Psalms 29

Give to the LORD, you heavenly beings. Give to the LORD glory and strength.

1Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.

Note"Give" here translates a Hebrew verb meaning to ascribe or credit something to someone, to acknowledge publicly that the glory and strength are his. It is not about handing over a gift. The KJV's "O ye mighty" translates a Hebrew phrase literally meaning "sons of gods" or "sons of the mighty": members of the divine court, the heavenly attendants pictured elsewhere as surrounding God's throne. Also note the typography: "LORD" printed in capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew consonants usually written YHWH, which Jewish readers did not pronounce aloud; "God" or "Lord" in ordinary type translates different Hebrew words.

2Give the LORD the glory that his name deserves. Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

2Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

Note"His name" in Hebrew usage stands for the person himself and his reputation (the glory due his name is the glory due him. "The beauty of holiness" (KJV) renders a phrase that is genuinely disputed: it may mean the splendor of God's own holiness, or holy attire) the sacred garments worshipers or priests wore for the occasion.

3The voice of the LORD sounds over the waters. The God of glory thunders. The LORD thunders over the great waters.

3The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters.

NoteThe Hebrew word for "voice" is also the ordinary word for thunder, so the phrase repeated through this psalm carries both senses at once. "The waters" and "many waters" refer to the sea and, in older Near Eastern imagery, to the vast primeval waters over which God is pictured as ruling.

4The voice of the LORD is powerful. The voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

4The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

5The voice of the LORD breaks the cedar trees. Yes, the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon.

5The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.

NoteLebanon is the mountain range along the coast north of Israel, famous in the ancient world for its cedar forests. Cedar was the tallest, strongest and most expensive timber known to the region, shipped abroad for palaces and temples, the image is of the storm snapping the least breakable thing there is.

6He makes them jump like a calf. He makes Lebanon and Sirion jump like a young wild ox.

6He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.

NoteSirion was the Sidonian (Phoenician) name for Mount Hermon, the snow-capped peak at the northern end of the range. The mountains themselves are pictured skipping like startled animals. The KJV's "unicorn" is not a mythical horse: the Hebrew word re'em means the wild ox or aurochs, a huge horned bovine, now extinct, that stood for untamable strength.

7The voice of the LORD strikes with flashes of fire.

7The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.

NoteThe Hebrew reads literally that the voice of the LORD "hews out" or "cleaves" flames of fire. The reference is to lightning splitting out of the storm cloud.

8The voice of the LORD shakes the desert. The LORD shakes the desert of Kadesh.

8The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.

NoteKadesh is most likely Kadesh-barnea, the desert region south of Israel where the Israelites camped for years during the wilderness wanderings; some take it instead as Kadesh on the Orontes river far to the north, which would pair with Lebanon and Hermon in the previous verse. Either way the point is a wilderness at the far edge of the map.

9The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth, and it strips the forests bare. And in his temple everyone cries out, "Glory!"

9The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.

NoteThis line is ambiguous in Hebrew. The same consonants can be read as "makes the deer give birth" (the storm terrifying pregnant animals into early labor) or "makes the oaks whirl" (twisting the great trees), which pairs more naturally with stripping the forests bare. Translators divide over it. "Temple" translates a word meaning either a temple or a royal palace, so the setting may be the sanctuary in Jerusalem or God's throne room in heaven.

10The LORD sits as king over the flood. Yes, the LORD sits as King forever.

10The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.

Note"Sits" here means sits enthroned, in the posture of a reigning king. The word translated "flood" is a rare Hebrew term used almost everywhere else in the Bible for the flood of Noah, not any ordinary river or rainfall, but the cosmic waters.

11The LORD will give strength to his people. The LORD will bless his people with peace.

11The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

Note"Peace" translates shalom, which means far more than the absence of fighting: soundness, safety, health and general well-being.