THE PSALMS.

 

 

 

 

                                            BOOK III.

 

                              PSALMS LXXIII.-LXXXIX.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           CONTENTS.

 

                                          THE PSALMS.

 

                                              BOOK III.

                                                                                                            PAGE

PSALMS LXXIII.-LXXXIX.                                                            I-157

 

                                               BOOK IV.

PSALMS XC.--CVI                                                               159-267

 

                                                 BOOK V.

PSALMS CVII.-CL                                                                           269-487

 

APPENDIX:--

            I. MESSIANIC INTERPRETATION                                    489-499

            II. THE MASSORETH                                                          500-503

 

GENERAL INDEX                                                                           505-520

 

GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL INDEX                                   521-523

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                  PSALM LXXIII.

 

            THERE are some questions which never lose their interest, some

problems of which it may be said, that they are ever old and yet

ever new. Not the least anxious of such questions are those which

deal with God's moral government of the world. They lie close to

man's heart, and are ever asking and pressing for solution. They

may differ in different times, they may assume various forms; but

perhaps no man ever looked thoughtfully on the world as it is with-

out seeing much that was hard to reconcile with a belief in the love

and wisdom of God.

            One form of this moral difficulty pressed heavily upon the pious

Jew under the Old Dispensation. It was this: Why should good

men suffer, and bad men prosper? This difficulty was aggravated,

we must remember, by what seemed to be the manifest contradiction

between the express teaching of his Law, and the observed facts of

human experience. The Law told him that God was a righteous

Judge, meting out to men in this world the due recompense of their

deeds. The course of the world, where those who had cast off the

fear of God were rich and powerful, made him ready to question

this truth, and was a serious stumbling-block to his faith. And

further, "the Hebrew mind had never risen to the conception of

universal law, but was accustomed to regard all visible phenomena

as the immediate result of a free Sovereign Will. Direct interposi-

tion, even arbitrary interference, was no difficulty to the Jew, to

whom Jehovah was the absolute Sovereign of the world, not acting,

so far as he could see, according to any established order."* Hence

it seemed to him inexplicable that the world of life should not reflect

perfectly, as in a mirror, the righteousness of God.

            This is the perplexity which appears in this Psalm, as it does in

the 37th, and also in the Book of Job. Substantially it is the same

problem: but it is met differently. In the 37th Psalm the advice

given is to wait, to trust in Jehovah, and to rest assured that in the

end the seeming disorder will be set right even in this world. The

wicked will perish, the enemies of Jehovah be cut off, and the

 

            * For some valuable suggestions on this Psalm I am indebted to a friend,

the Rev. J. G. Mould.

 

4                                       PSALM LXXIII.

 

righteous will be preserved from evil, and inherit the land. Thus

God suffers wickedness for a time, only the more signally to manifest

His righteousness in overthrowing it. That is the first, the simplest,

the most obvious solution of the difficulty. In the Book of Job,

where the sorrow and the perplexity are the darkest, where the ques-

tion lies upon the heart, "heavy as lead, and deep almost as life,"

the sufferer finds no such consolation. As a Gentile, he has no need

to reconcile his experience with the sanctions of the Pentateuch.

But he has to do that which is not less hard, he has to reconcile it

with a life's knowledge of God, and a life's love of God. He

searches his heart, he lays bare his life, he is conscious of no trans-

gression, and he cannot understand why chastisement should be laid

upon him, whilst the most daring offenders against the Majesty of

God escape with impunity. Sometimes with a bitterness that cannot

be repressed, sometimes with a sorrow hushing itself into resig-

nation, he still turns to God, he would fain stand before His

judgement-seat, plead with Him his cause, and receive a righteous

sentence. But Job does not find the solution of the Psalmist. He

is driven to feel that all this is a mystery. God will not give an

account of any of His matters.  "I go forward, but He is not there

and backward, but I cannot perceive Him " (Job xxiii.). And when

Jehovah appears at the end of the Book, it is to show the folly of

man, who would presume to think that, short-sighted and ignorant

as he is, he can fathom the counsels of the Most High. He appears,

not to lift the veil of mystery, but to teach the need of humiliation

and the blessedness of faith.*

            In this Psalm, again, a different conclusion is arrived at. In part

it is the same as that which has already met us in Psalm xxxvii., in

part it is far higher. The Psalmist here is not content merely with

visible retribution in this world. He sees it indeed in the case of the

ungodly. When he was tempted to envy their lot, when he had all

but yielded to the sophistry of those who would have persuaded

him to be even as they, the temptation was subdued by the reflection

that such prosperity came to an end as sudden as it was terrible.

But he does not place over against this, on the other side, an earthly

portion of honour and happiness for the just. Their portion is in

 

            * There is a difficulty, no doubt, in reconciling this solution, or rather

non-solution of the problem, with that which is given subsequently in the

historical conclusion of the Book. There we find Job recompensed in

this life for all his sufferings. If the historical parts of the Book are by

the same author as the dialogue (as Ewald maintains), then we must

suppose that when Job is brought to confess his own vileness, and his own

ignorance and presumption, then, and not till then, does God reward him

with temporal prosperity.

 

                                  PSALM LXXIII.                                             5

 

God. He is the stay and the satisfaction of their hearts now. He

will take them to Himself and to glory hereafter. This conviction it

is which finally chases away the shadows of doubt, and brings light

and peace into his soul. And this conviction is the more remark-

able, because it is reached in spite of the distinct promise made

of temporal recompense to piety, and in the absence of a full and

definite Revelation with regard to the life to come. In the clear

light of another world and its certain recompenses, such perplexities

either vanish or lose much of their sharpness. When we confess

that God's righteousness has a larger theatre for its display than this

world and the years of man, we need not draw hasty conclusions

from "the slight whisper" of His ways which reaches us here.

            It is an interesting question suggested by this Psalm, but one

which can only be touched on here, how far there is anything in

common between doubts, such as those which perplexed the ancient

Hebrews, and those by which modern thinkers are harassed.* There

are some persons, who now, as of old, are troubled by the moral

aspect of the world. To some, this perplexity is even aggravated by

the disclosures of Revelation. And men of pious minds have been

shaken to their inmost centre by the appalling prospect of the ever-

lasting punishment of the wicked. But the difficulties which are,

properly speaking, modern difficulties, are of another kind. They

are, at least in their source, speculative rather than moral. The

observed uniformity of nature, the indissoluble chain of cause and

effect, the absolute certainty of the laws by which all visible phe-

nomena are governed, these are now the stumbling-blocks even to

devout minds. How, it is asked, can we reconcile these things with

the belief in a Personal God, or at least with an ever-active Personal

Will? Had the world ever a Maker? or, if it had, does He still

control and guide it? Knowing as we do that the order of cause

and effect is ever the same, how can we accept miracles or Divine

interpositions of any kind? What avails prayer, when every event

 

            * This point has been touched on by Dr. A. S. Farrar in his "Bampton

Lectures," a work which, for breadth and depth of learning, has few

parallels in modern English literature, and which combines in no common

degree the spirit of a sound faith and a true philosophy. Dr. Farrar

says:  "It is deeply interesting to observe, not merely that the difficulties

concerning Providence felt by Job refer to the very subjects which

painfully perplex the modern mind, but also that the friends of Job

exhibit the instinctive tendency which is observed in modern times to

denounce his doubt as sin, not less than to attribute his trials to evil as

the direct cause. These two books of Scripture [Job and Ecclesiastes],

together with the seventy-third Psalm, have an increasing religious

importance as the world grows older. The things written aforetime were

written for our learning."—Lecture I. p. 7, note.

6                                     PSALM LXXIII.

 

that happens has been ordained from eternity? How can any words

of man interrupt the march of the Universe? Ships are wrecked

and harvests are blighted, and famine and pestilence walk the earth,

not because men have forgotten to pray, but in accordance with the

unerring laws which storm, and blight, and disease obey. Such are

some of the thoughts—the birth, it may be said, of modern science

—which haunt and vex men now.

            Difficulties like these are not touched upon in Scripture. But the

spirit in which all difficulties, all doubts should be met, is the same.

If the answer lies in a region above and beyond us, our true wisdom

is to wait in humble dependence upon God, in active fulfilment of

what we can see to be our duty, till the day dawn and the shadows

flee away. And it is this which Scripture teaches us in this Psalm,

in Job, and in that other Book, which is such a wonderful record of

a doubting self-tormenting spirit, the Book of Ecclesiastes. It has

been said that the Book of Job and the 73rd Psalm "crush free

thought."*  It would have been truer to say that they teach us that

there are heights which we cannot reach, depths which the intellect

of man cannot fathom; that God's ways are past finding out; that

difficulties, perplexities, sorrows, are best healed and forgotten in the

Light which streams from His throne, in the Love which by His

Spirit is shed abroad in the heart.

            But the Psalm teaches us also a lesson of forbearance towards

the doubter. It is a lesson perhaps just now peculiarly needed.

Christian sympathy is felt, Christian charity is extended toward

every form of misery, whether mental or bodily, except toward that

which is often the acutest of all, the anguish of doubt. Here it

seems as if coldness, suspicion, even denunciation, were justifiable.

And yet doubt, even to the verge of scepticism, as is plain from this

Psalm, may be no proof of a bad and corrupt heart; it may rather

be the evidence of an honest one. Doubt may spring from the very

depth and earnestness of a man's faith. In the case of the Psalmist,

as in the case of Job, that which lay at the bottom of the doubt,

that which made it a thing so full of anguish, was the deep-rooted

conviction of the righteousness of God. Unbelief does not doubt,

faith doubts.†  And God permits the doubt in His truest and noblest

 

            * Quinet, OEuvres, tome i. c. 5, § 4.

            † The expression has been criticised as paradoxical, but the following

admirable passages, which I have met with since the first edition of this

work was published, may justify my language. They are quoted by

Archbishop Whately in his Annotations on Bacon's Essays, pp. 358, 359.

The first is from a writer in the Edinburgh Review for January, 1847,

on "The Genius of Pascal": "So little inconsistent with a habit of

intelligent faith are such transient invasions of doubt, or such diminished

 

                                        PSALM LXXIII.                                   7

 

servants, as our Lord did in the case of Thomas, that He may

thereby plant their feet the more firmly on the rock of His own ever-

lasting truth. There is, perhaps, no Psalm in which Faith asserts

itself so triumphantly, cleaves to God with such words of lofty hope

and affection, and that precisely because in no other instance has

the fire been so searching, the test of faith so severe. It may be

well to remember this when we see a noble soul compassed about

with darkness, yet struggling to the light, lest we "vex one whom

God has smitten, and tell of the pain of His wounded ones " (Ps.

lxix. 26).

            The Psalm consists of two parts:--

            I. The Psalmist tells the story of the doubts which had assailed

him, the temptation to which he had nearly succumbed. Ver. 1-14.

            II. He confesses the sinfulness of these doubts, and explains how

he had been enabled to overcome them. Ver. 15-28.

            These principal portions have their further subdivisions (which are

in the main those given by Hupfeld):

            I. a. First we have, by way of introduction, the conviction to

which his struggle with doubt brought him, ver. 1; then the general

statement of his offence, ver. 2, 3.

            b. The reason of which is more fully explained to be the prosperity

of the wicked, ver. 4, 5; and their insolence and pride in con-

sequence, ver. 6-11.

            c. The comfortless conclusion which he had thence drawn, ver.

12-14.

 

perceptions of the evidence of truth, that it may even be said that it is

only those who have in some measure experienced them, who can be said

in the highest sense to believe at all. He who has never had a doubt,

who believes what he believes for reasons which he thinks as irrefragable

(if that be possible) as those of a mathematical demonstration, ought not

to be said so much to believe as to know; his belief is to him knowledge,

and his mind stands in the same relation to it, however erroneous and

absurd that belief may be. It is rather he who believes — not indeed

without the exercise of his reason, but without the full satisfaction of his

reason—with a knowledge and appreciation of formidable objections—it

is this man who may most truly be said intelligently to believe."

            The other is from a short poem by Bishop Hinds:

                        "Yet so it is; belief springs still

                              In souls that nurture doubt;

                        And we must go to Him, who will

                              The baneful weed cast out.

                        "Did never thorns thy path beset?

                               Beware—be not deceived;

                        He who has never doubted yet

                               Has never yet believed.'

8                              PSALM LXXIII.

 

            II. a. By way of transition, he tells how he had been led to

acknowledge the impiety of this conclusion, and how, seeking for

a deeper, truer view, he had come to the sanctuary of God, ver. 15—

17, where he had learned the sudden and fearful end of the wicked,

ver. 18-20, and consequently the folly of his own speculation.

            b. Thus recovering from the almost fatal shock which his faith had

received, he returns to a sense of his true position. God holds him

by his right hand, God guides him for the present, and will bring him

to a glorious end, ver. 23, 24; hence he rejoices in the thought that

God is his great and only possession, ver. 25, 26.

            c. The general conclusion, that departure from God is death and

destruction; that in His presence and in nearness to Him are to be

found joy and safety, ver. 27, 28.

 

 

                                    [A PSALM OF ASAPH.a]

 

            I SURELYb God is good to Israel,

                        (Even) to such as are of a pure heart.

            2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone,c

 

I. SURELY. This particle, which

occurs twice again in this Psalm, is

rendered differently in each case by

the E. V.; here truly, in ver. 13

verily, in ver. 18 surely: but one

rendering should be kept through-

out. The Welsh more correctly

has, yn ddiau (ver. I), diau (ver. 13,

18). The word has been already

discussed in the note on lxii. 1,

where we have seen it is capable of

two meanings. Here it is used

affirmatively, and expresses the

satisfaction with which the con-

clusion has been arrived at, after all

the anxious questionings and de-

batings through which the Psalmist

has passed: "Yes, it is so; after

all, God is good, notwithstanding

all my doubts." It thus implies at

the same time a tacit opposition to

a different view of the case, such as

that which is described afterwards.

"Fresh from the conflict, he some-

what abruptly opens the Psalm with

the confident enunciation of the

truth, of which victory over doubt

had now made him more, and more

intelligently, sure than ever, that

God is good to Israel, even to such

as are of a clean heart."—Essential

Coherence of the Old and New

Testament, by my brother, the Rev.

T. T. Perowne, p. 85, to which I

may, perhaps, be permitted to refer

for a clear and satisfactory view of

the whole Psalm.

    It is of importance to remark

that the result of the conflict is

stated before the conflict itself is

described. There is no parade of

doubt merely as doubt. He states

first, and in the most natural way,

the final conviction of his heart.

      ISRAEL. The next clause limits

this, and reminds us that "they are

not all Israel, which are of Israel."

To the true Israel God is Love; to

them "all things work together for

good."

    OF A PURE HEART, lit. "pure of

heart," as in xxiv. 4. Comp. Matt.v.8.

     2. BUT AS FOR ME. The pro-

noun is emphatic. He places him-

self, with shame and sorrow, almost

in opposition to that Israel of God

 

                                         PSALM LXXIII.                                       9

 

            My steps had well-nigh slipt.

3 For I was envious at the arrogant,

            When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For they have no bands in their death,d

            And their strengthe (continueth) firm.

5 They are not in trouble as (other) men,

 

of which he had just spoken. He

has in view the happiness of those

who had felt no doubt. Calvin some-

what differently explains: Even I,

with all my knowledge and advan-

tages, I who ought to have known

better.

    GONE, lit. "inclined," not so

much in the sense of being bent

under him, as rather of being

turned aside, out of the way, as in

Numb. xx. 17, 2 Sam. ii. 19, 21, &c.

The verb in the next clause ex-

presses the giving way from weak-

ness, fear, &c., HAD . . . SLIPT, lit.

"were poured out" like water.

    3. ENVIOUS, as in xxxvii. 1, Prov.

xxiii. 17, wishing that his lot were

like theirs who seemed to be the

favourites of heaven. Calvin quotes

the story of Dionysius the Less,

who, having sacrilegiously plundered

a temple, and having sailed safely

home, said: "Do you see that the

gods smile upon sacrilege?" The

prosperity and impunity of the

wicked invite others to follow their

example.

     THE ARROGANT. The word de-

notes those whose pride and in-

fatuation amounts almost to mad-

ness. It is difficult to find an exact

equivalent in English. Gesenius

renders it by superbi, insolentes, and

J. D. Michaelis by stolide gloriosi,

"vain boasters." It occurs in v.

5 [6], where see noted, and again in

xxiv. 4 [5]. The LXX., in all these

instances, render vaguely, a@nomoi,

para<nomoi.

     4. BANDS. This word "bands,"

or "tight cords,"or "fetters," occurs

only once besides, Is. lviii. 6. I

have now [2nd Edit.] adopted the

simplest and most straightforward

rendering of the words, "They

have no bands in their death" (lit.

at or for their death, i.e. when they

die), because the objection brought

against it, that such a meaning is

at variance with the general scope

of the Psalm, the object of which is

not to represent the end of the un-

godly as happy (the very reverse

is asserted ver. 17, &c.), but to

describe the general prosperity of

their lives, no longer appears to me

to be valid. For we must remember

that the Psalmist is describing here

not the fact, but what seemed to him

to be the fact, in a state of mind

which he confesses to have been

unhealthy. Comp. Job xxi. 13, and

see the note on ver. 18 of this

Psalm. Otherwise it would be

possible to render [as in 1st Edit.],

"For no bands (of suffering) (bring

them) to their death." No fetters

are, so to speak, laid upon their

limbs, so that they should be de-

livered over bound to their great

enemy. They are not beset with

sorrows, sufferings, miseries, which

by impairing health and strength

bring them to death. This sense

has been very well given in the

P.B.V., which follows Luther:

"For they are in no peril of death,

    But are lusty and strong."

      5. The literal rendering of this

verse would be:--

"In the trouble of man they are not,

    And with mankind they are not

            plagued."

The first word used to express man

is that which denotes man in his

frailty and weakness. See on ix. 19,

20, note i; x. 18, note.1 The other

is the most general term, Adam,

man as made of the dust of the

 

10                              PSALM LXXIII.

 

            Neither are they plagued like (other) folk.

6 Therefore pride is as a chainf about their neck;

            Violence coverethg them as a garment.

7 Their eyeh goeth forth from fatness;

            The imaginations of (their) heart overflow.

8 They scoffi and speak wickedly,

            Of oppression loftily do they speak.

9 They have set their mouth in the heavens,

            And their tongue walkethk through the earth.

10 Therefore his people are turnedl after them,

 

earth. These men seem exempt

not only from the frailties and in-

firmities of men, but even from the

common lot of men. They appear

almost to be tempered and moulded

of a finer clay than ordinary human

nature.

    PLAGUED, lit. "smitten," i.e. of

God; a word used especially of

Divine chastisement. Comp. Is.

liii. 4.

    6. IS AS A CHAIN ABOUT THEIR

NECK, or "hath encircled their

neck." See for the same figure,

Prov. i. 9, iii. 21. The neck (the

collum resupinum) is regarded as

the seat of pride: comp. lxxv. 5 [6],

Is. iii. i6.

     7. FROM FATNESS, i.e. from a

sleek countenance, conveying in

itself the impression of worldly ease

and enjoyment. The whole figure

is highly expressive. It is a picture

of that proud satisfaction which so

often shines in the eyes of well-to-do

men of the world.

      OVERFLOW. The metaphor is

from a swollen river which rises

above its banks. The verb is used

absolutely, as in Hab. i. 11, "Then

(his) spirit swells and overflows,"

where the same figure is employed

in describing the pride and insolence

of the Chaldeans. See also Is. viii.

8. This is better than, with the

E. V., to take the verb as transitive,

"They have more than heart could

wish" (lit. they have exceeded the

imaginations of the heart); the two

clauses of the verse correspond, the

proud look being an index of the

proud heart; these being followed,

in the next verse, by the proud

spirit.

     8. According to the Massoretic

punctuation, the verse would be

arranged thus:

"They scoff and speak wickedly of

            oppression,

Loftily do they speak."

But the LXX. arrange the clauses

as in the text and render the latter,

a]diki<an ei]j to> u!yoj e]la<lhsan, and so

Aq. sukofanti<an e]c u!youj lalou?ntej.

    LOFTILY, or "from on high," not

"against the Most High," as the

P. B. V. See note on lvi. 2.

      9. IN THE HEAVENS, not "against

the heavens." The stature of these

men seems to swell till it reaches

heaven. Thence they issue their

proud commands, the whole earth

being the theatre of their action.

     10. THEREFORE. This, as Men-

delssohn has observed, is co-ordi-

nate with the "therefore" in ver. 6.

Both depend on the statement in

ver. 4, 5. Because the wicked have

no bands, &c., therefore pride corn-

passeth them, &c., and therefore

others are induced to follow their

example.

     HIS PEOPLE. This is capable of

two interpretations. (I) In accord-

ance with a common Hebrew idiom,

there may be an abrupt transition

from the plural to the singular,

an individual being now substituted

for the mass. "His people," in this

 

                                           PSALM LXXIII.                                 11

 

            And at the full stream would slake their thirst:m

11 And they say: "How doth God know?

            And is there knowledge in the Most High?"

12 Lo, these are the wicked,

            And (these men), ever prosperous, have increased wealth,

sense, are the crowd who attach

themselves to one and another of

these prosperous sinners, that they

may share his prosperity, and then

"his people " is equivalent to "their

people," the crowd which follows

them. (2) The pronoun may refer

to God. So the Chald. "they (the

wicked) turn upon His (God's)

people to punish them; "and the

LXX. o[ laoj mou, Vulg. populus

meas. But with this reference of

the pronoun we may explain: Even

His people, forsaking Him, are led

away by the evil example, just as

the Psalmist confesses he himself

was.

      AFTER THEM, lit. "thither," i.e.

to the persons before described,

and, as is implied, away from God.

The next clause of the verse is

more difficult of explanation. The

E. V. by its rendering, "And waters

of a full (cup) are wrung out to

them," probably means us to under-

stand that the people of God, when

they turn hither, i.e. to the consi-

deration of the prosperity of the

wicked, are filled with sorrow, drink

as it were the cup of tears; the

image being the same as in lxxx. 5

[6]. The P. B. V. comes nearer to

the mark:--

     "Therefore fall the people unto

            them,

     And thereout suck they no

            small advantage,"--

only that apparently in the second

clause the pronoun they refers, not

to the people, but to the wicked

mentioned before. Whereas it is

the people, the crowd of hangers-on,

who gather like sheep to the water-

trough, who suck this advantage,

such as it is, as the reward of their

apostasy.

     AND AT THE FULL STREAM, &C.,

lit. "and fulness of water is drained

by them;" i.e. broad and deep are

the waters of sinful pleasures, which

they, in their infatuation, drink.

     11. AND THEY SAY. The refer-

ence of the pronoun has again been

disputed. Mostly it is referred to

those just spoken of, who have

been led astray by the prosperity of

the wicked to follow them. Hupfeld

thinks it is the wicked themselves

(of ver. 3) who thus speak, and cer-

tainly the boldness of the language

employed, which questions the very

being of a God, is more natural

in the mouth of those whose long

prosperity and long security have

made them unmindful of His provi-

dence.

     But much depends on the view

we take of the next three verses.

Do these continue the speech, or

are they the reflection of the Poet

himself? The former is the view

of Ewald, Stier, Delitzsch, and

others. In this case the words

must be throughout the words of

those who have been tempted and

led astray by the untroubled happi-

ness of the wicked. They adopt

their practically atheistical prin-

ciples; they ask, "How doth God

know," &c.; they point, with a

triumph not unmingled with bitter-

ness, at their success:  Lo, these

are the ungodly, whose sudden and

utter overthrow we have been

taught to expect; they come to the

conclusion that the fear of God is

in vain, for it does not save a man

from suffering and disappointment,

and thus they justify their choice.

It is certainly in favour of this

view that ver. 15 seems naturally

to introduce the reflections of the

Psalmist himself, who had almost

been carried away by the same

sophistry. On the other hand

12                               PSALM LXXIII.

 

13 Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart,

            And washed my hands in innocency,

14 And have been plagued all the day long,

            And chastened every morning.

15 If I had said,n "I will utter (words) like these,"

            Lo, I should have been faithless to the generation of

                        Thy children.

16 And when I ponderedp it that I might know this,

            It was a trouble in mine eyes;

17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God

 

Hengstenberg and Hupfeld suppose

the reflections of the Psalmist to

begin at ver. 12. Verses 13, 14

will then describe the temptation

which pressed upon him, the

thoughts which forced themselves

into his mind, and which, as verses

15, 16 show, he only with difficulty

repressed. He did utter his disap-

pointment, he was gliding on to

something worse, to the atheistic

language of ver. 11, when he checks

himself as in ver. 15. In favour of

this interpretation it may be urged,

that the LXX. have introduced a

kai> ei#pa at the beginning of ver. 13.

     I confess that, while inclining to

the former, I feel it difficult to

decide between these two views;

and the decision must after all rest

upon a certain feeling and instinct,

rather than upon critical grounds.

     15. IF I HAD SAID, i.e. to myself

(as the verb is constantly used); if

I had given way to the temptation

to utter thoughts and misgivings

like these. "The Hebrew Psalm-

ist," it has been well said, "instead

of telling his painful misgivings,

harboured them in God's presence

till he found the solution. The

delicacy exhibited in forbearing

unnecessarily to shake the faith of

others, is a measure of the disin-

terestedness of the doubter."—FAR-

RAR, Bampton Lectures, p. 27.

    I WILL UTTER (WORDS) LIKE

THESE, or, "I will recount the

matter thus."

     THE GENERATION OF THY

CHILDREN. As in xiv. 5, "the

generation of the righteous." So

the people at large are called, Deut.

xiv. I; Hos. ii. 1. Here, however,

the true Israel, "the clean of heart,"

are meant. But the individual is

not called a son of God under the

Old Testament, except officially, as

in ii. 7.

     16. I PONDERED. See the same

use of the verb in lxxvii. 5 [6], "the

days of old;" Prov. xvi. 9, "one's

way." THAT I MIGHT KNOW, i.e.

reconcile all that I saw with the

great fact of God's moral govern-

ment.

     A TROUBLE, or a weariness, as of

a great burden laid upon me (comp.

Eccles. viii. 17). Thought could

not solve the problem. The brain

grew wearier, and the heart heavier.

Light and peace come to us, not by

thinking, but by faith. "In Thy

Light we shall see Light." God

Himself was the Teacher.

    17. THE SANCTUARY is the place

of His teaching; not heaven, "the

world of angels and spirits," as

Qimchi and others, but the Temple,

as the place of His special mani-

festation, not only by Urim and

Thummim, but in direct answer to

prayer. There, in some hour of

fervent, secret prayer, like that of

Hannah (1 Sam. i. 13, comp. Luke

xviii. to), or perhaps in some solemn

service—it may have been (who can

tell?) through the words of some

inspired Psalm—a conviction of the

truth broke upon him. The word

 

                                 PSALM LXXIII.                                   13

 

            (Until) I considered their latter end.

18 Surely in slippery places dost Thou set them,

            Thou hast cast them down to ruin.q

19 How are they brought to desolation as in a moment!

SANCTUARY is in the plural, which

is used here, as in xliii. 3, lxviii. 35

[36], for the singular.

     18. The conclusion is remarkable.

That which dispels the Psalmist's

doubts, and restores his faith, is the

end of the ungodly in this world,—

their sudden reverses, their terrible

overthrow in the very bosom of their

prosperity. Hitherto he has not

taken notice of this fact as he

ought: he has been so dazzled with

the prosperity of the wicked, that

he has forgotten by what appalling

judgements God vindicates His

righteousness. He does not follow

them into the next world. His eye

cannot see beyond the grave. Even

the great horror of an evil con-

science is scarcely, in his view, a

part of their punishment, unless

the expression "because of terrors,"

in ver. 19, may be supposed to point

that way, which, however, is very

doubtful. But this Theodicee was

the only one then known, and is in

fact based upon the Law, which,

resting upon temporal sanctions,

justified the expectation of visible

retribution in this world. The

judges of Israel were appointed as

the vice-gerents of God, to execute

this retribution (Deut. i. 17). Hence

the deep-rooted conviction on this

point, even in the minds of the

godly. It was not till a later period,

and especially till after the Exile,

that the judgement after death was

clearly recognised. Comp. Mal.

iii. 13, &c.

    It is singular that in Job xxi. 13

(comp. ix. 23) it is reckoned as an

element in the good fortune of the

wicked, that they die not by a

lingering disease, but suddenly;

but it may be that Job, perplexed

and eager to make everything tell

on his side, which his friends would

urge against him, is determined not

to admit their inference from the

facts of Divine Providence. Other-

wise this passage of Job supports

the obvious rendering of ver. 4,

"They do not die by lingering dis-

eases, but easily," this being the

mistaken view afterwards corrected.

"We come to the conclusion," it

has been well said, "that in the

case of the wicked this Psalm does

not plainly and undeniably teach

that punishment awaits them after

death; but only that in estimating

their condition it is necessary, in

order to vindicate the justice of

God, to take in their whole career,

and set over against their great

prosperity the sudden and fearful

reverses and destruction which they

not unfrequently encounter. But

in turning to the other side of the

comparison, the case of the right-

eous, we are not met by the thought,

that as the prosperity of the wicked

is but the preparation for their ruin,

so the adversity of the godly is but

an introduction to worldly wealth

and honour. That thought is not

foreign to the Old Testament writers

(see Psalm xxxvii. 9-11). But it

is not so much as hinted at here.

The daily chastening may continue,

flesh and heart may fail, but God

is good to Israel notwithstanding.

He is their portion, their guide,

their help, while they live, and He

will take them to His glorious

presence when they die. ‘Never-

theless I am continually with Thee,’

&c. The New Testament has no-

thing higher or more spiritual than

this."—Essential Coherence, &c.,

pp. 86, 87.

     19. This verse, taken in connec-

tion with ver. 27, seems almost to

point, as Ewald has remarked, to

some particular instance of the

Divine judgement which had re-

cently been witnessed.

14                               PSALM LXXIII.

 

            They are come to an end, they are cut off because of

                        terrors.r

20 As a dream when one awaketh,

            (So), 0 Lord, when Thou arousest Thyself,s dost Thou

                        despise their image.

21 For my heart grew bitter,

            And I was pricked in my reins;

22 So brutish was I myself and ignorant,

            I became a very beastt before Thee.

23 And yet as for me,—I am always with Thee,

 

     20. AS A DREAM, the unreality

of which is only seen when a man

awakes. Comp. xc. 5; Job xx. 8.

The first member of this verse

is apparently connected by the

LXX., and perhaps by Symm.,

with what goes before, "they are

cut off as a dream," &c.

     WHEN THOU AROUSEST THY-

SELF. The verb in Hebrew is a

different one from that in the pre-

vious clause, although in the E.V.

both are in this passage rendered

by the, same word. In xxxv. 23,

where the two verbs also occur to-

gether, our translators have em-

ployed two different words to ex-

press them, and I have thought it

best to do so here. The figure is

carried on. When God thus awakes

to judgement, the image, the shadow,

of the wicked passes from Him as a

dream from the mind of a sleeper.

He "despises" it, as a man in his

waking moments thinks lightly of

some horrible dream.

    21. FOR. There is no reason to

depart from this, the common

meaning of the particle. (See

Critical Note.) It explains the

whole of the previous struggle. I

was tempted to think thus, for I

brooded over these difficulties till

I became no better than the dumb

cattle. So it ever is. Man does

not show wisdom when he wearies

himself to no purpose with the

moral and speculative problems

which beset him. His highest

wisdom is to stay himself upon

God.

    22. So BRUTISH, lit. "And I

myself (the pronoun is emphatic)

was brutish." Comp. Prov. xxx. 2, 3.

     A VERY BEAST. The noun is in

the plural, which is here used in a

superlative or emphatic sense (see

note on lxviii. 35), so that we need

not render “like the beasts,” still

less "like Behemoth" as though

some particular beast were meant.

     23. The words that follow, in

their exquisite beauty, need not

comment or interpretation, but a

heart in unison with them. They

lift us up above the world, above

doubts, and fears, and perplexities

into a higher and holier atmosphere:

we breathe the air of heaven. The

man who can truly use these words

is not one who has "crushed free

thought," but one who has seen all

his doubts swallowed up in the full

light of God's Love. "Though all

else in heaven and earth should

fail, the one true everlasting Friend

abides."—Ewald.

     It strangely mars the force of

such a passage to limit its appli-

cation to this life. To render the

words of ver. 24 as Grotius and

others do, "Thou shalt receive me

with honour" (in allusion to David

as placed on the throne), or "bring

me to honour," i.e. in this world,

is to rob the whole passage of

its Divine significance. The verb

"Thou shalt take me," is the same

 

                                 PSALM LXXIII.                                    15

 

            Thou hast holden my right hand;

24 Thou wilt guide me in Thy counsel,

            And afterward Thou wilt take me to glory.u

25 Whom have I in heaven (but Thee) ?

            And there is none upon earth in whom I delight beside

                        Thee.

26 (Though) my flesh and my heart fail,

            (Yet) God is the rock of my heart and my portion for

                        ever.

27 For behold they that are far from Thee must perish;

            Thou hast destroyed every orfe that goeth a-whoring

                        from Thee.

28 But as for me, it is good for me to draw near unto God;

            I have made in the Lord Jehovah my refuge,

                        That I may tell of all Thy works.

 

as that employed in xlix. 15 (where

see note), and Gen. v. 24, to which

last passage there is doubtless an

allusion in both places in the

Psalms. But this Psalm is an

advance on Ps. xlix.

    The great difference, though with

essential points of contact, between

the hope of the life to come, as

pourtrayed even in such a passage

as this, and what we read in the

New Testament, will best be under-

stood by comparing the language

here with St. Paul's language in the

4th and 5th chapters of the Second

Epistle to the Corinthians, and the

1st chapter of the Epistle to the

Philippians, ver. 21-23.

    THOU HAST HOLDEN; either im-

plying that thus he had been saved

from falling altogether, when his feet

were almost gone (ver. 2), or per-

haps rather as stating more broadly

the ground of his abiding com-

munion with God, at all times and

under all circumstances. Comp.

lxiii. 8 [9].

    24. THOU WILT GUIDE ME.

"With confidence he commits him-

self to the Divine guidance, though

he does not see clearly the mystery

of the Divine purpose (counsel) in

that guidance."—Delitzsch. It is

because he has forgotten to look to

that counsel, and to trust in that

counsel, that his faith has received

so startling a shack.

    TAKE ME TO GLORY. Others,

“receive me with glory.” (See

Critical Note.)

    25. BUT THEE, or "beside

Thee," lit. "with Thee." These

words are to be supplied from the

next clause, a word or a phrase

belonging to two clauses being com-

monly in Hebrew expressed only in

one.

     THERE IS NONE, &C., lit. "I have

no delight (in any) upon the earth."

    26. FAIL, lit. "have failed," i.e.

"may have failed," the preterite

being here used hypothetically.

     27. The figure is very common.

Israel is the spouse of God, and

idolatry is the breaking of the mar-

riage vow. But here it seems to be

used, not merely of idolatry, but of

departure from God such as that

described in ver. 10.

    28. At the end of this verse the

LXX. add, "in the gates of the

daughter of Zion," whence it has

passed through the Vulgate, into

our Prayer-Book Version.

 

16                                    PSALM LXXIII.

 

            a See Psalm I. notea, and General Introduction, vol. i. pp. 94, 97.

            b j`xa surely, or as it may be rendered, with Mendels. and others, even

more pointedly, nevertheless. The exact force of the particle here has

been best explained by Calvin: "Quod autem abruptum facit exordium,

notare operae pretium est, antequam in hanc vocem erumperet David,

inter dubias et pugnantes sententias aestuasse. Nam ut strenuus athleta

seipsum exercuerat in pugnis difficillimis: postquam vero diu multumque

sudavit, discussis impiis imaginationibus, constituit Deum "amen servis

suis esse propitium, et salutis eorum fidum esse custodem. Ita subest

antithesis inter pravas imaginationes quas suggesserat Satan, et hoc verae

pietatis testimonium quo nunc se confirmat: acsi malediceret carnis suae

sensui qui dubitationem admiserat de providentia Dei. Nunc tenemus

quam emphatica sit exclamatio . . . quasi ex inferis emergeret, pleno

spiritu jactare quam adepts erat victoriam." This has been seen also

by some of the older interpreters (Symmachus, plh<n; Jerome, attamen),

as well as by the Rabbinical and other expositors. In like manner we

have in Latin writers passages beginning with a nam or at, where some-

thing is implied as already existing in the mind of the writer, though not

expressed.

     c yvFn. "The K'thibh is part. pass. sing., either absol. with the accus.

following, or in the stat. constr. yUFn; with the gen., either construction of

the part. pass. being admissible. Comp. 2 Sam. xv. 32 with 2 Sam. xiii.

31; Ezek. ix. 2 with 11 (Ges. § 132). For this the Q'ri very unnecessarily

substitutes 3 pl. perf. Uy.FAnA, but in the full form, which would only be

suitable in pause. In the same way the following hnpw, which is no

doubt hkAP;wu, 3 fem. sing., with the plur. noun yraUwxE (a not uncommon

construction, as in xxxvii. 31, see Ges. § 143, 3), has been just as

unnecessarily corrected in the K'ri to UkP;wu.  It is, however, possible that

the punctuation, ylag;ra and yraUwxE, as plur. depends on the Q'ri of the

verbs, and that these words in the K'thibh are meant to be singular (as

xliv. 19, Job xxxi, 7). So Cler., Hasse, and others."—Hupfeld.

            d MtAOml;. This, as it stands, must mean "for, or at, or belonging to,

their death," i.e. when they die. So the E.V. "in their death," and so

the Welsh : "yn eu marwolaeth." But this, it has been said, does not fall

in with the general scope of the passage, where not the death but the life

of the wicked is described as one that seems enviable. Hence Hupfeld

would render, "till their death," and refers to the use of the prep. in Is.

vii. 15 to justify this interpretation ; but there OTf;dal; means not "till he

knows," but "when he knows," as both Ewald and Knobel take it; and

Drechsler, on the passage, has clearly shown, in opposition to Gesenius,

that the prep. l; is in no instance used to mark duration of time up to a

certain point, and therefore never means until. Bates, quoted by Horsley,

proposed to make of MtAOml; two words, MtA OmlA, joining OmlA with the

first clause, "they have no bonds," and MTA, as an adjective, with what

follows, "souna and fat is their body." This has been adopted by

Strut, Fry, &c., and by Ewald, who defends this sense of MTA (which is

                                PSALM LXXIII.            17

 

nowhere used of physical, but always of moral, soundness), by the use of

the noun MTo in Job xxi. 23 [Delitzsch refers to the similar use of MymiTA,

xviii. 33, Prov. i. 12, but the first of these seems doubtful]. Mendelssohn

supposes Mtvml to be for MtAOmyli, and renders: "Kein Knotten hemmt

ihrer Tage Lauf;" the figure being that of the thread,of life, which, if it

becomes knotted and entangled, is liable to be broken. But retaining

the reading of the present Massoretic text, two interpretations are

possible: (1) "They have no fetters for their death," which may either

mean, if we take fetters (as in Is. lviii. 6, the only other passage in which

the word occurs) in the literal sense, "they are not delivered over bound

to death;" or, if we take it metaphorically, "they have no sufferings,

diseases," &c., which bring them to death. So Hulsius: "Nulla sunt

ipis ligasnenta ad mortem eorum, i.e. nullis calamitatibus, nullis morbis

sunt obnoxii; morbi sunt mortis ligamenta quod in mortis potestatem

homines conjiciant." And Delitzsch, in his first Edition : " Denn keine

Qualen gibts, daran sie stürben." (2) " They have no fetters (i.e. troubles,

cares, sufferings) in their death." In this case the Psalmist is stating

here by anticipation, not his present conviction as to the death of the

wicked, but the view which he once took of it, in a mood of mind which

he afterwards discovered to be wrong. So Aq. ou]k ei]si> duspa<qeiai t&?

qana<t& au]tw?n. It is of importance to observe, however, that Symm. and

Jerome seem to have had a different reading. The former has: o!ti ou]k

e]nequmou?nto peri> qana<tou au]tw?n, the latter: "quod non cogitaverint de

morte sua." Did they read Mybiw;h Nyxe? Or did they intend to explain

the present text in this sense, "They have no troubles, anxious reflections,

&c. with reference to their death?" The Syr. also here, as indeed

throughout the Psalm, differs from the Heb. It has              “there

is no end to their death," the exact meaning of which is not very clear.

The rendering of the LXX. is equally obscure: ou]k e@stin a]na<neusij e]n t&?

qana<t& au]tw?n. With all this variation in the ancient Versions, they agree

in one respect, they all have the word death. But for this, I should be

disposed to accept the alteration of the text proposed above, as the

simplest solution of the difficulty. Delitzsch has now (in his 2d Edit.)

accepted this, and renders: Denn keine Qualen leiden sie, gesund and

mastig ist ihr Wanst.

 

            e MlAUx, from the noun lUx, strength (connected with tUlyAx<, lxe, &c., from

the root lvx), with the suffix, and occurring only here (an alleged plur.

form, 2 Kings xxiv. 15, is doubtful). Symm. and others of the ancient

interpreters, supposed it to be the noun MlAUx, meaning vestibule, portico,

&c., and hence the rendering of Symm., sterea> h#n ta> pro<pula au]tw?n, and

Jerome, vestibula. The LXX. have kai> stere<wma e]n t^? ma<stigi au]tw?n. The

Syr.                             , "and great is their folly," seems to have

read by a confusion of letters MTAAl;Uaxi hbArAv;, but the variations of the Syr.

in this Ps., as in the 56th, are very numerous.

            f Omt;qanAfE, a denominative from qnAfE, a necklace, and occurring in the

Qal only here.

18                               PSALM LXXIII.

            g JFAfEya. The second clause of this verse will admit of four renderings:

(1) tywi may be in constr. with smAHA (comp. Is. lix. 7), "a clothing of

violence," and 10, the object of the verb (which is the construction of

other verbs of clothing, comp. l; hs.AKi, Is. ix. 9); (2) tywi may be the

predicate (which the accent Rebia Geresh would indicate), "violence

covereth them as a garment;" (3) OmlA may belong to smAHA, and the object

of the verb be understood, "their violence covereth (them) as a garment"

[this rendering is most in accordance with the accents]; (4) By an

enallage of number, sing. for plur., "they cover (themselves) with their

own violence as with a garment." So the LXX. perieba<lonto a]diki<an,

Symm. u[perhfani<an h]mfia<santo, and Jerome, Circumdederunt sibi inigui-

tatem.

            h Omneyfe [or Omyneyfe, which is found in some MSS. the dual noun being

with the sing. verb. Stier, indeed, maintains that this is the only correct

form, as Om-e is not used with a singular noun, but we have Omyneyxe; in ver. 5,

which is only a plena scriptio for Omneyxe, Nyixa having no plural], lit. "their

eye goeth forth (looks out proudly) from fatness (i.e. a sleek countenance)."

Comp. Job xv. 27. Aq. e]ch?lqon a]po> ste<atoj o]fqalmoi> au]tw?n, and Symm.

proe<pipton a]po> liparo<thtoj (al. e]c^<esan a]po> li<pouj) oi[ o]fq. au]t., take ‘yf as

plural. Ewald, Hupfeld, and others, following the LXX. e]celeu<setai w[j

e]k ste<atoj h[ a]diki<a au]tw?n, would read OmneOfE, "their iniquity," or without

changing the word, would take Nyf here to stand for Nvf, as in Zech. v. 6,

and the Q'ri in Hos. x. to. (And so the Syr.          .)  They also take bl,He, as in xvii.

10, in the sense of heart, or as Ewald renders, aus feistem Innern, the word fatness

denoting a stupid, insensible heart. And so Ges. Thes. in v.

            i UqymiyA.  The word occurs only here. It is doubtless to be connected

with the Aramaic Eng. mock. Comp. the Greek, mu?koj, mukth<r, the

nose, as expressing scorn; mukthri<zw, &c. So Symm., katamwkw<menoi, and

Jerome, irriserunt. The Chald., Rabb., and others, wrongly connected the

word with qqm, either (1) trans. "they make to melt, i.e. afflict, others ;"

or as the P. B. V., "they corrupt other;" or (2) "they melt away, i.e.

they are dissolute, corrupt," &c.

            k j`lahETi, as in Ex. ix. 23, for j`leTe, though it looks almost like an

abbreviated Hithpael, a form which would be peculiarly suitable here in

its common meaning, grassari. UTwa in the first clause of the verse is

for UtwA, as in xlix. 15, and with the tone on the ult. The perfect, followed

by the future, shows that the second clause is subordinated to the first:

"They have set, &c., whilst their tongue goeth," &c. The construction is

the same as in ver. 3.

            I bywy.  If we retain the K'thlbh, we must assume that the sing. is here

put for the plur., the subject being virtually the same as that of the plur.

verbs in ver. 7, 8, only that now these prosperous sinners are regarded

singly, not collectively. " He, i.e. one and another of these proud,

ungodly men, makes his people (those whom he draws after him) turn

hither, i.e. copy his example;" or, more generally, "one turns his people,"

which is equivalent to the passive, "his people are turned." Hence the

                                         PSALM  LXXIII.                                                   19

 

Q'ri, according to which Om.fa is the subject, is unnecessary. Phillips, who

adopts the Q'ri, refers the suffix to Jehovah. His people, i.e. the people

of God. And so the Chald., and Abulwalid, and the LXX. who have o[

lao<j mou.

            m Ucm.Ayi, from the root hcm, to wring out, to drain. The verb is several

times used with htw, to drink, in order to convey the idea of draining to

the dregs. So in lxxv. 9, Is. li. 17, Ezek. xxiii. 34. It is used of wringing

out (a) the dew from the fleece, in Judg. vi. 38; (b) the blood of the

sacrifices, Lev. i. 15, v. 9. Our Version has everywhere employed wring

out as the equivalent, except in Ezek., where it has suck out. Mendelssohn

renders:--

            Bethöret folgt ihm das Volk in ganzen Haufen,

                        Strömt ihm, wie Wasserfluthen, nach.

In the Biur, "waters to the full" is explained to mean "the waters of a

full river, which rush along with strength," and to be used as a figure or

comparison; "so the men of their generation run after them;" and Ucm.Ay  

is said to be for Uxc;m.Ayi, the x being dropt, as in Num. xi. 11, and Ezek.

xxviii. 16. So this word was taken, too, by the older interpreters. The

LXX h[merai>  (reading ymey;) plhrei?j e]neuretqh<sontai e]n au]toi?j. Sym. kai>

diadoxh> plh<rhj eu[reqh<setai e]n au]toi?j. Jerome, quis (ymi) plenus invenietur in eis.

            n yTer;maxA. The word, Hupfeld thinks, is out of place. What is the

meaning, he asks, " If I had said (or thought, i.e. said to myself) let me

declare thus"? Not the forming the purpose to speak so, but the

speaking so itself, would have been the treachery against the children of

God. And therefore he would transpose the word either before the

particle Mxi, "I said (thought) if I should declare thus," &c., or to the

beginning of ver. 13. See on xxxii. note c. But is it not possible that

yTir;maxA may stand parenthetically: "If (methought) I should declare

thus"?

            o OmK;. If the reading be correct, this word must here stand as an

abverb, in the sense so, thus =NKe, a meaning, however, in which it never

occurs anywhere else. [Maurer, however, contends for this as the

primary meaning, K; being abbreviated from NKe and Om = hmA, indefinite,

quidquam; hence the compound Omk;. means tale quid.]  Some would

punctuate OmKA, and suppose it to stand for Mh,KA, like them (the persons

mentioned before), or like these things (such words as those just repeated),

but this form, again, is never found. Ewald would read hnA.heOmK;, and

supposes the hn.Ahe to have been dropt out because of the following hne.hi,

and we must either adopt this supposition, or with Ges., Hupf., and Del.

conclude that the word OmKi is here used abnormally as an adverb, as the

older interpreters take it. LXX. ei] e@legon, dihgh<somai ou!twj. Aq. (perhaps

Symm.), Theod., ei] e]. d. toiau?ta. Del. compares the elliptical use of the

prep. lfaK; Is. lix. 18, and the absolute use in Hos. vii. 16, xi. 7.

            p hbAw;HaxEva. The punctuation of the v with Pathach here, instead of

Qametz, appears to be arbitrary. Delitzsch, indeed, draws a distinction,

20                               PSALM LXXIII.

 

and says that with vA the word would mean et cogilavi, whereas with it

means et cogitabam (or, which would be unsuitable here, et cogitare volo).

But in other passages where this last form occurs, as lxix. 21; Judg. vi. 9;

Job xxx. 26, it is joined either with another verb in the fut., with vA, or

with a verb in the pret., without any mark of difference of time. There

is more force in what Del. says as to the cohortative form of the fut.,

which often serves, without a particle of condition, to introduce the

protasis. (See on xlii. note c.) So here we might render, "And when

(or if) I thought to understand," &c., kai> ei] e]logizo<mhn, as Aq. and Theod.

            In the next clause it is unimportant whether we adopt the K'thbh xyhi,

or the Q'ri xUh. The former may refer more immediately to the preceding

txoz, and the latter to the whole preceding sentence, but either must be

taken equally in a neuter sense.

            q tOxUwma occurs again only in lxxiv. 3. It is related, as Hupf. remarks,

to such forms as hxAOwm;, and the like, but is not to be derived from hxw,

as if it were for tOxUxwma, "an impossible form," but from a root xwn,

with the common interchange of letters in weak stems. (See next note.)

The LXX. kate<balej au]tou>j e]n t&? e]parqh?nai, connecting the word with the

root xWn).

            r tOhlA.Ba. The noun is apparently by transposition of letters for hlAhAB,

It occurs once in the sing. in Is. xvii. 14, elsewhere only in Job and

Ezekiel, and there always in the plur.

            s ryfiBA. So far as the grammatical form goes, this might mean in the

city, as the ancient interpreters understood (whence our P. B. V., but in

defiance of grammar, "Thou shalt make their image vanish out of the

city"). But the sense is not suitable. The word is evidently a contracted

form of the Hiphil infin. for ryfihAB;, and is used intransitively, as in xxxv.

23. For other instances of this contracted infin. see Jer. xxxix. 7; 2

Chron. xxxi. 10; Prov. xxiv. 17.

            t yKi. According to Hupfeld, this introduces the protasis "when my

heart," &c., the apodosis beginning with 1 in ver. 22, and the imperfects

(futures) being relative preterites. Similarly Ewald. But I know of no

instance by which such a construction can be defended. Commonly

when yKi introduces the protasis, followed by a verb in the future, that

tense is used in its proper future (not its imperfect) meaning. Comp.

lxxv. 3; 2 Chron. vi. 28. Delitzsch, feeling this, supposes that the

Psalmist is speaking, not of the past, but of a possible return of his

temptation, and renders, si exacerbaretur animus meus aique in renibus

meis pungerer, " if my mind should grow bitter, &c. . . . then I should

be," &c. But I cannot see why, if be taken simply as a conjunction,

(LXX., Aq., o!ti) for, and not as governing the clause, the verbs may not

be regarded as imperfects, describing continued past action. The first

verb means, properly, "to turn acid" (lit. "make itself acid"). Flam.,

acescere, Call, acidum esse instar fermenti. Perhaps Aq. meant this by

his rendering e]turou?to. The second is also strictly a reflexive, "to prick

                                          PSALM LXXIV.                                      21

 

oneself." Both verbs, misunderstood by the ancient interpreters, were

first rightly explained by Rashi.

            u 't dObKA. The Hebrew will admit of the rendering, "Thou wilt

receive me with glory" (accus. of instrument). So the LXX. meta> do<chj

prosela<bou me. Symm. takes 'K as the nominative, and the verb as in the

3d pers., kai> u!steron timh> diede<cato< me. Contrary to the accents, others

would take rHaxa as a prep. (referring to Zech. ii. 12, which is not really

analogous): "Thou leadest me after glory," i.e. as my aim (Ew. Hitz), or

"in the train of glory" (Hengst.). But the other interpretation, "to

glory," i.e. "to the everlasting glory of God's presence," is far better.

rHx is an adverb, as in Gen. x. 18, xxx. 21, Prov. xx. 17, and many other

places. On the use of the verb Hql in this sense, see xlix. 16. The whole

context is in favour of the rendering "to glory."

 

 

 

 

                                         PSALM LXXIV.

 

            THIS Psalm and the Seventy-ninth both refer to the same calamity,

and were, it may reasonably be conjectured, written by the same

author. Both Psalms deplore the rejection of the nation, the occu-

pation of Jerusalem by a foreign army, and the profanation of the

Sanctuary: but the Seventy-fourth dwells chiefly on the destruction

of the Temple; the Seventy-ninth on the terrible slaughter of the

inhabitants of Jerusalem. Assuming that both Psalms refer to the

same event, we have to choose between two periods of Jewish

history, and only two, to which the language of the sacred Poet

could reasonably refer. The description might apply either to the

invasion of Nebuchadnezzar, or to the insolent oppression of An-

tiochus Epiphanes; and with one or other of these two occasions

it has been usually connected.

            That no presumption can be raised against the latter of these

dates from the history of the Canon, I have already shown in the

General Introduction to Vol. I. pp. 17-19, and in the Introduction

to Ps. xliv.; and there are, more particularly in this Psalm, some

expressions which are most readily explained on the supposition that

it was composed in the time of the Maccabees.

            (a) One of these is the complaint (ver. 9), "There is no prophet

any more." It is difficult to understand how such a complaint could

have been uttered when Jeremiah and Ezekiel were both living; or

22                                  PSALM LXXIV.

 

with what truth it could be added, "Neither is there any among us

who knoweth how long," when Jeremiah had distinctly foretold that

the duration of the Captivity should be seventy years (Jer. xxv. 11,

xxix. 10).* On the other hand, such words are perfectly natural in

the mouth of a poet of the Maccabean age. For 250 years, from

the death of Malachi, the voice of Prophecy had been silent. During

that long interval, no inspired messenger had appeared to declare

and to interpret the will of God to His people. And how keenly

sensible they were of the greatness of their loss in this respect, we

learn from the frequent allusions to it in the First Book of Maccabees

(iv. 46, ix. 27,  xiv. 41). The language of this Psalm, then, is but

the expression of what we know to have been the national feeling

at that time.

            (b) Another feature of this Psalm is the description of the pro-

fanation of the Sanctuary, and the erection there of the signs (ver. 4),

the military standards or religious emblems, of the heathen. The

Book of Maccabees presents the same picture. There we read that

Antiochus, on his return from the second Egyptian campaign, "en-

tered proudly into the Sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, and

the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof" (i. 21). Two

years later, the king sent a division of his army against Jerusalem,

which fell upon the city and having made a great slaughter of the

inhabitants, plundered it, set it on fire, pulled down the houses and

walls, and carried away captive women, and children, and cattle. A

strong garrison was placed in the city of David, the sanctuary was

polluted, and the sabbaths and festival days profaned. The abomina-

tion of desolation was set up on the altar, and sacrifice offered "on

the idol altar, which was upon the altar of God." (I Macc. i. 30-

53. See also ii. 8-12, iii. 48-51.)

            On the other hand it has been urged, that there is nothing in

the language of the Psalm inconsistent with the supposition that it

refers to the Chaldean invasion. The desolation of Jerusalem and

the profanation of the sanctuary are described in terms quite as

suitable to that event. Indeed, one part of the description, "They

have cast Thy sanctuary into the fire," ver. 7, it is argued, would

only hold good of the destruction of the temple of the Chaldeans.

Antiochus Epiphanes plundered the temple, but did not burn it. On

the contrary, we are particularly informed that not the temple itself,

but the gates of the temple (I Macc. iv. 38; 2 Macc. viii. 33) and

the porch of the temple (2 Macc. i. 8), were burned, nor is the

 

            * It has been suggested to me by a friend, that this complaint would

not be unsuitable to the time of Esar-haddon's invasion (2 Chron. xxxiii.

11). That period was singularly barren in prophets.

                                      PSALM LXXIV.                                      23

 

complete destruction of the whole building implied in the same way

as it is in the Psalm.

            It has also been contended that even the complaint of the cessation

of prophecy is not absolutely at variance with the older date, pro-

vided we suppose that the Psalm was written during the Exile, when

both Jeremiah and Ezekiel had ceased to prophesy, and before

Daniel entered upon his office. (So Delitzsch; and Calvin admits

this to be possible). Tholuck, however, observes that ver. to, 18,

23, lead us to infer that the Chaldean army was still in the land, and

even in Jerusalem itself, and therefore that the Psalm must have been

written when Jeremiah had already been carried away in chains to

Ramah, on his way to Babylon (Jer. xl. 1). He suggests further,

that these words (and the same may be said of the words which

immediately follow, "Neither is there any among us who knoweth,"

&c.) need not be taken in their exact literal meaning. The deep

sorrow of the poet would lead him to paint the picture in colours

darker and gloomier than the reality. Seventy years—who could

hope to see the end of that weary length of captivity?—who knew

if the end would ever come? Such was the language of despondency.

To one who refused to be comforted, the end promised was as

though it were not.

            Further, both Jeremiah and Ezekiel, it has been observed, indulge

in a similar strain. Thus the former sings: "Her gates are sunk

into the ground; He hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king

and her princes are among the Gentiles:  the Law is no more; her

prophets also find no vision from Jehovah" (Lam. ii. 9). And the

latter threatens: "Then shall they seek a vision of the prophet:

but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the

ancients" (Ezek. vii. 26). Neither of these passages, however, so

absolutely denies the existence of a prophet as that in the Psalm.

One other expression in the Psalm, ver. 3, "Lift up Thy feet to the

everlasting ruins," seems, it must be confessed, most suitable in the

mouth of an exile during the Babylonish captivity.

            The relation both of this Psalm and the Seventy-ninth to the

writings of Jeremiah, presents another difficulty. Jeremiah x. 25

is almost word for word the same as Ps. lxxix. 6, 7. Again, Lam.

ii. 2 resembles lxxiv. 7, and Lam. ii. 7 is very similar to lxxiv. 41

and, as we have already seen, there is at least a point of connexion.

between lxxiv. 9 and Lam. ii. 9; besides these, other minor simi-

larities may be observed, on a comparison of the Psalmist with the

Prophet. Now we know that it is the habit of Jeremiah to quote

largely and frequently from other writers, and in particular from the

Psalms and the Prophets. But on either of the hypotheses above

24                                 PSALM LXXIV.

 

mentioned, as to the date of our two Psalms, the writer of these must

have imitated the language of Jeremiah. This is, of course, quite

possible. A similar problem, and a very interesting one, arises out

of the relation of Jeremiah to the later chapters of Isaiah xl.—lxvi.

That one of the two writers was familiar with the other, is beyond

a doubt.

            On the whole, I am inclined to think that this Psalm may be most

naturally explained by events that took place in the time of the

Maccabees. If, in any particular, the language seems too strong as

applied to that time—as, for instance, the description of the burning

of the temple—this may be as readily explained by poetic exaggera-

tion, as ver. 9 is so explained by those who hold the opposite view.

Or perhaps, as Calvin suggests, the writer, overcome by the mournful

spectacle before his eyes, could not but carry back his thoughts to

the earlier catastrophe, and thence borrowed some images, blending

in his imagination the two calamities in one.

            The Psalm does not consist of any regular system of strophes.

            It opens with a cry of complaint, and a prayer that God would

remember His people in their desolation. Ver. 1-3.

            It then pictures the triumph of the enemy, the destruction of the

sanctuary, and the loss of Divine counsel in the day of peril. Ver.

4-9.

            Then again there is an appeal to God for help (Ver. 10, 11), and

a calling to mind of God's past wonders on behalf of His people,

and of His Almighty power as seen in the world of Nature. Ver.

12-17.

            And finally, based upon this, a prayer that God would not suffer

reproach to be brought upon His own Name, by the triumph of the

heathen over His people, Ver. 22, 23.

 

 

                               [A MASCHIL OF ASAPH.a]

 

1 0 GOD, why hast Thou cast (us) off for ever,

            (Why) doth Thine anger smoke against the sheep of

                        Thy pasture?

 

    I. HAST THOU CAST OFF. See

note on xliv. 9. The object here may

be supplied from the next clause,

viz. "the sheep of Thy pasture."

    WHY DOTH THINE ANGER

SMOKE. For the figure, compare

xviii, 8 [9], where see note. There

is a change in the tenses, the pre-

terite in the first clause being used

to denote the act of casting off, the

future (present) here to denote the

continuance of the same. See on

xliv. 9.

    SHEEP OF THY PASTURE; a

favourite figure in those Psalms

which are ascribed to Asaph. (See

 

 

                                  PSALM LXXIV.                               25

 

2 Remember Thy congregation which Thou hast pur-

                        chased of old,

            Which Thou hast ransomed to beb the tribe of Thine

                        inheritance,

            (And) the mount Zion wherein Thou hast dwelt.

Introduction, Vol. I. p. 97.) It is

found also in Jer. xxiii. 1. The

name contains in itself an appeal to

the compassion and tender care of

the shepherd. Can the shepherd

slay his sheep?

     2. THOU HAST PURCHASED .

THOU HAST RANSOMED. Both

verbs contain in themselves a rea-

son why God should remember His

people. The first verb (kanah) may

mean only to get, to acquire, the idea

of a price paid for the acquisition

being not necessarily contained in

the word. So Gen. iv. 1, "I have

gotten a man with (the help of)

Jehovah:" Gen. xiv. 22, "the most

High God, possessor of heaven and

earth;" Prov. viii. 22, "Jehovah

possessed me in the beginning of

His way." And Jerome renders

here possedisti and the LXX. e]kth<sw.

Exactly analogous is the use of the

Greek peripoiei?sqai. Acts xx. 28,

"The church of God which He

purchased (acquired) with His own

blood." 1 Tim. iii. 13: "Purchase

(acquire) to themselves a good

degree." Comp. Eph. i. 14, and 1

Thess. v. 9, where see Vaughan's

note. The second verb (ga-al, to

ransom, whence goel,) from a root

meaning to loosen [see Fürst's Con-

cord.], is the technical word for

every kind of redemption under the

Law, whether of fields (Lev. xxv.

25), tithes (Lev. xxvii. 31, 33),

or slaves (Lev. xxv. 48, 49). The

next of kin was called Goël, be-

cause on him devolved the duty of

redeeming land which his poor re-

lation had been compelled to sell

(Lev. xxv. 25), and also because on

him fell the obligation of redeem-

ing, demanding satisfaction for, the

murder of a kinsman. (Num. xxxv.

12, 19, and often.)

    A third word is common in He-

brew, padah, which means properly

to separate, and then to loosen, and

so to redeem, as in Dent. ix 26,

"Thine inheritance which Thou

hast redeemed." This word is also

employed, but more rarely, in the

technical sense of the redemption

of the first-born of animals for

instance (Ex. xiii. 13, xxxiv. 20).

Both this and the verb ga-al are

frequently used of the deliverance

from Egypt and from Babylon.

    OF OLD, as in xliv. 2, with refer-

ence, doubtless, to the deliverance

from Egyptian bondage.

     THE TRIBE. Such is, apparently,

the meaning of the word here, the

whole nation being regarded, not as

many tribes, but as one tribe, pro-

bably in reference to other nations.

The same expression occurs besides

only in Jeremiah x. 16, and li. 19,

whereas in Isaiah lxiii. 17 we have

the plural form, "the tribes of Thine

inheritance." The E. V. has here

" rod of thine inheritance," and so

Luther, Calvin, and others, and the

word frequently means rod, staff

as in xxiii. 4), sceptre (as in x1v. 6

]), &c., but here it is usually ex-

plained to mean measuring-rod, and

so the portion measured out — a

meaning, however, in which the

word never occurs. Jerome explains

it by sceptre, and so Theophylact,

dhloi? de> h[ r[a<bdoj th>n basilei<an.

     The CONGREGATION represents

the people in their religious aspect,

THE TRIBE in their national and

political aspect, or as distinct from

other nations (Del.) cf. Jer. x. 16, li.

19, with Is. lxiii. 17. The two great

facts, the redemption from Egypt,

and God's dwelling in the midst of

them, the one of which was pre-

paratory to the other, seem here, as

in the Sixty-eighth Psalm, to sum

up all their history.

 

26                           PSALM LXXIV.

3 Lift up Thy feet unto the everlasting ruins!c

            The enemy hath laid waste all in the sanctuary;

4 Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of Thine

                        assembly;d

            They have set up their signs as signs.

    3. LIFT UP THY FEET (lit. foot-

steps, the word being a poetical

one), i.e. "come speedily to visit

those ruins which seem as though

they would never be repaired." A

similar phrase (though the words in

the original are different) occurs in

Gen. xxix. 1, where it is said of

Jacob, that after his vision, "he

lifted up his feet," a phrase "which

in Eastern language still signifies to

walk quickly, to reach out, to be in

good earnest, not to hesitate."—

Kitto, Bible Illustrations, i. 305.

    EVERLASTING, the same word as

in ver. I, "for ever," i.e. which

seem to human impatience, looking

forward as if they would never be

built again. In Is. lxi. 4, "the ever-

lasting ruins," (where, however, the

Hebrew words are different) are so

called, looking back on the long

past continuance of the desolation.

      IN THE SANCTUARY. This is

his greatest grief. His country has

been laid waste with fire and sword,

his friends slain or carried into

captivity, but there is no thought so

full of pain as this, that the holy

and beautiful house wherein his

fathers worshipt has been plundered

and desecrated by a heathen sol-

diery. Instead of the psalms, and

hymns, and sacred anthems which

once echoed within those walls, has

been heard the brutal shout of the

fierce invaders, roaring like lions

(such is the meaning of the word in

the next verse) over their prey.

Heathen emblems, military and re-

ligious, have displaced the emblems

of Jehovah. The magnificent

carved work of the temple, such

as the Cherubim, and the palms,

and the pillars, with pomegranates

and lily-work (i Kings vi. 15, &c .,

if the allusion be to the first temple)

which adorned it, have been hewed

down as remorselessly as a man

would cut down so much wood in

the forest. And then that splendid

pile, so full of sacred memories, so

dear to the heart of every true

Israelite, has been set on fire, and

left to perish in the flames. Such

is the scene as it passes again

before the eyes of his mind.

    4. THINE ASSEMBLY, i.e. here

evidently "a place of assembly," a

word originally applied to the Mo-

saic tabernacle, and afterwards to

the great national festivals. Here

it would seem the temple is meant.

Comp. Lam. ii. 6, where the word

occurs in both senses. "He hath

destroyed His assembly (or temple;

E.V. His places of assembly) . . .

He hath caused to be forgotten

solemn feast, and sabbath," &c. It

comes from a root signifying to fix

to establish, &c., and hence is used

both of a fixed time (see on 1xxv. 2)

and a fixed place.

     THEIR SIGNS. An emphasis

lies on the pronoun, comp. ver. 9.

I have retained the literal rendering,

together with the ambiguity of the

original. These were either mili-

tary ensigns, standards, trophies,

and the like (as in Num. ii. 2 ff.), the

temple having been turned into

a barrack; or, religious emblems,

heathen rites and ceremonies, per-

haps even idols, by which the

temple and altar of Jehovah were

profaned. (In this last sense the

words would aptly describe the

state of things under Antiochus

Epiphanes. Comp. I Macc. i. 54

and 59," Now the five-and-twentieth

day of the month they did sacrifice

upon the idol altar, which was upon

the altar of God." Again in chap.

iii. 48, it is said that "the heathen

had sought to paint the likeness of

their images" in the book of the

 

                                  PSALM LXXIV.                                27

 

5 It seemse as though one lifted up on high

            Axes against the thickets of the wood:

6 And now the carved work thereof f altogether

            With hatchet and hammers they break down.

7 They have set Thy sanctuary on fire;

            They have profaned the dwelling-place of Thy Name

                        (even) unto the earth.

8 They have said in their heart: "Let us make havocg

                        of them altogether."

            They have burnt up all the housesh of God in the land.

 

Law.) This last sense is further

confirmed by the use of the word

in ver. 9. But both meanings may

be combined, the word sign being

here used in its most general sense

of all symbols of a foreign power

of whatever kind. So Geier, "ita

ut accipiatur pro indicio potestatis

alienae, quae est turn politica, tum  

religiosae: ita namque hostes muta-

verant quoque signa priora, quibus

turn Dei, turn magistratus proprii

jurisdictio ac veneratio designa-

batur."

     5. This verse has been com-

pletely misunderstood by our trans-

lators, who have here followed

Calvin, as well as by nearly all the

older interpreters. It does not de-

scribe the preparation once made

for building the temple, by hewing

down cedars in the forest of Leb-

anon, but it compares the scene of

ruin in the interior, the destruction

of the carved work, &c., to the wide

gap made in some stately forest by

the blows of the woodman's axe.

See the use of the same figure, Jer.

xlvi. 22. Buchanan's paraphrase

gives the true meaning:--

    AEdis ruentis it fragor:

Quales sub altis murmurant quercus

        jugis

Caesa bipenni quum ruunt.

      IT SEEMS, lit. "it is known,

makes itself known, appears," &c.,

as in Gen. xli. 21; Ex. xxi. 36, xxxiii.

16.  Or possibly, "he, i.e. the

enemy, makes himself known as

one who lifts up," &c.

     7. THEY HAVE SET ON FIRE, lit.

"They have cast into the fire."

Hupfeld compares the German, "in

Brand legen, stecken," and the

French, "mettre a feu."

    THEY HAVE PROFANED . . . UNTO

THE EARTH, i.e. "by casting it to

the earth," as the expression is filled

up in the E. V., but in the P. B. V.

the English idiom is made to adapt

itself to the Hebrew, and this I have

followed. We have a similar con-

struction in lxxxix. 39 [4o], "Thou

hast defiled his crown to the earth,"

i.e. by casting it to the earth. For

the fuller expression, on the other

hand, see Lam. ii. 2.

     8. ALL THE HOUSES OF GOD IN

THE LAND, lit. "all the assemblies,"

which must here mean " places of

assembly," as in ver. 4, and Lam.

ii. 6. The work of devastation

does not stop short with the temple.

The plain meaning of the words is

that there were many other places

for religious worship in the land

besides the temple, and that these, as

well as the temple, were destroyed.

All attempts to get rid of this mean-

ing are utterly futile. It is as-

sumed that this Psalm refers to

the Chaldean invasion, and as we

hear of no synagogues or legalized

holy places before the Exile, there-

fore it is said the temple must be

meant, the plural being here used

for the singular. It is quite true

 

28                       PSALM LXXIV.

 

9 Our signs we see not; there is no prophet any more,

            Neither is there with us any who knoweth how long.

that we have other plural forms

applied to the temple. Thus in

xxiii. 3, "Thy tabernacles," lxxii. 17,

"the sanctuaries of God," the plural

being used to denote the several

parts, courts, chambers, &c., of the

one building. But it is not only the

plural word that we have here, but

the far wider phrase, "all the places

of assembly in the land." Hupfeld

tries to escape from this difficulty

by saying that all the previous

different names of the sanctuary

are finally comprised in one—that

one house which may be called

"all the houses of God," because it

represents and is the substitute for

all and he attempts to defend this

by Is. iv. 5, where, however, "every

dwelling-place," and "her assem-

blies," are expressly confined to

"Mount Zion." Mendelssohn has

a similar explanation, except that

he supposes the expression to be

used from the point of view of the

enemy:  "They say in their heart,

that by destroying this house, we

shall destroy all the assemblies of

God together:  "Israel having but

one sanctuary, while all other nations

build houses of assembly for their

gods in every city and district.

But all this is the merest trifling,

and it is surprising that commen-

tators of unquestioned ability should

have recourse to such strained in-

terpretations. Such interpretations

are unnecessary, even on the as-

sumption that this Psalm refers to

the Chaldean invasion. Before that

time synagogues are not mentioned,

it is true, nor indeed are they in the

Books of the Maccabees; still it is

scarcely credible that even before

the Exile there were no houses of

God, no places for religious worship,

except the temple in Jerusalem.

Without holding, as Vitringa sur-

mised and as others have thought,

that sacred places, such as those

consecrated by the patriarchs and

others, in earlier times—Ramah,

Bethel, Gilgal, Shiloh--are meant,

or "the high places" (see 2 Chi..

xxxiii. 17; comp. I Kings xviii. 30,

from which it appears that in

[? before] Elijah's time there was an

altar of Jehovah on Mount Carmel),

there must have been buildings

where it was customary to meet,

especially on the Sabbath (which

in Lev. xxiii. 3 is called "an holy

convocation), and to pray, turn-

ing towards Jerusalem. There must

surely have been some public wor-

ship beyond the limits of the family,

and if so, places, houses, for its

celebration. If, however, the Psalm

be of the age of the Maccabees,

there is no difficulty, for before

that time, there can be little doubt,

synagogues were established. Our

translators would seem, by their

rendering "synagogues," to have

regarded this as a Maccabean

Psalm. See more in Critical Note.

    9. OUR SIGNS, i.e. the sign of

God's dominion and presence in

the midst of us. Taken in connexion

with what immediately follows,

"There is no prophet," &c., these

may mean miraculous signs, in

which sense the word frequently

occurs. Or it may only denote

here religious emblems, which were

displaced to make room for the

signs of the heathen. See ver. 4.

    No PROPHET. Such a com-

plaint seems most suitable to the

time of the Maccabees, when, in

fact, the complaint was frequent.

See Introduction to the Psalm.

    Stier draws attention to the em-

phatic way in which the lament

here closes: no signs—religion de-

stroyed and rooted out: no prophet

—to announce approaching con-

solation, or to begin the work of

restoration; none of us all there-

fore knows how long this sad state

of things shall last. The latter ex-

pression refers, not to the prophet

(as Hupfeld), but to the mass of

the people.

                             PSALM LXXIV.                              29

 

10 How long, 0 God, shall the adversary reproach?

            Shall the enemy despise Thy name for ever?

11 Why withdrawest Thou Thy hand, even Thy right hand?

            (Pluck it out) from the midst of Thy bosom, consume

                        (them)!

12 Surely God is my King of old,

            Working deliverances in the midst of the earth;

13 THOU didst divide the sea through Thy strength,

            Thou brakest the heads of the monsters upon the

                        waters.

 

10. Taking up that word, How

long? the Psalmist turns with it to

God, beseeching Him not to suffer

this reproach to be cast upon His

Name. Twice the same appeal is

made, see verses 18 and 22. This

holy jealousy for the honour of God,

as bound up with His people's de-

liverance, is characteristic of the

Old Testament. The feeling is

strikingly exemplified in the prayers

of Moses, Ex. xxxii. 12, 13; Num.

xiv. 13-16; Deut. ix. 28, comp.

xxxii. 27.

    II. WHY WITHDRAWEST THOU,

lit. "Why makest Thou to return,"

i.e. into Thy bosom. See Ex. iv. 7,

where the full expression occurs: it

denotes, of course, a state of inac-

tivity, the hand being enveloped in

the ample folds of the Eastern robe.

     (PLUCK IT OUT.) It seems neces-

sary to supply the ellipse in this

way. The construction is a pregnant

one, similar to that which we have

already had in ver. 7. For the ab-

solute use of the verb, CONSUME,

comp. lix. 13 [14]. It may either be

rendered as above, or perhaps as

Meyer, Stier, and others, "Make an

end," i.e. of this state of things.

    12. SURELY, or, "and yet," in

spite of this seeming inactivity. The

appeal rests, first, on the fact that

God has already manifested His

power in signal instances on behalf

of His people, and next, on the

dominion of God as Creator and

absolute Ruler of the universe.

     MY KING, expressive of the strong

personal feeling of the Psalmist. See

note on xliv. 4, and comp. Hab. i. 12,

where in like manner the Prophet

claims his own covenant relation to

God, whilst speaking as the re-

presentative of the people, "Art

Thou not for everlasting, O Jeho-

vah my God, my Holy one?—we

shall not die."

    13-15. Special instances of God's

wonder-working power in the pass-

age of the Red Sea, in bringing

water from the rock, and in the

passage of the Jordan.

   13. THE MONSTERS. (Symma-

chus, tw?n khtw?n, the whales). A sym-

bolical description of the Egyptians.

Comp. Is. li. 9, and Ezek. xxix. 3,

where Pharaoh is called the "mon-

ster which is in the sea." The E.V.

has in all these places, "dragon" as

the equivalent word. Here the

LXX. have dra<kwn, to express both

this word and Leviathan in the

next clause. The same Hebrew

word, tannin, is employed again

cxlviii. 7, and also Gen. i. 21 (where

it is rendered whales), to denote

huge sea-monsters, lit. creatures

extended, stretched out, hence ser-

pents, crocodiles, &c. Perhaps the

crocodile (as in the next verse

Leviathan) is meant here as em-

blematic of Egypt. The head of

the monster has been smitten, and

the huge unwieldy carcase lies

floating on the waters.

    The plural HEADS has been sup-

 

30                           PSALM LXXIV.

 

14 THOU didst crush the heads of Leviathan,

            That Thou mightest give him as food to the people

                        inhabiting the wilderness:

15 THOU didst cleave fountain and brook;

            THOU driedst up everflowing rivers.

16 Thine is the day, Thine also is the night,

            THOU hast established the light and the sun.

17 THOU hast set all the borders of the earth:

 

posed to refer to Pharaoh and his

princes, as in next ver., but it may

be only poetic amplification.

    14. LEVIATHAN, i.e. the crocodile,

as in Job xl. 25 (x1i. 1. E. V.). In

what sense is this said to be given

as food to the people inhabiting the

wilderness? Bochart, who is fol-

lowed by Hengstenberg and others,

supposes that the allusion is to the

Ichthyophagi who, according to

Agatherides, fed on the sea-mon-

sters which were thrown up on

their shores. Comp. Herod. ii. 69.

Similarly, the LXX. render laoi?j

toi?j Ai]qi<oyi. Others, again, think

that by the people inhabiting the

wilderness are meant the Israelites,

to whom the Egyptians, are said,

figuratively, to be given as food,

i.e. as plunder. But by far the

simplest way is to understand the

passage as meaning that the corpses

of the Egyptians were cast upon the

shore, and so became the prey

of the wild beast, which are here

called a people inhabiting the wil-

derness, as in Prov. xxx. 25, 26,

the ants and the conies are called

"a people." Comp. also Joel i. 6,

Zeph. ii. 14.

    INHABITING THE WILDERNESS.

On this word see on lxxii. note.b

   15. THOU DIDST CLEAVE FOUN-

TAIN, &c. Another instance of a

pregnant construction: for "Thou

didst cleave the rock, whence foun-

tain and brook issued forth." Comp.

lxxviii. 15; Hab. iii. 9. The re-

ference, is, no doubt, to Exod.

xvii. 6.

     THOU DRIEDST UP. The same

word is used, Josh. ii. 10, of the

Red Sea, and iv. 23, v. i, of the

Jordan.

    EVERFLOWING RIVERS, literally

LL streams of constant flow." The

same word occurs in Exod. xiv. 27,

"The sea returned to its constant

flow, its usual current." See also

Deut. xxi 4; Amos v. 24. Here the

Jordan is meant, the plural being

used, not to denote the several

streams by which it is fed (as Qim-

chi), but merely by way of poetic

amplification. Aq. potamou>j stereou<j.

Sym. p. a]rxai<ouj.

     16. From the wonders wrought

by God on behalf of His people in

their history, the Poet rises to the

wider view of His ever-continued,

ever-displayed power and majesty

in the world of nature. The miracle

does not lead him to forget God's

power and goodness in that which

is not miraculous. The one is rather

a witness to, and an instance of, the

other.

    LIGHT, or rather "luminary,"

corresponding to the Greek fwsth<r

(which Aquila employs here). It is

the same word which occurs in Gen.

i. 14, 16, and is there rendered

"lights.". The singular is used col-

lectively for the plural, all the hea-

venly bodies being meant, and then

of these the sun is named as chief.

In the same way we have, as Hup-

feld remarks, Judah and Jerusalem,

Ephraim and Samaria, and so the

Greeks say, "  !Ellhnej te kai>   ]Aqhnai?oi,

and the like.

     17. THE BORDERS OF THE

EARTH, i.e. not those merely by

which the land is divided from the

sea (Gen. i. 9, comp. Prov. viii. 29;

 

 

                                    PSALM LXXI V.                                 31

            Thou hast formed summer and winter.

18 Remember this, how the enemy hath reproached Jehovah,

            And how a foolish people have despised Thy Name.

19 0 give not the soul of Thy turtle-dove to the wild beast,k

            The life of Thine afflicted forget not for ever.

20 Look upon the covenant,

            For the dark places of the land are full of the habita-

                        tions of violence.

21 0 let not the oppressed turn back confounded,

Job xxxviii. 8, &c.), but all the

boundary lines by which order is

preserved, as those of the seasons,

those of the nations, Deut. xxxii. 8;

Acts xvii. 26, &c.

    SUMMER AND WINTER, as before,

DAY AND NIGHT, as marking the

everlasting order of the world, and

perhaps with reference to Gen. viii.

22. The literal rendering is, "Sum-

mer and winter—Thou has formed

them." This verb is used of the

fashioning of men and the animals,

Gen. ii. 7, 19, from the dust, and

here it is applied to the seasons, as

in Is. x1v. 7, to "the light and the

darkness," as creatures of God's

hand.

    18. REMEMBER. The petition re-

curs (comp. ver. 2) with renewed

force after the Psalmist has com-

forted himself with the recollection

of God's Almighty Power, as both

ruling the history of Israel, and

giving laws to the material universe.

    A FOOLISH PEOPLE, i.e. the hea-

then oppressors of Israel, whether

Chaldean or Syrian. In ver. 22,

again, we have the same word, "the

foolish (man)." There the Targum

has, "a foolish king," which has

been supposed to mean Antioehus

Epiphanes, though it might of course

refer to Nebuchadnezzar. The same

Chaldee word (xwAP;Fi tiphsha) is in

the Targum on Deut. xxxii. 21 the

equivalent of the same Hebrew word,

where again the reference is to a

heathen nation employed as the

instrument of Israel's chastisement.

In Lev. xxvi. 41, it is equivalent to

the Hebrew uncircumcised. In Ec-

clus. 1. 26, the Samaritans are called

"that foolish people."

     20. LOOK UPON THE COVENANT.

The appeal lies to that, not to any-

thing in the Psalmist himself, or in

his people. "This," says Tholuck,

"is the everlasting refuge of the

saints of God, even in the greatest

clangers. And even if they have

broken it, can the unbelief of men

make the truth of God of none

effect?  "The covenant is that

made first with Abraham, and then

renewed with him and with the

fathers. Comp. lxxviii. 10; Is.

lxiv. 8.

    THE DARK PLACES, or, "dark-

nesses." The word occurs else-

where of the darkness of the grave,

lxxxviii. 6 [7], cxliii. 3; Lam. iii. 6,

and hence it may be used here in a

figurative sense, merely as express-

ing, generally, misery, gloom, &c.,

or as Delitzsch explains (who under-

stands the Psalm of the Chaldean

invasion), "Turn where we may,

the darkened land is full of abodes

of tyranny and oppression." It

seems most probable, however, that

those spots are meant which were

the best fitted for scenes of violence

and murder—the haunts of robbers,

who there lay in wait for their vic-

tims. The banditti would speedily

become numerous in a country

where law and order were at an

end. Com. x. 8.

   21. THE OPPRESSED, lit. "the

crushed:"  TURN BACK, as in vi.

10 [11], or, perhaps, simply " re-

 

32                          PSALM LXXIV

 

            Let the afflicted and the poor praise Thy name!

22 Arise, 0 God, plead Thine own cause;

            Remember how the foolish man reproacheth Thee all

                        the day long.

23 Forget not the voice of Thine adversaries,

            The tumult of them that rise against Thee which

                        goeth up for ever.

 

turn" (the usual meaning of the                           foolish man all the day." See note

verb), i.e. from his approach and                        on ver. 18.

entreaty to Thee.                                                   23. GOETH UP, i.e. which ascends

    22. REMEMBER HOW, &c.: lit,                   to heaven, crying aloud for ven-

"Remember Thy reproach from a                       geance.

 

     a On Maschil, see above on xxxii. note a, and General Introduction,

Vol. I. p. 86 ; on Asaph, see 1. note a, and General Introduction, Vol. I.

P. 97.

    b 'Hn Fb,we. These words seem to be a predicate, the relative being

supplied before J. So Ewald:  "Hast erlöst zum Stammer" &c.

Mendelss. renders somewhat differently, as if Fb,we depended on rkoz;, and

'Hn were the predicate: "(Denke), Des Stammes, dir zum Eigenthum,

befrei't." But in the Biur, the explanation of Ibn Ezra is quoted: "to

be a tribe on the mountain of Thine inheritance," which is substantially

the same view of the construction as that I have given. Delitzsch

(1st Edit.) takes this clause as parenthetical, and says that the relative

form of expression is here given up, though the next clause depends on

rkoz;, but in his 2d Edit. renders as in text.

    c tOxUw.ma. On the form and derivation of this word see on lxxiii.

note q.

   d j~d,fEOm.  A large number of MSS. and editions have the plur.

as in ver. 8. The Chald., Qimchi, and others, have also adopted it, and it

is in itself admissible, even if the temple be meant. See note on ver. 8.

     e fdaUAyi.  It is known, and so it appears, see note on ver. 5. This word

puzzled all the ancient interpreters. The Chald. omits it altogether, but

gives the true sense of the passage, which all the others have missed.

As regards the construction, either this and the next verse describe, as in

a parenthesis, the scene of destruction, and hence the verbs are presents,

giving more vividness to the narration; or perhaps the two verses may

be taken as protasis and apodosis. As . . . so now (hTafav;).  xybimeK;, lit.

as one causing to come in, or perhaps as one bringing. So Ges.Thes, in

v. xvb, comp. Job xii. 6. In j`bAs;, the vowel is Qametz, not Qametz-

Khatuph, as Sol. Yedidyah of Norcia calls it. Comp. tDaha-btAK;, Esth.

iv. 8.

     f hAyH,UTp, carved wood work, as in I Kings vi. 29. The fem. suff.

cannot refer immediately to any of the preceding nouns. It seems to be

 

                                  PSALM LXXIV.                                         33

 

used here as a neut., in an indefinite sense, referring generally to the

"sanctuary" and "assembly" mentioned before.

    g  MnAyni. Qimchi first rightly explained this as I plur. fut. Qal. of hny  

(elsewhere, except in the Part., occurring only in Hiph.), with suff. M-A,

instead of M-e, as MrAyni; Num. xxi. 30.

    h  lxe-ydefEOm.  The word dfeOm, as has been remarked, may be used either

of a fixed place of meeting (hence the Tabernacle was called 'm lh,xo, tent

of meeting, i.e. where God met the people) or of a fixed time, and so of

the festivals, as in Lev. xxiii. 2, 4, 37. The ancient interpreters were

divided as to the signification here. Aq. has e]ne<prhsan pa<saj ta>j sun

agwga<j. On the other hand, Sym. pa<saj ta>j suntaga>j tou? qeou?. Theod.

pa<ntaj kairou<j. And the LXX., who put the words into the mouth of the

enemy, render, deu?te, katapau<swmen (pa<saj) ta>j e[orta>j tou? Kuri<ou a]po>

th?j gh?j. The sixth translator in the Hexapla (Montf.) has katakau<swmen,

which may have been the original reading of the LXX., as Jerome (in

his Ep. to Sunnia and Fretela) contends. It might easily have been

altered to avoid the awkwardness of saying, "Let us burn up all the

feasts." Jerome translates the LXX. Quiescere faciamus omnes dies festos

Dei in terra; but his own rendering of the Hebrew is Incenderunt omnes

solennitates Dei in terra.

     i Myy.icil; Mfal;. This is grammatically indefensible. If the two nouns

are in apposition, then the first cannot be in the stat. constr. It must

be MfAl;. But more probably the second has been inserted by mistake

before Myy.ici. See a similar instance in Is. xxxii. i. The LXX. laoi?j toi?j

Ai]qi<oyin. Aq. toi?j e]celeusome<noij. Theod. (la&?) t&? e]sxa<t&. E' (la&?) t&?

e]celhluqo<ti.

    k tya.Hal;. According to the accents, this word is not to be joined with

what follows; hence many regard it as the constr. state put for the absol.

But there is no instance of such usage. Others would supply hd,WA. or

some such word, beast of (the field). It is better to regard it as an

instance of a feminine noun terminating in its absolute state, in -ath

instead of -ah. See on 1xi. note a, and Qimchi's remark there quoted.

It is, then, doubtful whether we should take ty.aHa in the sense of wild

beasts, or in the sense of host (sc. of enemies). Delitzsch contends that

the latter is required, because in the very next clause it occurs in this

sense, "the congregation or host of Thine afflicted." Comp. lxviii. to

[11], and note there.

            Others would connect wp,n, ty.ahal; together, taking wp,n,; in the sense of

eagerness, as in xvii. 9 (where see note). Hence 'n ‘l would either mean

to the eager host (sc. of enemies)—so Ges., Maur., and others—or, to the

eager (fierce, devouring) wild beast.

            Hupfeld thinks the difficulty at once got over by the simple remedy

of transposition, ytty.aHa wp,n,l; NTeTi lxa "Give not to rage (to the fierce

will of the enemy) the life of Thy turtle-dove." He tries to defend this

absolute use of wp,n, in the sense of fierce desire, by reference to xxvii. 12,

34                             PSALM LXX V.

 

xli. 2 [3], where the word, however, occurs with a genitive (" will of mine

enemies"), which he thinks may be supplied here from the context. In

the next clause he keeps the same meaning of 'H, "the life of Thine

afflicted."

            None of these explanations is satisfactory, though there can be no

doubt as to the general sense of the passage. All the ancient Versions

have misunderstood j~r,OT.  The Chald. either read j~t,rAOT, as it para-

phrases, "the souls of them that teach Thy Law," or perhaps gave this

as a midrashic interpretation. Sym. (yuxh>n) h{n e]di<dacaj to>n no<mon. Jerome,

animam eruditam lege tua. Others, apparently, as the LXX., Syr., Arab.,

and Ethiop., read j~d,OT, "the soul (which) confesseth, or giveth thanks, to

Thee." All agree in rendering the first part of the sentence alike, "Give

 

not to the wild beasts," except the Syr., which has        ‘ne des frac-

tioni" (Dathe); but why not praedae? as in Is. v. 29. Does not this point

to a reading hUAha or tOUha and may not the copyist have fallen into the

error by his eye catching t a a in the next line?

 

 

 

 

                                        PSALM LXXV.

 

            THE Psalm celebrates in prophetic strain the righteous judgement

of God. The voice of God Himself from heaven declares His

righteousness, announces to the world that He is not, as human

impatience has ever been wont to deem, regardless of wrong and

suffering, but that He only waits for the moment which to His

infinite wisdom seems best, that He may chastise the insolence of

evildoers.

            There are no clearly marked historical allusions in the Psalm. It

seems, however, not improbable, as has been conjectured by many

commentators (Ewald, Tholuck, Delitzsch, &c.), that it may refer to

the time of the Assyrian invasion, either as celebrating, or imme-

diately anticipating, the defeat of Sennacherib. Like Ps. x1vi. it

bears some resemblance to the prophecies of Isaiah uttered at that

time. But there is, as Ewald has observed, a difference in the

manner in which the Prophet and the Psalmist treats his subject.

The Prophet adds thought to thought and scene to scene; he expands,

enlarges upon, diversifies his theme. He sees in this one act of

righteous judgement the prelude to many others. He threatens not

the Assyrian only, but other nations who lift themselves up. The

Poet, on the other hand, seizes upon the one truth, the single thought

                                       PSALM LXXV.                                        35

 

of God's righteous judgement as manifested in this instance, and

strives to present it to others with the same force and vividness with

which it has filled his own mind. He too is a Prophet, a Prophet

who has heard the word of God (ver. 2, &c.) and seen the vision of

the Most High, but a Prophet, as it were, under narrower conditions

and for a more limited purpose.

            The close resemblance between many of the expressions in this

Psalm and parts of the song of Hannah in I Sam. ii. is very

noticeable.

            The Psalm opens with the ascription of praise which God's

wonders now and in all past time have called forth, ver. 1.

            It passes then to the prophetic announcement of the truth which

has been uttered from heaven and echoed with triumph upon earth,

of God's righteous judgement, ver. 2-8.

            Finally, it concludes with a determination to publish the praise

of Jehovah for ever, whilst the same prophetic strain of triumph is

heard, as in one last echo, repeating itself, ver. 9, 10.

 

[FOR THE PRECENTOR. (TO THE MELODY) "DESTROY NOT."a  A

                              PSALM OF ASAPH, A SONG.]

 

1 WE give thanks to Thee, 0 God, we give thanks;

            And (that) Thy name is near Thy wondrous works

                        have told.

 

    Ver. I, 2. The connexion between

these verses is not, at first sight,

very obvious. It may, perhaps,

be traced as follows. First, the

Psalmist blends in one the past

and the present. God has been,

and is now, the object of Israel's

praise; as He has both in the past

and in the present displayed His

wonders on their behalf. (Hence

the use of the perfect tense lit.

"We have given thanks," &c.)

Then he abruptly cites the words

of God, words whose fulfilment he

had just witnessed, or whose ap-

proaching fulfilment he saw in the

spirit of prophecy; words that were

themselves an exemplification of the

truth that God is near, despite the

madness of men and the disorders

of the world.

     AND (THAT) THY NAME IS NEAR.

The construction of this member of

the verse is doubtful. It may be

rendered in two separate clauses:

"And Thy Name is near: they

(i.e. men, or our fathers, as in x1iv.

I, [2], lxxviii. 3) have told of Thy

wonders" (so Ewald). But it is,

perhaps, better to connect the two

clauses, as our translators have

done. Luther and Mendelssohn,

and, more recently, Hupfeld and

Bunsen, have taken the same view.

     THY NAME IS NEAR, not "near

in our mouth," i.e. as the great

object of praise (as Hengstenberg

and others explain it, referring to

Jer. xii. 2, a passage which is totally

different), but near in presence, near

in self-manifestation, near in love

and power, near in succour and

 

 

36                           PSALM LXXV.

 

2 "When the set time is come,

            I myself will judge uprightly.

3 (Though) the earth and all the inhabitants thereof are

                        melting,

            I myself have set up the pillars of it. [Selah.]

 

blessing. So in Deut. iv. 7, "What

nation is there that hath God so

near unto them?" Comp. xlviii.

lxxvi. 1., "His name is great in

Israel," and see xxxiv. 18 [19],

cxly. 18, and the note on xx. 2.

    2. God is abruptly introduced as

the speaker, as in xlvi. lo [11].

The oracle is thus given as from

the mouth of God Himself, to those

who may be in doubt or perplexity

because their lot is cast in troublous

times.

    WHEN THE SET TIME IS COME,

lit. "When I shall have taken

(reached) the set time," i.e. the

time appointed in the Divine coun-

sels. The thread of time is ever

running, as it were, from the

spindle, but at the critical moment

God's hand arrests it. (For this

strong sense of the verb take, see

xviii. 16 [17] and comp. kairo>j dekto<j,

eu]pro<sdektoj of 2 Cor. vi. 2.) God

is ever the righteous Judge, but He

executes His sentence, not accord-

ing to man's impatient expecta-

tions, but at the exact instant

which He has Himself chosen.

The words are an answer to all such

misgivings as those in lxxiii. 3, as

well as a rebuke to all hasty and

over-zealous reformers, who would

pull up the tares with the wheat

rather than wait for the harvest.

      SET TIME. The Hebrew word

(mo'ed) has also the signification

assembly, congregation, which our

translators have adopted here, and

which is common in the phrase

"tabernacle of the congregation,"

&c. The root-idea is that of some-

thing fixed, whether time or place

(and hence persons gathered in a

place). See note on lxxiv. 4. The

former sense is clearly preferable

here. Comp. cii. 13 [14] (where the

E.V. has correctly "set time" in-

stead of "congregation" as here) ;

Hab. ii. 3, "the appointed time,"

i.e. for the accomplishment of the

vision. And so also Dan. viii. 19,

xi. 27, 35. The proper rendering is

given by the LXX. o!tan la<bw kairo<n.

Jerome and the Vulgate, cum  

accepero tempus. Symmachus, ap-

parently, led the way with the other

interpretation, o!tan la<bw th>n sunagw-

gh<n. The "congregation" would, of

course, mean all who are assembled

to behold the solemn act of judge-

ment, as in vii. 7 [8], 1. 5,.

      I MYSELF. The pronoun is em-

phatic. The Greek Version known

as the Fifth renders it still more

emphatically: "I am; I prepared

the pillars thereof for ever" (e]gw> ei]mi>,

h[toi<masa tou>j stu<louj au]th<j a]ei<. The

same prominence is given to the

pronoun in the second member of

the next verse.

     3. Such a critical moment is the

present. The world itself seems

"utterly broken down and clean dis-

solved" (Is. xxiv. 19, 20), but He

who once built it up like a stately

palace, still stays its pillars with

His hand. The natural framework

and the moral framework are here

identified. To the poet's eye, the

world of nature and the world of

man are not two, but one. The

words of Hannah's song (I Sam. ii.

8) furnish an exact parallel. "For

the pillars of the earth are Jehovah's,

and He hath set the world upon

them,"—language which, as the con-

text shows, has a moral application.

     HAVE SET UP, lit. "poised, bal-

anced." A word properly used of

fixing a thing by weight or measure.

Comp. Job xxviii. 25; Is,. xl. 12, 13.

                               PSALM LXXV                              37

 

4 I said unto the arrogant, Deal not arrogantly;

            And to the wicked, Lift not up the horn,

5 Lift not up your horn on high,

            Speak (not) with a stiff neck."b

6 For not from the East, and not from the West,

            And not from the wilderness (cometh) lifting up.c

7 No, God is Judge;

            He putteth down one, and lifteth up another.

8 For there is a cup in the hand of Jehovah.

 

     4. I SAID. Ewald and others

suppose the Divine utterance to end

with the previous verse. This is

possible; for the Poet, speaking as

a Prophet, may thus triumph in

the revelation which has just been

made, and turn it into a defiance of

the proud. At the same time, as

there is no indication of any change

of speaker, it is better to regard this

and the next verse as a continuation

of the Divine oracle.

    UNTO THE ARROGANT, &C., or

"Unto the madmen, Deal not

madly," — the same words as in

lxxiii. 3, where see references.

      5. WITH A STIFF NECK. Here,

again, there is evidently an allusion

to the words of Hannah's song.

I Sam. ii. 3.

     6. FOR. The Poet himself speaks,

taking up and applying to himself

and to others the Divine sentence

which he had just been commis-

sioned to deliver. Glory and power

come not from any earthly source,

though a man should seek it in

every quarter of the globe, but only

from God, who lifteth up and cast-

eth down, according to His own

righteous sentence. Again, an allu-

sion to I Sam. ii. 6.

  FROM THE WILDERNESS, i.e. the

South, the great wilderness lying in

that direction. Thus three quarters

are mentioned, the North only being

omitted. This may be accounted

for, supposing the Psalm to refer to

Sennacherib, by the fact that the

Assyrian army approached from

the North; and therefore it would

be natural to look in all directions

but that for assistance to repel the

invader.

     LIFTING UP. The word is evi-

dently an emphatic word in the

Psalm; it is the same which occurs

in ver. 4 and 5, and again in ver.

7 and ver. 10.  I have, therefore,

given the same rendering of it

throughout. The rendering of the

E. V. "promotion," besides losing

sight of the manifestly designed

repetition of the same word, is pe-

culiarly unfortunate in conveying a

wrong idea. "Lifting up," in its

Hebrew sense, does not mean "pro-

motion," as we commonly under-

stand it, but deliverance from

trouble; safety; victory. The image,

in particular, of lifting up the head

or the horn (the last, borrowed from

wild beasts, such as buffaloes, &c.,

in which the horn is the symbol of

strength), denotes courage, strength,

victory over enemies. See iii. 3

[4], xviii. 2 [3], xxvii. 6. For other

interpretations of this verse, see

Critical Note.

     8. The solemn act of judgement.

God puts the cup of His wrath to

the lips of the wicked, and holds it

there till they have drained it to

the uttermost. It is the same figure

which we have already had in lx.

3 [5]. In the Prophets it occurs fre-

quently. Is. li. 17—23 (comp. xix.

14); Hab. ii. 15, 16; Ezek. xxiii.

32, &c.; Jerem. xxv. 27; xlviii.

26 ; xlix. 12; and, in the form of a

symbolical action, xxv. 15; Obad. i.

16, &c.

 

38                        PSALM LXXV.

 

            And the wine foameth,d it is full of mixture;

                        And He poureth out of the same:

            Surely the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth

                        Shall drain (them) out in drinking (them).

9          But as for me, I will declare for ever,

                        I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

10        And all the horns of the wicked will I cut off,

                        (But) the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

 

     FOAMETH, i.e. as it is poured into

the cup from the wine-jar, as is ex-

pressed in the next member of the

verse.

     MIXTURE, i.e. the aromatic herbs,

&c., which were put into the wine to

make it more intoxicating. See the

article WINE in Smith's Dict. of the

Bible.

     POURETH OUT, i.e. from the

wine-jar into the cup.

     OF THE SAME, the wine; the

DREGS THEREOF are the dregs of

the cup. (See Critical Note.)

     9. BUT AS FOR ME—placing him-

self and the congregation of Israel

in opposition to the proud oppres-

sors — I will be the everlasting

herald of this great and memorable

act. This is the true Non omnis

moriar.

      10. Triumphantly in this last

verse he claims, for himself and for

the Church, a share in the signal

act of deliverance. That which God

threatens (ver. 4, 5), He accom-

plishes by the hand of His servants.

Every horn of worldly power must

fall before Him. Comp. Rev. ii.

26, 27.

     Ewald sees an emphasis in the

word all, repeated ver. 8 and here.

The punishment is, as yet, only be-

gun. Some only have drunk of that

deadly wine, but the cup is large,

and all the wicked must drain it.

 

    a See above on 1. note a; lvii. note 8, and General Introduction, Vol. I.

pp. 89, 97.

    b stAfA. Delitzsch and others take this, not as an adj. qualifying the

preceding noun, but as immediately dependent on the verb of speaking,

which is, in fact, its usual construction. So in I Sam. ii. 3; Ps. xxxi. 19,

xciv. 4. In this case rxAUcaB; must be taken absolutely; "with the neck,"

meaning "with a proud stiff neck," a mode of expression which it is

supposed may be defended by Job xv. 26, "he runneth against Him with

the neck," where, however, as Hupfeld remarks, the phrase seems only

equivalent to our expression "with the head."

     c MyrihA rBad;mi.mi. This reading is supported by most of the MSS. and

Edd., and can only be translated from " the wilderness of the mountains "

(Sym. a]po> e]rh<mou o]re<wn. LXX. a]po> e]rh<mwn o]re<wn), which is usually ex-

plained to mean the Arabian desert, so called because it is walled in by

the mountains of Idumea. "The desert of the mountains" is, then, a

mode of describing the South, and, according to Hengst., the allusion is

to Egypt, as the great Southern power which was the hope of Israel in

the Assyrian invasion. According to this reading, there is an aposiopesis.

Not from the East, &c., and not from the wilderness of mountains

                                 PSALM  LXXVI.                                               39

 

[cometh judgement (Hengst.) or lifting up (Del.)]. But it is far better to

read,  rBAd;mi.mi (absol. instead of constr.) and to take MyrihA as the Hiph. Inf.

used as a noun, lifting up, like NybihA, xxxii. 9. Qimchi testifies that in his

time (end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th century) this was the

reading of the best MSS. (it is still found in several), and the Midrash

expressly says that harim means harim (i.e. mountains) everywhere but

in this passage. The whole scope of the Psalm, where so much is said

of "lifting up," confirms this view. Ewald also adopts the reading rBAd;mi,

but supplies the copula before MyrihA, which he takes in its usual signification

"mountains," i.e. Lebanon, &c. as descriptive of the North. Thus he

completes the four quarters, as the Chald. has done also, only inverting

the order and understanding the North by the desert and the South by

the mountains.

            d rmaHA Nyiya. It seems doubtful whether Nyiya is here accusat. or nominat.

So far as the constr. is concerned, it may be the former: "It (i.e. the cup)

foameth with wine." The objection to this is that the verb is in the masc.,

whereas sOK is, in almost every instance, fern., and the suffix in hyAr,mAw;

would seem to show that it is fern. here. To this Hupf. replies: (1) that

in Jer. xxv. 15, sOK is masc. (and therefore a noun of common gender),

and (2) that the fern. suffix here refers to j`s,m, and not to sOK.

            The LXX. (poth<rion) . . . oi@nou a]kra<tou plh?rej kera<smatoj. Sym.

kai> oi#noj a@kratoj plhrw?n e]kxuqei<j.

            xlemA is a verb followed by the accus. See lxv. 10.

 

 

                                          PSALM LXXVI.

 

            THIS is one of several Psalms which, as has been remarked in the

Introduction to Psalm xlvi., were composed in celebration of the

miraculous overthrow of Sennacherib's army. From the days of

Israel's first occupation of the land, when God went forth with their

hosts, giving the victory by signs and wonders from heaven, no de-

liverance so signal had been witnessed. Hence it roused in an

extraordinary degree the religious fervour of the nation, and called

forth loud songs of thanksgiving. Like Psalms xlvi., xlvii., xlviii.,

this is an ode of victory over the Assyrians. It tells of Zion's glory

and Zion's safety (to which there may be an allusion in the name

Salem), because God has chosen it for His dwelling-place. It tells

of the discomfiture of that proud army, whose might was weakness

itself when arrayed against the might of Jehovah. It tells how the

warriors sank into their last sleep before the walls of the city, not

beaten down before a human enemy, not slain by any earthly arm,

but at the rebuke of the God of Jacob. And then the Poet looks

40                           PSALM LXXVI.

 

beyond the immediate scene. He beholds in this great deliverance,

not the power only, but the righteousness of God. It is God's solemn

act of judgement. It is His voice speaking from Heaven and filling

the earth. And the lesson which this act of judgement teaches is,

the folly of man who would measure his impotent wrath against the

Majesty of God; and the wisdom of submission to Him who is the

only worthy object of fear.

            The internal evidence points so clearly to the occasion for which

the Psalm was written, that the LXX. have inscribed it, pro>j to>n

 ]Assu<rion, and this reference has, with few exceptions, been recog-

nized by commentators, ancient and modern.

            The Psalm consists of four strophes, each of which is comprised

in three verses.

            I. The first celebrates Jerusalem and Zion as the abode of God,

and the place where He has manifested His power, ver. 1-3.

            II. The second describes in a forcible and animated manner the

sudden destruction of the beleaguering army, ver. 4-6.

            III. The third dwells on that event as a solemn, far-reaching act

of judgement, conveying its lesson to the world, ver. 7-9.

            IV. The last tells what that lesson is, counseling submission to

Him whose power and whose righteousness have so wonderfully

made themselves known, ver. 10-12.

 

[FOR THE PRECENTOR, WITH STRINGED INSTRUMENTS.a A PSALM

                                   OF ASAPH. A SONG.]

 

                        1 IN Judah is God known,

                                    His name is great in Israel.

 

   1-3. The whole emphasis of this

first strophe consists in the pro-

minence given to the particular

locality where God has manifested

His power. It is on the same field

where He has so often gotten to

Himself glory. It is in Judah, in

Salem, in Zion. It is there (ver. 3,

the word is peculiarly emphatic)

that He hath dashed in pieces the

might of the foe.

    I. IS KNOWN, or perhaps more

exactly, "maketh Himself known,"

as xlviii. 3 [4], i.e. by the present

deliverance which he has wrought.

The participle expresses present

action.

     IN ISRAEL. According to Hup-

feld, Israel is here mentioned in the

parallelism merely for the sake of

the poetry, although Judah only is

meant. He accounts for such

usage by saying that "Judah and

Israel" was a common phrase to

denote the whole nation. But if

the date assigned to the Psalm be

correct, there may be a special

reason for the mention of Israel.

Hezekiah was the first monarch

who made any attempt to restore

the ancient unity of the tribes.

After the fall of Samaria, a.nd the

deportation of the inhabitants of

the northern kingdom by Esar-had-

 

                               PSALM .LXX                                       41.

2 In Salem also hath been His tabernacle,

            And His dwelling-place in Zion.

don, Israel, i.e. the ten tribes, had

no longer a national existence.

And yet we read that Hezekiah, on

his accession, after purifying the

Temple, and restoring the worship

of God, "sent to all Israel and

Judah, and wrote letters also to

Ephraim and Manasseh, that they

should come to the house of the

Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the

passover unto the Lord God of

Israel." (2 Chron. xxx. I.) A study

of the whole chapter will show what

importance was attached to this

union of Israel with Judah, at the

time, and will explain, as it seems

to me, the mention of both together

in the Psalm.

    2. SALEM. The LXX. render Ev

ei]rh<n^, and the Vulg. in pace: but

the word is evidently a proper

name. "It seems to be agreed on

all hands," says Mr. Grove, "that

Salem is here employed for Jeru-

salem, but whether as a mere ab-

breviation, to suit some exigency

of the poetry and point the allusion

to the peace which the city enjoyed

through the protection of God [this

is Ewald's view], or whether, after

a well-known habit of poets, it is an

antique name preferred to the more

modern and familiar one, is a ques-

tion not yet decided. The latter is

the opinion of the Jewish com-

mentators, but it is grounded on

their belief that the Salem of Mel-

chizedek was the city which after-

wards became Jerusalem. This is

to beg the question." He shows

that this was the general belief, up

to the time of Jerome, of Christians

as well as Jews. But Jerome

places the Salem of Melchizedek

near Scythopolis, and identifies it

with the Salim of John the Baptist.

The narrative in Genesis does not

mark the return route of Abraham,

so as to furnish any data for fixing

the locality of Salem. It is pro-

bable that Abraham "would equally

pass by both Scythopolis and Jeru-

salem." On the other hand, the

distance of Sodom from the former

place (8o miles), renders it unlikely

that the king or Sodom should

have gone so far to meet Abraham,

and makes it more possible that

the interview took place after his

return; and this "is, so far, in

favour of Salem being Jerusalem."

Mr. Grove, who has discussed the

whole question with his usual learn-

ing and ability, throws out the sug-

gestion that the antithesis in ver

I, between "Judah" and "Israel"

may "imply that some sacred place

in the northern kingdom is con-

trasted with Zion, the sanctuary of

the south. And if there were in

the Bible any sanction to the iden-

tification of Salem with Shechem

[according to a tradition of Eupole-

mas, which he has quoted], the

passage might be taken as referring

to the continued relation of God to

the kingdom of Israel." Although

there is no "identification of Salem

with Shechem," there is mention

of a Salem, a city of Shechem, Gen.

xxxiii. 18. But see note on ver. 1.

Salem and Zion denote the lower

and upper city respectively.

    HIS TABERNACLE, lit. "booth,"

as made of interwoven or inter-

lacing boughs of trees, &c. (So the

feast of tabernacles is the feast

of booths or huts.) The name

may have been used, of any tem-

porary structure, and so of the

Tabernacle, and then, as here, of

the Temple. Comp. xxvii. 5, and

Lam. ii. 6.

    But I am inclined to prefer

another meaning here, and one

more in accordance with the con-

text. The word may signify a

dense thicket, the lair of wild beasts.

(It occurs in this sense in x. 9, "like

a lion in his lair.") In ver. 4 it is

said, "Thou art glorious from the

mountains of prey." May not God

be here likened to a lion couching

in his lair, and going forth from

those mountains to destroy? This

seems almost certain, when we find

                            PSALM LXXVI.                            42

 

3 There b brake He the arrows c of (the) bow,

            Shield, and sword, and battle. [Selah.]

4 Glorious d art Thou, excellent

            From the mountains of prey;

5 The stout-hearted have been spoiled,e

            They have sunk into their sleep,

 

that the word in the parallel " His

dwelling," is also used in civ. 22 of

the den of lions; "the lions roaring

after their prey, &c. . . . lay them

down in their dens." The same

word occurs in the same sense in

Am. iii. 4. Then we should render:

"In Salem is His covert, and His

lair in Zion." Dean Stanley, I find,

takes the same view, Sinai and Pal.

p. 177, note 2. As regards the

figure itself, Jehovah is said in

other passages to roar (as a lion),

Hos. xi., 10, and Joel iii. 16 [iv. 16],

cf. Jerem. xxv. 30. He is here, as

it were, identified with " the lion of

the tribe of Judah."

     3. THERE. Emphatically point-

ing to the spot where the great de-

liverance had been accomplished.

Comp. for this use xxxvi. 12 [13],

lxvi. 6, and for the general sense of

the verse xlvi. 9 [10]:

"Who stilleth wars to the end of

            the earth,

Who breaketh the bow and cutteth

            the spear in sunder,

And burneth the chariots in the

            fire."

 

     ARROWS OF THE BOW, lit. "fiery

shafts, or lightnings of the bow,"

the arrows being so called, from

their rapid flight, and their glitter-

ing in the air: or possibly with an

allusion to the burning arrows em-

ployed in ancient warfare. See on

vii. note c.

      4. There is no comparison, as in

the E.V., "more glorious than the

mountains of prey," though the

Hebrew would admit of such a

rendering (see an instance of the

same ambiguity in the use of the

preposition, lv. 8 [9],and note there),

and it has been adopted by many

commentators. They suppose that

the Assyrian power is tacitly com-

pared either to a lion going forth

to ravin (comp. the fuller picture

in Nab. ii. 11-13 [Heb. 12-14]),

or to robbers issuing from their

strongholds in the mountains. And

thus the power of God is said to be

"more excellent" than the power

of Assyria, whether regarded as

that of a lion, or as that of armed

banditti. But such a comparison

is flat and tame, and the rendering

given in the text, which is that of

all the Greek translators and of

Jerome, is far preferable. See note

on ver. 2. God goes forth victo-

riously from Zion to crush his foes.

"The promise," Tholuck says,

"is fulfilled:--

 ‘I will break the Assyrian in my

            land,

And upon my mountains tread him

            under foot.'       (Is. xiv. 25.)

Yea, upon the mountains of Jeru-

salem they themselves must become

a prey, who had hoped there to

gather the prey." The plural, MOUN-

TAINS, either used in the wider

sense, as in the passage just quoted

from Isaiah, or possibly of Zion

only, as in lxxxvii. 1, cxxxiii. 3.

The great prominence always given

to the mountains of their native

land, both by Psalmists and Pro-

phets, is a further confirmation of

the view that the mountains of

Palestine, not those of Assyria, are

here meant. See Mr. Grove's ad-

mirable article, PALESTINE, § 26,

in Dict. of the Bible.

    5. THEY HAVE SUNK INTO THEIR

SLEEP. (Comp. 2 Kings xix. 35.)

The verb (which is of a different

root from the noun "sleep") ex-

 

                             PSALM LXX VI.                            43

 

    And none of the men of valour have found their hands.

6 At Thy rebuke, 0 God of Jacob,

            Both chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.

7 Thou, even Thou, art to be feared,

            And who can stand before Thee when once Thou art

                        angry?

8 From heaven Thou didst cause judgement to be heard;

            The earth feared and was still,

9 When God arose to judgement,

            To save all the afflicted of the earth. [Selah.]

 

presses the languor and lassitude

by which a man is overpowered, and

so falls asleep. In all other pas-

sages where it occurs, the E.V.

renders it by slumber. See, for

instance, cxxi. 3, 4; Is. V. 27, &C.

and comp. Nah. iii. 18, "Thy shep-

herds slumber, 0 King of Assyria,"

where the word is used, as here, of

the sleep of death. A third word is

employed in the next verse.

     HAVE FOUND THEIR HANDS

finely expresses the helplessness

and bewilderment of those proud

warriors who but a short while

before had raised their hands in

scornful defiance against Jerusalem

(see Is. x. 32). The idiom is ap-

parently similar to our common ex-

pression "losing heart." (Comp.

2 Sam. vii. 27, to "find heart.")

Hupfeld thinks that this rendering

is not supported by usage, and

would render "have found nothing,

i.e. achieved, affected nothing, with

their hands." But this is hyper-

critical. The Rabbis have the

phrase, "he has not found his

hands and his feet in the Beth ham-

Midrash" (the school of allegorical

interpretation), when they wish to

describe an ignorant, incompetent

person.

    6. ARE CAST INTO A DEAD SLEEP.

In the Heb. this is but one word

(a participle, denoting present con-

dition). It is used of a profound

slumber, either (I) natural, or (2)

supernatural, the sleep into which

God casts men. Comp. Jud. iv. 21;

Dan. x. 9, and the noun from the

same root, Gen. ii. 21; I Sam.

xxvi. 12.

    CHARIOT AND HORSE, i.e. of

course the riders in chariots and

on horses (as the ancient Versions

paraphrase). The figure is so ob-

vious, that it might be left to explain

itself, were it not for the strange

prosaic misunderstanding of Heng-

stenberg, who supposes that the

chariot is said to sleep, because it

has ceased to rattle.

     Byron's animated lines on the

destruction of Sennacherib, which

may have been partly suggested by

this Psalm, will occur to every

reader:

"And there lay the steed with his

            nostril all wide,

But through it there rolled not the

            breath of his pride:

And the foam of his gasping lay

            white on the turf,

And cold as the spray of the rock-

            beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted

            and pale,

With the dew on his brow, and the

            rust on his mail."

     7. WHEN ONCE THOU ART

ANGRY, lit, "from the time of

Thine anger." See a similar form

of expression, Ruth ii. 7; Jer. xliv.

18.

     8. As in the last Psalm, God is

spoken of as the Judge (this is a

 

44                        PSALM LXX VI.

10 For the wrath of man must praise Thee,

            With the remainder of wrath Thou girdest Thyself.f

11 Vow and pay unto Jehovah your God;

            Let all that are round about Him bring presents unto

                        Him who ought to be feared.

12 He cutteth off the spirit of princes:

            He is to be feared by the kings of the earth.

 

peculiar feature in the Psalms as-                       denoting either wrath of every kind,

scribed to Asaph); and, as in that,                       or wrath in its intensity. See note

He speaks from heaven, terrifying                      on lxviii. 35 [36], and for a like use

His enemies with the thunder of                                     of the plural (i Sam. ii. 3), where "a

His word. Comp. lxxv. 2, 3, 7, 8                          God of knowledge" is lit. "a God.

[3, 4, 8, 9]. The train of thought                          of knowledges."

in that Psalm has certainly suffi-                              11. This is the end. God has

cient in common with the train of                        wrought His terrible act of judge--

thought in this to justify us in                               ment—but the first of a long series

assigning both to the same period.                       of judgements to be executed on the

    10. WITH THE REMAINDER OF                nations, unless by timely submission

WRATH, &c. The meaning is not                      they acknowledge Him as their King.

very clear. Whose wrath is here                         See the similar exhortation in ii. 11.

meant? that of man, or that of                                 VOW AND PAY. See on xxii. 2;

God? Some understand the latter,                       [26], BRING PRESENTS, comp. lxviii.

and explain the verse thus: All the                       29 [30].

wrath of men, every attempt that                             ALL THAT ARE ROUND ABOUT,

they make to defeat the will of God,                    i.e. the heathen nations, who are to

does but turn to their own discom-                      bring presents in token of homage,

fiture, and His glory; and after all                        as in lxviii. 30.

their efforts, He has a store, a resi-                          UNTO HIM WHO OUGHT TO BE

due, of wrath to pour out upon them                    FEARED, lit. "to the fear," i.e. the

as punishment. But the objection                         proper object of fear. See the

to this is, that in the previous clause                    same use of the word in Is. viii. 12.

the wrath spoken of is that of man:                     In like manner God is called "the

and it is better to retain the same                                    Fear of Isaac" in Gen. xxxi. 42, 53

subject in both clauses. Then we                        (though there the word is different).

have:—                                                                  12. This verse, or at least the first

   (a) Man's wrath does but praise                      clause of it, reminds us of the last

God.                                                                 verse of the preceding Psalm, which

    (b) With the remainder of man's                     closes in a similar strain.

wrath, his last impotent efforts to                             HE CUTTETH OFF, like a vine-

assert his own power, God girds                         dresser, who prunes away the rank

Himself, puts it on, so to speak,                           boughs, or cuts off the ripe clusters

as an ornament—clothes Himself                       of the vine. Comp. Is. xviii. 5,

therewith to His own glory.                                where the same image is employed

    Thus the parallelism of the two                      by the Prophet at the sarne time,

clauses is strictly preserved.                               Jude viii. 2, xx. 45 ; Jer. vi. 9, li.

    The word WRATH is in the plural,                 33 ; Joel iii. 13, [iv. 13] ; Rev. xi.v. 15.,

 

            a tnoynin;Bi. See on iv. note a, and General Introduction, Vol. I. p. 87..

On Asaph, see 1. note a.

            b hmA.wA here used apparently as = MwA. Hupfeld refers to its use in the

common phrase hm.AwA Mk,lA dfeUAxi rw,xE (Ex. xxix. 42, al.), "where I meet


                                       PSALM LXX VI.                                        45

with you;" but surely there motion to a place is implied = "whither I go

to meet you." More in point is Ezek. xlviii. 35, Jehovah shammah,

"Jehovah is there. See also cxxii. 5; Is. xxxiv. 15 (where MwA occurs in

the parall.); Jer. xviii. 2; 1 Chron. iv. 41. "The Semitic accus. has a

wide signification, and denotes not only the whither (and how long), but

also the where (when and how), so that, for instance, HtAP, in the accus.,

and hHAt;P,, mean before, or at the door, as hrAfEwa, at the gate. Again, the

accusative ending h-A, is only met with in a partial and fragmentary

manner; and in dying out seems to have lost much of its original

meaning. Finally, of this particular word neither the Arab. nor Aram.

has the simple form, but only the accus. form in the same sense." The

above is from Hupfeld.

            c ‘q ypew;ri. The word Jw,r, denotes any hot, glowing substance. Hence

Cant. viii. 6, wxe yPew;ri (where observe the Dagesh, which-is wanting here),

"coals of fire;" Job v. 7, 'r yneB;, " sons of burning," or, a firebrand,

interpreted by many to mean sparks. In Hab. iii. 6, the word is used of

a burning fever.

            d rOxnA, a Niphal form from rOx (which, like wOB, bOF, is intrans.), and

therefore questionable; for rOxye, in 2 Sam. ii. 32, is not fut. Niph, but

Qal, like wObye, as Hupf. observes. He therefore thinks that perhaps xrAOn

should be read; comp. ver. 8, 13, and so Theod. fobero<j. Sym., however,

has e]pifanh<j, the LXX. fwti<zeij, Aq. fwtismo<j, and Jerome, Lumen. As

regards the construction of Nmi in the next hemistich all the Greek versions

render it by a]po<. Jerome has a montibus captivitatis.

            e  Ull;OTw;x,, lit. have suffered themselves to be plundered (an Aramaic

form instead of 'Tw;hi. Comp. rBeHat;x,, 2 Chron. xx. 35;  yTil;xAn;x,, Is. lxiii.

