The language of the Hebrew text of verse 5 is difficult to understand; its literal translation makes it appear that the psalmist at the time he wrote the psalm was living in Meshech and in Kedar (see Revised Standard Version; also An American Translation, New English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). This was obviously impossible, since Meshech, a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, was a long distance from Kedar, the region of a desert tribe living south of Damascus, in Syria. So most commentators take the names, not as actual places where he was then living (or had lived), but as figures for “barbarians” or “savages.” So Bible en français courant, “How terrible for me to have to live among barbarians, and to dwell in the midst of savages!” This seems to be the best way to represent these name places. Taylor suggests that the names are mysterious references to some well-known Jewish center of population in some foreign country. Good News Translation has followed the interpretation favored by most commentators, but retains the names of the two places. Similar is “My plight is like exile in Meshech, like living among the tents of Kedar.” In verse 5 the translator must decide whether to use a note, as in Good News Translation, or to give the meaning suggested by the Good News Translation note and by Bible en français courant in the text. This decision will depend in part upon how familiar readers are with notes and how effectively they are used. Since the meaning of “barbarian” and “savage” are essentially the same, it is not necessary to use both. “Savages” may sometimes be rendered “cruel people” or “people who practice cruel customs.”

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 .