20:1 The Lord instructed Joshua:
By David.
27:1 The Lord delivers and vindicates me! 21
I fear no one! 22
The Lord protects my life!
I am afraid of no one! 23
46:11 The Lord who commands armies is on our side! 24
The God of Jacob 25 is our protector! 26 (Selah)
41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!
Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! 27
I strengthen you –
yes, I help you –
yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! 28
41:11 Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;
your adversaries 29 will be reduced to nothing 30 and perish.
41:12 When you will look for your opponents, 31 you will not find them;
your enemies 32 will be reduced to absolutely nothing.
41:13 For I am the Lord your God,
the one who takes hold of your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’
41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, 33
men of 34 Israel.
I am helping you,” says the Lord,
your protector, 35 the Holy One of Israel. 36
1 sn The expression must indicate that they could destroy the enemies as easily as they could eat bread.
2 tn Heb “their shade.” The figure compares the shade from the sun with the protection from the enemy. It is also possible that the text is alluding to their deities here.
3 tn Heb “the
4 tn Or “has given you the land” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).
5 tn Heb “do not tremble and do not be afraid.” Two synonymous commands are combined for emphasis.
6 tn The Hebrew participle indicates imminent future action here, though some English versions treat it as a predictive future (“will go ahead of you,” NCV; cf. also TEV, CEV).
7 tn Heb “according to all which he did for you in Egypt before your eyes.”
8 tn Or “to save you” (so KJV, NASB, NCV); or “to deliver you.”
9 tn Heb “Have I not commanded you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes the importance of the following command by reminding the listener that it is being repeated.
10 tn Or perhaps, “don’t get discouraged!”
11 tn Heb “in all which you go.”
12 tn Heb “Get up!”
13 tn Heb “this Jordan”; the word “River” has been supplied in the translation for clarity (likewise in v. 11).
14 tc Heb “Cross over this Jordan, you and all these people, to the land that I am giving to them, to the children of Israel.” The final phrase, “to the children of Israel,” is probably a later scribal addition specifying the identity of “these people/them.”
15 tn Or “Only be.”
16 tn Heb “so you can be careful to do.” The use of the infinitive לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor, “to keep”) after the imperatives suggests that strength and bravery will be necessary for obedience. Another option is to take the form לִשְׁמֹר as a vocative lamed (ל) with imperative (see Isa 38:20 for an example of this construction), which could be translated, “Indeed, be careful!”
17 tn Heb “commanded you.”
18 tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.
19 tn Heb “in all which you go.”
20 sn Psalm 27. The author is confident of the Lord’s protection and asks the Lord to vindicate him.
21 tn Heb “the
22 tn Heb “Whom shall I fear?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
23 tn Heb “Of whom shall I be afraid?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
24 tn Heb “the
25 tn That is, Israel, or Judah (see Ps 20:1).
26 tn Heb “our elevated place” (see Pss 9:9; 18:2).
27 tn According to BDB (1043 s.v. שָׁעָה), the verb תִּשְׁתָּע (tishta’) in the second line of the poetic couplet is a Hitpael form from the root שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “gaze,” with metathesis of the stem prefix and the first root letter). Taking the Hitpael as iterative, one may then translate “do not anxiously look about.” However, the alleged Hitpael form of שָׁעָה (sha’ah) only occurs here and in verse 23. HALOT 1671 s.v. שׁתע proposes that the verb is instead a Qal form from the root שׁתע (“fear”) which is attested in cognate Semitic languages, including Ugaritic (discovered after the publishing of BDB), suggests the existence of this root. The poetic structure of v. 10 also supports the proposal, for the form in question is in synonymous parallelism to יָרֵא (yare’, “fear”).
28 tn The “right hand” is a symbol of the Lord’s power to deliver (Exod 15:6, 12) and protect (Ps 63:9 HT [63:8 ET]). Here צֶדֶק (tsedeq) has its well-attested nuance of “vindicated righteousness,” i.e., “victory, deliverance” (see 45:8; 51:5, and BDB 841-42 s.v.).
29 tn Heb “the men of your strife”; NASB “those who contend with you.”
30 tn Heb “like nothing”; NAB “come to nought.”
31 tn Heb “the men of your struggle”; NASB “those who quarrel with you.”
32 tn Heb “the men of your battle”; NAB “who do battle with you.”
33 tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.
34 tn On the basis of the parallelism (note “worm”) and an alleged Akkadian cognate, some read “louse” or “weevil.” Cf. NAB “O maggot Israel”; NRSV “you insect Israel.”
35 tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.
36 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
37 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
38 sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.
39 sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.
40 tc Some important
41 sn A quotation from Ps 118:6.