Psalms 20:7-8

20:7 Some trust in chariots and others in horses, ¹ 

but we ²  depend on ³  the Lord our God.

20:8 They will fall down, ⁴ 

but we ⁵  will stand firm. ⁶ 

Psalms 33:16-17

33:16 No king is delivered by his vast army;

a warrior is not saved by his great might.

33:17 A horse disappoints those who trust in it for victory; ⁷ 

despite its great strength, it cannot deliver.

Jeremiah 3:23

3:23 We know our noisy worship of false gods

on the hills and mountains did not help us. ⁸ 

We know that the Lord our God

is the only one who can deliver Israel. ⁹ 

Hosea 1:7

1:7 But I will have pity on the nation ¹⁰  of Judah. ¹¹  I will deliver them by the Lord their God; I will not deliver them by the warrior’s bow, by sword, by military victory, ¹²  by chariot horses, or by chariots.” ¹³ 

Hosea 14:3

14:3 Assyria cannot save us;

we will not ride warhorses.

We will never again say, ‘Our gods’

to what our own hands have made.

For only you will show compassion to Orphan Israel!” ¹⁴ 

Zechariah 9:10

9:10 I will remove ¹⁵  the chariot from Ephraim

and the warhorse from Jerusalem,

and the battle bow will be removed.

Then he will announce peace to the nations.

His dominion will be from sea to sea

and from the Euphrates River ¹⁶  to the ends of the earth.

[20:7]  ¹ tn Heb “these in chariots and these in horses.” No verb appears; perhaps the verb “invoke” is to be supplied from the following line. In this case the idea would be that some “invoke” (i.e., trust in) their military might for victory (cf. NEB “boast”; NIV “trust”; NRSV “take pride”). Verse 8 suggests that the “some/others” mentioned here are the nation’s enemies.

[20:7]  ² tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronominal subject) highlights the contrast between God’s faithful people and the others mentioned in the previous line.

[20:7]  ³ tn Heb “we invoke the name of.” The Hiphil of זָכַר (zakhar), when combined with the phrase “in the name,” means “to invoke” (see Josh 23:7; Isa 48:1; Amos 6:10). By invoking the Lord’s name in prayer, the people demonstrate their trust in him.

[20:8]  ⁴ tn Or “stumble and fall down.”

[20:8]  ⁵ tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronominal subject) highlights the contrast between God’s victorious people and the defeated enemies mentioned in the previous line. The perfect verbal forms either generalize or, more likely, state rhetorically the people’s confidence as they face the approaching battle. They describe the demise of the enemy as being as good as done.

[20:8]  ⁶ tn Or “rise up and remain upright.” On the meaning of the Hitpolel of עוּד (’ud), see HALOT 795 s.v. I עוד. The verbal forms (a perfect followed by a prefixed form with vav [ו] consecutive) either generalize or, more likely, state rhetorically the people’s confidence as they face the approaching battle.

[33:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “a lie [is] the horse for victory.”

[3:23]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “Truly in the Lord our God is deliverance for Israel.”

[1:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “house”; cf. NCV, TEV, NLT “the people of Judah.”

[1:7]  ¹¹ tn The word order in this line is rhetorical, emphasizing the divine decision to withhold pity from Israel but to bestow it on Judah. The accusative direct object, which is introduced by a disjunctive vav (to denote contrast), appears before the verb: וְאֶת־בֵּית יְהוּדָה אֲרַחֵם (vé’et-bet yéhudah ’arakhem, “but upon the house of Judah I will show pity”).

[1:7]  ¹² tn Heb “by war” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); KJV, NASB, NIV “battle.”

[1:7]  ¹³ sn These military weapons are examples of the metonymy of adjunct (the specific weapons named) for subject (warfare).

[14:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “For the orphan is shown compassion by you.” The present translation takes “orphan” as a figurative reference to Israel, which is specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:10]  ¹⁵ tc The MT first person pronoun (“I”), which seems to shift the subject too abruptly, becomes 3rd person masculine singular (“he”) in the LXX (הִכְרִית, hikhrit, presupposed for הִכְרַתִּי, hikhratti). However, the Lord is the subject of v. 8, which speaks of his protection of Jerusalem, so it is not surprising that he is the subject in v. 10 as well.

[9:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the river.” The Hebrew expression typically refers to the Euphrates, so the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.