This verse is the first of three responses. (See the threefold pattern above.) Thy right hand is the word meaning the right side rather than the left. Here in brief poetic form it refers to Yahweh’s right hand, or “arm,” as a symbol of his authority and power. O LORD is the first of several vocative uses of LORD where the poet addresses Yahweh by name. (See also verses 11, 16, and 16b-17.) Good News Translation omits the O as archaic, but other languages have common ways of indicating the vocative. Glorious in power refers to the right hand as great or majestic in strength. New American Bible has “magnificent,” Good News Translation has “awesome,” and Contemporary English Version has “With the tremendous force of your right arm.”

It is important to note the repetition of Thy right hand, O LORD. This poetic feature is characteristic of each of the three responses in the song. Shatters the enemy uses a verb found only here and in Judges 10.8, where Revised Standard Version and Contemporary English Version give it the meaning of “crush.” Good News Translation has a similar idea: “it breaks the enemy in pieces.” Here again the tense of the verb is not indicated, so the translator must interpret the context. New Revised Standard Version and others have “shattered,” but the present tense gives a timeless quality to the poem. (See the comment below at verse 13.) Enemy may be understood as singular (the Pharaoh) or as collective (the Egyptians).

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

You used your right hand [or, arm], LORD,
and crushed [or, shattered] your enemy
with tremendous power.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .