Discovery BoxPsalms 18:44-45 
Context18:44 When they hear of my exploits, they submit to me. 1
Foreigners are powerless 2 before me;
18:45 foreigners lose their courage; 3
they shake with fear 4 as they leave 5 their strongholds. 6
Psalms 22:18
Context22:18 They are dividing up my clothes among themselves;
they are rolling dice 7 for my garments.
Psalms 25:19
Context25:19 Watch my enemies, for they outnumber me;
they hate me and want to harm me. 8
Psalms 35:21
Context35:21 They are ready to devour me; 9
they say, “Aha! Aha! We’ve got you!” 10
Psalms 45:15
Context45:15 They are bubbling with joy as they walk in procession
and enter the royal palace. 11
Psalms 56:5
Context56:5 All day long they cause me trouble; 12
they make a habit of plotting my demise. 13
Psalms 59:6
Context59:6 They return in the evening;
they growl 14 like a dog
and prowl around outside 15 the city.
Psalms 59:14
Context59:14 They return in the evening;
they growl 16 like a dog
and prowl around outside 17 the city.
Psalms 64:3
Context64:3 They 18 sharpen their tongues like a sword;
they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge, 19
Psalms 73:9
Context73:9 They speak as if they rule in heaven,
and lay claim to the earth. 20
Psalms 78:10
Context78:10 They did not keep their covenant with God, 21
and they refused to obey 22 his law.
Psalms 78:34
Context78:34 When he struck them down, 23 they sought his favor; 24
they turned back and longed for God.
Psalms 78:37
Context78:37 They were not really committed to him, 25
and they were unfaithful to his covenant.
Psalms 83:5
Context83:5 Yes, 26 they devise a unified strategy; 27
they form an alliance 28 against you.
Psalms 83:17
Context83:17 May they be humiliated and continually terrified! 29
May they die in shame! 30
Psalms 84:7
Context84:7 They are sustained as they travel along; 31
each one appears 32 before God in Zion.
Psalms 88:17
Context88:17 They surround me like water all day long;
they join forces and encircle me. 33
Psalms 89:51
Context89:51 Your enemies, O Lord, hurl insults;
they insult your chosen king as they dog his footsteps. 34
Psalms 94:5
Context94:5 O Lord, they crush your people;
they oppress the nation that belongs to you. 35
Psalms 105:38
Context105:38 Egypt was happy when they left,
for they were afraid of them. 36
Psalms 106:13-14
Context106:13 They quickly forgot what he had done; 37
they did not wait for his instructions. 38
106:14 In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving 39 for meat; 40
they challenged God 41 in the desert.
Psalms 106:24-25
Context106:24 They rejected the fruitful land; 42
they did not believe his promise. 43
106:25 They grumbled in their tents; 44
they did not obey 45 the Lord.
Psalms 107:18
Context107:18 They lost their appetite for all food, 46
and they drew near the gates of death.
Psalms 109:2-3
Context109:2 For they say cruel and deceptive things to me;
they lie to me. 47
109:3 They surround me and say hateful things; 48
they attack me for no reason.
Psalms 109:25
Context109:25 I am disdained by them. 49
When they see me, they shake their heads. 50
Psalms 126:5
Context126:5 Those who shed tears as they plant
will shout for joy when they reap the harvest. 51
Psalms 129:2
Context129:2 “Since my youth they have often attacked me,
but they have not defeated me.
Psalms 145:11
Context145:11 They will proclaim the splendor of your kingdom;
they will tell about your power,
Psalms 149:6
Context149:6 May they praise God
while they hold a two-edged sword in their hand, 52
1 tn Heb “at a report of an ear they submit to me.” The report of the psalmist’s exploits is so impressive that those who hear it submit to his rulership without putting up a fight.
2 tn For the meaning “be weak, powerless” for כָּחַשׁ (kakhash), see Ps 109:24. The next line (see v. 45a), in which “foreigners” are also mentioned, favors this interpretation. Another option is to translate “cower in fear” (see Deut 33:29; Pss 66:3; 81:15; cf. NIV “cringe”; NRSV “came cringing”).
3 tn Heb “wither, wear out.”
4 tn The meaning of חָרַג (kharag, “shake”) is established on the basis of cognates in Arabic and Aramaic. 2 Sam 22:46 reads חָגַר (khagar), which might mean here, “[they] come limping” (on the basis of a cognate in postbiblical Hebrew). The normal meaning for חָגַר (“gird”) makes little sense here.
5 tn Heb “from.”
6 tn Heb “their prisons.” The besieged cities of the foreigners are compared to prisons.
7 tn Heb “casting lots.” The precise way in which this would have been done is not certain.
8 tn Heb “see my enemies for they are numerous, and [with] violent hatred they hate me.”
9 tn Heb “and they cause their mouth to be wide against me.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries on the generalizing mood of the previous verse. For other examples of this use of the prefixed verbal form with vav consecutive, see GKC 329 §111.t.
