A psalm of David.
29:1 Acknowledge the Lord, you heavenly beings, 2
acknowledge the Lord’s majesty and power! 3
29:2 Acknowledge the majesty of the Lord’s reputation! 4
Worship the Lord in holy attire! 5
29:3 The Lord’s shout is heard over the water; 6
the majestic God thunders, 7
the Lord appears over the surging water. 8
29:4 The Lord’s shout is powerful, 9
the Lord’s shout is majestic. 10
96:6 Majestic splendor emanates from him; 11
his sanctuary is firmly established and beautiful. 12
1 sn Psalm 29. In this hymn of praise the psalmist calls upon the heavenly assembly to acknowledge the royal splendor of the Lord. He describes the Lord’s devastating power as revealed in the thunderstorm and affirms that the Lord exerts this awesome might on behalf of his people. In its original context the psalm was a bold polemic against the Canaanite storm god Baal, for it affirms that the Lord is the real king who controls the elements of the storm, contrary to pagan belief. See R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “The Polemic against Baalism in Israel’s Early History and Literature,” BSac 150 (1994): 280-82.
2 tc Heb “sons of gods,” or “sons of God.” Though אֵלִים (’elim) is vocalized as a plural form (“gods”) in the MT, it is likely that the final mem is actually enclitic, rather than a plural marker. In this case one may read “God.” Some, following a Qumran text and the LXX, also propose the phrase occurred in the original text of Deut 32:8.
3 tn Or “ascribe to the
4 tn Heb “ascribe to the
5 tn That is, properly dressed for the occasion.
6 tn Heb “the voice of the
7 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form is probably descriptive. In dramatic fashion the psalmist portrays the
8 tn Traditionally “many waters.” The geographical references in the psalm (Lebanon, Sirion, Kadesh) suggest this is a reference to the Mediterranean Sea (see Ezek 26:19; 27:26). The psalmist describes a powerful storm moving in from the sea and sweeping over the mountainous areas north of Israel. The “surging waters” may symbolize the hostile enemies of God who seek to destroy his people (see Pss 18:17; 32:6; 77:20; 93:4; 144:7; Isa 17:13; Jer 51:55; Ezek 26:19; Hab 3:15). In this case the
9 tn Heb “the voice of the
10 tn Heb “the voice of the
11 tn Heb “majesty and splendor [are] before him.”
12 tn Heb “strength and beauty [are] in his sanctuary.”