The Hebrew of verse 7 has two lines arranged in chiastic order, reflected in the clause order of both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. Line b reverses the order of line a, and in this way worship in the Temple is bracketed by steadfast love in line a and fear of thee in line b. Translators may not be able to retain this clause order. If chiastic arrangement of lines is not good poetic style, it should not be kept.
The psalmist is confident of God’s great love; the word Revised Standard Version translates steadfast love is the Hebrew word chesed, which includes the idea of love and devotion, and faithfulness to a promise or a covenant. When used to describe God its emphasis is on God’s faithfulness to his covenant with his people, his promise to be their God always, and to protect them and take care of them. It describes his special feeling for his people. When the word is used of God, Revised Standard Version nearly always translates steadfast love; one notable exception in the Psalms is in 23.6a, where Revised Standard Version has “mercy” (and see footnote). New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy here are like Good News Translation, “love”; others use “faithfulness,” “faithful love” (New Jerusalem Bible), or “loyalty.” When the Hebrew word is used of people, Revised Standard Version prefers “kindness” (see 101.1).
In most languages it is difficult to find a single term to express the various components contained in the Hebrew term translated steadfast love. Moreover, phrases which attempt to express these elements fully become awkward and grammatically or stylistically unwieldy. Therefore it may be best to seek an expression which combines the care or love of a superior for an inferior, and which includes faithfulness or loyalty; for example, “because you love me like a father loves a child,” “because you are always faithful in your love,” “because you love me faithfully,” or “because you love me always.”
God’s house is the same as his holy temple in the next line; both refer to the Temple in Jerusalem. The Hebrew preposition translated by Revised Standard Version toward (also New English Bible) seems to place the worshiper outside the Temple; yet in the previous line he affirms he can enter it. Consequently some translate “before” (New Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt); others “at” (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible); Bible en français courant has “facing,” and Oesterley translates “in.” The word translated temple can be taken in the larger sense of the whole complex of the Temple area, with all its buildings and courtyards, or in the more restricted sense of the main sanctuary, the Holy Place. The Bible en français courant footnote says that “your house” means the whole Temple area, with all its courts and buildings, while “your holy Temple” means the sanctuary proper, where only priests could enter. This may well be correct, and a translator may prefer to express this meaning: “I will enter your Temple and bow toward the (or, your) sanctuary.”
In many languages the combination of thy house and thy holy temple will be understood as two distinct places. In such cases it may be necessary therefore to translate “I can come to you; and I can worship in your holy Temple.” In languages which translate Temple as “place of worship,” one may say “I will come to your place of worship; and I can worship you there.” Holy is often rendered by words meaning “pure,” “clear,” or “unblemished.” Since the central meaning of an object which is “holy” is “dedicated to God,” it is sometimes possible to express this quality as simply “God’s Temple,” or in the present context, “in the Temple which belongs to you” or “in the Temple where you are worshiped.”
In order to balance the lines, Good News Translation supplies in line d the verb “bow down” as a parallel to “worship” in line c.
Will enter … will worship: Revised Standard Version translates these verbs as a declaration of (future) fact; Good News Translation, New English Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible translate as a possibility, that is, the psalmist’s situation is such that he is able at any time to enter Yahweh’s presence.
“In reverence” (Good News Translation) translates what is literally fear (see 2.11). Here the worshiper is a devout Hebrew, and so “reverence” (also New Jerusalem Bible) or “awe” (New English Bible) seems more appropriate. Weiser defines “the fear of God” thus: “that clear-sighted awareness of the essential difference between the majesty of God and human inadequacy, which in the Old Testament excludes any kind of gross familiarity and self-assurance in man’s intercourse with God.”
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 .