Psalm 68:21

Hebrew Bible

19 The Lord deserves praise. Day after day he carries our burden, the God who delivers us. (Selah) 20 Our God is a God who delivers; the Lord, the Sovereign Lord, can rescue from death. 21 Indeed, God strikes the heads of his enemies, the hairy foreheads of those who persist in rebellion. 22 The Lord says, “I will retrieve them from Bashan. I will bring them back from the depths of the sea, 23 so that your feet may stomp in their blood, and your dogs may eat their portion of the enemies’ corpses.”

Habakkuk 3:13

Hebrew Bible

11 The sun and moon stand still in their courses; the flash of your arrows drives them away, the bright light of your lightning-quick spear. 12 You furiously stomp on the earth; you angrily trample down the nations. 13 You march out to deliver your people, to deliver your special servant. You strike the leader of the wicked nation, laying him open from the lower body to the neck. Selah. 14 You pierce the heads of his warriors with a spear. They storm forward to scatter us; they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition. 15 But you trample on the sea with your horses, on the surging, raging waters.

 Notes and References

"... Several images from Genesis 3:15 seem to be brought together in Psalm 110. The statement in 110:6 that is sometimes translated, “he will shatter chiefs” (compare the ESV, NASU, NIV, NKJV, RSV), could just as well be translated, “he will crush (māhas) the head (rō’š) on the broad land” (compare JPS, NAB, NJB, NLT, NRSV). This is a Davidic Psalm (110:1), and the use of the verb māhas (crush, shatter) and the term rō’š in a number of head-crushing contexts in the Old Testament (compare Numbers 24:8, 17; Judges 5:26; 2 Samuel 22:39; Job 26:12; Psalm 68:22, 24; Habakkuk 3:13) would seem to color the use of these terms in Psalm 110. The statement that the enemies will be made a footstool for the feet of the Davidic king (110:1) seems to draw on the connection between the damaged heel and head in Genesis 3:15. The reference to the scepter being sent forth (110:2) calls to mind texts such as Genesis 49:10, Numbers 24:17, and Psalm 2:9 (though a different term is used for “scepter” in those texts). And finally, the Lord will also do some shattering in 110:5 (māhas again) ..."

Hamilton, James The Skull Crushing Seed of the Woman: Inner-Biblical Interpretation of Genesis 3:15 (pp. 30-54) Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary, 2010

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