Psalms 18:42

18:42 I grind them as fine windblown dust; ¹ 

I beat them underfoot ²  like clay ³  in the streets.

Isaiah 10:6

10:6 I sent him ⁴  against a godless ⁵  nation,

I ordered him to attack the people with whom I was angry, ⁶ 

to take plunder and to carry away loot,

to trample them down ⁷  like dirt in the streets.

Micah 7:10

7:10 When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame.

They say ⁸  to me, “Where is the Lord your God?”

I will gloat over them. ⁹ 

Then they will be trampled down ¹⁰ 

like mud in the streets.

Zechariah 10:5

10:5 And they will be like warriors trampling the mud of the streets in battle. They will fight, for the Lord will be with them, and will defeat the enemy cavalry. ¹¹ 

[18:42]  ¹ tn Heb “I pulverize them like dust upon the face of the wind.” The phrase “upon the face of” here means “before.” 2 Sam 22:43 reads, “like dust of the earth.”

[18:42]  ² tc Ps 18:42 reads, “I empty them out” (Hiphil of ריק), while 2 Sam 22:43 reads, “I crush them, I stomp on them” (juxtaposing the synonyms דקק and רקע). It is likely that the latter is a conflation of variants. One, but not both, of the verbs in 2 Sam 22:43 is probably original; “empty out” does not form as good a parallel with “grind, pulverize” in the parallel line.

[18:42]  ³ tn Or “mud.”

[10:6]  ⁴ sn Throughout this section singular forms are used to refer to Assyria; perhaps the king of Assyria is in view (see v. 12).

[10:6]  ⁵ tn Or “defiled”; cf. ASV “profane”; NAB “impious”; NCV “separated from God.”

[10:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “and against the people of my anger I ordered him.”

[10:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “to make it [i.e., the people] a trampled place.”

[7:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “who say.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “My eyes will look on them.”

[7:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a trampled-down place.”

[10:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the riders on horses will be put to shame,” figurative for the defeat of mounted troops. The word “enemy” in the translation is supplied from context.