Psalms 68:6

68:6 God settles those who have been deserted in their own homes; ¹ 

he frees prisoners and grants them prosperity. ² 

But sinful rebels live in the desert. ³ 

Psalms 68:18

68:18 You ascend on high, ⁴ 

you have taken many captives. ⁵ 

You receive tribute ⁶  from ⁷  men,

including even sinful rebels.

Indeed the Lord God lives there! ⁸ 

¹ tn Heb “God causes the solitary ones to dwell in a house.” The participle suggests this is what God typically does.

² tn Heb “he brings out prisoners into prosperity.” Another option is to translate, “he brings out prisoners with singing” (cf. NIV). The participle suggests this is what God typically does.

³ tn Or “in a parched [land].”

⁴ tn Heb “to the elevated place”; or “on high.” This probably refers to the Lord’s throne on Mount Zion.

⁵ tn Heb “you have taken captives captive.”

⁶ tn Or “gifts.”

⁷ tn Or “among.”

⁸ tn Heb “so that the Lord God might live [there].” Many take the infinitive construct with -לְ (lamed) as indicating purpose here, but it is unclear how the offering of tribute enables the Lord to live in Zion. This may be an occurrence of the relatively rare emphatic lamed (see HALOT 510-11 s.v. II לְ, though this text is not listed as an example there). If so, the statement corresponds nicely to the final line of v. 16, which also affirms emphatically that the Lord lives in Zion.