Mazmur 18:17-18

18:17 He rescued me from my strong enemy, ¹ 

from those who hate me,

for they were too strong for me.

18:18 They confronted ²  me in my day of calamity,

but the Lord helped me. ³ 

Mazmur 56:1-3

Psalm 56 ⁴ 

For the music director; according to the yonath-elem-rechovim style; ⁵  a prayer ⁶  of David, written when the Philistines captured him in Gath. ⁷ 

56:1 Have mercy on me, O God, for men are attacking me! ⁸ 

All day long hostile enemies ⁹  are tormenting me. ¹⁰ 

56:2 Those who anticipate my defeat ¹¹  attack me all day long.

Indeed, ¹²  many are fighting against me, O Exalted One. ¹³ 

56:3 When ¹⁴  I am afraid,

I trust in you.

Mazmur 56:1

Psalm 56 ¹⁵ 

For the music director; according to the yonath-elem-rechovim style; ¹⁶  a prayer ¹⁷  of David, written when the Philistines captured him in Gath. ¹⁸ 

56:1 Have mercy on me, O God, for men are attacking me! ¹⁹ 

All day long hostile enemies ²⁰  are tormenting me. ²¹ 

1 Samuel 20:3

20:3 Taking an oath, David again ²²  said, “Your father is very much aware of the fact ²³  that I have found favor with you, and he has thought, ²⁴  ‘Don’t let Jonathan know about this, or he will be upset.’ But as surely as the Lord lives and you live, there is about one step between me and death!”

1 Samuel 25:29

25:29 When someone sets out to chase you and to take your life, the life of my lord will be wrapped securely in the bag ²⁵  of the living by the Lord your God. But he will sling away the lives of your enemies from the sling’s pocket!

1 Samuel 25:2

David Marries Abigail the Widow of Nabal

25:2 There was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. This man was very wealthy; ²⁶  he owned three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. At that time he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

1 Samuel 17:1-3

David Kills Goliath

17:1 ²⁷ The Philistines gathered their troops ²⁸  for battle. They assembled at Socoh in Judah. They camped in Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. 17:2 Saul and the Israelite army ²⁹  assembled and camped in the valley of Elah, where they arranged their battle lines to fight against ³⁰  the Philistines. 17:3 The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites ³¹  on another hill, with the valley between them.

Mikha 7:8

Jerusalem Will Be Vindicated

7:8 My enemies, ³²  do not gloat ³³  over me!

Though I have fallen, I will get up.

Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. ³⁴ 

Matius 4:1-11

The Temptation of Jesus

4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness ³⁵  to be tempted by the devil. 4:2 After he fasted forty days and forty nights he was famished. ³⁶  4:3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” ³⁷  4:4 But he answered, ³⁸  “It is written, ‘Man ³⁹  does not live ⁴⁰  by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ⁴¹  4:5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, ⁴²  had him stand ⁴³  on the highest point ⁴⁴  of the temple, 4:6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you’ ⁴⁵  and ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” ⁴⁶  4:7 Jesus said to him, “Once again it is written: ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’” ⁴⁷  4:8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur. ⁴⁸  4:9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship ⁴⁹  me.” 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, ⁵⁰  Satan! For it is written: ‘You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” ⁵¹  4:11 Then the devil left him, and angels ⁵²  came and began ministering to his needs.

Ibrani 2:14

2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in ⁵³  their humanity, ⁵⁴  so that through death he could destroy ⁵⁵  the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil),

[18:17]  ¹ tn The singular refers either to personified death or collectively to the psalmist’s enemies. The following line, which refers to “those [plural] who hate me,” favors the latter.

[18:18]  ² tn The same verb is translated “trapped” in v. 5. In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not imperfect.

[18:18]  ³ tn Heb “became my support.”

[56:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 56. Despite the threats of his enemies, the psalmist is confident the Lord will keep his promise to protect and deliver him.

[56:1]  ⁵ tn The literal meaning of this phrase is “silent dove, distant ones.” Perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a type of musical instrument.

[56:1]  ⁶ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16 and 57-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[56:1]  ⁷ sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm when the Philistines seized him and took him to King Achish of Gath (see 1 Sam 21:11-15).

[56:1]  ⁸ tn According to BDB 983 s.v. II שָׁאַף, the verb is derived from שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to trample, crush”) rather than the homonymic verb “pant after.”

[56:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “a fighter.” The singular is collective for his enemies (see vv. 5-6). The Qal of לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) also occurs in Ps 35:1.

[56:1]  ¹⁰ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the continuing nature of the enemies’ attacks.

[56:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 59:10.

[56:2]  ¹² tn Or “for.”

[56:2]  ¹³ tn Some take the Hebrew term מָרוֹם (marom, “on high; above”) as an adverb modifying the preceding participle and translate, “proudly” (cf. NASB; NIV “in their pride”). The present translation assumes the term is a divine title here. The Lord is pictured as enthroned “on high” in Ps 92:8. (Note the substantival use of the term in Isa 24:4 and see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [ICC], 2:34), who prefer to place the term at the beginning of the next verse.)

[56:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[in] a day.”

[56:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 56. Despite the threats of his enemies, the psalmist is confident the Lord will keep his promise to protect and deliver him.

[56:1]  ¹⁶ tn The literal meaning of this phrase is “silent dove, distant ones.” Perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a type of musical instrument.

