Mazmur 18:48

18:48 He delivers me ¹  from my enemies;

you snatch me away ²  from those who attack me; ³ 

you rescue me from violent men.

Mazmur 18:50

18:50 He ⁴  gives his chosen king magnificent victories; ⁵ 

he is faithful ⁶  to his chosen ruler, ⁷ 

to David and his descendants ⁸  forever.” ⁹ 

Mazmur 68:30

68:30 Sound your battle cry ¹⁰  against the wild beast of the reeds, ¹¹ 

and the nations that assemble like a herd of calves led by bulls! ¹² 

They humble themselves ¹³  and offer gold and silver as tribute. ¹⁴ 

God ¹⁵  scatters ¹⁶  the nations that like to do battle.

[18:48]  ¹ tn Heb “[the one who] delivers me.” 2 Sam 22:49 reads “and [the one who] brings me out.”

[18:48]  ² tn Heb “lifts me up.” In light of the preceding and following references to deliverance, the verb רום probably here refers to being rescued from danger (see Ps 9:13). However, it could mean “exalt, elevate” here, indicating that the Lord has given the psalmist victory over his enemies and forced them to acknowledge the psalmist’s superiority (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[18:48]  ³ tn Heb “from those who rise against me.”

[18:50]  ⁴ tn Or “the one who.”

[18:50]  ⁵ tn Heb “magnifies the victories of his king.” “His king” refers to the psalmist, the Davidic king whom God has chosen to rule Israel.

[18:50]  ⁶ tn Heb “[the one who] does loyalty.”

[18:50]  ⁷ tn Heb “his anointed [one],” i.e., the psalmist/Davidic king. See Ps 2:2.

[18:50]  ⁸ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[18:50]  ⁹ sn If David is the author of the psalm (see the superscription), then he here anticipates that God will continue to demonstrate loyalty to his descendants who succeed him. If the author is a later Davidic king, then he views the divine favor he has experienced as the outworking of God’s faithful promises to David his ancestor.

[68:30]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew verb גָּעַר (ga’ar) is often understood to mean “rebuke.” In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts such as Ps 68 this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Ps 106:9 and Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 18:15; 76:6; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.

[68:30]  ¹¹ sn The wild beast of the reeds probably refers to a hippopotamus, which in turn symbolizes the nation of Egypt.

[68:30]  ¹² tn Heb “an assembly of bulls, with calves of the nations.”

[68:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “humbling himself.” The verb form is a Hitpael participle from the root רָפַס (rafas, “to trample”). The Hitpael of this verb appears only here and in Prov 6:3, where it seems to mean, “humble oneself,” a nuance that fits nicely in this context. The apparent subject is “wild beast” or “assembly,” though both of these nouns are grammatically feminine, while the participle is a masculine form. Perhaps one should emend the participial form to a masculine plural (מִתְרַפִּם, mitrapim) and understand “bulls” or “calves” as the subject.

[68:30]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “with pieces [?] of silver.” The meaning of the Hebrew term רַצֵּי (ratsey) is unclear. It is probably best to emend the text to בֶּצֶר וְכָסֶף (betser vÿkhasef, “[with] gold and silver”).

[68:30]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[68:30]  ¹⁶ tn The verb בָּזַר (bazar) is an alternative form of פָּזַר (pazar, “scatter”).