Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

I wrote:

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Here is a NET Bible note about another difficulty 
in the verse:

5tn Heb “for it causes to be smooth to him in his 
eyes to find his sin
to hate.” The meaning of the Hebrew text is 
unclear. Perhaps the point
is this: His rebellious attitude makes him reject 
any notion that God
will hold him accountable. His attitude also 
prevents him from
recognizing and repudiating his sinful ways.
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HH: I wonder if it might be possible to think of 
verse 3 this way: "It is flattering to him in his 
eyes to find his sin, to hate (it)." Could one 
possibly insert an understood third person subject 
for the infinitives? The idea would be:

It is flattering to him in his eyes when one finds 
  his sin so as to hate it.

HH: The idea would be that he gets a kick out of 
how other people discover his wickedness and are 
repulsed by it.

HH: I offer this suggestion because I am not 
finding the HCSB alternative convincing. How can 
one insert the words "too much"? The NRSV, on the 
other hand, seems to have no real basis to insert 
the word "cannot":

Psa. 36:2 For they flatter themselves in their own 
eyes that their iniquity cannot be found out and 
hated.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard