Text -- Psalms 68:20-35 (NET)

68:20 Our God is a God who delivers; the Lord, the sovereign Lord, can rescue from death. 68:21 Indeed God strikes the heads of his enemies, the hairy foreheads of those who persist in rebellion. 68:22 The Lord says, “I will retrieve them from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea, 68:23 so that your feet may stomp in their blood, and your dogs may eat their portion of the enemies’ corpses.” 68:24 They see your processions, O God– the processions of my God, my king, who marches along in holy splendor. 68:25 Singers walk in front; musicians follow playing their stringed instruments, in the midst of young women playing tambourines. 68:26 In your large assemblies praise God, the Lord, in the assemblies of Israel! 68:27 There is little Benjamin, their ruler, and the princes of Judah in their robes, along with the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali. 68:28 God has decreed that you will be powerful. O God, you who have acted on our behalf, demonstrate your power, 68:29 as you come out of your temple in Jerusalem! Kings bring tribute to you. 68:30 Sound your battle cry against the wild beast of the reeds, and the nations that assemble like a herd of calves led by bulls! They humble themselves and offer gold and silver as tribute. God scatters the nations that like to do battle. 68:31 They come with red cloth from Egypt, Ethiopia voluntarily offers tribute to God. 68:32 O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God! Sing praises to the Lord, (Selah) 68:33 to the one who rides through the sky from ancient times! Look! He thunders loudly. 68:34 Acknowledge God’s power, his sovereignty over Israel, and the power he reveals in the skies! 68:35 You are awe-inspiring, O God, as you emerge from your holy temple! It is the God of Israel who gives the people power and strength. God deserves praise!

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 68:20

¹ tn Heb “and to the Lord, the Lord, to death, goings out.”

NET Notes: Psa 68:21

¹ tn Heb “the hairy forehead of the one who walks about in his guilt.” The singular is representative.

NET Notes: Psa 68:22

¹ tn That is, the enemies mentioned in v. 21. Even if they retreat to distant regions, God will retrieve them and make them taste his judgment.

NET Notes: Psa 68:23

¹ tc Some (e.g. NRSV) prefer to emend מָחַץ (makhats, “smash; stomp”; see v. 21) to רָחַץ (rakhats, “bathe”; see Ps 58:10).

² tn Heb “[and] the tongue of your dogs from [the] enemies [may eat] its portion.”

NET Notes: Psa 68:24

¹ tn The subject is probably indefinite, referring to bystanders in general who witness the procession.

² tn The Hebrew text has simply “in holiness.” The words “who marches along” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Psa 68:25

¹ tn Heb “after [are] the stringed instrument players.”

² sn To celebrate a military victory, women would play tambourines (see Exod 15:20; Judg 11:34; 1 Sam 18:6).

NET Notes: Psa 68:26

¹ tn Heb “from the fountain of Israel,” which makes little, if any, sense here. The translation assumes an emendation to בְּמִקְרָאֵי (bÿmiqra’ey, “in the assemblies of [Israel]”).

NET Notes: Psa 68:27

¹ sn Little Benjamin, their ruler. This may allude to the fact that Israel’s first king, Saul, was from the tribe of Benjamin.

² tc The MT reads רִגְמָתָם (rigmatam), which many derive from רָגַם (ragam, “to kill by stoning”) and translates, “[in] their heaps,” that is, in large numbers.

NET Notes: Psa 68:28

¹ tn Heb “God has commanded your strength.” The statement is apparently addressed to Israel (see v. 26).

NET Notes: Psa 68:29

¹ tn Heb “Be strong, O God, [you] who have acted for us, from your temple in Jerusalem.”

map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

NET Notes: Psa 68:30

¹ tn The Hebrew verb גָּעַר (ga’ar) is often understood to mean “rebuke.” In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts such as Ps 68 this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Ps 106:9 and Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 18:15; 76:6; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.

² sn The wild beast of the reeds probably refers to a hippopotamus, which in turn symbolizes the nation of Egypt.

³ tn Heb “an assembly of bulls, with calves of the nations.”

⁴ tn Heb “humbling himself.” The verb form is a Hitpael participle from the root רָפַס (rafas, “to trample”). The Hitpael of this verb appears only here and in Prov 6:3, where it seems to mean, “humble oneself,” a nuance that fits nicely in this context. The apparent subject is “wild beast” or “assembly,” though both of these nouns are grammatically feminine, while the participle is a masculine form. Perhaps one should emend the participial form to a masculine plural (מִתְרַפִּם, mitrapim) and understand “bulls” or “calves” as the subject.

⁵ tc Heb “with pieces [?] of silver.” The meaning of the Hebrew term רַצֵּי (ratsey) is unclear. It is probably best to emend the text to בֶּצֶר וְכָסֶף (betser vÿkhasef, “[with] gold and silver”).

⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn The verb בָּזַר (bazar) is an alternative form of פָּזַר (pazar, “scatter”).

NET Notes: Psa 68:31

¹ tn This noun, which occurs only here in the OT, apparently means “red cloth” or “bronze articles” (see HALOT 362 s.v. חַשְׁמַן; cf. NEB “tribute”). Traditionally the word has been taken to refer to “nobles” (see BDB 365 s.v. חַשְׁמַן; cf. NIV “envoys”). Another option would be to emend the text to הַשְׁמַנִּים (hashmannim, “the robust ones,” i.e., leaders).

² tn Heb “Cush.”

³ tn Heb “causes its hands to run,” which must mean “quickly stretches out its hands” (to present tribute).

NET Notes: Psa 68:33

¹ tc Heb “to the one who rides through the skies of skies of ancient times.” If the MT is retained, one might translate, “to the one who rides through the ancient skies.” (שְׁמֵי [shÿmey, “skies of”] may be accidentally repeated.) The present translation assumes an emendation to בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִקֶּדֶם (bashamayim miqqedem, “[to the one who rides] through the sky from ancient times”), that is, God has been revealing his power through the storm since ancient times.

² tn Heb “he gives his voice a strong voice.” In this context God’s “voice” is the thunder that accompanies the rain (see vv. 8-9, as well as Deut 33:26).

NET Notes: Psa 68:34

¹ tn Heb “give strength to God.”

² sn The language of v. 34 echoes that of Deut 33:26.

NET Notes: Psa 68:35

¹ tn Heb “awesome [is] God from his holy places.” The plural of מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash, “holy places”) perhaps refers to the temple precincts (see Ps 73:17; Jer 51:51).

² tn Heb “the God of Israel, he.”

³ tn Heb “blessed [be] God.”