Mazmur 18:14

18:14 He shot his ¹  arrows and scattered them, ² 

many lightning bolts ³  and routed them. ⁴ 

Mazmur 18:17

18:17 He rescued me from my strong enemy, ⁵ 

from those who hate me,

for they were too strong for me.

Mazmur 18:19

18:19 He brought me out into a wide open place;

he delivered me because he was pleased with me. ⁶ 

Mazmur 34:6

34:6 This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;

he saved him ⁷  from all his troubles.

Mazmur 34:17

34:17 The godly ⁸  cry out and the Lord hears;

he saves them from all their troubles. ⁹ 

Mazmur 37:40

37:40 The Lord helps them and rescues them;

he rescues them from evil men and delivers them, ¹⁰ 

for they seek his protection.

Mazmur 41:1

Psalm 41 ¹¹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

41:1 How blessed ¹²  is the one who treats the poor properly! ¹³ 

When trouble comes, ¹⁴  the Lord delivers him. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 44:7

44:7 For you deliver ¹⁶  us from our enemies;

you humiliate ¹⁷  those who hate us.

Mazmur 49:15

49:15 But ¹⁸  God will rescue ¹⁹  my life ²⁰  from the power ²¹  of Sheol;

certainly ²²  he will pull me to safety. ²³  (Selah)

Mazmur 62:1

Psalm 62 ²⁴ 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.

62:1 For God alone I patiently wait; ²⁵ 

he is the one who delivers me. ²⁶ 

Mazmur 62:5

62:5 Patiently wait for God alone, my soul! ²⁷ 

For he is the one who gives me confidence. ²⁸ 

Mazmur 68:20

68:20 Our God is a God who delivers;

the Lord, the sovereign Lord, can rescue from death. ²⁹ 

Mazmur 70:1

Psalm 70 ³⁰ 

For the music director; by David; written to get God’s attention. ³¹ 

70:1 O God, please be willing to rescue me! ³² 

O Lord, hurry and help me! ³³ 

Mazmur 71:15

71:15 I will tell about your justice,

and all day long proclaim your salvation, ³⁴ 

though I cannot fathom its full extent. ³⁵ 

Mazmur 72:4

72:4 He will defend ³⁶  the oppressed among the people;

he will deliver ³⁷  the children ³⁸  of the poor

and crush the oppressor.

Mazmur 78:42

78:42 They did not remember what he had done, ³⁹ 

how he delivered them from the enemy, ⁴⁰ 

Mazmur 80:2

80:2 In the sight of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh reveal ⁴¹  your power!

Come and deliver us! ⁴² 

Mazmur 101:8

101:8 Each morning I will destroy all the wicked people in the land,

and remove all evildoers from the city of the Lord.

Mazmur 106:43

106:43 Many times he delivered ⁴³  them,

but they had a rebellious attitude, ⁴⁴ 

and degraded themselves ⁴⁵  by their sin.

Mazmur 116:16

116:16 Yes, Lord! I am indeed your servant;

I am your lowest slave. ⁴⁶ 

You saved me from death. ⁴⁷ 

[18:14]  ¹ tn 2 Sam 22:15 omits the pronominal suffix (“his”).

[18:14]  ² tn The pronominal suffixes on the verbs “scattered” and “routed” (see the next line) refer to the psalmist’s enemies. Some argue that the suffixes refer to the arrows, in which case one might translate “shot them far and wide” and “made them move noisily,” respectively. They argue that the enemies have not been mentioned since v. 4 and are not again mentioned until v. 17. However, usage of the verbs פוּץ (puts, “scatter”) and הָמַם (hamam, “rout”) elsewhere in Holy War accounts suggests the suffixes refer to enemies. Enemies are frequently pictured in such texts as scattered and/or routed (see Exod 14:24; 23:27; Num 10:35; Josh 10:10; Judg 4:15; 1 Sam 7:10; 11:11; Ps 68:1).

[18:14]  ³ sn Lightning is a common motif in in OT theophanies and in ancient Near Eastern portrayals of the storm god and warring kings. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 190-92.

[18:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “lightning bolts, many.” 2 Sam 22:15 has simply “lightning” (בָּרָק, baraq). The identity of the word רָב (rav) in Ps 18:14 is problematic. (1) It may be a form of a rare verb רָבַב (ravav, “to shoot”), perhaps attested in Gen 49:23 as well. In this case one might translate, “he shot lightning bolts and routed them.” Other options include (2) understanding רָב (rav) as an adverbial use of the adjective, “lightning bolts in abundance,” or (3) emending the form to רַבּוּ (rabbu), from רָבַב (ravav, “be many”) or to רָבוּ (ravu), from רָבָה (ravah, “be many”) – both a haplography of the vav (ו); note the initial vav on the immediately following form – and translating “lightning bolts were in abundance.”

[18:14]  sn Arrows and lightning bolts are associated in other texts (see Pss 77:17-18; 144:6; Zech 9:14), as well as in ancient Near Eastern art (see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” [Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983], 187).

[18:17]  ⁵ tn The singular refers either to personified death or collectively to the psalmist’s enemies. The following line, which refers to “those [plural] who hate me,” favors the latter.

[18:19]  ⁶ tn Or “delighted in me.”

[34:6]  ⁷ tn The pronoun refers back to “this oppressed man,” namely, the psalmist.

[34:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “they” (i.e., the godly mentioned in v. 15).

[34:17]  ⁹ tn The three perfect verbal forms are taken in a generalizing sense in v. 17 and translated with the present tense (note the generalizing mood of vv. 18-22).

[37:40]  ¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry on the generalizing tone of the preceding verse.

