The psalmist describes his distress: he is in anguish, crushed by the terrors of death; Fear, trembling, and horror have overcome him. Verse 4a in Hebrew is “My heart trembles within me”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “My heart jumps in my breast.”

The translator’s main task in these two verses is to find the verbs that go naturally with these intense emotions. Good News Translation in verses 4b-5 uses the active “crush” and the passives “I am gripped … I am overcome.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, in the same lines, has the actives “has fallen on me,” “has entered into me,” and “I am trembling (with fear).” And Bible en français courant has “they fall on me,” “I am seized,” and “I am submerged.”

Terrors of death are the terrors caused by the danger of death. The nouns Fear and trembling in many languages must be shifted to verbs; for example, “I am afraid and I tremble.” In the same way horror may have to be recast as a verb, as in English “I am horrified,” or as a figurative expression, “my skin grows cold” or “my heart rattles in me.”

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 .