22:37 You widen my path; 1
my feet 2 do not slip.
22:38 I chase my enemies and destroy them;
I do not turn back until I wipe them out.
22:39 I wipe them out and beat them to death;
they cannot get up;
they fall at my feet.
22:40 You give me strength for battle; 3
you make my foes kneel before me. 4
22:41 You make my enemies retreat; 5
I destroy those who hate me.
22:42 They cry out, 6 but there is no one to help them; 7
they cry out to the Lord, 8 but he does not answer them.
22:43 I grind them as fine as the dust of the ground;
I crush them and stomp on them like clay 9 in the streets.
22:44 You rescue me from a hostile army; 10
you preserve me as a leader of nations;
people over whom I had no authority are now my subjects. 11
22:45 Foreigners are powerless before me; 12
when they hear of my exploits, they submit to me. 13
22:46 Foreigners lose their courage; 14
they shake with fear 15 as they leave 16 their strongholds. 17
22:47 The Lord is alive! 18
My protector 19 is praiseworthy! 20
The God who delivers me 21 is exalted as king! 22
22:48 The one true God completely vindicates me; 23
he makes nations submit to me. 24
22:49 He delivers me from my enemies; 25
you snatch me away 26 from those who attack me; 27
you rescue me from violent men.
22:50 So I will give you thanks, O Lord, before the nations! 28
I will sing praises to you. 29
22:51 He gives his chosen king magnificent victories; 30
he is faithful to his chosen ruler, 31
to David and to his descendants forever!”
1 tn Heb “step.” “Step” probably refers metonymically to the path upon which the psalmist walks. Another option is to translate, “you widen my stride.” This would suggest that God gives him the capacity to run quickly.
2 tn Heb “lower legs.” On the meaning of the Hebrew noun, which occurs only here, see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 112. A cognate Akkadian noun means “lower leg.”
3 tn Heb “you clothed me with strength for battle.”
4 tn Heb “you make those who rise against me kneel beneath me.”
5 tn Heb “and [as for] my enemies, you give to me [the] back [or “neck” ].” The idiom “give [the] back” means “to cause [one] to turn the back and run away.” See Exod 23:27 and HALOT 888 s.v. II ערף.
6 tc The translation follows one medieval Hebrew
7 tn Heb “but there is no deliverer.”
8 tn The words “they cry out” are not in the Hebrew text. This reference to the psalmists’ enemies crying out for help to the
9 tn Or “mud” (so NAB, NIV, CEV). See HALOT 374 s.v. טִיט.
10 tn Heb “from the strivings of my people.” In this context רִיב (riv, “striving”) probably has a militaristic sense (as in Judg 12:2; Isa 41:11), and עַם (’am, “people”) probably refers more specifically to an army (for other examples, see the verses listed in BDB 766 s.v. עַם 2.d). The suffix “my” suggests David is referring to attacks by his own countrymen, the “people” being Israel. However, the parallel text in Ps 18:43 omits the suffix.
11 tn Heb “a people whom I did not know serve me.” In this context the verb “know” (יָדַע, yada’) probably refers to formal recognition by treaty. People who were once not under the psalmist’s authority now willingly submit to his rulership to avoid being conquered militarily (see vv. 45-46). The language may recall the events recorded in 2 Sam 8:9-10 and 10:19.
12 tn For the meaning “to be weak; to be powerless” for the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash), see Ps 109:24. Verse 46, which also mentions foreigners, favors this interpretation. Another option is to translate “cower in fear” (see Deut 33:29; Pss 66:3; 81:15).
13 tn Heb “at a report of an ear they submit to me.” The report of David’s exploits is so impressive that those who hear it submit to his rulership without putting up a fight.
14 tn Heb “wither, wear out.”
15 tc The translation assumes a reading וְיַחְרְגוּ (vÿyakhrÿgu, “and they quaked”) rather than the MT וְיַחְגְּרוּ (vÿyakhgÿru, “and they girded themselves”). See the note at Ps 18:45.
16 tn Heb “from.”
17 tn Heb “prisons.” Their besieged cities are compared to prisons.
18 tn Elsewhere the construction חַי־יְהוָה (khay-yÿhvah) as used exclusively as an oath formula, but this is not the case here, for no oath follows. Here the statement is an affirmation of the
19 tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection.
20 tn Or “blessed [i.e., praised] be.”
21 tn Heb “the God of the rock of my deliverance.” The term צוּר (tsur, “rock”) is probably accidentally repeated from the previous line. The parallel version in Ps 18:46 has simply “the God of my deliverance.”
22 tn The words “as king” are supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Psalms the verb רוּם (rum, “be exalted”) when used of God, refers to his exalted position as king (Pss 99:2; 113:4; 138:6) and/or his self-revelation as king through his mighty deeds of deliverance (Pss 21:13; 46:10; 57:5, 11).
23 tn Heb “The God is the one who grants vengeance to me.” The plural form of the noun “vengeance” indicates degree here, suggesting complete vengeance or vindication. In the ancient Near East military victory was sometimes viewed as a sign that one’s God had judged in favor of the victor, avenging and/or vindicating him. See, for example, Judg 11:27, 32-33, 36.
24 tn Heb “and [is the one who] brings down nations beneath me.”
25 tn Heb “and [the one who] brings me out from my enemies.”
26 tn Heb “you lift me up.” In light of the preceding and following references to deliverance, the verb רוּם (rum) probably here refers to being rescued from danger (see Ps 9:13). However, it could mean “exalt; elevate” here, indicating that the
27 tn Heb “from those who rise against me.”
28 sn This probably alludes to the fact that David will praise the
29 tn Heb “to your name.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his divine characteristics as suggested by his name, in this case “
30 tc The translation follows the Kethib and the ancient versions in reading מַגְדִּיל (magdil, “he magnifies”) rather than the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
31 tn Heb “[the one who] does loyalty to his anointed one.”