Exodus 6:1

6:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, ¹  for compelled by my strong hand ²  he will release them, and by my strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” ³ 

Deuteronomy 11:23

11:23 then he ⁴  will drive out all these nations ahead of you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you.

Psalms 18:14

18:14 He shot his ⁵  arrows and scattered them, ⁶ 

many lightning bolts ⁷  and routed them. ⁸ 

Psalms 18:39

18:39 You give me strength ⁹  for battle;

you make my foes kneel before me. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 44:2

44:2 You, by your power, ¹¹  defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land; ¹² 

you crushed ¹³  the people living there ¹⁴  and enabled our ancestors to occupy it. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 68:2

68:2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away. ¹⁶ 

As wax melts before fire,

so the wicked are destroyed before God.

Psalms 114:2-7

114:2 Judah became his sanctuary,

Israel his kingdom.

114:3 The sea looked and fled; ¹⁷ 

the Jordan River ¹⁸  turned back. ¹⁹ 

114:4 The mountains skipped like rams,

the hills like lambs. ²⁰ 

114:5 Why do you flee, O sea?

Why do you turn back, O Jordan River?

114:6 Why do you skip like rams, O mountains,

like lambs, O hills?

114:7 Tremble, O earth, before the Lord –

before the God of Jacob,

[6:1]  ¹ sn The expression “I will do to Pharaoh” always refers to the plagues. God would first show his sovereignty over Pharaoh before defeating him.

[6:1]  ² tn The expression “with a strong hand” (וּבְיָד חֲזָקָה, uvÿyad khazaqah) could refer (1) to God’s powerful intervention (“compelled by my strong hand”) or (2) to Pharaoh’s forceful pursuit (“he will forcefully drive them out”). In Exod 3:20 God has summarized what his hand would do in Egypt, and that is probably what is intended here, as he promises that Moses will see what God will do. All Egypt ultimately desired that Israel be released (12:33), and when they were released Pharaoh pursued them to the sea, and so in a sense drove them out – whether that was his intention or not. But ultimately it was God’s power that was the real force behind it all. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 74) considers that it is unlikely that the phrase would be used in the same verse twice with the same meaning. So he thinks that the first “strong hand” is God’s, and the second “strong hand” is Pharaoh’s. It is true that if Pharaoh acted forcefully in any way that contributed to Israel leaving Egypt it was because God was acting forcefully in his life. So in an understated way, God is saying that when forced by God’s strong hand, Pharaoh will indeed release God’s people.”

[6:1]  ³ tn Or “and he will forcefully drive them out of his land,” if the second occurrence of “strong hand” refers to Pharaoh’s rather than God’s (see the previous note).

[11:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[18:14]  ⁵ tn 2 Sam 22:15 omits the pronominal suffix (“his”).

[18:14]  ⁶ tn The pronominal suffixes on the verbs “scattered” and “routed” (see the next line) refer to the psalmist’s enemies. Some argue that the suffixes refer to the arrows, in which case one might translate “shot them far and wide” and “made them move noisily,” respectively. They argue that the enemies have not been mentioned since v. 4 and are not again mentioned until v. 17. However, usage of the verbs פוּץ (puts, “scatter”) and הָמַם (hamam, “rout”) elsewhere in Holy War accounts suggests the suffixes refer to enemies. Enemies are frequently pictured in such texts as scattered and/or routed (see Exod 14:24; 23:27; Num 10:35; Josh 10:10; Judg 4:15; 1 Sam 7:10; 11:11; Ps 68:1).

[18:14]  ⁷ sn Lightning is a common motif in in OT theophanies and in ancient Near Eastern portrayals of the storm god and warring kings. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 190-92.

[18:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “lightning bolts, many.” 2 Sam 22:15 has simply “lightning” (בָּרָק, baraq). The identity of the word רָב (rav) in Ps 18:14 is problematic. (1) It may be a form of a rare verb רָבַב (ravav, “to shoot”), perhaps attested in Gen 49:23 as well. In this case one might translate, “he shot lightning bolts and routed them.” Other options include (2) understanding רָב (rav) as an adverbial use of the adjective, “lightning bolts in abundance,” or (3) emending the form to רַבּוּ (rabbu), from רָבַב (ravav, “be many”) or to רָבוּ (ravu), from רָבָה (ravah, “be many”) – both a haplography of the vav (ו); note the initial vav on the immediately following form – and translating “lightning bolts were in abundance.”

[18:39]  ⁹ tn Heb “clothed me.” See v. 32.

[18:39]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you make those who rise against me kneel beneath me.”

[44:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you, your hand.”

[44:2]  ¹² tn Heb “dispossessed nations and planted them.” The third masculine plural pronoun “them” refers to the fathers (v. 1). See Ps 80:8, 15.

[44:2]  ¹³ tn The verb form in the Hebrew text is a Hiphil preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive) from רָעַע (ra’a’, “be evil; be bad”). If retained it apparently means, “you injured; harmed.” Some prefer to derive the verb from רָעַע (“break”; cf. NEB “breaking up the peoples”), in which case the form must be revocalized as Qal (since this verb is unattested in the Hiphil).

[44:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “peoples.”

[44:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and you sent them out.” The translation assumes that the third masculine plural pronoun “them” refers to the fathers (v. 1), as in the preceding parallel line. See Ps 80:11, where Israel, likened to a vine, “spreads out” its tendrils to the west and east. Another option is to take the “peoples” as the referent of the pronoun and translate, “and you sent them away,” though this does not provide as tight a parallel with the corresponding line.

[68:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “as smoke is scattered, you scatter [them].”

[114:3]  ¹⁷ sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Red Sea (Exod 14:21).

[114:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the Jordan” (also in v. 5). The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[114:3]  ¹⁹ sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Jordan River (Josh 3:13, 16).

[114:4]  ²⁰ sn The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. This may recall the theophany at Sinai when the mountain shook before God’s presence (Exod 19:18).