Translation commentary on Psalm 8:1 - 8:2

The opening words are “Yahweh, our Lord,” the first being the personal name of God, followed by his title. Moffatt maintains the distinction with “O thou Eternal One, our Lord”; see New English Bible and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “O Lord our sovereign”; Bible en français courant “Lord, our master.” (Coverdale, in 1535, translated “O Lorde oure Governoure.”) Most English translations, since they follow the tradition begun by the Septuagint, obscure the distinction between the two (see comments on “LORD” in 1.2).

The vocative form requires some adjustments in many languages, such as “God, you who are our Lord” or “God, you who rule over us.”

The psalmist praises Yahweh’s majesty, which is known in all the earth. In translation it will often be necessary to recast this expression in an active sense; for example, “People everywhere see how great you are.”

For name see comments at 5.11. God’s greatness is apparent everywhere; his fame is acknowledged by all peoples. The adjective translated majestic (Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) is also translated “glorious” (An American Translation, New English Bible), “powerful” (Bible de Jérusalem). The idea of power is made explicit in Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, “your name rules (or, has dominion) in all the world.” This, however, is not a very good model to follow.

It is difficult to decide how to translate the last part of verse 1 and connect it to the first part of verse 2. The end of verse 1 in the Hebrew is “whose glory you are to place above the heavens.” “You are to place” represents the imperative of the verb for “to give” (so Briggs, who omits “whose” as a scribal addition, and translates “O set Thy splendour above the heavens!”). Hebrew Old Testament Text Project takes the Masoretic text form to be the infinitive of the same verb “to give,” meaning here “you have set”; so New International Version. But the Koehler-Baumgartner lexicon (K-B) takes the Masoretic text form to be the imperative of another verb, “to recount, tell.”

Most commentators and translators regard the Masoretic text as deficient, and several solutions are proposed: (1) to place different vowels with the consonants of the Masoretic text so as to get the passive form of the verb “to tell,” namely, “whose glory is told (or, praised)”; so An American Translation, Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, Good News Translation; (2) to place other vowels with the same consonants to get the perfect form of the same verb: “your name which tells (or, proclaims)”; (3) another solution, proposed by Dahood, is to maintain the consonants of the Masoretic text but to divide them in such a way as to arrive at a form of the Hebrew verb meaning “to serve, worship, adore”; so Zürcher Bibel “I will adore your majesty.”

There are other proposals which involve a change in the consonants of the Masoretic text: (1) change to the perfect of the verb for “to give,” yielding “(which) you placed” (Oesterley, New American Bible); (2) change to the verb meaning “to spread, stretch out”; so New Jerusalem Bible “You who have covered the heavens with Your splendor”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “your glory extends beyond heaven!”

In the face of so many choices, perhaps the best one is to go with the majority of modern translations, that is, “whose glory is told (or, praised).”

Good News Translation “Your praise” means “the praise that people offer you.” In many languages this expression must be recast or it will mean “the praise which you make.” To avoid this wrong interpretation it is often better to say “we praise you” or “people say you are great.”

Above the heavens: the translation of what is literally “over the heavens” (Good News Translation “up to the heavens”) depends on whether this phrase modifies glory (so Revised Standard Version) or the verb (so New English Bible “Thy majesty is praised high as the heavens”). “Up to the heavens” can be translated as the degree of the praise, as in Good News Translation; for example, “People praise you so greatly it reaches the heavens.” One should avoid giving the impression of merely making such a loud noise that it fills the sky, although this is also part of the idea. If, on the other hand, above the heavens describes the glory of God, this line can be “your greatness which is higher than heaven.”

The first line of verse 2 is also variously understood; the Masoretic text has “from the mouth of infants and children you have founded (or, established) strength,” which some interpreters take to mean that God has built his defenses out of the praise offered him by children and infants (Kirkpatrick, Oesterley, Weiser; so King James Version, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). The interpretation followed by most modern translations, however, is to connect “from the mouths of infants and children” with what precedes in verse 1, and begin a new sentence with “You have built a stronghold….” This is the best way to handle the text.

Some scholars take bulwark, that is, “stronghold,” to be a reference to the firmament, built to keep out the forces of chaos (Gen 1.6), or else a reference to the highest level of heaven, where God lives. Chanted by the mouth of babes and infants must often be recast in translation to an active expression, and “Your praise” (glory) may be required as the complement of chanted; for example, “children and babies sing about your greatness” or “children and babies sing words telling how great you are.”

