Psalms 68

Psalms 681. To the Chief Musician. By David. A Psalm of Praise. Literally, a psalm, a song, but see above, on Psalms 65:1; Psalms 66:1; Psalms 67:1. This psalm, like the eighteenth, which it very much resembles, is a triumphal song, occasioned by some signal victory or success in war, perhaps that recorded in 2 Samuel 12:26-31, which closed the last important war of David’s reign.

The psalm opens with a general praise of God as the deliverer of the righteous and destroyer of the wicked, Psalms 68:1-6. This is then illustrated and confirmed by a reference to certain periods in the history of Israel, and first to the march through the wilderness, Psalms 68:7-10. Then comes the period of the judges, Psalms 68:11-14. Then the erection of the monarchy on Zion, and its confirmation by the victory just achieved, Psalms 68:15-19. This is then represented as a part of the general plan of Jehovah’s dealings with his people, Psalms 68:20-23. The triumphal procession is described, Psalms 68:24-27.

All this, however, is but a specimen or foretaste of a universal conquest yet to come, Psalms 68:28-31. In anticipation of this revolution, the nations are summoned to unite in the praises of Jehovah, Psalms 68:32-35. The resemblence of this last part to the corresponding parts of the two preceding psalms may account for the position of the one before us.

2. (Psalms 68:1.) God shall arise, his enemies shall scatter; those hating him shall flee before him. This verse propounds, as the theme of the whole psalm, a fact continually verified in history. There is also an obvious allusion to the form of speech uttered by Moses at the removal of the ark, the symbol of God’s presence. See Numbers 10:35. The wish there expressed is here said to be realised. Hence the change of the imperative into a future, shewing that this verse has not an optative meaning (let God arise), but is declaratory of what certainly will be hereafter, as it has been already, in the case which gave occasion to the psalm.

The present time is not excluded, but involved in the general proposition, that it must and will be so. Shall scatter is a more exact translation of the Hebrew verb than be scattered, although the idea is undoubtedly that of involuntary violent dispersion. Before him, from his face, or from his presence. See above, on Psalms 9:3; Psalms 61:3.

3. (Psalms 68:2). As smoke is driven, thou wilt drive (them); as wax is melted before fire, the wicked shall perish before God. The form of expression is the same as in the preceding verse, from the face of fire, from the face (or presence) of God. The verb in the first clause is the same with that in Psalms 1:4, where the wind, implied here, is expressly mentioned, as the driving or propelling agent. The comparison with wax is a common one in Scripture, and occurs above, in Psalms 22:14. With the last clause compare the conclusion of the Song of Deborah (Judges 5:31), of which there are various imitations, or at least reminiscences, in this psalm.

4. (Psalms 68:3). And the righteous shall be glad; they shall triumph before God, and shall joy with gladness. This is true not only of righteous individuals but of righteous nations, and especially of Israel, as such considered,although many of its members were unrighteous. But these are not considered as really belonging to the church or chosen people, but are classed among the wicked enemies of God. Before God shall the righteous rejoice, as the wicked flee before him.

5. (Psalms 68:4). Sing unto God, celebrate his name, cast up (a highway) for the (one) riding through the deserts, by his name Jah, and exult before him. The second clause alludes to the opening of roads for kings and armies. Compare Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 3:1. The common version of the verb conveys an idea wholly foreign from the usage of the Hebrew word. Riding, i.e. journeying, or giving it a military application, marching.

The common version of the next noun (heavens) is entirely unauthorised by usage. The Hebrew word is one still applied by the Arabs to the region over which the Israelites wandered forty years. The idea here suggested is more fully carried out in Psalms 68:7-9. By his name Jah, i.e. in the character denoted by this name, which is an abbreviation of Jehovah, peculiar to the song of Moses (Exodus 15:2) and the later imitations of it. See my notes on Isaiah 12:2; Isaiah 38:11. The people are summoned to prepare for the reception of this glorious visitor.

