Ulangan 32:4

32:4 As for the Rock, ¹  his work is perfect,

for all his ways are just.

He is a reliable God who is never unjust,

he is fair ²  and upright.

Ulangan 32:15

Israel’s Rebellion

32:15 But Jeshurun ³  became fat and kicked,

you ⁴  got fat, thick, and stuffed!

Then he deserted the God who made him,

and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt.

Ulangan 32:18

32:18 You have forgotten ⁵  the Rock who fathered you,

and put out of mind the God who gave you birth.

Ulangan 32:31

32:31 For our enemies’ ⁶  rock is not like our Rock,

as even our enemies concede.

Ulangan 32:1

Invocation of Witnesses

32:1 Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;

hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

1 Samuel 2:2

2:2 No one is holy ⁷  like the Lord!

There is no one other than you!

There is no rock ⁸  like our God!

1 Samuel 2:2

2:2 No one is holy ⁹  like the Lord!

There is no one other than you!

There is no rock ¹⁰  like our God!

1 Samuel 22:1

David Goes to Adullam and Mizpah

22:1 So David left there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s family ¹¹  learned about it, they went down there to him.

Mazmur 18:3

18:3 I called ¹²  to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, ¹³ 

and I was delivered from my enemies.

Mazmur 18:32

18:32 The one true God ¹⁴  gives ¹⁵  me strength; ¹⁶ 

he removes ¹⁷  the obstacles in my way. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 19:1

Psalm 19 ¹⁹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; ²⁰ 

the sky displays his handiwork. ²¹ 

Mazmur 78:35

78:35 They remembered that God was their protector, ²² 

and that the sovereign God was their deliverer. ²³ 

Mazmur 89:27

89:27 I will appoint him to be my firstborn son, ²⁴ 

the most exalted of the earth’s kings.

Mazmur 144:1

Psalm 144 ²⁵ 

By David.

144:1 The Lord, my protector, ²⁶  deserves praise ²⁷  –

the one who trains my hands for battle, ²⁸ 

and my fingers for war,

Yesaya 17:10

17:10 For you ignore ²⁹  the God who rescues you;

you pay no attention to your strong protector. ³⁰ 

So this is what happens:

You cultivate beautiful plants

and plant exotic vines. ³¹ 

Yesaya 26:4

26:4 Trust in the Lord from this time forward, ³² 

even in Yah, the Lord, an enduring protector! ³³ 

Yesaya 30:29

30:29 You will sing

as you do in the evening when you are celebrating a festival.

You will be happy like one who plays a flute

as he goes to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock who shelters Israel. ³⁴ 

Yesaya 44:8

44:8 Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid! ³⁵ 

Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it?

You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me?

There is no other sheltering rock; ³⁶  I know of none.

Habakuk 1:12

Habakkuk Voices Some Concerns

1:12 Lord, you have been active from ancient times; ³⁷ 

my sovereign God, ³⁸  you are immortal. ³⁹ 

Lord, you have made them ⁴⁰  your instrument of judgment. ⁴¹ 

Protector, ⁴²  you have appointed them as your instrument of punishment. ⁴³ 

[32:4]  ¹ tc The LXX reads Θεός (qeos, “God”) for the MT’s “Rock.”

[32:4]  sn The Hebrew term depicts God as a rocky summit where one may find safety and protection. Within a covenantal context it serves as a reminder to the people that their God has committed himself to their protection in return for their allegiance.

[32:4]  ² tn Or “just” (KJV, NAB, NRSV, NLT) or “righteous” (NASB).

[32:15]  ³ tn To make the continuity of the referent clear, some English versions substitute “Jacob” here (NAB, NRSV) while others replace “Jeshurun” with “Israel” (NCV, CEV, NLT) or “the Lord’s people” (TEV).

[32:15]  sn Jeshurun is a term of affection derived from the Hebrew verb יָשַׁר (yashar, “be upright”). Here it speaks of Israel “in an ideal situation, with its ‘uprightness’ due more to God’s help than his own efforts” (M. Mulder, TDOT 6:475).

[32:15]  ⁴ tc The LXX reads the third person masculine singular (“he”) for the MT second person masculine singular (“you”), but such alterations are unnecessary in Hebrew poetic texts where subjects fluctuate frequently and without warning.

[32:18]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text is corrupt here; the translation follows the suggestion offered in HALOT 1477 s.v. שׁיה. Cf. NASB, NLT “You neglected”; NIV “You deserted”; NRSV “You were unmindful of.”

[32:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “their,” but the referent (enemies) is specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[2:2]  ⁷ sn In this context God’s holiness refers primarily to his sovereignty and incomparability. He is unique and distinct from all other so-called gods.

[2:2]  ⁸ tn The LXX has “and there is none righteous like our God.” The Hebrew term translated “rock” refers to a rocky cliff where one can seek refuge from enemies. Here the metaphor depicts God as a protector of his people. Cf. TEV “no protector like our God”; CEV “We’re safer with you than on a high mountain.”

[2:2]  ⁹ sn In this context God’s holiness refers primarily to his sovereignty and incomparability. He is unique and distinct from all other so-called gods.

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn The LXX has “and there is none righteous like our God.” The Hebrew term translated “rock” refers to a rocky cliff where one can seek refuge from enemies. Here the metaphor depicts God as a protector of his people. Cf. TEV “no protector like our God”; CEV “We’re safer with you than on a high mountain.”

[22:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “house.”

[18:3]  ¹² tn In this song of thanksgiving, where the psalmist recalls how the Lord delivered him, the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect.