The word translated bulwark (literally “strength, might, power”) is translated “praise” by the Septuagint and Vulgate, and in modern times by New American Bible and New International Version. Instead of the verb for “establish (or, build)” in the Hebrew text, New English Bible emends the verb to one which produces the translation “thou hast rebuked the mighty.”

God’s opponents are described with three terms: foes, the enemy, and the avenger (from the verb meaning “to take vengeance”); the last two appear also in 44.16. Avenger refers to one who takes action to pay someone back for real or presumed wrongs. “Opposes you” in Good News Translation makes God the object of the “avenger.” However, the enemy and the avenger may be taken as acting against the psalmist. In this case the rendering may be “you stop my enemies and those who take vengeance against me.” If one interprets enemy and avenger in a generalized sense, then this line may be rendered “you stop the enemies and anyone who tries to harm another in return.” Good News Translation‘s “stop” in verse 2 may wrongly be taken to mean “preventing enemies and avengers from moving about.” The meaning is, however, “to put an end to them” and may be rendered “you destroy enemies and avengers.” It seems best to take all three terms to refer to God’s enemies.

As translated by the Septuagint, the first line of verse 2 of the Hebrew text is quoted in Matthew 21.16.

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 .

Translation commentary on Psalm 10:17 - 10:18

In these last two verses the psalmist expresses his confidence that God will answer the prayer of those who cry to him for justice against their enemies; they are the meek, the fatherless (see verse 14), and the oppressed (see 9.9). The meek may sometimes be rendered “those who have a low place” or “people whom others look down on” (see comments on “afflicted” in 9.12).

Thou wilt hear means more than just hear the prayers of the people; it means to pay attention to and to answer.

Desire (same Hebrew word as in verse 3) means here the requests or prayers of the oppressed.

Strengthen translates the verb meaning to make strong or firm (see comments on “establish” in 7.9), here in the sense of giving confidence, courage. “Give them courage” is rendered idiomatically in some languages as “to make their hearts strong” or “to make firm their insides.”

At the end of verse 17, “your ear will pay attention” can be taken as a complete statement, “You will listen,” or it may go with the next verse, as Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have done. Good News Translation starts verse 18 with this verbal phrase and supplies the implicit object, “the cries of the oppressed and the orphans.” It is important that “You will hear” not be rendered in such a way as to imply hearing without concern. It will often be necessary to say “you will listen to the pleas of the poor and the orphans and help them.”

Do justice to (“judge in their favor” Good News Translation) translates the same verb as the second one for “judge” used in 7.8. It expresses the confidence that God is on the side of the oppressed and will give them their rights.

The phrase man who is of the earth is a way of speaking of human beings as frail mortal creatures (see similar thought in 9.19-20; see also comments on “man” in 8.4). Moffatt has “mortal man”; New Jerusalem Bible “earthborn humans”; another possibility is “mere earthborn man.”

Strike terror is the way most translations represent the Hebrew verb; New English Bible, however, translates the last line of the verse “that fear may never drive men from their homes again”; this is not very probable. Bible en français courant is better: “so that no one on earth may ever again be a tyrant.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Psalm 16:5

Using metaphors which were familiar to his readers, the psalmist in verses 5-6 shows how good Yahweh has been to him. (1) Yahweh, he says, is my chosen portion (literally “the portion of my share”; see discussion in 11.6 on “the portion of their cup”). This is language which reflects the division of the land of Canaan among the various tribes, each tribe being allotted its share of the land, except the tribe of Levi; the LORD himself was its share (Deut 10.8-9). Here, in a striking reversal of the figure, the psalmist says that Yahweh has been allotted to him. This may be difficult to express in translation. Good News Translation has made the rendering of verse 5 more personal by employing direct address. This model can be followed in many languages. Because of the historical reference in the term portion, referring to the division of the land, it may be necessary to say, for example, “LORD, you are what I inherit.” It may be necessary to explain “inherit” in this context in a footnote.

