Psalms 58:1 Explained in Context

Read It With

• Psalms 58:1–11

Read Psalms 58:1 with 58:1–11. Read alone, “Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O…” could lose the communal voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 58:1–11, the communal voice carries the movement “A protest against corrupt rulers and violent judgment” as part of “A protest against corrupt rulers and violent judgment.” Its communal-imprecation form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.

Why This Verse Appears Here

Psalms 58:1–11 opens Psalm 58 with “Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?” and establishes the communal voice and “A protest against corrupt rulers and violent judgment” movement before later lines develop or answer it. Within that relationship, Psalm 58:1 poses the poem's question through “Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons…” and leaves the surrounding lines to answer, intensify, or hold it open.