Psalms 18:34

He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
teacheth	מְלַמֵּ֣ד me.la.Med	H3925	properly · verb, piel active participle, masculine singular absolute
hands	יָ֭דַי Ya.dai	H3027	a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders dual construct + pronominal suffix
war	לַמִּלְחָמָ֑ה la.mil.cha.Mah	H4421	a battle (i.e. the engagement) · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
bow	קֶֽשֶׁת ke.shet-	H7198	a bow · noun, common feminine singular construct
steel	נְ֝חוּשָׁ֗ה ne.chu.Shah	H5154	copper · noun, common feminine singular absolute
broken	וְֽנִחֲתָ֥ה ve.ni.cha.Tah	H5181	to sink · conjunction + verb, piel sequential perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
arms	זְרוֹעֹתָֽי ze.ro.'o.Tai	H2220	the arm (as stretched out) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 144:1 Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:
Psalms 46:9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
2 Samuel 22:36 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great.
Isaiah 28:6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
Isaiah 45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of k…
Jeremiah 49:35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
Hosea 1:5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 18:29–end

In these verses, I. David looks back, with thankfulness, upon the great things which God had done for him. He had not only wrought deliverance for him, but had given him victory and success, and made him triumph over those who thought to triumph over him. When we set ourselves to praise God for one mercy we must be led by that to observe the many more with which we have been compassed about, and followed, all our days. Many things had contributed to David's advancement, and he owns the hand of God in them all, to teach us to do likewise, in reviewing the several steps by which we have risen to our prosperity. 1. God had given him all his skill and understanding in military affairs, which he…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 18:33

God's help farther described. He gives swiftness to pursue or elude his enemies (Hab 3:19), strength, protection, and a firm footing.

John Gill on Psalms 18:34

He teacheth my hands to war,.... From whence it appears, that war, in some cases, is lawful; and that all the skilfulness and art in training men for war, in the use of armour, in marshalling of armies, in forming sieges, &c. is all from God; see Psalm 144:1; and so is all that spiritual skill, in making use of the whole armour of God against every enemy, sin, Satan, and the world; and even the wisdom and skill, counsel and instruction, which Christ as man and Mediator had, when it was the hour and power of darkness; when he was engaged with principalities and powers, and got the victory over them, were from the Lord: see Psalm 16:7; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms; that is, t…

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John Calvin on Psalms 18:33-36

Psalm 18:33-36 33. Making my feet like hinds' [427] feet, and he hath set me upon my high places. 34. Teaching my hands to war: and a bow of steel [428] will be broken by my arms. 35. Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation; and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy clemency hath increased me. 36. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, and my feet have not staggered. David, having taken many strongholds which, on account of their steep and difficult access, were believed to be impregnable, extols the grace of God in this particular. When he says that God had given him feet like hinds' feet, he means that he had given him unusual swiftness, and such as does not naturally belo…

The Church Fathers

"Who teaches my hands for battle" [Psalm 18:34]. Who teaches me to work for the overthrow of mine enemies, who strive to shut the kingdom of heaven against us. "And You have made mine arms as a bow of steel." And You have made my earnest striving after good works unwearied.
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 18

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Armour — Is employed in the English Bible to denote military equipment, both offensive and defensive. (1.) The offensive weapons were different at different periods of history. The “rod of iron” (Ps. 2:9) is…
Bow — The bow was in use in early times both in war and in the chase (Gen. 21:20; 27:3; 48:22). The tribe of Benjamin were famous for the use of the bow (1 Chr. 8:40; 12:2; 2 Chr. 14:8; 17:17); so also…
Copper — Derived from the Greek kupros (the island of Cyprus), called “Cyprian brass,” occurs only in the Authorized Version in Ezra 8:27. Elsewhere the Hebrew word (nehosheth) is improperly rendered “brass,”…
David — Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam.…
Metals — The Hebrews, in common with other ancient nations, were acquainted with nearly all the metals known to modern metallurgy, whether as the products of their own soil or the results of intercourse with…
Psalms, Book Of — The present Hebrew name of the book is Tehill’im, “Praises;” but in the actual superscriptions of the psalms the word Tehillah is applied only to one, (Psalms 145:1) ... which is indeed emphatically…
Steel — The “bow of steel” in (A.V.) 2 Sam. 22:35; Job 20:24; Ps. 18:34 is in the Revised Version “bow of brass” (Heb. kesheth-nehushah). In Jer. 15:12 the same word is used, and is also rendered in the…
Bow · .Ma — .Ma
Steel · Bows of — Bows of
War · God in — God in

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 18:34

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 18:29–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 18:33

John Gill on Psalms 18:34

John Calvin on Psalms 18:33-36

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 18:34

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 18:29–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 18:33

John Gill on Psalms 18:34

John Calvin on Psalms 18:33-36

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 18:31-34

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 18:32-34

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 18:34