6. (Psalms 68:5). Father of orphans and judge of widows (is) God in his abode of holiness. One of the most glorious divine characters is that of a protectorof the innocent and helpless. Judge, vindicator, patron, one who doesthem justice. His abode of holiness cannot in this connection denote heaven, but must be referred to his peculiar residence among his chosen people. It was there that, both by the provisions of this law and the dispensations of his providence, he asserted his right to the exalted character here claimed for him.

7. (Psalms 68:6). God makes the lonely dwell in houses, makes the captives come forth into enjoyments; only rebels (still) inhabit a dry land (or desert). This, though a general proposition, seems to have a special reference to the change in the condition of the Israelites, when brought out of the wilderness into possession of the promised land. The participles in the original (sealing, bringing out) express habitual or customary acts. In houses, literally in a house, or still more closely to a house, the idea of removal being really implied. The word might also be translated homewards or at home. The last word in this clause occurs nowhere else, and has been variously explained to mean in chains, by force, and into pleasures or enjoyments, which last is now preferred by most interpreters.

8. (Psalms 68:7). O God, in thy going out before thy people, in thy marching through the wilderness. Selah. The sentence is completed in the next verse, being here divided by a pause of solemn and admiring recollection. The general description of the foregoing verses is now confirmed and illustrated by a reference to the exodus from Egypt, and the journey through the wilderness. Before thy people, in the pillar of cloud, as their guide and their commander. Thy marching, literally thy stepping, treading, or more exactly still, thy step or tread. To make the allusion still more pointed, the word for wilderness is not the one commonly so rendered, but one borrowed from Deuteronomy 32:10.

9. (Psalms 68:8). The earth shook, nay, the heavens dropped, this Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel. Dropped, discharged drops, rained. This is mentioned as a natural and usual accompaniment of a thunderstorm. This Sinai probably means, this (was at) Sinai, and should be read as a parenthesis. The usual construction not only requires a verb to be repeated or supplied, but yields an obscure and doubtful sense, as no reason can be given why Sinai should be called this Sinai, and the version Sinai itself is unauthorised by usage. The first clause is descriptive of the grand and terrible phenomena attending the theopany at Sinai. See Exodus 19:16-18.

10. (Psalms 68:9). A rain of free gifts thou pourest down, O God; thine inheritance and (that) exhausted, thou dost confirm (or strengthen) it. The first clause probably refers to the abundant and refreshing gifts (of which rain is a natural and common emblem) bestowed upon the people in the wilderness, including manna, quails, and water. The future tense is like those in Psalms 18:6). Pour down, literally shake or shake out. Thine inheritance, thy people. The construction is that of an absolute nominative, (as to) thine inheritance. The next clause heightens the description by suggesting that the gift came precisely when it was most needed.

11. (Psalms 68:10). Thy flock hath dwelt therein; thou wilt provide, in thy goodness, for the wretched. The first noun strictly means an animal, and more especially a beast, but was probably employed as a collective to denote a herd or flock, in which sense it was figuratively applied in David’s time to a company or troop of men, (2 Samuel 23:11; 2 Samuel 23:13). Therein, i.e. in the land of promise, which was present to the writer’s mind, though not expressly mentioned in the context. See below, Psalms 68:14, and compare Isaiah 8:21. Thou wilt provide, indefinitely, whatsoever may be needed; or more specifically, wilt prepare, i.e. prepare a home, a resting place. The future tense describes it as a customary method of proceeding upon God’s part, but specially exemplified in the case of Israel, who, until his settlement in Canaan, might well be called a sufferer, a wretched or afflicted one.

12. (Psalms 68:11). The Lord will give the word; the (women) publishing (it) are a great host. As to the future, see above, on Psalms 68:9-10. Word here means tidings, news, and, as the whole connection shews, good news, which is alsp suggested by the word translated publishing, but in usage constantly applied to joyful tidings. See above, on Psalms 40:9. There is obvious allusion to the ancient oriental custom of women celebrating victories with song and dance. See Exodus 15:20, 1 Samuel 18:6-7. The reference is not to any one occasion, but to an ideal choir chanting all the victories of some great period, perhaps that of the Judges.

