Psalms 18:28

18:28 Indeed, 1  you are my lamp, Lord. 2 

My God 3  illuminates the darkness around me. 4 

Psalms 91:6

91:6 the plague that comes in the darkness,

or the disease that comes at noon. 5 

Psalms 107:14

107:14 He brought them out of the utter darkness, 6 

and tore off their shackles.

1 tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki)is asseverative here.

2 tn Ps 18:28 reads literally, “you light my lamp, Lord.” 2 Sam 22:29 has, “you are my lamp, Lord.” The Ps 18 reading may preserve two variants, נֵרִי (neriy, “my lamp”) and אוֹרִי (’oriy, “my light”), cf. Ps 27:1. The verb תָּאִיר (ta’ir, “you light”) in Ps 18:28 would, in this case, be a corruption of the latter. See F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, Studies in Ancient Yahwistic Poetry (SBLDS), 150, n. 64. The metaphor, which likens the Lord to a lamp or light, pictures him as the psalmist’s source of life. For other examples of “lamp” used in this way, see Job 18:6; 21:17; Prov 13:9; 20:20; 24:20. For other examples of “light” as a symbol for life, see Job 3:20; 33:30; Ps 56:13.

3 tn 2 Sam 22:29 repeats the name “Lord.”

4 tn Heb “my darkness.”

5 sn As in Deut 32:23-24, vv. 5-6 closely associate military attack and deadly disease. Perhaps the latter alludes to one of the effects of siege warfare on the population of an entrapped city, which was especially vulnerable to the outbreak of epidemics.

6 tn Heb “darkness and deep darkness.” See the note on the word “darkness” in v. 10.