Psalm 64:5-7 New English Translation
5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed.[a]
They plan how to hide[b] snares,
and boast,[c] “Who will see them?”[d]
6 They devise[e] unjust schemes;
they disguise[f] a well-conceived plot.[g]
Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered.[h]
7 But God will shoot[i] at them;
suddenly they will be[j] wounded by an arrow.[k]
Footnotes
- Psalm 64:5 tn Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].”
- Psalm 64:5 tn Heb “they report about hiding.”
- Psalm 64:5 tn Heb “they say.”
- Psalm 64:5 tn If this is a direct quotation (cf. NASB, NIV), the pronoun “them” refers to the snares mentioned in the previous line. If it is an indirect quotation, then the pronoun may refer to the enemies themselves (cf. NEB, which is ambiguous). Some translations retain the direct quotation but alter the pronoun to “us,” referring clearly to the enemies (cf. NRSV).
- Psalm 64:6 tn Heb “search out, examine,” which here means (by metonymy) “devise.”
- Psalm 64:6 tc The MT has תַּמְנוּ (tamnu, “we are finished”), a Qal perfect first common plural form from the verbal root תָּמַם (tamam). Some understand this as the beginning of a quotation of the enemies’ words and translate, “we have completed,” but the Hiphil would seem to be required in this case. The present translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading טָמְנוּ (tamenu, “they hide”), a Qal perfect third common plural form from the verbal root טָמַן (taman).
- Psalm 64:6 tn Heb “a searched-out search,” which is understood as referring here to a thoroughly planned plot to destroy the psalmist.
- Psalm 64:6 tn Heb “and the inner part of man, and a heart [is] deep.” The point seems to be that a man’s inner thoughts are incapable of being discovered. No one is a mind reader! Consequently the psalmist is vulnerable to his enemies’ well-disguised plots.
- Psalm 64:7 tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive is normally used in narrative contexts to describe completed past actions. It is possible that the conclusion to the psalm (vv. 7-10) was added to the lament after God’s judgment of the wicked in response to the psalmist’s lament (vv. 1-6). The translation assumes that these verses are anticipatory and express the psalmist’s confidence that God would eventually judge the wicked. The psalmist uses a narrative style as a rhetorical device to emphasize his certitude. See GKC 329-30 §111.w.
- Psalm 64:7 tn The perfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s certitude about the coming demise of the wicked.
- Psalm 64:7 tn The translation follows the traditional accentuation of the MT. Another option is to translate, “But God will shoot them down with an arrow, suddenly they will be wounded” (cf. NIV, NRSV).
New English Translation (NET)
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