Psalm 46 Story Behind

Choose a PsalmNavigate Psalm 46

Psalm 46 Home

Bible Text

Hebrew & English

Structural Overlay

Expanded Paraphrase

Participant Tracking

Translation (forthcoming)

Academic

Overview

Layer by Layer ▸

View All Layers

Grammar & Semantics

Story Behind

Discourse

Poetry

Verse by Verse

Exegetical Issues

Book 1

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

Book 2

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

Book 3

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

Book 4

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

Book 5

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

132

133

134

135

136

137

138

139

140

141

142

143

144

145

146

147

148

149

150

God is Our Fortress

Psalm 46

About the Story Behind Layer

The Story Behind the Psalm shows how each part of the psalm fits together into a single coherent whole. Whereas most semantic analysis focuses on discrete parts of a text such as the meaning of a word or phrase, Story Behind the Psalm considers the meaning of larger units of discourse, including the entire psalm.

The goal of this layer is to reconstruct and visualize a mental representation of the text as the earliest hearers/readers might have conceptualized it. We start by identifying the propositional content of each clause in the psalm, and then we identify relevant assumptions implied by each of the propositions. During this process, we also identify and analyze metaphorical language (“imagery”). Finally, we try to see how all of the propositions and assumptions fit together to form a coherent mental representation. The main tool we use for structuring the propositions and assumptions is a story triangle, which visualizes the rise and fall of tension within a semantic unit. Although story triangles are traditionally used to analyze stories in the literary sense of the word, we use them at this layer to analyze “stories” in the cognitive sense of the word—i.e., a story as a sequence of propositions and assumptions that has tension.

  Story Behind Explainer

Summary Triangle

The story triangle below summarises the story of the whole psalm. We use the same colour scheme as in Participant Analysis. The star icon along the edge of the story-triangle indicates the point of the story in which the psalm itself (as a speech event) takes place. We also include a theme at the bottom of the story. The theme is the main message conveyed by the story-behind.

  Legend

Story Triangles legend
Propositional content (verse number)	Propositional content, the base meaning of the clause, is indicated by bold black text. The verse number immediately follows the correlating proposition in black text inside parentheses.
Common-ground assumption	Common-ground assumptions are indicated by gray text.
Local-ground assumption	Local-ground assumptions are indicated by dark blue text.
Playground assumption	Playground assumptions are indicated by light blue text.
	The point of the story at which the psalm takes place (as a speech event) is indicated by a gray star.
	If applicable, the point of the story at which the psalm BEGINS to take place (as a speech event) is indicated with a light gray star. A gray arrow will travel from this star to the point at which the psalm ends, indicated by the darker gray star.
	A story that repeats is indicated by a circular arrow. This indicates a sequence of either habitual or iterative events.
	A story or event that does not happen or the psalmist does not wish to happen is indicated with a red X over the story triangle.
	Connections between propositions and/or assumptions are indicated by black arrows with small text indicating how the ideas are connected.
Note: In the Summary triangle, highlight color scheme follows the colors of participant analysis.

• Background
• Paraphrase
• Story Triangles
• Imagery

Background ideas

Following are the common-ground assumptionsCommon-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/Ancient Near Eastern background. which are the most helpful for making sense of the psalm.

• God resides in his city and when the city and its residents are under attack, God himself is under attack.
• In times of war and peace, God is made known by his actions. Just as in human warfare, victors destroy their defeated enemies' weapons (cf. Josh 11:6, 9; Isa 2:2-4; Mic 4:1-4), God also disarms his opponents. Hence, no weapon formed against his people can prosper and God's people do not need to fight.
• In HB, God is exalted cultically (Isa 6:1; 57:15) and politically (Pss 47:2-3, 9; 86:10; 95:3). In HB war texts, "exaltation" can signify a military victory (Ps 47:2-3; Isa 33:3, 5, and 10).

Background situation

The background situation is the series of events leading up to the time in which the psalm is spoken. These are taken from the story triangle – whatever lies to the left of the star icon.

Expanded Paraphrase

The expanded paraphrase seeks to capture the implicit information within the text and make it explicit for readers today. It is based on the CBC translation and uses italic text to provide the most salient background information, presuppositions, entailments, and inferences.

  Legend

Expanded paraphrase legend
Close but Clear (CBC) translation	The CBC, our close but clear translation of the Hebrew, is represented in bold text.
Assumptions	Assumptions which provide background information, presuppositions, entailments, and inferences are represented in italics.

