OET interlinear PSA 26:2

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / imperative

בְּחָנֵ֣⁠נִי יְהוָ֣ה וְ⁠נַסֵּ֑⁠נִי צרופ⁠ה

(Some words not found in UHB: test,me YHWH and,put,me_to_the_test test, kidneys_of,my and,heart_of,my )

David is using imperatives to make polite requests rather than to give commands. If the imperatives do not communicate polite requests in your language, you could use a form that communicates a polite request. Alternate translation: [Please examine me, Yahweh, and test me; please try]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

בְּחָנֵ֣⁠נִי יְהוָ֣ה וְ⁠נַסֵּ֑⁠נִי

(Some words not found in UHB: test,me YHWH and,put,me_to_the_test test, kidneys_of,my and,heart_of,my )

These two phrases, Examine me and test me, mean basically the same thing. The second emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea with different words. Hebrew poetry was based on this kind of repetition, and you may want to show this to your readers by including both phrases in your translation. If it is helpful, you could connect the phrases in a way that shows that the second phrase is repeating the first one, not saying something additional. Alternate translation: [Yahweh, examine and test me]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

צרופ⁠ה כִלְיוֹתַ֣⁠י וְ⁠לִבִּֽ⁠י

test, kidneys_of,my (Some words not found in UHB: test,me YHWH and,put,me_to_the_test test, kidneys_of,my and,heart_of,my )

See how you translated the similar phrase “The righteous God examines hearts and kidneys” in [7:9](../007/009.md). Alternate translation: [try my motives and my thoughts]