Psalms 144:1

New King James Version

Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle--

Parallel Translations

English Standard Version

Of David.

Blessed be the Lord , my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;

Geneva Bible (1587)
A Psalme of Dauid. Blessed be the Lorde my strength, which teacheth mine hands to fight, and my fingers to battell.

Christian Standard Bible®
Blessed be the Lord, my rockwho trains my hands for battleand my fingers for warfare.

Hebrew Names Version
<> Blessed be the LORD, my rock, Who teaches my hands to war, And my fingers to battle:

Easy-to-Read Version

A song of David.

Praise the Lord ! He is my Rock. He prepares me for war. He trains me for battle.

Amplified Bible
Blessed be the LORD, my Rock and my great strength, Who trains my hands for war And my fingers for battle;

American Standard Version

A Psalm of David.

Blessed be Jehovah my rock, Who teacheth my hands to war, And my fingers to fight:

Contemporary English Version

(By David.)

I praise you, Lord ! You are my mighty rock, and you teach me how to fight my battles.

Complete Jewish Bible
By David: Blessed be Adonai , my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
[A Psalm] of David. Blessed be the LORD my Rock, who traineth my hands for war,

King James Version (1611)
[A Psalme of Dauid.] Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to warre, and my fingers to fight.

English Revised Version
A Psalm off David. Blessed be the LORD my rock, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:

Berean Standard Bible
Of David. Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.

Lexham English Bible

Of David.

Blessed be Yahweh, my rock, the one who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war—

Literal Translation
A Psalm of David. Blessed be Jehovah my Rock, who teaches my hands for war, my fingers for battle.

New Century Version

Of David.

Praise the Lord , my Rock, who trains me for war, who trains me for battle.

New English Translation

By David.

The Lord , my protector, deserves praise— the one who trains my hands for battle, and my fingers for war,

New Living Translation

A psalm of David.

Praise the Lord , who is my rock. He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle.

New Life Bible
Praise and thanks be to the Lord, my rock. He makes my hands ready for war, and my fingers for battle.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Blessed be Yahweh, my Rock, who teacheth my hands to war, my fingers to fight:

Douay-Rheims Bible
(143-1) Blessed be the Lord my God, who teacheth my hands to fight, and my fingers to war.

George Lamsa Translation
BLESSED be the LORD, my strength, who teaches my hands to war and my fingers to fight;

Good News Translation
Praise the Lord , my protector! He trains me for battle and prepares me for war.

New American Standard Bible
Blessed be the LORD, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle;

King James Version
Blessed be the Lord my strength which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Blessed be God my rocke: who teacheth my handes to warre, and my fingers to fyght.

New Revised Standard

Of David.

Blessed be the Lord , my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;

Darby Translation

[A Psalm] of David.

Blessed be Jehovah my rock, who teacheth my hands to war, my fingers to fight;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The title of the hundrid and thre and fourtithe salm. `A salm. Blessid be my Lord God, that techith myn hondis to werre; and my fyngris to batel.

Young's Literal Translation
By David. Blessed [is] Jehovah my rock, who is teaching My hands for war, my fingers for battle.

World English Bible
<> Blessed be Yahweh, my rock, Who teaches my hands to war, And my fingers to battle:

Revised Standard Version
A Psalm of David. Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;

Update Bible Version
[A Psalm] of David. Blessed be Yahweh my rock, Who teaches my hands to war, [And] my fingers to fight:

Webster's Bible Translation
[A Psalm] of David. Blessed [be] the LORD my strength, who teacheth my hands to war, [and] my fingers to fight;

Bible in Basic English
Praise be to the God of my strength, teaching my hands the use of the sword, and my fingers the art of fighting:

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Blessed be the LORDE my refuge, which teacheth my hades to warre, & my fyngers to fight.

THE MESSAGE
A David Psalm Blessed be God , my mountain, who trains me to fight fair and well. He's the bedrock on which I stand, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight, The high crag where I run for dear life, while he lays my enemies low.

New American Standard Bible (1995)

A Psalm of David.

