In Hebrew verse 12 is chiastic, a syntactic device frequently used to give variety to the poetic form. Translators need not follow this form but should be aware that the poet has deliberately shifted word order in the two lines. Chiasmus is one of the syntactic techniques in Hebrew poetry for marking stanza boundaries. (See also verse 16.)

The psalmist compares his enemies to fierce bulls and ferocious lions. Good News Translation has turned into a simile (“like … bulls”) what is in Hebrew a metaphor (bulls). Why his enemies attack him is not made clear, but the picture of the psalmist’s complete helplessness before them is dramatically drawn.

In verse 12 line a emphasizes the number of his enemies (Many), and line b their power (strong).

Bashan was a territory on the east side of the Jordan River, with good grazing fields, famous for its cattle (see also Amos 4.1 “cows of Bashan”). In those areas where neither the cow nor the bull is known, a local substitute may be used. Since the bulls represent the psalmist’s enemies, it will be more meaningful to make this explicit, as in Good News Translation. It will normally be necessary to add a note indicating the location and the significance of Bashan. But, like Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, a translation may choose to omit the place name Bashan, since its function here is simply that of an adjective meaning “fierce” or “wild.”

In verse 13 they open refers back to the “many enemies” spoken of as bulls in verse 12a; it is unlikely that the figure of bulls is still in the psalmist’s mind, as Revised Standard Version implies. The reader should not be led to think that bulls open their mouths like lions. Since the reference is to the way the enemies behave, it may be best to make this explicit. In languages where the lion is not sufficiently known it may be necessary to introduce a classifier; for example, “wild animal called lion” or replace lion by a local animal of similar traits. If neither of these possibilities is open, one may simply say “wild animal.”

The figure of a ravening and roaring lion is similar to the ones used in 7.2; 17.12.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .