Psalms 18:11

18:11 He shrouded himself in darkness, ¹ 

in thick rain clouds. ² 

Psalms 18:15

18:15 The depths ³  of the sea ⁴  were exposed;

the inner regions ⁵  of the world were uncovered

by ⁶  your battle cry, ⁷  Lord,

by the powerful breath from your nose. ⁸ 

Psalms 22:14

22:14 My strength drains away like water; ⁹ 

all my bones are dislocated;

my heart ¹⁰  is like wax;

it melts away inside me.

Psalms 58:7

58:7 Let them disappear ¹¹  like water that flows away! ¹² 

Let them wither like grass! ¹³ 

Psalms 69:1-2

Psalm 69 ¹⁴ 

For the music director; according to the tune of “Lilies;” ¹⁵  by David.

69:1 Deliver me, O God,

for the water has reached my neck. ¹⁶ 

69:2 I sink into the deep mire

where there is no solid ground; ¹⁷ 

I am in ¹⁸  deep water,

and the current overpowers me.

Psalms 69:14

69:14 Rescue me from the mud! Don’t let me sink!

Deliver me ¹⁹  from those who hate me,

from the deep water!

Psalms 74:13

74:13 You destroyed ²⁰  the sea by your strength;

you shattered the heads of the sea monster ²¹  in the water.

Psalms 77:17

77:17 The clouds poured down rain; ²² 

the skies thundered. ²³ 

Yes, your arrows ²⁴  flashed about.

Psalms 77:19

77:19 You walked through the sea; ²⁵ 

you passed through the surging waters, ²⁶ 

but left no footprints. ²⁷ 

Psalms 81:7

81:7 In your distress you called out and I rescued you.

I answered you from a dark thundercloud. ²⁸ 

I tested you at the waters of Meribah. ²⁹  (Selah)

Psalms 93:4

93:4 Above the sound of the surging water, ³⁰ 

and the mighty waves of the sea,

the Lord sits enthroned in majesty. ³¹ 

Psalms 104:3

104:3 and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds. ³² 

He makes the clouds his chariot,

and travels along on the wings of the wind. ³³ 

Psalms 144:7

144:7 Reach down ³⁴  from above!

Grab me and rescue me from the surging water, ³⁵ 

from the power of foreigners, ³⁶ 

[18:11]  ¹ tc Heb “he made darkness his hiding place around him, his covering.” 2 Sam 22:12 reads, “he made darkness around him coverings,” omitting “his hiding place” and pluralizing “covering.” Ps 18:11 may include a conflation of synonyms (“his hiding place” and “his covering”) or 2 Sam 22:12 may be the result of haplography/homoioarcton. Note that three successive words in Ps 18:11 begin with the Hebrew letter samek: סִתְרוֹ סְבִיבוֹתָיו סֻכָּתוֹ (sitro sÿvivotayv sukkato).

[18:11]  ² tc Heb “darkness of water, clouds of clouds.” The noun “darkness” (חֶשְׁכַת, kheshkhat) is probably a corruption of an original reading חשׁרת, a form that is preserved in 2 Sam 22:12. The latter is a construct form of חַשְׁרָה (khashrah, “sieve”) which occurs only here in the OT. A cognate Ugaritic noun means “sieve,” and a related verb חָשַׁר (khashar, “to sift”) is attested in postbiblical Hebrew and Aramaic. The phrase חַשְׁרַת מַיִם (khashrat mayim) means literally “a sieve of water.” It pictures the rain clouds as a sieve through which the rain falls to the ground (see F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, Studies in Ancient Yahwistic Poetry [SBLDS], 146, n. 33).

[18:15]  ³ tn Or “channels.”

[18:15]  ⁴ tc Ps 18:15 reads “water” (cf. Ps 42:1); “sea” is the reading of 2 Sam 22:16.

[18:15]  ⁵ tn Or “foundations.”

[18:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “from.” The preposition has a causal sense here.

[18:15]  ⁷ tn The noun is derived from the verb גָּעַר (ga’ar), which is often understood to mean “rebuke.” In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Pss 68:30; 106:9; and Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 9:5; 76:6; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.

[18:15]  ⁸ tn 2 Sam 22:16 reads “by the battle cry of the Lord, by the blast of the breath of his nose.” The phrase “blast of the breath” (Heb “breath of breath”) employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[22:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “like water I am poured out.”

