| Psalm 58 | |
| Subtitle: | "Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation?" |
| Image Upright: | 1.2 |
| Other Name: |
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| Language: | Hebrew (original) |
Psalm 58 is the 58th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation?". In the slightly different numbering system of the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible and the Latin Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 57. In Latin, it is known as Si vere utique.[1] [2]
It is one of six psalms labeled a michtam, which may mean an "engraving", "sculpture", "golden", or "secret".[3] [4] It is also classified as one of the Imprecatory Psalms.[5] Psalm 58 is a companion piece to Psalm 57, which also describes David's difficult relationship with Saul, and both psalms refer in their headings to Altaschith or "Do Not Destroy", possibly an ancient song whose tune was to be used in singing the psalms.[6]
The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It has been set to music.
The Midrash Tehillim connects the words Al taschet (Hebrew: אַל-תַּשְׁחֵת, do not destroy) in the Hebrew verse 1 to the episode when David took Abishai into Saul's camp and had the opportunity to kill Saul as he slept. David said, "Al tashhitahu (Hebrew: אַל-תַּשְׁחִיתֵהוּ, do not destroy him" (Samuel 26:9), which echoes these words, setting Saul's animosity toward David as the theme of this psalm.[7] The psalm also alludes to Abner, the chief of Saul's army, who would not admit to David's righteousness when David refrained from killing Saul in the cave.[7] Henry suggests that David composed Psalm 58 after Saul used the force of law to brand David as a traitor to the crown.[8] David exhorts at length against either wicked people or wicked judges, the latter possibly referring to those who sided with Saul.[9] David uses highly descriptive language comparing the wicked to snakes, serpents, cobras, and lions, and prays to God to "smash their teeth in their mouth, shatter the molars of young lions…His arrows, may they be as if crumbled to pieces".[10]
Quoting Jerome, George Haydock avers that the depiction of the wicked judges refers "to the proceedings of the Jews against Christ", and adds that the psalm decries "hypocrites" and "detractors".[11]
The following table shows the Hebrew text[12] [13] of the Psalm with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).
| Verse | Hebrew | English translation (JPS 1917) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | For the Leader; Al-tashheth. [A Psalm] of David; Michtam | |
| 2 | Do ye indeed speak as a righteous company? Do ye judge with equity the sons of men? | |
| 3 | Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; Ye weigh out in the earth the violence of your hands. | |
| 4 | The wicked are estranged from the womb; The speakers of lies go astray as soon as they are born. | |
| 5 | Their venom is like the venom of a serpent; They are like the deaf asp that stoppeth her ear; | |
| 6 | Which hearkeneth not to the voice of charmers, Or of the most cunning binder of spells. | |
| 7 | Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth; Break out the cheek-teeth of the young lions, O LORD. | |
| 8 | Let them melt away as water that runneth apace; When he aimeth his arrows, let them be as though they were cut off. | |
| 9 | Let them be as a snail which melteth and passeth away; Like the untimely births of a woman, that have not seen the sun. | |
| 10 | Before your pots can feel the thorns, He will sweep it away with a whirlwind, the raw and the burning alike. | |
| 11 | The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance; He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. | |
| 12 | And men shall say: 'Verily there is a reward for the righteous; Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.' | |
Verse 9 in the Hebrew is said by the snail in Perek Shirah.[14] [15]
The entire chapter is recited as protection from an aggressive dog.[16]
From the early Middle Ages monasteries used this psalm at the Matins office on Tuesday,[17] [18] [19] according to the Rule of St. Benedict of Nursia which was established around 530.
In the revision of the Liturgy of the Hours following the Second Vatican Council, this psalm was deemed unsuitable for continued use in the Office, and is therefore omitted from the 1971 Liturgy of the Hours.[20]
In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read on the morning of the eleventh day of the month.[21]
Because this is an imprecatory Psalm, the 1962 Canadian Book of Common Prayer leaves out Psalm 58 (and Psalm 137).[22] A number of various other imprecatory Psalms are omitted from a number of lectionaries usually having Psalm 58 among those redacted.[23] Evangelicals tend to disagree and see a value in these passages.[24]
Heinrich Schütz set Psalm 58 in a metred version in German, "Wie nun, ihr Herren, seid ihr stumm", SWV 155, as part of the Becker Psalter, first published in 1628.