Psalm 52. Introduction: Psalm 52 is one of the most excoriating of the psalms. The occasion for this psalm is when Doeg. Outline of Chapter 52:

Transcription

1 Psalm 52 Psalm 52:1 22 A Rcklss, Dcitful Tongu Outlin of Chaptr 52: Inscription Psalm 52 Inscription vv. 1 4 Dog s Evil Lying Tongu v. 5 What God will do to Dog vv. 6 7 Th Rightous Will Obsrv and Tak Not of th Futility of Dog s Lif vv. 8 9 David Prsnts His Own Trust in God by Way of Contrast Although in th outlin, I hav mad this psalm vry spcific in its application (David as th growing blivr and Dog as th slf-srving, lying sack of shit), this of cours has much widr application to th blivr who is growing in God s grac and knowldg as vrsus th man who will li and commit othr sins of th tongu in ordr to gt whatvr it is that h wants in lif. Thr ar mn who will say or do anything in ordr to improv thir livs, to gain th approbation of othrs and in ordr to advanc thir positions. Charts and Maps: Introduction Th Us of Elohim and Jhovah in th Psalms Introduction Th Elohimic Maskil v. 4 Dog s Options: v. 7 A Summary of Psalm 52:7 v. 8 How David and Dog Ar Polar Opposits v. 8 Psalm 52 Organizd by Paralll Thoughts v. 9 Dog s Evil v. 9 Similaritis Btwn Dog and th Man of Sin to Com v. 9 A Summary of Barns Thsis on Whn Do You Convy Information and Whn Do You Kp Your Mouth Shut? Doctrins Covrd Doctrins Alludd To Oliv Tr Hous of Elohim Sins of th Tongu Introduction: Psalm 52 is on of th most xcoriating of th psalms. Th occasion for this psalm is whn Dog th Edomit gos to Saul and tlls him whr David is, which rsults in th slaughtr of th prists of Nob. David raks Dog ovr th coals in th psalm, probably mor than any othr individual. I suspct that David and Dog had som sort of a rlationship thy knw ach othr, wr frindly toward on anothr. Dog is calld th chif of Saul s shphrds in I Sam. 21:7, and David, in his youngr days had bn a shphrd for his family s flock. So w would hav xpctd David to look up Dog arly on during his tnur at th palac. If you found yourslf at a dinnr party with 20 popl that you barly knw, you might gravitat toward thos whos vocation is similar to yours. David did th sam thing. H was not a brown-nosr, h was not originally a soldir, h was not an old frind of Saul s but h was a shphrd, so no doubt, David lookd up th king s shphrd and w might xpct that thy knw ach othr wll.

2 Psalm 52 2 To hlp draw you a pictur, Saul was strangd from th spiritual aspcts of Isral sinc his scond fall out with Samul. H had don things that wr th prrogativ of a prist (offring sacrifics); so whn Samul cut Saul off, Saul ndd any sort of rlationship that h might hav had with th prists and th Tnt of God. In fact, during Saul s kingship, h mad no attmpt to bring th Ark of God to th Tnt of God, and h offrd no support to th prists of God. So, w hav no rlationship btwn Saul and thos in th pristly lin (which will bcom apparnt whn h slaughtrs thm). Thrfor, thr is probably no on in Saul s rgim who has a spiritual dg to thm, apart from Jonathan (and David and Jonathan bcam quick frinds). Thrfor, apart from Jonathan, th man in Saul s cabint that David would hav th most in common with would b Dog. So w can xpct that David spnd som tim with Dog. Whthr thy had anything ls in common, w don t know. W know for crtain that Dog did not possss any of David s intgrity. David wnt to Nob, th city of th prists, soon aftr h lft his royal hom (I Sam. 19:12 21:1). H had alrady bn to th city of prophts. H had no ral plan, apart from gtting som food to at and Goliath s sword. Bcaus Saul had no ral contact with th prists, David knw that h could go thr, and not b rcognizd by any of Saul s mn as thy would not b thr. Howvr, David was surprisd to s Dog th Edomit (I Sam. 21:7). Dog, as w hav sn in I Sam. 23, was a man who dspratly wantd to fit in. H was an outsidr, an Edomit, so, vn though Saul was not a supportr of th spiritual sid of Isral, Dog still wnt to Nob, th city of prists, with th intntion of fitting in bttr in Isral. Apparntly, svral of Saul s srvants had bn thr, but thy had gon (David vry likly obsrvd this); with th xcption of Dog. So, whil talking to Ahimlch, th prist, David looks ovr th man s shouldr and ss a familiar fac, Dog. Thr is no indication that thy talkd, wavd, or did anything to acknowldg sing on anothr. David had told Ahimlch that h was on a scrt mission from Saul, so h didn t nd anyon ls contradicting that story...so David crtainly did not call Dog ovr to talk. So thy partd, Dog and David, wordlssly, not vn acknowldging th othr s prsnc. Howvr, thy both kpt this fact in mind. Dog did not run right to Saul and say, David s at Nob. You nd to hurry, or you will miss him. It is clar that Dog waitd, and David not only lft Nob, but had bn to and lft Gath as wll. Saul calld a cabint mting and thrw a royal fit about David. I Sam. 22:5 10. Dog, dciding that his information might provid him with an in with Saul, says, Wll, I bliv that I saw David at Nob. Now, Dog has to b carful. That was a fw wks ago. Dog can t bring this up, and lt it stay at that. Othrwis, Saul would hav Dog xcutd for not tlling him soonr. H has to dflct Saul s angr to th prists. H [Ahimlch] inquird of Jhovah for him [David], gav him food and gav him Goliath s sword. (I Sam. 22:10). David is long-gon from thr, so what dos Dog hop to accomplish? H simply wants to b on Saul s good sid. And h has to dflct any animosity that Saul might put on him. In othr words, th contnt of Dog s information is compltly slf-srving. I should add that Dog probably contmplatd th following, What if Saul finds out that David was in Nob th sam tim that I was? I had bttr tll Saul bfor h finds out this information on his own. So part of Dog s dcision to rval this to Saul could hav bn motivatd by slf-prsrvation. Dog knows what a madman Saul is; if Saul vr suspctd that Dog knw somthing about David but did not rval it, Dog would b xcutd for crtain. Knowing that Saul was a madman, Dog gav littl considration to what Saul would do to th inhabitants of Nob whn h wnt thr to find David long gon. In fact, th nd rsult will not only b that Saul slaughtrs th prists of Nob, but that Dog will do th actual slaughtring himslf. Th rsult of all this is David s psalm, an od to Dog, a man that David apparntly onc countd as a frind and ally, but who was now willing to sll his own mothr, so to spak, for Saul s approbation and for his own slfprsrvation. So, what you should xpct is that David will spak rathr strongly and ngativly about Dog, and his actions. What Dog did was an immoral btrayal. David will pull no punchs. I originally introducd this psalm at th tim that Dog stands up and tlls Saul, I v sn David in Nob. Howvr, that is not whn David actually wrot this. David didn t sit straight up in his bd on night and suddnly say, Dog s slling out th prists as if from som dram. H wrot this psalm bcaus of this act of Dog s. Howvr, David will bcom awar of th act whn th last living prist, Abiathar bn Ahimlch (probably a tnagr at th tim), coms to David and tlls him about th slaughtr of Nob (I Sam. 22:20 23). This would hav bn th actual tim of David writing this psalm. Thrfor, vn though many commntaris mak rfrnc to this psalm back in I Sam. 22:9, it mor proprly blongs hr, aftr I Sam. 22:22, aftr w hav sn what Dog has don.