13. (Psalms 68:12). Kings of armies shall flee, shall flee, and she that tarrieth at home shall divide the spoil. The flight described is not that of Dings alone, but of kings at the head of armies. The repetition of the verb denotes the certainty and completeness of the rout. The dweller in the house is by some literally understood to mean the woman who takes no part in the battle. But others regard it as a figure for the chosen people, dwelling quietly at home, after the disappearance of their enemies, when “the land had rest,” Judges 5:31; Judges 8:28.

14. (Psalms 68:13). When, ye lie down between the borders, (ye shall be like) the wings of a dove covered with silver and her pinions with yellow gold. The general idea seems to be that when “the land had rest,” her condition was one of peaceful prosperity. The common version of the first clause (though ye have lien among the pots) is justified neither by rabbinical tradition nor the ancient versions. The Hebrew noun occurs only here and in Ezekel 40, where it is equally obscure, and the cognate forms in Genesis 49:14, Judges 5:16, are scarcely less so. The only meaning, besides those already mentioned, which has any probability, is that of folds or sheep-cotes, lying among which might be viewed as a poetical figure for rural or pastoral repose, thus amounting to the same thing with the first translation, which describes the people as residing quietly between the borders, i.e. within the boundaries or frontiers of their territory, now once more forsaken by the enemy. The beautiful allusion in the last clause to the changeable colours of a dove’s plumage seems intended to suggest the idea of a peaceful but splendid prosperity.

15. (Psalms 68:14). When the Almighty scatters kings therein, it snows in Zalmon. The change from war to peace is likened to the dazzling whiteness of snow in the midst of blackness or darkness. This last idea is conveyed by Zalmon, an unimportant eminence near Shechem, partly perhaps in reference to the dark forests which covered it (Judges 9:48), but chiefly to the meaning of the name itself, to wit, shade or shadow. The parallel term, snow, suggests the idea of the brightest light. See Psalms 51:7, Isaiah 1:18, Mark 9:3, Matthew 28:3, Revelation 1:14, and compare Matthew 17:2.

Some, with far less probability, explain the verse as meaning that the land was whitened with the slain, as Zalmon was with snow; but this ascribes too great an altitude to Zalmon. The Hebrew construction in the first clause is, in the Almighty’s scattering kings, i.e. at the time of his so doing. The divine name here used is not the one so frequently translated Mighty in the Psalms, but the patriarchal title mentioned in Exodus 6:3. Compare Genesis 17:1; Genesis 28:3. It is here introduced because the events in question were remarkable exertions and displays of God’s omnipotence. Scattered here means routed, put to flight.

See above, Psalms 68:12, and compare the use of the same Hebrew verb in Zechariah 2:6.

16. (Psalms 68:15). A mount of God (is) mount Bashan, a mount of peaks (or ridges) is mount Bashan. The first phrase means a mountain shewing forth the creative power of God by its vastness. See above, on Psalms 36:6. Mount Bashan, not a single eminence, but the lofty range of Antilibanus, also called Hermon, and by other races, Sion and Sirion. See Deuteronomy 3:9; Deuteronomy 4:48, Psalms 42:6, Psalms 89:12.

The last two names would be apt to suggest, by a fortuitous resemblance, that of the holy hill of Zion. A mount of peaks or ridges, i.e. not a detached mountain, but a chain with many lofty summits, forming the northern boundary of Bashan. At the same time, the expression of this verse would necessarily suggest the idea of great states or kingdoms, of which mountains are the standing symbols. See above, on Psalms 46:2.

17. (Psalms 68:16). Why will ye watch, (ye) hills, (ye) ridges, the hill God hathdesired for his dwelling? Yea, Jehovah will inhabit (it) for ever. The interrogative form implies disapprobation and contempt. See above, on Psalms 2:1. The verb occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament, but its meaning has been preserved in Arabic, namely, to watch as an enemy, to lie in wait, or, as some allege, to view with envy.

