2 Samuel 17:11

17:11 My advice therefore is this: Let all Israel from Dan to Beer Sheba – in number like the sand by the sea! – be mustered to you, and you lead them personally into battle.

Mazmur 3:6

3:6 I am not afraid ¹  of the multitude of people ² 

who attack me from all directions. ³ 

Mazmur 27:1-3

Psalm 27 ⁴ 

By David.

27:1 The Lord delivers and vindicates me! ⁵ 

I fear no one! ⁶ 

The Lord protects my life!

I am afraid of no one! ⁷ 

27:2 When evil men attack me ⁸ 

to devour my flesh, ⁹ 

when my adversaries and enemies attack me, ¹⁰ 

they stumble and fall. ¹¹ 

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

I do not fear. ¹² 

Even when war is imminent, ¹³ 

I remain confident. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 118:6-8

118:6 The Lord is on my side, ¹⁵  I am not afraid!

What can people do to me? ¹⁶ 

118:7 The Lord is on my side ¹⁷  as my helper. ¹⁸ 

I look in triumph on those who hate me.

118:8 It is better to take shelter ¹⁹  in the Lord

than to trust in people.

¹ tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s continuing attitude as he faces the crisis at hand.

² tn Or perhaps “troops.” The Hebrew noun עָם (’am) sometimes refers to a military contingent or army.

³ tn Heb “who all around take a stand against me.”

⁴ sn Psalm 27. The author is confident of the Lord’s protection and asks the Lord to vindicate him.

⁵ 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).

⁶ tn Heb “Whom shall I fear?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

⁷ tn Heb “Of whom shall I be afraid?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

⁸ tn Heb “draw near to me.”

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

¹⁰ tn Heb “my adversaries and my enemies against me.” The verb “draw near” (that is, “attack”) is understood by ellipsis; see the previous line.

¹¹ 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.”

¹² tn Heb “my heart does not fear.”

¹³ tn Heb “if war rises up against me.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “in this [i.e., “during this situation”] I am trusting.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “for me.”

¹⁶ tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential. See Ps 56:11.

¹⁷ tn Heb “for me.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “among my helpers.” The preposition may indicate identity here, while the plural may be one of majesty or respect.

¹⁹ tn “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).