In verse 10a the Masoretic text is “I wept with fasting my nefesh” (which is an unusual construction). New Jerusalem Bible and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translate “When I wept and fasted”; Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “I have wept and fasted”; Dahood “I poured out my soul while fasting.” But the majority of commentators and translators believe that the text presented by the Septuagint and Syriac “I humble” is preferable;10-12 Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers the Masoretic text “I wept.” “myself” (Good News Translation) represents “my nefesh” (see 3.2).

The event of humbling oneself is difficult to express in many languages where it may be confused in the reader’s mind with being of low social status. One may say in some languages, for example, “I made myself a person of little importance” or “I placed myself beneath other people.” In languages where fasting is rendered as “going without food,” the meaning should not imply that the reason is scarcity of food. In order to give the concept of fasting its fuller meaning, it will often be necessary to say, for example, “I prayed and refused to eat food” or “I said ‘No’ to food and worshiped God.”

In verse 10b reproach (Good News Translation “insult”) translates the same word used in verses 7a and 9b.

Sackcloth, a coarse, rough cloth, was worn to indicate the wearer was mourning. Customs associated with mourning vary greatly in different cultures, and in some the clothing or lack of clothing is not relevant. The expression I made sackcloth my clothing must in some languages be adapted to reflect other customs; for example, body painting, smearing ashes over the face or chest, and carrying objects such as bags symbolizing a needy widow’s mourning. If the translator follows Good News Translation “clothes of mourning,” it will often be best to clarify the relation between clothes and mourning; for example, “clothes that show I am mourning for the dead.”

It is doubtful that the psalmist’s fasting (verse 10a) was in repentance for his own sins; it seems better to take it, along with the clothes of mourning he wore (verse 11a), as a sign of his deep distress over certain matters (unknown to us) that were affecting the Temple and its services; or else he was fasting and mourning on behalf of his people, who did not confess the errors of their ways.

In either case, this served only to make him an object of ridicule and mockery; he was insulted (verse 10b) and mocked (verse 11a); literally I became a byword to them; for comments on this use of “proverb, saying,” see 44.14a.

In verse 12 the gate represents the place near the city gates where people met for business and social purposes (see 9.14 and comments), and exchanged information and gossip. The psalmist had become “the talk of the town”; even drunkards composed songs about him. Toombs’ comment is worth quoting: “the village wiseacres and tavern haunters made witty songs about him as a pious pretender.”

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 .