18:39 You give me strength 1 for battle;
you make my foes kneel before me. 2
18:44 When they hear of my exploits, they submit to me. 3
Foreigners are powerless 4 before me;
1 tn Heb “clothed me.” See v. 32.
2 tn Heb “you make those who rise against me kneel beneath me.”
3 tn Heb “at a report of an ear they submit to me.” The report of the psalmist’s exploits is so impressive that those who hear it submit to his rulership without putting up a fight.
4 tn For the meaning “be weak, powerless” for כָּחַשׁ (kakhash), see Ps 109:24. The next line (see v. 45a), in which “foreigners” are also mentioned, favors this interpretation. Another option is to translate “cower in fear” (see Deut 33:29; Pss 66:3; 81:15; cf. NIV “cringe”; NRSV “came cringing”).