Discovery BoxPsalms 3:6-7
Context3:6 I am not afraid 1 of the multitude of people 2
who attack me from all directions. 3
Deliver me, my God!
Yes, 5 you will strike 6 all my enemies on the jaw;
you will break the teeth 7 of the wicked. 8
Psalms 27:1-3
ContextBy David.
27:1 The Lord delivers and vindicates me! 10
I fear no one! 11
The Lord protects my life!
I am afraid of no one! 12
27:2 When evil men attack me 13
to devour my flesh, 14
when my adversaries and enemies attack me, 15
they stumble and fall. 16
27:3 Even when an army is deployed against me,
I do not fear. 17
Even when war is imminent, 18
I remain confident. 19
Psalms 57:3
Context57:3 May he send help from heaven and deliver me 20
from my enemies who hurl insults! 21 (Selah)
May God send his loyal love and faithfulness!
Psalms 118:10-12
Context118:10 All the nations surrounded me. 22
Indeed, in the name of the Lord 23 I pushed them away. 24
118:11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me.
Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.
118:12 They surrounded me like bees.
But they disappeared as quickly 25 as a fire among thorns. 26
Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.
Psalms 118:2
Context118:2 Let Israel say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures!”
Psalms 18:28
Context18:28 Indeed, 27 you are my lamp, Lord. 28
My God 29 illuminates the darkness around me. 30
Psalms 22:1
ContextFor the music director; according to the tune “Morning Doe;” 32 a psalm of David.
22:1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? 33
I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. 34
Acts 2:33-36
Context2:33 So then, exalted 35 to the right hand 36 of God, and having received 37 the promise of the Holy Spirit 38 from the Father, he has poured out 39 what you both see and hear. 2:34 For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says,
‘The Lord said to my lord,
“Sit 40 at my right hand
2:35 until I make your enemies a footstool 41 for your feet.”’ 42
2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt 43 that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified 44 both Lord 45 and Christ.” 46
[3:6] 1 tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s continuing attitude as he faces the crisis at hand.
[3:6] 2 tn Or perhaps “troops.” The Hebrew noun עָם (’am) sometimes refers to a military contingent or army.
[3:6] 3 tn Heb “who all around take a stand against me.”
[3:7] 4 tn In v. 2 the psalmist describes his enemies as those who “confront” him (קָמִים [qamim], literally, “rise up against him”). Now, using the same verbal root (קוּם, qum) he asks the
[3:7] 5 tn Elsewhere in the psalms the particle כִּי (ki), when collocated with a perfect verbal form and subordinated to a preceding imperative directed to God, almost always has an explanatory or causal force (“for, because”) and introduces a motivating argument for why God should respond positively to the request (see Pss 5:10; 6:2; 12:1; 16:1; 41:4; 55:9; 56:1; 57:1; 60:2; 69:1; 74:20; 119:94; 123:3; 142:6; 143:8). (On three occasions the כִּי is recitative after a verb of perception [“see/know that,” see Pss 4:3; 25:19; 119:159]). If כִּי is taken as explanatory here, then the psalmist is arguing that God should deliver him now because that is what God characteristically does. However, such a motivating argument is not used in the passages cited above. The motivating argument usually focuses on the nature of the psalmist’s dilemma or the fact that he trusts in the Lord. For this reason it is unlikely that כִּי has its normal force here. Most scholars understand the particle כִּי as having an asseverative (emphasizing) function here (“indeed, yes”; NEB leaves the particle untranslated).
[3:7] 6 tn If the particle כִּי (ki) is taken as explanatory, then the perfect verbal forms in v. 7b would describe God’s characteristic behavior. However, as pointed out in the preceding note on the word “yes,” the particle probably has an asseverative force here. If so, the perfects may be taken as indicating rhetorically the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s assault on his enemies as if it had already happened. Such confidence is consistent with the mood of the psalm, as expressed before (vv. 3-6) and after this (v. 8). Another option is to take the perfects as precative, expressing a wish or request (“Strike all my enemies on the jaw, break the teeth of the wicked”). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.
[3:7] 7 sn The expression break the teeth may envision violent hand-to hand combat, though it is possible that the enemies are pictured here as a dangerous animal (see Job 29:17).
[3:7] 8 tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and his people.
[27:1] 9 sn Psalm 27. The author is confident of the Lord’s protection and asks the Lord to vindicate him.
[27:1] 10 tn Heb “the
[27:1] 11 tn Heb “Whom shall I fear?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
[27:1] 12 tn Heb “Of whom shall I be afraid?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
[27:2] 13 tn Heb “draw near to me.”
[27:2] 14 sn To devour my flesh. The psalmist compares his enemies to dangerous, hungry predators (see 2 Kgs 9:36; Ezek 39:17).
[27:2] 15 tn Heb “my adversaries and my enemies against me.” The verb “draw near” (that is, “attack”) is understood by ellipsis; see the previous line.
[27:2] 16 tn The Hebrew verbal forms are perfects. The translation assumes the psalmist is generalizing here, but another option is to take this as a report of past experience, “when evil men attacked me…they stumbled and fell.”
