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 68:15

68:15 The mountain of Bashan ⁵  is a towering mountain; ⁶ 

the mountain of Bashan is a mountain with many peaks. ⁷ 

Psalms 78:21

78:21 When ⁸  the Lord heard this, he was furious.

A fire broke out against Jacob,

and his anger flared up ⁹  against Israel,

[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.

[68:15]  ⁵ sn The mountain of Bashan probably refers to Mount Hermon.

[68:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “a mountain of God.” The divine name is probably used here in a superlative sense to depict a very high mountain (“a mountain fit for God,” as it were). Cf. NIV “are majestic mountains”; NRSV “O mighty mountain.”

[68:15]  ⁷ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term, which appears only here in the OT, is uncertain. HALOT 174 s.v. גַּבְנוֹן suggests “many-peaked,” while BDB 148 s.v. גַּבְנִן suggests “rounded summit.”

[78:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “therefore.”

[78:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and also anger went up.”