Isaiah 26:4

26:4 Trust in the Lord from this time forward, ¹ 

even in Yah, the Lord, an enduring protector! ² 

Deuteronomy 32:4

32:4 As for the Rock, ³  his work is perfect,

for all his ways are just.

He is a reliable God who is never unjust,

he is fair ⁴  and upright.

Deuteronomy 32:15

Israel’s Rebellion

32:15 But Jeshurun ⁵  became fat and kicked,

you ⁶  got fat, thick, and stuffed!

Then he deserted the God who made him,

and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt.

Psalms 18:2

18:2 The Lord is my high ridge, ⁷  my stronghold, ⁸  my deliverer.

My God is my rocky summit where ⁹  I take shelter, ¹⁰ 

my shield, the horn that saves me, ¹¹  and my refuge. ¹² 

Psalms 31:2

31:2 Listen to me! ¹³ 

Quickly deliver me!

Be my protector and refuge, ¹⁴ 

a stronghold where I can be safe! ¹⁵ 

[26:4]  ¹ tn Or “forevermore.” For other uses of the phrase עֲדֵי־עַד (’ade-’ad) see Isa 65:18 and Pss 83:17; 92:7.

[26:4]  ² tc The Hebrew text has “for in Yah, the Lord, an everlasting rock.” Some have suggested that the phrase בְּיָהּ (beyah, “in Yah”) is the result of dittography. A scribe seeing כִּי יְהוָה (ki yÿhvah) in his original text would somehow have confused the letters and accidentally inserted בְּיָהּ between the words (bet and kaf [ב and כ] can be confused in later script phases). A number of English versions retain both divine names for emphasis (ESV, NIV, NKJV, NRSV, NLT). One of the Qumran texts (1QIsa^a) confirms the MT reading as well.

[32:4]  ³ tc The LXX reads Θεός (qeos, “God”) for the MT’s “Rock.”

[32:4]  ⁴ tn Or “just” (KJV, NAB, NRSV, NLT) or “righteous” (NASB).

[32:15]  ⁵ tn To make the continuity of the referent clear, some English versions substitute “Jacob” here (NAB, NRSV) while others replace “Jeshurun” with “Israel” (NCV, CEV, NLT) or “the Lord’s people” (TEV).

[32:15]  ⁶ tc The LXX reads the third person masculine singular (“he”) for the MT second person masculine singular (“you”), but such alterations are unnecessary in Hebrew poetic texts where subjects fluctuate frequently and without warning.

[18:2]  ⁷ sn My high ridge. This metaphor pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[18:2]  ⁸ sn My stronghold. David often found safety in such strongholds. See 1 Sam 22:4-5; 24:22; 2 Sam 5:9, 17; 23:14.

[18:2]  ⁹ tn Or “in whom.”

[18:2]  ¹⁰ sn Take shelter. “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[18:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the horn of my salvation”; or “my saving horn.”

[18:2]  ¹² tn Or “my elevated place.” The parallel version of this psalm in 2 Sam 22:3 adds at this point, “my refuge, my savior, [you who] save me from violence.”

[31:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”

[31:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “become for me a rocky summit of refuge.”

[31:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a house of strongholds to deliver me.”