Psalms 68:14

Of this verse, as of Psalms 68:13, the meaning is uncertain. Possibly it too is a fragment, significant to those who remembered its original context, but necessarily obscure to us. It is doubtful, too, if the text is sound. In it, R.V. therein, must mean -in the land." Salmon, R.V. Zalmon, is only known to us as the name of a wooded hill near Shechem, from which Abimelech fetched wood to burn the tower of Shechem (Judges 9:48). But the name, which means -dark" or -shady" (cp. Black Mountain, Black Forest), may have been borne by other mountains. If Zalmon near Shechem is intended, it may be mentioned either as a central point in the land, or from its connexion with some historical incident of which no record has been preserved, or simply to heighten the picturesqueness of the simile by representing the snowstorm as seen against the background of the darkmountain. Shaddai, -The Almighty", only occurs once again in the Psalter (Psalms 91:1).

(1) Taking the second line as a simile, we may render with R.V.,

When the Almighty scattered kings therein,

(It was as when) it snoweth in Zalmon.

But what is meant by the simile? It has been supposed to refer to the bones of the enemy bleaching on the field of battle (cp. Verg. Aen. xii. 36, campiqiu ingentes ossibus albent:"The vast plains are white with bones"): or to the glistening of the armour &c. dropped by the fugitives in their flight: but it is far more suggestive to think, not of fallen snow lying on the ground, but of falling snow. The snowflakes driven before the storm are an apt emblem of the kings driven in pell-mell flight by the breath of the Lord, and this explanation suits the context. By the thought of the victory won for Israel by God in spite of the sloth of many an Israelite (Psalms 68:13) the poet is naturally carried back to the battle-scene, and desires to emphasise the fact that the Almighty had fought for Israel, sweeping the foe before Him like the snowflakes swept along by the hurricane.

(2) Taking the second line literally, we may render with R.V. marg., It snowed in Zalmon. The words will then refer to a snowstorm which accompanied and completed the rout of the kings. They can scarcely refer to the hardships endured by those who took up arms amid the rigours of an exceptionally severe winter, in contrast to the luxurious ease of the cowards who are chidden in Psalms 68:13; still less can they be the words of those cowards excusing themselves from taking part in the war by the severity of the weather.

(3) Some combine the literal and figurative explanations, interpreting it snowed in Zalmonto mean that "the mountain clothed itself in a bright garment of light in celebration of the joyful event. Whoever has been in Palestine knows how refreshing is the sight of the distant mountain peaks covered with snow." This however is too far-fetched an explanation to be probable.