Psalms 37:15

37:15 Their swords will pierce ¹  their own hearts,

and their bows will be broken.

Psalms 37:17

37:17 for evil men will lose their power, ² 

but the Lord sustains ³  the godly.

Psalms 46:9

46:9 He brings an end to wars throughout the earth; ⁴ 

he shatters ⁵  the bow and breaks ⁶  the spear;

he burns ⁷  the shields with fire. ⁸ 

Psalms 76:3

76:3 There he shattered the arrows, ⁹ 

the shield, the sword, and the rest of the weapons of war. ¹⁰  (Selah)

[37:15]  ¹ tn Heb “enter into.”

[37:17]  ² tn Heb “for the arms of the evil ones will be broken.”

[37:17]  ³ tn The active participle here indicates this is characteristically true.

[46:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “[the] one who causes wars to cease unto the end of the earth.” The participle continues the description begun in v. 8b and indicates that this is the Lord’s characteristic activity. Ironically, he brings peace to the earth by devastating the warlike, hostile nations (vv. 8, 9b).

[46:9]  ⁵ tn The verb שָׁבַר (shavar, “break”) appears in the Piel here (see Ps 29:5). In the OT it occurs thirty-six times in the Piel, always with multiple objects (the object is either a collective singular or grammatically plural or dual form). The Piel may highlight the repetition of the pluralative action, or it may suggest an intensification of action, indicating repeated action comprising a whole, perhaps with the nuance “break again and again, break in pieces.” Another option is to understand the form as resultative: “make broken” (see IBHS 404-7 §24.3). The imperfect verbal form carries on and emphasizes the generalizing nature of the description.

[46:9]  ⁶ tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries along the generalizing emphasis of the preceding imperfect.

[46:9]  ⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form carries on and emphasizes the generalizing nature of the description.

[46:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “wagons he burns with fire.” Some read “chariots” here (cf. NASB), but the Hebrew word refers to wagons or carts, not chariots, elsewhere in the OT. In this context, where military weapons are mentioned, it is better to revocalize the form as עֲגִלוֹת (’agilot, “round shields”), a word which occurs only here in the OT, but is attested in later Hebrew and Aramaic.

[76:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “flames of the bow,” i.e., arrows.

[76:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “shield and sword and battle.” “Battle” probably here stands by metonymy for the weapons of war in general.