Discovery BoxPsalms 18:32-39
Context18:32 The one true God 1 gives 2 me strength; 3
he removes 4 the obstacles in my way. 5
18:33 He gives me the agility of a deer; 6
he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain. 7
18:34 He trains my hands for battle; 8
my arms can bend even the strongest bow. 9
18:35 You give me your protective shield; 10
your right hand supports me; 11
your willingness to help 12 enables me to prevail. 13
my feet 15 do not slip.
18:37 I chase my enemies and catch 16 them;
I do not turn back until I wipe them out.
18:38 I beat them 17 to death; 18
they fall at my feet. 19
18:39 You give me strength 20 for battle;
you make my foes kneel before me. 21
Psalms 80:15-17
Context80:15 the root 22 your right hand planted,
the shoot you made to grow! 23
80:16 It is burned 24 and cut down.
They die because you are displeased with them. 25
80:17 May you give support to the one you have chosen, 26
to the one whom you raised up for yourself! 27
Psalms 80:2
Context80:2 In the sight of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh reveal 28 your power!
Come and deliver us! 29
Psalms 7:8-16
Context7:8 The Lord judges the nations. 30
Vindicate me, Lord, because I am innocent, 31
because I am blameless, 32 O Exalted One! 33
7:9 May the evil deeds of the wicked 34 come to an end! 35
But make the innocent 36 secure, 37
O righteous God,
you who examine 38 inner thoughts and motives! 39
7:10 The Exalted God is my shield, 40
the one who delivers the morally upright. 41
7:11 God is a just judge;
he is angry throughout the day. 42
7:12 If a person 43 does not repent, God sharpens his sword 44
and prepares to shoot his bow. 45
7:13 He prepares to use deadly weapons against him; 46
he gets ready to shoot flaming arrows. 47
7:14 See the one who is pregnant with wickedness,
who conceives destructive plans,
and gives birth to harmful lies – 48
and then falls into the hole he has made. 50
7:16 He becomes the victim of his own destructive plans 51
and the violence he intended for others falls on his own head. 52
Isaiah 42:1
Context42:1 53 “Here is my servant whom I support,
my chosen one in whom I take pleasure.
I have placed my spirit on him;
he will make just decrees 54 for the nations. 55
Isaiah 49:8
Context49:8 This is what the Lord says:
“At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;
in the day of deliverance I will help you;
I will protect you 56 and make you a covenant mediator for people, 57
and to reassign the desolate property.
[18:32] 1 tn Heb “the God.” The prefixed article emphasizes the
[18:32] 2 tn Heb “is the one who clothes.” For similar language see 1 Sam 2:4; Pss 65:6; 93:1. The psalmist employs a generalizing hymnic style in vv. 32-34; he uses participles in vv. 32a, 33a, and 34a to describe what God characteristically does on his behalf.
[18:32] 3 tn 2 Sam 22:33 reads, “the God is my strong refuge.”
[18:32] 4 tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries along the generalizing force of the preceding participle.
[18:32] 5 tn Heb “he made my path smooth.” The Hebrew term תָּמִים (tamim, “smooth”) usually carries a moral or ethical connotation, “blameless, innocent.” However, in Ps 18:33 it refers to a pathway free of obstacles. The reality underlying the metaphor is the psalmist’s ability to charge into battle without tripping (see vv. 33, 36).
[18:33] 6 tn Heb “[the one who] makes my feet like [those of ] a deer.”
[18:33] 7 tn Heb “and on my high places he makes me walk.” The imperfect verbal form emphasizes God’s characteristic provision. The psalmist compares his agility in battle to the ability of a deer to negotiate rugged, high terrain without falling or being injured.
[18:34] 8 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] 9 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.
[18:35] 10 tn Heb “and you give to me the shield of your deliverance.”
[18:35] 11 tc 2 Sam 22:36 omits this line, perhaps due to homoioarcton. A scribe’s eye may have jumped from the vav (ו) prefixed to “your right hand” to the vav prefixed to the following “and your answer,” causing the copyist to omit by accident the intervening words (“your right hand supports me and”).
[18:35] 12 tn The MT of Ps 18:35 appears to read, “your condescension,” apparently referring to God’s willingness to intervene (cf. NIV “you stoop down”). However, the noun עֲנָוָה (’anavah) elsewhere means “humility” and is used only here of God. The form עַנְוַתְךָ (’anvatÿkha) may be a fully written form of the suffixed infinitive construct of עָנָה (’anah, “to answer”; a defectively written form of the infinitive appears in 2 Sam 22:36). In this case the psalmist refers to God’s willingness to answer his prayer; one might translate, “your favorable response.”
[18:35] 13 tn Heb “makes me great.”
[18:36] 14 tn Heb “you make wide my step under me.” “Step” probably refers metonymically to the path upon which the psalmist walks. Another option is to translate, “you widen my stride.” This would suggest that God gives the psalmist the capacity to run quickly.
[18:36] 15 tn Heb “lower legs.” On the meaning of the Hebrew noun, which occurs only here, see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 112. A cognate Akkadian noun means “lower leg.”
[18:37] 16 tn 2 Sam 22:38 reads “destroy.”
[18:38] 17 tn Or “smash them.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “and I wiped them out and smashed them.”
[18:38] 18 tn Heb “until they are unable to rise.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “until they do not rise.”
[18:38] 19 sn They fall at my feet. For ancient Near Eastern parallels, see O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 294-97.
[18:39] 20 tn Heb “clothed me.” See v. 32.