3). This is an instance, according to Hupf., of the passive use of the

Hithpael. He quotes other instances given by Gesen. and Ewald, of an

alleged similar use. But in every one of these examples, the reflexive

meaning may be retained; and in fact it is retained, in most cases, by

syme one of the translators or commentators. Here, for instance,

Phillips says:  "They have been plundered, or they have exposed them-

selves to plunder, agreeably to Abu'l Walid, who has taken the verb in a

reciprocal, and not in a passive sense: they have despised themselves,

i.e. they have cast away their weapons." So in Dad. xx. 15, 17, ZUnZ has

"stellten sick zur Musterung" and in xxi. 9, "liess sick mustern." (In-

deed it is quite astonishing that the Hithp., in these instances, should

have been regarded as a passive.) In Micah vi. 16, he renders "halten

sich." On, Eccl. viii. to, Preston remarks : "The verb UHK;Taw;yi, being in

the Hithp., expresses that their quiet and unostentatious lives cause them

to be forgotten, ‘that they sink of themselves into oblivion.’"  In Is. lix.

15,  lleOTw;mi (the same verb that we have here) is rightly rendered in the

E. V. "maketh himself a prey." In Prov. xxxi. 30, gets to herself praise,

and in Lam. iv. 1, pour themselves out (inanimate things, by a common

figure, having life attributed to them); in 1 Sam. in. 14, shall not make

atonement for itself, lit. shall not cover itself, are the proper renderings of

the several Hithpaels. There is no necessity, I am satisfied, in any case,

46                                               PSALM LXXVII.

 

to lose sight of this strict reflexive meaning of the conjugation, though it

may be more convenient in another language to employ the passive, just

as in rendering the German phrase, " davon findet sich keine Spur," in

English, we may say, “No trace of it is found;" yet it would be absurd

to maintain that the German reflexive is here used as a passive. Ewald,

indeed, limits this pass. use of the Hithp. to rare cases, and to the. later

books chiefly, and only gives the two passages from Micah and Ecclesi-

astes, as illustrating it (Lehrb. d. H. S. § 124 c. p. 284, 6te Auf.); but even

in these the proper reflexive force is retained. The rendering is merely a

question of idiom.

            f rGoH;Ta. There is no reason for departing from the ordinary meaning

of the root. ( Jerome, accingeris, and so apparently the Chald. and Sym.

lei<yanon qumw?n perizw<sei.) Comp. Is. lix. 17, &c. Qimchi gives this sense

in his commentary, but in his Michlol he explains it by rvsxt, restrain

(as it is found in a passage of the Mishnah, and in accordance with the

signif. of the cognate roots in Arab. and Syr.). The LXX. again have

e[orta<sei soi, and must therefore have read j~GeHAT;, shall hold festival to

Thee, answering to the parall. shall praise Thee. This Ewald adopts,

observing: "Ver. 11 contains a very lofty thought. The only object with

which Jehovah judges and punishes is, that even the most furious trans-

gressors may at last attain to wisdom and to the praise of Jehovah; and

though many fall under His chastisements, at least the remainder, taught

by these terrible examples, will be saved. Or to put it in a shorter and

more emphatic form: The wrath of man itself will praise Thee, being

suddenly changed to its opposite, and as it were against its will.

 

 

 

                                    PSALM LXXVII.

 

            THIS Psalm is the record, first, of a sorrow long and painfully

questioning with itself, full of doubts and fears, trying in vain to find

in itself, or in the past, a light for the present; and then of the

triumph over that sorrow by the recollection of God's love and

power, as manifested in the early history of Israel. By whom the

Psalm was written, or to what period of the history it is to be referred,

it is now impossible to say. The manner in which, towards the

close, the passage of the Red Sea is dwelt upon, has led many to

conclude that it was written by one of the exiles during the Baby-

lonish captivity. Those two memorable events, the deliverance from

Babylon, and the deliverance from Egypt, were always associated in

the minds of the Jews, the one being regarded, in fact, as the pledge

of the other. This, however, in itself, is not decisive. At any time

of great national depression, the thoughts of the true-hearted in

                                 PSALM LXX VII.                                       47

 

Israel would naturally revert to God's first great act of redeeming

love: and other Psalms (the 78th, the Both, the 81st), evidently

not written during the Exile, look back to the Exodus, and the

wonders of God's hand displayed then, and in the journey through

the wilderness. Besides, an inference of a positive kind, in favour

of an earlier date, has been drawn from the relation of this Psalm

to the Prophecy of Habakkuk. Delitzsch, in his commentary on

the Prophet, has traced carefully the coincidences in thought and

expression between Hab. iii. 10-15, and verses 16-20 [17-21] of

the Psalm. Among the various arguments by which he endeavours

to establish the priority of the Psalm, two seem to be of weight;

first, that the Prophet throughout his ode is in the habit of quoting

from the Psalms; and secondly, that with his eye on the future, he

arrays all the images of terror and magnificence which are suggested

by the past, in order to describe with more imposing pomp the

approaching advent of Jehovah; whereas the Psalmist is not looking

to the future, but dwelling on the past: hence it is far more probable

that the Prophet imitates the Psalmist, than that the Psalmist borrows

from the Prophet. Supposing this to be satisfactorily established,

we might reasonably infer that this Psalm was not written later than

the reign of Josiah. But on the other hand, as Hupfeld has pointed

out, the mode of expression in Habakkuk, as compared with that

here employed, would lead us to an exactly opposite conclusion.

(I) The figure in Hab. iii. 10, "The mountains saw Thee, they were

afraid (lit. in pangs or throes)," is more natural and correct than the

use of the same figure as applied in the Psalm to the waters (ver. 16

[17]). (2) The phrase, "the overflowing of the waters," in Hab. iii.

to, is more simple and natural than the corresponding phrase in ver.

17 [18] of the Psalm, as I have remarked in the Critical Note on

that verse, the verbal form here employed occurring nowhere else.

Hence it is most likely that the latter was a designed alteration in

copying from the former. (3) That the lightning should be termed

the "arrows" of God in Habakkuk, is quite in keeping with the

martial character and figures of the whole passage. In the Psalm,

on the other hand, the figure seems more out of place.

            There is some force, no doubt, in this argument. There is less, I

think, in that which Hupfeld urges, on the ground of the apparent

want of connexion between the "lyric episode," ver. 16-19

[17-20], and the rest of the Psalm. It is true that the rhythm of

this portion is different, being in three members instead of in two;

and that here the strophe consists of four verses [or five], whereas

the preceding strophes consist of three. But these are of themselves

unimportant variations. Nor do I see that ver. 20 [21] is naturally

48                            PSALM LXXVII.

 

connected with ver. 15 [16]. On the contrary, it is far more striking

(see note) in its present position. As to the objection that a single

instance of God's deliverance is so enlarged upon, is made to occupy

so prominent a place, that is surely quite in accordance with the

true genius of lyric poetry; not to mention that it was the one great

act from which the whole history dated, and which has left its stamp

on all the literature of the people.

            But whenever, and by whomsoever, the Psalm may have been

written, it clearly is individual, not national. It utterly destroys all

the beauty, all the tenderness and depth of feeling in the opening

portion, if we suppose that the people are introduced speaking in

the first person.* The allusions to the national history may indeed

show that the season was a season of national distress, and that the

sweet singer was himself bowed down by the burden of the time, and

oppressed by woes which he had no power to alleviate; but it is his

own sorrow, not the sorrows of others, under which he sighs, and of

which he has left the pathetic record.

            The Psalm falls naturally into two principal parts: the first, verses

1-9, containing the expression of the Psalmist's sorrow and dis-

quietude; the second, verses 10-20, telling how he rose above them.

            Of these, again, the former half consists of strophes of three verses,

1-3, 4-6, 7-9, the end of the first and third being marked. by

the Selah. The latter may also be divided into three strophes, the

first two only being of three verses each, 10-12, 13-15 (the second

having the Selah), and the last consisting of five, 15-20.

 

[FOR THE PRECENTOR. AFTER THE MANNER OF JEDUTHUN.a  A

                                   PSALM OF ASAPH.]

 

1 With my voice unto God let me cry,b

            With my voice unto God, and may He give ear unto me.c

 

1. AND MAY HE GIVE EAR, or                     dress to God, " And do Thou give

more literally, in the form of an ad-                     ear." The constant interchange of

           

            * It is much to be .regretted that the author of the Art. PSALMS in

Dict. of the Bible (vol. ii. p. 957), should have committed himself to the

theory that all the Psalms ascribed to the Levitical singers are of necessity

national. He has thus been obliged to give a most strained and unnatural

interpretation to many of them. Thus, for instance, he holds that this

Psalm is "the lamentation of the Jewish Church for the terrible political

calamity . . . . whereby the inhabitants of the northern kingdom were

carried into captivity, and Joseph lost, the second time, to Jacob." And

still more strangely, of the 73d Psalm, that "though couched in the first

person singular, (it) is really a prayer of the Jewish faithful against the

Assyrian invaders." (Ib. p. 959.) This is, I must think, an entire mis-

understanding of a very striking Psalm.

                              PSALM LXXVII.                                49

 

2 In the day of my distress I sought the Lord;

            My hand was stretched out in the night and failed

                        not,

            My soul refused to be comforted.

3 I would remember God, and must sigh,d

            I would commune (with myself), and my spirit is

                        overwhelmed. [Selah.]

4 Thou halt held mine eyes waking;e

            I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

5 I have considered the days of old,

            The years of ages (past);

 

tenses in the first six verses lends

vividness to the expression of the

Psalmist's feelings. Sometimes, as

in ver. 2, 4, 5, we have the past

tenses in narration, and then alter-

nating with these, the paragogic

future or optative, as in ver. 1, 3, 6,

expressing purpose, resolve, and the

like. And thus are marked the fluc-

tuating emotions of the mind, ever

passing from the mere statement of

fact to the utterance of feelings and

desires.

     2, 3. These verses show both the

reality and earnestness of the prayer,

and the strong faith of the Psalmist.

It is no occasional petition hastily

put up, but a struggle, like that of

Jacob, through the livelong night.

It is even a sorer conflict, for he has

not found the blessing as Jacob did.

He cannot be comforted. He would

think of God, but even that thought

brings him no strength: he looks

within, and his sorrow deepens.

    2. WAS STRETCHED OUT, lit.

"poured out" like water, 2 Sam.

xiv. 14; or as the eye is said to be

poured out or dissolved in tears,

Lam. iii. 49; here apparently ap-

plied to the hand stretched out in

prayer. "The stretched-out, weak

and powerless hand," says Heng-

stenberg, " conveys the picture of a

relaxation of the whole body." Or

there may be a confusion of meta-

phor, that being said of the hand

which could only properly be said

of the eye (so the Targum sub-

stitutes the latter for the former).

Rashi explains my hand to mean

the hand, or blow, laid upon me,

and hence came the singular ren-

dering of the E. V., my sore

ran, &c.

    AND FAILED NOT (or it may be

rendered as an adverbial clause,

without intermission. Sym. e]kte<tato

dihnekw?j), lit. "and grew not cold,"

like a corpse; "became not weary,"

used, like the last verb, of tears.

Comp. Lam. ii. 18, "Let tears run

down like a river day and night:

give thyself no rest;" and iii. 49,

"Mine eye trickled down (the

word rendered above was stretched

out), and ceaseth not, without any

intermission." The words rest and

intermission are derivatives from

the verb here employed, and are

applied to tears, perhaps as frozen

at their source.

    REFUSED. Comp. Gen. xxxvii.

35, where the same is said of Jacob

when he received the tidings of

Joseph's death.

    3. MUST SIGH, or "groan." It

is the word used of the roaring of

the sea, xlvi. 3 [4]. See Rom. viii. 26

(stenagmoi?j a]lalh<toij) "St. Paul

teaches us that it is the Holy Ghost

who in such sighs makes inter-

cession for believers with God."—

Tholuck.

     4. I CANNOT SPEAK. Silence and

thought succeed to the uttered

 

50                         PSALM LXXVII.

 

6 I would call to remembrance my song in the night,

            I would commune with my heart,—and my spirit hath

                        made diligent search:

7 "Will the Lord cast off for ever?

            And will He be favourable no more?

8 Hath His loving-kindness come to an end for ever?

            Hath (His) promise failed to all generations?

9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious?

            Hath He shut up in anger His tender mercies?" [Selah.]

10 Then I said: This is my sorrow,f

            That the right hand of the Highest hath changed.

 

prayer. But the heart still prays on

in secret, though the mouth is silent.

     6. MY SONG, properly, a song

sung to a stringed instrument, as the

harp. He would console himself

with the recollection of a happier

past. Such recollections, as Tholuck

remarks, may hush the storm of the

soul, may give a man courage to

say to himself, Thou art His, He

cannot forsake thee. But such re-

collections may also be made the

very instruments of Satan's tempta-

tions, when the soul asks, Why is it

not always thus? and so falls into

the sad and desponding thoughts

which follow in the next verses.

     IN THE NIGHT. This repeated

mention of the night (see ver. 2)

shows that he was one who loved

the stillness and the solitude of night

for meditation and prayer. (Comp.

xvi. 7, xvii. 3; Is. xxvi. 9.)

    8. God's loving-kindness and

God's promise (or, word, as in lxviii.

11 [12], and Hab. iii. 9) are the two

props of his faith.

    9. IN ANGER HIS TENDER MER-

CIES. The words are evidently

placed with design in juxtaposition,

in order to heighten the contrast.

Comp. Hab. iii. 2, "In wrath re-

member mercy," where there is

the same juxtaposition in the He-

brew.

    10. All this that I have been ask-

ing myself, and saddening myself

with asking, seems impossible, and

yet it is this very change which

perplexes me.

     MY SORROW, or perhaps "my

sickness," i.e. as Calvin explains, a

disease which is only for a time,

and to which, therefore, I should

patiently submit. Comp. Jer. x. 19.

Others, "my infirmity," i.e. the

weakness of my own spirit, which

leads me to take this gloomy view,

and which I must resist.

     THAT THE RIGHT HAND, &C., lit.

"the changing of the right hand."

This fact, that it is no more with

him as in days past, it is which fills

him with grief. And then in the next

verse he recovers himself, and

passes from self-contemplation to

record God's wonders for His peo-

ple. But another rendering is pos-

sible. The word changing (sh’noth)

may mean years (as it does in ver.

5): "The years of the right hand,"

&c., and the whole verse might be

understood thus:

"Then I thought: This is rny sad-

            ness,-

The years of the right hand of

            the Most High."

i.e. the very recollection of those

years, and God's help vouchsafed

in times past, does but increase my

present gloom.

    The E. V. connects this second

clause with the following verse, and

repeats the verb from that verse.

See more in Critical Note.

 

                                 PSALM LXXVII.                                 51

 

11 (But) I will celebrate the deeds of Jah,

            For I will call to remembrance Thy wonders of old;

12 Yea, I will meditate on all Thy work,

            And commune with myself of Thy doings.

13 0 God, Thy way is holy!

            Who is a great God as (our) God?

14 Thou, even Thou, art the God that doest wonders,

            Thou hast made known Thy strength among the peoples.

15 Thou hast with (Thine) arm redeemed Thy people,

            The sons of Jacob and Joseph. [Selah.]

 

     11. With this verse the change

of feeling begins. Hitherto he has

looked too much within, has sought

too much to read the mystery of

God's dealings by the light of his

own experience merely. Hence the

despondency, when he contrasts the

gloomy present with the far brighter

and happier past. He cannot be-

lieve that God has indeed forgotten

to be gracious, that He has indeed

changed His very nature; but that

he may be re-assured and satisfied

on this point, his eye must take a

wider range than that of his own

narrow experience. There lies be-

fore him the great history of his

people. There recurs especially

the one great deliverance never

to be forgotten, the type and the

pledge of all deliverances, whether

of the nation or of the individual.

On this he lays hold, by this he sus-

tains his sinking faith. Calvin says:

"Jam animosius contra tentationes

exsurgit Propheta quae fere ad op-

primendam ejus fidem praevalu-

erant. Nam recordatio hec operum

Dei ab ea cujus ante meminit [ver.

5] differt: quia tunc eminus intue-

batur Dei beneficia, quae lenire vel

minuere dolorem nondum poterant.

Hic vero arripit quasi certa testi-

monia perpetuae gratiae, et ideo

vehementiae causa sententiam re-

petit."

   THY WONDERS. The word is in

the singular (though the Ancient

Versions and many MSS. have the

plural) here, and also in ver. 14. So

also in the next verse THY WORK,

because the one great wonder,

the one great work in which all

others were included, is before his

thoughts. Comp. Hab. iii. 2, " Re-

vive Thy work."

     13. Is HOLY, lit. "is in holiness,"

not as others, " in the sanctuary,"

for the Psalmist, though speaking

generally of God's redeeming love

and power, is evidently thinking

chiefly of the deliverance from

Egypt, on which he afterwards

dwells. In this and the next verse

there is an allusion to Exod. xv. 11,

"Who is like unto Thee, 0 Jehovah,

among the gods? Who is like Thee,

glorious in holiness, fearful in

praises, doing wonders?" (where

the noun, as here, is singular.)

     15. THOU HAST REDEEMED, a

word especially applied to the deli-

verance from Egyptian bondage.

See note on lxxiv. 2. "The word

‘Redemption,’ which has now a

sense far holier and higher," says

Dean Stanley, "first entered into

the circle of religious ideas at the

time when God ‘redeemed His

people from the house of bond-

age."— Jewish Church, Lec. V.

p. 127.

     JOSEPH, mentioned here appa-

rently as the father of Ephraim

(comp. lxxviii. 67), and so as repre-

senting the kingdom of Israel (as

lxxx. 1 [2], lxxxi. 5 [6]); perhaps

this special mention of Joseph may

indicate that the Psalmist himself

belonged to the northern kingdom.

 

52                                 PSALM LXX VII.

 

16 The waters saw Thee, 0 God, the waters saw Thee, they

                  were troubled

            Yea, the depths also trembled;

17 The clouds poured outg water; the skies thundered;

            Yea, Thine arrows went abroad;

18 The voice of Thy thunders rolled along,h

            The lightnings gave shine unto the world:

                        The earth trembled and shook.

19 Thy way wasi in the sea,

            And Thy paths k in the mighty waters:

                        And Thy footsteps were not known.

 

     16-20. There follows now a de-

scription of the manner in which

the redemption (ver. 15) was accom-

plished in the passage of the Red

Sea. In verses 17, 18, the rain,

the thunder and lightning, and the

earthquake, are features of the

scene not mentioned in the history

in Exodus, though Tholuck sees an

allusion to a storm in Exod. xiv. 24.

Both Philo (V M. i. 32) and Jose-

phus (Ant. ii. 16 § 3) add this cir-

cumstance in their narrative of the

event. "The Passage, as thus de-

scribed," says Dean Stanley, "was

effected, not in the calmness and

clearness of daylight, but in the

depth of midnight, amidst the roar

of the hurricane, which caused the

sea to go back—amidst a darkness

lit up only by the broad glare

of the lightning, as the Lord

looked out of the thick darkness

of the cloud." He then quotes

these verses of the Psalm. (Jewish

Church, pp. 127-8.) This is one of

those instances in which we obtain

valuable incidental additions, by

means of the Psalmists and Pro-

phets, to the earlier narratives.

See Mr. Grove's Article on OREB,

in Smith's Dict. of the Bible.

    16. SAW THEE. Comp. cxiv. 3,

where both the Red Sea and the

Jordan are mentioned, a passage

which Hupfeld thinks is the original

from which both this and Hab. iii.

to are copied.

WERE TROUBLED, lit. "were in

pain," as of travail. The same ex-

pression is used of the mountains in

Hab. iii. 10: "The mountains saw

Thee, they were in pain;" where the

verb seems more aptly to describe

the throes of the earthquake, by

which the mountains are shaken.

     17. The way is made by means

of tempest and hurricane..

     POURED OUT. Comp. Hab. iii. 10

(where the noun is from the same

root): "the overflowing of the

waters." E.V. In the same way

the lightning is spoken of as "the

arrows" of God, in Hab. iii. 11,

     18. ROLLED ALONG, lit. "was in

the rolling," with allusion to God's

chariot; or perhaps "in the whirl-

wind" or "rolling cloud." See

Critical Note.

     GAVE SHINE. I have adopted

here the Prayer-Book Version. of

the same words in xcvii. 4 (its ren-

dering in this place is less correct),

in preference to that of the E. V.,

"the lightnings lightened," (I) be-

cause the verb and the noun are

from entirely different roots; (2)

because the idiomatic "gave

shine" is an exact equivalent of

the Hebrew.

    19. THY FOOTSTEPS WERE NOT

KNOWN.  "We know not, they knew

not, by what precise means the de-

liverance was wrought: we know

not by what precise track through

the gulf the passage was effected.

 

                       PSALM LXXVII.                                    53

20 Thou leddest Thy people like sheep

            By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

 

We know not, and we need not                          contrast, Is. xl. 10—12, li. 15, 16,

know; the obscurity, the mystery                        lvii. 15.

here, as elsewhere, was part of the                          So ends the Psalm. Nor can I

lesson. . . . All that we see distinctly                   see in such a close that abruptness

is, that through this dark and ter-                         which has led shine commentators

rible night, with the enemy pressing                     to suppose that the Psalm was never

close behind, and the driving sea on                    finished. The one great example is

either side, He led His people like                       given, and that is enough. All is

sheep by the hand of Moses and                                     included in that; and the troubled,

Aaron."—STANLEY, Jewish Church,             desponding spirit has found peace

p. 128.                                                              and rest in the view of God's re-

    20. This verse stands in beauti-                       demption. "He loses himself, as

ful and touching contrast with the                       it were, in the joyful recollection."

last. In that we have pourtrayed                                     (De Wette.) So may every son ow-

the majesty, the power, the un-                           ful spirit now find peace and rest in

searchable mystery of God's ways;                     looking, not to itself, not even to

in this, His tender and loving care                       God's dealings with itself, but to

for His people, as that of a shep-                        the cross of Christ.

herd for His flock. See for a like

 

            a NUtUdy; lfa see on xxxix. note a, and General Introduction, Vol. I. p. 89.

            b hqAfAc;x,v;. The use of the conjunction here may be explained by

supposing in the previous clause an ellipse = "my voice (is directed) to God, and I

would fain cry." Hupf. assumes a double subject, as in iii. 5, cxlii. 2, though

it is sufficient in these instances to take yliOq as accus. of  the instrument.

            The paragogic h shows that the verb is an optative. The same form

recurs ver. 4, 7, 12, 13. Alternating as it does with the perfects, it well

describes the strong emotions of the Psalmist's mind. This nice dis-

tinction of tenses has been too often completely overlooked.

            c NyzixEhav;, not the infin., but the imperat, And do Thou give ear to me,

by a somewhat abrupt transition. Ewald and others would soften this

harshness by taking it as the preterite, with change of vowels, for Nyzix<h,

And in this they are supported by the LXX. kai> h[ fwnh< mou pro>j to>n

qeo>n, kai> prose<sxe moi, and Sym. kai> boh<santo<j mou pro>j to>n qeo>n,

pare<sxe ta>j a]koa>j au]tou?. But the preterite with the v; may be equivalent to a

future, and I have rendered accordingly.

       d The double paragogic form may be taken here as marking protasis

and apodosis. "When I remember, then I sigh," &c. (so Ewald): or as

in the text. See on xlii. 5, note c, and lv. 3, 18.

            e tOrmuw;, only here. It may be either for, (I) tOrmuw;xa, the night-

watches. Comp. for the sense lxiii. 7; and then, "Thou hast held the

night-watches of mine eyes," = "Thou hast held mine eyes in the night-

watches." Or (2) the eyelids (so called as guards, keepers of the eye, as

R. Mosheh Hakkohen explains), as the Chald., Ges., De Wette, &c. the

meaning being, Thou hast held them so that I could not close them in

sleep. Or (3) it may be the part. pass., as a predicate to the noun

eyes = watchful, waking.

54                              PSALM LXX VII.

 

    f ytiOl.ha, with the accent drawn back, because of the tone on the

following monosyllable. This is either (I), as Qimchi takes it, an infin.

(like tOn.Ha, ver. 10), from llH, meaning lit. my wounding, and so my

sufering. Comp. for this use of the verb, cix. 22 (so Ewald). Or (2),

infin. Piel of hlH, my sickness, lit. "that which makes me sick." See the

same verb in the Piel, Deut. xxix. 21, "the diseases wherewith Jehovah

hath made it sick." Hiph., Is. H. io. This seems to be supported by

the parallel passage Jer. x. 19, "And I said, Surely this is my sickness

(yliH# hz,) and I will bear it," i.e. God has laid His hand upon me, and I

will resign myself to His chastisement. Here, too, there is a similar

expression of resignation. Or (3), the verb has been supposed to occur

here in the same sense as in the phrase 'P yneP; Hl.AHi, to entreat the favour

of any one. Hence it has been rendered my supplication. But the

objection to that is, that here the phrase is incomplete, the noun being

wanting, whereas the verb by itself never means to supplicate.

            There is another word in this verse which presents a difficulty.

            tOnw;. This is capable of two meanings. Either it is (i), infin. constr.

of the verb hnw, to change, in a neuter sense = to be changed (the verb in

Qal. is never used transitively) ; or (2), the plur. constr. of the noun

hnAwA, a year (as in ver. 6). According to these different renderings of these

two words, the passage has 'been very differently interpreted. Even the

Chald. gives two explanations :

            (a) "This is my infirmity (ytiUfr;ma); the strength of the right hand of

the Highest is changed (NyniT;w;xi)." (b) Another Targum: "This is my

supplication (ytiUfBA), (that) the year of the end (should come) from the

Right Hand."

            The LXX. nu?n h]rca<mhn (a meaning which hlH has only in the Hiph.),

au!th h[ a]lloi<wsij th?j decia?j tou? u[yi<stou.

            Of more modern interpretations the following may be mentioned.

Mendelssohn: "Flehen stela bei nzir; dndern in des Hochsten Macht,"

which is ingenious; but even admitting that 'lH can mean flehen, ‘nw

cannot be transitive. The same objection applies to Luther's translation

"Ich muss das leiden; die rechte Hand des Höchsten kann alles andern."

Zunz has: "Das ist mein Flehen—die Jahre der R. d. Höchsten! '' which

certainly gives a very good sense: "This is what I long and pray for—

those years of God's right hand in which He exhibited His grace and

power." The right hand of God cannot mean, as some would take it,

"His chastening hand," it must mean " His supporting hand." It would

be possible, however, to render, "This it is which saddens me,—the years

of the right Hand," &c. i.e. the remembrance of God's power and grace in

past times, as compared with my present lot. And this falls in with the

previous complaint:  "Hath God forgotten," &c. On the whole, however,

the rendering of J. H. Mich, is to be preferred: "meine Krankheit (i.e.

the misery of my spirit) ist alas: Bass die R. des H. sich geiändert habe."

So also Hupfeld. And Maurer well explains: "quod aegrunz me Twit hoe.

est, haec est mea calamitas: prod se mutavit, non amplius ut olim parata

est ad juvandum dextera Altissimi." He then supports interpretation

(2) of  ytiOl.H and observes of hnw, "murtari in deterius, ut Thren iv. 1, in

                            PSALM LXXVII.                                              55

 

fide: Prov. xxiv. 21; Mal. iii. 6, quo posteriore loco in contrarium haec

leguntur haud nihil lucis accendentia huic quem tractamus loco: ego,

Jova, non mutor, ideoque vos, filii Jacobi, non periistis." Not unlike

this is the rendering of Aq., a]r]r[wsti<a mou, au!th a]lloi<wsij d. u[. (except that

he must have understood 'lH of bodily infirmity, not of mental suffering).

Theod. and the Quinta,  w]di?ne<j (mou) ei]sin, a]lloi<wsij d. u[.

            In this instance the E. V. and the P. B. V. coincide, the latter not

following here either the Vulg. or the German. Our translators have

copied Ibn. Ez. and Qimchi, in supplying the verb I will remember, from

the next verse. In so doing, they have followed the Q'ri, whereas the

K'thibh, ryKizixa, I will celebrate, is preferable, as it avoids the tautology

with hrAK;z;x, in the next verse.

            g Umr;zo, only here, sometimes regarded as a Poel, but better as a Pual,

the construction being that of the accus. Myima with the pass., "the clouds

were poured forth (in, or with) water." (Phillips, indeed, would make

'm the subject, and suggests an ellipse of the prep. Nmi, from the clouds,

but I am not aware of any instance of such an ellipse.) Cf. 'm Mr,z,, Hab. iii.

11, which, certainly, looks like the original expression. In j~yc,cAHE we have

the expanded poet. form, instead of j~yce.hi (comp. ymem;fa, yrer;ha, &c.), perhaps

chosen to express the zig-zag flash of the lightning. The verb in the

Hithp. fut. is also expressive: "kept going hither and thither."

            h  lGal;Gi, properly, a wheel. (i) Some, following Qimchi, understand it

of the globe or sphere of heaven. So Luther and the E. V., and with this

has been compared the difficult and doubtful expression troxo>j th?j

gene<sewj, in James iii. 6. (2) J. D. Mich. and others render it whirlwind.

So Ewald, im Wirbel. In lxxxiii. 14, it. means "a whirling mass," or

perhaps "a dust-storm." It is better, therefore, to take the word here

in the sense of rolling, a sense to which it might easily pass from that

of wheel, and which its etymology confirms. The rolling will be that

of the chariots of God. Comp. Hab. iii. 8 ; Joel ii. 5. Or possibly the

wheel may stand by metonymy for the chariot.

            i The omission of the copula, here and in the previous verse, where the

reference is clearly to the past, is rare. See a similar instance in Jer. vii.

12: OlywiB; rw,xE ymiOqm; lx, xn!-Ukl;, "Go to my place which was in Shiloh."

            k j~yleybiw;. So the K'thibh in the plur., as in Jer. xviii. 15, the only

other place where it occurs. The Q'ri is an unnecessary correction.

56                                PSALM LXX VIII.

 

                                     PSALM LXXVIII.*

 

            IN this, the longest of the historical Psalms, the history of Israel

is briefly recapitulated, from the time of the Exodus to the final

union of the tribes under David, and the establishment of the

kingdom in his family. This appeal to the past is made evidently

with a purpose. The Psalmist comes forward as a prophet to rebuke

the sin, the ingratitude, the rebellion of his people. This he does

by showing them the present in the light of the past. God had

wrought wonders in behalf of their fathers of old; God had re-

deemed them from Egypt, led them through the wilderness, brought

them to His holy mountain. But the history of their nation had

been at once a history of wonders and a history of rebellions.

Miracle had followed on miracle to win them; chastisement had

succeeded to chastisement to deter them; but the miracle was for-

gotten, the chastisement produced but a temporary reformation.

They had ever been "a faithless and stubborn generation." It is

evident, from his opening words, that the Psalmist was anxious to

bring out sharply and clearly the lessons with which the past teemed.

He saw that his people were in danger of forgetting those lessons.

He saw in that history, instruction, warning, reproof, for the age in

which he lived.

            It is, however, remarkable that another and more special purpose

appears in the Psalm. If the whole nation is rebuked, the rebuke

falls heaviest upon Ephraim. Ephraim is singled out as the leader

in the earlier apostasy of the people, as the very type of a faithless

and recreant spirit (ver. 12). The rejection of Ephraim and the

choice of Judah are dwelt upon at the close in a tone of satisfaction

and triumph, as the fulfilment of the purpose of God. It is scarcely

possible, therefore, to resist the conclusion, that the Psalm was

written after the defection of the Ten Tribes, and that it was

designed either to curb the pride of the northern kingdom, or to

address a warning to Judah, based on the example of Ephraim.

            Various conjectures have been hazarded as to the time when the

Psalm was written. Hengstenberg, who is determined, at the risk

of any absurdity, to maintain the authority of the Inscription, which

gives this Psalm to Asaph, is obliged to place it in the reign of

David. He says that the object of the Psalmist is "to warn the

people against a possible revolt from David, and from the sanctuary

 

            * On this Psalm see Isaac Taylor, Spirit of the Hebrew Poetry, p. 154.

                                   PSALM LXXVIII.                                    57

 

in Zion; he cannot therefore have composed the Psalm after this

event had taken place." But if the Psalmist had any such object

in view, he seems most effectually to have disguised it. Indeed,

Hengstenberg is obliged to admit that he does "not once name the

disruption which he is anxious to prevent, and makes no express

mention whatever of any inclination to this, which might exist at

the time;" and tries to account for this singular reticence by sup-

posing that "it was of importance not to irritate, for fear of increasing

the dissatisfaction." But could any more effectual mode of irritation

have been devised, than first to exhibit Ephraim as chief in transgres-

sion (ver. 12), and then to commemorate in tones of triumph the

degradation of that tribe from its ancient supremacy, and the

exaltation of the rival tribe of Judah in its place? Was this a

method likely to heal those heart-burnings and animosities which

even David had failed altogether to allay? When Hengstenberg

therefore adds that, "to deny that the Psalm belongs to the time of

David manifests utter ignorance of its contents," we can only say

that the facts point to an exactly opposite conclusion.

            Ewald, with equal dogmatism, and equal improbability, places the

Psalm as late as the fifth century B.C., in the time of Ezra and

Nehemiah. According to him, it was composed in a spirit of strong

antagonism to the Samaritans, "the new Ephraim," in whom the

Poet sees the old Ephraim revived. In this spirit he reviews the

ancient history of his nation: "what would happen if Ephraim were

the centre, he infers from the misfortunes of the period between

Joshua and Saul, when the ark of the covenant was yet in Shiloh,

which belonged to that tribe, whereas the true worship of Jehovah

was only firmly established in Zion under David . . . The history

itself was a witness that rest and faith could not be found in

Ephraim." But so arbitrary a treatment of the Psalm as this may

at once be dismissed. Where is the proof that the Samaritans were

ever regarded as the successors and legitimate representatives of

Ephraim? Or what trace is there in the Psalm of any such feeling

as that which Ewald supposes to have influenced the writer?

The Psalm itself furnishes us with the following data for a

conclusion.

            (I) It is clear from the concluding verses that it was written after

David was established on the throne; from ver. 69 it might even

be inferred after the Temple had been built. (2) The manner in

which these events are spoken of leads naturally to the inference

that they were of no very recent occurrence; men do not so speak

of events within their own memory. (3) The sharp contrast between

Ephraim and Judah, the rejection of Shiloh and the choice of Zion,

58                                PSALM LXXVIII.

 

are an indication, not of a smouldering animosity, but of an open

and long-existing separation.

            But at this point two hypotheses become possible.

            (a) On the one hand, the Psalmist's object may have been, by

holding up the example of Ephraim, to warn Judah against a like

falling away, not from the house of David, but from the God of

their fathers. In this case we must suppose that a particular pro-

minence is given to the conduct of Ephraim, in the past history,

though the whole nation was guilty, in order to prepare the way for

what is said of Ephraim's subsequent rejection (see note on ver. 9).

Such a warning might be compared to that of Jeremiah at the time

of the Chaldean invasion (chap. vii.).

            (h) On the other hard, the Psalmist's design may have been not

so much to warn Judah, as to rebuke Ephraim. Hence it is that

whilst speaking of the past history of all Israel he mentions only

Ephraim by name. Though all the burden of guilt in that mournful

past did not rest exclusively upon them, yet it is with them only that

he is concerned. Hence it is, too, that he dwells with so much pride

and satisfaction on the transference of the sanctuary from Shiloh to

Zion. That haughty tribe, strong in numbers and in power, might

boast that it had recovered its ancient ascendency. Ten out of the

twelve tribes might be lost to David's house. But God's presence

and favour were not with the ten, but with the two. His sanctuary

was not in Shiloh, but in Zion. He had chosen to be the ruler of

His people, no scion of the thousands of Ephraim, but the shepherd

stripling of the tribe of Judah.

            On the whole, I confess that the tone of triumph with which the

Psalm concludes seems to me to favour the last hypothesis, though

I fear I must also add that I am unsupported in this view by other

commentators.

            The Psalm has no regular strophical division. Groups of four

verses frequently occur, and the general structure may be said to

rest on the common principle of pairs of verses. Here and there

certain expressions recur, such as "They tempted and provoked the

Most High; " "When God heard this, He was wroth," &c., which,

as Hupfeld says, give a kind of epic character to the Psalm. In the

review of the past history, the narrative is not given in bare chrono-

logical order, but is rather combined in two principal masses. In

the first of these the Psalmist but mentions the "wonders in Egypt,"

and passes on to detail the events in the wilderness. Then, having

set forth all God's marvellous works there, and all the rebellion of

Israel, he begins the history again. He will paint more fully those

"signs in Egypt," which were of themselves so wonderful a proof of

                                   PSALM LXXVIII.                                         59

God's Redeeming Love, he will show more convincingly Israel's

ingratitude, arid having done this, he pursues the narrative, passing

lightly now over the march through the wilderness, touching on the

history in the time of the Judges, and bringing it down to the days

of David, in whose election God had again magnified His grace.

 

                       [A MASCHIL OF ASAPH.a]

1 GIVE ear, 0 my people, to my law,

            Incline your ear to the words of my mouth.

2 I would open my mouth in a parable,

            I would utter dark sayings of old.

 

    1-4. The Introduction, announc-

ing the Psalmist's purpose. He

will recall the past, that it may act

as a warning to the present, and

that the wholesome lessons which

it teaches may be perpetuated in the

future. In the following four verses

he declares that such commemora-

tion of God's wonders is the very

destiny of Israel. For this end did

He give them His law, and the

lively oracles of His mouth.

     1. MY PEOPLE. This does not

imply that God or the Messiah is

the speaker. The Prophet, speaking

in the name and by the authority

of God, as His inspired messenger,

thus addresses the nation. The

opening of the Psalm is similar to

that of Ps. xlix. See also Deut.

xxxii. I ; Is. i. 2.

     MY LAW, here evidently used in

its wider sense of instruction gene-

rally, as often in the Book of Pro-

verbs. It is the teaching of a

Prophet (Matt. xiii. 35), and in that

sense a law—a law of life to those

who hear it.

     2. I WOULD OPEN. The form of

the tense expresses the wish, resolve,

&c. The sentence is very similar to

that in xlix. 4 [5]. The two words

PARABLE and DARK SAYINGS are

the same which occur in that pas-

sage, where see note. The former

(mashal) etymologically signifies a

comparison, the placing of two ob-

jects in their due relation, whether

of likeness or unlikeness; hence it

is used of gnomic sentences, pro-

verbs, parables, and indeed of

poetical discourse generally (see

Numbers xxi. 27, hammosh'lim,

"the ballad-singers"), as being

based on the principle of parallel-

ism, or of antithesis. The latter

means, properly, either (1) a sharp

or pointed saying; or (2) a perplexed

saying, a riddle. (For a discussion

of these words, see Delitzsch on

Habak. ii. 6, and in Gesch. der Jud.

Poesie, S. 196, 199.) Having said

so much on the meaning of these

words, we have two further questions

to consider.

     (a) In what sense is the early

history of Israel, which forms the

subject of the Poem, called here a

"parable" and " dark sayings"?

Does the Psalmist merely announce

his purpose of treating that history

in language of poetry (we have seen

that the word "parable" may be

almost equivalent to "poetry"), or

does he mean more? Does he

mean that he has a moral end in

setting forth that history? that under

it truths are veiled which have a

significance and an application to

present circumstances for those who

can read them aright? Probably,

though we can hardly say certainly,

the last.

    (b) How are we to understand the

quotation made by St. Matthew of

this passage, who sees a fulfilment

of it in the parables spoken by our

Lord (Matt. xiii. 34, 35)? It cannot

be supposed for a moment that these

words were a prediction of our

Lord's mode of teaching, or that

He Himself is here the speaker.

60                                   PSALM LXX VIII.

 

3 (The things) which b we have heard and known.

            And our fathers have told us,

4 We will not hide (them) from their children;

            Telling to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah,

                  And His strength and His wonderful works that He

                        hath done.

5 For He established a testimony in Jacob,

            And appointed a law in Israel,

    Which He commanded our fathers

            To make known unto their children;

6 To the intent that the generation to come might know

                        (them),

            (Even) the children which should be born,

                 Who should rise up, and tell (them) to their children;

7 That they might put their confidence in God,

            And not forget the doings of God,

                        But keep His commandments;

8 And might not be as their fathers,

            A stubborn and rebellious generation,

   A generation that was not steadfast in heart,

            And whose spirit was not faithful towards God.

 

But here, as elsewhere, that which

the Old Testament Prophet says of

himself, finds its fittest expression,

its highest realization, in the Great

Prophet of the kingdom of heaven.

     Citatur hic locus a Matthaeo, et

accommodatur ad Christi personam.

... In hac igitur parte quum similis

Prophetae fuerit, quia de sublimibus

mysteriis concionatus est in altiore

dicendi forma, apposite transfertur

ad ejus personam quod Propheta

de se affirmat."—CALVIN. St. Mat-

thew's quotation runs, o!pwj plhrwq^?

to> r[hqe>n dia> tou? profh<tou le<gontoj,

]Anoi<cw e]n parabolai?j to> sto<ma mou,

e]reu<comai kekrumme<na a]po> katabolh?j.

The LXX. have in the latter clause:

fqe<gcomai problh<mata a]p ] a]rxh?j.

      4. WE WILL NOT HIDE. Comp.

Job xv. 18, where it is used in like

manner of the faithful transmission

of truths received. All truth known

is a sacred trust, given to us, not

for ourselves alone, but that we

may hand on the torch to others.

     5. The very object with which God

gave HIS LAW and HIS TESTIMONY

(see on these words, note on xix. 7)

was, that they might be preserved,

not in writing only, but by oral com-

munication and transmission, that

they might be a living power in the

people. See the commands in Ex.

x. 2, xii. 26, 27, xiii. 8-10, 14, 15;

Deut. iv. 9, Vi. 20, &c.

    8. THAT WAS NOT STEADFAST IN

HEART, lit. "that did not establish

its heart," was ever wavering in its

allegiance. This sense is most in

accordance with the parallelism;

though perhaps the rendering of

the E.V., "that set not their heart

aright," i.e. towards God, might be

 

 

 

 

 

                            PSALM LXX VIII.                             61

9 The children of Ephraim, being equippedc as archers,

            Turned back in the day of battle.

defended: comp. I Sam. vii. 3; Job

xi. 13.

     9. THE CHILDREN OF EPHRAIM.

An example of that "stubborn and

perverse generation" mentioned ver.

8. But why are "the children of

Ephraim" mentioned, and what par-

ticular sin of theirs is here alluded

to? (i) We must not be led astray

by the expression "equipped as

archers," &c., to look for some de-

feats of the tribe in battle (as the

Chald., the Rabb. (referring to

Chr. vii. 20-22), Schnurrer, and

others do), for it is not a chastise-

ment, but a sin which is spoken of.

Hence the description of their car-

rying bows and turning back must

be a figure employed in the same

sense as that of "the deceitful bow,"

ver. 57. (2) The allusion cannot be

to the separation of Ephraim and

the other tribes from Judah (as

Venema, De Wette, &c. explain),

because it is the earlier history of

the nation in the wilderness which

is here before the Poet's eyes. (3)

Nothing is gained by introducing

the particle of comparison (so

Luther, Rosenmüller, &c.), as in the

P.B.V., "like as the children of

Eph.," &c., for such a comparison

rests upon nothing. (4) Nor can

"the children of Ephraim" here

stand merely for the whole nation,

as has sometimes been maintained

by referring to lxxx. 2 [3], and lxxxi.

5 [6]; for in ver. 67 the distinction

between Ephraim and Judah is

marked. (5) It would seem, then,

that their treacherous conduct is

here specially stigmatized, in order,

as it were, to sound the note of that

rejection on which the Psalmist

afterwards dwells, ver. 67. Ephraim

had been, after the settlement in

Canaan, the most numerous and

the most powerful of the tribes.

Shiloh, the religious capital of the

nation, and Shehcem, the gathering-

place of the tribes (Josh. xxiv. I;

Jud. ix. 2; 1 Kings xii. I), were

both within its borders. During the

time of the Judges it seems to have

asserted a kind of supremacy over

the rest. Possibly the Psalmist is

thinking of this. Having their re-

jection in, view, he remembers their

ancient position, and regards them

as leaders of the people, and,

morally, leaders in their sin. It is

true this could only apply to their

history in the land of Canaan.

During the wanderings in the wil-

derness, with which a large part of

the Psalm is occupied, the tribe of

Ephraim, so far from holding a

leading position, was the smallest

of all, except Simeon. It may be,

however, that the Psalmist forgets

or neglects this circumstance, and

only thinks of the tribe as the rival

of Judah in later times, and the

leader in the revolt. But see the

remarks in the introduction to the

Psalm.

    A different interpretation is given

in the article EPHRAIM in Smith's

Dict. of the Bible. Hupfeld would

expunge the words "the children of

Ephraim" as a gloss, but it is diffi-

cult to see how such a gloss could

have crept in.

    EQUIPPED AS ARCHERS. This

and the next clause are designed

apparently to express, in a figure,

the faithlessness of the Ephraimites.

They are like archers who, fully

equipped for war, at the critical

moment when they should use their

weapons, afraid to meet the shock

of battle, wheel round and fly in

disorder.

    TURNED BACK. Comp. Jud. xx,.

39, 41. Panic-struck, when they

were expected to be of service;

hardly (as Maurer suggests) pre-

tending flight, like the Thracian

archers, in order to take the enemy

at greater advantage. In any case,

the image is one of faithlessness.

The next verse is an explanation of

the figure.

    The following paraphrase is given

in the Catena Aurea (from Aug.

Cassiod. and the Glossa Ord.) .

62                    PSALM LXXVIII.

 

10 They kept not the covenant of God,

            And refused to walk in His Law;

11 And they forgat His doings,

            And His wonderful works which He had showed them.

12 In the sight of their fathers He did wonders,

            In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13 He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through,

            And made the waters to stand as an heap.

14 And He led them with the cloud in the day-time,

            And all the night through with a light of fire.

15 He clave d rocks in the wilderness,

 

"The children of Ephraim taking

aim and shooting with the bow, that

is, promising to keep the law, and

openly saying, All that the Lord

hath said unto us we will do and

hear, turned back in the day of

battle, when they said unto Aaron,

Make us gods to worship. They

failed in the day of battle, that is,

in the day of temptation; for the

prophet Hosea saith: Ephraim is

as a silly dove that hath no heart.

For it is not hearing, but temptation,

that puts to the proof the promise

of obedience."

    12. ZOAN. Its Greek name was

Tanis. It "lay near the Eastern

border of Lower Egypt, . . . on the

east bank of the canal which was

formerly the Tanitic branch" (of the

Nile). "Zoan is mentioned in con-

nection with the plagues in such a

manner as to leave no doubt that it

is the city spoken of in the narrative

in Exodus, as that where Pharaoh

dwelt. The wonders were wrought

'in the field of Zoan,' which may

either denote the territory imme-

diately round the city, or its nome,

or even a kingdom. This would

accord best with the shepherd-

period." See the article ZOAN, in

the Dict. of the Bible, by Mr. R. S.

Poole. May not "the field of Zoan"

be the rich plain which, as he tells

us, "anciently extended due east as

far as Pelusium, about thirty miles

distant," and the whole of which,

"about as far south and west as

Tunis, was anciently known as ‘the

Fields’ or ‘Plains,’ ‘the Marshes’

or ‘Pasture-lands,’ and which is now

almost covered by the great Lake

Menzeleh"? The name only occurs

once in the Pentateuch, in Num. xiii.

22. (See the passage discussed in

the article just quoted.)

     It is remarkable that, after begin-

ning in this verse to speak of the

wonders in Egypt, the Psalmist

drops all mention of there till ver.

43 (which is a resumption of this

verse), and turns aside to dwell on

the wonders in the wilderness (see

Introduction).

    13. Now follows the exemplifica-

tion, in certain detailed instances,

of the faithlessness and disobe-

dience, and forgetfulness of their

fathers in the wilderness. First, in

ver. 13-16, some of God's wonders

wrought on their behalf are men-

tioned, and then, ver. 17-20, the

thankless and perverse spirit in

which these wonders were regarded.

     As AN HEAP; borrowed from Ex.

xv. 8. See note on xxxiii. 7.

     15. ROCKS. The word tsur shows

that the Psalmist is thinking in this

verse of the miracle at Horeb, re-

corded in Ex. xvii. (See note on

ver. 16.) The plural does not ne-

cessarily imply that the two great

instances in which this miracle was

performed, the one in the first and

the other in the last year of the

wandering, are here brought together

(Ex. xvii. and Num. xx.); for both

 

                          PSALM LXXVIII.                            63

 

            And gave them drink as it had been the great deeps.e

16 He brought forth streams also out of the cliff,

            And caused waters to run down like the rivers.

 

17 Yet they went on still to sin more against Him,

            To rebel againstf the Most High in the desert.

18 And they tempted God in their heart,

            Asking food for their lust,

19 Yea, they spake against God;

            They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness

20 Lo, He smote the rock, that waters gushed out,

                        And torrents rushed along:

            Can He give bread also?

                        Will He provide flesh for his people?"

 

that and the verb, which (being

here without the Vau consecutive)

is apparently the aorist of repeated

action, may only be used in the way

of poetic amplification. The miracle

seems as if ever repeated.

     As IT HAD BEEN THE GREAT

DEEPS, lit. "and gave them, as it

were, the great deep to drink " (or,

"as from the depths in abund-

ance"). De Wette calls this a

"gigantic" comparison. But "the

deep" here may mean, perhaps, not

the sea, but the great subterranean

reservoir of waters from which all

fountains and streams were sup-

posed to be supplied, as Deut. viii. 7.

Comp. xlii. 7 [8], and note there.

     16. The word here used (Sela) "is

especially applied to the cliff at

Kadesh, from which Moses brought

water, as Tsur is for that struck in

Ex. xvii."—STANLEY, Sinai and

Palestine, App. § 29. See also

Chap. I. Part II. p. 95.

     17. YET THEY WENT ON TO SIN.

In the verses immediately preceding

no special instance of transgression

is recorded, though such is implied

in the mention of the miracle of the

water, when they murmured against

God. Hence the murmuring for

flesh is described as a further and

fresh instance of sin. Hupfeld

thinks it may be only a phrase bor-

rowed from the Book of Judges,

where it is commonly prefixed to

each fresh act of disobedience (as

in iii. 12,&C.); but there the formula

is quite in place, as it follows the

narration of previous transgres-

sion.

     18. THEY TEMPTED GOD, i.e. de-

manded, in their unbelief, signs and

wonders, to put His power to the

proof, instead of waiting in faith

and prayer for its exercise (repeated

ver. 41, 56 as a kind of refrain, see

also cvi. 14). The original is Ex.

xvii. 3, 7, where also the name

Massah, "tempting," is given to the

spot.

     19, 20. The words here put into

the mouth of the people are only a

poetical representation of what they

said, not differing materially from

the historical narrative, Ex. xvi. 3,

&c., xvii. 2, 3, 7; Num. xi. 4, &c.,

xx. 3, &c.

      19. PREPARE A TABLE, lit. "Set

out in order," the same phrase as

in xxiii. 5.

      20. WATERS GUSHED OUT occurs

also cv. 41; Is. xlviii. 21.

     PROVIDE, or "prepare," as in lxv.

9 [10], lxviii. 10 [11].

     FLESH: the word is a poetical

one. "Bread and flesh" are used

in the same way of the manna and

the quails, in Ex. xvi.

 

64                         PSALM LXXVIII.

 

21 Therefore Jehovah heard (that), and was wroth,

                        And a fire was kindled in Jacob,

            And anger also went up against Israel;

22 Because they believed not in God,

            And put not their trust in His salvation.

23 He commanded also the clouds above,

            And opened the doors of heaven;

24 And He rained manna upon them to eat,

            And gave them the corn of heaven;

25 Bread of the mighty did they eat every one,

            He sent them meat to the full.

26 He led forth the east wind in the heaven,

 

     21-29. The awful punishment of

their sin. He gives the bread which

they ask (ver. 21-25), and then the

flesh (ver. 26-29), but His granting

of their desire is in itself the most

terrible of chastisements. The re-

presentation is freely borrowed from

the two accounts in Ex. xvi.; Num.

xi.; more particularly the last.

     21. A FIRE, with allusion to the

"fire of Jehovah" in Num. xi. 1

(whence the name of the place was

called Tab'erah, "burning"), where

also occurs the similar expression,

"And when Jehovah heard (it), His

anger was kindled."

     ALSO. This does not mark that

the fire of God's wrath was added

to the natural fire; for the last was

but the expression of the first. But

the particle belongs, logically, to the

verb WENT UP, and denotes the

retributive character of this fiery

scourge. See the same use of the

particle, for instance, Is. lxvi. 4.

    22. His SALVATION, as already

shown in the deliverance from

Egypt.

    24. RAINED. Hence the expres-

sion in the precedingverse, "opened

the doors," &c. as in Gen. vii. 11;

2 Kings vii. 2; Mal. iii. 10. In the

same way the manna is said to be

"rained" from heaven in Ex. xvi.

4. (Every expression used shows

plainly that it was a miraculous gift,

and not a product of nature.)

Hence, too, it is called CORN OF

HEAVEN, for which we have "bread

of heaven" in cv. 40; Ex. xvi. 4;

John vi. 31. So again

     25. BREAD OF THE MIGHTY (see

the marginal rendering of the E.V.)

probably means "Angels' bread,"

LXX. a@rton a]ggelwn, not as if an-

gels were nourished by it, or as if it

were food worthy of angels, but as

coming from heaven, where angels

dwell. The word MIGHTY is no-

where else used of the angels, though

they are said in ciii. 20, to be

"mighty in strength." Hence many

would render here "bread of nobles

or princes" (such is the use of this

word in Job xxiv. 22, xxxiv, 20), i.e.

the finest, the most delicate bread.

     26. LED FORTH, lit. "made to

journey, or go forth." The verb is

again the aorist of repeated action,

as in ver. 15.

     GUIDED (like a flock). The two

verbs occur below, ver. 52, where

they are used of God's conduct of

His people. The usage here is bor-

rowed from the Pentateuch, where

both verbs are said of the wind, the

first in Num. xi. 31, the second in

Ex. x. 13. The winds are thus con-

ceived of as God's flock, which He

leads forth and directs at His plea-

sure.

     EAST WIND . . . SOUTH WIND.

 

                             PSALM LXXVIII.                           65

 

            And by His power He guided the south wind,

27 And He rained flesh upon them as the dust,

            And winged fowls like as the sand of the seas;

28 And He let it fall in the midst of their camp,

            Round about their habitations.

29 So they did eat and were well filled,

            Seeing that He gave them their own desire.

30 They were not estranged from their desire;

            Whilst their food was yet in their mouth,

31 The anger of God went up against them,

 

These may be mentioned poetically,

without being intended to describe

exactly the quarter from which the

quails came. In Num. xi. 31, it is

merely said that, "there went forth

a wind from Jehovah, and brought

quails from the sea," which Hupfeld

too hastily asserts must be the Red

Sea (i.e. as he evidently means, the

gulf of Suez); and that conse-

quently the quails must have been

brought by a west wind. But

Kibroth-hattaavah was probably

not far from the western edge of

the gulf of Akabah. And the quails

at the time of this event were, as

Mr. Houghton has remarked (see

QUAILS, in Dict. of the Bible), on

their spring journey of migration

northwards; "The flight which fed

the multitude at Kibroth-hattaavah

might have started from Southern

Egypt, and crossed the Red Sea

near Ras Mohammed, and so up the

gulf of Akabah into Arabia Petrma."

In this case, the wind blowing from

the south first, and then from the

east, would bring the quails.

     27. RAINED FLESH: as before,

"rained manna," from Ex. xvi. 4,

8, 13.

     28. LET IT FALL. The word aptly

describes the settling of these birds,

unfitted for a long flight, and wearied

by their passage across the gulf.

Pliny, Nat. Hist, x. 13, says that

quails settle on the sails of ships by

night, so as to sink sometimes the

ships in the neighbouring sea. And

Diod. Sic. i. p. 38, ta>j qhra>j twn

o]rtu<gwn e]poiou?nto e]fe<ronto< te ou$toi

kat ] a]ge<laj mei<zouj e]k tou? pela<gouj.

The verse follows Ex. xvi. 13; Nunn. xi. 31.

     29. WERE WELL FILLED, i.e. even

to loathing, as follows, ver. 30 (see

Num. xi. 18-20). So in ver. 25, "to

the full," from Ex. xvi. 3, 12.

     THEIR DESIRE, the satisfaction of

their fleshly appetite. The word

(taavah) no doubt alludes to Kib-

roth-hattaavaha, "the graves of desire,

or fleshly appetite." Num. xi. 4, 34.

     30. THEY WERE NOT ESTRANGED,

or, as it may be rendered, "(Whilst)

they were not (yet) estranged," i.e.

whilst they still found satisfaction

and enjoyment in this kind of food,

whilst it was yet in their mouths,

the anger of God went up, &c. Thus

the two verses, 30, 31, stand in the

relation of protasis and apodosis.

The passage is manifestly borrowed

from Num. xi. 33, "And while the

flesh was yet between their teeth,

ere it was chewed, the wrath of

Tehovah was kindled against the

people, and Jehovah smote the

people with a very great plague;"

and so closely borrowed as to be

evidence that this portion of the

Pentateuch already existed in

writing. But, unfortunately, we

cannot draw hence any argument

for the age of the whole Pentateuch

in its present form.

     31. WENT UP, See above, ver 21,

and xviii. 8 [91

 

66                          PSALM LXXVIII.

 

                 And slew the fattest of them,

            And smote down the young men of Israel.

32 For all this, they sinned yet more,

            And believed not His wondrous works.

33 Therefore did He make their days vanish in a breath,

            And their years in terror.

34 When He slew them, then they enquired after Him,

            Yea, they turned again and sought God;

35 And they remembered that God was their Rock,

            And the Most High God their Redeemer.

36 But they flattered Him with their mouth;

            And they lied unto Him with their tongue;

37 For their heart was not steadfast with Him,

            Neither were they faithful in His covenant.

38 But He, in His tender mercy, covereth iniquity, and

            destroyeth not;

 

    31. THE FATTEST: it may mean

either the strongest, or the noblest.

Comp. xxii. 29 [30]. On these and

the young men, the flower of the

people, the judgement especially

falls.

    32. The allusion seems to be to

Num. xiv. 11, "How long will it be

ere they believe Me, for all the signs

which I have showed among them;"

the words of God to Moses after the

return of the spies. And this is the

more likely, because the next verse

alludes to that cutting short of the

life of the people, which was the

consequence of their rebellion at

that time. Num. xiv. 28-34.

     33. IN A BREATH, or possibly,

"as a breath," the prep. merely

introducing the predicate. See

xxxix. 5, 6 [6, 7], and the com-

plaint of Moses, xc. 9, though the

word there used is different.

    34. The passage which follows, to

the end of ver. 39, is a most striking

and affecting picture of man's heart,

and God's gracious forbearance, in

all ages: — man's sin calling for

chastisement, the chastisement pro-

ducing only temporary amendment,

God's goodness forgotten, and yet

God's great love never wearied,

and God's infinite compassion ever

moved afresh by man's weakness

and misery.

    36. FLATTERED. Comp. Is.

xxi. 13, lvii. 11, lix. 13. "This

returning to God, at least so far as

the majority were concerned, was

not from any love of righteousness,

but only from the fear of punish-

ment."—Lyra.

    37. THEIR HEART WAS NOT

STEADFAST, &c. This is the ever-

repeated complaint, see ver. 8, 22.

There is no permanence, no stability

in the reformation which has been

produced. Comp. Hos. vi. 4.

    38. The verbs in the first clause

are present, and should be so ren-

dered. It destroys the whole beauty

of the passage to render, "But He

was so merciful, &c., as if the refer-

ence were only to a particular occa-

sion. God's mercy is like Himself,

everlasting, and ever the same.

     BUT HE. The words are em-

phatic, and the allusion is to Ex.

xxxiv. 6; Num. xiv. 18, 20.

 

 

                       PSALM LXXVIII.                                         67

 

                        Yea, many a time turneth He His anger away,

            And stirreth not up all His fury.

39 And He remembered that they were (but) flesh,

            A wind that goeth and cometh not again.

 

40 How often did they provoke Him in the wilderness,

            And grieve Him in the desert:

41 Yea, again and again they tempted God,

            And dishonoured g the Holy One of Israel.

42 They remembered not His hand,

            Nor the day when He redeemed them from the

                        adversary.

43 How He had set His signs in Egypt,

            And His wonders in the field of Zoan,

44 And turned their rivers into blood,

            So that they could not drink of their streams.

45 He sent among them flies which devoured them,

            And frogs which destroyed them.

 

    39. Compare Gen. vi. 3, viii. 21:

Job vii. 7, 9, X. 21; Ps. ciii. 14-16;

and for the word "goeth" or "pas-

seth away" of the wind, Hos. vi. 4,

xiii. 3.

   40. After thus celebrating God's

tender compassion in striking con-

trast with the perpetual rebellion

and ingratitude of the people, the

Psalmist resumes the sad tale afresh.

But instead of mentioning other in-

stances of rebellion in the wilder-

ness (ver. 40), he passes from that

topic to dwell on the wonders

wrought in Egypt, the lively recol-

lection of which ought to have kept

the people from these repeated pro-

vocations. Thus he takes up again

the thread dropped at ver. 12.

    The second principal portion of

the Psalm begins with this verse.

It is occupied, first, with the narra-

tive of the plagues in Egypt, the

Exodus, and Israel's entrance into

the Promised Land, ver. 40-55.

It then touches briefly on the history

under the Judges, the Philistine in-

vasion in the time of Eli, which was

God's chastisement for transgres-

sion, the disaster at Shiloh, whereby

Ephraim was robbed of his ancient

honours, and which led to the choice

of Zion, the ascendency of the tribe

of Judah, and the union of the king-

dom under David, ver. 56-72.

    41. DISHONOURED, or perhaps

"provoked." Others, "limited," i.e.

set bounds to His power. See

Critical Note.

    43. In the enumeration of the

plagues, the Psalmist does not fol-

low the order of the history, except

as regards the first and the last, and

omits all mention of the third (the

lice), the fifth (murrain of cattle),

the sixth (boils and blains on man

and beast), and the ninth (darkness).

    44. The first plague. Comp. Ex.

vii. 17, &c.

     45. The fourth plague (Ex. viii.

20, &c.), and the second plague (Ex.

viii. 1, &c.).

    FLIES. The LXX. and Sym.

kuno<muian. The rendering of the

 

 

68                           PSALM LXXVIII.

 

46  He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller,

            (And) their labour unto the locust.

47 He killed their vines with hail,

            And their sycomore-trees with frost:

48 He gave up their cattle also to the hail,

            And their flocks to hot thunder-bolts.

49 He let loose upon them the burning of His anger,

            Wrath and indignation and distress,

            A letting loose of evil angels h (among them).

 

E.V. "divers sorts of flies," (Aq.

pa<mmikton), comes from a wrong de-

rivation of the word from a root

signifying to mix.

    46. CATERPILLER, or possibly the

word means some particular species

of locust, or the locust in its larva

state. See Dict. of the Bible, III.

App. xxxix. This word is not used

in the Pentateuch, but in Joel i. 4,

it is joined with the locust, as here.

      47, 48. The seventh plague, that

of the hail mingled with fire (Ex. ix.

13), with its effects, both on the pro-

duce of the land and on the cattle.

As belonging to the former, vines

and sycomores are here mentioned,

as in cv. 33, vines, and fig-trees.

De Wette and Hupfeld assert that

the writer, as a native of Canaan,

ascribes too much prominence to

the vine, the cultivation of which

was but little attended to in Egypt,

and which is not said in the Penta-

teuch to have suffered. But this is

an unfounded assertion. Mr. R. S.

Poole, in his learned article on

Egypt, in the Dict. of the Bible,

says: "Vines were extensively cul-

tivated, and there were several dif-

ferent kinds of wine, one of which,

the Mareotic, was famous among

the Romans." (Vol. i. p. 497.)

Pharaoh's chief butler dreams of

the vine, Gen. xl. 9-11, and the

vines of Egypt, as well as the figs

and pomegranates, are thought of

with regret by the Israelites in the

wilderness (Num. xx. 5). The mural

paintings at Thebes, at Beni-

Hassan, and in the Pyramids, con-

tain representations of vineyards.

Boys are seen frightening away the

birds from the ripe clusters, men

gather them and deposit them in

baskets, and carry them to the wine-

press, &c.

     47. FROST, or, as this is unknown

in Egypt, perhaps, rather, "huge

hailstones," but the word occurs

nowhere else, and its meaning is

uncertain.

     48. HOT THUNDER-BOLTS, Or

"lightnings;" the same word as in

lxxvi. 3 [4], "lightnings of the

bow," where see note, the allusion

being to the fire which ran along

the ground, Ex. ix. 23. Comp. cv.

32.

    49. This verse expresses gene-

rally the whole work of devastation

wrought by the Divine ministers of

evil in the land of Egypt, and so

strikingly introduces the final act

of judgement, the destruction of the

first-born, which follows in ver. 50,

51. I see no reason for supposing,

as Hupfeld and Delitzsch do, that

there is any allusion to the fifth

plague, that of the murrain among

cattle.

     A LETTING LOOSE, Or, "a mis-

sion," "embassage"; this is a noun, in

apposition with the preceding nouns,

and further describing the action of

the verb, "He let loose." The Poet

lifts the veil and shows us the wrath

of God as the source, and angels as

the ministers in the destruction.

      EVIL ANGELS. Others render,

 

                          PSALM LXXVIII.                               69

 

50 He made a free path for His anger;

            He spared not their soul from death,

            But gave their life over to the pestilence;

51 And smote all the first-born in Egypt,

            The firstlings of (their) strength in the tents of Ham.

52 But He made His own people to go forth like sheep,

            And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

53 And He led them safely so that they did not fear;

            And as for their enemies, the sea covered (them).

54 And He brought them to His holy border,

            To yon mountain which His right hand had purchased.

55 He drove out also the nations before them,

            And allotted them for an inheritance by line,

            And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

56 But they tempted and provoked the Most High God,

 

"angels or messengers, (the word

may mean either, as a@ggeloj, in

Greek) of evil," i.e. who work evil.

So Hengstenberg and Delitzsch,

who adopt the view of Ode, in his

work De Angelis, that God makes

use of good angels to punish bad

men, and of evil angels to buffet

and chasten good men. But this

cannot be maintained: see I Sam.

xvi. 14; I Kings xxii. 21, &c. How-

ever, whichever rendering is pre-

ferred, it comes to the same thing,

for "evil angels" would not mean

here what was commonly under-

stood by evil spirits, but angels sent

upon an evil mission—a mission of

destruction. There can be no doubt

of this, because the expression must

have been suggested by "the de-

troyer" in Ex. xii. 13, 23.

     50. MADE A FREE PATH, lit.

"levelled a path," as Prov. iv. 26,

v. 6.

     51. FIRSTLINGS OF THEIR

STRENGTH, lit. "beginning of

strengths," the plural being used

poetically for the singular, which is

found in the same phrase, Gen.

xlix. 3; Deut. xxi. 17.

    TENTS OF HAM. So "land of

Ham," in cv. 23, 27, cvi. 22. Comp.

Gen. x. 6.

     54. YON MOUNTAIN, i.e. Zion,

the building of the temple there

being represented, as in lxviii. 16

[17], as the great crowning act to

which all else pointed; unless the

noun is used here collectively==

"these mountains," i.e. this moun-

tain-land of Palestine, as in Ex. xv.

17, "the mountain of Thine inheri-

tance." Comp. Is. xi. 9. This last

it may be said, is favoured by the

parallelism.

   55. AND ALLOTTED THEM, lit.

"made them fall," in allusion to the

throwing of the lot. The pronoun

"them" is used somewhat incor-

rectly (the nations. having been just

spoken of as driven out), instead of

"their land." Comp. Josh. xxiii. 4,

See, I have allotted (made to fall)

unto you these nations," &c. Num.

xxxix. 2, "the land which falleth to

you as an inheritance."

    BY LINE. See note on xvi. 6.

    56-58. The renewed disobedi-

ence of the nation, after their settle-

ment in the land during the time of

the judges.

    56. TEMPTED AND PROVOKED,

 

70                        PSALM LXXVIII.

 

            And kept not His testimonies;

57 But turned back and dealt faithlessly, like their fathers:

            They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

58 And they angered Him with their high places,

            And moved Him to jealousy with their graven images.

59 When God heard (this), He was wroth,

            And greatly abhorred Israel;

60 So that He rejected the tabernacle in Shiloh,

            The tent which He pitched among men.

61 And He gave His strength into captivity,

            And His beauty into the adversary's hand.

62 Yea, He gave over His people to the sword,

            And was wroth with His inheritance.

63 Their young men the fire devoured,

            And their maidens were not praisedi in the marriage-

                        song.

 

repeated from ver. 17, 18, and 41;

here the special act of provocation

being the worship of idols in the

high places. Comp. Jud. ii. 11, &c.

     57. A DECEITFUL BOW, i.e. one

which disappoints the archer, by not

sending the arrow straight to the

mark (not “a slack bow,” as some

would explain, referring to Prov. x.

4, "a slack hand").

    60. The tabernacle was at Shiloh

during the whole period of the

Judges (Josh. xviii. 10; Jud. xviii.

31; I Sam. iv. 3). God rejected

and forsook it when the Ark was

given into the hands of the Philis-

tines, 1 Sam. iv. The Ark was never

brought back thither, and the Taber-

nacle itself was removed first to

Nob (I Sam. xxi.), and subsequently

to Gibeon (1 Kings iii. 4). Jeremiah

when warning the nation against

the superstitious notion that the

Temple would be a defence, reminds

them how God had forsaken and

rejected the place of the first Taber-

nacle : "For go now to My place

which was in Shiloh, where I made

My name to dwell at the first, and

see what I have done to it, because

of the wickedness of My people

Israel." (Jer. vii. 12. See also ver.

14, and chap. xxvi. 6.) These pas-

sages do not, perhaps, necessarily

imply a destruction of Shiloh by

enemies, certainly nothing of the

kind meets us in the history,—but a

desolation which followed on the

removal of the sanctuary. Calvin

observes: "The mode of expression

is very emphatic; that God was so

offended with the sins of His people,

that He was forced to forsake the

one place in the whole world which

He had chosen."

    PITCHED, lit. "caused to dwell."

Comp. Josh. xviii. 1, xxii. 19.

    61. HIS STRENGTH (or perhaps,

"glory"). . HIS BEAUTY. The

Ark is so called as being the place

where God manifested His power

and glory. Comp. I Sam. iv. 3, 21,

and Ps. cxxxii. 8.

     63, 64. The utter desolation of

the land strikingly pictured by its

silence. Neither the joyous strains

of the marriage-song, nor the sad

wail of the funeral chant fall upon

the ear. It was a land of silence,

a land of the dead. Comp. Jer. xxii.

18; Ezek. xxiv. 23; Job xxvii. 15.

There is perhaps, an allusion in

 

                                   PSALM LXXVIII.                                    71

 

64 Their priests fell by the sword,

            And their widows made no lamentation.

 

65 Then the Lord awaked, as one out of sleep,

            Like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine;

66 And He smote His adversaries backward,

            He put them to a perpetual reproach.

67 And He rejected the tent of Joseph,

            And chose not the tribe of Ephraim

68 But chose the tribe of Judah,

            The mount Zion which He loved.

69 And He built His sanctuary like high places,

            Like the earth which He hath founded for ever.

70 He chose David also, His servant,

            And took him from the sheep-folds;

71 As he was following the ewes giving suck, He brought

                        him,

            To feed Jacob His people,

                        And Israel His inheritance.

72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart,

            And led them with the skilfulness of his hands.

 

ver. 64 to the death of Hophni and

Phinehas.

    65, 66. God punishes and then

delivers. The reference is to the

long series of victories over the

Philistines under Samuel, Saul,

and David.

    65. AS ONE OUT OF SLEEP, lit.

"as a sleeper." Comp. vii. 6 [7],

xliv. 23 [24].

     LIKE A MIGHTY MAN : Comp. Is.

xlii. 13.

     68. THE TRIBE OF JUDAH,

though the sanctuary was planted,

not " in Judah only, or in Benjamin

only, but on the confines of both

(comp. Josh. xv. 63 with Jud. i. 21);

so that whilst the altars and the

holy place were to stand within the

borders of the one tribe, the courts

of the Temple were to extend into

the borders of the other tribe, and

thus the two were to be riveted

together, as it were, by a cramp,

bound by a sacred and everlasting

bond."—Blunt, Undesigned Coinci-

dences, &c. p. 181.

    69. LIKE HIGH PLACES, &c., or

as we might say, " high as heaven,

and sure as the solid earth."

     70-72. The faithful shepherd of

the flock became the faithful shep-

herd of the nation; just as the obe-

dient fishermen in the Gospel his-

tory became the successful fishers

of men.

     On the figure here employed, see

lxxvii. 20 [21], and the remarks in

Introduction to Vol. I. p. 97.

 

 

* See above on xxxix. note a and 1. note a.

72                                    PSALM LXXVIII.

 

            b rw,xE. The relative may refer to what precedes. Or it may form with

the suffix M-e following, a neuter = quae; the relative clause, contrary to

rule, being placed before the antecedent. "(The things) which we know

. . . (those things) we will not hide." For a similar indefinite use of the

suffix see xxxix. 7.

            c 'q ymeOr yqewOn. (LXX. e]ntei<nontej kai> ba<llontej to<con.)  This is a

compound phrase which has perplexed the commentators. For the two

words in the stat. constr. are not, as is usual in such cases, in construction,

the first with the second, and the second with the noun following, but are

each in construction with the noun tw,q,, for we have 'q yqew;On, I Chron.

xii. 2; 2 Chron. xvii. 17, meaning "armed with bows," and 'q ymeOr, Jer.

iv. 29, "shooting with bows." Hence Hupfeld calls it "a hybrid phrase,"

and would strike out one of the words as a gloss; but we have an

exact parallel in Jer. xlvi. 9, 'q yker;do ywep;To, as he admits. The phrase

NOy.ci tlaUtB; tBa, lit. the virgin of Zion, the daughter of Zion," is another

instance of the same construction. Maurer, in a note on Jer. xlvi. 9, has

drawn attention to this construction, which, as he observes, has escaped

the notice of the grammarians. qwn means properly adjungere, applicare,

conserere (as in qw,n,, armour, as that which fits together), and then pre-

hendere (manu), tenere, tractare.

            d fq.abay;.  Hupf. speaks of this merely as "a pret. without v consec., as

frequently in this Psalm, alternating with imperf. cons., vers. 26, 45, 47,

49, 50." But I prefer regarding it as an aor. of repeated action, not

"continuance of an action," as Phillips—who, however, well explains the

use of the tense, "as often as water was wanted by the Israelites in the

wilderness, the rock was cleft."

            e hBAra tOmht;Ki. The plur, noun is apparently used for the sing. (comp.

Gen. vii. 11; Ps. xxxvi. 7), like tOmheB;, tOmk;HA, &c. Hence the adj. is in

the sing. The Chald. changes the adj. into the plur., in order to make it

agree with the noun. The LXX. e]n a]bu<ss& poll^? . So the older Verss.,

generally, take the two words as in concord. Others consider hBAra to be

an adverb, as lxii. 3, lxxxix. 8. "The imperf. consec. [at the beginning of

the verse] marks the consequence, which is here contrary to expectation."

(De Wette.)

            f tOrm;la, as Is. iii. 8. Inf. Hiph. for tvrm;hal;, from hrm (as cvi. 7; comp.

for other instances lxxiii. 20, Is. xxiii. 11), construed sometimes with acc.,

as here and ver. 40, 56, sometimes with B; or with Mfi.

            g Uvt;hi. The Hiph. occurs again in Ezek. ix. 4 in the sense of "putting

a mark" (on the forehead). This has been explained in two ways:

(i) "they put boundaries (marks) limits" to the power of God. Or

(2), as Hengst., Del., and others, "they branded with reproach" (Del.

brandmarkten). But we may perhaps connect it with the Syr.        ,

paenituit eum, doluit. So the LXX. parw<cunan.  Vulg. exacerbaverunt.

Jerome, concitaverunt.

                                    PSALM LXXIX.                                         73

 

            h MyfirA ykexEl;ma. This is commonly rendered "angels (or messengers) of

evil," i.e. causing evil, generally of the object, as in Prov. xvi. 4, "mes-

sengers of death," and MyfirA is supposed to be a neuter = tOfrA, "evil

things." This may perhaps be defended by Mydiynin;, nobilia, Prov. viii. 6,

though Hupf. contends that MyrimAxE must be supplied there, as with the

adjectives in ver. 9 of the same chapter; to which it may be replied that

the noun has immediately preceded, and would therefore be easily under-

stood in ver. 9, which is not the case in ver. 6. However, it is better to

explain 'r 'm as "angels (belonging to the class) of evil ones," i.e. evil

angels. (So the LXX. ponhrw?n; Symm. kakou<ntwn.) Comp. the same use

of the adj. after the constr. in Num. v. 18, "waters (belonging to the

class) of bitter (waters)." Jer. xxiv. 2, "figs of the early ones." See also

Is. xvii. 6; I Kings x. 15.

            i Ull.AUh. This is not (as Schnurr.) pret. Hoph. of lly= ejulare factae

sunt, i.e. ejularunt; for that must mean "they were lamented."  It

is merely by incorrect writing for UllAhu (Aq. u[mnh<qhsan; Symm. Th.

e]p^ne<qhsan), "were sung with praises," i.e. at the marriage feast. (Comp.

MyilUlhi, " of the harvest feast," Jud. ix. 21, with xvi. 24; Lev. xix. 24, and

the Rabb. xlvlh tyb, "marriage house," ylvlh ybd, T. B. Berachoth 6b).

 

 

                                          PSALM LXXIX.

 

            THIS Psalm is a lamentation over the same great national calamity

which, as we have already seen, is bewailed in terms so pathetic in

the Seventy-fourth. The two Psalms have, indeed, some points of

difference as well as of resemblance. The great features in the scene

of misery are presented in the two with a different degree of pro-

minence. In the one, the destruction of the Temple occupies the

foreground; in the other, the terrible carnage which had made the

streets of Jerusalem run with blood is the chief subject of lamenta-

tion. In the former, the hope of deliverance and triumph breaks

out strongly in the very midst of the sorrow and the wailing (lxxiv.

12, &c.). In the latter, the tone of sadness prevails throughout, with

the exception of the short verse with which the Psalm concludes.

There is also a marked difference in style. The Seventy-fourth

Psalm is abrupt, and sometimes obscure: the Seventy-ninth, on the

contrary, flows smoothly and easily throughout.

            But these differences are balanced by resemblances not less

observable. Thus, for instance, we may compare lxxix. 5, "how

long for ever," with lxxiv. 1, 10; lxxix. 1, the desecration of the

74                                 PSALM LXXIX.

 

Temple, with lxxiv. 3, 7; lxxix. 2, the giving up to the wild beast,

with lxxiv. 19; lxxix. 12, the reproach of the God of Israel with

lxxiv. io, i8, 22; lxxix. 13, the comparison of Israel to a flock, with

lxxiv. i. There is the same deep pathos in both Psalms; in both,

the same picturesque force of description; both the one and the

other may be called, without exaggeration, the funeral anthem of a

nation.

            There can, therefore, be little doubt that both Psalms, even if not

written by the same poet, yet bewail the same calamity. It is equally

certain that there are but two periods of the national history to

which the language of either could properly apply. But in attempt-

ing to draw our inference from this Psalm, the same difficulties meet

us which have already met us in our attempts to determine the date

of Psalm lxxiv. Does the Psalm deplore the destruction of Jerusalem

by Nebuchadnezzar, or is it a dirge over the sack of the city by

Antiochus Epiphanes?

            That the history of the Canon does not exclude the later of these

periods, I must still maintain, notwithstanding the positive and con-

temptuous manner in which Dr. Pusey has recently expressed himself

on this subject (Lectures on Daniel, pp. 56, 292, &c.). There is not

a shadow of proof (as I have pointed out in the Introduction to Vol.

I., pp. 18, 19) that the Canon was closed before the Maccabean era.

We are therefore at liberty to form our opinion as to the probable

date of the Psalm purely on internal evidence. And, indeed, it is on

this ground that Hengstenberg undertakes to show that the Psalm

refers to the Chaldean invasion. Let us examine his arguments.

            (1) He contends that there are no traces of any special reference

to the Maccabean times. To this it may be replied, that it is almost

impossible to find in any Psalm language so precise as to fix at once

the date and the occasion for which it was written. But in this

instance the fact that the desecration, and not the destruction of the

Temple is lamented, is certainly more easily explained on the Mac-

cabean hypothesis than on the Chaldean. Antiochus Epiphanes

defiled the Temple, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it.

            (2) He asserts that the language used in ver. 1, "They have made

Jerusalem an heap of stones," and so general a slaughter as that

described in ver. 2, 3, are not applicable to the history of the

Maccabean age. It is sufficient answer to say, that the first chapter

of the First Book of the Maccabees altogether refutes such an asser-

tion. The desolation of Jerusalem, and the slaughter there spoken

of, might adequately, and without exaggeration, be described in the

language of the Psalm: the difference is only the difference between

poetry and prose.

                                      PSALM LXXIX.                                     75

 

            (3) He objects that in the Psalm (ver. 6) "kingdoms and nations"

are spoken of, whereas in the Syrian period the Jews had to do with

only one kingdom. But it is obvious that in the one struggle was

involved the whole principle of the antagonism to the heathen world

at large. And nothing is more common than for the prophets and

poets to extend their range of vision beyond the single enemy, or

the immediate conflict, so as to embrace a larger issue.

            There is one expression in the Psalm, and one only, which may

seem to favour the Babylonish exile:  "Let the sighing of the prisoner

come before Thee" (ver. 11). But even this might be used equally

well of the captives who were carried away by the army of Antiochus

(I Macc. i. 32). So far, then, there is no positive evidence—and

this Delitzsch cordially admits—in favour of one period rather than

of the other.

            We now come to difficulties of a more formidable kind. Two

passages in the Psalm are found elsewhere; the one in Jeremiah and

the other in the First Book of Maccabees.

            Verses 6 and 7 stand almost word for word in Jer. x. 25. Does

the Prophet quote from the Psalmist, or the Psalmist from the

Prophet?

            In favour of the former supposition it may be said: (1) That it is

Jeremiah's habit to quote largely from other writers, especially from

Job and the Psalms; (2) That in his prophecy the verse immediately

preceding the 24th verse of the chapter, is a quotation from the

Sixth Psalm; (3) That the words occupy a more natural position in

the Psalm than they do in the Prophecy, inasmuch as the prayer that

God would punish the heathen follows immediately on the complaint

that His wrath bums like fire against Israel; and also inasmuch as

the word "pour out" seems to have been employed designedly with

reference to the use of the same verb in ver. 3, "they have poured

out " (E. V. "they have shed "); (4) That the difficult singular, ver.

7 (see note), is changed in Jeremiah into the plural, and the passage

further altered and expanded by the addition, "and they have

devoured him and consumed him," which is quite in the style of

Jeremiah, who rarely quotes without some alteration of the kind.

The first and the last of these reasons are certainly not without

force.

            On the other hand, Hupfeld argues with regard to (3), that the

passage, as it stands in Jeremiah, is anything but out of place; that

the language there, on the contrary, is more definite, the contrast

being this, that God would correct His own people with judgement,

i.e. in measure, but that He would pour out all His fury without

measure upon their enemies. He contends that this (expressing the

76                             PSALAL LXXIX.

 

same contrast which occurs elsewhere in chap. xxx. 11, xlvi. 28) must

be the original passage. However, this question of coherence does

not go for much. Considering the abruptness of transition natural

to lyric poetry, even a want of close connection would be no proof

that the passage was borrowed by the Psalmist. And, on the other

hand, the connection for which Hupfeld contends, does not seem to

be closer or more obvious than that in the Psalm.

            There is, however, another and a very serious difficulty. This

Psalm, supposing it to refer to Nebuchadnezzar, must have been

written during the Exile—probably some time after the destruction

of the Temple. Psalm Seventy-four, in like manner, which speaks of

"the everlasting desolations," must have been composed at a com-

paratively late period of the Captivity. But when were the passages

in Jeremiah's prophecy written, which connect them with these

Psalms? Jeremiah, in chap. x. 17, 18, predicts the Captivity, and

hence that part of his prophecy seems to be in time prior to the

Psalm; and Hengstenberg can only evade this difficulty by the sup-

position that this chapter was not written in its present form till after

the destruction of Jerusalem. This however is a mere assumption,

without a shadow of proof.

            Another difficulty still remains. Ver. 3 is quoted in I Macc. vii. 16.

The quotation is introduced by the formula kata> to>n lo<gon o{n e@graye

(in the Syriac, "according to the word which the prophet has

written"). This, Hengstenberg says, is the usual mode of citing

from the Canonical Scriptures, and hence he contends that the

quotation could not be from a Psalm written at the time of the

persecution of Antiochus. But this does not follow, even if the

use of e@graye be as limited as he would make it. As I have

remarked, it cannot be shown that the Canon was completed before

the age of the Maccabees, and the writer of the Book lived long

after the events which he narrates. Hence it would be quite natural

for him to refer to a Poem which had sprung out of the very cir-

cumstances of his history. Delitzsch even (i. 557) thinks that the

aorist e@graye sounds as if the quotation were from some work which

was produced under the pressure of the calamities which the author

is describing.

            It has not I believe been noticed, and yet it appears to me almost

certain, that the prayer of Daniel (ix. ig) contains allusions to the

language of this Psalm: "for our sins and for the iniquities of our

fathers (comp. ver. 8 of the Psalm, where, though the word ‘fore-

fathers’ is different, the thought is the same), Jerusalem and Thy

people are become a reproach to all that are about us" (comp. ver.

4 of the Psalm).

                                  PSALM LXXIX.                                           77

 

            Still the question must remain an open one whether the passage

in Jeremiah or in the Psalm is the original. Unless this question

can be positively settled, we have no clue to guide us as to the age

of the Psalm. Its language would apply almost equally well either

to the time of Nebuchadnezzar or to that of Antiochus Epiphanes.

This seems to have been felt by some of the earlier commentators,

who, without venturing to bring it down in point of actual composi-

tion so low as the latter period, have supposed it to be a prophecy of

that calamitous time. So Cassiodorus:  "Deplorat vero Antiochi

persecutionem tempore Maccabeorum factam, tune futuram, scilicet

in spiritu prophetico quasi praeteritam propter certitudinem eventus."

 

            The Psalm can hardly be said to have any regular strophical

divisions.

            It consists, first, of a complaint (ver. 1-4); and then of a prayer

that God would visit His people again in mercy and pour out His

vengeance upon their enemies (ver. 5-12); whilst a closing verse

announces the gratitude with which God's mercy will be acknow-

ledged (ver. 13).

 

                            [A PSALM OF ASAPH.]

 

I  O GOD, the heathen are come into Thine inheritance;

            They have defiled Thy holy temple;

                        They have made Jerusalem a heap of stones.

 

    1-4. Lament over the terrible

calamities which have befallen the

nation.

     HEATHEN. I have retained

in this Psalm the rendering of

the E.V. "heathen," because the

enemies of Jerusalem are here so

designated not merely as consist-

ing of different nations (though the

Chaldean army was thus composed),

but as profane intruders upon the

sacred soil. A religious idea is

evidently associated with the use of

the word. Elsewhere I have thought

it better to keep "nations" uniformly

as the rendering of the Hebrew

word, Goyim.

    THINE INHERITANCE, the holy

land and the holy people (comp.

lxxiv. 2, lxxviii. 62, 71, holy as the

abode of God (as Exod. xv. 17),

itself a sanctuary. The same idea

of profanation, as connected with

foreign conquests, occurs frequently

in the Prophets (see Joel iii. [iv.]

17; Nah. i. 15 [ii. 1]; Is. xxxv.

8, lii. 1, and especially, as parallel

with this passage, Lam. i. 10).

     DEFILED. Although to a pious

Jew this defilement would be a thing

of not less horror than the destruc-

tion of the holy house, still it is

remarkable that if the Chaldean

invasion be meant, the profanation

only, and not the destruction of the

Temple (as in lxxiv.) should be

lamented.

            A HEAP OF STONES, or rather

plur. "heaps of stones," "ruins."

Thus was the prophecy of Micah

fulfilled, which he uttered in the

time of Hezekiah (iii. 12). See also

 

 

78                         PSALM LXXIX.

 

2 They have given the dead bodies of Thy servants

            To be meat unto the fowls of the heaven,

                        The flesh of Thy beloved unto the beasts a of the

                                    earth.

3 They have poured out their blood like water round about

                        Jerusalem;

            And there was none to bury b (them).

 

Jer. xxvi. i8, where the prophecy is

quoted. In both passages the same

word is used, and in the E. V. ren-

dered "heaps." It occurs also in

the sing., Mic. i. 6, "I will make

Samaria a heap of the field." The

LXX. have o]pwrofula<kion, "a gar-

den-lodge," which is explained by a

scholion of the Cod. Vatic. 754

(quoted by Delitzsch) as liqolo<gioj

to<poj, o!pou th>n skhnh>n e@xei o[ ta>j

o]pw<raj fula<sswn. The Vulg. in

pomorum custodian, in the same

sense, probably, as Cassiodorus ex-

plains, with reference to Is. i. 8, "as

a lodge in a garden of cucumbers."

Lyra says: "Id est in acervum la-

pidum, custodes enim pomorum

faciunt magnum acervum lapidum,

ut desuper ascendentes videant per

totum pomoerium." But the word

employed in this sense is a different

word. See Hos. xii. 11 [12].

     2. That which the Psalmist here

laments was threatened by Jere-

miah, vii. 33, "And the carcases of

this people shall be meat for the

fowls of the heaven and for the

beasts of the earth," &c. See also

viii. 2; 22; xv. 3; xvi. 4; xix.

7; the original passage being Deut.

xxviii. 26.

    THE BELOVED, Or, "Thy godly

ones." See on xvi. 10. Vaihinger

argues that such a designation of

the people is a proof that the Psalm

cannot belong to the Chaldean in-

vasion: for then the nation was

utterly evil and corrupt. But in I.

5, the same title is given to the

whole nation as in covenant with

God, at the very time when they

are charged with breaking that

covenant. So Habakkuk, after

complaining of the corruption of

his people, and seeing that their

sins will bring God's judgement

upon them, still speaks of them as

"righteous," in contrast with the

Chaldeans, who are "wicked"

(Hab. i. 13). So it may be here;

unless, indeed, the Psalmist is

thinking rather of "the faithful

few," the "holy seed," than of the

many whose sins had called for

chastisement.

    Some of those who regard this as

a Maccabean Psalm have seen in

the word Chasidim an allusion to

the  ]Asidai?oi who were slain by

Alcimus, I Macc. vii.

    3. This verse is quoted, but not

exactly (probably therefore from

memory), from the version of the

LXX., in 1 Macc. vii. 16, 17, the

Greek translator of the First Book

of the Maccabees, being familiar

with the Greek Psalter, as Ewald

has shown (Jahrb. vi. 25). For the

bearing of this quotation on the age

of the Psalm see the Introduction.

     THEY HAVE POURED OUT. And

so again in ver. 10, "which is

poured out." For it is the same word

which occurs also in ver. 6, "Pour

out Thy fury," &c.; and there may

perhaps be, as Hengstenberg thinks,

a designed antithesis in the repeti-

tion of the word. "As they have

poured out our blood, as do Thou

pour out upon them Thy fury."

    NONE TO BURY, this being ac-

cording to the deep-rooted feeling

of all ancient nations, a great ag-

gravation of the calamity. Comp.

Jer. xiv. i6, xxii. 18, 19.

 

                               PSALM LXXIX.                                79

 

4 We are become a reproach to our neighbours.

            A scorn and derision to them that are round about us.

 

5 How long, 0 Jehovah, wilt Thou be angry for ever?

            Shall Thy jealousy burn like fire?

6 Pour out Thy fury on the heathen which know Thee not,

            And upon the kingdoms which have not called upon

                        Thy Name.

7 For they have devoured c Jacob,

            And laid waste his pasture.

8 Oh remember not against us the iniquities of (our) fore-

            fathers;d

 

     4. With the exception of the first

word, this is an exact repetition of

xliv. 13 [14], where see note. (That

Psalm, as we have seen, may per-

haps be of the Maccabean age )

Comp. also lxxx. 6 [7].

    NEIGHBOURS. Such as the

Edomites, for instance (see cxxxvii.

7, Lam. iv. 21, 22), if the earlier

date be preferred.

     5-7. God may make use of the

heathen as "the rod of His anger,"

wherewith to chasten His people,

but nevertheless, when His purpose

is accomplished, then His wrath

is turned against the oppressor.

Comp. Ps. x. 5, &c. It is in this

conviction that the Psalmist prays,

ver. 6, "Pour out," &c. The

ground of his prayer is not only

that they have not called upon

God's name, but that they have de-

voured Jacob. Hence He asks for

a righteous retribution. Precisely in

the same spirit Habakkuk long be-

fore had said of the Chaldeans: "O

Jehovah, for judgement Thou hast

ordained them, and, 0 Thou Rock,

for correction Thou hast appointed

them" (i. 12); and then, after pour-

traying the work of judgement

wrought by that "bitter and hasty

nation," he tells of "the parable"

and "taunting proverb" which shall

greet their utter overthrow (ii. 6,

&c.). The same law of righteous

retribution is frequently recognised

by the Prophets. See for instance

Is. x. 12, 24—26, and elsewhere.

     5. FOR EVER. On this, as joined

with the question, see on xiii. 2.

    LIKE FIRE. Comp. lxxxiii. 21, and

the original passage, Deut. xxxii.

22.

    6. This verse and the next are

repeated with slight variation in

Jer. x. 25. As to the question

whether the Psalmist borrowed

from the Prophet, or the Prophet

from the Psalmist, see Introduc-

tion.

    7. PASTURE; or, "habitation of

shepherds." Such is the proper

meaning of the word (not sanctuary,

as the Chald.—but see 2 Sam. xv.

25). Comp. lxxxiii. 12 [13] ; Ex.

xv. 13 (where " His holy pasture"

may = "His holy border," lxxxiii.

54); Jer. xxv. 30. The figure is

thus suggested, which is afterwards

more fully expressed in ver. 13,

where, however, the word rendered

"pasture" is a different one in the

Hebrew. It is a favourite image

in all this group of Psalms. See

Introduction to Vol. I. p. 97.

     8. AGAINST US, lit. "with respect

to us," i.e. so that we should thereby

suffer. Daniel ix. 16 combines in

some measure the language of this

verse and ver. 4. The Prophet

confesses that Jerusalem and his

people have become "a reproach

unto all that are round about," not

 

80                           PSALM LXXIX.

 

            Let Thy tender mercies speedily come to meet us,

                        For we are brought very low.

9 Help us, 0 God of our salvation, for the glory of Thy

                        Name,

            Yea, deliver us, and cover our sins for Thy Name's sake.

10 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God?

            Let there be made known e among the heathen in

                        our sight

 

only because of their own sins, but

for "the iniquities of their fathers."

This heritage of sin and its curse

in indeed fully recognised in Holy

Scripture. God Himself publishes

it in the Law (Ex. xx. 5, comp.

xxxiv. 7). See also Lam. v. 7, and

2 Kings xxiii. 26. Hengstenberg,

Delitzsch, and Hupfeld are all at

pains to argue that the iniquities of

the fathers are not visited upon the

children, except when the children

themselves are guilty. In proof,

they appeal to Deut. xxiv. 16, 2

Kings xiv. 6, Ezek. xviii. 20. But

only the last of these passages is in

point; the other two, the latter of

which is merely a quotation from

the former, only lay down the rule

by which human tribunals are to be

bound. Fully to discuss this ques-

tion in a note would be quite im-

possible; it would require a volume.

I will only remark, (1) That as a

simple matter of fact, the innocent

do suffer for the guilty. Children

receive from their parents their

moral and physical constitution,

and both the taint and the chastise-

ment of sin are transmitted. To

this Scripture and experience alike

bear witness. (2) That there is a

mysterious oneness of being, a kind

of perpetual existence which mani-

fests itself in every family and

every nation. Each generation

is what all previous generations

have been tending to make it. The

stream of evil gathers and bears

along an ever-increasing mass of

corruption; so that upon the last

generation comes the accumulated

load of all that went before (Matt.

xxiii. 35). But (3) Scripture no-

where teaches that a man is guilty

in the sight of God for any sins but

his own. Sinning himself, he allows

the deeds of his fathers; he is a

partaker in their iniquities; he

helps to swell the fearful catalogue

of guilt which at last brings down

God's judgement; but his condem-

nation, if he be condemned, is for

his own transgression, not for those

of his fathers.

    COME TO MEET. E. V. "prevent "

God's mercy must anticipate, come

to meet man's necessity.

   9. Twice the appeal is made "for

Thy Name's sake; "that revelation

of God which He had made of

Himself to Moses, when he passed

by and proclaimed the Name of

Jehovah. Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7. Comp.

PS. xx. 1 [2], xxiii. 3, xxix. 2.

COVER, or, "make atonement

for," and so "forgive," as the word

is commonly rendered. See xxxii.

1. The sins have provoked God's

wrath, and from that wrath He only

can hide them.

     10. The first clause of the verse

is borrowed nearly word for word

from Joel ii. 17, and this Hengsten-

berg thinks rests on Ex. xxxii. 12,

Num. xiv. 15, 16, Deut. ix. 28. It

is repeated cxv. 2.

    HEATHEN. See on ver. I.

    IN OUR SIGHT, lit. "before our

eyes." There can hardly be an

allusion to Deut. vi. 22, as has been

supposed. The expression suggests

a feeling of joy and satisfaction in

beholding the righteous judgement

of God. Comp. lii. 6 [8], and note

there.

                                  PSALM LXXIX.                           81

 

            The revenging of the blood of Thy servants which

                        is poured out.

11. Let the sighing of the prisoner come before Thee,

            According to the greatness of Thy power spare Thou

                        those that are appointed unto death,

12 And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their

                        bosom

            Their reproach wherewith they have reproached Thee,

                        0 Lord.

13 So we Thy people and the sheep of Thy pasture will

            give thanks unto Thee for ever ;

            To all generations we will tell forth Thy praise.

 

    THE REVENGING OF THE BLOOD,

&c.: comp. Deut. xxxii. 43.

    11. THE SIGHING OF THE

PRISONER and THOSE THAT ARE

APPOINTED UNTO DEATH (Heb.

"the sons of death"), are expres-

sions found again in cii. 20 [21], a

Psalm written, there can be no

doubt during the Exile. By " the

prisoner" must be meant, if this

Psalm refers to the same time, the

whole nation, whose captivity in

Babylon, as well as their bondage

in Egypt, is regarded as an im-

prisonment. If, on the other hand,

the Psalm is Maccabean, the allu-

sion will be to those who were carried

captive by Antiochus Epiphanes.

       THY POWER. Heb. "Thine arm."

Comp. Num. xiv. 17, Deut. iii. 24.

    12. UNTO OUR NEIGHBOURS.

Because their scorn was more in-

tolerable, and also more inexcusable,

than the oppression of distant ene-

mies. Comp. ver. 4. SEVENFOLD

as in Gen. iv. 15, 24. INTO THEIR

BOSOM. Comp. Is. lxv. 7, Jer. xxxii,

18,

 

 

            a Oty;Ha. On this form see I. note e, cxiii. note a, cxiv, note b.

            b rbeOq. In Jer. xiv. 16 the same expression occurs, but there the verb

is in the Pie], and is followed by l. Gesen. (Thes. in v.) says that the

Qal is used of the burial of one (except Ez. xxxix. 12), and the Piel of

many. But here the Qal is used of many.

            c lkaxA. It seems unnecessary to suppose, with Ewald, Hupf., and

others, that the sing. is here written by mistake for the plur., although

sixteen of Kennicott's MSS., and nine of De Rossi's have the latter, and

it is also found in the parall. passage, Jer. x. 25. The use of the sing.

has been explained by supposing (I) that the Psalmist had some particular

enemy before his eyes: but the objection to this is that he immediately

returns to the plur. Or (2), as Delitzsch, that the great world-monarchy

is here regarded as one mass, subject to one despotic will. But it may

be merely the impersonal use of the verb, lit. "one hath devoured,"

(see on lvii, note h) with which the plur. might readily alternate. See the

same interchange of sing and plur. Is. xvii. 13, xxii. 7, 8.

82                                 PSALM LXXX.

 

            d MyniWxori. This might be an adj. qualifying tnOfE, "former sins," the

masc. instead of the fem., as in Is. lix. 2, MyliyDib;ma tOnOfE, and it is so taken

by the ancient Verss. But it is better to regard f as in construction

with just as we have in Lev. xxvi. 45, 'r tyriB;, "covenant with the

fathers." So here, "sins of the fathers," lit. "of those who were at the

first, or, were before us." We have the full expression in Jer. xi. 10,

‘rhA MtAObxE ‘fi.  “the iniquities of their fathers who were at the first.”

Comp. Ex. xx. 5, Lev. xxvi. 39.

            e fdaUAyi.  Masc. verb with fem. noun following, as often. (See Ges. § 144.)

From overlooking this came the wrong rendering of the A. V. The

P. B. V. is correct.

 

 

                                   PSALM LXXX.

 

            As in the case of most of the historical Psalms, so in the case of

this, it is impossible to say with certainty at what period it was written.

The allusions are never sufficiently definite to lead to any positive

conclusion. It is not a little remarkable that even the mention of

the tribes in ver. 2, so far from being a help, has rather been a

hindrance to interpretation. The prayer which recurs so often,

ver. 3, 7, 14, 19, would seem to imply that the people were in exile;

but it may be a prayer, not for restoration to their land, but only for

restoration to prosperity, the verb "turn us again" being capable

of either explanation. All that is certain is, that the time was a time

of great disaster, that the nation was trampled down under the foot of

foreign invaders. The Poet turns to God with the earnest and

repeated prayer for deliverance, and bases his appeal on the past.

God had brought a vine out of Egypt and planted it in Canaan.

How could He give up that vine to be devastated by the wild beasts?

Will He not appear at the head of the armies of Israel, as once He

went before her sons in the desert with a pillar of fire? Will He not,

as of old, lift up the light of his countenance upon them?

            The mention of the three tribes, "Ephraim, Benjamin, and

Manasseh," may, perhaps, denote that this is a Psalm, for the

northern kingdom. Some have supposed it to have been a prayer

of the Ten Tribes in their captivity in Assyria, and it has been

conjectured that the Inscription of the LXX., u[pe>r tou?  ]Assuri<ou, is

to be taken in this sense. Calvin, on the other hand, thinks that it

is a prayer for the Ten Tribes, by a poet of the southern kingdom.*

 

            * See Introduction to Psalm lxxxv.

                                     PSALM LXXX.                                  83

 

He reminds us that even after the disruption prophets were sent

from Judah to Israel, and that Amos (vi. 6) rebukes those in

Judah who do not "grieve for the wound of Joseph." That

Benjamin cannot be mentioned as the representative of the south-

ern kingdom, and Ephraim and Manasseh of the northern, is per-

fectly clear. Had the object been to describe the nation by its

two principal divisions, Judah would have been mentioned, and not

Benjamin. It is quite true that Benjamin remained steadfast in its

allegiance to the house of Solomon when Jeroboam revolted (see

I Kings xii. 21), and also that Jerusalem, the capital of the southern

kingdom stood partly in the borders of Benjamin; but neither the

one circumstance nor the other would account for the mention of

Benjamin instead of Judah; still less can the insertion of Benjamin

between Ephraim and Manasseh be explained on this hypothesis.

Hengstenberg attempts to argue that Benjamin really belonged to the

Ten Tribes, because Ahijah only promises to Rehoboam one tribe

(I Kings xi. 18, 32, 36); but as the Prophet at the same time divides

his mantle into twelve parts, and gives Jeroboam ten, he thus leaves

two for Rehoboam: one of these Rehoboam is supposed to have

already, and hence Ahijah only offers to give him one more. Still,

in the course of time a portion of Benjamin may have become

incorporated into the northern kingdom. The children of Rachel,

Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), and Benjamin, would naturally

be drawn together. Benjamin, the tribe of Saul and Ishbosheth, and

at one time the leading tribe, would not readily submit to the supre-

macy of Judah; a jealousy existed which was not extinguished in

David's reign (2 Sam. xix., xx., xxi.), and which may have been

revived later. It is, moreover, in favour of this view, that in the

previous verse Joseph is mentioned, and not Judah; and hence the

whole Psalm refers, apparently, only to the kingdom of Israel.

            Hupfeld, however, argues that the designations here made use of

are intended to describe the whole nation, and not a particular

portion of it. He observes (a) that the use of the first person

plural in ver. 2, 3 [3, 4], shows that the whole nation is meant (an

argument which is of no force, if the Psalm was written by a native

of the northern kingdom); (b) that, as regards the mention of Joseph,

this is only what we find in lxxxi. 4, 5 [5, 6], where Israel and Joseph

denote the whole nation, and in lxxvii. 15 [16], where Jacob and

Joseph are employed in the same way, and in both passages with

reference to the Mosaic times. So again in Obad. 18, “the house of

Joseph” is mentioned with "the house of Jacob," in opposition to

"the house of Esau," Jacob's brother. This remarkable usage of

later writers has received different explanations. Rashi accounts for

84                                     PSALM LXXX.

 

it by Joseph's position in Egypt as a second father and protector of

the nation; Qimchi, by the blessing pronounced on Ephraim and

Manasseh, Gen. xlviii. 16, and by the statement in I Chron. v. i, that

"the birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel."

Others again suppose that Joseph is mentioned, because, as being

pre-eminent above all his brethren, he might be regarded as a fourth

patriarch, and Benjamin, because he was a son of the same mother.

Hupfeld admits that the phenomenon may be partially explained on

these grounds, but sees in this prominence given to the northern tribes

by the poet of Judah (for such he holds the writer of the Psalm to be)

a hope implied of the re-union and restoration of all the tribes.

After the dispersion of the Ten Tribes, and when calamities fell

heavy upon the two, the old animosities were forgotten, and the one

desire of Prophets and Psalmists was to see the breach healed, and

the ancient unity restored. Hence the use of the Catholic names

"Israel" and "Jacob," and hence, also, the mention of "Joseph,"

the best-beloved son of Jacob, even when Judah only was left.*

            But it is strange that Hupfeld entirely passes over, without remark,

that particular association of the three tribes which most favours his

view. In the journey through the wilderness these three tribes were

ranged side by side, and in the order of march followed immediately

behind the Ark (Num. ii. 17-24). This explains their mention in the

Psalm. The prayer of the Psalmist is, that God would again lead

His people, again go forth at the head of their armies as He did of

old. All the allusions in the Psalm favour this interpretation. God

is addressed as the Shepherd of Israel who led Joseph "like a flock,"

with manifest reference to the journeys through the wilderness (see

lxxvii. 20 [21]). The petition is, that He who "is throned above the

Cherubim would shine forth." Here the allusion is to the Ark, and

the manifestations of the Divine glory. Then naturally comes the

mention of those tribes whose position was directly behind the Ark.

Hence the whole prayer may be regarded as a prayer for national

restoration, and for the same Divine succour which had been so

signally vouchsafed to their fathers in the wilderness.

            Still, whilst on this ground I am disposed to believe that the whole

nation is the object of the Psalmist's hopes and prayer, I am also

inclined to think that the prominence given to Joseph and Benjamin

may best be accounted for by supposing that the Psalmist was either

 

            * Hupfeld appeals, in support of his view, to such passages as Hos. i.

10, 11 [ii. 1, 2]; iii. 5; Am. ix. 8-11; Is. xi. 11-13; Jer. xxx. xxxi. (where

there is a transition from "Jacob," chap. xxx. to "Israel and Ephraim,"

chap. xxxii.); Ezek. xxxvii. 15-28; Zech. x. 6; comp. Ps. Ix. 7 [9]; lxviii.

26, 27 [27, 28].

                                     PSALM LXXX.                                      85

 

a native of the northern kingdom, or that he had some strong sym-

pathy with his brethren in Israel. In the 77th, 78th, and 81st

Psalms, we meet with a similiar peculiarity in the form of the

national designation, and in all it may indicate some special relation

on the part of the writer to the kingdom of Israel.

            The strophical division of the Psalm is marked by the refrain,

ver. 3, 7, 19, with a variation of it in ver. 14. The strophes are

thus of very unequal length. The first has three verses; the second

four; the third twelve; though this last, again, is partially broken by

the imperfect refrain in ver. 14. The first two of these strophes are,

in fact, introductory, containing the cry for help, and the lamentation

over disaster. The third constitutes the principal part of the Psalm,

where, under the figure of a vine, the history of Israel is pourtrayed.

In the refrain we have even more emphatically repeated the burden

of the Psalmist's prayer, the emphasis being each time deepened by

the name given to God; first, "God;" then, "God of Hosts;"

lastly, "Jehovah, God of Hosts."

 

[FOR THE PRECENTOR. ACCORDING TO "THE LILIES—A TESTIMONY."

                               A PSALM OF ASAPH.a]

 

1 0 THOU Shepherd of Israel, give ear,

            Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock;

                        Thou that sittest (throned above) the Cherubim,

                                    shine forth.

2 Before Ephraim, and Benjamin, and Manasseh,

            Stir up Thy might and come to save us.

 

I. SHEPHERD OF ISRAEL. On

the figure as common to this group

of Psalms, bearing the name of

Asaph, see on lxxviii. 52. There is

an allusion to Gen. xlviii. 15, "the

God who was my Shepherd" [E.V.

"who fed me"], and xlix. 24. In

both passages Jacob blesses Joseph

and his sons. So here it follows:

"Thou that leadest Joseph like a

flock."

    (THRONED ABOVE) THE CHERU-

BIM: as in xcix. 1. Comp. xxii. 3

[4], "throned above the praises of

Israel," where see note. The expres-

sion denotes the dwelling of God in

His temple and the manifestation

of His presence there, as is evident

from the verb following.

    SHINE FORTH, appear in all Thy

Glory and Majesty for our help.

See 1. 2, where the same word is

used of God's coming forth from

His Sanctuary in Zion to execute

judgement.

    2. To SAVE US. Heb. "for our

salvation."

   BEFORE EPHRAIM, &c. The

three tribes are mentioned together

with reference to the position which

they occupied in the march through

the wilderness, where they followed

in the order of procession imme-

diately behind the Ark. See Num.

 

 

 

86                                 PSALM LXXX.

 

3 0 God, turn us again,

            And show the light of Thy countenance, that we may

                        be saved.

4 0 Jehovah, God (of) hosts,

            How long wilt Thou be angry with Thy people that

                        prayeth?

 

ii. 17-24. [The prep. "before" is

used thus of the order in proces-

sions. See 2 Sam. iii. 31, Job xxi.

33.] This falls in with the language

of the previous verse, "Thou that

sittest throned above the Cherubim,

shine forth. So Lyra:  "Hoc dicitur

quia istae tres tribus figebant ten-

toria ad occidentalem plagam taber-

naculi. In parte vero occidentali

tabernaculi erat sanctum sanctorum,

ubi erat propitiatorium, in quo da-

bantur divina responsa." It is

strange how completely this fact,

which is the obvious explanation of

the mention of these three tribes

together, has been overlooked by

nearly all the recent German inter-

preters. Bear this in mind, and it

becomes evident that, whatever the

national disaster here deplored, the

prayer is, that these tribes may be

restored to their ancient position,

united as of old, and as of old led

by God Himself, with the visible

symbols of His Presence.

     3. TURN US AGAIN, or "restore

us," either from the Exile (as the

Chald.), supposing the Psalm to

have been written after the capti-

vity of the Ten Tribes; or in the

more general sense of recovery from

disaster, as in lx. 1 [3].

    SHOW THE LIGHT OF THY COUN-

TENANCE. Again an allusion to

the history of the people in the wil-

derness, Num. vi. 25. See on lxvii.

1 [2], iv. 6 [7].

    4. GOD (OF) HOSTS: see on lix. 5

[6]. On this repetition of the

Divine Names Hengstenberg re-

marks:  "In prayer all depends

upon God, in the full glory of His

being, walking before the soul. It

is only into the bosom of such a

God that it is worth while to pour

out lamentations and prayer. 'Je-

hovah,' corresponding to the ‘Shep-

herd of Israel,’ ver. 1, points to the

fulness of the love of God toward

His people : and ‘God, (God of)

Hosts,’ corresponding to ‘throned

above the Cherubim,’ to His infinite

power to help them."

     HOW LONG WILT THOU BE AN-

GRY, &c., lit. "How long hast Thou

smoked." The preterite after the

interrogative in this sense is un-

usual. But the full form of expres-

sion would be, " how long hast

Thou been . . . and wilt continue

to be . . . angry." Comp. Ex. x. 3,

xvi. 28. This use of the verb "to

smoke," said of a person, is also

without parallel. The usual phrase

would be, "will Thine anger

smoke." Comp. lxxiv. I; xviii. 8

[9] (where see note); Deut. xxix. 20

[Heb. 19]. But the figure is bolder

here than in the other passages, as

it is applied immediately to God

Himself. Such figures, remarks

Delitzsch, would be impossible,

were not the power of the Divine

wrath to be regarded as belonging

essentially to the very nature of the

Divine Being. God, who is Light

and Love, is also "a consuming

fire."

    WITH THY PEOPLE THAT PRAY-

ETH, lit. "in (i.e. during, or it may

be, notwithstanding,) the prayer of

Thy people: "(Jerome ad ora-

tionem), not as the E.V., Hengst.

and others, "against the prayer of

Thy people: "for that is not the

object of God's displeasure. That

which seems so mysterious, that

which calls for the expostulation and

the entreaty is, that even whilst they

pray, in spite of that prayer, God's

wrath is hot against them. Some

                              PSALM LXXX.                                 87

 

5 Thou hast fed them with tears as bread,b

            And hast made them to drink of tears in large

                        measure.c

6 Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours,

            And our enemies mock (us) at their pleasure.

7 0 God (of) hosts, turn us again,

            And show the light of Thy countenance, that we may

                        be saved.

 

8 Thou broughtest d a vine out of Egypt,

            Thou didst drive out the nations and plant it;

9 Thou madest room before it,

            And when it had taken root, it filled the land:

 

have seen here an implied opposi-

tion between the smoking of God's

wrath, and the prayer which ascends

like the smoke of incense (see cxli.

2, Rev. v. 8, viii. 3). But this seems

fanciful.

    6. A STRIFE, i.e. not an object of

contention amongst themselves, but

rather an object which they vied

with one another in assailing.

    UNTO OUR NEIGHBOURS, not the

great powers, such as the Assyrians,

Chaldeans, and Egyptians, but the

petty states which bordered on

Judea, who were always ready to

exult over every misfortune that

befel the Israelites. Comp. lxxix.

12.

    AT THEIR PLEASURE, lit. "for

themselves," i.e. for their own satis-

faction, the pronoun being used to

mark the reflex nature of the action,

as for instance in Is. xxxi. 9. It

cannot mean "among themselves,"

as E.V., nor is this the indirect use

of the pronoun for the direct, as in

lxiv. 5 [6].

    8. THOU BROUGHTEST OUT, Or,

"transplantedst." The word is

used of rooting up a tree out of its

soil, Job xix. 10. And so here. (In

lxxviii. 52 it is applied to the people

in the literal sense of "making to

depart.") Delitzsch quotes from

Shemoth Rabbah, c. 44. "When cul-

tivators wish to improve a vine,

what do they do? They root it up

out of its place, and transplant it to

another." See also Vayyikra Rab-

bah, c. 36.

    A VINE. The same comparison

is found in other passages: Is. v.

1-7; xxvii. 2-6; Jer. ii. 21; xii.

10; Ezek. xvii. 5-10. In some of

these passages the figure of a vine-

yard is mixed with that of the vine,

and such is partly the case here:

see ver. 12. That there is a refer-

ence to the blessing of Joseph (see

above on ver. 1) can hardly be

doubted. Observe especially the

word "son," ver. 15 (E.V. "bough")

compared with Gen. xlix. 22,

"Joseph is a fruitful son," (E.V. "a

fruitful bough"). Cassiodorus, re-

marking on the aptness of the figure,

says: "Vinea ecclesiae aptissime

comparatur. Quoniam sicut illa

inter folia caduca necessarios infert

fructus, sic et ista inter umbras

turbatiles peccantium ornatur fruge

sanctorum; qui seculi hujus afflic-

tione tanquam torcularibus pressi

saporem norunt emanare dulcissi-

mum."

   THOU DIDST DRIVE OUT, &C.

Comp. xliv. 2 [3].

    9. MADEST ROOM, by destroy-

ing the Canaanites, as the soil is

prepared for planting, by "gather-

 

 

88                              PSALM LXXX.

 

10  The mountains were covered with the shadow of it,

            And the boughs thereof were (like) the cedars of God.

11 She sent out her branches unto the sea,

            And her young shoots unto the river.

 

12 Why hast Thou broken down her hedges,

            So that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?

13 The boar out of the wood e doth root it up,

            And the wild beasts of the field devour it.

14 0 God (of) hosts, turn again, we beseech Thee,

            Look down from heaven, and see,

                        And visit this vine;

15 And protect f that which Thy right hand hath planted,

 

ing out the stones," &c. Comp,

Is. V. 2.

    10. CEDARS OF GOD. See on

xxxvi. 6 [7]. Hengst. and others,

who find the comparison exagger-

ated, supply the verb from the first

clause, and render: "And the cedars

of God (were covered) with the

boughs thereof." But thus the ex-

pression "cedars of God" is mean-

ingless; and after all, the hyperbole

in the figure is at least not greater

than in Ezek. xxxi. 3, &c. Comp.

Joel iii. 18 [iv. 18]; Am. ix. 13.

     11. SEA . . . RIVER, i.e. from

Gaza on the Mediterranean to

Euphrates. Comp. lxxii. 8. The

allusion is to the time of Solomon,

of whom it is said, that "he had

dominion over all the region on this

side the river, from Tiphsah (i.e.

Thapsacus, on the western bank of

the Euphrates) even to Assah (or

Gaza)," 1 Kings iv. 24. Comp.

Deut. xi. 24, "Every place which

the soles of your feet shall tread

upon shall be yours: from the wil-

derness and Lebanon, from the

river, the river Euphrates, even

unto the west sea shall be your

boundaries." See also Gen. xxviii.

14 ; Josh. i. 4.

    12. Portions of this verse are re-

peated in lxxxix. 40, 41 [41, 42].

Comp. also Is. v. 5. The verb

PLUCK occurs again only in the

Song of Sol. v. I.

    13. THE BOAR OUT OF THE

WOOD, as in Jer. v. 6, "the lion out

of the wood." It has been supposed

that some particular enemy is meant,

such as the Assryrian monarch or

Nebuchadnezzar, but this is nega-

tived by the indefinite expression in

the parallel clause, "the wild beasts

of the field," or more literally, "that

which moveth in the field," as in l.

11, the only other place where the

phrase occurs. Lyra finds a par-

ticular reason why Nebuchadnezzar

should be meant, "who is so called

because he had for a long time his

dwelling among the wild beasts!"

    14. This verse is a reminiscence,

so to speak, of the refrain with

which the first two strophes close

in verses 3 and 7. It stands, more-

over, where it might naturally have

formed the conclusion of a third

strophe, which, as consisting of

seven verses, would have been of

the same length as the other two

together. But the verse is too

closely connected with what follows

to be regarded properly as the end

of a strophe.

    15. PROTECT. The E.V. takes

the word, which occurs only here, as

 

 

 

                             PSALM LXXX.                               89

 

            And the son whom Thou madest strong for Thyself.

 

16 It is burnt with fire, it is cut down;

            They perish at the rebuke of Thy countenance.

17 Let Thy hand be over the man of Thy right hand,

            Over the son of man whom Thou madest strong for

                        Thyself:

 

a noun, "the vineyard;" and so the

P.B.V. "the place of the vineyard."

Others, "stock" or "stem." But it

may be a verb, as the LXX. have

rendered it. See more in the Cri-

tical Note.

    THE SON. Ewald and others

render, "the branch," or "shoot,"

referring to Gen. xlix. 22, where the

word no doubt occurs in this sense

(see above on ver. 8), a sense which

would be very suitable here with

reference to the figure of the vine.

But the expressions in ver. 17, "son

of man," "son of Thy right hand,"

seem rather to indicate that here,

too, the figure is dropt. The am-

biguous word may, however, have

been chosen designedly, the more

readily to connect the figure with

what follows. THE SON evidently

means the nation of Israel, as in

Ex. iv. 22; Hos. xi. 1.

   THOU MADEST STRONG, i.e.whom

Thou didst carefully, rear till he

reached maturity. Comp. Is. lxiv.

14, where the same word is used of

a tree. See also lxxxix. 21 [22], and

similar expressions in Is. i. 2, xiii.

4.

    16. IT IS CUT DOWN. The word

occurs again only in Is. xxxiii. 12,

of thorns cut down that they may

be burned. In this verse the la-

mentation over the present con-

dition of the nation is resumed.

