The dynamics of the parallelism in verse 5 is that each successive line goes beyond the previous line in intensity. In this verse the psalmist declares himself ready to be attacked and even to be killed by his enemies if he is guilty of any of the charges brought against him. The psalmist says “Let my enemies pursue me and catch me; in fact, let them beat me to death, and even leave my dead body in the dust.”

Pursue is the verb used also in verse 1; the Hebrew text is “pursue my nefesh” (see comments on 3.2).

To the ground and in the dust are parallel. This is a vivid description of being beaten or trampled to death.

The verb lay translates the causative form of the verb “to live (somewhere), to dwell,” meaning “to place.” It may be that what is literally “cause to live in the dust” means “cause to live in Sheol”; so Dahood, who takes “dust” (or “mud,” as he prefers) as one of the names for Sheol (as it clearly is in 22.15, “dust of death”). New International Version “and make me sleep in the dust” can be misunderstood.

My soul translates the Hebrew “my glory” (see comments on 3.3). It is parallel to “my nefesh” (line a) and my life (line b); all three are ways of speaking of the individual. For the last line New Jerusalem Bible has “and lay my body in the dust.”

In some languages it will not be possible to translate verses 3-4 as a series of conditional clauses to be followed by the consequential clauses of verse 5 without badly distorting the meaning. However, the translator should seek to reformulate the three verses so that the relations between them as well as the buildup of intensity in verse 5 is evident to the readers. Therefore in some languages it is necessary to relate the commands of verse 5 to each of the “if” clauses in verse 3. Also, in languages where the “if” clause must follow the command, a further step in restructuring is required; for example, “let my enemies pursue me and catch me if I have wronged anyone; let them cut me down and kill me if I have betrayed a friend; let them leave me lifeless on the ground if I have shown mercy to someone who wronged me unjustly.” Alternatively, some languages express apparent conditions in the following manner: “I may have betrayed a friend; in that case let my enemies pursue me” or “It is possible that I betrayed a friend; if I did that, then let my enemies pursue me….”

Selah: see comments on 3.2.

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 .