18:44 When they hear of my exploits, they submit to me. 1
Foreigners are powerless 2 before me;
94:16 Who will rise up to defend me 3 against the wicked?
Who will stand up for me against the evildoers? 4
108:8 Gilead belongs to me,
as does Manasseh! 5
Ephraim is my helmet, 6
Judah my royal scepter. 7
1 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.
2 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”).
3 tn Heb “for me.”
4 sn Who will stand up for me…? The questions anticipate the answer, “No one except God” (see v. 17).
5 tn Gilead was located east of the Jordan River. Half of the tribe of Manasseh lived east of the Jordan in the region of Bashan.
6 tn Heb “the protection of my head.”
7 sn Judah, like Ephraim, was the other major tribe west of the Jordan River. The Davidic king, symbolized here by the royal scepter, came from this tribe.