Psalms 18:42

I grind them as fine windblown dust; ¹  I beat them underfoot ²  like clay ³  in the streets.

2Ki 13:7; Ps 50:22; Isa 10:6; Isa 25:10; Isa 41:2,15,16; Zec 10:5; Mal 4:3

¹ tn Heb “I pulverize them like dust upon the face of the wind.” The phrase “upon the face of” here means “before.” 2 Sam 22:43 reads, “like dust of the earth.”

² tc Ps 18:42 reads, “I empty them out” (Hiphil of ריק), while 2 Sam 22:43 reads, “I crush them, I stomp on them” (juxtaposing the synonyms דקק and רקע). It is likely that the latter is a conflation of variants. One, but not both, of the verbs in 2 Sam 22:43 is probably original; “empty out” does not form as good a parallel with “grind, pulverize” in the parallel line.

³ tn Or “mud.”