Common to both is the idea of hostility or ill-will. The translation of this verb in the English Bible (leap) and in the Prayer-Book version (hop) seems to rest on mere conjecture. The two nouns, hills and ridges, are by some supposed to form a sort of compound, ridge-hills, i. e. high or rugged hills. Compare the phrase wine-reeling, Psalms 60:3. The plural form may denote the several peaks, or the whole class which this range of mountains merely represented. Zion is here described as an object of hostility or envy to the mountains of the heathen world, on account of the honour put upon it by its being chosen as the earthly residence of God.

Having first poetically said that he desired it, i.e. preferred and chose it, to preclude all doubt as to the event, the Psalmist adds, not only so, but he does and will dwell there for ever. The verbs of the second and third clause, although synonymous, are not identical in Hebrew. There is evident significance in the choice of the divine names here employed. Not only did he choose it, as Elohim, for his dwelling, but he actually dwells there as Jehovah, as the God of revelation and the covenanted God of Israel.

18. (Psalms 68:17). The chariots of God (are) two myriads, multiplied thousands; the Lord is among them, Sinai in the sanctuary. As David’s most formidable foes were particularly strong in chariots of war (2 Samuel 8:4; 2 Samuel 10:18), so here God’s power of protection is expressed by an innumerable multitude of chariots. The same mode of representation occurs in the history of Elisha, 2 Kings 6:17. Two myriads is a closer version than twenty thou sand, because the Hebrew word is the dual of one used both in the vague sense of a multitude, and in the precise sense of a myriad. See above, on Psalms 3:6, where the plural of the same word occurs. The next phrase strictly means thousands of repetition or reduplication, i. e. thousands upon thousands. Compare Daniel 7:10.

There is no mention of angels in the text, although interpreters in every age have supposed their presence to be necessarily implied, as the conductors of God’s chariots, if not as the chariots themselves, which is the sense put upon the Hebrew phrase by both the English versions (even thousands of angels). There is also an obvious allusion to the giving of the law at Sinai, as described in Deuteronomy 33:2-3, the presence of angels at which appears to be assumed in the New Testament, Galatians 3:19, Hebrews 2:2. It is not, however, the mere number, even of these heavenly hosts, that constitutes the safety of the holy place, but the personal presence of the Lord (Adhonai) among them, which is therefore asserted in the next clause. The last words of the verse are obscure, but seem most probably to mean that the same glorious theophany which once took place on Sinai is now renewed on Zion, with particular reference, as some imagine, to the presence of the ark and the tables of stone in the one case, as a perpetual memorial, and even a perpetual renewal, of the legislation, in the other. This fine poetical identification of the two mountains hallowed by God’s presence may have been in the mind of the apostle when he drew that sublime contrast or parallel between them, Hebrews 12:18-24. Under the law Sinai was renewed in Zion. Under the gospel Zion superseded Sinai

19. (Psalms 68:18). Thou hast gone up to the high-place; thou hast captured a captivity; thou hast taken gifts among mankind, and (even among) rebels, (so as) to dwell (here), Lord, God! In order to carry out his choice and resolution, as recorded in Psalms 68:16 above, i.e. in order to establish Zion as his earthly dwelling-place, God has encountered all opposing powers, vanquished them, and forced them to pay tribute, even the stoutest and most stubborn. The sign of the conquest being finished is the conqueror’s return to his throne, whether upon earth or in heaven. See above, on Psalms 7:7, and compare Psalms 18:16; Psalms 93:4; Psalms 102:19. Captured a captivity, i.e. taken captive a multitude of enemies.

The gifts meant are the forced gifts of the conquered. Among men, i.e. while present among them as their conqueror, and by implication from them. Even rebels, even the most rebellious, are compelled to submit. In other words, the conquest is complete. According to the military figures here used, it would seem to be implied that the gifts thus extorted by the conqueror are distributed among his followers. To receive gifts on the one hand, and bestow gifts on the other, are correlative ideas and expressions, so that Paul, in applying this description of a theocratic triumph to the conquests of our Saviour, substitutes one of these expressions for the other (Ephesians 4:9).

