Psalm 18

YHWH fights my battles

Introduction

Overview

What do we mean by this?

The purpose was the psalmist's probable intent or reason for writing this psalm. The Content is a concise summary of the whole psalm's content. The Message is the main idea the psalmist probably wanted the audience to remember upon or after hearing the psalm.

Purpose: To express confidence in YHWH as the strength and deliverer of his loyal ones.

Content: YHWH shows his loyalty toward David (v. 50) by being perfectly just (vv. 26-27). David shows his love towards YHWH (v. 2) by being righteous and faithful (vv. 21-250. That's why YHWH delivers David by strengthening him (vv. 31-43) and fighting cosmic forces on his behalf (vv. 8-20).

Message: YHWH treats people according to their loyalty.

Background Ideas

What do we mean by this?

Cultural, historical, and contextual information that is important to know to understand this psalm

• David is in a binding relationship to YHWH (a “covenant”) whereby commandments and protection are exchanged for obedience (Exod 20:6; Deut 5:10; 6:5; 7:9; 1 Kg 3:3; Neh 1:5).
• In the Psalms, the king was YHWH's representative on earth (cf. Psalm 2:11–12; Keel 1997, 246–247), such that The king's enemies are God's enemies: "The Israelite king's view of his enemies can be compared with that of other sacred kings. The Assyrian king, for example, considered his enemies as enemies of his gods, guilty of impious rebellion” (Eaton 1975, 141).
• YHWH is sometimes portrayed as the Divine Warrior in battle  (see Longman and Reid 1995, 31–48) of the Ancient Near East. The Divine Warrior was a common creation myth in Syria-Palestine whereby, crucially, “a Divine Warrior goes forth to battle the chaotic monsters, variously called Sea, Death, Leviathan, Tannin; (2) the world of nature responds to the wrath of the Divine Warrior and the forces of chaos are defeated...” (see Oden 1992, 1164).
• God's manifestation of his presence usually took the form of a thunderstorm (see Hiebert 1992, 508; Walton 2009, 333; COS I:260n.160; Josh 10:11; Job 38:22–23; Isa 30:30).
• Due to its association with death and Sheol (cf. Yuan 2023, 127–128), water was a symbol of the wicked and of enemy armies (May 1955).
• The winds hailed from four directions and were thought to be produced by divine wings, thus the earth is said to have “wings” (Isa 11:12; Ezek 7:2) (see Noegel 2017, 19–20). “Wings” therefore became conceptually linked with, and virtually a byword for, directions.
• In Biblical Cosmology, the earth was perceived as a a flat disk that sat above the Chaos-waters (see Keel 1997, 40). It was upheld by its “foundations” (Isa 24:18; Jer. 31:37; Micah 6:2, etc.), which were most likely mountains (cf. Deut 32.22). Thus the “foundations” of the earth and the “foundations of the mountains” are co-referential. Heaven was perceived of as a solid vault from which the sun, moon and stars hung (Gen 1.14–17; see Bartelmus 2006, 2011). This vault (cf. Ps 19:1) kept the chaos waters from above from flooding the earth. Above the chaos-waters from above, in the highest heavens, sat the Lord (Ps 29:10).</il>

Background Situation

What do we mean by this?

A brief explanation of the "story behind" the psalm--what was going on in the psalmist's life, and/or Israel's history, that prompted the psalmist to pen this psalm? The colors in the boxes correspond to the participants in the psalm (see Participant Analysis).

Sections

What do we mean by this?

These sections divide the content of the psalm into digestible pieces , and are determined based on information from many of our layers, including Semantics, Poetics, and Discourse. The columns, left to right, contain: the verse numbers; the main title of the section; a brief summary of the content of that section (quote marks indicate the text is taken directly from the English text of the psalm (as per our Close-but-Clear translation)); and an icon to visually represent and remember the content.

Videos

Overview Video

The Overview video is a brief, concise explanation of the psalm, pulling all the most important information specific to this psalm from each of our analytical layers. The video begins with a high-level, birds-eye view of the content of the psalm, then explores and explains the psalm verse by verse. Relevant contextual information is also included. No Hebrew knowledge required--this video serves as an entry point for all users to all our other information about the psalm.

Video files

• The script for the Overview video is available here.
• The slides for the Overview video are available here.

Translation Aids

Recommended steps for translating the psalms

To translate poetry accurately and beautifully, a knowledge of both the source language's poetry and the target language's poetry is needed. So, here are the steps we recommend to follow when setting out to translate the psalms:

1. GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE TARGET LANGUAGE'S POETRY/ARTS. Research and analyze many examples from numerous genres of poetry, storytelling, and music in the target language and culture, and document findings. See our for help.
2. GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE SOURCE LANGUAGE'S (HEBREW) MEANING AND POETRY. The aim of all our materials is to provide exactly this for the translator, poet/musician/artist, and consultant: an understanding of what the psalm means, as well as its poetics.
3. TRANSLATE THE PSALM IN THE APPROPRIATE LOCAL ART/POETRY GENRE.

