Passage

Psalms 18.9-10

Book: Psalms · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"7. Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations also of the mountains quaked And were shaken, because he was wroth. 8. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, And fire out of his mouth devoured: Coals were kindled by it."

"9. He bowed the heavens also, and came down; And thick darkness was under his feet. 10. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly; Yea, he soared upon the wings of the wind."

"11. He made darkness his hiding-place, his pavilion round about him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. 12. At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, Hailstones and coals of fire." (Psalms 18:7-12, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"7. Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken, because he was angry. 8. Smoke went out of his nostrils. Consuming fire came out of his mouth. Coals were kindled by it."

"9. He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet. 10. He rode on a cherub, and flew. Yes, he soared on the wings of the wind."

"11. He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion around him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. 12. At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire." (Psalms 18:7-12, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"7. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth. 8. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. ^{out of his nostrils: Heb. by his, etc}"

"9. He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. 10. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind."

"11. He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. 12. At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire." (Psalms 18:7-12, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"7. And shake and tremble doth the earth, And foundations of hills are troubled, And they shake, because He hath wrath. 8. Gone up hath smoke by His nostrils, And fire from His mouth consumeth, Coals have been kindled by it."

"9. And He inclineth the heavens, and cometh down, And thick darkness [is] under His feet. 10. And He rideth on a cherub, and doth fly, And He flieth on wings of wind."

"11. He maketh darkness His secret place, Round about Him His tabernacle, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. 12. From the brightness over-against Him His thick clouds have passed on, Hail and coals of fire." (Psalms 18:7-12, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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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.