3 3 Th Book of I Samul (I Sam. 22:22) On of th rasons that I rad svral commntaris whn I prpar this, is that thy occasionally giv m a frsh prspctiv or thought or qustion to pursu. Although I hav svral commntaris which hav bn gathrd by th -Sword guy (Rick Myrs), whn I rad McG s tak on this psalm, h providd a compltly diffrnt initial viw: McG suggsts that this psalm introducs a sris of psalms about th man of sin to com, th antichrist (Psalms 52 55). McG, for thos who don t know him, taught th ntir Bibl ovr a priod of 5 yars on th radio, book by book, although not always vrs by vrs (which would hav bn an impossibl task). This trip was don svral tims, and now it is rbroadcast narly two dcads aftr McG passd away to b with God. McG nvr did go crazy with schatology; h taught it whn h cam to it, and avoidd making wild prdictions. In fact, h writs, Many wild things ar bing said today in th fild of prophcy. Thr is fanaticism in th grat dpartmnt of schatology, th doctrin of futur things; and som things ar bing said that should not b said. Bcaus of th anxity and uncrtainly of this day and ag in which w liv, many folk ar turning to th Word of God. Prophtic confrncs ar springing up vrywhr, sponsord by churchs that nvr bfor wr intrstd in prophcy. Many spak rs ar attmpting to b snsational by mak ing prophtic statmnts that hav 1 no foundation in th Word of God. Howvr, lik I said, whn McG got to a prophtic passag, h did not shy away from it. And what McG suggsts is that, w hav all of ths villains in th lif of David who hav croppd up, and as David wrot about thm, h wrot also about th man of sin as wll. That is, thr was a doubl maning that could b infrrd in David s writings. Whil I hsitat only slightly in supporting McG s position hr, thr is doubtlss many parallls btwn Dog and th man of sin to com. Psalm 52 bgins a sris of what ar known as Elohimic mask ils, that is, psalms in which th nam Elohim is prominnt, and that ths ar idntifid as maskil or instructiv psalms. In all actuality, Elohim occurs 3 tims in this psalm, 7 tims in Psalm 53, 4 tims in Psalm 54, and 5 tims in Psalm 55. Although thr ar svral psalms whr w do not find th nam (or titl) Elohim (.g., 1, 2, 6, 11, 12), th numbr of tims Elohim occurs in ths psalms is not out of th ordinary (for instanc, Elohim is found 9 tims in Psalm 56 and 8 tims in Psalm 66). Th numbr of vrss, th thm of th psalm, th mtr of th vrs and th doctrinal points bing mad hav just as much to do with th slction of th titl Elohim and th numbr of tims w find It usd. Th propr nam, Jhovah, is found only onc in Psalm 54 and twic in Psalm 55 (it is found 10 tims, for instanc, in Psalm 30 31). Thr has bn an inordinat amount of thought concrning this by th JEPD crowd, and thir solution is that on author wrot all th Jhovah passags and anothr all th Elohim passags. Th rsult is, blocks of chaptrs of individual books ar assignd to th Jhovist and othr blocks to th Elohimist. What thy ignor is styl, thm, mtr and doctrinal mphasis. Th nd rsult is, th books of Moss ar not writtn by Moss, th book of Joshua is not writtn by Joshua, tc. Rligious typs composd ths at a much latr dat, and othr rligious typs thn intrwov ths books aftr that. Of cours, th nd rsult is that Scriptur could not b inspird undr ths circumstancs (as w undrstand Scriptural inspiration to b), which is th nd rsult of many various Satanic attacks upon Scriptur. This ignors, for instanc, th psalms whr ths nam occurs roughly th sam numbr of tims. I hav sn a JEPD thorist prsnt his idas on tlvision, and h smd rasonabl. H said somthing along th lins of, Whn you bgin to notic that som passags hav Elohim in thm and othrs Yahwh, th contrast is at first intrsting. But thn whn you find ths uss in larg groups and throughout th Old Tstamnt, you bgin to rcogniz that thr is som sort of a pattrn. And sinc vry fw popl know th Bibl, thy buy into this thory, not ralizing that, ys, thr ar many passags whn on trm is found almost to th xclusion of th othr; but thn thr ar many passags whr thy ar found in roughly qual numbrs togthr. Elohim is a plural noun which rfrs to th Trinity. Strong s #430 BDB #43. Jhovah is a propr noun which usually stands for th rvald mmbr of th Trinity, but it can also rfr to any m mbr of th Trinity. Strong s #3068 BDB #217. For th claims of th JEPD crowd to b tru, w would xpct to find psalms with ithr th nam of Jhovah or th titl Elohim, but w should not xpct to find ths trms usd in grat numbrs togthr in th sam psalm. 1 J. Vrnon McG, Psalms Chaptrs 42 89, 1991 by J. Vrnon McG; Thomas Nlson, Inc.; p. 69.