[41:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 41. The psalmist is confident (vv. 11-12) that the Lord has heard his request to be healed (vv. 4-10), and he anticipates the joy he will experience when the Lord intervenes (vv. 1-3). One must assume that the psalmist is responding to a divine oracle of assurance (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 319-20). The final verse is a fitting conclusion to this psalm, but it is also serves as a fitting conclusion to the first “book” (or major editorial division) of the Psalter. Similar statements appear at or near the end of each of the second, third, and fourth “books” of the Psalter (see Pss 72:19, 89:52, and 106:48 respectively).

[41:1]  ¹² tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[41:1]  ¹³ sn One who treats the poor properly. The psalmist is characterizing himself as such an individual and supplying a reason why God has responded favorably to his prayer. The Lord’s attitude toward the merciful mirrors their treatment of the poor.

[41:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in the day of trouble” (see Ps 27:5).

[41:1]  ¹⁵ tn That is, the one who has been kind to the poor. The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive of prayer (“may the Lord deliver,” see v. 2), but the preceding parallel line is a declaration of fact, not a prayer per se. The imperfect can be taken here as future (“will deliver,” cf. NEB, NASB) or as generalizing (“delivers,” cf. NIV, NRSV). The parallel line, which has a generalizing tone, favors the latter. At the same time, though the psalmist uses a generalizing style here, he clearly has himself primarily in view.

[44:7]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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).

[49:15]  ¹⁸ tn Or “certainly.”

[49:15]  ¹⁹ tn Or “redeem.”

[49:15]  ²⁰ tn Or “me.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[49:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “hand.”

[49:15]  ²² tn Or “for.”

[49:15]  ²³ tn Heb “he will take me.” To improve the poetic balance of the verse, some move the words “from the power of Sheol” to the following line. The verse would then read: “But God will rescue my life; / from the power of Sheol he will certainly deliver me” (cf. NEB).

[49:15]  sn According to some, the psalmist here anticipates the resurrection (or at least an afterlife in God’s presence). But it is more likely that the psalmist here expresses his hope that God will rescue him from premature death at the hands of the rich oppressors denounced in the psalm. The psalmist is well aware that all (the wise and foolish) die (see vv. 7-12), but he is confident God will lead him safely through the present “times of trouble” (v. 5) and sweep the wicked away to their final destiny. The theme is a common one in the so-called wisdom psalms (see Pss 1, 34, 37, 112). For a fuller discussion of the psalmists’ view of the afterlife, see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “A Theology of the Psalms,” A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, 284-88.

[62:1]  ²⁴ sn Psalm 62. The psalmist expresses his unwavering confidence in God’s justice and in his ability to protect his people.

[62:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “only for God [is] there silence [to] my soul.”

[62:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “from him [is] my deliverance.”

[62:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “only for God be silent, my soul.” The wording is similar to that of v. 1a. Here an imperatival form, דּוֹמִּי (dommiy, “be silent”), appears instead of the noun דּוּמִיָּה (dumiyyah, “silence”). The psalmist is encouraging himself to maintain his trust in God.

[62:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “for from him [is] my hope.”

[68:20]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and to the Lord, the Lord, to death, goings out.”

[70:1]  ³⁰ sn Psalm 70. This psalm is almost identical to Ps 40:13-17. The psalmist asks for God’s help and for divine retribution against his enemies.

[70:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “to cause to remember.” The same form, a Hiphil infinitive of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”), also appears in the superscription of Ps 38. Some understand this in the sense of “for the memorial offering,” but it may carry the idea of bringing one’s plight to God’s attention (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 303).

[70:1]  ³² tn Heb “O God, to rescue me.” A main verb is obviously missing. The verb רָצָה (ratsah, “be willing”) should be supplied (see Ps 40:13). Ps 40:13 uses the divine name “Lord” rather than “God.”

[70:1]  ³³ tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Pss 22:19; 38:22.

[71:15]  ³⁴ tn Heb “my mouth declares your vindication, all the day your deliverance.”

[71:15]  ³⁵ tn Heb “though I do not know [the] numbers,” that is, the tally of God’s just and saving acts. HALOT 768 s.v. סְפֹרוֹת understands the plural noun to mean “the art of writing.”

[72:4]  ³⁶ tn Heb “judge [for].”

[72:4]  ³⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, not a jussive.

[72:4]  ³⁸ tn Heb “sons.”

[78:42]  ³⁹ tn Heb “his hand,” symbolizing his saving activity and strength, as the next line makes clear.

[78:42]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “[the] day [in] which he ransomed them from [the] enemy.”

[80:2]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “stir up”; “arouse.”

[80:2]  ⁴² tn Heb “come for our deliverance.”

[106:43]  ⁴³ tn The prefixed verbal form is either preterite or imperfect, in which case it is customary, describing repeated action in past time (“he would deliver”).

[106:43]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “but they rebelled in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite or imperfect, in which case it is customary, describing repeated action in past time (“they would have a rebellious attitude”).

[106:43]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “they sank down.” The Hebrew verb מָכַךְ (makhakh, “to lower; to sink”) occurs only here in the Qal.

[116:16]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “I am your servant, the son of your female servant.” The phrase “son of a female servant” (see also Ps 86:16) is used of a son born to a secondary wife or concubine (Exod 23:12). In some cases the child’s father is the master of the house (see Gen 21:10, 13; Judg 9:18). The use of the expression here certainly does not imply that the Lord has such a secondary wife or concubine! It is used metaphorically and idiomatically to emphasize the psalmist’s humility before the Lord and his status as the Lord’s servant.

[116:16]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “you have loosed my bonds.” In this context the imagery refers to deliverance from death (see v. 3).