Passage

Psalms 18.2

Book: Psalms · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. ^{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,} I love thee, O Jehovah, my strength."

"2. Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; My God, my rock, in whom I will take refuge; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower."

"3. I will call upon Jehovah, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from mine enemies. 4. The cords of death compassed me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid." (Psalms 18:1-4, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. For the Chief Musician. By David the servant of Yahweh, who spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said, I love you, Yahweh, my strength."

"2. Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower."

"3. I call on Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised; and I am saved from my enemies. 4. The cords of death surrounded me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid." (Psalms 18:1-4, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. 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, I will love thee, O LORD, my strength."

"2. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. ^{my strength: Heb. my rock}"

"3. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. 4. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. ^{ungodly men: Heb. Belial}" (Psalms 18:1-4, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. To the Overseer., By a servant of Jehovah, by David, who hath spoken to Jehovah the words of this song in the day Jehovah delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul, and he saith:, I love Thee, O Jehovah, my strength."

"2. Jehovah [is] my rock, and my bulwark, And my deliverer, My God [is] my rock, I trust in Him: My shield, and a horn of my salvation, My high tower."

"3. The 'Praised One' I call Jehovah, And from my enemies I am saved. 4. Compassed me have cords of death, And streams of the worthless make me afraid." (Psalms 18:1-4, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: various (David majority; Asaph, Korah, Moses, Solomon, anonymous)
Audience: worshipping Israel (corporate + individual devotion)
Location: Israel, various periods
Time period: composition spans c. 1400 BC (Moses, Ps 90), c. 400 BC; principal Davidic composition c. 1000 BC

Theological reading

Key words

H0410 - el, el (Strong's H410). Also appears in: Genesis 14.18-20, Genesis 16.7-13, Genesis 28.
H3068 - YHWH, YHWH (Strong's H3068). Also appears in: Genesis 2.4, Genesis 2.7, Genesis 2.16-17.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.