Psalms 143:4

143:4 My strength leaves me;

I am absolutely shocked.

Psalms 48:5

48:5 As soon as they see, they are shocked;

they are terrified, they quickly retreat.


tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”

tn Heb “in my midst my heart is shocked.” For a similar use of the Hitpolel of שָׁמֵם (shamem), see Isa 59:16; 63:5.

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.

tn Heb “they look, so they are shocked.” Here כֵּן (ken, “so”) has the force of “in the same measure.”

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.