There is some uncertainty over the precise meaning of the word translated whirling dust, which occurs only here and in Isaiah 17.13; New International Version and Revised Standard Version footnote have “tumbleweed”; New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, “thistledown”; New American Bible “leaves.” King James Version “wheel” is wrong. For the translator the important thing is a natural figure employing some object readily blown away by the wind. See similar language in 1.4; 35.5.

And for the language of verses 14-15 see 21.9; 58.6-9. The two nouns in verse 15, tempest and hurricane, are synonymous; New Jerusalem Bible “tempest” and “whirlwind”; New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version “tempest” and “storm.” The verbs used in verse 14, consumes and sets … ablaze, mean to destroy completely. In verse 15 the psalmist goes on to ask God to get rid of his people’s enemies as fire and flames get rid of vegetation: pursue them and terrify them. Here pursue means more precisely “drive away” (New Jerusalem Bible; Good News Translation “cahse … away”). Terrify comes almost as an anticlimax, but that is what the psalmist wrote. Verses 14 and 15 may have to be restructured in some languages in order to maintain the connection between the two parts of the simile. For example, in some languages it may be necessary to join 14a with 15a and 14b with 15b: “Chase them away with your storm, like fire burning the forest. Terrify them with your fierce winds, like flames setting the hills on fire.”

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 .