Psalms 18:42

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

I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind; I poured them out like mud in the streets.

Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind; I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.

I ground them as fine as dust carried by the wind. I swept them into the gutter like dirt.

I ground them to dust; they gusted in the wind. I threw them out, like garbage in the gutter.

Then they were crushed as small as dust before the wind; they were drained out like the waste of the streets.

I beat them fine, like dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind; I cast them out like dirt in the streets.

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

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.”