Text (Hebrew)	Verse	Expanded Paraphrase
לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ לִבְנֵי־קֹ֑רַח עַֽל־עֲלָמ֥וֹת שִֽׁיר׃	1	For the music director. Written by the Korahites. The psalm is to be performed as young women. A psalm.
אֱלֹהִ֣ים לָ֭נוּ מַחֲסֶ֣ה וָעֹ֑ז עֶזְרָ֥ה בְ֝צָר֗וֹת נִמְצָ֥א מְאֹֽד׃	2	God is a refuge and stronghold for us. He is a place that offers us protection and shelters us from any danger, threat, or trouble. In him, we are securely hidden from our enemies. Moreover, even if political allies may desert us, he is readily available to us, as a help, when we are in great trouble.
עַל־כֵּ֣ן לֹא־נִ֭ירָא בְּהָמִ֣יר אָ֑רֶץ וּבְמ֥וֹט הָ֝רִ֗ים בְּלֵ֣ב יַמִּֽים׃	3	Therefore, we will not fear though the earth change its appearance, and the mountains topple into the heart of the deepest sea.
יֶהֱמ֣וּ יֶחְמְר֣וּ מֵימָ֑יו	4	Though its waters foam in rage and increase in strength, like wine bubbling up during fermentation. They may want to see us reel and stagger as from wine, yet we will not be afraid. Though mountains quake at the sea’s surging, and even then we will not be afraid. Selah.
נָהָ֗ר פְּלָגָ֗יו יְשַׂמְּח֥וּ עִיר־אֱלֹהִ֑ים קְ֝דֹ֗שׁ מִשְׁכְּנֵ֥י עֶלְיֽוֹן׃	5	Moreover, God has prepared us for the fiercest attack from enemies. Like other kings, he has engineered a canal system to provide water to his city so that we will be nourished and defended during siege. That is why we have a river whose streams rush to the city of God and gladden it — they run to the city of God which is the holy dwelling of the Most High.
אֱלֹהִ֣ים בְּ֭קִרְבָּהּ בַּל־תִּמּ֑וֹט יַעְזְרֶ֥הָ אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים לִפְנ֥וֹת בֹּֽקֶר׃	6	God is in the very midst of his city. Therefore, it cannot be moved. When enemies come and attack us in the morning, God meets and repels their strike. God helps his city at the approach of morning.
הָמ֣וּ ג֭וֹיִם מָ֣טוּ מַמְלָכ֑וֹת נָתַ֥ן בְּ֝קוֹל֗וֹ תָּמ֥וּג אָֽרֶץ׃	7	[When] nations raged like mighty chaotic waters, [and] kingdoms fell down like mountains into the deepest sea, [then] he thundered with his voice like a storm, [then] the whole earth would melt!
יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֣וֹת עִמָּ֑נוּ	8	YHWH, [the God] of heavenly Hosts, is with us. The God of Jacob is a fortress for us.He is our most reliable defensive structure in which we can find shelter from hostile forces. Selah.
לְֽכוּ־ חֲ֭זוּ מִפְעֲל֣וֹת יְהוָ֑ה אֲשֶׁר־שָׂ֖ם שַׁמּ֣וֹת בָּאָֽרֶץ׃	9	Come! Inspect this massive battlefield! Perceive the works of YHWH who has wrought great devastation in the land.
מַשְׁבִּ֥ית מִלְחָמוֹת֮ עַד־קְצֵ֪ה הָ֫אָ֥רֶץ קֶ֣שֶׁת יְ֭שַׁבֵּר וְקִצֵּ֣ץ חֲנִ֑ית עֲ֝גָל֗וֹת יִשְׂרֹ֥ף בָּאֵֽשׁ׃	10	See how God, the one who terminates wars to the end of the earth destroys his enemies' weapons. Look how he breaks the bow and snaps the spear. See how he burns the enemy's food supplies heaped on transport wagons. See how they are engulfed in fire.
הַרְפּ֣וּ וּ֭דְעוּ כִּי־אָנֹכִ֣י אֱלֹהִ֑ים אָר֥וּם בַּ֝גּוֹיִ֗ם אָר֥וּם בָּאָֽרֶץ׃	11	And now hear what our God commands: "Be still and acknowledge that I am God! Surrender is the only option when you are fighting against my people. My city and I are indestructible. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted throughout the earth.”
יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֣וֹת עִמָּ֑נוּ מִשְׂגָּֽב־לָ֝נוּ אֱלֹהֵ֖י יַעֲקֹ֣ב סֶֽלָה׃	12	YHWH, [the God] of heavenly Hosts, is with us. The God of Jacob is a fortress for us. He is our most reliable defensive structure in which we can find shelter from hostile forces. Selah.

Story Triangles

(Click diagram to enlarge)

There are currently no Imagery Tables available for this psalm.

---

Bibliography

Abernethy, Andrew T. 2019. "‘Mountains Moved into the Sea’: The Western Reception of Psalm 46:1 and 3 [45:1 and 3 LXX] From the Septuagint to Luther." The Journal of Theological Studies 70: 523–545.

Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. 2018. Serial Verbs. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Anderson, Arnold Albert. 1981. The Book of Psalms: Based on the Revised Standard Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

Bach, Robert. 1971. “... Der Bogen zerbricht, Spiesse zerschlägt und Wagen mit Feuer verbrennt.” Pages 13–26 in Probleme biblischer Theologie. Edited by Hans Walter Wolff. Munich: Kaisere.

Bachvarova, M. 2008. "Sumerian Gala Priests and Eastern Mediterranean Returning Gods: Tragic Lamentation in Cross-Cultural Perspective." Pages 18–52 in Lament: Studies in the Ancient Mediterranean and Beyond. Edited by Ann Suter. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Briggs, Charles Augustus and Emilie Grace Briggs. 1907. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Psalms. Vol. 2. ICC. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.

Cornell, Collin. 2020. Divine Aggression in Psalms and Inscriptions: Vengeful Gods and Loyal Kings. SOTSM. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Craigie, Peter C., and Marvin E. Tate. 1983. Psalms 1–50. 2nd ed. WBC 19. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Creach, Jerome F.D. 1996. Yahweh as Refuge and the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter. JSOTSup 217. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.

Dahood, Mitchell. 1966. Psalms. Vol. 1. AB. New York: Doubleday.

Day, P. 1995. "The Personification of Cities in the Hebrew Bible: The Thesis of Aloysius Fitsgerald, F.S.C.," Pages 283-302 in Reading From This Place: Social Location and Biblical Interpretation. Edited by Fernando Segovia and Mary Ann Tolbert. Minneapolis: Fortress.

Day, John. 1985. God’s Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea: Echoes of a Canaanite Myth in the Old Testament. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

DeClaissé-Walford, Nancy, Rolf A. Jacobson, and Beth LaNeel Tanner. 2014. The Book of Psalms. NICOT. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

Delitzsch, Franz. 1883. Biblical Commentary on the Psalms. vol. 1. Translated by Eaton David. New York: Funk and Wagnalls.

Dobbs-Allsopp, F. 1993. Weep, O Daughter of Zion: A Study of the City-Lament Genre in the Hebrew Bible. Rome: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico.

Duhm, Bernhard. 1922. Die Psalmen. 2nd ed. Kurzer Hand-Commentar Zum Alten Testament 14. Tübingen: Mohn (Paul Siebeck).

Fokkelman, J.P. 2000. Major Poems of the Hebrew Bible: At the Interface of Prosody and Structural Analysis (Vol 2: 85 Psalms and Job 4–14). Studia Semitica Neerlandica. Assen, Drenthe: Van Gorcum.

Futato, Mark D. 2007. Interpreting the Psalms. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel.

Goldingay, John. 2007. Psalms 42–89. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

Goulder, Michael D. 1982. The Psalms of the Sons of Korah. Sheffield: JSOT Press.

Grayson. Kirk A. and Jamie Novotny. 2014. The Royal Inscriptions of Sennacherib, King of Assyria (704–681 BC). University Park, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, Eisenbrauns.

Gunkel, Hermann. 1895. Schopfung und Chaos in Urzeit und Endzeit. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht.

________. 1968. Die Psalmen. HK II.2. Göttingen.

Gwaltney, W. 1983. "The Biblical Book of Lamentations in the Context of Near Eastern Lament Literature." Pages 191–212 in More Essays on the Comparative Method: Scripture in Context II. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

Hayes, John. 1963. “The Tradition of Zion’s Inviolability.” Journal of Biblical Literature 82, no. 4: 419-426.

Hengstenberg, Ernst Wilhelm. 1863. Commentary on the Psalms. Vol. 2. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.

Hossfeld, Frank-Lothar, and Erich Zenger. 1993. Die Psalmen I. Neue Echter Bibel. Würzburg: Echter.

Jenni, Ernst. 2012. "Nif’al und Hitpa‘el im Biblisch-Hebräischen." Pages 131-304 in Studien zur Sprachwelt des Alten Testaments III. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.

Jacobson, Rolf. A. 2020. "Psalm 46: Translation, Structure, and Theology." Word and World 40: 308-320.

Junker, H. 1962. "Der Strom, dessen Arme die Stadt Gottes erfreuen (Ps. 46,5)." Biblica 43: 197-201.

Keel, Othmar. 1997. The Symbolism of the Biblical World: Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Book of Psalms. Translated by T.J. Hallett. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

Kissane, Edward. 1953. The Book of Psalms. Vol. 1. Westminster, MD: The Newman Press.

Klingbeil, Martin. 1999. Yahweh Fighting from Heaven. God as Warrior and as God of Heaven in the Hebrew Psalter and Ancient Near Eastern Iconography. OBO 169. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

Kolyada, Yelena. 2009. A Compendium of Musical Instruments and Instrumental Terminology in the Bible. Bible World. London: Equinox.