Translation and Performance Notes

TPNs are an at-a-glance reference for anyone involved with translating or checking a translation of the psalm. Specific words, phrases, and images that could be difficult to understand or to translate are highlighted, and then briefly discussed. Each note is intended to help the reader understand the meaning of the Hebrew word or phrase in its context, as well as provide a few translation options or suggestions, often pulling from existing translations. Where pertinent, our preferred translation option is given. NOTE: These notes are intended to supplement a robust internalization of the psalm, not replace it. Translation Challenges for Psalm 18 not available yet.

Close-but-Clear Translation

What do we mean by this?

The Close-but-clear translation (CBC) exists to provide a window into the Hebrew text according to how we understand its syntax and word-to-phrase-level semantics. It is not intended to be used as a stand-alone translation or base text, but as a supplement to Layer-by-Layer materials to help users make full use of these resources.

1. For the director By YHWH’s servant, David,

who recited

the words of this song to YHWH

when YHWH had rescued him out of the palm of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said,

2.“I shall keep loving you, YHWH, my strength.

YHWH is my cleft and my fortress and my rescuer.

3. My God is my rock, in him do I seek protection,

my shield and the horn of my deliverance,

my fortified tower and my refuge,

my deliverer, who delivers me from violence.

4. I cry out to YHWH, since he is praiseworthy,

and I am delivered from my enemies.

5. The breaker waves of Death surrounded me.

And the torrents of Beliya’al began to overwhelm me.

6. The cords of Sheol entangled me.

Death’s traps rushed upon me.

7. In my distress I cry out to YHWH.

and to my God do I cry for help.

He hears my cry from his temple.

And my cry for help before him comes into his ears.

8. And the earth quivered and quaked.

And the mountains’ foundations began to shake.

And they trembled. For he had become angry.

9. Smoke went up because of his snarl.

And a fire from his mouth began to consume.

Coals burned from him.

10. And he bent down the heavens and descended.

And a dark smog was beneath his feet.

11. And he mounted a Cherub and began to fly.

And he flew swiftly upon the wings of the wind.

12. He made darkness his cover.

[He made darkness] his canopy around him,

the sieve of water, thick clouds of the skies.

13. Because of the brightness before him,

hail and coals of fire passed.

14. And YHWH thundered in the heavens.

And the Most High began to raise his voice.

15. And he shot his arrows, and dispersed them.

And [he shot his] his glittering arrows, and routed them.

16. And the ocean floor appeared.

And the foundations of the world were revealed

because of your rebuke, YHWH,

because of the blast of the wind of your anger.

17. He stretched forth [his hand] from on high and took me.

He pulled me out from many waters.

18. He rescued me from my strong enemy.

And [he rescued me] from those who hate me. For they were too powerful for me.

19. They rushed upon me at the time of my calamity.

And YHWH was the one in whom I trusted.

20. And he brought me out into relief.

He delivered me. For he is pleased with me.

21. YHWH deals well with me according to my righteousness.

He repays me according to the cleanliness of my hands.

22. For I have kept the ways of YHWH.

And I have not turned away from my God towards wicked ways.

23. For all of his rules are before me.

And I will not turn his decrees away from me.

24. And I have become blameless before him.

And I have kept myself from committing iniquity.

25. And YHWH has repaid me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanliness of my hands before his eyes.

26. You act faithfully with a faithful person.

You act blamelessly with a blameless person.

27. You act with purity with one who purifies himself.

And with a twisted person you act wittily.

28. For you save a humble people

And you bring down eyes that look down on others.

29. For you light my lamp, YHWH.

My God gives light to my darkness.

30. For by you I can route an army.

and by my God I can scale a wall.

31. God—His way is perfect.

The sayings of YHWH are true.

He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.

32. For who is God besides YHWH?

And who is a rock besides our God,

33. the God who arms me with strength

and makes my endeavour secure?

34. He makes my feet like those of deer

And he causes me to stand upon my heights.

35. He trains my hands for war.

And he strengthens my arms with a bow of bronze.

36. And you give me the shield of your victory.

And your right hand supports me.

And your help makes me great.

37. You enlarged my steps underneath me.

And my ankles did not falter.

38. I chased my enemies and I overtook them.

and I would not relent until their destruction.

39. I violently beat them. And they could not stand.

They fell beneath my feet.

40. And you equipped me with strength for war.

You make those who rise up against me kneel underneath me.