In the first clause the figure of

the vine reappears; in the second

there is an abrupt transition to

the nation of whom the vine is

the figure. Hence Schroder con-

jectured that this verse ought to

follow ver. 13, and this is approved

by Hupfeld, for then, he says: (I)

the second member, which now

refers awkwardly to the Israelites,

might refer to the "boar" and "the

wild beasts," and be rendered as

the expression of a wish. "Let

them perish," &c.; and (2) the latter

portion of the Psalm, from ver. 8,

would thus consist of three equal

strophes of four verses each. He

takes ver. 14 as a variation of the

refrain in ver. 3, 7, and as the con-

clusion of a strophe.

    17. MAN OF THY RIGHT HAND.

This has been explained (1) "one

whom Thy right hand protects,"

one who is the object of Thy special

care and love; or (2) "one whom

Thou hast won for Thyself by Thy

right hand" (in allusion to God's

putting forth His power on behalf of

Israel); or (3) with reference to ver.

15, one whom God's right hand

planted. This last is perhaps best, as

thus the two clauses of ver. 7 answer

to the two of ver. 15. Israel has

been both planted and made strong

by God, and on both grounds asks

God's protecting care. Some see

in this title, together with that of

"son of man" in the next clause,

a designation of the Messiah, who

in the same sense is said, in cx. 1,

5, to sit on the right hand of God.

[Hupfeld, in mentioning this view,

quotes xvi. 8, cxxi. 5, as parallels,

but in those places God is said to

be on the right hand of David and

of Israel, i.e. to protect them,

whereas the Messiah is said to be

on the right hand of God, as Him-

self invested with kingly dignity.]

But the obvious relation of this

verse to ver. 17 rather leads to the

conclusion that the nation of Israel,

the vine spoken of before, is meant.

And so Calvin understands it.

 

 

90                             PSALM LXXX.

18 So will we not go back g from Thee:

            Do Thou quicken us, and we will call upon Thy

                        Name.

19 0 Jehovah, God (of) hosts, turn us again,

            Show the light of Thy countenance, that we may be

                        saved.

 

    18. The first clause of this verse                     utilitas ab ipso non discedere con-

may perhaps be connected with                          sequenter exponitur ; cum dici-

the previous verse, and be rendered,                   tur, vivificabis nos." And on these

"and who (i.e. the son of man) hath                    last words Augustine, "ut tecum

not gone back from Thee." See                          non terrena amemus in quibus prius

Critical Note.                                                    mortui eramus."

     SO WILL WE NOT, &c. Cassio-                      QUICKEN US, i.e. restore us to a

dorus says: "Quae enim semel                            new life. Comp. lxxi. 20; lxxxv. 6

mente concepimus cordis oculis                          [7].

jugiter intuemur. Quae autem sit

 

            a See notes on the Inscriptions of xlv., lx., lxix.

            b On the construction of this clause, see note on lx., note c, Vol. I., p.

476. In the next clause the construction is apparently changed. Properly

speaking, the verb hqwh takes a double accus. (of the person and the

thing), whereas here we have the prep. B; instead of the second accus.,

"Thou makest them to drink of (B; lit. with) tears." As there is no other

instance of such a construction, Hengst. takes wyliwA as the second accus.

and renders, "Thou makest them to drink a measure consisting of

tears;" the measure, he says, is the thing given them to drink;" of

tears," denotes the contents of the measure. But the former construction

is the most simple and obvious, in spite of the absence of an exact

parallel, and so apparently the LXX.: potiei?j h[ma?j e]n da<krusin e]n me<tr&.

Sym. e]po<tisaj h[ma?j meta> dakru<wn me<tr&.

            c wyliwA. The word (which only occurs again Is. xl. 12) means, evidently,

a vessel of a particular size for measuring liquids: lit. "a third," i.e. of

course of some larger measure, as we say a quart. Comp. the Latin

triental. Jerome renders tripliciter, "in threefold degree," a definite for

an indefinite number. The Chald. "(Thou hast made us drink) wine,

two-thirds of which consists of tears." But Hupfeld argues that the word

denotes not a measure of large size, but one of the usual size, such as

would commonly be used for the purpose of drinking. He explains it

thus: "Thou hast made them drink of tears as in (or from) a cup (the

accus. describing the manner of an action), as wine is commonly drunk

from a cup." Hence the phrase would signify that tears were their daily

portion (see xlii. 4). Bunsen accepting this says, the idea of abundance

can only be derived from the contrast between the tears falling drop by

drop, and the cup full of tears.

            d faysi.Ta. It seems impossible to render this except as a past, though

Ewald and Olsh. adopt the present. Hupfeld merely remarks, that in the  

                                       PSALM LXXX.                                            91

 

passage beginning here, "the earlier acts of God are described partly in

perfects, partly in imperfects, with or without Vau conv., as in lxxviii."

But he overlooks the peculiarity here, which is, that the tense is used as

an imperf., without any perfect tense having preceded. In lxxviii. 9, on

the other hand, where the Psalmist begins his narrative of the past, he

uses first the preterite, then the fut. with Vau consec., and then the simple

fut. as the aor. or imperf., describing past action. And this is undoubtedly

the rule. See xviii. 5 (pret.), 7 (fut.), and then a frequent interchange

throughout the Psalm. In fact, so regular is this usage, that Delitzsch

makes the use of xObyA, in Habak. iii. 3 a reason for concluding that the

Prophet cannot be speaking of the past: otherwise, he argues, a pret.

must have preceded. The fact that the vision opens with the fut. tense

compels us to regard the Theophany as relating, not to the past (though

its images are borrowed from the past), but to the future, or rather the

vision itself is present to the Prophet's eye—"God cometh," &c.—whilst

it pourtrays the future. The occurrence, however, of the fut. (imperf.) in

this Psalm at the beginning of a past narrative seems to show that such

an argument as that of Delitzsch is not of itself convincing; though he

is, I believe, right in thinking that Habakkuk's vision regards the future,

not the past.

            e rfaya. The suspended f has had all kinds of fanciful meanings attached

to it by the Rabbinical writers: the seventy years of the Babylonish

captivity, the hanging of the Messiah on a tree; or, according to the

Talmud, the middle letter of the Psalms, as similarly a large letter

denotes the middle letter of the Pentateuch, &c.

            f hnA.Ka. This has been taken (I) as a noun in the sense of "plant"

(Chald., Syr., Ibn Ez., Qimchi, Jerome, radicem) or "vineyard" (E. V.),

Chald. xdbvf, in which case the whole of ver. 16 depends on the verb dqoP;,

which is thus construed first with the accus., and then with the prep.

But it is better, perhaps, to take the word as a verb in the imperat. So

the LXX. kata<rtisai, as if it were = hnAn;OK, from NUB. There can be little

doubt, however, that J. D. Mich. is right in deriving it from a root Nnk

(allied to Nng, to hedge about, to protect, and the Arab.     ), construed with

lfa, as verbs of "covering" commonly are. There is still a difficulty

about the vocalization. The proper form of the imperat. Qal with h para-

gogic would be hnAKo. But we have orah for orrah, Num. xxii. 6, and we

find a instead of o in verbs f'f, as lGa cxix. 22.  hn.AKa, therefore, is of the

same form as lGa, with h paragog.

            g  gOsnA. This is usually taken as fut. Qal t plur. with the vowel o

instead of u. Hupf. objects to this (though so slight a variation of the

vowel need not trouble us), and alleges, further, that the verb never occurs

in the Qal except in the part. liii. 4, Prov. xiv. 14. He contends, therefore,

that it is perf. Niph. 3 sing., and that the first clause of this verse must be

joined closely with what precedes, as a kind of further relative clause,

"the son of man (whom) Thou madest so strong for Thyself, and (who)

hath not gone back from Thee."

 

92                                    PSALM LXXXI.

 

                                        PSALM LXXXI.

 

            THIS Psalm was apparently intended to be sung at one or more of

the great national Festivals. There has, however, been much dif-

ference of opinion as to the particular Festival or Festivals for which

it was originally composed.

            I. The Jewish interpretation is, for the most part, in favour of the

Feast of Trumpets at the New Year. According to the Targum, the

Talmud (see especially Babli Rosh hash-Shana), the Midrash, and

the Book Zohar, this is a New Year's Psalm. It was to be sung, as

it still is, in the Synagogue, on the first day of the month Tishri,

the new moon which, beyond all others, was celebrated by the

blowing of cornets. But this view can only be maintained by

giving to the word Keseh, in ver. 3 [4], the meaning, not of "the full

moon," but either of "the new moon," or, more generally, of "an

appointed time."

            2. Others are of opinion that there is no allusion to the new moon,

and that the Festival intended must be one celebrated at the full

moon, and therefore either the Feast of Tabernacles or the Passover.

            3. According to De Wette, Hengstenberg, and others, this Psalm

was intended to be sung at the Passover. Hengstenberg's main

argument rests upon the language of ver. 5, where the feast is

described as one which was instituted at the time of the Exodus,

and as appears in verses 6-10, instituted with special reference

to that event. He contends, accordingly, that the word chodesh,

in ver. 3, must be rendered, not "new moon," but "month"—

"Blow the cornet in the month," that month which is emphatically

the first and chief in the year, the month in which the Passover

occurred. Comp. Exod. xii. i, 2, "And the Lord said to Moses

and Aaron in the land of Egypt, this month shall be to you the chief

of months, it shall be the first month of the year to you," "In

the full moon," of the second clause, defines exactly the time in the

sacred month in which the Festival fell. Just as it is said in Levit.

xxiii. 5, "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is

the passover of the Lord," so here the note of time is the same: "in

the month . . . . on the full moon." "Month," says Hengstenberg,

and not "new moon," is the meaning of the word throughout the

Pentateuch. But all festivals, indeed all holy convocations, were

regarded as memorials of the deliverance out of Egypt. And the

tradition of the Second Temple makes this a New Year's Psalm.

 

                              PSALM  LXXXI.                                        93

 

            4. A fourth view, and that which is now maintained by some of

the most eminent critics (Ewald, Delitzsch, and Hupfeld), combines

the first and second interpretations; for it supposes that the exhorta-

tion of the Psalm refers both to the Feast of Trumpets on the first of

the month, and to the Feast of Tabernacles, which lasted from the

fifteenth to the twenty-first or twenty-second. This would explain

the mention both of "the new moon" and of "the full moon," both

marking important Festivals, and Festivals occurring in the same

month. Both would be kept with loud expressions of joy. The

blowing of cornets, and the apparatus of musical instruments, by

which the first is to be announced, were apparently not usual at the

Passover, whereas they would be perfectly in keeping with so joyous

an occasion as the Feast of Tabernacles. The music in Hezekiah's

celebration of the Passover (2 Chron. xxx. 21, &c.), to which Heng-

stenberg refers, may have been exceptional. The peculiar circum-

stances under which the Feast was then kept, and the great joy

which it called forth, would sufficiently account for this mode of

celebration, but there is no hint given that musical instruments were

employed, as the Passover was originally observed; and the general

character of the Feast is against such a supposition.* On the other

hand, the direction, in Num. x. 10, that the trumpets should be blown

"in the day of your gladness and in your solemn days, and in the

beginnings of your months," may be taken as evidence that on all

Festivals and therefore on the Passover, music accompanied the

observance of the Feast. It is, however, a further evidence that the

Feast of Tabernacles is meant, that it is styled so emphatically "our

feast." See note on ver. 4.

            On the relation of the two Festivals which, on this supposition, are

combined, more will be found in the note on that verse.

            Ewald observes that there is so much resemblance between this

Psalm and Psalms lxxvii. and xcv. that, but for certain peculiarities

by which this is marked, all might be assigned to the same author.

And Delitzsch thinks that Psalm lxxxi. "unites the lyric element of

Psalm lxxvii. with the didactic element of Psalm lxxviii." "All these

three Psalms," he observes," have the same character: all end in the

same abrupt manner. The author rises to the height of his subject,

and then suddenly drops it. Again, in lxxvii. the nation is spoken

of as ‘the sons of Jacob and Joseph,’ in lxxviii. as 'the sons of

Ephraim,' and here simply as ‘Joseph.’ Like lxxix., this Psalm

rests upon the history of the Pentateuch, upon Exodus and

Deuteronomy."

 

            * Hence Tholuck conjectures that this Psalm was composed for

Hezekiah's celebration.

 

94                                 PSALM LXXXI.

 

            Properly speaking there are no strophical divisions. The Psalm

consists of two parts:--

            I. In the first the Psalmist summons his nation to the Festival,

bidding them keep it with loud music and song, and every utterance

of joy, because it was ordained of God, and instituted under circum-

stances worthy of everlasting remembrance. Ver. 1-5.

            II. In the next he abruptly drops his own words. What those

circumstances were, what the meaning of God's revelation then

given, the people had forgotten; and it is for him, in his character

of Prophet, as well as Poet, to declare. It is for him to show

how that voice from the past had its lesson also for the present;

how every festival was God's witness to Himself, how it repeated

afresh, as it were, in clear and audible accents, the great facts of

that history, the moral of which was ever old and yet ever new.

But the Psalmist conveys this instruction with the more imposing

solemnity, when, suddenly breaking off his exhortation, he leaves

God Himself to speak.

            It is no more the ambassador, it is the Sovereign who appears

in the midst of His people, to remind them of past benefits, to claim

their obedience on the ground of those benefits, and to promise the

utmost bounties of grace, on the condition of obedience, for the

future. Ver. 6-16.

            There could be no grander conception of the true significance of

the religious feasts of the nation than this. They are so many

memorials of God's love and power, so many monuments set up to

testify at once of His goodness, and of Israel's ingratitude and per-

verseness, so many solemn occasions on which he comes as King

and Father to visit them, to rekindle anew their loyalty and their

affection, and to scatter amongst them the treasures of His bounty.

To give this interpretation to the Festivals, to put in its true light the

national joy at their celebration, appears to have been the object of

the Psalmist. If so, it is a matter of secondary importance what

particular Festival or Festivals were chiefly before his eye.

 

[FOR THE PRECENTOR. UPON THE. GITTITH.a (A PSALM) OF ASAPH.]

 

                        I SING joyfully unto God our strength,

                               Shout aloud unto the God of Jacob.

 

     Ver. 1-5. The Festivals are to

be kept with the loudest expressions

of joy and thanksgiving, as Israel's

special privilege, as instituted by

God Himself, and as a great me-

memorial of His redemption.

    1. SHOUT ALOUD. There may

be (as Delitzsch suggests) an allu-

sion in this verb to the expression

in Num. xxix. I, where the noun

employed is from the same root

(rendered in the E.V., "it is a day

 

 

                                    PSALM LXXXI.                                      95

2 Raise a song, and bring hither b the timbrel,

            The pleasant harp with the lute.

3 Blow the cornet in the new moon,

            At the full moon,c on our (solemn) feast.d

 

of blowing the trumpets." On the

first day of the seventh month

(Tishri) two silver trumpets (at a

later period 120, see 2 Chron. v. 12)

were to be blown.

    2. RAISE A SONG, &c., or "take

music" (the noun is used both of

the human voice and of instrumen-

tal music), "and strike the timbrel."

See Critical Note.

    3. THE CORNET. "The shophar

is especially remarkable as being

the only Hebrew instrument which

has been preserved to the present

day in the religious services of the

Jews. It is still blown, as in time

of old, at the Jewish new year's

festival, according to the command

of Moses (Num. xxix. I)." (Engel, 

Hist. of Music, p. 292.) These in-

struments are commonly made of

rams' horns; they differ somewhat

in shape, some being much more

curved than others, and the tube

not being round but flattened.

Engel mentions one in the Great

Synagogue in London, which has

this verse of the Psalm inscribed on

it. He also quotes David Levi

(Rites and Ceremonies of the Jews),

as saying that the trumpet is made

of a ram's horn, in remembrance

of Abraham's sacrifice (Gen. xxii.

12, 13), which, according to the

Jewish tradition, was on the new

year's day, "and therefore we make

use of a ram's horn, beseeching the

Almighty to be propitious to us, in

remembrance and through the

merits of that great event."

     IN THE NEW MOON. Strictly

speaking, this might be any new

moon; for in the beginnings of

their months they were to blow

with trumpets over their burnt

offerings, &c., Num. x. 10; but per-

haps the new moon of the seventh

month, the new year's day, is espe-

cially meant. See Num. xxix. 1.

And so the Chald. paraphrases,

"in the month of Tishri."

    AT THE FULL MOON. Such is

apparently the meaning of the

word here, and of the similar Ara-

maic form in Prov. vii. 20 (though

the E.V. has in both passages "the

appointed time"). If, then, the new

moon is that of the seventh month,

"the full moon" must denote the

Feast of Tabernacles, which began

on the 15th of the same month.

Accordingly there follows

    ON OUR (SOLEMN) FEAST, i.e.

the Feast of Tabernacles, which

was also called pre-eminently "the

Feast," I Kings viii. 2, 65 (where

the E.V. has "a feast," wrongly),

xii. 32; Ezek. xlv. 25; Neh. viii.

14; 2 Chron. v. 3, vii. 8. Josephus

calls it h[ e[orth> h[ a[giwta<th kai>

megi<sth (Antt. viii. 4), and Plutarch,

e[orth> megi<sth kai> teleiota<th tw?n

 ]Ioudai<wn (Sympos. iv. 6, 2).

     But are we to understand that

both Festivals, that at the new

moon and that at the full, were to

be ushered in with the blowing of

cornets? Such seems to be the

meaning. Ewald, Rosenm., Hitzig,

and Delitzsch, all think that the

music was a part of the celebration

of both the feasts. Delitzsch thus

explains, I think rightly, the re-

ference to the two. Between the

Feast of Trumpets on the 1st of

Tishri, and the Feast of Taber-

nacles, which lasted from the 15th

to the 21st or 22nd, lay the Great

Day of Atonement on the loth of

the month. This circumstance

gave a peculiar significance to the

Feast of Tabernacles—made it, in

fact, the chief of all the Feasts,

inasmuch as it was the expression

of the joy of forgiveness and re-

conciliation declared by the High

Priest to the nation on that solemn

day. Hence it was kept with more

96                       PSALM LXXXI

4 For it is a statute for Israel,

            An ordinance of the God of Jacob:

5 He appointed it as a testimony in Joseph,

            When He went forth against the land of Egypt,

than ordinary rejoicing. And hence

the Psalmist would have the glad-

ness of the new moon repeated "at

the full moon, on the day of our

solemn feast." The first was but a

prelude to the last; the one looked

forward to the other; and therefore

the loud music of the one was

to usher in the other also. Hupfeld

suggests that the very change of

preposition in the last clause, "for

(rather than on) our feast-day,"

may have been designed to mark

that that feast, the Feast of Taber-

nacles, was chiefly in the Psalmist's

mind, so that the blowing of the

cornets at the new moon was

merely preliminary to, and in-

tended as a preparation for, this

feast. Then the words "at the

full moon," denote, not the time

of the blowing of the cornets, &c.,

but the time when the feast was

held, so that the two clauses of the

last member of the verse might be

transposed, "for our feast-day at

the full moon." But this is un-

necessary when we remember what

a feast of gladness the Feast of

Tabernacles was, and long con-

tinued to be. Plutarch, in his time,

terms it a bacchanalian festival.

And the later Rabbis were wont to

say, that one who had not witnessed

the celebration of this feast did not

know what joy was ("had not seen

joy in his days").

      4. FOR. The festivals are thus

joyfully to be kept because they are

of Divine appointment, and a spe-

cial and distinguishing privilege of

the nation. The same preposition

before "Israel" marks them as the

recipients, before "God" denotes

that He is the Author and Giver of

the law. Hengstenberg's explana-

tion is unnecessarily artificial here.

     IT IS. The pronoun is used gene-

rally, in a neuter sense, referring

either to the mode of celebration

described in ver. 1-3, or to the

feast itself; but the latter was more

particularly enjoined in the Law.

     ORDINANCE, Or "Custom" (the

word usually elsewhere translated.

"judgement"); for the word in this

sense, see xviii. 22 [23], Gen. xl. 13,  

&c.; and

    5. TESTIMONY, used of a single

law, not, as usually, of the whole

body of laws. See note on xix. 7.

It was a great witness and memorial

set up of God's power and love.

     JOSEPH (or as it is here written,

"Jehoseph," as elsewhere we find

Jehonadab for Jonadab, Jehochanan

for Jochanan, &c.). Hupfeld re-

marks that it is used after "Israel"

and "Jacob" in the preceding

verse, merely as another designa-

tion of the whole nation, as in lxxx.

I [2]. Hengstenberg says, "Joseph

occupies the place of Israel here,

because during the whole period of

their residence in the land of Egypt

the nation owed everything to

Joseph. ‘the crowned one arnong

his brethren,’ Gen. xlix. 26. Their

oppression began with the king

who knew not Joseph, and this

name could only belong to them

with reference to that time." And

similarly Calvin. But it is far more

natural, surely, to see in the use of

this name here, as in Psalm lxxx,

an indication that the writer be-

longed to the northern kingdom.

     AGAINST THE LAND OF EGYPT,

wrongly rendered by the Ancient

Verss. "from the land of Egypt,"

(a meaning which it need scarcely

be said the prep. cannot bear,) be-

cause they supposed that "the going

forth" could only be that of Israel

out of Egypt. Hengstenberg, re-

taining the same subject, renders:

"When he (Joseph) went forth

before the land of Egypt." He re-

fers for this use of the preposition

to Job xxix. 7, "when I went out to

                               PSALM LXXXI.                                         97

            Where I heard a language e that I knew not:

the gate before (along) the city."

[A better instance is Gen. x1i. 45,

where the E.V. has "and Joseph

went out over all the land of Egypt."]

Thus is denoted, he thinks, Israel's

triumphant march before the very

eyes of the Egyptians, who were

unable to prevent their departure.

See Num. xxxiii. 3, where they are

said to have gone out "with a high

hand in the sight of all the Egyp-

tians." Similarly Calvin: "populum,

praeeunte Deo, libere pervagatum

fuisse per terram Egypti, quia frac-

tis ac pavefactis incolis datus est

transitus." But it is simpler to

retain the usual meaning of the

preposition, and to refer the pro-

nominal suffix, not to Israel, but to

God: "When He (God) went forth

against the land of Egypt," as in

the slaying of the first-born (Exod.

xi. 4, "I will go forth through the

midst of Egypt"), and in all that He

did for the deliverance of His people.

      As this verse connects the insti-

tution of the Feast with a particular

event, namely, the departure from

Egypt, it does unquestionably fur-

nish a strong argument to those

who, like Hengstenberg, believe that

the allusion is to the Passover. For

no other Feast was then instituted.

This difficulty is usually got rid of

by saying that the note of time is

not to be pressed, and that the Feast

of Tabernacles did belong to the

earlier legislation, Exod. xxiii. 16;

xxxiv. 22. But I confess this is, to

my mind, not quite satisfactory. On

the other hand, both the Jewish

tradition and the manner of cele-

bration as here described are

against the Passover. I incline,

therefore, to think that the "new

moon" and "full moon" are put

for any feasts that were held at

those times respectively, all of

which, beginning with the Passover,

might thus be spoken of as dating

fron the Exodus, from which the

Jews date all their festivals, and to

which they are all held to refer.

     I HEARD. The verb is properly

an imperfect. The LXX. and Vul-

gate have the third person, "he

heard," &c., whence it has passed

into our Prayer-book Version, not

incorrectly as regards the sense.

But the first person is used because

the Psalmist speaks in the name of

his people, identifying himself with

them.

    A LANGUAGE THAT I KNEW NOT.

What was this unknown tongue?

Two interpretations have been

given. It has been explained (I)

Of the language of the Egyptians,

which was a foreign tongue to the

Hebrews, who were "strangers in

the land of Egypt." Comp. cxiv.

1, "the people of strange language,"

with Deut. xxviii. 49: Is. xxxiii. 19:

Jer. v. 15. Accordingly, this fact is

mentioned as one of the aggrava-

tions of their condition in Egypt,

like the toiling with "the burden"

and "the basket." Calvin, who

takes this view, remarks that the

redemption of Israel from a people

of foreign language was a special

mark of God's favour, inasmuch as

the want of that common language,

which is the bond of society, made

foreigner and enemy synonymous

terms: "Quia enim lingua est veluti

character mentis ac speculum, non

secus ac sylvestres ferae, invicem

alieni sunt qui carent linguae usu."

(Comp. the curse in Deut. xxviii. 49.)

It is no objection to this view that

the words of God follow abruptly.

See lxxv. 2. (2) Of the voice of God,

a voice which the people had heard

as uttered in His judgements upon

the Egyptians, and in His covenant

made with themselves, but had not

understood (comp. Acts vii. 25).

This language is then given in sub-

stance in a poetical form by the

Psalmist, who seems suddenly to

hear it, and to become the inter-

preter to his people of the Divine

voice. He here places in a fresh

light, gives a new application to, the

earlier revelation, the meaning and

purpose of which were not then

understood.

98                             PSALM LXXXI.

6 " I removed his shoulder from the burden,

            His hands were quit of the basket.

7 Thou calledst in distress, and I delivered thee,

            I answered thee in the secret place of the thunder,

                        I proved thee by the waters of Meribah: [Selah.]

 

     Hupfeld supposes it to be called

an "unknown" language, merely

because it is Divine, unlike the

every-day known language of men.

Ibn Ezra sees a reference to the

words of God uttered on Sinai. So

also Delitzsch, who would explain

the expression by reference to Exod.

vi. 2, &c. "It was the language of

a known, and yet unknown, God,

which Israel heard from Sinai.

God, in fact, now revealed Himself

to Israel in a new character, not

only as the Redeemer and Saviour

of His people from their Egyptian

bondage, but also as their King,

giving them a law which bound

them together as a people, and was

the basis of their national exis-

tence."

    The latter interpretation, which

regards the language here spoken of

as the voice of God, and as virtually

given in the following verses, is now

that most commonly adopted. It

is that of Mendelssohn, Ewald,

Delitzsch, and Hupfeld.

    6. The words of God follow with-

out any indication of a change of

speakers. The Prophet identifies

himself with, and becomes the

organ of, the Divine voice. He

reminds Israel of that fact in con-

nexion with which the Festival was

instituted.

    It is as though, amidst all the

gladness of the Feast, and all the

music and the pomp of its celebra-

tion, other thoughts arose, not to

check, but to guide the current of

a holy exultation. The sound of

trumpet and timbrel and sacred

song must be hushed, while Jehovah

speaks to tell His forgetful people

the lesson of their past history asso-

ciated with that festival, the warn-

ing and the expostulation suggested

by their own perverseness. If they

would praise Him aright, it must

be with hearts mindful of His good-

ness, and sensible of their own un-

worthiness and ingratitude. For

the spirit in which all festivals

should be kept, see on the offering

of the first-fruits, Deut. xxvi. 1-11.

BURDEN, in allusion to Ex. i. 11;

v. 4, 5; vi. 6; where the same word

occurs in the plural.

     THE BASKET. This word is not

found in Exod., and its meaning is

doubtful. It may either mean (i)

a basket, in which heavy burdens

were carried, such as are now seen

pourtrayed on the monuments at

Thebes; so it is interpreted by the

LXX., and Jerome has cophino; or

(2), an earthen pot, with reference

to the work in clay which she Is-

raelites were compelled to perform.

Hence the E.V. renders, "his hands

were delivered from making the

pots."

    WERE QUIT OF, or, "left toiling

with." (E.V. "were delivered,")

lit. "passed." The LXX., with a

very slight change in a single letter,

"served" (e]dou<leusan), but this in-

volved also a change of the prepo-

sition ; "in" or "with" instead of

"from."

    7. THE SECRET-PLACE OF THE

THUNDER, is the dark mass of the

thunder-cloud in which God shrouds

His Majesty. (Comp. xviii. 11 [121 ;

Hab. iii. 4.) Here is probably a

special reference to the cloud-from

which Jehovah looked forth in the

passage through the Red Sea,, Exod.

xiv. 19 (comp. the note on lxxvii.

16); as there follows the mention

of the second great miracle, the

giving the water from the rock.

    I PROVED THEE. Deut. xxxiii. 8.

The mention of Israel's sin here,

which did not of itself belong to an

account of the institution of the

 

                            PSALM LXXXI.                              99

 

8 ‘Hear, 0 my people, and let Me testify unto thee;

            0 Israel, if thou wouldest hearken unto Me,

9 That there should be in thee no strange god,

            And that thou shouldest not bow down unto the god

                        of the stranger!

10 —I am Jehovah thy God,

                        Who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt,

            Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.’

11 But My people hearkened not unto My voice,

            And Israel was not willing to obey Me.

12 So I gave them up unto the stubbornness of their heart,

            That they should walk after their own counsels.

13 Oh that My people would hearken unto Me,

            That Israel would walk in My way!

14 I would soon put down their enemies,

            And turn My hand against their adversaries.

15 The haters of Jehovah should crouch before him,

 

feasts, prepares the way, as Heng-

stenberg points out, for the exhor-

tation which follows.

    8-10. This is a discourse within

a discourse. It is the language

which God held with His people

when He proved them.

     8. LET ME TESTIFY UNTO, or,

"I will testify against." Comp.

Deut. vi. 4, and see the note Ps. 1. 7.

    IF THOU WOULDEST, or "Oh that

thou wouldest." The particle is used

in the expression of a wish, the

apodosis being omitted.

    9. GOD OF THE STRANGER, or,

"alien god." I have varied the

phrase, because the Hebrew words

are different in the two lines of the

verse. For the former, comp. xliv.

21, Is. xliii. 12; for the latter,

Deut. xxxii. 12, where the appeal

is the same.

    10. Comp. Deut. v. 1, 6, &c.

    11. Luther remarks: "It is some-

thing dreadful and terrible that He

says, My people. If it had been a

stranger to whom I had shown no

particular kindness," &c.

    12. SO I GAVE THEM UP. The

word is used of the letting go of

captives, slaves, &c.; of giving

over to sin, Job viii. 4. This is the

greatest and most fearful of all

God's punishments. Comp. lxxviii.

29.

    STUBBORNNESS. The word oc-

curs once in the Pentateuch,

Deut. xxix. 18, and several times

in Jeremiah. The E.V. renders

it here "lusts," and in all the

other passages "imagination," but

wrongly.

    13. A transition is here made

from the Israel of the past to the

Israel of the present, because the

history of the former is repeated in

the history of the latter.

    14. AND TURN MY HAND. There

is no need to supply any ellipse or

explain the phrase as meaning

"again turn." It is used as in Is.

i. 25 ; Am. i. 8.

    15. CROUCH BEFORE, Or, "feign

submission"; see on xviii. 44,

lxvi. 3. HIM, i.e. Israel (for "the

haters of Jehovah" are the enemies

   

 

 

100                             PSALM LXXXI.

 

            And their time should be for ever.

16 He would feed thee f also with the fat of wheat,

            And with honey out of the rock should I satisfy

                        thee."

 

of Israel); and hence with the usual

change from the collective sing. to

the plural, "their time" in the next

clause is "the time of Israel."

    TIME, in the general sense of

duration merely, and not implying

prosperity. Indeed the word may

be used of times of adversity as

well as prosperity (see xxxi. 16).

Hence Ibn Ezra and Rashi sup-

pose the time of the enemy to be

meant (and so Theodoret) ; but the

predicate "for ever" is against

this.

    16. The form of the promise is

borrowed from Deut. xxxii. 13, &C.

Comp. Ezek. xvi. 19.

     HE WOULD FEED THEE. The 3d

person instead of the 1st, which re-

curs again in the next clause. These

abrupt interchanges of persons are

by no means uncommon in Heb.

poetry. Comp. xxii. 26 [27]. The 3d

person follows, as Hupfeld observes,

from the mention of Jehovah just

before, instead of the pronominal

suffix of the 1st person.

     FAT OF WHEAT, as cxlvii. I4,

Deut. xxxii. 14 ; comp. Gen. xlix.

20. So "fat of the land," Gen. xlv.

18; of fruits, Num. xv. 12, 29, as

denoting the best of the kind.

    HONEY OUT OF THE ROCK;

another image of the abundance

and fertility which would have been

the reward of obedience.

 

            a See the note on the Inscription of Psalm viii.

            b Jto-UnT;. Gesen. explains this, give forth a sound by striking the

timbrel, i.e. "strike the timbrel," after the analogy of lOq NtonA, "to give

forth, utter a sound, the voice," &c. But the analogy is anything but

perfect, and there is no instance of a really parallel usage. I have

therefore followed Mendelssohn and Zunz in preferring the other

rendering.

            c hs,K,. The Jewish tradition as to the meaning of this word, Delitzsch

observes, is uncertain. According to the Talmud (Rosh hash-Shana, 8h,

Betza, 16a) it is the day on which the new moon hides itself, i.e. is scarcely

visible in the morning in the far west, and in the evening in the far east.

Rashi, Qimchi, and others again derive it from hsk = ssk, computare,

in the sense of a "computed," and so "fixed time." And similarly the

LXX. e]n eu]sh<m& h[me<r%, and the Vulg. in insigni die. Hence the E. V. "in

the appointed time." But it is, perhaps, more probably explained by the

Syr. Keso, which means "the full moon" (lit. "the covering (Heb. hsk)

or filling up of the orb of the moon"), or more generally, "the middle of

the month," or rather the whole period from the full moon to the end of

the month; for in the Peshito Vers. of 1 Kings xii. 32 it is used of the

15th day of the month, and in 2 Chron. vii. to of the 23rd, but: not, as

Delitzsch asserts, in both instances of the Feast of Tabernacles; for in

Kings the reference is to Jeroboam's spurious festival on the 15th of the

eighth month; and in Chronicles the people are sent away on the 23rd,

the Feast of Dedication, which lasted for seven days, having followed the

                                           PSALM LXXXII.                                 101

 

Feast of Tabernacles. The Syr. here renders: "sound with horns at

the new moons (beginning of the month), and at the full moons (wrongly

rendered in Walton's Polygl. noviluniis) on the feast days." An analogous

Aramaic form occurs Prov. vii. 20, where Aquila has h[me<ra panselh<nou.

Jerome renders there in die plenae lunae, and here in medio mense.

            d UnGeHa. There can be little doubt that this is the better reading. It has

the support of the LXX. and is found in the best texts, but the Syr.,

Chald., and several of Kenn's and De-R.'s MSS. have the plural UnyGeha,

            e tpaW;. The stat. constr. with the verb following, as in vii. 16 (comp.

xvi. 3, where the noun stands in construction with a sentence), the verb

being here, what the second noun usually is, equivalent to an adjective.

There is no need to explain the phrase elliptically, "the language of

one whom I knew not," though grammatically this would be allowable, as

lxv. 5, Job xviii. 21, xxix. 16.

            Hengstenberg thinks that hpAWA could not be used to denote the voice

or speech of God, but can only be employed of a language; but why may

not 'x ‘y ‘l ‘w mean "unintelligible words," as Prov. xii. 19, means

"true words"?

            f UhleykixEyava. The change to the 3d pers. presents no difficulty, but the

use of the v consec. does. It is out of the question to take this, as the

LXX. and Syr. do, as an historic tense. A condition is clearly implied,

What is meant is, that if the Israel of to-day would be obedient, then the

miracles of God's love manifested of old should be repeated. Strictly

speaking, if the v consec. is retained, we ought to render" He would have

fed," as if to intimate that not now only, but even from the first, God

would have done this, had His people been obedient.

 

 

                                    PSALM LXXXII.

 

            THIS Psalm is a solemn rebuke, addressed in prophetic strain, to

those who, pledged by their office to uphold the Law, had trampled

upon it for their own selfish ends. It is a "Vision of Judgement,"

in which no common offenders are arraigned, as it is no earthly

tribunal before which they are summoned.

            God Himself appears, so it seems to the prophet, taking His

stand in the midst of that nation whom He had ordained to be the

witness of His righteousness, amongst the rulers and judges of

the nation who were destined to reflect, and as it were to embody

in visible form, the majesty of that righteousness. He appears now

not, as in the 50th Psalm, to judge His people, but to judge the judges

of that people; not to reprove the congregation at large for their

1O2                       PSALM LXXXII.

 

formality and hypocrisy, but to reprove the rulers and magistrates for

their open and shameful perversion of justice.

            As in the presence of God, the Psalmist takes up his parable

against these unjust judges:  "How long will ye judge a judgement

which is iniquity (such is the exalt force of the original), and accept

the persons of the ungodly?  "These men have scandalously dese-

crated their office. They had been placed in the loftiest position to

which any man could aspire. They were sons of the Highest, called

by His name, bearing His image, exercising His authority, charged

to execute His will, and they ought to have been in their measure

His living representatives, the very pattern and likeness of His

righteousness and wisdom. But instead of righteousness they had

loved unrighteousness. They had shown favour to the wicked who

were powerful and wealthy. They had crushed the poor, the defence-

less, the fatherless, whose only protection lay in the unsullied upright-

ness and incorruptibility of the judge, and whom God Himself had

made their charge.

            A witness of these wrongs, the Psalmist appeals to them to dis-

charge their duty faithfully and uprightly:  "Do justice to the

miserable and fatherless," &c. (ver. 3, 4). But the appeal is in vain.

They have neither feeling nor conscience. Morally and intellectually,

intellectually because morally, they are corrupt. The light that is in

them is darkness. And thus, venal, unscrupulous, base, hard-hearted,

the judges and magistrates have loosened the bonds of law, and the

consequence is that the foundations of social order are shaken, and

the whole fabric threatened with dissolution. Such is the terrible

picture of a disorganized society, the very fountains of justice defiled

and poisoned, suggested to us by the words in which the Psalmist

here addresses the judges of Israel. He himself had thought, he

tells us, that their high dignity and the representative character of

their office, placed them so far above other men that they were like

beings of a different race, but he warns them that the tyrannous

exercise of their power will not last for ever, that, as in the case of

other rulers of the world, it may only accelerate their fall. And

then, finally, he turns to God, and appeals to Him who is the judge,

not of Israel only, but of the world, to arise and execute judgement

in the earth, which they who bore His name had perverted.

            Ewald, De Wette, Hitzig, and others suppose the expostulations

of the Psalm to be addressed, not to Israelitish but to heathen

rulers, satraps, &c., by a poet who lived towards the end of the

Exile, in Babylon, and who, witnessing the corruption which was

fast undermining the Babylonish empire, lifted up his voice against

it. This view rests mainly upon the appeal to God (in ver. 7) as

                                 PSALM LXXXII.                                103

 

the Ruler and Judge of all nations, not of Israel exclusively. But

the Psalmists so frequently take a wider range than their own nation,

so constantly, in a true prophetic spirit, recognize the special rule

and revelation of God in Israel, as only a part of His universal

dominion (compare, for instance, vii. 6-8 [7-9]), that there is no

need to depart from the more common view that Israelitish judges

are meant; especially as this is confirmed by the general tenour of

the Psalm. Besides, as Stier and Hupfeld have pointed out, the

names "gods," and "sons of the Highest," are never given to

heathen monarchs in Scripture. The former says: "We look in

vain for a passage where a heathen king, or even an Israelitish,

except David and Solomon, as types of the Messiah, is thought

worthy of this name (Son of God)."

            Hupfeld and Bleek (who have been followed by Bunsen) maintain

(and I believe that they are almost the only modern expositors who

do so) that the "gods" of the Psalm are not human judges, but

angels, that the Psalmist sees a vision of judgement going on in

heaven (which is conceivable, inasmuch as the angels are not pure

in God's sight), and that he poetically applies the circumstances of

 this judgement to its parallel upon earth. Hence the rebuke

addressed to the angels is intended for human judges, and this

explains how it is that the angels are charged with human delin-

quencies, with accepting persons, and crushing the poor. So also

when angels are threatened with death (a threat which Hupfeld

argues has no meaning when uttered to human beings), this is a

mode merely of threatening them with degradation; the language

being figurative, and borrowed from the sentence of degradation

 pronounced on the First Man (Gen. ii. 17 19, 20). Bleek

carries this notion so far as to suppose that the angels are the

guardian angels to whom is entrusted the government of the several

nations of the world (see Dan. x. 13, 20, 21; xii. I; and Deut.

xxxii. 8, in LXX.), a trust which they have betrayed.

            Of such an interpretation it is enough to say with Calvin, Ad

angelos trahere frigidum est commentum, not to mention that it seems

difficult to reconcile such a view with our Lord's use of the Psalm in

John x. 34, which Hupfeld passes over without any notice whatever.

His objections to the common view that men are not called "gods,"

and "sons of the Highest," in Scripture, and that there is no mean-

ing in saying to human judges, "Ye shall die like men," &c. will be

found substantially answered in the notes.

            The language of the Psalm is so general that it might belong to

any period of the history; and the history itself and the utterance of

the prophets show us that the evil here denounced was not the evil

 104                                 PSALM LXXXII.

 

of any one age, but of all. It was the accusation brought against the

sons of Samuel, the last who bore the venerable title of Judges before

the establishment of the monarchy, that they "turned aside after

lucre and took bribes, and perverted judgement" (I Sam. viii. 3).

And a long line of prophets repeats the same complaint. See Amos

v. 12, 15; Micah vii. 3; Is. i. 17; 13-15; Jer. xxi. 12; Zech.

viii. 9, 10. The passages which approach most nearly to the Psalm

in their general character are (I) one of those already quoted from

Isaiah (iii. 13-15):

            "Jehovah standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.

Jehovah will enter into judgement with the ancients of His people

and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard, the

spoil of the poor is in your houses. ‘What mean ye that ye beat

My people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor?’ saith the

Lord, Jehovah of hosts:"—and (2) Jehoshaphat's charge to his

judges which "he set in the land, throughout all the fenced cities of

Judah, city by city" (2 Chron. xix. 5-7):

            "Take heed what ye do; for ye judge not for men, but for Jehovah

who is with you in the judgement. Wherefore now let the fear of

Jehovah be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity

with Jehovah our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts."

(Cf. Deut. i . 17; x. 17.)

            The Psalm has no regular strophical division, but the arrangement

is natural, and presents no difficulty. It has been already sufficiently

indicated. The general strain is like that of Psalm lviii.

            For certain peculiarities, which mark it in common with other

Psalms ascribed to Asaph, see General Introduction, vol. i. pp.

97-99, where however the view is taken that God is Himself the

speaker in this Psalm.*

 

                               [A PSALM OF ASAPH.a]

 

I GOD standeth in the congregation of God:

            In the midst of the gods doth He judge.

 

    I. Earthly rulers and judges are

not, as they are too ready to think,

supreme, independent, irresponsi-

ble. There is One higher than the

highest. As Jehoshaphat reminds

the judges of Israel, God is with

them in the judgement. Calvin

quotes, to the like effect, the words

of Horace,

"Regum timendorum in proprios

            greges,

  Reges in ipsos irnperium est

            Jovis," &c.

 

Men cannot see God with their

bodily eyes, but He is present with

the king on his throne (hence

Solomon's throne is called the

 

 

                                   PSALM  LXXXII.                                    105

               2 How long will ye give wrong judgement,

throne of Jehovah, I Chron. xxix.

23), with the judge on the judge-

ment-seat, with all who hold an

authority delegated to them by Him.

     STANDETH, more literally,

"taketh His stand." The word

nitzabh denotes a deliberate and

formal act, connected with a defi-

nite purpose. I Sam. xix. 20. It

is distinct from the more usual

word 'omed, which is merely stand-

ing as opposed to sitting. But see

the use of both words in reference

to the act of judgement, Is. iii. 13.

    IN THE CONGREGATION OF GOD,

i.e. in the midst of Israel itself

(called in Num. xxvii. 17 ; xxxi. 16;

Josh. xxii. 16, 17, "the congrega-

tion of Jehovah"), and not only in

the midst of the people who are the

witnesses of His righteousness, but

amidst the judges of the people,

who are the representatives of His

righteousness. They are called

     GODS, not merely as having their

authority from God (or as Calvin,

quibus specialem glories notam

insculpsit Deus), but as His vice-

gerents, as embodying in them-

selves the majesty of the Law, as

those in whom men look to find

the most perfect earthly pattern

of Divine attributes, of truth and

justice, and mercy and impartiality.

This name "gods" is applied to

the judges of Israel in the Penta-

teuch. See Exod. xxi. 6; xxii. 8, 28

[27]. There, I agree with Delitzsch

in thinking, Elohim does not mean

God, in whose name judgement is

pronounced (as Knobel and Hup-

feld understand), but the judges

themselves acting in His name and

by His authority. Even if in Exod.

xxii. 28 [27], we render, "thou shalt

not revile God, nor curse the ruler of

thy people," rather than "thou shalt

not revile the judges," &c., still it is

implied that the ruler bears the

image of God, and that every insult

offered to such a representative of God in His

kingdom is an insult against God (as Hengsten-

berg remarks.  The use of the name

"gods" may have been intended

to remind the world how near man,

created in God's image, is to God

Himself. So in the 8th Psalm it is

said, "Thou hast made him a little

lower than God." (See note there

on ver. 5.) This would hold espe-

cially of those high in office. Thus

God says to Moses in reference to

Aaron, "Thou shalt be to him in-

stead of God" (Exod. iv. 16). And

again, "See I have made thee a

god to Pharaoh" (vii. 1). In I Sam.

xxviii. 13, the witch of Endor says

of Samuel, "I saw a god ascending

out of the earth" (in allusion either

to his majestic appearance or pos-

sibly to his office as judge). In Ps.

xlv. 6, the king is called God (see

note there). But it was in connec-

tion with the office of judge that the

stamp of divinity was most conspi-

cuous. "The judgement is God's,"

Deut. i. 17; whoever comes before

it comes before God. So, again,

Moses uses the phrase, "When ye

come to me, to inquire of God,"

Exod. xviii. 15. The same idea is

found in heathen writers. Seneca

(de Clementia, i. I) makes Nero say:

"Electus sum qui in terris Deorum

vice fungerer: ego vitae necisque

gentibus arbiter, qualem quisque

sortem statumque habeat in maim

mea positum est."

     2. It is usual to consider what

follows, to the end of ver. 6, as the

words of God as He appears, in

vision, pleading with the judges of

His people. To me it seems pre-

ferable to regard the passage as a

rebuke addressed, in the true pro-

phetic strain, by the poet himself,

to those 'whose iniquity called for

the protest (somewhat in the same

strain as in xviii. 1, 2 [2, 3]); ver. 6,

in particular, is thus more forcible,

and the address to God in ver. 7 less abrupt.

    How LONG, like Cicero's "Quous-

que tandem"; the abuse having

become intolerable, because of its

long standing.

     GIVE WRONG JUDGEMENT, lit.

"judge iniquity"; "give a judge-

ment which is iniquity itself";

106                       PSALM LXX YII.

 

            And accept the persons of the wicked? [Selah.]

3 Judge the miserable and fatherless,

            Do justice to the afflicted and needy;

4 Rescue the miserable and poor,

            Deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

 

5 They know not, and they understand not,

                        In darkness they walk to and fro:

            All the foundations of the earth are out of course.

6 I myself have said, Ye are gods,

 

(the opposite being "judging up-

rightness," lviii. i [2] ). Comp. Lev.

xix. 15.

    ACCEPT THE PERSONS. Such,

there can be no doubt, is the mean-

ing of the phrase here, and so it is

understood by the LXX. Comp.

Prov. xviii. 5; Lev. xix. 15. Some-

times a different verb is employed,

as in Lev. xix. 15; Deut. i. 17; xvi.

19 ; Prov. xxiv. 23; xxviii. 21;

where such partiality is straitly for-

bidden. Jehoshaphat in his address

to the judges (2 Chron. xix. 7) re-

minds them that "with the Lord

our God is no respect of persons,

nor taking of gifts."

   3. MISERABLE. See note on xli. 1.

NEEDY or "destitute:" the word

(rash), Delitzsch observes, does not

occur in Hebrew literature earlier

than the time of David. It is per-

sons such as these who most of all

need the protection of the judge.

Their very existence depends on his

integrity. The orphan who has lost

his natural protectors, the humble

who have no powerful friends, the

poor who can purchase no counte-

nance, to whom shall they look but

to God's vicegerent? And if he

violates his trust, God who is the

"God of the widow and the father-

less "(lxviii. 6), and who in the Law

declares," Cursed be he who per-

verteth the cause of the stranger,

the fatherless, and the widow "

(Deut. xxvii. 19), will not leave him

unpunished.

   Do JUSTICE TO, lit. " justify," i.e.

give them their due.

    5. Those expositors who consider

verses 2-6 to contain the words of

God, suppose that here, either the

Psalmist introduces his own reflec-

tions, or that a pause takes place,

after ver. 4, during which God waits

to see whether those whom He re-

bukes will listen to His rebuke.

But the transition from the 2d per-

son to the 3d is so common, as to

render either exposition unneces-

sary. It is one strain continued,

only that now the infatuation, as

before the moral perversion, of the

judges is described.

     The expostulation falls dead with-

out an echo. The men are in-

fatuated by their position, and

blinded by their own pride.

    THEY KNOW NOT, absolutely, as

in liii. 5 [6]; lxxiii. 21 [22]. Comp.

Is. i. 3. Moral blindness is the

cause of all sin.

    IN DARKNESS, Prov. ii. 13.

    THEY WALK TO AND FRO, such

is the force of the Hithp., denoting

generally the conversation, manner

of life, &c.; here, according to

Delitzsch, their carnal security and

sell seeking.

     ALL THE FOUNDATIONS, &c. See

note on xi. 3, and comp. lxxv. 3 [4].

The dissolution of society is the in-

evitable result of corruption in high

places.

    6. I HAVE SAID. The pronoun is

emphatic. If these are the words

of God, as most interpreters sup-

pose, then in pronouncing judge-

ment upon the judges, He declares

that it was He Himself who called

                               PSALM  LXXXII.                                 107

 

            And ye are all sons of the Most High.

      Yet surely like (other) men shall ye die,

            And fall like one b of the princes.

7 Arise, 0 God, judge Thou the earth,

            For Thou hast all the nations for Thine inheritance,c

 

them to their office, and gave them

the name, together with the dignity

which they enjoy. (This interpreta-

tion falls in readily with our Lord's

words in John x. 34.) lf, on the

other hand, the Psalmist speaks, he

expresses his own feelings and con-

victions. "There was a time when

I myself thought that your office

and dignity clothed you with some-

thing of a superhuman character,

but you have degraded it, and

degraded yourselves; you are but

mortal men, your tenure of office is

but for a little while." He does not

add what naturally suggests itself

to us, and what Calvin inserts here,

that they must shortly give an ac-

count before the bar of God. If

this is implied in ver. 7, it is not

after death.

    Our Lord appeals to this verse in

His argument with the Jews when

they charged Him with blasphemy,

"because He being a man, made

Himself God." John x. 34-38.

His words are: "Is it not written

in your Law, ‘I said ye are gods'?

If it called them gods to whom the

word of God came—and the Scrip-

ture cannot be broken—say ye of

Him whom the Father sanctified,

and sent into the world, Thou blas-

phemest, because I said, I am the

Son of God?" The argument is

one a minori ad majus. How

could they charge Him with blas-

phemy in claiming to be the Son

of God when their own judges had

been styled gods? They moreover

were unrighteous judges (the worthy

ancestors, it is implied, of the un-

righteous Pharisees and members

of the Synhedrin, who were our

Lord's bitterest opponents), whereas

He was One whom the Father had

sanctified, and sent into the world,

and whose life and works were a

witness to His righteousness. By

nature they had no right to the

name of Elohim, "gods," nor had

they proved themselves worthy of

it by their character. He was, in

character as in nature, Divine. To

them the word of God had come

(pro>j ou{j o[ lo<goj tou? qeou? e]ge<neto),

by which they had been appointed

to their office. He was Himself the

Word of the Father. Their office

was but for a time, they were mortal

men, yet wearing, by Divine per-

mission, a Divine name. He had

been with the Father before He

came into the world, was by Him

sealed and set apart (h[gi<asen), and

sent to be not a judge, but the

Christ—not one of many sons, but

emphatically the Son of God, the

King of an everlasting kingdom.

Both in His office and in His per-

son He has far more right to the

title "Son of God," than they have

to that of "gods." There is more-

over further implied in this argu-

ment that the Old Testament does

contain hints, more or less obscure,

preludes and foreshadowings, which

might have arrested the thoughtful

reader, as mysteriously prefiguring

that close and real union between

God and man which was afterwards

fully exhibited in the Incarnation.

 

a See General Introduction, pp. 97, 98.

b dHaxaK;: for this Ewald reads dHAx,K; and translates: "And fall, 0 ye

princes, together" (lit. like one man), referring to Is. lxv. 25; Ezra iii. 9;

108                            PSALM LXXXIII.

 

vii. 20, in support of his emendation. He makes this change on the

ground that the opposition here is not between princes and gods, but

between mortal men and gods. At the same time he admits that the

other expression "as one of the princes," i.e. like a common prince, is a

genuine Hebrew phrase. Comp. 2 Sam. ix. 11; Jud. xvi. 7, 11; I Kings

xix. 2.

            c The verb lHn is construed here with b; instead of the accus. after the

analogy of verbs of ruling, &c., like lwm, lfb, the word itself being

employed to denote that, whilst Israel is God's peculiar inheritance,

hlAHEna, He has the same right, makes the same claim, to all the nations.

 

                                      PSALM LXXXIII.

 

            WE know of no period in the history of Israel when all the various

tribes here enumerated were united together for the extermination of

their enemy. The annals have preserved no record of a confederacy

so extensive. Hence it has been assumed that the enumeration in

the Psalm is merely designed to subserve the purposes of poetry, to

heighten the colouring, to represent the danger as even greater and

more formidable than it really was. It may have been so. Divine

inspiration does not change the laws of the imagination, though it

may control them for certain ends. Or it may have been that the

confederacy as originally formed, and as threatening Israel, was

larger than that which actually advanced to the struggle. The wider

the alliance, and the more heterogeneous its elements, the more pro-

bable it is that some would drop off, through dissensions, or jealousies,

or the working of timid counsels. But as this Psalm helps us to com-

plete the narrative in Judges of the defeat of the Midianites (see note

on ver. 11), so it may itself supplement the narrative of the particular

event which called it forth. It may describe some event which we

read in the history, but which there assumes less formidable propor-

tions, and in so doing it may help us to complete the picture. If so,

there can be very little doubt with what portion of the history it best

synchronizes. The confederacy must be that which threatened Judah

in the reign of Jehoshaphat, the account of which is given in 2 Chron.

xx. There, as in the Psalm, Moab and Ammon, "the children of

Lot " are the leading powers; and though there is some doubt about

the reading, "other beside the Ammonites," in ver. I, the Edomites

are mentioned as forming a part of the invading army. These might

 

                                 PSALM LXXXIII.                                        109

 

naturally include bordering Arabian tribes, mentioned more in detail

in the Psalm. The great hiatus in the narrative (supposing this to

be the occasion to which the Psalm refers) is that it omits all mention

of the Western nations as joining the confederacy. But on the

hypothesis of any other historical reference at all, some hiatus will

be found to exist. It is so if, with Hitzig, Olshausen, Grimm, and

others, we refer the Psalm to the events mentioned in I Macc. v.

1-8, where only Edomites, Ammonites, and Bajanites (a name as

yet unexplained), are mentioned; nor is the difficulty got over even

if, with Hitzig, we add to this the subsequent campaign of Judas

Maccabeus, recorded in the same chapter, ver. 3-54. Those who,

like Ewald, place the Psalm in Persian times, and suppose it to be

aimed at the attempts of Sanballat, Tobias, and others, to prevent

the rebuilding of Jerusalem, are not more successful. The former of

these views compels us to take Assyria (Asshur) as a name of Syria;

the latter as a synonym for Persia. In neither case do "the children

of Lot" occupy the prominent place; nor can we account for the

mention of Amalekites, either in the time of Nehemiah, or in the

time of the Maccabees. (Seer Chron. iv. 43.) The more common

opinion which connects the Psalm with Jehoshaphat's struggle is

certainly preferable to either of the views just mentioned.

            One expression in Jehoshaphat's prayer bears a close resemblance

to the language of the Psalm in ver. 11, when he prays, "Behold, I

say, how they reward us to come to cast us out of Thy possession

which Thou hast given us to inherit." (2 Chron. xx. 11.) The

remark with which the narrative ends " And the fear of God was

on all the kingdoms of those countries when they had heard that the

Lord fought against the enemies of Israel," is almost like a recorded

answer to the prayer with which the Psalm closes.

            It has been conjectured, as the Psalm is said to be a "Psalm of

Asaph," that it may have been composed by Jahaziel, the "Levite

of the sons of Asaph," who encouraged Jehoshaphat's army before it

went out to battle; and that the Psalm itself may have been chanted

by the band of singers whom the king appointed to precede the army

on its march. (Ibid. ver. 21.) But no argument can be built upon

the title. (See General Introduction, Vol. I. pp. 96, 97.) One thing,

however, is clear, the confederacy of which the Psalm speaks was

formed before Assyria became a leading power. Moab and Ammon

hold the foremost place, while Asshur joins them only as an ally

"they are an arm to the children of Lot." The Poet is fully alive

to the danger which threatens his nation. Look where he may, the

horizon is black with gathering clouds. Judah is alone, and his

enemies are compassing him about. The hosts of invaders are

110                            PSALM LXXXIII.

 

settling like swarms of locusts on the skirts of the land. East,  

south, and west, they are mustering to the battle. The kindred but

ever hostile tribe of Edom on the border, issuing from their moun-

tain fastnesses; the Arab tribes of the desert; the old hereditary

foes of Israel, Moab and Ammon; the Philistines, long since

humbled and driven back to their narrow strip of territory by the

sea, yet still apparently formidable, even Tyre forgetting her ancient

friendship,—all are on the march, all, like hunters, are hemming in

the lion who holds them at bay.

            It is against this formidable confederacy that the Psalmist prays,

He prays that it may be with them as with the other enemies of

Israel, with Jabin and Sisera, in days of old. But he prays for more

than deliverance or victory. He prays that the Name of Jehovah.

may be magnified, and that all may seek that Name. Two expres-

sions, in fact, give the key to the Psalm—show us the attitude of

the Poet in presence of the danger: ver. 5, "They are confederate

against Thee;" ver. 18, "Let them know that Thou art most high

over all the earth."

            The Psalm consists of two principal divisions:

 

            I. The first describes the magnitude of the danger, and enume-

rates the foes who are gathering on all sides, hemming in Judah, and,

intending by mere force of numbers utterly to crush and destroy it.

Ver. 1-8.

            II. The next contains the prayer for their complete overthrow,

with an appeal to God's former mighty acts on behalf of His people

when threatened by their enemies. Ver. 9-18.

 

 

                         [A SONG. A PSALM OF ASAPH.a]

 

1. 0 GOD, keep not silence,

            Hold not Thy peace, and be not still, 0 God.

2 For lo, Thine enemies make a tumult,

            And they that hate Thee have lifted up (their) head.

 

    1. KEEP NOT SILENCE, lit. "Let

(there) not (be) silence to Thee,"

as in Is. lxii. 7. In both places the

LXX. have made the same blunder,

rendering here ti>j o[moiwqh<setai< soi,

and there ou@k e]stin o!moioj. On the

general sense of this verse see note

on xxviii. I.

    2. THINE ENEMIES, in itself a

ground of appeal and of consolation.

    MAKE A TUMULT, lit. "roar like

the waves of the sea." See the same

word in xlvi. 3 [41

    HAVE LIFTED UP (THEIR) HEAD.

Comp. iii. 3 [4]; xxvii. 6; and Jud.

viii. 28.

 

                             PSALM LXXXIII.                              111

 

3 Against Thy people they plot craftily,b

            And take counsel together against Thy hidden ones.

4 They say, "Come, let us cut them off that they be no

            more a nation,

    And that the name of Israel be no more in remem-

            brance."

5 For they have taken counsel with (one) heart together,

            Against Thee they are confederate

6 The tents of Edom, and the Ishmaelites,

            Moab and the Hagarenes ;

7 Gebal and Ammon, and Amalek,

 

3. PLOT CRAFTILY, lit. "make

crafty (their) plot, or secret consul-

tation."

     THY HIDDEN ONES, Or "trea-

sured ones," those whom God

holds in the hollow of His hand;

those to whom He is a wall of

fire round about them, that none

may do them hurt--those of whom

He says, he that toucheth you

toucheth the apple of Mine eye.

Comp. xvii. 8; xxvii. 5; xxxi. 20

[21].

     4. THAT THEY BE NO MORE A

NATION. Comp. Jer. xlviii. 2; Is.

vii. 8; and similar phrases in xvii.

I: xxv. 2. They would in their

fury blot out Israel from the map

of the world, or, as Calvin says:

"It is as if they had formed the

design of subverting the counsel of

God on which the continued ex-

istence of the Church had been

founded."

     5. WITH (ONE) HEART TO-

GETHER. The adverb seems to be

used almost as an adjective (LXX.

e]n o[monoi<% e]pitoauto<), so that the

phrase would answer to that in

I Chron. xii. 38. But perhaps it

would be simpler and more cer-

tain, with Hupf. and Hengst., to

render: "They have taken counsel

in (their) heart together," (Jerome,

corde pariter,) the heart being the

source of their machinations. Comp.

v. 9 [10]; lxiv. 6 [7].

    AGAINST THEE, as in ver. 3,

"against Thy people." God and

His people are one. So our Lord

says to Saul, "Why persecutest

thou Me?"

    6-8. The enumeration of the

confederate tribes. First, those on

the south and east. Then, those on

the west, Philistia and Tyre. Lastly,

the Assyrians in the north, not yet

regarded as a formidable power,

but merely as allies of Moab and

Ammon.

     6. THE TENTS, as properly de-

scriptive of the nomad Arabian

tribes.

    EDOM. So in 2 Chron. xx. 2,

"Edom" should be read instead of

"Aram" (Syria), the confusion of

the two words being discernible

elsewhere.

    THE ISHMAELITES, according

to Gen. xxv. 18, were spread over

the whole tract of country south of

Palestine, lying between Egypt and

the Persian Gulf. Part of this ter-

ritory is occupied by Amalekites in

I Sam. xv. 7.

     THE HAGARENES dwelt to the

east of Palestine in the land of

Gilead. They were driven out by

the tribe of Reuben in the time of

Saul (I Chron. v. 10, 18-20).

     7. GEBAL, usually supposed to

denote the mountainous country

south of the Dead Sea, in the

neighbourhood of Petra (Arab.

Dgebel). Mr. Ffoulkes, indeed, in

Smith's Dict. of the Bible, identifies

 

112                          PSALM LXXXIII.

 

            Philistia, with them that dwell at Tyre.

8 Asshur also is joined with them,

            They have been an arm to the children of Lot.

 

9 Do Thou to them as unto Midian,

            As unto Sisera, as unto Jabin at the torrent of Kishon,

10 Who were destroyed at En-dor,

            Who became dung for the land.

 

it with the Gebal of Ezekiel (xxvii.

9), a maritime town of Phoenicia.

He says, "Jehoshaphat had in the

beginning of his reign humbled the

Philistines and Arabians (2 Chron.

xvii. 9, 10), and still more recently

had assisted Ahab against the

Syrians (ibid. ch. xviii.). Now, ac-

cording to the poetic language of

the Psalmist, there were symptoms

of a general rising against him.

On the south the Edomites, Ish-

maelites, and Hagarenes; on the

south-east Moab; and north-east

Ammon. Along the whole line of

the western coast (and, with Je-

hoshaphat's maritime projects this

would naturally disturb him most),

(see 2 Chron. xx. 36), the Amale-

kites, Philistines, or Phoenicians

and inhabitants of Tyre, to their

frontier town Gebal; with Assur,

i.e. the Syrians or Assyrians, from

the more distant north. It may be

observed that the Asshurites are

mentioned in connexion with Gebal

no less (ver. 6) in the prophecy

than in the psalm." But the ob-

jection to this identification is the

position which Gebal here occu-

pies in the enumeration of the

tribes.

    8. ASSHUR. If the Psalm was

written in Jehoshaphat's reign, this

is the first mention of the Assyrians

since the clays of Nimrod, and here

evidently they hold a subordinate

place. We do not hear of the As-

syrian kingdom as a great power

formidable to Israel till the time of

Menahem, who "was reduced to

the necessity of buying off an in-

vasion of the Assyrians (the first

incursion of that people), under

Pul." (2 Kings xv. 19.)

     THEY HAVE BEEN AN ARM.

Comp. xliv. 4; Is. xxxiii. 2. This

agrees with the statement in Chro-

nicles that Moab and Ammon were

the leaders of the confederacy.

    9. MIDIAN, mentioned by anti-

cipation with reference, not to the

example which immediately follows,

but to that in ver. 11. The victory

of Gideon over the Midianites was

one of the most glorious in the

national history, one the memory

of which was fondly cherished.

When Isaiah would describe the

victories which are to precede the

peaceful reign of Messiah, he can

compare the overthrow of the enemy

to nothing so well as to that on

"the day of Midian." The allu-

sion to it here may also have been

suggested by the fact, that many of

the enemies now arrayed against

Israel were the same as on that

occasion; for with the Midianites

were the "Amalekites and all the

children of the East." Jud. vi. 36.

See Is. ix. 4 [3]; x. 26; Hab. iii.

7.

     SISERA . . . . JABIN. See the

history in Jud. iv. v.

     THE TORRENT OF KISHON, which

swept away the corpses of the

enemy, Jud. v. 21. Others, "the

valley or Wadi of Kishon:—the

Hebrew word means both.

     10. EN-DOR is not mentioned in

Judges, but the Psalm shows us

that tradition associated with that

spot the death of the two chiefs.

It is a considerable but now de-

serted village, 4 m. south of Tabor.

                      PSALM  LXXXIII.                                   113

 

11 Make them, their nobles, like Oreb and like Zeeb;

            Yea, all their princes, like Zebah and like Zalmunna,

12 Who said: "Let us take to ourselves

            The pastures of God in possession."

13 0 my God, make them as the whirling dust,

            As stubble before the wind.

14 As a fire that burneth a forest,

            And as a flame that setteth the mountains in a blaze,

 

The name occurs besides, Josh.

xvii. 11; I Sam. xxviii. 7.

   11. OREB AND ZEEB, the two

"princes," or probably "generals

of the army," whilst Zebah and

Zalmunna have the title of "kings."

Jud. vii. 25; viii. 5, 6. The allu-

sions here and in Is. x. 26 help us

to complete the narrative in Judges.

Isaiah implies that the slaughter

must have been awful beyond any-

thing that history records, for "he

places it in the same rank with the

two most tremendous disasters re-

corded in the whole of the history

of Israel—the destruction of the

Egyptians in the Red Sea, and of

the army of Sennacherib." Here

the discomfiture and flight of the

Midianites is prominent. "In

imagery both obvious and vivid to

every native of the gusty hills and

plains of Palestine, though to us

comparatively unintelligible, the

Psalmist describes them as driven

over the uplands of Gilead like the

clouds of chaff blown from the

threshing-floors; chased away like

the spherical masses of dry weeds

which course over the plains of

Esdraelon and Philistia -- flying

with the dreadful hurry and confu-

sion of the flames, that rush and

leap from tree to tree and hill to

hill when the wooded mountains of

a tropical country are by chance

ignited." See the article OREB, by

Mr. Grove, in Smith's Dict. of the

Bible.

    12. PASTURES. Others, "habi-

tations," which Gesen. gives as the

first meaning. But there is no

reason to depart from the usual

signification.      See on lxxix. 7,

Comp. xxiii. 2. Israel is God's

flock lying down in His pastures.

The figure accords with the usage

of Psalms ascribed to Asaph. See

General Introduction, Vol. I. pp.

96-98.

     13. AS THE WHIRLING DUST.

The same word is rendered by the

E.V. in the parallel passage, Is.

xvii. 13, "a rolling thing."

     And (they) shall be chased as the

            chaff of the mountains before

            the wind,

      And like a rolling thing before

            the whirlwind.

     Here both the A.V. and P.B.V.

have "as a wheel," and so all the

Ancient Versions, and this Hupfeld

maintains is the only correct ren-

dering. But the parallel rather sug-

gests "spherical masses of weeds "

(as Mr. Grove renders), chaff, dust,

anything driven in rolling masses

by the wind. And so Gesenius,

Ewald, Delitzsch, &c. Reuss :

"Comme le tourbillon."

     14. The image in this verse is

also found in Isaiah. See chap. ix.

18 [17]; x. 17, 18 and comp. Zech.

xii. 6.

     Hupfeld connects this with the

preceding verse, and so supposes a

confusion in the figure (such as he

finds also in xxi. 9), the sense being,

"O my God, make them as a forest

which is burned with fire." But it

is far better to take ver. 14 and ver.

 

114                                  PSALM LXXXIII.  

 

15 So pursue them with Thy tempest,

            And with Thy hurricane make them afraid.

16 Fill their face with confusion,

            That they may seek Thy Name, 0 Jehovah.

17 Let them be ashamed, and afraid for evermore,

            Yea, let them be confounded and perish,

18 And let them know that Thou, (even) Thy Name

                        Jehovah alone,

            Art most high over all the earth.

 

15 as the two members of the com-

parison, and then there is no need

to resort to such metonymy.

    15. With this verse and what

follows comp. xxxv. 4-6.

     16. The object with which the

Psalmist prays for the Divine

judgement upon the foes who are

gathering to swallow up his people

is remarkable. It is "that they

may seek the name of Jehovah,

that they may know (ver. 18) that

He is most High over all the earth."

This is the nobler aspiration which

mingles with the prayer for venge-

ance. The man in danger, feeling

his own and his country's peril, de-

sires to see his enemies destroyed

with a slaughter as terrible, a dis-

comfiture as complete, as that on

"the day of Midian." The man

who loves and fears Jehovah desires

to see others, even his enemies,

love and fear Him too. A pious

Englishman in Lucknow, or Delhi,

or Cawnpore, during the Indian

mutiny, might have understood

how possible it was to reconcile the

two parts of the prayer.

    The prayer in v. 18 might indeed

only mean that by their overthrow

they should be forced to acknow-

ledge the power and greatness of

Jehovah, an external subjection as

in xxxi. 17 [18], but the prayer that

they should seek His Name must

mean more than this. The end of

all God's judgements, as of all his-

tory, is the same, that all should

confess that Jehovah is One, and

His Name One, Zech. xiv. 9.

     18. THOU, THY NAME, i.e. Thou

who dost reveal Thyself as Jehovah.

Calvin observes that the pronoun

is emphatic, because there is im-

plied a comparison between the

true God, the God of Israel, and all

false gods, "as though the prophet

had said, Lord, make them feel that

their idols which they have made

for themselves are nothing." The

construction is that of a double

nominative. See note on xliv. a.

 

            a See General Introduction, Vol. I. p. 96.

            b dOs, here used in a bad sense, as in lxiv. 3, is the object of the verb,

the constr. being the same as in Iv. 14 [15], "to make counsel sweet;" so

here, "to make counsel crafty." In other places, it is true, the Hiph. of

this verb occurs intransitively, and so Hengst. would take it here, "they

act craftily in reference to their counsel;" but this is unnecessary. See

on xiv. 1. In the next clause the Hithp. UcfEyAt;yi, which occurs only here,

expresses the mutual deliberation.

                             PSALM LXXXIV.                                       115

 

                             PSALM LXXXIV.

 

            IN its general character this Psalm very nearly resembles Psalm

xlii.-xliii. Like that, it is the ardent outpouring of a man of no

common depth and tenderness of feeling, the expression of a devoted

love for the house and worship of Jehovah. Like that, it is written

under circumstances of suffering and depression, at a time when the

Psalmist was in exile, or at a distance from the Sanctuary. Like that,

it touches, and even more fully, on the celebration of the national

feast, and pictures the crowd of pilgrims on their way to the Holy

City. In both Psalms there is the same deep pathos, the same "ex-

quisite delicacy and tenderness of thought," in both the same strain

of remembrance and of anticipation, half sad, half joyful. Certain

turns of expression are the same in both. Compare ver. 2 here with

xlii. I, 2; ver, 4 [5] here, "they will still (or yet) praise Thee," with

x1ii. 5, "for I shall yet praise Him;" the name of God as "the

Living God," ver. 2 here, and xlii. 2 (occurring nowhere else in the

Psalter); the phrase, "appear before God," ver. 7 here, and xlii. 2;

"Thy dwellings" or "tabernacles," ver. I, here, and xliii. 3. But

with all these resemblances, there is this difference, that here nothing

is said to define exactly the locality in which the Psalm was written;

nor is there any allusion to the taunts of enemies, to "men of deceit

and wrong," such as meets us in xlii., xliii.

            From the general likeness in structure, and sentiment, and colour-

ing of language, and yet perfect distinctness and originality, of the

two Poems, Ewald is doubtless right in concluding that both are by

the same author. Whether he is right in inferring from ver. 9 [10] of

this Psalm that the author was a king, has been questioned. The

form of expression points that way, and scarcely admits of a different

explanation (see note on the verse). Ewald supposes the king to have

been Jehoiachin (or Jeconiah), "who, according to Jer. xxii. 28, &c.

was no contemptible person, and who, after having been long in exile

(and in confinement), was at last restored to a place of honour, 2 Kings

xxv. 27-30." But see more in the Introduction to Psalm xlii.

            The former part of this Psalm may also be compared with Psalm

lxiii., and there are expressions which connect it with Psalms xxvii.

and lxv.

            Hengstenberg, who is a zealous upholder of the inscriptions,

maintains that the Psalm was composed by some member of the

116                               PSALM LXXXIV.

 

Levitical family of the Korahites who accompanied David when he

fled from Absalom to the east side of the Jordan. But his explana-

tion of the fact is not very intelligible. He says:  "The ninth

verse renders it evident that the speaker is the Anointed of the

Lord. This fact can be reconciled with the title, which ascribes the

Psalm to the sons of Korah, only by the supposition that it was sung

from the soul of the Anointed."

            Mr. Plumptre, who gives reasons for concluding that all the Korahite

Psalms were written during the reign of Hezekiah by members of that

Levitical family, considers the Psalm to have been written on the same

occasion as Psalm xlii., and supposes that "a devout Levite or com-

pany of Levites was hindered by the presence of Sennacherib's army

from going up at the appointed seasons to take their turn in the

ministrations of the Temple." He draws attention to "the touch which

indicates the possible familiarity with the Temple precincts. The

Levite minstrel remembers ‘the sparrow and the swallow’ that flut-

tered about the courts of the Sanctuary there, and built their nests

upon its eaves, as they now love to haunt the enclosure of the

Mosque of Omar." He observes what new force the Psalmists words

acquire, "I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God," &c.,

if we regard them not as the vague indeterminate wish of any devout

worshiper, but remember that they fell from the lips of one of those

sons of Korah "whose special function it was to be ‘keepers of the gate

of the tabernacle’ in the time of David (1 Chron. ix. 19), and sure to

be appointed therefore to an analogous service in the Temple." And

he concludes "that this Psalm, like Psalm xlii., was written by some

Levite detained against his will 'in the land of Jordan' and ‘on the

slopes of Hermon,’ somewhere, i.e., in the upland Gilead country,

and that then the recollection of past journeys to Jerusalem would

bring back the scenes of travel through the valley of the Jordan,

which, with its deep depression and tropical climate, had from the

earliest date been famous for its balsam-weeping trees. Some parched

rock-ravine on the way would be that which the Psalmist would

think of as having been watered by the tears of pilgrims." (Biblical

Studies, pp. 163-166.)

            The Psalm consists of two principal divisions; the first of which

dwells on the blessedness of God's service in His House, the supreme

happiness of those who are permitted to take their part in it, ver.

1—7: the second consists of a prayer that the Psalmist himself,

though shut out from access to the Sanctuary, may nevertheless find

God to be his sun and shield, ver. 8-12. Or we may divide the

whole into three parts, thus: ver. 1-3 (or 4); ver. 4 (or 5) to 7;

ver. 8-12. If we make the first strophe end with ver. 3, then the

                              PSALM LXXXIV.                                    117

first strophe and the last resemble one another in structure so far,

that both begin and end with the same address to God, "0 Jehovah

of Hosts" (slightly varied in ver. 8). On the other hand, ver. 4

completes the subject of the first strophe (see note on the verse).

            Hupfeld, Delitzsch, De Wette, and others, follow the division

suggested by the Selah, and arrange the strophes accordingly: ver.

1-4; ver. 5-8; ver. 9-12. But it is quite impossible to regard

ver. 8 as the natural conclusion of the second strophe.*

 

[FOR THE PRECENTOR. UPON THE GITTITH.a A PSALM OF THE

                                SONGS OF KORAH.b ]

 

1 How lovely are Thy dwellings, 0 Jehovah (of) Hosts!

2 My soul longeth, yea even fainteth, for the courts of

                        Jehovah;

            My heart and my flesh cry aloud to the living God.

 

     I. THY DWELLINGS. The plural

may either be used to denote the

several parts of the sanctuary (see

on lxviii. 35), or perhaps rather,

poetically, instead of the singular.

Comp. xliii. 3, xlvi. 4, [5] cxxxii. 5, 8.

And the same may be said of the

plural "courts," in the next verse

(which Mendelssohn renders by the

singular, Vorhof.) But see General

Introduction, Vol. I. p. 99,

    2. By the COURTS, that part of

the building is meant which was for

the people at large. (So in Is. i. 12,

"Who hath required this at your

hand to tread my courts." Comp.

lxv. 4 [5], cxvi. 19.) No inference

can be drawn from the plural, that

the reference is to the court of the

people and the court of the priests

in the Temple (as the Rabbis ex-

plain), and that consequently the

Temple was already built.

    On this intense expression of per-

sonal affection to God and His

worship, see note on lxiii. 1.

    SOUL . . . HEART . . . FLESH.

Even more strongly than there

(where "heart" is omitted) marking

the whole man, with every faculty

and affection. The verbs are also

very expressive. The first, LONGETH,

means literally, "hath grown pale,"

as with the intensity of the feeling;

the second, FAINTETH, is more ex-

actly "faileth," or "is consumed"

(Job xix. 27).

    CRY ALOUD. The verb in this

conjugation is used elsewhere of a

joyful utterance, and some would

retain this meaning here, as even

amidst the sadness of exile, there

mingled with his longing a joy as

he remembers, and anticipates, in

spite of all that is adverse, commu-

nion with God in Zion. Men-

delssohn, keeping to this meaning

of the verb, renders: "My soul . . ,

fainteth for the court of the Eternal.

(where) heart and flesh shout aloud

(jauchzen) to the God of life." But

this ignores the pronominal suffixes.

However, the cry of prayer may be

all that is meant. So the noun from

the same root is frequently used,

and so the verb (in the Qal con-

jug.) of the cry of distress, Lam.

ii. 19.

     LIVING GOD. See note on xlii.

2, the only other place in the Psalms

where God is so named. This par-

ticular form of expression 'El Chay

 

            All the Sephardim synagogues use this Psalm as introductory to the

Afternoon Prayer.

118                               PSALM LXXXIV.

3 Yea the sparrow hath found a house,

            And the swallow a nest for herself where c she hath

                        laid her young,

            (Even) d Thine altars, 0 Jehovah (of) Hosts,

                        My King and my God!

 

occurs but twice beside in the Bible,

Josh. iii. 10, Hos. i.10. The similar

name, Elohim Chayyim, is found,

Deut. v. 26 (the first use of the

epithet); I Sam. xvii. 26, 36; Jer.

x. 10; xxiii. 36; and the correspond-

ing Chaldee, Dan. vi. 26. A third

combination of the noun and ad-

jective, Elohim Chay, occurs in

2 Kings xix. 4, 16, and the corre-

sponding passage in Is. xxxvii. 4, 17.

In the New Testament the name

"Living God" is found in St.

Matthew's and St. John's Gospels,

in the speech of Paul and Barnabas

in the Acts (xiv. 15), in several of

St. Paul's Epistles, four times in

the Epistle to the Hebrews, and

once in the Revelation.

     3. MY KING AND MY GOD. Thus

joined also in v. 2. It will be seen

from my rendering of this verse,

which coincides with that of the

E.V., that I do not find in it that

"insuperable difficulty" which has

presented itself to some of the

modern commentators. The Psalm-

ist, at a distance from Zion, envies

the birds who are free to build their

nests in the immediate precincts of

the Temple. They have a happiness

which he cannot enjoy. They are

nearer to God, so it seems to him

in his despondency, than he is.

This is all that is meant. Nor can

I see anything "trivial" in such a

thought. "Thine altars" is a poet-

ical way of saying "Thy house."

It is manifestly a special term in-

stead of a general. Yet it has been

seriously argued, that no birds

could or would ever be suffered to

build their nests on the altar.

Surely this sort of expression, which

is hardly a figure, is common

enough. A parte potiori fit deno-

minatio. We say, "There goes a

sail." What should we think of a

man who should argue that a sail

cannot go? The altars mean the

Temple. There was

                        "No jutty frieze,

Buttress, nor coigne of vantage, but

            these birds

Had made their pendant bed,"

not to mention that trees grew

within the sacred enclosure, where

birds might have built their nests.

The comparison between the lot of

the birds, happy in their nearness

to the house of God, and the Psalm-

ist far removed and in exile, is sug-

gested rather than developed; but

it is sufficiently obvious. Hence

there is no need to adopt any of

the different interpretations of the

last clause of the verse which have

been proposed, in order to escape a

purely imaginary difficulty,—such

as (I) "Oh for Thine altars, 0

Jehovah," &c., as if the meaning

were: "The birds have their nests,

their homes, their shelter: Oh that

I could find my place of refuge and

shelter in Thy temple!" Or (2)

supposing an ellipsis or omission of

certain words, "The sparrow hath

found an house, &c. . . . but I

would find Thine altars," &c., or,

"When shall I come (as in 6) to

Thine altars?" Or (3) by a trans-

position (which Hupfeld proposes),

so that the last two clauses of ver.

3 [4] would stand after the first

clause of ver. 4 [5]

      "Blessed are they that dwell in

            Thy house,

   (Even) Thine altars (or, by Thine

            altars), 0 Jehovah of Hosts,

    My King and my God;

     They will be alway praising Thee."

     (4) The most improbable view of

all is that of Hengstenberg and

Delitzsch--no doubt following the

 

                                  PSALM LXXXIV.                            119

4 Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house!

            They will be still praising Thee. [Selah.]

5 Blessed are the men whose strength is in Thee,

            In whose heart are (the) ways,e

Rabbis, who say that "the bird" is

Israel (a mere 'Agadah)—who sup-

pose that the Psalmist speaks of

himself under the figure of a bird.

If that be so, what is the meaning

of the allusion to the young ones ?

They are a pointless addition to the

figure. Again, what is the force of

the particle " yea" (MGa) with which

ver. 3 opens, unless it be to institute

a comparison and a conclusion à

minori . Lastly, how can the

Psalmist express this longing for

God's house in ver. 2, and in ver. 3

say that he has found (observe the

perfect tense) a home and a rest there?

This has been well argued by Hupfeld, who

however himself misses the simple and

obvious explanation of the verse.

    4. It is doubtful whether this

verse should be regarded as closing

the first strophe, or commencing

the second. The Selah has been

urged in favour of the former view,

but no stress can be laid upon this,

as in the very next Psalm it is in-

serted in the middle of a strophe,

and in some instances, as has been

noticed elsewhere, even in the

middle of a verse. The chief argu-

ment in favour of that division is

that thus the thought of ver. 3 is

completed. Even the birds are

happy, who find shelter beneath

that sacred roof; far more happy—

truly blessed are they who dwell

there, rendering the reasonable

service of a thankful heart. The

blessedness of God's house is that

there men praise Him. This it

was that made that house so pre-

cious to the Psalmist. And what

Christian man can climb higher

than this,—to find in the praise of

God the greatest joy of his life?

     THEY WILL BE STILL PRAISING

THEE, i.e. "always, continually."

Others, who suppose that: a con-

trast is implied between the gloomy

present and the more hopeful

future, render, " They will yet praise

Thee," taking the particle in the

same sense as in xlii. 5 [6], to [11].

    5-7. But not only blessed are

they who dwell in the holy place in

God's city, and near to His house;

blessed are they who can visit it,

with the caravan of pilgrims at

the great national festivals. They

cherish the remembrance of such

seasons. Every spot of the familiar

road, every station at which they

have rested, lives in their heart.

The path may be dry and dusty,

through a lonely and sorrowful

valley, but nevertheless they love it.

The pilgrim band, rich in hope, for-

get the trials and difficulties of the

way: hope changes the rugged and

stony waste into living fountains.

The vale blossoms as if the sweet

rain of heaven had covered it with

blessings. Hope sustains them at

every step; from station to station

they renew their strength as they

draw nearer to the end of their

journey, till at last they appear be-

fore God, present themselves as

His worshipers, in His sanctuary in Zion.

      Such appears to be the general

scope of the passage, though the

meaning of the second clause, "In

whose heart are the ways," has been

much questioned. (1) The Chaldee

renders the verse: "Blessed is the

man whose strength is in Thy

word, who has confidence (in Thee,

or in it, i.e. Thy word), in his

heart." This preserves the paral-

lelism, "strength"  . . . "con-

fidence." It probably rested on a

figurative interpretation of the word

"highways," roads carefully con-

structed being firm, strong, safe,

and hence an image of confidence.

(2) Others again, as Qimchi(Joseph),

understand by "the ways," those

of the knowledge "of God" (in

120                        PSALM LXXXIV.

6 Who passing through the Vale of Weeping, make it a

                        place of springs;

            Yea, the early rain f covereth (it) with blessings.

7 They go from strength to strength,

 

which men are said to walk), and

these are in their heart, because

they love and meditate thereon.

(3) Hengstenberg explains the ways

or roads constructed in the heart as

the second condition of salvation

(the first being that a man has his

strength in God), and thinks that

the expression designates zealous

moral effort, righteousness, &c.;

the heart of man being naturally

like a pathless and rocky wilder-

ness, in which roads are levelled by

repentance. He quotes Ps. 1. 23;

Prov. xvi. 17 ; Is. xl. 3, 4.

     But these interpretations do not

fall in with the general strain and

tenour of verses 5-7. The WAYS

(lit. "highways") are those tra-

versed by the caravans of pilgrims

—the ways to the sanctuary. No

wonder that in all ages men have

rejoiced to find in this beautiful

picture an image of the Christian

life. To what can that so aptly be

compared as to a pilgrimage in a

vale of tears? Is it not by the hope

of appearing before God in the

heavenly Jerusalem that the Chris-

tian is sustained? Does he not

find fountains of refreshment in

the wilderness of the world? Does

not God's grace visit him like

the sweet refreshing shower from

heaven? Does he not advance

from strength to strength, from

grace to grace, from glory to glory,

till he reaches his journey's end?

    6. THE VALE OF WEEPING. The

meaning of the word "Baca" is

doubtful, but all the Ancient Ver-

sions render it by "weeping," and

according to the Massoreth it is the

same as "Bakhah," weeping; the

word being written here only with

x. Comp. xxiii. 4, “valley of the

shadow of death.” Burckhardt

tells us that he found a valley in

the neighbourhood of Sinai, which

bore the name of "the valley of

weeping."

    Others, as Delitzsch and Ewald,

take Baca to be the name of a tree,

as it is in 2 Sam. v. 24; [ Chron.

xiv. 4; and either (as the E.V. there

renders) "a mulberry-tree," or more

probably some species of balsam-

tree, dropping its tears of balm, and

so taking its name from the Hebrew

root which signifies "weeping." In

this case some sandy valley is

meant, where these trees grew, and

which took its name from them.

"With the love for detecting allu-

sive and, as it were, ominous mean-

ings in proper names, which was

characteristic of Hebrew thought at

all times . . . . the Psalmist plays

upon its etymological significance."

—Plumptre, Biblical Sludies, p. 165.

The meaning of the verse is, that

the faith and hope and joy of the

pilgrims make the sandy waste a

place of fountains, and then (this

is the Divine side of the picture)

God from heaven sends down the

rain of His grace. The word de-

notes the soft, gentle autumnal rain

(Joel ii. 23) which fell after the

crops were sown. Thus the Vale

of Weeping becomes a Vale of Joy.

    "Compare for the use of the

same figure in a simpler form, Is.

xxxv. 7; Hos. ii. 15 [17 Heb.]. The

entrance into Palestine is, as a

matter of fact, waste and arid."—

Ewald.

    A PLACE OF SPRINGS. This is

the strict meaning of the word,

rather than "a spring" or "foun-

tain." Comp. cvii. 35.

    7. FROM STRENGTH TO

STRENGTH, ever renewing it, in

spite of the toils of the way, and in

view of the journey's end, as Is. xl.

31. Comp. Joh. i. 16, and 2 Cor.

 

                              PSALM LXXXIV                                  121

 

            (Every one of them) appeareth before God in Zion.

8 0 Jehovah, God (of) Hosts, hear my prayer,

            Give ear, 0 God of Jacob. [Selah.]

9 See, 0 God our shield,

            And look upon the face of Thine Anointed;

10 For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand

                        (elsewhere);

            I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God,

                        Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

11 For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield,

            Jehovah giveth grace and glory,

                        No good thing doth He withhold from them that

                                    walk uprightly.

 

iii. 18, and similarly Rom. i. 17, e]k

pi<stewj ei]j pi<stin, from "first to last

of faith, and nothing but faith."

     APPEARETH. See note on xlii.

2. Comp. especially Exod. xxiii.

17, xxxiv. 23.

     8. The Psalmist has pictured to

himself the blessedness of those

who dwell in the holy city, in im-

mediate proximity to God's house,

the blessedness of those who can

join the pilgrim-caravans. Now,

he pours out a prayer for himself

that he, though distant, may share

the same blessing.

    9. SEE (absol. as in lxxx. 14 [15]).

    OUR SHIELD, and again ver. 11;

so God is called in iii. 3, where see

note; xxviii. 7, &c.

     LOOK UPON THE FACE OF THINE

ANOINTED. This following imme-

diately upon the words in ver. 8,

"hear my prayer," favours the sup-

position that the Psalm was written

by the king. So also does the use

of the pronoun of the first person

in ver. 10, introduced by the con-

junction "for." Another might,

however, offer the prayer on his

behalf. See xx., xxi., lxi. 6 [7].

     10. BE A DOOR-KEEPER, lit. "lie

on the threshold" (LXX. para-

riptei?sqai), or "busy oneself on the

threshold;" the lowest place, the

meanest office in God's house is a

happiness and an honour beyond

all that the world has to offer. De-

litzsch sees in the comparison with

"tents" rather than "palaces," an

intimation that the Ark of God was

still in a tent, and the Temple not

yet built.

    II. JEHOVAH GOD (Elohim).

This form of the Divine Name is

characteristic, as is well known, of

the section, Gen. ii. 14-iii. 24, where

it first occurs. We find it again in

Exod. ix. 30, and in David's prayer,

2 Sam. vii. 22. This is the only

passage in the Psalter where it is

employed. In Ixviii. 18 [16] it is

the shorter form "Jah Elohim."

In lxxxv. 8 the order of the two

names is different, "The Elohim

Jehovah." In lxxi. 5, and in a large

number of passages in the Prophets

where the E.V. has "the Lord

God," this represents the Hebrew

"Adonai Jehovah."

    A SUN. This is the only place

where God is directly so called. In

other passages we have the more

general name of "Light," as in

xxvii. 1. Comp. however, Is. lx. 19,

20; Rev. xxi. 23; and the expres-

sion, "Sun of Righteousness," as

applied to the Messiah, Mal. iii.

20 [iv. 2 in E.V.].

     Instead of "Jehovah God is a

sun and a shield," the LXX. and

 

 

122                              PSALM LXXXIV

 

12 0 Jehovah (of) Hosts,

            Blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee.

 

Theod. have, "The Lord God loveth

mercy and truth."

    UPRIGHTLY, lit. "in perfect-

ness;" see xv. 2. To such persons

God will show His salvation, all

that is comprised in those two great

words, "grace” and "glory," whe-

ther they can enter His earthly

house or not.

    And the Psalmist rises at last to

the joyful conviction, not only that

they are blessed who dwell in God's

house (ver. 4), or they who swell the

festal throng on their way to that

house (ver. 5), but they who, whether

they worship in it or not, are one

with Him by faith: "Blessed is the

man that trusteth in Thee."

 

            a See on the Title of Psalm viii., and General Introduction, Vol. I.

p. 88.

            b See on Title of xlii., and General Introduction, Vol. I. p. 98.

            c rw,xE where, as in xcv. 9, Num. xx. 13. The two names of birds here

mentioned are found together also in Prov. xxvi. 2. The Chald. render

"dove" and "turtle," but the rendering as above is preferable. See the

words in Ges. Thes.

            d ‘m-tx,. The tx, may be as I have taken it, the sign of the accus. (in

appos.), or it may be a preposition, by, near. In this last sense it is taken

by the Syr., and so Ewald.

            e tOl.sim;. As the word stands, it can only mean highways, roads, and

here, the roads leading to the Sanctuary. So the LXX. seeing a reference

to the caravans going up to the yearly feast, render, a]naba<seij e]n t^?

kardi<^ au]tou? die<qeto. The Syro-hex. supplies the pronoun: "Thy path is

in their heart." The Chald., we have seen, gives the word a figurative

meaning, confidence. This meaning Hupfeld thinks is required by the

parallelism, and he proposes to read tOls;Ki, the plur. of the noun hlAs;Ki,

which occurs in this sense, Job iv. 6. The plur. of abstract nouns is

frequently used for the sing., and this plur. is found in a proper name,

Josh. xix. 22.

            f hrOm. The same word occurs in Joel ii. 23 (bis), of the autumnal rain

(elsewhere hr,Oy); here, perhaps, any rain as softening and fertilizing.

The older Verss. generally took the word in the sense of teacher, lawgiver.

LXX. o[ nomoqetw?n. Sym. o[ u[podei<kthj. E'. o[ fwti<zwn. S'. o[ dida<skwn.

Jer. doctor, and so the Rabbis, but Aquila has prw<imoj. Herder under-

stands by it the leader of the caravan.

            hm,f;ya. Hiph. with double accus. (the nearer object being here omitted)

as in lxv. 13. Hengst. makes it Qal (as in Lev. xiii. 45, Jer. xliii. 12), and

insists that hr,Om means teacher, as in 2 Kings xvii. 28, Is. xxx. 20, Prov.

v. 13, and so renders: "the teacher (i.e. David himself) shall even be

covered with blessings." In this he follows Jerome: Benedictionibus

amicietur doctor; but the whole beauty of the image is thus destroyed.

 

 

                                      PSALM LXXXV                                      123

 

     tOkrAB;. Some with the change of a single vowel read tOkreB; pools.

Hence the E. V.:  "The rain also filleth the pools." But the LXX.

follow our present pointing: kai> ga>r eu]logi<aj dw<sei o[ nomoqetw?n, and so

does Sym. The accusative is placed first in the sentence as emphatic,

whilst the part. MGa, yea, also, shows that the rain produces its effect also

in blessing, as well as the springs in the valley: "Yea with blessings doth

the rain cover it."

            The Chaldee paraphrase of this verse is singular enough to be worth

quoting:  "The sinners who pass through the depths of Gehenna, greatly

weeping, make it a fountain; but [God] shall cover with blessings those

that return to the doctrine of His law."

 

 

                                        PSALM LXXXV.

 

            THERE seems every reason to conclude that this Psalm was written

after the return of the exiles from the Babylonish captivity. It opens

with an acknowledgement of God's goodness and mercy in the

national restoration, in terms which could hardly apply to any other

event. But it passes immediately to earnest entreaty for deliverance

from the pressure of existing evils, in language which almost con-

tradicts the previous acknowledgement. First we hear the grateful

confession, "Thou hast turned the captivity of Jacob" and then we

have the prayer, "Turn us, 0 God of our salvation."  If the third

verse contains the joyful announcement, "Thou hast withdrawn all

Thy wrath," &c., the fifth pleads as if no such assurance had been

given: "Wilt Thou for ever be angry with us? Wilt thou draw out

Thine anger to all generations?"

            The most probable way of explaining this conflict of opposing

feelings is by referring the Psalm to the circumstances mentioned by

Nehemiah (chap. i. 3). The exiles on their return, he learnt, were

"in great affliction and reproach." And when he obtained leave to go

to Jerusalem himself, it was only in the midst of perpetual opposition

and discouragement (chap. iv.) that he was able to carry on his work

of restoration. The bright prospect which was opening before them

had been quickly dashed. They had returned indeed, but it was to

a desolate land and a forsaken city, whose walls were cast down, and

her gates burned with fire; whilst jealous and hostile tribes were

ever on the watch to assail and vex them. Hence it is that the

entreaty for mercy follows so hard upon the acknowledgement that

124                               PSALM LXXXV.

 

mercy has been vouchsafed. The 126th Psalm is conceived in a some-

what similar strain. In the latter portion of this Psalm (from ver. 8)

the present misery is forgotten in the dawning of a glorious future.

The prayer has been uttered; the storm of the soul is hushed; in

quietness and resignation the Psalmist sets himself to hear what God

will say, and the Divine answer is given, not in form, but in substance

in ver. 9-12. It is a glowing prophecy of Messianic times, most

naturally connecting itself with the hopes which the return from

Babylon had kindled afresh, and well fitted to enable those who

heard it to triumph over the gloom and despondency of the present.

Delitzsch traces in the Psalm the influence of the later portion of

Isaiah's prophecy (chaps. xl.-xlvi.) It is one of the many Psalms

which were inspired, he says, by the unsealing of that great book, and

which in their flowing, graceful, transparent style, their figurative alle-

gorizing language, and their great prophetic thoughts of consolation,

remind us of the common source whence they draw.

            Mr. Plumptre, who holds that all the Korahite Psalms belong to

the time of Hezekiah, thinks that this Psalm refers to the Assyrian

invasion. He reminds us that the language of Isaiah in reference to

that invasion is that "the cities shall be wasted without inhabitant,"

that "the Lord shall remove men far away" (Is. vi. 11, 12); that

he speaks not only of "the remnant of Israel," "the remnant of

Jacob" as returning (x. 29), but in terms hardly less strong, at the

very crisis of Sennacherib's invasion, of "the remnant that is escaped

of the house of Judah" (xxxvii. 32). After the overflow of Sen-

nacherib, and when the alliance of Hezekiah was courted by Babylon,

there would be ample opportunities for many of those who had been

carried into exile to return to the land of their fathers. "The vision

of mercy and truth, righteousness and peace, is the same with the

Psalmist as with the Prophet." It may be added, he remarks, that

the prayer, "Turn us, 0 God of our salvation" (in ver. 4),  is identical

with the ever-recurring burden of Psalm lxxx., which clearly refers to

the captivity of "Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh" i.e. of

"Jacob" rather than of "Judah." (Biblical Studies, pp. 166-7.)

            It is not surprising, considering the bright picture which the latter

verses contain, that this Psalm should have been appointed by the

Church for the services of Christmas Day.

           

            According to Hupfeld, the Psalm falls into two nearly equal

portions:--

            (1) The Prayer of the people, or for the people, ver. 1-7;

(2) the Divine Promise, ver. 8-13. Ewald and Olshausen suppose

                                    PSALM LXXXV.                                       125

 

that the first was intended to be sung by the congregation, the second

by the Priest, who after prayer seeks and receives the Divine

answer.

 

   [FOR THE PRECENTOR. A PSALM OF THE SONS OF KORAH.a]

 

1 Thou art become favourable, 0 Jehovah, unto Thy

                        land,

            Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.

2 Thou hast taken away the iniquity of Thy people,

            Thou hast covered all their sin. [Selah.]

3 Thou hast withdrawn all Thy wrath,

            Thou hast turned b from the fierceness of Thine anger.

 

4 Turn us, 0 God of our salvation,

            And cause Thine indignation towards us to cease.

5 Wilt Thou for ever be angry with us?

            Wilt Thou draw out Thine anger to all generations?

6 Wilt not THOU quicken us again,

            That Thy people may rejoice in Thee?

7 Show us Thy loving-kindness, 0 Jehovah,

            And grant us Thy salvation.

8 I will hear what God Jehovah will speak,

 

1-3. The acknowledgement of

God's goodness to His people in

their restoration from the Babylon-

ish captivity. It is not necessary

to translate the tenses as aorists,

"Thou didst become" (as Ewald

and others); for though the restora-

tion is a past event, we need not

regard it as long past.

    1. Thou HAST BROUGHT BACK,

&c. See on xiv. 7, and on lxviii.

18. Others, "Thou hast returned

to."

     2. TAKEN AWAY . . . COVERED.

Both words are used in xxxii. 1,

where see notes.

    5. FOR EVER. The emphatic

word placed first, because there

seemed to be no end to their

calamities. Even the return to

their own land had brought them

apparently no rest, no consolation,

no hope for the future.

    6. THOU. The pronoun is em-

phatic; for God alone can thus

revive the sad hearts and broken

hopes of His people.

   QUICKEN, &c. Comp. lxxi. 20,

lxxx. 19.

     IN THEE. Not in any earthly

blessings, even when they are

vouchsafed; not in corn, or wine,

or oil; not in the fatness of the

earth or the dew of heaven; but in

Him who giveth all these things,

who giveth more than all these,

Himself.

    8. I WILL HEAR, or, "let me

hear." Having uttered his sorrows

and his prayer for better days, he

would now place himself in the

attitude of calm and quiet expecta-

 

 

126                     PSALM LXXXV.

 

            For He will speak peace to His people and His beloved,

                        Only let them not turn again to folly.

9 Surely His salvation is nigh them that fear Him,

            That glory may dwell in our land.

10 Loving-kindness and truth have met together;

            Righteousness and peace have kissed (each other).

11 Truth springeth out of the earth,

            And righteousness hath looked down out of heaven.

12 Jehovah will give that which is good,

 

tion. Like Habakkuk, he will betake

him to his watch-tower, and wait to

hear what the Lord will speak. "He

might have said," Calvin observes,

"what the Lord will do; but since

God's benefits to His church flow

from His promises, the Psalmist

mentions His mouth rather than

His hand (os potius quam manum

posuit), and at the same time

teaches us that patience depends

on the calm listening ear of faith."

    GOD JEHOVAH, lit. "the God

Jehovah," the two nouns being in

apposition.

     PEACE: that is God's great word,

which in fact sums up and comprises

all else, peace with Him declared

to all who are His BELOVED, the

objects of His loving-kindness (see

on xvi. to) having the privileges of

their covenant relation to Him.

    HIS BELOVED or, "His godly

ones." See on iv. 3 [4] note b, and

lxx xvi. 2.

     ONLY LET THEM NOT TURN, or

"that they turn not."

     FOLLY: so the infatuation of sin

is spoken of. Comp. xiv. I, xlix. 13

[14]. Or, perhaps, idolatry may be

meant, and especially if the refer-

ence is to the Babylonish captivity.

     9. GLORY, i.e. the manifested

Presence of God tabernacling

visibly amongst them, as of old.

This hope was destined to have its

fiulfilment, but in a better and a

higher sense, when He who was the

brightness of the Father's glory

tabernacled in human flesh, and

men "beheld His glory, the glory

as of the only-begotten of the

Father."

     10. The four virtues here men-

tioned are, as Calvin remarks, the

four cardinal virtues of Christ's

kingdom. Where these reign

amongst men, there must be true

and perfect felicity. He adds, how-

ever, "If any one prefers to under-

stand, by the loving-kindness and

truth here mentioned, attributes of

God, I have no objection to such a

view." But the truth is, the last

are the basis and source of the first.

      11. The earth brings forth truth,

as she brings forth the natural

fruits, and righteousness looks

down from heaven like some ap-

proving angel on the renewed and

purified earth. Or, as Calvin more

generally explains: "Tantumdem

valet ac si dixisset utramque fore

sursum et deorsum ubique diffusam,

ut coelum et terram impleant.

Neque enim seorsum illis aliquid

diversum tribuere voluit." The

figures are designed in both verses

to show that these virtues are not.

regarded merely in their separate

aspect, but as meeting, answering

one another, conspiring in perfect

harmony to one glorious end. For

this mutual blessing from the

heaven above and the earth be-

neath, comp. Is. xlv. 8, Hos.ii. 23-25.

    12. The Psalmist passes from

spiritual to temporal blessings. "If

any one objects to this mixing of

the two, the answer is easy: there

 

                       PSALM  LXXXVI.                                   127

 

            And our land will give her increase.

13 Righteousness shall go before Him,

            And shall follow His footsteps in the way.c

 

is nothing to shock us, if God,

whilst He blesses the faithful with

spiritual blessings, should vouch-

safe to them also some taste of

His fatherly love in the good things

of this world; for St. Paul assures

us that godliness hath the promise

of this life as well as of that which

is to come"—Calvin. He adds an

important remark: "This verse,

moreover, shows us that the power

of fruitfulness was not once for all

bestowed on the earth (as men of

no religion choose to imagine, that

God at the creation gave to the

several parts of His universe their

several office, and then left them

alone to pursue their own course),

but that every year it is fertilized

by the secret virtue of God, accord-

ing as He sees fit to testify to us

His goodness."

     13. Righteousness shall be both

His herald and His attendant.

 

            a See above on the Title of Psalm xlii., and General Introduction, Vol.

I. p. g8.

            b bywh. The Hiph., which elsewhere is used with the accus. (lxxviii. 38,

cvi. 23, Job ix. 13, &c.), is here used like the intrans. Qal, with Nmi, see

Exod. xxxii. 12, Jon. 9. There is apparently here a confusion of the

two constructions, the phrase being borrowed from the passage in Exod.,

with the substitution of Hiph. for Qal. See a similar case in Ezek. xviii

30, 32.

            c The constr. is literally "and maketh His footsteps for a way," i.e. in

which to follow Him. So apparently the LXX. kai> qh<sei ei]j o[do>n ta>

diabh<mata au]tou?, and Sym. k. q. ei]j o[d. tou>j po<daj au]tou?. Others, as Del.  

explain: "and (righteousness) setteth (her feet) in the way of His steps,''

a possible rendering, perhaps, but against the accents. Strictly speaking,

MWeya is the optat. form, and therefore the whole verse ought rather to be

rendered, "Let righteousness go before Him," &c. So the Talmud,

Berachoth 14a, though giving a different interpretation, "Let righteousness

precede a man, and then let him put his footsteps in the way (i.e. go about

his daily business)."

 

 

                                  PSALM LXXXVI.

 

            THIS Psalm, which is inserted amongst a series of Korahite

Psalms, is the only one in the Third Book ascribed to David.

That it was written by him we can hardly suppose. Many of the

expressions are, no doubt, such as we meet with in his Psalms,

but there are also many which are borrowed from other passages

of Scripture. Indeed, the numerous adaptations of phrases employed

128                       PSALM LXXXVI.

 

by other writers may reasonably be taken as evidence of a much

later date. Further, the style is, as Delitzsch remarks, liturgical

rather than poetical, and is wholly wanting in that force, animation,

and originality for which David's poems are remarkable. The Psalm

is stamped by the use of the Divine Name, Adonai, which occurs in

it seven times.

            There is no regular strophical division, nor is it always easy to

trace clearly the connexion between the several parts of the Psalm.

Hupfeld denies that there is any. Tholuck has traced it far more

carefully than any commentator I am acquainted with, and in the

notes I have given the substance of his remarks.

            The introductory portion (ver. 1-5) consists of a number of

earnest petitions, based on several distinct pleas—the suffering

(ver. 1), the faith (ver. 2), the continued and earnest supplication

(ver. 3, 4) of the Psalmist, and the mercy and goodness of God

(ver. 5).

            In the next part (ver. 6-13) he resumes his petition; expresses

his confidence that God will hear him, comforting himself with the

majesty and greatness of God, who is able to do all that he asks

(ver. 8-10); prays for guidance and a united heart, mixing with

his prayer resolves as to his conduct, and thanksgiving for deliverance

(ver. 11-13).

            Finally (ver. 14-17) he speaks of the peril by which he has been

threatened, turns to God with affectionate confidence as to a gracious

God, and casts himself fearlessly upon His mercy.

 

                               [A PSALM OF DAVID.]

 

1 Bow down Thine ear, 0 Jehovah, answer me!

            For I am afflicted and poor.

2 Keep my soul, for I am one whom Thou lovest

            0 THOU my God, save Thy servant,

                        Who putteth his trust in Thee.

 

     1. Bow DOWN, &c. Comp. lv.

I, 2.

     AFFLICTED AND POOR: alleged

in the same way as a reason, xl. 17

[18]. This is not the highest ground

which can be taken in pressing for

an answer to our prayer, but it is

a ground which God suffers us to

take, both because He declares

Himself to be the helper of the

needy (comp. xii. 5 [6]), and because

it is the sense of their need and

misery which drives men to God.

Comp. for the same epithets xxxv.

10, xxxvii. 14, lxxiv. 21.

   2. ONE WHOM THOU LOVEST,

or, who has been graciously dealt

with by Thee. The first plea was

his need; now he pleads his own

covenant relation to God; for this

is implied in the adjective here

used, chasid. Comp. iv. 3 [4] note b,

and the note on xvi. 10. It is un-

fortunate that the E.V. renders:

 

                                PSALM LXXXVI.                                      129

 

3 Be gracious unto me, 0 Lord,

            For upon Thee do I call all the day long.

4 Rejoice the soul of Thy servant,

            For unto Thee, 0 Lord, do I lift up my soul.

5 For Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive,

            And plenteous in loving-kindness to all them that

                        call upon Thee.

6 Give ear, 0 Jehovah, unto my prayer,

            And hearken unto the voice of my supplications.

7 In the day of my distress, I will call upon Thee,

            For Thou wilt answer me.

8 There is none like unto Thee among the gods, 0 Lord,

            Neither are there (any works) like unto Thy works.

 

"for I am holy." (The margin

gives the true rendering.) The

appeal is not to anything in him-

self, but to God's goodness. This

is clear from ver. 5. At the same

time he does not hesitate to say

what the attitude of his heart is

towards God, and to urge his simple

absolute confidence in God, as well

as his unceasing earnest prayer, as

reasons why he should be heard.

This is the language of honest

straightforward sirnplicity, not of

self-righteousness.

    4. I LIFT UP MY SOUL, as in xxv.

I. Comp. cxxx. 6.

    5. READY TO FORGIVE. The

adjective occurs nowhere else. The

general sentiment of the verse (re-

peated in 15) is borrowed from such

passages as Exod. xx. 6; xxxiv. 6,

9; Num. xiv. 18, 19.

    It is on the broad ground of

God's mercy, and of that mercy as

freely bestowed on all who seek it,

that he rests. He applies the

general truth (ver. 5) to his own

case (ver. 6). In ver. 7 be pleads

again the need, under the pressure

of which he cries to God: it is no

unmanly, petulant, peevish com-

plaint that he utters. The calamity

is real, and there is but One who

has power to deliver him.

     6. Comp. v. 2, xxviii. 2, cxxx. 2.

The peculiar form of the word SUP-

PLICATIONS occurs only here.

    7. Comp. xx. 1; 1. 16; lxxvii. 2

[3]; xvii. 6.

    8-10. There are two kinds of

doubt which are wont in the hour

of temptation to assail the soul;

the doubt as to God's willingness,

and the doubt as to God's power,

to succour. The first of these the

Psalmist has already put from him :

he now shows that he has overcome

the second. God is able as well as

willing to help, and every being on

the face of the earth who receives

help, receives it from the hand of

Him who is the only God, and who

shall one day be recognized (so

speaks the strong prophetic hope

within him, ver. 9) as the only God.

This hope rests on the fact that

God has created all men ("all na-

tions whom Thou hast made"), and

nothing can be imagined more self-

contradictory than that the spirit

which has come from God should

remain for ever unmindful of its

source. In Ver. 8 it might seem as

if God were merely compared with

the gods of the nations. In ver.

10 they are plainly said to be "no

gods," though they "be called

gods." There is but one God:

"Thou art God alone."

    8. The first half of the verse is

 

130                              PSALM LXXXVI.

 

9 All nations whom Thou hast made

            Shall come and bow themselves down before Thee,

                        0 Lord,

            And shall give glory to Thy Name.

10 For Thou art great, and doest wondrous things;

            Thou art God alone.

11 Teach me, 0 Jehovah, Thy way,

                        I will walk in Thy truth:

            Unite my heart to fear Thy Name;

12 I will give thanks unto Thee, 0 Lord my God, with my

                        whole heart,

            And I will glorify Thy Name for ever,

 

borrowed from Exod. xv. 11. Comp.

lxxxix. 8 [9], 1xxi. 19, &c. With

the second half comp. Deut. iii,

24.

    9. Nearly as in xxii. 27 [28].

Comp. lxvi. 4; Is. lxvi. 18, 23;

Zech. xiv. 9, 16.

    10. Comp. lxxvii. 13, 14 [14, 15]

with Exod. xv. 11. See also lxxxiii.

18 [19]; 2 Kings xix. 15, 19; Neh.

ix. 6.

    11. The first clause is word for

word as in xxvii. 11. Comp. xxv.

4.

    WALK IN THY TRUTH, xxvi. 3.

Although in a great strait, and in

fear of his enemies, the Psalmist,

like all who pray aright, offers first

the petition, "Hallowed be Thy

Name," before he asks, "Give us

this day our daily bread," and "de-

liver us from evil." He confesses

that his spiritual eye is not yet

perfectly enlightened, his heart not

yet perfect with God. And while

he rejects every other way, every

other rule of life, but the eternal

rule of God's truth, he prays first

that he may more clearly discern

that way, and then that all the

various desires, interests, passions,

that agitate the human heart, may

have no hold upon him, compared

with the one thing needful—"to

fear God's name."

     UNITE MY HEART—suffer it no

longer to scatter itself upon a mul-

tiplicity of objects, to be drawn

hither and thither by a thousand

different aims, but turn all its

powers, all its affections in one di-  

rection, collect them in one focus,

make them all one in Thee. The

prayer derives a special force from.

the resolve immediately preceding:

"I will walk in Thy truth." The

same integrity of heart which made

the resolve could alone utter the

prayer. The nearest Old Testa-

ment parallels are: the "one heart,"

Jer. xxxii. 39; "And I will give

them one heart and one way, that

they may fear Me for ever;" and the

"whole heart "of love to God, Deut.

vi. 5, x. 12. Our Lord teaches us

how needful the prayer of this verse

is. Comp. what He says of "the

single eye," the impossibility of

serving two masters, the folly and

the wearisomeness of those anxious

cares by which men suffer them-

selves to be hampered and dis-

tracted, and in contrast with all this

the exhortation, "Seek ye first the

kingdom of God," &c. (Matt. vi.

19-34.) See also the history of

Martha and Mary, Luke x. 38-42.

      12. Why does he offer this prayer

for a "united heart"? That he may

then with his "whole heart:" give

thanks to God for all His infinite

loving-kindness. God's mercies

 

                              PSALM LXXXVI.                              131

 

13 For Thy loving-kindness is great toward me,

            And Thou hast delivered my soul from the unseen

                        world beneath,

14 0 God, proud men are risen up against me,

            And an assembly of violent men have sought after

                        my soul,

            And have not set Thee before them.

15 But Thou, 0 Lord, art a God full of compassion and

                        gracious,

            Long-suffering and plenteous in loving-kindness and

                        truth.

16 0 turn unto me, and be gracious to me,

            Give Thy strength unto Thy servant,

                        And save the son of Thy handmaid.

17 Show me a sign for good,

            That they who hate me may see and be ashamed,

                        Because Thou, Jehovah, hast holpen me, and com-

                                    forted me.

 

are a motive to greater thankful-

ness, and to a more whole-hearted

undivided service. Briefly, the

connexion in ver. 11, 12, is this

"Teach me Thy way, (and then)

I will walk, &c. Unite my heart,

(and then) I will give thanks."

    13. Comp. lvii. 10 [11]; lvi. 13

[14]; cxvi. 8.

     THE UNSEEN WORLD BENEATH,

i.e. under the earth. Comp. Exod.

xx. 4 with Phil. ii. 10. For similar

phrases see Ezek. xxxi. 14, 16, 18;

Ps. lxiii. 9 [10]; exxxix. 15; Ezek.

xxvi. 20; xxxii. 18, 24; Is. xliv.

23, and Ps. lxxxviii. 6 [7]; Lam.

iii. 55.

    14. Now at last he comes to the

peril, and now (ver. 15) his appeal

lies even more fully than in ver. 5

to God's glorious Name by which

He made Himself known to Moses,

Exod. xxxiv. 6. This verse explains

what the peril was, and what he

means by the deliverance from

Hades. The words are borrowed,

with a slight variation ("proud

men" instead of "strangers"), from

liv. 3 [5].

     VIOLENT, or rather "overbear-

ing." Aq. katisxureuome<nwn.

    16. SON OF THY HANDMAID, as

in cxvi. 16.

     17. A SIGN, i.e. not a miraculous

sign, but an evident proof of Thy

good-will towards me, such as shall

force even my haters to acknow-

ledge that Thou art on my side.

      "Is it not the fact," says Tholuck,

"that the more we recognize in

every daily occurrence God's secret

inspiration guiding and controlling

us, the more will all which to others

wears a common every-day aspect,

to us prove a sign and a wondrous

work?"

     FOR GOOD. Comp. Neh. v. 19,

xiii. 31, and often in Jeremiah.

 

 

 

   

132                         PSALM  LXXXVII.

 

 

                                PSALM LXXXVII.

 

            THIS Psalm presents us with one of those startling contrasts to the

general tone of Jewish sentiment and belief which meet us in various

passages of the Prophetical writings. The Jewish nation was, even

by its original constitution, and still more by the provisions of the

Law of Moses, an isolated nation. Shut in by the mountains, the

sea, the desert, it was to a great extent cut off from the world. And

the narrowness of its spirit corresponded to the narrowness of its

geographical position. It was pervaded by a jealous exclusiveness

which was remarkable even among the nations of antiquity, and

which derived its force and sanction from the precepts of its religion.

The Jews were constantly reminded that they were a separate people,

distinct, and intended to be distinct, from all others. Their land, was

given them as a special gift from Heaven. Both they and their

country belonged to God, in a sense in which no other people and

country belonged to Him. It was a holy Ark which no profane

hands might dare to touch; or if they did, they must perish in the

attempt. As a natural consequence of this belief, the Jewish people,

for the most part, regarded their neighbours as enemies. Judaism

held out no hope of a brotherhood of nations. The Jewish Church

was not a missionary church. So far as the Jews looked upon the

world around them, it was with feelings of antipathy, and with the

hope, which was never quenched in the midst of the most terrible

reverses, that finally they, as the chosen race, should subdue their

enemies far and wide, and that, by the grace of Heaven, one sitting

on David's throne should be king of the world. Psalmists and

Prophets shared the feeling. They exulted in the thought that

the king who ruled from Zion would dash the nations in pieces

like a potter's vessel, fill the places with dead bodies, and lead

rival kings in the long array of his triumph.

            But mingling with these anticipations, and correcting them, there

were others of a nobler kind. The Prophets speak not only of

victories, but of voluntary submission. The vision which rises

before them is not only of a forced unity of nations, such as that

which was achieved by the iron hand of Roman dominion, but of

a unity of faith and love. They see the mountain of the Lord's

house exalted above the hills, and all nations flowing to it with one

impulse, not led thither in the conqueror's train, but attracted by its

                               PSALM LXXXVII.                                 133

 

glory, longing to taste its peace (Is. ii. 2-4). They see Gentiles

coming to the light of Jerusalem, and kings to the brightness of

her rising. They foretell a time when all wars and all national.

antipathies shall cease, when "the root of Jesse " shall be as a

standard round which all nations shall flock, and the temple of

Jehovah the centre of a common faith and worship.

            It is this last hope which expresses itself in this Psalm, but which.

expresses itself in a form that has no exact parallel in other passages.

Foreign nations are here described, not as captives or tributaries,

not even as doing voluntary homage to the greatness and glory of

Zion, but as actually incorporated and enrolled, by a new birth,

among her sons. Even the worst enemies of their race, the tyrants

and oppressors of the Jews, Egypt and Babylon; are threatened with

no curse, no shout of joy is raised in the prospect of their overthrow,

but the privileges of citizenship are extended to them, and they are

welcomed as brothers. Nay more, God Himself receives each one

as a child newly born into His family, acknowledges each as His

son, and enrols him with His own hand in the sacred register of His

children.

            It is this mode of anticipating a future union and brotherhood of

all the nations of the earth, not by conquest, but by incorporation

into one state, and by a birthright so acquired, which is so remark-

able. In some of the Prophets, more especially in Isaiah, we observe

the same liberal, conciliatory, comprehensive language toward foreign

states, as Tyre and Ethiopia, and still more strikingly toward Egypt

and Assyria (chap. xix. 22-25). But the Psalm stands alone amongst

the writings of the Old Testament, in representing this union of

nations as a new birth into the city of God.

            This idea gives it a singular interest, and clearly stamps it as

Messianic. It is the Old Testament expression of the truth which

St. Paul declares, when he tells us that in Jesus Christ "there is

neither Greek nor Jew, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free;" or

when he writes to the Gentile Church at Ephesus, "Now therefore

ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the

saints, and of the household of God."

