Mazmur 18:29-30

18:29 Indeed, ¹  with your help ²  I can charge against ³  an army; ⁴ 

by my God’s power ⁵  I can jump over a wall. ⁶ 

18:30 The one true God acts in a faithful manner; ⁷ 

the Lord’s promise ⁸  is reliable; ⁹ 

he is a shield to all who take shelter ¹⁰  in him.

[18:29]  ¹ tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is asseverative here.

[18:29]  ² tn Heb “by you.”

[18:29]  ³ tn Heb “I will run.” The imperfect verbal forms in v. 29 indicate the subject’s potential or capacity to perform an action. Though one might expect a preposition to follow the verb here, this need not be the case with the verb רוּץ (ruts; see 1 Sam 17:22). Some emend the Qal to a Hiphil form of the verb and translate, “I put to flight [Heb “cause to run”] an army.”

[18:29]  ⁴ tn More specifically, the noun גְּדוּד (gÿdud) refers to a raiding party or to a contingent of troops.

[18:29]  sn I can charge against an army. The picture of a divinely empowered warrior charging against an army in almost superhuman fashion appears elsewhere in ancient Near Eastern literature. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 228.

[18:29]  ⁵ tn Heb “and by my God.”

[18:29]  ⁶ sn I can jump over a wall. The psalmist uses hyperbole to emphasize his God-given military superiority.

[18:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “[As for] the God, his way is blameless.” The term הָאֵל (ha’el, “the God”) stands as a nominative (or genitive) absolute in apposition to the resumptive pronominal suffix on “way.” The prefixed article emphasizes his distinctiveness as the one true God (cf. Deut 33:26). God’s “way” in this context refers to his protective and salvific acts in fulfillment of his promise (see also Deut 32:4; Pss 67:2; 77:13 [note vv. 11-12, 14]; 103:7; 138:5; 145:17).

[18:30]  ⁸ sn The Lord’s promise. In the ancient Near East kings would typically seek and receive oracles from their god(s) prior to battle. For examples, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 241-42.

[18:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “the word of the Lord is purified.” The Lord’s “word” probably refers here to his oracle(s) of victory delivered to the psalmist before the battle(s) described in the following context. See also Pss 12:5-7 and 138:2-3. David frequently received such oracles before going into battle (see 1 Sam 23:2, 4-5, 10-12; 30:8; 2 Sam 5:19). The Lord’s word of promise is absolutely reliable; it is compared to metal that has been refined in fire and cleansed of impurities. See Ps 12:6.

[18:30]  ¹⁰ sn Take shelter. See the note on the word “shelter” in v. 2.