Discovery BoxPsalms 44:3
Context44:3 For they did not conquer 1 the land by their swords,
and they did not prevail by their strength, 2
but rather by your power, 3 strength 4 and good favor, 5
for you were partial to 6 them.
Psalms 45:4
Context45:4 Appear in your majesty and be victorious! 7
Ride forth for the sake of what is right, 8
on behalf of justice! 9
Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts! 10
Psalms 60:12
Context60:12 By God’s power we will conquer; 11
he will trample down 12 our enemies.
Psalms 89:13
Context89:13 Your arm is powerful,
your hand strong,
your right hand 13 victorious. 14
Psalms 98:1
ContextA psalm.
98:1 Sing to the Lord a new song, 16
for he performs 17 amazing deeds!
His right hand and his mighty arm
accomplish deliverance. 18
Isaiah 51:9-10
Context51:9 Wake up! Wake up!
Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! 19
Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity!
Did you not smash 20 the Proud One? 21
Did you not 22 wound the sea monster? 23
51:10 Did you not dry up the sea,
the waters of the great deep?
Did you not make 24 a path through the depths of the sea,
so those delivered from bondage 25 could cross over?
[44:3] 1 tn Or “take possession of.”
[44:3] 2 tn Heb “and their arm did not save them.” The “arm” here symbolizes military strength.
[44:3] 3 tn Heb “your right hand.” The
[44:3] 5 tn Heb “light of your face.” The idiom “light of your face” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
[44:3] 6 tn Or “favorable toward.”
[45:4] 7 tn Heb “and your majesty, be successful.” The syntax is awkward. The phrase “and your majesty” at the beginning of the verse may be accidentally repeated (dittography); it appears at the end of v. 3.
[45:4] 8 tn Or “for the sake of truth.”
[45:4] 9 tc The precise meaning of the MT is uncertain. The form עַנְוָה (’anvah) occurs only here. One could emend the text to עֲנָוָה וְצֶדֶק (’anavah vÿtsedeq, “[for the sake of truth], humility, and justice”). In this case “humility” would perhaps allude to the king’s responsibility to “serve” his people by promoting justice (cf. NIV “in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness”). The present translation assumes an emendation to יַעַן (ya’an, “because; on account of”) which would form a suitable parallel to עַל־דְּבַר (’al-dÿvar, “because; for the sake of”) in the preceding line.
[45:4] 10 tn Heb “and your right hand will teach you mighty acts”; or “and may your right hand teach you mighty acts.” After the imperatives in the first half of the verse, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive likely indicates purpose (“so that your right hand might teach you mighty acts”) or result (see the present translation). The “right hand” here symbolizes the king’s military strength. His right hand will “teach” him mighty acts by performing them and thereby causing him to experience their magnificence.
[60:12] 11 tn Heb “in God we will accomplish strength.” The statement refers here to military success (see Num 24:18; 1 Sam 14:48; Pss 108:13; 118:15-16).
[60:12] 12 sn Trample down. On this expression see Ps 44:5.
[89:13] 13 sn The Lord’s arm, hand, and right hand all symbolize his activities, especially his exploits in war.
[89:13] 14 tn Heb “is lifted up.” The idiom “the right hand is lifted up” refers to victorious military deeds (see Pss 89:42; 118:16).
[98:1] 15 sn Psalm 98. The psalmist summons the whole earth to praise God because he reveals his justice and delivers Israel.
[98:1] 16 sn A new song is appropriate because the Lord is constantly intervening in the world as its just king. See Ps 96:1.
[98:1] 17 tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 1-3 are understood here as describing characteristic divine activities. Another option is to translate them as present perfects, “has performed…has accomplished deliverance, etc.” referring to completed actions that have continuing results.
[98:1] 18 tn Heb “his right hand delivers for him and his holy arm.” The right hand and arm symbolize his power as a warrior-king (see Isa 52:10). His arm is “holy” in the sense that it is in a category of its own; God’s power is incomparable.
[51:9] 19 tn The arm of the Lord is a symbol of divine military power. Here it is personified and told to arouse itself from sleep and prepare for action.
[51:9] 20 tn Heb “Are you not the one who smashed?” The feminine singular forms agree grammatically with the feminine noun “arm.” The Hebrew text has ַהמַּחְצֶבֶת (hammakhtsevet), from the verbal root חָצַב (khatsav, “hew, chop”). The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has, probably correctly, המחצת, from the verbal root מָחַץ (makhats, “smash”) which is used in Job 26:12 to describe God’s victory over “the Proud One.”
[51:9] 21 tn This title (רַהַב, rahav, “proud one”) is sometimes translated as a proper name: “Rahab” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). It is used here of a symbolic sea monster, known elsewhere in the Bible and in Ugaritic myth as Leviathan. This sea creature symbolizes the forces of chaos that seek to destroy the created order. In the Bible “the Proud One” opposes God’s creative work, but is defeated (see Job 26:12; Ps 89:10). Here the title refers to Pharaoh’s Egyptian army that opposed Israel at the Red Sea (see v. 10, and note also Isa 30:7 and Ps 87:4, where the title is used of Egypt).
[51:9] 22 tn The words “did you not” are understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line). The rhetorical questions here and in v. 10 expect the answer, “Yes, you certainly did!”
[51:9] 23 tn Hebrew תַּנִּין (tannin) is another name for the symbolic sea monster. See the note at 27:1. In this context the sea creature represents Egypt. See the note on the title “Proud One” earlier in this verse.
[51:10] 24 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Are you not the one who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made…?”
[51:10] 25 tn Heb “the redeemed” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); KJV “the ransomed.”
