In verse 5a the terror of the night may be a reference to night demons, such as Lilith, the name of a female demon in ancient Semitic legends. New English Bible understands it to mean “hunters’ trap”; Dahood takes it to mean a pack of wild dogs; it is also possible to simply translate “an attack.” Good News Translation‘s “dangers at night” may suggest in some languages only physical dangers. Since the meaning appears to be the unseen evil associated with darkness, it may be better to render this more specifically as such; for example, “you need not fear evil spirits that go about at night.” The arrow in verse 5b may be human or demonic dangers; Anderson suggests a sunstroke may be meant.

In verse 6 the pestilence and the destruction are identified by many as demonic forces (see Oesterley). In verse 6b the Septuagint translates “from the calamity and the demon of midday.” The Hebrew noun for destruction is explained in later Rabbinical commentaries as a demon, “covered with scales and hair, and which sees out of only one eye,” that stalked abroad between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. (cited in Oesterley). Bible en français courant translates “sunstroke.” But it is possible that the words in verses 5-6 are used in a general sense of natural dangers and epidemics, with no thought of demons as their cause. If pestilence and destruction are taken to be evil spirits, then verses 5 and 6 are nearly synonymous and may be combined into one; for example, “the evil spirits that attack people and kill them in the dark or in the light” or “the evil spirits that go about during the night and the day to attack people and destroy them.”

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 .