Ulangan 32:39

The Vindication of the Lord

32:39 “See now that I, indeed I, am he!” says the Lord, ¹ 

“and there is no other god besides me.

I kill and give life,

I smash and I heal,

and none can resist ²  my power.

Hakim-hakim 2:12

2:12 They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors ³  who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods – the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped ⁴  them and made the Lord angry.

Mazmur 18:32

18:32 The one true God ⁵  gives ⁶  me strength; ⁷ 

he removes ⁸  the obstacles in my way. ⁹ 

¹ tn Verses 39-42 appear to be a quotation of the Lord and so the introductory phrase “says the Lord” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “deliver from” (so NRSV, NLT).

³ tn Or “fathers.”

⁴ tn Or “bowed before” (the same expression occurs in the following verse).

⁵ tn Heb “the God.” The prefixed article emphasizes the Lord’s distinctiveness as the one true God (cf. Deut 33:26). See v. 30.

⁶ 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.

⁷ tn 2 Sam 22:33 reads, “the God is my strong refuge.”

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

⁸ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries along the generalizing force of the preceding participle.

⁹ 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).