4 Psalm 52 4 Th Us of Elohim and Jhovah in th Psalms A Similar Numbr of Tims A Larg Numbr of Tims Elohim Jhovah Elohim Jhovah Psalm 7 (5 tims) Psalm 7 (8 tims) Psalm 18 (6 tims) Psalm 18 (19 tims) Psalm 14 (3 tims) Psalm 14 (4 tims) Psalm 41 (1 tims) Psalm 41 (6 tims) Psalm 40 (4 tims) Psalm 40 (9 tims) Psalm 42 (9 tims) Psalm 42 (1 tim) Psalm 69 (9 tims) Psalm 69 (4 tims) Psalm 50 (9 tims) Psalm 50 (1 tim) Psalm 70 (3 tims) Psalm 70 (2 tims) Psalm 68 (24 tims) Psalm 68 (1 tim) What w do find is Jhovah bing usd, in gnral, much mor oftn than th titl Elohim. And w find Psalms with on nam usd almost xclusivly. Howvr, what this chart also tlls us is that, thr ar psalms whr nithr trm is usd xclusivly. This chart, by th way, is not xhaustiv, but th psalms listd ar givn by way of xampls. Ar thr any pattrns? Crtainly Elohim is found in almost vry psalm btwn 35 and 100 and , but in about half of th othr psalms. Th nam Jhovah is found in almost vry psalm from 1 41 and from , and Jhovah is found in about half of th othrs. You will notic that thr is a fair amount of ovrlap. Furthrmor, this silly JEPD thory ignors th hundrds of tims that Jhovah and Elohim occur togthr in th sam vrs throughout Scriptur. In fact, ths nams ar found togthr in th sam vrs 1161 tims in th Old Tstamnt. Rcall that th titl Jhovah Elohim (or, th LORD God) is found hundrds of tims in th Old Tstamnt. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart and Map Indx Kil and Dlitzsch call Psalm 52 th first of th Elohimic maskils, which of cours implis that th nxt fw psalms will b Psalms of Instruction whr w find th nam of Elohim ovr and ovr again. Th Elohimic Maskils Psalm Th Numbr of Tims Jhovah Occurs Th Numbr of Tims Elohim Occurs All of ths psalms, xcpt th last on, ar calld Maskils. In vry cas, th nam of Elohim is mor prominnt that th nam of Jhovah. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Psalm 52 Inscription

5 5 Th Book of I Samul (I Sam. 22:22) Slavishly litral: To th Prminnt [On]. A maskil [or, an instructiv psalm] to David. In a coming of Dog th Edomit and so h maks known to Saul and so h says to him, Had com David unto a hous of Ahimlch. Psalm 52 inscription Modratly litral: To th Prmin nt On. An instructiv psalm by David. Whn Dog th Edomit cam to Saul and mad [it] known that [lit., and mad known to Saul and so h says] David had gon to th hous of Ahimlch. To th Prminnt On. An instructiv psalm writtn by David. This psalm was inspird by Dog th Edomit going to Saul and rvaling to him that David had gon to th hous of Ahimlch. Hr is how othrs hav translatd this vrs: Early translations: Th Sptuagint For th nd, [a psalm] of instruction by David, whn Dog th Iduman cam and told Saul, and said to him, David is gon to th hous of Abimlch. Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: CEV NJB NLT TEV [A spcial psalm by David for th music ladr. H wrot this whn Dog from Edom wnt to Saul and said, David has gon to Ahimlch s hous. ] For th choirmastr Pom Of David Whn Dog th Edomit wnt and warnd Saul, David has gon to Abimlch s hous. For th choir dirctor: A psalm of David, rgarding th tim Dog th Edomit told Saul that Ahimlch had givn rfug to David. God s Judgmnt and Grac [Hbrw Titl: A pom by David, aftr Dog th Edomit wnt to Saul and told him that David had gon to th hous of Ahimlch] Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): God s Word JPS (Tanakh) For th choir dirctor; a maskil; a psalm by David whn Dog (who was from Edom) told Saul that David had com to Ahimlch s hom. For th ladr. A maskil of David, whn Dog th Edomit cam and informd Saul, tlling him, David cam to Ahimlch s hous. [In th JPS, this is vv. 1 2]. Litral, almost word-for-word, rndrings: Th Amplifid Bibl NASB Young's Updatd LT To th Chif Musician. A skillful song, or a didactic or rflctiv pom. [A Psalm] of David, whn Dog th Edomit cam and told Saul, David has com to th hous of Ahimlch. For th choir dirctor. A Maskil of David, whn Dog th Edomit cam and told Saul, and said to him, David has com to th hous of Ahimlch. To th Ovrsr. An instruction by David, in th coming in of Dog th Edomit, and h dclars to Saul, and says to him, David cam in to th hous of Ahimlch. What is th gist of this vrs? David ddicats this psalm to God. It is a psalm of instruction writtn on th occasion that Dog th Edomit rvald to Saul that David had bn in Nob spaking with Ahimlch, th prist. In th Hbrw, th first half of this inscriptions (parts a and b) ar v. 1, and parts c and d ar v. 2. Our English v. 1 is th Hbrw v. 3. In th Grk, this inscription (or titl) and th vrs that follows mak up v. 1.

6 Psalm 52 6 Psalm 52 inscription a No Strong s # lâmd (ì) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to prposition BDB #510 nâtsach (çöç È ð) [pronouncd naw- TZAHKH] to ovrs, to suprvis; to b prminnt, to b nduring; th Prminnt On Pil participl with th dfinit articl Strong s #5329 BDB #663 Th Pil participl of nâtsach is givn a wid varity of rndrings: ovrsr (Young), th music ladr (CEV), choir dirctor (NASB, NLT), choirmastr (Owns), ladr (NRSV, NEB, NAB) and chif musician (Rothrham). Translation: To th Prminnt On. As you can s, thr ar a varity of rndrings for this Pil participl, including music ladr, ovrsr, choirmastr, and chif musician. This psalm could b ddicatd to God and it could b for th Ovrsr of th Music. What w hav in Psalm 59, if you rcall, is that David wrot: To th Prminnt On: do not dstroy [m]! Although w could intrprt this as bing ddicatd to Saul, who was out to dstroy David, or to God, Who has th powr to dstroy David; this would hardly b applicabl to th Chif Musician or to th Choir Dirctor. Givn th us of this word in Psalm 59, which was writtn prior to Psalm 56, w may rasonably giv nâtsach a similar maning hr as found in Psalm 59; hnc, th psalm is ddicatd or writtn to God. Now, if w go with this undrstanding, th first qustion would b, why not ddicat this psalm to Elohim or to Jhovah? In th psalms, thr ar a numbr of styl diffrncs and word usag tnds to b diffrnt as wll. This dos not prclud th us of Elohim or Jhovah, it simply rcognizs that thr may b words usd in th psalms which also rfr to God, but ar not usd lswhr in that mannr. Again, go back to Psalm 59 thr ar fw traditional intrprtations of th word nâtsach which mak sns. Howvr, as a ddication to God, this maks prfct sns. Psalm 52 inscription b mas kîyl (ìéì. î) - [pronouncd mahs - KEEL] an instructiv psalm; a contmplativ pom; translitratd maskil masculin singular noun Strong s #4905 BDB #968 Gsnius lists this as th Hiphil of sâkal (ìë - È ) [pronouncd saw-kahl], which mans (in th Hiphil) to look at, to attnd to, to turn th mind to; to b undrstanding, to bcom undrstanding, to b prudnt; to b succssful, to act prosprously; to instruct, to mak prudnt, to tach. In any cas, mas kîyl coms from sâkal. Strong s #7919 BDB #968. lâmd (ì) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to, with rfrnc to, as to, with rgards to, blonging to prposition No Strong s # BDB #510 Dâvid (ã å È ò ); also Dâvîyd ( ãé å. È ) [pronouncd daw- VEED] blovd and is translitratd David masculin propr noun Strong s #1732 BDB #187 Translation: An instructiv psalm by David,... Although many good translations tnd to translitrat this as maskil, I think that w can safly rfr to this as an instructiv psalm, givn that thr is no qustion about this words tis to th Hiphil (causal stm) of sâkal, which mans to instruct, to mak prudnt, to tach. W find this usd in th

