Exodus 15:2

15:2 The Lord ¹  is my strength and my song, ² 

and he has become my salvation.

This is my God, and I will praise him, ³ 

my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Psalms 27:1

Psalm 27 ⁴ 

By David.

27:1 The Lord delivers and vindicates me! ⁵ 

I fear no one! ⁶ 

The Lord protects my life!

I am afraid of no one! ⁷ 

Psalms 62:6-7

62:6 He alone is my protector ⁸  and deliverer.

He is my refuge; ⁹  I will not be upended. ¹⁰ 

62:7 God delivers me and exalts me;

God is my strong protector and my shelter. ¹¹ 

Psalms 118:14

118:14 The Lord gives me strength and protects me; ¹² 

he has become my deliverer.” ¹³ 

Psalms 118:21

118:21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me,

and have become my deliverer.

Isaiah 12:2

12:2 Look, God is my deliverer! ¹⁴ 

I will trust in him ¹⁵  and not fear.

For the Lord gives me strength and protects me; ¹⁶ 

he has become my deliverer.” ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 3:23

3:23 We know our noisy worship of false gods

on the hills and mountains did not help us. ¹⁸ 

We know that the Lord our God

is the only one who can deliver Israel. ¹⁹ 

Acts 13:47

13:47 For this ²⁰  is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have appointed ²¹  you to be a light ²²  for the Gentiles, to bring salvation ²³  to the ends of the earth.’” ²⁴ 

[15:2]  ¹ tn Heb “Yah.” Moses’ poem here uses a short form of the name Yahweh, traditionally rendered in English by “the LORD.”

[15:2]  ² tn The word וְזִמְרָת (vÿzimrat) is problematic. It probably had a suffix yod (י) that was accidentally dropped because of the yod (י) on the divine name following. Most scholars posit another meaning for the word. A meaning of “power” fits the line fairly well, forming a hendiadys with strength – “strength and power” becoming “strong power.” Similar lines are in Isa 12:2 and Ps 118:14. Others suggest “protection” or “glory.” However, there is nothing substantially wrong with “my song” in the line – only that it would be a nicer match if it had something to do with strength.

[15:2]  ³ tn The word נָוָה (navah) occurs only here. It may mean “beautify, adorn” with praises (see BDB 627 s.v.). See also M. Dahood, “Exodus 15:2: ‘anwehu and Ugaritic snwt,” Bib 59 (1979): 260-61; and M. Klein, “The Targumic Tosefta to Exodus 15:2,” JJS 26 (1975): 61-67; and S. B. Parker, “Exodus 15:2 Again,” VT 21 (1971): 373-79.

[27:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 27. The author is confident of the Lord’s protection and asks the Lord to vindicate him.

[27:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord [is] my light and my deliverance.” “Light” is often used as a metaphor for deliverance and the life/blessings it brings. See Pss 37:6; 97:11; 112:4; Isa 49:6; 51:4; Mic 7:8. Another option is that “light” refers here to divine guidance (see Ps 43:3).

[27:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “Whom shall I fear?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[27:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “Of whom shall I be afraid?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[62:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”

[62:6]  ⁹ tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

[62:6]  ¹⁰ sn The wording is identical to that of v. 2, except that רַבָּה (rabbah, “greatly”) does not appear in v. 6.

[62:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “upon God [is] my deliverance and my glory, the high rocky summit of my strength, my shelter [is] in God.”

[118:14]  ¹² tn Heb “my strength and protection [is] the Lord.” The Hebrew term זִמְרָת (zimrat) is traditionally understood as meaning “song” (“my strength and song [is] the Lord”) in which case one might translate, “for the Lord gives me strength and joy” (i.e., a reason to sing). However, many recent commentators have argued that the noun זִמְרָת is here a homonym, meaning “protection” or “strength.” See HALOT 274 s.v.; cf. NEB “The Lord is my refuge and defence”; NRSV “my strength and my might.”

[118:14]  ¹³ tn Or “salvation.”

[12:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “salvation” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[12:2]  ¹⁵ tn The words “in him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[12:2]  ¹⁶ tc The Hebrew text has, “for my strength and protection [is] the Lord, the Lord (Heb “Yah, Yahweh).” The word יְהוָה (yehvah) is probably dittographic or explanatory here (note that the short form of the name [יָהּ, yah] precedes, and that the graphically similar וַיְהִי [vayÿhi] follows). Exod 15:2, the passage from which the words of v. 2b are taken, has only יָהּ. The word זִמְרָת (zimrat) is traditionally understood as meaning “song,” in which case one might translate, “for the Lord gives me strength and joy” (i.e., a reason to sing); note that in v. 5 the verb זָמַר (zamar, “sing”) appears. Many recent commentators, however, have argued that the noun is here instead a homonym, meaning “protection” or “strength.” See HALOT 274 s.v. III *זמר.

[12:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions, e.g., KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “my savior.”

[3:23]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Truly in vain from the hills the noise/commotion [and from] the mountains.” The syntax of the Hebrew sentence is very elliptical here.

[3:23]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Truly in the Lord our God is deliverance for Israel.”

[13:47]  ²⁰ tn Here οὕτως (Joutws) is taken to refer to what follows, the content of the quotation, as given for this verse by BDAG 742 s.v. οὕτω/οὕτως 2.

[13:47]  ²¹ tn BDAG 1004 s.v. τίθημι 3.a has “τιθέναι τινὰ εἴς τι place/appoint someone to or for (to function as) someth….Ac 13:47.” This is a double accusative construction of object (“you”) and complement (“a light”).

[13:47]  ²² sn Paul alludes here to the language of the Servant in Isaiah, pointing to Isa 42:6; 49:6. He and Barnabas do the work of the Servant in Isaiah.

[13:47]  ²³ tn Grk “that you should be for salvation,” but more simply “to bring salvation.”

[13:47]  ²⁴ sn An allusion to Isa 42:6 and 49:6. The expression the ends of the earth recalls Luke 3:6 and Acts 1:8. Paul sees himself and Barnabas as carrying out the commission of Luke 24:27. (See 2 Cor 6:2, where servant imagery also appears concerning Paul’s message.)