Psalms 8:6

8:6 you appoint them to rule over your creation; ¹ 

you have placed ²  everything under their authority, ³ 

Psalms 18:9

18:9 He made the sky sink ⁴  as he descended;

a thick cloud was under his feet.

Psalms 18:38

18:38 I beat them ⁵  to death; ⁶ 

they fall at my feet. ⁷ 

Psalms 47:3

47:3 He subdued nations beneath us ⁸ 

and countries ⁹  under our feet.

[8:6]  ¹ tn Heb “you cause [i.e., “permit, allow”] him to rule over the works of your hands.”

[8:6]  ² tn The perfect verbal form probably has a present perfect nuance here. It refers to the continuing effects of God’s original mandate (see Gen 1:26-30).

[8:6]  ³ tn Heb “under his feet.”

[18:9]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb נָטָה (natah) can carry the sense “[cause to] bend, bow down.” For example, Gen 49:15 pictures Issachar as a donkey that “bends” its shoulder or back under a burden. Here the Lord causes the sky, pictured as a dome or vault, to sink down as he descends in the storm.

[18:38]  ⁷ tn Or “smash them.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “and I wiped them out and smashed them.”

[18:38]  ⁸ tn Heb “until they are unable to rise.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “until they do not rise.”

[18:38]  ⁹ sn They fall at my feet. For ancient Near Eastern parallels, see O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 294-97.

[47:3]  ¹⁰ tn On the meaning of the verb דָּבַר (davar, “subdue”), a homonym of דָּבַר (“speak”), see HALOT 209-10 s.v. I דבר. See also Ps 18:47 and 2 Chr 22:10. The preterite form of the verb suggests this is an historical reference and the next verse, which mentions the gift of the land, indicates that the conquest under Joshua is in view.

[47:3]  ¹¹ tn Or “peoples” (see Pss 2:1; 7:7; 9:8; 44:2).