Psalm 48:5-6

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 48:5 tn The object of “see” is omitted, but v. 3b suggests that the Lord’s self-revelation as the city’s defender is what they see.
2. Psalm 48:5 tn Heb “they look, so they are shocked.” Here כֵּן (ken, “so”) has the force of “in the same measure.”
3. Psalm 48:5 tn The translation attempts to reflect the staccato style of the Hebrew text, where the main clauses of vv. 4-6 are simply juxtaposed without connectives.
4. Psalm 48:6 tn Heb “trembling seizes them there.” The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here, as often in poetic texts, to point “to a spot in which a scene is localized vividly in the imagination” (BDB 1027 s.v.).
5. Psalm 48:6 tn Heb “[with] writhing like one giving birth.”sn The language of vv. 5-6 is reminiscent of Exod 15:15.