John Calvin Commentary Psalms 68:14

"When the Almighty scattered kings therein, [It was as when] it snoweth in Zalmon." — Psalms 68:14 (ASV)

When the Almighty scattered kings in it. We might read extended, or divided kings, etc., and then the allusion would be to his leading them in triumph. But the other reading is preferable and corresponds better with what was said previously about their being forced to flee. There is more difficulty in the second part of the verse, with some reading, it was white in Salmon; that is, the Church of God presented a bright and beautiful appearance.

Or the verb may be viewed as in the second person—You, O God! made it bright and white as Mount Salmon with snows. The reader may adopt either construction, for the meaning is the same. It is evident that David still insists upon the figure of the whiteness of silver, which he had previously introduced.

The country had, as it were, been blackened or sullied by the disorder caused by hostilities. He says that it had now recovered its bright appearance and resembled Mount Salmon, which is well known to have been usually covered with snows.

Others think that Salmon is not the name of a place, but a descriptive term, meaning a dark shade. I would retain the commonly received reading. At the same time, I think that there may have been an allusion to its etymology.

It comes from the word צלם , tselem, meaning a shade, and Mount Salmon had been called this on account of its blackness. This makes the comparison more striking, for it suggests that as the snows whitened this black mountain, so the country had resumed its former beauty and put on an aspect of joy when God dispelled the darkness that had settled upon it during the oppression by enemies.