Psalms 68:18

68:18 You ascend on high, ¹ 

you have taken many captives. ² 

You receive tribute ³  from ⁴  men,

including even sinful rebels.

Indeed the Lord God lives there! ⁵ 

Psalms 78:8

78:8 Then they will not be like their ancestors,

who were a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation that was not committed

and faithful to God. ⁶ 

[68:18]  ¹ tn Heb “to the elevated place”; or “on high.” This probably refers to the Lord’s throne on Mount Zion.

[68:18]  ² tn Heb “you have taken captives captive.”

[68:18]  ³ tn Or “gifts.”

[68:18]  ⁴ tn Or “among.”

[68:18]  ⁵ 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.

[78:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “a generation that did not make firm its heart and whose spirit was not faithful with God.” The expression “make firm the heart” means “to be committed, devoted” (see 1 Sam 7:3).