Psalms 21:4-13

Context

21:4 He asked you to sustain his life,¹

and you have granted him long life and an enduring dynasty.²

21:5 Your deliverance brings him great honor;³

you give him majestic splendor.⁴

21:6 For you grant him lasting blessings;

you give him great joy by allowing him into your presence.⁵

21:7 For the king trusts⁶ in the Lord,

and because of the sovereign Lord’s⁷ faithfulness he is not upended.⁸

21:8 You⁹ prevail over¹⁰ all your enemies;

your power is too great for those who hate you.¹¹

21:9 You burn them up like a fiery furnace¹² when you appear;¹³

the Lord angrily devours them;¹⁴

the fire consumes them.

21:10 You destroy their offspring¹⁵ from the earth,

their descendants¹⁶ from among the human race.¹⁷

21:11 Yes,¹⁸ they intend to do you harm;¹⁹

they dream up a scheme,²⁰ but they do not succeed.²¹

21:12 For you make them retreat²²

when you shoot your arrows at them.²³

21:13 Rise up, O Lord, in strength!²⁴

We will sing and praise²⁵ your power!

[21:4] ¹tn Heb “life he asked from you.” Another option is to translate the perfect verbal forms in v. 4 with the present tense, “he asks…you grant.”

[21:4] ²tn Heb “you have granted him length of days forever and ever.” The phrase “length of days,” when used of human beings, usually refers to a lengthy period of time (such as one’s lifetime). See, for example, Deut 30:20; Job 12:12; Ps 91:16; Prov 3:2, 16; Lam 5:20. The additional phrase “forever and ever” is hyperbolic. While it seems to attribute eternal life to the king (see Pss 61:6-7; 72:5 as well), the underlying reality is the king’s enduring dynasty. He will live on, as it were, through his descendants, who will continue to rule over his kingdom long after he has passed off the scene.

[21:5] ³tn Or “great glory.”

[21:5] ⁴tn Heb “majesty and splendor you place upon him.” For other uses of the phrase הוֹד וְהָדָר (hod vÿhadar, “majesty and splendor”) see 1 Chr 16:27; Job 40:10; Pss 96:6; 104:1; 111:3.

[21:6] ⁵tn Heb “you make him happy with joy with [i.e., “close by” or “in”] your face.” On the idiom “with your face” (i.e., “in your presence”) see Ps 16:11 and BDB 816 s.v. פָּנֻה II.2.a.

[21:7] ⁶tn The active participle draws attention to the ongoing nature of the action.

[21:7] ⁷tn Traditionally “the Most High’s.” The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. Note the focus of vv. 8-12 and see Ps 47:2.

[21:7] ⁸tn Another option is to translate the imperfect verbal form as future, “he will not be upended” (cf. NRSV “he shall not be moved”). Even if one chooses this option, the future tense must be understood in a generalizing sense.

[21:8] ⁹tn The king is now addressed. One could argue that the Lord is still being addressed, but v. 9 militates against this proposal, for there the Lord is mentioned in the third person and appears to be distinct from the addressee (unless, of course, one takes “Lord” in v. 9 as vocative; see the note on “them” in v. 9b). Verse 7 begins this transition to a new addressee by referring to both the king and the Lord in the third person (in vv. 1-6 the Lord is addressed and only the king referred to in the third person).

[21:8] ¹⁰tn Heb “your hand finds.” The idiom pictures the king grabbing hold of his enemies and defeating them (see 1 Sam 23:17). The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 8-12 may be translated with the future tense, as long as the future is understood as generalizing.

[21:8] ¹¹tn Heb “your right hand finds those who hate you.”

[21:9] ¹²tn Heb “you make them like a furnace of fire.” Although many modern translations retain the literal Hebrew, the statement is elliptical. The point is not that he makes them like a furnace, but like an object burned in a furnace (cf. NEB, “at your coming you shall plunge them into a fiery furnace”).

[21:9] ¹³tn Heb “at the time of your face.” The “face” of the king here refers to his angry presence. See Lam 4:16.

[21:9] ¹⁴tn Heb “the Lord, in his anger he swallows them, and fire devours them.” Some take “the Lord” as a vocative, in which case he is addressed in vv. 8-9a. But this makes the use of the third person in v. 9b rather awkward, though the king could be the subject (see vv. 1-7).

[21:10] ¹⁵tn Heb “fruit.” The next line makes it clear that offspring is in view.

[21:10] ¹⁶tn Heb “seed.”

[21:10] ¹⁷tn Heb “sons of man.”

[21:11] ¹⁸tn Or “for.”

[21:11] ¹⁹tn Heb “they extend against you harm.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 11 are taken as generalizing, stating factually what the king’s enemies typically do. Another option is to translate with the past tense (“they intended…planned”).

[21:11] ²⁰sn See Ps 10:2.

[21:11] ²¹tn Heb “they lack ability.”

[21:12] ²²tn Heb “you make them a shoulder,” i.e., “you make them turn and run, showing the back of their neck and shoulders.”

[21:12] ²³tn Heb “with your bowstrings you fix against their faces,” i.e., “you fix your arrows on the bowstrings to shoot at them.”

[21:13] ²⁴tn Heb “in your strength,” but English idiom does not require the pronoun.

[21:13] ²⁵tn Heb “sing praise.”