10 tn Heb “our eye sees.” Apparently this is an idiom meaning to “look in triumph” or “gloat over” (see Ps 54:7).
11 tn Heb “they are led with joy and happiness, they enter the house of the king.”
12 tn Heb “my affairs they disturb.” For other instances of דָּבָר (davar) meaning “affairs, business,” see BDB 183 s.v.. The Piel of עָצַב (’atsav, “to hurt”) occurs only here and in Isa 63:10, where it is used of “grieving” (or “offending”) the Lord’s holy Spirit. Here in Ps 56:5, the verb seems to carry the nuance “disturb, upset,” in the sense of “cause trouble.”
13 tn Heb “against me [are] all their thoughts for harm.”
14 tn Or “howl”; or “bark.”
15 tn Heb “go around.”
16 tn Or “howl”; or “bark.”
17 tn Heb “go around.”
18 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
19 tn Heb “a bitter word.”
20 tn Heb “they set in heaven their mouth, and their tongue walks through the earth.” The meaning of the text is uncertain. Perhaps the idea is that they lay claim to heaven (i.e., speak as if they were ruling in heaven) and move through the earth declaring their superiority and exerting their influence. Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) the first line as adversative and translate, “they set their mouth against heaven,” that is, they defy God.
21 tn Heb “the covenant of God.”
22 tn Heb “walk in.”
23 tn Or “killed them,” that is, killed large numbers of them.
24 tn Heb “they sought him.”
25 tn Heb “and their heart was not firm with him.”
26 tn Or “for.”
27 tn Heb “they consult [with] a heart together.”
28 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
29 tn Heb “and may they be terrified to perpetuity.” The Hebrew expression עֲדֵי־עַד (’adey-’ad, “to perpetuity”) can mean “forevermore” (see Pss 92:7; 132:12, 14), but here it may be used hyperbolically, for the psalmist asks that the experience of judgment might lead the nations to recognize (v. 18) and even to seek (v. 16) God.
30 tn Heb “may they be ashamed and perish.” The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist concludes his prayer with an imprecation, calling severe judgment down on his enemies. The strong language of the imprecation seems to run contrary to the positive outcome of divine judgment envisioned in v. 16b. Perhaps the language of v. 17 is overstated for effect. Another option is that v. 16b expresses an ideal, while the strong imprecation of vv. 17-18 anticipates reality. It would be nice if the defeated nations actually pursued a relationship with God, but if judgment does not bring them to that point, the psalmist asks that they be annihilated so that they might at least be forced to acknowledge God’s power.
31 tn Heb “they go from strength to strength.” The phrase “from strength to strength” occurs only here in the OT. With a verb of motion, the expression “from [common noun] to [same common noun]” normally suggests movement from one point to another or through successive points (see Num 36:7; 1 Chr 16:20; 17:5; Ps 105:13; Jer 25:32). Ps 84:7 may be emphasizing that the pilgrims move successively from one “place of strength” to another as they travel toward Jerusalem. All along the way they find adequate provisions and renewed energy for the trip.
32 tn The psalmist returns to the singular (see v. 5a), which he uses in either a representative or distributive (“each one” ) sense.
33 tn Heb “they encircle me together.”
34 tn Heb “[by] which your enemies, O
35 tn Or “your inheritance.”
36 tn Heb “for fear of them had fallen upon them.”
37 tn Heb “his works.”
38 tn Heb “his counsel.”
39 sn They had an insatiable craving. This is described in Num 11:4-35.
40 tn Heb “they craved [with] a craving.”
41 tn Heb “they tested God.”
42 tn Heb “a land of delight” (see also Jer 3:19; Zech 7:14).
43 tn Heb “his word.”
44 sn They grumbled in their tents. See Deut 1:27.
45 tn Heb “did not listen to the voice of.”
46 tn Heb “all food their appetite loathed.”
47 tn Heb “for a mouth of evil and a mouth of deceit against me they open, they speak with me [with] a tongue of falsehood.”
48 tn Heb “and [with] words of hatred they surround me.”
49 tn Heb “as for me, I am a reproach to them.”
50 sn They shake their heads. Apparently shaking the head was a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 22:7; Lam 2:15.
51 sn O. Borowski says regarding this passage: “The dependence on rain for watering plants, the uncertainty of the quantity and timing of the rains, and the possibility of crop failure due to pests and diseases appear to have kept the farmer in a gloomy mood during sowing” (Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 54). Perhaps the people were experiencing a literal drought, the effects of which cause them to lament their plight as they plant their seed in hopes that the rain would come. However, most take the language as metaphorical. Like a farmer sowing his seed, the covenant community was enduring hardship as they waited for a new outpouring of divine blessing. Yet they are confident that a time of restoration will come and relieve their anxiety, just as the harvest brings relief and joy to the farmer.
52 tn Heb “[May] praises of God [be] in their throat, and a two-edged sword in their hand.”
