Psalms 58:8

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!

Psalms 128:3

128:3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine ⁵ 

in the inner rooms of your house;

your children ⁶  will be like olive branches,

as they sit all around your table.

[58:8]  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.

[58:8]  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.”

[58:8]  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).

[58:8]  ⁴ tn This rare word also appears in Job 3:16 and Eccles 6:3.

[128:3]  ⁵ sn The metaphor of the fruitful vine pictures the wife as fertile; she will give her husband numerous children (see the next line).

[128:3]  ⁶ tn One could translate “sons” (see Ps 127:3 and the note on the word “sons” there), but here the term seems to refer more generally to children of both genders.