            It is the first announcement of that great amity of nations, or

rather of that universal common citizenship of which heathen philo-

sophers dreamt, which was "in the mind of Socrates when he

called himself a citizen of the world," which had "become a com-

monplace of the Stoic philosophy," which Judaism tried finally to

realize by the admission of proselytes, through baptism, into the

Jewish community; which Rome accomplished, so far as the ex-

ternal semblance went, first by subduing the nations, and then by

134                            PSALM LXXXVII.

 

admitting them to the rights of Roman citizenship. But the true

fulfilment of this hope is to be found only in that kingdom which

Christ has set up. He has gathered into His commonwealth all the

kingdoms of the earth. He has made men one, members of the

same family, by teaching them to feel that they are all children of

the same Father. He has made it evident that the hope of the

Jewish singer is no false hope; that there is a Father in heaven who

cares for all, whatever name they bear. Thus the Psalm has received

a better and higher fulfilment than that which lies on the surface of

its words. It was fulfilled in Christ. When He came, "the city of

God, of which the Stoics doubtfully and feebly spoke, was set up

before the eyes of men. It was no insubstantial city, such as we

fancy in the clouds, no invisible pattern, such as Plato thought

might be laid up in heaven, but a visible corporation, whose

members met together to eat bread and drink wine, and into

which they were initiated by bodily immersion in water. Here

the Gentile met the Jew, whom he had been accustomed to regard

as an enemy of the human race; the Roman met the lying Greek

sophist, the Syrian slave the gladiator born beside the Danube. In

brotherhood they met, the natural birth and kindred of each for-

gotten, the baptism alone remembered, in which they had been born

again to God and to each other." *

            There are two principal epochs to which the Psalm may be re-

ferred:--

            I. Its tone, as has been already observed, falls in with that of

some of the prophecies of Isaiah. Hence it has been referred,

not without reason,, to the reign of Hezekiah. Some have sup-

posed that it was a song of triumph, written, like Psalms xlvi. and

xlviii., after the defeat of Sennacherib; others, more probably, that it

was a hymn composed for some solemn reception of proselytes into

the Church, "the Psalmist and his brother Levites exulting in this

admission of converts as they would do in a national victory." Mr.

Plumptre gives several reasons in favour of this view. He refers

(1) to the similarity between the opening verse and the language

of Psalm xlviii. 2 (written, as we have seen, in Hezekiah's reign),

compared with is. xxv. 6, 7, and ii. 3. (2) He thinks the use of the

name "Rahab" as designating Egypt is almost sufficient to fix the

date of the Psalm. For the use of the word in this sense is

characteristic of Isaiah, as in li. 9, "Art thou not it that hash cut

Rahab (i.e. smitten Egypt) and wounded the dragon?" And again,

Is. xxx. 7, "The Egyptians shall help in vain. . . . They are Rahab

 

            * Ecce Homo, p. 136.

                               PSALM LXXX VII.                                  135

 

(proud, mighty, ferocious as the monstrous forms of their own

river), and yet they sit still." (3) The hope thus expressed, that

Egypt and Babylon shall be enrolled among the worshipers of

Jehovah, is a hope identical with that in Isaiah xix.:  "In that day

shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing

in the midst of the land," &c. And Babylon is substituted for

Assyria in the Psalm, because of the greater intercourse with the

former kingdom, and the seeming overthrow of the latter towards the

close of Hezekiah's reign. Babylonish ambassadors came to Heze-

kiah, and Isaiah's prophecies in chaps. xiii., xiv., xxxix., are evidence

that Babylon was prominent at this time. (4) The mention of

Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia also synchronizes with Hezekiah's

reign. As Isaiah had foretold (xiv. 29), he subdued the Philistines

(2 Kings xviii. 3). This was a token that the Lord "had founded

Zion." His reign witnessed a renewal of the intercourse with Tyre,

and this was accompanied by a partial conversion, and by gifts and

tribute in token of it. Ethiopia, too, had come at the same time into

fresh prominence in connexion with Judah (see Isaiah xxxvii. 9,

and comp. Zeph. iii. 10). (5) Hezekiah was conspicuous for his

catholic spirit. He not only seeks to effect the re-union of Israel

and Judah (2 Chron. xxx.), but also brings with them into fellow-

ship, "the strangers that came out of the land of Israel," as distinct

from the "congregation" (ver. 26). In 2 Chron. xxxii. 23, other

nations are said to have brought gifts for the Temple. (6) Traces

of this admission of proselytes meet us in the latter history of the

kingdom of Judah. Isaiah pronounced a solemn blessing on "the

sons of the strangers that join themselves to the lord," who are to be

made joyful in the "holy mountain" (Is. lvi. 7). Comp. also Is. lv. 1,

and Jerem. xxxviii. 7.--Biblical Studies, pp. 167--171.

 

            II. Calvin and others refer the Psalm to a time subsequent to the

return from the captivity. It was designed, as Calvin thinks, to

console the exiles, whose hearts must have died down within them

as they thought of the present enfeebled, impoverished, defenceless

state of the city; who sighed as they looked at their temple, so

far inferior in beauty and stateliness, as well as in the imposing

splendour of its worship, to the house which their fathers remem-

bered; and who, dispirited and girt by enemies, needed every

encouragement for the future. A study of the earlier chapters

of Zechariah, and the later chapters of Isaiah, in connexion with

this Psalm, may lead us to adopt this view. But our conclusion

must depend to a great extent on the date which we are disposed to

assign to the later chapters of Isaiah (xl.-1xvi.).

136                          PSALM LXXXVII.      

                       

            The outline of the Psalm is as follows:--

 

            It opens with an outburst of intensely national feeling, celebrating

the glory of Zion as the city of God. Ver. 1-3.

            But the patriotic sentiment is too large and too grand to suffer any

narrow jealousy to interfere with it, and therefore all nations are said

to be gathered to her as children to one mother. It lends more force

and dignity to this idea, that God Himself appears as the speaker,

declaring of one and another, foreign and hostile nations, that their

true birthplace is there, in Zion. Finally, one brief, obscure verse

tells of the joy and happiness of the holy city, welcoming new

children on all sides, and making them partakers in her joy. Ver. 7.

 

           [OF THE SONS OF KORAN.a  A PSALM. A SONG.]

 

1. HIS foundation b upon the holy mountains doth Jehovah

                        love,

2 (He loveth) the gates of Zion more than all the dwell-

            ings of Jacob.

3 Glorious thingsc are spoken of thee,

            0 city of God ! [Selah.]

4 " I will mention Rahab and Babylon among them d that

                        know Me;

 

    1-3. The same deep affection

and admiration for the holy city

are expressed here which are ex-

pressed' in Psalm xlviii. But there

is nothing in the language employed

to lead us to suppose that the city

had just escaped from the horrors

of war. The "gates" are men-

tioned, not as a part of the fortifi-

cations, but as one of the most

prominent features of the city—the

place of concourse, of judgement,

&c.

     Every word is emphatic. His

FOUNDATION, the city and the

temple which He, Jehovah Himself,

hath built; UPON THE HOLY MOUN-

TAINS, consecrated by His imme-

diate and manifested Presence ;

which Jehovah LOVETH with a

special and distinguishing affection,

as compared not only with other

nations, but even with other parts

of the Holy Land itself.

     UPON THE HOLY MOUNTAINS.

The plural is used with reference

to the mountainous character of

the whole country. "Jerusalem

was on the ridge, the broadest and

most strongly marked ridge of the

backbone of the complicated hills

which extend through the whole

country from the Desert to the

plain of Esdraelon." — STANLEY,

Sinai and Palestine, chap. iii. p.

176. He compares its position in

this respect to that of Rome, that

"each was situated on its own

cluster of steep hills" (p. 175).

     3. GLORIOUS THINGS: not earthly

splendour or victories, but such a

gathering of nations into her bosom

as follows in the next verse.

     4. I WILL MENTION. The words

are the words of God. We have

the same abrupt introduction of

the Divine Speaker in other Psalms.

Comp. xiv. 4; perhaps xxxii. 8;

 

                                 PSALM LXXXVII.                                 137

            Lo Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia:

                        ‘This one is born there.’"

5 And of Zion it is said:

            "One after another e is born in her,

            And the Most High Himself shall stablish her."

 

lxxv. 2 [3]; lxxxi. 6 [7]; and (ac-

cording to some expositors) lxxxii.

2.

    RAHAB. Originally the word de-

notes pride, ferocity. So in Job

ix. 13, "the helpers of pride (Ra-

hab) do stoop under him." Possibly

even there, and certainly in Job

xxvi. 12, it is the name of some

fierce monster of the deep, probably

the crocodile: "He divideth the

sea by His power, And by His un-

derstanding He smiteth the proud

monster (Rahab)," where the LXX.

have kh?toj. In Ps. Ixxxix. 10 [11],

there can be no doubt of the refer-

ence to Egypt: "Thou hast broken

Rahab in pieces," the crocodile of

the Nile being there taken as the

symbol of that kingdom. So too

in Is. li. 9, "Art thou not it that

hast cut Rahab (i.e. smitten Egypt)

and wounded the dragon?" and

xxx. 7, " The Egyptians shall help

in vain, &c . . . they are Rahab

i.e. proud, mighty, &c." The name,

then, is applied to Egypt as a vast

and formidable power, of which the

crocodile might naturally be regar-

ded as the symbol. Ewald supposes

it to be connected with the Egyp-

tian name Rif, and refers to Burck-

hardt's Nubia, p. 457.

     AMONG THEM THAT KNOW ME,

lit. "as belonging to (the number of)

them that know Me." See Critical

Note. The verb to know is here

used in that deeper and wider sense

in which it frequently occurs in

Scripture, both of God and of man.

Comp. i. 6 (where see note), and

xxxvi. to [I I] ; John x. 14, 15. It

is the knowledge of friendship, the

knowledge which springs of inti-

mate acquaintance, the knowledge

of parent and child.

     PHILISTIA, TYRE, ETHIOPIA.

Of all these nations it shall he said,

that one and another of them ("this

one," as if pointing to them) has

become a worshiper of Jehovah,

and an adopted citizen of Zion,

"born there." With regard to these

nations, see the prophecies of Isaiah

quoted in the Introduction, and

comp. lxviii. 31 [32]. THERE, so

Zion is designated even before she

is named. Others refer THERE to

the countries mentioned before, and

explain: "Only a few are to be

found there; great numbers, many

a one (see next ver.) in Zion."

    5. AND OF ZION, or "to Zion," it

is said, ONE AFTER ANOTHER, lit.

"man and man," i.e. vast multi-

tudes are born in her, as the nations

one after another become incorpo-

rated as her children. The LXX.

here render, not "it shall be said

to Zion," but "Mother Zion shall

say" (Mh<thr Siw>n e]rei?), and Zion is

spoken of as a mother Is. lxvi. 7;

liv. 1-3; lx. 4, 5; but the sense

here is different (other copies of the

LXX: read mh> t^? Siw<n; and so the

Syro-hex. and the Psalt. Gall.

Numquid Sion). It is remarkable

that the figure of a new birth is

used to express the admission of

the different nations to the rights

of citizenship in Zion. So Cicero

speaks of his restoration to his

privileges and honours on his re-

turn from banishment as "a re-

generation:" "Amicorum literm

nos ad triumphum vocant, rem a

nobis, ut ego arbitror, propter hanc

paliggenesi<an, non negli-

gendam" (EA. ad Att. vi. 6, § 4).

     "Clearly Zion stands in opposi-

tion to the countries mentioned

before, the one city to the whole of

the different countries, the one city

of God to all the kingdoms of the

world." —Delitzsch. These king-

doms one after another lose their

138                             PSALM LXXXVII.

 

6 Jehovah shall reckon when He writeth the peoples,

            "This one is born there." [Selah.]

7 Both they that sing and they that dance,f

            All my fountains, are in thee.g

 

population, cease to be kingdoms,

whilst their inhabitants all contri-

bute to swell the population of that

city which God's own right hand

establishes and makes glorious.

     6. WHEN HE WRITETH, i.e.

takes a census of the nations

(E' e]n a]pograf^? law?n, comp. the

figure of Ezek. xiii. 9, Is. iv. 3, and

see note on Ps. lxix. 28), the most

glorious thing that He can say of

each of them, the crown of all their

history, shall be this, not the record

of their separate national existence

or polity or dominion, but the fact

that they have become members

by adoption of the city of God.

Zion shall be the metropolis of the

world.

     THIS ONE IS BORN THERE. The

words are repeated, as by God

Himself, as He enters one after

another in the register of His city.

7. Great shall be the joy, great

the pomp of festival and music,

when Zion welcomes her new in-

habitants. This is doubtless the

sense; but the compressed brevity

of this verse makes it extremely

obscure. It has been rendered:

     (I) "Both they that sing and

they that dance (or, as others, play

the flute) say: ‘All my fountains (of

salvation, or of delight) are in thee

(0 city of God)."

     (2) " Both they that sing and

they that dance, All my fountains

of (delight), are in thee;" meaning

that every source of pleasure, music,

singing, &c., was to be found in

Zion.

      (3) By a change in the reading

"They both sing and dance, all

who dwell in thee (or, all my dwel-

lers in thee)."

    Of these, (2) is clearly prefer-

able. The verse might be arranged

thus:--

 

(In thee) are they that sing and they

            that dance.

     In thee are all my living springs.

 

This is abrupt, but still a natural

touch of genuine poetic feeling.

    Milton, in his Paraphrase, gives

a similar interpretation

 

"Both they who sing and they who

            dance

     With sacred songs are there;

In thee fresh brooks and soft

            streams glance,

     And all my fountains clear."

 

            a See General Introduction, Vol. I. p. 99, and p. 347.

            b hdAUsy;. This is not the part. pass. (as Hengst. and others maintain),

"the founded city," but a subst., as is clear from the use of the stiff.; and

although the word occurs nowhere else, it is fully supported by the

analogy of hkAUlm;, hfAUwy;, &c. Comp. dsAUm, of Zion, Is. xxviii. 16. So

the LXX. oi[ qeme<lioi au]tou?. Sym. qemeli<wsij au]tou?. The suff. evidently

refers, not to Zion, but to God. Rashi refers the suff. apparently to the

Psalm itself: "its theme (the foundation on which it rests) is on the holy

mountains." This clause would thus be a sort of prelude describing the

nature of the Psalm. But it seems to me better, instead of taking ver. I

as a separate clause, " His (or its) foundation is upon the holy mountains,"

                              PSALM LXXXVII.                               139

 

to connect this clause with ver. 2, and to consider the words   y’’y bhexo as belonging to

the first member. The verb can then readily be repeated with the second. If we follow the

accents, ver. I, 2 will be arranged as follows:—I. His foundation is on the holy

mountains. 2. Jehovah loveth the gates of Zion, More than all the dwellings of Jacob.

            c tOdBAk;ni, not an adv., as tOxrAOn in cxxxix. 14, nor an accus. as in lxv. 5

(see note f there), as Ewald, Hengst., and others explain, taking rBAdum; as

an impersonal: "it is said of thee = men say of thee glorious things;"

but fem. plur. = neut. (as in xlv. 5), joined irregularly with the masc.

sing. part., not however to be defended by such passages as those quoted

by Hupf., Gen. xxvii. 29; Is. iii. 12 ; Prov. iii. 18, where the sing. part. is

used distributively; better on the principle which he suggests, that the

part. is regarded as a kind of neuter noun: "that which is spoken of thee,

is glorious," lit. glorious things. He quotes, as similar,, lxxiii. 28; Prov.

xi. 23; Gen. xlix. 15, where the masc. bOF is used as the predicate of a

fem. noun, and Is. xvi. 8, llAm;xu tOmd;wa. The last is an exact parallel.

But the simplest way is to regard all such instances as covered by the

general principle that the predicate is frequently in the masc. sing. (not

only when it stands first), whilst the subject is fem. or plural, or both, as

here. (Gesen. § 144.) Comp. Is. viii. 22, HDAnum; hlApexEva.

            d yfAd;yol;. The l; is here used in the sense of belonging to, not as marking

merely apposition, as Hupf. and others explain. The constr. cannot be

compared with that of l; in such phrases as l hyh, to become, l bwH, to

reckon as, nor with such a usage as that in Exod. xxi. 2, or Ps. Vii. 14,

Myqldl, "he maketh his arrows (for, as) fiery arrows," where the verb

determines the sense in which the l; occurs.

            The LXX. render mnhsqh<somai  [Raa>b kai> Babulw?noj toi?j ginw<skousi<

me.  Neither Aq. nor Sym. takes Rahab as a proper name, and they

understand the construction differently. Aq. a]namnh<sw o[rmh<matoj kai> Babulw?noj

tou>>j ginw<skonta<j me. Sym. a]n. u[perhfani<an kai> Bab. toi?j ei]do<si me.

            e wyxiv; wyxi, lit. "man and man," i.e., every man (Gesen. § 106. 4), as in

Lev. xvii. 10, Esth. i. 8, or perhaps more exactly, one man after another,

as it were in a series extended indefinitely. Hofmann compares the

phrases rOdvA rOD, one generation after another, and ymivA ymi, Exod. x. 8.

            f Mylil;Ho for Mylil;Hom;, dancers engaged in the sacred solemnities, as

maidens who celebrated a victory, and as David himself danced before

the Ark, 2 Sam. vi. 16. The prefixed B; must be supplied also before

MyriwA, "as well singers as dancers." Or better, as Hupf. (following Is.

and Dathe), who takes the participles as finite verbs, "They shall sing

and leap for joy," viz. all they that dwell in thee (see next note). Gesen.

and others regard 'H as a denom. from lyliHA, flute -layers. Aq. has, kai>

a@dontej w[j xoroi>, pa?sai phgai< mou e]n soi<. Sym. kai> ai]ne<sousin w[j e]n

au]loi?j pa?sai ai[ phgai> e]n soi<. Jerome and the LXX. read MyriWA, and connect it

with the preceding verse, kai> a]rxo<ntwn tou<twn tw?n gegennhme<nwn e]n au]t^?, and then render the last clause w[j eu]frainome<nwn pa<ntwn h[ katoiki<a e]n soi<.  See next note, and Hupfeld's rendering based on this.

140                            PSALM LXXXVIII.

 

            g  j`BA ynayAf;ma-lKA. According to the existing punctuation this can only

mean, "all my fountains are in thee" (and so Aq. and Sym. among the

ancients), which has been variously explained. Many interpreters suppose

these to be the words of the nations keeping festival with songs and

dances, and saying, in the joy of their new birth into the city of God:

"All my fountains of salvation (comp. Is. xii. 3) are in thee." But there

is nothing in the context to favour this paraphrase of the word "fountains."

Hence Ewald would connect it with a root Nvf cognate with similar Arab.

and Syr. roots, meaning to help, to be of service, and take NO mA in the

sense of place of refuge, or something useful, and hence an art.

Accordingly he renders, "singer.s as well as flute-players, all My arts are

in thee." Hupfeld, on the other hand, follows the guidance of the LXX.,

who have Karooda. He would read yneyfim;, Hiph. part. constr. of Nvf, to

dwell, or rather ynayfim;, "My dwellers, i.e. those who dwell with Me" (as

spoken by God). Hofmann also (Schriftb. II. 2. 526) supposes the words

to be spoken by God, and renders : "all My fountains are in thee," and

explains this by reference to such passages as lxviii. 27, "the fountain of

Israel" (comp. F'rov. v. 18), or Is. xlviii. i, "the waters of Judah," and

Zech. ix. t, "the fountain of Adam (the source of man) is Jehovah."

Hence, according to this view, Jehovah here says that all His fountains

are in Zion, that is, all His children are born there. Hofmann connects

this with the previous words thus: singers as they join in the dance

repeat these words, as the words of a song in which Jehovah says of

Zion, "all My fountains," &c.

 

 

                                    PSALM LXXXVIII.

 

            THIS is the darkest, saddest Psalm in all the Psalter. It is one

wail of sorrow from beginning to end. It is the only Psalm in which

the expression of feeling, the pouring out of the burdened heart

before God, fails to bring relief and consolation. In every other

instance, however heavy the gloom, however oppressed and dejected

the spirit of the sufferer, prayer and supplication are mingled with

thanksgiving, the accents of lamentation are changed into the notes

of triumph, the darkness of midnight gives way to the brightness of

faith's morning-dawn. The deeper the sorrow at the opening, the

greater the joy at the close. But here the darkness continues to the

end. There is no confidence expressed that prayer will be heard

no hope uttered, much less any triumph. The Psalm ends with

complaint, as it began. Its last word is "darkness." One ray of

light only struggles through the gloom, one star pieces that thick

midnight blackness; it is the name by which the Psalmist addresses

                                    PSALM LXXXVIII.                                  141

 

God: "O God of my salvation." That he can address God by that

name is a proof that faith and hope are not dead within him: it is

the pledge of his deliverance, though he cannot yet taste its comfort.

There is but one such Psalm, as if to teach us that our Father's will.

concerning us is not to leave us in our dejection, but, in answer to

the prayer of faith, to lift us out of it; there is one, that we may

remember that even His truest servants may be called upon "to

walk in darkness and have no light," that thus they may be the better

trained, like a child holding his father's hand in the dark, "to trust

in the name of the Lord, to stay themselves upon their God."

            The older expositors commonly interpreted the Psalm of Christ

and of His Passion either in Gethsemane or on the Cross. And our

Church has, in a measure, sanctioned this application by appointing

this as one of the Psalms for Good Friday.

            As to the author, and the circumstances under which the Psalm

was written, various conjectures have been made, but they are really

worth nothing. One thing only is clear, that it is not a national

Psalm, and that it does not deplore the Babylonish captivity, or any

other national calamity. It is, throughout, personal and individual.

Uzziah when smitten with leprosy, Jeremiah in the dungeon, Heze-

kiah in his sickness, Job in his sufferings—to all these in turn has

the authorship of the Psalm been assigned. But neither the thoughts

nor the expression of the thoughts favour one of these hypotheses

more than another, except that, in one or two instances, the language

has some affinity with that of the Book of Job, whereas the language

of ver. 15, "I am afflicted from my youth up," is, to say the least of

it, very exaggerated language in the mouth of any of these persons,

and hardly to be justified by any pressure of sorrow.

            Delitzsch goes so far as to draw hence the inference, that Heman

the Ezrahite was the author of the Book of Job; but the words which

he quotes as common to this Psalm and Job are to be found in

other places of Scripture: they cannot be called characteristic words,

and therefore the argument built upon them falls to the ground.

 

[A SONG. A PSALM OF THE SONS OF KORAH. FOR THE PRECENTOR.

"AFTER MACHALATH L'ANNOTH." A MASKIL OF HEMAN THE

                                           EZRAHITE.a]

 

I O JEHOVAH, God of my salvation,

            I have cried day b and night before Thee.

 

I. GOD OF MY SALVATION.                                     temperantiam, desperationi januam

"Deum salutis sua vocans, quasi                         claudit, seque ad crucis tolerantiam

injecto freno, cohibet doloris in-              munit et comparat."—Calvin.

142                               PSALM LXXXVIII.

 

2 Let my prayer come before Thee,

            Incline Thine ear to my cry.

 

3 For my soul is full of troubles,

            And my life draweth nigh to the unseen world.

4 I am counted c with them that go down into the pit,

            I am become as a man that hath no strength,

5. Among the dead, cast away,d

            Like the slain, lying in the grave,

    Whom Thou rememberest no more,

            But they are cut off from Thy hand.

6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit,

            In darkness, in the deeps.

7 Upon me Thy fury lieth hard,

            And Thou hast afflicted (me) with all Thy waves.e

                                                                                    [Sela.h.]

     3. The greatness of his affliction,

which has brought him to the very

edge of the grave, is urged as a

reason why God should hear him.

Comp. Vi. 4, 5 [5, 6]; xxx. 3 [4];

Is. xxxviii. I0, II.

    IS FULL OF TROUBLES, lit. "is

satiated with evils." Comp. cxxiii.

4; Lam. iii. 15, 30.

     4. THAT HATH NO STRENGTH,

i.e. not merely as worn out with

pain and suffering, which would be

an anti-climax, but, as the parallel-

ism shows, like the unsubstantial

shadowy phantoms which people

the unseen world.

    5. CAST AWAY, Or as the E.V.

"free.," i.e. left alone, with none to

care for me, in that unseen world

whenc even God's Presence seemed

to be withdrawn. Calvin suggests

that such a mode of expression may

be accounted for, either "ex vulgi

sensu . . . quia ad futuram vitam,

qum abscondita est, nonnisi grada-

tim conscendimus," or rather on the

principle that the Prophet spoke

"ex turbulento afflicti hominis

sensu." "Nec minim est," he adds,

"hominem Spiritu Dei praeditum,

ubi praevaluit moeror, quasi attoni-

tum fuisse, ut vocem parum consi-

deratam emitteret."

    But it is the same strain of feel-

ing which we have already had in

vi. 5 [6], xxx. 9 [10], where see

notes. His eye is looking down

into the darkness, he sees himself

already numbered with the dead,.

But what are the dead? Beings

who "know not anything," "clean

forgotten, out of mind," beings

whom God Himself remembers

not. "The living, the living, he

shall praise Thee:" this was the

feeling, not of Hezekiah only, but

of all the Old Testament saints, in

seasons of gloom and despondency.

It could not be otherwise till the

bright light of Christ's resurrection

was cast upon the grave and the

world beyond.

    6. IN THE LOWEST PIT. See on

lxiii. 9 [10]; lxxxvi. 13. Comp.

Lam. iii. 55, and Ezek. xxvi. 20.

    IN DARKNESS, lit. "in dark

places," as in lxxiv. 20; Lam. iii. 6.

     IN THE DEEPS, usually said of

the sea, as in lxviii. 22 [23]; Exod.

xv. 5; here of Hades.

     7. WITH ALL THY WAVES. On

this Calvin beautifully remarks:

 

                          PSALM LXXX VIII.                            143

 

8 Thou hast removed my familiar friends far from me,

            Thou hast made me an abomination unto them;

                        I am shut up, so that I cannot go forth.

9 Mine eye wasteth away because of affliction;

            I have called upon Thee, 0 Jehovah, every day,

                        I have stretched forth my hands unto Thee.

10 Wilt Thou show wonders unto the dead?

            Shall the shades below f arise and give Thee thanks?

                                                                                                [Selah.]

11 Shall Thy loving-kindness be told in the grave,

            Thy faithfulness in destruction?

12 Shall Thy wonders be known in the dark?

            And Thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

13 But as for me—unto Thee, 0 Jehovah, have I cried,

 

"Jam quum tam horribile diluvium

Prophetam non impedierit quomi-

nus cor suum et vota ad Deum

extolleret, discamus, ejus exemplo,

in omnibus naufragiis nostris an-

coram fidei et precum in coelos

jacere."

     8. THOU HAST REMOVED, as

before, "Thou hast laid," &c., thus

directly tracing all to God's will

and fatherly hand.

     MY FAMILIAR FRIENDS. The

word expresses close intimate

friendship, more than the mere

"acquaintance" of the E.V. He

is like one shut up in prison—

these cannot come in to him, nor

he go forth to them. Delitzsch

thinks that, according to Levit. xiii.,

this sounds like the complaint of a

leper, the leprosy moreover being

just that death in life (Num. xii. 12)

which is so pathetically described

as the Psalmist's condition.

     The cry here is repeated in ver.

18.

     AN ABOMINATION, lit. "abomi-

nations," the plural intensifying and

enlarging the idea. Comp. note on

lx viii. 35.

     10. Ewald takes this and the two

following verses as the words of the

prayer implied in saying, "I have

stretched forth my hands unto

Thee," and cited from some former

Psalm.

     ARISE, i.e. "rise up," not "rise

again from the dead " (comp. lxxviii.

5 [6]). The language refers to what

takes place in the unseen world,

not at the resurrection. Comp. Is.

xiv. 9.

    The expostulation is like that of

Job: "If a man die, shall he live

again?" There is no question of

the general resurrection, but only

the improbability that God should

restore to life one who was already

dead. Calvin observes that this

state of feeling "cannot be excused,

inasmuch as it is not for us to pre-

scribe to God when He shall give

us succour; for we wrong His

power, if we are not assured that it

is as easy for Him to restore life to

the dead, as to prevent and avert

the last extremity. And of a truth

the constancy of the saints has

ever shown some traces of the

weakness of the flesh, so that

God's fatherly indulgence has had

to make allowance for the defects

which are mingled even with their

very virtues."

    13. BUT AS FOR ME, emphatic;

though thus at the very edge of

 

144                         PSALM LXXXVIII.

 

            And in the morning my prayer cometh to meet Thee.

14 Why, 0 Jehovah, castest Thou off my soul?

            (Why) hidest Thou Thy face from me?

15 I am afflicted, and ready to die from my youthg up,

            I have suffered Thy terrors (till) I am distracted.h

16 Over me Thy fierce wrath hath passed;

            Thy horrors have cut me off.i

17 They have compassed me like waters all the day long,

            They have come round about me together.

18 Thou hast removed lover and friend far from me,

            My familiar friends—are darkness.j

 

death, though bowed down with              darkness," the dark kingdom of the

the heavy load of affliction, still I                        dead, is now all I have to look to,

look to Thee. This unwearied "con-                     instead of friends, or, as we might

tinuing instant in prayer" is the                            say, The grave is now my only

victory of faith in the midst of trials                     friend. Similar expressions occur

which, but for this, would end in              in Prov. vii. 4, and in Job xvii. I4,

despair. It had been one life-long                        "I have said to the grave, Thou

suffering from his youth up, yet still                   art my father," &c. Or perhaps the

his earnest pleading had never                            sense is rather, "I have no friends.

ceased. Such prayers are those                          When I look for them, I see nothing

"unutterable groanings" of which                         but darkness." "The Psalm ends

St. Paul speaks.                                                 with an energetic expression of its

COMETH TO MEET, or as E.V.                      main thought—the immediate vici-

"preventeth." Sym. profqa<nei se.                   nity of death. The darkness is

     16. THy HORRORS: a frequent                   thickest at the end, just as it is in

expression in the Book of Job, vi.                        the morning before the rising of

4; ix. 34; xiii. 21, &c.                                         the sun."—Hengstenberg. But here,

18. DARKNESS, lit. "the place of                      at least, the sun does not rise.

 

a tlaHEma-lfa: see on liii. note a.

tOn.fal; has been interpreted either (I) for chastisement; or (2) for singing

(as in Exod. xxxii. 18; Is. xxvii. 2).

            Heman the Ezrahite, celebrated, together with Ethan (to whom the

next Psalm is ascribed), for his wisdom, I Kings iv. 31 [v. 11], including

reputation as a writer and a poet. In I Chron. vi. 18, 29 (33, 42 in E. V.),

both are mentioned as Levitical singers.

            The Inscription is a double one, and is evidently derived from two

different sources. This is plain, because the Psalm is ascribed to different

authors; in the one instance to the Korahites, in the other to Heman;

and is differently described, in the first as "a song, a Psalm," and in the

second as "a Maskil." Besides, Hace.nam;la always stands at the beginning of

the Title. Hence one Title was "A song, a Psalm of the sons of Korah;"

the other, "For the Precentor. After ‘Machalath l’annoth.' A Maskil

of Heman the Ezrahite."

                                       PSALM LXXXVIII                                   145

 

            b yTiq;facA-MOy. Grammatically, this can only be explained, "in the day

(when) I cry," and the next clause must then be rendered, "in the night

is my crying before Thee, or I am before Thee." But this would be

placing a peculiar emphasis on the night, and the whole sentence is lame.

(Unless, indeed, we could take 'c MOy as merely equivalent to "when I

cry," and carry on the construction into the next verse, " when I cry in

the night before Thee, let my prayer, &c.") But, it would seem that

"day" and "night" are used as marking the unceasing character of the

cry, as we find often elsewhere; xxii. 3, lv. 18, lxxvii. 3, &c. Hence it is

probable that we ought to read MmAOy, in the daytime.

            c Mfi yTib;waH;n,; a mixed constr. compounded of two expressions, to be

considered as (K;, as xliv. 23), and to be made equal with, as in xxviii. I,

cxliii. 7.

            d ywipH<. This may be either (1) a noun with pron. stiff. from wp,Ho (Ezek.

xxvii. 20), my bed, my couch; or (2) an adj. free, let loose, which occurs

usually in a good sense, of freedom from chains, wounds, burdens, and

the like, or freedom as of a slave from a master, Ex. xxi. 3, 26, &c.; so of

one set free by death, Job iii. 19. The LXX. and Aq. both have e]leu<qeroj,

Symm. a]fei>j e]leu<qeroj. Here in a bad sense: either (a) forsaken, neglected,

uncared for; or (b) separated, cut off, i.e. from human companionship.

Comp. tywip;HA tyBe, "a separate house," 2 Kings xv. 5, a hospital or asylum

for lepers, &c.; or (c) set free, discharged, from the cares and duties of

life, from communion with God and intercourse with men (Chald., Rashi,

Ibn 'Ezra., Calv., Del., Hengst.). Others, again, would connect the word

with the Arab.             , to be weak, prostrate, which would accord with

Myxipar;, v. 11.

            e tAyn.ifi. Against the common explanation of the constr. that the accus.

of the pers. pron. is understood, and that 'm-lKA is the accus. of the instru-

ment, "Thou hast afflicted (me) (with) all Thy waves," Hupf. objects first,

that such a constr. is unheard of with hne.fa, and next, that the accent

forbids it. He accordingly supplies the verb from the first clause, and

inserts the relative, "And all Thy waves (lie upon rile) with which Thou

hast afflicted me," referring to the constr. in li. 10, "the bones which

Thou hast broken," where the accent is the same. Others (as Ew. and

Del.), "Thou hast hurled down (lit. bowed down) upon me (like a cataract)

all Thy waves." So the LXX., pa<ntaj tou>j metewrismou<j sou e]ph<gagej e]p ]

me<. But Symm., tai?j kataigi<si sou e]ka<kwsa<j me. And Jerome, fluctibus

tuis afixisti me; and in answer to Hupf. it may bei said that the use of

the accus. instrum. is common with all verbs, as well as the omission of

the personal object, and that the accent is not an infallible guide.

            f MyxipAr;: here "the spirits of the departed" (ei@dwla kamo<ntwn). Comp.

Is. xxvi. 14, Prov. xxi. 16, &c., but in other places used of "the race of

giants." Many attempts have been made to connect the two significations

(see Ges. Thes. in v.), but perhaps Hupfeld's is the most plausible. He

connects the word, as the Jewish interpreters had done before him, with

the root hpr, to be relaxed, and so (a) weak, feeble, as "the shades," and

146                               PSALM LXXXIX.

 

on the other (b) extended, at. a vast length, immania corpora, like " the

giants." Jerome here has gigantes. The LXX. i]atroi< (as also in Is.

xxvi.), connecting it curiously with the root xpr, to heal.

            g rfano, abstr. from rfana, youth, as Prov. xxix. 21, Job xxxiii. 25; and not

from rfn, excutere, expellere, which derivation has led some to explain it

propter concussionem.

            h hnAUpxA, only here, and both the root and the form occasion difficulty.

Usually connected with the Arab.      , infirma mente et consilii inops

fuit. LXX. e]chporh<qhn. Jer. conturbatus sum. Hupf. would read hgUpxA,

in the sense of growing cold (spoken of the cessation of physical and

spiritual life). The paragog. form is to be explained of an inner necessity,

as in lv. 2; see note c, there.

            i ynUttum;.ci. Such a reduplication of the termination is unexampled.

The dagesh in the 2d rad. makes it look like a Piel (as in cxix. 139, where

the 3d fern sing. occurs), whereas the reduplication of the last rad. points

to a Pilel form. Besides, the Qibbutz instead of Sh'va defies all grammar,

and the form cannot be compared with rHar;Has; and such forms. It would

be better to suppose that there is a play upon the form tvtymic;, Lev. xxv.

23, 30 (as Kost. and Hengst. suppose), or that it is the mistake of a copyist

for ynUtm;.ci (see Hupfeld), or that the original ynitum;.ci was emended into

yniUtm.;ci, and both afterwards remained.

 

                                         PSALM LXXXIX.

 

            THERE can be little doubt that this Psalm was written in the

latter days of the Jewish monarchy, when the throne of David had

fallen or was already tottering to its fall, and when the prospect for

the future was so dark that it seemed as if God had forgotten His

covenant and His promise. Tholuck's conjecture is not improbable

that the king of whom the Psalm speaks (ver. 45) [46] is the youthful

Jehoiachin, who after a reign of three months was deposed and

imprisoned by Nebuchadnezzar, and of whom it was said, that no

man of his seed should "prosper, sitting on the throne of David."

The lamentation over him in Jeremiah xxii. 24-29, may be taken

as evidence that he was beloved by his subjects, and the Prophet

and the Psalmist indulge in a similar strain as they behold the last

hope of David's house perish.

                                  PSALM LXXXIX.                                 147

 

            There is no reason to conclude from ver. 47 [48], that the king

himself is the author of the Psalm (see note there); and from ver.

18 [19] indeed, the contrary perhaps may be inferred.

            The Psalm opens by a reference to the Promise given to David,

2 Sam. vii. 8, &c. This Promise, and the attributes of God on

which the Promise rests, and which are the great pledge of its

fulfilment, form the subject of the Poet's grateful acknowledgement,

before he passes to the mournful contrast presented by the ruin of

the house of David, and the blighting of his people's hopes. He

turns to the glorious past, that by its aid he may rise out of the grief

and discouragement of the present. He takes the Promise, and

turns it into a song. He dwells upon it, and lingers over it. He

dwells on that which is the ground and pillar of the Promise—the

faithfulness of God—and then he first lifts his loud lament over the

disasters which have befallen his king and people, speaking out his

disappointment, till his words sound like a reproach; and next pleads

earnestly with God that He would not suffer his enemies to triumph.

Certain words and thoughts run through the Psalm, and give it a

marked character. Such are, especially, the constant reference to

the "faithfulness of God," in confirming His covenant and promise,

ver. 1, 2, 5, 8, 14, 24, 33, 49 (comp. also the use of the participle

"faithful," ver. 28, 37); the phrase "I will not lie," ver. 33, 35,

"I have sworn," ver. 3, 35, 49; and the "covenant," ver. 3, 28,

34, 39.

 

                   [A MASCHIL OF ETHAN THE EZRAHITE.a]

 

I  I WILL for ever sing of the loving-kindnesses b of Jehovah,

            I will make known Thy faithfulness with my mouth to

                        all generations.

2 For I have said, for ever shall loving-kindness be built up,

 

     1, 2. The loving-kindness and

the faithfulness of Jehovah are the

source of the Promise. We are led

to the source, that thence we may

track the stream.

    I. FOR EVER. The position of

these words before the verb has

been supposed to indicate that the

Psalmist is not speaking in his own

name, but in the name of the

Church which abideth "ever." But

they may refer to the everlasting

continuance of God's love and

faithfulness, as pledged to David

and his seed.

    LOVING-KINDNESSES, plural, as

in Is. lv. 3, "The sure mercies [faith-

ful loving-kindnesses] of David."

For the same union of these two

attributes of God, see xxxvi. 5 [6].

    2. FOR I HAVE SAID, i.e. this is

the conviction whence springs the

resolve in ver. i.

    BE BUILT UP, like some stately

 

 

 

148                          PSALM LXXXIX.

 

            In the heavens shalt Thou establish Thy faithfulness.

3 "I have made a covenant with My chosen,

            I have sworn unto David My servant;

4 For ever will I establish thy seed,

            And build up thy throne to all generations." [Selah.]

5 And the heavens shall praise Thy wondrousness, 0

                        Jehovah,

            Thy faithfulness also, in the assembly of the holy ones.

6 For who in the sky can be compared with Jehovah,

            (Who) is like unto Jehovah among the sons of the

                        mighty?

 

palace, rising ever greater and

fairer, stone by stone, before the

wondering eyes of men, knowing

no decay, never destined to fall

into ruin. Gratz: "The world is

built (created) in love." Koheleth,

Gloss. p. 193.

     IN THE HEAVENS, lit. "The

heavens, Thou shalt establish Thy

faithfulness in them."The heavens

are the type of unchangeableness

and perpetuity, as compared with

the restless vicissitudes, the ever-

shifting shows of earth. Comp.

cxix. 89.

   3, 4. These are the words of God,

the sum of His promise as given in

2 Sam. vii. They are introduced

with remarkable abruptness, stand-

ing alone in their forcible brevity,

while the Psalmist passes on to

celebrate at length the might and

faithfulness of the Promiser. In

the 19th verse, he returns to the

promise, and then expands and

dwells upon it.

    Most of the expressions, "David

My servant," "establish," "for

ever," "build," the parallelism of

"seed" and "throne," "My chosen,"

are taken, either directly or in-  

directly, from the original passage

in 2 Sam.

     MY CHOSEN. The LXX. have

the plural toi?j e]klektoi?j mou, but all

the other Versions follow the Heb.

and retain the singular. See Criti-

cal Note e on ver. 19.

            5. At first sight the passage

which follows to ver. 18 appears

to break the train of thought.

But the object of the Psalmist is to

place in the strongest light those

attributes of God on which the ful-

filment of His promise depends,

for "in a promise everything de-

pends upon the person who pro-

mises." The question therefore

occurs, "Has he the will and the

power to fulfil the promise?"--

Hengstenberg. Hence the Psalmist

dwells first upon God's power as

exhibited and confessed in creation,

then upon his righteousness, good-

ness, and truth, as manifested espe-

cially to His people, of whom and

whose king He is the protector.

     THY WONDROUSNESS (lit. won-

der): either (I) "Thy wondrous

works," as in lxxxviii. 10, 12 [11,

13]; or (2) "Thy wonderful mys-

terious nature and being," as

separate and distinct from that

of all created beings. The word

occurs in Is. ix. 6 [5], as one of

the names of Messiah (comp. also

Jud. xiii. 18).

     ASSEMBLY OF THE HOLY ONES,

i.e. the angels, to which corresponds

in the next verse, "the sons of the

mighty," comp. xxix. 1. They are

called an "assembly" or "congre-

gation," as the church above, which,

like the church below, worships and

praises God. In this second clause

the verb must be repeated from the

 

                       PSALM LXXXIX.                           149

 

7 A God very terrible in the council of the holy ones,

            And to be feared above all them that are round about

                        Him?

8 0 Jehovah, God of Hosts,

                        Who is mighty c as Thou, 0 Jah!

            And Thy faithfulness is round about Thee.

9 THOU rulest the pride of the sea;

            When the waves thereof arise,d THOU stillest them.

10 THOU hast crushed Rahab, as one that is slain;

            With Thy mighty arm Thou hast scattered Thine

                        enemies.

11 Thine are the heavens, Thine also is the earth;

            THOU hast founded the world and the fulness thereof.

12 THOU hast created the north and the south;

            Tabor and Hermon shout for joy in Thy Name.

 

first: "Thy faithfulness also is

praised," &c.

    7. A GOD. It is more forcible

to regard this as a predicate, or as

standing in a kind of free apposi-

tion with "Jehovah," than to take it

as the subject of a fresh sentence:

"God is very terrible," &c.

     8. WHO IS MIGHTY, Or, "Who

is like unto Thee, a mighty one,

O Jah."

     AND THY FAITHFULNESS. , Or

as Ewald: "And what faithfulness

is like Thy faithfulness," &c.

    ROUND ABOUT THEE, God's at-

tributes being personified, as in ver.

14 and lxxxv. 13 [14]. They, follow

proofs and instances, first, of God's

might, ver. 9-13, and next of His

faithfulness, ver. 14-18.

     10. RAHAB: here probably, as in

lxxxvii. 4 (where see note), a name

of Egypt. God's power as ruling

the sea would naturally be con-

nected in the Psalmist's mind with

that great manifestation of His

power in the deliverance from

Egypt. Compare the same asso-

ciation of ideas in lxxiv. 13-17.

Others take the word in the more

general sense of pride (i.e. our

proud foes), as in Job ix. 13, xxvi.

12. In the context of both passages

in Job, God's power over the sea is

magnified, but the Book is too far

removed from the circle of Israel-

itish history to allow of our seeing

any reference there to the passage

of the Red Sea.

    AS ONE THAT IS SLAIN. The

particle of comparison must not be

pressed. The sense is:  "Thou

hast crushed Egypt, so that it lies

fallen, like one who has received a

deadly wound."

    11. THOU HAST FOUNDED, &c.;

lit. "The world and the fulness.

thereof, Thou hast founded them."

And so in the next verse: "The

north and the south, Thou hast

created them."

   12. TABOR AND HERMON do not

denote merely the West and East,

as most interpreters explain. They

are mentioned rather as conspicu-

ous mountains in a mountain land.

Tabor, "remarkable for the ver-

dure, which climbs—a rare sight in

Eastern scenery—to its very sum-

mit" (STANLEY, Sinai and Palestine,

p. 350): Hermon, as its name im-

ports, "The lofty prominent peak,"

crowned with snow, the most

striking of all the mountains of

 

 

150                             PSALM LXXXIX.

 

13 Thine is an arm clothed with might;

            Strong is Thy hand, exalted is Thy right hand.

14 Righteousness and judgement are the foundation of Thy

                        throne;

            Loving-kindness and Truth go to meet Thy face.

15 Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound,

            That walk, 0 Jehovah, in the light of Thy countenance.

16 In Thy name do they exult all the day,

            And in Thy righteousness are they exalted.

17 For THOU art the excellency of their strength,

            And in Thy favour dost Thou exalt our horn:

18 For our shield belongeth to Jehovah,

            And to the Holy One of Israel our king.

19 Then Thou spakest in vision to Thy beloved,e and saidst,

 

Palestine, are fit representatives of

the whole country; open, as it were,

the loud hymn of praise. See lxxii.

3; xcviii. 8.

    FOUNDATION. Others render

"pillar," but Aq. has e@drasma and

Sym. ea<sij. The LXX. e[toimasi<a.

The same word occurs in xxxiii. 14,

where the renderings are similar.

The E.V. has "place" there (in

1 Kings viii. 13, "settled place,")

and "habitation" here, but in the

margin "establishment."

    Go TO MEET. See on lxxxviii.

13.

     15-18. Such is the God, so full

of majesty and power, who has

given the promise. Blessed, there-

fore, are the people who have Je-

hovah for their God. They may

well rejoice in their privilege.

These verses are recited in the

Jewish synagogues on New Year's

Day after the sounding of the

trumpet (shophar). The Ashken-

azim recite only ver. 15.

     15. THE JOYFUL SOUND, i.e. the

loud music of trumpets, &c., in the

festivals, especially on the New

Year's Day, Lev. xxiii. 24, or on

extraordinary occasions, Num. x.

1-10; xxix, I; Josh. vi. 5, 20,

&c. See on xxvii. 6; lxxxi. 1 [2].

This Israel only knows, because

Israel only is the people of God.

They are blessed, because they, and

they only, of all nations, can keep

these solemn feasts to His praise.

      UP. The Midrash says: Because

Israel only understands how to

move their God by the sound to

go up from the throne of judgement

to the throne of mercy, as it is

written, God is gone up, &c.

     18. OUR SHIELD, i.e. as is evi-

dent from the parallelism, the king.

Comp. xlvii. 9 [10]. The rendering

"Jehovah is our shield," is against

grammar. Some would render the

second member of the verse,

Even to the Holy One of Israel

our King (i.e. who is our king).

     19. The mention of the king in

the preceding verse leads now to

the resumption and expansion of

the promise given to David. The

two aspects of God's relation to

David and his house and kingdom

are herein presented to us, an out-

ward and an inward, corresponding

to the two great attributes of God

which are praised in ver. 1-18,

His omnipotence and His faithful-

ness. To the first of these belong:

(a) David's exaltation to the throne,

ver. 19; (b) God's constant aid,

and hence his victory over his foes,

ver. 21-23, and extended dominion,

 

                                  PSALM LXXXIX.                        151

 

            "I have laid help f upon a mighty man,

                        I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

20 I have found David My servant,

            With My holy oil have I anointed him;

21 With whom My hand shall be established;

            Mine arm also shall strengthen him.

22 No enemy shall exact g upon him,

            No son of wickedness shall afflict him.

23 And I will beat down his adversaries before his face,

            And plague them that hate him.

24 My faithfulness also and My loving-kindness shall be

                        with him,

            And in My Name shall his horn be exalted.

25 And I will set his hand on the sea,

            And his right hand on the rivers.

26 He shall call Me, ‘THOU art my Father,

            My God, and the Rock of my salvation.’

27 Also I will make him My first-born,

 

ver. 21, 25. To the second, which

is the most prominent, God's

fatherly relation to David's seed,

which is shown in (a) the exaltation

to the dignity of a son, who is also

the first-born, and therefore holds

the pre-eminence above all kings,

ver. 26, 27; accordingly (b) an ever-

lasting covenant made with him

and his seed, and an everlasting

kingdom, ver. 28, 29; hence, too,

(c) the transgressions of his sons

do not make the covenant void, ver.

33, 34; (d) and the assurance is

finally repeated, that this covenant,

which God has once confirmed by

an oath, cannot lie, and that there-

fore the seed as well as the throne

of David must endure as the very

heavens. For this outline of the

connection I am indebted to Hup-

feld.

     THEN, referring to the time when

the promise was given.

     THY BELOVED. On this word

see note on xvi. 13. David is evi-

dently meant, though the revelation

was made in vision, not to him, but

to Nathan (2 Sam. vii. 4, 17). If

we adopt the plural, which is the

reading of many MSS., then the

revelation is made to the nation at

large.

    A MIGHTY MAN. Comp. 2 Sam.

xvii. io.

    22. SON OF WICKEDNESS. This

clause is taken verbatim from the

words of the promise in 2 Sam. vii.

10.

     25. THE SEA . . . THE RIVERS,

i.e. the Mediterranean Sea and the

Euphrates, with reference, no doubt,

to the extent of Solomon's domi-

nion. See above on lxxx. 11. Or

the range of hope may be wider, as

in lxxii. 8. The plural “rivers” is

in accordance with poetic usage,

and need not be explained of the

Euphrates and its separate chan-

nels, or the Euphrates and Tigris,

&c.

     27. MY FIRST-BORN. As he calls

Me "Father," so I not only ac-

knowledge him as My son, but as

 

152                           PSALM LXXXIX.

 

            Highest of the kings of the earth.

28 For ever will I keep for him My loving-kindness,

            And My covenant shall stand fast with him.

29 And I will make his seed (to endure) for ever,

            And his throne as the days of heaven.

30 If his children forsake My law,

            And walk not in My judgements,

31 If they profane My statutes,

            And keep not My commandments,

32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod,

            And their iniquity with stripes.

33 But My loving-kindness will I not break off h from him,

            Nor suffer My faithfulness to fail:

34 I will not profane My covenant,

            Nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips;

35 Once have I sworn by My holiness;

            I will not lie unto David:

36 His seed shall be for ever,

            And his throne as the sun before Me:

37 He shall be established for ever as the moon,

 

My first-born, and therefore My

heir. (So Israel is called the first-

born, Ex. iv, 22, and Ephraim, Jer.

xxxi. 9.)

     28. SHALL STAND FAST, lit. "is

faithful," the word being the same

as in ver. 37, "the faithful witness."

    30. There follows a paraphrase

of 2 Sam. vii. 14. The chastise-

ment is a necessary part of the

paternal relationship, Heb. xii. The

sins of individuals will be punished

by God's fatherly correction, but

the covenant cannot cease, the pro-

mises made to the seed as a whole

cannot be withdrawn. Their un-

faithfulness cannot make the faith-

fulness of God of none effect (Rom.

iii. 3). But see, as presenting a

different view, I Kings viii. 25.

    32. THE ROD . . . STRIPES. In

2 Sam. vii. qualifying expressions

are added: "rod of men," "stripes

of the children of men:" not mean-

ing "such punishments as all men

because all are sinners, are exposed

to" (Hengstenberg); but either (i)

chastisements such as men (comp.

for similar phraseology Hos. vi. 7,

Job. xxxi. 33), human fathers, em-

ploy, for the correction, not the

destruction of their children; "for

what son is there whom his father

chastiseth not?" or (2) chastise-

ments fitted to the measure of man's

endurance (comp. I Cor. x. 13).

    35. ONCE, i.e. "once for all"

(LXX. a!pac). Or, as others, "one

thing."

     BY MY HOLINESS, as in Amos iv.

2. Other formulae are "by Myself,"

Is. xlv. 23; "by My name." Jer.

xliv. 26. For the general sentiment

of the verse comp Rom. xi. 29;

"the gifts and calling of God are

without repentance."

    37. THE FAITHFUL WITNESS.

This according to the parallelism,

 

 

 

                     PSALM LXXXIX.                                 153

 

            And (as the) faithful witness in the sky."

38 But THOU hast cast off and rejected,

            Thou hast been wroth with Thine anointed.

39 Thou hast made voidi the covenant of Thy servant,

            Thou hast profaned his crown (even) to the ground.

40 Thou hast broken down all his hedges,

            Thou hast made his strongholds a ruin.

41 All they that pass by the way have spoiled him,

            He is become a reproach to his neighbours.

42 Thou hast exalted the right hand of his adversaries,

            Thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.

43 Yea, Thou hast turned back the edgej of his sword,

            And hast not made him to stand in battle.

44 Thou hast made his splendour k to cease,

            And hast cast his throne down to the ground;

 

must be "the moon." Luther and

others have supposed the rain-

bow to be meant. Others, again,

think that the witness is God Him-

self, and render, "And a faithful

witness is in heaven." But the

moon is more for certain seasons

than any other orb: in all countries

she has been the arbiter of festivals,

and the Jewish festivals were regu-

lated by her.

    38. But now comes the mournful

contrast. This covenant, made by

the Almighty and all-faithful God,

confirmed and ratified by an oath,

eternal as the heavens are eternal,

sure as the order of the Universe

is sure—what has become of it?

Has it not failed, or is it not in

danger of failing? Appearances

are against its perpetuity, against

the truth of God. The expostula-

tion of the Psalmist is nothing less

than a reproach. God has with

His own hand cast down the throne

of David, and annulled the cove-

nant: so it seems to one who mea-

sures promise and performance by

a human standard.

     The boldness of the expostula-

tion has scandalized the Jewish

interpreters. Ibn 'Ezra (on. v. I)

tells the story of a learned and

pious Jew in Spain, who would

never read nor listen to this Psalm.

He (Ibn 'Ezra) and others would

get rid of the offence by taking ver.

38-45 as expressing the scoff of

enemies, not the reproach of the

Psalmist. But see the exactly simi-

lar language in xliv. 9-22, and

notes there.

     40. HIS HEDGES. The pronouns

in this and the next verse refer

grammatically to the king, but in

sense to the people, who are re-

garded as one with their monarch.

The expressions are borrowed from

lxxx. 12 (13).

    43. HAST TURNED. Although

there is a change here to the pre-

sent tense in the Heb. which is pro-

bably due to the poetic imagination

vividly bringing the past before the

eye, it is better, perhaps, to render

it as a perfect. See on xviii. note

    44. SPLENDOUR, lit. "purity," and

thus "brightness," "lustre," and the

like. The literal rendering of the

clause is, "Thou hast made (him)

to cease from his brightness, or

splendour." See Critical Note.

 

154                     PSALM LXXXIX.

 

45 Thou hast shortened the days of his youth,

            Thou hast covered him with shame. [Selah.]

46 How long, 0 Jehovah, wilt Thou hide Thyself for ever?

            Shall Thy fury burn like fire?

47 0 remember how short a timel I have to live!

            For what vanity hast Thou created all the sons of rnen!

48 What man is he that liveth and shall not see death,

            That can deliver his soul from the hand of the unseen

                        world? [Selah.]

49 Lord, where are Thy former loving-kindnesses,

            Which Thou swarest unto David in Thy faithfulness?

50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of Thy servants,

            How I bear in my bosom [the reproach of] many

                        peoples,m

 

     45. THOU HAST SHORTENED, &c.

This has been explained by Grotius

and others of the short reigns of

the later sovereigns of Judaea. But

if spoken of an individual monarch,

the expression would naturally mean

that he had grown old before his

time; comp. Hos. vii. 9: if of the

family of David, it would be a

figure denoting its failing strength

before it attained to the glory and

dominion promised. In this latter

sense the clause is understood by

Hupfeld and Hengstenberg; and

so Rosenm: "Quum regnum Judle

vix ad maturitatem aliquam per-

ductum, et quasi in ipso fiore ex-

tinctum sit, neque enim ad quin-

gentos an-nos pervenit Davidicae

stirpis regnum."

    46. The transition from expostu-

lation to pleading, which of itself

shows how the expostulation is to

be understood. It is human weak-

ness discovering to God its inmost

heart. There is a sense of wrong,

and the true man says that he feels

it, speaks it out, and asks God to

set it right. It is an example of

the perpetual clash between con-

victions and facts. See Hab. i.

2, 3.

     The pleading consists of two

parts, each comprised in three

verses. The argument of the first

is the shortness of human life;

that of the second, the dishonour

cast upon God by the triumph of

His enemies.

    How LONG ... FOR EVER. See

note on xiii. 1, and comp. lxxix. 5.

47. How SHORT A TIME: a fre-

quent ground of appeal to God's

forbearing mercy, xxxix. 5; Job. vii.

6, xiv. 1, &c.

    For the sentiment in this and the

two following verses, see note on

lxxxviii. 10. The occurrence of the

pronoun of the first person singular

can only be explained by its being

intended to describe a fact of com-

mon experience, for in ver. 17, 18

the people speak in the first person

plural, and the Anointed is always

spoken of in the third person. The

"I" is the expression of personal

feeling, measuring others by itself.

Or ver. 47-49 may mean, " Let

me, even me, see Thy restoring

love."

     49. FORMER LOVING- KIND-

NESSES; not the promise itself, but

the manifold proofs. of its fulfilment

in past times.

     50. I BEAR IN MY BOSOM. The

phrase elsewhere signifies "cherish-

 

                                 PSALM LXXXIX.                                 155

 

51 Wherewith Thine enemies have reproached, 0 Jehovah,

            Wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of Thine

                        anointed.

52 Blessed be Jehovah for evermore.

                        Amen and Amen.

 

 

ing with tender care and affection,"

Num. xi. 12; Deut. i. 31; Is. xl.

11; xlvi. 3, a signification which is

here, of course, quite out of the

question. See more in the Critical

Note. It is rather the expression

of an intense sympathy with the

Anointed as the representative of

Jehovah, and is urged as a plea

why God's faithfulness should be

vindicated.

    51. FOOTSTEPS, i.e. as we might

say "every step he takes." Comp.

xvii. 11; xxii. 16 [17]; xlix. 5 [6].

The Targum interprets this as a

reproach, because of the tarrying

of the footsteps of the Messiah.

And so Qimchi: "He delays so

long in coming, that they say He

will never come."

    Thus ends the Third Book of the

Psalter, like the First and Second,

with a Messianic Psalm.

    52. The Doxology is no part of

the original Psalm, but was added

subsequently, to mark the close of

the Book.

 

 

            a Ethan the Ezrahite. The Greek Verss. differ, the LXX. rendering

t&?  ]Israhli<t^, another t&? Zarai<t^, and another, t&?  ]Ezrai~t^. (See note a

on lxxxviii.) Compare I Kings iv. 31 [v. 11]; I Chron. ii. 6. An Ethan

or Jeduthun, a Levite, is also mentioned 1 Chron. vi. 29 (44 in E. V.), xv.

17, 19, whom some hold to be the same person. He and Heman, accord-

ing to Hengst., are called Ezrahites as belonging to the family of Serah,

the x being Aleph prosthetic. At the same time, as they were Levites, he

thinks they were incorporated into the family of Serah, the son of Judah.

So Elkanah the Levite, I Sam. i. 1, is called an Ephramite. Comp. Jud.

xvii. 7.

            b yDes;Ha, with Dagesh lene, contrary to the rule, here and in Lam. iii. 22.

            c NysiHE, not constr., but like the forms rybiG;, dydiy;, lyvifE. Perhaps h.yA ‘h

may be a special designation, as it occurs only here, "the strong Jah."

            d xOW, either infin. = xOWn;, xxviii. 2, Is. I. 14 (instead of txeW;) or

infinitival noun, like xyWi, Job xx. 6.

            e j~d;ysiHE. The sing. refers clearly to David, but many of De-Rossi's

and Kenn.'s MSS., 16 Edd., and all the Greek Verss. (LXX. toi?j ui[oi?j

sou, the others toi?j o[si<oij sou, except S'. which has toi?j profh<taij sou),

the Chald., Syr., and Jerome, sanctis tuis, the Bab. and Jerus. Talmud

(perhaps, though not certainly, as the y with them may be only a mater

lectionis), and the Rabbis have the plur., which would refer to the people.

See the same various reading in xvi. 10, and the double reference below

in ver. 41.

 

156                            PSALM LXXXIX.

 

            f rz,fe, Hupf. objects to the word as inapplicable, and would read either

rv,ne, a crown (comp. ver. 40), or zfo, majesty. But the ancient Verss. vouch

for the present reading.

            g xyw.iya, the Hiph. usually means to deceive, lead astray, vex (and so here

Symm. e]capath<sei, J. H. Mich. Maur., Del.), but, construed with b;, it is

better to take it in the sense in which it occurs in Qal, to act as a creditor,

to exact.

            h rypixA. Both the form and the meaning of this word occasion some

difficulty. rrp, to which it is commonly referred, means properly to

break, violate, a covenant, &c., and hence could only be used improperly

here; and besides, the fut. Hiph. of that verb would be rpexA. Hence we

must either refer it to a root rvp, as Gesenius does (Thes. v. rrp), or

read rysixA, I will take away, from the parallel passages, 2 Sam. vii. 15,

1 Chron. xvii. 13.

            i hTAr;xane. The word occurs only here (LXX. kate<streyaj) and Lam. ii:

7 (LXX. a]peti<nace). It seems to be cognate with  rfn).

            j rUc. The only place where it occurs in this sense, "edge of a sword,"

but the sense is amply justified by the cogn. Arab.        an onomatopoetic

root, used of sharp, shrill, grinding, grating noises, &c., as Fleischer has

elaborately shown in a note to Delitzsch's commentary; as well as by the

use of rc, Exod. iv. 25, denoting a sharp stone, or some sharp instrument.

Hence it is quite unnecessary to translate, "0 Thou Rock" (Olsh.), or,

"the rock of his sword" (Hengst.), in a metaphorical sense, " the

strength, &c., of his sword." LXX. th>n boh<qeian th?j r[omfai<aj au]tou?.

            k OrhAFI.mi. This is the reading of Norcia, Heidenheim, and the best

Christian editors. The Jewish interpreters (as Ib. 'Ez., Qimchi, &c.)

assume a noun rhAF;.mi, with euphonic Dagesh, as in wdAq;.mi, Ex. xv. 17.

The anomalous compound Sh'va is defended by such a form as hrAfAsI.Ba,

2 Kings ii. 1. But it is better to take the as the prep. from, "Thou

hast made (him) to cease from his splendour." Nor is it necessary

to have recourse to a form rhAFI or rhAF; (if we read with some MSS.

OrhAF.;mi), like lyAx,, btAK;, &c. It may be a heteroclite from rhaFo, instead of

Orh<FA, with rejection of the first syllable instead of the second. Dr.

Schiller-Szinessy, however, in his Catalogue of Hebrew MSS. in the

University Library at Cambridge (I. pp. 22, 26, &c.), draws attention to

the fact that in olden times (in Ashkenazic MSS. mostly) the Qametz

Chatuph was always represented by a Chateph Qametz ; so that OrhAFImi  

only represents IrgAF.Imi.

            1 'h 'm ynixE. MSS. vary considerably (see in Davidson's Hebrew Text),

and editors have troubled themselves with explanations, but there is

really no difficulty. The pronoun stands emphatically first instead of

ynixA ‘H hm,; ego quantilli sim aevi. See on xxxix. 4 [5], note c. The LXX.

mnh<sqhti ti<j h[ u[po<stasi<j mou. Sym. (Syro-hex.) mn. ti< ei]mi zw?n: pro>j h[me<ran (s. e]fh<meroj) ei]mi<. Jerome, memento mei de profundo (Aq. e]k katadu<sewj).

                                  PSALM LXXXIX.                                   157

 

            m  The whole of the latter clause of ver. 50 [51] presents difficulties

such as render the correctness of the existing text questionable: (I) the

singular number, when the plural has just preceded (for the reading jdbf  

of some MSS., and the Syr., looks as if altered on purpose to meet the

difficulty); (2) the sense in which the phrase to bear in the bosom is here

used, contrary to that in which it elsewhere occurs; (3) the strange

collocation of MyBira lKA,  all many, which cannot be defended by Ez. xxxi. 6,

where lK stands in appos. with 'r MyiOG, following; (4) the position of the

adj. MyBira before its noun, which in a common phrase of this kind is

indefensible, and derives no support from Jer. xvi. 16, to which Maurer

refers, as MyBirA is there emphatically placed first. It seems necessary to

repeat the word reproach from the first member of the verse, as the object

of the verb in the second, either making this second clause a relative one,

as the LXX. ou$ u[pe<sxon e]n t&? ko<lp& mou pollw?n e]qnw?n (Symm. without the

relative or the personal pron., e]ba<stasa e]. t. k. pampollw?n e]q.), "which I

bear from [the whole of ] many nations;" or supplying tPar;H, after lKA, "all

the reproach of many nations." Aquila may have had some other word

instead of MyBira, for he renders ai@ronto<j mou e]n ko<lp& pa<saj a]diki<aj law?n,

and so Jerome, portavi in sinu meo omnes iniquitates populorum. This

would remove all difficulty.

            Delitzsch gives a different interpretation. He renders, "That I carry in

my bosom all the many nations," and supposes the Psalmist to complain,

as a member of the body politic, that his land is full of strangers,

Egyptians and their allies (he assigns the Psalm to the time of Shishak's

invasion), whose outrages and taunts fill his heart with sorrow.

            The literal rendering of the present text can only be: "How I bear in

my bosom all the many nations."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                    THE PSALMS.

 

 

                                             BOOK IV.

 

 

                                       PSALMS XC.-CVI.

 

 

                                  PSALM XC.                                                 161

 

                                  PSALM XC.

 

            "THE 90th Psalm," says Isaac Taylor, "might be cited as perhaps

the most sublime of human compositions, the deepest in feeling, the

loftiest in theological conception, the most magnificent in its imagery.

True is it in its report of human life as troubled, transitory, and

sinful. True in its conception of the Eternal,—the Sovereign and

the Judge, and yet the refuge and the hope of men who, not-

withstanding the most severe trials of their faith, lose not their

confidence in Him; but who, in the firmness of faith, pray for, as if

they were predicting, a near-at-hand season of refreshment. Wrapped,

one might say, in mystery, until the distant day of revelation should

come, there is here conveyed the doctrine of Immortality: for in

this very plaint of the brevity of the life of man, and of the sadness

of these his few years of trouble, and their brevity and their gloom,

there is brought into contrast the Divine immutability; and yet it is

in terms of a submissive piety; the thought of a life eternal is here

in embryo. No taint is there in this Psalm of the pride and petu-

lance, the half-uttered blasphemy, the malign disputing or arraignment

of the justice or goodness of God, which have so often shed a

venomous colour upon the language of those who have writhed in

anguish personal or relative. There are few, probably, among those

who have passed through times of bitter and distracting woe, or who

have stood the helpless spectators of the miseries of others, that

have not fallen into moods of mind violently in contrast with the

devout and hopeful melancholy which breathes throughout this Ode.

Rightly attributed to the Hebrew Lawgiver or not, it bespeaks its

remote antiquity, not merely by the majestic simplicity of its style,

but negatively, by the entire avoidance of those sophisticated turns

of thought which belong to a late—a lost age, in a people's in-

tellectual and moral history. This Psalm, undoubtedly, is centuries

older than the moralizing of that time, when the Jewish mind had

listened to what it could never bring into a true assimilation with its

own mind—the abstractions of the Greek Philosophy, "—Spirit of the

Hebrerw Poetry, pp. 161 -3.

162                                PSALM XC.

 

            Two objections have been urged by Hupfeld against the Mosaic

authorship of the Psalm, neither of which can be regarded as very

weighty. (I) The first of these is, that the Psalm contains no clear

and distinct reference to the circumstances of the Israelites in the

wilderness. (2) The next is, that the span of human life is limited

to threescore and ten or fourscore years, whereas not only Moses

himself, but Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb, are all said to have reached

a period of life considerably beyond this (Deut. xxxiv. 7; Num.

xxxiii. 39; Josh. xxiv. 29; xiv. 10).

            As regards the first objection, it is sufficient to reply that the

language of the Psalms is in almost every case general, not special,

and that all that can be reasonably demanded is that there be

nothing in the language at variance with the supposed circum-

stances, or unsuitable to the person, the time, the place, to which

a particular Psalm is alleged to belong. Hupfeld himself admits

that the general strain of thought and feeling is in every respect

worthy of a man like Moses, as well as in perfect accordance with

the circumstances under which this Psalm is commonly believed

to have been written, viz. towards the close of the forty years'

wandering in the wilderness.

            The second objection seems at first sight of more force. Yet

there is no evidence that the average duration of human life at that

period was as extended as that of the few individuals who are named.

On the contrary, if we may judge from the language of Caleb, who

speaks of his strength at eighty-five as if it were quite beyond the

common lot (Josh. xiv. 10), the instances mentioned must rather be

regarded as exceptional instances of longevity. The life of the

majority of those who died in the wilderness must have fallen short

of fourscore; and there is no reason to suppose that their lives were

prematurely cut short. Not this (as Hupfeld asserts), but the forty

years' wandering in the wilderness was their punishment; and this

limit seems to have been placed to their desert sojourn, because thus

all the generation who left Egypt, having reached man's estate, would,

not exceptionally, but in the natural course of things, have died out.

            All the ablest critics, even those who, like Ewald and Hupfeld,

deny the Mosaic authorship of the Psalm, nevertheless admit, that

in depth and loftiness of thought, in solemnity of feeling, and in

majesty of diction, it is worthy of the great Lawgiver and Prophet.

"The Psalm," writes Ewald, "has something uncommonly striking,

solemn, sinking into the depths of the Godhead. In subject-matter

and style it is original, and powerful in its originality, and would

be rightly attributed to Moses, the man of God (as the later collector

calls him, comp. Deut. xxxiii. I; Ezra in. 2), if we knew more

                                       PSALM XC.                                       163

 

exactly the historical grounds which led the collector to this view."

It is strange that Ewald's one reason for bringing down the Psalm to

a later time, the ninth or eighth century B.C., is the deep sense of

human infirmity and transitoriness which pervades it, and which

he imagines could not have been felt at an earlier period of the

history.

            "There are important internal reasons," says Hengstenberg, "which

may be urged in favour of the composition of the Psalm by Moses,

as announced in the title. The poem bears throughout the stamp of

high antiquity; * there is no other Psalm which so decidedly conveys

the impression of being the original expression of the feelings to

which it gives utterance. There is, moreover, no other Psalm which

stands so much by itself and for which parallel passages furnish so

little kindred matter in its characteristic peculiarities. On the other

hand, there occurs a series of striking allusions to the Pentateuch,

especially to the poetical passages, and above all others to Deut.

xxxii., allusions which are of a different kind from those which occur

in other passages in the Psalms, and which do not appear, like them,

to be borrowed. Luther remarks in the Psalm another peculiarity;

‘just as Moses acts in teaching the law, so does he in this prayer.

For he preaches death, sin, and condemnation, in order that he may

alarm the proud who are secure in their sins, and that he may set

before their eyes their sin and evil, concealing, hiding nothing.' The

strong prominence given to the doctrine of death as the wages of sin,

is characteristic of the Psalm, a doctrine of not frequent occurrence

in Holy Scripture, and especially not in the Psalms, and which is

proclaimed as distinctly and impressively as it is here only in the

Pentateuch, Gen. ii. iii., and in those ordinances of the ceremonial

law which threaten death."

            The points of resemblance between the language of the Psalm

and expressions occurring in parts of the Pentateuch, and more

particularly in Deuteronomy, will be found mentioned in the notes.

To those who believe, as I do, that Deuteronomy was written by

Moses, they furnish an argument for the Mosaic authorship of the

Psalm.

            "This Psalm, then, is one of the oldest of the inspired utterances.

It is the prayer which is read over the mortal dust of some hundreds

of the children of men, every week, in London alone. And so used,

none of us finds it antiquated. The lapse of 3,000 years has not

made it necessary to discard this clause and that. Words that

described the relation of the children of Israel to the eternal God,

 

            * So Herder calls it " that ancient Psalm, that hymn of eternity."

164                                  PSALM XC.

 

serve still to express the devotion of English hearts turning to God

in their sorrow. As these grand words are uttered, the curtain that

hangs round our life seems to draw back, and we see, beyond, depths

that we dreamt not of. From time and the slow succession of

events, from the minutes and the hours that seem so long and so

many, we turn to God, whose eternal nature was as it now is even

when the world was formed, and to whom a thousand years are no

more than the middle watch of the night is to a sound sleeper.

Nations that seem established for ever are carried off down the

roaring cataract of time; men full of pride, and glory, and power,

grow and perish like grass; and God alone remains unchangeable,

the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever."—ARCHBISHOP OF

YORK'S Sermons preached at Lincoln's Inn, p. 2.

            The Psalm has no strophical division, nor even any regular

rhythmical arrangement. It consists of two principal parts:--

            I. The first is a meditation on the eternity of God, as it stands in

contrast with the weakness and transitoriness of man (ver. 1-12);

and here we have, first, the contrast stated (ver. 1-6), and then the

reason of this transitoriness, viz. man's sin, and God's wrath as

following thereon, together with the prayer for wisdom to turn to a

practical account these facts of human life (ver. 7-12).

            II. The second (ver. 13-17) is a prayer that God--who, not-

withstanding Israel's sin, and notwithstanding the chastisement that

sin has provoked, is still Israel's Hope and Refuge—would now at

last have compassion upon His people, give them joy for sorrow

(ver. 13-15), and crown all their labours with success (ver. 16, 17),

 

 

               [A PRAYER OF MOSES, THE MAN OF GOD.]

 

1  LORD, Thou hast been our dwelling-place

            In all generations.

 

Ver. 1-6. The eternity and un-

changeableness of God contrasted

with the transitoriness of man.

     THOU HAST BEEN, or "hast

proved Thyself to be." It is the

record of a past experience, not

merely the statement of what God

is in His own nature. It is the

acknowledgement of what God had

been to Abraham, to Isaac, and to

Jacob, when they had no fixed

dwelling-place, but "confessed that

they were strangers and pilgrims,"

of what He had been both to their

fathers and to themselves.

     OUR DWELLING-PLACE, or "a

place of refuge for us." The word,

which occurs Deut. xxxiii. 27, com-

bines both ideas, and would have

a peculiar force of meaning for the

Israelites in the wilderness. For

Israel was without a country and

 

 

                               PSALM XC.                                      165

 

2 Before the mountains were brought forth,

            Or ever Thou gavest birth to a the earth and the world,

                        Yea from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.

3 Thou turnest frail man to dust,b

            And Thou sayest: Return, ye children of men.

4 For a thousand years in Thy sight

            Are (but) as yesterday, when it passeth,c

            And as a watch in the night.

 

without a home, finding here and

there only a brief resting-place

beside the well and under the

palms of the desert. And Israel

was without a refuge, exposed to

enemies and a thousand perils.

     IN ALL GENERATIONS, lit. "in

generation and generation," a phrase

which occurs Deut. xxxii. 7

    2. THOU GAVEST BIRTH TO. Per-

haps the passive rendering, which

involves only a very slight change

in a single vowel-point (see Critical

Note), is to be preferred: "Or

ever the earth and the world were

formed."

     EARTH ... WORLD. The former

is the more common and general

word ; the latter, which is exclu-

sively used in poetry, denotes, ac-

cording to its etymology, the fruit-

ful earth (comp. Prov. viii. 31; Job

xxxvii. 12).

    3. To DUST: lit. "to the state of

one who is crushed, reduced to

dust," with allusion, no doubt, to

Gen. iii. 19.

    RETURN. As men perish by the

breath of God, so by His word He

calls others into being: "one gene-

ration goeth, and another cometh."

This is the sense given in the P.B.V.

"again Thou sayest: Come again,

ye children of men." Others sup-

pose the second clause of the verse

to be merely a repetition of the

first:

 

"Thou turnest men to destruction,

      And sayest, Turn (i.e. to de-

         struction), ye children of men."

 

But if an emphatic repetition were

designed, the form of the sentence

would rather have been:

 

"Thou sayest, Turn to destruction,

     ye children of men,

         And they are turned."

 

Besides, the fut. consec. "and

sayest," would indicate that the

act in the second clause of the

verse is to be regarded as a con-

sequence of that in the first, or at

least as subsequent to, and not

merely as parallel with it. Others,

again, interpret the word "return"

of a moral returning or conversion;

or of the return of the spirit to God

who gave it; or even of the resur-

rection. But none of these explana-

tions harmonizes with the context.

     4. YESTERDAY. To a Hebrew, the

new day began in the evening... .

A WATCH IN THE NIGHT. The

night was anciently divided into

three, later into four watches.

There is a climax; for the past

day, short as it seems, was, whilst

it was passing, capable of measure-

ment: it had its hours and its

minutes, its thoughts and its acts,

and its memories. But the night-.

watch "is for us as though it were

not; we sleep through the watch of

the night, living, but observing

nothing." "In those words, ‘a

thousand years in Thy sight are

but as yesterday,' &c. the Psalmist

has thrown a light upon the nature

of God such as a volume of reason-

ing could not have kindled. With

God there are no measures of time.

With us time is the name we give

to the duration of a certain succes-

166                          PSALM XC.

 

5 Thou sweepest them away (as with a flood);d they are

                        (as) a sleep:

            In the morning they are as grass which springeth

                        afresh,e

6 In the morning it flourisheth and springeth afresh,

            In the evening it is cut down f and withereth.

7 For we have been consumed by Thine anger,

            And by Thy fury have we been terrified;

8 Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee,

 

sion of thoughts and efforts, each

of which for a moment held full

possession of us, each of which cost

us a certain pain, and contributed

a little to that weariness which at

last took shelter in repose. The

Most High does not and cannot so

govern the world. He does not

look away from the earth to add

fuel to the sun; He does not

leave one nation of the earth ne-

glected whilst He works mighty

social changes in another . . .  All

that we mean by time must now be

left out of the account. . . . It

would be a longer and more tedious

task, if a man were the worker, to

build a world than to guide a way-

ward nation through its fortunes;

but what means longer or shorter,

where there is no labour, nor wait-

ing, nor weariness, but only the

streaming forth of an omnipotent

will? Dare we say that it cost

more to construct the universe than

to guide the footsteps of one man

during the short year that has just

closed!"—ARCHBP. OF YORK'S

Sermons, pp. 6-8.

    The sentiment of the verse is re-

peated by S. Peter, who gives also

the converse, 2 Pet. iii. 8.

5. THOU SWEEPEST, &c. Or the

two clauses may be dependent upon

one another, as in the P.B.V.: "As

soon as Thou hast swept them

away, they are (or, become) as a

sleep."

    IN THE MORNING. This can

hardly mean "in early youth," as

some of the Rabbis explain. The

words, strictly speaking, are a part

of the comparison ("they are as

grass which springeth afresh in the

morning"), and are only thus placed

first to give emphasis to the figure.

In the East, one night's rain works

a change as if by magic. The field

at evening was brown, parched,

arid as a desert; in the morning it

is green with the blades of grass.

The scorching hot wind (James i. 11)

blows upon it, and again before

evening it is withered.

     6. IT IS CUT DOWN, Or, "it is

dried up." The P.B.V. gives both

meanings: "it is cut down, dried

up, and withered." Ewald observes

that the beauty of the comparison

consists in the fact that the flower

which was so lovely in the morning

fades away of itself the same day in

the scorching heat of the sun. But

"cut down" may have this sense,

not "cut down by the scythe," but

"cut down by the hot blast, or by

the fierceness of the sun's heat."

     7. FOR: explanatory, not argu-

mentative. The reason of all this

transitoriness is to be found in

Israel's sin, which has provoked

God's heavy displeasure against

His people. The statement is not

a general one of human sinfulness

and frailty. The use of the first

person, and the past tenses, shows

that the writer is dealing with the

facts of his own history and that of

his people.

   HAVE BEEN TERRIFIED, or, "ut-

terly confounded." See the same

word xlviii. 5 (note), "driven away

in panic terror."

    8. OUR SECRET SINS (this is

                               PSA LM   XC.                         167

 

            Our secret (sins) in the light of Thy countenance.

9 For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath,

            We have spent our years as a thought:

10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten,

            Or (perchance) by reason of much strength,g four-

                        score years;

            And their pride is (but) labour and vanity,

                        For it passeth swiftly,h and we have fled away.

 

favoured by the parallelism) or, "our

secret (heart);" for the word is

singular. The whole inner being,

that which is in man (John ii. 25),

the pollution and sinfulness of

which is hidden from a man him-

self, till it is set in the light of God's

countenance.

     LIGHT, or more properly, "lumi-

nary," the same word which is found

in Gen. i., used of the heavenly

bodies, but nowhere else used in

this particular phrase. (It is always

'or not m'or.) There seems, how-

ever, to be a special reason for this.

The light of God's countenance is

everywhere else spoken of as a light

of love and approbation. (Hence,

the Syriac renders the second clause

"make us grow young again in the

light of Thy countenance.") Here

it is a revealing light. The "light"

or rather "sun" of God's coun-

tenance shines down into the dark

abysses of the human heart, bring-

ing out its hidden evils into strong

and painful relief. The nearest

parallel expression occurs in Prov.

xv. 30, where the same word is used,

rendered in the E.V. "the light of

the eyes." It means "that which

contains and gives the light, as the

sun, a lamp, &c."

     9. ARE PASSED AWAY, lit. "are

turned," or "have declined," cf.

Jer. vi. 4, "the day turns," i.e. de-

clines. The same word is used in

Ps. xlvi. 5 [6], of the turning, i.e.

dawn of the morning.

     As A THOUGHT. The same

comparison is found in Homer, as

an emblem of speed: w[sei> ptero>n h]e>

no<hma. And Theognis speaks of the

years of youth as fleeing like a

thought: ai#ya gar w!ste no<hma

pare<rxetai a@glaoj h!bh. But perhaps

we ought to render, "as a sigh or

sound," a meaning which the word

has in the two other passages where

it occurs, Job xxxvii. 2 (E.V. sound)

Ezek. ii. to (E.V. mourning). Re-

ferring to this passage in Ezek.,

Kay renders here: "sad reverie."

But the root idea of hGH is rather

to think aloud. Hence the word

may mean "a brief passing utter-

ance," "a fleeting sound." Others

again, "as a breath." So the Chald.,

"as the breath of the mouth in

winter." (Comp. xxxix. 5, 6 [6, 7],

where, however, the word is dif-

ferent.) The LXX. and the Syr.

have "as a spider." On this

rendering and its probable origin,

information will be found in Rosen-

muller's note.

    10. THE DAYS OF OUR YEARS (a

common expression in Genesis).

The literal rendering of this clause

is, "The days of our years (nom.

absol.)—in them are seventy years."

     OR (PERCHANCE). More literally,

"or if they (the years) be with much

strength."

    THEIR PRIDE, i.e. the pride of

the years, meaning all in which

men make their boast, as health,

strength, honour, riches, &c.

    FOR IT PASSETH, &c. Words

which come with double force from

the lips of one now standing himself

on the extreme verge of life, and

looking back on the past. Comp.

the language of S. John, "The

world passeth away and the lust

thereof," &c.

168                              PSALM  XC.

 

11 Who knoweth the power of Thine anger,

            And Thy wrath, according to the fear that is due

                        unto Thee?

12 So teach us to number our days,

            That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

 

13 Return, 0 Jehovah?—how long?

            And let it repent Thee concerning Thy servants.

 

11. WHO KNOWETH, i.e. "regard-

eth, considereth aright." This must

be repeated with the next hemistich,

"Who regardeth Thy wrath, accord-

ing," &c.

    12. TEACH Us, lit. "To number

our days, so teach us," i.e. in this

manner teach us, give us this kind

of instruction. The position of the

words and the accents justify this

interpretation. Others take so (NKe)

in the sense of accordingly. Others,

as meaning rightly. And others

again connect it with what goes

before: "So, i.e. according to the

fear due unto Thee;" or, in accord-

ance with all the previous medita-

tion. Of the need of this Divine

arithmetic Calvin well says: "Nam

qui optimus erit arithmeticus, et

myriades myriadum distincte ac

subtiliter tenebit ac excutiet, non

tamen poterit octoginta annos sup-

putare in propria vita. Hoc certe

prodigio simile est homines extra se

ipsos metiri omnia intervalla, cog-

noscere quot pedibus distet luna a

centro terae, quam longis inter se

spatiis planetae dividantur, denique

omnes coeli et terrae dimensiones

tenere, quum in seipsis septuaginta

annos non numerent."

     THAT WE MAY GAIN, gather,

bring in as a harvest, the fruit of the

earth, &c. Comp. the use of the

same word, 2 Sam. ix. 10, Hagg. i.

6: a heart of wisdom, a wise heart

is the fruit which we are to gather

from the Divine instruction.

     13. The prayer which follows

springs from the deep source of the

preceding meditation. God is ever-

lasting, man transitory and sinful.

Man does not consider his sin

aright, even when God lays His

hand upon him. He needs Divine

instruction that he may take to

heart the lesson both of his sinful-

ness and of his transitoriness. But

Moses does not forget that, in spite

of all, God has been and still is

the home of His people. He is a

compassionate God, as well as a

God that punisheth transgression.

And therefore he asks not only that

he and his people may learn the

lesson of Divine wisdom, but that

the God who had chastened theta

would visit them with His loving-

kindness, that the night of sorrow

may flee away, and the morning of

gladness dawn. God's love, God's

personal manifestation of Himself,

His blessing descending upon them

as they enter upon their new life

in the promised inheritance,—for

this, and not for anything less, he

prays. "And the prayer is a pre-

sage of the end of their pilgrimage,

and of their forgiveness, and their

settlement in the land that God

had given them."

     RETURN. This may mean, as in

Exod. xxxii. 12, "Turn from Thine

anger," or, as in vi. 4 [5], "Turn to

Thy people."

    How LONG. See notes on vi.

3, 4.

     LET IT REPENT THEE, or, "show

compassion towards." The fuller

expression is found in Exod. xxxii.

12, "Let it repent Thee of the evil,"

&c. The phrase occurs frequently

in the Prophets.

 

                            PSALM XC.                                   169

 

14 Oh satisfy us in the morning with Thy loving-kindness,

            That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad according to the daysi wherein Thou

                        hast afflicted us,

            The years wherein we have seen evil.

16 Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants,

            And Thy majesty upon their children.

17 And let the graciousness of Jehovah our God be upon us;

            And the work of our hands do Thou establish upon us;

                        Yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it.

 

14. IN THE MORNING, when the

night of sorrow is spent. Comp.

xlvi. 5 (note), cxliii. 8.

    15. AFFLICTED US, or, "humbled

us," the same word which is used

in, Deut. viii. 2, where this "hum-

bling" is said to have been God's

purpose in those forty years' wan-

dering.

     16. THY WORK. The word is

used both of God's judgements and

of His acts of grace. Some Edd.

have the plural, "Thy works," but

the sing. is most common in the

Psalms when the reference is to

God. Comp. lxxvii. 12 [13], xcii. 4

[5], xcv. 9, and Hab. iii. 2. Here,

the bringing of Israel into his in-

heritance is meant. The noun

occurs nowhere in the Pentateuch,

except in Deuteronomy. See, for

instance, Deut. xxxii. 4.

    "Quia Deus Ecclesiam suam de-

serens, quodammodo alienam per-

sonam induit, scite Moses proprium 

ejus opus nominat protectionis gra-

tiam quam pollicitus fuerat, filiis

Abrahae. . . . Hac ratione Paulus

(Rom. ix. 23) I)ei bonitatem gloriae

titulo specialiter insignit."—CAL-

VIN.

    THY MAJESTY. "Notanduln est,"

says Calvin, "decoris et pulchritudi-

nis nomen, uncle colligimus quam

incomparabilis sit erga nos Dei

amor. Quamvis enim suis donis

nos ornans, nihil sibi acquirat, li-

beraliter tamen nobiscum agendo

splendere vult, et decorem suum

palam facere; ac si forma ejus

obscura esset, ubi nos sua benefi-

centia prosequi cessat."

     UPON, as coming down out of

heaven, and so descending upon.

Comp. Is. xl. 1, 2; but this, is not

certain, as the prepositions lx, and

lfa are often interchanged.

    17. GRACIOUSNESS, or "favour."

This is perhaps a better render-

ing here than "beauty," which I

have retained in xxvii. 4, where see

note; but see Prov. iii. 17, Zach.

xi. 7.

     THE WORK OF OUR HANDS, an-

other expression which runs all

through Deuteronomy.

    The order deserves notice. God's

work is first to appear, His Majesty

to be revealed; then man's work,

which is God's work carried out by

human instruments, may look for

His blessing. Referring to the use

of this Psalm in the office for the

Burial of the Dead, Mr. Housman

observes: "It is remarkable how

not only this but the 39th Psalm,

as well as the Lesson (I Cor. xv.)

all close with the same thought,—

work; as though the one great use

of the shortness of life, and the

coming on of death, were to stir us

up to use the very utmost of the

time that is left."—Readings on the

Psalms, p. 189.

 

 

170                             PSALM XC.

 

             a llEOHT;va. (I) According to the existing punctuation, this is active

(Pilel); but it may be either 2 pers. masc., as in the E. V., or it may be

3 fem., as the Syr. takes it: "or ever it" (i.e. the earth) "was in travail"

or "brought forth," viz. plants, animals, &c. (comp. Gen. i. i i, 24). So

Ewald: eh ’kreiste Erd' und Land. Hupf., Del. and Bunsen adopt the

former rendering, which makes God the subject of the verb, appealing to

Deut. xxxii. 18, where the same verb is used of God in reference to Israel.

The act of creation, says Del., is compared to the pangs of travail. There

is, however, greater harshness in the application of such a figure to the

origin of the material universe, than in its application to describe the

relation of His people to God. But (2) a very slight change of punctua-

tion will give us the passive, llaOHT;, which accords with the pass. Udl.Ayu

before, and which is the rendering of the Chald., LXX. plasqh?nai, Aq.

and Symm. w]dinhqh?nai, and Jerome, who says that this is what the Hebrew

had in his time, and all the Versions, "illud autem, quod et Hebraicum

habet et omnes alii interpretes: Antequam montes nascerentur, et par-

turiretur terra." Then the rendering will be: "Or ever the earth and

the world were formed," lit. "born."

            b xKADa, according to Ewald, fem. subst., for hKDa, the termination in x

being found early, Num. xi. 20. (Comp. Deut. xxiii. 2, where the reading

varies between the form in h and that in x.)  The form, however, is

rather that of the adj. (xxxiv. 19, Is. lvii. 15), either in a neuter sense,

contritum, comininutum, i.e. dust (comp. Gen. iii. 19), or as a predicate,

eo ut fiat contritus, "to the condition of one who is crushed" (comp. for

the constr. Num. xxiv. 24). LXX. ei]j tapei<nwsin. Sym. (Syro-hex.) ad

condemnationem contritionis. Chald. "Unto death." And so the Tal.,

&c., wpn lw hbvdkd.

            c rbofEya yKi. This can neither be rendered "when it is past" (as the

E. V.), nor "when it shall have past" (as De Wette): grammatically it

can only be "when it passeth" or "is passing" (so Ewald, who observes,

"it is at evening when the day is just passing away that it seems the

shortest," but?), or "because it passeth; "but neither of these yields a

satisfactory sense: we want the rendering of the E.V., "when it is past."

Hupfeld therefore would take ‘w Jl,x, as the subject of rbofEya, "For a

thousand years are in Thy sight when they pass (or, because they pass)

but as yesterday." We have Jl,x, with the sing. verb in xci. 7, but there

the verb stands first in the sentence (and the verb may be in the sing.

when it precedes a plur. subject), and Jl,x, is without a substantive.

            d MTAm;raz;. The verb occurs only here and lxxvii. 18, formed from the

noun Mr,z,. The preterite may stand in the protasis as the condition of

what follows: "(When) Thou hast swept them away with a flood, they

become as a sleep," &c., like the shadowy image of a dream which leaves

no trace behind. Hupfeld connects rq,BoBa with this clause: "they become

as a sleep in the morning" (comparing lxxiii. 20, Is. xxix. 7). No doubt

this gives a good sense, and there is a difficulty in explaining the

 

                                          PSALM XC.                                    171

 

Masoretic text, "In the morning they are as grass," &c., for "the

morning" cannot mean the morning of human life, or youth, as Qimchi

and others understand. But on the other hand, Hupfeld's arrangement

of the clauses leaves the second miserably lame: "As the grass passeth

away." [On the question whether K; can thus be construed with the verb,

see on xlii. note b (3).] On the whole, it is better to assume an incorrect-

ness of expression, and to take "in the morning they are," &c. as: = "they

are as grass which withereth [or springeth afresh, see below] in the

morning."

            e  JloHEya. Two exactly opposite interpretations have been given of this

verb, both proceeding from the same radical idea, that of change,

transition from one place or condition to another; but the one implying

the change of new life, growth, &c., the other that of decay and death.

The first meaning is common in the Hiph. of this verb (comp. Is. ix. 9;

xl. 31; xli. I; and of plants, Job xiv. 7; xxix. 20), but is nowhere else

found in the Qal (though Gesen. gives this sense in Hab. but

wrongly). Hence Ewald, Hupf., Bunsen, and others, adopt the second

meaning of passing away, in the sense of perishing (so the LXX. has

pare<lqoi, and Jerome, quasi herba pertransiens). According to this view,

the first member of ver. 6 contains the whole figure, the latter part of

which is then repeated and expanded in the second member:--

            In the morning it flourisheth, and (then) perisheth,

            In the evening it is dried up and withered.

Gesenius, on the other hand (Thes. in v.), gives to JlH in this passage,

the sense of viret, revirescit. Zunz's Bible has sprosset, Delitzsch schosset

wieder. And amongst the older interpreters, the Chald. and Syr. render

similarly. Hupf. and others object to the repetition involved in this

rendering, but that exists on either interpretation, and the repetition is

merely emphatic, as for instance in xcii. 10.

            f lleOmy;. According to the punctuation, Palel, act., which is usually

taken as an impers. instead of the passive: "one cuts down," instead of

"it is cut down." Ewald, Hupfeld, and others give to the verb lUm the

sense of withering, here and in xxxvii. 2; and this sense of the root may

be defended by reference to Deut. xxiii. 26, where tOlylim; is "the ripe,

sun-dried, ears of corn." But perhaps here the pass., with the same

slight change of the vowel as in note a, is preferable.

            g trUbg;Bi. "Poet. plur. for sing. The word, an abstract from rOBGi,

occurs nowhere else in this sense, but always of physical strength as

exercised, put forth, as for instance in warlike prowess: so of the war-

horse, cxlvii. to, Job xxxix. 19 (comp. lyiHA, Ps. xxxiii. 16), of the sun at his

rising, Judg. v. 31 (comp. Ps. xix. 6). The plural in particular is always

used of deeds of valour, of the mighty acts of God or of men. The

notion of physical strength, natural vigour, &c., is usually expressed by

HaKoBi, zfoB;, and the like."—Hupfeld

172                             PSALM XCI.

 

            b zGA, not from zzg, in a pass. sense, is cut off; as Symm., tmhqe<ntej, but to

be connected with zvG, Aram. and Syr., to pass by. See on lxxi. note b,

where, however, zGA is spoken of as the part. It is better, as the Vau

consec. follows, to take it as the pret.

            i tOmy;, only here and Deut. xxxii. 7, instead of ymey;; the following

tOnw;, poet. plur. for ynew; occurs first in the same passage of Deut. Both,

are in construct. with the verbal clauses following, Ges. § 114, 3.

 

 

                                      PSALM XCI.

 

            THIS Psalm, which in the Hebrew has no inscription, is by the

LXX;, apparently without sufficient reason, ascribed to David. It

celebrates, with considerable variety and beauty of expression, God's

loving and watchful care, and the perfect peace and security of those

who make Him their refuge. "Can the Providence of God," asks

Herder, "be taught in a more trustful or a more tender spirit? The

language is the language of a father, growing ever more fatherly as it

proceeds, till at last the Great Father Himself takes it up and declares

His truth and faithfulness."

            Mr. Plumptre speaks of it as "an echo, verse by verse almost, of

the words in which Eliphaz the Temanite (Job v. 17-23) describes

the good man's life."—Biblical Studies, p. 184.

            There is no reason to suppose that the Psalm was written during

the prevalence of a pestilence (such for instance as that mentioned

in 2 Sam. xxiv. 15),* for the variety of figures employed shows that

the Psalmist is thinking of peril of every kind, coming from whatever

source, and that he paints all dangers and fears vividly to the eye of

his mind, in order to express the more joyfully his confidence that

none of these things can move him, that over all he is more than

conqueror. It is St. Paul's fervid exclamation, "If God be for us,

who can be against us?" expressed in rich and varied poetry.

            The structure of the Psalm is in some respects peculiar. The

writer speaks at one time of or from, at another to, himself; he is

both subject and object; now he utters his own experience, and now

he seeks to encourage himself with Divine promises; and the transi-

tions are so abrupt, that various attempts have been made to soften

 

            * Stier mentions that some years ago an eminent physician in St.

Petersburg recommended this Psalm as the best preservative against the

cholera.

                                            PSALM XCI.                                     173

 

or explain them. A full account of these will be found in the Critical

Note on verse 2.

            There is no strophical arrangement, but the general structure of

the Psalm rests on the common principle of pairs of verses, except

that the two concluding groups consist of three verses each, thus: I,

2; 3, 4; 5, 6; 7, 8; 9, 10; 11-13; 14-16.

 

1 HE that sitteth in the secret place of the Most High,

            That resteth under the shadow of the Almighty,

2 Saith a of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress,

            My God, in whom I trust.

3 For HE shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunter,

            From the devouring pestilence.

4 With His feathers shall He cover thee,

            And under His wings shalt thou find refuge,

                        His truth shall be a shield and a buckler.

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night,

           

    1. In the first edition this verse

was rendered as if it were complete

in itself:

"He that sitteth in the secret place

     of the Most High

Resteth under the shadow of the

     Almighty."

 

But it cannot be denied that such a

rendering is open to the charge of

tautology. It is better to take the

second clause, as only a variation

of the first, in accordance with the

common principle of Hebrew parel-

lelism. There is no reason for

affirming that the verb RESTETH

(lit. " lodgeth, passeth the night "),

is used in any emphatic sense, such

as is implied by the rendering of

the E.V., "He that dwelleth, &c.

. . . shall abide," i.e. constantly and

permanently continue. Hence the

reading of the LXX., who in ver. 2

have the 3rd per. e]rei?, he shall say,

instead of the 1st, I will say, has

much to commend it, and I have

now adopted it.

    In each clause of verses 1, 2.

God is spoken of by a different

name.

     God is "Most High," far above

all the rage and malice of enemies;

"Almighty," so that none can stand

before His power; "Jehovah," the

God of covenant and grace, who

has revealed Himself to His people;

and it is of such a God that the

Psalmist says in holy confidence,

He is "my God," in whom I trust.

     2. SAITH, or "will say." In the

Hebrew text the 1st person stands,

"I will say." See more in Critical

Note.

     3. FOR. Well may such a man

thus speak of Jehovah, for He, &c.

SNARE OF THE HUNTER. Comp.

xviii. 5 [6], cxxiv. 7, Hos. ix. 8.

     DEVOURING PESTILENCE. For

the epithet, see Critical Note on ver.

9 [10 j.

    4. WITH HIS FEATHERS or

"pinion." See the beautiful pas-

sage, Deut. xxxii. I I, and note on

Ps. xvii. 8; lxiii. 7.

     5. TERROR BY NIGHT (comp.

Song of Sol. iii. 8, Prov. iii. 23-

26), in allusion, probably, to night-

attacks like those of Gideon (Judg-

vii.), a favourite artifice of Oriental

warfare; or perhaps to a destruc-

tion like that of Sennacherib.

 

174                             PSALM XCI.

 

            (Nor) for the arrow that flieth by day,

6 For the pestilence that walketh in darkness,

            (Nor) for the sickness that wasteth b at noon-day.

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side,

            And ten thousand at thy right hand;

                        (But) it shall not come nigh thee.

8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold

            And shalt see the reward of the wicked.

9 For Thou, 0 Jehovah, art my refuge:

            Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation;

10 (Therefore) there shall no evil befall thee,

            Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent;

11 For He will give His angels charge over thee,

            To keep thee in all thy ways;

 

     7. IT SHALL NOT COME NIGH

THEE. The singular refers to any

and every one of the evils men-

tioned in ver. 5, 6. "As the general

who carries within him the convic-

tion that he is called to a great

work, whilst the bullets fall thick as

hail about him, stands with calm

eye and firm foot, and says: I

know that the bullet is not yet cast

which can strike me, so stands the

man of prophetic faith in the hour

of danger, with the conviction that

the thunderbolt will turn aside from

his head, and the torrent dry up at

his feet, and the arrows fall blunted

from his breast, because the Lord

wills it."—Tholuck.

    9. The change of persons is

again perplexing. The Psalmist

suddenly interrupts the address to

himself which had been continued

in one strain from ver. 3 (and which

is resumed again in the second

clause of this verse, "Thou hast

made," &c.), to express his own

trust in God. This difficulty is not

lessened by the rendering of the

E.V. "Because thou hast made

the Lord which is my refuge, even

the Most High thy habitation." In

such a construction (which is very

harsh), the natural form of expres-

sion would have been, "Thy re-

fuge." It is better to look upon the

first member of this verse, "For

Thou, 0 Jehovah, art my refuge."

as parenthetical, with a reference to

the words of ver. 2. But whether

we suppose the address in ver. 3-8,

and again that which, beginning

with the second member of ver. 9,

extends to the end of ver: 13, to be

the words of the Psalmist himself,

or whether they are put into some

other mouth with a view to musical

effect—in either case the words are

really a voice from Heaven, the

promise of God uttered to and

appropriated by the soul.

    10. TENT. An instance of the

way in which the Patriarchal life

became stereotyped, so to speak, in

the language; cf. Mal. ii. 12. There

is an allusion, perhaps, to Israel's

exemption from the plagues of

Egypt, Exod. xii. 23.

    11. ANGELS: not as "guardian

angels," but as God's ministers in

the government of the world, and

especially as "sent forth to minister

for them that shall be heirs of sal-

vation." Comp. xxxiv. 7. By the

"lion and adder" there is no need

to understand exclusively, or chiefly,

the powers of darkness, the evil

spirits (as Del. thinks). As by "a

stone" all hindrances, so by "the

 

                              PSALM XCI.                                   175

 

12 On (their) hands they shall bear thee (up),

            Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13 Upon the lion and adder shalt thou tread,

            Thou shalt trample the young lion and serpent under

                        thy feet.

14 "Because he hath set his love upon Me,

                        Therefore will I deliver him;

            I will set him on high, because he knoweth My Name.

15 When he calleth upon Me, I will answer him.

            I will be with him in trouble,

                        I will deliver him and honour him;

16 With long life will I satisfy him,

            And show him My salvation."

 

lion and dragon" all hostile powers,

are denoted, more particularly in

the natural world. This may be

illustrated from histories like those

of Samson, David, Daniel, &c., and

especially in the N. T. by the his-

tory of the Temptation, Mark i. 13.

    What a prophecy of the victory

of faith over the material as well as

over the spiritual world, and that

not only by miraculous, but by non-

miraculous means! Comp. Mark

xvi. 18; Luke x. 19; John xiv. 12.

The LXX. render ver. 11, 12, o!ti  

toi?j a]gge<loij au]tou? e]ntelei?tai peri>

sou?, tou? diafula<cai se e]n pa<saij

tai?j o[doi?j sou.  ]Epi> xeirw?n a]rou?si<n

se, mh<pote prosko<y^j pro>j li<qon to>n

po<da sou. The quotation both in

Matt. iv. 6, and Luke iv. 10, 11, is

made from the LXX., but the former

omits the whole of the clause "to

keep thee," &c., and the latter the

words "in all thy ways," so that it

would seem that the omission of

this last was designed in the mouth

of the tempter. The "ways "

spoken of in the Psalm are the

"ways" of obedience and duty, not

the "ways" of presumption or self-

seeking. S. Bernard, speaking of

the temptation, says:  "Non est via

hoc, sed ruina, et si via, tua est,

non illius."

    “Quanquam autem de singulis

Ecclesae membris agit Proph eta,

non temere hoe diabolus aptavit

ad personam Christi. Nam ut-

cunque semper ei sit propositum

pervertere et corrumpere veritatem

Dei, in generalibus tamen principiis

speciosum colorem adhibet, satisque

acutus est theologus."—Calvin.

    14-16. God's answer to the soul

which trusts in Him. "God Him-

self comes forward to establish the

faith of His servant, writes deeper

in the soul so great a consolation,

and confirms the testimony to His

servant. ‘He hath set his love

upon Me—he knoweth My Name

—he calleth upon Me’—these are

the marks of a true servant of God.

God draws nigh to one who so

draws nigh to Him." Compare

with this passage 1. 15, 23.

     16. LONG LIFE, lit. "length of

days."

     The special promise of long life

at the close, as a temporal blessing,

is in accordance with the general

character of the Old Testament.

Still it is possible that men like the

Psalmist, full of faith in God, at-

tached a deeper and more spiritual

meaning to promises and hopes like

these, than was attached to them by

the majority of their countrymen.

 

 

176                     PSALM XCI.

 

            a rmaxo.  This, as it stands, can only be the 1st pers. fut., which is

embarrassing as the 3rd pers. precedes. This and other abrupt changes  

of person in the Psalm have given rise to every variety of explanation.

Delitzsch thinks that the Psalm is dramatic in character, and that it

must be distributed between three voices, and may have been possibly so

sung in Divine service. The first voice utters ver. 1, "He that sitteth in

the secret place, That abideth in the shadow of the Almighty," and is

taken up by the second voice, which sings ver. 2, "I will say," &c. The

first voice resumes at the beginning of ver. 3, and continues to the end of

ver. 8. The second voice then utters the first clause of ver. 9, "For Thou, 0

Jehovah, art my refuge." And the first voice begins with "Thou hast made

the Most High thy habitation," and goes on to the end of ver. 13. The

third voice, which utters the words of God Himself, is heard in ver. 14-16.

            Perhaps this on the whole is the simplest explanation of the change

of speakers in the Psalm, but ver. I may have been sung by the choir

rather than by a single voice.

            Tholuck's arrangement is the same, except that he makes ver. 1

complete in itself, and that he gives ver. 1, ver. 3-8, and 9b-13 to the

Precentor; ver. 2 and 9a to the Choir, and supposes 14-16 (the Divine

words) to be sung by the Precentor and Choir together.

            Herder in like manner distributes the Psalm between two voices, but

gives ver. 1, 2, and 9a to the first voice, and the rest of the Psalm to the

second.

            Ewald has a different conception of the structure of the Psalm. Partly,

he thinks, the Poet expresses his own feelings as from himself, and partly

as if they were uttered by another. He seems to listen to the thoughts

of his own spirit, till they become clear and distinct, like some prophetic

words, or some Divine oracle speaking to him from without, and giving

him thus the assurance and the consolation afresh which had already

sprung up in his heart.

            Hupfeld, who is followed by Bunsen, alters the text. He would supply

yrew;xa at the beginning of ver. 1, and read rmexo instead of rmaxo in ver. 2.

He renders ver. 1, 2:

            "[Blessed is he] who sitteth in the hiding-place of the Most High,

                        Who passeth the night in the shadow of the Almighty,

            Who saith to Jehovah, my refuge," &c.

 

Again in ver. 9 he supplies TAr;maxA:

            Because [thou hast said] "Thou Jehovah art my refuge,"

                        (And) hast made the Most High thy habitation.

 

(So S. Pagnini, "Quoniam to dixisti, Domine, spes mea.")

            Such alterations may no doubt "get rid of all difficulty at a

stroke," but they are purely conjectural, and have no support from

MSS. or Verss. The difficulty is older than any of the existing

versions. The LXX. either had a different text, or felt the awk-

wardness of the change from the 3rd pers. in ver. 1 to the 1st in

ver. 2, and hence they have the 3rd pers., e]rei?, in ver. 2. Jerome

likewise has dicens in ver. 2, as if he read rmexo. The Syr. also has the

                               PSALM XCII.                                          177

 

3rd pers. instead of the 1st. The Chald. distributes the Psalm between

three speakers. On any view there is much difficulty in determining the

relation of the first verse to what follows. Taken by itself it is tauto-

logical—the second clause is merely a repetition of the first, for the

verb NnAOlt;yi is not, as Mich. and others suppose, emphatic. It would seem

better, therefore, with the Syr., LXX., and Jerome, to retain the 3rd perse

in ver. 2, and to read either rmexo or rmaxoy, the change in either case being

very slight. The latter is preferable, as in the former both the subject

and predicate would be participial. Ewald, however, thinks the Poet is

himself the subject in both verses, first, as looking at himself (hence

3rd pers.), then, as speaking of himself (1st pers.): "The man who

sitteth . . . who resteth, &c. . . . even I say," &c. He refers to Job xii.

4. See also Is. xxviii. 16.

            b rUwyA for dOwyA from ddw.  Comp. for similar forms Prov. xxix. 6,

Is. xlii. 4. The LXX. kai> daimoni<ou, from a false reading rwv.

 

 

                                      PSALM XCII.

 

            THIS Psalm is called a Psalm for the Sabbath-day, and, as we

learn from the Mishnah, Tamid vii. 4, was appointed to be used in

the Temple service on that day. It was sung in the morning when,

on the offering of the first lamb, the wine was poured out as a drink-

offering unto the Lord (Num. xxxviii. 9). At the evening sacrifice

one of the three passages, Ex. xv. 1-10, 11—19, Num. xxi. 17-20,

was sung. From the T. B. Rosh hash-Shasta 31a we learn that the

following was the selection of Psalms for the service, each day of the

week, in the second Temple. On the first day, Ps. xxiv.; on the

second, Ps. xxviii.; on the third, Ps. lxxxii.; on the fourth, Ps. xciv.;

on the fifth, Ps. lxxxi.; on the sixth, Ps. xciii.; on the seventh " A

Psalm or song for the Sabbath-day, i.e. A Psalm or song for the future

age (the age of the Messiah), all of which will be Sabbath." In Rosh

hash-Shasta, however, the question is raised whether the Psalm refers

to the Sabbath of Creation (R. Nehemia), or the final Sabbath of the

world (R. Akiba). The title in the Targum, "Of the first Adam,"

favours the former, as does also the opinion of the older Rabbis (see

Midrash Rabbah, on Gen. cap. 22, on Eccles. i. ver. i and 2; Pir'qe

de Rabbi Eliezer, cap. 19, Shocker Tob on Ps. xcii.), who tell us that

this Psalm "was said by the First Man, who was created on the

eve of the sabbath, and when he awoke early in the morning of the

Sabbath, uttered this Psalm. Athanasius supposes the latter to be

intended, ai]nei? e]kei<nhn th>n genhsome<nhn a]na<pausin. Better Augustine,

"Dicit unde solent perturbari homines, et docet to agere sabbatum

178                                PSALM XCII.

 

in corde tuo." It cannot be said, however, that there is anything in

the contents of the Psalm which, as pointing either to the future or

the present rest, would account for its selection as the Sabbatical

Psalm.*

            It celebrates in joyful strain the greatness of God's works, and

especially His righteous government of the world, as manifested in

the overthrow of the wicked, and the prosperity and final triumph of

the righteous. The apparent success of the ungodly for a time is

admitted, but this is a mystery which worldly men, whose under-

standing has become darkened, cannot penetrate (ver. 6). The

Psalm therefore touches upon the same great principles of the Divine

government which are laid down in such Psalms as the first, the

thirty-seventh, the forty-ninth, and the seventy-third. But here there

is no struggle with doubt and perplexity, as in the seventy-third; the

Poet is beyond all doubt, above all perplexity; he had not fallen

down to the low level of the brutish man (comp. lxxiii. 22 with ver.

6 of this Psalm); he is rejoicing in the full and perfect conviction of

the righteousness of God.

            The strophical arrangement of the Psalm is doubtful. Hupfeld

groups the first three verses and the last four together, and disposes

the intermediate verses in pairs. Delitzsch is clearly wrong when he

distributes the Psalm into five groups, each of three verses. I believe

that we have two principal divisions, ver. 1-7, and ver. 9-15, each

division consisting of seven verses, separated by a verse (the eighth),

which, unlike all the rest, is comprised in a single line. Each seven

is again subdivided into a three and four. The whole scheme, there-

fore, stands thus 1-3, 4-7, (8) 9-11, 12-15. All the joy of the

Psalmist culminates in that great fact, that Jehovah is throned on

high for evermore; from that flows the overthrow of the wicked and

the triumph of the righteous.

 

                [A PSALM. A SONG FOR THE SABBATH DAY.]

 

1 IT is a good thing to give thanks unto Jehovah,

 

1--3. Introduction, expressive of                         IT IS A GOOD THING, i.e. a

real delight in God's service.                               delightful thing, not merely

 

            * Now both on Sabbath eve (Friday night) and Sabbath morning

the next Psalm (xciii.), which is the proper Psalm for Friday is used;

and they were perhaps early sung together, i.e. first xcii, and then

xciii. This and all the Psalms which follow, as far as the 100th, are

liturgical in character, and were evidently intended for use in the Temple

service. They bear also some resemblance to one another in point of

style, especially in the anadiplosis, xcii. 9 [10]; xciv. 1, 3; xcvi. 13.

Compare also xciii. i with xcvi. 10, and the recurrence of the same

expression in xcv. 3; xcvi. 4; xciiii. 9.

                               PSALM XCII.                                 179

 

            And to sing psalms unto Thy Name, 0 Most High,

2 To declare Thy loving-kindness in the morning,

            And Thy faithfulness every night,

3 With a ten-stringed instrument and with the lute,

            With sound of music a upon the harp.

 

4 For Thou hast made me glad, 0 Jehovah, because of

                        that Thou hast done,

            I will sing for joy because of the works of Thy hands.

5 How great, 0 Jehovah, are Thy works!

            Very deep are Thy thoughts.

6 A brutish man b knoweth not,

            And a fool doth not consider this.

7 When the wicked spring as the green herb,

            And all the workers of iniquity do flourish,

            It is that they may be destroyed c for ever.

 

8 And Thou, 0 Jehovah, art (throned) on high for evermore.

 

acceptable to God, but a real joy

to the heart.

     4. The great reason of all this

joy. The Psalmist has witnessed

the manifestation and the triumph

of the eternal righteousness of God.

     THAT THOU HAST DONE, or

"Thy doing ;" not here God's

power in creation (a misunder-

standing which may have led to

this Psalm being associated with

the Sabbatical rest of creation), but

God's moral government of the

world. So also in the next clause

THE WORKS OF THY HANDS, as in

cxliii. 5. The Rabbis, however,

understand it both of the appoint-

ment of the earthly Sabbath, and

also of the future Sabbatical rest in

the Kingdom of the Messiah

(Mishnah, Tamid vii. 4).

    5. How GREAT; not as in lxxiii.,

"it was a trouble in mine eyes."

Faith wonders and adores. Men's

thoughts on such subjects are but

folly. It is as though they con-

sidered not (vet. 6). Faith is the

true interpreter of the world

(ver. 7).

    VERY DEEP. Comp. xxxvi. 6

[7]; xl. 5 [6]; cxxxix. 17; Rom. xi.

    6. A FOOL; in the same sense as

in xiv. I. "Stultos autem vocat

omnes incredulos, ac tacite eos

fidelibus opponit, quibus Deus per

Verbum suuni et Spiritum illucet.

Nam peraeque omnium mentes

occupat haec inscitia et caeitas,

donec coelesti gratia oculati red-

damur."—Calvin.

    8. This verse, consisting of but

one line, expresses the great central

fact on which all the doctrine of the

Psalm rests. This is the great pil-

lar of the universe and of our faith.

"Hoc elogium non tantum honoris

causa ad Dei essentiam refertur,

sed ad fidei nostrx fulturam: ac si

dictum esset, quamvis in terra anxie

gemant fideles ac trepident, Deum

tamen, qui custos est vitae ipsorum,

in sublimi manere et eos protegere

virtute aeterna."—Calvin.

    ON HIGH. The word only occurs

here as a predicate of God. Lit.

"height," or "in the height" (accu-

sative). Comp. the adverbial use

 

180                            PSALM XCII.

 

9 For lo, Thine enemies, 0 Jehovah,

            For lo, Thine enemies shall perish,

                        All the workers of iniquity shall melt away.

10 But Thou hast exalted my horn like (the horn of) a

                        wild ox;

            I am anointed d with fresh oil.

11 Mine eye also hath seen (its desire) upon them that lie

                        in wait for me,e

            And my ear hath heard (its desire) of the evil-doers

                        who rise against me.

12 The righteous shall spring as the palm,

            He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

13 They that are planted in the house of Jehovah

            Shall spring in the courts of our God;

 

of the same word in lvi. 2 [3],

where see note. Elsewhere God is

said "to inhabit the height," Is.

lvii. 15, to be "glorious in the

height," xciii. 4, and in Mic. vi. 6

we have "God of height," i.e. "God

on high," or "God in heaven."

    9. SHALL MELT AWAY, lit. "shall

separate themselves, disperse,"

breaking up as it were without the

application of any external force.

     10. FRESH OIL, or "green oil,"

as in Latin, oleum viride, said of

the best oil.

    11. MINE EYE, &c. See for this

expression liv. 7 [9], lix. 10, &c.;

the one which follows in the next

clause, of the ear hearing with sa-

tisfaction of the overthrow of his

enemies, seems to have been ex-

pressly framed to correspond to the

other: it occurs nowhere else in

this sense.

    THEM THAT LIE IN WAIT FOR

ME; the same whom in ver. 9 he

calls "Thine enemies." Sure of

the triumph of the kingdom of

God, he is sure also of his own

triumph.

    12-15. What is true of the

Psalmist is true of all who are

partakers of the same faith. The

date-palm and the cedar are se-

lected as the loveliest images of

verdure, fruitfulness, undecaying

vigour and perpetuity. "Through-

out the year, in the winter's cold,

as in the summer's heat, the palm

continues green: not by years,

but by centuries is the cedar's

age reckoned."— Tholuck. There

is also a contrast: "The wicked

spring as the green herb, or,

grass" (ver. 7), which soon withers

away, "The righteous spring as

the palm," which is ever green and

ever fruitful.

     Besides this, there are only two

passages in the Old Testament

where the palm is used in com-

parison,—Song of Sol. vii. 7, where

it is said of the bride, "Thy stature

is like to a palm-tree;" Jer. x. 5,

where the idols are said to be "up-

right as a palm-tree;" and one in

the Apocrypha, Ecclus. xxiv. 14, "I

was exalted like a palm-tree in

Engaddi." This, as Dr. Howson

(Smith's Dict. of the Bible, art.

PALM-TREE) has noticed, is re-

markable, considering the beauty

of the tree, and its frequent recur-

rence in the scenery of Palestine.

     13. The figure need not be so

far pressed as to imply that such

trees actually grew in the Temple-

court (see on lii. 8). Still it is

by no means improbable that the

 

 

                              PSALM XCII.                                 181

 

14 They shall still bear fruit in old age,

            They shall be full of sap and green,

15 To declare that Jehovah is upright,

            My rock in whom there is no unrighteousness.f

 

precincts of the temple, like the

Hararn es-Sherif, contained trees.

    14. THEY SHALL BEAR FRUIT, in

allusion probably to the great fruit-

fulness of the date-palm, which,

when it reaches maturity, produces

three or four hundred pounds' weight

of fruit, and has been known even

to produce six hundred pounds'

weight.

     15. To DECLARE, &c. Thus in

the end God's righteous govern-

ment of the world will be mani-

fested. The flourishing of the

workers of iniquity has been but

for a moment (ver. 7, 9, 11); the joy

and prosperity of the righteous is

for ever. This is the signal proof

of God's righteousness: this is

the justification of the Psalmist's

confidence resting ever on that

unshaken "Rock."

 

            a NvyGAhi. As this word occurs in the midst of others signifying musical

instruments, it seems most natural to suppose that it also means an

instrument of some kind. But usage and the derivation of the word are

rather in favour of Gesenius's interpretation, noise, sound (ad strepitum

cithara factum; comp. ix. 16 [17]); nor does the prep. ylefE militate against

this. It may mean not only upon but accompanying. Hupf. renders

"zum Spiel mit der Harfe," and Del., "auf sinnigem Spiel mit Cither."

            b rfaBa-wyxi, "a brute-man," a compound expression, like MdAxA xr,P,, Gen.

xvi. 12, Ezek. xxxvi. 38.

            c MdAm;wAhil;. An instance of the periphrastic use of the infin. with l; for

the future (see on lxii. note g); but perhaps the apodosis begins with

UfyfiyAva, "then all the workers of iniquity flourish to their everlasting

destruction."

            d ytOl.Ba. 1 Perf. sing. anomalously with the accent on the last syllable

(as cxiv. 6, Is. xliv. 16). The former is rather that of the inf. with suffix,

and so it was taken, against the context, by the older translators. LXX.

to> gh?ra<j mou. Symm. h[ palai<wsi<j mou. Jerome, senecta mea. But this

requires a verb to be supplied, on the principle of zeugma, from the first

clause. "Thou hast exalted (= refreshed) my old age with fresh oil."

It is preferable therefore to take the word as 1 perf. sing., here apparently

intrans., though elsewhere trans. (cf. Gen. xi. 7, 9); and it may be trans.

here, if we supply the object, the horn, or, the head. Qimchi leaves it an

open question whether the verb is trans. or intrans.

            e yraUw, similar participial forms occur Num. xxxv. 32, Jer. xvii. 13 (Q'ri

yraUs), Mic. ii. 8. rUw = rreOw v. 9, and the construction with the suffix may

be compared with ymaqA, xviii. 40, but rUw takes the acc. in Num. xxiii. 9.

            f htAlIfa, to be read htAlAf, as in Job v. 16, from hlAOf, Is. lxi. 8, fem. of

lv,fA (contraction of the original diphthong au into o), instead of the

more common hlAv;fa, which the Q'ri prefers (htAlAv;fa, as cxxv. 3).

182                              PSALM XCIII.

 

 

 

                                    PSALM XCIII.

 

            THE sum and substance of this Psalm is contained, as Hitzig has

remarked, in the eighth verse of the preceding Psalm. It celebrates

the Majesty of Jehovah as Ruler of the Universe. He is Creator

of the world. He has been its King from everlasting; it rests upon

Him, and is stayed by His might. All the powers of nature obey

Him, however lawless they may seem, as all the swelling and rage of

men, of which those are but a figure, must obey Him. But His

Majesty and His Glory are seen, not only in controlling the powers

of nature, and whatsoever exalteth and opposeth itself against Him,

but in the faithfulness of His word, and in the holiness of His

house.

