Psalm 52

Psalm 52 is the 52nd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man?". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 51. In Latin, it is known as "Quid gloriatur in malitia", It is described as a maskil, attributed to David, and is said to have been written "when Doeg the Edomite went and told Saul, and said to him, "David has gone to the house of Ahimelech". In this psalm, David criticises those who use their talents for evil.
The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant liturgies.

Context

The psalm's sub-heading refers to the occasion reported in 1 Samuel 21–22 when Doeg, the chief herdsman of Saul, the first king of Israel, informed Saul that David had been received by Ahimelech at Nob, a priestly town in the vicinity of Jerusalem, and assisted with the means for his flight. Alexander Kirkpatrick observes that "the character denounced in the Psalm is in some respects such as we may suppose Doeg to have been. He was a man of wealth and importance as the chief of Saul’s herdmen. His tongue was "a deceitful tongue", because although the facts he reported were true, he helped to confirm Saul in a false and cruel suspicion.
However, Kirkpatrick notes that
Instead, he argues that

Latin divisions

This psalm opens the second section of the three traditional divisions of the Latin psalter, and for this reason the first words, and above all the initial "Q", were often greatly enlarged in illuminated manuscript psalters, following the pattern of the Beatus initials at the start of Psalm 1, and the "D" of Psalm 102.

Psalm form

According to Hermann Gunkel's system of classification, Psalm 52 was conditionally classified as an Individual Psalm of Trust, one that demonstrates an expression of trust or confidence in YHWH's assistant to the petitioner.

Book of Common Prayer

In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read on the morning of the tenth day of the month.

Musical settings

wrote a setting of a paraphrase of Psalm 52 in German, "Was trotzst denn du, Tyrann, so hoch", SWV 149, for the Becker Psalter, published first in 1628.

Text

The following table shows the Hebrew text of the Psalm with vowels, alongside the Koine Greek text in the Septuagint and the English translation from the King James Version. Note that the meaning can slightly differ between these versions, as the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text come from different textual traditions. In the Septuagint, this psalm is numbered Psalm 51.

#	Hebrew	English	Greek
			ἐν τῷ ἐλθεῖν Δωὴκ τὸν ᾿Ιδουμαῖον καὶ ἀναγγεῖλαι τῷ Σαοὺλ καὶ εἰπεῖν αὐτῷ· ἦλθε Δαυΐδ εἰς τὸν οἶκον ᾿Αβιμέλεχ. -
1		Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.	ΤΙ ΕΓΚΑΥΧᾼ ἐν κακίᾳ, ὁ δυνατός, ἀνομίαν ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν;
2		Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.	ἀδικίαν ἐλογίσατο ἡ γλῶσσά σου· ὡσεὶ ξυρὸν ἠκονημένον ἐποίησας δόλον.
3		Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.	ἠγάπησας κακίαν ὑπὲρ ἀγαθωσύνην, ἀδικίαν ὑπὲρ τὸ λαλῆσαι δικαιοσύνην..
4		Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.	ἠγάπησας πάντα τὰ ῥήματα καταποντισμοῦ, γλῶσσαν δολίαν.
5		God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.	διὰ τοῦτο ὁ Θεὸς καθέλοι σε εἰς τέλος· ἐκτίλαι σε καὶ μεταναστεύσαι σε ἀπὸ σκηνώματός σου καὶ τὸ ρίζωμά σου ἐκ γῆς ζώντων..
6		The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him:	ὄψονται δίκαιοι καὶ φοβηθήσονται καὶ ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν γελάσονται καὶ ἐροῦσιν·
7		Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.	ἰδοὺ ἄνθρωπος, ὃς οὐκ ἔθετο τὸν Θεὸν βοηθὸν αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ᾿ ἐπήλπισεν ἐπὶ τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ πλούτου αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐνεδυναμώθη ἐπὶ τῇ ματαιότητι αὐτοῦ.
8		But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.	ἐγὼ δὲ ὡσεὶ ἐλαία κατάκαρπος ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἤλπισα ἐπὶ τὸ ἔλεος τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος.
9		I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.	ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ὅτι ἐποίησας, καὶ ὑπομενῶ τὸ ὄνομά σου, ὅτι χρηστὸν ἐναντίον τῶν ὁσίων σου.