For They cried for help see “I cried for help” in verse 6b. In some languages They cried for help will have to be recast as direct address: “They cried and said, ‘Help us!’ ”

In line b of verse 41 there is no verb in Hebrew for they cried; the verb in line a carries over into line b. The parallelism of verses 41-42 is that of intensification of images in the second line. Line b of 41 may be heightened by translating “they even cried to the LORD…” or “they went so far as to cry to the LORD….”

I beat them fine as dust before the wind is literally “I make dust of them like the dust on the face of the wind,” a picture of complete defeat. Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have adjusted the Hebrew “I make dust of them” through the use of more specific verbs, beat and “crush,” which attempt to express both the act of defeating the enemy and reducing something to dust. Many languages will be able to use other specific verbs and retain the simile; for example, “I will stamp on them and grind them like dust blown by the wind.” In some languages the simile may require explanation; for example, “I defeat them and make them as weak as dust blown by the wind” or “… dust which the wind blows away.”

Revised Standard Version translates the Masoretic text, I cast them out; Good News Translation and many others (New English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) translate a different verb, “I trample on them,” which is found in many Hebrew manuscripts and also in the parallel 2 Samuel 22.43. This seems to fit the context better than the traditional Masoretic text. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers the Masoretic text, which it translates “I will sweep them out.”

In some languages it will be necessary to repeat “my enemies” as the subject in verse 41 and as the object of crush and trample in verse 42.

The figure of mire of the streets must in some languages be rendered “mud in the footpaths” or “dirt where people walk.”

Intensification in line b of verse 42 may be brought out more forcefully by saying, for example, “Not only did I turn them to dust, but I threw them out like mud in the streets” or “I smashed them to dust like the wind blows away; more than that, I trampled on them like dirt on the path.”

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 .