Blessed be the Lord , my rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle;

Legacy Standard Bible
Blessed be Yahweh, my rock,Who trains my hands for war,My fingers for battle;

Contextual Overview

¹ Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle-- ² My lovingkindness and my fortress,My high tower and my deliverer,My shield and the One in whom I take refuge,Who subdues my people Psalms 18:47).">[fn] under me. ³ LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him? ⁴ Man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow. ⁵ Bow down Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. ⁶ Flash forth lightning and scatter them; Shoot out Your arrows and destroy them. ⁷ Stretch out Your hand from above; Rescue me and deliver me out of great waters, From the hand of foreigners, ⁸ Whose mouth speaks lying words, And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

my strength: Heb. my rock, Psalms 18:2, Psalms 18:31, Psalms 71:3, Psalms 95:1, Deuteronomy 32:30, Deuteronomy 32:31, Isaiah 26:4, *marg. Isaiah 45:24

teacheth: Psalms 18:34, Psalms 44:3, Psalms 44:4, Psalms 60:12, 2 Samuel 22:35, 2 Corinthians 10:4, Ephesians 6:10, Ephesians 6:11

to war: or, to the war, etc.

Reciprocal: Genesis 14:20 - blessed Deuteronomy 8:18 - he that Deuteronomy 20:4 - to fight 2 Samuel 8:6 - the Lord 2 Samuel 18:28 - Blessed 2 Kings 13:16 - Elisha 1 Chronicles 14:11 - God 1 Chronicles 29:12 - give strength Psalms 18:1 - I will Psalms 18:29 - by thee Psalms 33:20 - he is Psalms 108:13 - Through Psalms 138:7 - thou shalt stretch Isaiah 28:26 - For his God Jeremiah 16:19 - my strength Ezekiel 30:24 - I will Nahum 1:7 - strong hold Zechariah 9:13 - made Zechariah 12:5 - The inhabitants Hebrews 11:33 - through

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Blessed [be] the Lord my strength,.... The author and giver of his natural strength of body, and of the fortitude of his mind, and of all the spiritual strength he had, to exercise grace, to bear up under afflictions and trials, to perform duty, and withstand enemies. It may be applied to Christ, the antitype of David, the man of God's right hand, he has made strong for himself. It may be rendered, "my rock" c; to whom the psalmist fled for shelter, when in distress and overwhelmed; and on whom he built his faith, and hope of eternal salvation, as well as depended on him for all supplies of grace and strength, and for help and succour in all times of need. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions, render it, "my God": and so the word "rock" is used for God, Deuteronomy 32:30;

which teacheth my hands to war, [and] my fingers to fight; he took him from being a shepherd, and made him a soldier; and from being the leader of a flock of sheep, to be a general of armies; and all his military skill in marshalling of troops, in leading them on to battle, and bringing them off as well as all his courage and success, were from the Lord: he whose hands and fingers had been used to the shepherd's crook, and to the handling of the harp and lyre, were taught how to handle the sword, the bow, the shield, and spear. God is a man of war himself; and he teaches the art of war, as he does husbandry and other things; see Exodus 15:3; and so the Lord furnishes his people, who are here in a militant state, with spiritual armour, to fight against their spiritual enemies; he teaches them how to put it on, and directs them how to make use of every piece of it; as well as gives them boldness to face their enemies, and victory over them.

c צורי "rupes mea", Montanus, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c. so Ainsworth.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Blessed be the Lord my strength - Margin, as in Hebrew, “my rock.” See the notes at Psalms 18:46, where the same expression occurs in the Hebrew.

Which teacheth my hands to war - Hebrew, “To the war.” See the notes at Psalms 18:34. The Hebrew is not precisely alike, but the sense is the same.

And my fingers to fight - Hebrew, my fingers to the fight. That is, he teaches my fingers so that I can skillfully use them in battle. Probably the immediate reference here is to the use of the bow - placing the arrow, and drawing the string.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

PSALM CXLIV

The psalmist praises God for his goodness, 1, 2.

Exclamations relative to the vanity of human life, 3, 4.

He prays against his enemies, 5-8;

and extols God's mercy for the temporal blessings enjoyed by

his people, 9-15.

NOTES ON PSALM CXLIV

The Hebrew, and all the Versions, attribute this Psalm to David. The Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic, and Arabic, term it, A Psalm of David against Goliath. The Syriac says, "A Psalm of David when he slew Asaph, the brother of Goliath." Calmet thinks, and with much probability, that it was composed by David after the death of Absalom, and the restoration of the kingdom to peace and tranquillity. From a collation of this with Psalms 18:1-50, of which it appears to be an abridgment, preserving the same ideas, and the same forms of expression, there can be no doubt of both having proceeded from the same pen, and that David was the author. There is scarcely an expression here of peculiar importance that is not found in the prototype; and for explanation I must refer generally to the above Psalm.

Verse Psalms 144:1. Teacheth my hands to war — To use sword, battle-axe, or spear.

And my fingers to fight — To use the bow and arrows, and the sling.