comparison from the figure. It is not swiftness in flight (De Wette), but in attack and pursuit that is meant, - the latter being a prominent characteristic of warriors, according to 2Sa 1:23; 2Sa 2:18; 1Ch 12:8. David does not call the high places of the enemy, which he has made his own by conquest “my high places,” but those heights of the Holy Land which belong to him as king of Israel: upon these Jahve preserves him a firm position, so that from them he may rule the land far and wide, and hold them victoriously (cf. passages like Deu 32:13; Isa 58:14). The verb למּד, which has a double accusative in other instances, is here combined with ל of the subject taught, as the aim of the teaching. The verb נחת (to press down = to bend a bow) precedes the subject “my arms” in the singular; this inequality is admissible even when the subject stands first (e.g., Gen 49:22; Joe 1:20; Zec 6:14). קשׁת נחוּשׁה a bow of brazen = of brass, as in Job 20:24. It is also the manner of heroes in Homer and in the Ramâ-jana to press down and bend with their hand a brazen bow, one end of which rests on the ground.
Verses 35-36
Psa 18:35-36 (Hebrew_Bible_18:36-37) Yet it is not the brazen bow in itself that makes him victorious, but the helpful strength of his God. “Shield of Thy salvation” is that consisting of Thy salvation. מגן has an unchangeable å, as it has always. The salvation of Jahve covered him as a shield, from which every stroke of the foe rebounded; the right hand of Jahve supported him that his hands might not become feeble in the conflict. In its ultimate cause it is the divine ענוה, to which he must trace back his greatness, i.e., God's lowliness, by virtue of which His eyes look down upon that which is on the earth (Psa 113:6), and the poor and contrite ones are His favourite dwelling-place (Isa 57:15; Isa 66:1.); cf. B. Megilla 31a, “wherever Scripture testifies of the גבורה of the Holy One, blessed be He, it gives prominence also, in connection with it, to His condescension, ענותנוּתו, as in Deu 10:17 and in connection with it Deu 10:18, Isa 57:15 and Isa 57:15, Psa 68:5 and Psa 68:6.” The rendering of Luther, who follows the lxx and Vulgate, “When Thou humblest me, Thou makest me great” is opposed by the fact that ענוה means the bending of one's self, and not of another. What