He also, in his comment on the passage, justly represents the ascension there described as necessarily implying a previous descent. In other words, victory presupposes conflict. The last clause obviously refers back to the corresponding clause of Psa 68:16. Lord God, literally Jah, God! See above, on Psalms 68:4.

20. (Psalms 68:19). Blessed be the Lord, day (by) day; (whoever) lays a load upon us, the Mighty (God is) our salvation. Selah. The second clause, which is obscure from brevity, also admits of this translation: (man) may lay a load upon us, (but) God is our salvation. Lay a load upon us, literally load to us, or as to us. According to both these constructions, loading means oppression. It is possible, however, to attach to it the sense of benefits or favours, put upon it in the English versions, but with a very different construction of the whole clause. The Mighty (God) will heap upon us our salvation, or, will load us with salvation. The depth of feeling and the strength of faith, on which this anticil ation rests, are indicated or betrayed by the meditative pause which follows.

21. (Psalms 68:20). God is for us a God of salvation, and to Jehovah the Lord (belong) issues from death. A more exact translation of the verse, retaining the peculiar idioms, would be this: the Almighty (is) for us an Almighty for salvation, and to Jehovah the Lord (belong), as to death, outgoings or escapes. This is only an amplification of the last clause of the verse preceding, God is our salvation, or according to the other construction, God loads us with salvation.

22. (Psalms 68:21). Surely God will crush the head of his enemies, the hairy scalp, going on in his trespasses. The first word properly means only, and is here used to denote that this and not the contrary is true, a purpose which in our idiom may be answered by a particle of strong asseveration, such as certainly or surely. See above, Psalms 69:6, and compare Psalms 39:11; Psalms 58:11. Crush the head, a stroll figure for violent and complete destruction. See below, on Psalms 68:23, and compare Genesis 3:15, Numbers 24:8; Numbers 24:17.

The hairy scalp, or crown of hair, is merely a poetical equivalent or parallel to head. he words that follow seem to be applied to it by a kind of personification. Compare Proverbs 16:31. But this figure, if too bold, may be avoided by supplying of one or of the man before going. This last word does not necessarily mean going on, but according to its usage elsewhere may be endered going about, i.e. habitually acting, in a sinful manner. See alove, on Psalms 68:8; Psalms 20:6; Psalms 26:3; Psalms 25:14; Psalms 39:6; Psalms 43:1.

23. (Psalms 68:22). The Lord hath said, From Bashan I will bring (them) back, I will bring (them) back from the depths of the sea. Some suppose the object of the verbs in this verse to be Israel or my people, as in Isaiah 49:12 (compare Genesis 14:14). But as the enemy is still the subject of the following verses, it is better to understand the one before us as threatening to bring them back for punishment and destruction, even when they seemed to have withdrawn in triumph. Here, as in Psalms 68:14, Bashan is mentioned as a frontier province of the Holy Land. In the last clause there is an obvious climax. I will bring them bak, not from Bashan merely, but if need be, from the bottom of the o ean. Compare Psalms 139:9, and especially Amos 9:2-3.

24. (Psalms 68:23). In order that thou mayest crush (them)— thy foot in blood—(and) the tongue of thy dogs (in blood) from the enemies (even) from him. The general import of tins verse is clear, but its construction doubtful and obscure. The first verb cannot mean to dip or wash without an arbitrary chancre of text by reading as in Psalms 58:10. The original verb must have the same sense as in Psalms 68:21, and may have the same object, namely, the enemies of God and of his people. The next words may then be taken as a parenthetical and qualifying clause, like sword in hand, and other such forms in English.

Thy foot in blood, i.e. with thy foot in their blood, or so that thy foot shall tread in their blood. The last word in Hebrew is by some understood as a noun with a suffix meaning its portion, i.e. the share of the tongue; but for this there is no, authority in usage. Others translate the phrase, of it, i.e. of the blood, and the whole clause, the tongue of thy dogs (shall receive) of it from the enemies. According to the first version given above, the last phrase is a mere specification of the one before it; from the enemies, (even) from him, referring to some real or ideal representative of the entire class.

