Arise, Lord; save me, my God! For You [d]have struck all my enemies on the [e]cheek; You [f]have shattered the teeth of the wicked. Psalm 3:7 NASB Have struck – If you wanted to rid yourself of all your enemies, would you be satisfied to simply strike them each on the cheek? I don’t think so. You and I would probably want…
Then Joshua and all Israel [a]pretended to be defeated before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. Joshua 8:15 NASB Pretended to be defeated – Have you ever watched a movie with dialogue in your native tongue but with subtitles added? You’ll notice immediately that the subtitles often flatten the conversation, reducing the nuances and…
For You—whom You struck they pursued, and they recounted the pain of Your victims. Psalm 69:27 [Hebrew Bible] Robert Alter Whom You struck – When did God strike you? The verb is nākâ, used some 500 times in the Tanakh, often for physical injury or even death. But that’s not the way it’s used here. …
“Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank. Numbers 20:10b-11 NASB Struck – We know this story from Sunday school days. The ensuing punishment given…
