Psalms 48:5-6

48:5 As soon as they see, ¹  they are shocked; ² 

they are terrified, they quickly retreat. ³ 

48:6 Look at them shake uncontrollably, ⁴ 

like a woman writhing in childbirth. ⁵ 

[48:5]  ¹ 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.

[48:5]  ² tn Heb “they look, so they are shocked.” Here כֵּן (ken, “so”) has the force of “in the same measure.”

[48:5]  ³ 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.

[48:6]  ⁴ 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.).

[48:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “[with] writhing like one giving birth.”