This is the first instance in the psalms of number parallelism. As has been pointed out from the beginning of this Handbook, semantic parallelism is not based on the principle of synonymity (words in two lines having the same meanings) but on the idea of dynamic movement from the first to the second line (normally a step up in intensification). Therefore when a number such as Once occurs in line a, we should not expect to find the same number repeated like a synonym in line b, but rather an intensifying or step-up, such as twice. Thus, when numbers are used in parallel, the second line will always add 1, or be a decimal multiple (1 becomes 10, 2 becomes 20), or a decimal multiple plus the number itself (1 becomes 11). Alter suggests that in this way the “how much more so” operates with numbers the same as with words. In verse 11 the actual application of “how much more so” is to the relation between the pair of parallel statements in verse 11c and verse 12a. Therefore in translation the intensification implicit in the number parallelism can be brought out by combining verse 11a with the first statement and verse 11b with the second; for example, “God has said that power belongs to him, but he has said even more that steadfast love belongs to him” or “God has made it clear that power belongs to him, and he has made it even clearer that constant love is his.”
The psalm closes with a confident statement about God as supreme ruler and just judge of all humankind. The formula Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this is what is called a “numerical proverb” (see others in Pro 6.16-19; 30.15-16; Amos 1.3). The meaning is “often,” “repeatedly,” “more than once.” A literal translation such as Revised Standard Version, New International Version, or New English Bible (“One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard/learnt”) may leave the reader wondering what connection, if any, there is between the two statements. The supreme lesson is that power and steadfast love (see chesed in 5.7) are God’s alone. Human beings may have both, but they are always less than and dependent upon God’s power and love. In some languages it is not possible to say that power belongs to someone. However, one can often say, for example, “God is the only one who is powerful” or “God is the one who can make people strong.”
The first line in verse 12 switches from the third person reference to God to the second person of address. Good News Translation keeps the third person and introduces the vocative “O Lord” in the next line, addressing God in the second person.
The last two lines in verse 12 may also belong to the things that God has told the psalmist (so New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), or they may be an independent statement (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). This truth is expressed also in Proverbs 24.12 (and see Rom 2.6). According to his work must be expressed in some languages variously; for example, “in the way that people have done,” “by seeing the things people have done,” or “because you know what people have done.”
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 .