Keluaran 23:28

23:28 I will send ¹  hornets before you that will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you.

Mazmur 44:4

44:4 You are my ²  king, O God!

Decree ³  Jacob’s ⁴  deliverance!

Mazmur 44:7-8

44:7 For you deliver ⁵  us from our enemies;

you humiliate ⁶  those who hate us.

44:8 In God I boast all day long,

and we will continually give thanks to your name. (Selah)

[23:28]  ¹ tn Heb “and I will send.”

[44:4]  ² sn The speaker changes here to an individual, perhaps the worship leader or the king. The oscillation between singular (vv. 4, 6) and plural (vv. 1-3, 5, 7-8) in vv. 1-8 may reflect an antiphonal ceremony.

[44:4]  ³ tc The LXX assumes a participle here (מְצַוֶּה [mÿtsavveh], “the one who commands/decrees”) which would stand in apposition to “my God.” It is possible that the MT, which has the imperative (צַוֵּה, tsavveh) form, has suffered haplography of the letter mem (ם). Note that the preceding word (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim) ends in mem. Another option is that the MT is divided in the wrong place; perhaps one could move the final mem from אֱלֹהִים to the beginning of the next word and read מְצַוֶּה אֱלֹהָי (’elohay mÿtsavveh, “[You are my king,] my God, the one who decrees”).

[44:4]  tn Or “command.” This may be the Israelites’ petition prior to the battle. See the introductory note to the psalm.

[44:4]  ⁴ tn That is, Israel. See Pss 14:7; 22:23.

[44:7]  ⁵ tn Or “have delivered,” if past successes are in view. Another option is to take the perfect as rhetorical, emphasizing that victory is certain (note the use of the imperfect in vv. 5-6).

[44:7]  ⁶ tn Or “have humiliated,” if past successes are in view. Another option is to take the perfect as rhetorical, emphasizing that victory is certain (note the use of the imperfect in vv. 5-6).