OET interlinear PSA 90:2

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

בְּ⁠טֶ֤רֶם ׀ הָ֘רִ֤ים יֻלָּ֗דוּ וַ⁠תְּח֣וֹלֵֽל אֶ֣רֶץ וְ⁠תֵבֵ֑ל

(Some words not found in UHB: before, mountains born and,you_brought_forth earth/land and_[the],world and,from,antiquity until everlasting you(ms) god )

These two phrases mean basically the same thing. The second emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea with different words. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could combine them and express the emphasis in another way. Consider how you have decided as a translation team to represent Hebrew poetry in your translation, here and throughout this psalm. Alternate translation: [Before you created anything at all on the earth]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

בְּ⁠טֶ֤רֶם ׀ הָ֘רִ֤ים יֻלָּ֗דוּ וַ⁠תְּח֣וֹלֵֽל אֶ֣רֶץ וְ⁠תֵבֵ֑ל

(Some words not found in UHB: before, mountains born and,you_brought_forth earth/land and_[the],world and,from,antiquity until everlasting you(ms) god )

Moses is speaking as if the mountains on earth had actually been born and as if God had actually brought forth, that is, given birth to, the earth and the world. He means that God created these things. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [Before you created the mountains or formed the earth and the world]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

אֶ֣רֶץ וְ⁠תֵבֵ֑ל

earth/land and_[the],world

The terms earth and world mean similar things. Moses is using the two terms together for emphasis. If it would be clearer for your readers, you could express the emphasis with a single phrase. Alternate translation: [the entire earth]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / merism

וּֽ⁠מֵ⁠עוֹלָ֥ם עַד־ע֝וֹלָ֗ם

and,from,antiquity until everlasting

Moses is referring to all of time by naming two extremes, eternity past and eternity future. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or plain language. Alternate translation: [throughout all of time]

Note 5 topic: translate-tense

אַתָּ֥ה אֵֽל

(Some words not found in UHB: before, mountains born and,you_brought_forth earth/land and_[the],world and,from,antiquity until everlasting you(ms) god )

As the ULT indicates by using brackets, the verb here is understood, so translators must decide what tense best fits the context. It would be conventional in many languages to use the past tense when describing something that was true a long time ago, so many languages might ordinarily say “you were God.” But Moses means that Yahweh was God long ago, that he is God now, and that he will continue to be God forever into the future. To convey this, the ULT uses the present tense, saying you are God. Decide what tense would best convey the meaning in your own language.