He raises up the poor … to make them sit with princes: see the parallel statement in Psa 113.7-8. The poor and the needy refer to the same people. But the parallelism should be retained unless it is unnatural in the receptor language. The words dust and ash heap are also parallel. The second Hebrew noun may also refer to a “refuse heap” (Revised English Bible) of garbage or to a “dunghill” (New Jerusalem Bible, Fox), that is, to a pile of manure. They are used in a figurative sense of miserable conditions. In certain languages the images may have to be replaced by more meaningful translations according to the following model:

• He lifts poor people out of their poverty;
those who are in need he raises from their unfortunate conditions.

The Hebrew verb translated inherit in Revised Standard Version does not mean primarily receiving something from one who has died. It means that God “causes them to sit in [or, be put in] the places of honor.”

The Septuagint does not have the words For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and on them he has set the world in verse 8, nor does it have the words in the first two lines of verse 9. The Septuagint instead has the words “He grants the vow of the one who vows, and blesses the years of the just.” New Revised Standard Version includes this addition in a footnote. New American Bible translates the full Masoretic Text here but also includes the words of the Septuagint in the text itself, following and inherit a seat of honor. New American Bible translates these words “He gives to the vower his vow, and blesses the sleep of the just.” A Qumran manuscript has another addition, the text of which is poorly preserved. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament discusses the textual problems here and suggests that the text in the Qumran manuscript should not be followed. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament does not, however, indicate whether translators should follow the Masoretic Text or the Greek text at this point.

For: this conjunction, which is not translated in Good News Translation, introduces the reason that God has the right to make the poor rich and the rich poor (verses 7 and 8a). Since he created the world, he has the right to intervene as he wishes.

The pillars of the earth: the Israelites, like other people in the ancient world, believed that the earth was flat and was supported by pillars (see 2 Sam 22.16; Job 9.6; Psa 75.3). Since the words pillars and earth are connected by the preposition “of” in English, the relationship between the two words may be ambiguous. In view of the beliefs of the people of the Old Testament, it is reasonable to translate “The LORD is the owner of the foundations on which the world sits” or, as Contemporary English Version has translated the last two lines together, “You set the world on foundations and they belong to you.” Regarding the words on them he has set the world, compare also Psa 24.1-2.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .