickd in his proud countnanc dos not sk God; God is in non of his thoughts [or, All his thoughts ar, thr is no God]); w hav th rprobat and his pridful thinking, which has no rason to sk God. God is not in his thinking; or, if h thinks about it, his thoughts ar that thr is no God. Or, h oprats his lif as though thr is no God.