Psalms 21:7-10

21:7 For the king trusts ¹  in the Lord,

and because of the sovereign Lord’s ²  faithfulness he is not upended. ³ 

21:8 You ⁴  prevail over ⁵  all your enemies;

your power is too great for those who hate you. ⁶ 

21:9 You burn them up like a fiery furnace ⁷  when you appear; ⁸ 

the Lord angrily devours them; ⁹ 

the fire consumes them.

21:10 You destroy their offspring ¹⁰  from the earth,

their descendants ¹¹  from among the human race. ¹² 

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¹ tn The active participle draws attention to the ongoing nature of the action.

² tn Traditionally “the Most High’s.” The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. Note the focus of vv. 8-12 and see Ps 47:2.

³ tn Another option is to translate the imperfect verbal form as future, “he will not be upended” (cf. NRSV “he shall not be moved”). Even if one chooses this option, the future tense must be understood in a generalizing sense.

⁴ tn The king is now addressed. One could argue that the Lord is still being addressed, but v. 9 militates against this proposal, for there the Lord is mentioned in the third person and appears to be distinct from the addressee (unless, of course, one takes “Lord” in v. 9 as vocative; see the note on “them” in v. 9b). Verse 7 begins this transition to a new addressee by referring to both the king and the Lord in the third person (in vv. 1-6 the Lord is addressed and only the king referred to in the third person).

⁵ tn Heb “your hand finds.” The idiom pictures the king grabbing hold of his enemies and defeating them (see 1 Sam 23:17). The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 8-12 may be translated with the future tense, as long as the future is understood as generalizing.

⁶ tn Heb “your right hand finds those who hate you.”

⁷ tn Heb “you make them like a furnace of fire.” Although many modern translations retain the literal Hebrew, the statement is elliptical. The point is not that he makes them like a furnace, but like an object burned in a furnace (cf. NEB, “at your coming you shall plunge them into a fiery furnace”).

⁸ tn Heb “at the time of your face.” The “face” of the king here refers to his angry presence. See Lam 4:16.

⁹ tn Heb “the Lord, in his anger he swallows them, and fire devours them.” Some take “the Lord” as a vocative, in which case he is addressed in vv. 8-9a. But this makes the use of the third person in v. 9b rather awkward, though the king could be the subject (see vv. 1-7).

¹⁰ tn Heb “fruit.” The next line makes it clear that offspring is in view.

¹¹ tn Heb “seed.”

¹² tn Heb “sons of man.”