Psalms 47:2

We may also render as in R.V. marg.,

For the Lord is most high (and) terrible,

or better still,

For Jehovah, the Most High, the terrible,

Is a great King over all the earth,

for the universal sovereignty of Jehovah is the prominent thought of the Psalm. He is not merely King of Israel (Psalms 47:6) but King of all the earth (Psalms 47:7). It is to Him that the title -great King," so arrogantly assumed by the king of Assyria (Isaiah 36:4), really belongs. This verse links together Psalms 46:4 and Psalms 48:2. For the epithet -terrible" cp. Psalms 76:7; Psalms 76:12; Exodus 15:11; Deuteronomy 7:21; Deuteronomy 10:17.