3:18 After Ehud brought the tribute payment, he dismissed the people who had carried it. 1
8:6 But this request displeased Samuel, for 3 they said, “Give us a king to lead us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord.
8:1 In his old age Samuel appointed his sons as judges over Israel.
Azariah son of Zadok was the priest.
10:1 King Ahasuerus then imposed forced labor on the land and on the coastlands of the sea.
68:30 Sound your battle cry 7 against the wild beast of the reeds, 8
and the nations that assemble like a herd of calves led by bulls! 9
They humble themselves 10 and offer gold and silver as tribute. 11
God 12 scatters 13 the nations that like to do battle.
1 tn Heb “the tribute payment.”
2 tn The Hebrew syntax of v. 2 is difficult. The Hebrew text reads literally, “only in order that the generations of the Israelites might know, to teach them war – only those who formerly did not know them.”
sn The stated purpose for leaving the nations (to teach the subsequent generations…how to conduct holy war) seems to contradict 2:22 and 3:4, which indicate the nations were left to test Israel’s loyalty to the
3 tn Heb “when.”
4 sn Beginning with 4:21, the verse numbers through 5:18 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:21 ET = 5:1 HT, 4:22 ET = 5:2 HT, etc., through 5:18 ET = 5:32 HT. Beginning with 6:1 the numbering of verses in the English Bible and the Hebrew text is again the same.
5 tn Heb “the River” (also in v. 24). This is the standard designation for the Euphrates River in biblical Hebrew.
6 tn Heb “[They] were bringing tribute and were serving Solomon all the days of his life.”
7 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.
8 sn The wild beast of the reeds probably refers to a hippopotamus, which in turn symbolizes the nation of Egypt.
9 tn Heb “an assembly of bulls, with calves of the nations.”
10 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.
11 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”).
12 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn The verb בָּזַר (bazar) is an alternative form of פָּזַר (pazar, “scatter”).