The same ritual is followed in verses 9-10 as in verses 7-8: the demand for entry (verse 9), the request for identification (verse 10a), and the final statement (verse 10b-c).

In verse 9b the Masoretic text has the active “lift up,” but a few Hebrew manuscripts, as well as the ancient versions, have the passive “be lifted up,” as in verse 7. Most translations see no need to have a textual footnote as Revised Standard Version does. The meaning in verse 9b is exactly the same as in verse 7b, regardless of the form of the Hebrew verb followed.

The final answer (verse 10b) identifies the great king as “Yahweh of hosts.” The word translated hosts means “army” (see 44.9; 60.10; 68.12; 108.11); in 1 Samuel 17.45 Yahweh is identified as the leader of the Israelite armies (see Psa 89.8). In some places in the Old Testament, hosts is used of the angels, and the idea in the title may well mean that Yahweh is sovereign over all powers, heavenly as well as earthly. The Hebrew word has been transliterated into English and other languages (“Sabaoth”; see King James Version James 5.4); it is variously translated as “almighty, all-powerful, supreme” (see Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). Most English translations have used the word “hosts,” which does not mean much to the average Bible reader. LORD of hosts is sometimes rendered “LORD of the armies.” Since the focus is upon the powerfulness of the LORD, the expression may often be rendered, for example, “the LORD who is the strongest of all” or “the LORD who has more power than anyone.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .