Commentaries

Mizmor 036, Verse 002

נְאֻֽם־פֶּ֣שַׁע לָ֭רָשָׁע בְּקֶ֣רֶב לִבִּ֑י אֵֽין־פַּ֥חַד אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים לְנֶ֣גֶד עֵינָֽיו

Ne'um-pesha lorosho bekerev libbi ein-pachad elohim leneged einov

[What] transgression declares to the wicked, [I feel] within my heart, [there is] no fear of God before his eyes,

Rabbi HIRSCH

1.
[נְאֻם] (neum)
NEUM - always denotes a pronouncement of God.
To him whose life is ruled by lawless caprice, transgression itself seems a pronouncement of the LORD. For whenever transgression tempts him, he tells himself that if God did not desire evil, He could have prevented by making it appear unattractive to man and impossible for him to commit. Thus, since the LORD seems to be doing nothing to prevent him from doing evil, he thinks that both the very urge to do wrong which he feels within himself, and the clear way which he sees before him to its successful execution, are NEUM - pronouncements of the LORD, showing that He actually approves of wrongdoing.
Therefore there is no room for the fear of the God of judgment in the wicked man's calculations; nor does he ever see such fear before his eyes, when he decides on the course of his life.

WORDS