Psalms 68:21-28

68:21 Indeed God strikes the heads of his enemies,

the hairy foreheads of those who persist in rebellion. ¹ 

68:22 The Lord says,

“I will retrieve them ²  from Bashan,

I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,

68:23 so that your feet may stomp ³  in their blood,

and your dogs may eat their portion of the enemies’ corpses.” ⁴ 

68:24 They ⁵  see your processions, O God –

the processions of my God, my king, who marches along in holy splendor. ⁶ 

68:25 Singers walk in front;

musicians follow playing their stringed instruments, ⁷ 

in the midst of young women playing tambourines. ⁸ 

68:26 In your large assemblies praise God,

the Lord, in the assemblies of Israel! ⁹ 

68:27 There is little Benjamin, their ruler, ¹⁰ 

and the princes of Judah in their robes, ¹¹ 

along with the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.

68:28 God has decreed that you will be powerful. ¹² 

O God, you who have acted on our behalf, demonstrate your power,

[68:21]  ¹ tn Heb “the hairy forehead of the one who walks about in his guilt.” The singular is representative.

[68:22]  ² tn That is, the enemies mentioned in v. 21. Even if they retreat to distant regions, God will retrieve them and make them taste his judgment.

[68:23]  ³ tc Some (e.g. NRSV) prefer to emend מָחַץ (makhats, “smash; stomp”; see v. 21) to רָחַץ (rakhats, “bathe”; see Ps 58:10).

[68:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “[and] the tongue of your dogs from [the] enemies [may eat] its portion.”

[68:24]  ⁴ tn The subject is probably indefinite, referring to bystanders in general who witness the procession.

[68:24]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text has simply “in holiness.” The words “who marches along” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[68:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “after [are] the stringed instrument players.”

[68:25]  ⁶ sn To celebrate a military victory, women would play tambourines (see Exod 15:20; Judg 11:34; 1 Sam 18:6).

[68:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the fountain of Israel,” which makes little, if any, sense here. The translation assumes an emendation to בְּמִקְרָאֵי (bÿmiqra’ey, “in the assemblies of [Israel]”).

[68:27]  ⁷ sn Little Benjamin, their ruler. This may allude to the fact that Israel’s first king, Saul, was from the tribe of Benjamin.

[68:27]  ⁸ tc The MT reads רִגְמָתָם (rigmatam), which many derive from רָגַם (ragam, “to kill by stoning”) and translates, “[in] their heaps,” that is, in large numbers.

[68:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “God has commanded your strength.” The statement is apparently addressed to Israel (see v. 26).