144:7 Reach down 1 from above!
Grab me and rescue me from the surging water, 2
from the power of foreigners, 3
144:8 who speak lies,
and make false promises. 4
1 tn Heb “stretch out your hands.”
2 tn Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful foreign enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see the next line and Ps 18:16-17).
3 tn Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”
4 tn Heb “who [with] their mouth speak falsehood, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.” The reference to the “right hand” is probably a metonymy for an oath. When making an oath, one would raise the hand as a solemn gesture. See Exod 6:8; Num 14:30; Deut 32:40. The figure thus represents the making of false oaths (false promises).