Psalms 18:38-41

Context

18:38 I beat them¹ to death;²

they fall at my feet.³

18:39 You give me strength⁴ for battle;

you make my foes kneel before me.⁵

18:40 You make my enemies retreat;⁶

I destroy those who hate me.⁷

18:41 They cry out, but there is no one to help them;⁸

they cry out to the Lord,⁹ but he does not answer them.

[18:38] ¹tn Or “smash them.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “and I wiped them out and smashed them.”

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

[18:38] ³sn They fall at my feet. For ancient Near Eastern parallels, see O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 294-97.

[18:39] ⁴tn Heb “clothed me.” See v. 32.

[18:39] ⁵tn Heb “you make those who rise against me kneel beneath me.”

[18:40] ⁷tn 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] ⁸sn Those who hate me. See v. 17, where it is the Lord who delivered the psalmist from those who hated him.

[18:41] ¹⁰tn Heb “but there is no deliverer.”

[18:41] ¹¹tn Heb “to the Lord.” The words “they cry out” are supplied in the translation because they are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).