dancing, shaking, trembling

The interconfessional Chichewa translation (publ. 1999) uses the ideophone njenjenje (“shake-shake”) to emphasize movements like trembling, dancing, or shaking in these verses. (Source: Wendland 1998, p. 105)

Philip Noss (in The Bible Translator 1976, p. 100ff. ) explains the function of an ideophone: “The ideophone may be identified with onomatopoeia and other sound words frequently seen in French and English comic strips, but in [many] African languages it comprises a class of words with a very wide range of meaning and usage. They may function verbally, substantively, or in a modifying role similar to adverbs and adjectives. They describe anything that may be experienced: action, sound, color, quality, smell, or emotion. In oral literature they are used not only with great frequency but also with great creativity.”

Translation commentary on Psalm 18:44 - 18:45

For the verb tenses, see comment at verse 37.

In verse 44 Good News Translation has reversed the lines in order to make the subject foreigners come first (see 2 Sam 22.45). As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me translates “At the hearing of the ear they obey me.” Some see this as a reference to an incident like the one related in 2 Samuel 8.9-12, where King Toi of Hamath surrendered to King David. The meaning of they heard of me (Revised Standard Version) is that they heard he was a great and powerful king; this may be the meaning intended by the Hebrew, but Good News Translation “hear me” is also possible (see Bible en français courant, New Jerusalem Bible).

Came cringing (Good News Translation “bow”) translates a verb which has the idea of forced, unwilling submission. New Jerusalem Bible has “cower”; also possible is “cringe.” Came cringing to me must be expressed in some languages as “they squat on the ground in front of me” or “they bent their heads down in my presence.”

In verse 45 the verbal phrase lost heart (Good News Translation “lose their courage”) translates a Hebrew verb which means to fade away, to wither (see 1.3 of leaves that do not wither). Lost heart is expressed idiomatically sometimes as “the heart grows small” or “the stomach becomes white.”

The verb translated came trembling occurs only here in the Old Testament; this is the meaning given the word by Holladay and followed by New American Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy. Others define the verb simply “to come out, to emerge”; the Septuagint translates “they came out limping.”

The word translated fastnesses means a fortified, strongly held position, perhaps a rocky refuge; it is not an elaborate “fortress” in the modern sense. This term is sometimes rendered “the place where people hide from their enemies” or “the place where people go to for protection from their enemies.”

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 .