The psalmist recounts the difficult times the people of Israel have experienced; in all things, whatever happens to Israel is the result of God’s will for his people. The psalmist compares those harsh events to the process by which silver is refined, that is, the impurities are removed (see 12.6); the purpose of God in subjecting his people to trials and hardships was to purify them.

As silver is tried will be translated according to the familiarity with this metal and with the refining of metals. Where refining is known but silver is not, another known metal may be substituted. If refining is not known, it is possible to expand the description slightly; for example, “you have put us to the test as a precious metal is melted by fire in order to clean it.” Or a supplementary note may be included, such as “Some metals were heated until they melted into a liquid so that the impure parts could be removed.”

In verse 11 there is uncertainty concerning the two nouns net and affliction. The first one means in some instances a hunter’s net or trap (Ezek 12.13; 17.20); in other places it means “stronghold, fortress” (see 18.2; 31.2, 3). In line with the latter meaning, some take the word here to mean “dungeon, prison” (Weiser, New International Version); but most commentators and translators prefer “net.”

In verse 11b affliction (Good News Translation “heavy burdens”) translates a word found only here in the Old Testament; the Septuagint translates “afflictions”; Holladay defines it “misery, hardship”; the Targum translates “chains” (so Oesterley, Bible de Jérusalem). New Jerusalem Bible has “trammel” (a kind of net); Dahood has “ulcers”; An American Translation “heavy load” (similarly New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). Since this affliction is something that God laid on the people, the best choice seems to be “heavy loads,” an appropriate thing to be placed on a person’s back.

Verse 11 should not be understood to mean (as Good News Translation might imply) that God, after catching his people in a trap, laid heavy burdens on their backs. Lines a and b are two different ways of referring to difficulty and suffering.

Good News Translation “our backs” translates what is literally our loins. The translator should use the expression most suitable to the language and habits of the people.

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 .