Psalms 68:14

When the Almighty scattered kings in it,.... His inheritance, his congregation, the church, Psalms 68:9.

The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it. -God's doings for His people from the time of their entrance into Canaan until the setting up of the sanctuary in Zion. Verse 11.

In it; in Canaan, at the coming of the Israelites thither. The land was as white as Mount Salmon is with the snow, which falls and lies for a long time upon it; which is opposed to the native obscurity of that mountain by the many shady trees which were there, . But because there is nothing certain, either concernirig the great height of this mountain, or concerning its snow, as we do read of snow of Lebanon, , other interpreters, both Hebrew and Christian, and the Chaldee among the rest, take this word Salmon for a common, and not a proper name, signifying darkness or a shadow, as the root from whence it comes unquestionably signifies. Nor is it strange if this word be no where else taken in that sense but here, because that is the lot of many Hebrew words, or of some significations of them, that they are to be found but in one text of Scripture. This being granted, the words are or may be rendered thus, it was snow-white, or thou madest it snow-white in darkness, or, as the Chaldee renders this word, in the shadow of death, i.e. thou didst cause light to shine out of darkness. When the state of thy people, and of the land of Canaan which thou hadst given to them, was dark and dismal or bloody, by reason of the wars raised against them by the Canaanitish kings, thou didst quickly change it; and whereas it was red like scarlet or crimson, thou madest it whiter than snow.

Psalms 68:14 When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was [white] as snow in Salmon.Ver. 14. When the Almighty scattered kings in it] i.e. In the wilderness as they passed; or in Canaan which they possessed, according to Psalms 68:1. Or, scattered kings for her, that is, for his Church, or for her that tarrieth at home, Psalms 68:12, a periphrasis of the Church, in the times of primitive persecution especially, till the Almighty scattered those persecuting princes. Some of the Jewish doctors understand it to be Gog and Magog. It was white as snow in Salmon] Or, she was white as snow in Salmon; not only as the wings of a dove, but glorious and glittering as snow on that high hill, Judges 9:47-48. At the top of the Alps nothing is to be seen but snow, which hath lain there beyond the memory of man, and, as some say, ever since the flood. The same may be as true of Salmon, which some here take for a noun substantive common, and render it, albesces in caligine, thou shalt wax white in darkness. The old Emperor Andronicus, lighting upon this verse in his psalter, and applying it to himself, was much settled and satisfied concerning his troubles (Turk. Hist. fol. 164).

(11-14) These verses refer to the conquest of Canaan, the long history of which is, however, here crowded into one supreme and crowning moment: a word from God, and all was done.

14. Of this verse, as of Psa 68:13, the meaning is uncertain. Possibly it too is a fragment, significant to those who remembered its original context, but necessarily obscure to us. It is doubtful, too, if the text is sound. In it, R.V. therein, must mean ‘in the land.’ Salmon, R.V. Zalmon, is only known to us as the name of a wooded hill near Shechem, from which Abimelech fetched wood to burn the tower of Shechem (Judges 9:48). But the name, which means ‘dark’ or ‘shady’ (cp. Black Mountain, Black Forest), may have been borne by other mountains. If Zalmon near Shechem is intended, it may be mentioned either as a central point in the land, or from its connexion with some historical incident of which no record has been preserved, or simply to heighten the picturesqueness of the simile by representing the snowstorm as seen against the background of the dark mountain. Shaddai, ‘The Almighty’, only occurs once again in the Psalter (Psalms 91:1). (1) Taking the second line as a simile, we may render with R.V., When the Almighty scattered kings therein, (It was as when) it snoweth in Zalmon. But what is meant by the simile? It has been supposed to refer to the bones of the enemy bleaching on the field of battle (cp. Verg. Aen. xii. 36, campiqiu ingentes ossibus albent: “The vast plains are white with bones”): or to the glistening of the armour &c. dropped by the fugitives in their flight: but it is far more suggestive to think, not of fallen snow lying on the ground, but of falling snow. The snowflakes driven before the storm are an apt emblem of the kings driven in pell-mell flight by the breath of the Lord, and this explanation suits the context. By the thought of the victory won for Israel by God in spite of the sloth of many an Israelite (Psalms 68:13) the poet is naturally carried back to the battle-scene, and desires to emphasise the fact that the Almighty had fought for Israel, sweeping the foe before Him like the snowflakes swept along by the hurricane. (2) Taking the second line literally, we may render with R.V. marg., It snowed in Zalmon. The words will then refer to a snowstorm which accompanied and completed the rout of the kings. They can scarcely refer to the hardships endured by those who took up arms amid the rigours of an exceptionally severe winter, in contrast to the luxurious ease of the cowards who are chidden in Psalms 68:13; still less can they be the words of those cowards excusing themselves from taking part in the war by the severity of the weather. (3) Some combine the literal and figurative explanations, interpreting it snowed in Zalmon to mean that “the mountain clothed itself in a bright garment of light in celebration of the joyful event. Whoever has been in Palestine knows how refreshing is the sight of the distant mountain peaks covered with snow.” This however is too far-fetched an explanation to be probable.

When the Almighty scattered kings in it - The Hebrew here is, “In the scattering of (that is, by) the Almighty of kings.” The reference is to the act of God in causing kings to abandon their purposes

14. Scattered kings—These kings are enumerated in Joshua 12. In it— That is, in the land. The allusion seems to be specially to the conquest of the nations of Canaan by Joshua. See chapters 10 and 12.