Psalm 89/Notes/Phrasal.v. 44.750881
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
- In the Masoretic Text, the word "battle" appears to have the definite article: "in the battle" (בַּמִּלְחָמָה) (so e.g., KJV). The reference might be to the specific battle, inferrable from the preceding context, in which the king's walls and fortresses were destroyed (cf. v. 41). When the king fell in that battle, YHWH did not help him up. Most English translations, however, omit the article in their translation: "in battle" (NIV, NLT, ESV, NASB, CSB, GNT, NET, NJPS). Indeed, it is possible that בַּמִּלְחָמָה is not really definite at all. Sometimes, in the Masoretic Text, what appears to be the article in a prefixed prepositional phrase is not actually an article (cf. Huang 2015, 16-18, 136-137). In this case, however, the article makes sense, and it is confirmed by the Septuagint: "in the battle" (ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ).