Mazmur 18:45

18:45 foreigners lose their courage; ¹ 

they shake with fear ²  as they leave ³  their strongholds. ⁴ 

Mazmur 89:40

89:40 You have broken down all his ⁵  walls;

you have made his strongholds a heap of ruins.

Mazmur 108:10

108:10 Who will lead me into the fortified city?

Who will bring me to Edom? ⁶ 

Mazmur 60:9

60:9 Who will lead me into the fortified city?

Who will bring me to Edom? ⁷ 

Mazmur 91:2

91:2 I say this about the Lord, my shelter and my stronghold,

my God in whom I trust –

Mazmur 71:3

71:3 Be my protector and refuge, ⁸ 

a stronghold where I can be safe! ⁹ 

For you are my high ridge ¹⁰  and my stronghold.

Mazmur 144:2

144:2 who loves me ¹¹  and is my stronghold,

my refuge ¹²  and my deliverer,

my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,

who makes nations submit to me. ¹³ 

Mazmur 28:8

28:8 The Lord strengthens his people; ¹⁴ 

he protects and delivers his chosen king. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 31:3

31:3 For you are my high ridge ¹⁶  and my stronghold;

for the sake of your own reputation ¹⁷  you lead me and guide me. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 18:2

18:2 The Lord is my high ridge, ¹⁹  my stronghold, ²⁰  my deliverer.

My God is my rocky summit where ²¹  I take shelter, ²² 

my shield, the horn that saves me, ²³  and my refuge. ²⁴ 

Mazmur 31:2

31:2 Listen to me! ²⁵ 

Quickly deliver me!

Be my protector and refuge, ²⁶ 

a stronghold where I can be safe! ²⁷ 

[18:45]  ¹ tn Heb “wither, wear out.”

[18:45]  ² tn The meaning of חָרַג (kharag, “shake”) is established on the basis of cognates in Arabic and Aramaic. 2 Sam 22:46 reads חָגַר (khagar), which might mean here, “[they] come limping” (on the basis of a cognate in postbiblical Hebrew). The normal meaning for חָגַר (“gird”) makes little sense here.

[18:45]  ³ tn Heb “from.”

[18:45]  ⁴ tn Heb “their prisons.” The besieged cities of the foreigners are compared to prisons.

[89:40]  ⁵ tn The king here represents the land and cities over which he rules.

[108:10]  ⁶ sn The psalmist speaks again and acknowledges his need for help in battle. He hopes God will volunteer, based on the affirmation of sovereignty over Edom in v. 9, but he is also aware that God has seemingly rejected the nation of Israel (v. 11).

[60:9]  ⁷ sn In v. 9 the psalmist speaks again and acknowledges his need for help in battle. He hopes God will volunteer, based on the affirmation of sovereignty over Edom in v. 8, but he is also aware that God has seemingly rejected the nation (v. 10, see also v. 1).

[71:3]  ⁸ tc Heb “become for me a rocky summit of a dwelling place.” The Hebrew term מָעוֹן (ma’on, “dwelling place”) should probably be emended to מָעוֹז (ma’oz, “refuge”; see Ps 31:2).

[71:3]  ⁹ tc Heb “to enter continually, you commanded to deliver me.” The Hebrew phrase לָבוֹא תָּמִיד צִוִּיתָ (lavo’ tamid tsivvita, “to enter continually, you commanded”) should be emended to לְבֵית מְצוּדוֹת (lÿvet mÿtsudot, “a house of strongholds”; see Ps 31:2).

[71:3]  ¹⁰ sn You are my high ridge. This metaphor pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[144:2]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Or “my elevated place.”

[144:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “the one who subdues nations beneath me.”

[28:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the Lord [is] strength to them” (or perhaps, “to him”). The form לָמוֹ (lamo, “to them/him”) is probably a corruption of an original לְעַמוֹ (lÿ’amo, “to his people”; see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 236), perhaps due to quiescence of the letter ayin (ע; see P. McCarter, Textual Criticism [GBS], 55). Note the reference to the Lord’s “people” in the next verse.

[28:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he [is] a refuge of help for his anointed one.” The noun מָשִׁיחַ (mashiakh, “anointed one”) refers to the Davidic king, who perhaps speaks as representative of the nation in this psalm. See Pss 2:2; 18:50; 20:6; 84:9; 89:38, 51; 132:10, 17.

[31:3]  ¹⁶ sn The metaphor of the high ridge pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[31:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “name.” The Hebrew term שֵׁם (shem, “name”) refers here to the Lord’s reputation. (The English term “name” is often used the same way.)

[31:3]  ¹⁸ tn The present translation assumes that the imperfect verbal forms are generalizing, “you lead me and guide me.” Other options are to take them as an expression of confidence about the future, “you will lead me and guide me” (cf. NASB), or as expressing a prayer, “lead me and guide me” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[18:2]  ¹⁹ sn My high ridge. This metaphor pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[18:2]  ²⁰ sn My stronghold. David often found safety in such strongholds. See 1 Sam 22:4-5; 24:22; 2 Sam 5:9, 17; 23:14.

[18:2]  ²¹ tn Or “in whom.”

[18:2]  ²² sn Take shelter. “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[18:2]  ²³ tn Heb “the horn of my salvation”; or “my saving horn.”

[18:2]  sn Though some see “horn” as referring to a horn-shaped peak of a hill, or to the “horns” of an altar where one could find refuge, it is more likely that the horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (cf. Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). In the ancient Near East powerful warrior-kings would sometimes compare themselves to a goring bull that uses its horns to kill its enemies. For examples, see P. Miller, “El the Warrior,” HTR 60 (1967): 422-25, and R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 135-36. Ps 18:2 uses the metaphor of the horn in a slightly different manner. Here the Lord himself is compared to a horn. He is to the psalmist what the horn is to the ox, a source of defense and victory.

[18:2]  ²⁴ tn Or “my elevated place.” The parallel version of this psalm in 2 Sam 22:3 adds at this point, “my refuge, my savior, [you who] save me from violence.”

[31:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”

[31:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “become for me a rocky summit of refuge.”

[31:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “a house of strongholds to deliver me.”