Psalms 68:11

68:11 The Lord speaks; ¹ 

many, many women spread the good news. ² 

Psalms 68:2

68:2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away. ³ 

As wax melts before fire,

so the wicked are destroyed before God.

Psalms 3:1

Psalm 3 ⁴ 

A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom. ⁵ 

3:1 Lord, how ⁶  numerous are my enemies!

Many attack me. ⁷ 

[68:11]  ¹ tn Heb “gives a word.” Perhaps this refers to a divine royal decree or battle cry.

[68:11]  ² tn Heb “the ones spreading the good news [are] a large army.” The participle translated “the ones spreading the good news” is a feminine plural form. Apparently the good news here is the announcement that enemy kings have been defeated (see v. 12).

[68:2]  ³ tn Heb “as smoke is scattered, you scatter [them].”

[3:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 3. The psalmist acknowledges that he is confronted by many enemies (vv. 1-2). But, alluding to a divine oracle he has received (vv. 4-5), he affirms his confidence in God’s ability to protect him (vv. 3, 6) and requests that God make his promise a reality (vv. 7-8).

[3:1]  ⁵ sn According to Jewish tradition, David offered this prayer when he was forced to flee from Jerusalem during his son Absalom’s attempted coup (see 2 Sam 15:13-17).

[3:1]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term מָה (mah, “how”) is used here as an adverbial exclamation (see BDB 553 s.v.).

[3:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “many rise up against me.”