[22:14]  ⁶ sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s strength and courage.

[58:7]  ⁷ tn Following the imperatival forms in v. 6, the prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive expressing the psalmist’s wish. Another option is to take the form as an imperfect (indicative) and translate, “they will scatter” (see v. 9). The verb מָאַס (ma’as; which is a homonym of the more common מָאַס, “to refuse, reject”) appears only here and in Job 7:5, where it is used of a festering wound from which fluid runs or flows.

[58:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “like water, they go about for themselves.” The translation assumes that the phrase “they go about for themselves” is an implied relative clause modifying “water.” Another option is to take the clause as independent and parallel to what precedes. In this case the enemies would be the subject and the verb could be taken as jussive, “let them wander about.”

[58:7]  ⁹ tc The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult and the meaning uncertain. The text reads literally, “he treads his arrows (following the Qere; Kethib has “his arrow”), like they are cut off/dry up.” It is not clear if the verbal root is מָלַל (malal, “circumcise”; BDB 576 s.v. IV מָלַל) or the homonymic מָלַל (“wither”; HALOT 593-94 s.v. I מלל). Since the verb מָלַל (“to wither”) is used of vegetation, it is possible that the noun חָצִיר (khatsir, “grass,” which is visually similar to חִצָּיו, khitsayv, “his arrows”) originally appeared in the text. The translation above assumes that the text originally was כְּמוֹ חָצִיר יִתְמֹלָלוּ(kÿmo khatsir yitmolalu, “like grass let them wither”). If original, it could have been accidentally corrupted to חִצָּיר כְּמוֹ יִתְמֹלָלוּ (“his arrow(s) like they dry up”) with דָּרַךְ (darakh, “to tread”) being added later in an effort to make sense of “his arrow(s).”

[69:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 69. The psalmist laments his oppressed condition and asks the Lord to deliver him by severely judging his enemies.

[69:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “according to lilies.” See the superscription to Ps 45.

[69:1]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term נפשׁ (nefesh) here refers to the psalmist’s throat or neck. The psalmist compares himself to a helpless, drowning man.

[69:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and there is no place to stand.”

[69:2]  ¹² tn Heb “have entered.”

[69:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “let me be delivered.”

[74:13]  ¹⁵ tn The derivation and meaning of the Polel verb form פּוֹרַרְתָּ (porarta) are uncertain. The form may be related to an Akkadian cognate meaning “break, shatter,” though the biblical Hebrew cognate of this verb always appears in the Hiphil or Hophal stem. BDB 830 s.v. II פָּרַר suggests a homonym here, meaning “to split; to divide.” A Hitpolel form of a root פָּרַר (parar) appears in Isa 24:19 with the meaning “to shake violently.”

[74:13]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew text has the plural form, “sea monsters” (cf. NRSV “dragons”), but it is likely that an original enclitic mem has been misunderstood as a plural ending. The imagery of the mythological sea monster is utilized here. See the note on “Leviathan” in v. 14.

[77:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “water.”

[77:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a sound the clouds gave.”

[77:17]  ¹⁹ tn The lightning accompanying the storm is portrayed as the Lord’s “arrows” (see v. 18).

[77:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in the sea [was] your way.”

[77:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and your paths [were] in the mighty waters.”

[77:19]  ²¹ tn Heb “and your footprints were not known.”

[81:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “I answered you in the hidden place of thunder.” This may allude to God’s self-revelation at Mount Sinai, where he appeared in a dark cloud accompanied by thunder (see Exod 19:16).

[81:7]  ²² sn The name Meribah means “strife.” Two separate but similar incidents at the place called Meribah are recorded in the Pentateuch (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13). In both cases the Israelites complained about lack of water and the Lord miraculously provided for them.

[93:4]  ²³ tn Heb “mighty waters.”

[93:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “mighty on high [is] the Lord.”

[104:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “one who lays the beams on water [in] his upper rooms.” The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 44-45.

[104:3]  ²⁶ sn Verse 3 may depict the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option is that the wind is personified as a cherub. See Ps 18:10 and the discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in M. Weinfeld, “‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” JANESCU 5 (1973): 422-24.

[144:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “stretch out your hands.”

[144:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful foreign enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see the next line and Ps 18:16-17).

[144:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”