(3) The next qualification for entering the Temple has to do with slander, spreading malicious gossip or speaking ill of others. Tongue represents the organ of speech, and it is not necessary to say literally in English (as does Revised Standard Version) slander with his tongue. In some languages, however, the literal phrase may be quite effective. The verb translated “to slander” occurs rarely; some think it has here the meaning “to spy on” (so Briggs). Slander is sometimes expressed idiomatically as “taking away people’s names,” “saying bad words about people” or “putting dirt on people’s backs.”
(4-5) The next two qualifications use two synonymous terms, friend and neighbor, both referring to fellow Israelites in general.
Does no evil has the broadest sense possible of “does no harm to,” “does nothing bad to.”
The term friend presents certain problems for the translator in some languages. In many face-to-face societies a person forms few if any associations on an entirely voluntary basis. One’s friends are nearly always kinsmen and are designated by the appropriate kinship term. Therefore it is sometimes necessary to say “he does no harm to the people he goes about with” or “he does not injure people who work beside him.”
Reproach (Good News Translation “rumors”) translates a word meaning taunt, scorn, contempt. Dahood has “slur”; New English Bible “tells no tales against”; Bible en français courant “does not insult”; New Jerusalem Bible “casts no discredit on.” From the meaning of the verb takes up in line c, New Jerusalem Bible gets a different sense altogether: “or borne a reproach for [his acts toward] his neighbor,” that is, he has never so acted against his neighbor as to have been reproached for it. This does not seem very likely.
Neighbor is expressed idiomatically in some languages as “younger-brother-older-brother,” referring to everyone in the community.
In translation it is important that it be clear that each passage after verse 1 is a reply to the original question. In some languages a string of replies to a single question will require markers to show that the replies are the response unit of the discourse. In some cases this may be done by using two section headings; for example, the first, “Who may worship God?” and the second inserted before verse 2, “This is the person who may worship God.” In some languages careful use of connectives will be required between the responses, to give more cohesion to the response unit; for example, “He must be a person who obeys God … and in addition does what is right, moreover what he says must be true and sincere, furthermore he is a person who does not slander other people….” In some languages the tying together of the response unit may be done by inserting at several points something equivalent to “and this also….”
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 .