Mazmur 27:1-3

Psalm 27 ¹ 

By David.

27:1 The Lord delivers and vindicates me! ² 

I fear no one! ³ 

The Lord protects my life!

I am afraid of no one! ⁴ 

27:2 When evil men attack me ⁵ 

to devour my flesh, ⁶ 

when my adversaries and enemies attack me, ⁷ 

they stumble and fall. ⁸ 

27:3 Even when an army is deployed against me,

I do not fear. ⁹ 

Even when war is imminent, ¹⁰ 

I remain confident. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 46:2

46:2 For this reason we do not fear ¹²  when the earth shakes, ¹³ 

and the mountains tumble into the depths of the sea, ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 46:7

46:7 The Lord who commands armies is on our side! ¹⁵ 

The God of Jacob ¹⁶  is our protector! ¹⁷  (Selah)

Mazmur 118:10-12

118:10 All the nations surrounded me. ¹⁸ 

Indeed, in the name of the Lord ¹⁹  I pushed them away. ²⁰ 

118:11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me.

Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.

118:12 They surrounded me like bees.

But they disappeared as quickly ²¹  as a fire among thorns. ²² 

Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.

Mazmur 118:2

118:2 Let Israel say,

“Yes, his loyal love endures!”

Kisah Para Rasul 6:15

6:15 All ²³  who were sitting in the council ²⁴  looked intently at Stephen ²⁵  and saw his face was like the face of an angel. ²⁶ 

Roma 8:31

8:31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

[27:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 27. The author is confident of the Lord’s protection and asks the Lord to vindicate him.

[27:1]  ² tn Heb “the Lord [is] my light and my deliverance.” “Light” is often used as a metaphor for deliverance and the life/blessings it brings. See Pss 37:6; 97:11; 112:4; Isa 49:6; 51:4; Mic 7:8. Another option is that “light” refers here to divine guidance (see Ps 43:3).

[27:1]  ³ tn Heb “Whom shall I fear?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[27:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “Of whom shall I be afraid?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[27:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “draw near to me.”

[27:2]  ⁶ sn To devour my flesh. The psalmist compares his enemies to dangerous, hungry predators (see 2 Kgs 9:36; Ezek 39:17).

[27:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “my adversaries and my enemies against me.” The verb “draw near” (that is, “attack”) is understood by ellipsis; see the previous line.

[27:2]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew verbal forms are perfects. The translation assumes the psalmist is generalizing here, but another option is to take this as a report of past experience, “when evil men attacked me…they stumbled and fell.”

[27:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “my heart does not fear.”

[27:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “if war rises up against me.”

[27:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in this [i.e., “during this situation”] I am trusting.”

[46:2]  ¹² tn The imperfect is taken in a generalizing sense (cf. NEB) because the situation described in vv. 2-3 is understood as symbolizing typical world conditions. In this case the imperfect draws attention to the typical nature of the response. The covenant community characteristically responds with confidence, not fear. Another option is to take the situation described as purely hypothetical. In this case one might translate, “We will not fear, even though the earth should shake” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[46:2]  ¹³ tn The Hiphil infinitival form is normally taken to mean “when [the earth] is altered,” being derived from מוּר (mur, “to change”). In this case the Hiphil would be intransitive, as in Ps 15:4. HALOT 560 s.v. II מור emends the form to a Niphal and derives it from a homonymic root מוּר attested in Arabic with the meaning “shake.”

[46:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “heart of the seas.” The plural may be used for emphasis, pointing to the deepest sea. Note that the next verse uses a singular pronoun (“its waters,” “its swelling”) in referring back to the plural noun.

[46:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the Lord of hosts is with us.” The title “Lord of hosts” here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle (see Ps 24:10). The military imagery is further developed in vv. 8-9.

[46:7]  ¹⁶ tn That is, Israel, or Judah (see Ps 20:1).

[46:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “our elevated place” (see Pss 9:9; 18:2).

[118:10]  ¹⁸ sn The reference to an attack by the nations suggests the psalmist may have been a military leader.

[118:10]  ¹⁹ tn In this context the phrase “in the name of the Lord” means “by the Lord’s power.”

[118:10]  ²⁰ tn Traditionally the verb has been derived from מוּל (mul, “to circumcise”) and translated “[I] cut [them] off” (see BDB 557-58 s.v. II מוּל). However, it is likely that this is a homonym meaning “to fend off” (see HALOT 556 s.v. II מול) or “to push away.” In this context, where the psalmist is reporting his past experience, the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite. The phrase also occurs in vv. 11, 12.

[118:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “were extinguished.”

[118:12]  ²² tn The point seems to be that the hostility of the nations (v. 10) is short-lived, like a fire that quickly devours thorns and then burns out. Some, attempting to create a better parallel with the preceding line, emend דֹּעֲכוּ (do’akhu, “they were extinguished”) to בָּעֲרוּ (ba’aru, “they burned”). In this case the statement emphasizes their hostility.

[6:15]  ²³ tn Grk “And all.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[6:15]  ²⁴ tn Or “Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[6:15]  ²⁵ tn Grk “at him”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:15]  ²⁶ sn His face was like the face of an angel. This narrative description of Stephen’s face adds to the mood of the passage. He had the appearance of a supernatural, heavenly messenger.