In the Old Testament the fool is not always or only a person with no sense; he is one who stubbornly rejects the highest wisdom of all, the fear of God, which is how wisdom begins (see Pro 1.7; 9.10; Job 28.28; Psa 111.10). He is the person who disregards God, who convinces himself or herself that God does not matter (see 10.4, 6, 11, 13). Translations vary in their attempt to bring out the spiritual dimension of the word: New English Bible “impious fool”; Bible en français courant “those who say that God is powerless”; New Jerusalem Bible “benighted man”; another possibility is “arrogant man.”

Fool is expressed in some languages by means of abnormal body parts; for example, “black liver” or “gourd head.” In other languages a fool is said to be lacking something in the mind or brains; for example, “no-think kind of person” or “mind-gone-away kind of person.”

Says in his heart in some languages implies the babbling of an idiot rather than the thoughts of a person who is consciously rejecting God’s wisdom. Therefore it is sometimes clearer to say “the foolish kind of person thinks to himself….”

There is no God is not a philosophical denial of God’s existence; it is to reject the belief that God matters, that God’s will is of any importance in human affairs (see 10.4).

They are corrupt translates a verb that means to be worthless, vile, completely immoral. They are corrupt is difficult to translate in this form, since it is not immediately clear who the referent is. Therefore it may be advisable to render They as “evil people.” Corrupt in the sense of worthless or vile may often be expressed in translation by means of figures such as “having small hearts,” “being with a cold heart,” or “having eyes that see only bad things.”

The adjective abominable represents another form of the verb which in 5.6 is translated “abhors” (Good News Translation “despise”); another possibility is “detestable.”

Some translations join the two verbs as parallel: New Jerusalem Bible “their deeds are corrupt and vile”; New Jerusalem Bible “man’s deeds are corrupt and loathsome.”

Good translates a word meaning morally good, legally sanctioned, religiously approved, with as wide a range of application as possible. Bible en français courant translates the line “No one acts as he should.” The last line is repeated in verse 3, with the intensifying expression “no, not one” giving a poetic unity to this first part of the psalm. Many languages make a distinction between good as a quality of an object and good as a right kind of behavior. In such cases it is best to translate the Hebrew in the sense of behavior. The expression which results is often figurative; for example, “there is no person who walks the straight road” or “no one is entirely straight.”

The style of verses 1 and 3 is that of hyperbole, that is, it contains exaggerated statements. The purpose of such a style is to make the statements as vivid as possible, particularly at the beginning, in order to catch the attention of the reader. The translator should be sure the style used will retain an equivalent exaggerated vividness.

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 .