Answer me: see 3.4. This must be rendered by a term which invites an attentive response, and should not be translated by a term which only means “reply to my question.” Where ambiguity would result it is better to use an expression meaning “listen and help” or “pay attention.”
I call: “I pray for help.” Bible en français courant “I call to you for help.”
In his prayer the psalmist addresses God as God of my right. The Hebrew word translated right (tsedeq) is a legal term and means defense or vindication against the charges brought by one’s accuser. Briggs defines the phrase as “the God who vindicates his cause against his adversaries and establishes his right.” New English Bible translates “maintainer of my rights”; New Jerusalem Bible “my vindicator”; New Jerusalem Bible “upholder of my right.” A different interpretation is given by New American Bible, “O my just God.” The Hebrew word takes on various meanings, according to the context. When applied to people it usually means obedience to God’s will as expressed in the Law; when applied to God it describes him as one who always does what is right. In particular it means his activity on behalf of his people. Thus the word sometimes means “saving deed,” “salvation.” In some languages one may reverse the order of the two clauses and say “O God, you are my defender. So please listen to me and help me when I pray.”
Thou hast given me room: Good News Translation “you helped me” takes the Hebrew expression “you gave me room” to mean freedom of movement as opposed to the restrictive circumstances of the distress that kept him a prisoner. The Hebrew word for distress implies confinement in a limited space. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “in my distress you gave me relief.” New Jerusalem Bible translates the whole line “You freed me from distress.” Another possibility is “you have set me free.”
Good News Translation makes the first clause a temporal dependent clause indicating condition, “When I was in trouble”; the second clause is the result: “you helped me.” For many languages this is a more natural arrangement. Good News Translation‘s “trouble” and “helped” are generic terms. The translator should attempt wherever possible to use specific and picturable renderings; for example, “When I was snared you set me free” or “when I was tied up you untied me.”
Be gracious translates a verb which means to show favor, kindness, compassion, mercy. New Jerusalem Bible has “take pity on me”; New American Bible “have pity on me”; New Jerusalem Bible “have mercy on me.” Good News Translation has “now” in order to make the petition even stronger; since God has helped him in the past, he should do the same now.
Be gracious to me is rendered in many languages by idiomatic terms having to do with physical and emotional responses; for example, “Have a white heart for me,” “Be pained for me,” or “Cry in your heart for me.”
Hear my prayer: “answer my prayer,” “give me what I ask for.”
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 .