OET interlinear PSA 62:9

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

הֶ֥בֶל בְּנֵֽי־אָדָם֮ כָּזָ֪ב בְּנֵ֫י אִ֥ישׁ

(Some words not found in UHB: trust in=him/it at,every_of times people pour_out before,,him heart_of,your(pl) ʼElohīm refuge to/for=ourselves selah )

These two phrases 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: [all people are vapor; indeed, they are a lie]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

בְּנֵֽי־אָדָם֮ & בְּנֵ֫י אִ֥ישׁ

(Some words not found in UHB: trust in=him/it at,every_of times people pour_out before,,him heart_of,your(pl) ʼElohīm refuge to/for=ourselves selah )

The psalmist is using sons of a human and sons of a man as common expressions of the culture to mean “people” or “human beings.” If these phrases do not have that meaning for your readers, you could use a comparable expression from your language that does have that meaning, or you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [people … people] or [human beings … human beings]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

הֶ֥בֶל

(Some words not found in UHB: trust in=him/it at,every_of times people pour_out before,,him heart_of,your(pl) ʼElohīm refuge to/for=ourselves selah )

The psalmist is speaking of people as if they were vapor. He means that people are transient and insubstantial. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent metaphor from your culture. Alternatively, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [are fleeting] or [have no substance]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

כָּזָ֪ב

(Some words not found in UHB: trust in=him/it at,every_of times people pour_out before,,him heart_of,your(pl) ʼElohīm refuge to/for=ourselves selah )

When the psalmist says that people are a lie, he means that humans are deceptive in appearance and cannot be relied upon. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [are unreliable] or [are deceptive]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / hyperbole

הֵ֝֗מָּה מֵ⁠הֶ֥בֶל יָֽחַד

(Some words not found in UHB: trust in=him/it at,every_of times people pour_out before,,him heart_of,your(pl) ʼElohīm refuge to/for=ourselves selah )

The psalmist says they together would be lighter than vapor as an extreme statement for emphasis. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a different way to express the emphasis. Alternate translation: [together they would weigh almost nothing] or [all of them together have no weight at all]