Psalms 52

Why do you brag about the harm you do, you powerful man? God's faithful love goes on all day long.

1Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.

Note"Mighty man" translates a Hebrew word (gibbor) used for a warrior, champion, or man of rank and power, someone with real force at his disposal, not just a bully. "Faithful love" stands for the Hebrew word hesed, which has no single English equivalent: it is loyal, committed kindness, the sort owed within a binding relationship. Older versions render it "mercy," "lovingkindness," or "steadfast love." The Hebrew phrase after it means literally "all the day," i.e. continually.

2Your tongue plans destruction. It is like a sharpened razor, and you use it to deceive people.

2Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

NoteThe comparison is to a barber's razor, a small, keen blade that cuts easily and quietly. The point is precision and hidden damage, not brute force. The last phrase is ambiguous in Hebrew: it can describe the razor as "working deceit," or it can be a second name flung at the man himself, "O worker of deceit."

3You love evil more than good. You would rather lie than say what is true and right. Selah.

3Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.

Note"Selah" is a Hebrew term that appears mainly in the Psalms and in Habakkuk. Its meaning was already uncertain by ancient times; it is generally taken as a musical or performance direction, perhaps a pause, an instrumental break, or a cue to lift the voice. Translators normally leave it untranslated.

4You love every word that swallows people up, you tongue full of lies.

4Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.

5So God will tear you down for good. He will snatch you up and rip you out of your tent, and pull you up by the roots from the land of the living. Selah.

5God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.

Note"Tent" is the ordinary Hebrew word for a dwelling, carried over from the era when Israelites lived in tents; it means his home, whatever kind of building that was. "The land of the living" is a standard Hebrew idiom for the world of people who are still alive, as opposed to the realm of the dead. To be rooted out of it is to be removed from among the living.

6The righteous will see it and be afraid, and they will laugh at him and say:

6The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him:

Note"Be afraid" translates a verb that covers everything from fright to awe or reverence; the sense here is being struck by what they have seen. In Hebrew it also echoes the sound of the verb "see" in the same line, the righteous "see" (yir'u) and "fear" (yira'u).

7"Look at the man who did not make God his safe place. He trusted his great wealth instead, and made himself strong through the harm he did."

7Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.

NoteThe word behind "safe place" means a stronghold or refuge (a fortified place you run to for protection. The last phrase is disputed. The Hebrew word can mean "his destruction" (the ruin he inflicts on others), or, with a small change of vowels that many translators adopt, "his wealth") matching the riches in the line before.

8But I am like a healthy olive tree growing in God's house. I trust in God's faithful love forever and ever.

8But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

NoteOlive trees were long-lived, slow-growing and highly valuable, a sign of settled prosperity; a flourishing one stood for security and long life. "God's house" means the sanctuary, the tabernacle or temple. Trees did not literally grow inside it; the image is of a tree planted in a protected precinct, where no one may cut it down.

9I will praise you forever, because you have done it. I will wait for your name, because it is good, in front of your faithful people.

9I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.

NoteIn Hebrew usage a person's "name" stands for the person as known and reputed, so waiting for God's name means waiting on God himself and what he is known to do. "Your faithful people" translates hasidim, formed from the same root as the "faithful love" (hesed) of verses 1 and 8: those bound to God by that loyal love, and loyal in return. Older versions render it "saints."