Genesis 49:8

49:8 Judah, ¹  your brothers will praise you.

Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies,

your father’s sons will bow down before you.

Exodus 23:27

23:27 “I will send my terror ²  before you, and I will destroy ³  all the people whom you encounter; I will make all your enemies turn their backs ⁴  to you.

Joshua 10:24

10:24 When they brought the kings out to Joshua, he ⁵  summoned all the men of Israel and said to the commanders of the troops who accompanied him, “Come here ⁶  and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came up ⁷  and put their feet on their necks.

Psalms 18:40-41

18:40 You make my enemies retreat; ⁸ 

I destroy those who hate me. ⁹ 

18:41 They cry out, but there is no one to help them; ¹⁰ 

they cry out to the Lord, ¹¹  but he does not answer them.

¹ sn There is a wordplay here; the name Judah (יְהוּדָה, yÿhudah) sounds in Hebrew like the verb translated praise (יוֹדוּךָ, yodukha). The wordplay serves to draw attention to the statement as having special significance.

² tn The word for “terror” is אֵימָתִי (’emati); the word has the thought of “panic” or “dread.” God would make the nations panic as they heard of the exploits and knew the Israelites were drawing near. U. Cassuto thinks the reference to “hornets” in v. 28 may be a reference to this fear, an unreasoning dread, rather than to another insect invasion (Exodus, 308). Others suggest it is symbolic of an invading army or a country like Egypt or literal insects (see E. Neufeld, “Insects as Warfare Agents in the Ancient Near East,” Or 49 [1980]: 30-57).

³ tn Heb “kill.”

⁴ tn The text has “and I will give all your enemies to you [as] a back.” The verb of making takes two accusatives, the second being the adverbial accusative of product (see GKC 371-72 §117.ii, n. 1).

⁵ tn Heb “Joshua.” The translation has replaced the proper name with the pronoun (“he”) because a repetition of the proper name here would be redundant according to English style.

⁶ tn Or “Draw near.”

⁷ tn Or “drew near.”

⁸ 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.” Cf. Exod 23:27.

⁹ sn Those who hate me. See v. 17, where it is the Lord who delivered the psalmist from those who hated him.

¹⁰ tn Heb “but there is no deliverer.”

¹¹ tn Heb “to the Lord.” The words “they cry out” are supplied in the translation because they are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).