Psalms 46:1

Psalm 46 ¹ 

For the music director; by the Korahites; according to the alamoth style; ²  a song.

46:1 God is our strong refuge; ³ 

he is truly our helper in times of trouble. ⁴ 

Psalms 46:7

46:7 The Lord who commands armies is on our side! ⁵ 

The God of Jacob ⁶  is our protector! ⁷  (Selah)

Psalms 48:3

48:3 God is in its fortresses;

he reveals himself as its defender. ⁸ 

Deuteronomy 33:27

33:27 The everlasting God is a refuge,

and underneath you are his eternal arms; ⁹ 

he has driven out enemies before you,

and has said, “Destroy!”

Jeremiah 16:19

16:19 Then I said, ¹⁰ 

“Lord, you give me strength and protect me.

You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble. ¹¹ 

Nations from all over the earth

will come to you and say,

‘Our ancestors had nothing but false gods –

worthless idols that could not help them at all. ¹² 

¹ sn Psalm 46. In this so-called “Song Of Zion” God’s people confidently affirm that they are secure because the great warrior-king dwells within Jerusalem and protects it from the nations that cause such chaos in the earth. A refrain (vv. 7, 11) concludes the song’s two major sections.

² sn The meaning of the Hebrew term עֲלָמוֹת (alamoth, which means “young women”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. Cf. 1 Chr 15:20.

³ tn Heb “our refuge and strength,” which is probably a hendiadys meaning “our strong refuge” (see Ps 71:7). Another option is to translate, “our refuge and source of strength.”

⁴ tn Heb “a helper in times of trouble he is found [to be] greatly.” The perfect verbal form has a generalizing function here. The adverb מְאֹד (mÿ’od, “greatly”) has an emphasizing function.

⁵ tn Heb “the Lord of hosts is with us.” The title “Lord of hosts” here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle (see Ps 24:10). The military imagery is further developed in vv. 8-9.

⁶ tn That is, Israel, or Judah (see Ps 20:1).

⁷ tn Heb “our elevated place” (see Pss 9:9; 18:2).

⁸ tn Heb “he is known for an elevated place.”

⁹ tn Heb “and from under, arms of perpetuity.” The words “you” and “his” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Some have perceived this line to be problematic and have offered alternative translations that differ significantly from the present translation: “He spread out the primeval tent; he extended the ancient canopy” (NAB); “He subdues the ancient gods, shatters the forces of old” (NRSV). These are based on alternate meanings or conjectural emendations rather than textual variants in the mss and versions.

¹⁰ tn The words “Then I said” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to show the shift from God, who has been speaking to Jeremiah, to Jeremiah, who here addresses God.

¹¹ tn Heb “O Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of trouble. The literal which piles up attributes is of course more forceful than the predications. However, piling up poetic metaphors like this adds to the length of the English sentence and risks lack of understanding on the part of some readers. Some rhetorical force has been sacrificed for the sake of clarity.

¹² tn Once again the translation has sacrificed some of the rhetorical force for the sake of clarity and English style: Heb “Only falsehood did our ancestors possess, vanity and [things in which?] there was no one profiting in them.”