Discovery BoxPsalms 38:2
Context38:2 For your arrows pierce 1 me,
and your hand presses me down. 2
Psalms 18:34
Context18:34 He trains my hands for battle; 3
my arms can bend even the strongest bow. 4
Psalms 65:10
Context65:10 You saturate 5 its furrows,
and soak 6 its plowed ground. 7
With rain showers you soften its soil, 8
and make its crops grow. 9
[38:2] 1 tn The verb Hebrew נָחַת (nakhat) apparently here means “penetrate, pierce” (note the use of the Qal in Prov 17:10). The psalmist pictures the
[38:2] 2 tn Heb “and your hand [?] upon me.” The meaning of the verb נָחַת (nakhat) is unclear in this context. It is preferable to emend the form to וַתָּנַח (vattanakh) from the verb נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”). In this case the text would read literally, “and your hand rests upon me” (see Isa 25:10, though the phrase is used in a positive sense there, unlike Ps 38:2).
[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.
[65:10] 5 tn Heb “saturating” [the form is an infinitive absolute].
[65:10] 6 tn Heb “flatten, cause to sink.”
[65:10] 7 tn Heb “trenches,” or “furrows.”
[65:10] 8 tn Heb “soften it,” that is, the earth.
[65:10] 9 tn Heb “its vegetation you bless.” Divine “blessing” often involves endowing an object with special power or capacity.
