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Psalms 18:16

Context

18:16 He reached down 1  from above and took hold of me;

he pulled me from the surging water. 2 

Psalms 51:7

Context

51:7 Sprinkle me 3  with water 4  and I will be pure; 5 

wash me 6  and I will be whiter than snow. 7 

Psalms 73:10

Context

73:10 Therefore they have more than enough food to eat,

and even suck up the water of the sea. 8 

Psalms 74:13

Context

74:13 You destroyed 9  the sea by your strength;

you shattered the heads of the sea monster 10  in the water.

Psalms 78:13

Context

78:13 He divided the sea and led them across it;

he made the water stand in a heap.

Psalms 78:15

Context

78:15 He broke open rocks in the wilderness,

and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea. 11 

Psalms 79:3

Context

79:3 They have made their blood flow like water

all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them. 12 

Psalms 93:4

Context

93:4 Above the sound of the surging water, 13 

and the mighty waves of the sea,

the Lord sits enthroned in majesty. 14 

Psalms 144:7

Context

144:7 Reach down 15  from above!

Grab me and rescue me from the surging water, 16 

from the power of foreigners, 17 

1 tn Heb “stretched.” Perhaps “his hand” should be supplied by ellipsis (see Ps 144:7). In this poetic narrative context the three prefixed verbal forms in this verse are best understood as preterites indicating past tense, not imperfects.

2 tn Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see v. 4 and Ps 144:7).

3 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

4 tn Heb “cleanse me with hyssop.” “Hyssop” was a small plant (see 1 Kgs 4:33) used to apply water (or blood) in purification rites (see Exod 12:22; Lev 14:4-6, 49-52; Num 19:6-18. The psalmist uses the language and imagery of such rites to describe spiritual cleansing through forgiveness.

5 tn After the preceding imperfect, the imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates result.

6 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

7 sn I will be whiter than snow. Whiteness here symbolizes the moral purity resulting from forgiveness (see Isa 1:18).

8 tc Heb “therefore his people return [so Qere (marginal reading); Kethib (consonantal text) has “he brings back”] to here, and waters of abundance are sucked up by them.” The traditional Hebrew text (MT) defies explanation. The present translation reflects M. Dahood’s proposed emendations (Psalms [AB], 2:190) and reads the Hebrew text as follows: לָכֵן יִשְׂבְעוּם לֶחֶם וּמֵי מָלֵא יָמֹצּוּ לָמוֹ (“therefore they are filled with food, and waters of abundance they suck up for themselves”). The reading יִשְׂבְעוּם לֶחֶם (yisvÿum lekhem, “they are filled with food”) assumes (1) an emendation of יָשׁיּב עַמּוֹ (yashyyv, “he will bring back his people”) to יִשְׂבְעוּם (yisvÿum, “they will be filled”; a Qal imperfect third masculine plural form from שָׂבַע [sava’] with enclitic mem [ם]), and (2) an emendation of הֲלֹם (halom, “to here”) to לֶחֶם (“food”). The expression “be filled/fill with food” appears elsewhere at least ten times (see Ps 132:15, for example). In the second line the Niphal form יִמָּצוּ (yimmatsu, derived from מָצָה, matsah, “drain”) is emended to a Qal form יָמֹצּוּ (yamotsu), derived from מָצַץ (matsats, “to suck”). In Isa 66:11 the verbs שָׂבַע (sava’; proposed in Ps 73:10a) and מָצַץ (proposed in Ps 73:10b) are parallel. The point of the emended text is this: Because they are seemingly sovereign (v. 9), they become greedy and grab up everything they need and more.

9 tn The derivation and meaning of the Polel verb form פּוֹרַרְתָּ (porarta) are uncertain. The form may be related to an Akkadian cognate meaning “break, shatter,” though the biblical Hebrew cognate of this verb always appears in the Hiphil or Hophal stem. BDB 830 s.v. II פָּרַר suggests a homonym here, meaning “to split; to divide.” A Hitpolel form of a root פָּרַר (parar) appears in Isa 24:19 with the meaning “to shake violently.”

10 tn The Hebrew text has the plural form, “sea monsters” (cf. NRSV “dragons”), but it is likely that an original enclitic mem has been misunderstood as a plural ending. The imagery of the mythological sea monster is utilized here. See the note on “Leviathan” in v. 14.

11 tn Heb “and caused them to drink, like the depths, abundantly.”

12 tn Heb “they have poured out their blood like water, all around Jerusalem, and there is no one burying.”

13 tn Heb “mighty waters.”

sn The surging waters here symbolizes the hostile enemies of God who seek to destroy the order he has established in the world (see Pss 18:17; 29:3; 32:6; 77:20; 144:7; Isa 17:13; Jer 51:55; Ezek 26:19; Hab 3:15). But the Lord is depicted as elevated above and sovereign over these raging waters.

14 tn Heb “mighty on high [is] the Lord.”

15 tn Heb “stretch out your hands.”

16 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).

17 tn Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”



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