            As the Psalm speaks of a particular manifestation of Jehovah's

kingly rule, of a time when He has taken to Himself His great

power and reigned (see note on ver. I), it may in this sense be

termed Messianic. For, as Delitzsch has pointed out, the Old

Testament prophecy concerning the kingdom of God consists of two

series of predictions, the one of which speaks of the reign of the

anointed of Jehovah out of Zion, the other of the reign of Jehovah

Himself as the great King over all the earth. These two lines of

prophecy converge in the Old Testament, but never meet. Only

here and there do we discern an intimation (as in xlv. 7) that the two

are one.

            The LXX. (Codex B) have the Inscription, ei]j th>n h[me<ran tou?

prosabba<tou, o!te kat&<kistai h[ gh?, ai#noj &]dh?j t&? Daui<d. The latter

part of this title is probably merely conjectural. The former agrees

with the Jewish tradition (Mishnah, Tamid vii. 4), according to which

this is the Friday Psalm, and as is said in T. B. Rosh ha-Shana, 31a,

“because God on the sixth day had finished His work, and begun to

reign over His creatures." Perhaps this is what is meant also by the

o!te kat&<kistai (or kat&<kisto), "when the earth was peopled with

living creatures," of the LXX.

            I JEHOVAH is King, He hath clothed Himself with majesty;

 

1.. Is KING. More exactly, “hath                       sion of a new monarch ascending

become King," as if by a solemn                         the throne, 2 Sam. xv. 10; I Kings

coronation (comp. the same expres-                   i. 11 ; 2 Kings ix. 13). He has been

                                    PSALM XCIII.                            183

 

            Jehovah hath clothed, He hath girded, Himself with

                        strength.

            Yea, the world is established that it cannot be moved.

2 Thy throne is established of old;

            Thou art from everlasting.

3 The floods have lifted up, 0 Jehovah,

            The floods have lifted up their voice,

                        The floods lift up their roaring.

4 More than the voices of many waters,

            The gloriousa breakers of the sea,

            Jehovah on high is glorious.

 

King from everlasting, but now

His kingdom is visibly set up, His

power and His majesty fully dis-

played and acknowledged; as it is

said in the Apocalypse of the final

manifestation, "The kingdoms of

this world are become the king-

doms of our Lord and of His

Christ."

     HATH CLOTHED . . . HIMSELF.

Comp. civ. 2, Is. li. 9, Job xl. 10.

In the second member of the verse

the verb is rhythmically repeated,

and the noun "strength" really be-

longs to both verbs. (So the LXX.)

For the further description of this

girding with strength, see Is. lix. 17,

lxiii. 1; Dan. vii. 9.

     YEA, THE WORLD, &c. The effect

of the Divine rule and power, as in

xcvi. 10. The reference is appa-

rently not merely to the creation of

the world and its providential ad-

ministration, but to these as repre-

senting in a figure the moral

government of God. For the

throne of God in ver. 2 denotes, as

Calvin says, His righteous sway

and government, and the language

of ver. 3 is to be understood figura-

tively as well as literally.

     3. THE FLOODS. The word com-

monly signifies streams, rivers, but

occasionally also is used of the sea

in poetic parallelism, as in xxiv. 2;

Jon. ii. 3 [4]; Jer. xlvi. 7, 8.

    HAVE LIFTED UP. The use of

the past tense had led some com-

mentators to see a reference to

some historic event, some gather-

ing of hostile powers who are de-

scribed under the figure of the sea

and the waves roaring. But the

change in the last clause of the

verse to the present tense renders

this doubtful.

     Hupfeld infers from the use of

the word "floods" (comp. Hab. iii.

8), the epithet of "glorious,” or

"mighty" in next verse, which is

used of waters besides only in Exod.

xv. 10, and the "lifting up the

voice," as in Hab. iii. 10 (comp.

lxxvii. 17, 18), that there is an allu-

sion to the passage of the Red Sea.

    THEIR ROARING, lit. "their blow,"

or "beating," said of the dashing of

the surf in thunders upon the shore.

The word occurs only here; in the

next verse the plural "voices" is

used here only of the sea, elsewhere

always of the thunder. Hence

some have supposed a comparison,

"Louder than the thunders."

     4. This verse is the answer to

ver. 3, and may have been sung

antiphonally. The construction is

not very clear. For the different

renderings see Critical Note.

     GLORIOUS, or "mighty." An

epithet of the waves in Ex. xv. 10,

of God in Is. xxxiii. 21.

    JEHOVAH ON HIGH. Comp. xcii.

8 [9], xxix. 10.

 

184                            PSALM XCIII.

 

5 Thy testimonies are very faithful.

            Holiness becometh Thy house, 0 Jehovah, for ever.

 

     5. The transition is abrupt, from

the Majesty of God as seen in His

dominion in the world of nature, to

His revelation of Himself in His

word. At the same time there is a

connection between the two, as in

xix. God who rules the world, He

whose are the kingdom, and the

power, and the glory, for ever, has

given his testimonies to His people,

a sure and faithful word, and has

Himself come to dwell among them,

making His house and His people

holy.

    FOR EVER, lit. " for length of

days," as in xxiii. 6.

 

            a MyriyDixa.  According to the common accentuation, this adj., though

standing before its noun, is not a predicate, but an attribute, "the

glorious, or mighty breakers of the sea," and Hupf. would defend this by

xcii. 12, where, however, the case is not parallel, the participle, with the

pron. and noun following, being so closely connected as to form as it

were one word, Myfirem; ylafA MymiqABa, or where at least the latter word might be

regarded as in appos. with the former. Perhaps, however, as it has been

suggested that there Myfirem; is a gloss, so in like manner here MyA yreB;w;mi

may have crept into the text. There is a similar ambiguity arising from

the place of the adj. in Is. xxviii. 21, OtdAbofE hy.Arik;nA . . . .UhWefEma rzA, commonly

rendered as in E. V. "His strange work . . . His strange act," although

many there insist on retaining the predicate: "His work is strange ..

His act is strange," &c. So in Is. xxxiii. 21, the adj. (and it is the same

adj. as here in the Psalm, ryDixa) may be a predicate, "Jehovah in His

glory"; though Del. takes the two words in apposition, "a glorious one,

even Jehovah," referring to Is. x. 34. The adj. however stands first as an

attribute apparently, Is. yDib;fa qyDicaa, "My righteous servant." But

instead of Merca with MyriyDixa, or Tarcha, as Ben-Asher reads, Ben-Naphtali

has Dechi, and according to this we may take both adjectives as qualifying

Mymi, and then repeat the prep. from the first clause before ‘yA ‘mi.  "More

than the voices of many mighty waters, (even) the breakers," &c. Or we

may take the prep. M, not as expressing comparison, but as causal, and

then two renderings are open to us, either (a) " Because of the voices of

many waters, mighty are the breakers of the sea ; Jehovah on high is

mighty" [and this is supported by the LXX., except that perhaps they

intended a]po> fwnw?n u[da<twn pollw?n to be joined with the previous verse]:

or (b) "By reason of the voices of many mighty waters, even the breakers

of the sea, Jehovah is mighty;" i.e. these great phenomena of nature

show forth His glory and His majesty.

            There is yet another explanation of the construction possible. The

Psalmist may have begun with a comparison and then have broken it off

in order to bring the 2d and 3d members into more forcible juxtaposition.

Above the voices of many waters,—Glorious are the breakers of the sea,

Jehovah on high is glorious.

                                          PSALM- XCIV.                                  15

 

 

                                           PSALM XCIV.

 

            By the LXX. this is called " A lyric Psalm of David, for the fourth

day of the week" (tetra<di sabba<tou). It is probably not a Psalm of

David, but the latter part of the Inscription accords with the Talmudic

tradition (see Introduction to Ps. xcii.).

            The Psalm opens with an appeal to God to execute righteous

vengeance on wicked rulers or judges who oppress and crush the

helpless, whilst in their folly they dream that His long-suffering is

but the supineness of indifference. It concludes with the expression

of a calm confidence that God's righteousness will be finally mani-

fested. The righteous, taught by God's fatherly discipline, and upheld

by Him, can wait for the end, when the wicked shall reap the reward

of their wickedness, and shall be utterly destroyed.

            The conviction thus expressed of the righteousness of God's

government is similar to that in Ps. xcii., except that here this

conviction is grounded more directly on personal experience.

The Psalm may be thus divided:--

            1. An Introduction, consisting of an appeal to God. Ver. 1, 2.

            2. The reason for this appeal, namely, the insolence and oppression

of the wicked. Ver. 3-7.

            3. The blindness and folly of such conduct, as a virtual contempt

of God. Ver. 8-11.

            4. In contrast with this the blessedness of those who are taught of

God, and who can therefore in their confidence possess their souls.

Ver. 12-15.

            5. The strong personal conviction of Jehovah's righteousness,

based upon past experience. Ver. 16-19.

            6. A conviction which extends also to the future, and by virtue of

which the Psalmist sees righteous retribution already accomplished

upon the wicked. Ver. 20-23.

 

I  O JEHOVAH, Thou God to whom vengeance belongeth,

            Thou God to whom vengeance belongeth, shine forth.a

 

    I. GOD TO WHOM, &C.: lit. "God                Jer. li. 56. For the anadiplosis, see

of vengeances." Comp. ix. 12 [13] ;                    again ver. 3, 23, and xciii. I, 3.

186                                 PSALM XCIV

 

2 Lift up Thyself, Thou judge of the earth,

            Render a reward to the proud.

 

3 How long shall the wicked, 0 Jehovah,

            How long shall the wicked triumph?

4 They belch out (and) speak arrogant things,

            All the workers of iniquity carry themselves proudly.b

 

5 Thy people, 0 Jehovah, they crush,

            And Thine inheritance do they afflict.

6 They slay the widow and the stranger,

            And they murder the fatherless;

7 And they say: "Jah seeth not,

            Neither doth the God of Jacob consider."

 

8 Consider, 0 ye brutish among the people!

            And ye fools, when will ye be wise?

 

    3. With this verse begins the

complaint, the expostulation with

God, and therefore clearly the first

strophe. Delitzsch and others

wrongly join this with the two pre-

ceding verses as forming part of

the Introduction. So far from that,

it is quite possible, with the E. V,

to regard ver. 4 as continuing the

question of ver. 3. "(How long)

shall they pour forth," &c.

     4. THEY BELCH OUT (AND)

SPEAK, two verbs having one noun

as the object (as in xciii. I)="they

our forth hard, or, proud (xxxi. 18

[19], I Sam. ii. 3) speeches." The

first verb is rendered "they belch

out " in lix. 7.

     5. CRUSH: Prov. xxii. 22; Is. iii.

5.

    6. The LXX. has transposed the

words "fatherless" and "stranger,"

and rendered the last "proselyte"

(prosh<luton). The widow and the

fatherless are mentioned, as often,

as particular instances of those

whose misery ought to excite com-

passion, but whose defencelessness

makes them the easy prey of the

wicked. There is no abbreviated

comparison, as Hengstenberg main-

tains—"Thy people who are as

helpless as the widow," &c. But

the language shows that domestic

tyrants, not foreign enemies, are

aimed at.

    7. JAH SEETH NOT. Comp. X. 11,

lix. 7 [8]. Not that they deliberately

utter such blasphemy, but their con-

duct amounts to this, it is a practical

atheism. See on xiv. I.

     8. The utter folly of this denial of

a Divine Providence, because judge-

ment is not executed speedily. The

argument which follows is from the

perfections of the creature to those

of the Creator. The very nature

of God and of man convicts these

fools of their folly. "Can anything,"

says Herder, "more to the point be

urged, even in our time, against the

tribe of philosophers who deny a

purpose and design in Nature? All

that they allege of the dead abstrac-

tion which they term ‘nature,’ the

heathen ascribed to their gods: and

what the Prophets say against the

one, holds against the other."

     AMONG THE PEOPLE, i.e. of Israel.

" Gravius est autem vocare stultos

in populo, quam simpliciter stultos:

eo quod minus excusabilis sit talis

amentia in filiis Abrahae, de quibus

dictum fuerat a Mose, Quis popu-

 

                                  PSALM XCIV.                                   187

9 He that planteth the ear, shall He not hear?

            Or He that formeth the eye, shall He not see?

10 He that instructeth the nations, shall not He reprove,

            (Even) He that teacheth man knowledge?

11 Jehovah knoweth the thoughts of man,

            That they are vanity.

12 Blessed is the man whom Thou instructest, 0 Jah,

            And teachest out of Thy law,

13 To give him rest from the days of evil,

 

lus tam nobilis, &c. Dent. iv. 7."

—Calvin.

      10. In the English Bible this is

broken up into two questions, and

a clause is supplied in the second

member which does not exist in the

Hebrew, "Shall not He know?"

But this is incorrect. There is a

change in the argument. Before,

it was from the physical constitution

of man; now it is from the moral

government of the world. He who

is the great Educator of the race

("who nurtureth the heathen,"

P.B.V.), who gives them all the

knowledge they possess, has He

not the right which even human

teachers possess of chastening, cor-

recting, reproving? He may not

always exercise the right, but it is

His. This, which I believe to be

the true interpretation of the verse,

is that of the LXX.:  [O paideu<wn

e@qnh, ou]xi> e]le<gcei; o[ dida<skwn a@nqrw-

pon gnw?sin; or there may be a

change in the appeal, a breaking

off of the question, as one he need

not ask. The Psalmist was going to

say at the end of ver. 10, "Shall not

He know?" finishing his question as

in the preceding verses, but instead

of that he gives the answer directly

in ver. "He knoweth," &c. Heng-

stenberg remarks, that the doctrine

of an influence exercised by God

upon the consciences of the heathen

is of comparatively rare occurrence

in the Old Testament, a fact to be

explained by the very depraved

condition of such of the heathen as

were the near neighbours of the

Israelites, and among whom few

traces of such an influence could

be seen. On this Divine education

see Rom. i. 20, ii. 14, 15.

    11. So far from "not seeing,"

"not regardilig,"as these "brutish"

persons fondly imagine, Jehovah

reads their inmost thoughts and

devices, as He reads the hearts of

all men, even though for a time

they are unpunished. The verse is

quoted in 1 Cor. iii. 20, o[ Ku<rioj

ginw<skei tou>j dialogismou>j tw?n sofw?n

o!ti ei]si>n ma<taioi, which only deviates

from the version of the LXX. in

the substitution of the special sofw?n,

as more suitable to the Apostle's

argument, for the general a]nqrw<pwn.

     VANITY, lit. "a breath," as in

xxxix. 5, 6 [6, 7].

      The second clause of the verse

is ambiguous. The pronoun "they,"

although masc., may refer to the

noun "thoughts" (fem.), but perhaps

rather to the , collective "man."

Probably the best rendering of this

clause would be, "For they (i.e.

men) are but a breath; "this vanity,

weakness, and emptiness of men

being alleged as a reason why

God sees and understands their

thoughts: they are finite, whereas

He is infinite.

     12. The Psalmist turns to com-

fort the individual sufferer. God

who educates the heathen (ver. 10),

educates also the Israelite, giving

him a better instruction (comp.

Deut. viii. 5; Job v. 17), inasmuch

as it is that of a direct Revelation.

On this ver. see T. B. Berachoth,

5a.

     13. To GIVE HIM REST. This is

188                                  PSALM XCIV.

 

            Till the pit be digged for the wicked.

14 For Jehovah will not thrust away His people,

            Neither will He forsake His inheritance.

15 For judgement must turn unto righteousness,

            And all the upright in heart shall follow it.

 

16 Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers?

            Who will set himself up for me against the workers of

                        iniquity?

17 Unlessc Jehovah had been my help,

            My soul had soon dwelt in silence.

18 (But) when I said, My foot hath slipt,

            Thy loving-kindness, 0 Jehovah, held me up.

19 In the multitude of my anxious thoughts within me,

            Thy comforts refreshed my soul.

 

the end of God's teaching, that His

servant may wait in patience, un-

moved by, safe FROM, THE DAYS OF

EVIL (comp. xlix., 5 [6]), seeing the

evil all round him lifting itself up,

but seeing also the secret, mysteri-

ous retribution, slowly but surely

accomplishing itself. In this sense

the "rest" is the rest of a calm, self-

possessed spirit, as Is. vii. 4, xxx.

15, xxxii. 17, lvii. 20, and "to give

him."="that Thou mayest give

him." Others interpret the "rest"

of external rest, deliverance from

sufferings (comp. Job iii. 13, 17);

then "to give" would be="so as

to give," &c.

    14. FOR. God will give peace to

the man whom he teaches, for he is

a partaker of the covenant, one of

that PEOPLE and that INHERIT-

ANCE which He cannot forsake,

and He cannot forsake them till

righteousness ceases to be righte-

ousness.

     15. FOR JUDGEMENT, &c., or,

"For judgement shall come back

unto righteousness with all them

that are upright in its train," i.e.

with the approval of all good men.

Judgement cannot always be per-

verted, cannot always fail. It must

appear in its true character at last

as very righteousness. This, no

doubt, was what Luther meant by

his forcible rendering,

 

" Denn Recht muss doch Recht

     bleiben."

 

    SHALL FOLLOW IT, lit. "(shall

be) after it," i.e. shall give in their

adhesion to it, openly avow their

attachment to it. For the phrase,

see I Sam. xii. 14; 2 Sam. ii. 10;

1 Kings xiv. 8.

    16-19. Application to himself,

and record of his own experience.

AGAINST, lit. "with;" but we

need not suppose that it = "to fight

with," as Hupfeld explains. See

note on lv. 18 [19].

     SET HIMSELF UP, in battle, as in

ii. 2; 2 Sam. xxxiii. 10, 12.

     17. SILENCE, i.e. of the grave, or

the unseen world, as in xxxi. 18,

cxv. 17.

    19. ANXIOUS THOUGHTS, Or

"perplexities," lit. " divided or

branching thoughts," whether doubts

or cares. Kay: "busy thoughts."

The word occurs, as here, with the

 

 

 

                           PSALM XCIV.                                     189

 

20 Can the throne of iniquity have fellowship with Thee,d

            Which frameth mischief by statute?

21 They gather themselves in troops against the soul of the

            righteous,

            And condemn the innocent blood.

22 But Jehovah hath been a high tower for me,

            And my God the rock of my refuge.

23 And He hath requited them their own iniquity,

            And shall destroy them through their own wickedness:

                        Jehovah our God shall destroy them.

 

inserted, in cxxxix. 23, and the

simpler form in Job iv. 13.

     20-23. This strophe, like the

last, applies the general doctrine of

the Psalm to the individual case,

the personal security of the Psalm-

ist, and the righteous retribution

visited upon the evil-doers. But for

"Jehovah my God," in ver. 22, we

have in ver. 23, "Jehovah our

God," as if to remind us that his

personal welfare does not stand

apart from, but is bound up with,

that of the nation. Comp. ver. 14.

     20. THE THRONE or "judge-

ment-seat." The word is purposely

employed, as Calvin observes, to

show that he is inveighing, not

against common assassins or

thieves, but against tyrants who,

under a false pretext of justice, op-

pressed the Church. The throne

of the king, the seat of the judge,

which is consecrated to God,

they stain and defile with their

crimes.

    INIQUITY, or, perhaps, "destruc-

tion." It is scarcely possible to

give the word an adequate ren-

dering here. It occurs v. 9 [10]

("yawning gulf"), where see Criti-

cal Note; xci. 3, where, as the

latter of two nouns, it may be ren-

dered as an adjective, "devouring."

     HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH THEE.

Comp. for the Hebrew expression

v. 4 [5]; Gen. xiv. 3. "Judges and

magistrates ought to exercise their

authority as God's vicegerents, so

that in this their unrighteousness

they might seem to be claiming

God Himself as their ally. Comp.

1. 16."—Bunsen.

     BY STATUTE. They claim to be

acting according to law, seeking to

hide their unrighteousness by a

holy name. This seems, on the

whole, the best rendering of the

words, though others would render

"against the law" (Symm kata>

prosta<gmatoj).

    21. GATHER THEMSELVES IN

TROOPS, like bands of brigands.

For the word see xxxi. 13 [14],

xxxv. 15, lv. 18 [19].

      CONDEMN THE INNOCENT

BLOOD, i.e. "condemn the innocent

to death; "comp. Matt. xxvii. 4.

Delitzsch wrongly explains, that be-

cause the blood is the life, the blood

is the same as the person.

     23. HATH REQUITED, lit. "hath

caused to return," as vii. 16 [17],

liv. 5 [7]. The preterites here ex-

press, not so much what has already

taken place, as the confidence of

faith which looks upon that which

shall be as if already accomplished.

Hence the interchange with the

futures which follow.

 

            a faypIOh, imperat. but irregular; it should be either hfAypiOh, the full form,

as in lxxx. 2; or fpAOh, the shorter form; see Ges. § 64, Ic. It may,

190                               PSALM XCV.

 

however, be the pret., as in 1. 2. So the LXX. e]parrhsia<sato. And so

Hengst., who refers to xcvii., xcix., as also beginning with the

preterite.

            b Urm;.xat;yi, only here, not the Hithp. of  rmx, “they say to themselves, or

among themselves;" but more probably, as Schultens, connected with

the Arab.        to command,           , to carry oneself as ruler (comp.         )

Emir). In Heb. the root appears in rymixA, a high branch, and yrimox<,

dweller in the mountains, cognate with rmy, the Hithp. of which occurs

Is. lxi. 6, rightly rendered by Jerome, superbietis.

            c yleUl. We must supply hyAhA, nisi fuisset, or esset, the apodosis being

propemodum, or cito (see on ii. 12, note f) occubuisset. As regards the

construction, comp. cxix. 92, cxxiv. 1-5; Is. i. 9; and for the pret. with

Ffam;Ki lxxiii. 2, cxix. 87 (with the fut. lxxxi. 15).

            d j~r;b;HAy;, not Pual for j~r;BAHuy;; with substitution of o for u, for this would

still leave unexplained the dropping of the Pathach, but Coal with

transposed vowel for j~r;BAH;ya. Comp. j~n;H;yA (Gen. xliii. 29, Is. ,xxx. 19) for

j~n;HAy;, and Uhlek;xAT; (Job xx. 26) for Uhlek;xTo. The same law holds, as Hupf.

observes, in such forms as UbhExeT; for ‘hAx<T,, Prov. i. 22, &c. The o in

j~r;b;HAy; points to a form rBoH;ya, which ought however to be rBaH;y,, as the root

is intrans., and therefore must be pointed rbeHA; but comp. CPaH;y, and CPoH;ya

from CpeHA. For the construction, comp. j~r;guy;, v. 5.

 

 

                                         PSALM XCV.

 

            THIS Psalm is one of a series,* as has been already observed,

intended for the Temple worship, and possibly composed for some

festal occasion. Both the joyfulness of its opening verses, and its

general character, in which it resembles the 81st Psalm, would render

it suitable for some of the great national feasts.

            As to the date of its composition nothing certain can be said.

The LXX. call it a Psalm of David; and the writer of the Epistle to

the Hebrews, in making a quotation from the Psalm, uses the ex-

pression "in David," but this is evidently only equivalent to saying

"in the Psalms." In the Hebrew it has no Inscription.

            In Christian liturgies the Psalm has commonly been termed the

Invitatory Psalm. We are all familiar with it, as used in the Morning

Service of our Church; and it has been sung in the Western churches

 

            * This series has preceded (from time immemorial) the Sabbath Psalms

on Friday evening; they form the "reception of the Sabbath" (tbw tlbq).

                                     PSALM XCV.                                   191

 

from a very remote period before the Psalms of the Nocturn or

Matins. (Palmer, Orig. Liturg. i. 221.)

            "We may think of this Psalm as we sing it in our daily worship as

prophetic of a better worship still, even of the perpetual adoration of

that heavenly city, wherein the Apostle saw no temple, ‘for the Lord

God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it.’"—Housman,

Readings on the Psalms, p. 198.

            It consists of two very distinct parts:--

            I. The first is an invitation to a joyful public acknowledgement of

God's mercies. Ver. I-7.

            II. The second (beginning with the last member of ver. 7 to the

end) is a warning to the people against the unbelief and disobedience

through which their fathers had perished in the wilderness.

 

1 0 COME, let us sing joyfully unto Jehovah,

            Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation;

2 Let us go to meet His face with thanksgiving,

            With psalms let us shout aloud unto Him.

3 For Jehovah is a great God,

            Yea, a great King above all gods.

 

     1—7. The character of the invi-

tation here given, to worship God,

not with penitence and brokenness

of heart, but with loud thanksgiv-

ing, is the more remarkable, when

we recollect in what a strain the

latter part of the Psalm is writ-

ten.

     I. UNTO JEHOVAH. Augustine

lays stress on this: "He invites to

a great feast of joy, of joy not unto

the world, but unto the Lord." And

in the next clause, where the Latin

has jubilemus, he explains it of a

joy which runs beyond all words.

     ROCK OF OUR SALVATION, as in

lxxxix. 26 [27]. Comp. "rock of

my refuge," xciv. 22.

     2. Go TO MEET. Such is the

proper and strict rendering of the

word. See the same phrase xvii.

13, lxxxix. 14 [15]. The verb is used

in the same sense as here, Micah

vi. 6. In both places the E.V. has

"come before," which does not

sufficiently express the forwardness,

the ready alacrity, which are really

denoted by the verb.

    WITH PSALMS. The LXX. e]n

yalmoi?j a]lala<cwmen. The Syro-hex.

adds "with the trumpet."

     3. A threefold reason is given

why this worship should be offered

with glad hearts and loud thanks-

givings—that Jehovah is a King

more glorious than all "who are

called gods, and who are worshipt,"

that He is the Creator of the world,

that He is the watchful shepherd of

His own chosen people.

    ABOVE ALL GODS: not the angels,

but all the gods of the heatheh.

Comp. Exod. xviii. 11. xv. 11, &c.

It cannot be inferred from this lan-

guage that the Psalmist supposed

the heathen deities to have any

real power, or real existence (comp.

xcvi. 5). He is merely contrasting

heathen objects of worship, clothed

in the imagination of their worship-

ers with certain attributes, and the

one true supreme object of worship,

who is really all, and more than all,

which the heathen think their gods

to be. See more in the note on

xcvii. 7.

 

192                            PSALM XCV.

 

4 (Even He) in Whose hands are the deep places a of the

                        earth:

            And the heights b of the mountains are His.

5 Whose is the sea,—and He made it,

            And His hands formed the dry land,

6 0 come let us worship and bow down,

            Let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker.

7 For He is our God;

            And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep

                        of His hand.

 

            To-day oh that ye would hear His voice:

 

     6. 0 COME. Again the invitation

to lowliest adoration and worship,

called forth afresh by the remem-

brance of God's revelation to and

covenant with Israel.

     OUR MAKER, and ver. 7, OUR

GOD, thus asserting the personal

covenant relationship of God to

His people (so Moses speaks of

"the Rock who begat thee, the

God who made thee," Deut. xxxii.

18); and here, as so often elsewhere,

God's majesty as seen in Creation

is linked with His love as seen in

Redemption. See on xix. 7, xxiv.

I, 2.

     7. PEOPLE OF HIS PASTURE,

Hupfeld would correct, "people of

His hand, and sheep of His pas-

ture." But this is as dull as it is

unnecessary. The subject of com-

parison and the figure are blended

together.

     The last member of this verse

belongs clearly to what follows. It

may however be rendered (I)either

as the expression of a wish (as in

the text), "Oh that," &c., lit. "if

ye will hear . . . (then it shall be

well with you)," the apodosis being

understood: or (2), as in the LXX.,

Jerome, the E.V., and others, this

clause may be the protasis, "if ye

will hear His voice," ver. 8 intro-

ducing the apodosis, "harden not

your hearts." So also in Heb. iii. 7,

the writer of the Epistle, as usual,

following the LXX. (3) A third

interpretation, however, is possible,

which is that of Ibn' Ezra, and

others, according to which the first

two members of ver. 7 are to be

taken parenthetically, and the last

member joined with ver. 6:  "Let

us kneel before Jehovah . . . to-

day, if ye will hear His voice." In

any case there is the same solemn

strain of warning and expostulation

breaking in upon the very joy and

gladness of the Temple worship, as

we have already observed in lxxxi.

6 [7]. Psalms like these seem to

have had a double purpose. They

were not only designed to be the

expression of public devotion, the

utterance of a nation's supplica-

tions and thanksgivings, but they

were intended also to teach, to

warn, to exhort. They were ser-

mons as well as liturgies. Hence,

too, the prophetic character which

marks them. The Psalmist, like

every true preacher, comes as an

ambassador from above, speaking

not his own words, but the words

which God has given him, the words

which God himself has uttered.

     The warning here rests, as in

lxxviii., Ixxxi., &c., on the example

of their fathers in the desert.

    TO-DAY, the present moment, as

critical and decisive, the day of

 

                                      PSALM XCV.                                       193

 

8 " Harden not your heart as at Meribah,

            As in the day of Massah [trial] in the wilderness,

9 When your fathers tried Me,

            Proved Me, yeac saw My work.

10 Forty years (long) was I grieved with (that) generation.d

            And I said, ‘It is a people that do err in (their) heart,

 

grace which may be lost; or the

reference may be, and probably is,

to some special circumstances under

which the Psalm was composed.

It "stands first," as Bleek observes,

"with strong emphasis, in contrast

to the whole past time during which

they had shown themselves dis-

obedient and rebellious against the

Divine voice, as for instance during

the journey through the wilderness,

alluded to in the following verses:

'to-day' therefore means ‘now;’

‘nunc tandem.’"; "To-day" may,

however, apply not only to a parti-

cular historical crisis, but (as Alford

on Heb. iii. 7 remarks) to every

occasion on which the Psalm was

used in public worship. "Often as

they were faithless, the ‘to-day’

sounded ever anew; for ‘the gifts

and calling of God are without re-

pentance."'—Tholuck.

    8. HARDEN NOT. Bleek asserts

that this is the only place where to

"harden the heart" is spoken of as

man's act, elsewhere it is said to be

God's act; but this is not correct.

Man is said to harden his own

heart, Exod. ix. 34; I Sam. vi. 6

(where the verb is dbk in the Piel);

Prov. xxviii. 14, where the same

verb is used as here, hwq Deut. xv.

7; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 13 (where the

verb Cmx is in the Piel).

     MERIBAH, "striving" or "pro-

vocation."MASSAH, "temptation"

or "trial." From Exod. xvii. 1-7

it would appear that both names

were given to the same locality.

But according to Num. xx. 1-13,

the names were given to two dif-

ferent places on different occasions.

Comp. also Deut. xxxiii. 8, "thy

Holy One whom thou didst prove

at Massah, and with whom thou

didst strive at the waters of Meri-

bah."The LXX., in this Psalm

only, give parapikrasmo<j as the

equivalent of "Meribah:" else-.

where they have loido<rhsij (Exod.

xvii. 7) loidori<a (Num. xx. 24);

a]ntilogi<a (Num. xx. 13, xxvii. 14

Deut. xxxii. 1, xxxiii. 8; Ps. lxxx.

8, cv. 32 [Heb. lxxxi. 7 [8]; cvi.

32]); the only places where they

have preserved the proper name

being Ezek. xlvii. 19, xlviii. 28 (see

Alford on Heb. iii. 8).

     IN THE WILDERNESS, of Sin, near

Kadesh, where the second murmur-

ing against Moses and Aaron for

want of water took place (Num.

xx. I).

     9. TRIED ME. In allusion to

Massah, "trial," in ver. 8.

      My WORK. Whether miracles

of deliverance, or acts of judge-.

ment, all that I did. See in Critical

Note.

     10. FORTY YEARS. These words

in the quotation in Heb. iii. 9 are

joined, as in the Syriac, with the

preceding verse, and the word.

"wherefore" is inserted after them.

This departs both from the Hebrew

and the LXX. The alteration is

evidently intentional, because the

passage is afterwards quoted iii. 17

as it stands in the Psalm.

    WAS I GRIEVED. The word is

a strong word, expressive of loath-

ing and disgust.

      A PEOPLE THAT DO ERR, lit. "a

people of wanderers in heart."

There may be, as Hupfeld suggests,

an allusion to the outward wander-

ing in the wilderness as the punish.

 

194                             PSALM XCV.

            And they do not know My ways;'

11 So that e I sware in Mine anger,

            They shall not enter into My rest."

 

ment of this inner wandering. The                      ver. 7, that the language of the

same word is used of the former,                        Psalm is applicable not merely to

cvii. 4.                                                              the times of the Law, but also to

    AND THEY D0 NOT, &c. This                    the Gospel dispensation; and from

is almost equivalent to "for they                          the reference to God's rest here,

do not," &c. Their ignorance of                          "in David" (i.e. in the Book of

the straight way of God, " the king's                    Psalms), that Canaan was not the

highway" (as Bunsen calls it), is              true rest. Joshua did not bring the

the reason that they wander in                            people into God's rest, he says,

crooked by-paths.                                              otherwise we should not find in a

    11. I SWARE. The reference is                     Psalm written so long after the

to Num. xiv. 21, &c., 28, &c.                             settlement of the people in Canaan,

     THEY SHALL NOT, lit. "if they                   a warning addressed to them not to

shall enter," this elliptical form of                        sin as their fathers, lest they also

the oath being equivalent to a                             through unbelief should fail of

strong negative. Hence in the                             God's rest. Hence, he argues, the

LXX. and Heb. iii. II, &c., El                             rest must be still future, a]polei<petai

ei]seleu<sontai.                                               a@ra sabbatismo<j. This, however,

     MY REST, strictly "place of                          is not clear on the face of the

settlement," as the abode of God                         Psalm, as the words "they shall

(comp. cxxxii. 8, 14), but used also                     not enter into My rest" seem to

of the land of promise (Dent. xii.                        refer to the past, not the present,,

9), as a place of rest after the wan-                    history of Israel. Hence Calvin

dering in the wilderness.                         remarks on the quotation in the

    The author of the Epistle to the                       Epistle to the Hebrews: "sub-

Hebrews (iv. 6—9) argues, from                        tilius disputat quam ferant pro--

the use of the word " to-day" in                          phetae verba."

 

            a ‘x yreq;H;m, Sym. rightly katw<tata gh?j. But Aq. e]cixniasmoi<, and Jer.

fundamenta. The LXX., (perhaps reading yqhrm), ta> pe<rata, unless they

gave this merely as an equivalent in sense.

            b tOpfaOT (from Jfy, ka<mnein, kopia?n), according to its etymology, "the

weariness that comes of hard labour," but not found in this sense. In

Num. xxiii. 22, xxiv. 8, spoken of the buffalo, it can only mean strength;

in Job xxii. 25, it is used of "silver as obtained by toil and labour from

the mine." So Bottcher here would explain 'h ‘t, "mines in the

mountains," parallel with "deep places of the earth;" others, "treasures

of the mountains as obtained by labour." Others, again, following the

LXX., ta> u!yh tw?n o]re<wn, "the heights of the mountains," a meaning of

the word which is supposed to spring from "the effort and weariness with

which men climb to the top of mountains" (cacumina montium, quia

defatigantur qui eo ascendunt), an explanation etymologically unsatis-

factory. The choice lies between the first and the last of these meanings.

The first is supported by the passage in Numbers, the last has the

parallelism in its favour.

                                         PSALM XCVI.                                  195

 

            c ‘pA ‘rA MGa. This has been explained (I) "Although they had seen all

the wonders I had wrought in their behalf." (2) " Yea (not only did they

prove Me, but) they saw My judgements, felt My chastisements." (So

Hupf., Ewald, and Bleek.) The objection to the former is that MGa does

not elsewhere mean although; it is not necessary so to render it in

Is. xlix. 15, to which Del. refers, though no doubt post-Biblical writers

employ it in this sense. On the other hand, "My work" is more naturally

understood of God's great redemptive acts than of acts of punishment,

although it occurs in the latter sense lxiv. 10; Is. v. 12; Hab. i. 5.

            d rOD, without the article (LXX. t^? gene%? e]kei<n^), perhaps, as Del.

explains, "not hac but tali generatione," the purely ethical notion being

predominant in the word. But the absence of the article may be only

poetical usage. The Targum has "with the generation in the wilderness."

            e  rw,xE, so that, as in Gen. xi. 7.

 

 

                                      PSALM XCVI.

 

            THIS grand prophetic Psalm looks forward with joyful certainty to

the setting up of a Divine kingdom upon earth. But it is only

indirectly Messianic. It connects the future blessings, not with the

appearance of the Son of David, but with the coming of Jehovah.

And it has already been pointed out (in a note on Psalm lxxii. 17)

that there are in the Old Testament two distinct lines of prophecy,

culminating in these two advents. Their convergence and ultimate

unity are only seen in the light of New Testament fulfilment.

The same hopes, however, gather about both, as may be seen, for

instance, by a comparison of this Psalm with such a passage as Isaiah

xi. 1-9. Calvin, in his introduction to the Psalm observes, that it

is "An exhortation to praise God, addressed not to the Jews only,

but to all nations. Whence (he adds) we infer that the Psalm refers

to the kingdom of Christ; for till He was revealed to the world, His

name could not be called upon anywhere but in Judaea."

            The LXX. have a double inscription:

            (1) o!te o[ oi#koj &]kodomei?to meta> th>n ai]xmalwsi<an, which is probably

correct, as indicating that the Psalm was composed after the Exile,

and for the service of the second Temple.

            (2) &]dh> t&? Daui<d, which seems to contradict the other, but was no

doubt occasioned by the circumstance that this Psalm, together with

196                                PSALM XCVI.

 

portions of Psalm cv. and cvi., is given, with some variations (which

will be found in the notes), by the author of the Book of Chronicles,

as the great festal hymn which David delivered into the hand of

Asaph and his brethren to thank the Lord "on the day when the Ark

was brought into the sanctuary in Zion.

            The Psalm consists of four strophes (of which the first three are

perfectly regular, consisting of three lines each):--

            I. Jehovah is to be praised in all the world and at all times. Ver.

1—3.

            II. He alone is worthy to be praised, for all other objects of

worship are nothing. Ver. 4—6.

            III. Let all the heathen confess this, and give Him the honour due

to his name. Ver. 7—9.

            IV. Let all the world hear the glad tidings that Jehovah is

King, and even things without life share the common joy. Ver.

10-13.

            Supposing the Psalm to have been sung antiphonally, verses 1 and

2, 4 and 5, 7 and 8, may have been sung by two bands of Levites

alternately, the whole choir taking up the concluding verses of each

stanza, verses 3, 6, 9. Then in the last strophe, verses 10, 11, 12

would be sung antiphonally, the whole choir taking up the grand

solemn close of ver. 13, with fullest expression of voice and

instrument.

 

I O SING unto Jehovah a new song,

            Sing unto Jehovah, all the earth.

2 Sing unto Jehovah, bless His name,

            Publish His salvation from day to day.

3 Declare His glory among the nations,

            His wonders among all the peoples.

4 For great is Jehovah, and highly to be praised,

            He is to be feared above all gods;

 

     1. A NEW SONG. See on xxxiii.

3. The new song is not the Psalm

itself, but one which shall be the fit

expression of all the thoughts and

hopes and triumphs of the new

and glorious age which is about

to dawn. It is the glad welcome

given to the King when He enters

His kingdom. Comp. with this

verse Is. xlii. 10, lx. 6, lxvi. 19.

     2. PUBLISH, or "tell the tidings

of." See lxviii. 11 [12], xl. 9 [10].

LXX. eu]aggeli<zesqe.

     4. The manifestation of God's

glory. Comp. cxlv. 3, xlviii. i [2].

      ABOVE ALL GODS (as in xcv. 3;

 

                                    PSALM XCVI.                                  197

 

5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,

            But Jehovah made the heavens.

6 Honour and majesty are before Him,

            Strength and beauty a are in His sanctuary.

7 Give unto Jehovah, 0 families of peoples,

            Give unto Jehovah glory and strength;

8 Give unto Jehovah the glory due unto His name,

            Bring presents, and come into His courts.

9 Bow yourselves before Jehovah in holy attire,

            Tremble before Him, all the earth.

10 Say ye among the nations: Jehovah is King,

            Yea the world is established that it cannot be moved,

 

see note on xcvii. 7). Here, as is

plain from what follows, the heathen

deities, which are IDOLS, lit. "no-

things;" a favourite word in Isaiah

for idols, but occurring also as early

as Lev. xix. 4, xxvi. I. See the strong

assertions of their absolute nothing-

ness in Is. xli., xliv.

     5. JEHOVAH MADE THE HEAVENS.

So has He manifested His power

and majesty as the Creator in the

eyes of all the world; but the chief

manifestation of His glory is in

Israel, "in His sanctuary." Com-

pare the same strain in xcv. 3-7.

7-9. The families of the nations

(see xxii. 27 [28]), themselves are

called upon to take up the song

in which Israel has made known

to them the salvation of Jehovah.

Comp. Zeph. iii. 9.

    These three verses are taken

partly from xxix. I, 2.

     7, 8. GIVE. We go into God's

courts, it has been truly remarked,

to give rather than to get. This is

the principle of all true prayer, as-

cription more than petition.

     PRESENTS (the collective sing.

for the plural), in allusion to the

Oriental custom which required

gifts to be brought by all who

would be admitted to the presence

of a king. Compare xlv. 12 [13];

lxviii. 29 [30]; lxxii. 10.

    INTO His COURTS. In I Chron.

xvi. 29, "before Him," meaning the

same thing. Comp. the parallelism

above in ver. 6.

     9. ATTIRE, or "array," but the

word rather denotes all that lent

solemnity and impressiveness to the

service. See xxix. 2. 2 Kings viii.

22.

    10. The glad tidings which the

world is to hear. The world's

largest hopes are to be fulfilled.

A new era is to begin, a reign of

righteousness and peace, a time so

blessed that even the inanimate

creation must be partakers of the

joy. Comp. Is. xxxv. I, xlii. 10,

xliv. 23, xlv. 8, xlix. 13, lv. I2.

With the coming of Jehovah and

the setting up of His kingdom all

the broken harmonies of creation

shall be restored. Not "the sons

of God" only, but the whole crea-

tion is still looking forward to this

great consummation. (Rom. viii.

21.)

    JEHOVAH IS KING, lit. "hath

become King;" hath taken to Him-

self His great power and reigned.

See xciii. 1; Rev. xi. 17. The LXX.

rightly, o[ Ku<rioj e]basi<leuse, with the

addition in some copies of a]po> tou?

cu<lou, whence the Itala Dominus

regnavit a ligno, on which Justin,

Tertullian, Augustine, and others,

lay great stress, although it is ob-

viously opposed to the whole score

and character of the Psalm.

     YEA THE WORLD, &C. This

 

198                      PSALM XCVI.

 

            He shall judge the peoples in uprightness.

11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad,

            Let the sea thunder and the fulness thereof;

12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein,

            Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy

13 Before Jehovah, for He cometh,

                        For He cometh to judge the earth;

            He shall judge the world in righteousness,

                        And the peoples in His faithfulness.

 

clause is introduced somewhat ab-

ruptly, and quasi-parenthetically,

from xciii. 1. It describes one of

the elements in Jehovah's govern-

ment, but is it to be understood in

a physical or a moral sense? It

may be that the fact that God has

so established the natural order of

the world is alleged as showing His

power and His right as Creator to

rule. (So Rosenm) Or the mean-

ing may be that the nations of the

world (the inhabited earth), shaken

and torn by war and anarchy, are

now safe and peaceful under Jeho-

vah's righteous sway. (So De-

litzsch.)

      Calvin has well combined the

two senses: "Notatu vero dignum

est quod subjicit: de stabilitate orbis.

Etsi enim scimus natures ordinem

ab initio divinitus fuisse positum,

eundem semper solem, lunam, et

stellas resplenduisse in caelo, iisdem

alimentis quibus fideles sustentatos

fuisse incredulos, et eundem trax-

isse spiritum vitalem; tenendum

est omnia esse confusa, et horribi-

lem a]taci<an in star diluvii mundum in

tenebris demersum tenere quamdiu

impietas hominum animos occupat:

quia extra Deum quid stabile esse

potest? Non immerito igitur docet

hic locus stabiliri orbem ut amplius

non nutet, ubi rediguntur homines

sub manum Devi. Unde etiam dis-

cendum est, quamvis suum officium

peregant singulae creaturae, nihil

tamen esse in mundo ordinatem,

donec regiam sedem sibi Deus

figat regendis hominibus." He re-

fers to Ps. xlvi. 5 [6].

     It may be owing to the abrupt-

ness of this clause that the Chroni-

cler has transposed some of the

clauses in his adaptation of the

Psalm. His arrangement (I Chron.

xvi.. 30-33) is as follows: "Tremble

before Him all the earth, yea the

world is established that it can-

not be moved. Let the heavens

rejoice, and let the earth be glad,

and let them say among the nations,

Jehovah is King. Let the sea

thunder, and the fulness thereof.

Let the field exult, and all that is

therein. Then shall the trees of

the wood shout for joy before Je-

hovah, for He cometh to judge the

earth."

     13. [This verse may have been

sung antiphonally by the choir in

some such way as is suggested in

the Introduction to the Psalm.]

HE COMETH. The repetition is full

of force and animation. The parti-

ciple is used to express more vividly

the coming of Jehovah, as if actually

taking place before the eyes of the

Psalmist. It is a coming to judge-

ment, but a judgement which is to

issue in salvation, This judgement

in righteousness and faithfulness,

and the peace which follows there-

on, are beautifully portrayed in Is.

xi. 1-9.

 

                                PSALM XCVII.                                         199

 

            a ‘vgv; dOh. Instead of this the Chronicler has OmOqm;Bi hvAd;H,v; zfo,

"Strength and joy are in His place," hvAd;H, being a late word formed from a verb

which occurs in the Pentateuch, Exod. xviii. 9. Whether, as Del.

suggests, the Chronicler put "in His place" instead of "in His sanctuary,"

because the Temple was not yet built, seems very doubtful.

 

 

                                       PSALM XCVII.

 

            THE advent of Jehovah, and His righteous rule over the whole

earth, is the subject of this Psalm, as of the last. Here, however, it

would seem as if some great display of God's righteousness, some

signal deliverance of His people, had kindled afresh the hope that

the day was at hand, yea had already dawned, when He would take

to Himself His great power and reign.

            "Jehovah is King." Such is the glad assurance with which the

Psalm opens. He has come to take possession of His throne with all

the awful majesty with which He appeared on Sinai. All nature is

moved at His presence. The heavens have uttered their message,

telling of His righteousness, and all the nations of the world have

seen His glory. His empire must be universal. Already the idols

and the worshipers of idols are ashamed: and Zion rejoices in the

coming of her King. He is near, very near. The first flush of the

morning is already brightening the sky. They who love His ap-

pearing may look for Him, in holy abhorrence of evil and in

faithfulness of heart, waiting 'till they enter into the joy of their

Lord. Such is briefly the purport of the Psalm.

            "If the bringing in of an everlasting worship gives its distinctive

colouring to the foregoing Psalm, the final casting out of evil is the

key-note of this: if the thought of the Great King bringing salvation

to His people is foremost in that, in this it is the trampling down of

His enemies: there he comes ‘to diadem the right,’ here ‘to ter-

minate the evil.'"—Housman, p. 203.

            The coming of Jehovah as King and Judge is described almost in

the same terms as the theophany in the Eighteenth and Fiftieth

Psalms. The use of the past tenses in ver. 4-8, and in particular

the vivid language in ver. 8, where Zion and the daughters of Judah

rejoice in presence of Jehovah's judgements, are most naturally

explained as occasioned by some historical event, some great national

deliverance or triumph of recent occurrence; such, for instance, as

200                                PSALM XCVII.

 

the overthrow of Babylon and the restoration of the theocracy (so

Ewald). The structure of the Psalm, like the last, consists of

strophes of three verses.

            I. In the first, the coming of Jehovah is portrayed as if actually

present. Ver. 1-3.

            II, In the second, its effects are described on nature, and its

purposes with reference to the world at large. Ver. 4-6.

            III. The third speaks of the different impression produced on the

heathen and on Israel, and the exaltation of God above all earthly

power as the final result. Ver. 7-9.

            IV. The fourth is an exhortation to the righteous, and also a

promise full of consolation. Ver. 10—12.

 

1 JEHOVAH is King: let the earth be glad,

            Let the multitude of the isles rejoice.

2 Cloud and darkness are round about Him,

            Righteousness and judgement are the foundation of His

                        throne

3 A fire goeth before Him,

            And devoureth His adversaries round about.

4 His lightnings gave shine unto the world,

 

     I. The strain of the preceding                        word rendered "isles" is used

Psalm, xcvi. to, 11, is here resumed.                   strictly of the islands and coasts of

Comp. also Is. xlii. 10-12, li. 5.                            the Mediterranean Sea (as in lxxii.

     JEHOVAH IS KING. Augustine,                  10), but perhaps here, as in the

who understands this directly of                          later chapters of Isaiah, in a wider

Christ's advent, writes: "Ille qui                           sense, of heathen countries at

stetit ante judicem, ille qui alapas                        large.

accepit, ille qui flagellatus est, ille                            2. The coming of God is thus

qui consputus est, ille qui spinis                           frequently described by later pro-

coronatus est, ille qui colophis                             phets and psalmists in images bor-

cxsus est, ille qui in ligno suspensus                     rowed from the theophany on Sinai

est, ille cui pendenti in ligno insul-                        (Exod. xix. 9, 16, xx. 21; Deut. iv.

tatum est, ille qui in truce mortuus                       11, v. 23); as in xviii. 9 [10].

est, ille qui lancea percussus est,                           THE FOUNDATION OF His

ille qui sepultus est, ipse resurrexit.                     THRONE: the word is singular,

Dominus regnavit. Saeviant quan-                     and means strictly "support."

turn possunt regna; quid sunt                              Comp. lxxxix. 14 [15].

factura Regi regnorum, Domino                               3. A FIRE, as in 1. 3. Comp.

omnium regum, Creatori omnium                        also Hab. iii. 5, and the whole de-

saeculorum?"                                                    scription in that chapter, so solemn

    MULTITUDE OF THE ISLES, lit.                and so majestic, of God's coming

"the many isles," or "many as                              to judgement.

they are." (Comp. Is. lii. 15.) The                             4. GAVE SHINE UNTO. See on

                               PSALM XCVII.                                  201

 

            The earth saw; and trembled.

5 The mountains melted like wax at the presence of

                        Jehovah,

            At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

6 The heavens have declared His righteousness,

            And all the peoples have seen His glory.

7 Ashamed are all they that serve graven images,

            That boast themselves in idols:

                        Bow down before Him, all ye gods.

 

lxxvii. 18 [10], whence the first

member of this verse is taken:

with the second compare lxxvii. i6

[17].

     5. THE MOUNTAINS MELTED:

comp. Judg. v. 5, Micah i. 4, and

Ps. lxviii. 2 [3].

    THE LORD OF THE WHOLE

EARTH. This name of God occurs

first in Joshua iii. 11, 13, where the

Ark (at the passage of the Jordan)

is called "the ark of Jehovah the

Lord of the whole earth," as if em-

phatically, then when the people

were about to occupy their own

land, to distinguish Jehovah their

God from the merely local and

national gods of the heathen. The

name is found again in Micah iv.

13; Zech. iv. 14, vi. 5.

     6. HAVE DECLARED HIS RIGHT-

EOUSNESS. This is the end and

purpose of God's coming (as in 1. 6).

He comes to judge, and the act of

judgement is one which the whole

world shall witness, as in lxxvii. 14

[15], lxxix. 10, xcviii. 3. Comp. the

language used of the great deliver-

ance from Babylon, Is. xxxv. 2, xl.

5, lii. 10, lxvi. 18.

     7. This and the next verse de-

scribe the twofold result of the

Divine judgement—the impression

produced on the heathen and on

Israel, the confusion of all wor-

shipers of idols, and the joy and

exultation of the people of God.

     ASHAMED, a word frequently em-

ployed with the same reference by

the prophet Isaiah. It is a shame

arising from the discovery of the

utter vanity and nothingness of the

objects of their trust.

    On this Augustine says: "Nonne

factum est? Nonne confusi sunt?

Nonne quotidie confunduntur? . . .

Jam omnes populi gloriam Christi

confitentur: erubescant qui adorant

lapides. . . . Hanc gloriam ipsius

cognoverunt populi; dimittunt tern-

pia, currunt ad ecclesias. Adhuc

quaerunt adorare sculptilia? No-

luerunt deserere idola: deserti sunt

ab idolis."

     ALL YE GODS. The LXX. (pro-

skunh<sate au]t&? pa<ntej a@ggeloi au]tou?)

and the Syr. both understand these

to be angels. But this is con-

trary both to usage (see note on

viii. 5) and to the context. The

Chald. paraphrases: "all who wor-

ship idols." But doubtless heathen

deities are meant. As all the wor-

shipers are confounded, so must

all the objects of their worship be

overthrown, as Dagon was before

the Ark of the Lord; all must yield

before Him who is the Lord of the

whole earth. If this be the mean-

ing, the line may be taken as a sar-

castic, contemptuous challenge to

the idols of the heathen. If so, we

need not enter into the question

whether angels or spiritual beings

were the real objects of worship,

idols being only their representa-

tives. Augustine supposes a hea-

then excusing himself when charged

with idol-worship by saying that he

does not worship the image but

 

 

 

202                         PSALM XCVII.

 

8 Zion heard and rejoiced,

            And the daughters of Judah were glad,

                        Because of Thy judgements, 0 Jehovah.

9 For THOU, Jehovah, art most high above all the earth,

            Thou art greatly exalted above all gods.

 

10  O ye that love Jehovah, hate evil;

            He keepeth the souls of His beloved,

                        He delivereth them from the hand of the wicked.

11 Light is sown a for the righteous,

 

"the invisible deity which presides

over the image," and argues that

this is a plain proof that the heathen

worship not idols but demons,

which is worse. He quotes in sup-

port of this view the language of

St. Paul in I Cor. x. 19, 20, viii. 4.

But, he continues, if the pagans

say we worship good angels, not

evil spirits, then the angels them-

selves forbid such worship: "Let

them imitate the angels and worship

Him who is worshipt by the an-

gels;" and then he cites the passage

in the Latin Version, Adorate eum  

ornnes angeli ejus. Calvin here, as

in the two preceding Psalms, xcv. 3,

xcvi. 5,understands by "gods" both

angels and also those creatures of

the human imagination, the pro-

jected images of their own lusts

and fears, which men fall down and

worship. “Quanquam proprie in

angelos id competit, in quibus relu-

cet aliqua Deitatis particula, potest

tamen improprie ad deos fictitios

extendi, acsi dixisset: Quicquid

habetur pro Deo, cedat et se sub-

mittat, ut emineat Deus unus."

Delitzsch refers to the addition

made by the LXX. to the text of

Deut. xxxii. 43, kai> proskunhsa<twsan

au]t&? pa<ntej a@ggeloi qeou?, which is

quoted in Neb. i. 6, perhaps with a

reference also to the Septuagint

Version of this Psalm, and applied

to the worship which the angels

shall give to the first-born of God

when He comes again [of course

taking o!tan pa<lin ei]saga<g^ to mean,

"When He shall have brought in

a second time into the world," &c.]

to judge the world: "where it is

implied that it is Jesus in whom

Jehovah's universal kingdom is

gloriously perfected."

    8. HEARD AND REJOICED: bor-

rowed from xlviii. 11 [12], where see

note, and the opposite to “the

earth saw and trembled," ver. 4.

Although the coming of Jehovah

has been portrayed in images full of

awe and terror, yet here, as in the

two preceding Psalms, it is de-

scribed as a coming to be welcomed

with jubilant gladness by His

Church. In the same spirit our

Lord, when speaking of the signs

of fear which shall be the precur-

sors of His second coming, says,

"When ye shall see these things

begin to come to pass, then lift up

your heads: for your redemption

draweth nigh."

     10. The Psalm closes with a prac-

tical application, because the King

and Judge is drawing near, a warn-

ing against the evil which is in the

world, and an assurance of Divine

protection and blessing to those

who "hate evil." Comp. xxxiv.

14-22, xlv. 7 [8], cxxxix.. 21, 22,

2 Cor. Vi. 14-18.

    11. LIGHT IS SOWN. The figure

has been understood to mean that

the prosperity of the righteous is

future, just as seed is cast into the

earth, and only after a time springs

                                     PSALM XCVIII.                                       203

 

            And joy for the upright in heart.

12 Rejoice in Jehovah, 0 ye righteous,

            And give thanks to His holy Name.

 

up and bears fruit. But it is far

simpler to take the verb "sown"

in the sense of "scattered," "dif-

fused."

     Milton uses the same figure of

the dew:

"Now Morn her rosy steps in th'

            Eastern clime

Advancing, sow'd the earth with

            Orient pearl."

     12. HOLY NAME, lit. "Holy Me-

morial."

     The first member of the verse

corresponds nearly with xxxii. 11a;

the second is exactly the same as

xxx. 4 [5]b. where see note.

 

            a faruzA. The LXX. a]ne<teile, hath sprung up, arisen, and so the other

Ancient Versions, as if they read Hrz, as in cxii. 4, but the change is

unnecessary. In Prov. xiii. 9, "the light of the righteous rejoiceth," it

has been proposed in like manner to read HrAz;yi.

 

                                    PSALM XCVIII.

 

            THIS Psalm is little more than an echo of Psalm xcvi. Its subject

is "the last great revelation, the final victory of God, when His

salvation and His righteousness, the revelation of which He has

promised to the house of Israel, shall be manifested both to His own

people and to all the nations of the earth."

            The Inscription of the Psalm in the Hebrew is only the single

word Mizmor, "Psalm" (whence probably the title "orphan Mizmor"

in the Babylonian Talmud, Abodah Zara, 24b. Comp. Tosaphoth

(Additamenta) of the North French, South German, and English

Rabbis twelfth and thirteenth centuries). In the Syriac the inscrip-

tion runs, "Of the Redemption of the people from Egypt." Both the

beginning and the end of the Psalm are taken from Psalm xcvi. The

rest of it is drawn chiefly from the latter portion of Isaiah.

            This Psalm follows the reading of the First Lesson in our Evening

Service. It was first inserted there in 1552, though it had not been

sung among the Psalms of Vespers or Compline.

204                          PSALM XCVIII.

 

                                    [A PSALM.]

 

1 SING unto Jehovah a new song,

                        For He hath done marvellous things;

            His right hand and His holy arm hath gotten Him

                        salvation.

2 Jehovah hath made known His salvation,

            Before the eyes of the nations hath He revealed His

                        righteousness.

3 He hath remembered His loving-kindness and His

                        faithfulness to the house of Israel;

            All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of

                        our God.

 

4 Make a loud noise to Jehovah, all the earth;

            Break forth and sing joyfully, and play,

5 Play unto Jehovah with the harp,

            With the harp and the voice of a psalm;

6 With trumpets and the voice of the cornet,

            Make a loud noise before Jehovah, the King.

 

7 Let the sea thunder, and the fulness thereof,

            The world and they that dwell therein.

 

    I. The first two lines are taken

from xcvi. 1; the last line, and ver.

2, 3, from Is. lii. to, lxiii. 5.

     HATH GOTTEN HIM SALVATION,

or, "the victory," as in E.V. Comp.

xliv. 4 [5] (and note); Is. lix. 16,

lxiii. 5. I have preferred here the

former rendering, because in the

next verse the noun occurs from the

same root, and there the rendering

"salvation" is, I think, preferable

to "victory."

    2. BEFORE THE EYES, &c.; lan-

guage especially applied (as in

Isaiah) to the great deliverance

from Babylon. See xcvii. 6.

    RIGHTEOUSNESS, parallel with

"salvation," as so frequently in the

latter portion of Isaiah. See note

on lxxi. 15.

     3. LOVING-KINDNESS . . . FAITH-

FULNESS, the two attributes expres-

sive of God's covenant relationship

to His people.

      4. BREAK FORTH AND SING, as

in Is. lii. 9, though the more com-

mon phrase is "break forth into

singing" (Is. xiv. 7; xliv. 23; xlix.

13; liv. I).

     5. VOICE OF A PSALM, as in Is.

li. 3.

    6. TRUMPETS, "Chatzotzeroth

—here only in the Psalter. They

were the straight trumpets (such as

are seen on the Arch of Titus) used

by the priests for giving signals,

Num. x. 2-10; I Chron. xv. 24, 28,

&c. The shofar was the ordinary

curved trumpet, cornet, or horn."—

Kay.

      7. Compare xcvi. 11 and xxiv.

I.

 

                            PSALM XCIX.                                 205

 

8 Let the streams clap their hands,

            Together let the mountains sing for joy,

9 Before Jehovah, for He cometh to judge the earth.

            He shall judge the world with righteousness,

                        And the peoples with uprightness.

 

8. CLAP THEIR HANDS. The                                     xlvii. [2]; 2 Kings xi. I2. On the

same phrase occurs Is. lv. 12; else-                    next verse see xcvi. 13.

where a different verb is used, as in

 

 

                                  PSALM XCIX.

 

            THIS is the last of the series of Royal Psalms, of Psalms which

celebrate the coming of Jehovah as King. The first of the series is the

93rd. This opens with the announcement that "Jehovah is King,"

passes on to tell that His throne has been from everlasting, that He

made the world and that He rules it—rules the rage of the elements

and the convulsions of political strife, of which that is the figure—

and then concludes with one brief glance at His revelation of Him-

self to His people, and the distinguishing glory of the house in which

he deigns to dwell, "Holiness becometh Thine house for ever."

            The 95th Psalm *ascribes glory to Him as "a great King above

all gods" (ver. 3). The 96th would have the glad tidings run far

and wide that "Jehovah is King," that "He shall judge the people

righteously " (ver. 13). The 97th opens "Jehovah is King," speaks

of the glory of His advent, and of the joy with which it is welcomed

by His people. The 98th calls upon all lands to break forth into

loud shouts "before the King Jehovah," to go forth to meet Him

with glad acclaim, with the voice of harp and cornet and trumpet, as

men go forth to meet a monarch who comes in state to take pos-

session of the throne of his fathers. The 99th, like the 93rd and the

97th, opens with the joyful announcement that "Jehovah is King,"

and then bids all men fall down and confess His greatness, and

 

            * The 94th Psalm seems out of place in the series; it does not, like the

rest, speak of the reign of Jehovah; and the number seven, if we take the

100th Psalm as the closing Doxology, is complete without it.

206                                PSALM XCIX.

 

worship Him who alone is holy. Both the first and the last of the

series, the 93rd and the 99th, celebrate the kingly majesty and the

holiness of Jehovah, and also the holiness of His worship.

            All these Psalms, then, alike tell of the setting up of a Divine

kingdom upon earth. All alike anticipate the event with joy. One

universal anthem bursts from the whole wide world to greet the

advent of the righteous King. Not Zion only and the daughters of

Judah are glad, but the dwellers in far-off islands and the ends of

the earth. Even inanimate nature sympathises with the joy; the sea

thunders her welcome, the rivers clap their hands, the trees of the

wood break forth into singing before the Lord. In all these Psalms

alike, the joy springs from the same source, from the thought that on

this earth, where might has no longer triumphed over right, a righteous

King shall reign, a kingdom shall be set up which shall be a kingdom

of righteousness, and judgement, and truth.

            In this Psalm, not only the righteous sway of the King, but His

awful holiness, forms the subject of praise; and the true character of

His worshipers as consecrated priests, holy, set apart for His service,

is illustrated by the examples of Holy men of old, like Moses, Aaron,

and Samuel.

 

            The two principal divisions of the Psalm are marked by the greater

refrain with which each closes, "Exalt ye Jehovah our God," &c.

(ver. 5, 9). But the thrice-repeated lesser refrain, "He is holy,"

more full, as at the close (in ver. 9), "Jehovah our God is holy,"

marks also a strophical division, and is, in the words of Delitzsch,

"an earthly echo of the Seraphic Trisagion" (comp. Is. vi. 3). We

have thus three strophes or Sanctuses, ver. 1-3, ver. 4-5, ver. 6--9,

the first and second consisting each of six lines. In each of these

Jehovah is acknowledged in His peculiar covenant relation to His

people. In the first, He is "great in Zion" (ver. 2); in the second

He has "executed righteousness in Jacob" (ver. 4), and He is

"Jehovah our God" (ver. 5); in the third, the great examples of this

covenant relationship are cited from Israel's ancient history; and

again God is twice claimed as "Jehovah our God " (ver. 8 and 9).

In each there is the same exhortation to worship (ver. 3, ver. 5, ver. 9),

and in each the nature of the worship and the character of the

worshipers is implied, because the character of God is in each

exhibited, "He is holy." But in the third Sanctus this is brought

out most fully. The priestly character of all true worship is declared.

All who call upon Jehovah call upon Him as His priests, all anointed

with the same holy oil, all clothed in the same garments of holiness,

"for Jehovah our God is holy."

                                     PSALM XCIX.                                      207

 

            Bengel (quoted by Delitzsch), recognizing this threefold partition

of the Psalm, explains the subject somewhat differently. "The

99th Psalm," he says, "has three parts, in which the Lord is cele-

brated as He who is to come, as He who is, and He who was, and

each part is closed with the ascription of praise, He is holy."—

Erklärle Offenb., S. 313.

 

1 JEHOVAH is King, the peoples tremble;

            He sitteth throned upon the cherubim, the earth is

                        moved.a

2 Jehovah in Zion is great,

            And He is exalted above all the peoples.

3 Let them give thanks unto Thy great and fearful name:

            He is holy.

 

4 And the King's strength loveth judgement;

            THOU hast established uprightness,

            THOU hast executed judgement and righteousness in

                        Jacob.

 

      1. Is KING, lit. "hath become

King,"regnum caaessivit. See note

on xcvii. I.

     HE SITTETH. This is a parti-

ciple, and is, strictly speaking, not

so much an independent clause as

a further description of the manner

of God's kingly rules: He rules sit-

ting throned, &c. It also suggests

"not only the identity of the hea-

venly King with the God who is

worshipt in Zion, but also His

presence in His temple."—Moll.

     UPON THE CHERUBIM. See note

on lxxx. I [2].

     3. LET THEM GIVE THANKS, or

the words may be taken as the

utterance of the Psalmist's hope

that God's "great and fearful

Name" (Deut. x. 17) which is

known in Israel shall be glorified

in all the world: "they shall give

thanks," &c. But the optative form

of expression accords best with the

exhortation in ver. 5, 9.

       HE IS HOLY. This might be

rendered "It is holy," i.e. the Name

of God, mentioned just before.

The meaning is the same in either

case, for God's name "is God Him-

self in His revealed holiness," as

Delitzsch observes. I have pre-

ferred the more immediately per-

sonal rendering, because it is ob-

viously required in the repetition

of the same words afterwards, ver.

5, 9.

     4. AND THE KING'S STRENGTH,

&c. This rendered as an inde-

pendent clause is awkward, though

it is so rendered by most of the

Ancient Versions. But the Chald.,

Ibn Ez., Del., and others take the

two last words of this member of

the verse as a relative clause; Ibn

Ez. renders: "It is strength and

honour in a King who loves judge-

ment." Del.: "And the strength

of a King, who loveth judgement,

Thou hast established in upright-

ness." Others carry on the con-

struction from the last verse, taking

the words "He (or, it) is holy," as

parenthetical, thus: "They shall

praise Thy great and fearful Name

(it is holy), and the might of the

King who (or, which) loveth righte-

ousness." It must be confessed

 

208                          PSALM XCIX.

 

5 Exalt ye Jehovah our God,

            And bow down at His holy footstool:

                        He is holy.

 

6 Moses and Aaron among His priests,

            And Samuel among them that call upon His Name—

                        They called upon Jehovah, and HE answered them.

 

that but for the words of the refrain,

which it is awkward to take thus

parenthetically, the sense and the

construction are better preserved by

this rendering. Certainly the use

of the conj. "and" at the beginning

of this verse is far more natural on

either of these views than on the

other. At present it is otiose, sup-

posing ver. 4 to begin a fresh sen-

tence. It is possible, I think, that

the words "He is holy" did not

stand at the end of ver. 3 in the

original Psalm, and that they were

subsequently introduced in order

to complete the Ter Sanctus. The

correspondence between the two

greater refrains, the natural intro-

duction of the words there, and

their abruptness here, all render

such a supposition at least not

wholly improbable.

     THE KING'S STRENGTH; the

same King who is mentioned ver.

I, Jehovah. His might is no arbi-

trary power, like that of earthly

tyrants, but a judgement-loving

might. His power only expresses

itself in righteousness. He has

"established uprightness" as the

great eternal law of His govern-

ment, the inner principle of His

sway, and He has manifested it in

all His acts:  "He has executed

judgement and righteousness in

Jacob."

      5. FOOTSTOOL: properly, the

lower part or step of the throne (as

Is. lxvi. i, Ezek. xliii. 7) put for the

throne itself. In cxxxii. 7 it is

spoken, apparently, of the sanc-

tuary, "His dwellings, or taber-

nacles," being in the parallelism.

So the sanctuary is called "the

place of My feet," Is. 1x. 13. In

I Chron, xxviii. 2 it is used of the

ark of the covenant; in Lam. ii. I

of the holy city (or perhaps the

Temple); in Is. lxvi. I (comp. Matt.

v. 35) of the whole earth. Here it

seems doubtful whether the earthly

or the heavenly sanctuary is

meant.

     6. The apparent abruptness of

the transition in this verse--which,

however, is very natural in lyric

poetry—to the examples of Moses,

and Aaron, and Samuel, has led to

a variety of explanations. Rosen-

müller proposes to join this with

ver. 4, the refrain in ver. 5 being

regarded as parenthetical; and

takes this ver. as containing a fresh

instance of God's goodness in hear-

ing the prayers of His people.

Delitzsch sees in it an appeal to

the great men of old, and their ex-

perience as to the "absolute life

and kingly rule of Jehovah." No

explanation that I have seen satis-

fies me. I have already hinted, in

the Introduction to the Psalm, at

what I believe to be the train of

thought. The great subject of the

Psalmist's praise is the holiness of

God. It is a holy God whom he

calls upon all men to worship. It

is "a holy footstool," "a holy moun-

tain,"  before which they bow down;

it is therefore a holy worship which

they must render. Such was the

worship of His saints of old: and

then likewise Jehovah manifested

His holiness both in "forgiving"

and in "taking vengeance" (ver.

8).

    MOSES . . . AMONG His PRIESTS.

The priestly office was exercised

by Moses in the sprinkling of the

blood of the covenant, Exod. xxiv.

                                 PSALM XCI.X                                            209

 

7 In the pillar of a cloud He spake unto them;

            They kept His testimonies and the statute that He

                        gave them.

8 Jehovah, our God, THOU didst answer them,

            A forgiving God wast Thou to them;

                        And (yet) taking vengeance of their doings.

9 Exalt ye Jehovah our God,

            And bow down before His holy mountain;

                        For Jehovah our God is holy.

 

6-8, and again in the whole ritual

for the consecration of Aaron and

his sons, Levit. viii., as well as in

the service of the sanctuary, before

that consecration took place, Exod.

xl. 22—27. So likewise he "called

upon the Lord" as "a priest," in

intercession for His people, Exod.

xvii. 11, 12, xxxii. 30-32 (comp.

Ps. cvi. 23); Num. xii. 13. Samuel

also, though not here classed with

the priests, but mentioned as a

great example of prayer, not only

like Moses discharged priestly func-

tions, but also like Moses inter-

ceded for the people. We find him

at Ramah offering sacrifices in the

high place, and his independent

priestly position so recognized by

the people, that they would not

partake of the sacrifice till he had

blessed it (1 Sam. ix. 12, 13). We

find him on the occasion of a battle

offering a whole burnt-offering unto

Jehovah (I Sam. vii. 9), at the same

time that he sternly rebukes, Saul

for presuming to do the same thing

(I Sam. xiii. 11-13). For the effi-

cacy of his prayers and interces-

sions—on which, and not on sacri-

fices, the stress is here laid—see

the instances in 1 Sam. vii. 8, 9,

xii. 16-18. Comp. Ecclus. xlvi.

16, 17.

    7. IN THE PILLAR OF A CLOUD.

Strictly this applies only to Moses,

or at the most only to Moses and

Aaron: see Num. xii. 5.

      THEY KEPT HIS TESTIMONIES;

an evidence of the holiness of those

who called on Jehovah, and whom

He answered. This latter clause

might be disposed in two lines,

thus:

   "They kept His testimonies,

     And He gave them a statute

           (statutes)."

This verse would then, like all the

others in this strophe, consist of

three lines.

     8. WAST THOU, or "didst Thou

prove thyself to be," LXX. eu]i<latoj  

e]gi<nou au]toi?j. Cf. Ez. xxxiv. 7.

      TAKING VENGEANCE. As it is

clear that this cannot refer to all

the three great examples cited

above, certainly not to Samuel, the

pronouns in this verse (and perhaps,

as Calvin and others think, in ver.

7) must refer to the people at large,

who, though not mentioned, are in

the Psalmist's thoughts, as he goes

back to their ancient history.

 

            a FUnTA. The verb occurs only here instead of the more usual Fvm. In

most of the Ancient Verss. it is rendered, as well as ) UzG;r;yi Tr. in the previous

member, as an optative. The LXX. have o]rgize<sqwsan . . . saleuqh<tw;

Jerome, commoveantur . . . concutiatur. But Mendels., Hupf., and Del.

render the verbs as presents, which appears to me to be preferable. The

two verbs describe the effects which immediately and necessarily follow

from the inauguration and establishment of Jehovah's kingdom. For the

sequence of tenses, cf. xlvi. 7.

210                            PSALM C.

 

                                  PSALM C.

 

            IF we are right in regarding the Psalms xciii.-xcix. as forming

one continuous series, one great prophetic oratorio, whose title is

"Jehovah is King," and through which there runs the same great

idea, this Psalm may be regarded as the Doxology which closes the

strain. We find lingering in it notes of the same great harmony.

It breathes the same gladness: it is filled with the same hope, that

all nations shall, bow down before Jehovah, and confess that He is

God.

            "This last Jubilate," says Delitzsch, "is the echo of the first—that,

namely, which occurs in the first half of Psalm xcv. There we find

all the thoughts which recur here. There it is said, ver. 7, ''He is

our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His

hand.' And in ver. 2, ‘Let us come before His presence with thanks-

giving; let us sing joyfully to Him with Psalms.’”

            "Among the Psalms of triumph and thanksgiving this stands pre-

eminent, as rising to the highest point of joy and grandeur. No

local restrictions, no national exclusiveness, can find place in the

contemplation of God as the common Creator and Father of man:

hence it is that no hymn or psalm in any subsequent age has found

a readier response than this first appeal to the whole world to unite

in worshiping Jehovah on the ground of common sonship and

humanity."

            This Psalm is recited in the Jewish synagogues every day, except

on Sabbaths and Festivals.

 

                    [A PSALM FOR THE THANK-OFFERING.a]

 

            I SHOUT aloud unto Jehovah, all the earth;

 

     I. SHOUT ALOUD: used of the

welcome given to a king who enters

his capital, or takes possession of

the throne, as in xcviii. 4, 6, lxvi. i.

     ALL THE EARTH. As in all the

preceding Psalms, xciii.-xcix., so

here, the hope of the Psalmist goes

far beyond the narrow limits of his

own people and country. The bless-

ing of Abraham is become the heri-

tage of the Gentiles. The whole

world is to acknowledge Jehovah,

and to rejoice before Him. So

Augustine: " Et tamen hanc vocem  

audivit universa terra. Jam jubilat

Domino universa terra, et quae

adhuc non jubilat jubilabit. Per

tendens enim benedictio incipiente  

Ecclesia ab Jerusalem per omnes

gentes, impietatem ubique pro-

sternit, pietatem ubique construit.

Et mixti sunt boni malis; et mali

 

* The Psalms Chronologically Arranged, p. 321.

 

 

                                  PSALM C.                                  211

 

2 Serve ye Jehovah with gladness,

            Come before His presence with a song of joy.

3 Know ye that Jehovah, He is God

            He hath made us and we are His,b

                        We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

4 0 enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

            Into His courts with praise:

                        Give thanks unto Him, bless His Name.

5 For Jehovah is good, His loving-kindness is everlasting;

            And His faithfulness (endureth) unto all generations.

 

per omnem terram, et boni per om-

nem terram. In malis murmurat

omnis terra; in bonis jubilat omnis

terra."

      2. SERVE YE. Comp. ii. 11;

where, however, in accordance with

the warlike character ascribed to

the monarch, it is added "with

fear," instead of "with joy" as here.

"Libera servitus est aped Domi-

num," remarks Augustine, "libera

servitus; ubi non necessitas, sed

caritas, servit."

    3. KNOW YE, i.e. learn by expe-

rience, as Theodoret explains, di ]

au]tw?n ma<qete tw?n pragma<twn.

      HATH MADE US: i.e. not merely

"hath created us," but hath made

us what we are, viz. His people.

Comp. 1 Sam. xii. 6:  "It is Jehovah

that made (E. V. advanced) Moses

and Aaron." See also Deut. xxxii.

6, 15; Ps. xcv. 6. And so Israel

is called "the work (lit. making) of

Jehovah," Is. xxix. 23, lx. 21.

     WE ARE HIS. For the justifica-

tion of this rendering see Critical

Note, and comp. xcv. 7. Dr. Kay,

observing that Psalms xciii.—c. are

full of parallelisms to Is. xl.—lxvi.,

points out that this reading (that of

the Q'ri) is supported by Is. xliii. I :

"And now saith the Lord that

created thee, 0 Jacob, and formed

thee, 0 Israel, fear not, for I have

redeemed thee, I have called thee

by My name; Mine art thou."

     4. The knowledge that Jehovah

has chosen Israel to be His inheri-

tance and the sheep of His pasture

is not to tend to the exclusion of

others from the same privileges.

On the contrary, all nations are to

flow to Jerusalem, and worship in

the Temple. What in Is. ii. 2, 3

appears in the form of prediction,

is here invitation, as in Is. ii. 5.

"His temple is open to all. They

may enter in; and when they enter

may expect great things; ‘For Je-

hovah is gracious, and His loving-

kindness and truth never fail,'

according to the repeated expres-

sion of the Hallelujah-Psalms and

Psalms of Thanksgiving." —De-

litzsch.

    5. GOOD, i.e. "gracious," "kind,"

as in xxv. 8, xxxiv. 8 [9].

 

            a hdAOtl;. The expression is used apparently in a liturgical sense (like

the analogous titles of xxxviii., lxv., xcii.), to denote that the Psalm was

to be sung during the offering of thank-offerings. Compare ‘t Hbaz,, cvii.

22, CXV. 17, which is also termed simply hdAOT , lvi. 13, 2 Chron. xxix. 31.

            b 'x xlov;,. So the K'thibh ; the sense being, as it is commonly explained,

"He hath made us (chosen us to be His people), and not we ourselves,"

212                                      PSALM CI.

 

—i.e. it was not of merit on our part, but of His grace. So the LXX.,

au]to>j e]poi<hsen h[ma?j, kai> ou]x h[mei?j, the Vulg., and the Syr. And the

Midrash (Bereshith Rabba, c. 100, ad init.) finds in this confession the

opposite to Pharaoh's boast, "I have made myself," Ezek. xxix. 3 (where,

however, the rendering probably is as in E.V., "I have made it (the Nile)

for myself"). But it is very doubtful if such a meaning would be thus

expressed in Hebrew. Hence Symm. (who adopts the K'thibh) gives a

different explanation, with au]to>j e]poi<hsen h[ma?j ou]k o@ntaj, and similarly

Rashi.

            But the Q'ri Olv;, has the support of the Chald., Jerome, and Saadia, the

Talmud and Midrash have it, it is found in nineteen MSS. of De R. and

nine of Kenn., yields the best sense, is more in accordance with the

parallel passage, xcv. 7, and has been adopted by the ablest modern critics,

Ewald, Hupfeld, Delitzsch, &c. The Massoreth reckons fifteen passages

in which xlo is written, and Ol ought to be read: Ex. xxi. 8; Lev. xi. 21,

xxv. 30; 1 Sam. ii. 3; 2 Sam. xvi. 18, xix. 7; Is. ix. 2, xlix. 5, lxiii. 9;

Ps. c. 3; Job vi. 21, xiii. 15; Prow. xix. 7, xxvi. 2.

 

                                           PSALM CI.

 

            THIS Psalm has been styled "the godly purposes and resolves of

a king." It might also be described as "Speculum Regis," a mirror

for kings and all that are in authority. It opens with the joyful

contemplation of God's mercy and justice as kingly virtues, in their

measure and degree to be manifested in earthly kings. It then

records the king's pious resolve to keep his own heart and life

unspotted, and to remove from him all that might lead him astray.

Yet scarcely has he uttered the resolve, when, reflecting on all that

such a resolve implies, he breaks forth in the earnest cry that God

Himself would come to him and take up His dwelling with him,

giving him grace to walk in "a perfect way." Thus having conse-

crated himself and his house, he declares further how he will provide

for the purity of his court. With jealous care he will exclude those

who are the bane of kings' houses—the slanderer, the proud, the

deceitful, the liar. None but the faithful, none but those who, like

himself, walk in a perfect (i.e. blameless) way, shall be admitted

to places of honour and trust about his person. Finally, the work of

zealous reformation shall extend to his capital, the city of Jehovah,

 

                                    PSALM CI.                                             213

 

and to the utmost borders of the land, that he may see realized

under his sway the great ideal, "Ye shall be to Me a kingdom of

priests and a holy nation."

            All this falls in admirably with the early part of David's reign, and

the words are just what we might expect from one who came to the

throne with a heart so true to his God. If the words "When wilt

Thou come unto me ?" may be taken to express, as seems most

natural, David's desire to see the Ark at length fixed in the Taber-

nacle which he had prepared for it on Zion, the Psalm must have

been written whilst the Ark was still in the house of Obed-edom

(2 Sam. vi. 10, 11). "Zion was already David's royal seat, and the

Tabernacle of Jehovah was there; but all had not yet been accom-

plished that was necessary for the proper ordering and administration

of the kingdom. The new state had still to be organized, and the

great officers of state and of the household to be chosen, men upon

whose character so much always depends, and especially in despotic

monarchies like those of the ancient world. David himself was

standing at the threshold of the most critical period of his life, and,

fully aware of the greatness of his responsibilities, did not feel

himself as yet equal to the task which devolved upon him, to the

burden which he was henceforth to bear. Still at this first period of

his reign in Jerusalem, in the flush of victory, in the full splendour

of his newly-acquired dominion over the whole of Israel, at a time

when lesser princes would so easily have been dazzled by the

deceitful sunshine of prosperity, or would have been terrified at

the responsibility, David is only the more earnest in praising Jehovah

and calling to mind His attributes, in striving to purify his own heart,

and to form wise measures for the conduct of a strong and righteous

rule, and in the resolution to keep far from him all that would bring

a reproach upon himself or a stain upon his court. For the very

sanctity of that city which had just been chosen as the dwelling-

place of Jehovah required that nothing unholy should be tolerated

therein. One who begins his reign with thoughts and resolutions

such as these may well look for a happy termination of it, and

nothing shows us more clearly the true nobleness of David's soul

than this short Psalm. It is the spontaneous, inartificial expression

of feelings long restrained; feelings and purposes, however, which

form in themselves a whole, and which therefore naturally, and

without effort, appear as a whole in the Psalm, and give it the unity

which it possesses."*

 

            * The passage in inverted commas is taken in substance from Ewald.

 

                                       PSALM CI.

 

                             [A PSALM OF DAVID.

 

1 OF loving-kindness and judgement will I sing,

            Unto Thee, 0 Jehovah, will I sing psalms.

2 I will behave myself wisely a in a perfect way.

            —When b wilt Thou come unto me?

            I will walk with a perfect heart within my house.

3 I will not set any vile thing before mine eyes;

 

    I. LOVING-KINDNESS AND JUDGE-

MENT. These can only be the theme

of praise as Divine attributes. But

it is as a king who would frame his

own rule and his kingdom after the

Divine pattern that David makes

these attributes the burden of his

song. He meditates on the mercy

and the righteousness of God, that

he may learn the lesson of that

mercy and righteousness himself.

He meditates on them till his heart

glows with the thought of their sur-

passing excellence, as seen in the

Divine government, and with the

earnest desire that the same kingly

virtues may be transferred into his

own life and reign. See rote on

lxxxv. 10.

    SING PSALMS, or perhaps, rather,

"play," i.e. upon the harp or other

musical instruments. "Quum dicit,

Tibi, Jehovah, psallam," says Cal-

vin, "Dei beneficio se agnoscit ad

tam praeclarum et honorificum

munus esse destinatum; quia su-

perbae temeritatis fuisset ultro se

ingerere. Non bs re autem regias

virtutes duabus his partibus corn-

plectitur, clementia et judicio; quia

sicuti praecipuum regis munus est

suum cuique jus reddere, ita solli-

citus erga suos amor et humanitas

in eo requiritur. Nec abs re dicit

Solomo: Clementia stabiliri solium

(Prov. xvi. 12)."

    2. I WILL BEHAVE MYSELF

WISELY IN, or, "I will give heed

to" (see Critical Note). The ex-

pression shows his sense of his own

responsibility. The possession of

absolute power too often dazzles and

blinds men. An Eastern despot

might have cast off all restraint, or

at least might have allowed himself

large license in the indulgence of

his passions or his follies, almost

without scandal or hatred. The

nobler, therefore, is this resolve.

    WHEN WILT THOU COME. It

would be possible to render: "I

will behave myself wisely in a

perfect way when Thou comest

unto me; "but the question is far

more expressive. It bursts forth

from the heart, moved and stirred

to its inmost centre, as it thinks

of all the height and depth of that

resolve to "walk in a perfect way."

How shall a frail son of man keep

his integrity? The task is too great

for his own strength, honest and

sincere as the resolution is, and

therefore he cries, "When wilt

Thou come unto me?"—come to be

my abiding guest—come not only to

dwell in Zion, in Thy tabernacle,

but with me Thy servant, in my

house and in my heart (comp. John

xiv. 23), giving me the strength and

the grace that I need? The ex-

pression is no doubt remarkable as

occurring in the Old Testament;

though if it be understood as re-

ferring to the removal of the Ark

to Zion (see Introduction to the

Psalm), it would be but a claiming

of the promise in Exod. xx. 24:

"In all places where I record My

Name I will come unto Thee, and

bless thee.

     WITH A PERFECT HEART, lit. "in

the perfectness, or integrity, of my

heart." So "a perfect way" might

be rendered "the way of integrity."

     3. SET BEFORE MINE EYES, i.e. as

                          PSALM CI.                                  215

 

I hate the sin of unfaithfulnessc; it shall not cleave

            unto me.

4 A froward heart shall depart from me;

            A wicked person I will not know.

5 Whoso privily slandereth d his neighbour, him will I

                        destroy.

            Whoso hath a high look and proud heart, him I will not

                        suffer.

 

an example to imitate. According

to Calvin, he speaks in the previous

verse of the manner in which he

will regulate his private life; in this

of his duties as a king.

    VILE THING, lit. "thing of vil-

lany." The noun is that which is

wrongly rendered in the A.V. of the

Historical Books, "Belial," as if it

were a proper name. It is really a

compound noun meaning "that

which profiteth not." Comp. Deut.

xv. 9. See on Ps. xli. 8.

     THE SIN OF UNFAITHFULNESS,

lit. "the doing of turnings aside"

(if we take the noun as an abstract),

or, "the doing of them that turn

aside," i.e. I hate to act as they do

(if we take the word as an adjective).

The alliteration of the sibilants in

the three words is noticeable. See

more in the Critical Note.

     All such deviations from truth,

from integrity, from that Divine

law by which he rules himself, shall

not "cleave" to him. Temptations

to such a course may beset him.

The whisper might come, Policy

requires this course, craft must be

met by craft, power is given to be

used, kings are above law, and the

like. But he refuses to listen to the

whisper of the serpent, and when it

would fasten its fangs in him, he

shakes it off.

   4. First David proves himself,

laying down the rule for his own

guidance; then he determines what

his court and household shall be.

In this verse he repudiates gene-

rally "the froward heart" and "the

wicked person." In the following

he enters more into detail.

    A WICKED PERSON, or "wicked-

ness;" but the former accords better

with "the froward heart" (comp.

Prov. xi. 20) in the parallelism.

     5. The secret slanderer, seeking

to ingratiate himself into his prince's

favour by pulling down others, and

the haughty, over-bearing noble (ver.

6), would be no uncommon cha-

racters in any court, least of all an

Oriental court. Such persons would

David destroy. Thus he exercised

the kingly virtue of "judgement"

(ver. 1). "As a private individual

he could never have ventured on

such a measure; but when he was

placed on the throne, he received

from God's hand the sword with

which he was to punish wrong-

doing."

    A HIGH LOOK &C., lit. "whoso is

lofty of eyes and wide of heart," the

latter denoting a heart puffed up

and blown out with pride (comp.

Prov. xxi. 4, xxviii. 25). Elsewhere

the phrase, "a wide heart," occurs

in a very different sense. It is said

of Solomon that God gave him "a

wide heart," i.e. comprehensiveness,

a large grasp, the power not only

of gathering facts, but the power

of seeing their mutual relation,—

breadth of sympathy, and breadth

of understanding. In cxix. 32, Is.

lx. 5, the phrase denotes a feeling

of liberty and of joy. In this last

sense, the expression "my heart is

dilated" occurs constantly in the

"Arabian Nights." Comp. 2 Cor.

vi. II:  [H kardi<a h[mw?n pepla<tuntai

(where see Stanley's note).

    I WILL NOT SUFFER, of "I can-

not away with," Is. i. 13 ; Jer. xliv. 22.

216                                 PSALM CI

 

6 Mine eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they

                        may dwell with me.

            Whoso walketh in a perfect way, he shall minister unto me.

7 He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house,

            He that speaketh lies shall not be established in my

                        sight.

8 Morning by morning will I destroy all the wicked of the

                        land,

            That I may cut off all the workers of iniquity from

                        the city of Jehovah.

 

    6. MINE EYES ARE UPON. Comp.

xxxii. 8, xxxiv. 15 [16], lxvi. 7.

His ministers shall be chosen, not

for high birth, or gifts of fortune, or

talents, or accomplishments, or flat-

tering lips, or supple compliance,

but for incorruptible fidelity; the

word "faithful" implying that faith-

fulness to God is the basis of such

fidelity to their king.

    WHOSO WALKETH IN A PERFECT

WAY, i.e. with evident reference to

ver. 2, "whoever has laid down for

himself the same rule of integrity,

is actuated by the same purity of

motive as I myself am."

    7. WORKETH DECEIT, as in lii. 2

[4].

     BE ESTABLISHED, or "abide,"

"continue:" comp. cii. 28 [29].

     8. MORNING BY MORNING. Fast

as the evil springs under shelter of

the darkn.ess, it shall be destroyed

with the returning light. This is the

common explanation, but I believe

that the allusion, beyond all ques-

tion, is to the Oriental custom of

holding courts of law in the early

morning. (See the same allusion

in Jer. xxi. 12, "Execute judge-

ment in the morning, and deliver

him that is spoiled," &c.; Zeph. iii.

5, "Morning by morning doth He

bring His judgement to light." See

also 2 Sam. xv. 2, and comp. Luke

xxii. 66; John xviii. 28.)

     Day by day will he exercise his

work of righteous judgement, purg-

ing out all ungodliness from the

Holy City. His zeal is like the zeal

of Phinehas, a zeal for God and for

His honour. He will have a pure

state, a pure city, as the writer of

the 104th Psalm hopes to see a pure

earth (civ. 35), without spot or stain

of sin. It is like the dream which

fascinated the Roman poet of an

Astraeea redux. It is a hope which

finds its accomplishment in the

Apocalyptic vision, in that new

Jerusalem into which " there shall

in no wise enter any thing that

defileth, or worketh abomination, or

maketh a lie." (Rev. xxi. 27.)

 

            a  hlAyKiW;xa.  See Critical Note on xli. i [2]. According to Hupf. with

prep. (as here, and Dan. ix. 13, with B;, and elsewhere with lx,, lfa, l;), it

can only have the meaning of to regard. But in Dan. i. 4 we have the

Hiph. part. followed by B;, apparently in the other sense of behaving

wisely, and hence the rendering of the E.V., "I will behave myself

wisely," may be defended. Delitzsch explains the verb by the noun

lyKiW;ma in xxxii. 1, xlvii. 8, as expressing "poetic meditation," will

dichitend ehren.

            b ‘t ytamA. The rendering given in the text is the most obvious. It is

that of the LXX., Po<te h!ceij pro>j me<; and has been adopted by the E.V.

                                        PSALM CII.           217

 

It would be possible, however, (1) to take ytamA, not as an interrogative, but

as a conjunction, when, as often as; compare the similar usage in Arab.

and Syr., and that of other interrogative words, as for instance ymi, xxv. 12,

xxxiv. 13. (2) xObTA may be 3d fem., referring to j`r,D, or MymiTA (so Maur.),

"may it come to me," i.e. become my possession. But to speak of

"a way," or even of "perfectness "—taking MymiTA as a neut. noun (see on

xv. 2, note a)—as "coming" to a person, is a strange expression, to which

the words "within my house" in the next line form no real parallel.

            c tWfE, inf. constr. for TOWfE, as in Gen. xxxi. 28; 1. 20; Prov. xxi. 3

comp. hxr;, Gen. xlviii. 11, and perhaps hzoB;, Is. xlix. 7.

            MyFise. It seems most natural to take this as an abstract=MyFiWe, Hos.

v. 2 (see note on xl. 5), after the analogy of Mydize, xix. 14. The verb almost

requires this, lit. "the doing of apostasies or faithlessnesses." Ewald

admits that this is the simplest construction, but thinks that the passage

in Hosea is against it, as well as the sing. qBad;yi. Hence he renders, "the

doing of the false," i.e. so to act as the false do, taking Fse as an adjective.

            d yfiw;Olm; (K'thibh), Part. Po., with the connecting vowel of the old stat.

constr. (Ges. § 93. 2, Ew. § 211 b). According to Hupf. the Q'ri is Piel

for yniw;.am;, like UHc;rAT;, lxii. 4; but it may only be the shortened form of

the Poel with Kametz Chatuph instead of Cholem, in which case it will

be read m'loshni.

 

 

                                      PSALM CII.

 

            THIS Psalm must have been written by one of the exiles in Baby-

lon, probably towards the close of the Captivity, when the hope of a

return seemed no longer doubtful. In mournfull strains he describes

his bitter lot. Sorrow and pain had been very busy with him. His

very heart was smitten within him, as the grass is withered in the hot

eye of the sun. He was alone, with no friend to comfort him; his

enemies turned his misery into a proverb; his life was drawing to a

close under the heavy wrath of God.

            But when he has time to look away from his sorrow, a prospect so

bright and so glorious opens before him, that in the thought of it all

else is swallowed up and forgotten. Zion's deliverance is at hand.

Her God has not forsaken her. The grounds on which his hope

rests are broad and manifold; for Jehovah is the everlasting King

(ver. 12); the time fixed in His counsels is come (ver. 13); the

hearts of her children are moved with a more passionate longing for

her restoration (ver. 14); the prayer of His suffering people has

prevailed, the sighing of the prisoner has entered into His ears

(ver. 17, 19, 20). A new nation shall be born in Zion, and other

218                                  PSALM CII.

 

nations and kingdoms shall be gathered into her to praise Jehovah

(ver. 18, 21, 22).

            Once again, as for a moment, the sadness of the exile and the

sufferer prevails. His life is ebbing away, his heart and his flesh

fail. Shall he be permitted to look upon that glory with the thought

of which he has been comforting himself, the vision of which has

been passing before his eyes? "O my God, take me not away in

the midst of my days!" is the natural and touching petition which

breaks from his lips, as he fears lest his eyes should be closed in

death before that glory appears. And then suddenly, as if every

cloud of apprehension were dispelled, he triumlhhs in the thought

that there is One who changeth not; that though the solid frame

of the universe itself should crumble into dissolution, yet He is the

same "yesterday, to-day, and for ever," the one Hope and Stay of

His children now and in all generations to come.''

            On the Messianic character of the Psalm, and the quotation made

from it in the Epistle to the Hebrews, see the remarks at the end on

ver. 25-27. It is strange that this quotation should have been

passed over without any notice not only by commentators like De

Wette and Hupfeld but even by Calvin, Tholuck, and Hengstenberg.

            This Psalm is clearly individual, not national, and must have been

intended for private rather than liturgical* use, as the Inscription

seems designed to inform us. This Inscription is peculiar; it stands

quite alone among the Titles prefixed to the Psalms; for it describes

the character of the Psalm, and marks the Circumstances under

which it should be used. In all other instances the Inscriptions

are either musical or historical.

            Besides the prologue, ver. n, 2, and the Epilogue, ver. 23-28, the

Psalm consists of two main divisions, the Complaint, ver. 3-11,

and the Consolation, ver. 12-22.

 

[A PRAYER OF THE AFFLICTED, WHEN HE IS OVERWHELMED, AND

            BEFORE JEHOVAH POURETH OUT HIS COMPLAINT.]

 

1   O JEHOVAH, hear my prayer,

            And let my cry come unto Thee.

 

1, 2. The opening words are such                       16 [17] ("in the day when I was in

as are found in other Psalms:                              distress"), and xviii. 6 [7]; xxxi. 2

comp. xviii. 6 [7]; xxxix. 12 [13];                        [3] ("incline Thine ear unto me");

xxvii. 9 ("hide not Thy face"); lix.                        lvi. 9, [10] ("in the day when I

 

            * Since the beginning of the seventeenth century however, and perhaps

from an earlier date, it has been used in the Jewish synagogues as the

introductory Psalm to "the little Day of Atonement," i.e. the Eve of the

New Moon.

                                      PSALM CII.                                   219

 

2 Hide not Thy face from me; in the day when I am in  

                        distress;

                  Incline Thine ear unto me;

            In the day that I call, answer me speedily.

3 For my days are consumed in smoke,

            And my bones are burnt up as a firebrand.

4 My heart is smitten a like grass and withered,

            For I have forgotten to eat my bread.

5 Because of the voice of my groaning,

            My bone cleaveth to my flesh.

6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness,

            I am become like an owl of the ruins.

7 I have watched, and have been b

 

call"); lxix. 17 [18], cxliii. 7 ("an-

swer me speedily"). But all these

are forms of expression which would

easily pass into the common lan-

guage of prayer.

    2. This verse may admit of a dif-

ferent arrangement of its clauses:—

Hide not, &c. . . . in the day of my

      distress,

Incline, &c. . . . in the day that I

     call;

            Answer me speedily.

So Hupfeld; but I have followed

the accents.

      3. IN SMOKE, as in xxxvii. 20.

There is no need to adopt the read-

ing of some MSS., "as smoke;"

nor again is it necessary to render

in the next clause, "as with a fire-

brand" (Hupfeld). The bones are

burned (see on lxix. 3) as the brand

is when placed on the fire. Comp.

xxii. 15 [16], xxxi. 10 [11], xxxii. 3.

    4. SMITTEN, as by a sun-stroke.

Comp. cxxi. 6; Hos. ix. 16; Jon. iv. 8.

     I HAVE FORGOTTEN, in the sor-

row of my heart, as in cvii. 18;

Job xxxiii. 20; I Sam. i, 7, 8, xx.

34; I Kings xxi. 4; Dan. vi. 18.

[19]. So too in Homer, Il. xxiv. 129.

      5. MY BONE. The Heb. has the

singular, and the E.V. retains the

singular in Job xix. 20, but the sing.

may perhaps be collective, for the

plural.

     To MY FLESH. More naturally

in Lam. iv. 8, "my bones cleave to

my skin;'' the expression denoting

extreme emaciation. In Job xix. 20,

however, it is, "my bone cleaveth

to my skin and to my flesh," which

may refer to a state of weakness

and relaxation brought on by severe

pain, in which the bones have lost

their power of motion.

    6. A PELICAN . . . AN OWL. Both

are mentioned Lev. xi. 17, 18, and

the former as inhabiting the wil-

derness, Zeph. ii. 14 ; Is. xxxiv. I I.

The LXX. have peleka<n and nukti-

ko<rac. The owl is called in Arabic,

"mother of the ruins."

    7. I HAVE WATCHED, sleep hav-

ing been driven away by sorrow.

With the next clause of the verse

may be compared Virg. AEn. iv.

462:

"Solaque culminibus ferali carmine

            bubo

Visa queri, et longas in fletum

            ducere voces."

And Georg-. i. 403:--

            --"de culmine summo

     Nequicquam seros exercet noctua

            cantus."

Ovid also has--

"In adverso nocturnus culmine

            bubo."

 

220                              PSALM CII.

 

            Like a lonely bird on the house-top.

8 All the day long have mine enemies reproached me,

            They that are mad against me c have made their

                        oaths by me.

9 For I have eaten ashes like bread,

            And mingled my drink with weeping;

10 Because of Thine indignation and Thy wrath;

            For Thou hast taken me up and cast me away.

11 My days are like a shadow that declineth,

            And I am withered like grass.

 

12 But THOU, 0 Jehovah, sittest throned for ever,

            And Thy memorial is to all generations.

 

      8. MADE THEIR OATHS BY ME,

i.e. when they curse, choose me as

an example of misery, and impre-

cate upon themselves or others my

misfortunes—say, "God do to me,

to thee, as He has done to this man."

Comp. Is. lxv.15; Jer. xxix. 22.

    9. ASHES LIKE BREAD, Lam. iii.

16. Comp. Ps. xlii. 3 [4 fl, "my

tears are my food," lxxx. 5 []6].

10. "The acknowledgement is

the same as in xc. 7-9. It is sin

which has thus provoked God's dis-

pleasure; the two nouns, 'indig-

nation' and ‘wrath,’ are in the

Hebrew the strongest which the

language possesses."—Delitzsch.

     THOU HAST TAKEN ME UP, &c.

God's wrath has seized and whirled

him aloft, only to cast him, as

worthless, away. So in Is. xxii. 18,

"He will toss thee like a ball into a

large country." Comp. Job xxvii. 2I,

xxx. 22; Is. lxiv. 6; Ezek. iii. 14.

Others explain, " only to dash him

the more forcibly to the ground;"

but the verb properly means to cast

away, as in li. 11[13]; Job xviii. 7.

    11. THAT DECLINETH. The word

is used properly of the day at its

close (as in Jud. xix. 9), or the sun

as setting, and so here transferred

to the evening shadows (comp. cix.

23), which would strictly be said to

lengthen. The figure describes the

near approach of death.

     12. BUT THOU. This is the

great consolatory thought by which

he rises above his sorrow. He, the

individual, may perish, but Zion's

hopes rest on her Eternal King.

And yet this might seem, as Calvin

remarks, a far-fetched consolation.

What is it to us that God changeth

not, that He sitteth King for ever,

if meanwhile our own condition is

so frail and feeble that we cannot

continue for a moment in one stay?

His unchangeable peace and bles-

sedness do but make our life seem

the more complete mockery. But

the Psalmist recalls God's promises

to His Church, especially that great

covenant promise, "I will dwell in

the midst of you" (Exod. xxv. 8).

Resting on this, he feels sure that

God's children, however miserable

their state, shall have their share in

that heavenly glory wherein God

dwelleth. Because God changes

not, His promise and covenant

change not, and therefore we may

ever lift our eyes to His throne in

heaven, from which He will surely

stretch forth His hand to us.

       SITTEST THRONED, as in ix. 7

[8], xxix. to.

      THY MEMORIAL, as in Exod. iii.

15. Some MSS. read "Thy

throne:" which, however, may

have come from the parallel pas-

sage, Lam. v. 19.

 

                               PSALM CII.                            221

 

13 THOU wilt arise (and) have compassion upon Zion,

            For it is time to have pity upon her,d

                        For the set time is come.

14 For Thy servants find pleasure in her stones,

            And have pity upon her dust.

15 And the nations, shall fear the Name of Jehovah,

            And all the kings of the earth Thy glory,

16 Because Jehovah hath built Zion,

            He hath appeared in His glory;

17 He hath turned to the prayer of the poor-destitute,

            And hath not despised their prayer.

18 This shall be written for the generation to come,

            And a people new-created shall praise Jah.

 

     13. Because God is eternal, there-

fore He will have compassion on

Zion. Or we may connect this

verse with the following: THOU,

Jehovah, the covenant God and

our Father, wilt rebuild the walls

of Zion, for even we her children

love her very dust.

    HAVE PITY UPON, lit. "be gracious

unto," or as the E.V. "favour."

    THE SET TIME. See on lxxv. 2.

It is not necessary to understand

this definitely of the seventy years

prophesied by Jeremiah, xxv. 11, 12,

xxix. 10. It is rather the time when

her warfare is accomplished.

     14. STONES . . . DUST. It is

strange that Luther and others

should have understood these of

the materials for building the new

city. They evidently denote the

ruins of the old (Neh. iii. 34 [E.V.

iv. 2], iv. 4 [E.V. iv. 10]. It is

not less strange that Hengstenberg

should assert that we have here only

a figure representing the low and

ruinous condition of Zion, because

in the Psalm there are no traces of

the destruction of Jerusalem.

    HAVE PITY UPON HER DUST

(the same verb as in verse 13).

Zion was not only dear to them in

her glory, when the splendour of

her Temple riveted every eye; but

her very dust is sacred, her very

ruins are dear. To this day pious

Jews have the dust of Jerusalem

(or of Palestine) cast on their bodies

before burial. "Quainvis subver-

sum sit templum, et deformis tan-

turn vastitas illuc appareat, fideles

tamen, in ejus amore manere de-

fixos, in putridis lapidibus et cor-

rupto camento agnoscere Dei glo-

riam." — Calvin. And then he

applies all this to the spiritual

Zion, the Church, bidding us re-

member that the more mournful

her desolations, the less should we

cease to love her; yea, rather the

more earnestly should our sighs

and prayers go up on her behalf.

       15. The effect produced on the

heathen world by the manifestation

of God's glory, as seen in the re-

demption and restoration of His

people, which is not only the accom-

plishment of a sovereign purpose,

but vouchsafed in answer to prayer.

    17. POOR-DESTITUTE. I have

retained this rendering of the

P. B.V. because the word expresses,

utter nakedness and destitution.

It only occurs here and Jer. xvii. 6.

      18. SHALL BE WRITTEN. The

only place in the Psalms where the

memory of great events is said to

be preserved in writing: elsewhere

(as in xxii. 30 [31], xliv. I [2], lxxviii.

2 [3]) it is left to oral transmission.

    A PEOPLE NEW-CREATED, or "a

people to be created," as in xxii. 31

 

222                            PSALM  CII.

 

19 For He hath looked down from His holy height,

            From heaven hath Jehovah beheld the earth,

20 To hear the sighing of the prisoner,

            To set at liberty those that are doomed unto death;

21 That men may declare the name of Jehovah in Zion,

            And His praise in Jerusalem;

22 When the peoples are gathered together,

            And the kingdoms to serve Jehovah.

23 He hath brought down my strength e in the way,

            He hath shortened my days.

24 I said, 0 my God, take me not away in the midst of

                        my days;--

            Thy years are to all generations.

 

[32], "a people that shall be born."

There is, as Calvin remarks, an im-

plied antithesis between the new

creation of the people and their

present destruction. "The return

from the Captivity was like a second

birth." It was a paliggenesi<a. See

the quotation from Cicero in the

note on lxxxvii. 5. "The passage

strikingly teaches that even when

the Church seems dead it can be

created anew when God wills. Let

us never therefore despair, but rest

assured that He who created a

world out of nothing, can also

bring His Church out of the dark-

ness of death."

     19. HE HATH LOOKED. Comp.

Dent. xxvi. 15:

     20. DOOMED UNTO DEATH. Heb.

"sons of death." See on lxxix.

11.

     22. On this gathering of the na-

tions in Jerusalem comp. xxii. 27

[28], lxviii. 32 [33; Is. xlv. 14. It

is a fulfilment of the prophecy in

Gen. xlix. 10.

     Verses 18-22 express again in a

somewhat different form what has

already been said in verses 13-17:

Thus, "Thou wilt arise," &c., ver.

13, answers to ver. 19, each describ-

ing the first movement of the Divine

compassion. Again, ver. 17, like

ver. 20, ascribes God's merciful in-

terference to the prayer of His

people. Ver. 15, like verses 21, 22,

speaks of the effect to be produced

on the world at large.

     23. Again he returns to the con-

trast between his own weakness

and the brevity of human life, on

the one hand, and the eternity and

unchangeableness of God on the

other (see above, ver. 11, 12), find-

ing in this list his perfect satisfac-

tion and rest.

    IN THE WAY, i.e. in the journey

of life. Those who suppose the

Psalm to express the feelings rather

of the nation at large than of the

individual, see here an allusion to

the journey through the wilderness,

as in Exod. xviii. 8; Num. xvii. 12,

13 [27, 28]. xx. 14.

    24. The abrupt transition in this

verse is full of pathetic beauty.

The prayer that his life may not be

prematurely cut short seems to

spring in this instance not merely

from a natural clinging to life (as

in Hezekiah's case, Is. xxxviii. 10,

11), but from the intense desire to

see God's glory manifested in

Israel's restoration. Then, having

uttered that prayer, without waiting

for the answer, he magnifies God's

eternity and unchangeableness, He

 

                            PSALM CII.                              223

 

25 Of old Thou hast laid the foundation of the earth,

            And the heavens are the work of Thy hands:

26 They shall perish, but Thou remainest,

            Yea, all of them shall wax old as a garment,

            As a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall

                        be changed;

27 But THOU art the same,

            And Thy years shall have no end.

28 The children of Thy servants shall continue,

 

finds in these his strength in weak-

ness; he feels that he can rest on

the Everlasting Arms. He draws

his highest consolation from the

thought, that though he himself

may perish, cut off in the midst of

his days, though the heavens and

the earth may be changed, and

wax old as a garment, yet He who

created them is ever the same, that

His purposes cannot be frustrated,

that His Church, the children of

His servants, shall abide, the wit-

ness and the monument of His love.

      25. The creation of the world

implies its transitoriness. That

which had a beginning shall have

an end. He alone who created all

cannot change. Comp. Is. li. 6,

liv. 10. Elsewhere the order of

nature is spoken of as unchanging,

as in cxlviii. 6. Comp. Gen. viii.

22. And such expressions occur

as "the everlasting mountains,"

"the everlasting heavens:" but

as compared with God all that is

most abiding has upon it the im-

press of decay and death. On the

other hand, there is nothing here

which contradicts the promise made

elsewhere of "new heavens and a

new earth" (2 Peter iii. 13).

    27. THOU ART THE SAME, lit.

"Thou art He." Comp. the same

form of expression, Is. xli. 4, xlvi.

4; Job iii. 19. Or, in a different

sense, as in Deut. xxxii. 39, "I am

He," i.e. I am God, I am Jehovah,

the only true God: comp. Is. xliii.

10, 13, xlviii. 12, lit. 6; and see

Neh. ix. 6, " Thou art He, Jehovah

alone,' &c.

     28. CONTINUE, lit. "dwell," i.e.

in the land, as in xxxvii. 29, lxix.

36 [37], where the full expression

occurs.

    Verses 25-27 are quoted in the

Epistle to the Hebrews (1. 10-12)

as addressed to Christ, and form a

part of the writer's proof from the

Old Testament that He, as the Son

of God, is higher than the angels.

The quotation stands between two

others, one from the 45th, the other

from the 110th Psalm, bearing on

the same argument. But these are,

both of them Messianic Psalms

and the principle on which the quo-

tation rests is sufficiently obvious.

It is by no means so easy to under-

stand why the words of this Psalm

should have been quoted, as it does

not seem at first sight to be a Mes-

sianic Psalm. It may he observed,

however, (1) that it is in this sense

Messianic, that it looks forward to

Israel's redemption from captivity,

and the future glory of Zion; (2)

that, as has been observed in the

note on Ps. xxxii., and in the General

Introduction, Vol. I. p. 54, there

are two great lines of Messianic

hope running through the Psalms,

the one human, the other Divine;

the one of which the reign of the

Son of David, the other of which

the advent of Jehovah, is the great

end and object. Here the Psalmist

is occupied with the latter, the ap-

pearing of Jehovah in His glory.

(3) This identification of the Jesus

of the New Testament with the

Jehovah of the Old is what we

find elsewhere; comp. John xii. 41

224                              PSALM CIII.

 

              And their seed shall be established before Thee.

 

with Is. vi. (Isaiah sees the glory of

Jehovah, St. John tells us it was the

glory of Christ), and John xix. 37,

"they shall look on Him whom they

pierced," which in Zech. xii. 10 is

language used directly of Jehovah.

The difference between these quo-

tations in St. John and the one in

the Ep. to the Hebrews is, that the

argument in the latter requires that

the Messianic character of the

Psalm should be conceded. (4) Not

only the revelation, the appearing

of Jehovah in Zion, but also the

creation of the world (ver. 25) would

point to the Great Mediator, the

Eternal Word, as the Person here

spoken of, and on this last ground,

especially, the quotation in the

Epistle 'to the Hebrews seems to

rest.

 

 

 

            a hKAUH, incorrect writing for hKAhu, as in Hos. ix. 16. See on xlv.

note l.

 

            b hy,H;x,vA. If the reading is correct, it is clear that the accent (Athnach)

is misplaced. Olsh. ingeniously conjectures hm,h<x,vA (comp. lv. 18).

Instead of ddeOB many MSS. of Kenn. and De R. have ddeOn; wandering,

as the Syr. also renders (the Chald. gives both), but contrary to the

Massoreth on Is. xiv. 31, Hos. viii. 9.

 

            c ylalAhom;, Po. part. pass. (occurring also Eccl. ii. 2), with the objective

suffix. Comp. for a similar constr. yniUmHElA.yiva, cix. 3; but the part. lends

itself more readily to this kind of construction, as the suffix may be

regarded, in a measure, as possessive; comp. ymaqA, xviii. 40.

            d h.nAn;H,l;, Inf. Qal. The not unusual expanded form of this verb, as for

instance in Is. xxx. i8, with Segol, instead of Chiriq or Pathach.

            e vHK. The Q'ri is yHiKo which in this instance seems preferable, as

more in accordance with the parallelism; but if we retain the K'thibh we

may render either (I) "he hath brought down," or “humbled,” or "afflicted

with his strength, He hath shortened," &c.; or (2) "His strength hath

humbled, it hath," &c.

 

 

                                       PSALM CIII.

 

            THIS beautiful Psalm is the outpouring of a full heart in thanks-

giving to Jehovah for His grace and compassion, both as experienced

by the Psalmist in his own life, and also as manifested to his

nation in their history. It celebrates especially God's mercy in

 

                                       PSALM CIII.                                          225

 

the forgiveness of sin, and that tender pity, as of a human father,

wherewith He remembers the frailty, and stoops to the weakness, of

His children. It is a hymn of which the text and motto are to be

found in that revelation of Himself which God gave to Moses when

He proclaimed Himself as "Jehovah, tenderly compassionate and

gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth "

(Exod. xxxiv. 6).

            Nothing certain can be said as to the author and date of the

Psalm, though various conjectures have been hazarded. The Hebrew

title gives it to David, the Syriac still more definitely assigns it to

his old age. Rosenmüller supposes it to have been written after

his sin in the matter of Uriah, a supposition which appears to me

to be wholly without foundation. De Wette places the Psalm near

the end of the Exile, on the ground that the Poet celebrates so

largely God's grace and long-suffering, manifested to His people in

spite of their sins and their idolatry. Not one word, however, hints

at idolatry as the sin of which they had been guilty, nor is there a

word to connect the Psalm with the Exile.

            The argument built on the supposed later (Aramaic) forms which

this Psalm has in common with Psalms cxvi., cxxiv., cxxix., cxxxix.,

is not absolutely conclusive for a post-Exile date, for the same forms

occur in 2 Kings iv. 1-7. Still, such forms do not occur in David's

time, or in Psalms in the earlier Books ascribed to him, and they

must fairly be regarded either as marking a dialectic variation (see

Critical Note on ver. 3), or a time when Aramaic influence had

begun to make itself felt.

            Ewald, who thinks that this and the next Psalm were written by

the same author, regards both as Temple-Psalms, composed after the

Exile, the first praising Jehovah as the Redeemer of His people in

the various circumstances of their history, the second praising Him as

the Creator and Ruler of the world. There is little, however, to

connect the two Psalms, except that both begin and end with the

same self-exhortation, "Bless Jehovah, 0 my soul."

            Others, again, attempt to connect this with the preceding Psalm.

So Rieger observes:  "To feel sin and death, and with this feeling to

wrestle for grace and reconciliation, and to seek after the kingdom

of God and His righteousness, is the subject of the 102nd Psalm; to

feel sin and death, and then to have received reconciliation and the

Spirit which quickeneth, and so to praise God, and in faith and

patience to join oneself to all God's saints, is the subject of the

103rd Psalm." Delitzsch, who quotes this with approbation, takes

the same view.

226                              PSALM CIII.

 

            The Psalm consists of three parts:--

 

            I. A prelude, in a strain of trustful gladness, in which the Psalmist

seeks to stir up gratitude within him, by the review of God's mercies

to him as an individual. Ver. 1-5.

 

            II. The body of the Poem, in a more reflective tone, full of a

quiet, tender, pathetic, even melancholy beauty, in which, after a brief

allusion to the facts of the national history, the great covenant

relationship of God to His people forms the prominent ground of

hope amid human sins and transitoriness. Ver. 6-18.

 

            III. A triumphant conclusion. Joy in the remembrance of God's

goodness to himself and his people predominates over every other

feeling. Such a joy must utter itself in praise. Praise seems its

natural employment, and therefore the natural employment of all

other creatures which it summons to a holy sympathy and fellowship

with itself. Ver. 19-22.

 

                                [(A PSALM) OF DAVID.]

 

I BLESS Jehovah, 0 my soul,

            And all that is within me (bless) His Holy Name.

2 Bless Jehovah, 0 my soul,

            And forget not all His benefits;

3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquity,a

            Who healeth all thy diseases,

 

     1. ALL THAT IS WITHIN ME; not

as opposed to outward or mere lip

service, but expressing the desire to

enlist every thought, faculty, power,

the heart with all its affections,

the will, the conscience, the reason,

in a word the whole spiritual being,

all in man that is best and highest,

in the same heavenly service.

   2. FORGET NOT. This touches

the secret spring of so much in-

gratitude:--forgetfulness, the want

of recollection, or gathering to-

gether again of all the varied

threads of mercy.  Comp. Deut. vi.

12, viii. 11, 14.  “Si oblivisceris,

tacebis.”

    3. FORGIVETH, the first and

greatest of all the Divine benefits

to the soul burdened with a sense

of guilt and defilement: therefore

also that which calls first for ac-

knowledgement. "God's benefits

will not be before our eyes, unless

our sins be also before our eyes."

—Augustine.

    DISEASES or "sicknesses," pri-

marily, at least, of body, as in Deut.

xxix. 21; 2 Chron. xxi. 19: and

this agrees with what follows;

though possibly the maladies of the

soul may be included. "Even when

sin is forgiven," says Augustine,

"thou still carriest about with thee

an infirm body . . . . Death is not

yet swallowed up in victory, this

corruptible hath not yet put on

incorruption, still the soul herself is

 

 

 

 

                              PSALM CIII.                                           227

4 Who redeemeth thy life from the pit,

            Who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender

                        mercies,

5 Who satisfieth thy mouth b with good (things),

            (So that) thy youth reneweth itself c as the eagle.

6 Jehovah executeth righteousness

shaken by passions and temptations.

. . . .  [But] thy sicknesses shall all

be healed, doubt it not. They are

great, thou wilt say; but the phy-

sician is greater. To an Omnipotent

Physician no sickness is incurable

only suffer thyself to be healed,

thrust not away His hand; He

knoweth what He doeth. . . . A

human physician is mistaken some-

times; why? Because he did not

make that which he undertakes to

heal. God made thy body. God

made thy soul; He knoweth how

to re-create that which He created;

He knoweth how to re form that

which he formed; only be thou still

under the hands of the Physician

. . . . suffer thou His hands, 0 soul

that blesseth Him, forgetting not

all His benefits; for He healeth

all thy sicknesses."

     4. FROM THE PIT (see on xvi.

to); including death, the grave,

Hades. The Targum renders,

"from Gehenna."

      CROWNETH. The love of God

not only delivers from sin, disease,

and death. He makes His children

kings, and weaves their crown out

of His own glorious attributes of

loving-kindness and tender mercies.

    5. SATISFIETH. Giving Himself

to us as the bread of life; as Atha-

nasius says: Tw?n pneumatikw?n h[ma?j

e]ne<plhsen a]gaqw?n, e[auto>n h[mi?n a@rton

o@nta zwh?j e]pididou<j. And Augustine,

observing that every creature has

its own good: "Seek thine own

good, 0 soul. None is good but

one, that is God. The highest good,

this is thy good. What, then, can

he want who hath the highest good?

. . . . God is this good. What kind

of good who can say? Behold we

cannot say, and yet we are not

permitted to be silent."

     As THE EAGLE, i.e. so that in

strength and vigour, thou art like

the eagle. The rendering of the

E.V., "so that thy youth is renewed

like the eagle's," is grammatically

justifiable, but very unnecessarily

makes the Psalmist responsible for

the fable of the eagle's renewing

its youth (see at end of Critical

Notes). Neither this passage nor

Is. xl. 31 countenances any such

fable. There is an allusion, no

doubt, to the yearly moulting of

the fathers of the eagle and other

birds, the eagle being selected as

the liveliest image of strength and

vigour. The P.B.V. gives the sense

rightly:  "Making thee young and

lusty as an eagle." And so Reuss:

"Et to fait rajeunir comme 1'aigle."