(2) Yahweh is my cup, which stands for the destiny that God assigns him (see 11.6). Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates somewhat differently, “you fill me with blessings.” Cup, meaning destiny, may require shifting to nonfigurative speech and will often require the use of a clause, as in Good News Translation; for example, “you decide how I will live” or, figuratively, “you make the path where I will go.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch abandons figurative language altogether and translates the line “Lord, you provide me with what I need.”

(3) Yahweh “maintains my lot” (Revised Standard Version holdest my lot). This again reflects the custom of reaching decisions about God’s will, including the division of the land among the tribes, by casting lots (see Num 26.55-56). What the psalmist has comes from Yahweh, who protects and guides him. So the figure means that Yahweh guarantees his future, his destiny. New Jerusalem Bible translates “You control my fate”; Bible en français courant and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “you hold my destiny in your hands”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “my life is in your hands.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Psalm 18:15

In verse 15 the psalmist uses some degree of heightening in line b with foundations of the world. However, the degree is slight in the first pair. By contrast, in the second pair the movement from thy rebuke to the blast of the breath of thy nostrils is a vivid rhetorical leap, which Good News Translation attempts with “roared at them in anger.”

The language used in this verse recalls the parting of the waters of the Red Sea (that is, the Sea of Reeds; see comments at 106.7) when the Israelites fled from Egypt (see Exo 15.8; Psa 106.9). The ocean bed is spoken of in terms of the streams under the ocean (channels of the sea), which were believed to supply the ocean with water. The furious rage of Yahweh is pictured as the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. But this can be an explicit reference to the strong wind which parted the waters of the sea, and some translations interpret it this way (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “the strong breath that he blew”).

In languages which cannot use the passive voice, channels of the sea were seen and foundations … were laid bare, it may be necessary to say, for example, “He made the waters of the sea dry up” and “He made the bottom of the earth bare.” Foundations of the world may be expressed as “the ground on which the earth stands,” or in some languages “the legs of the earth.” See also “founded it” (the world) in 24.2.

Good News Translation has made the rebuke and the raging breath to be directed against the enemies; but they can be understood as directed at the ocean bed and the earth’s foundations. Toombs sees in verse 15 the picture of Yahweh cleaving his way through the sea and the foundations of the earth down into Sheol, from where he draws forth the psalmist (verse 16).

Line c at thy rebuke … stands as a temporal clause and chronologically precedes the actions in lines a and b. For this reason it may be more meaningful in some languages to place the final two lines at the beginning. As in 9.5 the English word rebuke is too mild for the action described. Something like “roaring” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “mighty roaring” (New Jerusalem Bible) is better.

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 .

Translation commentary on Psalm 20:1

This psalm has an envelope structure in the sense that it is enclosed between The LORD answer you in verse 1 and answer us when we call in the final verse. Verses 1 through 5 contain a series of requests addressed to God in the third person. In some languages these must be in the form of commands.

A literal translation of answer you in the day of trouble may mean that the LORD is merely being asked to reply to a question from the troubled king. In order to avoid such a misunderstanding, it will be necessary in some languages to say, for example, “May the LORD help you” or “May the LORD rescue you.”

The pronoun you in the singular form may be misleading and cause readers to imagine that it is the reader who is referred to. Since the reference is to the king (see verse 9), it will be necessary in some languages to substitute “king” for you, and if king must be possessed, then “our king” will be most appropriate. In some languages the appropriate honorific form of the pronoun you plus “our king” may be combined; for example, “May the LORD help you, our king, when you are in trouble.”

According to the usual interpretation, the day of trouble refers to battle (this can be “in time of danger”); Dahood takes the word here to have the specific meaning of “siege.” (But Weiser doubts that the psalm has to do with military conflict, and understands it to refer to the festival in which Yahweh was proclaimed King of Israel.)

For comments on name see 5.11. The title the God of Jacob occurs some 11 times in Psalms and recalls Yahweh as the God of the ancestor of the Israelites, the founder of the nation. The God of Jacob must sometimes be rendered “the God of our ancestor Jacob” or “the God whom our ancestor Jacob worshiped.” Care must be taken in translation not to imply that the God of Jacob in line b is another God, different from The LORD in line a. Following Good News Translation terminology, the translation can be “May he, who is the God of Jacob, protect you!”

Protect is a translation of the causative form of a verb meaning “to be high”; therefore “put you out of reach (of your enemies)” is the idea. Briggs, however, takes it to mean victory.

