Psalms 120:7

120:7 I am committed to peace, ¹ 

but when I speak, they want to make war. ² 

Psalms 18:34

18:34 He trains my hands for battle; ³ 

my arms can bend even the strongest bow. ⁴ 

Psalms 18:39

18:39 You give me strength ⁵  for battle;

you make my foes kneel before me. ⁶ 

Psalms 89:43

89:43 You turn back ⁷  his sword from the adversary, ⁸ 

and have not sustained him in battle. ⁹ 

Psalms 24:8

24:8 Who is this majestic king? ¹⁰ 

The Lord who is strong and mighty!

The Lord who is mighty in battle!

Psalms 76:3

76:3 There he shattered the arrows, ¹¹ 

the shield, the sword, and the rest of the weapons of war. ¹²  (Selah)

Psalms 140:2

140:2 who plan ways to harm me. ¹³ 

All day long they stir up conflict. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 144:1

Psalm 144 ¹⁵ 

By David.

144:1 The Lord, my protector, ¹⁶  deserves praise ¹⁷  –

the one who trains my hands for battle, ¹⁸ 

and my fingers for war,

Psalms 27:3

27:3 Even when an army is deployed against me,

I do not fear. ¹⁹ 

Even when war is imminent, ²⁰ 

I remain confident. ²¹ 

Psalms 46:9

46:9 He brings an end to wars throughout the earth; ²² 

he shatters ²³  the bow and breaks ²⁴  the spear;

he burns ²⁵  the shields with fire. ²⁶ 

[120:7]  ¹ tn Heb “I, peace.”

[120:7]  ² tn Heb “they [are] for war.”

[18:34]  ³ sn He trains my hands. The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enablement. Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.

[18:34]  ⁴ tn Heb “and a bow of bronze is bent by my arms”; or “my arms bend a bow of bronze.” The verb נָחַת (nakhat) apparently means “pull back, bend” here (see HALOT 692 s.v. נחת). The third feminine singular verbal form appears to agree with the feminine singular noun קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “bow”). In this case the verb must be taken as Niphal (passive). However, it is possible that “my arms” is the subject of the verb and “bow” the object. In this case the verb is Piel (active). For other examples of a feminine singular verb being construed with a plural noun, see GKC 464 §145.k.

[18:39]  ⁵ tn Heb “clothed me.” See v. 32.

[18:39]  ⁶ tn Heb “you make those who rise against me kneel beneath me.”

[89:43]  ⁷ tn The perfect verbal form predominates in vv. 38-45. The use of the imperfect in this one instance may be for rhetorical effect. The psalmist briefly lapses into dramatic mode, describing the king’s military defeat as if it were happening before his very eyes.

[89:43]  ⁸ tc Heb “you turn back, rocky summit, his sword.” The Hebrew term צוּר (tsur, “rocky summit”) makes no sense here, unless it is a divine title understood as vocative, “you turn back, O Rocky Summit, his sword.” Some emend the form to צֹר (tsor, “flint”) on the basis of Josh 5:2, which uses the phrase חַרְבוֹת צֻרִים (kharvot tsurim, “flint knives”). The noun צֹר (tsor, “flint”) can then be taken as “flint-like edge,” indicating the sharpness of the sword. Others emend the form to אָחוֹר (’akhor, “backward”) or to מִצַּר (mitsar, “from the adversary”). The present translation reflects the latter, assuming an original reading תָּשִׁיב מִצָּר חַרְבּוֹ (tashiv mitsar kharbo), which was corrupted to תָּשִׁיב צָר חַרְבּוֹ (tashiv tsar kharbo) by virtual haplography (confusion of bet/mem is well-attested) with צָר (tsar, “adversary”) then being misinterpreted as צוּר in the later tradition.

[89:43]  ⁹ tn Heb “and you have not caused him to stand in the battle.”

[24:8]  ⁹ sn Who is this majestic king? Perhaps the personified gates/doors ask this question, in response to the command given in v. 7.

[76:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “flames of the bow,” i.e., arrows.

[76:3]  ¹² tn Heb “shield and sword and battle.” “Battle” probably here stands by metonymy for the weapons of war in general.

[140:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “they devise wicked [plans] in [their] mind.”

[140:2]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “they attack [for] war.” Some revocalize the verb (which is a Qal imperfect from גּוּר, gur, “to attack”) as יְגָרוּ (yÿgaru), a Piel imperfect from גָרָה (garah, “stir up strife”). This is followed in the present translation.

[144:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 144. The psalmist expresses his confidence in God, asks for a mighty display of divine intervention in an upcoming battle, and anticipates God’s rich blessings on the nation in the aftermath of military victory.

[144:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.

[144:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord, my rocky summit.”

[144:1]  ¹⁸ sn The one who trains my hands for battle. The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enablement (see Ps 18:34). Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.

[27:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my heart does not fear.”

[27:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “if war rises up against me.”

[27:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in this [i.e., “during this situation”] I am trusting.”

[46:9]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries along the generalizing emphasis of the preceding imperfect.

[46:9]  ²² tn The imperfect verbal form carries on and emphasizes the generalizing nature of the description.

[46:9]  ²³ 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.