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UHB 1 לַ⁠מְנַצֵּ֥חַ עַֽל־הַ⁠שְּׁמִינִ֗ית מִזְמ֥וֹר לְ⁠דָוִֽד׃ ‡

ULT To the music director; sheminith. psalm David.

WEBBE For the Chief Musician; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET For the music director; according to the sheminith style; a psalm of David.

FBV For the music director. To the Sheminith. A psalm of David.

BBE For the chief music-maker on the Sheminith. A Psalm. Of David.

Moff From the Choirmaster’s collection. For bass voices. A song of David.

ASV For the Chief Musician; set to the Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

Drby To the chief Musician. Upon Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

RV For the Chief Musician; set to the Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

KJB-1769 To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.

KJB-1611 ¶ [fn]To the chiefe Musician vpon Sheminith. A Psalme of Dauid.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

12:1 Or, saue.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Psalm 12 Introduction

Structure and Formatting

Psalm 12 has different types of themes in it. It has elements in it that belong to “lament psalms,” “psalms of trust,” and “imprecatory psalms.” See the Introduction to Psalms for more information about these types of psalms. 1. David laments that godly people seem to be no more (1) 2. The deceptive speech of wicked people (2) 3. David asks Yahweh to stop men who use their speech for evil purposes (3–4) 4. Yahweh’s response to the mistreatment of “the poor” and “the needy” (5) 5. Yahweh’s speech is perfect and trustworthy (6) 6. Yahweh’s “the poor” and “the needy” (7) 7. David observes the prideful boldness of wicked men as a result of society not condemning their evil actions (8)

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Psalm

Yahweh saves “the poor” and “the needy” from the oppressive acts of wicked people

Even though wicked people are temporarily succeeding in oppressing poor and needy people, Yahweh sees and will help “the poor” and “the needy” people who long for deliverance from their oppression (5). (See: save)

Words

A major focus of this psalm is the deceptive and prideful words that wicked people use (2–4). This psalm then shows that Yahweh’s speech, in contrast to the speech of wicked people, is morally perfect and trustworthy (6).

Note 1 topic: translate-unknown

לַ⁠מְנַצֵּ֥חַ

(la⁠mənaʦʦēaḩ)

The word translated as chief musician likely refers to the person in charge of music for worship. Some languages may have a term for a music leader. Alternate translation: [For the music director] or [For the leader of worship music]

Note 2 topic: translate-names

עַֽל־הַ⁠שְּׁמִינִ֗ית

(ˊal-ha⁠shshəmīnit)

See how you translated the term Sheminith in the superscription to Psalm 6.

Parallel PSA 12:0

Psalm 12 Introduction

Structure and Formatting

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Psalm

Yahweh saves “the poor” and “the needy” from the oppressive acts of wicked people

Words