Psalms 20:7

20:7 Some trust in chariots and others in horses, ¹ 

but we ²  depend on ³  the Lord our God.

Psalms 33:16-18

33:16 No king is delivered by his vast army;

a warrior is not saved by his great might.

33:17 A horse disappoints those who trust in it for victory; ⁴ 

despite its great strength, it cannot deliver.

33:18 Look, the Lord takes notice of his loyal followers, ⁵ 

those who wait for him to demonstrate his faithfulness ⁶ 

Job 39:19-25

39:19 “Do you give the horse its strength?

Do you clothe its neck with a mane? ⁷ 

39:20 Do you make it leap ⁸  like a locust?

Its proud neighing ⁹  is terrifying!

39:21 It ¹⁰  paws the ground in the valley, ¹¹ 

exulting mightily, ¹² 

it goes out to meet the weapons.

39:22 It laughs at fear and is not dismayed;

it does not shy away from the sword.

39:23 On it the quiver rattles;

the lance and javelin ¹³  flash.

39:24 In excitement and impatience it consumes the ground; ¹⁴ 

it cannot stand still ¹⁵  when the trumpet is blown.

39:25 At the sound of the trumpet, it says, ‘Aha!’

And from a distance it catches the scent of battle,

the thunderous shouting of commanders,

and the battle cries.

Proverbs 21:31

21:31 A horse is prepared for the day of battle,

but the victory is from the Lord. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 31:1

Egypt Will Disappoint

31:1 Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead, ¹⁷ 

those who rely on war horses,

and trust in Egypt’s many chariots ¹⁸ 

and in their many, many horsemen. ¹⁹ 

But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel ²⁰ 

and do not seek help from the Lord.

Hosea 1:7

1:7 But I will have pity on the nation ²¹  of Judah. ²²  I will deliver them by the Lord their God; I will not deliver them by the warrior’s bow, by sword, by military victory, ²³  by chariot horses, or by chariots.” ²⁴ 

[20:7]  ¹ tn Heb “these in chariots and these in horses.” No verb appears; perhaps the verb “invoke” is to be supplied from the following line. In this case the idea would be that some “invoke” (i.e., trust in) their military might for victory (cf. NEB “boast”; NIV “trust”; NRSV “take pride”). Verse 8 suggests that the “some/others” mentioned here are the nation’s enemies.

[20:7]  ² tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronominal subject) highlights the contrast between God’s faithful people and the others mentioned in the previous line.

[20:7]  ³ tn Heb “we invoke the name of.” The Hiphil of זָכַר (zakhar), when combined with the phrase “in the name,” means “to invoke” (see Josh 23:7; Isa 48:1; Amos 6:10). By invoking the Lord’s name in prayer, the people demonstrate their trust in him.

[33:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “a lie [is] the horse for victory.”

[33:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “look, the eye of the Lord [is] toward the ones who fear him.” The expression “the eye…[is] toward” here indicates recognition and the bestowing of favor. See Ps 34:15. The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.

[33:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “for the ones who wait for his faithfulness.”

[39:19]  ⁷ tn The second half of the verse contains this hapax legomenon, which is usually connected with the word רַעְמָה (ra’mah, “thunder”). A. B. Davidson thought it referred to the quivering of the neck rather than the mane. Gray thought the sound and not the movement was the point. But without better evidence, a reading that has “quivering mane” may not be far off the mark. But it may be simplest to translate it “mane” and assume that the idea of “quivering” is part of the meaning.

[39:20]  ⁸ sn The same ideas are found in Joel 2:4. The leaping motion is compared to the galloping of the horse.

[39:20]  ⁹ tn The word could mean “snorting” as well (see Jer 8:16). It comes from the root “to blow.” If the horse is running and breathing hard, this could be the sense here.

[39:21]  ¹⁰ tc The Hebrew text has a plural verb, “they paw.” For consistency and for stylistic reasons this is translated as a singular.

[39:21]  ¹¹ tn The armies would prepare for battles that were usually fought in the valleys, and so the horse was ready to charge. But in Ugaritic the word `mk means “force” as well as “valley.” The idea of “force” would fit the parallelism here well (see M. Dahood, “Value of Ugaritic for textual criticism,” Bib 40 [1959]: 166).

[39:21]  ¹² tn Or “in strength.”

[39:23]  ¹³ tn This may be the scimitar (see G. Molin, “What is a kidon?” JSS 1 [1956]: 334-37).

[39:24]  ¹⁴ tn “Swallow the ground” is a metaphor for the horse’s running. Gray renders the line: “quivering and excited he dashes into the fray.”

[39:24]  ¹⁵ tn The use of אָמַן (’aman) in the Hiphil in this place is unique. Such a form would normally mean “to believe.” But its basic etymological meaning comes through here. The verb means “to be firm; to be reliable; to be dependable.” The causative here would mean “to make firm” or “to stand firm.”

[21:31]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “of the Lord.” The victory being “of the Lord” means that it is accomplished by him. Ultimate success comes from the Lord and not from human efforts. The faithful have acknowledged this down through the ages, even though they have been responsible and have prepared for the wars. Without this belief there would have been no prayer on the eve of battle (e.g., Ps 20:7 and 33:17).

[31:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who go down to Egypt for help.”

[31:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and trust in chariots for they are many.”

[31:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and in horsemen for they are very strong [or “numerous”].”

[31:1]  ²⁰ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[1:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “house”; cf. NCV, TEV, NLT “the people of Judah.”

[1:7]  ²² tn The word order in this line is rhetorical, emphasizing the divine decision to withhold pity from Israel but to bestow it on Judah. The accusative direct object, which is introduced by a disjunctive vav (to denote contrast), appears before the verb: וְאֶת־בֵּית יְהוּדָה אֲרַחֵם (vé’et-bet yéhudah ’arakhem, “but upon the house of Judah I will show pity”).

[1:7]  ²³ tn Heb “by war” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); KJV, NASB, NIV “battle.”

[1:7]  ²⁴ sn These military weapons are examples of the metonymy of adjunct (the specific weapons named) for subject (warfare).