Psalm 19/Notes/Lexical.V. 6b.91279
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
- The word גבור ("great one") refers to "a human being... who is renowned for his characteristics, such as physical strength, power, bravery, skill, wealth, good character, or a combination thereof" (SDBH). The word is often used in military contexts to refer to a military "hero" or "warrior," but it can also refer more generally to someone with "any special degree of physical might, power, authority, and splendor (“glory”)" (TDOT 1977, 373). In Psalm 19 it might refer to the (personified) sun as an exceptionally gifted athlete (cf. NLT: "great athlete"; GNT: "athlete"). But because "running" (רוץ) is elsewhere associated with warriors (cf. Joel 2:7; Job 16:14), the word here probably refers to a "warrior" (cf. Jdg 5:20 which describes celestial bodies fighting 'from their roads'). In particular, it might refer to the sun as a warrior-king. Genesis 1, for example, describes the sun as the king of the day (cf. Gen 1:16; Ps 136:8), and kings were expected to be great warriors who could run long distances (cf. 2 Sam 1:23; 22:33, 37; see Demsky 2005).