I can count all my bones (verse 17a) pictures the psalmist as dead, his flesh stripped off (as by dogs) and his bare skeleton lying in public view; or else, with no logical connection with verse 16, the psalmist sees himself as so weak and thin that he is nothing more than skin and bones, and this is a much more likely interpretation. (Revised Standard Version‘s line a in verse 17 is actually a parenthetic expression, marked by a dash before and after; this means that they stare refers to the same people as “they have pierced” in verse 16, but most readers will not recognize this fact.) In some languages it may be unnatural to speak of counting one’s bones, even in a poetic discourse, and the passive construction of Good News Translation may not be available. In such cases it may be necessary to say, for example, “I can see all my bones.” Good News Translation has provided a subject, “My enemies,” which is necessary because the antecedent of the pronoun they is quite distant.

Revised Standard Version translates the second verb in verse 17b by gloat over, while Good News Translation has “stare.” The Hebrew verb is the same one used in 10.14 (where it is parallel with “see”) and 13.3 and means, quite generally, “regard, notice,” in parallel with the first verb “look”; so Bible en français courant has “they look at me fixedly.” It may be that the context allows for the meaning gloat over, and the translator should feel free to use a word that means that.

In verse 18 my garments in line a and my raiment in line b are synonyms, both referring to the psalmist’s clothes; the raiment is not a piece of clothing different from the garments. (In John 19.23-24 the quotation from the Septuagint of this passage is taken to mean separate items of clothing.)

The psalmist’s enemies cast lots (probably small marked stones) to determine who will get his clothes. The parallelism in verse 18 focuses upon the general word divide in line a and the specific word cast lots in line b. Again, the word order in the second line is the reverse of the first line. The Hebrew text does not mean that two different actions were performed, that is, the division of some items of clothing and then the casting of lots for another item. The meaning is that by means of casting lots they divided the psalmist’s clothes among themselves. Cast lots in Revised Standard Version is replaced by the more generic “gamble” in Good News Translation. By using “gamble” before “divide,” Good News Translation succeeds in giving the impression that these lines describe the whole procedure for apportioning the clothing. Games of chance are not universal. Therefore it will be necessary in some languages to avoid both the specific expression and the generic one. One may, however, speak of getting something by playing a game against someone; for example, “they played a game to see who would get my clothes” or “they held a contest to see who would win my clothes.”

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 .