38:7 For I am overcome with shame 1
and my whole body is sick. 2
55:4 My heart beats violently 3 within me;
the horrors of death overcome me. 4
68:3 But the godly 5 are happy;
they rejoice before God
and are overcome with joy. 6
1 tn Heb “for my loins are filled with shame.” The “loins” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. The present translation assumes that נִקְלֶה (niqleh) is derived from קָלָה (qalah, “be dishonored”). Some derive it instead from a homonymic root קָלָה (qalah), meaning “to roast.” In this case one might translate “fever” (cf. NEB “my loins burn with fever”).
2 tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh” (see v. 3).
3 tn Heb “shakes, trembles.”
4 tn Heb “the terrors of death have fallen on me.”
5 tn By placing the subject first the psalmist highlights the contrast between God’s ecstatic people and his defeated enemies (vv. 1-2).
6 tn Heb “and they are happy with joy” (cf. NEB). Some translate the prefixed verbal forms of v. 3 as jussives, “Let the godly be happy, let them rejoice before God, and let them be happy with joy!” (Cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV; note the call to praise in v. 4.)