Mazmur 76:5

76:5 The bravehearted ¹  were plundered; ² 

they “fell asleep.” ³ 

All the warriors were helpless. ⁴ 

Mazmur 103:20

103:20 Praise the Lord, you angels of his,

you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees

and obey his orders! ⁵ 

[76:5]  ¹ tn Heb “strong of heart.” In Isa 46:12, the only other text where this phrase appears, it refers to those who are stubborn, but here it seems to describe brave warriors (see the next line).

[76:5]  ² tn The verb is a rare Aramaized form of the Hitpolel (see GKC 149 §54.a, n. 2); the root is שָׁלַל (shalal, “to plunder”).

[76:5]  ³ tn Heb “they slept [in] their sleep.” “Sleep” here refers to the “sleep” of death. A number of modern translations take the phrase to refer to something less than death, however: NASB “cast into a deep sleep”; NEB “fall senseless”; NIV “lie still”; NRSV “lay stunned.”

[76:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “and all the men of strength did not find their hands.”

[103:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “[you] mighty ones of strength, doers of his word, by listening to the voice of his word.”