Discovery BoxPsalms 18:31 
Context18:31 Indeed, 1 who is God besides the Lord?
Who is a protector 2 besides our God? 3
Psalms 62:2
Context62:2 He alone is my protector 4 and deliverer.
He is my refuge; 5 I will not be upended. 6
Psalms 62:6-7
Context62:6 He alone is my protector 7 and deliverer.
He is my refuge; 8 I will not be upended. 9
62:7 God delivers me and exalts me;
God is my strong protector and my shelter. 10
Psalms 78:35
Context78:35 They remembered that God was their protector, 11
and that the sovereign God was their deliverer. 12
Psalms 92:15
Context92:15 So they proclaim that the Lord, my protector,
is just and never unfair. 13
Psalms 115:9-11
Context115:9 O Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is their deliverer 14 and protector. 15
115:10 O family 16 of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their deliverer 17 and protector. 18
115:11 You loyal followers of the Lord, 19 trust in the Lord!
He is their deliverer 20 and protector. 21
Psalms 121:3
Context121:3 May he not allow your foot to slip!
May your protector 22 not sleep! 23
Psalms 121:5
Context121:5 The Lord is your protector;
the Lord is the shade at your right hand.
1 tn Or “for.”
2 tn Heb “rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor of divine protection. See v. 2, where the Hebrew term צוּר (tsur) is translated “rocky summit.”
3 tn The rhetorical questions anticipate the answer, “No one.” In this way the psalmist indicates that the
4 tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”
5 tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).
6 tn The Hebrew text adds רַבָּה (rabbah, “greatly”) at the end of the line. It is unusual for this adverb to follow a negated verb. Some see this as qualifying the assertion to some degree, but this would water down the affirmation too much (see v. 6b, where the adverb is omitted). If the adverb has a qualifying function, it would suggest that the psalmist might be upended, though not severely. This is inconsistent with the confident mood of the psalm. The adverb probably has an emphatic force here, “I will not be greatly upended” meaning “I will not be annihilated.”
7 tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”
8 tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).
9 sn The wording is identical to that of v. 2, except that רַבָּה (rabbah, “greatly”) does not appear in v. 6.
10 tn Heb “upon God [is] my deliverance and my glory, the high rocky summit of my strength, my shelter [is] in God.”
11 tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”
12 tn Heb “and [that] God Most High [was] their redeemer.”
13 tn Heb “so that [they] proclaim that upright [is] the
14 tn Or “[source of] help.”
15 tn Heb “and their shield.”
16 tn Heb “house.”
17 tn Or “[source of] help.”
18 tn Heb “and their shield.”
19 tn Heb “[you] fearers of the
20 tn Or “[source of] help.”
21 tn Heb “and their shield.”
22 tn Heb “the one who guards you.”
23 tn The prefixed verbal forms following the negative particle אל appear to be jussives. As noted above, if they are taken as true jussives of prayer, then the speaker in v. 3 would appear to be distinct from both the speaker in vv. 1-2 and the speaker in vv. 4-8. However, according to GKC 322 §109.e), the jussives are used rhetorically here “to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen.” In this case one should probably translate, “he will not allow your foot to slip, your protector will not sleep,” and understand just one speaker in vv. 4-8.