[18:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “worthy of praise, I cried out [to] the Lord.” Some take מְהֻלָּל (mÿhullal, “worthy of praise”) with what precedes and translate, “the praiseworthy one,” or “praiseworthy.” However, the various epithets in vv. 1-2 have the first person pronominal suffix, unlike מְהֻלָּל. If one follows the traditional verse division and takes מְהֻלָּל with what follows, it is best understood as substantival and as appositional to יְהוָה (yÿhvah): “[to the] praiseworthy one I cried out, [to the] Lord.”

[18:32]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the God.” The prefixed article emphasizes the Lord’s distinctiveness as the one true God (cf. Deut 33:26). See v. 30.

[18:32]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “is the one who clothes.” For similar language see 1 Sam 2:4; Pss 65:6; 93:1. The psalmist employs a generalizing hymnic style in vv. 32-34; he uses participles in vv. 32a, 33a, and 34a to describe what God characteristically does on his behalf.

[18:32]  ¹⁶ tn 2 Sam 22:33 reads, “the God is my strong refuge.”

[18:32]  sn Gives me strength. As the following context makes clear, this refers to physical and emotional strength for battle (see especially v. 39).

[18:32]  ¹⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries along the generalizing force of the preceding participle.

[18:32]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he made my path smooth.” The Hebrew term תָּמִים (tamim, “smooth”) usually carries a moral or ethical connotation, “blameless, innocent.” However, in Ps 18:33 it refers to a pathway free of obstacles. The reality underlying the metaphor is the psalmist’s ability to charge into battle without tripping (see vv. 33, 36).

[19:1]  ¹⁹ sn Psalm 19. The psalmist praises God for his self-revelation in the heavens and in the Mosaic law. The psalmist concludes with a prayer, asking the Lord to keep him from sinning and to approve of his thoughts and words.

[19:1]  ²⁰ sn God’s glory refers here to his royal majesty and power.

[19:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “and the work of his hands the sky declares.” The participles emphasize the ongoing testimony of the heavens/sky.

[78:35]  ²² tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”

[78:35]  ²³ tn Heb “and [that] God Most High [was] their redeemer.”

[89:27]  ²⁴ sn The firstborn son typically had special status and received special privileges.

[144:1]  ²⁵ sn Psalm 144. The psalmist expresses his confidence in God, asks for a mighty display of divine intervention in an upcoming battle, and anticipates God’s rich blessings on the nation in the aftermath of military victory.

[144:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.

[144:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord, my rocky summit.”

[144:1]  ²⁸ sn The one who trains my hands for battle. The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enablement (see Ps 18:34). Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.

[17:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “you have forgotten” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[17:10]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and the rocky cliff of your strength you do not remember.”

[17:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “a vine, a strange one.” The substantival adjective זָר (zar) functions here as an appositional genitive. It could refer to a cultic plant of some type, associated with a pagan rite. But it is more likely that it refers to an exotic, or imported, type of vine, one that is foreign (i.e., “strange”) to Israel.

[26:4]  ³² tn Or “forevermore.” For other uses of the phrase עֲדֵי־עַד (’ade-’ad) see Isa 65:18 and Pss 83:17; 92:7.

[26:4]  ³³ tc The Hebrew text has “for in Yah, the Lord, an everlasting rock.” Some have suggested that the phrase בְּיָהּ (beyah, “in Yah”) is the result of dittography. A scribe seeing כִּי יְהוָה (ki yÿhvah) in his original text would somehow have confused the letters and accidentally inserted בְּיָהּ between the words (bet and kaf [ב and כ] can be confused in later script phases). A number of English versions retain both divine names for emphasis (ESV, NIV, NKJV, NRSV, NLT). One of the Qumran texts (1QIsa^a) confirms the MT reading as well.

[30:29]  ³⁴ tn Heb “[you will have] joy of heart, like the one going with a flute to enter the mountain of the Lord to the Rock of Israel.” The image here is not a foundational rock, but a rocky cliff where people could hide for protection (for example, the fortress of Masada).

[44:8]  ³⁵ tn BDB 923 s.v. רָהָה derives this verb from an otherwise unattested root, while HALOT 403 s.v. יָרָה defines it as “be stupefied” on the basis of an Arabic cognate. The form is likely a corruption of תיראו, the reading attested in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a.

[44:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “rock” or “rocky cliff,” a title that depicts God as a protective refuge in his role as sovereign king; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”

[1:12]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Are you not from antiquity, O Lord?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, of course.” The present translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question, rendering it as an affirmation. When used in a temporal sense the phrase מִקֶדֶם (miqedem) means “from antiquity, ancient times,” often referring to earlier periods in Israel’s history. See its use in Neh 12:46; Pss 74:12; 77:11; Isa 45:21; 46:10; Mic 5:2.

[1:12]  ³⁸ tn Heb “My God, my holy one.” God’s “holiness” in this context is his sovereign transcendence as the righteous judge of the world (see vv. 12b-13a), thus the translation “My sovereign God.”

[1:12]  ³⁹ tc The MT reads, “we will not die,” but an ancient scribal tradition has “you [i.e., God] will not die.” This is preferred as a more difficult reading that can explain the rise of the other variant. Later scribes who copied the manuscripts did not want to associate the idea of death with God in any way, so they softened the statement to refer to humanity.

[1:12]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “him,” a collective singular referring to the Babylonians. The plural pronoun “them” has been used in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.

[1:12]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “for judgment.”

[1:12]  ⁴² tn Heb “Rock” or “Cliff.” This divine epithet views God as a place where one can go to be safe from danger. The translation “Protector” conveys the force of the metaphor (cf. KJV, NEB “O mighty God”).

[1:12]  ⁴³ tn Heb “to correct, reprove.”