7 7 Th Book of I Samul (I Sam. 22:22) titls of Psalms 32, 42, 44, 45, 52 55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142. David is spcifically mntiond in half of thos psalms, with th following xcptions: no on is listd as th author for Psalms ; Asaph is namd as th writr of Psalms 74 78, Hman for Psalm 88 and Ethan for Psalm 89. Aftr w covr a fw mor of ths instructiv psalms of David, thn w will look at thm as a whol. Psalm 52 inscription c h b ( ) [pronouncd b ] Ó in, into, at, by, nar, on, with, bfor, in th prsnc of, upon, against, by mans of, among, within a prposition of proximity Strong s# non BDB #88 Whn vrbs in th infinitiv construct ar prcdd by th bêyth prposition, b acts as a tmporal conjunction; that is, in thir bing cratd = whn thy wr cratd (Gn. 2:4); in thir bing in th fild = whn thy wr in 2 th fild (Gn. 4:8). bôw (à ) [pronouncd boh] to com in, to com, to go in, to go, to ntr Qal infinitiv construct Strong s #935 BDB #97 Dô êg (âä ) É [pronouncd doh-ayg]; also splld âà anxious, concrnd, far and is translitratd Dog masculin propr noun Strong s #1673 BDB #178 ì dôwmîy ( éí. ã àá) [pronouncd h-doh- MEE] rddish; and is translitratd Edomit; also Syrian gntilic adjctiv with th dfinit articl Strong s #123 BDB #10 Sulpicius Svrus calls Dog a Syrian, following th Grk vrsion of 1Sam. 21:7; and so dos Josphus; th problm, apparntly, is th confounding of th lttrs ã and ø, so that h is calld an Aramit instad of an 3 Edomit. wa or va ( åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, thn wâw conscutiv No Strong s # BDB #253 nâgad (ã âç ðè ) [pronouncd naw-gahd] to mak conspicuous, to mak known, to xpound, to xplain, to dclar, to inform, to confss, to mak it pitifully obvious that rd 3 prson masculin singular, Hiphil imprfct Strong's #5046 BDB #616 lâmd (ì) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to, with rfrnc to, as to, with rgards to, blonging to prposition No Strong s # BDB #510 Shâ ûwl (ì à È ) [pronouncd shaw-ool] which is translitratd Saul; it mans askd for masculin propr noun Strong s #7586 BDB #982 Translation: Whn Dog th Edomit cam to Saul and mad [it] known that [lit., and mad known to Saul and so h says]... W hav alrady discussd th history of this. Dog th Edomit was an outsidr to Isral and was th chif shphrd of th royal hrds. David and Dog no doubt knw on anothr and probably had an association 2 3 Th Nw Brown-Drivr-Briggs-Gsnius Hbrw-English Lxicon; Hndrickson, 1979, pp Dr. John Gill, John Gill s Exposition of th Entir Bibl; from -Sword, Psalm 52 introduction.

8 Psalm 52 8 which was cordial, if not frindly. Howvr, Dog, in ordr to gt on Saul s good sid (and to covr his own butt), maks it known to Saul that David had bn in Nob, th city of th prists. Psalm 52 inscription d wa or va ( åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, thn wâw conscutiv No Strong s # BDB #253 âmar (ø îç àè ) [pronouncd aw-marh] to say, to spak, to uttr; to say [to onslf], to think rd 3 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct Strong s #559 BDB #55 lâmd (ì) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to, with rfrnc to, as to, with rgards to, blonging to prposition with th 3 rd prson masculin singular suffix No Strong s # BDB #510 bôw (à ) [pronouncd boh] to com in, to com, to go in, to go, to ntr rd 3 prson masculin singular, Qal prfct Strong s #935 BDB #97 Dâvid (ã å È ò ); also Dâvîyd ( ãé å. È ) [pronouncd daw- VEED] blovd and is translitratd David masculin propr noun Strong s #1732 BDB #187 l (ì à ) [pronouncd l] unto, in, into, toward, to, rgarding, against dirctional prposition (rspct or dfrnc may b implid) Strong's #413 BDB #39 bayith (ú é ò Ç ) [pronouncd BAH-yith] hous, houshold, habitation as wll as inward masculin singular construct Strong's #1004 BDB #108 ã chîymlk ( ìî é àâ ç. ) [pronouncd uh-kh- MEH-lk] brothr of Mlk or brothr of a king and is translitratd Ahimlch masculin propr noun Strong s #288 BDB #27 Translation:...David had gon to th hous of Ahimlch. As w will study in th rmaindr of I Sam. 22, Dog will dftly guid Saul s rag to fall upon Ahimlch, so that, onc Dog has rvald this information to Saul, Saul s angr will sth against Ahimlch (you s, whn Dog rvals this information to Saul, h taks th chanc that Saul will b pissd at him, so h has to dflct Saul s angr toward somon ls). David probably dos not know much mor at this tim than th fact that Dog sold him out and sold out ths prists. I don t bliv that thr is anothr psalm which rvals such intns angr against an nmy than this psalm. On of th things which w notd in th xgsis of I Sam. 22:10, was th fact that Dog mbllishd his story to Saul somwhat. H told Saul that th High Prist of Nob, Ahimlch, hlpd David by giving him guidanc from God. This was patntly untru, and w notd th rasons why w knw his tstimony was fals (which includd v. 3 of this psalm). To rmind you, Dog told Saul that David had rciv a wapon from Ahimlch, as wll as brad (both of which ar tru) and also said that David rcivd divin guidanc through Ahimlch. It was this addition to th actual facts which upst Saul th most. Howvr, this was Dog s plan if Saul thought that David has simply dcivd Ahimlch th prist, and that Dog hld back this information that David had bn to Nob, thn Saul might tak his angr out on Dog. Howvr, sinc Dog distortd David and Ahimlch s mting, making it sound as though Ahimlch was in collusion with David. Th rsult of this li will b that Saul will first kill all of th prists, and thn h will go into Nob and slaughtr all of thir familis thir wivs and childrn and all of thir livstock. Although w havn t covrd this in I Sam. 22 yt, Saul will call of all of th prists to com to him. Thn, whn thy arriv, h will accus thm and ordr thir daths. Evn Saul s hardnd soldirs will

