Mazmur 18:33
Konteks18:33 He gives me the agility of a deer; 1
he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain. 2
Mazmur 40:2
Konteks40:2 He lifted me out of the watery pit, 3
out of the slimy mud. 4
He placed my feet on a rock
and gave me secure footing. 5
Mazmur 61:2
Konteks61:2 From the most remote place on earth 6
I call out to you in my despair. 7
[18:33] 1 tn Heb “[the one who] makes my feet like [those of ] a deer.”
[18:33] 2 tn Heb “and on my high places he makes me walk.” The imperfect verbal form emphasizes God’s characteristic provision. The psalmist compares his agility in battle to the ability of a deer to negotiate rugged, high terrain without falling or being injured.
[18:33] sn Habakkuk uses similar language to describe his faith during difficult times. See Hab 3:19.
[40:2] 3 tn Heb “cistern of roaring.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “cistern, pit”) is used metaphorically here of Sheol, the place of death, which is sometimes depicted as a raging sea (see Ps 18:4, 15-16). The noun שָׁאוֹן (sha’on, “roaring”) refers elsewhere to the crashing sound of the sea’s waves (see Ps 65:7).
[40:2] 4 tn Heb “from the mud of mud.” The Hebrew phrase translated “slimy mud” employs an appositional genitive. Two synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.
[40:2] 5 tn Heb “he established my footsteps.”
[61:2] 6 tn Heb “from the end of the earth.” This may indicate (1) the psalmist is exiled in a distant land, or (2) it may be hyperbolic (the psalmist feels alienated from God’s presence, as if he were in a distant land).
[61:2] 7 tn Heb “while my heart faints.”
[61:2] 8 tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.
[61:2] 9 tn Heb “on to a rocky summit [that] is higher than I.”
