Psalms 18:45

The strangers faded away,

And came trembling out of their fastnesses.

Their strength and courage failed like a withering leaf or a fading flower (Isaiah 28:1; Isaiah 28:4), and they surrendered at discretion to the triumphant invader. Cp. Micah 7:17; 1 Samuel 14:11. The obscure reading in 2 Sam. may mean "came limping out of their fastnesses"; a picture of the exhausted defenders of the fortress dragging themselves along with difficulty and reluctant to lay down their arms before the conqueror. The LXX gives this rendering (ἐχώλαναν) in the Psalm.