8:2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies
you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries, 1
so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy. 2
For the music director; by David, a psalm, a song.
68:1 God springs into action! 4
His enemies scatter;
his adversaries 5 run from him. 6
1 tn Heb “you establish strength because of your foes.” The meaning of the statement is unclear. The present translation follows the reading of the LXX which has “praise” (αἶνος, ainos) in place of “strength” (עֹז, ’oz); cf. NIV, NCV, NLT.
2 tn Heb “to cause to cease an enemy and an avenger.” The singular forms are collective. The Hitpael participle of נָקַם (naqam) also occurs in Ps 44:16.
3 sn Psalm 68. The psalmist depicts God as a mighty warrior and celebrates the fact that God exerts his power on behalf of his people.
4 tn Or “rises up.” The verb form is an imperfect, not a jussive. The psalmist is describing God’s appearance in battle in a dramatic fashion.
5 tn Heb “those who hate him.”
6 sn The wording of v. 1 echoes the prayer in Num 10:35: “Spring into action,