In this strophe (verses 10-16) the psalmist describes how God set prisoners free; they also are called upon to thank him for having saved them. The prisoners may be thought of in literal terms as people in prison; it is probable, however, that the general thought is that of Israelites in exile, perhaps in Babylonia. In verse 10a gloom translates the word used in 23.4. The two-word phrase in Hebrew for in darkness and in gloom means “deepest darkness” or “a very dark place.” The verb sat is here used in the sense of “to live,” as is often its meaning. In line b instead of Good News Translation “suffering” it is better to translate “bound in” or “tied up with”; see New Jerusalem Bible “bound in cruel irons.” Verse 10 can then be rendered “Some people were living in a very dark place; they were prisoners bound with chains.”

The reason for their condition is given in verse 11; this makes it even more probable that the exile in Babylonia is meant. Their disobedience to God was the cause of their being taken away as captives by their enemies. Words can also mean “commandments,” as in Exodus 34.28. Spurned translates a verb meaning “to despise, to treat with contempt” (see “revile” in 74.10b, 18b). For the Most High in verse 11b, see 7.17. In some languages it will be more natural to place the cause (verse 11) before verse 10.

Verse 12 in the Masoretic text begins “he crushed” (so New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Dahood “he humbled”; similarly An American Translation, Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, New International Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). The same Hebrew consonants are assigned other vowels to give the meaning “they were crushed” (so the Septuagint, Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New English Bible, Weiser). Either interpretation is possible and equally fitting in the context. Following the latter interpretation, Their hearts is taken as a way of speaking of the people themselves, “They were worn out” or else, as New English Bible has it, “Their spirit was subdued.” But it seems better to translate “Their spirit was crushed.” In some cases, however, it may be better to translate as an active verb, with God as subject, “He crushed their spirit with hard labor” or “hard labor crushed their spirits.” This is probably not to be understood literally of physical weakness, but of moral and spiritual despair.

Verse 13 is like verse 6; the two Hebrew verbs translated they cried and he delivered are not the same but are close synonyms of the verbs in verse 6, with no difference in meaning. Like verse 6, this verse marks the change from a description of the people’s suffering to a statement of how Yahweh rescued them.

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 .