Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageTerror overtook them where no terror had any right to be! For God Himself shattered and scattered the bones of those who laid siege against you; He put them to open shame — because God had utterly cast them off.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GThere they were seized by dread — where no dread had been! For Elohim scattered the bones of those who besiege you; You put them to shame, for Elohim has rejected them.
KJV
King James VersionThere were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleThere they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to fear. For God has scattered the bones of those who besieged you. You put them to shame, for God has despised them.
Footnotes
Verse 5 is the most compressed and dramatic in the psalm, and its most significant divergence from Psalm 14:5–6. Pachadu phachad is a cognate-accusative construction — literally 'they feared a fear' — amplifying the totality and suddenness of the terror. The phrase lo-haya phachad ('where there was no fear') likely means the dread descended precisely where the wicked felt most invincible — a stark reversal of their arrogance. Pizar atzmot ('scattered bones') evokes catastrophic military defeat and desecration — the utter annihilation of honour in ancient Near Eastern culture; unburied, scattered bones represented the worst conceivable end. Chonekha (second person singular: 'the one who encamps against you') addresses Israel directly, confirming God's covenant solidarity with His people in the midst of their crisis. The final subject shift — 'You put them to shame' — is addressed to God, not Israel, as the agent of disgrace. FOG renders the staccato Hebrew drama literally; FOG Message expands for narrative clarity without departing from the text.