Psalms 58:8

Let them be ¹  like a snail that melts away as it moves along! ²  Let them be like ³  stillborn babies ⁴  that never see the sun!

Like a slug melting away as it moves along, like a stillborn child, may they not see the sun.

Let them be as a snail which melts away as it goes along, Like the miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun.

May they be like snails that dissolve into slime, like a stillborn child who will never see the sun.

Let them dissolve into snail slime, be a miscarried fetus that never sees sunlight.

Let them be like an after-birth which is turned to water and comes to an end; like the fruit of a woman who gives birth before her time, let them not see the sun.

Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime; like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.

Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes, Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

Let them be ¹  like a snail that melts away as it moves along! ²  Let them be like ³  stillborn babies ⁴  that never see the sun!

¹ tn There is no “to be” verb in the Hebrew text at this point, but a jussive tone can be assumed based on vv. 6-7.

² tn Heb “like a melting snail [that] moves along.” A. Cohen (Psalms [SoBB], 184) explains that the text here alludes “to the popular belief that the slimy trail which the snail leaves in its track is the dissolution of its substance.”

³ tn The words “let them be like” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. The jussive mood is implied from the preceding context, and “like” is understood by ellipsis (see the previous line).

⁴ tn This rare word also appears in Job 3:16 and Eccles 6:3.