9 9 Th Book of I Samul (I Sam. 22:22) not lift thir swords against th prists, so Dog will prsonally kill all 85 of thm. This is how vil and dpravd that Dog is. H is willing to do anything in ordr to rciv Saul s approbation. At last on commntator (Spurgon) suggstd that Dog hatd David. This is not th cas. Had that bn th cas, Dog would hav givn up David long ago or brought him in from Nob whn h saw him. Dog wighd th options and dtrmind that ltting Saul know what David had bn was th bst way to advanc his carr. H did not tll Saul whn h got back from Nob, and surly Dog knw of Saul s intrst in David s captur. Dog waitd till part way through this mting bfor h spok up. H was wighing th pros and cons. H didn t hat David; h just rcognizd that this would proprly furthr his carr, and garnr a littl approbation from Saul. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart and Map Indx Dog s Evil Lying Tongu Slavishly litral: Why do you prais yourslf in vil, O strong man? Grac of God all th days. Psalm 52:1 Modratly litral: How can you boast in [your] vil, man of [worldly] strngth [and powr]? God s grac [is] all day long [lit., all th day]. How can you boast in your vil, How can you boast in [your] vil, man of worldly strngth and powr? God s grac rmains all th day long. Hr is how othrs hav handld this vrs: Early translations: Th Sptuagint Why do you, O mighty man, boast of iniquity in mischif? All th day... [This is part of v. 1; also th Grk lacks th phras th grac of God]. Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: CEV NAB NJB NLT REB You popl may b strong and brag about your sins, but God can b trustd day aftr day. Why do you glory in vil, you scandalous liar? All day long... Why tak prid in bing wickd, you champion in villainy, all day long... You call yourslf a hro, do you? Why boast about this crim of yours, you who hav disgracd God s popl? YOU MIGHTY man, why do you boast all th day of your infamy against God s loyal srvant? [against: probabl rading; compar Syriac; Hbrw omits]. Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): God s Word JPS (Tanakh) Why do you brag about th vil you v don, you hro? Th mrcy of God lasts all day long! Why do you boast of your vil, brav fllow? God s faithfulnss nvr cass [lit., is all th day]. [This is v. 3 in th JPS].

10 Psalm Litral, almost word-for-word, rndrings: Th Amplifid Bibl Updatd Emphasizd Bibl NASB NRSV Young's Updatd LT Why boast you of mischif don against th loving-kindnss of God [and th godly], O mighty [sinful] man, day aftr day? Why do you boast of wickdnss, O mighty man? 5Th lovingkindnss of God5 [lasts] all th day. Why do you boast in vil, O mighty man? Th lovingkindnss of God ndurs all day long. Why do you boast, O mighty on, of mischif don against th godly? All th day... [A corrction was mad in th txt, as th transmission of th txt was dtrmind to b faulty. Compar th Syriac targum. Hb. th kindnss of God]. What, do you boast in vil, O mighty on? Th kindnss of God is all th day. Whnvr you s a slw of translations, that mans that rndring this vrs is going to b difficult. You will s that thr wr svral gnral approachs. Svral translations took th phras all day long and placd it with th following vrs (.g., NAB, NJB, NRSV). Many assrt that th scond lin is not God s grac [ndurs] all day long. Thr is good contxtual vidnc for this approach. Whras, it is not unusual for a writr of poms or psalms to contrast th godly with th wickt, God s path vrsus man s path; w would xpct this paralll to run for svral vrss. Howvr, vv. 2 4 do not hav a similar paralll, nor dos God s grac sm to b a prominnt thm of this psalm. Thrfor, it is possibl that th scond half of this vrs is th rsult of a faulty transmission of txt. What is th gist of this vrs? David sts up a contrast btwn a man of grat powr who boasts in his vil, and God, Who s grac is continual and consistnt. Thr is som dbat with rgards to scond statmnt about God s grac. Psalm 52:1a mâh (ä îè ) [pronouncd maw] what, how, why intrrogativ; xclamatory particl Strong s #4100 BDB #552 hâlal (ì ìç äè ) [pronouncd haw-lahl] to b praisd; to glory, to boast onslf, to b clbratd nd 2 prson masculin singular, Hithpal imprfct Strong s #1984 BDB #237 This, intrstingly nough, is on form of th vrb that w found back in I Sam. 21:13: Thn David changd his bhavior bfor thm [lit., in thir ys] and h fignd madnss in thir prsnc. Th Hithpal is th passiv (as pr Gsnius) or rflxiv (as pr Zodhiats) of th Pil (intnsiv) stm. This vrb appars to hav an activ us hr in this psalm (and whnvr ls it has God as th objct as in Isa. 41:16 Jr. 4:2). Th maning of this vrb, and thr ar svral, appar to stay within th gnral boundaris of thir stms. h b ( ) [pronouncd b ] Ó in, into, at, by, nar, on, with, bfor, in th prsnc of, upon, against, by mans of, among, within a prposition of proximity Strong s# non BDB #88 râ âh (ä òè øè ) [pronouncd raw-ìaw] vil, misry, distrss, disastr, injury, iniquity, abrration, that which is morally rprhnsibl fminin singular noun Strong s #7451 BDB #949

