The psalmist keeps silent; he pretends not to hear the malicious slander his enemies hurl at him and answers nothing, as though he were deaf and dumb. Good News Translation, instead of “I am like … and cannot,” should have said “I act like a deaf person, and do not hear, like a dumb person, and do not speak.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “I act like a deaf man, as though I cannot hear; as though I were dumb, I don’t open my mouth.” Most languages have special terms for persons who are unable to speak. It is important for users of this volume to remember that a dumb man in this context is one who cannot speak.

Verse 14 essentially repeats the thought of verse 13. The phrase in whose mouth are no rebukes is not easy to understand; the word translated “rebuke” may mean “argument” or “defense,” that is, the psalmist does not attempt to answer the charges brought against him. New American Bible and New Jerusalem Bible have “retort”; New Jerusalem Bible “sharp answer”; Bible en français courant “answer”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, New English Bible “defense.” Good News Translation has reversed the order of the two lines in this verse.

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 .