The first line of verse 11 has the idea not only of political submission to Yahweh, but may also include the idea of worship; so New English Bible has “worship the LORD with reverence”; Moffatt “worship the Eternal reverently” (see also Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). The word fear in the Old Testament, especially when God is the object, often has the meaning of awe, respect, reverence.

Line b is difficult if not impossible to understand. It appears to shift to the more concrete form, here expressed as a metaphor, whatever its form and meaning may be. The complete line in the Masoretic text seems to mean “and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the son” (so American Standard Version). The first verb in Hebrew means “rejoice” elsewhere, and commentators like Briggs strongly defend that meaning here; but the command “rejoice in trembling” is very strange (so Traduction œcuménique de la Bible; also New International Version “rejoice with trembling”). Jerusalem Bible translates “tremble”; New Jerusalem Bible has “tremble with fright.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project says the Hebrew means “and exult with trembling.” The Septuagint has “be joyful in him with trembling.” In this context “in him” means “because of what he has done.”

The expression with trembling refers in many languages to a person who is cold and shivering. Therefore it is often best to avoid a term referring to the physical event and say, for example, “make yourself humble” or “make yourself low.”

For the beginning of verse 12, American Standard Version has “kiss the son” (so Hebrew Old Testament Text Project [Hebrew Old Testament Text Project]); New International Version “Kiss the Son” turns the Hebrew text into a Christian text. The difficulty is that such a translation assumes that in the Masoretic text the word bar is Aramaic (and so means “son”), and not Hebrew; but the psalm is in Hebrew, and the Hebrew word for “son” is ben (see verse 7). The ancient versions are of no help: Septuagint (followed by Vulgate) has “take hold of discipline (or, instruction), so that the Lord will not be angry.” The Hebrew word bar means (among other things) “pure”; so Jerome translated “worship in purity.” Most modern commentators and translators agree that it is most unlikely that “Kiss the son” is what the Masoretic text means. As Kirkpatrick put it in his commentary of over eighty years ago, “This rendering must certainly be abandoned,” and he gave the reasons why. So modern translations, like Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, change the Hebrew text, either by emending it or punctuating it differently. (To emend the Hebrew text means to change it, either by a change of one or two letters in a word, or by a more extensive change, which at times may be based on the text of an ancient version such as the Greek Septuagint. Sometimes a distinction must be made between emending the Hebrew text and emending the Masoretic text, since in some passages some of the ancient Hebrew manuscripts, such as the Qumran manuscripts, will be different from the Masoretic text.) Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “Worship the Lord with joy and reverence; bow down before him with fear”; New English Bible “tremble, and kiss the king”; New American Bible “with trembling pay homage to him”; New Jerusalem Bible “with trembling kiss his feet” (also Zürcher Bibel); New Jerusalem Bible “pay homage in good faith”–with a footnote saying that the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.

Until more light is shed on the subject, the translator’s best course is to follow one of the standard translations. However, a literal translation of kiss his feet in many languages will be misleading. It is therefore preferable in such cases to use a nonfigurative expression such as “bow down to him,” or the appropriate physical gesture for doing obeisance before a high-ranking person, such as “stoop before him,” “lower the head before him,” or “crouch in front of him.”

Good News Translation “his anger will be quickly aroused” combines two separate statements in the Hebrew text, “he will be angry … for his anger is quickly aroused” (see Revised Standard Version). The Hebrew verb “be angry” used here appears thirteen times in the Old Testament and is used only of God.

Anger as a possessed state is not natural in some languages and must accordingly be expressed as an event word, often in physical terms; for instance “to be hot in the stomach,” “to have a burning heart,” or “to have red eyes.” If the translator follows the combining of the parallel statements as in Good News Translation, then both may be rendered as one line; for example, “God’s heart will quickly become hot.” If the statements are not combined, amplification indicating the suddenness of the anger must be handled as a separate clause; for example, “God will be angry at you; because he becomes angry at people quickly.”

You perish in the way is a literal translation of the Hebrew; the meaning is “you will die suddenly (or, unexpectedly),” that is, before the normal time, as a result of God’s anger.

The last line of verse 12 is a closing benediction. The translation of the benediction often requires an appropriate connector or a double space in printing to mark the break with the preceding lines.

For Blessed see 1.1.

Take refuge in him translates a verb which appears some twenty-four times in Psalms and is always used with God as the protector. The expression take refuge in him must often be recast as a verbal phrase with the meaning of “covering,” “caring for,” or “helping.” The last line may sometimes be rendered, for example, “But how happy are the people God takes care of” or “But how fortunate are the people God helps.”

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 .

As an opener the question form is common in the psalms. (See also Psa 2; 10; 13; 52; 74.) Its purpose is to arouse interest in the listener or reader, who will want to find out how the question will be answered or dealt with by the end of the poem. This does not mean that the question form cannot be modified in the receptor language, but the translator should have a valid reason before doing so.

In these two verses the psalmist cries to God in despair because God does not answer him. The two anguished questions in verse 1 dramatically express the psalmist’s desolation and hopelessness. He cannot understand why God has abandoned him. But even in his suffering he still addresses God as My God, my God, thereby affirming his own faith in and dependence on God, who seems so distant and silent. He feels that God has forsaken him (see similar expression in 10.1), that he doesn’t pay any attention to his loud groans, to his cries of pain. Why hast thou forsaken me? is often expressed as “why have you left me?” or “why have you gone away from me?”

In verse 1b Revised Standard Version‘s literal rendering of the Hebrew makes for unnatural English, since the prepositional phrase from the words of my groaning is governed by the verb phrase Why art thou so far. The line has been reordered in a more natural manner in Good News Translation, which provides a clear model for the translator. In some languages it may be necessary to make more explicit than does Good News Translation that it is God whom the writer is calling to for help; for example, “I have cried for you to help me, but you do not come to me.” Should the translator wish to stay closer to the Hebrew form, however, something like the following may be said: “Why do you remain so far away from me, and refuse to help me or even to listen to my anguished cries?”

The two parallel references to time in verse 2, by day … by night, indicate that the psalmist never stops praying for help; but it is all useless, since God does not answer his plea.

The word for rest in verse 2 occurs only here and in 39.2 (“I was silent”) and 62.1 (“waits in silence”); and perhaps in 65.1. It seems to mean “silence,” and the Hebrew phrase “no silence for me” indicates that his pain is not alleviated, he gets no relief, which would come if God were to listen to him and answer his pleas.

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 .