    6. He passes from his own ex-

perience to that of the Church at

large: God's mercies to the indi-

vidual are only a part of that vast

circle of mercy which embraces all

Israel. The connection is thus traced

by Sanchez in his paraphrase:

      "Thou hast shown mercy to me,

Thou hast on various occasions

executed judgement on those who

have persecuted and oppressed me,

and others of Thy people. These

are Thy ways which Thou didst

show to Moses, and to Thy people

in the wilderness.—The Book of

Deuteronomy from the 4th to the

10th chapter, and again from the

27th to the 31st, teaches nothing

else but this, that Jehovah is full of

compassion and long-suffering."

Los Salmos, tomo ii. p. 34.

     RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUDGE-

MENT. The words are in the plural,

228                         PSALM CIII.

 

            And judgement for all that are oppressed.

7 He made known His ways unto Moses,

            His acts unto the children of Israel.

8 Jehovah is full of compassion and gracious,

            Long-suffering and plenteous in loving-kindness.

9 He will not alway be contending,

            Neither keepeth He (His anger) for ever.

10 Not according to our sins hath He dealt with us,

            Neither according to our iniquities hath He requited us;

11 For as high as the heaven is above the earth,

            So great d is His loving-kindness upon them that fear

                        Him.

12 As far as the East is from the West,

            So far hath He removed our transgressiong from us.

13 Like as a father hath compassion on (his) children,

            So Jehovah bath compassion on them that fear Him.

14 For He knoweth our frame,

            He remembereth e that we are dust.

 

which therefore must either be used

intensively for the singular (see note

on lxviii. 35), or perhaps rather to

denote the several ads in which

Jehovah had displayed His righte-

ousness.

      ALL THAT ARE OPPRESSED;

the Church of God being a suffering

Church.

     7. HIS WAYS, in allusion to the

prayer of Moses, Exod. xxxiii. 13:

"If I have found grace in Thy sight,

make known to me Thy way, and

let me know Thee."

    8. The verse is taken from Exod.

xxxiv. 6. Comp. lxxxvi. 5, 15, cxi.

4, cxlv. 8; Joel ii. 13; Nehem. ix.

17, 31.

     9. Compare Is. lvii. 16, "For not

for ever will I contend, and not per-

petually will I be angry; for the

spirit would fail before Me, and the

souls that I have made."

    KEEPETH. See the same absolute

use of the verb, Lev. xix. 18, "Thou

shalt not keep (i.e. cherish any

grudge) against the children of thy

people;" Nah. i. 2; and of the

synonymous word (shamar) Jer. iii.

5, 12. Calvin compares the French

phrases il lui garde, it me l'a garde.

     11. The expressions in xxxvi. 5

[6], lvii. 10 [11], are similar. God's

love is like Himself, infinite. It

cannot be measured by all the mea-

sures of the universe.

     12. REMOVED OUR TRANSGRES-

SIONS. The forgiveness of sin (as

in ver. 3) is the great proof of God's

love. "The expression describes,

in language which might be that of

the N.T., the effects of justifying

grace."—Del. Comp. Micah vii. 19,

"Thou wilt cast all their sins into

the depths of the sea;" Is. xxxviii.

17, "Thou hast cast all my sins

behind Thy back."

    14-16. Man's weakness and tran-

sitoriness is itself an appeal to

God's fatherly compassion. Com-

pare Gen. viii. 21, and see the same

ground taken in Ps. xxxix. 5 [6], 13

14], lxxviii. 39; Job vii. 7.

     14. OUR FRAME, lit. "Our fash-

 

                               PSALM CIII.                                    229

 

15 As for frail man, his days are as grass,

            As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone,

            And the place thereof knoweth it no more.

17 But the loving-kindness of Jehovah is from everlasting

                        to everlasting upon them that fear Him,

            And His righteousness unto children's children;

18 To such as keep His covenant,

            And to those that remember His precepts to do them.

 

19 Jehovah hath established His throne in the heavens,

            And His kingdom ruleth over all.

20 0 bless Jehovah, ye His angels,

            That are mighty in strength, that execute His word,

                        Hearkeningf to the voice of His word.

 

ioning," as in Gen. ii. 7, "And He

fashioned (formed) man of the

dust," &c.; or as a potter moulds

and fashions the clay, Is. xxix. 16,

xlv. 9, 11; Job. x. 8.

   15. Compare, for the figures in

this and the next verse, xxxvii. 2,

10, 36, xc. 5, 6; Is. xl. 6-8, li. 12;

Job xiv. 2; and for the phrase, "the

place thereof knoweth it no more,"

Job vii. 10.

     17. The same contrast between

man's transitoriness and God's un-

changeableness which occurs in

Psalm xc. For the third time God's

mercy and loving-kindness is said

to be upon "them that fear Him,"

comp. ver. 11, 13, as if to remind

us that there is a love within a love,

a love which they only know who

have tasted that the Lord is gracious,

who fear Him and walk in His ways,

as well as a love which "maketh the

sun to shine, and sendeth rain upon

the just and the unjust." In the

next verse there is the same limi-

tation, "To such as keep His

covenant," and to those who not

only know but "do" His will. The

blessings of the covenant are no

inalienable right; manicipio nulli

datur; children's children can only

inherit its blessings by cleaving to

it. Comp. Exod. xx. 6, xxiv. 7;

Deut. vii.

    FROM EVERLASTING TO EVER-

LASTING. "Ab aeterno, ob prae-

destinationem; in aeternum, ob

beatificationem; altera principium,

altera finem nesciens."—S. Bernard.

     19. The concluding portion of the

Psalm extols the greatness and ma-

jesty of Him who has thus stooped in

pity to His children. The Psalmist

had begun by calling upon his own

soul to bless Jehovah for His good-

ness; he had associated with him-

self, as partakers in that goodness,

all who feared the Lord. Now he

concludes by calling on the angels

in heaven and all creation, inanimate

as well as animate, to ascribe bless-

ing and honour and power to Him

who sitteth upon the throne. Lastly,

from all that vast congregation of

worshipers praising God, he turns

to himself, that his voice may not

be wanting in the mighty anthem,

"Bless thou Jehovah, 0 my soul."

   20. MIGHTY IN STRENGTH, or

"strong warriors" (see note on

I), as afterwards "all His hosts," by

 

                         PSALM CIII.

 

21 Bless Jehovah, all ye His hosts,

            Ye ministers of His, that do His pleasure.

22 Bless Jehovah, all ye His works,

            In all places of His dominion.

                        Bless Jehovah, 0 my soul.

 

which not the stars but the angels

are meant, as is plain from the paral-

lelism, "ye ministers of His that do

His pleasure." Compare the leitour-

gika> pneu<mata of Heb. i. 14. See

also Ps. civ. 4 ; Dan. vii. 10.

    22. ALL HIS WORKS. In

same way in Ps. cxlviii. first

angels and then the whole creation

is called upon to praise God.

     On the closing words, "Bless

Jehovah, 0 my soul," J. H. Mi-

chaelis observes, "Magnum pa<qoj  

habet hic Psalmi finis, in quo

Psalmista per epanalepsin ad ani-

mam suam revertitur."

 

            a ykineOfE . . . .ykiy;xAUlHETa, These forms of the fem. suffix, echi in the sing.

and ay'chi in the plural are commonly regarded as later Aramaic forms.

In the Psalter they occur, it is true, only in the later Psalms, as in

cxvi. 7, 19 (where in ver. 12 occurs also the pure Chaldee masc. suffix,

yhiO-), cxxxv. 9, cxxxvii. 6. But they are rather to be regarded as instances

of a return to the original fuller form of the 2d pers. fem. (corresponding

to the original form yTixa, afterwards shortened into T;xa), a return due,

perhaps, to Aramaic influence. It is, however, remarkable that these

same forms are found (in the K'thibh) in a passage in the history of

Elisha, 2 Kings iv. 1-7, a fact which certainly seems to suggest a

dialectic, i.e. North Palestinian variation. The only other passage in

which (according io Del.) this form of suffix occurs is Jer. xi. 15.

            b j`yed;f,. It is difficult to determine the meaning of the word here. In

xxxii. 9 I have adopted the rendering trapping, harness. Hupfeld

contends for a similar meaning here; he takes it to denote the whole

apparatus of external means by which life is maintained, all, whether in

the way of ornament or of use, which is to a man what trappings are to

a horse; all that he may be said, figuratively, to put on (hdf), just as

men are said, for instance, to put on strength, pride, &c. But as Hitz.

pertinently observes the verb "satisfy" is wholly against such an inter-

pretation. Hengst. also renders the word ornament or beauty, but supposes

it to be used, like the word glory elsewhere, for the soul, and tries to

obviate the objection to this, viz. that the soul is addressed in ver. 1, by

saying that in what precedes the idea of the whole person has imper-

ceptibly taken the place of the soul. Maurer and Koster keep to the

same rendering, viz., ornament, but think that the body is meant, spoken

of by anticipation as restored to youth and beauty.

            In Ezek. xvi. 7, where the dual form of the word occurs, the A.V. has

"ornaments," but Hitz. contends for the sense of "cheeks," which

certainly accords better with the dual.

            Of the older interpreters, the Syr. has thy body, the LXX. desire

(e]piqumi<an), the Chald. old age (either as connecting the word with dfa, time

                                             PSALM CIII.                                             231

 

or as parallel to youth in the next member), and this last is followed by

De Wette and by Gesen. in his Lex., though in his Thes. he prefers the

more general sense of aetas, and thinks that youth rather than old age

is meant. Finally, there is the interpretation of Ibn 'Ezra, Qimchi, and

others, who here, as in xxxii. 9 (see Critical Note there), give the sense

mouth, lit. cheek [just as Cicero uses bucca in the same general way,

quicquid in buccam venera, scribito, "whatever comes into your head"].

There are thus, in short, three meanings assigned to the word: (I) that

which is put on, ornament, beauty, &c., according to which the rendering

would be, "Who satisfieth all that thou hast about thee;" the awkward-

ness of this it is impossible not to feel: (2) time (whether youth or old

age), a rendering to which Hupf. would incline, if it were allowable to set

aside usage, and to go back to the root dfa, aetas: (3) mouth, for which

may be alleged the interpretation of the older versions in xxxii. 9, and

the Arabic cognate. This last, which in xxxii. 9 has Ewald's support

(though here he has "deinen Muth"), is perhaps, on the whole, simplest,

though I give it with some hesitation. Hitz. has "deine Backe;" Reuss:

"ta bouche."

            c wDeHat;Ti: 3 fem. sing. with plur. noun, according to the well-known

rule, Ges. § 146, 3. There is no reason to render this verb as a passive.

The proper reflexive meaning is far more lifelike and expressive.

            d rbg with lfa, in the same sense, cxvii. 2. Elsewhere the phrase has a

different meaning, Gen. xlix. 26; 2 Sam. xi. 23. Hence Hupf would here

read h.bg.

            e rUkzA, strictly a passive infixus, but according to Ges. § 50, Obs. 2 =

infxum (menti) habens.

            f fmow;li; gerundial = obediendo.

 

            The fable of the eagle's renewing its youth has received different

embellishments. The version of Saadia, given by Qimchi, is as follows:

The eagle mounts aloft into heaven till he conies near to the seat of

central fire in the sun, when, scorched by the heat, he casts himself down

into the sea.  Thence he emerges again with new vigour and fresh

plumage, till at last in his hundredth year he perishes in the waves.

Augustine's story is more elaborate and far less poetical. According to

him, when the eagle grows old, the upper curved portion of the beak

becomes so enlarged, that the bird is unable to open its mouth to seize its

prey. It would die of hunger, therefore, did it not dash this part of its

beak against a rock till the troublesome excrescence is got rid of. Then

it can devour its food as before, vigour is restored to its body, splendour

to its plumage, it can soar aloft; a kind of resurrection has taken place.

Thus it renews its youth. And then, wonderful to say, having told this

story gravely, he makes Christ the rock, adding, "in Christ thy youth

shall be renewed as the eagle's."

232                              PSALM  CIV.

 

                                    PSALM CIV.

 

            The general argument of this Divine Ode of Creation has been

well expressed by Calvin. "This Psalm," he says, "differs from the

last, in that it neither treats of God's special mercies bestowed on His

Church, nor lifts us to the hope of a heavenly life; but painting

for us in the frame of the world, and the order of nature, the living

image of God's wisdom, power, and goodness, exhorts us to praise

Him, because in this our frail mortal life He manifests Himself to us

as a Father." It is a bright and living picture of God's creative

power, pouring life and gladness throughout the universe.

            There are several points in the Psalmist's treatment of his subject

which deserve especial notice.

            I. First there is here, what is not to be found to the same extent,

if at all, in any other ancient poetry, the distinct recognition of the

absolute dependence of the universe, as created, upon the Creator:

"He is before all things, and by Him all things subsist." This

truth is throughout implied. It forms the very basis, and so to

speak, main thread of the poem.

            2. Secondly, the great work of creation is here regarded not as a

thing of the past merely: the Universe is not a machine once set

a-going, and then left to its fate, or to inexorable laws. The Great

Worker is ever working.* "The world and all things owe their past

origin and their present form to the continuous operation" of God.

Creation ever repeats itself; death is succeeded by lire. He who

made, renews the face of the earth. It is the same profound view

of the relation of the Kosmos to the Creator, which St. Paul exhibits

in his speech on Mars' hill. He, too, is careful not to separate the

past from the present. "God, who made (past, o[ poih<saj) the world,"

did not then leave the work of His fingers: the streaming forth of His

Omnipotence and His love was not checked or stayed; on the

contrary, every part of His creation rests at every moment on His

hands; "He giveth (present, didou>j) to all life and breath, and all

things (Acts xvii. 25).

            3. Thirdly, in its main outline the Poem follows the story of

creation contained in the first chapter of Genesis. There manifestly

 

            * See the excellent remarks on the importance of this view of nature

in reference to miracles, in the Rev. D. J. Vaughan's valuable work,

Christian Evidences and the Bible, p. 97.

                                        PSALM. CIV.                                        233

 

is the source whence the Psalmist drew. Meditating on that sublime

description, itself a poem, he finds in it his subject and his inspiration.

And yet the Psalm is not a mere copy of the original. Breathing the

same lofty spirit, it has a force and an originality of its own. In some

respects the Psalm, even more strikingly than the early record,

exhibits the infinite greatness, the order, the life of the Universe. "It

is remarkable," says a Spanish commentator, "how the lyric verse,

while losing nothing of its freedom and fire (bizarria ed entusiasmo),

contrives at the same time to preserve all the force and simplicity of

the picture of nature presented to us in Genesis." * But the creation

of Genesis is a creation of the past; the creation of the Psalm is a

creation of the present. The one portrays the beginning of the

eternal order, the other its perpetual, living spectacle. Hence, too,

the Ode has far more animation than the Record. The latter is a

picture of still life; the former is crowded with figures full of stir and

movement. How vivid are the images which it calls up,—the wild

ass roaming the sands of the wilderness, stooping to slake his thirst

at the stream which God has provided; the birds building their

nests, and breaking forth into song in the trees which fringe the

margin of the torrent-beds ; the wild goats bounding from rock to

rock, and finding their home in the inaccessible crags; the young

lions filling the forest by night with their roar, and "seeking from

God their prey; "and the sea with the same plentitude of life, its

depths peopled with huge monsters and swarming myriads of lesser

fish, and its surface studded with sails, the image of the enterprise,

the traffic, the commerce of the world; and lastly, in fine contrast

with this merely animal activity of creatures led by their appetites,

the even tenor, the calm unobtrusive dignity of man's daily life of

labour: take all these together, and we have a picture which for truth

and depth of colouring, for animation, tenderness, beauty, has never

been surpassed.

            It is not surprising that this great Hymn of Creation should have

called forth the warmest expressions of admiration from those who

have studied it, and that they should have vied with one another in

praising it as a masterpiece which has rarely been exceeded. One

writer† "prefers it to all the lyric poetry of the Greeks and Romans."

Another ‡ declares that "in Hebrew poetry there is little that can

compare with it in precision of outline, and in the delicacy of its

transitions, as well as in its warm sympathy with nature, and in

the beauty of its images." A third § says, "The Psalm is delightful,

 

            * Sanchez, Los Salmos, ii. 36.                     † Amyraldus.

                        ‡ Hupfeld.                              § Sanchez.

234                                   PSALM CIV.

 

sweet and instructive, as teaching us the soundest views of nature

(la mas sana fisica), and the best method of pursuing the study of it,

viz., by admiring with one eye the works of God, and with the

other God Himself, their creator and preserver." The great philo-

sopher and naturalist, A. von Humboldt, writes:  "It might almost

be said that one single Psalm represents the image of the whole

Cosmos. . . . We are astonished to find in a lyrical poem of such

limited compass the whole universe—the heavens and earth—sketched

with a few bold touches. The contrast of the labour of man with the

animal life of Nature, and the image of omnipresent, invisible Power,

renewing the earth at will, or sweeping it bf inhabitants, is a grand

and solemn poetical creation."—Cosmos, vol. ii. part. i. (p. 413,

Bohn's edition). "With what an eye of gladness," says Herder,

"does the Poet survey the earth! It is a green mountain of Jehovah,

which He lifted above the waters; a paradise which He established

for the dwelling-place of so many living creatures above the seas. The

series of pictures which the Poet here displays is in fact the natural

history of the earth."

            The Psalm is without any strophical division, but its main outline,

as has been said, follows the first chapter of Genesis. The Poet

begins with the light, and the heaven with its clouds and storms,

ver. 2-4, corresponding to the works of the First and Second Days,

Gen. i. 3-8. Then he passes to the earth, first describing its original

chaotic state, and the separation of earth and water by the voice of

God. ver. 5-9, in accordance with Gen. i. 9, 10 (first portion of the

Third Day's work); and then the varied adornment of the earth as

the dwelling-place of living creatures, in a strain which goes far

beyond the narrative in Gen. i. 11, 12. The mention of the heavenly

bodies follows, ver. 19-23 (Fourth Day's work), but with a more

direct reference to the life of men and animals than in Gen. i. 14-18.

Then, after a short exclamation of admiring gratitude, ver. 24, the

Poet, who has already woven into his verse so happily some portion

of the creative wonders of the Fifth and Sixth Days, the birds, and

beasts, and creeping things, and man, Gen. i. 20-26, turns back again,

ver. 25, 26, to speak of the sea and its life, Gen. i. 21. Finally, after

expressing in vivid phrase the absolute dependence of all this vast

and manifold creation upon its Maker, ver. 27-30, he longs to see

the bright original restored, to find himself and all God's creatures

parts of the mighty harmony, that a new sabbath of creation may

dawn, a rest of God, in which He shall rejoice in His works and

they in Him, and the world become a temple filled with the anthem

of praise, ver. 31-35.

                                       PSALM CIV.                                    235

 

1 BLESS Jehovah, 0 my soul!

            0 Jehovah my God, Thou art very great,

                        Thou art clothed with honour and majesty.

2 Thou coverest Thyself with light as with a robe,

            Thou spreadest out the heavens like a curtain,

 

     I. CLOTHED, Comp. xciii. I.

     2. THOU COVEREST THYSELF,

lit. "covering Thyself" (and in the

next member "spreading out"), if

we connect these participial clauses

with what precedes, or "covering

Himself" if we join them with

what follows. This participial con-

struction (of which we have fur-

ther instances in ver. 10, 13, 14,

ciii. 3-5; see also Is. xliv. 24, 25,

xlv. 7; Jer. x. 12; Am. iv. 13) gives

a present force to God's creative

action, teaches us to regard it not

merely as a thing of the past, but

as still operative. The fifth verse,

on the other hand, opening with a

past tense, takes us back to the

original creation of all things.

     WITH LIGHT. This is the First

Day. At the creation God said,

"Let there be light." Here, where

the creation is an ever-continued

work, He apparels Himself with

light. The final revelation tells us

that "God is Light," I John i. 5;

comp. John i. 4-9.

      "In comparing the light to a

robe," says Calvin, "he signifies

that though God is invisible, yet His

glory is manifest. If we speak of

His essential being, it is true that

He dwelleth in light inaccessible;

but inasmuch as He irradiates the

whole world with His glory, this is

a robe wherein He in some mea-

sure appears to us as visible, who in

Himself had been hidden. . . . It

is folly to seek God in his own

naked Majesty . . . let us turn our

eyes to that most beautiful frame

of the world in which He would

be seen by us, that we may not pry

with idle curiosity into the mystery

of His nature." And Herder asks,

"Is there in the universe a created

thing more worthy to be the robe

of Jehovah, whose very being is

such that He dwelleth in dark-

ness?"

     SPREADEST OUT THE HEAVENS.

The same figure in Is. xl. 22 (comp.

xlii. 5; xliv. 24). This describes

briefly the work of the Second Day,

Gen. i. 6-8. The heavens are the

firmament, the expanse (as the He-

brew word literally means) which is

spread out to separate the waters.

And in the waters above God lays,

as it were, the floor of His palace.

     LIKE A CURTAIN, i.e. the curtain

of a tent, "ac si diceret regium esse

tentorium."

     "Because the Hebrews conceived

of heaven as a temple and palace

of God, that sacred azure was at

once the floor of His, the roof of

our, abode. Yet methinks the

dwellers in tents ever loved best the

figure of the heavenly tent. They

represent God as daily spreading

it out, and fastening it at the ex-

tremity of the horizon to the pillars

of heaven, the mountains: it is to

them a tent of safety, of rest, of a

fatherly hospitality in which God

lives with His creatures."—Herder.

     Both Athanasius and Augustine

observe, that in the use of this

figure the Psalmist designs to mark

not merely the form of the heaven,

but the ease with which God works.

"For easy as it is," says the former,

"for a man to stretch out a skin, so

easy it is for God to create the

heaven which did not exist before."

Augustine:  "What infinite labour,

and toil, and difficulty, and con-

tinued effort it costs to spread

out one little room there is no

effort of this kind in the works of

God. Thou art not to think that

God spread out the heaven as thou

spreadest out the roof of thy house;

236                                 PSALM CIV.

3 Who layeth the beams of His chambers in the waters,

            Who maketh the clouds His chariot,

                        Who walketh upon the wings of the wind;

4 Who maketh the winds His messengers,

but as easy as it is for thee to

spread out a single skin, so easy

was it for God to spread out that

vast heaven. . . . Nay, God did

not spread out the heaven as thou

spreadest out the skin. For let a

skin, wrinkled or folded, be placed

before thee, and command it to be

unfolded and stretched out; spread

it out by thy word. 'I cannot,'

thou wilt reply. See then how far

thou comest short of the ease with

which God worketh."

    3. WHO LAYETH THE BEAMS.

The figures, as Calvin remarks, are

all designed to teach the same truth,

viz.. that we are not to pierce heaven

in order to discover God, because

He meets us in His world and pre-

sents everywhere living pictures to

our eyes. We must not suppose that

anything was added to Him by the

creation of the world; it is for our

sakes that He puts on this garment.

      HIS CHAMBERS, lit. "upper cham-

bers," u[per&?a, built on the flat roof

of the Eastern houses. For the

literal use of the word see for in-

stance 2 Kings iv. 10; for the figu-

rative, as here, Jer. xxii. 13, 14,

and comp. Am. ix. 6. Clericus cites

from Ennius, "coenacula maxima

cceli;" and from Plautus, Amph. iii.

1-3, where Jupiter says of himself,

"in superiore qui habito caenaculo."

     IN THE WATERS, i.e. the waters

above the firmament, Gen. i. 7. It

is impossible not to admire the

boldness of the figure.

     WALKETH UPON THE WINGS.

Dei<knusin w[j ou]de h[ tw?n a]ne<mwn fora>

ei]kh? fe<retai, a]ll ] au]to<j e]stin w!sper

tis h[ni<oxoj au]tw?n gino<menoj, dia>

to> tai?j au]tw?n e]pibai<nein pte<rucin.--

Athanasius.

     4. In former editions this verse

was rendered, "Who maketh His

messengers winds, His ministers a

flaming fire." I admitted that the

other rendering, which I have now

adopted, seemed to be the natural

sense of the words, and that which

harmonized best with the context:

God has His palace in heaven, He

makes the clouds His chariot, the

winds and the lightning His avant-

couriers and His train. But I then

thought there were insuperable

grammatical difficulties in the way

of this interpretation, both in the

plural predicate in the second mem-

ber, and in the inversion of order

in both members of the verse. As

regards the first, the plural predi-

cate we ought to have either,

"flames of fire His ministers," or,

"the flaming fire His minister."

The plural predicate, however, is

not wholly unexampled (see Prov.

xvi. 14, "the wrath of the king is

messengers of death," where the

E.V. inserts the particle of compari-

son); and it may be accounted for

here, as an accommodation to the

plural predicate "messengers" in

the first member of the verse (so

Hitz. and Hupf.); though I think it

more likely that as by "the flaming

fire" the lightnings are meant, the

subject itself is conceived of as

plural. But the greater difficulty

of the inversion of order in the sub-

ject and predicate which remained,

and which seemed insuperable to

so acute a critic as Bishop Thirl-

wall (see his remarks in the Critical

Note), is no longer an obstacle.

The natural order, no doubt, in

Hebrew as in English, is verb,

object, predicate, and I had seen no

proof that any other was possible.

But since the last edition of this

work was published, I have met

with other instances of the inverted

order of the object and predicate

after the verb, which I have given in

the Critical Note, and which fully

justify the rendering I have now

adopted. It is no longer neces-

sary therefore to adopt either of

                                 PSALM  CIV.                                        237

            His ministers the flaming fire.a

5 He established the earth upon the foundations thereof,

            That it should not be moved for ever and ever.

6 Thou coveredst it b with the deep as with a garment;

 

the explanations suggested in former

editions; such as (a) "He maketh

His messengers winds, &c., i.e. He

clothes His messengers with the

might, the swiftness, the all-per-

vading subtilty of wind and fire;"

or still less (b) [as in First Edition]

that God's messengers (or angels)

are the secret agents who assume

the forms of wind and lightning,

in order to accomplish His will;

that what we see working around

us are not blind forces of nature,

but beings to whom natural objects

are a veil concealing their operation.

This view has no apparent support

in Scripture, though it has been

illustrated with great beauty of

language by Dr. Newman in his

Sermon on the Feast of St. Michael:

"But how do the wind and water,

earth and fire move? Now, here

Scripture interposes, and seems to

tell us that all this wonderful har-

mony is the work of Angels. Those

events which we ascribe to chance

as the weather, or to nature as; the

seasons, are duties done to that

God who maketh His Angels to be

winds, and His Ministers a flame

of fire. . . . Thus, whenever we

look abroad, we are reminded of

those most gracious and holy

Beings, the servants of the Holiest,

who deign to minister to the heirs

of salvation. Every breath of air,

and ray of light and heat, every

beautiful prospect, is, as it were,

the skirts of their garments, the

waving of the robes of those whose

faces see God in heaven." [But

why "deign," when this is their

mission and their duty?]

     On the rendering of the verse by

the LXX., and the quotation in the

Ep. to the Hebrews, i. 7, more will

be found in the Critical Note.

Calvin observes that we are not

bound in this and similar instances

to regard the application of a pas-

sage in the New Testament as

settling the question of its meaning

where it occurs in the Old.

     HIS MESSENGERS. Hitz. illus-

trates the expression by reference

to Babr. Fab. i, where an arrow is

called "the messenger of the hunts-

man," and to Xen. Mem. iv. 3 § 4,

where Socrates speaks of the winds

and the lightning as "servants of

the gods."

    5. The work of the Third Day in

its two great divisions: first, the

separation of the land and water

(ver. 5-9); next, the clothing of

the earth with grass, herbs, and

trees (ver. 10-18). The Poet,

however, ranges beyond the first

creation, and peoples the earth with

the living creatures of the Fifth

Day. It is not a picture of still

life like that in Genesis, but a living,

moving, animated scene.

     HE ESTABLISHED. God's order

is itself the surest prop.

     UPON THE FOUNDATIONS

THEREOF. Comp. Job xxxviii. 4-6;

Prov. viii. 29. On the other hand,

in Job xxvi. 7, God is said to "hang

the earth upon nothing." Men-

delssohn gets rid of the figure here by

rendering "Thou hast established

the earth in herself," but it must be

a dull mind which needs thus to be

guarded against misapprehension.

Yet it is curious to see how these

obvious figures have been strained,

and a hard, literal, prosaic sense

given to what is manifestly poetry.

This was one of the passages which,

according to Father Sanchez, was

most strongly relied upon in the

controversy with Galileo.

      6- 8. These verses hang together

in construction, and are a poetical

expansion of Gen. i. 9.

     6. The original chaos is described

not according to the heathen notion,

238                     PSALM CIV.

 

            Above the mountains did the waters stand.

7 At Thy rebuke they fled,

            At the voice of Thy thunder they were scattered;

8 They went up by the mountains, they sank down into

                        the valleys,

 

as a confused mass, earth and water

mingled together, but the earth

as already formed, yet completely

enveloped in the water, e]c u!datoj kai>

di] u!datoj, 2 Pet. ii. 5. This vast,

swelling, tumultuous sea hears the

"rebuke" of God, and sinks to its

appointed place; the earth appears,

emerges from her watery covering,

and shows her surface diversified

with mountain and valley.

     So Milton:--

"The earth was formed, but in the

            womb as yet

Of waters, embryon immature in-

            volved,

Appear'd not: over all the face of

            earth

Main ocean flow'd."

    7. Comp. lxxvii. 17-19. AT THY

REBUKE; comp. xviii. 15 [16]; lxxvi.

6 [7]; Is. l. 2, and Matt. viii. 26.

      There is some doubt as to the

construction of the clauses of this

verse. I should see no objection

to that which the LXX. and Jerome

have adopted, according to which

the two clauses are immediately

connected (a]nabai<nousin o@rh kai> kata-

bai<nousi pedi<a ei]j to<pon o{n e]qemeli<wsaj

au]toi?j, Ascendent montes, et des-

cendent campi ad locum quem

fundasti eis), but that the subject of

the next verse is evidently again

that of ver. 6, the waters. Ewald

and Hupfeld take the first member

as parenthetical, and connect the

second with the previous verse, "At

the voice of Thy thunder the waters

fled to the place," &c.; and there

may be a reference to Gen. i. 9,

"Let the waters be gathered into

one place." Del. says this reference

is undeniable, but his own render-

ing, "the mountains rose, (the

water) sank down into the valleys,"

is as improbable as it is artificial

and unnecessary. The rendering of

the Chald., "They (i.e. the waters)

go up to the mountains, they sink

down into the valleys," which has

been followed by our translators

both in the Bible and in the P.B.V.

(the margin gives the other render-

iing), is grammatically admissible,

and has a certain picturesque force, )

carrying on, as it does, the image of

the preceding verse—the rush and

confusion of the waters fleeing at 

the rebuke of God. It has also the

advantage of retaining the same

subject throughout verses 6-9.

And further it is supported by the

very similar construction in cvii. 26.

But with the present tense, "they

go up by the mountains; they go

down by the valleys unto the place,"

&c., the rendering does not har-

monize well with ver. 6, or with the

narrative in Genesis. The verbs

here, as in the previous verse, are

true aorists or imperfects, and the

reference is still to the original

creation. Hence Jun. and Trem.

rightly, "Conscenderunt per montes,

descenderunt per valles; in locum

quern fundaveras ipsis."

      The other explanation, "The

mountains rose, the valleys sank,"

i.e. the mountains seemed to rise

as the waters subsided, may be

illustrated by Ovid, Met. i. 43

"Jussit et extendi campos, sub-

        sidere vanes,

Fronte tegi sylvas, lapidosos sur-

       gere montes;"

and 244,

     "Flumina subsidunt, montes exire

            videntur,

Surgit humus, crescunt loca, decre-

scentibus undis."

And Milton:--

"Immediately the mountains huge

            appear

 

                                      PSALM CIV.                                   239

 

            (Even) to the place which Thou hadst established for them.

9 Thou hast set them a bound that they cannot pass,

            That they turn not again to cover the earth;

10 Who sendest forth springs along the torrent-beds;

            They flow between the mountains;

11 They give drink to all the beasts of the field;

            The wild asses quench their thirst.

12 Above them the fowls of the heaven have their habitation,

            (And) sing among the branches,

 

Emergent, and their broad bare

            backs upheave

Into the clouds, their tops ascend

            the sky;

So high as heaved the tumid hills,

            so low

Dawn sunk a hollow bottom, broad

            and deep,

Capacious bed of waters," &c.

            Paradise Lost, book vii.

     The words of the first member

occur again cvii. 26, where, as

Ewald remarks, they are strictly in

place; whereas here he thinks they

may have been no part of the

original poem.

     9. A BOUND separating the sea

from the land, as in Job xxxviii.

8-11. See for a wider view, ex-

tending still further this separation

of the elements, xxvi. 8-10, Prov.

viii. 27, 29, and comp. Ps. cxlviii.6.

Delitzsch says it might almost

seem as if the poet who wrote

these words did not suppose the

flood to be universal, but it is far

more probable that he is not think-

ing of the Flood, but only of the

everlasting order first established

at, the creation, and afterwards con-

firmed in the covenant made with

Noah, Gen. ix. 9-16.

     10. The loving care, the tender

sympathy with which God, clothing

the earth with beauty, provides at

the same time for the wants of all

His creatures. Even the wild ass

which shuns the approach of man,

and the birds of heaven, which

have no keeper, are not left unpro-

vided for.

     WHO SENDEST FORTH. The

article with the participle carries

on the construction, Jehovah being

the great subject throughout the

Psalm.

     THE TORRENT-BEDS. The word

(nachal) denotes both the torrent

and the valley through which it

flows, corresponding to the Arabic

Wady. Ewald and Hupfeld ren-

der, "Who sendeth forth springs

into brooks." The latter argues (I)

that the word never means the valley

only, without the stream, and (2)

that the subject of the next clause,

"They flow," &c., cannot be the

springs, but must be the streams.

But in answer to (I) it may be said,

that the torrent-bed is not here sup-

posed to exist apart from the tor-

rent, but rather to be produced by

the action of the torrent; and in

answer to (2), that the general sub-

ject of "water" is easily supplied

from the preceding clause, as the

LXX. have seen.

     11. QUENCH THEIR THIRST, lit.

"break their thirst," a phrase which

occurs only here. Comp. the Latin

frangere sitim; and the Welsh, "a

dorrant eu syched."

    12. ABOVE THEM, or, "beside

them." The banks of the streams

and the valleys would first be clothed

with trees, and there the foliage

would be most luxuriant.

     THE FOWLS OF THE HEAVEN, a

frequent expression in Genesis, as

in i. 30, ii. 19, &c,

      SING AMONG, lit. "give voice

from."

240                            PSALM CIV.

 

13 He watereth the mountains from His chambers;

            The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Thy work.

14 He maketh grass to grow for the cattle,

            And green herb for the service of man;

                        That He may bring forth bread from the earth,

15 And wine that maketh d glad the heart of man;

 

     13. God waters the earth not

only by the fountains and torrents,

but by the rain. Comp. Gen. ii. 5

and io.

     HE WATERETH, lit. "He giveth

drink to," the same word as in ver.

11. The MOUNTAINS are men-

tioned not only because on them

the clouds rest, from them the

streams descend, but because Pa-

lestine was a mountain-land. Comp.

Dent. xi. 11, "a land of mduntains

and of valleys; of the rain of heaven

it drinketh water" (unlike Egypt,

which was watered by the Nile).

Thus doubly watered, from above

and from beneath (comp. Gen. xlix.

25), the earth brings forth grass

for the cattle, and its various fruits,

corn and wine and oil for the use

of men—for the cattle what they

need, for man more than he needs

---that which makes his heart glad

and his countenance bright.

     HIS CHAMBERS, i.e. the clouds, as

in ver. 3, where they are built on

the waters.

    THE FRUIT OF THY WORK, i.e.

apparently the rain, as seems to be

required both by the parallelism

and by the expression "the earth is

satisfied," for with the "mountains"

in the first clause, "the earth" can

hardly stand here by metonymy, for

"the dwellers on the earth," viz.

cattle and men. The rain may per-

haps be called "the fruit of God's

work," as the result of His opera-

tion, as elsewhere it is called "the

brook of God," lxv. 9, 10.

      14. GRASS . . . GREEN HERB.

Comp. Gen. i. 11, 29, 30; iii. 18,

19; Ex. x. 12, the latter compris-

ing not vegetables only, but corn,

&c.

    FOR THE SERVICE OF MAN. This

seems the most natural interpreta-

tion, corresponding to "for the

cattle," in the first member, and

may be supported by the use of the

word in I Chron. xxvi. 30. Others

render, "for the labour or tillage of

man" (as the same word in ver.

23); but though we may speak of

tilling the ground, we can hardly

speak of tilling the green herb.

Some connect the next clause with

this: "that he (i.e. man by his

labour in cultivating the earth)

may bring forth bread from it."

(So Ibn. Ez.). But it is an objec-

tion to this, that the whole passage

speaks of God's works and gifts,

and there is nothing in it to suggest.

man's co-operation.

     THAT HE MAY BRING FORTH, or

perhaps, "in that He brings forth,"

for the construction is somewhat

loose, and it can hardly be said

that purpose is clearly marked. If

we adopt the latter rendering, then

ver. 15 must be taken as an indepen-

dent statement. See Critical Note.

      BREAD in this verse seems to be

used in its most general significa-

tion to denote all by which man is

nourished. In the next verse it

is mentioned in its proper sense.,

together with wine and oil, as the

three most important products of

the soil, the three essential elements

of an Eastern banquet, the object

being to set forth the bounty of

God's provision for man. He fur-

nishes no scanty table, He gives

with no niggard hand.

     15. From the satisfying of the

earth by the precious rain, the

Poet's thoughts turn to the satisfy-

ing of man by the earth. Not that

man is the main subject, but rather

the herbs and the trees; only he

 

                                  PSALM CIV.                                         241

 

            That he may make (his) face to shine with oil,

                        And that bread may strengthen man's heart.

16 The trees of Jehovah are satisfied,

            The cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted;

17 Where the birds make their nests:

            As for the stork, the cypresses are her house.

18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;

            The steep precipices are a refuge for the conies.

 

19 He hath made the moon for seasons;

            The sun knoweth his going down:

 

passes for a moment from them to

their chief uses, viz. for man, and

for fowls, and for beasts.

     WITH OIL, the face being men-

tioned rather than the head which

was anointed, because the radiancy

of joy is seen in the face.

    The construction of the verse is

very doubtful. See Critical Note.

STRENGTHEN MAN'S HEART,

Gen. xviii. 5; Jud. xix. 5. Comp.

Ps. cv. 16.

    16. THE TREES OF JEHOVAH, SO

called as planted, not by human

hand, but by God himself (as in

the next member), trees of the

forest and the mountain, in opposi-

tion to those which come under

human cultivation, such as the vine

and the olive, which are implied in

ver. 15. See note on xxxvi. 6.

     ARE SATISFIED, i.e. with the rain,

as in ver. 13.

    17. These trees have their use;

they, are a home and a shelter for

the birds—probably the larger birds

are specially intended, as the stork

is named, the smaller tribes of

singing-birds having already been

mentioned, ver. 12.

     THE STORK. The word means

in Hebrew, "the pious, or affec-

tionate bird," called in Babrius,

Fab. xiii., pthnw?n eu]sebe<staton zw<wn,

and by Petronius, 55, 6, pietati-

cultrix.

     18. THE HIGH MOUNTAINS and

PRECIPICES or "cliffs" are men-

tioned, because they, like the trees,

are a shelter for the wild animals.

God provides food, and God pro-

vides shelter for His creatures.

     CONIES. I have left the word as

in the E.V., though incorrect. The

creature meant is the hyrax Syria-

cus. See Knobel on Lev. xi. 5, and

Smith's Dict. of the Bible.

     19. Transition to the work of

the Fourth Day, but still so con-

trived as to introduce another

picture of life upon the earth,

and the contrast between the life

of the night and the life of the

day.

     THE MOON mentioned first, be-

cause to the Hebrew mind the night

naturally preceded the day, as

throughout Gen. i., "And there was

evening and there was morning."

Hence we have first the night-

scene, ver. 20, 21, and then the

day-scene, ver. 22, 23.

     FOR SEASONS, as in Gen. i. 14.

Others would render in both pas-

sages, "for festivals"; comp. Sir.

xliii. 7, a]po> selh<nhj shmei?on e[orth?j,

but there is no reason so to restrict

it. See note on lxxv. 2 ("set time"),

and comp. Lev. xxiii. 4.

     KNOWETH HIS GOING DOWN.

Comp. Job xxxviii. 12; Jer. viii. 7.

This mention of the sunset pre-

pares the way for the night-picture

which follows.

 

 

242                            PSALM CIV.

 

20 Thou makest darkness—and it is e night,

            Wherein all the beasts of the forest do move.

21 The young lions roar after their prey,

            And seek their food from God:

22 The sun ariseth,—they get them away,

            And lay them down in their dens.

23 Man goeth forth to his work,

            And to his labour until the evening.

24 How manifold are Thy works, 0 Jehovah!

            In wisdom hast Thou made them all:

                        The earth is full of Thy riches.

25 Yonder is the sea, great and broad,

 

     20-23. Even the night has its

busy life; the beasts of prey are

abroad, and they, too, wait upon

the providence of God. The whole

picture is finely conceived, and

the contrast is perfect between the

restless movement and roaring of

the wild beasts, and man's calm

life of labour, continued in the

quiet light of day from morning till

evening. All the other creatures

wait upon God, in simple depend-

ence upon Him; man must labour,

as well as gather what God gives

him, if he would be satisfied with

good.

    20. DO MOVE. The word is

strictly used of the movements of

reptiles and fishes. In Gen. i. 21,

and in Ps. lxix. 34 [35] the verb, and

in ver. 25 of this Psalm the noun,

"things moving," are used of crea-

tures in the sea. In Gen. i. 24, 25,

the noun denotes things creeping

upon the earth. Here, as applied

to the beasts of the forest, the word

may have been chosen to express

their stealthy movements in pur-

suit of their prey, or it may be used

of any kind of motion, as it is in

Gen. vii. 21, "all flesh that moved

upon the earth:" see also Gen. ix. 2.

      24. Having thus come to man,

the crown of all creation, and so

touched, as it were, by anticipation,

on the work of the Sixth Day, the

Psalmist pauses to review with

grateful wonder the multitude of

God's works, and the wisdom which

is manifest in creation.

     Athanasius beautifully remarks

on the sense of rest and refresh-

ment which is produced by this

change of strain, the Psalmist pass-

ing from the narration of God's

works of providence to praise and

glorify Him who is the Creator of

all: to>n peri> th?j pronoi<aj diecelqw>n

lo<gon e]pi> u!mnon tou? kti<santoj to>n

lo<gon mete<balen, dianapau<wn w!sper

dia> tou<to th>n a]koh<n.

    RICHES, lit."possessions." Others

giving a different meaning to the

root render "creatures."

    25. Then he remembers that

there is one vast field of creative

wonders of which as yet he has

said nothing. The sea, too, has its

life, a life in its depths of things

small and great, a life of the coral

insect as well as of the whale, and

also a life on its surface, where "go

the ships" carrying the thoughts

and the passions, the skill and the

enterprise of human hearts.

    The way in which the sea is men-

tioned indicates a writer not living

on the coast. It is visible, perhaps,

but at a distance. Its monsters are

not familiar objects, but are vaguely

described as "leviathan."

   BROAD, lit. "wide of two hands,"

 

                              PSALM CIV.                                         243

 

            Wherein are things moving without number,

                        Beasts both small and great.

26 There go the ships,

            (And there) leviathan whom Thou hast formed to

                        take his pastime therein.

27 All of them wait upon Thee,

            That Thou mayest give them their food in its season.

28 That Thou givest them, they gather;

            Thou openest Thine hand, they are satisfied with

                        good;

29 Thou hidest Thy face, they are troubled;

            Thou takest away their breath, they die,

                        And turn again to their dust.

30 Thou sendest forth Thy breath, they are created,

 

i.e. "on both sides," and so in all

directions, a phrase used elsewhere

of a land or country, as Gen. xxxiv.

21; Jud. xviii. 10; Is. xxii. i8.

     26. LEVIATHAN; not here as in

lxxiv. 14; Job xi. 25 [E.V. xli. I],

"the crocodile," but a general term

for all "sea-monsters."

      THEREIN, i.e. in the sea, the pro-

noun referring to the more remote

noun. It is strange that Ewald

should render "whom Thou hast

made to play with him," and ap-

peal to Job xl. 29 [E. V. xli. 5], as

supporting the rendering. The

Jewish tradition does indeed make

Leviathan the plaything of the Al-

mighty, but there is nothing of the

kind in Scripture.

     27, 28. In allusion, probably, to

Gen. i. 29, 30.

     27. WAIT UPON THEE. The verb

(which is more usual in Aramaic)

occurs in the same sense and with

the same construction, cxlv. 15.

     IN ITS SEASON. Or the suffix

may refer distributively to the ani-

mal (not to the food): "to each in

his season," "at the fitting time,"

"in due season" as the E.V. ren-

ders.

     28. GATHER. The word denotes

properly "to pick up objects from

the ground," as stones, flowers,

ears of corn, grapes, wood, &c.;

here, provender. There is no allu-

sion (as Hengst.) to the gathering

of the manna.

    29, 30. God is not only the liberal

and provident householder, the gra-

cious father of a family; He is the

Fountain of Life to His creatures.

Comp. xxxvi. 8, 9 [9, 10].

    29. THOU HIDEST THY FACE; a

phrase elsewhere used to express

God's wrath or displeasure; here in

a physical sense, the withdrawal of

His care.

   TROUBLED. See the same ex-

pression, xxx. 7 [8], and comp. Job

xxiii. 15.

     THOU TAKEST AWAY, or per-

haps rather "Thou withdrawest,"

"drawestin," correlative to "sendest

forth," ver. 30. Comp. cxlvi. 4 with

Job xxiv. 14.

   THEY DIE, lit. "breathe out

their life," exhalare animain, ex-

spirare, the same word as in Gen.

vi. 17, vii. 21, though there is no

need to assume any allusion to the

deluge.

    TURN AGAIN TO THEIR DUST, as

in Gen. iii. 19; Job xxxiv. 15.

    30. The reference can hardly be

(as Hupf.) to Gen. ii. 7, where the

 

244                              PSALM CIV.

 

            And Thou renewest the face of the ground.

31 Let the glory of Jehovah be for ever!

            Let Jehovah rejoice in His works!

32 Who looketh on the earth, and it trembleth,

            When He toucheth the mountains, they smoke.

33 Let me sing to Jehovah, as long as I live,

            Let me play unto my God, while I have any being.

34 Let my meditation be sweet unto Him;

            As for me, I will rejoice in Jehovah.

35 Let sinners be consumed out of the earth,

            inbreathing of life is confined ex-

 

clusively to the creation of man,

but rather to i. 2, where the Spirit

of God is the great vivifying Agent

in all Creation.

     THOU SENDEST FORTH. Comp.

Acts xvii. 25. THY BREATH. The

same word in Hebrew may be ren-

dered "breath" or "spirit." As the

reference is here only to physical

life, I have retained the former,

especially as the same word is em-

ployed in the previous verse, where

there can be no doubt as to the

meaning. Comp. Job xxxiii. 4, xxxiv.

14, 15, Eccl. xii. 7, with Ps. cxlvi. 4.

God is called "the God of the

spirits of all flesh," Num. xvi. 22,

xxvii. 16, Heb. xii. 9, and He "in

whom we live, and move, and have

our being," Acts xvii. 28.

     THOU RENEWEST; life ever suc-

ceeding death, and all life being, as

it were, a new creation.

"States fall, arts fade, but Nature

            does not die."

     31. The Psalm closes with the

prayer that the glory of that God

who has thus manifested His glory

in creation may endure for ever,

and that He who looked with loving

approbation upon His works when

they were first created, pronouncing

all "very good," may ever rejoice

in them; for He is a God awful in

His majesty, One whose look makes

the earth tremble, One whose touch

consumes the mountains, One who

could in a moment blot out the

creation He has made.

     33. The same words occur in

cxlvi. 2. And as the Psalmist utters

the devout wish that God may re-

joice in His works, so he utters the

wish for himself that he may ever

rejoice in God, that his thoughts

and words may find acceptance

with Him. This is the truest,

highest harmony of creation; God

finding pleasure in His creatures,

His reasonable creatures finding

their joy in Him. But this harmony

has been rudely broken; the sweet

notes of the vast instrument of the

Universe are "jangled out of tune."

Sin is the discord of the world. Sin

has changed the order (ko<smoj) into

disorder. Hence the prophetic hope

(35) that sinners shall be consumed,

that the wicked shall be no more,

that thus the earth shall be purified,

the harmony be restored, and God

once more, as at the first, pronounce

His creation "very good." In the

prospect of such a consummation,

the Poet calls upon his own soul,

and upon all around him, to bless

and praise Jehovah.

     35. HALLELUJAH, or "Praise ye

Jah." I have had considerable

difficulty in deciding which mode

of rendering to adopt. Something

is lost by not translating uniformly

"Praise ye Jah," especially in

Psalms where the verb occurs

several times with a different object.

On the other hand, Hallelujah is

 

                                   PSALM CIV.                                             245

 

            And let the wicked be no more.

                        Bless Jehovah, 0 my soul!

                                    Hallelujah.f

 

almost like the titles of some of the                     Hallelujah in the Psalter, and that

Psalms, and like Amen, has become                   the way in which it is connected

current in our language. The Tal-                        with the prospect of the final over-

mud (B. Berakhoth, 91,) and Mid-                      throw of the wicked is remarkable

rash observe that this is the first                                     and full of meaning.

 

            a The LXX. render the verse: o[ poiw?n tou>j a]gge<louj au]tou? pneu<mata, kai>

tou>j leitourgou>j au]tou? pu?r fle<gon (puro>j flo<ga in the Cod. Alex., which is

followed in Heb. i. 7, where the passage is quoted), making the first nouns

objects, and the second predicates. This is no doubt supported by the

construction in the previous verse, where the same order is observed;

"Who maketh the clouds His chariot." As regards the English transla-

tion it may be remarked, that the two words a]gge<louj and pneu<mata being

both ambiguous, it is just as correct to render messengers and winds, as

to render angels and spirits; and the whole passage shows that winds,

not spirits, is the proper meaning of pneu<mata here. But as has been

already remarked in the note on ver. 4, most of the modern commentators

abandon the rendering of the LXX., and invert the order of the object

and predicate, "Who maketh the winds His messengers, the flaming fire

His ministers."

            There are, however, two difficulties, as I have said, in the way of this

interpretation. First, there is the plural predicate in the second member,

and next there is the inversion of order.

            Hoffmann, who has discussed the passage carefully (Schriftb. I. 325),

urges the first difficulty, and contends, moreover, that hWf, followed by

a double accus., means not to make a thing to be something else, but

to exhibit a thing as something (etwas als etwas herstellen). So in

Gen. vi. 14 the meaning is not "Thou shalt make the ark, already con-

structed, into cells or compartments," but, thou shall construct it as (of)

a number of compartments. So again, "male and female created He

them" (Gen. i. 27), i.e. as male and female; and "he made the altar of

planks of acacia-wood" (Ex. xxxviii. 1), is, says Hoffmann, not essentially

different. [Here, however, the second noun is not so much a predicate

describing the form or manner in which the thing appears, as the material

out of which it is made.] He renders therefore, "making His messengers

as winds, His ministers as a flaming fire," so that the passage does not

describe the purpose to which God applies winds and fire, but the form

which He gives to those whom He, riding upon the clouds, makes use of

to announce His presence, and to execute His will. And such is the

traditional Jewish view: as for instance in Shemoth Rabbah, f. 25,

"Deus dicitur Deus Zebaoth, quia cum angelis suis facit quaecunque vult.

Quando vult, facit ipsos sedentes, Jud. vi. i i. Aliquando facit ipsos

stantes, Isa. vi. 2. Aliquando facit similes mulieribus, Zech. v. 9. Ali-

quando viris, Gen. xviii. 2. Aliquando facit ipsos spiritus (why not

246                                    PSALM' CIV.

 

ventos?), Ps. civ. 4. Aliquando ignem, Ib." Del. partially adopts this

view, but takes the second accus., that is, the predicate, as denoting the

material out of which a thing is made (as in Ex. xxxviii. 1). Accordingly

he renders, "Who maketh His messengers of winds, His servants of

flaming fire," which he says may either mean that God makes wind and

fire of service to Him for special missions (comp. cxlviii. 8), or that God

gives to His angels wind and fire as means whereby they may work, forms

in which they may clothe themselves in order to execute His will in the

world. But the former of these meanings comes to the same thing exactly

as the rendering, "Who maketh winds His messengers," &c.

            But as regards the plural predicate, this may be defended by Prov. xvi.

14. tv,mA-ykexEl;ma j`l,m,-tmaHE. In the Psalm the parallelism accounts in some

measure for the use of the plural.

            Next, there is the difficulty that lies in the order of the words. Can

a Hebrew writer place the verb first, then the predicate, and then the

object? The Bishop of St. David's [the late Bishop Thirlwall], who

kindly allowed me to make use of the remarks which he sent me on

this passage; after observing that he could recall no instance of such

an inversion of the natural order of words in a sentence, continues:

"A priori, I should have thought it incredible that the language should

have been left in such a state as to make it immaterial as to the sense

whether you wrote ‘Who maketh the clouds His chariot,’ or, ‘Who

maketh His chariot the clouds,’ and that the reader should have to infer

the author's meaning not from the order of his words, but from extrinsic

considerations, such as those which you have discussed. I cannot help

thinking that more attention should have been paid to this question, and

that it should have taken precedence of every other: because if in this

respect the rule of Hebrew syntax was the same as our own, the only

remaining doubt would be in what sense we are to understand the words

‘He maketh His messengers winds, His ministers a flaming fire,’ which

would then be the only possible rendering. And in itself it would give a

very good sense as meaning: ‘He endows His messengers with the

might of the winds, His ministers with the all-pervading subtilty of fire’—

or as any one might paraphrase it better. But it would be only the

irresistible compulsion of a grammatical necessity that would induce me

to adopt this rendering; because, however satisfactory in itself, it appears

to me quite foreign to the context. The Psalmist is evidently speaking

of God's doings in the visible creation, not of the secret agency by which

He accomplishes His ends. It was, therefore, very much to the purpose

to say that wind and fire are His servants and do His pleasure; but not

at all to say that He has unseen servants who act as wind and fire."

       Happily, I am now able (Fourth Edition) to remove this difficulty. I can

produce two passages from Isaiah which illustrate this inversion of order,

xxxvii. 26, tOrcuB; MyrifA Myc.ni Myl.iGa tOxwhal; yhit;U; lx. 18, j`yitmaOH hfAUwy; txrAqAv

and show indisputably that the rule of Hebrew syntax was in this respect

not the same as our own. I no longer therefore feel any hesitation in

adopting the rendering in the text, which has the support of many of the

ablest of the modem commentators. The passages quoted in the first

                                            PSALM CIV.                                          247

 

edition of this work, Gen. i. 27, Ex. xxv. 39, in which the predicate stands

first, are not to the point, because there the predicate stands before the

verb. In Am. iv. 13, the only passage which Del. quotes, there is no

reason whatever for assuming an inversion of the order.

            b Otysi.Ki, abbr. for UhtAysi.Ki. The masc. suffix may refer to Cr,x,, according

to Del., by attraction, as in Is. ix. i8, lxvi. 8. Others, in order to avoid

the sudden change of gender in Cr,x,, render "As for the deep (nom.

absol.), as a garment Thou coverest it" (i.e. placest it as a covering over

the earth). But thus the verb "to cover" appears without an object, and

MOhT;, moreover, is generally like Cr,x,, fem., except in Job xxviii. 14,

Jon. ii. 6. In other cases where it occurs with a masc. verb, the verb

precedes, and this proves nothing as to gender; when the verb precedes,

all fem. nouns may be construed with a masc. verb.

            c Udm;faya. The imperf. (after the pert. or pluperf.) as describing the then

condition of things (relative preterite), and so again in the next verse,

instead of historic tenses with 1 consec.

            d The construction presents much difficulty. If we connect this verse

with the last clause of the preceding, then as we have the inf. with l; twice

followed by the fut., the four lines might alike denote the purpose of God,

"That he may bring forth bread, &c. And that wine may make glad, &c.

That he may make his face to shine with oil, And that bread may

strengthen, &c.,"—this change of construction from the infin. to the fut.

being in accordance with a well-known principle of the language. But

the position of Nyiya in ver. 15 is against this explanation. The difficulty

lies in the subordinated form of (b) in ver, 15 (if the object were to mention

oil as well as bread and wine as one of the chief products of the soil), as

well as in the mention of bread a second time in (c).

            Ibn Ezra says: "He mentions bread and wine, for these two are the

life of man, and because he has mentioned the effect of the wine, he

mentions the effect of the bread." It is clear, therefore, how he under-

stood the passage generally, though he has given no explanation of (b).

The effect of the wine is to gladden man's heart, to make his face shine

more than oil (so he must have understood this clause as a part of the

effect produced by the wine); the effect of the bread is to stay man's

heart. Rashi, on the other hand, gives oil a place with bread and wine

among the things which God is here said to bring out of the earth. He

says:  "Wine which maketh glad the heart of man, that also He brought

forth from the earth, and oil wherewith to make his face shine, and bread

which strengtheneth man's heart."

     Ewald gives to Nmi in ver. 15 the comparative meaning more than, and

takes the infin. with l; as gerundial merely:  "Bringing bread out of the

earth, Wine to gladden man's heart, More than oil making his face to

shine, Bread to strengthen man's heart:”  but this, though it seems to be

the most obvious construction of the words, places in too subordinate a

position what must have been designed to be prominent; oil and wine

are commonly joined together as principal products of the soil of

Palestine; Jud. ix. 9-13, Deut. xii. 17, Jer. xxxi. 12, &c.

248                                 PSALM CV.

 

            Hitz: "And wine gladdens man's heart, So that it makes his face shine

more than oil (shines), And bread supports man's heart."

            Hupfeld takes ver. 15 as unconnected in construction with the pre-

ceding: "And wine maketh glad the heart of man, Whilst oil makes his

face to shine (lit. "whilst he maketh his face to shine with oil"), and

bread strengthens man's heart."

            e yhiyvi . . tw,TA. The apocopated forms are used as marking protasis

and apodosis: "(When) Thou makest darkness, (then) it is night;" or

the first may be pret. (as in xviii. 12), and the second denote purpose,

object, &c. (as in xlix. 10).

            f The Hallelujah is written differently in different MSS., sometimes

h.yA-Ull;ha, at others h.yA Ull;ha, without the Makkef, or again h.yAUll;ha, one word,

but always, unless by mistake, with the He mappic. When it appears as

one word, h.yA is not regarded as strictly the Divine name, but only as

strengthening the meaning of Ull;ha, as in the reading hybHrmb, cxviii. 5.

—GEIGER, Urschrift u. Uebers. der Bibel, S. 275.

 

 

                                            PSALM CV.

 

            THIS Psalm, like the 78th and the 106th, has for its theme the

early history of Israel, and God's wonders wrought on behalf of the

nation; but it differs from both those Psalms in the intention with

which it pursues this theme. The 78th Psalm is didactic; its object

is to teach a lesson; it recalls the past, as conveying instruction

and warning for the present. The 106th Psalm is a Psalm of peni-

tential confession. The history of the past appears in it only as a

history of Israel's sin. In this Psalm, on the other hand, the mighty

acts of Jehovah for His people from the first dawn of their national

existence are recounted as a fitting subject for thankfulness, and as

a ground for future obedience. Those interpositions of God are

especially dwelt upon which have a reference to the fulfilment of His

promise, which exhibit most clearly His faithfulness to His covenant.

Hence the series begins with the covenant made with Abraham,

tracing all the steps in its fulfilment to the occupation of the Promised

Land. This is commenced as the theme of the Psalm in ver. 8-11.

            Hengstenberg has inferred, from the length at which the history of

Joseph and the plagues in Egpyt are dwelt upon, that the design of

                                               PSALM CV.                                   249

 

the Psalmist was to encourage the exiles in the Babylonish captivity,

which by Psalmists and Prophets is so often compared with the

bondage of the nation in Egypt. But although this is evidently one

of the later Psalms, and, like the two which follow (both of which

contain allusions to the Exile), may have been written after the Return

from the Captivity, still there is nothing in its language to justify the

view which Hengstenberg takes. There is no hint of any comparison

or contrast between those two great periods of national exile, and,

in particular, the very slight allusion to the circumstances of the

deliverance from Egypt—nothing being said either of the passover or

of the passage of the Red Sea—is unfavourable to the supposition

that any such contrast is implied.

            The first fifteen verses are found in I Chron. xvi. 8-22 (with some

slight variations), as the first portion of the festal song which, on the

day when the Ark of God was brought to its resting-place on Zion,

was delivered by David into the hands of Asaph and his brethren,

"to give thanks unto Jehovah." The second part of that song

consists of Psalm xcvi., the first verse of Psalm cvii., and the forty-

seventh and forty-eighth verses of Psalm cvi. The last of these is

the doxology which closes the Fourth Book, and was evidently a late

addition. It seems, therefore, impossible to doubt that the song in

the Chronicles is a combination from other sources. It is a striking

proof how little a question like this, which is purely a critical question,

can be fairly perverted into a question of orthodoxy, that whilst

Hitzig holds the Psalm in Chronicles to be the original, Delitzsch

maintains that it is a compilation, though he observes that the writer

of the Book may not have compiled it himself, but have found it in

its present shape in the Midrash of the Book of the Kings, which

was his principal authority, and the source of his materials.

            Like the last Psalm, this closes with a Hallelujah. It is the first

of a number of Psalms beginning with the word UdOh (Hodu), "Give

thanks" (cv., cvii., cxviii., cxxxvi.), which Delitzsch styles "Hodu-

Psalms," or Confitemini, just as those that begin with Hallelujah

may be called Hallelujah Psalms (cvi., cxi.-cxiii., cxvii., cxxxv.,

cxlvi.-cl. ).

           

            1 O GIVE thanks to Jehovah, call upon His Name,

 

            1-6. The greatness of God's                               praises among all nations. They

love, as manifested to His people                                    are not to sit down in idle satisfac-

in their history, calls for the fullest                                   tion with their own privileges. His

acknowledgement. The Psalmist                                     "doings" (ver. 1), His "wondrous

would have Israel sound forth His                                   works" (ver. 2, 5), His "tokens,"

250                                PSALM CV.

 

            Make known among the peoples His doings.

2 Sing unto Him, play unto Him;

            Meditate of all His wondrous works.

3 Make your boast of His holy Name,

            Let the heart of them rejoice that seek Jehovah.

4 Enquire ye after Jehovah and His strength;

            Seek His face evermore.

5 Remember His wondrous works that He ha.th done,

            His tokens, and the judgements of His mouth,

6 0 ye seed of Abraham His servant,

            Ye children of Jacob, His chosen.

7 He, Jehovah, is our God;

            His judgements are in all the earth.

8 He hath remembered His covenant for ever,

            The word which He confirmed to a thousand genera-

                        tions;

9 (The covenant) which He made with Abraham,

 

"the judgements of His mouth"

(ver. 5), "His holy Name" (ver. 3), as

the revelation of His character and

attributes,—all these are to form

the subject of loud thanksgiving,

----all these are to become, through

Israel, the heritage of the world.

    I. Taken word for word from Is.

xii. 4.

     5. TOKENS . . . JUDGEMENTS;

the miracles in Egypt are chiefly

meant, as these are chiefly dwelt

upon afterwards.

     6. SEED OF ABRAHAM: in I

Chron. xvi. 13, "seed of Israel."

HIS CHOSEN, plural, referring to

the people, not to Jacob. It is on

this ground, because they are Abra-

ham's seed, because they are God's

chosen, because they are Jacob's

children, heritors of the covenant

and the promises, that they are

bound beyond all others to "re-

member" what God has done for

them. On the other hand, God,

who made the covenant with their

fathers, "remembers" it (ver. 8),

"for His part will surely keep and

perform" it.

      7. The Psalmist begins himself

that praise of God to which he has

exhorted his people. And first he

extols "the covenant," "the word"

(or promise), the "oath" by which

God had bound Himself to the

patriarchs, and which He "re-

membered," i.e. fulfilled, when He

brought them into the land of

Canaan.

    OUR GOD, by covenant, but also,

as follows in the next hemistich,

Judge and Ruler of all nations.

      8. HE HATH REMEMBERED: in

I Chron. xvi. 15, "remember ye."

      CONFIRMED: for this, the ori-

ginal meaning of the word, see Ex.

xviii. 23, "If thou wilt do this

thing, then shall God confirm thee,

and thou shalt be able to stand."

Num. xxvii. 19, "Confirm," or "set

him before thine eyes." In both

these passages the word is joined

with the same verb which occurs in

ver. to of this Psalm, "establish,"

lit. "make to stand."

    TO A THOUSAND GENERATIONS :

from Deut. vii. 9.

    9. The verb MADE (lit. "cut," as

   


251                          PSALM CV.

 

            And the oath which He sware unto Isaac;

10 And He established it unto Jacob for a statute,

            Unto Israel for an everlasting covenant;

11 Saying, "Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,

            The line of your inheritance;"

12 When they were a (but) a small number,

            Very few, and sojourners therein;

13 And they went to and fro from nation to nation,

            From (one) kingdom to another people;

14 He suffered no man to oppress them,

            And reproved kings for their sakes, (saying,)

15 "Touch not Mine anointed ones,

            And to My prophets do no harm."

 

in icere faedus) seems to require

that the relative should refer to

"covenant" in the first hemistich,

rather than to "word" in the

second, of ver. 8. But the phrase

to "make (lit. "cut") a word"

occurs in Hag. ii. 5, and therefore

the relative may refer to the nearer

noun.

     UNTO ISAAC, in allusion to Gen.

xxvi. 3, where God says to Isaac,

"To thee and to thy seed will I

give all these countries, and I will

perform the oath which I sware

unto Abraham thy father": comp.

Gen. xxii. 16.

    11. THE LINE, i.e. an inheritance

measured out by line, as in lxxviii.

55; see note on xvi. 6.

      12-15. The Divine protection by

which the small beginnings of the

nation were shielded.

     12. A SMALL NUMBER, lit. "men

of number," as in Gen. xxxiv. 30;

see also Dent. iv. 27, xxvi. 5; Jer.

xliv. 28. So Horace says, "Nos

numerus sumus."

    VERY FEW, lit. "as (it were) a

little," or "as little as possible,"

o!son o]li<gon. Comp. Prov. x. 20.

      13. NATION ... PEOPLE. "The

former denotes the mass as bound

together by a common origin, lan-

guage, country, descent; the latter

as united under one government."

--Delitzsch.

     14. HE SUFFERED, as in Ex.

xxxvi. 10.

     KINGS. viz. of the Egyptians,

Gen. xii., and of the Philistines,

Gen. xx., xxvi.

     15. TOUCH NOT, with allusion,

perhaps, to Gen. xxvi. 11.

      MINE ANOINTED, i.e. specially

set apart and consecrated. The

poet uses, as Ros. observes, the

language of his own time, not that

of the patriarchs, who were never

anointed. But inasmuch as in

David's time priests and prophets

were anointed (1 Kings xix. 16),

when he would say that the patri-

archs are priests of the true God,

and therefore to be regarded as

sacred, he gives them the epithet

"anointed," as in the next herni-

stich "prophets," a name which

God bestows upon Abraham, Gen.

xx. 7, when he says to Abimelech,

"And now give the man back his

wife, for he is a prophet; and if he

pray for thee, thou shalt live."

     MY PROPHETS. A good instance

of the wide signification of this

word. It is derived from a root

signifying to boil, to bubble up. The

prophet is one in whose soul there

rises a spring, a rushing stream of

 

252                        PSALM CV.

 

16 And He called for a famine upon the land;  

            He brake the whole staff of bread.

17 He sent before them a man;

            Joseph was sold for a slave.

18 They afflicted his feet with fetters;

            He was laid in iron (chains).

 

Divine inspiration. In the later

language he not only receives the

Divine word, but he is made the

utterer of it, the organ of its com-

munication to others. But in the

earlier instances, as in that of Abra-

ham, his official character does not

distinctly appear, though doubt-

less, like Noah, he was "a preacher

of righteousness," and taught his

own family (and through them ulti-

mately the whole world) the way

of the Lord. See Gen. xviii. 19.

Here the prophet means little more

than one to whom God speaks, one

with whom He holds converse,

whether by word, or vision, or

dream, or inner voice. (Comp.

Num. xii. 6-8.) We approach

nearest to what is meant by styling

the patriarchs prophets, when we

read such passages as Gen. xvii.

17, "And Jehovah said, Shall I

hide from Abraham that thing which

I do?" or again, the pleading of

Abraham for Sodom, in ver. 23-

33, of the same chapter. It is, in-

deed, as pleading with God in inter-

cession that Abraham is termed a

"prophet " in Gen. xx. 7. The title

is thus very similar to that of the

"Friend of God," Is. xli. 8; 2

Chron. xx. 7; James ii. 23.

      16. From this point, as far as

ver. 38, the history of the nation in

Egypt is followed, with a recogni-

tion of the Divine Hand fashioning

it at every step, and at every step

accomplishing the fulfilment of the

promise.

    16-22. First the preliminary

steps in the history of Joseph. The

famine in Canaan was no chance

occurrence; God called for it.

(Comp. 2 Kings viii. 1; Am. v. 8;

Hag. i. 11) Joseph's position in

Egypt was no accident; God had

sent him thither; so he himself

traces the hand of God, Gen. x1v. 5,

1. 20.

     16. STAFF OF BREAD. The

figure occurs first in Lev. xxvi. 26;

comp. Is. iii. 1. The same figure

is suggested in civ. 15, "bread

that strengtheneth (stayeth) man's

heart."

     18. This is a much harsher pic-

ture of Joseph's imprisonment than

that given in Genesis xxxix. 20-23,

xl. 4. But it may refer to the earlier

stage of the imprisonment, before

he had won the confidence of his

gaoler, or it may be tinged with the

colouring of poetry.

     WITH FETTERS. Heb. "with the

fetter." The word occurs only here

and cxlix. 8.

     HE WAS LAID IN IRON. I have

here followed the paraphrase of the

E.V. In the margin, however, the

literal rendering of the Hebrew is

correctly given: "His soul came

into iron," ("his soul," merely a

periphrasis of the person="he," as

in lvii. 4 [5], xciv. 17), i.e. he was a

prisoner, bound with. chains. So the

Syr. and the LXX. si<dhron dih?lqen h[

yuxh> au]tou?. Jerome, "in ferrum

venit anima ejus." The more pictu-

resque but incorrect rendering of

the P.B.V., "the iron entered into

his soul," follows the Vulg., "fer-

rum pertransiit animam ejus." (The

Chald. led the way in this interpre-

tation, and it has been recently

adopted by Moll.) The force of the

expression has made it stereotyped

in our language. It is a striking

instance of the supremacy of the

P.B.V. in our Church. Probably

not one reader in a hundred of those

who are familiar with that version

 

                                   PSALM CV.                                 253

 

19 Until the time that his word came,

            The saying of Jehovah tried him.

20 The king sent and loosed him,

            The ruler of the peoples, and let him go free.

21 He made him lord over his house,

            And ruler over all his substance;

22 To bind his princes at his will,

            And to teach his elders wisdom.

 

ever thinks of any other translation

of the verse, or is aware that the

Bible version is different.

     19. HIS WORD. This may be (I)

"the word of Joseph," i.e. either

(a) his interpretation of the dreams

of the king's officers in the prison,

which finally led to his own libera-

tion, Gen, xli. 12 (so Rosenm. De

Wette, Hupf.); or (b) the word re-

vealed to him in dreams of his own

future exaltation, Gen. xlii. 9 (Ibn

Ez.); or (2) "the word of Jehovah,"

viz, that which first foretold, and

then fulfilled the promise of, his

exaltation; or (3) "his cause," i.e.

his trial, in which case the verb

must be rendered "came on," i.e.

for hearing, an interpretation which

seems at least very doubtful. If

we adopt (I), then the meaning is,

Joseph lay in prison till his inter-

pretation of the dreams came to

pass.

     CAME, i.e. was fulfilled, a word

used in the same way of the fulfil-

ment of prophecies, Jud. xiii. 12, 17

("come to pass," E.V.); I Sam. ix.

6; Jer. xvii. 15. Delitzsch, who

understands the "word" here men-

tioned as the word of God, illus-

trates the passage by reference to

cvii. 20; just as there God "sends"

His word, so here His word "comes;"

it came first as an angel of promise,

and then as an angel of fulfil-

ment.

    THE SAYING (utterance, promise)

OF JEHOVAH. LXX., to> lo<gion tou?

Kuri<ou, different from the WORD in

the previous verse. This seems

most naturally to be understood,

not of God's interpretation of the

dream (as Hupf. and others), but

of God's promise of future exalta-

tion conveyed to him in his dreams.

The Divine utterance ('imrah) has

ascribed to it a living effectual

power, as in cxix. 50. It proved

him by testing his faith during the

years of suffering and imprison-

ment which intervened between the

promise and its fulfilment.

     20. With what follows, comp.

Gen. xli. 14, 39, 40, 44.

     22. To BIND. The earliest in-

stance of the use of the word in a

sense approaching to that which it

had later, in the phrase "binding

and loosing," although that phrase

is always used of things, in the

Rabbinical writings, never of per-

sons. It denotes here generally the

exercise of control. "The capa-

bility of binding is to be regarded

as an evidence of authority; a

power of compelling obedience,

or in default thereof, of inflicting

punishment."—Phillips.

    Hengstenberg thinks that the

figure was occasioned by a refer-

ence to ver. 18: his soul, once

bound, now binds princes. He

illustrates the meaning by Gen. xli.

44, "without thee shall no man

move his hand or his foot in all the

land of Egypt;" and ver. 40, "thou

shalt be over my house, and all my

people shall kiss thy mouth."

     AT HIS WILL, lit. "in, according

to, his soul " (see on xvii. 9), equi-

valent to "according unto thy

word," Gen. x1i. 40.

     To TEACH . . . WISDOM; not to

254                        PSALM CV.

 

23 Israel also came into Egypt,

            And Jacob was a sojourner in the land of Ham.

24 And He caused His people to be fruitful exceedingly,

            And He made them stronger than their adversaries.

25 He turned their heart to hate His people,

            To deal subtilly with His servants.

26 He sent Moses His servant,

            Aaron whom He had chosen.

27 They wrought His signs among them

            And tokens in the land of Ham.

28 He sent darkness and made it dark,

 

be pressed of literal instruction in

the art of politics, but merely ex-

pressing in poetical; form what is.

said in Gen. xli. 38, 39.

    23. LAND OF HAM, as in lxxviii.

51.

     24. Comp. Exod. i. 7; Deut.

xxvi. 5. What follows to ver. 38 is

a resume of the history as given in

the first twelve chapters of Exodus,

and especially of the plagues. The

fifth and sixth plagues, however, are

omitted altogether, sand the plague

of darkness is placed first: in other

respects the order of Exodus is

observed. That in lxxviii. 44, &c.

is different.

    25. HE TURNED. This direct

ascription of the hostility on the

part of the Egyptians to God as its

author gave early offence. Hence

the Chald. and Arab. render, "their

heart was turned." Grotius and

others would soften the expression

as meaning only that God suffered

this hostility, arising from the in-

crease of the people. But the diffi-

culty is exactly of the same kind as

when it is said that God hardened

Pharaoh's heart, or as we find in

Is. vi. 9, to Mark iv. 12; John

xii. 39, 40; Rom. xi. 8. See notes

on li. 4, lx. 3.

     To DEAL SUBTILLY; the same

word as in Gen. xxxvii. 18 (where

E. V. "they conspired against").

Compare Exod. i. 10, "Come and

let us deal wisely with them: "the

reference is to the putting to death

the male children.

      26. WHOM HE HAD CHOSEN, viz.

as His priest.

      27. AMONG THEM, the Egyptians.

Comp. lxxviii. 43; Exod. x. 2,

"My signs which I have done (lit.

set, placed) among them."

      WROUGHT HIS SIGNS, lit. "set the

words of His signs;" comp. lxv. 3

[4] (where see note), cxlv. 5, perhaps

as facts that speak aloud (Del.), or

as announced beforehand, so that

they were, in fact, prophetic words

(Hupf.), Exod. iv. 28, 30.

     28. The ninth plague (Exod. x.

21-29) mentioned first, —why, it

is difficult to see. Hengstenberg

thinks because "darkness is an

image of the Divine wrath," and

"the Egyptians were in this sense

covered with darkness from the

first to the last plague." But this

is far-fetched: more probably to

embrace all other terrors between the

two awful images of darkness and

death. The variation in the order

of the plagues from the narrative in

Exodus may be paralleled by the

variation in the order of the com-

mandments as quoted by our Lord

in Matt. xix. 18, 19; Mark x. 19:

Luke xviii. 20,—passages in which

the order and enumeration differ

from one another as well as from

the original in Exod. xx.

      MADE IT DARK: causative, as in

cxxxix. 12; Am. v. 8; but the in-

 

                         PSALM CV.                                 255

 

            And they rebelled not against His words.

29 He turned their waters into blood,

            And made their fish to die.

30 Their land swarmed with frogs

            In the chambers of their kings.

31 He spake the word, and there came flies,

            Gnats in all their border.

32 He gave them hail for rain,

            Flaming fire in their land.

33 He smote also their vines and their fig-trees,

            And brake the trees of their border.

34 He spake the word, and the locusts came,

            And grasshoppers without number,

35 And devoured all the green herb in their land,

            And devoured the fruit of their ground.

36 And He smote all the first-born in their land,

            The beginning of all their strength.

37 And He brought them forth with silver and gold,

 

transitive rendering, "and it was

dark," is also defensible; see Jer.

xiii. 16.

    AND THEY REBELLED NOT, i.e.

Moses and Aaron, who, and not

the Egyptians, must here be the

subject, if the reading is correct.

The LXX. omit the negative, kai>

parepi<kranan tou>j lo<gouj au]tou?
(and so also the Syr., Arab., and Ethiop.),

whence in the P.B.V., "and they

were not obedient unto His word."

The Vulg. retains the negative, but

puts the verb in the singular, " Et

non exacerbavit sermones suos."

The obedience of Moses and Aaron

to the Divine command may here

be made prominent, with reference

to the unwillingness of Moses in

the first instance, and also to the

subsequent disobedience of both,

Num. xx. 24, xxvii. 14.

     The Q'ri unnecessarily substi-

tutes the sing. "word," for the

plural "words."

     29. The first plague, Exod. vii.

14-25; in the next verse, the

second, Exod. viii. 1-14 [vii. 26-

viii. 11].

     31. The fourth plague, that of

flies, Exod. viii. 20-24 [16-20],

and the third, that of gnats, or

mosquitoes (E. V. "lice "), Exod.

viii. 16-19 [12-15].

     32, 33. From the third plague he

passes to the seventh, Exod. ix. 13

-35.

     34, 35. The eighth plague, Exod.

X. I-20, where only one kind of

locust is mentioned (arbeh). Here

we have also yeleq, "grasshopper"

(a species of locust, winged, Nah.

iii. 16, and hairy, Jer. li. 27), as in

lxxviii. 46, chasil, "caterpillar," in

the parallelism: see Knobel on

Levit. xi. 22.

    36. The fifth and sixth plagues

are omitted, and the series closed

with the last, in language borrowed

from lxxviii. 51.

     37. WITH SILVER AND GOLD:

Exod. xii. 35.

 

256                             PSALM CV.

 

            And there was none among their tribes that

                        stumbled.

33 Egypt was glad when they went forth;

            For their terror had fallen upon them.

39 He spread a cloud for a covering,

            And fire to lighten the night.

40 They asked and He brought quails,

            And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

41 He opened the rock and the waters flowed;

            They went in the dry places like a river.

42 For He remembered His holy word,

            (And) Abraham His servant;

43 And He brought forth His people with gladness,

            His chosen with a song of joy.

44 And He gave them the lands of the nations,

            And they took possession of the labour of the

                        peoples;

 

THAT STUMBLED. See the same

phrase, as descriptive of vigour, Is.

v. 27, "none shall be weary or

stumble among them; "and for the

general sense comp. Exod. xiii. 18.

     38. WAS GLAD: Exod. xii. 31—

     33. THEIR TERROR: Exod. xv. 14

-16; Deut. xi. 25.

     39-41. Three of the principal

miracles in the wilderness, which

sum up the period between the de-

parture from Egypt and the entrance

into the Promised Land. But it is

remarkable that the great miracle

of the passage of the Red Sea, a

favourite theme with poets and

prophets, is not even alluded to.

     39. SPREAD A CLOUD: not, as in

Ex. xiv. 19, as a protection against

their enemies, but rather over their

heads, as a protection against the

burning sun. See the use of the

same verb, Exod. xl. 19, of the

tabernacle; Joel H. 2, of a cloud;

and comp. Is. iv. 5, 6.

     LIGHTEN. See note on lxxvii.

19 [20].

    40. See on lxxviii. 24, 27.

THEY ASKED. The verb is in the

sing., referring to the people.

    41. ROCK. The word is tsur, and

therefore the miracle at Horeb is

intended; see on lxxviii. 15.

42-45. Conclusion, giving, first

the reasons why God had thus

dealt with Israel, viz. His own

promise, and the faith of His ser-

vant Abraham, as in ver. 8, 9;

next, the result in their history,

that by virtue of this covenant they

had taken possession of the land of

Canaan; lastly, the great purpose

designed by all that marvellous

guidance, "That they might keep

His statutes, and observe His laws."

      43. WITH GLADNESS, alluding,

probably, to the song of triumph

after the overthrow of Pharaoh and

his captains in the Red Sea. Comp.

Is. xxxv. 10; "And the redeemed

of Jehovah shall return and come

to Zion with a song of joy, and

everlasting gladness shall be on

their head," &c.

      44. LABOUR; not only cultivated

lands, but cities, treasures, &c.

 

 

                                        PSALM  CVI.                                    257

 

45 That they might keep His statutes,

            And observe His laws.

                                                            Hallelujah.

 

    45. THAT THEY MIGHT KEEP.                 midst of other nations, a priest-

This was God's purpose, that Israel                     hood representing the world, and

should be a holy nation in the                              claiming it for God as His world.

 

            a MtAOyh;Bi. There is some difficulty as to the construction in this and

the two next verses. In r Chron. xvi. 19 this verse is joined with what

goes before, the suffix being changed to that of the ed pers., "when ye

were," and so the Chald. and Syr. here. Del. finds the protasis here,

and the apodosis in ver. 14. He takes ver. 13 as a part of the protasis,

according to the common rule, that a sentence beginning with the

infinitive recurs to the use of the finite verb: "When they were few,

and sojourners, and went to and fro, &c. . . . (then) He suffered no man

to harm them." Ewald connects both ver. 12 and ver. 13 with what

precedes. Hupfeld thinks that ver. 12 is loosely subjoined to what

precedes, but makes of ver. 13 and ver. 14 independent sentences: "they

went from nation to nation," . . . " He suffered no man," &c.

 

 

                                         PSALM CVI.

 

            THIS is the first of a series of Hallelujah Psalms; Psalms of which

the word Hallelujah is, as it were, the Inscription (cvi., cxi.-cxiii.,

cxvii., cxxxv., cxlvi.-cl.). As in the last Psalm, so here, the history

of Israel is recapitulated. In that it was turned into a thanksgiving;

in this it forms the burden of a confession. There God's mighty acts

for His people were celebrated with joy; here His people's sin is

humbly and sorrowfully acknowledged. Nothing is more remarkable

in these great historical Psalms than the utter absence of any word

or sentiment tending to feed the national vanity. All the glory of

Israel's history is confessed to be due, not to her heroes, her priests,

her prophets, but to God; all the failures which are written upon that

history, all discomfitures, losses, reverses, the sword, famine, exile, are

recognized as the righteous chastisement which the sin of the nation

has provoked. This is the strain of such Psalms as the 78th, the

105th, the 106th. This is invariably the tone assumed by all the

258                                    PSALIII CVI.

 

divinely-instructed teachers of the people, by the prophets in their

great sermons, by the poets in their contributions to the national

liturgy. There is no other poetry in the world of a popular and

national kind so full of patriotic sentiment, and yet at the same time

marked by so complete an abstinence from all those themes which

are commonly found in poetry written for the people. There is not

a single ode in honour of Moses or Aaron, or Joshua or David; there

is not one which sings the glory of the nation, except as that glory is

given it of God. The history of the nation, whenever referred to, is

referred to almost invariably for the purpose of rebuke and upbraiding,

certainly not for the purpose of commendation or self-applause. A

similar review of the past history of Israel, joined in the same way

with a confession of the sins of the nation during their history, occurs

in the prayer of the Levites on the occasion of the solemn fast

proclaimed after the return from the Captivity (Nehem. ix.). But the

earliest specimen of this kind of confession is the prayer which is

directed to be used at the offering of the first-fruits., Deut. xxvi.

Solomon's prayer at the consecration of the Temple, I Kings viii., is

not itself a prayer of confession, so much as a pleading with God

that He would hear His people whenever, having sinned, they should

come to Him confessing their sins. All these instances differ from

the Psalm in being prose, not poetry. Still the Psalm is not free, as

Delitzsch observes, from certain peculiarities found in the others, such

as (I) the fondness for rhyme, especially in the use of suffixes having the

same sound (see, for instance, ver. 4, 5, 8, 35-41): (2) the fondness

for synonyms, as in ver. 21, 22, "great things," "wonderful things,"

"terrible things;" (3) the direct, even tautological expansion of the

thought, as in ver. 37, 38, to the comparative neglect of the usual

principle of parallelism.

            From ver. 47 it may be fairly inferred that the Psalm is of the date

of the Exile, or was written shortly after the return of the first com-

pany of exiles. It is, however, remarkable that both that verse and

the closing doxology, together perhaps with the first verse of this

Psalm, form the concluding portion of the Psalm which, according to

the author of the Book of Chronicles, was sung by David when he

removed the ark to Mount Zion, I Chron. xvi. 34-36. On this point,

see more in the Introduction to Ps. cv., and the note on ver. 48.

The Psalm has no strophical division. It consists of an Intro-

duction, ver. 1-5. It then follows the history of Israel as a history

of perpetual transgressions, first, from Egypt through the wilderness,

ver. 7-33, and then in the Holy Land, 34-46, and concludes with

a prayer for deliverance from the present calamity, viz. the captivity

in Babylon, ver. 47.

                                         PSALM CVI.                                           259

I HALLELUJAH!

            Give thanks unto Jehovah, for He is good,

                        For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

2 Who can utter the mighty acts of Jehovah,

            (Or) tell forth all His praise?

3 Blessed are they that keep judgement,

            He that doeth righteousness at all times.

4 Remember me, 0 Jehovah, with the favour Thou bearest

                        unto Thy people,

            0 visit me with Thy salvation;

 

     1- 5. The first five verses seem

to stand alone, and to have little or

no direct connection with the rest of

the Psalm. Hupfeld regards the

first three verses, in particular, as

nothing but a general introduction,

and one quite at variance with the

strain of the Psalm as a confession

of sin. But this is a hasty and

superficial view. The first verse,

no doubt, is of the nature of a

doxological formula, such as we

find in some other of these later

Psalms. But the second and third

verses have an immediate bearing

on what follows. What so fitting

to introduce the confession of a

nation's sin and ingratitude, as the

rehearsal of God's goodness mani-

fested to it, and the acknowledge-

ment of the blessedness of those

who, instead of despising that good-

ness, as Israel had done, walked

in the ways of the Lord, keeping

judgement and doing righteousness

(ver. 3)? Or, again, what more

natural than that the sense of the

national privilege, the claim of a

personal share in that privilege,

should spring in the heart and rise

to the lips of one who felt most

deeply the national sin and ingrati-

tude?

     The fourth and fifth verses are

clearly the expression of personal

feeling. It is strange that some

commentators should have seen

here a personification of the people,

when the fifth verse so expressly

distinguishes, in every clause, be-

tween the individual who speaks

and the people of which he is a

member. Nor is there any reason

to assume that the Psalmist speaks

in the name of the people. There

is the same blending of personal

feeling and personal experience

with the national life which we

find, for instance, in lxv. 3 [4]. The

hope expressed is, that when God

looks again with favour upon the

nation, when He delivers them from

the hand of the heathen (see ver.

47), then the Psalmist himself may

share in the general joy.

     I. The Psalm begins with the

liturgical formula which was in use

in Jeremiah's time, xxxiii. 11 (under

Zedekiah), and which became after-

wards more frequent, I Macc. iv. 24.

It is not, therefore, quite so certain

that I Chron. xvi. 34 was taken from

the beginning of this Psalm, as that

the two following verses, 35, 36,

were taken from its close.

      GOOD, i.e. not so much in refer-

ence to His own nature, as in His

gracious dealing with men. The

LXX., rightly, xrhsto<j.

     2. THE MIGHTY ACTS are all

that He has done for His people, as

His PRAISE is all the glory which

He has thus manifested, and which

calls for praise from them.

     4. In this and the next verse the

same suffix recurs, almost with the

effect of rhyme; "the peculiarity,"

says Delitzsch, "of the T'phillah-

style." In ver. 6 the same thing is

observable, which is characteristic

 

260                       PSALM CVI.

 

5 That I may see the prosperity of Thy chosen,

            That I may be glad with the gladness of Thy nation,

                        That I may make my boast with Thine inheritance.

 

6 We have sinned with our fathers,

            We have done iniquity, we have dealt wickedly.

7 Our fathers in Egypt considered not Thy wonders;

            They remembered not the multitude of Thy loving-

                        kindnesses,

            But rebelled at the sea, at the Red Sea.

8 And (yet) He saved them for His Name's sake,

            To make His might to be known.

9 And He rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up,

            And He made them go through the depths as (through)

                        the wilderness.

10 And He saved them from the hand of the hater,

            And ransomed them from the hand of the enemy,

 

of these prayers of confession (Vid-

duy, in the later Hebrew, from the

verb, "to confess," Lev. xvi. 21), I

Kings viii. 47.

     5. NATION. The word in the

plural is always used of the hea-

then, but in the singular sometimes

of the nation of Israel, and even

with the pronominal suffix, as here,

and Zeph. ii. 9.

     6. The language is borrowed

evidently from that of Solomon's

prayer, I Kings viii. 47. Comp.

Dan. ix. 5; Bar. ii. 12, where in the

same way several words are used in

confession as if to express both the

earnestness of deep conviction, and

also the sense of manifold trans-

gressions.

     WITH OUR FATHERS. The nation

is thus regarded as a whole, one in

guilt and one in punishment. See

note on lxxix. 8. Not only the

"fathers in Egypt" (ver. 7) are

meant, because the generation in

Canaan are also mentioned (ver.

34-36).

     7. OUR FATHERS IN EGYPT.

These words are connected to-

gether by the accents, but the

words "in Egypt" belong to the

whole sentence. The "wonders"

are wonders wrought in Egypt, the

impression of which, great as they

were, had so quickly faded, that

they were forgotten even when the

people stood on the shore of the

Red Sea. Again in ver. 13, 21, this

forgetfulness is censured. Comp.

lxxviii. 11; Deut. xxxii. 18; and

see note on Ps. ciii. 2.

     REBELLED (the verb is here used

absol., elsewhere with the accus.),

with reference to the occurrence in

Ex. xiv. 10-13,

     This is the first act of trans-

gression of which confession is

made.

     8. HIS MIGHT TO BE KNOWN, as

in lxxvii. 14 [15].

     9. Compare, for the form of ex-

pression, Nah. i. 4; Is. I. 2, li. 10,

lxiii. 13. The word rendered "wil-

derness" denotes not the sandy

waste but "the pasture-ground;"

and the figure means that God led

His people through the sea as the

shepherd leads his sheep along the

 

 

                             PSALM CVI.                                           261

 

11 And the waters covered their adversaries,

            Not one of them was left.

12 And they believed His words,

            They sang His praise.

13 Very soon they forgat His doings,

            They waited not for His counsel;

14 But lusted for themselves a lust in the wilderness,

            And tempted God in the waste.

15 And He gave them their request,

            And sent leanness (withal) into their soul.

16 And they were jealous against Moses in the camp,

            Against Aaron, the holy one of Jehovah.

 

well-known, well-tracked sheep-

paths.

     11. NOT ONE OF THEM WAS LEFT.

Comp. Ex. xiv. 28.

     12. THEY BELIEVED . . . THEY

SANG, with evident reference to

Ex. xiv. 31, xv. 1; "And Israel

saw the great act (lit. hand) which

Jehovah had done against Egypt,

and the people feared Jehovah, and

they believed on Jehovah and His

servant Moses. Then sang Moses

and the children of Israel this

song." Both the faith and the song

are mentioned, not in praise of

their conduct, but only as still fur-

ther proof, that whatever impres-

sions were produced, whether by

God's judgements or His mercies,

were but temporary and on the

surface. The goodness of Israel

was like the dew, early gone.

      13-33. The confession of Israel's

sins in the wilderness. On the first

of these, the lusting for food, comp.

lxxviii. 18, 29, and Ex. xv. 22-24,

xvii.2. See also Ex . xvi. and Num. xi.

      13. VERY SOON, lit. "they made

haste, they forgat." WAITED NOT;

they were not content to exercise a

patient dependence upon God, leav-

ing it to Him to fulfil His own pur-

poses in His own way, but would

rather rule Him than submit them-

selves to His rule.

     14. LUSTED FOR THEMSELVES A

LUST; the expression is taken from

Num. xi. 4.

    14. HE GAVE THEM THEIR RE-

QUEST. See on lxxviii. 21, 29.

     LEANNESS. Comp. Is. x. 16, xvii.

4. The LXX., plhrmonh<n, "satiety,"

and so the Syr. and Vulg., but

wrongly. This LEANNESS and sick-

ness (phthisis) may refer to the

loathing of the food, followed by

great mortality (the "blow of God"),

Num. xi. 20, 33, the SOUL being here

used only in a physical sense of the

life. But the figurative sense is

equally true and equally pertinent.

The very heart and spirit of a man,

when bent only or supremely on the

satisfaction of its earthly desires

and appetites, is always dried up

and withered. It becomes a lean,

shrunk, miserable thing, always

craving more food, yet drawing

thence no nourishment, "magnas

inter opes inops."

      16-18. The second great sin in

the wilderness was the insurrection

against their divinely-appointed

leaders. The reference is to Num.

xvi., xvii.

     15. THE HOLY ONE. Aaron is so

called on account of his priestly

office. It was this, as an exclusive

privilege, which was assailed by

Korah and his company, on the

 

262                               PSALM CVI.

 

17 (Then) the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,

            And covered the congregation of Abiram;

18 And a fire was kindled in their congregation,

            A flame burned up the wicked.

19 They made a calf in Horeb,

            And bowed themselves before the molten image,

20 And they bartered their glory,

            For the likeness of an ox that eateth grass.

21 They forgat God their Saviour,

            Who had done great things in Egypt;

22 Wondrous things in the land of Ham,

            Fearful things by the Red Sea.

23 Then He said He would destroy them,

 

ground that all the congregation

were "holy," i.e. set apart and con-

secrated to God as His priests.

    17. OPENED. In Num. xvi. 30,

32, xxvi. 10, the fuller expression

occurs, "opened her mouth."

COVERED, as in Num. xvi. 33.

     Dathan and Abiram only are

mentioned, and this is in strict

agreement with Num. xxvi. II,

where it is said, "Notwithstanding

the children of Korah died not."

And the same thing is at least

irnjilied in Num. xvi. 27, where it

is said that, just before the cata-

strophe took place, "Dathan and

Abiram" (there is no mention of

Korah) "came out and stood in the

door of their tents." See this noticed

and accounted for in Blunt's Ve-

racity of the Books of Moses, Part I.

§ 20, p. 86.

     18. The other punishment, the

destruction by fire, befell the 250

princes of the congregation who

offered incense before the Lord,

Num. xvi. 2, 35.

      THE WICKED, as in Num. xvi. 26,

"Get ye up from the tents of these

wicked men."

      19. The third instance of trans-

gression, the worship of the calf; see

Ex. xxxiii. There is probably also a

reference to Deut. ix. 8-12, where

Moses reminds the people of their

sin, especially as Horeb (which is

the common name in Deuteronomy),

and not Sinai, is here the name of

the mountain.

     20. THEIR GLORY, i.e. their God,

who had manifested Himself to

them in His glory: glory, like light,

being used in Scripture to denote the

Divine perfections. Others under-

stand by the expression the God

who was the source and fountain of

their glory, or that revelation of

God to them which distinguished

them from all other nations. Comp.

Deut. iv. 7, "For what nation is

there so great, who bath God so

nigh unto them, as the Lord our

God is in all things that we call upon

Him for?" But the closest parallel

is Jer. ii. 11, Hath a nation bar-

tered their gods, which are yet no

gods? But my people have bartered

their glory for that which doth not

profit."

     LIKENESS, properly "model" or

"figure." See the same word in

Deut. iv. 16, 17, 18.

     21. FORGAT GOD; with reference,

perhaps, to the warning, Deut. vi. 12,

"beware lest thou forget Jehovah."

     22. LAND OF HAM as in cv. 23,

27. Comp. lxxviii. 51, "tents of

Ham," peculiar to those historical

Psalms.

     23. THEN HE SAID, lit. "And He

 

                           PSALM CVI.                                       263

 

            Had not Moses His chosen stood in the breach before

                        Him,

            To turn away His fury from destroying (them).

 

24 And they rejected the desirable land,

            They believed not His word.

25 And they murmured in their tents,

            They hearkened not to the voice of Jehovah.

26 Then He lifted up His hand unto them,

            That He would make them fall in the wilderness;

27 And that He would make their seed fall among the

                        nations,

            And scatter them in the lands.

28 They were yoked also unto Baal-peor,

            And ate the sacrifices of the dead.

 

said (resolved, uttered His word), to

destroy them," Deut. ix. 13. Comp.

Ex. xxxii. 10; and for the construc-

tion, Ezek. xx. 8, 13, 21.

     IN THE BREACH. The interces-

sion of Moses is compared to the

act of a brave leader, covering with

his body the breach made in the

walls of his fortress. Comp. Ezek.

xxii. 30, "And I sought for a man

among them, that should make up

the hedge, and stand in the gap

(breach, as here) before Me for the

land that I should not destroy it."

      24-27. A fourth act of sin,—

the rebellion which followed on the

report of the spies, Num. xiii., xiv.

     24. THE DESIRABLE LAND, so

called also in Jer. iii. 19; Zech. vii.

14 (in E.V. "pleasant land"). The

other expressions in this and the

next verse are from the Pentateuch:

"they rejected," Num. xiv. 31;

"murmured in their tents," Deut.

i. 27; "lifted up His hand," as

in Ex. vi. 8; Deut. xxxii. 4;

"make them fall," as in Num. xiv.

29, 32. The phrase, "to lift up the

hand," refers to the custom in the

taking of an oath. Comp. Gen. xiv.

22. The threat of exile (ver. 27),

of which nothing is said in Num.

xiv., is taken, doubtless, from Lev.

xxvi.; Deut. xxviii. Comp. the same

expression Exek. xx. 23, "I lifted

up Mine hand unto them also in

the wilderness, that I would scatter

them among the heathen, and dis-

perse them through the countries."

     27. MAKE FALL; here pro-

jicere, in the same sense almost as

"scattered," in the parallelism.

     28. THEY WERE YOKED; a fifth

transgression in the wilderness, re-

corded in Num. xxv. The same

verb is used there, ver. 3, 5, with

reference to the prostitution which

accompanied the worship of Baal-

peor, "the Moabite Priapus."

Comp. 1 Cor. vi. 16, 17, and with

the next clause ATE THE SACRIFICES.

I Cor. x. 18-21, with Num. xxv.

2. The LXX., for "they were

yoked," have e]tele<sqhsan, "they

were initiated."

     THE DEAD. Two interpretations

have been given : (i) that idols are

meant, as opposed to " the living

God." Comp. Jer. x. 10, 11, and

the contemptuous expression "car-

 

264                         PSALM CVI.

 

29 And they gave provocation with their doings,

            And a plague brake in upon them.

 

30 Then stood (up) Phinehas and did judgement,

            And (so) the plague was stayed;

 

cases of their kings" (probably

said of idols, as rivals of the One

true King of Israel), in Ezek. xliii.

7, 9. Comp. Lev. xxvi. 30; Jer.

xvi. 18. (2) Usage, however, is

rather in favour of some allusion

to necromantic rites, as in Deut.

xviii. 11, "one who seeketh to the

dead;" Is. viii. 19, "should a people

seek to the dead (by the aid of

necromancers, consulting them, as

Saul consulted the Witch of En-

dor), on behalf of the living?"

So Selden, De Diis Syris, i. 5,

understands this place of sacrifices

offered Dis manibus. Hupfeld

objects that in Num. xxv. 2 the

same sacrifices are called "sacrifices

of their gods," and that sacrifices

to the dead would scarcely be ac-

companied by sacrificial feasts.

This last objection has no force.

       This 28th verse, as Delitzsch

remarks, is of historical importance,

as having given rise to the pro-

hibition of flesh offered in sacrifice

to idols. In the T. B. 'Abodali

Zarah, Pereq 29b, in a comment on

the words of the Mishnah, "The

flesh which is intended to be offered

to idols is allowed (to derive a profit

from), but that which comes from

the temple is forbidden, because it

is like sacrifices of the dead," it

is observed, ib. 32b:  "R. Jehudah

b. Bethera said, ‘Whence do I

know that that which is offered to

idols pollutes like a dead body?

From Ps. cvi. 28. As the dead

pollutes everything which is with

him under the same roof, so also

does all which is offered in sacri-

fice to idols.'" St. Paul teaches

that the pollution, when it exists,

is not in the meat which has been

offered in sacrifice, but in the con-

science of the eater. I Cor. x. 28, 29.

29. GAVE PROVOCATION. The

verb used absol., without a case, as

other verbs in ver. 7, 32, 43, a pecu-

liarity of the writer of this Psalm.

    A PLAGUE. The word is used of a

Divine judgement, more commonly

of sickness, but here, as in Num.

xxv. 8, 9, 18, of the slaughter ac-

complished by human instruments.

Comp. Ex. xxxii. 35.

     BRAKE IN, or "made a breach"

(for the verb is from the same root

as the noun in ver. 23). Comp.

Ex. xix. 24.

   30. STOOD. See the similar ex-

pression, Num. xxv. 7, " And when

Phinehas saw it, he rose up;" and

the same verb as here, Num. xvi.

48 [xvii. 13], of Aaron's intercession.

It is a picture of the one zealous

man rising up from the midst of

the inactive multitude, who sit still

and make no effort.

    DID JUDGEMENT, not, as in

P.B.V., following the Chald. and

Syr. "prayed" (i.e. interceded), a

meaning which the verb never has

in this conjugation (Piel), but only

in the Hithpael. The LXX. give

the sense only when they render

etaaaaro (Vulg. placavit). This

righteous act of judgement, like

the intercession of Aaron, was pro-

pitiatory; it appeased and turned

away the wrath of God; "and the

plague was stayed;" words bor-

rowed from Num. xxv. 8; comp.

Num. xvi. 48 [xvii. 13]. The two

figures, Aaron standing with the

incense, and with the true priestly

heart, between the dead and the

living, and making atonement,

and Phinehas as the minister of

righteous vengeance turning away

wrath, form a striking and instructive

contrast. The one makes atonement

in saving life, the other in destroying it.

                              PSALM  CVI.                                     265

31 And it was counted unto him for righteousness,

            Unto all generations for evermore.

32 They angered (God) also at the waters of Meribah,

            And it went ill with Moses for their sakes.

33 For they rebelled against His Spirit,

            And he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

 

34 They did not destroy the peoples,

            As Jehovah had said unto them;

 

     31. IT WAS COUNTED UNTO

HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS; it was

looked upon as a righteous act,

and rewarded accordingly. The

same thing is said of the faith of

Abraham, Gen. xv. 6; a striking

instance of the fearlessness of ex-

pression which is to be found in

the Scriptures, as compared with

the dogmatic forms of modern

controversial theology. This verse

has given occasion to whole dis-

quisitions on the subject of justi-

fication, with which it really has

nothing to do, though at least the

language is in perfect accordance

with that of St. James (ii. 20-26).

     The reward of this righteousness

was the perpetual continuance of

the priesthood in his family (Num.

xxv. 12, 13).

     UNTO ALL GENERATIONS, &c.

lit. for generation and generation,

to (all) eternity," a remarkable in-

stance of the hyperbolic way in

which this and similar phrases are

employed, and one which is a

warning against hastily building

doctrines upon mere words.

     32. The sixth instance of trans-

gression — the rebellion against

Moses and Aaron at Meribah, in

the fortieth year of the wandering,

NUM. xx. 2-13

       IT WENT ILL WITH. This must

be the meaning here (though else-

where the same phrase means "it

grieved, or displeased," as in Neh.

ii. 10, xiii. 8; Jon. iv. I). Comp.

Deut. i. 57, iii. 26, "also Jehovah

was angry with me for your sakes,"

The reason why Moses was for-

bidden to enter the Promised Land

is here stated more distinctly than

in the narrative. It was the ex-

asperation into which he suffered

himself to be betrayed in uttering

the words in Num. xx. 10; though

the impatient spirit was shown also

in striking the rock twice.

     33. THEY REBELLED AGAINST

HIS SPIRIT. Three explanations

of this line have been given. (I)

By "his spirit" has been understood.

the spirit of Moses, and accordingly

the line has been rendered in the

E. V. "they provoked his spirit."

This, however, is to give a meaning

to the verb which it never has.

Hence De Wette, "they strove

against his spirit." (2) The words

have been understood of disobe-

dience against God: "They rebelled

against His (God's) Spirit." Comp.

Is. lxiii. 10, " But they rebelled and

vexed His Holy Spirit," with Ps.

lxxviii. 40. But (3), retaining this

last explanation, it is still a question

what is the subject of the verb. It

may be said of Moses and Aaron,

that they rebelled (see Num. xx.

24, xxvii. 14), but it is better to

assume that the people are the

subject, the two clauses of ver,

33 thus answering to the two of

ver. 32.

    34. Disobedience in the land of

Canaan itself, especially in not

rooting out the nations (as enjoined)

Ex. xxiii. 32, 33, and often repeated,

Josh. xxiii. 12, 13, and the adoption

of their idolatrous worship.

    AS JEHOVAH HAD SAID, the con-

struction may be either (I) "Which

thing Jehovah had said unto them;"

or (2) "Concerning whom Jehovah

266                          PSALM CVI.

 

35 But they mixed themselves with the nations,

            And learned their works;

36 And they served their idols,

            And they became unto them a snare:

37 And they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to

            false gods;

38 And they shed innocent blood,

                        The blood of their sons and their daughters,

            Which they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan ;

                        And the land was polluted with bloodshed.

39 And they were defiled with their works,

            And went a-whoring with their doings.

 

40 Then the anger of Jehovah was kindled against His

                        people,

            And He abhorred His own inheritance.

41 And He gave them into the hand of the nations,

            And their haters ruled over them.

42 And their enemies oppressed them,

            And they were bowed down under their hand.

43 Many a time did He deliver them,

            But they rebelled (against Him) in their counsel,

                        And were brought low through their iniquity.

 

had commanded them," as in the

E.V.

    36. A SNARE, as the warning

ran, Ex. xxiii. 33, xxxiv. 12; Deut.

vii. 16. Of the abominations of

the heathen, that of human sacri-

fices, as in the worship of Moloch,

is especially dwelt upon. This was

an offering to FALSE GODS (Heb.

Shedim), lit. "lords," like Bealim,

'Adonim, and then applied to gods

(as the forms Shaddai, 'Adonai,

were confined to Jehovah); see the

same word Deut. xxxii. 17, for

which in Jud. ii. 11, Bealim. The

LXX. render daimoni<oij, and Jerome

daemonibus, whence the E.V. has

"devils."

     38. POLLUTED. The strongest

word, taken from Num. xxxv. 33;

comp. Is. xxiv. 5. The land, the

very soil itself, was polluted and

accursed, as well as the inhabitants

(ver. 39).

   40-43. The terrible and repeated

judgements of God.

    42. THEY WERE BOWED DOWN,

elsewhere said of the enemies of

Israel, Jud. iii. 30, iv. 23, viii. 28,

xi. 33.

     43. IN THEIR COUNSEL, as in

lxxxi. 12 [13]; Jer. vii. 24, em-

phatically opposed to the counsel

and purpose of God.

   WERE BROUGHT LOW, Lev. xxvi.

39.

 

                             PSALM CVI.                                    267

 

44 But He looked upon their distress,

            When He heard their cry.

45 And He remembered for them His covenant,

            And pitied them according to the greatness of His

                        loving-kindness.

46 And He made them to find compassion

            In the presence of all who carried them captive.

47 Save us, 0 Jehovah our God,

                        And gather us from the nations,

            That we may give thanks unto Thy Holy Name;

                        That we may glory in Thy praise.

 

48 Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel,

            From everlasting even to everlasting.

                        And let all the people say, Amen!

                                    Hallelujah !

 

    44. The Psalmist turns now to

the other side of God's dealings

with His people. It was not all

anger. if they forgot His covenant,

He remembered it. Even in the

land of their captivity, He softened

the hearts of their captors.

     THEIR CRY. The word which is

often used of the song of joy, here,

as in I Kings viii. 28, of the cry of

distress.

    45. PITIED THEM, or "repented,"

as in xc. 13.

    46. MADE THEM TO FIND, &c.,

lit. "Made them for (an object

of) compassions, or tender mercies."

There is a reference to Solomon's

prayer, 1 Kings viii. 50. Comp.

Neh. i. 11 ; Dan. i. 9. For the

construction, see Gen. xliii. 14.

     47. The grace of God, already

shown to His people, leads to the

prayer of this verse—a supplication

for which the whole Psalm has

prepared the way. The language

would seem to indicate that the

Psalm was written in exile, though

the same prayer might also have

been uttered by one of those who

returned in the first caravan, on

behalf of his brethren who were

still dispersed.

    GLORY IN THY PRAISE, or "deem

ourselves happy in that we can

praise Thee." The verb is the

reflexive form (Hithpael), which

occurs only in this Psalm.

      48. The last verse is merely a

Doxology, added at a time sub-

sequent to the composition of the

Psalm, to mark the close of the

Book. The first line varies but

slightly from that at the end of

lxxii., "Blessed be Jehovah God,

the God of Israel."

     The Chronicler who quotes this

verse (see Introduction to this Psalm

and cv.), changes the wish "Let all

the people say, Amen," into the

historic tense, "And all the people

said Amen, and praised Jehovah"

(1 Chron. xvi. 36). The fact that he

has incorporated this verse as well

as the preceding in his Psalm, is a

proof that already in his time the

Psalter was divided, as at present,

into Books, the Doxology being

regarded as an integral portion of

the Psalm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                THE PSALMS

 

                                            BOOK V.

 

                                     PSALMS CVII.-CL.

 

 

 

                                     PSALM CVII.

 

            IT has already been observed in the General Introduction to this

work (Vol. I. p. 71) that there is no obvious reason why, in the

division of the Psalter into Five Books, the doxology marking the

close of the Fourth Book should have been placed at the end of the

106th Psalm. On the contrary, the 106th and 107th Psalms seem

to have certain links of connection, and many critics have supposed

that they are the work of the same author.

            Not only are the opening words of the two Psalms identical, but

what is the subject of prayer in the one is the subject of thanksgiving

in the other. In cvi. 47 the Psalmist prays that God would gather

Israel from the heathen: in cvii. 3 he exhorts Israel to give thanks

to Him who has brought them back from their captivity.*

            Some expositors have even gone so far as to maintain that the four

Psalms, civ.-cvii., were designed to constitute a complete tetralogy

arranged in chronological order, beginning with the narrative of

creation (Ps. civ.), going on to the history of the patriarchs and the

early history of Israel (Ps. cvi.), pursuing the fortunes of the nation

in the Promised Land, and even down to the time of the Captivity

(Ps. cvi.), and finally celebrating the deliverance from Babylon,

and the return of the exiles (Ps. cvii.). But the connection between

Ps. civ. and those which follow it is by no means so close as that

between the three Psalms, cv.-cvii.

            "These three anonymous Psalms," says Delitzsch, "form a trilogy

in the strictest sense, and are in all probability a tripartite whole from

the hand of one author." Philipson takes the same view, remarking

that the Poet has shown consummate art in the form which he has

given to the whole, and the disposition and grouping of his materials.

He thus traces the connection: "In the first part (Ps. cv.) the Poet

has set forth the benefits of God, and the effect produced by them:

in the second (Ps. cvi), only the sins of Israel, and the loss and

suffering thereby incurred; in the third (Ps. cvii.), the deliverance,

into the picture of which he has skilfully introduced both the sufferings

 

            * On these grounds both Ewald and Hengstenberg regard these two

Psalms as closely connected.

 

272                               PSALM CVII.

 

of his people and also their return to their God. The first part is

bright with praise and thanksgiving, the second gloomy and terrifying,

the third full of exhortation and encouragement. And how skilful is

the transition from one part to another! At the close of the first

division (cv. 45), an intimation is given that Israel had not accom-

plished the purpose for which Canaan had been given him as an

inheritance; at the close of the second (cvi. 45), we already see the

dawn of approaching redemption."

            Delitzsch, who traces the connection in a similar way, points to the

three following passages as confirming it: "He gave them the lands

of the heathen" (cv. 44); " He threatened to cast forth their seed

among the heathen, and to scatter them in the lands" (cvi. 27);

"And He hath gathered them from the lands, from the East, and the

West," &c. (cvii. 3). Other expressions, he observes, occur which

link the three Psalms together. Egypt is called in them "the land

of Ham," cv. 23, 27, cvi. 22, and Israel "the chosen of Jehovah,"

cv. 6, 43, cvi. 5 (comp. 23).  In cv. 19, cvii. 20, there is an approach

to the hypostatic sense of the "word " of God.*  In cvi. 14, cvii. 4,

y'shimon is the word used to describe the waste, the wilderness. To

these characteristics may be added the use of the Hithpael conjuga-

tion in all the Psalms, cv. 3, cvi. 5, cvi. 47, cvii. 27. In all alike

there is the same absence of strophical arrangement.† In all there

is evidence of a partiality for the later chapters of Isaiah (xl.-lxvi.)

and the Book of Job. This is more especially noticeable in the 107th

Psalm, where the Poet is more at liberty, as he is no longer re-

capitulating the history of his nation.

            But ingenious as all this is, it rests on the assumption that the

l07th Psalm, like the other two, is historical, and is designed chiefly

to celebrate the return from the Babylonish captivity. The second

and third verses of the Psalm are supposed to mark the occasion for

which it was written, and the rest of the Psalm is held to exhibit, by

means of certain examples of peril and deliverance, either in a figure

the miseries of the Exile, or literally the various incidents of the

homeward journey.

            Such an interpretation, however, can scarcely be maintained. No

doubt the deliverance from Babylon is uppermost in the Psalmist's

thoughts (ver. 2, 3), and this suggests the various instances of God's

providential care. Wanderers in the desert, captives, the sick and

 

            * See, however, the notes on those passages.

            † This can hardly be maintained with regard to Ps. cvii. At least to

the end of ver. 32 the strophical arrangement is clearly marked by the

double refrain, "Then they cried unto Jehovah," &c., and "Let them

thank Jehovah for His loving-kindness," &c.

 

                              PSALM CVII.                                            273

 

suffering, the merchant and the mariner have experienced that care,

and have had reason to acknowledge it with gratitude. But it is

unnatural to regard these various examples, taken from every-day

experience, as a figurative description of the Exile; it is quite

impossible, in particular, that the picture of the seafarers should

represent the sufferings of captivity, though it certainly might form

one part of the story of the return; for the exiles are here described,

not merely as coming back from Babylon, but from all the countries

of their dispersion (comp. Jer. xvi. 15, xl. 12 ; Dan. ix. 7).

            It is obvious that this Psalm is not historical. It describes various

incidents of human life, it tells of the perils which befall men, and the

goodness of God in delivering them, and calls upon all who have

experienced His care and protection gratefully to acknowledge them;

and it is perfectly general in its character. The four (or five) groups,

or pictures, are so many samples taken from the broad and varied

record of human experience.

            Such a Psalm would have been admirably adapted to be sung in

the Temple-worship, at the offering of the thank-offerings.

            But, whatever may have been the circumstances under which the

Psalm was written, or the particular occasion for which it was intended,

there can be no doubt as to the great lesson which it inculcates. It

teaches us not only that God's providence watches over men, but

that His ear is open to their prayers. It teaches us that prayer may

be put up for temporal deliverance, and that such prayer is answered.

It teaches us that it is right to acknowledge with thanksgiving such

answers to our petitions. This was the simple faith of the Hebrew

Poet.

            It is needless to say how readily such a faith is shaken now. First,

there is the old and obvious objection that all such prayers, even

when offered by men of devout mind, are not answered. Calvin

notices the difficulty, quoting the story of the wit, who when he

entered the temple, and observed the votive tablets suspended there

by merchants, recording their escape from shipwreck by the favour of

the gods, sarcastically remarked, "I see no record of those who

perished in the sea, and yet the number of them must be immense."

Calvin replies, as might be expected, that though a hundred-fold more

are lost than escape, still God's goodness is not obscured; that He

exercises judgement as well as mercy; that all deserve destruction,

and that therefore His sovereign mercy ought to be acknowledged in

every instance where it is displayed. It would have been better,

surely, to have replied, that answers to prayer are not all of one kind;

and that God as really answers His children's supplication when He

gives them strength and resignation in prison or in sickness, as when

 

274                           PSALM CVII

 

He "breaks in pieces the bars of iron," or "sends His word and

heals them"; when He suffers them to sink beneath the raging waters,

with heaven open to their eyes, as when He "brings them to their

desired haven." Closely akin to this, there arises another question.

Does God ever answer prayer by direct action upon the material

world? Are not the laws of the universe the expression of His will?

Are they not, therefore, unchangeable? And is it not both presump-

tuous and selfish to ask him to change the phenomena, which are the

result of those laws: presumptuous, because we thus dictate to Hirn

what is best for us; selfish, because the blessing we crave may be

at the expense of injury and loss to others? I conceive it may

be replied, that it is not for the most part by immediate action in the

material world that God grants our petitions. Even if we were

forced to concede that now, since the age of miracles is past, God

never so acts, still this should not trouble us, seeing how wide the

region is in which indirectly our prayers even for temporal blessings

may be answered. “Thus, for instance” (I venture to repeat what I

have said elsewhere*), "we pray that the cholera or the murrain may

be stayed. God does not with His own hand take away the plague;

but He puts it into the heart of some physician to find the remedy

which will remove it. He does not hush the storm in a moment; but

He gives the mariner courage and skill to steer before it till he reach

the haven. He does not shower bread from heaven in a famine;

but He teaches the statesman how, with wise forethought and

patient endeavours, at least to mitigate the calamity. How often we

speak of happy inspirations, little knowing what we mean when we

speak thus! And how unable we are to trace the chain! We cannot

see God's Spirit prompting the prayer, or suggesting the remedy which

shall be the answer to the prayer. But the antecedent and the

consequent are as really there, the links of the chain are as essential

as they are in any of the phenomena of the material world, which

present themselves to our bodily senses. And thus the answer comes

not by direct interference with the laws of nature, but in accordance

with the laws of the spiritual world, by the Divine action on the heart

of man." If so, then the answer may be acknowledged with devout

thanksgiving, and men may praise the Lord for His goodness.

            The Psalm consists of six groups, with a preface (ver. 1-3), and

a conclusion (ver. 41). The preface and the conclusion alike give the

theme or key-note of the Psalm. The first four groups are marked

 

            * The Feast of harvest. A Sermon preached in St. Peter's Church,

Carmarthen, p. 19. [I have discussed the subject still more fully in a

Sermon on "Prayer and Natural Law" in a volume of sermons recently

published by Isbister and Co., 1874]

 

                                         PSALM CVII.                                     275

 

by the double refrain, the two last have but a slight connection with

the others (see note on ver. 33).  The grammatical structure is

peculiar. In the first part of the Psalm the strophes, except the

first, begin with a particle or adjective of the subject, the predicate

being virtually contained in the verb of the refrain: Let them give

thanks.

 

1  "O GIVE thanks unto Jehovah, for He is good,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever,"

2 Let the ransomed of Jehovah say (so),

            Whom He hath ransomed from the hand of the

                        adversary.

3 And gathered them out of the lands,

            From the East and from the West,

                        From the North and from the South.a

4 They wandered in the wilderness, in a pathless waste;b

            A city where men dwell they found not:

 

      1. The Psalm opens with the

same doxological formula as cvi.,

only here it is put into the mouth

of the exiles returned from Babylon.

For a similar opening see cxviii.

1-4. In earlier Psalms where

phrases of the kind occur, they do

not stand at the beginning of the

Psalm, and the verb "say" pre-

cedes the doxology instead of

following it; see xxxv. 27, xl. 16

[17].

    It is the old liturgical doxology

which, as in Jer. xxxiii. 11, is to be

heard in the mouth of the captives

restored to their own land.

     2. RANSOMED OF JEHOVAH; as

in Is. lxii. 12 (whence it may have

been borrowed), lxiii. 4; comp.

xxxv. 9, 10.

     THE ADVERSARY, the oppressor

in Babylon; or the word may mean,

as in ver. 6, "distress." (So Ibn Ez.

and Qimchi.) "From the hand of

distress" might be said in Hebrew,

in the same way as "from the hand

of the dog" (xxii. 20).

    3. GATHERED THEM, as in cvi.

47, and generally in the Prophets

(comp. Is. xi. 12, lvi. 8, and often)

of the return from the Captivity.

For the same picture see Is. xliii.

5, 6, xlix. 12. The exiles free to

return are seen flocking, not from

Babylon only, but from all lands,

"like doves to their windows." Cf.

cv. 44, cvi. 27.

