Discovery BoxPsalms 18:8 
Context18:8 Smoke ascended from 1 his nose; 2
fire devoured as it came from his mouth; 3
he hurled down fiery coals. 4
Psalms 25:14
Context25:14 The Lord’s loyal followers receive his guidance, 5
and he reveals his covenantal demands to them. 6
Psalms 33:16
Context33:16 No king is delivered by his vast army;
a warrior is not saved by his great might.
Psalms 33:18
Context33:18 Look, the Lord takes notice of his loyal followers, 7
those who wait for him to demonstrate his faithfulness 8
Psalms 72:19
Context72:19 His glorious name deserves praise 9 forevermore!
May his majestic splendor 10 fill the whole earth!
We agree! We agree! 11
Psalms 78:43
Context78:43 when he performed his awesome deeds 12 in Egypt,
and his acts of judgment 13 in the region of Zoan.
Psalms 78:54
Context78:54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,
to this mountainous land 14 which his right hand 15 acquired.
Psalms 81:6
Context81:6 It said: 16 “I removed the burden from his shoulder;
his hands were released from holding the basket. 17
Psalms 98:2
Context98:2 The Lord demonstrates his power to deliver; 18
in the sight of the nations he reveals his justice.
Psalms 103:11
Context103:11 For as the skies are high above the earth,
so his loyal love towers 19 over his faithful followers. 20
Psalms 103:13
Context103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, 21
so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. 22
Psalms 106:23
Context106:23 He threatened 23 to destroy them,
but 24 Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him 25
and turned back his destructive anger. 26
Psalms 109:14
Context109:14 May his ancestors’ 27 sins be remembered by the Lord!
May his mother’s sin not be forgotten! 28
Psalms 112:8
Context112:8 His resolve 29 is firm; he will not succumb to fear
before he looks in triumph on his enemies.
Psalms 147:11
Context147:11 The Lord takes delight in his faithful followers, 30
and in those who wait for his loyal love.
Psalms 150:1
Context150:1 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary!
Praise him in the sky, which testifies to his strength! 32
1 tn Heb “within”; or “[from] within.” For a discussion of the use of the preposition -בְּ (bÿ) here, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 163-64.
2 tn Or “in his anger.” The noun אַף (’af) can carry the abstract meaning “anger,” but the parallelism (note “from his mouth”) suggests the more concrete meaning “nose” here. See also v. 15, “the powerful breath of your nose.”
3 tn Heb “fire from his mouth devoured.” In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. Note the two perfect verbal forms in the verse.
sn Fire devoured as it came from his mouth. For other examples of fire as a weapon in OT theophanies and ancient Near Eastern portrayals of warring gods and kings, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 165-67.
4 tn Heb “coals burned from him.” Perhaps the psalmist pictures God’s fiery breath igniting coals (cf. Job 41:21), which he then hurls as weapons (cf. Ps 120:4).
5 tn Heb “the advice of the
6 tn Heb “and his covenant, to make them know.”
7 tn Heb “look, the eye of the
8 tn Heb “for the ones who wait for his faithfulness.”
9 tn Heb “[be] blessed.”
10 tn Or “glory.”
11 tn Heb “surely and surely” (אָמֵן וְאָמֵן [’amen vÿ’amen], i.e., “Amen and amen”). This is probably a congregational response of agreement to the immediately preceding statement about the propriety of praising God.
12 tn Or “signs” (see Ps 65:8).
13 tn Or “portents, omens” (see Ps 71:7). The Egyptian plagues are referred to here (see vv. 44-51).
14 tn Heb “this mountain.” The whole land of Canaan seems to be referred to here. In Exod 15:17 the promised land is called the “mountain of your [i.e., God’s] inheritance.”
15 tn The “right hand” here symbolizes God’s military strength (see v. 55).
16 tn The words “It said” are not included in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation for clarification.
17 sn I removed the burden. The Lord speaks metaphorically of how he delivered his people from Egyptian bondage. The reference to a basket/burden probably alludes to the hard labor of the Israelites in Egypt, where they had to carry loads of bricks (see Exod 1:14).
18 tn Heb “makes known his deliverance.”
19 tn For this sense of the verb גָבַר (gavar), see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 17, 19.
20 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
21 tn Or “sons,” but the Hebrew term sometimes refers to children in general.
22 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
23 tn Heb “and he said.”
24 tn Heb “if not,” that is, “[and would have] if [Moses] had not.”
25 tn Heb “stood in the gap before him.”
26 tn Heb “to turn back his anger from destroying.”
sn Verses 19-23 describe the events of Exod 32:1-35.
27 tn Or “fathers’ sins.”
28 tn Heb “not be wiped out.”
sn According to ancient Israelite theology and its doctrine of corporate solidarity and responsibility, children could be and often were punished for the sins of their parents. For a discussion of this issue see J. Kaminsky, Corporate Responsibility in the Hebrew Bible (JSOTSup). (Kaminsky, however, does not deal with Ps 109.)
29 tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition.
30 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
31 sn Psalm 150. The Psalter concludes with a resounding call for praise from everything that has breath.
32 tn Heb “the sky of his strength.”
