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Selected Verse: Psalms 18:16 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Ps 18:16 |
King James |
He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
from above--As seated on a throne, directing these terrible scenes, God--
sent--His hand (Psa 144:7), reached down to His humble worshipper, and delivered him.
many waters--calamities (Job 30:14; Psa 124:4-5). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
He sent from above - He interposed to save me. All these manifestations of the divine interposition were from above, or from heaven; all came from God.
He took me - He took hold on me; he rescued me.
He drew me out of many waters - Margin, great waters. Waters are often expressive of calamity and trouble, Psa 46:3; Psa 69:1; Psa 73:10; Psa 124:4-5. The meaning here is, that God had rescued him out of the many troubles and dangers that encompassed him, as if he had fallen into the sea and was in danger of perishing. |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
(Heb.: 18:17-20) Then Jahve stretches out His hand from above into the deep chasm and draws up the sinking one. The verb שׁלח occurs also in prose (Sa2 6:6) without יד (Psa 57:4, cf. on the other hand the borrowed passage, Psa 144:7) in the signification to reach (after anything). The verb משׁה, however, is only found in one other instance, viz., Exo 2:10, as the root (transferred from the Egyptian into the Hebrew) of the name of Moses, and even Luther saw in it an historical allusion, "He hath made a Moses of me," He hath drawn me out of great (many) waters, which had well nigh swallowed me up, as He did Moses out of the waters of the Nile, in which he would have perished. This figurative language is followed, in Psa 18:18, by its interpretation, just as in Psa 144:7 the "great waters" are explained by מיּד בּני נכר, which, however, is not suitable here, or at least is too limited.
With Psa 18:17 the hymn has reached the climax of epic description, from which it now descends in a tone that becomes more and more lyrical. In the combination איבי עז, עז is not an adverbial accusative, but an adjective, like רוּחך טובה Psa 143:10, and ὁ ἀνὴρ ἀγαθός (Hebrerbrief S. 353). כּי introduces the reason for the interposition of the divine omnipotence, viz., the superior strength of the foe and the weakness of the oppressed one. On the day of his איד, i.e., (vid., on Psa 31:12) his load or calamity, when he was altogether a homeless and almost defenceless fugitive, they came upon him (קדּם Psa 17:13), cutting off all possible means of delivering himself, but Jahve became the fugitive's staff (Psa 23:4) upon which he leaned and kept himself erect. By the hand of God, out of straits and difficulties he reached a broad place, out of the dungeon of oppression to freedom, for Jahve had delighted in him, he was His chosen and beloved one. חפץ has the accent on the penult here, and Metheg as a sign of the lengthening (העמדה) beside the ē, that it may not be read ĕ.
(Note: In like manner Metheg is placed beside the ee of the final closed syllable that has lost the tone in חפץ Psa 22:9, ותּחולל Psa 90:2, vid., Isaiah S. 594 note.)
The following strophe tells the reason of his pleasing God and of His not allowing him to perish. This כּי חפץ בּי (for He delighted in me) now becomes the primary thought of the song. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
| He drew me out of many waters - Here the allusion is still carried on. The waters thus poured out were sweeping the people away; but God, by a miraculous interference, sent and drew David out. Sometimes waters are used to denote multitudes of people; and here the word may have that reference; multitudes were gathered together against David, but God delivered him from them all. This seems to be countenanced by the following verse. |
4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
5 Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
14 They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.
7 Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;
4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
5 Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
10 Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
1 To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, A Psalm of David. Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.
3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.
7 Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;
18 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.
10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
7 Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;
4 My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
6 And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it.