11 11 Th Book of I Samul (I Sam. 22:22) Psalm 52:1a gibbôwr (ø )ò [pronouncd gib-boar] strong man, mighty man, soldir, warrior, combatant, vtran masculin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #1368 BDB #150 Th original word would b proprly applid to on of rank or distinction; a man of powr powr drivd ithr from offic, from talnt, or from walth. It is a word which is oftn applid to a hro or warrior: Isa. 3:2 4 Ezk. 39:20 II Sam. 17:10 Psalm 33:16 120:4 127:4 Danil 11:3 Gn. 6:4 Jr. 51:30. Translation: How can you boast in [your] vil, man of [worldly] strngth [and powr]? Calling Dog a mighty man or a soldir is a dig. It is irony. Dog is th had shphrd, an important position in Saul s cabint, but h is not a warrior. Saul lookd Dog ovr and dcidd, Rathr than put you on th front lins, I think you ll do bttr ovrsing my livstock. Dog would hav no powr and no position, apart from Saul. Dog probably thinks that h has don wll or that h has don right to inform on David. His informing Saul about David and Ahimlch th prist was vil, and vn mor so, as h and David had a rlationship bfor and h knows David s charactr. Psalm 52:1b chçd (ã ñ ç ) [pronouncd KHEH-sd] grac, bnvolnc, mrcy, kindnss masculin singular construct Strong's #2617 BDB #338 êl (ì àå ) [pronouncd ALE] God, God, mighty on, strong, hro masculin singular noun Strong s #410 BDB #42 kôl (ìé ) [pronouncd kohl] th whol, all of, th ntirty of, all; can also b rndrd any of masculin singular construct followd by a dfinit articl Strong s #3605 BDB #481 yôwm (í é) [pronouncd yohm] day; today (with a dfinit articl) masculin singular noun with a dfinit articl Strong s #3117 BDB #398 Translation: God s grac [is] all day long [lit., all th day]. Although this is a tru statmnt, and although this is what w hav in th Hbrw, God s grac is missing from th Grk, so that all th day gos along with v. 2. Both approachs mak ampl sns. Intrprting th Hbrw: David first asks, How can you possibly boast in [your] vil, you man of strngth? Thr is nothing to boast about. In contrast, God and His grac, which sustain and protct David, ar continual. That is, if you ar going to boast, why not boast in God s grac? Dog had nothing that h could boast about. On th othr hand, God s grac, trumpd Dog s vil. No mattr what Dog plannd, no mattr what vil h dos, how could h boast about it whn that vil is nullifid by God s grac? Intrprtation of th Grk: David xcoriats Dog for svral vrss: in vv. 1 4, David dos nothing but talk about just how vicious, slf-srving and vil that Dog is. Thn, in v. 5, w find out what God will do to Dog. This is a much clanr approach: first Dog and his approach to lif, and thn what God would do to Dog. If w hav this contrast btwn God s grac and Dog in v. 1, w would xpct that to b followd throughout. This approach appars to b lss disjointd and asir to follow it is much asir to outlin, actually. I find this scond approach to b th most snsibl. 4 Albrt Barns, Barns Nots on th Old Tstamnt; from -Sword, Psalm 52:1.

12 Psalm Ruin [or, dstructions] you think. Your tongu as a razor of sharpnss, O dor of dcit. Psalm 52:2 You dvis [lit., think] ruin [dstruction and injury]. Your tongu is a sharp razor, [you] mastr [lit., dor] of dcit. Altrnativ Rading of vv. 1 2: You dvis ruin against othrs. Your tongu is a sharp razor, you mastr of dcption. How can you boast in [your] vil, man of [worldly] strngth [and powr]? All day long, you dvis [lit., think] ruin [d struction and injury]. Your tongu is a sharp razor, [you] mastr [lit., dor] of dcit. You will notic a consistncy and smoothnss in this approach found in th Sptuagint. Hr is how othrs hav translatd this vrs: Early translations: Th Sptuagint [All th day] your tongu has dvisd unrightousnss; lik a sharpnd razor, you hav brought about dcit. Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: CEV NAB NJB NLT TEV You plan brutal crims, and your lying words cut lik a sharp razor. [All day long] you plot dstruction; your tongu is lik a sharpnd razor, you skillful dcivr. [all day long plotting crim? Your tongu is razor-sharp, you artist in prfidy. All day long you plot dstruction. Your tongu cuts lik a sharp razor; you r an xprt at tlling lis. You mak plans to ruin othrs; your tongu is lik a sharp razor. You ar always invnting lis. Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): God s Word JPS (Tanakh) Your tongu maks up thrats. It s lik a sharp razor, you mastr of dcit. Your tongu dviss mischif, lik a sharpnd razor that works trachrously. Litral, almost word-for-word, rndrings: NASB Young's Updatd LT Your tongu dviss dstruction, Lik a sharp razor, O workr of dcit. You tongu dviss mischifs, Lik a sharp razor, working dcit.

13 13 Th Book of I Samul (I Sam. 22:22) What is th gist of this vrs? Dog carfully considrs and dviss plans and nginrs dcits which carfully xalt him ovr th shouldrs (and somtims dad bodis) of othrs. Psalm 52:2a havvâh (ä È äç ) [pronouncd hahv-vaw] dsir; ruin, fall, calamity, dstruction; injury, mischif; chasm, dp pit, hll, gulf fminin plural noun Strong s #1942 BDB #217 châshab (á Ç çè ) [pronouncd khaw- SHAHBV] to think, to mdiat, rgard, to account, to count, to dtrmin, to calculat, to imput, to rckon nd 2 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct Strong s #2803 BDB #362 Translation: You dvis [lit., think] ruin [dstruction and injury]. It is possibl that all day long blongs with this phras, giving us, You dvis ruin [dstruction and injury] all day long. What Dog will do will go far byond what w hav sn so far. H dosn t just turn David in; h dosn t just rat on David. Whn vry man in Saul s ntourag will rfus to kill th prists of Nob, Dog will com forward and h will kill thm all himslf. Thr is no vil act that Dog would not do to furthr his own carr. Rcall that what Dog did was not impulsiv. H didn t lt it slip out whr h saw David. H didn t run to Saul with this information as soon as h got it. H thought this through, and prsntd it in such a way as to gain him th most milag. Som popl may hav sn David, told Saul, and thn thought back on this mistak, saying, I wish I hadn t told him that. Or vn, Mayb I shouldn t hav rvald that information to Saul. Whn Dog rvald this information to Saul, it was cool and calculatd, and h addd information which was untru in ordr to dflct Saul s angr. Mor on that latr. Application: Th businss world is filld with mn who will do anything to gt ahad; thy will do any vil thing in ordr to furthr th intrsts of thir company (as long as thos intrsts furthr thir own). You cannot approach your businss apart from your spiritual lif. Othr mn should b abl to tak you at your word. A handshak should b sufficint to sal any dal with you (although I don t rcommnd that in many cass). A blivr should b abl to b takn at thir word, and thr should not b som hiddn agnda. Application: Som lawyrs will do anything to justify thmslvs. Whn a criminal dfns lawyr puts a criminal back on th strt, h will blam th proscutor or polic for not doing thir job. H will say it s th systm; h will blam anyon ls. Howvr, h will do his vry bst to fr criminals bcaus that will mak him rich. H will do his bst to s that a criminal dos not hav to account for his own actions, bcaus if h didn t, h would not gt any mor cass. Psalm 52:2b lâshôwn (ï ì) È [pronouncd law- SHOHN] tongu; lapping; tongu-shapd masculin singular noun nd with a 2 prson masculin singular suffix Strong s #3956 BDB #546 kaph or k ( ) Ó [pronouncd k ] lik, as, according to; about, approximatly prposition No Strong s # BDB #453

