Mazmur 18:32-34
Konteks18:32 The one true God 1 gives 2 me strength; 3
he removes 4 the obstacles in my way. 5
18:33 He gives me the agility of a deer; 6
he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain. 7
18:34 He trains my hands for battle; 8
my arms can bend even the strongest bow. 9
Mazmur 44:2-6
Konteks44:2 You, by your power, 10 defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land; 11
you crushed 12 the people living there 13 and enabled our ancestors to occupy it. 14
44:3 For they did not conquer 15 the land by their swords,
and they did not prevail by their strength, 16
but rather by your power, 17 strength 18 and good favor, 19
for you were partial to 20 them.
44:4 You are my 21 king, O God!
Decree 22 Jacob’s 23 deliverance!
44:5 By your power 24 we will drive back 25 our enemies;
by your strength 26 we will trample down 27 our foes! 28
44:6 For I do not trust in my bow,
and I do not prevail by my sword.
Mazmur 144:1-2
KonteksBy David.
144:1 The Lord, my protector, 30 deserves praise 31 –
the one who trains my hands for battle, 32
and my fingers for war,
144:2 who loves me 33 and is my stronghold,
my refuge 34 and my deliverer,
my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,
who makes nations submit to me. 35
Mazmur 144:10
Konteks144:10 the one who delivers 36 kings,
and rescued David his servant from a deadly 37 sword.
[18:32] 1 tn Heb “the God.” The prefixed article emphasizes the
[18:32] 2 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] 3 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] 4 tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries along the generalizing force of the preceding participle.
[18:32] 5 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).
[18:33] 6 tn Heb “[the one who] makes my feet like [those of ] a deer.”
[18:33] 7 tn Heb “and on my high places he makes me walk.” The imperfect verbal form emphasizes God’s characteristic provision. The psalmist compares his agility in battle to the ability of a deer to negotiate rugged, high terrain without falling or being injured.
[18:33] sn Habakkuk uses similar language to describe his faith during difficult times. See Hab 3:19.
[18:34] 8 sn He trains my hands. The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enablement. Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.
[18:34] 9 tn Heb “and a bow of bronze is bent by my arms”; or “my arms bend a bow of bronze.” The verb נָחַת (nakhat) apparently means “pull back, bend” here (see HALOT 692 s.v. נחת). The third feminine singular verbal form appears to agree with the feminine singular noun קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “bow”). In this case the verb must be taken as Niphal (passive). However, it is possible that “my arms” is the subject of the verb and “bow” the object. In this case the verb is Piel (active). For other examples of a feminine singular verb being construed with a plural noun, see GKC 464 §145.k.
[18:34] sn The strongest bow (Heb “bow of bronze”) probably refers to a bow laminated with bronze strips, or to a purely ceremonial or decorative bow made entirely from bronze. In the latter case the language is hyperbolic, for such a weapon would not be functional in battle.
[44:2] 10 tn Heb “you, your hand.”
[44:2] 11 tn Heb “dispossessed nations and planted them.” The third masculine plural pronoun “them” refers to the fathers (v. 1). See Ps 80:8, 15.
[44:2] 12 tn The verb form in the Hebrew text is a Hiphil preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive) from רָעַע (ra’a’, “be evil; be bad”). If retained it apparently means, “you injured; harmed.” Some prefer to derive the verb from רָעַע (“break”; cf. NEB “breaking up the peoples”), in which case the form must be revocalized as Qal (since this verb is unattested in the Hiphil).
[44:2] 14 tn Heb “and you sent them out.” The translation assumes that the third masculine plural pronoun “them” refers to the fathers (v. 1), as in the preceding parallel line. See Ps 80:11, where Israel, likened to a vine, “spreads out” its tendrils to the west and east. Another option is to take the “peoples” as the referent of the pronoun and translate, “and you sent them away,” though this does not provide as tight a parallel with the corresponding line.
[44:3] 15 tn Or “take possession of.”
[44:3] 16 tn Heb “and their arm did not save them.” The “arm” here symbolizes military strength.
[44:3] 17 tn Heb “your right hand.” The
[44:3] 19 tn Heb “light of your face.” The idiom “light of your face” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
[44:3] 20 tn Or “favorable toward.”
[44:4] 21 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] 22 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] 23 tn That is, Israel. See Pss 14:7; 22:23.
[44:5] 25 tn Heb “gore” (like an ox). If this portion of the psalm contains the song of confidence/petition the Israelites recited prior to battle, then the imperfects here and in the next line may express their expectation of victory. Another option is that the imperfects function in an emphatic generalizing manner. In this case one might translate, “you [always] drive back…you [always] trample down.”
[44:5] sn The Hebrew verb translated “drive back” is literally “gore”; the imagery is that of a powerful wild ox that “gores” its enemies and tramples them underfoot.
[44:5] 26 tn Heb “in your name.” The
[44:5] 27 sn The image of the powerful wild ox continues; see the note on the phrase “drive back” in the preceding line.
[44:5] 28 tn Heb “those who rise up [against] us.”
[144:1] 29 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] 30 tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The
[144:1] 31 tn Heb “blessed [be] the
[144:1] 32 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.
[144:2] 33 tn Heb “my loyal love,” which is probably an abbreviated form of “the God of my loyal love” (see Ps 59:10, 17).
[144:2] 34 tn Or “my elevated place.”
[144:2] 35 tn Heb “the one who subdues nations beneath me.”
