18:37 I chase my enemies and catch 1 them;
I do not turn back until I wipe them out.
18:38 I beat them 2 to death; 3
they fall at my feet. 4
18:39 You give me strength 5 for battle;
you make my foes kneel before me. 6
18:40 You make my enemies retreat; 7
I destroy those who hate me. 8
18:41 They cry out, but there is no one to help them; 9
they cry out to the Lord, 10 but he does not answer them.
1 tn 2 Sam 22:38 reads “destroy.”
2 tn Or “smash them.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “and I wiped them out and smashed them.”
3 tn Heb “until they are unable to rise.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “until they do not rise.”
4 sn They fall at my feet. For ancient Near Eastern parallels, see O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 294-97.
5 tn Heb “clothed me.” See v. 32.
6 tn Heb “you make those who rise against me kneel beneath me.”
sn My foes kneel before me. For ancient Near Eastern parallels, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 268.
7 tn Heb “and [as for] my enemies, you give to me [the] back [or “neck”].” The idiom “give [the] back” means “to cause [one] to turn the back and run away.” Cf. Exod 23:27.
8 sn Those who hate me. See v. 17, where it is the
9 tn Heb “but there is no deliverer.”
10 tn Heb “to the
sn They cry out. This reference to the psalmist’s enemies crying out for help to the