Text -- Psalms 29:10-11 (NET)

29:10 The Lord sits enthroned over the engulfing waters, the Lord sits enthroned as the eternal king. 29:11 The Lord gives his people strength; the Lord grants his people security.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 29:10

¹ tn The noun מַּבּוּל (mabbul, “flood”) appears only here and in Gen 6-11, where it refers to the Noahic flood. Some see a reference to that event here. The presence of the article (perhaps indicating uniqueness) and the switch to the perfect verbal form (which could be taken as describing a past situation) might support this. However, the immediate context indicates that the referent of מַּבּוּל is the “surging waters” mentioned in v. 3. The article indicates waters that are definite in the mind of the speaker and the perfect is probably descriptive in function, like “thunders” in v. 3. However, even though the historical flood is not the primary referent here, there may be a literary allusion involved. The psalmist views the threatening chaotic sea as a contemporary manifestation of the destructive waters of old.

² tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the descriptive function of the preceding perfect.

NET Notes: Psa 29:11

¹ tn The imperfect verbal forms in v. 11 are either descriptive or generalizing.

² sn Strength. This probably refers to military power; see the use of the noun in 1 Sam 2:10 and Ps 86:16.

³ tn Heb “blesses his people with peace.” The Hebrew term שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) probably refers here to the protection and prosperity experienced by God’s people after the Lord intervenes in battle on their behalf.