Discovery BoxPsalms 37:15
Context37:15 Their swords will pierce 1 their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
Psalms 78:57
Context78:57 They were unfaithful 2 and acted as treacherously as 3 their ancestors;
they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow. 4
Psalms 18:34
Context18:34 He trains my hands for battle; 5
my arms can bend even the strongest bow. 6
Psalms 44:6
Context44:6 For I do not trust in my bow,
and I do not prevail by my sword.
Psalms 78:9
Context78:9 The Ephraimites 7 were armed with bows, 8
but they retreated in the day of battle. 9
Psalms 7:12
Context7:12 If a person 10 does not repent, God sharpens his sword 11
and prepares to shoot his bow. 12
Psalms 37:14
Context37:14 Evil men draw their swords
and prepare their bows,
to bring down 13 the oppressed and needy,
and to slaughter those who are godly. 14
Psalms 76:3
Context76:3 There he shattered the arrows, 15
the shield, the sword, and the rest of the weapons of war. 16 (Selah)
Psalms 11:2
Context11:2 For look, the wicked 17 prepare 18 their bows, 19
they put their arrows on the strings,
to shoot in the darkness 20 at the morally upright. 21
Psalms 46:9
Context46:9 He brings an end to wars throughout the earth; 22
[37:15] 1 tn Heb “enter into.”
[78:57] 2 tn Heb “they turned back.”
[78:57] 3 tn Or “acted treacherously like.”
[78:57] 4 tn Heb “they turned aside like a deceitful bow.”
[18:34] 3 sn He trains my hands. The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enablement. Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.
[18:34] 4 tn Heb “and a bow of bronze is bent by my arms”; or “my arms bend a bow of bronze.” The verb נָחַת (nakhat) apparently means “pull back, bend” here (see HALOT 692 s.v. נחת). The third feminine singular verbal form appears to agree with the feminine singular noun קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “bow”). In this case the verb must be taken as Niphal (passive). However, it is possible that “my arms” is the subject of the verb and “bow” the object. In this case the verb is Piel (active). For other examples of a feminine singular verb being construed with a plural noun, see GKC 464 §145.k.
[78:9] 4 tn Heb “the sons of Ephraim.” Ephraim probably stands here by synecdoche (part for whole) for the northern kingdom of Israel.
[78:9] 5 tn Heb “ones armed, shooters of bow.” It is possible that the term נוֹשְׁקֵי (noshÿqey, “ones armed [with]”) is an interpretive gloss for the rare רוֹמֵי (romey, “shooters of”; on the latter see BDB 941 s.v. I רָמָה). The phrase נוֹשְׁקֵי קֶשֶׁת (noshÿqey qeshet, “ones armed with a bow”) appears in 1 Chr 12:2; 2 Chr 17:17.
[78:9] 6 sn They retreated. This could refer to the northern tribes’ failure to conquer completely their allotted territory (see Judg 1), or it could refer generally to the typical consequence (military defeat) of their sin (see vv. 10-11).
[7:12] 5 tn Heb “If he”; the referent (a person who is a sinner) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The subject of the first verb is understood as the sinner who fails to repent of his ways and becomes the target of God’s judgment (vv. 9, 14-16).
[7:12] 6 tn Heb “if he does not return, his sword he sharpens.” The referent (God) of the pronominal subject of the second verb (“sharpens”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:12] 7 tn Heb “his bow he treads and prepares it.” “Treading the bow” involved stepping on one end of it in order to string it and thus prepare it for battle.
[37:14] 6 tn Heb “to cause to fall.”
[37:14] 7 tn Heb “the upright in way,” i.e., those who lead godly lives.
[76:3] 7 tn Heb “flames of the bow,” i.e., arrows.
[76:3] 8 tn Heb “shield and sword and battle.” “Battle” probably here stands by metonymy for the weapons of war in general.
[11:2] 8 tn In the psalms the “wicked” (רְשָׁעִים, rÿsha’im) are typically 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 threaten his people (Ps 3:8).
[11:2] 9 tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form depicts the enemies’ hostile action as underway.
[11:2] 11 sn In the darkness. The enemies’ attack, the precise form of which is not indicated, is compared here to a night ambush by archers; the psalmist is defenseless against this deadly attack.
[11:2] 12 tn Heb “pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).
[46:9] 9 tn Heb “[the] one who causes wars to cease unto the end of the earth.” The participle continues the description begun in v. 8b and indicates that this is the
[46:9] 10 tn The verb שָׁבַר (shavar, “break”) appears in the Piel here (see Ps 29:5). In the OT it occurs thirty-six times in the Piel, always with multiple objects (the object is either a collective singular or grammatically plural or dual form). The Piel may highlight the repetition of the pluralative action, or it may suggest an intensification of action, indicating repeated action comprising a whole, perhaps with the nuance “break again and again, break in pieces.” Another option is to understand the form as resultative: “make broken” (see IBHS 404-7 §24.3). The imperfect verbal form carries on and emphasizes the generalizing nature of the description.
[46:9] 11 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries along the generalizing emphasis of the preceding imperfect.
[46:9] 12 tn The imperfect verbal form carries on and emphasizes the generalizing nature of the description.
[46:9] 13 tn Heb “wagons he burns with fire.” Some read “chariots” here (cf. NASB), but the Hebrew word refers to wagons or carts, not chariots, elsewhere in the OT. In this context, where military weapons are mentioned, it is better to revocalize the form as עֲגִלוֹת (’agilot, “round shields”), a word which occurs only here in the OT, but is attested in later Hebrew and Aramaic.