14 Psalm Psalm 52:2b a ar (øò t - - ) [pronouncd TAH-ìahr] razor, shath masculin singular noun Strong s #8593 BDB #789 â þ ash ( è ìè ) l - [pronouncd law-tash] to sharpn, to hammr Pual participl Strong s #3913 BDB #538 âsâh (ä È òè ) [pronouncd ìaw- SAWH] a dor of, a makr of, a constructor of, a fashion of, a prparr of Qal activ participl, masculin singular construct Strong's #6213 BDB #793 r mîyyâh (äè îò øó) [pronouncd r -m- YAW ] a ltting down or rlaxing of [th hands], indolnc, slothful; dcption, dcit, fraud fminin singular noun Strong s #7423 BDB #941 Translation: Your tongu is a sharp razor, [you] mastr [lit., dor] of dcit. Dog initiatd his vil with his tongu. H did not nd to spak up. Thr was no nd for him to turn David in. Thr was no nd for him to xpos th prists of Nob, as though thy had don anything wrong. Clark commnts: Lik a sharp razor, working dcitfully - Which instad of taking off th bard, cuts 5 and wounds th flsh; or as th oprator who, whn prtnding to trim th bard, cuts th throat. And Barns commnts: His slandrs wr lik a sharp knif with which on stabs anothr. So w say of a 6 slandrr that h stabs anothr in th dark. Th analogy to th razor is apt; a razor is a small instrumnt capabl of shaving off an ntir bard and just as capabl of inflictd grat damag; vn dath. Similarly, th tongu is a small mmbr of th body, but capabl of initiating grat dstruction to a prson s lif. Jams 3:6 8: And th tongu is a fir, a world of iniquity. So th tongu is st among our mmbrs, spotting all th body and inflaming th cours of natur, and bing inflamd by hll. For vry kind of animals, and of birds, and of rptils, and of sa-animals, is tamd, and has bn tamd by mankind. But no on can tam th tongu, it is an unruly vil, full of dadly poison. On of th grat thms of th Bibl is th viciousnss and dstructivnss of th tongu. W studid th Sins of th Tongu back in Lv. 19:16. What Dog did was to mix lis in with th truth. It was th truth that h had sn David in Nob. It was tru that Ahimlch, th High Prist, gav David a sword and brad; howvr, Ahimlch had bn dcivd by David, into thinking that h was furthring som caus of Saul s. So h had don nothing wrong. Dog could not simply tll Saul th truth and nothing ls. If h said, You know, I saw David last month in Nob thn Saul would hav killd Dog bcaus h knw whr David was, and didn t tll Saul until it was too lat. H couldn t vn tll Saul that Ahimlch gav David a sword and food, and lt it go at that, bcaus that could hav bn gottn by dcption (which it was). Dog had to add th dtail that Ahimlch procurd divin guidanc for David (I Sam. 22:10). That nails Ahimlch down as a co-conspirator. And Saul s angr, which might hav bn dirctd at Dog, is now focusd firmly on Ahimlch (and Saul will bar som gratitud for Dog s information). You d sir d v il mor than good; dcption mor than spaking rightousnss. S lah! Psalm 52:3 You lov v il mor than [you lov ] good; [and] dcption mor than spaking rightousnss. Paus. 5 Adam Clark, Commntary on th Bibl; from -Sword, Psalm 52:2. 6 Albrt Barns, Barns Nots on th Old Tstamnt; from -Sword, Psalm 52:2.

15 15 Th Book of I Samul (I Sam. 22:22) You lov what is v il mor than what is good; you prfr bing dcptiv ovr spaking that which is right. Musical intrlud. Hr is how othrs hav translatd this vrs: Early translations: Th Sptuagint You hav lovd wickdnss mor than goodnss; unrightousnss bttr than to spak rightousnss. Paus. Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: CEV NLT You would rathr do vil than good, and tll lis than spak th truth. You lov vil mor than good and lis mor than truth. Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): JPS (Tanakh) You prfr vil to good, th li, to spaking truthfully. Litral, almost word-for-word, rndrings: NASB Young's Updatd LT You lov vil mor than good, Falshood mor than spaking what is right. You hav lovd vil rathr than good, Lying, than spaking rightousnss. Slah. [Slah. What is th gist of this vrs? Dog prfrs vil ovr good and h would rathr tll a li than tll th truth. Psalm 52:3a âhêb (á äå àè ) [pronouncd B aw-hayv ] to dsir, to brath aftr; to lov; to dlight in nd 2 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct Strong s #157 BDB #12 ra (ò øç ) [pronouncd rahì] vil, bad, wickd; vil in apparanc, dformd; disagrabl, displasing; unhappy, unfortunat; sad masculin singular noun Strong s #7451 BDB #948 min (ï îò ) [pronouncd min] from, off, out from, out of, away from, on account of, sinc, than, mor than, gratr than prposition of sparation Strong's #4480 BDB #577 þôwb (á è) [pronouncd b toh v] plasant, plasing, agrabl, good, bttr masculin fminin singular adjctiv which acts lik a substantiv Strong s #2896 BDB #373

16 Psalm Translation: You lov vil mor than [you lov] good;... Th implication of this vrs is, Dog can distinguish btwn right and wrong. David has spnt tim with him and Dog has gon to th city of prists. In fact, h has vn rmaind thr for additional training or ncouragmnt (I Sam. 21:7). Howvr, whn it coms to making a choic, Dog chooss vil ovr good. Psalm 52:3b shqr (ø ) [pronouncd SHEH-kr] a li, lying words, dcption, falshood; a liar; whatvr dcivs, fraud, vanity; falsly [absolut usd as advrb] masculin singular noun Strong s #8267 BDB #1055 min (ï îò ) [pronouncd min] from, off, out from, out of, away from, on account of, sinc, than, mor than, gratr than prposition of sparation Strong's #4480 BDB #577 b dâ var (ø áç ãè ) [pronouncd daw b - VAHR] to spak, to talk [and back with action], to giv an opinion, to xpound, to mak a formal spch, to spak out, to promis, to propos, to spak kindly of, to dclar, to proclaim, to announc Pil infinitiv construct Strong s #1696 BDB #180 tsdq ( ãö) [pronouncd TZEHdhk] rightousnss, rightnss, vindication masculin singular substantiv Strong s #6664 BDB #841 çlâh (äì È ñ) [pronouncd sh-law] to lift up, to lvat, to xalt [with on s voic], to gathr, to cast up [into a hap]; it is translitratd Slah intrjction Strong s #5542 BDB #699 Th vrbal cognat is âlâh (ä ìè ñè ) [pronouncd saw-law], which mans to lift up and toss asid. In th Pil stm, it mans to wigh, which involvs lifting up th objct and placing it upon th balanc. Gsnius givs th maning of çlâh as rst, silnc, paus, as çlâh dos not ncssarily hav to match th maning of its cognats. My thinking, which is a combination of BDB and Gsnius, is that th voics build up to a crscndo hr, and, vry likly, thy ar thn followd by a vocal (but not ncssarily, musical) silnc. This would 7 rconcil th points mad by Gsnius and still mak this compatibl with its cognats. Anothr vry rasonabl possibility is that th instrumnts ar liftd up for a musical intrlud. Th NLT translation of Intrlud is vry good. Translation:...[and] dcption mor than spaking rightousnss. Paus. Dog could choos to stand up for what is right or h can choos to back that which is wrong. All of Saul s mn will oppos killing ths prists of Nob. Dog will stp forward and kill thm with his own hand. Intrstingly nough, David dos not vn focus on this aspct of Dog s charactr. Just lik anyon ls, whn I look back at I Sam. 22, th fact that Dog is willing to kill all of ths prists is an act which is horrndous and vil. But David focuss in on Dog s tongu. David focuss in on what Dog said. 7 For mor discussion, s H.W.F. Gsnius, Hbrw-Chald Lxicon to th Old Tstamnt; 1979 by Bakr Books ; p. 588.