[27:3] 17 tn Heb “my heart does not fear.”
[27:3] 18 tn Heb “if war rises up against me.”
[27:3] 19 tn Heb “in this [i.e., “during this situation”] I am trusting.”
[57:3] 20 tn Heb “may he send from heaven and deliver me.” The prefixed verbal forms are understood as jussives expressing the psalmist’s prayer. The second verb, which has a vav (ו) conjunctive prefixed to it, probably indicates purpose. Another option is to take the forms as imperfects expressing confidence, “he will send from heaven and deliver me” (cf. NRSV).
[57:3] 21 tn Heb “he hurls insults, one who crushes me.” The translation assumes that this line identifies those from whom the psalmist seeks deliverance. (The singular is representative; the psalmist is surrounded by enemies, see v. 4.) Another option is to understand God as the subject of the verb חָרַף (kharaf), which could then be taken as a homonym of the more common root חָרַף (“insult”) meaning “confuse.” In this case “one who crushes me” is the object of the verb. One might translate, “he [God] confuses my enemies.”
[118:10] 22 sn The reference to an attack by the nations suggests the psalmist may have been a military leader.
[118:10] 23 tn In this context the phrase “in the name of the
[118:10] 24 tn Traditionally the verb has been derived from מוּל (mul, “to circumcise”) and translated “[I] cut [them] off” (see BDB 557-58 s.v. II מוּל). However, it is likely that this is a homonym meaning “to fend off” (see HALOT 556 s.v. II מול) or “to push away.” In this context, where the psalmist is reporting his past experience, the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite. The phrase also occurs in vv. 11, 12.
[118:12] 25 tn Heb “were extinguished.”
[118:12] 26 tn The point seems to be that the hostility of the nations (v. 10) is short-lived, like a fire that quickly devours thorns and then burns out. Some, attempting to create a better parallel with the preceding line, emend דֹּעֲכוּ (do’akhu, “they were extinguished”) to בָּעֲרוּ (ba’aru, “they burned”). In this case the statement emphasizes their hostility.
[18:28] 27 tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki)is asseverative here.
[18:28] 28 tn Ps 18:28 reads literally, “you light my lamp,
[18:28] 29 tn 2 Sam 22:29 repeats the name “
[18:28] 30 tn Heb “my darkness.”
[22:1] 31 sn Psalm 22. The psalmist cries out to the Lord for deliverance from his dangerous enemies, who have surrounded him and threaten his life. Confident that the Lord will intervene, he then vows to thank the Lord publicly for his help and anticipates a time when all people will recognize the Lord’s greatness and worship him.
[22:1] 32 tn Heb “according to the doe of the dawn.” Apparently this refers to a particular musical tune or style.
[22:1] 33 sn From the psalmist’s perspective it seems that God has abandoned him, for he fails to answer his cry for help (vv. 1b-2).
[22:1] 34 tn Heb “far from my deliverance [are] the words of my groaning.” The Hebrew noun שְׁאָגָה (shÿ’agah) and its related verb שָׁאַג (sha’ag) are sometimes used of a lion’s roar, but they can also describe human groaning (see Job 3:24 and Pss 32:3 and 38:8.
[2:33] 35 tn The aorist participle ὑψωθείς (Juywqei") could be taken temporally: “So then, after he was exalted…” In the translation the more neutral “exalted” (a shorter form of “having been exalted”) was used to preserve the ambiguity of the original Greek.
[2:33] 36 sn The expression the right hand of God represents supreme power and authority. Its use here sets up the quotation of Ps 110:1 in v. 34.
[2:33] 37 tn The aorist participle λαβών (labwn) could be taken temporally: “So then, after he was exalted…and received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit.” In the translation the more neutral “having received” was used to preserve the ambiguity of the original Greek.
[2:33] 38 tn Here the genitive τοῦ πνεύματος (tou pneumato") is a genitive of apposition; the promise consists of the Holy Spirit.
[2:33] 39 sn The use of the verb poured out looks back to 2:17-18, where the same verb occurs twice.
[2:34] 40 sn Sit at my right hand. The word “sit” alludes back to the promise of “seating one on his throne” in v. 30.
[2:35] 41 sn The metaphor make your enemies a footstool portrays the complete subjugation of the enemies.
[2:35] 42 sn A quotation from Ps 110:1, one of the most often-cited OT passages in the NT, pointing to the exaltation of Jesus.
[2:36] 43 tn Or “know for certain.” This term is in an emphatic position in the clause.
[2:36] 44 tn Grk “has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” The clause has been simplified in the translation by replacing the pronoun “him” with the explanatory clause “this Jesus whom you crucified” which comes at the end of the sentence.
[2:36] 45 sn Lord. This looks back to the quotation of Ps 110:1 and the mention of “calling on the Lord” in 2:21. Peter’s point is that the Lord on whom one calls for salvation is Jesus, because he is the one mediating God’s blessing of the Spirit as a sign of the presence of salvation and the last days.
[2:36] 46 tn Or “and Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
