Psalms 18:10

18:10 He mounted ¹  a winged angel ²  and flew;

he glided ³  on the wings of the wind. ⁴ 

Psalms 66:6

66:6 He turned the sea into dry land; ⁵ 

they passed through the river on foot. ⁶ 

Let us rejoice in him there! ⁷ 

Psalms 81:3

81:3 Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon, ⁸ 

and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins. ⁹ 

Psalms 118:7

118:7 The Lord is on my side ¹⁰  as my helper. ¹¹ 

I look in triumph on those who hate me.

Psalms 123:3

123:3 Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor!

For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some. ¹² 

Psalms 124:1-2

Psalm 124 ¹³ 

A song of ascents, ¹⁴  by David.

124:1 “If the Lord had not been on our side” –

let Israel say this! –

124:2 if the Lord had not been on our side,

when men attacked us, ¹⁵ 

[18:10]  ¹ tn Or “rode upon.”

[18:10]  ² tn Heb “a cherub.” Because of the typical associations of the word “cherub” in English with chubby winged babies, the term has been rendered “winged angel” in the translation.

[18:10]  ³ tc 2 Sam 22:11 reads “appeared” (from רָאָה, ra’ah); the relatively rare verb דָאָה (da’ah, “glide”) is more difficult and probably the original reading here in Ps 18.

[18:10]  ⁴ sn The wings of the wind. Verse 10 may depict (1) the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option (2) is that two different vehicles (a cherub and the wind) are envisioned. Yet another option (3) is that the wind is personified as a cherub. For a discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in v. 10, see M. Weinfeld, “‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” JANESCU 5 (1973): 422-24.

[66:6]  ⁵ sn He turned the sea into dry land. The psalmist alludes to Israel’s crossing the Red Sea (Exod 14:21).

[66:6]  ⁶ tn Because of the reference to “the river,” some understand this as an allusion to Israel’s crossing the Jordan River. However, the Hebrew term נָהָר (nahad) does not always refer to a “river” in the technical sense; it can be used of sea currents (see Jonah 2:4). So this line may also refer to the Red Sea crossing (cf. NEB).

[66:6]  ⁷ tn The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here, as often in poetic texts, to point “to a spot in which a scene is localized vividly in the imagination” (BDB 1027 s.v.).

[81:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “at the new moon.”

[81:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “at the full moon on the day of our festival.” The Hebrew word כֶּסֶה (keseh) is an alternate spelling of כֶּסֶא (kese’, “full moon”).

[118:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “for me.”

[118:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “among my helpers.” The preposition may indicate identity here, while the plural may be one of majesty or respect.

[123:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for greatly we are filled [with] humiliation.”

[124:1]  ²¹ sn Psalm 124. Israel acknowledges that the Lord delivered them from certain disaster.

[124:1]  ²² sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[124:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “rose up against us.”