Sunday, December 14, 2025

Psalm 10:5, 7

I found a couple features in my German translation of Psalm 10 that highlight the meaning.

Verse 5 is:
Er fährt fort in seinem Tun immerdar.  Deine Gerichte sind ferne von ihm, er handelt gewaltsam an allen seinen Feinden.
In the ESV, this is:
His ways prosper at all times; your judgements are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
"Deine Gerichte" ("your judgements") and "ihm" ("him") are at opposite ends of the clause, giving a sense of the distance between them.  (In German, it's more prosaic:  "Your judgements are far from him," but the ESV renders it as "your judgements are high, out of his sight.")

Verse 7:
Seine Mund ist voll Fluchens, voll Lug und Trug; seine Zunge richtet Mühsal und Unheil an.
His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
The repetition of sound between "Lug" and "Trug" (in a phrase that means something like "lies and deception") lends a slight sense of abundance, which matches being "filled."