93:1 The Lord reigns!
He is robed in majesty,
the Lord is robed,
he wears strength around his waist. 2
Indeed, the world is established, it cannot be moved.
93:1 The Lord reigns!
He is robed in majesty,
the Lord is robed,
he wears strength around his waist. 4
Indeed, the world is established, it cannot be moved.
2:4 The one enthroned 5 in heaven laughs in disgust; 6
the Lord taunts 7 them.
51:9 Wake up! Wake up!
Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! 8
Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity!
Did you not smash 9 the Proud One? 10
Did you not 11 wound the sea monster? 12
1 sn Psalm 93. The psalmist affirms that the
2 sn Strength is compared here to a belt that one wears for support. The Lord’s power undergirds his rule.
3 sn Psalm 93. The psalmist affirms that the
4 sn Strength is compared here to a belt that one wears for support. The Lord’s power undergirds his rule.
5 tn Heb “sitting.” The Hebrew verb יָשַׁב (yashav) is here used metonymically of “sitting enthroned” (see Pss 9:7; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12; 123:1).
6 tn As the next line indicates, this refers to derisive laughter. The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in vv. 4-5 describe the action from the perspective of an eyewitness who is watching the divine response as it unfolds before his eyes.
7 tn Or “scoffs at”; “derides”; “mocks.”
8 tn The arm of the Lord is a symbol of divine military power. Here it is personified and told to arouse itself from sleep and prepare for action.
9 tn Heb “Are you not the one who smashed?” The feminine singular forms agree grammatically with the feminine noun “arm.” The Hebrew text has ַהמַּחְצֶבֶת (hammakhtsevet), from the verbal root חָצַב (khatsav, “hew, chop”). The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has, probably correctly, המחצת, from the verbal root מָחַץ (makhats, “smash”) which is used in Job 26:12 to describe God’s victory over “the Proud One.”
10 tn This title (רַהַב, rahav, “proud one”) is sometimes translated as a proper name: “Rahab” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). It is used here of a symbolic sea monster, known elsewhere in the Bible and in Ugaritic myth as Leviathan. This sea creature symbolizes the forces of chaos that seek to destroy the created order. In the Bible “the Proud One” opposes God’s creative work, but is defeated (see Job 26:12; Ps 89:10). Here the title refers to Pharaoh’s Egyptian army that opposed Israel at the Red Sea (see v. 10, and note also Isa 30:7 and Ps 87:4, where the title is used of Egypt).
11 tn The words “did you not” are understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line). The rhetorical questions here and in v. 10 expect the answer, “Yes, you certainly did!”
12 tn Hebrew תַּנִּין (tannin) is another name for the symbolic sea monster. See the note at 27:1. In this context the sea creature represents Egypt. See the note on the title “Proud One” earlier in this verse.