The parallelism is that of a statement in the first clause, followed by overstatement in the two following clauses. In this way the psalmist calls attention to the seriousness of his pain, which grows from moaning to a flood of tears and weeping. Good News Translation has managed to reflect something of this intensification, with “damp” in line b followed by “soaked” in line c.

The psalmist describes his intense grief with an exaggerated description of the deep sorrow which makes him flood his bed with tears every night; Good News Translation (line b) has used more restrained language, “my bed is damp.” In line c my couch is synonymous with my bed in line b; Good News Translation (also New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible) uses “bed” and “pillow” as more natural contemporary equivalents.

I am weary with my moaning must often be recast so that “grief” or moaning is the cause of being tired; for instance, “my moaning has made me tired.” The Hebrew noun translated moaning carries the idea of actual groans, sighs, or moans that accompany suffering and pain, so that a more vivid word than Good News Translation‘s “grief” is required. In languages where one’s physical condition cannot be said to cause another such condition, this may be rendered as two coordinate statements, “I am very sad and so I am tired.” The literary exaggeration of I flood my bed … may sometimes require reduction as in Good News Translation or, for example, “every night I cry in my bed.” “Soaked” and drench are likewise strong hyperboles which in some languages are better rendered “and my tears cause my pillow to be wet.” The translator should recognize the nature of the movement of intensification within the successive parallel lines and seek to represent it in the translation. This may not always be done by translating Good News Translation or Revised Standard Version literally. In this verse the psalmist has used hyperbole to accomplish this goal, but other languages have available different means for reaching the same objective.

For similar descriptions of intense grief, see 31.9-10; 69.3.

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 .