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PSALMS 29

Old Testament Studies
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STROPHE DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

NASB NKJV NRSV TEV NJB
The Voice of the Lord in the Storm Praise to God in His Holiness and Majesty Hymn to the God of the Storm The Voice of the Lord in the Storm Hymn to the Lord of the Storm
MT Intro
A Psalm of David.		        
29:1-2 29:1-2 29:1-2 29:1-2 29:1-2
29:3-9 29:3-4 29:3-4 29:3-4 29:3-4
  29:5-7 29:5-6 29:5-6 29:5-6
    29:7-8 29:7-9 29:7-9b
  29:8-9      
    29:9   29:9c-11
29:10-11 29:10-11 29:10-11 29:10-11  

READING CYCLE THREE (see
“Bible
Interpretation Seminar”)

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR’S INTENT AT PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which
means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the
light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not
relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects (reading cycle #3). Compare
your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is
the key to following the original author’s intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every
paragraph has one and only one subject.

  1. First paragraph
  2. Second paragraph
  3. Third paragraph, etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

  1. This is a psalm about natural revelation (i.e., God reveals Himself to everyone through creation).
    1. Psalm 19:1-6 (silent voice in creation)
    2. Romans 1:19-23 (knowledge of God from nature)
    3. Romans 2:14-16 (inner moral witness)

     

  2. The imagery of the psalm occurs to encompass
    1. YHWH’s defeat of the chaos of initial creation (i.e., water, cf. Ps. 29:3,10, the
      term “flood” [BDB 550] occurs only here and Genesis, chapters 6-11)
    2. YHWH’s power in a storm (cf. Ps. 29:3-9; cf. Ps. 18:7,15)

     

  3. YHWH, not Ba’al, defeats, controls, and sends water. Many scholars note the
    numerous similarities to Ugaritic mythology and other ANE literature. See
    SPECIAL
    TOPIC: ANE CREATION AND FLOOD MYTHS

     

  4. The UBS Handbook asserts that this psalm is a chiasm (p. 275).
    1. fourfold use of YHWH in Ps. 29:1-2 and 10-11
    2. strength” (BDB 738) in Ps. 29:1 and 11
    3. waters referred to in Ps. 29:3 and 10
    4. YHWH’s majesty referred to in Ps. 29:4 and 10
    5. trees mentioned in Ps. 29:5 and 9
    6. geographical places in Ps. 29:6 and 8

      My problem with this is that a chiasm usually places
      the most significant theological statement at the middle but verse 7 does
      not fit this pattern.

  5. This Psalm may refer to
    1. a theophany as YHWH is depicted as coming in the imagery of a violent storm
    2. but the thrust is a military victory (cf. Ps. 29:11)

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: PSALM 29:1-2
 1Ascribe
to the Lord, O sons of the mighty,
 Ascribe to the Lord
glory and strength.
 2Ascribe
to the Lord the glory due to His name;
 Worship the Lord
in holy array.

29:1-2 “Ascribe” This VERB (BDB 396, KB 393, Qal
IMPERFECT) is repeated three times. It basically means “give glory to
God (cf. Deut. 32:3). This same pattern is also in Psalm 96:7-8 and 1 Chr. 16:28-29. The
threefold repetition denotes a superlative emphasis.

29:1
NASB   ”sons of the mighty”
NKJV   ”you mighty ones”
NRSV, TEV   ”heavenly beings”
NJB, LXX   ”sons of God”
JPSOA   ”divine beings”
REB   ”you angelic powers”

The MT has “sons of gods” (lit. “sons of Elim,” BDB 119
CONSTRUCT BDB 42). It refers to the angels (cf. Gen. 6:2 [“sons of
elohim“]; Ps. 103:20-21) or the heavenly angelic council (cf. Exod. 15:11; 2 Kgs. 22:19;
Ps. 82:1; 86:6-8).

SPECIAL TOPIC: “the
sons of God” in Genesis 6

▣ “glory and strength” These are two common terms applied to YHWH.

  1. glory ‒ BDB 458
  2. strength ‒ BDB 738

29:2 “Worship” This is the fourth in a series of four opening IMPERATIVES
(lit. “bow down,” BDB 1005, KB 295, Hishpael IMPERATIVE). This is
what faithful followers do as they come to His temple in holy array. This involves not just clothing
but covenant obedience.

SPECIAL TOPIC: WORSHIP

▣ “His name” This is an idiomatic way of referring to YHWH Himself.

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE NAME
OF YHWH

▣
NASB   ”in holy array”
NKJV   ”in the beauty of holiness”
NRSV, NJB   ”in holy splendor”
JPSOA, NASB margin   ”majestic in holiness”
REB, NET   ”in holy attire”
LXX, Peshitta   ”in His holy court”

The ambiguous phrase (BDB 214 CONSTRUCT BDB 871) also appears
in three other temple worship contexts (cf. Ps. 96:9; 110:3; 1 Chr. 16:29). The TEV footnote
offers three possible ways to translate the phrase.

  1. when He (YHWH) appears (from Ugarit root, cf. TEV, i.e., YHWH Himself; this then would
    be similar to the theophany of Exodus 19-20)
  2. garments of worship (Aaron’s garments are described in a similar way in Exod. 28:2)
  3. in His beautiful temple (seems to reflect LXX)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: PSALM 29:3-9
 3The
voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
 The God of glory thunders,
 The Lord
is over many waters.
 4The
voice of the Lord is powerful,
 The voice of the Lord
is majestic.
 5The
voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
 Yes, the Lord
breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
 6He
makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
 And
Sirion like a young wild ox.
 7The voice of the Lord hews
out flames of fire.
 8The
voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
 The Lord
shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
 9The
voice of the Lord makes the deer to calve
 And strips the forests bare;
 And in His temple everything says,
“Glory!”