Kraus, Hans-Joachim. 1972. Psalmen 1–63. BKT XV/1. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag.

Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count Program: http://www.liwc.net/

Loretz, Oswald. 1979. Die Psalmen: Beitrag der Ugarit-Texte zum Verständnis von Kolometrie und Textologie der Psalmen. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag.

L., S.H. 1916. "An Ancient Babylonian Map." The Museum Journal VII, 4: 263-268. Accessed August 22, 2024. https://www.penn.museum/sites/journal/530/

Lugt, Pieter van der. 2010. Cantos and Strophes in Biblical Hebrew Poetry. Vol. 2. Oudtestamentische Studiën 53. Leiden: Brill.

Lunn, Nicholas P. 2006. Word Order Variation in Biblical Hebrew Poetry: The Role of Pragmatics and Poetics in the Verbal Clause. Paternoster Biblical Monographs. Milton Keynes: Paternoster.

Maier, Christl. 2008. Daughter Zion, Mother Zion: Gender, Space, and the Sacred in Ancient Israel. Minneapolis, MI: Fortress Press.

Mena, Andrea K. 2012. The Semantic Potential of in Genesis, Psalms, and Chronicles. MA thesis, Stellenbosch University.

Miller, P.D. 1973. The Divine Warrior in Early Israel. HSM 5. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Miller, Robert D. 2010. “The Zion Hymns as Instruments of Power.” Ancient Near Eastern Studies 47: 217–39.

________. 2018. The Dragon, the Mountain, and the Nations: An Old Testament Myth, Its Origins, and Its Afterlives. Explorations in Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

Neve, Lloyd. 1974/75. "The Common Use of Traditions by the Author of Psalm 46 and Isaiah." The Expository Times 86: 243-246.

O’Kelly, Matthew A. 2024. "Stillness and Salvation: Reading Psalm 46 in Its Context." Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 48: 371–383.

Peterson, Eugene H. 2003. The Message. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

Raabe, P.R. 1990. Psalm Structures. A Study of Psalms with Refrains. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 104. Sheffield: JSOT Press.

RINAP: Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period (RINAP) Project

Quine, Cat. 2020. Casting Down the Host of Heaven: The Rhetoric of Ritual Failure in the Polemic Against the Host of Heaven. Old Testament Studies 78. Leiden: Brill.

Sawyer, John F.A. 2011. “The Terminology of the Psalm Headings.” Pages 288-298 in Sacred Text and Sacred Meanings: Studies in Biblical Language and Literature. Collected Essays by John F.A. Sawyer. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix.

Schroer, Sylvia. 2008. "Gender and Iconography from the Viewpoint of a Feminist Biblical Scholar." Lectio Deficilio 2: 1-25.

Trimm, Charlie. 2017. Fighting for the King and the Gods: A Survey of Warfare in the Ancient Near East. Resources for Biblical Studies 88. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature Press.

Tsumura, David Toshio. 1980. “The Literary Structure of Psalm 46, 2-8.” Annual of the Japanese Biblical Institute 6: 29-55.

________. 1981. "Twofold Image of Wine in Psalm 46:4-5." Jewish Quarterly Review 71: 167-175.

________. 2014. Creation and Destruction: A Reappraisal of the Chaoskampf Theory in the Old Testament. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

Waltke, Bruce K., James M. Houston and Erika Moore. The Psalms as Christian Worship: A Historical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2010.

Watson, Rebecca S. 2005. Chaos Uncreated: A Reassessment of the Theme of “Chaos” in the Hebrew Bible. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 341. Berlin: de Gruyter.

________. 2018. “'Therefore We Will Not Fear”? The Psalms of Zion in Psychological Perspective." Pages 182-216 in The City in the Hebrew Bible: Critical, Literary and Exegetical Approaches. Edited by James K. Aitken and Hilary F. Marlow. LHBOTS 672. London: T&T Clark.

Weber, B. 2001 and 2003. Werkbuch Psalmen. 2 vols. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.

Weiser, Artur. 1962. The Psalms. OTL. Translated by Herbert Hartwell. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press.

Welton, Rebekah. 2024. "Yahweh the Wrathful Vintner: Blood and Wine-making Metaphors in Isaiah 49:26a and 63:6." Journal for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies 4: 19-41.

Wilson, Gerald. 2002. Psalms. Vol. 1. NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Wright, Jacob. 2015. “Urbicide: The Ritualized Killing of Cities in the Ancient Near East.” Pages 147-166 in Ritual Violence in the Hebrew Bible: New Perspective. Edited by Saul M. Olyan. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ziegler, Joseph. 1950. “Die Hilfe Gottes ‘am Morgen.’” Pages 281–88 in Alttestamentliche Studien. Edited by Hubert Junker and Johannes Botterweck. Bonn: Hanstein.

---