Psalms 18:2

18:2 The Lord is my high ridge, ¹  my stronghold, ²  my deliverer.

My God is my rocky summit where ³  I take shelter, ⁴ 

my shield, the horn that saves me, ⁵  and my refuge. ⁶ 

Psalms 27:5

27:5 He will surely ⁷  give me shelter ⁸  in the day of danger; ⁹ 

he will hide me in his home; ¹⁰ 

he will place me ¹¹  on an inaccessible rocky summit. ¹² 

Psalms 36:7

36:7 How precious ¹³  is your loyal love, O God!

The human race finds shelter under your wings. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 46:1

Psalm 46 ¹⁵ 

For the music director; by the Korahites; according to the alamoth style; ¹⁶  a song.

46:1 God is our strong refuge; ¹⁷ 

he is truly our helper in times of trouble. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 46:7

46:7 The Lord who commands armies is on our side! ¹⁹ 

The God of Jacob ²⁰  is our protector! ²¹  (Selah)

Psalms 46:11

46:11 The Lord who commands armies is on our side! ²² 

The God of Jacob ²³  is our protector! ²⁴  (Selah)

Psalms 48:3

48:3 God is in its fortresses;

he reveals himself as its defender. ²⁵ 

Psalms 91:1-2

Psalm 91 ²⁶ 

91:1 As for you, the one who lives ²⁷  in the shelter of the sovereign One, ²⁸ 

and resides in the protective shadow ²⁹  of the mighty king ³⁰  –

91:2 I say this about the Lord, my shelter and my stronghold,

my God in whom I trust –

Psalms 91:9

91:9 For you have taken refuge in the Lord,

my shelter, the sovereign One. ³¹ 

Psalms 91:15

91:15 When he calls out to me, I will answer him.

I will be with him when he is in trouble;

I will rescue him and bring him honor.

Proverbs 18:10

18:10 The name of the Lord ³²  is like ³³  a strong tower; ³⁴ 

the righteous person runs ³⁵  to it and is set safely on high. ³⁶ 

Isaiah 32:2

32:2 Each of them ³⁷  will be like a shelter from the wind

and a refuge from a rainstorm;

like streams of water in a dry region

and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.

Luke 13:34

13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ³⁸  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ³⁹  How often I have longed ⁴⁰  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ⁴¹  you would have none of it! ⁴² 

Philippians 3:9

3:9 and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness ⁴³  – a righteousness from God that is in fact ⁴⁴  based on Christ’s ⁴⁵  faithfulness. ⁴⁶ 

[18:2]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Or “in whom.”

[18:2]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “the horn of my salvation”; or “my saving horn.”

[18:2]  ⁶ 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.”

[27:5]  ⁷ tn Or “for he will.” The translation assumes the כִּי (ki) is asseverative here, rather than causal.

[27:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “he will hide me in his hut.”

[27:5]  ⁹ tn Or “trouble.”

[27:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “tent.”

[27:5]  ¹¹ tn The three imperfect verb forms in v. 5 anticipate a positive response to the prayer offered in vv. 7-12.

[27:5]  ¹² tn Heb “on a rocky summit he lifts me up.” The Lord places the psalmist in an inaccessible place where his enemies cannot reach him. See Ps 18:2.

[36:7]  ¹³ tn Or “valuable.”

[36:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and the sons of man in the shadow of your wings find shelter.” The preservation of physical life is in view, as the next verse makes clear.

[46:1]  ¹⁵ 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.

[46:1]  ¹⁶ 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.

[46:1]  ¹⁷ 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.”

[46:1]  ¹⁸ 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.

[46:7]  ¹⁹ 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.

[46:7]  ²⁰ tn That is, Israel, or Judah (see Ps 20:1).

[46:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “our elevated place” (see Pss 9:9; 18:2).

[46:11]  ²² 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.

[46:11]  ²³ tn That is, Israel, or Judah (see Ps 20:1).

[46:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “our elevated place” (see Pss 9:9; 18:2).

[48:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he is known for an elevated place.”

