Psalms 101

 

לְדָוִד מִזְמוֹר חֶסֶד־וּמִשְׁפָּט אָשִׁירָה לְךָ יְהוָה אֲזַמֵּרָה׃   101:1

Psal. 101:1   A psalm of David's:

                         I shall sing of kindness and justice.

                                 I will sing praises to You, Lord.

אַשְׂכִּילָה בְּדֶרֶךְ תָּמִים מָתַי תָּבוֹא אֵלָי אֶתְהַלֵּךְ בְּתָם־לְבָבִי בְּקֶרֶב בֵּיתִי׃   101:2

Psal. 101:2   Let me prosper on the wholesome path

                                 -- when will You come to me?

                        Let me walk with integrity of my heart within my own house.

לֹא־אָשִׁית לְנֶגֶד עֵינַי דְּבַר־בְּלִיָּעַל עֲשֹׂה־סֵטִים שָׂנֵאתִי לֹא יִדְבַּק בִּי׃   101:3

Psal. 101:3   Let me not set any improper thing in front of my eyes;

                                  I hate the act of falling away; let it not cling to me.

לֵבָב עִקֵּשׁ יָסוּר מִמֶּנִּי רָע לֹא אֵדָע׃   101:4

Psal. 101:4   Let a perverse heart depart from me;

                                   let me not know evil.

מְלֹושְׁנִי) [מְלָשְׁנִי] בַסֵּתֶר רֵעֵהוּ אֹותֹו אַצְמִית גְּבַהּ־עֵינַיִם וּרְחַב לֵבָב אֹתֹו לֹא אוּכָל׃   101:5

Psal. 101:5   A slanderer of his neighbor in secret, him let me destroy;

                                   any haughty of eyes and proud of heart, let me not endure him.

The word before the left parenthesis is thought to be misspelled, having an unnecessary vav.  I believe the word is spelled properly and means a slanderer, that is one who is slandering (often or continually).  This word follows a typical template for spelling biblical Hebrew nouns and participles that are constructed from verb roots.

עֵינַי בְּנֶאֶמְנֵי־אֶרֶץ לָשֶׁבֶת עִמָּדִי הֹלֵךְ בְּדֶרֶךְ תָּמִים הוּא יְשָׁרְתֵנִי׃   101:6

Psal. 101:6   My eyes are on the faithful of the land, to dwell with me;

                                   one walking on the wholesome path, let him minister to me.

לֹא־יֵשֵׁב בְּקֶרֶב בֵּיתִי עֹשֵׂה רְמִיָּה דֹּבֵר שְׁקָרִים לֹא־יִכּוֹן לְנֶגֶד עֵינָי׃   101:7

Psal. 101:7   Let a worker of deceit not dwell within my house;

                                   let a speaker of lies not be established in front of my eyes.

לַבְּקָרִים אַצְמִית כָּל־רִשְׁעֵי־אָרֶץ לְהַכְרִית מֵעִיר־יְהוָה כָּל־פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן׃   101:8

Psal. 101:8   Every morning let me destroy all the wicked of the land,

                                   cutting off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord.

I have translated most of the imperfect verbs in this psalm (and there are many) as being part of a prayer rather than as promises or vows.  Therefore, if you reexamine some of these verses, you should notice I have many instances of “let,” “let me,” or “let him, rather than “will,” “I will,” or “he will.”  I believe the result is more self-consistent throughout the psalm.

 

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