[56:1]  ¹⁷ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16 and 57-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[56:1]  ¹⁸ sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm when the Philistines seized him and took him to King Achish of Gath (see 1 Sam 21:11-15).

[56:1]  ¹⁹ tn According to BDB 983 s.v. II שָׁאַף, the verb is derived from שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to trample, crush”) rather than the homonymic verb “pant after.”

[56:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a fighter.” The singular is collective for his enemies (see vv. 5-6). The Qal of לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) also occurs in Ps 35:1.

[56:1]  ²¹ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the continuing nature of the enemies’ attacks.

[20:3]  ²² tc The LXX and the Syriac Peshitta lack the word “again.”

[20:3]  ²³ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[20:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “said,” that is, to himself. So also in v. 25.

[25:29]  ²⁵ tn Cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “bundle”; NLT “treasure pouch.”

[25:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “great.”

[17:1]  ²⁷ tc The content of 1 Sam 17–18, which includes the David and Goliath story, differs considerably in the LXX as compared to the MT, suggesting that this story circulated in ancient times in more than one form. The LXX for chs. 17–18 is much shorter than the MT, lacking almost half of the material (39 of a total of 88 verses). Many scholars (e.g., McCarter, Klein) think that the shorter text of the LXX is preferable to the MT, which in their view has been expanded by incorporation of later material. Other scholars (e.g., Wellhausen, Driver) conclude that the shorter Greek text (or the Hebrew text that underlies it) reflects an attempt to harmonize certain alleged inconsistencies that appear in the longer version of the story. Given the translation characteristics of the LXX elsewhere in this section, it does not seem likely that these differences are due to deliberate omission of these verses on the part of the translator. It seems more likely that the Greek translator has faithfully rendered here a Hebrew text that itself was much shorter than the MT in these chapters. Whether or not the shorter text represented by the LXX is to be preferred over the MT in 1 Sam 17–18 is a matter over which textual scholars are divided. For a helpful discussion of the major textual issues in this unit see D. Barthélemy, D. W. Gooding, J. Lust, and E. Tov, The Story of David and Goliath (OBO). Overall it seems preferable to stay with the MT, at least for the most part. However, the major textual differences between the LXX and the MT will be mentioned in the notes that accompany the translation so that the reader may be alert to the major problem passages.

[17:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “camps.”

[17:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the men of Israel” (so KJV, NASB); NAB, NIV, NRSV “the Israelites.”

[17:2]  ³⁰ tn Heb “to meet.”

[17:3]  ³¹ tn Heb “Israel.”

[7:8]  ³² tn The singular form is understood as collective.

[7:8]  ³³ tn Or “rejoice” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NCV “don’t laugh at me.”

[7:8]  ³⁴ sn Darkness represents judgment; light (also in v. 9) symbolizes deliverance. The Lord is the source of the latter.

[4:1]  ³⁵ tn Or “desert.”

[4:2]  ³⁶ tn Grk “and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward he was hungry.”

[4:3]  ³⁷ tn Grk “say that these stones should become bread.”

[4:4]  ³⁸ tn Grk “answering, he said.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of the phrase has been changed for clarity.

[4:4]  ³⁹ tn Or “a person.” Greek ὁ ἄνθρωπος (Jo anqrwpo") is used generically for humanity. The translation “man” is used because the emphasis in Jesus’ response seems to be on his dependence on God as a man.

[4:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “will not live.” The verb in Greek is a future tense, but it is unclear whether it is meant to be taken as a command (also known as an imperatival future) or as a statement of reality (predictive future).

[4:4]  ⁴¹ sn A quotation from Deut 8:3.

[4:5]  ⁴² sn The order of the second and third temptations differs in Luke’s account (4:5-12) from the order given in Matthew.

[4:5]  ⁴³ tn Grk “and he stood him.”

[4:5]  ⁴⁴ sn The highest point of the temple probably refers to the point on the temple’s southeast corner where it looms directly over a cliff some 450 ft (135 m) high. However, some have suggested the reference could be to the temple’s high gate.

[4:6]  ⁴⁵ sn A quotation from Ps 91:11. This was not so much an incorrect citation as a use in a wrong context (a misapplication of the passage).

[4:6]  ⁴⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 91:12.

[4:7]  ⁴⁷ sn A quotation from Deut 6:16.

[4:8]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “glory.”

[4:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “if, falling down, you will worship.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

[4:10]  ⁵⁰ tc The majority of later witnesses (C² D L Z 33 Ï) have “behind me” (ὀπίσω μου; opisw mou) after “Go away.” But since this is the wording in Matt 16:23, where the text is certain, scribes most likely added the words here to conform to the later passage. Further, the shorter reading has superior support (א B C*^vid K P W Δ 0233 Ë^1,13 565 579* 700 al). Thus, both externally and internally, the shorter reading is strongly preferred.

[4:10]  ⁵¹ sn A quotation from Deut 6:13. The word “only” is an interpretive expansion not found in either the Hebrew or Greek (LXX) text of the OT.

[4:11]  ⁵² tn Grk “and behold, angels.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[2:14]  ⁵³ tn Or “partook of” (this is a different word than the one in v. 14a).

[2:14]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “the same.”

[2:14]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “break the power of,” “reduce to nothing.”