17 17 Th Book of I Samul (I Sam. 22:22) How do w ti Dog s xtrm bhavior to what h has said; to how h has falsly spokn of David? Visualiz th scn that is taking plac. Dog has lid to Saul about th circumstancs and situation of David s visit to Nob. Although h claims that Ahimlch, th High Prist, offrd David guidanc from God, Dog did not actually witnss that. If Dog is caught in a li, h could pay for his lif. Furthrmor, this li was ky. This is th li which would dflct Saul s angr from Dog (for not tlling him arlir about David) to Ahimlch, th prist. So, how dos Dog prsrv this li? H is willing to kill th prists with his own hand. H cannot chanc that Ahimlch will spout out th truth and sway Saul. So, not only did Dog kill all of th prists himslf, but h killd th High Prist first Ahimlch so that thr would b no chanc that his li will b prsrvd. To sum up ths prvious thr vrss, Dog prfrrd lis ovr th truth, darknss ovr light and vil ovr that which is right and good. Barns commnts: H prfrrd a li to th truth; and, whn h supposd that his own intrst would b subsrvd by it, h prfrrd a falshood that would promot that intrst, rathr than a simpl statmnt of th truth. Th lying in this cas was that which was implid in his bing dsirous of giving up David, or btraying him to Saul - as if David was a bad man, and as if th suspicions of Saul wr wll-foundd. H prfrrd to giv his countnanc to a falshood in rgard to him, rathr than to stat th xact truth in rfrnc to his charactr. His conduct in this was strongly in contrast with that of Ahimlch, who, whn arraignd bfor Saul, dclard his blif that David was innocnt; his firm conviction that David was tru and loyal. For that fidlity h lost his lif, 1Sam. 22:14. Dog was willing to lnd countnanc to th suspicions of Saul, and practically to rprsnt 8 David as a traitor to th king. What I did not find and what I am unabl to xplain is th insrtion of th word Slah, or paus or musical paus at this point. On would xpct a paus at th nd of a topic, which would b th nd of v. 4, rathr than th nd of this vrs. My rasonabl xplanation hr is, w hav 5 lins (if v. 1b is rally a part of 2a), followd by a Slah, followd by 4 (or 5) lins, followd by a Slah. Prhaps, givn th mlody, thr was a musical balanc which was srvd by insrting th musical brak at that point. V. 4 picks up th gnral thm and lads us into v. 5, which tlls us what God will do to such a on. That is, v. 4 is a summary of vv. 1 3, but placd with v. 5 to giv a musical balanc (somthing which w hav lost in tim). This is followd by two sts of 5 lins ach, but lacking th intrvning Slah. This would allow for a musical balanc, and, mor or lss, a topical balanc (again, v. 4 sms to b misplacd, unlss is simply summarizs th prvious 3 vrss in ordr to giv continuity to th 9 scond st of 5 lins). You d sir d all words of d v ouring; a tongu of dcit. Psalm 52:4 You lov all words [that] d v our [and d stroy]; [you lov] a dcitful tongu. You lov all words that d v our and d stroy; you lov a dcitful tongu. Hr is how othrs hav translatd this vrs: Early translations: Th Sptuagint You hav lovd all words of dstruction, [as wll as] a dcitful tongu. Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: CEV NLT REB You lov to say crul things, and your words ar a trap. You lov to say things that harm othrs, you liar!...you lov all malicious talk and slandr. 8 Albrt Barns, Barns Nots on th Old Tstamnt; from -Sword, 52:3. 9 Although I am not 100% satisfid with my xplanation hr, I hav not found anothr which is mor suitabl.

18 Psalm Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): God s Word JPS (Tanakh) You lov vry dstructiv accusation, you dcitful tongu! You lov all prnicious words, trachrous spch. Litral, almost word-for-word, rndrings: Th Amplifid Bibl NASB Young's Updatd LT You lov all dstroying and dvouring words, O dcitful tongu. You lov all words that dvour, O dcitful tongu. You hav lovd all dvouring words, O you dcitful tongu. What is th gist of this vrs? If w hav two lins hr, th David is saying that Dog lovs words that will consum, as wll as a dcitful tongu. If thr is but on lin hr, thn David is addrsss th tongu of Dog, and tlls him, You lov consuming words. Psalm 52:4a âhêb (á äå àè ) [pronouncd B aw-hayv ] to dsir, to brath aftr; to lov; to dlight in nd 2 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct Strong s #157 BDB #12 kôl (ìé ) [pronouncd kohl] with a plural noun, it is rndrd all of; any of masculin singular construct with a masculin plural noun Strong s #3605 BDB #481 b dâ vâr (ø áè È ) [pronouncd daw b - VAW R] words, sayings, doctrins, commands; things, mattrs, rports masculin plural construct Strong's #1697 BDB #182 bla (ò ì ) [pronouncd - BEH-lahì] a swallowing, a dvouring; a consuming, dstruction masculin singular noun; pausal form Strong's #1105 BDB #118 Th splling hr is th sam as th vrb. Translation: You lov all words [that] dvour [and dstroy];... Dog chooss words which dlibratly dstroy th livs of othrs. H dos not car that his words ar so dstructiv...in fact, h chooss words with that nd in mind. Dog had svral choics whn it cam to his siting of David at Nob. Thy ar listd blow: Dog s Options: 1. Dog could hav told Saul about David whn h first rturnd from Nob; or as soon as h hard that Saul was aftr David. H chos not to do this. What this suggsts to m is: a. Dog had som sort of a frindship with David, although h had no tru concpt of frindship. Sinc Dog s position as th had shphrd for Saul is mad known, and sinc David was a shphrd, w may rasonably surmis that Dog and David knw on anothr. It is vry likly that David lookd Dog up and shook his hand. For this rason, Dog chos not to btray David immdiatly.