A psalm of David.
29:1 Acknowledge the Lord, you heavenly beings, 2
acknowledge the Lord’s majesty and power! 3
29:3 The Lord’s shout is heard over the water; 4
the majestic God thunders, 5
the Lord appears over the surging water. 6
38:15 Yet 7 I wait for you, O Lord!
You will respond, O Lord, my God!
97:5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of the whole earth.
118:26 May the one who comes in the name of the Lord 8 be blessed!
We will pronounce blessings on you 9 in the Lord’s temple. 10
122:4 The tribes go up 11 there, 12
the tribes of the Lord,
where it is required that Israel
give thanks to the name of the Lord. 13
135:5 Yes, 14 I know the Lord is great,
and our Lord is superior to all gods.
1 sn Psalm 29. In this hymn of praise the psalmist calls upon the heavenly assembly to acknowledge the royal splendor of the Lord. He describes the Lord’s devastating power as revealed in the thunderstorm and affirms that the Lord exerts this awesome might on behalf of his people. In its original context the psalm was a bold polemic against the Canaanite storm god Baal, for it affirms that the Lord is the real king who controls the elements of the storm, contrary to pagan belief. See R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “The Polemic against Baalism in Israel’s Early History and Literature,” BSac 150 (1994): 280-82.
2 tc Heb “sons of gods,” or “sons of God.” Though אֵלִים (’elim) is vocalized as a plural form (“gods”) in the MT, it is likely that the final mem is actually enclitic, rather than a plural marker. In this case one may read “God.” Some, following a Qumran text and the LXX, also propose the phrase occurred in the original text of Deut 32:8.
tn The phrase בְּנֵי אֵלִים (bÿney ’elim, “sons of gods” or “sons of God”) occurs only here and in Ps 89:6 (89:7 HT). In Ps 89 the “sons of gods/God” are also called “the assembly of the holy ones” and “council of the holy ones.” The heavenly assembly, comprised of so-called “angels” and other supernatural beings, appears to be in view. See Job 5:1; 15:15 and Zech 14:5, where these supernatural beings are referred to as “holy ones.” In Canaanite mythological texts the divine council of the high god El is referred to as “the sons of El.” The OT apparently borrows the Canaanite phrase and applies it to the supernatural beings that surround the heavenly throne.
3 tn Or “ascribe to the
4 tn Heb “the voice of the
5 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form is probably descriptive. In dramatic fashion the psalmist portrays the
6 tn Traditionally “many waters.” The geographical references in the psalm (Lebanon, Sirion, Kadesh) suggest this is a reference to the Mediterranean Sea (see Ezek 26:19; 27:26). The psalmist describes a powerful storm moving in from the sea and sweeping over the mountainous areas north of Israel. The “surging waters” may symbolize the hostile enemies of God who seek to destroy his people (see Pss 18:17; 32:6; 77:20; 93:4; 144:7; Isa 17:13; Jer 51:55; Ezek 26:19; Hab 3:15). In this case the
7 tn Or perhaps “surely.”
8 sn The people refer here to the psalmist, who enters the
9 tn The pronominal suffix is second masculine plural, but the final mem (ם) is probably dittographic (note the mem [מ] at the beginning of the following form) or enclitic, in which case the suffix may be taken as second masculine singular, referring to the psalmist.
10 tn Heb “from the house of the
11 tn Or “went up.”
12 tn Heb “which is where the tribes go up.”
13 tn Heb “[it is] a statute for Israel to give thanks to the name of the
14 tn Or “for.”