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UHB 1 לַ⁠מְנַצֵּ֤חַ ׀ לְ⁠עֶ֥בֶד יְהוָ֗ה לְ⁠דָ֫וִ֥ד אֲשֶׁ֤ר דִּבֶּ֨ר ׀ לַ⁠יהוָ֗ה אֶת־דִּ֭בְרֵי הַ⁠שִּׁירָ֣ה הַ⁠זֹּ֑את בְּ⁠י֤וֹם הִֽצִּיל־יְהוָ֘ה אוֹת֥⁠וֹ מִ⁠כַּ֥ף כָּל־אֹ֝יְבָ֗י⁠ו וּ⁠מִ⁠יַּ֥ד שָׁאֽוּל׃ ‡

ULT To the music director. David, the servant of Yahweh words of the day the palm of enemies from the hand of

WEBBE For the Chief Musician. By David the servant of the LORD, who spoke to the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said,

WMBB (Same as above)

NET For the music director; by the Lord’s servant David, who sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord rescued him from the power of all his enemies, including Saul.

FBV To the music director. A psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who sang the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord saved him from all his enemies, and from Saul. He sang:

BBE To the chief music-maker. Of the servant of the Lord, of David, who said the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord made him free from the hand of all his haters, and from the hand of Saul; and he said,

Moff From the Choirmaster’s collection. A song of David the servant of the Eternal, who sang these words to the Eternal on the day when the Eternal rescued him from the power of all his enemies, from the power of Saul. He said:

ASV For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of Jehovah, who spake unto Jehovah the words of this song in the day that Jehovah delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: and he said,

Drby To the chief Musician. [A Psalm] of David, the servant of Jehovah, who spoke to Jehovah the words of this song in the day that Jehovah had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul. And he said,

RV For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: and he said,

KJB-1769 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,

KJB-1611 ¶ To the chiefe musicion, a psalme of Dauid, the seruant of the LORD, who spake vnto the LORD the words of this song, in the day that the LORD deliuered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,] I will loue thee, O LORD, my strength.
(¶ To the chief musicion, a psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song, in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,] I will love thee/you, Oh LORD, my strength.)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Psalm 18 Introduction

Structure and Formatting

This is a song by David about Yahweh’s deliverance. This song is also recorded in the Bible in [2 Samuel 22](../2sa/22/01.md). 1. David sings to Yahweh that he loves him and calls Yahweh his “strength” (1) 2. David describes what Yahweh is to him (2) 3. David recounts that God has answered his prayer and saved him from his enemies when he was in a dangerous situation (3–6) 4. David compares Yahweh’s act of saving him to three different natural disasters (7–14) 5. David recounts Yahweh delivering him (15–19) 6. David gives the reason Yahweh has delivered him (20–27) 7. David recounts the different things Yahweh has done for him (28–48) 8. David thanks and praises Yahweh (49) 9. Yahweh saves David his chosen king and shows covenant faithfulness to David and his descendants forever (50)

Translation Issues in This Psalm

Hebrew poetry

The verses of this song by David continually present two phrases that mean basically the same thing. The second emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea with different words. Hebrew poetry was based on this kind of repetition, and you may want to show this to your readers by including both phrases in your translation. If it is helpful, you could connect the phrases with a word other than “and” in order to show that the second phrase is repeating the first one, not saying something additional. But you may find that in some cases it is appropriate to combine the two phrases. For example:- both phrases[18:23](../018/023.md) And I have been blameless with him,and I have kept myself from my iniquity.“And I have been blameless with him,yes, I have kept myself from my iniquity.”[18:21](../018/021.md) For I have kept the ways of Yahweh,and I have not been wicked from my God.“For I have kept the ways of Yahweh,no, I have not been wicked from my God.”- combined into one[18:6](../018/006.md) In my distress I called to Yahweh,and to my God I called“In my distress I called out to Yahweh, my God”

Extended metaphor

In [7–14](../018/007.md), David describes Yahweh coming to help him as being like the greatest natural forces that people of his culture knew, which were an earthquake (7), a volcano (8), and a thunderstorm ([9–14](../018/009.md)). He describes each of these forces in poetic language. In other words, after stating his topic, which is how Yahweh delivered him (6), David then depicts it with multiple images that communicate multiple ideas. Think about how you might show in your translation that [7–14](../018/007.md), while describing three different things, all illustrate the same topic.

Note 1 topic: translate-unknown

לַ⁠מְנַצֵּ֤חַ

(la⁠mənaʦʦēaḩ)

The word translated as chief musician likely refers to the person in charge of music for worship. Some languages may have a term for a music leader. Alternate translation: [For the music director] or [For the leader of worship music]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

מִ⁠כַּ֥ף כָּל־אֹ֝יְבָ֗י⁠ו וּ⁠מִ⁠יַּ֥ד שָׁאֽוּל

(mi⁠kkaf kāl-ʼoyⱱāy⁠v ū⁠mi⁠yaּd shāʼūl)

Here palm and hand represent power or control. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [from the control of all his enemies]

Parallel PSA 18:0

Psalm 18 Introduction

Structure and Formatting

Translation Issues in This Psalm

Hebrew poetry

Extended metaphor