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 .

Translation commentary on Psalm 22:29

This verse presents difficulties in text and exegesis, and translations vary considerably. The Hebrew text has three lines; the first one is “they have eaten and they will bow down, all the fat ones of the earth.” The solution proposed by Briggs and others (followed by Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Good News Translation, Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) is that in place of the Masoretic text “they have eaten” the text should be “indeed to him,” and the “and” before the next word should be removed. But Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project all follow the Masoretic text.

The phrase in the Masoretic text, “All those in full vigor shall eat and prostrate themselves” (New Jerusalem Bible), is understood differently by Dahood and others (New American Bible, New English Bible, Toombs, Weiser). Others change the Masoretic text “fat ones” to “those who sleep,” meaning the dead in Sheol; so Bible en français courant “even those who sleep in the underworld.” This certainly offers a more fitting parallel to line b, which has “before his face will bow all who go down to the dust”–that is, all mortal beings–or perhaps, “all who are about to die” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible).

The translator may wish to follow the Masoretic text, in which “shall eat” does not make much sense in the context. New International Version probably comes as close to making sense as any: “All the rich of the earth will feast and worship,” this line contrasting with the following “all who go down to the dust.” Or else the translator may choose to follow the emended text represented by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. All the proud of the earth, depending on which wording the translator follows, may be rendered in some languages by idiomatic expressions; for example, “those who walk with their noses high,” “those who have big thoughts of themselves,” “those who speak great words of themselves.”

All who go down to the dust will have no reference to death in many languages. “Mortal men” may be rendered “people who die.” The translator must make certain that they are not said to die as the result of bowing down to the LORD.

Line c (which Weiser omits as a later doctrinal addition) is literally “and his nefesh he cannot keep alive” (so Revised Standard Version; Good News Translation has combined it with “mortal men” in line b as another way of speaking of who go down to the dust; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “for they have no life in themselves”). But others translate this differently: New English Bible (and similarly New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible) “But I shall live for his sake” (in which the Masoretic text loʾ “not” is changed, with ancient versions, to lo “for him”). Traduction œcuménique de la Bible has “he (Yahweh) has not let them live.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Psalm 26:6 - 26:7

In a ritual in the Temple, after claiming his innocence, the psalmist confirms his claim by ritually washing his hands (see Deut 21.6-9; Matt 27.24) and marching around the altar (see 42.4; 118.27).

The word translated innocence is literally “empty, bare”–that is, there is no wrongdoing in him. In innocence will require saying in some languages “I have done no wrong.”

To bring out the ritual aspect of the march, New Jerusalem Bible translates “join the procession around your altar”; Good News Translation tries to do the same with “march in worship around the altar.” The idea of marching around the altar may require a footnote in order to make its meaning clear. Thy altar must often be rendered “the place where people worship you.”

Singing translates the infinitive of the causal form of the verb “to hear,” meaning “cause to be heard.”

Song of thanksgiving must often be translated “a song in which people give thanks to God.”

For telling and wondrous deeds see comments at 9.1. Wondrous deeds may sometimes be translated “the great things you have done.”

Verse 7b gives the content of the thanksgiving song of verse 7a, and so the translation can be “I sing a hymn of thanks to you, in which I tell of all the wonderful things you 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 .

Translation commentary on Psalm 31:3 - 31:4

In verse 3 the word for fortress is the same as in verse 2; rock is here a different one from the one in verse 2, but it has the same meaning (it is also used in 18.2).

For thy name’s sake: see discussion at 23.3.

The two verbs lead me and guide me are used in 23.2, 3; here the two forms in Hebrew make for a pleasant alliteration: taneheni and tanahaleni.

For the phrase in verse 4 “to hide a net,” see the comments at 9.15. The expression take me out of the net gives the impression that the psalmist is already caught. However, see Good News Translation. The intention is that the writer asks to be spared from being caught in the trap. In some languages this can best be expressed, for example, “Don’t let me pass where my enemies have laid their traps” or “Guide me away from the hidden traps of my enemies.”

Refuge is the same word used in verse 2 “(a rock) of refuge.” The translator should follow Revised Standard Version in the last line, translating it as a statement, and not as a petition as in Good News Translation.

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 .