Mazmur 68:30

68:30 Sound your battle cry ¹  against the wild beast of the reeds, ² 

and the nations that assemble like a herd of calves led by bulls! ³ 

They humble themselves ⁴  and offer gold and silver as tribute. ⁵ 

God ⁶  scatters ⁷  the nations that like to do battle.

Mazmur 81:15

81:15 (May those who hate the Lord ⁸  cower in fear ⁹  before him!

May they be permanently humiliated!) ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 81:2

81:2 Sing ¹¹  a song and play the tambourine,

the pleasant sounding harp, and the ten-stringed instrument!

1 Samuel 22:1

David Goes to Adullam and Mizpah

22:1 So David left there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s family ¹²  learned about it, they went down there to him.

[68:30]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb גָּעַר (ga’ar) is often understood to mean “rebuke.” In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts such as Ps 68 this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Ps 106:9 and Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 18:15; 76:6; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.

[68:30]  ² sn The wild beast of the reeds probably refers to a hippopotamus, which in turn symbolizes the nation of Egypt.

[68:30]  ³ tn Heb “an assembly of bulls, with calves of the nations.”

[68:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “humbling himself.” The verb form is a Hitpael participle from the root רָפַס (rafas, “to trample”). The Hitpael of this verb appears only here and in Prov 6:3, where it seems to mean, “humble oneself,” a nuance that fits nicely in this context. The apparent subject is “wild beast” or “assembly,” though both of these nouns are grammatically feminine, while the participle is a masculine form. Perhaps one should emend the participial form to a masculine plural (מִתְרַפִּם, mitrapim) and understand “bulls” or “calves” as the subject.

[68:30]  ⁵ tc Heb “with pieces [?] of silver.” The meaning of the Hebrew term רַצֵּי (ratsey) is unclear. It is probably best to emend the text to בֶּצֶר וְכָסֶף (betser vÿkhasef, “[with] gold and silver”).

[68:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[68:30]  ⁷ tn The verb בָּזַר (bazar) is an alternative form of פָּזַר (pazar, “scatter”).

[81:15]  ⁸ tn “Those who hate the Lord” are also mentioned in 2 Chr 19:2 and Ps 139:21.

[81:15]  ⁹ tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 66:3 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “to be weak; to be powerless” (see also Ps 109:24). The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, parallel to the jussive form in the next line.

[81:15]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “and may their time be forever.” The Hebrew term עִתָּם (’ittam, “their time”) must refer here to the “time” of the demise and humiliation of those who hate the Lord. Some propose an emendation to בַּעֲתָתָם (ba’atatam) or בִּעֻתָם (bi’utam; “their terror”; i.e., “may their terror last forever”), but the omission of bet (ב) in the present Hebrew text is difficult to explain, making the proposed emendation unlikely.

[81:15]  tn The verb form at the beginning of the line is jussive, indicating that this is a prayer. The translation assumes that v. 15 is a parenthetical “curse” offered by the psalmist. Having heard the reference to Israel’s enemies (v. 14), the psalmist inserts this prayer, reminding the Lord that they are God’s enemies as well.

[81:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “lift up.”

[22:1]  ¹² tn Heb “house.”