Continuing to protest his innocence, the psalmist makes clear that he avoids altogether associating with evil, worthless people. In these four lines (verses 4-5) the same thought is expressed in four different ways.

For sit with in verses 4a and 5b, see comments on 1.1. The expression may be rendered as in Good News Translation or idiomatically as in some languages: “I do not tie myself up with” or “I don’t eat my food with.”

In verse 4a false men translates “men of fraud.” New English Bible and New American Bible have “worthless”; New Jerusalem Bible “scoundrels”; Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “impostors,” and New International Version “deceitful men.” Dahood takes the phrase to mean idol-worshipers. “Worthless people” (Good News Translation) is sometimes expressed as “people who cheat others.”

Consort translates a verb which is very frequently used in the Old Testament. It means, generally, “to enter”; here the idea is of entering someone’s house, and so “associate with,” “keep company with.”

Dissemblers in verse 4b is literally “those who hide themselves,” that is, who conceal their real thoughts or motives; so Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, and New International Version have “hypocrites.” (For a detailed treatment of “hypocrites,” see A Translator’s Handbook on the Gospel of Mark, pages 224-225.) Most languages have an abundance of terms or expressions for hypocrites. Many languages base the expression on the basis of a double image; for example, “two tongues,” “two hearts,” “two throats,” “two livers.” Others focus on a false manner of speaking: “to have a sweet mouth” or “to have a straight mouth and a crooked heart.” Others base the expression upon some cultural aspect such as “spreading a clean carpet.”

In verse 5 the two words translated evildoers and the wicked are synonymous and indicate in the broadest terms possible people who aren’t good. Evildoers is used in 22.16a; the word translated the wicked appears eighty-one times in the Psalms.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .