Psa 139:20-21 | NETfull | STEP | They rebel against you and act deceitfully; your enemies lie.

Psalms 139:20-21

20 They ^{▼▼ Heb “who.”} rebel against you ^{▼▼ Heb “they speak [of] you.” The suffixed form of the verb אָמַר (’amar, “to speak”) is peculiar. The translation assumes an emendation to יַמְרֻךָ (yamrukha), a Hiphil form from מָרָה (marah, “to rebel”; see Ps 78:40).} and act deceitfully; ^{▼▼ Heb “by deceit.”}
your enemies lie. ^{▼▼ Heb “lifted up for emptiness, your cities.” The Hebrew text as it stands makes no sense. The form נָשֻׂא (nasu’; a Qal passive participle) should be emended to נָשְׂאוּ (nos^eu; a Qal perfect, third common plural, “[they] lift up”). Many emend עָרֶיךָ (’arekha, “your cities”) to עָלֶיךָ (’alekha, “against you”), but it is preferable to understand the noun as an Aramaism and translate “your enemies” (see Dan 4:16 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101–150 [WBC], 253).}
21 O Lord, do I not hate those who hate you,
and despise those who oppose you? ^{▼▼ Heb “who raise themselves up against you.” The form וּבִתְקוֹמְמֶיךָ (uvitqom^emekha) should be emended to וּבְמִתְקוֹמְמֶיךָ (uv^emitqom^emekha), a Hitpolel participle (the prefixed mem [מ] of the participle is accidentally omitted in the MT, though a few medieval Hebrew mss have it).}