25. (Psalms 68:24). They saw thy goings, O God, the goings of my God, my king, in the holy place. The subject of the first verb may be either men in general, or the spectators, those who took no part in the triumphal pageant here described. The holy place, not in the restricted sense, but in that of the Greek, meaning the whole of the sacred enclosure, as distinguished from the sacred edifice. Into this enclosure the procession seems to be described as entering, for the purpose of bringing back the ark.

26. (Psalms 68:25). Before went singers, behind players, in the midst of damsels drumming, playing upon timbrels, which is still an oriental custom. Some suppose the order mentioned in the first clause to denote the precedence or priority of vocal above instrumental music, as a rational or reasonable service. The English version of the last clause, among (them were) the damsels, inverts the true sense by needlessly supplying two words, a construction forbidden by the masoretic pointing. The true sense is, that the singers and performers were themselves surrounded by these players upon timbrels.

27. (Psalms 68:26). In assemblies bless ye God, the Lord, from the fountain of Israel. Not only individually, or in triumphal marches, but in the stated convocations of the people at the sanctuary. See above, on Psalms 26:12, the only other place where the Hebrew word occurs, except as a proper name (Numbers 33:25), and where it evidently has the same sense. The only satisfactory explanation of the last words, from the fountain of Israel, is that afforded by supplying ye who are before it, and applying the whole clause as a description of the chosen people, under the figure of a stream derived or flowing from a fountain. Compare the similar ideas and expression in Isaiah 48:1; Isaiah 51:1.

28. (Psalms 68:27.) There is little Benjamin, subduing them; the chiefs of Judah, stoning them; the chiefs of Zebulon; the chiefs of Naphtali. These are named as representatives of all the tribes supposed to be there, i. e. in the triumphal march. They seem to be selected, partly with reference to their local habitation, as the northern and southern extremities of Israel; partly because the most remarkable exploits, from the time of Moses to the time of David, were performed by these tribes. See Judges 5:18, 1 Samuel 18:7. Little Benjamin, so called in allusion to Jacob’s partial fondness for his youngest son. See Genesis 43:33, and compare 1 Samuel 9:21.

Their conqueror, or subduing them as Saul did the surrounding nations. See 1 Samuel 14:47-48. Stoning them, literally their stoning, from a verb which invariably means to stone. The allusion may be to their skill as slingers, or more specifically to the means by which David killed Goliath (1 Samuel 17:49-50). The suffix refers to the enemy, as in the clause preceding. Some interpreters have noted, as an observable coincidence, that our Lord and several of his apostles were of Judah, Paul was of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5), and the remaining apostles of Galilee, in which lay the domain of Zebulon and Naphtali (Matthew 4:13).

29. (Psalms 68:28). Thy God (O Israel) hath ordained thy strength; be thou strong, O God, who hast wrought (it) for us. Ordained, provided and secured by his omnipotence. Be strong, i.e. shew thy strength by exerting it in our behalf, hereafter as thou hast done heretofore. Wrought for us, indefinitely and in general, or wrought (it, for us, i. e. this deliverance which we have been celebrating. See above, on Psalms 22:31, and compare Isaiah 26:12.

30. (Psalms 68:29). Because of thy temple above Jerusalem, to thee shall kings bring tribute. The first word properly means from; but as the local sense would here be inadmissible, from may be understood as in the phrase arising from, proceeding from, in which the idea is that of an effect or consequence. As the word translated temple originally means a palace, it is applicable both to the Mosaic sanctuary and to Solomon’s temple which succeeded it. See above, on Psalms 5:7; Psalms 48:9; Psalms 65:4. Above Jerusalem, both in a physical and moral sense, as Zion and Moriah overhung the city, and as the presence of the sanctuary was at once its protection and its crowning glory. The last word in Hebrew occurs only here and in passages founded upon this. See below, Psalms 76:11, and compare Isaiah 18:7.

