What are the “shields of the earth”?

Question

The end of Psalm 47 reads:

God reigns over the nations;
    God sits on his holy throne.
The princes of the peoples gather
    as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
    he is highly exalted!

—Psalm 47:8-9 (ESV)

The phrase "shields of the earth" caught my ear. Among other things, Jupiter, the magnetosphere, and atmosphere have been called shields of the earth. Did the Psalmist anticipate astronomical phenomena that were not discovered until very recently?

Answer 1

As evocative as the phrase is, the context excludes an astronomical interpretation. The poetry of the Psalms comes largely from use of repetition and parallelism. A psalmist often repeats the same idea in two or more phrasings in order to solidify what they are speaking of. In this psalm, we see:

1. "God reigns over the nations"
2. "The princes of the peoples"
3. "the shields of the earth"

So this strongly implies that the "shields" are rulers of some sort. To further reinforce the interpretation, the final stanza begins with the word "For" that implies a logical relationship between it and the previous statements. The logic can be summarized:

1. God has authority over everyone, and
2. even non-Israelite rulers assemble before His throne as do His own people
3. because all authorities belong to God and he has authority over them.

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Other translations support this reading:

The great of the peoples are gathered together,
the retinue of Abraham’s God;
for the guardians of the earth belong to God;
He is greatly exalted.—Psalm 47:10 (NJPS)

The NET Bible also included a note on the phrase:

The nobles of the nations assemble,
along with the people of the God of Abraham,
for God has authority over the rulers of the earth¹.
He is highly exalted!—Psalm 47:9 (NET)

¹Heb “for to God [belong] the shields of the earth.” Perhaps the rulers are called “shields” because they are responsible for protecting their people. See Ps 84:9, where the Davidic king is called “our shield,” and perhaps also Hos 4:18.

Answer 2

I'm no scholar, I just love the Word, but wondering if you have considered...

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.—Romans 1:19-20 (ESV)

There seems to be many "snapshots" in the Word that are also seen in creation that speak of our Creator and reveal what He may be speaking of. It seems He is not going to spoon feed us... we need to seek Him wholeheartedly to know Him...and He gives wisdom not willy nilly it seems...