Hebrew Word Study – For the Sake of – Tachath –   תַחְתָּ֑י  Taw Cheth Taw Yod

Ps 18:36 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.

We are not sure just what the occasion was for this Psalm.  He is obviously speaking of deliverance from his enemies. I was reading something in the Talmud today in Sanhedrin 95a that I found very fascinating. To be sure the Talmud is an oral tradition filled with stories that have been passed down through the generations.  The Talmud is not inspired and with any oral tradition the accuracy of the story is questionable.  However, the Talmud does tell the story behind this particular passage of Scripture.  It might have happened.

The story goes that David was out hunting one day and Satan appeared before him in the disguise of a deer. David shot arrows but they could not reach the deer so he followed the deer which led him smack dab in the middle of the camp of Philistines and who should be in that camp but Ishbi-benob, Goliath’s brother.  When he saw David he let out a war cry and next thing poor David knew he was bound and taken prisoner. The old enemy had tricked David into becoming captive to his worst enemy who was plotting a slow and painful death for David.

The text does not say if David called a dove or God sent the dove, but a dove flew up to Abishai who was David’s nephew and brother of Joab.  Abishai was preparing for the Sabbath by washing himself when the dove flew up to him and spread his wings.  I translate that as fluttering his wings. Practicing a little yiredu he sensed the dove was telling him that David was in trouble so he took off on his mule to rescue David.

Unfortunately a mule and a white stallion clock in at different speeds so Abaishai did not arrive on scene as quickly as the cavalry. Ishbi-benob was given sole custody of David and he was personally going to avenge his brother’s death, so he took David out by himself to the wine press. Being bound hand and foot he tossed David under the wine press intending to crush the life out of him. But a miracle happened and the ground softened under the wine press such that it sank down in the ground and did not harm David.  Hence the origin of the words in Psalms 18:36, Thou has enlarged the steps under me that my feet did not slip.   

Oh by the way, Ishbi-benob arrived shortly after the miracle of the earth shrinking and when Goliath’s brother saw the miracle and this other guy showing up having  been summoned by a dove, the old boy panicked and ran off. 

We cannot really be sure that this is what David is referring to in Psalms 18:36.  But then again, what does he mean by God enlarging his steps under him so his feet would not slip?  The word under is tachath which could also mean for the sake of.  So David could be saying that God enlarged his steps for his sake, such that his feet did not slip. The word for steps is tas’ad which could also mean one’s stride or pace.  The word enlarge is rachab which means to broaden or expand to make room for something. So a secondary meaning would be that God made plenty of room for David’s strides for his sake so his feet would not slip.

Hebrew poetry should not be limited to just one message.  The whole idea of some forms of poetry is to convey multiple messages.  I think one is the literal meaning where David is relayingan event in his life where he wandered off into the camp of the enemy and God had to rescue him.  Great message, God does rescue us from our enemies.  But then there is a deeper message.  It was Satan who really lured him out of his safety zone to get him killed, but God was still there to protect him causing the ground to shrink and a dove to bring help.  But let’s look at it further.  It was really a stupid thing to wander into the enemies camp, what could David have been thinking?  Having grown up with a family of hunters, (I myself will not go hunting) I did learn a few things about how focused a hunter can become when tracking his prey. My father and uncle would tell stories of tracking a prey and being so focused on tracking their prey that they forget to observe key signs which would lead them back to camp and some things they got lost. I think that happened to David (if this story has any truth). David just got so occupied with the job at hand that he failed to watch for other signs.

Actually, I was led to this passage in the Talmud because of the story of the dove.  My study partner had a dove visit her and was spreading his wings much as the story about David.  Just like David’s nephew she knew that dove was delivering a message but she was struggling with trying to interpret that message. 

You know it is not unusual for a believer to look for signs from God to get some direction. Many of us are led by a trail of little bread crumbs that God may leave behind for us to follow. Even the Apostle Paul followed such signs. He was convinced he should go to Macedonia, but discovered later that he read the signs wrong.  That is why he says in Romans 8:28, “We know all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose.”  You see if we love God and seek to follow his lead, sometimes we may just get lost and wander into the enemy camp.  Sometimes we just tend to focus on the wrong thing and end up on the wrong end of a wine press.  But if our hearts were truly centered on serving God out of a love for God, he will enlarge our steps as he did for David to cover the area where we wandered off the path making the wine press ineffective to do its dirty work. 

I believe David is telling us the same thing the Apostle Paul is telling us.  If you love God and are called according to his purpose, follow the leads that God gives you in your heart.  Satan may disguise himself as a deer and send you off in the wrong direction, but if he does God will enlarge your steps to cover more territory that you accidentally wandered off into.  Even if you end up in the wrong area, God will still protect you. 

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