[18:39] 21 tn Heb “you make those who rise against me kneel beneath me.”
[80:15] 22 tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT. HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן emends the form to כַּנָּהּ (kannah, “its shoot”).
[80:15] 23 tn Heb “and upon a son you strengthened for yourself.” In this context, where the extended metaphor of the vine dominates, בֵּן (ben, “son”) probably refers to the shoots that grow from the vine. Cf. Gen 49:22.
[80:16] 24 tn Heb “burned with fire.”
[80:16] 25 tn Heb “because of the rebuke of your face they perish.”
[80:17] 26 tn Heb “may your hand be upon the man of your right hand.” The referent of the otherwise unattested phrase “man of your right hand,” is unclear. It may refer to the nation collectively as a man. (See the note on the word “yourself” in v. 17b.)
[80:17] 27 tn Heb “upon the son of man you strengthened for yourself.” In its only other use in the Book of Psalms, the phrase “son of man” refers to the human race in general (see Ps 8:4). Here the phrase may refer to the nation collectively as a man. Note the use of the statement “you strengthened for yourself” both here and in v. 15, where the “son” (i.e., the branch of the vine) refers to Israel.
[80:2] 28 tn Heb “stir up”; “arouse.”
[80:2] 29 tn Heb “come for our deliverance.”
[7:8] 30 sn The
[7:8] 31 tn Heb “judge me, O
[7:8] 32 tn Heb “according to my blamelessness.” The imperative verb translated “vindicate” governs the second line as well.
[7:8] 33 tn The Hebrew form עָלָי (’alay) has been traditionally understood as the preposition עַל (’al, “over”) with a first person suffix. But this is syntactically awkward and meaningless. The form is probably a divine title derived from the verbal root עָלָה (’alah, “ascend”). This relatively rare title appears elsewhere in the OT (see HALOT 824-25 s.v. I עַל, though this text is not listed) and in Ugaritic as an epithet for Baal (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 98). See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:44-45, and P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 98.
[7:9] 34 tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and his people.
[7:9] 35 tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation here.
[7:9] 36 tn Or “the godly” (see Ps 5:12). The singular form is collective (see the plural “upright in heart” in v. 10), though it may reflect the personal focus of the psalmist in this context.
[7:9] 37 tn The prefixed verbal form expresses the psalmist’s prayer or wish.
[7:9] 38 tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 11:4; 26:2; 139:23.
[7:9] 39 tn Heb “and [the one who] tests hearts and kidneys, just God.” The translation inverts the word order to improve the English style. The heart and kidneys were viewed as the seat of one’s volition, conscience, and moral character.
[7:10] 40 tn Traditionally, “my shield is upon God” (cf. NASB). As in v. 8, עַל (’al) should be understood as a divine title, here compounded with “God” (cf. NIV, “God Most High”). See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:45-46. The shield metaphor pictures God as a protector against deadly attacks.
[7:10] 41 tn Heb “pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 11:2; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).
[7:11] 42 tn Heb “God (the divine name אֵל [’el] is used) is angry during all the day.” The verb זֹעֵם (zo’em) means “be indignant, be angry, curse.” Here God’s angry response to wrongdoing and injustice leads him to prepare to execute judgment as described in the following verses.
[7:12] 43 tn Heb “If he”; the referent (a person who is a sinner) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The subject of the first verb is understood as the sinner who fails to repent of his ways and becomes the target of God’s judgment (vv. 9, 14-16).
[7:12] 44 tn Heb “if he does not return, his sword he sharpens.” The referent (God) of the pronominal subject of the second verb (“sharpens”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:12] 45 tn Heb “his bow he treads and prepares it.” “Treading the bow” involved stepping on one end of it in order to string it and thus prepare it for battle.
[7:13] 46 tn Heb “and for him he prepares the weapons of death.”
[7:13] 47 tn Heb “his arrows into flaming [things] he makes.”
[7:14] 48 tn Heb “and he conceives harm and gives birth to a lie.”
[7:15] 49 tn Heb “a pit he digs and he excavates it.” Apparently the imagery of hunting is employed; the wicked sinner digs this pit to entrap and destroy his intended victim. The redundancy in the Hebrew text has been simplified in the translation.
[7:15] 50 tn The verb forms in vv. 15-16 describe the typical behavior and destiny of those who attempt to destroy others. The image of the evildoer falling into the very trap he set for his intended victim emphasizes the appropriate nature of God’s judgment.
[7:16] 51 tn Heb “his harm [i.e., the harm he conceived for others, see v. 14] returns on his head.”
[7:16] 52 tn Heb “and on his forehead his violence [i.e., the violence he intended to do to others] comes down.”
[42:1] 53 sn Verses 1-7 contain the first of Isaiah’s “servant songs,” which describe the ministry of a special, ideal servant who accomplishes God’s purposes for Israel and the nations. This song depicts the servant as a just king who brings justice to the earth and relief for the oppressed. The other songs appear in 49:1-13; 50:4-11; and 52:13-53:12.
[42:1] 54 tn Heb “he will bring out justice” (cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV).
[42:1] 55 sn Like the ideal king portrayed in Isa 11:1-9, the servant is energized by the divine spirit and establishes justice on the earth.
[49:8] 56 tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצָר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצָר (yatsar, “form”).
[49:8] 57 tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. Here עָם (’am, “people”) appears to refer to Israel. See the note at 42:6.
[49:8] 58 tn The Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “arise”) is probably used here in the sense of “rebuild.”
[49:8] 59 tn The “land” probably stands by metonymy for the ruins within it.
