7:1 The king settled into his palace, 3 for the Lord gave him relief 4 from all his enemies on all sides. 5
8:1 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ammah 6 from the Philistines. 7 8:2 He defeated the Moabites. He made them lie on the ground and then used a rope to measure them off. He put two-thirds of them to death and spared the other third. 8 The Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute. 9
6:16 As the ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out the window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him. 10
1:69 For 11 he has raised up 12 a horn of salvation 13 for us in the house of his servant David, 14
1:70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago, 15
1 tn Heb, “when your days are full and you lie down with your ancestors.”
2 tn Heb “your seed after you who comes out from your insides.”
3 tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).
4 tn Or “rest.”
5 tn The translation understands the disjunctive clause in v. 1b as circumstantial-causal.
6 tn Heb “the bridle of one cubit.” Many English versions treat this as a place name because the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:1 reads “Gath” (which is used by NLT here). It is possible that “the bridle of one cubit” is to be understood as “the token of surrender,” referring to the Philistine’s defeat rather than a specific place (cf. TEV, CEV).
7 tn Heb “from the hand [i.e., control] of the Philistines.”
8 tn Heb “and he measured [with] two [lengths] of rope to put to death and [with] the fullness of the rope to keep alive.”
9 tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”
10 tn The Hebrew text adds “in her heart.” Cf. CEV “she was disgusted (+ with him TEV)”; NLT “was filled with contempt for him”; NCV “she hated him.”
11 tn Grk “and,” but specifying the reason for the praise in the psalm.
12 sn The phrase raised up means for God to bring someone significant onto the scene of history.
13 sn The horn of salvation is a figure that refers to the power of Messiah and his ability to protect, as the horn refers to what an animal uses to attack and defend (Ps 75:4-5, 10; 148:14; 2 Sam 22:3). Thus the meaning of the figure is “a powerful savior.”
14 sn In the house of his servant David is a reference to Messiah’s Davidic descent. Zechariah is more interested in Jesus than his own son John at this point.
15 tn Grk “from the ages,” “from eternity.”
16 tn The participles ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) and εἰδώς (eidw") are translated as causal adverbial participles.
17 tn Grk “one from the fruit of his loins.” “Loins” is the traditional translation of ὀσφῦς (osfu"), referring to the male genital organs. A literal rendering like “one who came from his genital organs” would be regarded as too specific and perhaps even vulgar by many contemporary readers. Most modern translations thus render the phrase “one of his descendants.”
18 sn An allusion to Ps 132:11 and 2 Sam 7:12-13, the promise in the Davidic covenant.