The translation of this verse is doubtful, because it is not certain what the subject of the verb rises (Good News Translation “shines”) is, nor who is referred to in the Hebrew of line b. Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch take the subject of line a to be Light; but others take it to be the righteous man, who is the subject of the preceding and the following verses (see Kirkpatrick, Weiser, An American Translation, New English Bible, New American Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). So Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates “He is like a light in the darkness, that shines for the honorable men.” This is a possible rendition of the Hebrew and is probably to be preferred; Anderson, however, favors the other interpretation, as do Toombs and McCullough. See similar language in 97.11. Light, in this context, would be a symbol of prosperity (Oesterley). The verb in line a is “shines, breaks forth, dawns.” In languages in which it is not possible to say “Light shines in the darkness” without specifying who caused the light to shine, it will be necessary to recast verse 4a as a simile in the direction of Biblia Dios Habla Hoy and to say something like “The good man is like a light that shines in the darkness for the benefit of honorable people,” or as two coordinate clauses, “A good person is like a light that shines in the darkness, and so good people are helped by it.”

In line b the adjectives are all singular, whereas in line a the plural the upright (Good News Translation “good men”) is used. Following the interpretation that makes the righteous man the subject in line a, these three adjectives, as they are in the Masoretic text, are further descriptions of him. Revised Standard Version supplies the LORD as the subject. New English Bible translates the verse “He is gracious, compassionate, good, a beacon in darkness for honest men.” Everything considered, it seems preferable to translate the whole verse as a description of the person who obeys God’s laws, as New English Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Bible en français courant, and others do. The following may serve as a model: “He is (like) a light shining in the darkness on good people; he is always merciful, kind, and just.”

Dahood takes darkness to be a name for the world of the dead, and interprets the verse to mean that after death the righteous “will enjoy happiness with Yahweh in the life to come.” He translates the verse “In the Darkness will dawn the Sun for the upright, The Merciful and Compassionate and Just One!” However, this interpretation is not normally followed by translators.

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 .