Psalms 68:17-18

68:17 God has countless chariots;

they number in the thousands. ¹ 

The Lord comes from Sinai in holy splendor. ² 

68:18 You ascend on high, ³ 

you have taken many captives. ⁴ 

You receive tribute ⁵  from ⁶  men,

including even sinful rebels.

Indeed the Lord God lives there! ⁷ 

[68:17]  ¹ tn Heb “thousands of [?].” The meaning of the word שִׁנְאָן (shin’an), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Perhaps the form should be emended to שַׁאֲנָן (sha’anan, “at ease”) and be translated here “held in reserve.”

[68:17]  ² tc The MT reads, “the Lord [is] among them, Sinai, in holiness,” which is syntactically difficult. The present translation assumes an emendation to אֲדֹנָי בָּא מִסִּינַי (’adonay ba’ missinay; see BHS note b-b and Deut 33:2).

[68:18]  ³ tn Heb “to the elevated place”; or “on high.” This probably refers to the Lord’s throne on Mount Zion.

[68:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “you have taken captives captive.”

[68:18]  ⁵ tn Or “gifts.”

[68:18]  ⁶ tn Or “among.”

[68:18]  ⁷ 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.