The psalm begins as does Psalm 96, sing to the LORD a new song. The marvelous things (see 9.1b) done by Yahweh are not here explicitly described (for an example, see 78.12-16). Some think the victory spoken of in verse 1 is a reference to creation, when Yahweh defeated the powers of chaos and destruction (see Fisher); or else the word may be generic, referring to all the victories won by Yahweh over Israel’s enemies (so most commentators). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch makes explicit that it was for the Israelites that Yahweh did those things: “He has accomplished wonders for us.” Dentan takes the text to mean future victories.
The translator will note that Revised Standard Version makes the relation of verse 1b to 1a an explicit reason: for he has done marvelous things. Good News Translation leaves the relation between those two lines implicit and therefore somewhat ambiguous.
Good News Translation “his own power and holy strength” translates the Hebrew His right hand and his holy arm (see 44.3c). Here holy serves to emphasize the fact that God singlehandedly won the victory, without help from any other source; Bible en français courant translates “divine power,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “by means of his powerful, godly might.” Holy arm is rendered “holy strength” by Good News Translation. Both expressions are difficult to translate in many languages where the idea of holy is related to that of taboo. This association can often be avoided here by associating the object or, in this case, the abstract of strength, with God himself; for example, “by means of God’s own power and his strength.” In many languages these will be expressed as one rather than as a doublet. Have gotten him victory refers to the defeat of his enemies and in many languages will be expressed as “God has defeated his enemies.”
In verse 2a victory is parallel with vindication (tsedeq), which New English Bible translates “righteousness”; New American Bible “justice”; New Jerusalem Bible “saving justice”; Bible en français courant “faithfulness”; New Jerusalem Bible “triumph.” Revised Standard Version vindication emphasizes the element of retribution and can be represented by “the punishment he inflicted (on his enemies).” The last phrase, in the sight of the nations, means that all the world saw that Yahweh had defeated his enemies. Bible en français courant translates the last line “To the ends of the earth everyone has been able to see that God has saved us.” Line a must often be recast in more specific terms; for example, “God has made his people know that he defeats his enemies.”
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 .