In verse 7 in Hebrew the verb for boast appears only once, after we, but it applies to all three: Some … some … we; it is the causative of the verb “to remember,” meaning to make mention of something as the cause for victory, and to do so in terms of boasting or trusting. (Dahood derives the verb from a form meaning “to be male,” that is, to be strong.) Instead of accepting the Hebrew text “we will be made to remember,” some prefer a conjecture supported by the Septuagint and Syriac, “we are strong” (Briggs, New American Bible). Some may prefer to use two verbs: “rely” in line a and “invoke” in line b; Bible en français courant does so: “depend on” and “make our appeal to.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible translate “call on,” which indicates “rely on”; this may be the best translation of the verb.

Chariots must in most languages be adjusted by means of a descriptive phrase; for example, “war carts.” The translator may choose to use boast as in Revised Standard Version rather than Good News Translation‘s “trust.” Boast is often expressed idiomatically as “to make oneself chief” or “to speak with a swollen heart.” Line a would then be rendered “some people speak with swollen hearts about their war carts” or “some people act like chiefs when they talk about….”

In some languages it will be necessary to avoid the ellipsis and some of horses and either express the verb boast again or use a close synonym; for example, “and other people put their hearts on their horses.”

For name see comments on 5.11.

The expression the LORD our God must often be translated as “the LORD who is our God,” otherwise readers may be mistakenly led to think that the LORD and God are two persons.

Collapse and fall pictures military defeat, while rise and stand upright portrays victory in battle. They of line a refers back to those mentioned in verse 7a and not to those in verse 7b (Good News Translation‘s “Such people” is not clear, and the reader may mistakenly assume it refers to the second part of verse 7, not to the first part). So it will sometimes be clearer to say “people who trust in chariots and horses will stumble and fall.” Rise and stand upright reverses the action of the preceding line. Many languages distinguish between rising from a lying position and rising from a sitting position. The former will serve in such languages to mark the contrast with falling.

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 .