Translations vary in their understanding of the verbs in verses 10-13; some have the future tense (Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Good News Translation, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Weiser, Dahood); New English Bible has the perfect tense in verse 10, the present tense in verse 11, and the future tense in verses 12-13; New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant, New Jerusalem Bible have the present tense for all four verses; Traduction œcuménique de la Bible has the perfect tense in verse 10 and the present tense in verses 11-13. There is no way of proving which is right, but in the context it seems more reasonable to suppose that the psalmist (or whoever is the speaker in verses 8-13) is announcing what will happen in the future, as God answers his people’s prayers (so McCullough and others).
In poetic language the psalmist speaks of Steadfast love and faithfulness (see the same pairing in 25.10; 40.10, 11; 57.3; 61.7); he then speaks of God’s righteousness and peace. These may be taken to be attributes of God, not of human beings, which are spoken of as God’s representatives, or messengers. They meet and greet each other with a kiss as they prepare to go and bless God’s people. In languages in which abstract qualities can be quite readily personified, it is fairly simple to represent the Hebrew text as New Jerusalem Bible has done: “Faithful Love and Loyalty join together, Saving Justice and Peace embrace.” A footnote explains: “Personified attributes of God; these will inaugurate the kingdom of God on earth and in human hearts.” For the average English-speaking reader this is a satisfactory translation.
Others, however, see in verse 10 the divine initiative and the human response (as in verse 11); God’s Steadfast love is met by his people’s faithfulness, and human righteousness is rewarded by God’s peace (a chiastic arrangement). This seems to be the best way to read the verse. God’s Steadfast love is the way in which God maintains the promise he made when he established his covenant with the people of Israel, the promise always to be their God and to bless them, if they faithfully obeyed his laws. Line a, then, speaks of God and the people of Israel keeping their terms of the covenant. And in line b, God’s righteousness represents God’s way of making right and justice prevail among his people; when this happens, the people know peace, that is, the full blessings of a community in which God’s will prevails. These abstract qualities, both human and divine, refer to God’s deeds in blessing his people and making right prevail, and the people’s response in keeping God’s laws and so enjoying peace (see 29.11).
The translation problem in verses 10-11 concerns the personification of abstracts where such qualities as love and faithfulness perform human events. In languages in which abstracts are not allowed this kind of poetic privilege, it is often possible, even if a bit awkward, to shift to a simile; for example, “like two people meet each other, God’s love and faithfulness will meet each other” or “God sends his messengers of love and faithfulness to meet each other.” Verse 10b may be expressed in a parallel manner. In those languages in which these abstracts are not spoken of as nouns but rather as events, the restructuring must be more radical. Some interpreters see “faithfulness” as Israel’s relation to God, and “righteousness” as Israel’s keeping of the law, and “peace” as God’s reward to Israel. This view lends itself more easily to translation where noun phrases are not possible. For example, in such languages it may be possible to say “God who loves Israel and Israel who is faithful to God will meet. Israel who is loyal to God will have the peace which God gives like a kiss.”
In verse 10b the verb may be understood as “embrace” (Good News Translation, Jerusalem Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) or kiss (Revised Standard Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy); New English Bible has “join hands.”
In verse 11, by use of from the ground and from the sky, it is quite clear that it is the people’s faithfulness (or, “loyalty”) which responds to God’s righteousness. Verse 11 must be restructured in some languages somewhat in the manner of verse 10. Here, however, it is possible to shift the focus to “man” and “God” as in Good News Translation, with a further adjustment in which the subject switches to “man” and “God,” who are characterized as “loyal” and “faithful”; for example, “Israel, who is loyal to God, will reach up from the earth and God, who is faithful to Israel, will look down from heaven.”
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 .