In verses 5-6 the psalmist turns his thoughts to Israel’s enemies, the heathen. He is so confident that God will do it that he speaks of their total annihilation and the destruction of their cities as an accomplished fact. God has “condemned” (Good News Translation) them, literally rebuked them (also 68.30; 119.21). The context requires more than the rather mild idea of chiding or admonishing. Kirkpatrick defines Yahweh’s rebuke as “the effectual sentence of His wrath which carries its own execution with it.” Bible en français courant translates “threaten”; New Jerusalem Bible “You blast the nations.” See in 76.6 what God’s “rebuke” does.
In Hebrew verse 5 has two verbs in the first line and one verb in the second. God’s judgment of the heathen moves in each successive verb to greater intensification, from rebuke to destruction to total extermination, even down to the very name. The translator should represent this progressive intensification in his translation, in so far as the language enables him.
Rebuked the nations with the meaning of “condemned” is sometimes rendered “judged against.” As direct address it can be rendered “You have said to the heathen, ‘You are truly guilty.’ ”
The nations: see comments on 2.1. In English nations does not carry the distinctive connotation of the word used by the biblical writer, so something like Good News Translation “the heathen” is better; Bible en français courant has “these barbarians”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “the pagans.”
Since the Hebrew word for nations meant not only all the people and nations who were not Jews, but also carried connotations of worshiping false gods, it is often difficult in other languages to find an equivalent expression. In some versions translators have used “other nations with their false gods” or “nations serving false gods.” They are characterized as wicked and deserve punishment.
Their complete and permanent destruction is pictured vividly: thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever. The verb blotted out (to wipe out, blot out, exterminate) means that in the future no one will even remember that these people had ever existed (see Deut 9.14; 29.20). It is better, with Revised Standard Version, to keep God as the actor in line b: “you have caused them to be forgotten for ever.” In order to retain the force of the original poetic expression, the translator is encouraged to use figurative language, provided that such expressions are natural in the receptor language. Some languages speak of “washing away the name,” “wiping away the name,” or “causing the name to melt away.”
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 .