8:1 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ammah 3 from the Philistines. 4
18:37 I chase my enemies and catch 7 them;
I do not turn back until I wipe them out.
18:38 I beat them 8 to death; 9
they fall at my feet. 10
48:4 For 11 look, the kings assemble; 12
they advance together.
48:5 As soon as they see, 13 they are shocked; 14
they are terrified, they quickly retreat. 15
26:11 O Lord, you are ready to act, 16
but they don’t even notice.
They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind, 17
yes, fire will consume your enemies. 18
“Woe, woe, O great city,
Babylon the powerful city!
For in a single hour your doom 19 has come!”
1 tn Or “delivered.”
2 tn Or “wherever he went.”
3 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).
4 tn Heb “from the hand [i.e., control] of the Philistines.”
5 tn Though this verb in the MT is 3rd person masculine singular, it should probably be read as 2nd person masculine singular. It is one of fifteen places where the Masoretes placed a dot over each of the letters of the word in question in order to call attention to their suspicion of the word. Their concern in this case apparently had to do with the fact that this verb and the two preceding verbs alternate from third person to second and back again to third. Words marked in this way in Hebrew manuscripts or printed editions are said to have puncta extrordinaria, or “extraordinary points.”
6 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
7 tn 2 Sam 22:38 reads “destroy.”
8 tn Or “smash them.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “and I wiped them out and smashed them.”
9 tn Heb “until they are unable to rise.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “until they do not rise.”
10 sn They fall at my feet. For ancient Near Eastern parallels, see O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 294-97.
11 tn The logical connection between vv. 3-4 seems to be this: God is the protector of Zion and reveals himself as the city’s defender – this is necessary because hostile armies threaten the city.
12 tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 4-6 are understood as descriptive. In dramatic style (note הִנֵּה, hinneh, “look”) the psalm describes an enemy attack against the city as if it were occurring at this very moment. Another option is to take the perfects as narrational (“the kings assembled, they advanced”), referring to a particular historical event, such as Sennacherib’s siege of the city in 701
13 tn The object of “see” is omitted, but v. 3b suggests that the
14 tn Heb “they look, so they are shocked.” Here כֵּן (ken, “so”) has the force of “in the same measure.”
15 tn The translation attempts to reflect the staccato style of the Hebrew text, where the main clauses of vv. 4-6 are simply juxtaposed without connectives.
16 tn Heb “O Lord, your hand is lifted up.”
17 tn Heb “They will see and be ashamed of zeal of people.” Some take the prefixed verbs as jussives and translate the statement as a prayer, “Let them see and be put to shame.” The meaning of the phrase קִנְאַת־עָם (qin’at-’am, “zeal of people”) is unclear. The translation assumes that this refers to God’s angry judgment upon people. Another option is to understand the phrase as referring to God’s zealous, protective love of his covenant people. In this case one might translate, “by your zealous devotion to your people.”
18 tn Heb “yes, fire, your enemies, will consume them.” Many understand the prefixed verb form to be jussive and translate, “let [fire] consume” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The mem suffixed to the verb may be enclitic; if a pronominal suffix, it refers back to “your enemies.”
19 tn Or “judgment,” condemnation,” “punishment.” BDAG 569 s.v. κρίσις 1.a.β states, “The word oft. means judgment that goes against a person, condemnation, and the sentence that follows…ἡ κ. σου your judgment Rv 18:10.”