Psalms 18:42

18:42 I grind them as fine windblown dust; ¹ 

I beat them underfoot ²  like clay ³  in the streets.

Psalms 35:3

35:3 Use your spear and lance ⁴  against ⁵  those who chase me!

Assure me with these words: ⁶  “I am your deliverer!”

[18:42]  ¹ tn Heb “I pulverize them like dust upon the face of the wind.” The phrase “upon the face of” here means “before.” 2 Sam 22:43 reads, “like dust of the earth.”

[18:42]  ² tc Ps 18:42 reads, “I empty them out” (Hiphil of ריק), while 2 Sam 22:43 reads, “I crush them, I stomp on them” (juxtaposing the synonyms דקק and רקע). It is likely that the latter is a conflation of variants. One, but not both, of the verbs in 2 Sam 22:43 is probably original; “empty out” does not form as good a parallel with “grind, pulverize” in the parallel line.

[18:42]  ³ tn Or “mud.”

[35:3]  ⁴ tn Or “javelin.” On the meaning of this word, which occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible, see M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:210-11.

[35:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “draw out spear and lance to meet.”

[35:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “say to me,” or “say to my soul.”