gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
wound
יִמְחַץ֮yim.Chatz
H4272
to dash asunder · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
head
רֹ֤אשׁrosh
H7218
the head (as most easily shaken) · noun, common masculine singular construct
enemies
אֹ֫יְבָ֥יו'o.ye.Vav
H341
hating · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
hairy
שֵׂעָ֑רse.'Ar
H8181
hair (as if tossed or bristling) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
scalp
קָדְקֹ֥דka.de.Kod
H6936
the crown of the head (as the part most bowed) · noun, common masculine singular construct
still
מִ֝תְהַלֵּ֗ךְmit.ha.Lekh
H1980
to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, hithpael active participle, masculine singular absolute
trespasses
בַּאֲשָׁמָֽיוba.'a.sha.Mav
H817
guilt · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Habakkuk 3:13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the…
Psalms 7:12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
Psalms 110:6 He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
Luke 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Ezekiel 18:27-30 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save…
Hebrews 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we…
Revelation 2:14-16 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblo…
Psalms 55:23 But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 68:15-21
David, having given God praise for what he had done for Israel in general, as the God of Israel (Psa 68:8), here comes to give him praise as Zion's God in a special manner; compare Psa 9:11. Sing praises to the Lord who dwelleth in Zion, for which reason Zion is called the hill of God.
I. He compares it with the hill of Bashan and other high and fruitful hills, and prefers it before them, Psa 68:15, Psa 68:16. It is true, Zion was but little and low in comparison with them, and was not covered over with flocks and herds as they were, yet, upon this account, it has the pre-eminence above them all, that it is the hill of God, the hill which he desires to dwell in, and where he chooses to manif…
wound the head--or, "violently destroy" (Num 24:8; Psa 110:6).
goeth on still in . . . trespasses--perseveringly impenitent.
John Gill on Psalms 68:21
But God shall wound the head of his enemies,.... Him who is the chief of his enemies, even Satan the prince of devils, the god of the world, the father of the wicked Jews, all enemies of Christ; to "wound" is the same as to bruise him, as in Genesis 3:15; and so the Targum here,
"but God shall break the head of his enemies;''
disappoint his schemes, blast his designs, crush his power and authority, demolish his empire, and eternally destroy him with the fire prepared for him and his angels; and the same may be applied to the man of sin, and all other enemies of Christ, who is the divine Person here, and all along, spoken of; see Psalm 110:6;
and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on…
Psalm 68:18-24
18. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: [35] thou hast received gifts among men; [36] even the rebellious, that the Lord Jehovah [37] might dwell amongst his people. 19 Blessed be the Lord daily: this Lord will load us with deliverances. Selah. 20. He that is our God is the God of salvations; and to the Lord Jehovah [38] belong the issues from death. 21. Surely God shall wound the head of his enemies, the crown of the hair of him who walketh on in his wickedness. 22. The Lord said, I will bring back from Bashan; I will bring again from the depths of the sea: 23. That thy foot may be stained with blood, the tongue of thy dogs even in that of thine enem…
The Church Fathers
You ask what is meant by these words in Psalm 67 [LXX]: "But God shall break the heads of his enemies: the hairy crown of them that walk on in their sins." It seems to me it means simply that God will break the heads of his enemies who are too overwhelming, who rise too high in their sins. By a certain hyperbole he describes pride as rising so high and rushing along with such eagerness that it is like striding and running over the hair of the head.
But nevertheless God will shatter the heads of his enemies: of the devil, and all his powers. "You have shattered the heads of the dragon in the water." As many as the sins are, so many heads does the devil have. The crown of the hair of those who walk in their own trespasses. For his head is so shattered, that there does not remain in him any power by which he may goad those who sin. The topmost of the head is the hair, and the crown of the hair: therefore he says this, that there should not remain in the devil even the least thing that is not shattered.
"Nonetheless, God shattered the heads of his enemies and of those who walk in their sins through a head of hair." Lest the evils of the obstinate be thought to be unpunished, he says, "Nonetheless God shattered the heads of his enemies," so that you would recognizes that punishment also comes upon the treacherous and obstinate. The "heads of the enemies" are indeed the authors of the Jewish rebellion, but also without doubt the teachers of the heretics. For the former persecuted Christ in the flesh, but the latter rage furiously against the very deity (if one can even mention such a blasphemous thing!). Next follows the phrase "of those who walk through a head of hair," that is, who seek such minutia of pretenses so that they seem to be able to walk through the very heads of hair and scrutinize them thoroughly. This refers to the cunning of empty questions, which abandon matters that would be useful and seek after unnecessary matters in their abominable arguing. And in order to attest to their studies as idle, he adds "in their sins," because their thinking was foolish, which led them to their faults. Examples are the Manicheans, the Priscilians, the Donatists, the Montanists and others who mix themselves with the stenches of their filthy teaching.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Hair, The · The natural covering of the head — The natural covering of the head
Head · Parts of mentioned: The scalp — Parts of mentioned: The scalp
Impenitence · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Now begins the second circuit of the hymn. Comforted by the majestic picture of the future that he has beheld, the poet returns to the present, in which Israel is still oppressed, but yet not forsaken by God. The translation follows the accentuation, regular and in accordance with the sense, which has been restored by Baer after Heidenheim, viz., אדני has Zarka, and יעמס לנוּ Olewejored preceded by the sub-distinctive Rebia parvum; it is therefore: Benedictus Dominator: quotidie bajulat nobis, - with which the Targum, Rashi, and Kimchi agree.
(Note: According to the customary accentuation the second יום has Mercha or Olewejored, and יעמס־לנוּ, Mugrash. But this Mugrash has the position of th…
God will smash the heads of his enemies: Cp. Gen 3:15.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 68:21
But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses.
But God shall wound the head of his enemies. The Preserver is also the Destroyer. He smites his foes on the crown of their pride. The seed of the woman crushes the serpent's head. There is no defence against the Lord, he can in a moment smite with utter destruction the lofty crests of his haughty foes. And the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses. He may glory in his outward appearance, and make his hair his pride, as Absalom did; but the Lord's sword shall find him out, and pour out his soul. Headstrong sinners will find that providence overcomes th…
