2 Samuel 22:35

22:35 He trains ¹  my hands for battle; ² 

my arms can bend even the strongest bow. ³ 

Mazmur 21:13

21:13 Rise up, O Lord, in strength! ⁴ 

We will sing and praise ⁵  your power!

Yesaya 5:28

5:28 Their arrows are sharpened,

and all their bows are prepared. ⁶ 

The hooves of their horses are hard as flint, ⁷ 

and their chariot wheels are like a windstorm. ⁸ 

[22:35]  ¹ tn Heb “teaches.”

[22:35]  ² tn The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enabling. Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.

[22:35]  ³ tn Heb “and a bow of bronze is bent by my arms.” The verb נָחֵת (nakhet) apparently means “to pull back; to bend” here (see HALOT 692 s.v. נחת). The bronze bow referred to here was probably laminated with bronze strips, or a purely ceremonial or decorative bow made entirely from bronze. In the latter case the language is hyperbolic, for such a weapon would not be functional in battle.

[21:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “in your strength,” but English idiom does not require the pronoun.

[21:13]  sn The psalm concludes with a petition to the Lord, asking him to continue to intervene in strength for the king and nation.

[21:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “sing praise.”

[5:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “bent” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “are strung.”

[5:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “regarded like flint.”

[5:28]  ⁸ sn They are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way they kick up dust.