    THE SOUTH, lit. "the sea" (if the

text is correct), which everywhere

else means the West (the Mediterra-

nean Sea), but must obviously here

denote the South. Hence the

Chald. understands by "the Sea,"

the Southern Sea (i.e. the Arabian

Gulf); others again, the Southern

(Indian) Ocean; but as these ex-

planations are contrary to usage,

there is reason to question the

correctness of the text. See more

in Critical Note.

    4. The first example: the caravan

which has lost its way in the desert.

The interpretation of the verse will

vary according to the view we take

of its connection with the prece-

ding.

     (i.) We may take "the ransomed

of Jehovah" (ver. 2) as the subject

 

276                               PSALM CVII.

 

5 Hungry and thirsty,

            Their soul fainted in them:

6 Then they cried unto Jehovah in their trouble,

            (And) He delivered them out of their distresses;

7 He led them by a straight way,

            That they might go to a city where men dwell.

 

of the verb; and then (a), by those

who adopt the historical interpreta-

tion of the Psalm, the picture which

follows has been held to be a de-

scription either (1) of what befell

the Jews who (Jer. xliii.) fled into

the wilderness to escape the Chal-

deans after the taking of Jerusalem;

or (2) of the perils encountered by

the caravans of exiles as they

crossed long tracts of sandy desert

on their return; or (3) intended to

set forth in a figure the miseries of

the Exile itself. Or (b) "the ran-

somed of Jehovah" may be taken

in a wider sense, as denoting, not

the captives at Babylon, but all

Jews exposed to the risks and hard-

ships of foreign travel. So Calvin:

"Et primo ad gratitudinem horta-

tur qui ex longinqua et difficili

peregrinatione, adeoque ex servi-

tute et vinculis, domum incolumes

reversi sunt. Tales autem vocat

redemptos Dei, quia per deserta et

invias solitudines vagando saepius

a reditu exclusi essent, nisi Deus,

quasi porrecta manu, ducem se illis

praebuisset."

     (ii.) The subject of the verb may

be changed, and this, either because

(a) the Psalmist, having begun to

speak of God's goodness to the

exiles, restored by His hand to the

land of their fathers, goes on to

speak of other instances in which

His goodness has been manifested.

Or (b), because the first three

verses were a liturgical addition,

framed with particular reference to

the return from Babylon, and pre-

fixed to a poem originally designed

to have a wider scope.

     THEY WANDERED. The subject

of the verb (see last note) may be

"men" generally. The incident

described was doubtless not un-

common. The usual track of the

caravan is lost—obliterated, per-

haps, by the sandstorm.

     A CITY WHERE MEN DWELL, lit.

"a city of habitation" (as E.V.).

No particular city is meant, as

P.B.V., " the city where they dwelt,"

much less is Jerusalem intended,

but' any inhabited city, as opposed

to the uninhabited wilderness. The

expression recurs in verses 7, 36.

      5. FAINTED, lit. "covered itself,"

as with darkness, sorrow, and the

like, as in lxxvii. 3 [4], cxlii. 3 [4],

cxliii. 4; Jon. ii. 7 [8].

    6. THEN THEY CRIED. SO it ever

is: only the pressure of a great

need forces men to seek God.

Prayer is not only the resource

of good men, but of all men in

trouble. It is a natural instinct

even of wicked men to turn to God

at such times: "Si graviori in dis-

crimine versentur, etiam sine certa

meditatione, ad Deum invocandum

natura duce et magistra impelli."—

Calvin.

    JEHOVAH. Hengstenberg alleges

the use of this Name instead of the

more general one, Elohim, God, in

proof that the Psalmist is speaking

not of men at large, but only of

Jews (and that hence the Psalm

refers to the return from the Capti-

vity at Babylon). The heathen, he

objects, would not be said to call

upon Jehovah. But surely a Jew

even when speaking of the general

providence of God, would have

Jews chiefly before his mind as

embraced in that providence, and

as naturally would use the name of

God which was dearest to him as a

                                      PSALM CVII.                                  277

 

8 Let them give thanks to Jehovah for His loving-kindness,

            And for His wonders to the children of men:

9 For He satisfieth the longing soul,

            And filleth the hungry soul with good.

10 They that sat in darkness and the shadow of death,

            Being bound in affliction and iron,

11 Because they rebelled against the words of God,

            And despised the counsel of the Most High,

12 And He brought down their heart with labour,

            They stumbled, and there was none to help

13 Then they cried unto Jehovah in their trouble,

            (And) He saved them out of their distresses;

14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,

            And brake their bonds asunder;--

 

Jew. The distinction between Jew

and Gentile would be lost sight of

altogether.

      8. Others render, "Let them

praise His loving-kindness before

Jehovah, and His wonders before

the children of men," i.e. let them

confess His goodness before God

and man. The parallelism may

perhaps be more accurately pre-

served by this rendering, but gram-

matically it is not necessary. It is

also doubtful whether we have here

the expression of a wish, "Let them

give thanks;" or the statement of a

past fact, "they gave thanks." In

support of the latter rendering may

be alleged the frequent use of the

same tense in the Psalm as a past

("a relative preterite," Hupf.); see

on xviii., note c. But the analogy

of ver. 2, which is clearly opta-

tive, makes the former the more

probable.

     9. There is a reference to ver. 5;

"longing" answers to "thirsty," as

in Is. xxix. 8.

     10-16. The second example—

that of prisoners.

    10. DARKNESS, &c. The same

expression occurs Is. xlii. 7, xlix. 9;

Micah vii. 8, of the gloom of the

prison-house. Comp. Virgil. AEn.

vi. 734, " Neque auras Respiciunt,

clausx tenebris et carcere caco."

      AFFLICTION AND IRON. Comp.

the fuller phrase Job xxxvi. 8,

"bound in fetters, and holden in

cords of affliction."

     11. WORDS . . . COUNSEL. The

commandments of God as given in

the Law, and His counsel as de-

clared by his prophets, are chiefly

meant; for throughout the passage

language is employed which implies

the theocratic position of Israel.

But the reference may be wider.

The law written in the conscience,

the instruction given by inner re-

velation (comp. xvi. 7) need not be

excluded. So the verb THEY DE-

SPISED is used both in the theocratic

sense of blasphemy (Num. xiv. 11,

23, xvi. 30; Deut. xxxi. 20), and also

in a more general sense, as in the

rejection of the counsels of wisdom

(Prov. i. 30, v. 12, xv. 5).

      12. AND HE BROUGHT, &c.

Some would begin the apodosis

here, "So He brought," &c., or

"Therefore He brought," &c.;

but in that case, as on any interpre-

tation, the participles in ver. to

must be a nominativus pendens, the

 

278                               PSALM CVII.

 

15 Let them give thanks to Jehovah for His loving-kindness,

            And for His wonders to the children of men:

16 For He brake the doors of brass,

            And cut the bars of iron in sunder.

 

17 Foolish men, because of the way of their transgression,

            And because of their iniquities, bring affliction upon

                        themselves;

18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of food,

            And they draw near to the gates of death:

 

construction not being completed

till ver. 15, see note on that verse.

Ritz. with more probability makes

the nominative in ver. to taken up

in ver. 13, verses 11 and 12 being

parenthetical: "They that sat in

darkness, &c. (because they rebelled,

&c.), they cried unto Jehovah."

    15. The construction of the whole

passage, beginning with ver. 10, is

only completed here. The partici-

pial subject, "they that sat, or sit,"

&c., finds here its verb. The inter-

vening verses, 11-14, are to a cer-

tain extent parenthetical, ver. 11,

12 giving the reason, and ver. 13,

14 the consequences, of the chastise-

ment. The verbs in ver. 10, 13,

14, might all be rendered as

presents.

     16. The expressions are appa-

rently taken from Is. xlv. 2.

     17-22. Third example: sick per-

sons brought by their sickness to

the edge of the grave.

     17. FOOLISH MEN so called

because of the moral infatuation

which marks their conduct, as in

xiv. 1, where see notes; men of

earthly, sensual, selfish minds, who

turn a deaf ear to warning, and

despise counsel (comp. Prov. i. 7,

xii. 15, xiv. 3, 9, XV. 5, xxvii. 22),

and who can only be brought to

reason by chastisement. The ex-

pression seems quite to exclude the

notion that the allusion is to "a

party of sick exiles, enfeebled pro-

bably by labours, or by uncongenial

climates, so that their soul abhorred

all manner of meat, and they were

hard at death's door."—Liddon.

Such persons would not be de-

cribed as "foolish," but rather as

objects of pity. The noun "foolish-

ness," xxxviii. 5 [6], is from the

same root, and is used in the same

ethical sense. See note there.

     THE WAY OF THEIR TRANSGRES-

SION. The expression is used to

denote the course of conduct, the

habit of the life, and is not merely

pleonastic.

    BRING AFFLICTION UPON THEM-

SELVES. The proper reflexive sig-

nification of the conjugation is by

all means to be retained. It most

expressively marks how entirely a

man brings upon himself his own

punishment. The same form of

the verb is used, but with a some-

what different shade of meaning,

in 1 Kings ii. 26. There it rather

denotes the involuntary submission

to suffering. [Delitzsch would give

this sense here, and in I Kings ii.

26 explains the Hithp., "geflissent-

lich leiden." He is quite right in

adding, "refines Passivum afflige-

bantur ist es nicht."] I have here,

and in what follows, after the ex-

ample of our translators, preferred

the present tense to the past. This

change of tense exists in the He-

brew, and the rendering gives more

force and animation to the picture;

though it would certainly be pos-

sible to continue the use of the

past tense throughout. See on

xviii., note c.

      18. Comp. the similar passage,

Job xxxiii. 20-22.

                                 PSALM CVII.                                279

 

19 Then they cry unto Jehovah in their trouble,

            He saveth them out of their distresses:

20 He sendeth His word, and healeth them,

            And rescueth them from their graves.

21 Let them give thanks to Jehovah for His loving-kindness,

            And for His wonders to the children of men:

22 And let them sacrifice sacrifices of thanksgiving,

            And tell of His works with a song of joy.

23 They that go down to the sea in ships,

 

     20. HE SENDETH HIS WORD.

The same expression occurs in

cxlvii. 15, 18; see also cv. 19, and

comp. Is. ix. 8 [7], lv. 11. We

detect in such passages the first

glimmering of St. John's doctrine

of the agency of the personal Word.

The Word by which the heavens

were made (xxxiii. 6) is seen to be

not merely the expression of God's

will, but His messenger mediating

between Himself and His creatures.

It is interesting to compare with

this the language of Elihu in the

parallel passage of Job xxxiii. 23,

where what is here ascribed to the

agency of the Word is ascribed to

that of the "mediating angel, or

messenger." Theodoret observes:

[O qeo>j Lo<goj e]nanqrwph<saj kai> a]po-

stalei>j w[j a@nqwrwpoj ta> pantodapa>

tw?n yuxw?n i]a<sato trau<mata, kai> tou>j

diafqare<ntaj a]ne<rrwse logismou<j

Too much stress, however, must

not be laid on the use of the

verb "sendeth." Comp. cxi. 9,

"He sent redemption unto His

people."

      GRAVES. The word may be taken

in this sense, in allusion to their

nearness to death, ver. 18; others

understand by it "pits" meta-

phorically, the pit of suffering

into which they have sunk. (So

Delitzsch, referring to Lam. iv. 10,

and the similar form in Prov.

xxviii. 10.) Hitz. from their sins

(Dan. vi. 5) into whose powers they

have given themselves (Job viii. 4),

which have taken hold of the doer

of them (Ps. xl. 13); i.e. the

consequences of their sins. He

therefore connects the word with

tHw in the sense of corruption, as

the LXX. e]k tw?n diafqorw?n au]tw?n.

      23-32. Fourth example: sea-

farers tossed and driven by the

tempest, and brought at last safe

into port. The description may

be compared with the language of

Jonah i., ii. It is the most highly

finished, the most thoroughly poet-

ical of each of the four pictures of

human peril and deliverance. It is

painted as a landsman would paint

it, but yet only as one who had

himself been exposed to the dan-

ger could paint the storm — the

waves running mountains high, on

which the tiny craft seemed a play-

thing, the helplessness of human

skill, the gladness of the calm, the

safe refuge in the haven.

      Addison remarks, that he prefers

this description of a ship in a storm

before any others he had ever met

with, and for the same reason for

which "Longinus recommends one

in Homer, because the poet has not

amused himself with little fancies

upon the occasion, as authors of an

inferior genius, whom he mentions,

had done, but because he has

gathered together those circum-

stances which are the most apt to

terrify the imagination, and which

really happened in the raging of a

tempest." By the way, he adds,

"how much more comfortable as

well as rational is this system of

 

 

280                     PSALM CVII. 

 

            That do business in great waters,

24 These men have seen the works of Jehovah,

            And His wonders in the deep.

25 For He commandeth and raiseth a stormy wind,

            Which lifteth up the waves thereof.

26 They mount up to the heaven,

            They go down (again) to the depths;

                        Their soul melteth away because of (the) trouble.

27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,

            And are at their wits' end:

 

the Psalmist, than the pagan scheme

in Virgil and other poets, where one

deity is represented as raising a

storm, and another as laying it!

Were we only to consider the sub-

lime in this piece of poetry, what

can be nobler than the idea it gives

us of the Supreme Being thus rais-

ing a tumult among the elements,

and recovering them out of their

confusion; thus troubling and be-

calming nature?"--Spectator, No.

489.

     23. GO DOWN TO THE SEA, as in

Is. xlii. 10; Jon. i. 3.

     BUSINESS. There is no need to

restrict this to the management of

craft by seamen. It includes the

occupations of fishermen, traders,

persons on a voyage, &c.

     24. THE WORKS OF JEHOVAH,

AND HIS WONDERS, i.e. His rule

of the elements : how at His word

the storm raises the billows high as

heaven, how at His words it sinks

down hushed and gentle as the

soft breath of summer.

     25. FOR HE COMMANDETH, lit.

"and He said," the phrase which

occurs so often in Gen. i. to de-

scribe God's creative fiat. Compare

the use of the same word in cv.

31, 34.

     THE WAVES THEREOF, i.e. of the

sea, the pronominal suffix referring

to the remote noun in ver. 23, as

is not uncommonly the case in

Hebrew. (See for a still more re-

markable instance of this, cxi. 10,

where the plural pronoun "them"

can only refer to the word "statutes"

in ver. 7.) In sense it may also

refer to the noun "deep" in ver. 24,

but not in grammar, this noun

being feminine.

    26. THEY MOUNT UP, i.e. not

"the waves," but "the seafarers."

The same expression occurs, but in

a different sense, in civ. 8, where

see note.

    27. REEL TO AND FRO, or, even

more exactly, "spin round and

round."

      ARE AT THEIR WITS' END, lit

"all their wisdom (skill, resources,

&c.)swalloweth itself up," or, "com-

eth of itself to nought," * (Comp.

Is. xix. 3, "I will bring his counsel

to nought.") The Hithpael occurs

only here. Possibly the figure may

 

            * The whole description up to this point finds a striking parallel in

Ovid, Trist. i. 2:

            "Me miserum quanti montes volvuntur aquarum:

                        Jamjam tacturos sidera summa putes.

            Quantae diducto subsidunt aquore valles:

                        Jamjam tacturos Tartara nigra putes.

            Rector in incerto est, nec quid fugiatve petatve

                        Invenit: ambiguis ars stupet ipsa malis."

                              PSALM CVII.                             281

 

28 Then they cry unto Jehovah in their trouble,

            And He bringeth them out of their distresses;

29 He husheth the storm to a gentle air,

            So that the waves thereof are still.

30 Then are they glad because they be quiet,

            And He leadeth them to their desired haven.

31 Let them give thanks to Jehovah for His loving-kindness,

            And for His wonders to the children of men;

32 Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people,

            And praise Him in the seat of the elders.

33 He turneth rivers into a wilderness,

            And water-springs into a thirsty ground;

34 A fruitful land into a salt-marsh,

            Because of the wickedness of them that dwell therein.

 

have been taken from the Syrtes,

or a whirlpool.

     29. A GENTLE AIR. This, and

not absolute "stillness," "calm"

(Symm. galh<nh), seems to be the

meaning of the word, or they could

not move on to the haven. Comp.

I Kings xix. 12, and so the LXX.

and Aq. au#ra. J. D. Mich. quotes

Virgil's equate stirant aurae.

     THE WAVES THEREOF, lit. "their

waves," but the plural suffix must

refer to the sea, and may perhaps

have been occasioned by the plural

"great waters" in ver. 23. See

note on ver. 25. Others refer the

plural pronoun to the seafarers:

"their waves.," i.e. those on which

they are tossed, and which threaten

to engulf them.

     30. BE QUIET. A word used of

the quiet of the sea after a storm,

Jon. i. 11, 12, and only once besides,

Prov. xxvi. 20, of the ceasing of

contention.

     HAVEN. This is probably the

meaning of the word, but it occurs

nowhere else. Ibn Ezra renders

"shore," "coast." Others explain:

"sight (fr. hzH) of their desire,"

i.e. the desired object, the land or

haven in sight.

     32. SEAT or "assembly," conces-

suss. See note on i. I.

     33. The character of the Psalm

changes at this point. We have no

longer distinct pictures as before:

the beautiful double refrain is

dropped, the language is harsher

and more abrupt. Instead of fresh

examples of deliverance from peril,

and thanksgiving for God's mercies,

we have now other instances of

God's providential government of

the world exhibited in two series

of contrasts. The first of these is

contained in ver. 33-39, and ex-

presses a double change—the fruit-

ful well-watered land smitten, like

the rich plain of Sodom, with deso-

lation, and changed into a salt-

marsh (LXX. ei]j a!lmhn, Jer. in

salsuginem;) and anon, the wilder-

ness crowned with cities, like

Tadmor (of which Pliny says, vasto

ambitu arenis includit agros), and

made fertile to produce corn and

wine: the second is contained in

ver. 40, 41, and expresses the

changes in the fortunes of men

(as the last series did those of

countries), viz. how the poor and

the humble are raised and the rich

and the proud overthrown.

 

 

 

282                          PSALM CVII.

 

35 He turneth a wilderness into a pool of water,

            And a dry land into water-springs.

36 And there He maketh the hungry to dwell,

            And they build a city to dwell in;

37 And sow fields, and plant vineyards,

            Which may yield the fruit of (yearly) produce.

38 And He blesseth them so that they multiply greatly,

            And He suffereth not their cattle to be minished.

39 And again they are minished and brought low

            Through oppression, evil, and sorrow.

40  He poureth contempt upon princes,

 

     35. HE TURNETH, &c. The lan-

guage is borrowed from Is. xli. 18,

19, and hence it has been supposed

that the allusion here is to historical

events; that ver. 33 depicts the

desolation of the land whilst the

Jews were captives in Babylon, ver.

35 the change which took place on

their return (comp. with this the

language of cxxvi. 4, "Turn again

our captivity, as the streams in the

south"). But the passages in Isaiah

(comp. besides that already quoted,

xxxv. 6, 7, xlii. 15, 16, xliii. 19, 20,

xli.v. 27, 1. 2) refer not to the Holy

Land, but to the deserts through

which the exiles would pass on their

return; and further, the language

employed is far too general to be

thus limited to one event. It

describes what frequently has

occurred. The histories of Mexico

and of Holland might furnish

examples of such a contrast.

   37. WHICH MAY YIELD (lit. "and

they yield"). This rendering is in

accordance with the common usage

of the verb and noun. Others how-

ever render: "and they (men) get

their fruit of increase," or the like.

So Mendels., "Jahrlich Fruchte

sammeln."

     39. It is possible that this verse

and ver. 40 stand to one another

in the relation of protasis and

apodosis: "When they are minished

&c. . . . He poureth contempt, &c."

Another reverse is described as

befallen those who had just risen

into prosperity. It may have hap-

pened, says the Poet, that the pros-

perity of this race, living at peace

amid its herds and flocks, and the

labours of its hands, has provoked

the envy and the cupidity of some

neighbouring tyrant. He destroys

their harvest, and burns their home-

stead, and drives off their flocks;

but God pours contempt upon him,

leads him astray in the wilderness

to perish, and restores the victims

of his tyranny to more than their

former fortune. But it is more

probable that, as verses 33, 34

present one picture of which the

contrast is given in verses 35-37,

so verses 38 and 39 are in opposi-

tion to each other, and again ver. 40

and 41. We thus have three suc-

cessive contrasts, the second (ver.

38, 39) being in the reverse order

to the other two. The play on the

word "minished" in ver. 38 and 39

indicates a close connection be-

tween the two. On the other hand,

here, as in verse 4, the subject

may not be found directly in what

precedes, but may be general:

"They, i.e. men, whoever they may

be, are minished," &c.

    40. This verse is a quotation from

Job xii. 21, where it stands in

a series of participial sentences

describing the method of God's

government. Here it is introduced

not only as forming a direct anti-

 

                                PSALM CVIII.                             283

 

            And maketh them to wander in the waste where there

                        is no way.'

41 And He setteth the poor on high out of affliction,

            And maketh families like a flock.

42 The upright see (it) and are glad,

            And all iniquity hath shut her mouth.

43 Who is wise that he should observe these things,

            And that they should understand the loving-kindnesses

                        of Jehovah?

 

thesis to the following verse, but as

suggesting also an antithesis to

ver. 36.

     41. LIKE A FLOCK: a figure ex-

pressive of large increase, as in Job

xxi. 11.

     42. The impression produced by

these acts of Divine Providence.

Comp. Job. v. i6.

     43. The conclusion, in the form

of a question, such as that with

which Hosea concludes his pro-

phecy, xiv. 10.

     This verse might, however, also

be rendered, either (i) "Who is

wise and will observe these things?

Let them understand, &c.," or, (2,

"Whoso is wise will observe, &c.,

and they shall understand, &c."

 

            a MyA everywhere else (unless possibly in Is. x1ix. 12, where it is opposed

to NOpcA) means the West, the "Sea" being the Mediterranean. That

evidently cannot be the meaning here, where another word is already

used for West. Perhaps, therefore, we ought to read NymiyA.mi (Kost.) or

NmAyTemi, as in Is. xliii. 5.

            b j`r,D, NOmwi.y;. It seems unnecessary, with Olsh. and others, to read

j`r,d, xlo, as in ver. 40. The negative is implied in the word NOmywiy. The

noun "way" is the accus. of nearer definition, as it is called (Ges. § 118,

3), "Waste as to way" = "a region where there is no way," "a pathless

desert." The LXX., Syr., Vulg., join j`r,D, with what follows, "a way to

a city of habitation," &c. Others would join it with UfTA (errarunt a via),

which, however, is too remote.

 

 

                                     PSALM CVIII.

 

            THIS Psalm consists of portions of two others, the first half of it

being taken from the 57th Psalm, ver. 7-11 [8-12], and the latter

half from the 60th, ver. 5-12 [7-14]. It bears the name of David,

because the original passages both occur in Psalms ascribed to him

as their author. But there is no reason for concluding that these

284                          PSALM CVIII.

 

fragments were thus united by David himself. Some later Poet pro-

bably adapted them to circumstances of his own time; possibly

wished thus to commemorate some victory over Edom or Philistia.

The change in the tenth verse, as compared with the corresponding

passage in the 6oth Psalm, may be held to favour this view. There

are a few other not very important variations of the text which will

be pointed out in the notes.

            For the interpretation at large, the notes on the other two Psalms

may be consulted.

 

                        [A SONG. A PSALM OF DAVID.]

 

1 My heart is steadfast, 0 God;

            I will sing and play, yea, even my glory.

2 Awake, lute and harp,

            I will wake the morning-dawn.

3 I will give thanks unto Thee among the peoples, 0

                        Jehovah,

            And I will play unto Thee among the nations.

4 For great above the heavens is Thy loving-kindness,

            And Thy truth (reacheth) unto the skies.

5 Be Thou exalted above the heavens, 0 God,

            And Thy glory above all the earth.

6 That Thy beloved may be delivered,

 

     I. MY HEART IS STEADFAST. In

lvii. 7 [8] this is repeated. In the

next member of the verse, MY GLORY

has been made a second subject,

"I, (even) my glory," instead of

being joined with the following

imperative, as in lvii. 8 [9].

MY GLORY, i.e. "my soul," with

all those powers and faculties which

belong to the rational being, as

created in the image of God. See

Gen. xlix. 6.

    3. JEHOVAH. In lvii. "Adonai"

(Lord).

    4. ABOVE: comp. cxiii. 4. In

xxxvi. 5 [6] the form of expression

is somewhat different; “in the

heavens . . . unto the clouds : "

see also Jer. li. 9.

     6-13. These verses are taken

from Ps. lx. The passage consists

of two lines of the first strophe of

that Psalm, and the second and

third strophes complete.

      6. The construction of this verse

is different from that in lx. 5 [7]

Here it forms a complete sentence

in itself, the first clause depending

on the second. The verse was

evidently necessary to soften the

abruptness of the transition from

the former passage to this.

 

 

 

                            PSALM CIX.                                         285

 

            Save with Thy right hand, and answer me.

7 God hath spoken in His holiness:

            Let me exult, let me portion out Shechem,

                        And the valley of Succoth let me mete out.

8 Mine is Gilead, mine Manasseh,

            Ephraim also is the defence of my head;

                        Judah is my sceptre:

9 Moab is my washpot;

            Upon Edom will I cast my shoe;

                        Over Philistia will I shout (in triumph).

10 Who will conduct me into the fenced city?

            Who hath led me unto Edom?

11 Hast not Thou, 0 God, cast us off?

            And wilt not go forth, 0 God, with our hosts?

12 0 give us help from the adversary,

            For vain is the salvation of man.

13 Through God we shall do valiantly,

            And HE shall tread down our adversaries.

 

     ANSWER ME; here in the text,

and not the Massoretic correction,

as in lx.

     9. On the change in this verse,

instead of "Because of me, 0

Philistia, cry aloud," the principal

variation in the Psalm, see note on

lx. 8.

      10. FENCED. The more com-

mon word mibtsar is used instead

of matsor in ix.

     The omission of the copula in

ver. 9a, and of the pronoun in ver.

11, are the only other variations of

any note.

 

                                      PSALM CIX.

 

            THIS is the last of the Psalms of imprecation, and completes the

terrible climax. The remarks already made in the Note on xxxv. 22,

in the Introduction to lxix. and the Note on ver. 22, and in the General

Introduction to Vol. I., pp. 62-65, may be consulted here.

            This Psalm differs from the 96th in being levelled against one

enemy chiefly, not against many. This circumstance may partly

account for the even more intensely-wrought and detailed character

of the curse. In the awfulness of its anathemas, the Psalm surpasses

286                                PSALM CIX.

 

everything of the kind in the Old Testament. Who the person was

who was thus singled out for execration, it is in vain to conjecture.

Those who hold, in accordance with the Inscription, that the Psalm

was written by David, suppose that Doeg or Cush, Shimei or

Ahithophel, is the object of execration.

            In Acts i. 20, St. Peter combines a part of the 8th verse of this

Psalm, “his office let another take," with words slightly altered from

the 25th [Heb. 26th] verse of the 69th Psalm, and applies them to

Judas Iscariot. Hence the Psalm has been regarded by the majority

of expositors, ancient and modern, as a prophetic and Messianic

Psalm. The language has been justified not as the language of

David, but as the language of Christ, exercising His office of Judge,

or, in so far as He had laid aside that office during His earthly life,

calling upon His Father to accomplish the curse. It has been alleged

that this is the prophetic foreshadowing of the solemn words, "Woe

unto that man by whom the Son of man is ,betrayed; it were good

for that man if he had not been born" (Matt. xxvi. 24). The curse,

in the words of Chrysostom, "is a prophecy in form of a curse"

(profhtei<a e]n ei@dei a]ra?j).

            The strain which such a view compels us to put on much of the

language of the Psalm ought to have led long since to its abandon-

ment. Not even the woes denounced by our Lord against the

Pharisees can really be compared to the anathemas which are here

strung together. Much less is there any pretence for saying that

those words, so full of deep and holy sorrow, addressed to the traitor

in the Gospels, are merely another expression of the appalling de-

nunciations of the Psalm. But terrible as these undoubtedly are, —to

be accounted for by the spirit of the Old Dispensation, not to be

defended by that of the New,—still let us learn to estimate them

aright. This is the natural voice of righteousness persecuted. These

are the accents of the martyr, not smarting only with a sense of

personal suffering, but feeling acutely, and hating nobly, the triumph

of wickedness.*

 

            * Calvin defends the imprecations on this ground partly, but goes

further: "Tenendum est," he says, "Davidem quoties diras istas vel

maledictionis vota concepit, nec immodico carnis affectu fuisse corn-

motum, nec privatam causam egisse, nec zelo inconsiderato fuisse ac-

censum. Hoc tria diligenter notanda sunt." He then warns us not to

allege the example of David when we are hurried away by our own

passions,—for Christ's answer to His disciples will apply to us, "Ye know

not of what spirit ye are,"—and severely comments on the sacrilege

of the monks, and particularly the Franciscans, who could be hired to

recite this Psalm as a curse against an enemy. He mentions as a fact

coming within his own knowledge, that a lady of quality in France had

hired some Franciscans to curse her only son in the words of this Psalm.

                                         PSALM CIX.                                        287

 

            The strains of this Psalm are strains which have lingered even in

the Christian Church, not softened by "the meekness and gentleness

of Christ." Let any one read the closing passage of Tertullian's

treatise De Spectaculis, in which he does not hesitate to speak of the

joy and exultation with which, at the day of judgement, he shall look

upon the agonies of the damned, of the delight with which he shall

see the kings of the earth, and the rulers who persecuted the Name

of the Lord, melting in flames fiercer than those which they lighted

for the Christians, philosophers burning with their disciples, tragic

actors shrieking with real pain, the charioteer red upon his fiery wheel,

and the wrestler tossing in the flames, till the fierce invective ends in

a perfect shout of triumph as he thinks of the grandeur of the spec-

tacle—let any one, I say, read passages such as this, let him remember

how long it was held a sacred duty by Christian Fathers and Bishops

to persecute, and then let him pause before he passes a too sweeping

judgement on "the fierce vindictiveness" of the Jew.

            A mode of interpretation has, however, sometimes been advocated

which would get rid of the difficulty connected with the imprecations,

by supposing them not to be uttered by the Psalmist, but to be

merely cited by him as the words of his enemies directed against

himself. We have only at the end of ver. 5 to supply the word

"saying" which is so commonly omitted in Hebrew before quota-

tions (see for instance ii. 2, xcv. 7, 10), and all that follows to the

end of ver. 19 may be regarded as the malediction of the Psalmist's

enemies. This is the view of Kennicott and of Mendelssohn, and it

has been recently revived by Mr. Taylor (Gospel in the Law, p. 244,

&c.), who has also attempted to apply the same method in explaining

Ps. lxix. (ib. p. 225, &c.), though I cannot think successfully. For

not to mention that other passages of vindictive and impreca-

tory character remain, of which no such solution is possible, he is

obliged to give an interpretation of ver. 20 of this Psalm, which, to

say the least of it, is strained and improbable (see note on the verse).

It is moreover somewhat difficult to understand how the imprecations

of the Psalmist's enemies could be cited by St. Peter, Acts i. 20, as

prophetically descriptive of the fate of Judas. Would not this

almost imply that the Psalmist himself was a kind of Old Testament

Judas? Moreover, if we could account for every imprecation in the

Psalms on the principle advocated by Mr. Taylor, what are we to say

of such passages as the closing verses of Ps. lviii., or cxxxix. 19, or

cxlix. 5-9?

            Since the last edition of this work appeared, the view in question

has been maintained with very great ability by the Rev. Joseph

Hammond in a paper entitled An Apology for the Vindictive Psalm,

 

 

 

288                                PSALM CIX.

 

which appeared in the Expositor, vol. ii. pp. 225-360. He main-

tains the Davidic authorship of the Psalm, and thinks that it is directed

against Shimei. He argues that the Psalm is admirably illustrated

by the narrative in 2 Sam. xvi., always remembering that the

Psalmist has forewarned us that the charges brought against him

were "lying" and "deceitful" (verse 2). Verses 1-5 of the

Psalm "would describe exactly the words and deeds of Shimei."

He has traced step by step each point in the narrrative in 2 Sam.

which illustrates the language of the Psalm, and it must be admitted

has made out a very strong case for the view that in verses 6-19

of the Psalm, David is quoting Shimei's curses against himself, and

not indulging in curses of his own. He lays stress (a) on the change

from the plural to the singular in ver. 6, and on the change back

again from the singular to the plural in ver. 20; (b) on the verbal

coincidences between the first and second sections of the Psalm;

on the change between the tone and form of expression from ver. 20,

and the resumption here of the complaint of the first section, that

the Psalmist's adversaries "spoke evil against his soul"—that evil

having meanwhile been put before us in the intervening section,

6-19. "The whole of this concluding section," he observes, "har-

monizes, as it seems to me, with the first part, and is alien from the

spirit of the second." I cannot, however, do more here than refer

thus briefly to his able and exhaustive paper, which will well repay

perusal.

            In a series of papers in the third volume entitled The Vindictive

Psalms Vindicated, he has discussed the whole subject of the

Imprecations in the Psalms with a learning and a candour and a grasp

of the subject of which it is impossible to speak too highly. I

hope to advert more fully to these papers in the Appendix to this

volume, but meanwhile I am sure my readers will thank me for

directing their attention to them.

 

              FOR THE PRECENTOR. A PSALM OF DAVID.

 

1 0 GOD of my praise, be not silent!

2 For a wicked mouth and a deceitful mouth have they

            opened against me;

 

      I. GOD OF MY PRAISE, i.e. the

object of my praise (Jer. xvii. 14).

"The name contains the ground of

the prayer. The God whom the

Psalmist has hitherto found reason

to praise will now also give him

fresh reason for praise. In this

faith he offers the prayer:  ‘Be not

silent' (comp. xxviii. I, xxxv. 22).

God speaks when he interferes to

judge and to save."—Delitzsch.

    2. A WICKED MOUTH, &c., lit. “a

 

 

 

                                  PSALM CIX.                                       289

 

            They have spoken against me with a false tongue.

3 Yea with words of hatred have they compassed me about,

            And fought against me without a cause.

4 For my love they are adversaries unto me,

            But I (give myself unto) prayer.

5 They have requited me also evil for good,

            And hatred for my love.

6 Set Thou a wicked man over him,

            And let an adversary stand at his right hand.

 

mouth of the wicked, and a mouth

of deceit." For the first, some

would read, by a slight change of

the vowels, "a mouth of wicked-

ness," so as to bring the two clauses

into harmony. Stier, however,

thinks that the expression "mouth

of the wicked" may have been

purposely employed with reference

to the wicked man against whom

the Psalmist prays. Hence, too,

the play upon the word in ver. 6.

     4. THEY ARE ADVERSARIES

UNTO ME, or "withstand me," (as

in xxxviii. 20 [21]); the verb is

from the same root as the noun in

ver. 6, "an adversary," "a Satan;"

see also ver. 20, 29. It is used like

diaba<llw, dia<boloj, of malicious ac-

cusation.

     I (GIVE MYSELF UNTO) PRAYER,

lit. "I am prayer," i.e. one who

prays, having recourse to no other

means of defence. So in cxx. 7,

"I am peace;” cx. 3, "Thy people

are freewillingness." To supply

"for them," as if the prayer were

for his enemies, as the Syriac trans-

lator and others do (influenced pro-

bably by the language of xxxv. 13),

is against the tenor of the Psalm.

The sense is, rather, "I find refuge

in prayer, committing myself and

my cause to thee." Comp. lxix.

12, 13.

    5. For the sentiment comp. xxxv.

12, xxxviii. 20 [21]

     6. Leaving the mass of his ene-

mies, the Psalmist (if these are his

words, and not those of his enemies,

which he is quoting); suddenly singles

out one, on whom he pours forth

the terrible curse which follows.

See a similar transition in lv. 12

[13]. Ver. 1-5 do not give the

whole grounds for the curse; they

are resumed in ver. 16-18.

     SET, i.e. in an official capacity

(comp. the use of the noun from

the same root, "office," in ver. 8).

Here, "appoint as judge," or "set

over him with power and authority

to punish." For the construction,

comp. Lev. xxvi. 16.

     AN ADVERSARY, or, "SATAN,"

(the LXX. dia<boloj, Jerome, Satan).

Let him have not only an un-

righteous judge, but a malicious

accuser. On the whole, I prefer

the more general word "adversary,"

which is that of the margin of the

E.V., especially as the same root

occurs several times in the Psalm;

see note on ver. 4. It is not indeed

certain from the language of ver. 7

that the process is supposed to take

place before a human tribunal; for

the "prayer" there spoken of is

prayer to God, not supplication to

the human judge. But, on the

other hand, "a wicked man" in the

parallelism, and the general tenor

of what follows, are rather in favour

of the rendering "adversary." In

Zech. iii. 1, where there is the

same form of expression,—"and he

shewed me Joshua the High Priest

standing before the angel of Jeho-

vah, and the adversary (or, the

Satan) standing at his right hand

to be an adversary unto him,"

Satan himself is doubtless meant,

 

 

290                              PSALM CIX.

7 When he is judged let him go forth condemned,

            And let his prayer be turned into sin.

8 Let his days be few;

            His office let another take.

9 Let his children be orphans,

            And his wife a widow.

10 Let his children also be continually vagabonds and beg;

            (Driven) from their ruined houses a let them seek (their

                        bread).

11 Let the extortioner lay snares for all that he hath;

            And let strangers spoil his labour.

 

for the whole scene is that of a

vision, as also in Job i. 6-13. This

last passage shows how compara-

tively early the name occurred as a

proper name. There is no pretence,

therefore, for saying that the use of

the name as that of the Evil Spirit

is later than this Psalm.

     7. WHEN HE IS JUDGED, &C.

When his case is tried let him GO

FORTH, leave the court, with sen-

tence pronounced against him (lit.

"guilty," comp. the verb from the

same root "to condemn, to pro-

nounce guilty," xxxviii. 33).

   HIS PRAYER, not addressed to

the human judge for mitigation of

the sentence, but here, as always,

prayer to God. The criminal look-

ing in vain for pity or justice at the

hands of man, turns in his ex-

tremity to God; but even there, at

the very fount of mercy, let mercy

fail him, let his prayer aggravate

his guilt. The utterance of such a

wish is the most awful part of the

imprecation. That prayer may thus

draw down not forgiveness but

wrath, see Is. i. 15; Prov. xxviii. 9

("He that turneth away his ear

from hearing the law, even his

prayer shall be abomination"), xv.

8, xxi. 27, But it is one thing to

recognize this as a fact in the Divine

government of man, it is another

thing to imprecate it.

     8. His OFFICE, implying that the

person held a position of some im-

portance. The LXX. e]piskoph<,

whence in Acts i. 20 the passage, is

applied to Judas. In this verse a

double loss is imprecated, the loss

of life, "let his days be few," and

the loss of honour, "let another

take his office;" in ver. I I a third

is added, the loss of property.

     9. The curse passes in accordance

with the Mosaic Law ("visiting

the iniquity of the fathers upon the

children") to the family of the

offender. This has occasioned con-

siderable perplexity to those who

take the whole Psalm as prophetic,

and aimed throughout at Judas Is-

cariot. It is painful to see an ex-

positor like Stier driven to maintain

that from this point the curse is

directed against the Jews at large,

rather than against Judas Iscariot,

and that "wife" and "mother"

are used figuratively to denote city,

land, &c. Others have inferred

from the passage that Judas must

have left a wife and children.

    10. BEG. The form of the verb

is intensive or frequentative. The

object, "bread" (comp. xxxvii. 25:

Prov. xx. 4), must be supplied here,

and with the verb "seek " in the

next member.

     FROM THEIR RUINED HOUSES,

lit. "from, out of, their ruins."

    11. EXTORTIONER, lit. " credi-

tor," LXX. daneisth<j. But Symm.

has the stronger word pra<ktwr. LAY

SNARES FOR, admirably descriptive

                                 PSALM  CIX.                                      291

 

12 Let there be none to continue kindness unto him;

            Neither let his fatherless children have any to favour

                        (them).b

13 Let his posterity be cut off;

            In the next generation let their name be blotted out.

14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with Jehovah

            And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

13 Let them always be before Jehovah,

            That He may cut off the memory of them from the

                        earth.

16 Because he remembered not to show kindness,

            But persecuted the afflicted man and the poor,

                        And the broken in heart, to put (them) to death;

 

of the arts of the usurer, never rest-

ing till he has robbed his victim of

"all that he hath."

    12. CONTINUE KINDNESS to him-

self in distress, or to his children.

See the same phrase xxxvi. 10  

[11].

     14, 15. The curse goes backward

as well as forward. The whole

race of the man is involved in it

root and branch he is accursed.

Not the guilt of the individual only,

but the guilt of all his guilty an-

cestors, is to be remembered and

visited on his posterity. For the

great law, comp. Matt. xxiii. 32-

36. Hupfeld objects that the curse

on "the fathers" is pointless, as it

could no longer reach them; but

if I see rightly, the object is to

heighten the effect of the curse as

it falls upon the children mentioned

in ver. 13.  So in our Litany

"Remember not our offences, nor

the offences of our forefathers."

      16. HE REMEMBERED NOT

therefore "let his iniquity be re-

membered," ver. 14.

     TO PUT TO DEATH. The inten-

sive form of the verb (Poel instead

of Hiphil) denotes the eagerness,

the relentless cruelty of the perse-

cutors. The construction of this

and the three following verses ad-

mits of some question.

    (i.) Ver. 16 may be connected

with ver. 15, as giving the reason

for the prayer of that verse, "Let

them always be," &c., "because he

remembered not," &c. Then ver.

17, 18 stand alone describing the

man's wickedness and the retribu-

tion it brought upon him. The

man's own curse, aimed at others,

has fallen back upon himself. What

he has sown, that he has also

reaped. Thus the figures "as with

a garment," "like water," "like

oil," would denote the penetrating,

clinging nature of the curse; or, as

Stier expresses it: "As the man

has sinned through and through

his whole being, so is his, whole

being cursed through and through."

But there are two objections to

this explanation. (a) The figures

in a Hebrew writer would more

naturally denote what is refreshing

than what is hurtful (comp. Job

xv. 16, xxxiv. 7, Prov. iii. 7, 8, and

xvii. 22). (b) The change to the

expression of a wish, when the

figures employed are so much

weaker, has almost the effect of an

anti-climax. This is only partially

obviated, even if, with Delitzsch,

we make the verb "covereth

emphatic = "envelopeth."

   (ii.) We may take ver. 16-18 as

the protasis, and ver. 19 as the

 

292                          PSALM CIX.

 

17 And he loved cursing, and it came unto him,

            And he had no delight in blessing, and it was far

                        from him;

18 Yea, he clothed himself with cursing as with his raiment,

            And it came like water into his bowels,

                        And like oil into his bones;

19 Let it be unto him as the garment (wherewith) he covereth

                        himself,

            And as the girdle that he is always girded withal.

20 This is the reward of mine adversaries from Jehovah,

            And of them that speak evil against my soul.

 

apodosis: "Because he persecuted

the poor, because cursing was as

water to his thirsty soul, as marrow

and fatness to his bones, let it be

unto him as a garment, let it wrap

him round, and envelope him,

covering him from head to foot,

and clinging to him like a girdle

which never leaves his loins."

     The verbs cannot be rendered in

verses 17, 18, as in the E.V., as op-

tatives. The tenses are past tenses,

and have been rightly so rendered

by the LXX.

     20. Two explanations of this

verse are possible, according to the

view we take of the former part of

the Psalm. (1) It may mean, "My

enemies may curse me thus (as in

ver. 19) but after all this cursing re-

turns upon themselves. This is the

reward (for this meaning of the He-

brew word, see Is. xlix . 4), they them-

selves receive from the hand of the

righteous Judge" (comp. vii. 15,

16 [16, 17]). (2) Those who take

the passage ver. 6-19, not as the

words of the Psalmist, but as the

words of his enemies, suppose the

genitive here to be subjective;

"This is mine adversaries' award

unto me: this the sentence they

would procure against me from Je-

hovah, when they pray, Set Thou

a wicked man over him," &c. So

Mr. Taylor explains (Gospel in the

Law, p. 249), and illustrates this use

of the genitive by such expressions

as "the wages of sin," i.e. the wages

sin gives (Rom. vi. 23); " children

are an heritage of the Lord," i.e.

which the Lord bestows (Ps. cxxvii.

3); "My reward is with me" (Rev.

xxii. 12). Comp. also Is. xl. 10.

But the addition "from Jehovah"

renders the first explanation far the

more probable: "This is the re-

ward which my adversaries receive

from Jehovah." The sentence is

clear and intelligible. But on the

other interpretation we should have

expected, not "from Jehovah"

meaning "supplicated from Je-

hovah," but rather the personal

pronoun which can hardly be

omitted, "This is mine adversaries'

reward unto me." Mr. Hammond

however gets rid of this difficulty

by taking hlA.fuP; in its original sense

of "work" or "labour," not in its

derived sense of "wages," or "re-

ward." This primary sense, being

given both by the LXX. tou?to to>

e@rgon tw?n e]ndiaballo<ntwn me para>

Kuri<ou, and the Vulg. "Hoc opus

eorum qui detrahunt mihi apud

Dominum." He explains accord-

ingly, "This—the string of impre-

cations just quoted—is the work of

mine adversaries from the Lord."

This he would no doubt consider to

be equivalent to David's words in

2 Sam. xvi. "Let him curse; for

the Lord hath bidden him."'

 

                               PSALM CIX.                               293

 

21 But THOU, 0 Jehovah Lord, deal with me for Thy

                        Name's sake;

            For Thy loving-kindness is good: deliver Thou me.

22 For I am afflicted and poor,

            And my heart is wounded within me.

23 As a shadow, when it lengtheneth, am I gone hence,

            I have been driven away as the locust.

24 My knees are become weak through fasting,

            And my flesh hath failed d of fatness.

25 As for me,—I am become a reproach unto them

            When they see me, they shake their head.

26 Help me, 0 Jehovah my God,

            Save me according to Thy loving-kindness.

27 And let them know that this is Thy hand;

            Thou, Jehovah, hast done it.

28 Though they curse, yet THOU blessest;

            They arose and were put to shame,

                        But Thy servant rejoiceth.

29 Mine adversaries are clothed with confusion;

            They cover themselves with their own shame (as with)

                        a mantle.

 

      21. BUT THOU. He turns from

his adversaries to God, from their

curses to His loving-kindness. The

emphatic pronoun, and the double

name of God, both mark the earn-

estness of the appeal. See the use

of these two names in lxviii. 20 [21],

exl. 7 [8], cxli. 8; Hab. iii. 19. The

second member of the verse might

be rendered, "Deliver me, because

Thy loving-kindness is good;" or,

again, the imperative," Deliver

me," might be transferred to the

beginning of ver. 22.

      23. As A SHADOW, &c.: comp.

cii. 12.

     AM I GONE HENCE, or, more

literally, "am I made to go hence."

This passive form (which only oc-

curs here) denotes external com-

pulsion.

     I HAVE BEEN DRIVEN AWAY, lit.

"I have been shaken out," as from

a cloth, or mantle, or the deep

folds of an Eastern robe. See the

use of the verb in Neh. v. 13, where

the shaking out of the upper part

of the robe is symbolical of the

Divine judgement. See also Job

xxxviii. 13.

    As THE LOCUST, as easily terri-

fied and driven away. Comp. Job

xxxix. 20; Exod. x. 19.

     25. SHAKE THEIR HEAD. See

on xxii. 7.

     27. At the close of the Psalm the

individual persecutor drops out of

sight, and a return is made to the

plural number, as in ver. 2-5.

     28. The emphatic position of the

pronoun before the second verb

makes the rendering as given in the

 

294                           PSALM CX.

 

30 I will greatly give thanks unto Jehovah with my mouth,

            And in the midst of a multitude will I praise Him.

31 For He standeth at the right hand of the poor,

            To save (him) from them that judge his soul.

 

text more probable than the opta-                       stands at the right hand of the

tive rendering of the E. V., "Let                          wicked man to accuse him; here,

them curse," &c.                                               Jehovah, at the right hand of the

     30, 31. The Psalm closes with                       poor, defenceless victim, to protect

the confident and joyful anticipa-                        him. There, the persecutor finds

tion that the prayer in ver. 26, 27 is                     no mercy at the hands of the human

heard and answered.                                         judge, into whose hands he has

      There is, further, a remarkable                     fallen; here, the Great Judge of

contrast between these verses and                     all rescues "the poor" from "those

verses 6, 7. There, the adversary                        that judge his soul."

 

            a 'br;HAme, "from, i.e. out of, away from, their ruins, i.e. the ruins of their

homes." The LXX. have e]kblhqh<twsan e]k tw?n oi]kope<dwn au]tw?n, whence it

has been conjectured that they read Uw.r;Go (as in Exod. xii. 39; Job xxx. 5)

instead of Uwr;DA.

 

            b NneOH, a benefactor. This is the form everywhere, except in Prov. xiv.

21, where it is NneOHm;. Like the verb, it is always construed with the

accus. of the person, consequently 'tyli is not governed by NneOH, but

belongs to yhiy;.

 

            c 'hl yhiy;. On this periphrastic future or optative, see on lxii., note g.

            d wHk (Qal. only here, elsewhere Piel), lit. hath lied or become faithless,

i.e. is changed (as LXX. and Symm. h]lloiw<qh) from fatness, so as no

longer to be fat. Or it may be rendered hath fallen away (hath become

faithless) from fat. Nm,w, here, as in Is. v. i, xxviii. I, fat, not oil. The

LXX. di ] e@laion, Symm. a]po> a]naleiyi<aj, "my flesh has changed, grown

lean for (want of) oil;"—but wrongly.

 

                                          PSALM CX.

 

            THIS Psalm claims emphatically to be the fruit and record of a

Divine revelation. The words of the Poet, though shaped in the

Poet's heart, come to him from the very sanctuary of the Most High.

It is an oracle, an utterance of Jehovah which he has heard, and

which he is to declare to others. It is an oracle which concerns a

king who reigns in Zion; it is addressed to one to whom the Poet

does homage, calling him "Lord;" it assures him of the high favour

                                       PSALM CX.                                        295

 

of Jehovah, who lifts him to a share in His own regal dignity, giving

him the victory over all his enemies. The Poet then pictures the

king going forth to battle, surrounded by his youthful warriors, bright

and numberless as the dew-drops on a summer's morn, willing to

shed their hearts' blood in his service, each one robed as a priest,

each one a soldier of God.

            As he gazes on the vision which has been called up by the first

word from heaven, another Divine word sounds in his ear, the word

confirmed by the oath of Jehovah, that the king shall also be A PRIEST

FOR EVER AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.

            Then he follows the king in imagination to the war, sees him win-

ning victory after victory with great slaughter, aided by God Himself

in the fight, and securing the fruits of his victories by a pursuit of

his enemies which knows no check even in the burning heat of an

Eastern sun.

            If we were at liberty to adopt in this Psalm the same principles of

interpretation which we have already adopted with regard to all the

other Messianic Psalms, it would present no special difficulty. We

might suppose it to have been written by some Poet of David's time,

who would naturally speak of David himself as his lord. In the first

and lowest sense his words would apply to David as the theocratic

king; in their ultimate and highest sense they would be fulfilled in

David's great Descendant, in Him who was both David's son and

David's lord. But we seem to be precluded from this method of

interpretation here by the argument which, according to the first three

Evangelists, our Lord, in disputing with the Pharisees, builds upon

the first verse of the Psalm. "When the Pharisees were gathered

together," St. Matthew tells us, "Jesus asked them, saying, What

think ye of Christ? whose son is He? They say unto Him, The son

of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call

Him lord, saying, The Lord said unto my lord, Sit Thou on My right

hand till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool? If David then call

Him lord, how is He his son?" (xxii. 41-45). In St. Mark's

Gospel still more emphatically: "And Jesus answered and said,

while He taught in the Temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the

son of David? (For) David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The

Lord said to my lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, till I make Thine

enemies Thy footstool. David (therefore) himself calleth Him lord,

and whence is He his son?" (xii. 35-37). In St. Luke the quota-

tion is introduced by "David himself saith in the Book of Psalms,"

but there is no other variation of any importance.

            Now in this argument all turns on these two points; first, that

David himself wrote the Psalm, and the next, that in writing he was

296                                 PSALM CX.

 

moved by the Holy Ghost. David himself, in a confessedly Mes-

sianic Psalm, is speaking not of himself, but of his great Descendant,

and, so speaking, calls Him his lord. David was able to do this,

was able in faith to recognize the true Divine greatness of One who,

according to the flesh, would be his son, because he spake as the

organ of a Divine revelation, as "he was moved by the Holy Ghost."

This is clearly the scope of our Lord's argument. And if so, then it

is plain that there can be no lower reference of the Psalm to David

or any other Jewish monarch. It is a prediction, and a prediction of

the Christ as the true King, as the everlasting Priest after the order

of Melchizedek. Nor is there anything to startle us in such a

conclusion, unless we are prepared to deny altogether the possibility

of a revelation of the future. The real difficulty is this, that, taking

this view of the Psalm, it differs from all the other prophetic Psalms

which, in their first intention at least, refer to David or Solomon,

or some other Jewish monarch. And further, the language of the

latter part of the Psalm is such as to be only fairly applicable to

an earthly king literally reigning in Zion, and literally engaged in

fierce and bloody war with his enemies and therefore it becomes

the more difficult to understand on what principle the former part of

the Psalm can be detached from a primary reference to some reigning

monarch.

            Attempts have consequently been made to reconcile a primary

reference in the Psalm with our Lord's argument as given by the

Evangelists. It has been said, for instance, that the Psalm may have

been written, not by David, but by Nathan or some other poet, in

honour of David, without either impugning our Lord's veracity or

affecting His argument. We are reminded that our Lord in His

human nature does not claim omniscience, and that, in so trifling a

matter as the authorship of a particular poem, there is no reason

why any supernatural illumination should have been vouchsafed Him.

In matters of literature and criticism, His knowledge was the know-

ledge of His time.* It is conceivable, therefore, that He might

have adopted, as man, the popular view respecting the authorship of

the Books of Holy Scripture. Or, as Neander puts it: "If Christ

really named David as the author of the Psalm, we are not reduced

to the alternative of detracting from His infallibility and unconditional

truthfulness, or else of admitting that David really wrote it. The

question of the authorship was immaterial to his purpose; it was no

part of His divine calling to enter into such investigations." (Life of

Christ, Bohn's ed. p. 403.)

 

            * So Meyer, Evang. des Matthaus, kap. xxii. 43.

                                   PSALM CX.                                          297

 

            But whilst we may freely admit that our Blessed Lord's human

knowledge was subject to limitation, since this is implied in the

Gospel narrative, and we have His own express declaration to the

same effect, it does not follow that we are justified in deciding for

ourselves where the line is to be drawn—when it is that He speaks

only as man, when it is that His divine nature operates. Surely on

so mysterious a subject it is wiser and more reverent to abstain from

speculation, wiser and more reverent, to say the least, not lightly to

charge Him with error to Whom we look as the Source and Fountain

of truth. But apart from this, how does the argument hold, if the

Psalm was not written by David, but by some one else? Neander

contends that it is not invalidated. "Its principal point," he says,

"is precisely that of the Psalm; the idea of the Theocratic King,

King and Priest at once, raised up to God, and looking with calm

assurance for the end of the conflict with his foes, and the triumphant

establishment of his kingdom. This idea could never be realized in

any man; it was a prophecy of Christ, and in Him it was fulfilled.

This idea went forth necessarily from the spirit of the Old Dispensa-

tion, and from the organic connection of events in the old Theocracy;

it was the blossom of a history and a religion that were in their very

essence prophetical. In this regard it is a matter of no moment

whether David uttered the Psalm or not. History and interpretation,

perhaps, may show that he did not. But whether it was a conscious

prediction of the royal Poet, or whether some other, in poetic but

holy inspiration, seized upon this idea, the natural blossom and off-

shoot of Judaism, and assigned it to an earthly monarch, although in

its true sense it could never take form and shape in such an one, still

it was the idea by which the Spirit, of which the inspired seer, who-

ever he may have been, was but the organ, pointed to Jesus." All

very true, except that it does not show how it is possible for our

Lord's argument to stand if we reject the Davidic authorship of the

Psalm. If we hold ourselves at liberty to assume, that our Lord was

mistaken on this point, then His argument might certainly still be of

force as against the Pharisees, who, like Himself, held the Psalm to

be David's, but has no force whatever for ourselves. For the very

hinge of the argument turns on the circumstance, that David wrote

the Psalm. "The Messiah, you admit, is David's son. How then

cloth David in spirit call Him lord?" Suppose the Prophet Nathan

or some Poet of David's time to have written the Psalm in honour of

David, and the argument falls to the ground.*

 

            * But see the remarks of Bishop Thirlwall, quoted in the note at the end

of the Psalm, p. 313.

298                               PSALM CX.

 

            It has been suggested by others, in order to escape from the

embarrassment in which the argument involves them, that our Lord's

object, in this instance, was not to establish any particular doctrine,

as He had before established against the Sadducees the doctrine of

a Resurrection, but only to silence His adversaries. It was quite

unnecessary for Him, therefore, to do more than argue from the

premisses admitted by the Pharisees, that the Psalm was a Messianic

Psalm, and that it was written by David. But this distinction is too

subtle. As in His conflict with the Sadducees He proved the doc-

trine of the Resurrection from the Pentateuch, so in His conflict with

the Pharisees He showed from the Psalms that the Messiah must be

not only the Son of Man, but the Son of God. His object was in each

case to establish a truth which had been gainsaid by His opponents.

            It seems to me, then, that we are shut up to the conclusion, that in

this lofty and mysterious Psalm, David, speaking by the Holy Ghost

(e]n a[gi<& pneu<mati), was carried beyond himself, and did see in pro-

phetic vision that his son would also be his lord. Nor is it altogether

strange, altogether inconsistent with the course of God's providence,

that such a vision should be vouchsafed to one to whom so clear a

promise was given that the Messiah should come of his seed, and

who in his "last words" pictured in such glowing terms the Righteous

Ruler and the blessings of His righteous reign.*

            Whilst, however, we maintain what our Lord's argument compels

us to maintain, that the Psalm is a prediction, we cannot tell to what

extent it was a conscious prediction. We do not know how far

David himself needed an interpretation of the vision in which he saw

the majestic figure of the priestly king. His words may have been

higher than his thoughts: they may have been pregnant with a mean-

ing which he did not see. Unless we deny all inspiration, we must

be prepared to admit this. At the same time, he is not wholly lifted

out of his own age and time. If he speaks of a Messiah to come

and so far sees-something of His greatness as to call Him "lord," he

is still suffered to conceive of Him, partially at least, as an earthly

 

            * It is impossible not to feel how not only our Lord's argument but

also that of the Epistle to the Hebrews fails, if we suppose the Psalm to

have a first reference to David. If the writer of the Epistle had supposed

that David himself was a priest after the order of Melchizedek, what

would have become of his argument that the abrogation of the Levitical

priesthood was signified by the fact that the priesthood of Christ was

after the order of Melchizedek? For if David, who raised the Levitical

priesthood to a pitch of importance and splendour which it had never

before possessed, was a priest after the order of Melchizedek, it is not

clear how the priesthood of Christ was a proof that the Levitical priest-

hood had come to an end, or that the one positively excluded the other.

                                           PSALM CX.                                            299

 

monarch fighting bloody battles with his enemies. The Psalm thus

sinks down towards its close into—must we not say?—a lower key.

The image which it presents to us is an image partly of fine gold, but

partly of clay. We may indeed think ourselves at liberty to take the

earthly words as symbols of spiritual truths. We may understand the

victories of the Messiah as won in the kingdom of mind and heart,

not as won with sword and spear. But we cannot suppose that it

was with any such meaning that David wrote "He shall judge among

the nations, filling them with corpses." To his eye the struggle was

one of flesh and blood, the victory such as he had himself obtained,

the triumph that of an earthly conqueror.

            Again, as we may allow that the prediction was partially at least

unconscious, or that the vision was obscure, so we may also admit

that it was vouchsafed in connection with circumstances and events

to which it would stand in some definite relation. Prophecy—and

the inspired songs of Psalmists are often prophecies—never seems

wholly to forsake the ground of history. However extended the vista

which stretches before him, that vista begins at the Prophet's feet.

The present is his home and his starting-point, though he may make

"all the ages " his own. So we must look to some occurrence in

David's life for the secret impulse of his song; and none seems so

naturally and obviously to associate itself with the language of the

Psalm, as that marked occurrence to which, in all probability, many

other Psalms are due, the bringing up of the Ark of God into the

Tabernacle which he had prepared for it in Zion. David on that

occasion danced before the Ark, girded with a linen ephod, offered

burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and blessed the people in the

name of the Lord of hosts;* and thus, though but in a passing and

temporary manner, prefigured in his own person the union of the

kingly and priestly offices. Zion had become, by the removal of the

Ark thither, the seat of Jehovah's visible Presence. The king, there-

fore, who made Zion his abode, was himself in some sense the as-

sessor of Jehovah on His throne. Jerusalem, tradition said, was the

ancient Salem, the capital of Melchizedek, and the memories which

thus lingered about it and hallowed it may have helped David to

 

            * See 2 Sam. vi. 14--18. I own I cannot see any evidence in this

passage that "David was recognized as the head of the priesthood," or

that "the union of priesthood and kingship in David was more complete

than in any other sovereign in Judah." We read of no repetition of such

acts as those here recorded; the occasion itself was peculiar; and

certainly no stress can be laid upon the expression "he offered burnt-

offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord," for the same might be

said of any one who brought the victims to the priests to sacrifice, e.g.

Solomon and all the congregation, I Kings viii. 5.

300                               PSALM CX.

 

understand how the true Ruler, Priest as well as King, should be

Priest, not after the ancient and venerable order of Aaron, but after

the order, still more ancient and more venerable, of Melchizedek.

It may, however, have been wisely ordered not only with a view to

the future Antitype, but with regard to the present relation between

the king and the priesthood, that no hint should be given of any un-

warranted assumption on the part of the one of the duties belonging

to the other. David did not interfere with the Levitical priesthood

as existing in his own day; he pointed to a time when that priest-

hood would be superseded by a higher.

            It may throw still further light on some of the expressions in the

Psalm, if we recollect in what a spirit and with what resolves David

had begun his reign, how jealously he desired to maintain the purity

of his household and of his court (see Psalm ci.), how firm his deter-

mination was to have recognized under his sway the great ideal to

which Israel was called, "Ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests

and a holy nation." For the people of the king in the Psalm who

offer themselves willingly to fight his battle are priestly soldiers. If

the king is henceforth to be a priest on his throne, he is so as

embodying in his own person the priestly character of the people.

He is not only the military chief, he is the religious head of the

nation, the representative both of Church and State.

            It has been said, that it is of importance for the right understanding

of the Psalm, and especially of the fourth verse of the Psalm, to bear

in mind the military character of the Hebrew priesthood. It is per-

haps of more importance to bear in mind, that the whole nation was

at once a nation of soldiers and a nation of priests. They were the

soldiers of God pledged to a crusade, a holy war; pledged to the

extermination of all idolatry and all wickedness, wherever existing.

The character of the war marked the character of the soldiers. They

were God's "sanctified ones." They were set apart as priests for

His service.  That zeal for God should have manifested itself chiefly

in the priesthood, and that they should not have hesitated to draw

the sword, is readily accounted for by the fact that in them the

ideal of the nation culminated: they were in every sense its repre-

sentatives.

            The Psalm is not only quoted by our Lord as Messianic in the

passages already referred to; it is more frequently cited by the New

Testament writers than any other single portion of the ancient Scrip-

tures. Comp. besides those passages in the Gospels, Acts ii. 34, 35;

I Cor. xv. 25; Heb. i. 13, v. 6, vii. 17, 21, x. 13.

            In later Jewish writings nearly every verse of the Psalm is quoted

as referring to the Messiah.

 

                                          PSA L M CX.                                       301

 

            In the Midrash Tehillim on Ps. 36, on the words, "Thy

gracious condescension shall make me great," we read: "R. Yoden,

in the name of R. Chama, said:  ‘In the age to come [i.e. the new

Messianic dispensation] the Holy One—blessed be He!—makes

King Messiah to sit on His right hand (for it is said, The Lord said

unto my Lord, Sit on my right hand), and Abraham on His left.

But his (Abraham's) face grows pale, and he says, The son of my

son sitteth on the right hand, but I on the left. But the Holy

One—blessed be He!—appeases him, and says, The son of thy

son is on My right hand, but I am at thy right hand,' as

intimated in the words, ‘The Lord is at thy right hand.'" Ac-

cording to R. Martini, this passage was also in his Bereshith Rabba

as the commentary of R. Mosheh Haddarshan on.Gen. xviii. i.

            Again, Martini quotes a passage from the Midrash Tehillim on

Ps. ii. 7, in which this verse is cited, together with Exod. iv. 22,

Is. lii. 13, xlii. I, and Dan. vii. 13, as hiving, like Psalm ii. 7, a

Messianic sense.  According to Martini, the passage in the

Midrash begins, Hywm lw ynynf Mh Myrpvsm. According to the

printed text of the Midrash it is simply Mh Myrpsm. Consequently, in

a recent work, this quotation of Martini's (found also in Schottgen)

is held up as a palpable mistake; and we are told that no Messianic

explanation is given by the M.T. on Ps. ii. 7, and that "it would

be strange if it were, for the comment of the Midrash on the

verse is expressly intended as Mynymyl tbvwt,* an answer to the

heretics [i.e. Christians], and does its best to refute the Messianic

exegesis." But how do we know that there has been no alteration

in the text since Martini's time? and why does the attempt to do

away with the Christian Messianic interpretation, show that there

could be no Messianic interpretation originally in the Jewish sense?

In the Zohar, Raya Mahemra (Numb. fol. 112b, col. 448), it is said:

"Jacob put his hand cleverly and put the ox (i.e. Messiah ben

Joseph) on his right, and the lion (i.e. Messiah ben David) on his

left; and therefore the Lord said unto my lord, ‘Sit thou at My

right hand, 0 righteous one, over against Messiah, the son of

Joseph' (thus rectifying Jacob's mistake by reversing' the place of

each), and he said unto him, ‘Sit at My right hand, the arm of

Abraham, in the dispersion of Israel, until I make thine enemies

thy footstool.' "

            R. Saadyah (not the Gaon, but another Rabbi later than Rashi),

 

            * The words really are "an answer to them that say that there is a

Son to Him. And do Thou answer them, He saith not ‘Thou art

a Son to Me,’ but ‘Thou art My Son.’"

302                          PSALM CX.

 

commenting on Dan. vii. 13, "And behold there came with the

clouds of heaven one like unto the Son of Man," writes (I give the

quotation from Martini): "This is the Messiah our Righteousness,

as it is written, 'Jehovah said unto my lord' (Ps. cx.); 'And He

gave unto Him power' (Dan. v. 14); as it is written (Ps. ii. 7),

But I have set my king,' &c."

            Ver. 2. According to Bereshith Rabba, cap. 85 (on Gen. xxxviii.

18), the sceptre of the kingdom which the Lord sends out of Zion is

the King Messiah of whom Isaiah (xi. 1) speaks: "There shall go

forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse." So according to Bemidbar

Rabba (cap. 18, near the end), " The rod of Aaron is preserved,

that it may be in the hand of King Messiah, which is the meaning of

the rod of Thy strength." And according to Yelamdenu (Yalqut

Shime'oni), the Messiah will smite the nations with the same rod or

sceptre.

            Ver. 3. The words "From the womb, of the morning," &c., are

applied in Bereshith Rabba to the Messiah, as follows: "R. Borachia

says: God spake to the Israelites:  ‘Ye say unto Me, We are

orphans and have no father (Lam. iv. 3). The Redeemer (Goel) like-

wise, whom I shall raise up for you, hath no father,' for it is said

(Zech. vi. i 2), ‘Behold a man whose name is the Branch (Zemach),

and he shall branch out of his place.' And so saith Isaiah (liii. 2):

‘He groweth up before Him as a shoot.’ It is of the same also that

David speaks in Ps. cx. 3, 'From the womb of the morning Thou

hast the dew of Thy youth'" (Martini, fol. 594).

            Ver. 4. In Bereshith Rabba, on Gen. xiv. 18 (Martini, fol. 654),

it is remarked of Melchizedek, king of Salem, "This is what the

Scripture says (Ps. cx. 4), 'The Lord bath sworn and will not repent,

Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.' And who

is this? It is the King righteous, and bringing salvation—the King

Messiah, as in Zech. ix. 9, 'Behold thy King cometh to thee: He is

righteous, and bringing salvation.' But what means, ‘He brought

forth bread and wine'? It is the same as Ps. lxxii. 16, ‘There shall

be abundance of corn in the land;' and this it is which is written,

‘He was a priest of the Most High God.’ The Targum on this

verse runs:  "For Thou hast been appointed prince of the age to

come, and that for Thy merit's sake, because Thou art a righteous

King."*

 

            * These passages are not in the work commonly known as the Bereshith

Rabba. But Martini quotes from the B. R. of Rabbi Moses Haddarshan,

and a Jewish convert, Hieronymus a S. Fide, "quotes also from a Genesi

magno antiquissimo," and his quotations, though varying in some minor

points, agree in the main with those of Martini. Pusey, Introduction to

"Jewish Interpreters of Isaiah liii," p. xxxii.

                                       PSALM CX.                                    303

 

            Ver. 6. On the words "He will judge among the nations," it is

said in the book Zohar (Gen. fol. 38b, 39a), "The Holy One—

blessed be He!—hath determined to clothe himself with purple

garments, i.e. dyed with the blood of the slain righteous among

Israel, that he may judge the nations, as the Psalm saith, ‘He

shall judge.'" See also R. 'Aqibah.

            Ver. 7. The Midrash Tehillim on "He shall drink of the brook

in the way" is, "In the time to come [the age of the Messiah],

streams of blood shall flow from the wicked, and the birds shall come

to drink of the stream of blood, as it is written, 'He shall drink.'"

See the authorities in Raym. Martini, Pudio Fidei; Schottgen, De

Messia, p. 246.

            It is not surprising, however, to find that by many of the Rabbis

this line of interpretation was abandoned. So long as the Psalm was

admitted to be a Messianic Psalm, the argument based upon it by

our Lord and His Apostles was irresistible. Accordingly, we find as

early as the second century that the interpretation common among

the Jews was that which explained the Psalm of Hezekiah. Both

Justin Martyr in his Dialogue with Trypho (§ 33, 83), and Tertullian

in his Treatise against Marcion (lib. v. cap. 9), set themselves to meet

this as the then current Jewish application. The Rabbis of Justin's

days interpreted the words "sit thou on My right hand" as a com-

mand to Hezekiah to sit on the right side of the Temple, safe under

the Divine protection, when the messengers of the king of Assyria

came to him with the threat of their master's vengeance.* Chry-

sostom tells us that the Jews of his time held that these words were

addressed, not to the Messiah, but to Abraham, or Zerubbabel, or

David. The Rabbis of the middle ages all agree in repudiating the

Messianic interpretation. Rabbi Solomon Isaki (Rashi) mentions

that some of the earlier Rabbis expounded the Psalm of Abraham,

whom in Gen. xxiii. the children of Heth called "my lord." He

himself attempts to carry out this exposition in the most extraordinary

way; interprets the "enemies" of ver. 2 of the four kings mentioned

Gen. xiv. (because of their connection with the history of Melchizedek),

and finds an allusion in the "corpses," ver. 6, first to the carcases of

the animals which Abraham divided, Gen. xv., and then to the dead

bodies of the Egyptians at the Red Sea, Exod. xiv. Immediately

after he suggests another application of the Psalm to David, and on

ver. 6 yet another to Hezekiah and the destruction of the Assyrians.

 

            * Conf. Tertullian (ut supra): "Dicunt denique (Judi) hunc Psalmum

in Ezechiam cecinisse, quia is sederit ad dextram templi, et hostes ejus

averterit Deus et absumpserit; Propter ea igitur etc. ante luciferum ex

utero generavi te, in Ezechiam convenire, et in Ezechiae nativitatem."

304                           PSALM CX.

Ibn 'Ezra and Qimchi argue that David is the subject of the

Psalm, explaining the Inscription to mean not "of David," but

"for or concerning David." The former sees a reference to the war

with the Philistines, 2 Sam. xxi. 15-17, when David, having nearly

lost his life, his men sware unto him, saying, "Thou shalt not go

forth with us any more to battle, that thou quench not the light of

Israel." In accordance with this, Ibn Ezra explains the address in

the first verse of the Psalm to mean, "Remain safe in thy strong-

hold of Zion, trusting in My help; go not forth to battle; I will

subdue thine enemies for thee, even when thou art not present in

the battle."

                            [PSALM OF DAVID.]

 

1 THE oracle a of Jehovah unto my lord:

            "Sit Thou at My right hand,

 

     1. SIT THOU AT MY RIGHT HAND,

i.e. on My throne. The expres-

sion denotes that the person thus

honoured occupied the second place

in the kingdom, taking rank im-

mediately after the king, and also

sharing as viceroy in the govern-

ment. The custom was a common

one in antiquity. We find allusion

to it both amongst the Arabs and

the Greeks. The viceroys of the

ancient Arab kings sat on the right

hand of the king. Ibn Cotaiba

says: "The Ridafat is the dignity

of sitting next to the king. But

the Radaf (he who holds rank after

the king) sits on his right hand, and

if the king drinks, the Radaf drinks

next, before all others, and if the

king goes out upon an expedition,

the Radaf sits on his seat and acts

in his room till he returns, and if

the king's army goes forth to war, the

Radaf receives a fourth part of the

booty.''—EICHHORN, Monum. An-

tiquiss. Hist. Arabum, p. 220.

      Similarly the Greek Poets spoke

of their gods as su<nedroi, pa<redroi

su<nqronoi with Zeus. So Pindar

(Fragm. Ed. Schneider, p. 55)

speaks of Minerva as associated

with Zeus in his sovereignty, and

receiving his commands for the

other gods: decia>n kata> xei?ra tou?

patro>j kaqezome<nhn, ta>j e]ntola>j toi?j

qeoi?j a]pode<xesqai, on which Aris-

tides observes that Minerva was

a]gge<lou mei<zwn, and that she tw?n

a]gge<lwn a@lloij a@lla e]pita<ttei, prw<th

para> tou? patro>j p[aralamba<nousa.

And Callimachus Hymn. in Apoll.

ver. 28) says that Apollo is able to

reward the chorus, if they sing to

please him, because he sits at the

right hand of Zeus. du<natai ga<r,

e]piei> Dii< decio>j h$stai. In both these

passages it is clear that this session

at the right hand of Zeus indicates

not merely a mark of honour con-

ferred, but actual participation in

the royal dignity and power.

      It is true that we have no exactly

parallel instance in the O.T. When

Solomon placed Bathsheba on his

throne, and gave her a seat at his

right hand (1 Kings ii. 19), this was

done as a mark of honour, not as

associating her with himself in the

government. So also in Ps. xlv.

6 [10], the queen consort stands at

the right hand of the king as the

place of honour—though possibly

there the expression may denote

more than this, may signify her

joint sovereignty, for the Tyrians

are said to entreat her favour with

gifts, ver. 12 [13]. The same mark

of honour was conferred by the

king of Syria on Jonathan, I Macc.

ii. 19. There is a more nearly

 

                                PSALM CX.                                         303

            Until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool."

2 The sceptre of Thy strength shall Jehovah stretch forth

                        out of Zion (saying):

parallel passage in Matt. xx. 20,

&c. (comp. Mark x. 35, &c.), where

the mother of Zebedee's children

asks for her two sons that they may

sit one on the right hand and the

other on the left of our Lord in His

kingdom. Ewald indeed supposes

that the king is represented as sit-

ting in the war-chariot, at the right

hand of Jehovah. This no doubt

agrees with the martial character

of the Psalm, but it does not agree

so well with the language of ver. 2.

It is evident that in the Psalm not

an occasional honour, but a per-

manent dignity is meant, for Je-

hovah is to aid the King in effect-

ing the subjugation of his enemies:

he is to sit at Jehovah's right hand

till that subjugation is effected.

     If, then, this be the meaning, if

the solemn address "Sit Thou at My

right hand" is equivalent to saying,

"Be Thou associated with Me in

My kingly dignity, in My power and

universal dominion," then the best

comment on the passage is to be

found, as even some of the Jewish

interpreters have seen, in Dan. vii.

13, 14, where "one like the Son of

Man comes with the clouds of

heaven, and is brought unto the  

Ancient of Days, and there is given

Him dominion, and glory, and a

kingdom, that all people, nations,

and languages should serve Him."

The two passages, the one from the

Psalm and the other from Daniel,

are, in fact, combined by our Lord

Himself, when standing before the'

high priest He says, "Hereafter ye

shall see the Son of Man sitting on

the right hand of God, and coming

in the clouds of heaven." The same

interpretation is given by St. Peter;

Acts ii. 34-36. Comp. Ephes. i.

20-22; Heb. i. 13, 14.

     UNTIL. St. Paul, in I Cor. xv.

24-28, gives a limitation to the

meaning of the passage which does

not lie on the surface. He argues

from the words of this verse that

Christ must reign until (i.e. only

until) He has put all enemies under

His feet, and that then His media-

torial reign will cease, and He will

give up the kingdom to God, even

the Father. But this sense is not

necessarily conveyed by the use of

the conjunction "until." It does

not follow that what takes place

until a certain limit is reached

must cease immediately afterwards.

Thus, for instance, in cxii. 8, "He

shall not be afraid until he see his

desire upon his enemies;" Gen.

xxviii. 15, "I will not leave thee

until I have done that which I have

spoken to thee of;" Deut. vii. 24,

"There shall no man be able to

stand before thee, until thou have

destroyed them,"--the "until" is

clearly not to be pressed as if it

were equivalent to "only until, not

afterwards." See also Gen. xlix. 10.

The context must determine in

each case whether the "until" is

inclusive or exclusive of a time

subsequent to the limit mentioned,

and here the general tenour of the

Psalm does not seem to favour a

restriction to previous time. This

is accordingly one of those in-

stances in which a peculiar turn is

given in the N.T. to the language

of the Old. See the remarks of

Calvin quoted in the notes on xcv.

11, civ. 3.

      THY FOOTSTOOL, lit. "a stool for

Thy feet," an emblem of complete

subjection; comp. viii. 6 [7], xviii.

38 [39]. The allusion is probably

to the custom of conquerors placing

their feet on the necks of the con-

quered. See Josh. x. 24, 25.

     2. Having announced the oracle

which he has received by Divine

revelation, the Poet turns to address

the King, and declares by what

means he is to conquer, viz. by the

help of God, and the willing courage

and self-sacrifice of his own people.

306                           PSALM CX.

            "Rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies."

3 Thy people b offer themselves willingly in the day that

            Thou warrest.

 

The Son of David has His royal

seat in Zion, the city of David.

Thence, by the grace of God, He

shall give laws to the world, for

Jehovah Himself, whose vicegerent

He is, in whose strength He rules,

holds and sways His sceptre. So

the throne of even the earthly king

is in like manner called the throne

of Jehovah, 1 Chron. xxviii. 5,

xxix. 23.

    THE SCEPTRE OF THY MIGHT,

i.e. of "Thy kingly majesty," as

in Jer. xlviii. 17; Ezek. xix. 14.

Chrysostom plays upon the word

r[a<bdoj (LXX.) as a rod of strength

and consolation, as in xxiii. 4; a

rod of chastisement, as in ii. 9, I

Cor. iv. 21; a symbol of kingly

rule, as in Is. xi. 1, Ps. xlv. 6 [7]. It

was by this rod, he says, that the

disciples wrought when they sub-

dued the world in obedience to the

command, "Go and make disciples

of all nations; "a rod far more

powerful than that of Moses, "for

that divided rivers, this brake in

pieces the ungodliness of the world."

And then with profound truth he

adds, "Nor would one err who

should call the Cross the rod of

power; for this rod converted sea

and land, and filled them with a

vast power. Armed with this rod,

the Apostles went forth throughout

the world, and accomplished all that

they did, beginning at Jerusalem."

The Cross, which to men seemed

the very emblem of shame and

weakness, was, in truth, the power

of God.

       RULE THOU, or, "Have domi-

nion," the same word as in lxxii. 8.

The imperative contains in itself a

prediction or promise of fulfilment,

See for the same use of the imperat.

xxxvii. 3, Gen. xx. 7. These words

are probably (as many of the best

commentators suppose) addressed

by Jehovah to the King. Others

think that the Poet himself thus

speaks.

     IN THE MIDST OF THINE ENE-

MIES. Rosenmuller well explains:

"Hostes tuos non quidem protinus

delebit Jova, sed tuae potentiae metu

injecto continebit. Qui Davidem

hac oda cani existimant, illi vicinos

Palaestinae populos indicari volunt,

hoc sensu: imperabis, quamvis

circum circa hostes, Philistaei, Am-

monitiae, Moabitae, alii, sint; coll.

2 Sam. iii. 18. In medio i.e. medios

inter hostes, ut sensus sit: quamvis

terrarum orbis hostibus tuis repletus

sit, non tamen hi impedire poterunt,

quominus regnum tuum in eorum

medio propagetur."

      3. THY PEOPLE. In the midst of

His enemies, the King has His own

faithful adherents. God, who holds

the sceptre of His Anointed, and

assures Him of victory, has also

given Him a willing people, work-

ing in their hearts by His Spirit

joyfulness and courage, and ready

self-sacrifice. Comp. Is. xxviii. 5,

6, "In that day shall the Lord of

hosts be for a crown of glory . . . .

and for strength to them that turn

the battle to the gate."

      OFFER THEMSELVES WILLINGLY,

lit. "are free-will offerings," i.e.

give, devote themselves as a willing

sacrifice. Comp. for the form of

expression cix. 4, "I am prayer,"

and for the sacrificial sense of the

word Exod. xxxv. 29, Lev. xxii.

18, 21, 23, Am. iv. 5. This inter-

pretation harmonizes best with the

priestly character assigned both to

the warriors and to their leader.

Otherwise the word often loses its

sacrificial meaning; and so here

many render, "Thy people are

most willing," lit. "are willing-

nesses," (plur. for sing. as more

emphatic, comprising every pos-

sible aspect of the idea contained

in the word, alacrity, readiness,

                                 PSALM CX.                                        307

                        In holy attire;

            (As) from the womb of the morning,

                        Thou hast the dew of Thy youth.

devotion in every form). They are

no hireling soldiery; they serve not

of constraint nor for filthy lucre.

For this sense of the word, see the

notes on li. 12 [14], liv. 6 [8], and

comp. Hos. xiv. 4 [5], "I will love

them freely." The reflexive form

of the verb from the same root is

used in like manner in Jud. v. 2, 9,

of the people "willingly offering

themselves" for the war against

Jabin and Sisera.

      IN THE DAY THAT THOU WAR-

REST lit. "in the day of Thy host,"

i.e. in the day Thou musterest Thy

host to the battle; or we may ren-

der, "in the day of Thy power," for

the word occurs in both significa-

tions; for the former, see for in-

stance Exod. xiv. 28, Deut. xi. 4,

2 Kings vi. 15; for the latter Ps.

32 [33], 39 [40].

    IN HOLY ATTIRE. Comp. xxix. 2,

xcvi. 9. The youthful warriors who

flock to the standard of the king

are clad in holy attire, combatants

in a holy war. Comp. Is. xiii. 3, 4,

"I have commanded My sanctified

ones, I have also called My mighty

ones for Mine anger. The

Lord of hosts mustereth the host of

the battle." (See also I Sam. xxv.

28; Jer. vi. 4, "Sanctify ye war

against her;" li. 27, "Raise a

standard, blow a trumpet among

the nations, sanctify the nations

against her.") But more is im-

plied perhaps than this. The "holy

garments" are priestly garments.

They who wear them are priestly

warriors, in the train of a priestly

leader. If so, the imagery is the

same as in Rev. xix. 14, where it is

said that "the armies in heaven

followed Him (whose name is called

the Word of God) upon white horses,

clothed in fine linen, while and

clean." The garments of Aaron

and the priests were of linen, Exod.

xxviii. 39, 42, Lev. vi. 10 [3], xvi. 4,

and they were called "holy gar-

ments," Exod. xxviii. 4, Lev. xvi. 4.

The Hebrew word there rendered

garments is different from that em-

ployed in this, and the two parallel

passages in the Psalms, but appa-

rently the same thing is intended.

Some have supposed that the allu-

sion is to a solemn religious service

held before going out to battle, but

we have no evidence of the exist-

ence of any such custom.

     Instead of "in holy attire,"

another reading found in several

MSS. is "on the holy mountains."

This reading, which only involves

the slightest possible change in a

single letter, is as old as Jerome,

who has in monlibus sanctis. It

would describe the armed host as

going forth to the battle from the

mountain ridge on which Zion lay

(see on lxxvi. 4), and from which

Jehovah stretches out the sceptre

of His Anointed.

     FROM THE WOMB OF THE MORN-

ING. According to the Massoretic

punctuation, these words belong to

the preceding member, "In holy

attire, from the womb of the morn-

ing," the principal accent being after

"Thou warrest," and the next chief

accent after "morning." It is clear,

however, that they belong to the

figure of the dew, and the only

question is, whether the words "in

holy attire" should be connected

with the previous noun, "Thy

people," or with the following, "Thy

young men,"—a question of little

importance. Another rendering of

the words is possible. A compari-

son may be implied, "More than

the dew from the womb," &c., the

construction being the same as in

iv. 7 [8], where see note.

     DEW OF THY YOUTH, or, "Thy

youthful dew." Elsewhere the word

(yalduth) means the time of youth,

as in Eccl. xi. 9, 10; and so it has

been understood here, the object

being thus to mark the vigour and

308                         PSALM CX.

4 Jehovah bath sworn, and will not repent:

prowess of the leader, as the dew

denotes fresh and early beauty. But

the parallelism requires us to take

"Thy youth" here in a collective

sense, = "Thy young men," "thy

youthful warriors." Ibn 'Ezra makes

the parallelism yet more complete

by rendering n'dabhoth" willing-

nesses" ver. 3, as if it were geshem

n'dabhoth, "a bountiful rain " lxviii.

9 [10], and explains "If Thou

needest to make war, Thy people

shall go forth to Thee as plentiful

showers." [It would be quite pos-

sible to render the line "Thy youth

is (or, cometh) to Thee as the dew."]

This has been adopted by Men-

delssohn. His disciple, Joel Brill,

in his Biur, or Commentary on Men-

delssohn's translation, observes:

"The force of the figure is, that

they shall flow to Him, and hasten

to serve Him, as fruitful showers

do the field. The meaning is re-

peated in the next hemistich, which

is as if the Psalmist had said, ‘In

the day of Thy battle Thy young

men are to Thee (as) dew from the

womb of the morning.’ And how

beautiful is the figure which likens

the act of men who make to the

battle to drops of rain, and the act

of young men who are anxious to try their strength in battle to drops of dew, which are smaller and finer than rain."

     The dew which, especially in the

East, falls so copiously, is most

probably employed here as a figure

denoting infinite multitude. Comp.

the use of the figure in 2 Sam. xvii.

11, 12, "Therefore I counsel that

all Israel be gathered to thee . . .

as the sand that is by the sea for

multitude . . and we will light

upon him as the dew falleth on the

ground," &c. Others find the point

of comparison here in the bright-

ness and freshness of the dew; and

this may be suggested by the figure

as well as multitude. In Mic. v. 7

[6] the point of comparison seems

to be different: "And the remnant

of Jacob shall be in the midst of

many people as a dew from Jeho-

vah, as showers upon the grass

that turneth not for man nor waiteth

for the sons of men." Here the

point is, that the dew, like the rain,

is a wonderful gift of God, with

which man has no concern.

The Greek and Latin Fathers,

following the rendering of the LXX.

and Vulg. (see Critical Note), build

on this verse the doctrine of the

eternal generation of the Son, and

His oneness of nature with the Father.

     4. This verse contains the great

central revelation of the Psalm.

How weighty it is, and of how vast

import, may be inferred from the

solemnity of the introduction "Je-

hovah hath sworn" (see on the

Divine oath, Heb. vi. 13, 17, I 8), and

this is carried to the very highest

pitch by the addition of the words

"And will not repent," i.e. the de-

cree is absolutely immutable (for

God Himself is said to have re-

pented, Gen. vi. 6). It is the solemn

inauguration of the Messiah in

time to the priestly office. It is the

first intimation of the union of the

kingly and priestly functions in

His person. See the latter typical

representation of the same truth

in Zech. vi. 12, 13. The writer

of the Epistle to the Hebrews

dwells on the significance of each

expression in this verse: "with an

oath" —"for ever"—"after the

order of Melchizedek."

    (I) He lays stress on the fact

that this solemn inauguration into

the priestly office was by an oath,

which was not the case with the

institution of the Levitical priest.

This, he observes, is a proof that

Christ is Mediator of a better cove-

nant than that of Moses, Heb. vii. 20-22.

     (2) He argues that as the priest-

hood rests on an unchangeable

foundation, so it is in its nature

unchangeable: a Priest for ever.

"He, because He abideth for ever,

hath His priesthood unchangeable,"

vii. 23, 28.

    (3) He enlarges upon all those

                              PSALM CX.                                     309

            "Thou art a priest for ever

            After the order c  of Melchizedek."

5 The Lord at Thy right hand

 

points in which Melchizedek, rather

than Aaron, was the most fitting

type of Christ; passing over, how-

ever, in entire silence that which in

the Patristic and Romish expositors

holds a prominent place, the bring-

ing forth of bread and wine. An-

other and essential feature of the

type which is implied in Heb. vii.

is too often overlooked, viz. that

the priesthood of Melchizedek was

not only before the law, but was a

Gentile priesthood, and therefore the most

fitting type of a universal priesthood.

      5-7. The martial strain of ver.

2-4 is resumed. There the might

of the King and his army were

described, here the conflict and

the victory. It is remarkable how

these earthly images, this warlike

tone predominates, considering the

language of ver. 4. The priestly

character of the monarch, the very

name of Melchizedek, who was not

only king of righteousness, but king

of Salem, that is, king of peace

(Heb. vii.), would have led us to

expect anything but the picture of

a battle-field covered with corpses

and a leader in full pursuit of his

enemies.  Still it must not be for-

gotten that we have a parallel ex-

ample in the New Testament. See

Rev. xix. 11-16.

    5. THE LORD (Adonai). This

form of the plural is never used

except as a Divine Name. The

Targum gives as the equivalent here

"the Shekhinah of Jehovah." Is

this name here applied to Jehovah

or to the King? Many expositors

argue that the King must be meant;

for (1) it is hardly probable that in

so short a Psalm the King should

first be said (ver. I) to be at the

right hand of Jehovah, and then

that in ver. 5 Jehovah, on the con-

trary, should be said to be at the

right hand of the King. (2) There

is apparently no change of subject

to the end of the Psalm, and in the

7th verse it is quite clear that the

King is the subject: it is he, and

not Jehovah, who drinks of the

brook in the way. Hence it has

been inferred that as the Messiah

is called Adonai, we have here a

testimony to His divine nature.

     On the other side it has been

argued that (I) the name Adonai is

never elsewhere given to the Mes-

siah, or to any but God: (2) that

the expression "in the day of His

wrath" is more naturally to be in-

terpreted of God than of the Mes-

siah; see ii. 12, where that is threat-

ened which is here fulfilled; (3)

that when, in ver. 1, the King sits

at the right hand of Jehovah, this

is a session on the throne, indicat-

ing equal rank and honour; where-

as in ver. 5 Jehovah is said to stand

at the right hand of the King, a

different phrase altogether, and one

denoting help, succour, and the

like, both phrases being legitimately

employed to express a distinct

meaning; (4) that the change of

subject (in ver. 6 or 7), though

abrupt, is only what is found in other Psalms,

and is characteristic of Hebrew poetry.

     Where the arguments are so

nearly balanced, it is difficult to

decide, although most of the recent

expositors—even those who hold

to the Messianic interpretation—

understand by Adonai, ver. 5, not

the Messiah, but Jehovah. It

should be observed, however, that

there is no reason why the King

who is called Elohim (God) in Ps.

xlv., should not be called Adonai

(Lord) in this Psalm. On the other

hand, to assume a change of sub-

ject, whether that change is to be

introduced at the beginning of ver.

6 or ver. 7 (see below), is perfectly

justifiable; and it is more justifi-

able in this instance, because Jeho-

vah and the King are so closely

 

310                              PSALM CX.

 

            Hath smitten through kings in the day of His wrath.

6 He shall judge among the nations,

                        He hath filled (them) with corpses,d

            He hath smitten through the heads over wide lands.e

7 Of the brook shall He drink in the way;

            Therefore shall He lift up (His) head.

 

associated, that what the one does

the other may be said to do. It is

Jehovah's throne on which the

King sits, it is Jehovah's hand

which wields the King's sceptre:

Jehovah discomfits the King's ene-

mies, and the King pursues them in

their flight. It may be remarked,

further, that throughout the Psalm

the address is directed to the King

and Priest, and that in cix. 31, Je-

hovah "stands at the right hand"

of the poor to succour and defend

him, as here at the right hand of

the King.

     Taking this view, however, it is

still difficult to say whether the

King is fhe subject of both verses

6 and 7, or only of ver. 7. Hupfeld,

Bunsen, and Ewald think that the

King is not introduced till ver. 7,

which they regard as a single scene

taken from the war. But I confess

Reinke's objection to this view

appears to me to be weighty, viz.

that such a scene standing by itself

has no meaning. We must first

see the warrior in the battle, or we

cannot understand why he should

drink of the brook in the way. I

prefer, therefore, regarding the King

as the subject of ver. 6.

     KINGS. There may, perhaps, be

an allusion to the glorious victories

of old, such as that of Moses,

Num. xxi.; of Joshua, Josh. x.; of

Deborah, Jud. v. 3, 19; of Gideon,

Jud. viii. Comp. Ps. lxviii. 12 [13].

If so, this would account for the use

of the past tense "Hath smitten

through," all God's judgements hav-

ing been judgements executed on be-

half of His Anointed. But as the

future tenses are interchanged with

the past in the next two verses, it

seems better to regard the former as

indicating that the victory is yet

future, while the latter imply that

it is represented so vividly to the

Poet's eye that he can conceive

of it as already accomplished.

     6. THE HEADS. The word is

singular, but used apparently in a

collective sense, either literally as

in lxviii. 21 [22], or metaphorically

of rulers, princes. See the same

ambiguity in Hab. iii. 14. The older

expositors, adhering to the singular,

"the head over the wide earth,"

suppose Satan to be meant, who

is called "the god of this world,"

others, "over a great country."

On the construction, see in Criti-

cal Note. Some interpreters, as

Mendelssohn and Delitzsch, take

"Rabbah " here as a proper name,

supposing that David's war with

Ammon was the historical occasion

of the Psalm. The former renders:

(He shall judge the nations) . . .

who hath but now smitten the head

of Rabbah: the latter, He breaks

in pieces the head over the land of

Rabbah. But the land of Ammon

would no more be called the land

of Rabbah, than the land of Judaea

would be called the land of Jeru-

salem.

     7. OF THE BROOK, or, "torrent."

The victorious leader, who has

made so terrible a slaughter that

the field of battle is covered with

corpses, is now seen pursuing his

enemies. Wearied with the battle

and the pursuit, he stops for a

moment on his way to refresh him-

self by drinking of the torrent rush-

ing by, and then "lifts up his

head," derives new vigour to con-

tinue the pursuit.

                                           PSALM CX.                                      311

            a Mxun;. The word is used in almost every instance of the immediate

utterance of God Himself, more rarely of that of the prophet or inspired

organ of the Divine revelations, as of Balaam, Num. xxiv. 3, 15; of

David, 2 Sam. xxiii. I. Once only is the word used apparently in a catachrestic sense

of the evil inspirations of the wicked man, xxxvi. 1 [2], where see note a.

            b This verse has been altogether misinterpreted by the LXX. They

render: Meta> sou? h[ a]rxh> e]n h[me<r% th?j duna<mew<j sou, e]n tai?j lampro<thsi

tw?n a[gi<wn sou: e]k gastro>j pro> e[wsfo<rou e]ge<nnhsa< se.  They must have

read j~m.;fi for j~m.;fa, j~yTik;liy;, as in ii. 7, for j~t,dul;ya rHawa.mi for rHAw;mi, and j~yw,dq;

for wd,qo. The words 7th lFa j~l; they have passed over altogether. In

rendering tObdAn; by a]rxh>, rule, dominion, they connected it with bydAni, a

prince. Etymologically this is defensible, for the two ideas of nobleness

and freedom are readily and naturally connected. But the noun tObdAn;  

can only mean either willingness (plur. and sing.) or free-will offerings.

The Vulg. carried the blunder further by translating a]rxh> principium:

"Tecuin principium in die virtutis tuae in splendoribus sanctorum: ex

utero ante luciferum genui te." The Syr. confounding lFa with hl,FA, the

young of an animal (i Sam. vii. 9), a young child, Is. lxv. 25, has: "In

the splendour of holiness have I begotten thee as a child (son) from the

womb of old" (reading like the LXX. rHawami, and interpreting it as =

Md,q,.mi). All these renderings point to the eternal generation of the

Messiah as the Son of God, and have so been explained by the Greek

and Latin Fathers. Jerome follows Symmachus (e]n o@resin a[gi<oij) in

adopting the reading 'q yrer;haB;, which has the support of many MSS.

and some editions (the interchange of d and r being very common),

and is preferred by some of the ablest critics, though, I think, on hardly

sufficient grounds. He renders:  "Populi tui spontanei erunt in die

fortitudinis tuae: in montibus sanctis quasi de vulva orietur tibi ros

adolescentiae tuae." The latter part of the verse is rendered by Aquila:

a]po> mh<traj e]cwrqrisme<nhj [e]c w]rqrisme<nou] soi dro<soj paidio<thto<j sou.

Symm. w[j kat ] o@rqron soi dro<soj h[ neo<thj sou. Th. e]k mh<traj a]po> prwi~ (soi

dro<soj) neo<thto<j sou. S'. e]k gastro>j zhth<sousi< se, dro<soj neaviko<thte<j sou, which seems to anticipate the more recent interpretations.

            e ytirAb;Di-lfa, the old form of the stat. constr. with the connecting vowel,

for trab;Di lfa which occurs in Eccles. iii. i8, vii. 14, viii. 2, and in the

Chald. of Dan. ii. 30, iv. 14, instead of the earlier and more usual

rbaD; lfa.  For the termination of the stat. constr. in i, see on cxiii. note a.

In the other passages where it occurs, the phrase 'd 'f means because of,

a meaning which Hupfeld would retain here, "because of Melchizedek,"

i.e. so far as the type is the ground of the antitype. Others (as Herder and Geiger,

Urschrift, &c. p. 29) take the final i as a suffix:  "Thou art a Priest for ever—I swear it by

My word—a (second) Melchizedek." It is however, far simpler and more natural,

although no other instance of like usage can be adduced, to take 'd 'f in the sense of the

LXX. kata> th>n ta<cin. So the Syr. and so Jerome, Secundum ordinem. Except in this

phrase and in the passages above quoted, hrAb;Di only occurs once in the

Bible, Job v. 8, though it is common enough in Rabbinical literature.

312                               PSALM CX.

 

            d ‘g xlemA. The second accus. is understood, MtAxo. "He hath filled

them (i.e. the nations) with corpses," the verb being transitive, as often.

Others make of xlemA an adjective governing tOy.vin;., "(it, i.e. the field of

battle, or the land, is) full of corpses, as in lxv. 10, Myima ‘m, "full of water."

            e 'r ‘x lfa. The prep. may either depend on the verb, "He hath smitten

over a wide extent of country," &c., or it may depend on wxro, "head over,

i.e. prince over a wide territory," like lfa dyginA &c., but here the former is

clearly to be preferred.

 

            A. I subjoin the following paraphrase of the Psalm:--

 

            "Thus saith Jehovah,—it is His revelation that I hear, it is His

word addressed to one who, though He be my son, is yet my Lord

I give Thee honour and dignity equal to my own, I associate Thee

with Myself in kingly rule and dominion, until I have subdued every

enemy who shall dare to lift himself against Thee.'"

            Then turning to the King who has thus been solemnly placed on

the throne of Jehovah, and who rules as His vicegerent in Zion, the

Psalmist says: "From Zion, Thy royal seat, shall Jehovah Himself,

on whose throne Thou sittest, stretch out the sceptre of Thy dominion.

So close shall be the fellowship between Him and Thee. Thou shalt

sit on His throne, He shall wield Thy sceptre, His might shall be

Thy might, His kingdom shall be Thy kingdom, and Thou shalt not

only subdue Thine enemies, but before they are yet vanquished Thou

shalt rule in the midst of them. When Thou goest forth to war,

Thine own people shall flock with glad and willing hearts to Thy

standard. They shall come clad, not in armour, but in holy vest-

ments as ministering priests, for Thou hast consecrated them to be

Thy priestly-soldiers. They shall come a youthful host, in numbers

numberless as the dew, bright and fresh as the dew from the womb

of the morning.

            "Yet another solemn word concerning Thee have I heard. It is

a word confirmed by an oath, the oath of the Most High, which

cannot be broken. By that oath He hath made Thee Priest as well

as King; King Thou art, Priest Thou shalt be henceforth; Priest

not after the law of a carnal commandment, or by descent through

the Levitical priesthood, but after the order of Melchizedek,—Priest

therefore not of the Jew only, but of the Gentile also,—Priest not for

a time, but for ever."

            Then, looking on the leader, the host, the conflict, the Poet

                                         PSALM CX.                                      313

 

exclaims: "The Lord, the God of hosts who is with Thee, 0 King,

who is at Thy right hand to succour and give Thee the victory in the

battle, hath already crushed the rival monarchs that dispute Thy

sway. Thou shalt be a judge and ruler among the nations whom He

has given Thee as Thine inheritance. The vast battle-field is strewn

with the corpses of Thy foes. Far and wide hast Thou extended

Thy conquests, vanquishing one leader after another; and Thou shalt

reap the fruit of Thy victories like a warrior who, pressing hotly on

the rear of his enemies as they flee before him, scarcely pauses for a

moment to snatch a hasty draught from the wayside brook, and then

with renewed ardour, with head erect and kindling eye, continues the

pursuit. Thus shall victory be crowned, and not a foe remain."

            B. The Bishop of St. David's [i.e. the late Bishop Thirlwall] has

favoured me with the following valuable remarks on this Psalm,

which he has kindly allowed me to publish:--

 

            "I think it will be convenient first to consider the Psalm by itself,

just as if no reference had been made to it in the New Testament,

and then to see how our conclusions about it must be modified by

our Lord's language.

            "(i.) I think there can be no doubt that, whoever was the author, it

must be considered as a Messianic Psalm, a picture of a state of

things which had not been fully realized either in the literal or the

spiritual sense, before the coming of Christ. This character of the

Psalm, as manifested by its contents, would not be more strongly

marked if it is considered as the work of David: and the only ques-

tion is whether, without some special revelation, beyond what would

have been required for any other author, he could have spoken of

the person described in it as his ‘Lord.’ I will only say that it does

not appear to me inconceivable, but quite natural, that he should so

style one who answered to the description given of the future victori-

ous King. Only I am not sure that there is anything in that descrip-

tion that might not be accounted for without any peculiarly distinct

consciousness—some consciousness the writer must have had, whoever

he was—in David's mind, partly by the promises which he had

received (2 Sam. vii.), and partly by traditional expectations of the

coming Great One.

            (ii.) How, then, is the case altered by our Lord's reference to

the Psalm? Here we find ourselves in the presence of two opposite

theories as to our Lord's ordinary intellectual state. According to

that which invests Him with the fulness of divine as well as human

knowledge, there is, of course, no room for doubt about the author-

ship of the Psalm. You, however, seem willing to admit that of

314                                 PSALM CX.

 

Neander, Meyer, and others (among the rest, Pressense, Vie de Jesus),

that our Lord was not habitually conscious of facts, such as ‘matters

of literary criticism,' which did not fall within the range of His human

knowledge. But then arises the question whether, even on this

theory, we are not compelled to suppose that He would not have

argued as He does with the Pharisees on the Psalm, if a certain

knowledge of its real authorship had not been supernaturally infused

into Him for the special occasion. This leads us to inquire what

His argument was. And here it is to be observed that, strictly

speaking, it was no argument at all. Still less was it an argument

proving that the Christ was foreseen by David to be the Son of God.

As far as our Lord's words go, they are simply questions, and ques-

tions which might have been put by one who wished to suggest to

the Pharisees that they were mistaken in believing that David was

the author of the Psalm. Nothing of course could be farther than

that from our Lord's intention (though I see from Afford that De

Wette actually thought so). But if He did not take, but stand on,

the same intellectual level, in this respect, with the Pharisees, can it

be said that His question, if David was not really the author of the

Psalm, tended to mislead them, and therefore that this was a case in

which, if He had needed a supernatural revelation of the truth, He

must have received one? I must own, that is not at all clear to

me. But that which most perplexes me is the difficulty I find in

understanding the precise drift of our Lord's questions, or why they

should have had the effect of putting the Pharisees to silence. One

would think that they could have been at no loss for an answer,

according to the current Messianic notions of the day. They knew

that Messiah was to be of the lineage of David. They also believed

that He was to be a greater than David, though the precise degree of

His superiority might be open to doubt. But this might suffice to

remove the appearance of inconsistency between David's language

and His relation to the expected Messiah. Nor does it appear

elsewhere that the question between our Lord and His opponents

was, who and what the Messiah was to be, but whether He was the

Messiah. If the Pharisees had not believed that the Psalm related

to the Messiah, the question would have been futile. The argument,

whatever it may have been, turns upon that, quite as much as it

does upon David's authorship, and though the title of Lord implied

a dignity higher than David's, it can hardly be said to carry so much

as the sitting on Jehovah's right hand, or even as the everlasting

priesthood. But if so, the alleged occasion for a supernatural infu-

sion of superhuman knowledge seems to lose almost all its impor-

tance, as the only result would be the addition of a title, which could

                                            PSALM CXI.                                315

 

have no such meaning except in the mouth of David, but which is

thrown into the shade by other attributes which do not depend on

the supposition of his authorship.

            "On the whole, the conclusion to which I am led, as far as the

great obscurity and imperfection of the data permit me to draw any,

is that we are left very much in the same position with regard to the

Psalm as if our Lord had not asked those questions about it; and

that though we may be at liberty, we are not ‘compelled’ to attach

any greater weight to it than it would have if it was not written by

David. All that ‘falls to the ground’ in our Lord's ‘argument’ is a

particular which does not seem to have any bearing upon doctrine,

and to be indeed immaterial."

 

 

                                     PSALM CXI.

 

            THIS Psalm and the next are framed exactly on the same model.

They are both alphabetical Psalms. In both, the letters of the alphabet

mark not only the beginning of verses, as in other Psalms, but the

beginning of each several clause of the verses. In both, there are

exactly twenty-two lines, each line consisting usually of three words,

and in both the order of the alphabet is strictly preserved, which is

not the case in other alphabetical Psalms (see, for instance, xxv.,

xxxiv., xxxvii.). Finally, so exactly does the structure of the two

Psalms correspond, that the first eight verses in both consist each of

two lines, and the last two verses of three lines.

            But the Psalms answer to one another not only in structure, but in

thought. The same significant phrases occur in both, and occur in

such a way as to mark the mutual relation of the two Poems. In

the 111th the mighty deeds, the glory, the righteousness of Jehovah

are celebrated in the assembly of the upright. In the 112th the

righteousness, the goodness, the blessedness of the upright themselves

are described and enlarged upon. The one sets forth God, His work

and His attributes; the other tells us what are the work and character

of those who fear and honour God. Thus in cxi. 3 it is said of

Jehovah that "His righteousness standeth fast for ever;" in cxii. 3,

the same thing is affirmed of the man that feareth Jehovah. In cxi.

4, it is declared of Jehovah that  "He is gracious and of tender com-

passion;" in cxii. 4, the same character is given of the upright. In

316                                      PSALM CXI.

 

the 111th Psalm the faithfulness of Jehovah to His covenant is mag-

nified (ver. 5, 9), in the 112th the faithfulness of the righteous man,

his trust in Jehovah is exhibited (ver. 7, 8).

            In spite of the acrostic arrangement by which the writer has chosen

to fetter himself, this Psalm is more than a mere string of gnomic

sentences. The thoughts have a real inner connection. The Psalmist

begins by declaring that with his whole heart he will give thanks to

God, and because to keep his thankfulness and his ascription of

praise to himself would be to rob God of half His honour, therefore

will he give utterance to his feelings, and give utterance to them in

the fitting place, "in the congregation of the upright." Abundant

subject for such praise is to be found in the works of God: the more

these are studied, the more will their marvellous and unsearchable

character be seen, and the greater the delight which will be experi-

enced in the study. Everywhere the glory of God will be traced,

everywhere will the footsteps of His unchangeable righteousness be

discovered. At all times His works testify of Him, rebuking the

apathy and forgetfulness of men, and calling them to Him who is

"gracious and of tender compassion."

            He has shown His goodness in never failing to supply the need of

His people: He gave them manna in the wilderness, He gave them

the spoil of the heathen in Canaan: He thus kept with them the

covenant which He had made of old with their fathers. Not un-

mindful of other nations, it is to His people that He has specially

revealed Himself; He has given them their promised inheritance.

As in His works so in His commandments, as in His providence so

in His word, the same truth and faithfulness are visible. Therefore

His commandments cannot fail; they remain the sure everlasting

pillars of His kingdom. The great seal of all is the redemption

which He accomplished for His people. He who brought them out

of Egypt will never suffer His covenant to fail.

            Is it not the highest wisdom to fear such a God as this, so great in

His works, so true in His word, so faithful to His covenant? To

fear God and to keep His commandments is the whole of man, to

praise Him man's highest employment both now and for ever.*

 

            I           HALLELUJAH!

            x  I will give thanks unto Jehovah with (my) whole

                        heart,

 

            * With this Psalm begins another series of Hallelujah Psalms, cxi.

cxiii., cxv.-cxvii.

                               PSALM CXI.                                  317

 b  In the council of the upright and in the congregation.

2 g  Great are the works of Jehovah,

   d Sought out a of all them that have delight therein.

3 h His doing is honour and majesty,

   v And His righteousness standeth fast for ever.

4 z He hath made a memorial for His wonderful works;

   H Gracious and of tender compassion is Jehovah.

5 F He hath given meat to them that fear Him,

 

     1. COUNCIL. See on xxv. note g.

A narrower and more intimate

circle is implied than in the word

"congregation" which follows. In

xxv. 14 the word occurs in the

sense of "secret," i.e. "secret con-

verse," and in lv. 14 [151 in a sim-

ilar sense. See note on this last passage.

     2. THE WORKS OF JEHOVAH, i.e.

specially His mighty deeds on be-

half of His people. These are said

to be--

     SOUGHT OUT, the objects of earn-

est and devout meditation and

study, studied that they may be

known, studied that they may be

lived. The same law holds of God's

revelation in His word as of His

revelation in nature. They only

who search diligently and who have

a delight therein can discover His

wonders either in the one or the

other. For if what Origen says of

the final revelation is true, e]pe<mfqh

ga>r ou] mo<non i!na grwsq^?, a]ll ] i!na kai>

la<q^ (Contr. Cels. ii. 67), it is no

less true, lanqa<nei i!na gnwsq^?.

     3. HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS STAND-

ETH FAST FOR EVER. Comp. cxii.

3, where the same is said of the

righteousness of the man who fears

Jehovah, and hath delight in His

commandments. See also xix. 9.

     4. A MEMORIAL. Comp. Num.

xvi. 40, [xvii. 5]; Josh. iv. 6, 7.

      FOR (or "belonging to") His

WONDERFUL WORKS. By means

of all that He has so marvellously

wrought on behalf of Israel, He

has reared, so to speak, a monu-

ment to His glory.

       5. MEAT, or "food," as in Prov.

xxxi. 15, Mal. iii. 10, often in the

sense of "prey" or "booty." "The

use of this word," says Mr. Grove,

"especially when taken in connec-

tion with the words rendered ‘good

understanding’ in ver. 10, which

should rather be as in the margin,

‘good success,’ throws a new and

unexpected light over the familiar

phrases of this beautiful Psalm.

It seems to show how inextinguish-

able was the warlike predatory

spirit in the mind of the writer,

good Israelite and devout wor-

shiper of Jehovah as he was. Late

as he lived in the history of his

nation, he cannot forget ‘the power’

of Jehovah's ‘works’ by which his

forefathers acquired the ‘heritage of

the heathen;’ and to him, as to his

ancestors when conquering the

country, it is still a firm article of

belief that those who fear Jehovah

shall obtain most of the spoil, of

His enemies—those who obey His

commandments shall have the best

success in the field."—Dict. of the

Bible, Art. MEAT.

    To the above may be added the

probable allusion to the deliverance

from Egypt, and the occupation of

Canaan in ver. 9. It is doubtful,

however, whether the rendering

"good success" in ver. 10 is correct.

    Delitzsch, on the other hand,

supposes that by the "memorial"

is meant the Festivals, which were

instituted to keep alive the remem-

brance of God's mighty works in

the days of Moses, and by the

"food," the meal accompanying the

sacrifices, and the Paschal feast.

318                          PSALM CXI.

 

    y He remembereth His covenant for ever.

6  k The power of His works hath He shewed to His

            people,

  l To give them the heritage of the nations.

7  m The works of His hand are truth and judgement;

     n Faithful are all His statutes;

8  s They are upheld for ever and ever,

     f They are done in truth and uprightness.

9   p He hath sent redemption to His people;

      c He hath commanded His covenant for ever;

      q Holy and fearful is His Name.

10  r The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom,

      w A good understanding have all they that do them:

 

[It is with reference to this verse,

doubtless, that Luther calls the

Psalm "an Easter or Paschal

Psalm."] Theodoret, Augustine,

and others understand by this

"food," in the N. T. sense, the

Eucharist, and the Psalm has been

accordingly used as a Eucharistic

Psalm. It is a curious instance

of the way in which a word may

draw to itself a whole train of

thought with which it has really no

connection.

    6. To GIVE, or, the infin. may be

used gerundially, as often "giving."

     8. UPHELD, not however by any

external prop, but by their own

inherent power: comp. the use of

the word cxii. 8; Is. xxvi. 3 (where

the E. V. has "stayed").

    UPRIGHTNESS. The neuter adj.

used thus in connection with a

noun preceding is peculiar (see

cvii. 20).

    9. HE HATH SENT. There is, pro-

bably, an allusion to the redemption

from Egypt, and in the next mem-

ber to the Sinaitic covenant. Then

Jehovah revealed Himself as the

holy and the awful God. But here,

and throughout the Psalm, I have

rendered the past tenses as perfects,

because the reference is evidently

not exclusively to the past, but also

to the still present results of the

"redemption" and the "cove-

nant."

     HE HATH COMMANDED. The

verb is used, as in cv. 8, in its

original sense of appointing, esta-

blishing.

    10. THE BEGINNING, or, "chief

part, principal thing." Comp. Job

xxvi.ii.. 28 ; Prov. i. 7, ix. 10. Augus-

tine beautifully says, "Pro deliciis

autem omnibus hujus saeculi, quales

vel expertus es, vel augere ac multi-

plicare augendo notes, immortalium

deliciarum matrem concupisce sapi-

entiam: sed Initium sapientiae

timor Domini. Delectabit illa, et

ineffabiliter procul dubio delectabit

castis atque wternis veritatis am-

plexibus: sed prius tibi donanda

sunt debita, quam premia tlagi-

tanda. Initium ergo sapienticae,"

&c.

     A GOOD UNDERSTANDING, or

perhaps rather "understanding of,

insight into, that which is good."

Comp. Prov. iii. 4, xiii. 15; 2 Chron.

xxx. 22.

      THEY THAT DO THEM. The

reference of the plur. pron. "them"

can only be to the "statutes" men-

tioned in ver. 7, 8. See the note on

 

 

                                     PSALM CXII.                                   319

 

t His praise endureth for ever.

 

cvii. 25. The P.B.V. "thereafter."                       he says; "quis negat? Sed intelli-

Augustine lays stress on this                               gere et non facere periculosum est.

"doing." "Bonus est intellectus,"                         Bonus ergo facientibus."

 

            a MywiUrD;, pass. part. only here; not merely worthy of being sought out,

as in other passive forms, Iike dmAH;n,, dUmHA, sought, but the subject of

diligent investigation, earnest pursuit, &c. Mh,ycep;H,-lkAl;, not "according

to all their desires" (as the sing., I Kings ix. 11), i.e. so that they find in

it their highest satisfaction ; for the plur. of  Cp,He does not mean wishes,

desires, but precious things (Prov. iii. 15, viii. 11), and l; after a pass. can

only point out the author or subject. Hence this is plur. of CpeHA. It is

true this appears elsewhere in the form ‘ycepeHE, as xxxv. 27, xl. 15, but that

is really an incorrect form of the stat. constr., with the vowel retained,

contrary to the rule (Gesen. § 133, Rem. 1, 2). In like manner we have

yHem;Wi, Is. xxiv. 7, and yHemeW;, Ps. xxxv. 26. There is, indeed, no parallel

case where the first radical takes Segol. Usually a guttural first radical

has Pathach or short Chireq, as ypen;Ha, yqem;fi, &c., but this is of no

importance, as the guttural in other forms is found with a Segol. Besides,

though the long vowel might be retained in the stat. constr., it would

naturally fall away before the grave suffix Mh,-. The rendering given in

the text is supported by the Syr., Chald., Jerome, Qimchi, Luther, Calv.,

Ges., &c." The LXX. ee]cezhthme<na ei]j pa<nta ta> qelh<mata au]tou?. Chrysost. ]Alloj:  e]chkribwme<na, et paulo post: Ti< de< e]stin, e]cezhthme<na k.t.l.

]Hkribwme<na, fhsi>, kaqa<per kai> e!teroj e[rmhneuth>j ei#pe, paraskeuasme<na,

a]phrtisme<na k.t.l.  'A. scrutata ab omnibus qui complacuerunt sibi in iis.

E. scrutata e]n pa<s^ t^? xrei<% au]tw?n. Vulg. "Exquisita in omnes voluntates

ejus." Jer. "Exquirenda in cunctis voluntatibus suis."

 

                                         PSALM CXII.

 

            ON this Psalm, see the Introduction to Psalm cxi. In its general

character it resembles Psalms i. and xxxvii. In the Vulgate the title

is "Conversio Aggaei et Zachariae."

 

I           HALLELUJAH !

    x Happy is the man that feareth Jehovah,

    b That delighteth greatly in His commandments.

2  g His seed shall become mighty in the earth,

 

1. Comp. 1. E, 2.                                               monly used of warlike strength and

2. MIGHTY. The word is com-                          prowess, but sometimes also in a

320                           PSALM CXII.

 

  d  The generation of the upright shall be blessed.

3 h Wealth and riches are in his house,

   v And his righteousness standeth fast for ever.

4 z There ariseth a light in the darkness for the upright;

  H (He is) gracious, and of tender compassion, and

                        righteous.

 

5 F Well a is it with the man who dealeth graciously and

            lendeth,

     y He shall maintain his cause in judgement;

6  k For he shall not be moved for ever;

    l The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.

 

more general sense of wealth, sub-

stance, &c. So Boaz is called "a

mighty man of wealth," Ruth ii. 1;

and Kish, I Sam. ix. 1; see also 2

Kings xv. 20.

     3. WEALTH AND RICHES. So in

the Proverbs these are said to be

the gift of Wisdom to them that

love her. See iii. 16, viii. xxii.

     4. So even in the New Testament:

see Mark x. 29, 30.

     His RIGHTEOUSNESS, &c. It

seems a bold thing to say this of

anything human, and yet it is true;

for all human righteousness has its

root in the righteousness of God.

It is not merely man striving to copy

God. It is God's gift and God's

work. There is a living connection

between the righteousness of God

and the righteousness of man, and

therefore the imperishableness of

the one appertains to the other

also. Hence the same thing is

affirmed here of the human right-

eousness which, in cxi. 3, is affirmed

of the Divine.

    4. A LIGHT FOR THE UPRIGHT.

Comp. xcvii. 11, "Light is sown for

the upright."

    In the next clause of the verse

the three adjectives occasion some

difficulty. Although they are in the

singular number, whilst "the up-

right" in the preceding line is plural,

it seems most natural to take them

as intended further to describe the

character of the upright. The first

two epithets, elsewhere applied only

to Jehovah, are so applied in cxi. 3,

and the relation of the two Psalms

makes it almost certain, therefore,

that they are here applied to His

servants. See also Matt. v. 45, 48

Is. lviii. 7. The change from the

plural to the singular is certainly

unusually harsh, as the three

epithets are loosely strung to-

gether, without anything to mark

their reference; but this may be

accounted for in some measure by

the requirement of the alphabetical

arrangement.

    Others take the three attributes

as in apposition with the noun

"light" in the preceding clause,

God Himself being the "Light"(as

in xxvii. 1: comp. Is. x. 17, lx. 1-3;

Mal. iv. 2 [iii. 20]): "There hath

arisen a Light, viz. He who is

gracious," &c.

    5. LENDETH, see xxxvii. 21, 26,

HE SHALL MAINTAIN, &c.: men-

tioned as an instance of his happi-

ness, which is then confirmed by

what follows, ver. 6, cxxxiii. 5, in

the courts of judgement, cxliii. 2,

Prov. xvi. 10.

     6. IN EVERLASTING REMEM-

BRANCE (comp. Prov. X. 7), or

"shall have an everlasting me-

morial," see cxi. 3.

                                  PSALM CXII.                               321

 

7  m Because of evil tidings he shall not fear;

     n  His heart is established, trusting in Jehovah.

8  s His heart is upheld, he cannot fear,

    f Until he see his desire upon his adversaries.

9  p He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor,

    c His righteousness standeth fast for ever;

    q His horn shall be exalted with glory.

10 r The wicked shall see (it) and be grieved,

    w He shall gnash his teeth and melt away;b

  t The desire of the wicked shall perish.

