Psalms 73:26
Context73:26 My flesh and my heart may grow weak, 1
but God always 2 protects my heart and gives me stability. 3
Psalms 83:7
Context83:7 Gebal, 4 Ammon, and Amalek,
Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre. 5
Psalms 89:43
Context89:43 You turn back 6 his sword from the adversary, 7
and have not sustained him in battle. 8
Psalms 105:41
Context105:41 He opened up a rock and water flowed out;
a river ran through dry regions.
Psalms 18:31
Context18:31 Indeed, 9 who is God besides the Lord?
Who is a protector 10 besides our God? 11
Psalms 62:7
Context62:7 God delivers me and exalts me;
God is my strong protector and my shelter. 12
Psalms 78:20
Context78:20 Yes, 13 he struck a rock and water flowed out,
streams gushed forth.
But can he also give us food?
Will he provide meat for his people?”


[73:26] 1 tn The Hebrew verb כָלָה (khalah, “to fail; to grow weak”) does not refer here to physical death per se, but to the physical weakness that sometimes precedes death (see Job 33:21; Pss 71:9; 143:7; Prov 5:11).
[73:26] 3 tn Heb “is the rocky summit of my heart and my portion.” The psalmist compares the
[83:7] 4 sn Some identify Gebal with the Phoenician coastal city of Byblos (see Ezek 27:9, where the name is spelled differently), though others locate this site south of the Dead Sea (see BDB 148 s.v. גְּבַל; HALOT 174 s.v. גְּבַל).
[83:7] 5 map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[89:43] 7 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] 8 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] 9 tn Heb “and you have not caused him to stand in the battle.”
[18:31] 11 tn Heb “rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor of divine protection. See v. 2, where the Hebrew term צוּר (tsur) is translated “rocky summit.”
[18:31] 12 tn The rhetorical questions anticipate the answer, “No one.” In this way the psalmist indicates that the
[62:7] 13 tn Heb “upon God [is] my deliverance and my glory, the high rocky summit of my strength, my shelter [is] in God.”