Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageFor the Chief Musician, accompanied by stringed instruments, set to the Sheminith — a Psalm of David. Yahweh, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor discipline me in Your burning wrath.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GFor the Director of Music; with stringed instruments; according to the Sheminith; a mizmor of David. YHWH, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor discipline me in Your fury.
KJV
King James VersionTo the chief Musician on Neginoth upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David. O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleFor the choirmaster. With stringed instruments, according to Sheminith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger or discipline me in Your wrath.
Footnotes
The *Sheminith* (שְּׁמִינִית, lit. 'the eighth') most likely refers to an eight-stringed lyre or to a musical mode associated with the lower octave register; its precise meaning remains uncertain. *Mizmor* (מִזְמֹור) denotes a song accompanied by plucked strings — it is the classical heading for many Psalms and carries a more specific musical connotation than the generic English 'psalm.' Two distinct Hebrew words for divine anger appear: *aph* (אַף, lit. 'nostril') — anger depicted as flared nostrils, hot and visceral — and *chamath* (חֲמָה, 'wrath/fury/venom'), a scorching, searing rage. The Psalmist is not asking to escape accountability altogether but to be spared correction delivered in these most extreme emotional states — a plea for merciful restraint. This opening closely mirrors Jeremiah 10:24 and 30:11, suggesting a shared liturgical tradition of covenant protest. FOG renders *chamath* as 'fury'; FOG Message as 'burning wrath' to capture its scorching quality.