Psalms 89:43

You turn back ¹  his sword from the adversary, ²  and have not sustained him in battle. ³ 

You have turned back the edge of his sword and have not supported him in battle.

You also turn back the edge of his sword And have not made him stand in battle.

You have made his sword useless and have refused to help him in battle.

Angry, you opposed him in battle, refused to fight on his side;

His sword is turned back; you have not been his support in the fight.

Moreover, you have turned back the edge of his sword, and you have not supported him in battle.

You have also turned back the edge of his sword, And have not sustained him in the battle.

You turn back ¹  his sword from the adversary, ²  and have not sustained him in battle. ³ 

¹ tn The perfect verbal form predominates in vv. 38-45. The use of the imperfect in this one instance may be for rhetorical effect. The psalmist briefly lapses into dramatic mode, describing the king’s military defeat as if it were happening before his very eyes.

² tc Heb “you turn back, rocky summit, his sword.” The Hebrew term צוּר (tsur, “rocky summit”) makes no sense here, unless it is a divine title understood as vocative, “you turn back, O Rocky Summit, his sword.” Some emend the form to צֹר (tsor, “flint”) on the basis of Josh 5:2, which uses the phrase חַרְבוֹת צֻרִים (kharvot tsurim, “flint knives”). The noun צֹר (tsor, “flint”) can then be taken as “flint-like edge,” indicating the sharpness of the sword. Others emend the form to אָחוֹר (’akhor, “backward”) or to מִצַּר (mitsar, “from the adversary”). The present translation reflects the latter, assuming an original reading תָּשִׁיב מִצָּר חַרְבּוֹ (tashiv mitsar kharbo), which was corrupted to תָּשִׁיב צָר חַרְבּוֹ (tashiv tsar kharbo) by virtual haplography (confusion of bet/mem is well-attested) with צָר (tsar, “adversary”) then being misinterpreted as צוּר in the later tradition.

³ tn Heb “and you have not caused him to stand in the battle.”