Translations
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
Behold! He who guards Yisra'el neither slumbers nor sleeps.
Look! The One who watches over Israel will neither doze nor drift off to sleep.
Behold, the Protector of Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
Footnotes
The emphatic "behold!" arrests the listener mid-step: this is a declaration, almost a creedal proclamation. The doubling of yanum (light slumber, drowsiness) and yishan (deep sleep) intensifies the contrast with pagan gods, who in ancient Near Eastern myth could be asleep, distracted, or preoccupied—famously mocked by Elijah on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:27). The Shomer Yisra'el (Guardian of Israel) is inexhaustibly, eternally awake. F.O.G. preserves the Hebrew name Yisra'el and the doubled negative for rhetorical punch; F.O.G.M. differentiates the two sleep-words ("doze" and "drift off") to make the escalation audible to the English ear.