31. (Psalms 68:30). Rebuke thou the beasts of the reeds, the crowd of strong (bulls) with the calves of the nations, crouching with pieces of silver; he has scattered nations (that) in wars delight. What he confidently anticipates is prayed for in the first clause, and in the last described as already realized, both common modes of indirect prediction. The word for beasts is that translated flock in Psalms 68:10 above; but here both senses seem to be suggested, as they may be by the use of the plural in English. The beast of the reeds has been variously explained to be the lion (Jeremiah 49:19; Jeremiah 50:44, Zechariah 11:3), the crocodile (Ezekiel 29:3; Ezekiel 32:2), and the hippopotamus, the Hebrew name of which is plural in its form (Behemoth) and therefore analogous to the collective term here used. This animal is also represented elsewhere as lying in the covert of the reed (Job 40:21).

Either the crocodile or hippopotamus would necessarily suggest the idea of Egypt, here referred to as the most powerful of heathen states, and therefore a fit emblem of the heathen world. The adjective strong is a poetical description of wild bulls, as in Psalms 22:12. These may represent the leaders of the nations, and the calves their subjects. The participle crouching is a singular in Hebrew, prostrating himself, the many being suddenly transformed into an ideal individual. See above, on Ps. x, 10. With pieces of silver, silver coins, offered as tribute to their conquerors.

See above, on Psalms 68:18, and compare Isaiah 60:9. In the close of the verse he sees the warlike enemies of Israel already scattered by the hand of God.

32. (Psalms 68:31). Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. Egypt is again named as the representative of the Gentile world, but in conjunction with the neighbouring state of Cush or Ethiopia, often referred to by the prophets as a powerful and splendid empire. See Isaiah 18:7; Isaiah 45:14, Zephaniah 3:10. The word translated princes means originally fat ones, elsewhere put for prosperous and potent men. See above, on Psalms 22:29.

From this word is supposed to be derived the name Hasmonean, which was given to the Maccabees or Jewishprinces in the interval between the Old and New Testaments. Soon stretch out is not a version but a paraphrase of the original expression, which means strictly, make its hands to run, and may perhaps denote the eagerness with which the action is performed.

33. (Psalms 68:32). Kingdoms of the earth, sing unto God; praise (or celebrate) the Lord! Selah. In view of the conquests here foreseen, the whole world is summoned to acknowledge the God of Israel as the universal sovereign. Compare Revelation 11:15.

34. (Psalms 68:33). (Sing) to the (one) riding in the heavens of heavens of old ; lo, he utters his voice, a voice of strength. This verse is designed to magnify the object of the praise enjoined. Riding, as a conqueror in triumph. See above, on Psalms 68:4. The heavens of heavens are the highest heavens, the heaven of that which is heaven to us. See 1 Kings 8:27, and compare Deuteronomy 10:14; Deuteronomy 33:26. Of old does not qualify riding, as it may seem to do in English, but the nouns immediately preceding, the heavens of antiquity or ancient heavens. See above, on Psalms 68:19. In the last clause, he seems to hear an audible response from heaven itself. The lo, as usual, implies that something suddenly assails the senses. Utters his voice, literally gives (forth a sound) with his voice, as in Psalms 66:6.

35. (Psalms 68:34). Give strength to God! Over Israel (is) his majesty, and his strength in the clouds. To give, in such connections, is of course to ascribe. See above, on Psalms 29:1-2. The remainder of the verse contains the ground of this injunction. God is entitled to the praise of power, because his greatness is displayed in the protection which he extends over Israel. As the sanctuary was above Jerusalem, so God was above the chosen people, their chief and their protector. See above, on Psalms 68:29. At the same time his power is displayed throughout the universe, especially those extra-ordinary dispensations, in which he appears to speak from heaven or the clouds. See above, on Psalms 26:5.

36. (Psalms 68:35). Terrible (art thou), O God, out of thy holy places; the Mighty (God) of Israel— he is (a God) giving strength and forces to the people. Blessed (be) God! The winding up is like that of the twenty-ninth psalm. Out of thy sanctuaries, as displayed thence, in blessings bestowed upon thy people. He is not only mighty in himself, but the giver of might to others. Compare Isaiah 40:29; Isaiah 40:31.