I apologise for not doing a little research before posting my question.
What I've discovered is (1) the original Hebrew text for Psalm 68 is
acknowledged to be obscure; (2) the psalm is widely acknowledged to be one
of the more difficult to translate, as a result, so what we get in English
may be only a pale reflection of the original; (3) the psalm verses 18-19,
which Handel set in the aria, were referred to by St. Paul in Ephesians
4:8, with direct reference to Christ, which given it's MESSIAH, is most
likely the "reading" which Handel had in mind; (4) there is an excellent
collection of commentaries on the psalm at
http://grace-for-today.com/chstp68.htm, for those who care to read them.
KM
............................
NEIL SHICOFF, TENORE SUPREMO
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/shicoff/shicoff.html
My Own Website
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
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+ I sing hymns with my spirit, +
+ but I also sing hymns with my mind. +
+ - 1 Corinthians 14:15 +
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