Psalm 18:44-46

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 18:44 tn Heb “at a report of an ear they submit to me.” The report of the psalmist’s exploits is so impressive that those who hear it submit to his rulership without putting up a fight.
2. Psalm 18:44 tn For the meaning “be weak, powerless” for כָּחַשׁ (kakhash), see Ps 109:24. The next line (see v. 45a), in which “foreigners” are also mentioned, favors this interpretation. Another option is to translate “cower in fear” (see Deut 33:29; Pss 66:3; 81:15; cf. NIV “cringe”; NRSV “came cringing”).
3. Psalm 18:45 tn Heb “wither, wear out.”
4. Psalm 18:45 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.
5. Psalm 18:45 tn Heb “from.”
6. Psalm 18:45 tn Heb “their prisons.” The besieged cities of the foreigners are compared to prisons.
7. Psalm 18:46 tn Elsewhere the construction חַי־יְהוָה (khay y^ehvah) is used exclusively as an oath formula, “as surely as the Lord lives,” but this is not the case here, for no oath follows. Here the statement is an affirmation of the Lord’s active presence and intervention. In contrast to pagan deities, he demonstrates he is the living God by rescuing and empowering the psalmist.
8. Psalm 18:46 tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection. See similar phrases in vv. 2, 31.
9. Psalm 18:46 tn Or “blessed [i.e., praised] be.”
10. Psalm 18:46 tn Heb “the God of my deliverance.” 2 Sam 22:48 reads, “the God of the rocky cliff of my deliverance.”
11. Psalm 18:46 tn The words “as king” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Elsewhere in the psalms the verb רוּם (rum, “be exalted”), when used of God, refers to his exalted position as king (Pss 99:2; 113:4; 138:6) and/or his self-revelation as king through his mighty deeds of deliverance (Pss 21:13; 46:10; 57:5, 11).