Psalms 18:37-40

Context

18:37 I chase my enemies and catch¹ them;

I do not turn back until I wipe them out.

18:38 I beat them² to death;³

they fall at my feet.⁴

18:39 You give me strength⁵ for battle;

you make my foes kneel before me.⁶

18:40 You make my enemies retreat;⁷

I destroy those who hate me.⁸

[18:37] ¹tn 2 Sam 22:38 reads “destroy.”

[18:38] ²tn Or “smash them.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “and I wiped them out and smashed them.”

[18:38] ³tn Heb “until they are unable to rise.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “until they do not rise.”

[18:38] ⁴sn They fall at my feet. For ancient Near Eastern parallels, see O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 294-97.

[18:39] ³tn Heb “clothed me.” See v. 32.

[18:39] ⁴tn Heb “you make those who rise against me kneel beneath me.”

[18:40] ⁴tn Heb “and [as for] my enemies, you give to me [the] back [or “neck”].” The idiom “give [the] back” means “to cause [one] to turn the back and run away.” Cf. Exod 23:27.

[18:40] ⁵sn Those who hate me. See v. 17, where it is the Lord who delivered the psalmist from those who hated him.