The psalmist describes the desperate situation of the people of Israel: no signs, no prophet, no certainty as to how long this terrible situation will last. It is not clear what the Hebrew our signs in verse 9a refers to: miracles (Dahood); military banners (as the word is used in verse 4; Anderson); the festivals and rituals of the faith (Briggs). There is no way of knowing exactly what the word refers to. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project says it means “our (prophetical) signs”; Bible en français courant has “the signs of your presence,” which probably means miracles; see New International Version “miraculous signs.” Because the interpretation of our signs or Good News Translation‘s “sacred symbols” is so uncertain, the translator in smaller languages would be well advised to follow the interpretation given in a major language that people will be reading. (For signs and banners see verse 4.) This is the only mention of prophet in the Book of Psalms, and in translation it may often be rendered as “one who speaks for God” or “one who speaks God’s words to the people.” It may be necessary to make clear that it is the situation described in verse 9a-b that is in doubt. In some languages the expression who knows how long may be recast to say, for example, “no one knows when our troubles will end” or “no one knows if this situation will stop or continue.”

In verse 10a scoff may mean “laugh at you” (Good News Translation) or “laugh at us,” since there is no direct object in Hebrew; but the parallelism with the next line suggests “you.” “Laugh at you” and “insult you” (“revile thy name”) are also in verse 18. The two questions in verse 10, while not exactly requests for information, vividly express the people’s puzzlement and despair. They can be translated “Surely, O God, you won’t let our enemies keep on laughing at you, will you? Surely you won’t let them insult your name forever?” Revile thy name or Good News Translation “insult your name” must be recast in many languages to say “insult you.”

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 .