29:3-9 This strophe is dominated by “the voice of the Lord.”
There seem to be two ways to view it.

  1. YHWH the creator, cf. Ps. 29:3,10 (cf. Genesis 1; Psalm 93)
  2. YHWH the true storm God and giver of rain (cf. Ps. 29:3-9, i.e., in opposition to
    Ba’al’s claims)

Notice the way YHWH’s voice is characterized (Ps. 29:4-9).

  1. powerful (BDB 470)
  2. majestic (same root in Ps. 29:2b, BDB 214)
  3. breaks the cedars (VERB, BDB 990, KB 1402 repeated in Ps. 29:5)
  4. makes Lebanon and Sirion (i.e., Mt. Hermon, cf. Deut. 3:9) jump
  5. lightning (cf. Ps. 18:12,14) flames trees
  6. makes the wilderness shake (VERB, BDB 296, KB 297, repeated in Ps. 29:8)
  7. makes deer calve
  8. strips forests bare (BDB 362 I)

It is important to remember that the spoken word was a very important and
pervasive theological concept to the ancient Hebrews.

  1. creation by the spoken word ‒ Genesis 1
  2. power of the spoken word of God ‒ Isa. 14:24; 25:1; 45:23; 46:10; 55:11; 59:21; Matt. 24:35
  3. the Messiah is called “the Word” ‒ John 1:1-5,14; Rev. 19:13
  4. the imagery of the returning Messiah with a two-edged sword for a tongue ‒ Rev. 1:16; 2:12

29:6 “Lebanon. . .Sirion” These are geographical references north of the Promised
Land of Canaan. The term “Sirion” for Mt. Hermon is rare (cf. Deut. 3:9). Because of this
and the obvious context or “storm” imagery, many modern scholars have seen this Psalm
as a reworking of an original hymn to Ba’al (Canaanite storm god). The Ras Shamra
texts are opening much of the veiled imagery of the OT in light of Canaanite mythology. Hebrew
authors often took the descriptions of pagan deities and changed them to descriptions and titles
of YHWH. They knew He was the one and only true God.

For a good brief discussion of ancient cosmology see IVP Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, pp. 169-174.

SPECIAL TOPIC: MONOTHEISM

29:9a The same VERB (BDB 296, KB 297) translated “shake”
in Ps. 29:8 (twice) is now used of calving (cf. Job 39:1) and of Sarah giving birth in Isa. 51:2.

If one tries to keep a synonymous parallelism between Ps. 29:9b and 29:5b,
then he must change “hinds” (MT, UBS Text Project gives it a “B” rating)
to “oaks” (cf. TEV, NJB, same consonants, just a change of vowels). This is done to
try to continue the possible chiastic pattern.

The NET Bible (p. 885 #21) suggests an emendation of “forests”
to “female mountain goats” in order to maintain the synonymous parallelism between
Ps. 29:9a and 6. JPSOA has a footnote, “brings ewes to early birth” as an option (BDB 362 II).

29:9c The summary of all this action (i.e., the physical results of a strong thunderstorm)
is that in His temple everything says, “Glory!” See
SPECIAL TOPIC: GLORY (OT)

YHWH the creator is providing agricultural abundance by rain in its season. The
Creator is also the Sustainer! (See a good article on “Providence” in IVP Dictionary
of Biblical Imagery, pp. 681-683.)

The NJB makes Ps. 29:9c the beginning of Ps. 29:10-11.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: PSALM 29:10-11
 10The
Lord sat as King at the flood;
 Yes, the Lord
sits as King forever.
 11The
Lord will give strength to His people;
 The Lord
will bless His people with peace.

29:10 The word “King” is not in line 1 but is in line 2. The flood refers
(1) to Genesis 6-9 (cf. Gen. 6:17) or (1) to the original creation (cf. Gen. 1:2).

The concept of YHWH as King goes back to 1 Sam.8:7. It is stated as a
theological assertion in Psalm 10:16 and here. The imagery is of YHWH sitting on a throne
(cf. Ps. 2:4; 113:5 and the imagery in Isaiah 6) or having a scepter.

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE KINGDOM
OF GOD

▣ “sat. . .sits as King” The VERB “sat”
or “enthroned (BDB 442, KB 444) forever” is a recurrent theme (cf. Exod. 15:18; Ps. 9:7;
10:16; 29:10; 66:7; 145:13; 146:10; Jer. 10:10; Lam. 5:19).

▣ “over the flood” The PREPOSITION implies

  1. power and authority over the waters of chaos (LXX)
  2. YHWH in heaven is above the upper waters (i.e., rains), above the clouds
    (cf. Gen. 1:6-7; Ps. 148:4)

The term “flood” (BDB 550) is found only in Genesis and here in Psalm 29:10.

29:11 Because YHWH is King, His people are secure. His promises are secure. His purposes for
the future are secure!

Even amidst the “storm” when the powers of nature seem so severe, YHWH’s
people are at peace (cf. Matt. 8:23-27; 14:22-33)! Jesus also demonstrated this divine power over
the wind and waves!

 

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Lessons International

 

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