41. And you have made my enemies retreat from me.

And as for those who hate me, I wipe them out.

42. They cry out for help and there is no rescuer.

[They cry out for help] to YHWH, and he has not answered them.

43. And I crush them like the dust on the road.

I beat them like the mud of the streets.

44. You will deliver me from people’s indictments.

You will make me head of nations.

A people I do not know will serve me.

45. As soon as they hear the rumors of me they will show obedience to me.

Foreigners will submit to me.

46. Foreigners will lose heart.

and tremble from their fortresses.

47. YHWH lives! And my rock is blessed!

And the God of my rescue is exalted!

48. God—who gives me vengeance,

and subdues peoples underneath me.

49. You who deliver me from my enemies

will indeed exalt me over those who rise up against me.

You will rescue me from the violent man.

50. Therefore, I shall praise you among the nations, YHWH!

And I shall sing praise to your name,

51. you who makes the deliverance of his king spectacular,

and performs acts of loyalty for his anointed one,

for David, and for his seed, forever.”

Explore the Layers

Exegetical Issues

What do we mean by this?

The Hebrew of the psalms can be difficult to understand at times. In this section, you can explore (in either video or text format) what we've deemed to be the three most important difficulties in the Hebrew, and follow our reasoning as we do a deep dive in scholarly work and explain our conclusions.

Are There Preterite Yiqtols in Psalm 18?

Non-Initial Yiqtols in Psalm 18:1–20

The Form and Meaning of נִחֲתָ֥ה in Psalm 18:35

Grammar

What do we mean by this?

A full, detailed diagram showing the grammatical function of each word/morpheme in the Hebrew text, along with accompanying notes.

• Explore the Grammar layer

Semantics

Lexical and Phrase-level Semantics

What do we mean by this?

Lexical semantics is the study of word meanings. It examines semantic range (=possible meanings of a word), the relationship between words (e.g. synonymy, hyponymy), as well as the relationship between words and larger concepts (conceptual domains). One component of our approach involves not only the study of the Hebrew word meaning, but also of our own assumptions about word meaning in modern languages. Because the researcher necessarily starts with their own cultural assumptions (in our case, those of Western-trained scholars), this part of the analysis should ideally be done afresh for every culture. Phrase-level semantics analyses the meaning of syntactic units which are larger than the level of the word and smaller than the level of the clause. Specifically, this layer analyses the meaning of prepositional phrases , construct phrases (a special type of construction in Hebrew), phrases formed by a coordinating waw conjunction, and noun phrases which consist of a noun plus a determiner (such as "the") or a quantifier (such as "all").

• Explore Lexical and Phrasal Semantics

Verbal Semantics

What do we mean by this?

Verbal Semantics focuses on the relationship between verbs, time and modality, and gives details about each verb in the psalm. This is important for interpretation and translation, and how one analyses a verb can have a significant effect on how it is rendered.

• Explore Verbal Semantics

Story Behind the Psalm (Unit-level Semantics)

What do we mean by this?

The Story Behind triangle tells the "story" (reading from left to right, beginning at the bottom left corner) of what might have prompted the psalmist to write this psalm. The events and ideas on the triangle are taken from the Propositions and Assumptions table below. Propositional content is the part of the meaning of a clause or sentence that is constant, despite changes in such things as voice, illocutionary force, tense/aspect/mode, person/gender/number, etc. It refers to “the kind of situation or event described by the underlying proposition.” Once we have identified the propositional content, we ask, “what would the world have to be like for this [proposition] to be true?” That is, what does this proposition presuppose about the world? What does it entail? What might be implied? In what kind of situation does this make sense? In other words, what assumptions are bound up with this proposition? We distinguish three kinds of assumptions:

• Common-ground assumptions
• Local-ground assumptions
• Playground assumptions

See the Legend accompanying the chart for more details on the types of assumptions.

Understanding the assumptions involved will help translators understand the implicit information present in the text, so that they can decide which of these to make explicit in the translation or biblical helps for their audience to understand the text's larger meaning.

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Discourse

Participant Analysis

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What do we mean by this?

This layer examines each participant in the psalm, whether they have speaking roles in the psalm, or are just referenced in the poem. Often, the relationships and interactions among participants sheds much light on the understanding and translation of a psalm. The summary visuals give a view of the participants in the psalm as a whole, while the tables list the participant information for each clause.

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Macrosyntax

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• Explore Macrosyntax

Speech Act Analysis

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Emotional Analysis

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Repeated Roots

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Poetics

Poetic Structure & Features

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• Explore further Poetic Analysis

Verse-by-Verse Notes

View all of Psalm 18 Verse-by-Verse Notes, or click on an individual verse below.

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