Psalms 22:20

22:20 Deliver me ¹  from the sword!

Save ²  my life ³  from the claws ⁴  of the wild dogs!

Psalms 44:6

44:6 For I do not trust in my bow,

and I do not prevail by my sword.

Psalms 45:3

45:3 Strap your sword to your thigh, O warrior! ⁵ 

Appear in your majestic splendor! ⁶ 

Psalms 63:10

63:10 Each one will be handed over to the sword; ⁷ 

their corpses will be eaten by jackals. ⁸ 

Psalms 89:43

89:43 You turn back ⁹  his sword from the adversary, ¹⁰ 

and have not sustained him in battle. ¹¹ 

[22:20]  ¹ tn Or “my life.”

[22:20]  ² tn The verb “save” is supplied in the translation; it is understood by ellipsis (see “deliver” in the preceding line).

[22:20]  ³ tn Heb “my only one.” The psalmist may mean that his life is precious, or that he feels isolated and alone.

[22:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “from the hand.” Here “hand” is understood by metonymy as a reference to the “paw” and thus the “claws” of the wild dogs.

[45:3]  ⁵ tn Or “mighty one.”

[45:3]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text has simply, “your majesty and your splendor,” which probably refers to the king’s majestic splendor when he appears in full royal battle regalia.

[63:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “they will deliver him over to the sword.” The third masculine plural subject must be indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f) and the singular pronominal suffix either representative or distributive (emphasizing that each one will be so treated). Active verbs with indefinite subjects may be translated as passives with the object (in the Hebrew text) as subject (in the translation).

[63:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they will be [the] portion of jackals”; traditionally, “of foxes.”

[89:43]  ¹³ tn The perfect verbal form predominates in vv. 38-45. The use of the imperfect in this one instance may be for rhetorical effect. The psalmist briefly lapses into dramatic mode, describing the king’s military defeat as if it were happening before his very eyes.

[89:43]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “you turn back, rocky summit, his sword.” The Hebrew term צוּר (tsur, “rocky summit”) makes no sense here, unless it is a divine title understood as vocative, “you turn back, O Rocky Summit, his sword.” Some emend the form to צֹר (tsor, “flint”) on the basis of Josh 5:2, which uses the phrase חַרְבוֹת צֻרִים (kharvot tsurim, “flint knives”). The noun צֹר (tsor, “flint”) can then be taken as “flint-like edge,” indicating the sharpness of the sword. Others emend the form to אָחוֹר (’akhor, “backward”) or to מִצַּר (mitsar, “from the adversary”). The present translation reflects the latter, assuming an original reading תָּשִׁיב מִצָּר חַרְבּוֹ (tashiv mitsar kharbo), which was corrupted to תָּשִׁיב צָר חַרְבּוֹ (tashiv tsar kharbo) by virtual haplography (confusion of bet/mem is well-attested) with צָר (tsar, “adversary”) then being misinterpreted as צוּר in the later tradition.

[89:43]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and you have not caused him to stand in the battle.”