[91:1]  ²⁶ sn Psalm 91. In this psalm an individual (perhaps a priest) addresses one who has sought shelter in the Lord and assures him that God will protect him from danger (vv. 1-13). In vv. 14-16 God himself promises to keep his loyal follower safe.

[91:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “[O] one who lives.”

[91:1]  ²⁸ tn Traditionally “the Most High.”

[91:1]  ²⁹ sn The Lord is compared here to a bird who protects its young under the shadow of its wings (see v. 4).

[91:1]  ³⁰ sn The divine name used here is “Shaddai” (שַׁדַּי, shadday; see also Ps 68:14). Shaddai (or El Shaddai) is the mighty king (sovereign judge) of the world who grants life/blesses and kills/judges. In Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness.

[91:9]  ³¹ tn Heb “for you, the Lord, my shelter, the Most High, you have made your dwelling place.”

[18:10]  ³² sn The “name of the Lord” is a metonymy of subject. The “name” here signifies not the personal name “Yahweh,” for that would be redundant in the expression “the name of Yahweh,” but the attributes of the Lord (cf. Exod 34:5-7) – here his power to protect.

[18:10]  ³³ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[18:10]  ³⁴ tn Heb “a tower of strength,” with “strength” regarded as attributive by most English versions. The metaphor “strong tower” indicates that God is a secure refuge. The figure is qualified in the second colon.

[18:10]  ³⁵ sn The metaphor of “running” to the Lord refers to a whole-hearted and unwavering trust in God’s protection (e.g., Isa 40:31).

[18:10]  ³⁶ tn Heb “is high” or “is inaccessible.” This military-type expression stresses the effect of the trust – security, being out of danger (see HALOT 1305 s.v. שׂגב). Other scriptures will supply the ways that God actually protects people who trust him.

[32:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “a man,” but אִישׁ (’ish) probably refers here to “each” of the officials mentioned in the previous verse.

[13:34]  ³⁸ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[13:34]  ³⁹ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[13:34]  ⁴⁰ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[13:34]  ⁴¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:34]  ⁴² tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[3:9]  ⁴³ tn Or “faith in Christ.” A decision is difficult here. Though traditionally translated “faith in Jesus Christ,” an increasing number of NT scholars are arguing that πίστις Χριστοῦ (pisti" Cristou) and similar phrases in Paul (here and in Rom 3:22, 26; Gal 2:16, 20; 3:22; Eph 3:12) involve a subjective genitive and mean “Christ’s faith” or “Christ’s faithfulness” (cf., e.g., G. Howard, “The ‘Faith of Christ’,” ExpTim 85 [1974]: 212-15; R. B. Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ [SBLDS]; Morna D. Hooker, “Πίστις Χριστοῦ,” NTS 35 [1989]: 321-42). Noteworthy among the arguments for the subjective genitive view is that when πίστις takes a personal genitive it is almost never an objective genitive (cf. Matt 9:2, 22, 29; Mark 2:5; 5:34; 10:52; Luke 5:20; 7:50; 8:25, 48; 17:19; 18:42; 22:32; Rom 1:8; 12; 3:3; 4:5, 12, 16; 1 Cor 2:5; 15:14, 17; 2 Cor 10:15; Phil 2:17; Col 1:4; 2:5; 1 Thess 1:8; 3:2, 5, 10; 2 Thess 1:3; Titus 1:1; Phlm 6; 1 Pet 1:9, 21; 2 Pet 1:5). On the other hand, the objective genitive view has its adherents: A. Hultgren, “The Pistis Christou Formulations in Paul,” NovT 22 (1980): 248-63; J. D. G. Dunn, “Once More, ΠΙΣΤΙΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ,” SBL Seminar Papers, 1991, 730-44. Most commentaries on Romans and Galatians usually side with the objective view.

[3:9]  ⁴⁴ tn The words “in fact” are supplied because of English style, picking up the force of the Greek article with πίστει (pistei). See also the following note on the word “Christ’s.”

[3:9]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “based on the faithfulness.” The article before πίστει (pistei) is taken as anaphoric, looking back to διὰ πίστεως Χριστοῦ (dia pistew" Cristou); hence, “Christ’s” is implied.

[3:9]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “based on faith.”