 

    7. Further evidence of the hap-                       same way, of the free and active

piness of such a man—a clear con-                    exercise of charity. This verse is

science and a heart that trusts not                       quoted by St. Paul when exhorting

in itself but in God, and thus is                            the Corinthians to liberal contri-

raised above all fear. The epithets                      butions on behalf of the poor, 2

"established," "trusting," "up-                               Cor. ix. 9.

held," are all strikingly descriptive                            His HORN. See on lxxv. 5 [6].

of the true attitude of faith, as that                          10. BE GRIEVED, filled with vexa-

which leans upon and is supported                   tion, irritated. SHALL GNASH HIS

by God. The two last are combined                    TEETH, as in xxxv. 16, xxxvii. 12.

also in Is. xxvi. 3.                                                   MELT AWAY, i.e. through jealousy

9. HE HATH DISPERSED. The                       and annoyance.

verb occurs in Prov. xi. 24 in the

 

            a bOF, here not in a moral sense good, but rather in a physical sense

fortunate, happy, as in Is. iii. 10; Jer. xliv., 17; Eccl. viii. 12, 23. It is

not necessary, however, to make it a noun, as Qimchi does (as in xxv.

13). The expression 'x 'F. is exactly equivalent to 'x yrew;xa, ver. 1, and the

article is absent before wyxi, in both cases, because it is defined by the

attributes which follow.

            b smAnA 3 pret. Niph. pausal form (as in Ex. xvi. 21) of smanA or smenA.  

Usually the pausal substitute for Tsere is Pathach; here we have

Qametz, probably as lengthened from the form smanA, as in the plur.

Us.manA. Comp. also the use of the suffixes M-A and M-i, instead of M-e,

cxviii. 10.

322                                    PSALM CXIII.

 

                                          PSALM CXIII.

 

            WITH this Psalm begins "the Hallel" which was sung at the three

Great Feasts, at the Feast of Dedication, and at the New Moons.

At the Feast of the Passover it was divided into two parts, the first

of which, consisting of Psalms cxiii., cxiv., was sung before the meal,

that is, before the second cup was passed round; and the second,

consisting of Psalms cxv.-cxviii, after the meal, when the fourth

cup had been filled. This last, probably, was "the hymn " which

our Lord and His Apostles are said to have sung (u[mnh<santej, Matt.

xxvi. 30, Mark xiv. 26), after His last Passover.

            Paulus Burgensis styles Psalms cxiii.-cxviii. Alleluia Judaeorum  

magnum, and this has been a very usual designation. But according

to the ancient Jewish tradition this series of Psalms is called simply

"the Hallel," or sometimes "The Egyptian Hallel," whereas the name

"Great Hallel"is given to Psalm cxxxvi. (See Delitzsch, from whom

the above is taken.)

            The Psalm may be said to be a connecting link between the Song

of Hannah and the Magnificat of the Virgin.

            It may be viewed as consisting of three strophes.

            1. The first exhorts to the praise of Jehovah as the one great

object of praise. Ver. 1-3.

            2. The second sets forth His greatness. Ver. 4-6.

            3. The third magnifies His condescension. Ver. 7-9.

The second and third of these divisions, however, are closely

connected, and, in fact, run into one another.

 

I HALLELUJAH!

            Praise, 0 ye servants of Jehovah,

                        Praise the Name of Jehovah.

2 Blessed be the Name of Jehovah

            From this time forth and for evermore.

 

     1. SERVANTS OF JEHOVAH; all               found, but with the clause trans-

Israel as a nation consecrated to                         posed), cxxxvi. 22.

His service; comp. lxix. 36 [37],                             The rhythm of this verse is that

cxxxv. 1 (where this same verse is                     of xxix. I.

                             PSALM CXIII.                                    323

 

3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the

                        same

            The Name of Jehovah be praised.

 

4 Jehovah is lifted up above all nations,

            His glory is above the heavens.

5 Who is like Jehovah our God

            Who setteth His throne on high,a

6 Who stoopeth down to see

            (What is) done in the heaven and in the earth?

7 He raiseth the miserable from the dust,

            (And) lifteth up the poor from the dunghill,

8 That He may set (him )with princes,

            (Even) with the princes of His people,

9 Who maketh the barren woman to keep house,

 

     3. BE PRAISED. This render-

ing seems preferable in the context,

though we might render "is praised,"

or "is worthy to be praised," as in

xviii. 3 [4], xlviii. 1, "greatly to

be praised"; but here the partici-

ple depends on the verb in the

jussive.

     4. ABOVE THE HEAVENS. De

Wette remarks that this goes be-

yond what we find elsewhere in

describing the exaltation of Jehovah;

that in Ps. xviii., for instance, He

inhabits the lower atmospheric

heaven, and in Ps. lxviii., He is

throned in Zion, whereas here He

is lifted high above the sphere of

creation. But he must have for-

gotten such passages as viii. I [2],

and lvii. 5 [6], 11 [12].

     5. SETTETH HIS THRONE ON

HIGH, lit. "maketh high to sit; "as

in the next verse, "maketh low to

see." The same antithesis occurs

cxxxviii. 6. It denotes not merely

the omniscience of God, but His

greatness and his condescension.

Comp. viii. 4 [5], and the striking

expansion of the same thought, Is.

lvii. 15.

     6. STOOPETH DOWN TO SEE, &c.

This verse might also be rendered,

"Who looketh low down,—vaileth

or lowereth his regard,—upon the

heavens and the earth," the con-

struction of the verb and prep.

(b; Hxr) being the same as in Gen.

xxxiv. I, Jud. xvi. 27. Some com-

mentators would connect the second

hemistich of this verse with the first

clause of ver. 5, "Who is like Je-

hovah our God in the heaven and

in the earth?" (as in Deut. iii. 24),

taking the two intervening clauses

as parenthetical; but this is quite

unnecessary. The rendering given

above may be adopted, or the

ellipsis may be supplied as it is in

the E.V.

     7. This and the next verse are

almost word for word from the Song

of Hannah, I Sam. ii. 8.

    9. The curse of barrenness was

so bitter a thing in Jewish eyes,

that its removal was hailed as a

special mark of Divine favour.

The allusion to it here was sug-

gested, doubtless, by Hannah's

history, and by the strain of Han-

nah's song already quoted: see I

Sam. ii. 5.

    MAKETH THE BARREN WOMAN,

 

324                           PSALM CXIII.

 

As a joyful mother of children.b

                        Hallelujah!

 

&c.: lit. "maketh her who is the

barren of the house to dwell," i.e.

maketh her who through barrenness

has no family to have a family, and

so a fixed, settled habitation in the

land. A barren woman might be

divorced, or another taken besides

her; but, having children, her posi-

tion in the house is sure. The

use of the phrase in lxviii. 6 [7] is

somewhat different, as there the

word "house" means the place of

abode; here, the family. Compare

the expression "to make a house,"

Ex. i. 21; 2 Sam. vii. 11.

 

            a  yhiyBiG;ma.ha. The final Chireq, Yod or Chireq companinis as it is called,

or long connecting vowel, in this and the two following participles, and

also in the Hiph. infin. ybiwivhl; (ver. 8), is the vowel originally employed

to mark the relation of the genitive. The old form of the stat. constr.

had for its termination 'either Cholem, as in Cr,x, Oty;Ha, Gen. i. 24, or

Chireq, as in the compound names qd,c,-yKil;ma, rz,f,ylix< and many others, in

the participle Np,G,la yris;xo, Gen. xlix. 11, Myinayfe yliylik;Ha. ib. 12, and in some

prepositions, as yTil;Bi, ytilAUz, yni.mi (poet).

            The termination i is found (a) with the first of two nouns in the

stat. constr., whether masc., as in Deut. xxxiii. 16, Zech. xi. 17, or fem.

as in Gen. xxxi. 39; Ps. cx. 4. It is found also (b) when the stat. constr.

is resolved by means of a prep. prefixed to the second noun, as in the

passage already quoted, Gen. xlix. 11; in Ex. xv. 6; Obad. 3; Hos. x. 11;

Lam. i. 1; Ps. cxxiii. 1, and in the K'thibh, Jer. xxii. 23, li. 13;

Ezek. xxvii. 3. It occurs (c) even where a word intervenes between the

two which stand in the genitival relation, as in ci. 5; Is. xxii. 16;

Mic. vii. 14. The fact that this long vowel usually draws to it the accent

shows that it is no mere euphonic (paragogic) addition, but that it is

really a connecting vowel marking the relation of the gen. case. Hence

it may be regarded as a connecting link between the Semitic and Indo-

Germanic languages,

            In this and other late Psalms (see for instance cxxiii. 1, cxiv. 8, where

we have both the Chireq and the Cholera, and perhaps cxvi. 1) an

attempt seems to have been made to bring back the old termination, but

without regard always to its original signification. Thus in ver. 8 of this

Psalm it is appended even to the Hiph. infin., a form which occurs

nowhere else.

            b MyniBAha. Hupfeld and Olsh. condemn the article as incorrect.

Delitzsch says: "The Poet brings the matter so vividly before him, that

he points, as it were, with his finger to the children with which God

blesses her."

            According to Ibn. 'Ez. tr,q,fE in the first hemistich is not in construction,

but absolute. If so we may render: "Who setteth the barren woman

in a house."

                                  PSALM CXIV.                                         325

 

                                  PSALM CXIV.

 

            THIS is perhaps the most beautiful of all the Psalms which touch

on the early history of Israel. It is certainly the most graphic and

the most striking in the boldness of its outlines. The following

remarks may perhaps illustrate the connection and plan of the

Poem.

            1. In structure it is singularly perfect. This rests upon the

common principle of pairs of verses, and thus we have four strophes,

each consisting of two verses: each of these verses, again, consists

of two lines, in which the parallelism is carefully preserved.

            2. The effect is produced, as in Psalm xxix., not by minute tracing

of details, but by the boldness with which certain great features of

the history are presented.

            3. A singular animation and an almost dramatic force are given to

the Poem by the beautiful apostrophe in ver. 5, 6, and the effect of

this is heightened in a remarkable degree by the use of the present

tenses. The awe and the trembling of nature are a spectacle on

which the Poet is looking. The parted sea through which Israel

walks as on dry land, the rushing Jordan arrested in its course, the

granite cliffs of Sinai shaken to their base—he sees it all, and asks

in wonder what it means?

            4. Then it is that the truth bursts upon his mind, and the impres-

sion of this upon the reader is very finely managed. The name of

God, which has ,been entirely concealed up to this point in the poem

(even the possessive pronoun being left without its substantive,

"Judah was His sanctuary, Israel was His dominion"), is now only

introduced after the apostrophe in ver. 5, 6.

            "The reason seems evident, and the conduct necessary, for if God

had appeared before, there could be no wonder why the mountains

should leap and the sea retire; therefore, that this convulsion of

nature may be brought in with due surprise, His name is not men-

tioned till afterward; and then, with a very agreeable turn of thought,

God is introduced all at once in all His majesty."

            We have no clue to guide us to the age of the Psalm, or the

occasion for which it was written, except that perhaps the forms in

ver. 8, which are found in other late Psalms, may be taken to indicate

a date after the Exile.

 

            * Spectator, No. 461.

326                                 PSALM CXIV

 

1 WHEN Israel went forth out of Egypt,

            The house of Jacob from a people of strange language,

2 Judah became a His sanctuary,

            Israel His dominion.

 

3 The sea saw and fled,

            Jordan turned backwards;

4 The mountains skipped like rams,

            The hills like young sheep.

5 What aileth thee, 0 thou sea, that thou fleest;

            Thou Jordan, that thou turnest backwards?

6 Ye mountains, that ye skip like rams;

            Ye hills, like young sheep?

7 Before the Lord tremble, 0 earth,

            Before God (the God) of Jacob.

8 Who changed b the rock into a pool of water,

           

    1, 2. The Introduction sets forth

at once both the great redemptive

act and also the end of the re-

demption, viz. that God Himself

might dwell among and rule His

people.

     This sanctifying of the nation, as

a nation to Himself, took place in

the wilderness before the Law was

given: "Ye shall be unto Me a

kingdom of priests and a holy

nation " (Exod. xix. 6).

    A PEOPLE OF STRANGE LAN-

GUAGE, lit. "a stammering (i.e. an

unintelligible) people." Comp.

Deut. xxvii. 49 ; Is. xxviii. 11, xxxiii.

19; Jer. v. 15. LXX. laou? barba<rou.

    2. HIS SANCTUARY. Comp.

Exod. xv. 17, where the Promised

Land is called "the Sanctuary, 0

Lord, which Thy hands have estab-

lished."

     HIS DOMINION or kingdom;

comp. Num. xxiii. 21. The noun

Is in the plural, which is here used

poetically as a plural of amplifica-

tion. Comp. xliii. 3, xlvi. 4 [5],

lxviii. 35 [36] (where see note).

     3. THE SEA SAW, viz. God, whose

name and whose presence are still

purposely concealed. Comp. lxxvii.

16 [17], xxvii. 3; Hab. iii. 10.

    The passage of the Red Sea and

of the Jordan are combined, not

only as miracles of a similar cha-

racter, but as marking the begin-

ning and the end of the great

deliverance — the escape from

Egypt, the entrance into the Pro-

mised Land.

     4. The reference is probably to

the terrors which accompanied the

giving of the Law on Sinai (Exod.

xix. 18, "and the whole mount

quaked greatly"), although these

convulsions of nature form a part

of every Theophany, or manifesta-

tion of God. Comp. xviii. 7 [8],

l.xxvii. 18 [19]; Hab. iii.; Is. lxiv.

1-3. For the figure see Ps. xxix.

6.

    8. THE ROCK (tsur), referring to

 

                                PSALM CXV.                                            327

 

            The flint-stone into a fountain of waters.

 

the miracle in Exod. xvii. 6. THE                        These miracles are selected as

FLINT-STONE (or perhaps "the                        the most striking proofs of "God's

steep cliff;" LXX. th>n a]kro<tomon)                  absolute creative omnipotence, and

seems to be placed here poetically                      of the grace which changes death

for the other characteristic word                                     into life." They are, moreover,

(sela'), which marks the scene of                       parallel miracles like the two men-

the miracle at Kadesh. See notes                        tioned in ver. 3, and thus the poet-

on lxxviii. 15, 16.                                                ical effect is heightened.

 

            a htAy;hA. "Judah" is here feminine, in accordance with the general

principle that lands and nations are feminine.

 

            b ykip;hoha. On the termination see xciii. note a. The final Chireq,

however, in this instance, is not strictly that of the stat. constr., for the

participle here has the article prefixed, and therefore cannot be in con-

struction. But it is one of the instances in which, as has been remarked

in the note referred to, the later language adopted the termination

without regard to its original use.

            In Ony;f;mal;, on the other hand, we have a genuine instance of the old

termination of the stat. constr. This final Cholem, however, is by no

means so widely used as the final Chireq. With the exception of this

place, and Num. xxiv. 3, 15, rfoB; OnB, it is found only in the phrase

Cr,x, Oty;Ha (or hd,W.Ah ‘H), which first occurs Gen. i. 24.

 

                                     PSALM CXV.

 

            THIS is evidently one of the later liturgical Psalms. It was pro-

bably composed for the service of the Second Temple, whilst yet the

taunts of their heathen adversaries were ringing in the ears of the

returned exiles, and whilst yet contempt for the idolatries which they

had witnessed in Babylon was fresh in their hearts.

            The Psalm opens with a confession of unworthiness and a prayer

that God would vindicate His own honour against the scoff of the

heathen. Ver. 1, 2.

            It exalts Him, the Invisible, Omnipotent, absolutely Supreme

Ruler of the Universe, and pours contempt upon the idols and their

worshipers. Ver. 3-8.

            It bids all Israel, both priests and people, put their trust in Him

328                             PSALM CXV.

 

who is alone worthy of trust, the help and shield of His people.

Ver. 9-12.

            It promises that Jehovah shall give His blessing to them that thus

trust in Him, and calls upon them in return to give Him thanks for

ever. Ver. 12-18.

            Ewald's conjecture that the Psalm was intended to be sung whilst

the sacrifices were offered, and that at ver. 12 the voice of the priest

declares God's gracious acceptance of the sacrifice, is not improbable.

He gives ver. 1—11 to the congregation, ver. 12-15 to the priest,

ver. 16-18 to the congregation. But it seems more likely that

the change of voices comes in at ver. 9, and that, as Tholuck

supposes, in each of the verses 9, 10, 11, the first line was sung

as a solo, perhaps by one of the Levites, and the second by the

whole choir.

            The LXX., Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic have strangely enough,

and in defiance of all probability, joined this with the preceding

Psalm, and then have restored the balance by dividing Psalm cxvi.

into two parts. Even in some Hebrew MSS. Psalms cxiv. and cxv.

are found written as one Psalm. But the very structure of Psalm

cxiv., its beauty and completeness in itself, are sufficient to make us

wonder what caprice could have led to such an arrangement.

 

                              (The Congregation.)

 

I NOT unto us, 0 Jehovah, not unto us,

            But unto Thy Name, give glory,

                        Because of Thy loving-kindness, because of Thy

                                    truth.

2 Wherefore should the nations say:

 

    1. NOT UNTO US. The repetition

of the words expresses the more

vividly the deep sense of unworthi-

ness, the unfeigned humility which

claims nothing for itself.

    LOVING-KINDNESS . . . TRUTH.

The two great characteristic attri-

butes of God, even in the Old

Testament; though in contrast

with the Law as given by Moses,

St. John could say, h[ xa<rij kai> h[

a]lh<qeia dia>  ]Ihsou? Xristou? e]ge<neto,

John i. 17.

     Both these attributes of God

would be assailed if the taunt of

the heathen should be allowed to

pass unsilenced. It is God's glory

which is at stake. "Deo itaque,"

says Calvin, "gratiam suam obji-

ciunt (fideles), deinde fidem, qua-

rum utramque manebant impiae

calumniae, si populum quern aeterno

foedere sibi devinxerat, et quem

adoptaverat gratuita misericordia,

frustratus esset."

     2. Now is not a particle of time,

 

 

                            PSALM CXV.                                   329

 

            "Where now is their God?"

 

3 But our God is in the heavens;

            He hath done whatsoever He pleased.

4 Their idols are silver and gold,

            The work of men's hands.

 

as might be inferred from the ren-

dering of the E.V., but an interjec-

tion used in taunt as well as in

entreaty, &c.

     3. BUT, or "and yet." See the

same use of the conjunction in ii. 6.

The answer to the taunt of the

heathen, who, seeing no image of

Jehovah, mocked at His existence.

First, He is in heaven, invisible

indeed, yet thence ruling the uni-

verse; next, He doeth what He

will, in fine contrast with the utter

impotence of the idols of the

heathen. The last expression de-

notes both God's almighty power

and His absolute freedom. This,

truthfully accepted, does away with

all a priori objections to miracles.

      4. SILVER AND GOLD, i.e. how-

ever costly the material, this adds

no real value to the image; it is,

after all, man's workmanship. This

seems to be the thought: otherwise

the Psalmist would have said "wood

and stone "rather than" silver and

gold." This agrees also with what

follows.  "Though they may be of

costly materials, they are but of

human workmanship; though they

may have the form and members of

man, they are lifeless."

      De Wette remarks that "the Jew,

who was accustomed to see no im-

age of the Deity, fell into the error

(often perhaps purposely) of con-

founding the idols of the heathen

with the gods whom they repre-

sented, and of which they were only

the symbols. The Israelite of the

ten tribes, who had his symbols of

Jehovah Himself, could not have

made such a mistake." But it may

be replied, in the first place, that

the Jew would not have admitted

that the gods had any real existence;

they were as much the creatures of

man's imagination as the idols were

of his art. In the next place, the

heathen worship itself was not care-

ful to maintain the difference be-

tween the symbol and the thing

symbolized, and the great mass of

worshipers probably drew no dis-

tinction between them. "Non

habent Siculi deos ad quos pre-

centur," says Cicero. On which

Calvin remarks: "Barbare hoc

diceret, nisi hoc infixa fuisset opinio

vulgi animis, deorum ccelestiuin

figuras sibi ante oculos versari in

ere, vel argento, vel marmore."

Even the refined teaching of the

Church of Rome does not save the

ignorant and the unlettered from

absolute idolatry.

     Augustine has here some admir-

able remarks on idol-worship, and

the various attempts made to dis-

tinguish between the image and the

deity it represented. But he con-

cedes the real existence of the gods

as demons: "Aliis itaque locis et

contra ista divinae Liters vigilant

ne quisquam dicat, cum irrisa fuerint

simulacra, Non hoc visibile cola,

sed numen quod illic invisibiliter

habitat. Ipsa ergo numina in alio

psalmo eadem Scriptura sic dam-

nat: Quoniam dii gentium, inquit,

daemonia; Dominus autem caelos

fecit. Dicit et Apostolus: Non quad

idolum sit aliquid, sed quoniam quae

immolant genies, daemoniis immo-

lant, et non Deo," &c. The whole

passage is well worth reading as a

masterly analysis of idol-worship.

     We have the same description of

these dumb and deaf and dead gods

in cxxxv. 15-18, probably bor-

 

330                        PSALM CXV.

 

5 A mouth have they, but they speak not;

            Eyes have they, but they do not see.

6 They have ears, but they hear not;

            A nose have they, but they do not smell.

7 They have hands, but they handle not;

            Feet have they, but they walk not;

                        They do not utter any sound with their throat.

8 Like unto them are they that make them,

            Every one that putteth his trust in them.

 

                        (Levites and Choir.)

 

9 0 Israel, trust in Jehovah!

            He is their help and their shield.

 

rowed from this passage. Comp.

Deut. iv. 28, and the sarcastic pic-

ture in Is. xliv. 9-20.

    5. A MOUTH. The picture is of a

single image.

   7. THEY HAVE HANDS, lit. "As

for their hands, they handle not

(with them); As for their feet, they

do not walk (therewith:)" or, "With

their hands they handle not; With

their feet they walk not." The con-

struction is changed, and we have

nominative absolutes, followed by

the conjunction introducing the

apodosis. See for the same con-

struction Gen. xxii. 24; Prov. xxiii.

24; Job xxxvi. 26.

    UTTER ANY SOUND. The verb

may mean only to speak, as in

xxxvii. 30; Prov. viii. 7; but the

rendering in the text approaches

more nearly to the root-signification

of the word, "do not utter even an

inarticulate sound." So Ibn. 'Ezra

and Qimchi.

      8. LIKE UNTO THEM. So true it

is, not only that as is man so is his

god, but the reverse also, as is the

god so is his worshiper. Comp. Is.

xliv. 19, where what is elsewhere

said of the idols is said of the

worshipers, that they are "empti-

ness" (tohu); and observe the use

of the verb "to become vain," 2

Kings xvii. i 5; Jer. ii. 5, applied in

like manner to idolaters. They

who, turning away from God's wit-

ness of Himself in the visible crea-

tion, worshipt the creature rather

than the Creator, received in them-

selves the sentence of their own

degradation, "their foolish heart

became darkened." They became

blind and deaf and dumb and dead,

like the idols they set up to wor-

ship.

     ARE, or "become." By the LXX.,

Jerome, and the Syriac the verb is

rendered as an optative, "May

they become," &c., which, however,

is less forcible.

    9. The change in the strain of the

Psalm here must unquestionably

have been accompanied by a change

in the music. And it appears highly

probable, as has been said, that the

first line of this and the two follow-

ing verses was sung as a solo by

some of the Levites, and the second

line, or refrain, which occurs in each

verse, "He is their help and their

shield," by the choir.

    TRUST IN JEHOVAH., in contrast

with the "trust" of the previous

verse. Trust in Jehovah, for He is

not like the idols, He is the living

 

 

 

                                    PSALM CXV.                                        331

 

10 0 house of Aaron, trust ye in Jehovah!

            He is their help and their shield.

11 Ye that fear Jehovah, trust in Jehovah!

            He is their help and their shield.

 

                               (The Priest.)

12 Jehovah (who) hath been mindful of us will bless,—

            He will bless the house of Israel,

            He will bless the house of Aaron.

13 He will bless them that fear Jehovah,

            Both small and great.

14 Jehovah increase you more and more,

            You and your children!

15 Blessed be ye of Jehovah,

            The Maker of heaven and earth.

 

                              (The Congregation. )

16 The heavens are Jehovah's heavens;

 

God, "the help and the shield"

(comp. xxxiii. 20) of them that

trust in Him. Trust in Jehovah,

for He hath been mindful of us in

times past, He will bless us in time

to come (ver. 12). The threefold

division, Israel—house of Aaron—

they that fear Jehovah, is the same

as in cxviii. 2, 3, 4. In cxxxv. the

house of Levi is added.

    10. First the people at large are

exhorted to this trust, then the

priests—because to them was con-

fided the worship of Jehovah, with

them it rested to keep it pure, and

they might naturally be expected

to lead the people in the path of

holy trust.

     11. YE THAT FEAR JEHOVAH.

This has been understood of pro-

selytes of the gate, in accordance

with the later Jewish and New Test.

usage, as in the Acts, sebo<menoi to>n

qeo<n, or simply sebo<menoi. Comp.

Acts xiii. 43, 50. But in other places

in the Psalms the phrase occurs of

all Israel; see xxii. 23 [24], ciii. 11,

13, 17, and it is better to under-

stand it so here.

     12. (WHO) HATH BEEN MINDFUL

. . .WILL BLESS. So the LXX.

mnhsqei<j, and Jerome recordatus,

and so Ibn. 'Ez. takes vnrkz as a

relative. The past is the pledge of

the future. Again the same three

classes are mentioned as in the

three preceding verses.

    This blessing, thus promised (ver.

12, 13) and thus supplicated (ver.

14, 15), was sung, as Ewald con-

jectures, by the priest. But see

Introduction to Ps. cxviii.

    14. INCREASE YOU. Comp. Gen.

xxx. 24; Deut. i. 11; 2 Sam.

xxiv. 3.

   15. MAKER OF HEAVEN AND

EARTH. The title has reference to

the impotent idols before described.

16. The words in this and in the

next verse are simple enough, but

 

 

 

 

 

332                       PSALM CXVI.

 

            But the earth hath He given to the children of men.

17 The dead praise not Jah,

            Neither all they that go down into silence;

18 But we will bless Jah

            From henceforth even for ever,

                        Hallelujah!

 

their connection with the rest of the

Psalm is not very clear. Perhaps

it may be traced thus: In ver. 15

Jehovah is said to have made

heaven and earth. Then in ver.

16 these are distributed: heaven is

His abode; earth is the abode of

man. But the mention of heaven

and earth suggests the thought of

another region, that unseen world

below where none can praise God

as they do on this fair earth which

He has given to the children of

men. But what the dead cannot

do, we will do,—we to whom our

God has given the earth, we to

whom He has been a help and a

shield, we whom He has blessed

and will bless, we with thankful

hearts will never cease to show

forth His praise.

      17. Comp. cxviii. 17; Is. xxxviii.

18. 19.

 

                                       PSALM CXVI.

 

            IN this Psalm one who has been in peril of death (ver. 3, 9, 15)

gives thanks to God with a full heart for the deliverance which has

been vouchsafed to him. Beginning with the expression of a love to

God called forth by His mercy, the Psalmist then passes in review all

God's goodness, till he feels that it surpasses infinitely not only all

his deserts, but all adequate power of acknowledgement (ver. 12);

and he concludes by declaring that in the most public manner, before

the assembled congregation, he will confess how great the debt he

owes, and bind himself solemnly to the service of Jehovah.

            The Psalm is evidence of the truth and depth of the religious life

in individuals after the return from the Exile; for there can be little

doubt that it must be assigned to that period. Many words and

turns of phrases remind us of earlier Psalms, and especially of the

Psalms of David. His words must have laid hold in no common

degree of the hearts of those who were heirs of his faith, and have

sustained them in times of sorrow and suffering; and nothing would

be more natural than that later Poets should echo his strains, and

mingle his words with their own when they poured forth their prayers

and praises before God.

                                PSALM CXVI.                            333

 

1 LOVE (Him) because Jehovah heareth

            My voice and my supplications,

2 Because He hath inclined His ear unto me,

            Therefore as long as I live will I call (upon Him).

3 The cords of death compassed me,

            And the pains a of the unseen world gat hold upon me.

                        I found distress and sorrow:

4 Then I called upon the name of Jehovah,

            "0 Jehovah, I beseech Thee,b deliver my soul."

5 Gracious is Jehovah and righteous;

            Yea, our God showeth tender compassion.

6 Jehovah preserveth the simple:

            I was in misery and He saved c me,

7 Return unto thy rest,d 0 my soul,

            For Jehovah hath dealt bountifully with thee.

 

     1. I LOVE. The verb stands

alone without any expressed object,

as if the full heart needed not to

express it. The object appears as

subject in the next clause, from

which it is readily supplied: "I love

Jehovah, for He heareth," &c. The

writer is fond of this pregnant use

of the verb without an object ex-

pressed. See ver. 2, "I call," and

ver. 10, "I believe." For the senti-

ment, comp. xviii. 1 [2], "Tenderly

do I love Thee." The rendering,

"I am well pleased that," &c. has

no support in usage.

      On this first verse Augustine

beautifully says: "Cantet hoc anima

quae peregrinatur a Domino, cantet

hoc ovis ilia quae erraverat, cantet

hoc filius ille qui mortuus fuerat et

revixit, perierat et inventus est;

cantet hoc anima nostra, fratres et

filii carissimi."

     2. AS LONG AS I LIVE, lit. "in

my days." The phrase, "in my

days will I call," is certainly hard,

and 2 Kings xx. 19 (Is. xxxix. 8), to

which Del. refers, is not a real

parallel. Still, as the LXX. and

Jerome evidently had the reading,

it is probably the true one, and we

need not adopt any of the con-

jectural emendations which have

been proposed.

      3. The later Psalmists would

naturally often use David's words

as the best expression of their

own feelings, especially in seasons

of peril and sorrow. See xviii.

1-6 [2-7].

     GAT HOLD UPON, lit. "found," as

in cxix. 143.

      5. Instead of saying directly

"Jehovah answered me," he mag-

nifies those attributes of God which

from the days of His wonderful

self-revelation to Moses (Ex. xxxiv.

6), had been the joy and consola-

tion of every tried and trusting

heart. See Introduction to ciii.

The epithet "righteous " is added

here, as in cxii. 4.

     6. THE SIMPLE. LXX. ta> nh<pia.

The very simplicity which lays

them most readily open to attack

is itself an appeal for protection to

Him who "showeth tender com-

passion."

    7. The deliverance vouchsafed

in answer to prayer stills the tumult

of the soul. The REST is the rest

of confidence in God.

 

 

334                     PSALM CXVI.

 

8 For Thou hast delivered my soul from death,

            Mine eye from tears,

                        My foot from stumbling.

9 I will walk before Jehovah

            In the land of the living.

10 I believe;—for I must speak;e

            I was greatly afflicted.

11 I said in my confusion,

            "All men are liars.”

 

12 How shall I repay unto Jehovah

            All His bountiful dealings f with me?

13 I will take the cup of salvation,

            And call on the name of Jehovah.

 

     9. THE LAND OF THE LIVING,

lit. "the lands," but the plural may

be only poetic amplification. In

xxvii. 13 (comp. lvi. 13 [14]), we

have the singular.

     10. The E.V., "I believed, there-

fore have I spoken," follows the

LXX. e]pi<steusa, dio> e]la<lhsa, a ren-

dering which is also adopted by

St. Paul, 2 Cor. iv. 13, in illustration

of the truth that a living faith in

the heart will utter its convictions

with the mouth. But the Hebrew

will not admit of such a rendering.

For the various explanations, see

Critical Note. That given in the

text may be thus explained: "I

believe"--emphatic, i.e. I do be-

lieve, I have learnt trust in God by

painful experience—"for I must

speak"--I must confess it, "I even

I (pron. emphatic) was greatly

afflicted; I myself (pron. emphatic

as before) said," &c. This gives

the due prominence to the repeated

pronoun, and moreover a satisfac-

tory sense is obtained. Kay ren-

ders: "I believed in that I spake."

      The Psalmist declares that he

stays himself upon God ("I believe"),

for he had looked to himself, and

there had seen nothing but weak-

ness; he had looked to other men

and found them all deceitful, trea-

cherous as a broken reed. Comp.

lx. 11 [13], lxii. 9 [10], cxviii.. 8, 9.

There is an allusion to this passage

in Rom. iii. 4.

     11. The first member is the same

as in xxxi. 22 [23].

     CONFUSION, or, "rashness."

     13. THE CUP. Many see in the

word an allusion to the "cup of

blessing" at the Paschal meal

(Matt. xxvi. 27), and this would ac-

cord with the sacrificial language

of ver. 14, 17. It is true there is

no evidence of any such custom at

the celebration of the Passover in

the Old Test.; but as the custom

existed in our Lord's time, the only

question is as to the time of its in-

troduction. If it was introduced

shortly after the Exile, this Psalm

may very well allude to it. It may

however have been earlier, there

being, according to the Rabbis, no

sacrificial gift (Korban) without

libations (the two are joined in

Joel i. 9). They tell us, that the

saying that wine was that which

cheereth God and man (Jud. ix. 13)

was the blessing pronounced em-

phatically over the cup. Others

understand by"the cup," in a figur-

ative sense, the portion allotted to

man, whether of prosperity, as in

xvi. 5 [6], xxiii. 5, or of adversity, as

 

                             PSALM CXVI.                                   335

 

14 My vows unto Jehovah will I pay,

            Yea, in the presence of g all His people let me (pay

                        them).

           

15 Precious in the sight of Jehovah

            Is the death of His beloved.

16 I beseech Thee, 0 Jehovah—for I am Thy servant,

            I am Thy servant, the son of Thine handmaid;

                        Thou hast loosed my bonds.h

17 I will sacrifice unto Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving,

            And I will call upon the Name of Jehovah.

18 My vows will I pay unto Jehovah,

            Yea, in the presence of all His people let me (pay

                        them),

19 In the courts of Jehovah's house,

            In the midst of Thee, 0 Jerusalem!

                        Hallelujah!

 

in xi. 6 [7], lxxv. 8 [9]. So the

Arabs speak of "the cup of death,"

"the cup of love," &c. Then the

meaning of the verse will be, "I

will accept thankfully and with

devout acknowledgement the bless-

ings which God gives me as my

portion."

    14. LET ME (PAY THEM). I have

endeavoured thus to render here,

and in ver. 18 (the refrain), the in-

terjection which is used in beseech-

ing. It is a part of the same inter-

jection which occurs in ver. 4 and

16, and which is there rendered "I

beseech Thee." A fondness for

these forms is characteristic of the

Psalm.

    15. PRECIOUS . . . . IS THE

DEATH, i.e. it is no light thing in

the sight of God that His servants

should perish. The more obvious

form of expression occurs lxxii. 14,

"precious is their blood in His

eyes."

    16. SON OF THINE HANDMAID.

Comp. lxxxvi. 16 ; 2 Tim. i. 5.

 

            a yrecAm;; a later word, which occurs besides in the sing. cxviii. 5,

and in the plur. MyricAm;.ha, Lam. i. 3. In these other passages it means

narrowness, straitness, as of a narrow place, whereas here an abstract

sense is required. The word does not also seem very suitable to lOxw;.

In the original passage yleb;H, is the word employed, and hence Hupf.

would read here ydecAm;, nets, referring to similar forms in Job xix. 6;

Eccl. vii. 26.

            b hnA.xA with h, as in five other places, instead of x, compounded of

h.xA and xnA is accentuated both Mil'el and Milr'a. Properly speaking,

in beseeching it is anna, Mil'ra; in asking questions, annah, Mil'el.

336                          PSALM CXVI.

 

            c faywiOhy;. For this form, with the h retained, see lxxxi. 5 [6].

            d ykiy;HAUnm;. The plur. masc. occurs only here, the plur. fem. in two other

places instead of the sing. The noun means primarily a resting-place.

and then rest (xxiii. 2). The plur. is used to denote rest in its fulness.

On the form of the fern. suffix in this word, and in ykiy;lAfA in the same verse,

and again in ykikeOtB;, ver. 19, see on ciii. note a.

            e 'x yk ytnmxh. The construction of this clause is extremely difficult.

In all other instances where yKi follows the Hiph. of Nmx it means "that,"

but in all other instances the subject of the verb in the subordinate clause

is different from that in the principal clause; e.g. Ex. iv. 5, "that they

may believe that Jehovah hath appeared," &c. But we could not render

here, "I believe that I should speak." Hence various renderings have

been proposed: (I) "I believe when I speak," i.e. when I break forth into

the complaint which follows in the next clause. (So Hupfeld.) Similarly

Ewald: "I have faith, when I speak." For this use of the verb speak,

comp. xxxix. 3 [4]. (2) "I believed when I spoke (thus);" the next

hemistich, "I was greatly afflicted," being independent, and not an ex-

pression of what he said. (3) "Credidi, quum haec loquuturus essem,"

Jun. and Trem. (4) Delitzsch remarks that the rendering "I have

believed, that I should yet speak," i.e. yet have to praise God's goodness

(rBeDi, as in xl. 6), would yield a good sense, that in his deepest affliction he

yet kept his faith, which was first silent and then spake, whereas unbelief

first speaks and at last is silent, yet this interpretation is not satisfactory

because it leaves the connexion between the parallel members too slight

and loose. And as yKi can only mean either "that" (Job ix. i6) or

"suppose that" = "if" (Hab. i. 5) or "for," nothing is left but to render,

"I have believed, for I spake (or must speak)." This, however, gives a

suitable sense. If he looked at himself (obs. the emphatic pron. ynixE), he

found himself in the deepest affliction, unable to help himself: if he looked

to men he must confess to himself (ohs. the repetition of the pers. pron.

ynixE) that all confidence placed in man was vain. Hence, despairing alike

of himself and of other men, he believed in God. ytnmxh thus stands

absolutely, "I stayed myself upon God, in the depth of my own misery,

and in the absence of human help." Hitz. rejecting such renderings as

those of Ew.: Ich habe Glauben, wann ich rede, of Del: Ich fasste

Glauben, denn ich musste sprechen, &c., as contrary to grammar, thinks

that the construction here is like that in Jer. xii. 1: "Thou art (too)

righteous that (yKi) I should plead with thee." He appeals to similar con-

structions in Arabic and in Greek writers. So here he renders: to. Ich

vertraue als dass ich spräche: ich bin gebeugt sehr. 11. Ich hatte

gedacht in meiner Bestürzung alle Menschen sind Lügner. He connects

this with ver. 9 thus: I shall live through God's mercy, and I confide

therein so that in what may befall me, I will not suffer myself to be led

away into any expression of faint-heartedness. I have too much faith in

Him to complain how I am bowed down." Before this, on the contrary, he

had been in a state of trepidation (ver. 11): I had thought that all men

are liars;—I had lost all confidence in men; but Jehovah dealt bountifully

                                          PSALM CXVII.                                                   337

 

with me (ver. 7), and how can I repay Him (ver. 12)? Reuss renders: Je

croyais, bien que je dusse dire: Je suis dans un profond abaissement. Je

disais dans mes alarmes, Tous les hommes sont trompeurs. Rejecting the

interpretation of the LXX. on grammatical grounds, he observes:

"L'auteur veut évidemment affermer sa foi, ferme malgré la situation clans

laquelle it se trouvait et malgré 1'impossibilité de s'en rapporter aux

hommes. Pour compléter sa pensée it faut ajouter : et ma confiance

n'a point été trompée." Of the Verss. the Syr.-Hex. has in the text,

                                                 " I have believed ; therefore have

spoken;" but in the margin,                                                       “I      

believed that I should speak," or, perhaps, "because I must speak."

The LXX. e]pi<steusa, dio> ela<lhsa. Jerome: Credidi propter quod [h.

quia] locutus sum. The Syr. has merely the conjunction, "I believed and

I spare, and I was greatly afflicted."

            f yhiOlUmG;Ta. This Aramaic plural suffix occurs only here in Biblical

Hebrew (Ges. § 91, 2, Obs. 2).

            g hdAG;n,. The form seems adapted to the following xnA, to express the

inward earnestness of wish; see the same form ver. 18, and again the

use of hnA.xA, ver. 16. It is more difficult to account for the termination

-ah in htAv;mA.ha, ver. 15, which, as an accusatival termination, can have no

force. Del. calls it "a pathetic form" for tv,mA, but the fondness for this

termination is a peculiarity of the writer.

            h yrAseOml;. The prep. l; instead of the accus. after the trans. verb is an

Aramaic construction, but not necessarily one of the signs of the later

date of the Psalm, as the construction occurs sometimes in the earlier

Books.

 

                                      PSALM CXVII.

 

            THIS short Psalm may have been a doxology intended to be sung

after other Psalms, or perhaps at the beginning or end of the Temple

service. In many MSS. and editions it is joined with the following

Psalm, but without any sufficient reason.

 

10 PRAISE Jehovah, all ye nations,

            Laud Him, all ye peoples!a

2 For His loving-kindness is mightily shown towards us,

 

    2. LOVING-KINDNESS. . . TRUTH,           an indication of those wider sym-

These two great attributes of God                       pathies which appear to have mani-

(see on cxv. I), as manifested to                                     fested themselves after the Exile.

Israel, "towards us," are to be the                      Hence the first verse is quoted by

subject of praise for the heathen,                        St. Paul, Rom. xv. 11, together with

338                               PSALM CXVIII.

 

And the truth of Jehovah is for ever.

            Hallelujah!

 

Deut. xxxii. 43, "Rejoice, ye Gen-                       takers, together with the Jews, of

tiles, with His people," as showing                       His mercy in Christ.

that in the purpose of God the                                  IS MIGHTILY SHOWN. Comp.

Gentiles were destined to be par-                        ciii. i i.

 

            a Mym.ixu. The only instance of this form in Biblical Hebrew. Else-

where, either tOm.xu (Gen. xxv. 16; Num. xxv. 15), or more commonly

Mymiixul;.

 

                                   PSALM CXVIII.

 

            IT is evident that this Psalm was designed to be sung in the

Temple worship, and was composed for some festal occasion. Its

liturgical character is shown by the formula with which it opens and

closes, "0 give thanks unto Jehovah," &c.; by the introduction of

different voices, which may be inferred in ver. 2-4; and by the fre-

quent repetition of certain lines as a refrain in the former half of the

Psalm, which can leave little doubt that it was constructed with a

view to antiphonal singing. The allusions in the latter part, and

especially ver. 24, "This is the day which Jehovah hath made," &c.

point to some great festival as the occasion for which it was written.

Its general character, and the many passages in it borrowed from

earlier writers, render it probable that it is one of the later Psalms,

and we may assume that it was composed after the return from the

Captivity.

            Four different occasions have been suggested for which it might

have been written:

            1. The first celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh

month of the first year of the Return, when nothing but the altar had,

as yet, been erected for the worship of God, Ezra iii. 1—4. (Ewald.)

            2. The laying of the foundation-stone of the Second Temple in the

second month of the second year, Ezra iii. 8-13. (Hengstenberg.)

            3. The completion and consecration of the Temple in the twelfth

month of the seventh year of Darius, Ezra vi. 15-18. (Delitzsch.)

            4. The extraordinary celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles after

the completion of the Second Temple, recorded in Neh. viii 13-18.

(Stier.)

 

                                    PSALM CXVIII.                                         339

 

The following conclusions may help us to decide:--

 

            1. The use of the Psalm in the ritual of the Second Temple leads

to the conclusion that it was composed originally for the Feast of

Tabernacles. For the words of the 25th verse were sung during that

Feast, when the altar of burnt-offering was solemnly compassed; that

is, once on each of the first six days of the Feast, and seven times on

the seventh day. This seventh day was, and is to this day, called

"the great Hosannah" (Save now, ver. 25); and not only the prayers

for the Feast, but even the branches of willow-trees, the myrtles,

and the "Citron" (fruit of the tree of Hadar), or Ethrag, together

with the palm-branch (Lulab), were called " Hosannas " (tvnfwvh),

On the seventh day, after the three Mynym (kinds of plants, i e.

Ethrag, myrtle, and palm-branch) are laid aside, the "Hosha'nah"

still plays a part.

            2. In the next place, it seems equally clear that the Psalm sup-

poses the completion of the Temple. The language of verses 19, 20,

"Open me the gates of righteousness," "This is the gate of Jehovah,"

and the figure employed in ver. 22, "The stone which the builders

rejected is become the head stone of the corner," cannot be easily

explained on any other supposition. The allusions in verses 8—12

to the deceitfulness of human help and the favour of princes, as well

as to the active interference of troublesome enemies, are exactly in

accordance with all that we read of the circumstances connected with

the rebuilding of the Temple. The most probable conclusion there-

fore is, that the Psalm was composed for the first celebration of the

Feast of Tabernacles, after the completion of the Second Temple.

(Nehemiah viii.)

 

            Dr. Plumptre, who, like Ewald, supposes the Psalm to have been

originally composed for the first Feast of Tabernacles after the Return,

suggests that it may subsequently have been used with adaptations

at the later great gatherings of the people. He thus in fact com-

bines the different views which have been held as to the occasion for

which the Psalm was written. He thinks it may possibly have been

written by one of the two prophets of that time, and draws attention

to the prominence in Zechariah of parables and illustrations drawn

from the builder's work: the "stone" of iii. 9, iv. 7; the "house"

and "timber" of v. 4. 11; the "line" of i. 16; the "carpenters" of

i. 20; the "measuring-line for the walls of Jerusalem" of ii. 1; the

"plummet" in the hand of Zerubbabel of iv. 10. "The Prophet

lives as it were among the works of the rising Temple." (Biblical

Studies, p. 274.) Comp. ver. 19 and 22 of the Psalm.

340                           PSALM CXVIII.

 

            Ewald distributes the Psalm between different voices, giving ver.

1—4 to the choir, ver. 5—23 to the leader of the choir, ver. 24, 25

to the choir, ver. 26, 27 to the priest, ver 28 to the leader of the

choir, ver. 29 to the choir. But, as Delitzsch observes, the priests

took no part in the singing of the service; they blew with the

trumpets, but the singers and the players on the stringed and other

instruments of music were Levites. The Psalm, therefore, should

be distributed between the Levites and the congregation, the lines

containing the refrains being probably sung antiphonally by the

latter. Delitzsch thinks it more certain that the Psalm consists of

two parts, the first of which, ver. 1-19, was sung by the festal pro-

cession, led by priests and Levites, on the way to the Temple; the

second, ver. 20—27, by the Levites, who received the procession at

the Temple gate. Finally, ver. 28 would be the response of those

who had just reached the Temple, and ver. 29 would be sung by all,

both Levites and those who formed the procession.

            A similar arrangement of the Psalm is suggested in the Midrash

(Shocker tobh,) but there "the men of Judah" form the procession,

which is received by "the men of Jerusalem." In Tal. B. Pesachim

119a the Psalm is assumed to be intended for antiphonal singing.

            The congregation speak of themselves sometimes in the singular,

sometimes in the plural, but it is not necessary to assume that in the

former case the words were always sung by a single voice and in the

latter by many. It is more probable that in some portions of the

Psalm, although it was intended for public worship, the personal

feelings of the writer were uppermost. There is the same change,

for instance, in the "Te Deum," and such variations are perfectly

natural. On the other hand, we may take it for granted, that in the

first four verses the lines would be sung antiphonally, the precentor,

perhaps, singing the first line of each verse, and the choir taking up

the refrain, "For His loving-kindness," &c.

 

1 O GIVE thanks to Jehovah, for He is good,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

2 Let Israel now say,

            That His Loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

 

      1-4. Comp. Ezra iii. 11, where

the same refrain is found as the

burden of the psalmody which was

sung at the laying of the founda-

tions of the second Temple. This

is so far in favour of Hengsten-

berg's view as to the occasion on

which the Psalm was first sung.

See introduction to the Psalm.

            2. THAT or rather "for" as in

ver. 1. It is the same particle.

The words "for His loving-kind-

ness endureth for ever," are in fact

a quotation, a refrain such as

 

 

 

                         PSALM CXVIII.                                        341

 

3 Let the house of Aaron now say,

            That His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

4 Let them now that fear Jehovah say,

            That His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

5 Out of (my) straitness I called upon Jah,

            Jah answered a me (and set me) in a large place.b

6 Jehovah is on my side, I am not afraid;

            What can man do unto me?

7 Jehovah is on my side, to help me,

            Therefore I shall see my desire upon them that hate

                        me.

 

8 It is better to find refuge in Jehovah,

            Than to put any trust in man:

9 It is better to find refuge in Jehovah,

            Than to put any trust in princes.

 

10 All nations compassed me about;

            In the name of Jehovah will I cut them off.c

11 They compassed me about, yea, they compassed me

                        about;

            But in the name of Jehovah will I cut them off.

12 They compassed me about like bees,

            They were extinguished like a fire of thorns:

 

Jehoshaphat's singers were directed

to sing, 2 Chron. xxv. 21.

     6. Borrowed from lvi. 9, II [10,

12].

     7. To HELP ME, or "as my

Helper." Comp. liv. 4 [6], where

see note. Exod. xviii. 4.

      8, 9. See lxii., xxxiii., 16-19, and

comp. cxlvi. 3.

      The allusion is probably to the

hostility of the Samaritans and the

Persian satraps during the build-

ing of the Temple. The Jews had

learnt by painful experience how

little they could trust in princes,

for the work which had been begun

under Cyrus had been threatened

under Cambyses, and had been

suspended under the pseudo-Smer-

dis, and it was not till Darius came

to the throne that they were allowed

to resume it (Ezra iv.).

    10. ALL NATIONS, i.e. the neigh-

bouring tribes, who harassed the

returning exiles, the four times re-

peated "compassed me about"

marking their close and pertinacious

hostility.

    12. LIKE BEES. See the same

figure, Deut. i. 44.

    WERE EXTINGUISHED. Others

"they blazed up" (so Leeser), the

Pael being taken here in the priva-

tive sense which the Piel sometimes

has, as for instance in li. 7 [9], Is. V.

2. So the LXX. e]cekau<qhsan w[j pu?r

e]n a]ka<nqaij. Vulg. exarserunt.

     FIRE OF THORNS, quickly blaz-

ing up and as quickly dying out.

Comp. lviii. 9 [10].

 

 

 

342                            PSALM CX VIII.

 

            In the name of Jehovah will I cut them off.

13 Thou didst thrust sore at me, that I might fall,d

            But Jehovah helped me.

14 Jah is my strength and my song;e

            And He is become my salvation.

15 The voice of joyous song and salvation

                        Is in the tents of the righteous:

            The right hand of Jehovah doeth valiantly.

16 The right hand of Jehovah is exalted,f

            The right hand of Jehovah doeth valiantly.

17 I shall not die but live,

            And I shall tell forth the works of Jah.

18 Jah hath chastened me sore,

            But He hath not given me over unto death.

19. Open to me the gates of righteousness,

            I will enter into them, I will give thanks to Jah.

 

     13. THOU DIDST THRUST SORE,

or perhaps "Thou didst indeed

thrust, &c. . . . but,"for the em-

phasis in the repetition of the verb

(infin. absol.) belongs, as Hupf. re-

marks, not merely to the idea con-

tained in the verb, but rather to the

whole sentence, and implies an

opposition, as here in what follows.

The words are an apostrophe to the

enemy, here addressed as an indi-

vidual.

    14. In the first line there is a

reminiscence of Israel's song of

triumph at the Red Sea, Ex. xv. 2

(comp. Is. xii. 2).

    15. TENTS. "We can imagine,"

says Dr. Plumptre, "with what

special force the words [of this

verse] would come to those who

then were, or had but recently

been keeping their Feast of Taber-

nacles, dwelling in the temporary

huts which they constructed of the

branches of the olive and the fir-

tree, the myrtle and the palm, and

rejoicing in the great deliverance

which God had given them."—

Biblical Studies, pp. 274, 275. But

the word for these temporary huts

is always succah, "booth," not ohel,

" tent."

     17. "Ad se redit, laetusque ex-

clamat," remarks Rosenmulller. And

certainly the personal feeling of the

Psalmist seems here to predomi-

nate, though the Psalm is so

manifestly liturgical, and therefore

intended to represent the feelings

of the congregation, that the perso-

nal experience includes that of the

nation at large. Each one of those

redeemed captives may take up the

words and utter them as his own,

and the whole nation as one man

may adopt them also. Nationally

and individually they are alike

true.

     19. THE GATES OF RIGHTEOUS-

NESS. The gates of the Temple

are so called with reference to the

service of God, and the character

He requires of His worshipers.

This is evident from the next verse,

"The righteous shall enter into it."

Comp. v. 4 [5], "Evil cannot dwell

with Thee," i.e. in Thy house; xv.

1, 2, "Who may dwell on Thy holy

mountain? He that walketh per-

fectly and worketh righteousness,"

 

 

                       PSALM CX VIII.                                     343

 

20 This is the gate of Jehovah;

            The righteous shall enter into it.

21 I will give thanks unto Thee, for Thou hast answered me,

            And art become my salvation.

22 A stone which the builders rejected

            Is become the head (stone) of the corner.

 

&c. See also 3—6. What

David had declared to be the

necessary condition of all accept-

able worship in Zion was felt to be

perpetually true.

      The demand "Open to me," may

be understood either (1) literally, in

which case it is best explained as

the words of the singers in the

festal procession when they reach

the Temple gates (see Introduction

to the Psalm); or (2) figuratively as

implying the readiness and alacrity

with which the Psalmist will go to

the house of God, there to offer his

sacrifices and to utter his thanks-

givings. Comp. Is. xxvi,. 2, "Open

ye the gates, that the righteous

nation may enter in," where right-

eousness is made the condition of

entrance into "the strong city" or

God's building, as here into the

holy place.

     To this day, the words of this

verse are used at the dedication of

a new synagogue.

     22. A STONE. The imagery is

drawn obviously from the building

of the Temple. "Some incident

in the progress of the works had

probably served as the starting-

point of the parable. Some stone—

a fragment, we may conjecture, of

the Old Temple, rescued from its

ruins—has seemed to the architects

unfit for the work of binding to-

gether the two walls that met at

right angles to each other. They

would have preferred some new

blocks of their own fashioning. But

the priests, it may be, more conver-

sant with the traditions of the

Temple, knew that that was the

right place for it, and that no other

stone would answer half as well.

The trial was made, and the issue

answered their expectations. Could

they fail to see that this was a type

and figure of what was then pass-

ing in the history of their nation?

Israel had been rejected by the

builders of this world's empire, and

seemed now about to be once more

‘the head of the corner.'" (Biblical

Studies, p. 275.) They had been

despised by their heathen masters,

but now, by the good hand of their

God upon them, they had been

lifted into a place of honour. They,

rejected of men, were chosen of

God as a chief stone of that new

spiritual building which Jehovah

was about to erect, the temple of

the world, the foundation of which

was to be laid in Zion. In Matt.

xxi. 42—44 (Mark xii. 10, it, Luke

xx. 17), our Lord applies the words

of this and the next verse to Him-

self. The quotation was, it would

seem, purposely taken from the

same Psalm from which the multi-

tude had just before taken their

words of salutation (see on ver. 25,

26), as they went forth to meet

Him and conduct Him in triumph

into Jerusalern. But there is more

than an application of the words.

Israel is not only a figure of Christ,

there is an organic unity between

Him and them. Whatever, there-

fore, is true of Israel in a lower

sense, is true in its highest sense of

Christ. Is Israel God's "first-born

son?" the name in its fulfilment

belongs to Christ (Matt. ii. 15) if

Israel is "the servant of Jehovah,"

he is so only as imperfectly repre-

senting Him who said, "My meat

is to do the will of Him who sent

me, and to finish His work." If

Israel is the rejected stone made

the head of the corner, this is far

344                       PSALM CXVIII.

 

23 This is Jehovah's doing,

            It is marvellous in our eyes.g

24 This is the day which Jehovah hath made,

            Let us exult and be glad in it.

25 We beseech Thee, 0 Jehovah, save now,

            We beseech Thee, 0 Jehovah, send now prosperity.

 

truer of Him who was indeed re-

jected of men, but chosen of God

and precious; the corner-stone of

the one great living temple of the

redeemed, whether Jews or Gen-

tiles. (Comp. Eph. ii. 20.) See

the use of the same figure in its

application to our Lord by St.

Peter, Acts iv. 11; I Pet. ii. 7.

     The passage which forms the

connecting link between this Psalm

and the N.T. quotations is Isaiah

xxviii. 16, "Behold, it is I who have

laid securely in Zion a stone, a tried

precious corner-stone, most securely

laid: he that believeth (i.e. resteth

thereon) shall not flee (through fear

of any evil)." In this passage the

Messianic reference is still more

direct, even if we suppose a pri-

mary reference to the house of

David. (The Targum interprets it

of David, Jesse, his wife and child-

ren; and Rashi of Israel and the

nations.) In marked contrast with

this, it is said of Babylon, Jer. li.

26, "They shall not take of thee a

stone for a corner, nor a stone for

a foundation."

     23. The change in Israel's des-

tiny, the restoration to their land,

the rebuilding of their Temple, the

future that was opening before them

—these things are a miracle; Je-

hovah's hand alone could have ac-

complished it. Comp. Josh. xi. 20.

     24. THIS IS THE DAY, i.e. per-

haps the great day of festival with

reference to which the Psalm was

composed. It is possible, however,

that this verse is rather to be con-

nected with the previous verse, so

that "the day" is not the Feast-

day, but the day (the time) on

which Jehovah had wrought for

Israel: "This is Jehovah's doing

. . . this is the day which He hath

made." The prayer of the next

verse falls in best with the latter

interpretation.

    25. WE BESEECH THEE. Comp.

cxvi. 4, 16.

    SAVE NOW, or rather, "Save, I

pray" (Hosanna). The particle of

entreaty is repeated in each mem-

ber of this verse, so that altogether

it occurs four times, as if to mark

the earnestness of the petition.

The English word "now" is not,

therefore, a particle of time, but a

particle of entreaty.

    With this word "Hosanna," and

words from the next verse, "Blessed

be He that cometh," &c., the mul-

titude welcomed Jesus as the Mes-

siah, the Psalm being perhaps al-

ready recognized as a Messianic

Psalm. According to the Midrash,

the first hemistich of this verse was

said by "the men of Jerusalem from

within," "welcoming the men of

Judah," i.e. the caravans of pil-

grims coming up to the feast: the

second, by "the men of Judah

from without," in reply. So in the

next ver. the men of Jerusalem

say the first hemistich: "Blessed

be He," &c., and the men of

Judah, "We have blessed you,"

&c. [In this case we must interpret

the latter part of the clause, You

that are of the house of Jehovah.]

In ver. 27, the men of Jerusalem

say, "Jehovah is God," and the

men of Judah from without answer,

"And He showeth us light:" the

one say, "Bind the sacrifice," &c ,

and the others, "My God, I will

exalt Thee." Then both together

open their mouth and praise and

glorify God, saying, “Oh give

thanks,” &c. (ver. 29).

                            PSALM CX VIII.                              345

 

26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of Jehovah,

            We have blessed you from the house of Jehovah.

27 Jehovah is God, and He showeth us light;

            Bind the sacrifice with cords,

                        Even unto the horns of the altar.

28 Thou art my God, and I will give Thee thanks,  

            (Thou art) my God, (and) I will exalt Thee.

29 Oh give thanks to Jehovah, for He is good,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

 

     26. According to the accents the

rendering would be "Blessed in the

name of Jehovah be he that cometh,"

the formula being the same as in

the priestly blessing, Num. vi. 27;

Deut. xxi. 5; 2 Sam. vi. 18. Comp.

Ps. xxxiv. 8.

    FROM THE HOUSE OF JEHOVAH,

the priests standing there to bless

those who entered.

    27. SHOWETH US LIGHT, in allu-

sion to the priestly blessing, "Jeho-

vah make His face shine (lighten,

the same verb as here) upon thee."

Comp. iv. 6 [7].

    THE SACRIFICE. The word com-

monly denotes the feast; here, in

Ex. xxiii. 18, Mal. ii. 3, the victim

offered at the feast. The E.V. gives

this sense in Is. xxix. 11.

    UNTO THE HORNS OF THE AL-

TAR. The expression is apparently

a pregnant one, and the sense is,

"Bind the victim with cords till it

is sacrificed, and its blood sprinkled

on the horns of the altar." De-

litzsch, on the other hand, renders

"as far as the horns of the altar."

Supposing the Psalm to have

been written for the dedication

of the Second Temple, he refers

to Ezra vi. 17, where mention

is made of the vast number of

animals slaughtered on the occa-

sion; hence he explains that the

victims (taking the word sacrifice

in a collective sense) were so

numerous that the whole court of

the priests was crowded with

them, and that they reached

as far as the horns of the

altar. "The meaning is," he says,

"bring your hecatombs and have

them ready for sacrifice."

    But on this interpretation there

is nothing appropriate in the men-

tion of the horns of the altar.

These have always a reference to

the blood of the sacrifice.

     Luther has "Deck the feast with

garlands (or boughs)," following the

LXX. susth<sasqe e[orth>n e]n toi?j

puka<zousin. Symm. has sundh<sate

e]n panhgu<rei puka<smata, and Jerome

frequentate solennitatem in frondo-

sis—all renderings which imply a

belief, that the Psalm was intended

for the Feast of Tabernacles. As

regards this rendering, the word

translated in the text cords may

mean thick boughs, puka<smata (see

Ezek. xix. 11; xxxi. 3, 4), but the

verb bind cannot mean deck or

wreath.

 

            a yninAfA. This (and not yninafE) is the usual vocalization, whether in pause

or not; comp. I Sam. xxviii. 15, where it stands with Munach. Baer

says here that yninAfA is "with Rebia Mugrash, and the Nun has Qametz

according to the best MSS." The construction with hyAbHar;m.,Ba is an instance

of what is called the constructio praegnans. Comp. lxxiv. 7; 2 Sam.

xviii. 19; Jer. xli. 7. Symm. e]ph<kouse< mou ei] eu]ruxwri<an.

346                                     PSALM CXVIII.

 

            b According to the Massoreth h.yA is not a separate word, but we are to read

hyAb;Har;m,.Ba, this being one of several instances in which the final syllable

hyA merely intensifies the form of the word, and the h is expressly said to

be without Mappik. Cf. Jos. xv. 28, 2 Sam. xii. 25, Jer. ii. 31, I Chr. iv.

18 (bis), viii. 24, 27. Song of Sol. i. 7, viii. 6, and see note on hyvllh,

Ps. civ, 35.

            c MlAymixE. Hiphil (only here) of lvm, which means elsewhere to

circumcise, in Qal and Niphal. Hengst. would retain the signification

here, as if the victory over the heathen, "the uncircumcised," were

described under the figure of a compulsory circumcision. Such a form

of expression does occur in the later Jewish history ( Joseph. Arch. xiii.

9, I, 11, 3). Compare also the allusions in Gal. v. 12, Phil. iii. 2, and the

forcible circumcision as a token of victory, i Sam. xviii. 25, 2 Sam. iii. 14,

But this is quite out of the question here. The Hiph. may have the more

general meaning to cut off, which is found in the Pile], xc. 6, and in the

Hithpael, lviii. 8. Hupf. would read MleykixE (from lvk, sustinere), "I will

repel them," in accordance with the rendering of the LXX. h]muna<mhn.

            As regards the punctuation, the correct texts of Solomon of Norcia,

Heidenheim, and others, have MlaymixE, and so Gesen. would read, the

Pathach in pause being the representative of the Tzere. Delitzsch

observes, that such a change of vowel is remarkable, and he would

account for it by supposing that, in such cases, as the vowel is already

long and cannot be lengthened, it is sharpened (pointed) instead.

            The affirmative yKi stands before this verb (instead of at the beginning

of the sentence), as in cxxviii. 2. Compare the position of Mxi, lxvi. 18.

Its use may be explained by an ellipse = "know that," "be sure that," as

in an oath, I Sam. xiv. 44. See also Num. xiv. 3, &c.

            d lPon;li, with Nun expressed (as in Is. xxix. 2) and Pe dagess., whereas

with k and b the aspirate is left, with but few exceptions, such as Gen.

xxxv. 22.

            e trAm;zi. See on xvi. note k.

            f hmAmeOr. Not an adj., as if from  Mmr, a root which does not exist, but

either (I) 3 pret. Pal., or (2) Part. Pal. with loss of the M; (as Mm,wo.,

Dan. viii. 13, lleOf, Is. iii. 12, and elsewhere), and retention of the vowel

as in pause. The objection to (I) is, that then the accentuation ought

to be tmAmeOr.

            g txlAponi. For other instances of this form comp. Gen. xxxiii. 11;

Deut. xxxi. 29; Jer. xliv. 23; Is. Vii. 14.  txz. htAy;hA, rhythmic Mile'el with

Dagesh in the following word, as for instance in Gen. xix. 38; Ex. xvi. 24;

I Sam. vi. 9; Prov. vii. 13, &c.

                                      PSALM CXIX.                                        347

 

                                      PSALM CXIX.

 

            THIS is the longest and the most elaborate of the Alphabetical

Psalms. It is arranged in twenty-two stanzas, according to the

number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Each stanza is composed

of eight verses, each verse consisting of two members only, and each

beginning with the same letter of the alphabet. Thus each of the

first eight verses begins with the letter Aleph, each of the next

eight with the letter Beth, and so on throughout the alphabet. In

the third chapter of the Lamentations of Jeremiah a similar arrange-

ment is adopted, but there the stanzas or groups consist only of three

verses, each beginning with the same letter. Other instances of this

acrostic arrangement occurring in the Psalter will be found enume-

rated in the Introduction to Psalm xxv. (See also the Introduction

to Psalm cxi.)

            The great subject of the Psalmist's praise is the Law of God. In

this respect the Psalm may be said to be an elaborate expansion of

the latter part of Psalm xix. The Massoretes observe, that in every

verse but one, the 122nd, there is direct reference to the Law under

some one of the ten names (supposed to allude to the Ten Com-

mandments [Hebrew, Words]) word, saying, testimonies, way, judge-

ment, precept, commandment, law, statute, faithfulness (or according to

another reading, righteousness). In the 132nd verse, the word "judge-

ment" occurs in the Hebrew, although apparently not as a synonyme

of the Law: see note on the verse. In ver. 121, " judgement and

righteousness," if not denoting the Law immediately, are employed

with reference to the requirements of the Law.

            The date of the Psalm cannot be fixed with anything like certainty,

though it may probably be referred to a time subsequent to the return

from the Babylonish captivity.

            (a) The allusion to "princes" (ver. 23) and "kings" (ver. 46)

who do not share the faith of the Psalmist, may be taken to denote

that the Jews were subject at this time to foreign dominion.

            (b) The Law of which he speaks as his daily study, as his delight

and his counsellor, must obviously have been the written Law, and it

may be inferred that it was now in the hands of the people. Whether

this was the case to any extent before the Exile, we have now no

means of ascertaining. After the Exile, copies of the Scriptures were

multiplied. The efforts of Ezra and Nehemiah, which were directed

348                                  PSALM CXIX.

 

in the first instance to the collection of the Sacred Books (2 Macc. ii.

13), must have been directed eventually to their dissemination.

Accordingly, we find that copies of "the books of the Law," or of

"the book of the Covenant," were in the possession of the people at

the time of the Maccabees (I Macc. i. 55, 56). In the Psalm, the

writer perhaps includes in "the word" of God, not only the Law, but

other writings regarded as sacred. In Zech. vii. 12, "the former

Prophets" are joined with "the Law."

            (c) The general character of the Psalm, which is a meditation

rather than a poem, as well as its place in the Collection, favours the

supposition that it is one of the later Psalms.

            (d) The alphabetical arrangement, it has also been argued, forbids

our assigning it to an earlier period: "adapted for didactic rather

than for lyric expression, it belongs," it has been said, "to an age no

longer animated by the soul of poetry, but struggling to clothe its

religious thoughts in a poetic form."* It is, however, far from certain

that this acrostic device is of itself evidence of the decline of the

poetic spirit. Some of the oldest poems in our own language are

constructed on the principle of alliteration. It is the same in Welsh

poetry. And unless the different stages of Hebrew poetry were more

clearly marked than they are at present, its acrostic character can

hardly be taken as settling the question of the date of any single

Psalm.

            The circumstances of the Psalmist may be inferred in some mea-

sure from the language of the Psalm itself. He is suffering from per-

secution. His enemies are men of rank and authority (ver. 21, 23),

having both the power and the will to crush him (ver. 61, 69). His

constancy is severely tried. He is exposed to reproach and contempt

on account of his religion, and has reason to fear lest his hope and

trust in God should be put to shame (ver. 6, 22, 31). He is solicited

to give up his faith for gain, and even perhaps invited to join in

idolatrous worship (ver. 36, 37). These things make him sad (ver.

25, 28), but he stays himself upon the word and promise of God.

That word in all its varied aspects of law and promise, of precepts

and judgements, had been his comfort in his affliction, his most

precious possession, dearer to him than all earthly treasures; he had

meditated upon it day and night; it had been a lamp to his feet and

a light to his path. He had taken it for his rule of life, he longed to

know it better, he prayed to have the veil taken off his eyes that he

might behold its hidden wonders. These thoughts, and thoughts

like these, recur again and again. He is never wearied of declaring

 

            * The Psalms Chronologically Arranged, by Four Friends, p. 383.

 

                                      PSALM CXIX                                          349

 

his love of God's Law, or of praying for more light to understand it,

more power to keep it, to keep it with his "whole heart." The fre-

quency of this last expression is striking evidence of the earnestness

of the writer: see on ver. 2. But there does not seem to be any

thing like continuity, or progress of thought, or of recorded experience,

in the several stanzas of the Psalm.*

            Still, "if we would fathom the depth of meaning in the written

Law of Israel, if we would measure the elevation of soul, the hope,

the confidence even before princes and kings, which pious Jews

derived from it, we must turn to this Psalm. Here is an epitome of

all true religion, as conceived by the best spirits of that time. To

such a loving study and meditation on the Law the Alphabetical

arrangement is not inappropriate, and if the poem be necessarily

somewhat cramped, it is nevertheless pervaded by the glow of love,

and abounds in spiritual life." †

            Delitzsch thinks that the Psalm must have been written by a young

man, and appeals to ver. 9, and ver. 99, 100, as supporting this

view. But the language of ver. 9 is rather that of one who, looking

back on his own past life, draws the inference which he seeks to

impress upon the young, that youthful purity can only be preserved

by those who from their early years take God's word for their guide.

Just so in Ecclesiastes xii. I, it is the man of mature age and large

experience who gives the wise and friendly counsel, "Remember

thy Creator in the days of thy youth." The lesson in each case

comes with double force, because it comes from the lips of one

who speaks with the authority of experience. When it is said in

verses 99, 100 of this Psalm, that the Psalmist is wiser than his

teachers, wiser than the aged, the only conclusion that can be drawn

is that he is not advanced in life. It is plain that the writer is not an

old man, as Ewald would have us believe, or he would not compare

his knowledge of the law with the knowledge of the aged. But it

does not follow that he is a young man. The teachers whom he

has outstript may have been those whose disciple he once was, not

those whose disciple he still is; or he may refer to authorized teachers

to whom he listened because they sat in Moses' seat, though he felt

that they had really nothing to teach him. Indeed the whole strain

of the Psalm, in the depth and breadth of spiritual life, and the long

 

            * Delitzsch thinks that he discovers a leading idea in each stanza, and

thus endeavours to link the several stanzas together, but his analysis does

not appear to me to be very successful. To a certain extent, freedom of

thought and expression must have been fettered by the requirements of

the alphabetical order. But, after all, what is rhyme but a fetter?

            † The Psalms Chronologically Arranged, p. 385.

350                                 PSALM CXIX.

acquaintance which is everywhere implied in it with the word of

God, can leave us in no doubt that it was written by a man who

was no longer young, who had at least reached "the middle arch

of life."

 

                              Aleph.

1 x BLESSED are the perfect in the way,

            Who walk in the law of Jehovah.

2 x Blessed are they that keep His testimonies,

            That seek Him with the whole heart,

3 x  (Who) also have done no iniquity,

            (Who) have walked in His ways.

4 x  Thou hast commanded Thy precepts,

            That we should keep (them) diligently.

5 x  0 thata my ways were established

            To keep Thy statutes.

6 x  Then shall I not be ashamed,

            While I have respect unto all Thy commandments.

7 x  I will give thanks to Thee with uprightness of heart,

            When I learn Thy righteous judgements.

8 x  I will keep Thy statutes:

            0 forsake me not utterly.

 

                               Beth.

9 b  Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his path?

            By taking heed (thereto) according to Thy word,b

10 b With my whole heart have I sought Thee:

            0 let me not wander from Thy commandments.

 

     2. WITH THE WHOLE HEART.

An expression characteristic of this

Psalm. Comp. ver. 10, 34, 58, 69,

145.

    6. ASHAMED, i.e. put to shame,

my hope being frustrated. This is

the shame meant, not shame of

conscience in comparing a man's

life with the requirement of the

Law.

     HAVE RESPECT UNTO, lit. "look

upon," i.e. with care and thought, so

as to make them the rule of life.

     7. JUDGEMENTS; here and

throughout this Psalm not used of

God's acts of judgement, but merely

as the equivalent of "law," "pre-

cepts," and the like, utterances as

of a Judge and Lawgiver, and found

in this sense even in the Penta-

teuch, Ex. xxi. I, xxiv. 3; Lev.

xviii. 4, 5.

 

 

 

 

                       PSALM CXIX.                                       351

 

11 b In my heart have I Iaid up Thy word,

            That I might not sin against Thee.

12 b Blessed art Thou, 0 Jehovah:

            Teach me Thy statutes.

13 b  With my lips have I told

            Of all the judgements of Thy mouth.

14 b  In the way of Thy testimonies I have rejoiced,

            As much as in all manner of riches.

15 b  I will meditate in Thy precepts,

            And have respect unto Thy paths.

16 b  In Thy statutes will I delight myself;

            I will not forget Thy word.

 

                                Gimel.

17 g     Deal bountifully with Thy servant that I may live,

            So will I keep Thy word.

18 g  Open Thou mine eyes,

            That I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.

19 g I am a sojourner in the earth:

            Hide not Thy commandments from me.

20 g My soul breaketh for the longingc

            (That it hath) unto Thy judgements at all times.

 

    11. IN MY HEART. See Luke ii.

19-51. It is to me no merely out-

ward rule of conduct: it is a power

and a life within.

     W0RD, or rather "saying,"

"speech," distinct from the word

employed, for instance, in ver. 9,

lxxvii. 18. Both words are con-

stantly interchanged throughout the

Psalm.

     14. ALL MANNER OF RICHES.

Comp. what is said of the incom-

parable worth of wisdom, Prov. ii.

4, iii. 13-15, viii. 10, 11, 19, xvi. 16,

xxii. 1; Job xxviii. 15-19.

     17. THAT I MAY LIVE: Or the

construction may be, "Let me live

(or, if I live), so will I," &c. The

gift of life, if vouchsafed, shall be

devoted to the keeping of God's

word.

     18. WONDROUS THINGS; an ac-

knowledgement of treasures in the

Divine word not seen by common

eyes, needing, indeed, spiritual dis-

cernment and heavenly unveiling;

hence "Open Thou."

     19. A SOJOURNER, here there-

fore but for a short time (see on

xxxix. 12), and needing for that

time Divine teaching. Hence the

prayer "Hide not," i.e. reveal,

show me the inner sense and true

application of, "Thy command--

ments."

    20. BREAKETH, lit. " is broken,"

as expressive of the intensity of the

desire, which seems to pervade the

 

 

 

352                       PSALMII CXIX.

 

21 g Thou hast rebuked the proud that they are cursed,

            Which do wander from Thy commandments.

22 g  Removed from me reproach and contempt;

            For I have kept Thy testimonies.

23 g Princes also have sat and talked against me,

            But Thy servant meditateth in Thy statutes.

24 g Thy testimonies also are my delight,

            And my counsellors.

 

                               Daleth.

25 d  My soul cleaveth unto the dust:

            Quicken Thou me according to Thy word.

26 d  I have told my ways, and Thou answeredst me:

            Teach me Thy statutes.

27 d Make me to understand the way of Thy precepts,

            So shall I meditate of Thy wondrous works.

28 d My soul melteth away for heaviness:

            Stablish Thou me according unto Thy word.

29 d Remove from me the way of falsehood,

            And with Thy law be gracious unto me.

 

whole man, and leave him crushed

and powerless in its grasp. Bp.

Taylor speaks somewhere of "the

violence of the desire, bursting

itself with its fulness into dissolu-

tion."

      21. THAT THEY ARE CURSED.

The adjective is a predicate mark-

ing the effect of God's rebuke. There

is another division of the verse

which has the support of the LXX.

and Jerome:

    Thou hast rebuked the proud,

     Cursed are they that, &c.

And so the P.B.V.

    22. REMOVE FROM ME, lit. "take

off, strip, from me," shame being

regarded as a cloak or mantle

covering the person. LXX. peri<ele.

     23. TALKED, or "spoken one with

another." The verb (Niphal) is

reciprocal, as in Ezek. xxxiii. 30.

     25. CLEAVETH UNTO THE DUST.

See on xliv. 25 [26].

     26. I HAVE TOLD MY WAYS. I

have laid before Thee severally,

numbering them as it were, all the

acts and events of my life. Cf. xxii.

17 [18], "I may tell all my bones."

      28. MELTETH, lit. "droppeth,"

weeps itself away, so to speak.

STABLISH, lit. "set me up again,"

the meaning being nearly the same

as in the often-repeated prayer,

"quicken me."

    29. THE WAY OF FALSEHOOD, i.e.

not falsehood in the common sense

of the term, but "unfaithfulness "

to God, to which, in the next verse,

"the way of faithfulness" is op-

posed.

    WITH THY LAW, or" Graciously

impart Thy law unto me." The

construction is that of the double

accusative. See Gen. xxxiii. 5.

 

                         PSALM CXIX.                                      353

 

30 d I have chosen the way of faithfulness;

            Thy judgements have I laid (before me)

31 d I have stuck unto Thy testimonies:

            0 Jehovah, put me not to shame.

32 d  I will run the way of Thy commandments,

            When Thou shalt enlarge my heart.

 

                                   He.

33 h Teach me, 0 Jehovah, the way of Thy statutes,

            And I shall keep it unto the end.

34 h Give me understanding, that I may observe Thy law,

            That I may keep it with my whole heart.

35 h Make me to walk in the path of Thy commandments;

            For therein do I delight.

36 h  Incline my heart unto Thy testimonies,

            And not to covetousness.

37 h Turn away mine eyes from seeing vanity;

            In Thy way quicken Thou me.

38 h Confirm Thy promise unto Thy servant,

            Who is (devoted) to Thy fear.

39 h Turn away my reproach which I am afraid of;

            For Thy judgements are good.

 

     32. ENLARGE MY HEART, i.e. ex-

pand it with a sense of liberty and

joy, as in Is. lx. 5; 2 Cor. vi. 11, 13.

See on ci. 6.

     36. MY HEART, to which answers

in the next verse "mine eyes," as

representing the senses through

which the forbidden desire is kin-

dled in the heart. Comp. Is. xxxiii.

15; Job xxxi. I, 7.

      COVETOUSNESS, or, rather, "gain

unjustly acquired." LXX. pleone-

ci<an. Stanley, on I Cor. v. 10,

thinks that from the connection of

pleoneci<a with idolatry, it may be

used in the sense of sensuality, which

so often accompanied idolatry, and

he sees a similar connection here,

vanity in the next verse being a

term of idolatry. However, the

Hebrew word fcaB, can only mean

plunder, rapine, unjust gain.

      37. TURN AWAY, lit. "make to

pass on one side" of the object.

    FROM SEEING, i.e. being attracted

by, and so finding pleasure in (Is.

xxxiii. 15) VANITY, all which, as

being against God, or without God,

is unreal and unstable ; but perhaps

idols are especially meant.

     38. PROMISE, or "saying." See

on ver. 11. The second member

of the verse might also be rendered: 

"Which (promise) is for Thy fear,"

i.e. either (a) is given to them that

fear Thee; or (b), which has the

fear of Thee for its aim and object

(cxxx. 4), tends to cherish a holy

fear.

       39. The train of thought seems

 

 

 

354                      PSALM CXIX.

 

40 h Behold, I have longed after Thy precepts:

            In Thy righteousness quicken Thou me.

 

                                     Vau.

41 v  Let Thy loving-kindness also come unto me, 0

                        Jehovah,

            Thy salvation, according to Thy saying.

42 v So shall I have wherewith to answer him that re-

                        proacheth me;

            For I trust in Thy word.

43 v And take not the word of truth utterly out of my

                        mouth;

            For I have waited for Thy judgements.

44 v So shall I keep Thy law continually,

            (Yea) for ever and ever.

45 v And I shall walk at liberty;

            For I have sought Thy precepts.

46 v And I will speak of Thy testimonies before kings,

            And will not be ashamed.

47 v  And I will delight myself in Thy commandments,

            Which I love.

48 v My hands also will I lift up unto Thy command-

                        ments, which I love;

            And I will meditate in Thy statutes.

 

to be: Keep me from the reproach

of breaking Thy commandments,

for those commandments are not

grievous, but good, sweet, and full

of blessing to one who longs after

them as I do. Or "the reproach"

may be that of his enemies (ver. 42),

who taunt him as the servant of

God.

    41. The vowel-points both of the

verb and the noun suggest a plural,

although the Yod of the plural is

wanting in the noun. Similarly in

ver. 43 the vowels suggest the plur.

"judgements." See Critical Note b.

43. The sense seems to be, "Give

me the power faithfully to witness

for Thy truth, and so to answer him

that reproacheth me" (ver. 42).

     45. AT LIBERTY, lit. "in a wide

space," where there is nothing to

check or hinder freedom of action,

as in cxviii. 5.

      46. BEFORE KINGS. It may be

inferred that the Psalm was written

whilst Judxa was in subjection to

foreign rule. The viceroys of the

Persian king may be meant.

     48. MY HANDS WILL I LIFT UP.

The expression denotes the act of

prayer, as in xxviii. 2, lxiii. 4 [5],

cxxxiv. 2, cxli. 2. Comp. Lam. iii.

41, "Let us lift up our heart with

our hands." Here it would seem

 

 

 

                                  PSALM CXIX.                                    355

 

                                         Zain.

49 z  Remember the word unto Thy servant,

            Upon which Thou hast caused me to hope.

50 z  This is my comfort in my affliction,

            For Thy word hath quickened me.

51 z  The proud have had me greatly in derision;

            (Yet) have I not swerved from Thy law.

52 z I have remembered Thy judgements of old, 0 Jehovah,

            And have comforted myself.

53 z Burning indignation hath taken hold upon me,

            Because of the wicked that forsake Thy law.

54 z Thy statutes have been my songs

            In the house of my pilgrimage.

55 z I have remembered Thy name in the night, 0

                        Jehovah,

            And have kept Thy law.

 

to denote figuratively reverence, de-

votion of heart, and the like; unless

we suppose it to be a locutio praeg-

nans = "I will pray to Thee for

grace to keep Thy commandments."

    49. THE WORD, apparently some

special word of promise which had

been his stay in his affliction, and

had roused him to new hope and

courage (ver. 50).

     UPON WHICH, or perhaps, "see-

ing that," "because."

     50. MY COMFORT. Comp. Job vi.

10, the only other place where the

word occurs. It is the "word"

(ver. 49) which is his comfort.

Others render the ver. "This is my

comfort, &c. . . . that Thy word

hath quickened me."

     WORD, lit. "saying." See on ver.

11. Or the construction may be:

"This is my comfort . . . that

Thy word," &c. Here, as is evi-

dent from the mention of "afflic-

tion"—and indeed throughout the

Psalm—the verb "quicken" is used

not merely in an external sense of

"preservation from death" (Hupf.),

but of "reviving the heart," "im-

parting fresh courage," &c.

     51. HAVE HAD ME IN DERISION,

i.e. probably both on account of

his misery and his trust in God.

The verb is from the same root as

the noun "scorners," "mockers,"

in i. 1. Comp. for the same con-

nection between the spirit of pride

and the spirit of irreligious scoffing,

Prov. xxi. 24.

     52. JUDGEMENTS, in the same

sense as throughout the Psalm,

God's righteous laws which He re-

vealed OF OLD, which are ever true

and ever in force.

     53. BURNING INDIGNATION. See

on xi. note  c. Kay connects it with

Jfz the l being inserted, "fainting,"

"drooping," &c. LXX. a]qumi<a, Vulg.

defectio. The action of the Simum

may either be regarded as a burning,

parching wind, or in its effects, as

producing faintness.

     54. PILGRIMAGE, or rather, "so-

journing," from the same root as

the noun in ver. 9, where see note.

In this earth I am but a passing

 

356                            PSALM CXIX

 

56 z  This I had,

            Because I kept Thy precepts.

 

                                  Cheth.

57 H "Jehovah is my portion,"

            I said that I would keep Thy words.

58 H I entreated Thy favour with (my) whole heart;

            Be gracious to me according to Thy promise.

59 H  I thought on my ways,

            And turned back my feet unto Thy testimonies.

60 H  I made haste, and delayed not

            To keep Thy commandments.

61 H  The cords of the wicked have been wound about me,

            (But) Thy law have I not forgotten.

62 H  At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto Thee,

            Because of Thy righteous judgements.

63 H  I am a companion of them that fear Thee,

            And of them that keep Thy precepts.

64 H  The earth, 0 Jehovah, is full of Thy loving-kindness:

            Teach me Thy statutes.

 

                                   Teth.

65 F Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant,

            0 Jehovah, according unto Thy word.

 

guest, as at some wayside inn.

Comp. Gen. xlvii. 9.

     56. THIS I HAD. It is not clear

to what "this" refers. If to what

goes before, it may be to the re-

membrance of God's Name. Other-

wise we must render: "This has

been (vouchsafed) to me, this has

been my reward, that I have kept

Thy precepts," i.e. such has been

the gift of Thy grace.

     57. This is the arrangement ac-

cording to Baer's text. According

to others, "I said" belongs to the

first member: Jehovah is my por-

tion, I said, that I might keep,

&c., the verb "I said" being thrown

in parenthetically, as in Is. xlv. 24;

Lam. iii. 24, and like inquam in

Latin.

    THAT I WOULD KEEP, or "in

keeping."

     58. I ENTREATED THY FAVOUR.

Comp. xlv. 12 [13].

    61. WOUND ABOUT, Or "en-

tangled," so the LXX. periepla<khsan.

Jer. implicaverunt. Vulg. circum-

plexi sunt.

 

 

                           PSALM CXIX.                                   357

 

66 F Teach me good perception and knowledge,

            For I have believed Thy commandments.

67 F Before I was afflicted I went astray,

            But now do I keep Thy saying.

58 F  Thou art good, and doest good:

            Teach me Thy statutes.

69 F The proud have forged a lie against me;

            I, with (my) whole heart, will keep Thy precepts.

70 F Their heart is gross as fat:

            As for me, in Thy law do I delight.

71 F It is good for me that I have been afflicted,

            That I might learn Thy statutes.

72 F  The law of Thy mouth is better unto me

            Than thousands of gold and silver.

 

                               Yod.

73 y Thy hands have made me and fashioned me:

            Give me understanding, that I may learn Thy

                        commandments.

74 y They that fear Thee will be glad when they see me;

            For in Thy word have I hoped.

75 y I know, 0 Jehovah, that Thy judgements are righteous,

            And that in faithfulness Thou hast afflicted me.

76 y Let, I pray Thee, Thy loving-kindness be for my

                        comfort,

 

     66. GOOD PERCEPTION, lit."good-

ness of perception" or discern-

ment; the fine taste and delicate

feeling which are like a new sense.

So St. Paul prays for the Church

at Philippi, that their "love may

abound more and more in know-

ledge and in all perception," e]n

e]pignw<sei kai> pa<s^ ai]sqh<sei. The

two words correspond to the two

Hebrew words here; but the latter,

ai@sqhsij, marks in the Epistle (chap.

i. 9) the delicate tact by which

Christian love should be character-

ised. Here the Psalmist prays

rather for a fine sense or apprehen-

sion of God's words.

    69, THE PROUD. The same

overbearing, tyrannical oppression

already mentioned ver. 51, 61.

    HAVE FORGED, lit. "have patched

up." Comp. Job xiii. 4, xiv. 17.

     70. FAT. For the figure as

expressive of want of feeling,

see xvii. 9 [10], Ixiii. 6 [7]; Is. vi. 10.

     71. IT IS GOOD FOR ME. See

ver. 67.

      75. RIGHTEOUS, lit. "righteous-

ness."

     76. Even when a man recognises

that affliction is sent in "faithful-

ness;" that God has a wise pur-

pose of love in sending it, still it

is in itself bitter, and therefore

 

358                              PSALM CXIX.

 

            According to Thy saying unto Thy servant.

77 y Let Thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may

                        live;

            For Thy law is my delight.

78 y Let the proud be ashamed, for they have subverted

                        me by falsehood:

            As for me, I meditate in Thy precepts.

79 y They that fear Thee will turn unto me,

            And they shall know Thy testimonies.

80 y  Let my heart be perfect in Thy statutes,

            That I be not ashamed.

 

                                Caph.

81 k My soul hath failed for Thy salvation;

            In Thy word have I hoped.

82 k Mine eyes have failed for Thy word,

            Saying, "When wilt Thou comfort me?"

83 k For I am become like a bottle in the smoke:

            (Yet) do I not forget Thy statutes.

84 k How many are the days of Thy servant?

            When wilt Thou execute judgement on them that

                        persecute me?

 

he prays that he may have God's

"loving-kindness" and His "tender

mercies" as his comfort in the midst

of affliction. Comp. Heb. xii. 11.

      79. WILL TURN, Or there may be

the expression of a wish, "Let them

turn."

     THEY SHALL KNOW, i.e. by their

own experience. Such is the read-

ing of the present text, but if we

accept the Masoretic correction the

second member of the verse will be:

"And they that know Thy testimo-

nies."

     80. PERFECT, i.e. whole, undi-

vided.

    83. A BOTTLE IN THE SMOKE,

i.e. a skin bottle for wine. The

figure is generally supposed to de-

note the misery and affliction of the

Psalmist who compares himself to

one of these wine-skins blackened

and shriveled and rendered useless

by the smoke of the fire in which

it is hung. Rosenm. sees a refer-

ence to the custom of the ancients

to hang skins full of wine in the

smoke, in order to mellow the wine.

In this case, the figure would de-

note the mellowing and ripening

of the character by affliction. But

the first interpretation is the more

probable.

    84. How MANY. Comp. xxxix.

4 [5]. It is an argument why God

should take speedy vengeance on

his enemies, that he may see it

executed before he dies.

 

                                PSALM CXIX.                                      359

 

85 k The proud have digged pits for me,

            Who are not after Thy law.

86 k All Thy commandments are faithfulness:

            They persecute me wrongfully; help Thou me.

87 k They had almost consumed me upon earth;

            But as for me, I forsook not Thy precepts.

88 k Quicken me after Thy loving-kindness,

            So shall I keep the testimony of Thy mouth.

 

                                  Lamed.

89 l For ever, 0 Jehovah,

            Thy word is settled in heaven.

90 l Thy faithfulness is unto all generations;

            Thou hast established the earth, and it standeth

                        fast.

91 l For Thy judgements, they stand fast (unto) this day;

            For all things are Thy servants.

92 k Unless Thy law had been my delight,

            I should then have perished in my affliction.

93 l  I will never forget Thy precepts;

            For by them Thou hast quickened me.

94 l Thine I am, save me;

            For I have sought Thy precepts.

95 l The wicked have waited for me to destroy me;

            (But) Thy testimonies do I consider.

96 l I have seen an end of all perfection;

            Thy commandment is exceeding broad.

 

     89. IN HEAVEN, as marking its

unchanging, everlasting character,

as in lxxxix. 2 [3].

     91. FOR THY JUDGEMENTS, i.e.

"with reference to Thine ordinances

or laws, they (i.e. heaven and earth)

stand fast."

     ALL THINGS, lit. "the whole,"

i.e. the universe.

     96. ALL PERFECTION. If this

rendering is correct, the meaning is

obvious. There is nothing upon

earth to which there does not cleave

some defect. But perhaps the clause

should rather be rendered: "I have

seen an end, a limit, to the whole

range (or compass) of things;" a

meaning which may be defended

by the use of the similar word in

Job xxvi. 10, xxviii. 3, and which

harmonizes with the next clause

"Thy commandment is exceeding

 

360                            PSALM CXIX.

 

                                       Mem.

97 m 0 how I love Thy law:

            It is my meditation all the day.

98 m Thy commandments make me wisere than mine

                        enemies;

            For they are ever with me.

99 m I have more understanding than all my teachers;

            For Thy testimonies are my meditation.

100 m I understand more than the aged;

            For Thy precepts have I kept.

101 m I have refrained my feet from every evil path,

            That I might keep Thy word.

102 m From Thy judgements have I not turned aside;

            For THOU hast taught me.

103 m How sweet are Thy sayings unto my taste,

            (Yea, sweeter) than honey to my mouth.

104 m  Through Thy precepts I get understanding;

            Therefore I hate every path of falsehood.

 

                                 Nun.

105 n Thy word is a lamp unto my foot,

            And a light unto my path.

106 n I have sworn, and am steadfastly purposed

            That I will keep Thy righteous judgements.

107 n I am afflicted very greatly;

            Quicken me, 0 Jehovah, according unto Thy word,

 

broad," has no limits, whilst all

other things are bounded by a

narrow compass.

    BROAD. Comp. Job xi. 7-9.

     98. MAKE ME WISER, i.e. teach

me a different wisdom and a better

wisdom than theirs; not one which

consists in policy, or craft, or human

prudence. So, too, as he is wiser

than his enemies, he is wiser than

his teachers (ver. 99), wiser than

the aged (ver. 100), and his wisdom

is that practical wisdom which con-

sists in the fear of the Lord, and

which leads him to eschew all evil

(ver. 101).

     FOR THEY i.e. Thy command-

ments.

    102. THOU HAST TAUGHT ME.

This is the secret of all the previous

boast, this is the source of all his

wisdom.

     103. SAYINGS. The verb is plural,

see on ver. 41, and note b.

 

 

 

 

                               PSALM CXIX.                                      361

 

108 n Accept, I beseech Thee, 0 Jehovah, the freewill

                        offerings of my mouth,

            And teach me Thy judgements.

109 n My soul is continually in my hand;

            Yet I do not forget Thy law.

110 n The wicked have laid a snare for me;

            Yet have I not strayed from Thy precepts.

111 n Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever

            For they are the rejoicing of my heart.

112 n I have inclined mine heart to perform Thy statutes

            For ever, (even unto) the end.

 

                                Samech.

113 s I hate them that are of double mind,

            But Thy law do I love.

114 s Thou art my hiding-place and shield:

            I have hoped in Thy word.

115 s Depart from me, ye evil doers,

            That so I may keep the commandments of my God.

116 s Uphold me according unto Thy saying, that I may

                        live,

            And let me not be ashamed of my hope.

117 s Hold Thou me up, and so I shall be saved,

            And have respect unto Thy statutes continually.

118 s Thou hast made light of all them that wander from

                        Thy statutes;

            For their deceit is falsehood.

 

     109. MY SOUL IS IN MY HAND.

He has been faithful even in con-

stant peril of death. Comp. Judg.

xii. 13; I Sam. xix. 5, xxviii. 21;

Job xiii. 14.

    111. God's law is an everlasting

possession (comp. ver. 98), more

truly so than the land of Canaan

itself, which was given to Israel for

an everlasting heritage. Comp. xvi.

5, 6, where the Psalmist claims God

Himself as an heritage.

     113. OF DOUBLE MIND. See the

noun from the same root, 1 Kings

xviii. 21, "How long halt ye be-

tween two opinions?" and comp.

the a]nh>r di<yuxoj of St. James (i. 8).

      116. SAYING or "promise," as in

ver. 172. See on ver. 11, 38.

     118. FALSEHOOD, i.e. self-decep-

 

 

362                        PSALM CXIX.

 

119 s Thou hast put away all the wicked of the earth like

                        dross;

            Therefore I love Thy testimonies.

120 s My flesh trembleth for terror of Thee,

            And because of Thy judgements I am afraid.

 

                                     Ain.

121 f  I have done judgement and righteousness;

            Leave me not to mine oppressors.

122 f Be surety for Thy servant for good;

            Let not the proud oppress me.

123 f  Mine eyes fail for Thy salvation,

            And for Thy righteous saying.

124 f Deal with Thy servant according to Thy loving,

                        kindness,

            And teach me Thy statutes.

125 f I am Thy servant, give me understanding,

            That I may know Thy testimonies.

126 f It is time for Jehovah to act;

            (For) they have broken Thy law.

127 f Therefore I love Thy commandments

            Above gold, yea, above fine gold.

 

tion: they rely upon their deceitful

artifices in vain, and only to their

own confusion.

    119. LIKE DROSS, i.e. by the fire

of Thy judgement. Comp. Jer. vi.

28—30; Ezek. xxii. 18—20; Mal.

iii. 2, 3.

     120. TREMBLETH or "shudder-

eth," strictly used of the hair as

standing erect in terror (comp. Job

iv. 15).

    121. JUDGEMENT AND RIGHT-

EOUSNESS, apparently terms em-

ployed with reference to the Law.

It is equivalent to saying, "I have

kept Thy law."

     122. BE SURETY, as in Is. xxxviii.

14; Job xvii. 3. This and ver. 132

are the only two verses in the

Psalm which contain no allusion

to the Law. The Talmud, how-

ever, understands by "good" in

this ver. "the Law." (T. B. Bera-

choth 5a).

   126. To ACT. The verb is used

absolutely of God's acts of judge-

ment, as in Jer. xviii. 23: Ezek.

xxxi. II. So the LXX. kairo>j tou?

poih?sai t&? Kuri<&, which has been

rendered, "it is time to sacrifice to

the Lord," in defiance of all usage,

as well as the whole character of

the Psalm. It ought not to be

necessary to say that poiei?n in Greek

of itself no more means to sacrifice

than "make" in English.

 

 

                             PSALM CXIX.                                    363

 

128 f Therefore I esteem all Thy precepts concerning all

                        (things) to be right;

            (And) I hate every false way.

 

                                            Pe.

129 p Wonderful are Thy testimonies;

            Therefore hath my soul kept them.

130 p The revelation of Thy words giveth light,

            It giveth understanding unto the simple.

131 p I opened my mouth and panted;

            For I longed for Thy commandments:

132  p Turn Thee unto me, and be gracious to me,

            As Thou usest to do unto those that love Thy

                        Name.

133 p Establish my steps in Thy saying,

            And let no iniquity have dominion over me.

134 p Redeem me from the oppression of man,

            That I may keep Thy precepts.

135 p Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant,

            And teach me Thy statutes.

136 p In rivers of water mine eyes run down,

            Because they keep not Thy law.

 

                              Tsaddi.

137 c  Righteous art Thou, 0 Jehovah,

            And upright are Thy judgements.

 

    128. CONCERNING ALL THINGS.

These words are doubtful. See

Critical Note.

     130. REVELATION, lit. “door,”

"opening,” i.e. unfolding or un-

veiling, not entrance, as in E.V.

    131. I OPENED MY MOUTH, an

expression denoting eager desire,

as in Job xxix. 23. Like one op-

pressed with burning heat, and

longing for some cool spring of

water, or some fresh breeze to fan

his brow.

    132. AS THOU USEST, lit. "ac-

cording to the judgement of (be-

longing to) them that love Thy

Name," which may mean "as is

just to them." But the word mishpat

"judgement" is frequently used in

the sense of "custom," a sense

readily derived from that of "law,"

"enactment," &c.

    133. HAVE DOMINION, as in xix.

13 141

    136. IN RIVERS OF WATER: see

the same phrase Lam. iii. 48, and

for the construction Gesen. § 138,

1, Obs. 9

 

 

 

 

 

364                               PSALM CXIX.

 

138 c Thou hast commanded Thy testimonies in righteous-

                        ness

            And exceeding faithfulness.

139 c My zeal hath consumed me;

            Because mine adversaries have forgotten Thy

                        words.

140 c Thy saying is tried to the uttermost,

            And Thy servant loveth it.

141 c  I am small and despised;

            (Yet) do not I forget Thy precepts.

142 c Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,

            And Thy law is truth.

143 c  Distress and anguish have gotten hold upon me;

            Thy commandments are my delight.

144 c Thy testimonies are righteousness for ever;

            Give me understanding, that I may live.

 

                                Koph.

145 q  I called with (my) whole heart:

            "Answer me, Jehovah, so will I keep Thy statutes."

146 q  I called upon Thee: "Save me,

            So will I keep Thy statutes."

147 q  Early in the morning twilight did I cry;

            I hoped in Thy word.

148 q  Mine eyes prevented the night-watches,

            That I might meditate in Thy promises.

149 q  Hear my voice according unto Thy loving-kindness;

 

     138. IN RIGHTEOUSNESS AND

FAITHFULNESS. The nouns may

either be used adverbially, or they

may be accusatives in apposition,

"as righteousness," &c.

    139. Comp. lxix. 9 [10].

    140. TRIED, lit. "fined," as

metals are in the furnace, and

hence pure, free from all admixture

of dross, true. Comp, xii. 6 [7].

    147. EARLY, lit. "I was before-

hand in the twilight." The verb

means "to anticipate," "to go to

meet," with the accus. (as in xvii.

13); and used absolutely, as here,

it must mean "I rose early." It is

the same word as the word ren-

dered "prevented" in the next

verse. It is difficult to find an

English expression suitable for both.

We might say: "I was before-

hand with the dawn." "Mine eyes

were before-hand with the night-

watches."

 

 

                                 PSALM CXIX                                  365

 

            0 Jehovah, quicken me according to Thy judge-

                        ments.

150 q They draw nigh that follow after mischief;

            They are far from Thy law.

151 q THOU art nigh, 0 Jehovah,

            And all Thy commandments are truth.

152 q  Long since do I know from Thy testimonies

            That Thou hast founded them for ever.

 

                                 Resh.

153 r Look upon mine affliction, and deliver me;

            For I do not forget Thy law.

154 r  Plead my cause, and ransom me;

            Quicken me according to Thy word.

155 r Salvation is far from the wicked;

            For they have not sought Thy statutes.

156 r  Many are Thy tender mercies, 0 Jehovah,

            Quicken me according to Thy judgements.

157 r  Many are my persecutors and mine adversaries

            I have not swerved from Thy testimonies.

158 r I saw the faithless and was grieved,

            Because they kept not Thy saying.

159 r See how I love Thy precepts;

            Quicken me, 0 Jehovah, according to Thy loving-

                        kindness.

160 r The sum of Thy word is truth,

            And every one of Thy righteous judgements

                        (endureth) for ever.

 

    151. They are nigh (ver. 150) to

persecute and destroy me; Thou

art nigh to help me.

     154. ACCORDING TO. For the use

of the preposition comp. Is. xi 3.

    155. FAR. A masc. predicate

prefixed, the noun being fem., as in

137 a singular predicate is prefixed

when the noun is in the plural.

For other instances of anomalous

usage of gender see ver. 115, 151.

      158. WAS GRIEVED (pausal

florist), lit. "felt loathing." Comp.

cxxxix. 2 T.

    BECAUSE, or "who," viz. "the

faithless."

    160. THE SUM, as in cxxxix. 17.

Jerome, "Caput verborum tuorum.”

 

 

366                            PSALM CXIX.

 

                                       Schin.

161 w Princes have persecuted me without a cause;

            But my heart standeth in awe of Thy word.

162 w I rejoice because of Thy saying,

            As one that findeth great spoil.

163 w  As for falsehood, I hate and abhor it;

            Thy law do I love.

164 w  Seven times a day do I praise Thee,

            Because of Thy righteous judgements.

165 w Great peace have they which love Thy law,

            And there is no stumbling-block unto them.

166 w I have hoped for Thy salvation, Jehovah,

            And have done Thy commandments.

167 w  My soul hath kept Thy testimonies,

            And I love them exceedingly.

168 w  I have kept Thy precepts and Thy testimonies;

            For all my ways are before Thee.

 

                                          Tau.

169 t  Let my cry come near before Thee, 0 Jehovah;

            Give me understanding, according to Thy word.

170 t  Let my supplication come before Thee;

            Deliver me according to Thy promise.

171 t Let my lips pour forth praise;

            For Thou teachest me Thy statutes.

 

The LXX. wrongly, a]rxh> tw?n logwn

orov. Still less defensible is the

E.V., "from the beginning."

    165. No STUMBLING-BLOCK.

LXX. ou]k e@stin au]toi?j ska<ndalon.

Comp. the words of St. John, ska<n-

dalon ou]k e@stin e]n au]t&? (I John 11.

10). So we may supply here, "no

stumbling-block in them," or "in

their path." When God's law is

loved, instead of being struggled

against, the conscience is at peace,

and the inward eye is clear; a man

sees his duty and does it, free

from those stumbling-blocks which

are ever occasion of falling to

others.

     166. I HAVE HOPED. Comp. the

words of Jacob, Gen. xlix. 18.

     168. FOR ALL MY WAYS. In

saying "I have kept Thy pre-

cepts," I make no vain boast, I

say it as in Thy sight, who seest

all my life.

     170. PROMISE, lit. "saying," and

again in ver. 172.

 

 

                             PSALM CXIX.                                      367

 

172 t Let my tongue sing of Thy promise,

            For all Thy commandments are righteousness.

173 t  Let Thine hand be a help unto me;

            For I have chosen Thy precepts.

174 t  I have longed for Thy salvation, 0 Jehovah,

            And Thy law is my delight.

175 t  Let my soul live, and praise Thee,

            And let Thy judgements help me.

176 t  I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Thy servant;

            For I do not forget Thy commandments.

 

    172. SING OF or perhaps "re-

peat," "echo."

    176. According to the accents,

the rendering would rather be, "I

have gone astray; seek Thy servant

as a lost sheep." In what sense

can one who has so repeatedly de-

clared his love of God's word, who

has asserted that he has kept

God's precepts, make this confes-

sion? The figure cannot be em-

ployed here in the same sense, for

instance, in which it is employed

in our Lord's parable. He who is

the lost sheep here is one who does

not forget God's commandments.

The figure, therefore, seems in this

place to denote the helpless con-

dition of the Psalmist, without pro-

tectors, exposed to enemies, in the

midst of whom he wanders, not

knowing where to find rest and

shelter. But in the "I have gone

astray," there is doubtless the sense

of sin as well as of weakness, though

there is also the consciousness of

love to God' s law, "I do not forget

Thy commandments." Comp. with

this xix. 12-14 [13-15]. The word

rendered "lost " may be rendered

"ready to perish."

 

            a ylaHExa (whence yleHExa, 2 Kings v. 3), compounded of HxA and     yla (yval;)

=o si.

            b j~r,bAd;Ki Many MSS. and Edd. have the plural, and again ver. 16, 17,

25, 28, 42, 101. The same is the case with j~t,rAm;xi, ver. 11, 103, 148, 162.

But there is no doubt that the sing. is to be preferred. It is otherwise

with j~F,Paw;mi), which is clearly a defective form, instead of the plur. j~y-,, 43

and 149. Comp. 37, 41, for similar forms.

            The construction in rmow;li is that of the gerund.

            c hbAxETa, only here, instead of hvAxETa, and so also the verb bxt occurs

only in this Psalm, ver. 40, 174.

            d lGa, not instead of lGo, from llg, to roll away, as De Wette and others,

referring to Josh. v. 9, but the same word as in ver. 18, from hl.AGi (Piel), to

uncover, which occurs with a twofold construction; either (I) with the

accus. of the thing uncovered, as in ver. 18, "to uncover the eyes;" or

(2) with accus. of the covering which is taken off, as in Is. xxii. 8.

Nab. iii. 5, and so here: "uncover," i.e. take off from me, the reproach

which lies upon me "as a cloak."

368                             PSALM CXX.

 

            e ynimeK;HaT;, 3 sing. fem., not 2 masc. For this use of the sing. verb with

the plur. noun see Ges. § 143, 3. The following xyh shows that the law

is regarded as a whole; "it maketh me wiser." However, the plur. punc-

tuation of the noun may be an error. See note b. The Verss. generally

take the verb as the E.V. does as 2d pers. " Thou through Thy com-

mandments," &c.

            f lko ydeUq.Pi lKA. This is usually rendered, "All (Thy) precepts concerning

all (things)," and is defended by Ez. xliv. 30, "All firstlings of all (sorts)."

See a similar expression, Num. viii. 16. The case, however, is not really

analogous, as the phrase here does not mean "all precepts of all sorts;"

and, besides, the absence of the pronoun is awkward: we want "Thy

precepts." Hence the reading ought probably to be j~yd,Up.Pi-ylKA; and so

Houb., Ew., Olsh., Hupf. And this is supported by the LXX., pro>j

pa<saj ta>j e]ntala<j sou katwrqou<mhn, and Jerome, in universa praecepta

tua direxi. Others explain, "all precepts concerning the whole of things,"

i.e. all moral, universal laws in contradistinction to those of temporary

character, as political, ceremonial, &c.

 

                                            PSALM CXX.

            WITH this Psalm begins a series of fifteen Psalms, all bearing the

same title, "Songs of the goings-up" (E.V. "Songs of degrees"),

and constituting originally, no doubt, a separate hymn-book—a Psalter

within a Psalter. The different interpretations which have been given

of the name will be found mentioned in the Introduction to Vol.. I.

p. 87.* Of these, the most probable is that which supposes that the

Psalms to which this title is prefixed were intended to be sung by the

caravans of pilgrims "going up" to keep the yearly feasts at Jerusalem.

The collection in its present form must have been made after the re-

turn from Babylon some of the songs containing manifest allusions

to the Captivity as still fresh in the recollection of the writers. .All

these odes have certain features in common. With one exception

(the 132nd) they are all short—the utterance of a single thought or

feeling, a sigh, a hope, a joy. They are alike in tone, in diction, in

rhythm, the climactic form of the last recurring so often as to have

led Gesenius to suppose that the title, "Song of ascents," was given

to them owing to this peculiarity. They are all pervaded by the

 

            * Mr. Armfield (The Gradual Psalms) has discussed the question

anew, with special reference to the Jewish tradition. I hope to recur to

it in the Appendix to this Volume.

                                       PSALM CXX.                                     369

 

same quiet, graceful, tender beauty, the charm of which was so felt

by a Spanish commentator, that he does not hesitate to say, that

this collection is to the rest of the Psalms what Paradise was to the

rest of the world at its first creation.

            The first in the collection is a prayer against the lying tongues of

treacherous neighbours, whom the Poet compares, for their cruelty

and perfidy, to the savage hordes of the Caucasus or of the Arabian

desert. But whether the Psalmist thus pictures the heathen among

whom he dwells in exile, or the wild tribes with whom no treaty can

be kept, by whom he is beset on his way back from Babylon to

Palestine, or the Samaritans,* Arabians and others, who after their

return attempted, by false representations to the Persian monarch, to

thwart the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezra iv.) and the fortification

of the city (Nehem. ii.-iv.), it is impossible to say. The allusions

are brief and obscure. Reuss says: "Ce psaume, le seul qui soft

difficile à expliquer parmi ces chants de pélerinage, peut etre regarde

comme Pun des plus obscurs de tout le Psautier. Les idées y sont

à peine indiquées, les images sont peu transparentes, et les allusions

historiques sont pour nous autant d'énigmes."

 

                                  [A PILGRIM SONG.]

 

1 UNTO Jehovah, when I was in distress,a

            I called, and He answered me.

2 0 Jehovah, deliver my soul from the lying lip,

            From the deceitful tongue.b

3 What shall He give c unto thee, and what shall He add

                        unto thee,

            0 thou deceitful tongue?

 

    I. CALLED .. . ANSWERED. The

verbs are in the past tense, but do

not refer merely to a past occasion.

Past experience and present are

here combined. From the past

he draws encouragement for the

present.

     3. GIVE . . . ADD. The phrase

seems to mean: "What calamities

shall He (or it) heap upon thee?

How shall punishment upon punish-

ment visit thee? Compare the 

somewhat similar expression in the

formula of cursing, "God do so to

 

            * It is indeed doubtful whether the Chaldee letters in Ezra iv. do

relate to the obstacles offered by the Samaritans to the rebuilding

of the Temple, or whether they are not rather to be referred to the

opposition made to the rebuilding of the city walls under Xerxes and

Artaxerxes, at a much later period, Neh. ii. &c. The chief enemies of the

Jews at this time were not the Samaritans, but persons of other tribes,—

Moabites, Ammonites, Philistines, all perhaps comprised under the

general name of Arabians. See Neh. ii. to, 12, iv. 7.

370                                       PSALM CXX.

4 Sharp arrows of the mighty,

            With coals of broom.

5 Woe d is me that I have sojourned in Meshech,

 

me, and more also," I Sam. iii. 17,

xx. 13, and often. In that formula,

however, the first verb is do, not give.

    It is not necessary to regard

Jehovah as the subject of the verbs

in this verse. They may be taken

impersonally: "What shall be

given unto thee, what more shall

be done unto thee?" See more in

Critical Note.

    4. The expressions of this verse

may either (1) describe further the

treacherous tongue ("thou that art

as sharp arrows," &c.), as in lvii. 4

[5], "whose teeth are spears and

arrows, and their tongue a sharp

sword," lxiv. 3 [4], "who have

sharpened their tongue like the

sword, and have aimed their arrow,

even a bitter word"—see also lv.

21 [22], lix. 7 [8]; or (2) the punish-

ment of the tongue, a punishment

according with its character. As

the lying tongue is a sharp sword

(1vii. 4 [5]), as it is a sharp arrow

(Jer. ix. 8 [7]), as it is set on fire of

hell (James iii. 6), so shall the man

who employs it be destroyed by the

arrows and the fire of the Mighty

One, i.e. God. (But see below.)

So in the B. Talmud, 'Erachin

15b, it is said, "The Mighty is none

other but God Himself." Comp.

cxl. 9, 10 [10, 11], "Let the mischief

of their own lips cover them, let

burning coals fall upon them, let

them be cast into the fire," &c.

Such is the law of the Eternal

Nemesis: "What a man soweth,

that shall he also reap."

   It is in favour of the first inter-

pretation that it falls in with the

general scope of the Psalm, in

which the Poet complains that,

loving peace himself, he meets with

nothing but hostility and treachery.

On the other hand, that he should

burst forth into an imprecation of

God's judgements on the head of

these treacherous neighbours is

quite in accordance with what we

find in other Psalms, where the

circumstances are similar. Comp.

for instance Ps. lviii. For other

explanations see Critical Note.

     THE MIGHTY. Even if we take

this verse as describing the punish-

ment of the lying tongue, we need

not take "the mighty" to mean

God, as the Talmud does. The

expression may only mean "sharp

arrows," as of a warrior. Comp.

cxxvii. 4; Jer. 1, 9.

     BROOM, not as E. V., following

Jerome, "juniper." The shrub

meant is the genista monosperma

(Arab. relem), the root of which,

according to Burckhardt (Itin. ii.

p. 791), is used for fires in the

desert, and has the property of

retaining the heat for a consider-

able time. The same shrub is men-

tioned 1 Kings xix. 4.; Job xxx.

4. The latter passage may mean,

not that the root of the genista was

used for food, which seems un-

likely as it is very bitter, but,

perhaps, that it was used for fire,

"to warm them" (comp. Is. xliv.

15). Wonderful stories are told by

Jerome (De mansionibus Israel ad

Fabiolam xv.), and in the Midrash

Tehillim, how travellers, having

cooked their food with a fire made

of the juniper-wood (which they

suppose to be the wood here meant),

and returning a year after to the

same spot, still found the embers alive.

      These COALS are an image either

of the burning, devouring character

of the tongue, or of its punishment.

"Arrows WITH (i.e. together with)

coals," not, as others, "fiery

arrows," or "arrows sharpened

and made hard by means of fire,"

which would have been differentiy

expressed.

    5. MESHECH, probably the

Moschi of Herodotus (iii. 94),

mentioned, together with Tubal,

                                      PSALM CXX.                                 371

 

            That I have dwelt beside the tents of Kedar.

6 My soul hath too longe had her dwelling

            With him that hateth peace.

7 I am (for) peace,

            But when I speak,f they are for war.

 

Gen. x. 2, Ezek. xxvii. 13; a bar-

barous tribe situated south-east of

the Caucasus, between the Black

Sea and the Araxes; and

     KEDAR, one of the predatory

hordes roaming the Arabian Desert.

By the names of these remote and

barbarous tribes, the one to the

north, the other to the south of

Palestine, the Psalmist intends to

mark the savage character of those

who surround him. We might

speak in the same way, says De

Wette, of Turks and Hottentots.

    7. The literal rendering of the

first clause is, "I (am) peace," as

in cix. 4, "I (am) prayer." The

pronoun in each clause is emphatic.

 

            a htArAcA; the fuller form for hrc, as in i.i. 3, xliv. 27. Comp. xviii. 7.

            b ‘r NOwlA, absol. instead of constr. (comp. lii. 6); unless we take

hy.Amir; (as Del. suggests) as an adj. (see Mic. vi. 12). But the expression

may be explained on the principle of apposition, "a tongue which is

deceit," as in Prov. xxii. 21,  tm,x, MyrimAxE, "words which are truth,"

Zech. i. 13.

            c NTeyi hma. The interpretations of this verse are various.

Is the "giving," &c. to be understood in a good or a bad sense? Does

it mean "What doth it profit thee?" or "What doth it harm thee?"

And who is addressed,—the lying tongue, i.e. the liar, or God, or the

Psalmist himself, or some third person indefinitely?

            1. Supposing the words to be taken in a bad sense, they can mean

harm, injury, which the deceitful tongue works to others, or punishment

which it brings upon itself. In the first case "the tongue," in the second

"Jehovah," is the subject. So far as the grammar goes, there is nothing

against either interpretation; for the verb standing before the fem. noun

can be masc. (Ges. § 147), and thus "the tongue" may be the subject;

and, on the other hand, the masc. pron. "to thee" may refer not

immediately to the tongue, but to the person whose the tongue is

(§ 121, Item. 1).

            (a) It is in favour, however, of the interpretation which makes the

tongue addressed, and Jehovah the subject ("What shall He give to

thee," &c.), that a very similar phrase is used several times in adjuration.

"So Jehovah do unto me, and more also," i.e. so let Him punish me

(1 Sam. iii. 17, xiv. 44, xx. 13, and often). Then the punishment

threatened is further described in the next verse:  "What shall He give

thee?" "Sharp arrows of the mighty," &c. Hupf. objects to this

interpretation, that here the formula is not employed in an oath, and

that it is doubtful whether it denotes punishment, inasmuch as the

 

372                                PSALM CXX.

 

principal verb here is not hW,fEya, but NTeyi. Those who make Jehovah the

subject are again divided when they come to the next verse; for, instead

of seeing in that verse the manner of punishment, some see in it a

further description of the character of the tongue itself, as elsewhere the

tongue is compared to a sharp sword, &c.

            (b) Hence others take the tongue as the subject, and suppose that the

person whose the deceitful tongue is, is addressed. The sense will then

be: "What does a false tongue profit thee (0 thou liar)?" So far from

that, thou only doest harm to others ; and this harm is then expressed

figuratively in the next verse, "for thou art as sharp arrows," &c. So the

Chald., Qimchi, Calv., De Dieu, most of the older interpreters, Ros.,

De W. Here the pron. "thee" is taken generally of any one who speaks

deceit.

            2. Others refer the pron. to Jehovah. "What can a deceitful tongue

profit Thee?" the argument being similar to that in such questions as in

xxx. 9 [10], and ver. 4 again giving the reply: so far from profit, it is a

pestilent mischief.

            3. Once more, the pronoun may refer to the Poet himself, or some

third person indefinitely, "What can the false tongue give thee? i.e. what

harm can it inflict upon thee?" the poet turning this question upon

himself, and the answer being that in ver. 4, "Surely much harm, for it is

as sharp arrows," &c. According to this, Ntn is = hWf, to work, in a bad

sense, as Lev. xxiv. 19, 20; Prov. x. to, xiii. to, xxix. 25. But it may be

questioned if Ntn with l; can have this meaning. In Lev. xxiv. it is

followed by b;, in the other passages it stands absol., to effect, and

therefore proves nothing.

            Hupfeld, rejecting all these interpretations, separates ver. 3 entirely

from ver. 4. To the former he gives the meaning: "What (real) good

can a false tongue bring thee, how can it help thee, 0 thou who employest

its arts?" and supposes (I) that not a slanderer, but a false friend or

neighbour is pointed at, and (2) that the Poet is speaking not to himself

so mush as to a third person, and uttering a general sentiment. In ver. 4

he would read ylehIxA instead of yleHEGi, and would either understand My;mitAr;

as a proper name, the name of a tribe or a locality in which the broom

was plentiful (as Rithmah, Num. xxxiii. 18, 19, one of the stations of the

Israelites, doubtless took its name from the broom which grew there), or

else that by tents of broom are meant poor hovels formed of broom, as a

shelter for some needy desert-horde. He takes the verse, not in appos.

with the preceding, but as an independent sentence: "Sharp are the

arrows of the warrior, by the tents of the Rethamim," which of course

is to be understood figuratively as expressive of the hostility of the

neighbours of the Poet.

            d hyAOx, only here with the termination h-A, used pathetically. There is

no need in sech an interjection as this to assume, with Hupf., that it is

an accus. termination like htAU;mA.ha, for instance, cxvi. 15, in accordance

with later usage.

            rvg, with the accus., as in v. 5; Is. xxxiii. 15: Jud. v. 17.

 

                                    PSALM CXXI.                                        373

 

            e tBara. See the same form lxv. 10, cxxiii. 4, cxxix. I, 2. It belongs

chiefly to the later language. Comp. 2 Chron. xxx. 17, 18.

            f rBedaxE ykiv;. The verb here stands absolutely, as in xxxix. 4, cxvi. 10;

there is no need to supply the object, "when I speak of peace.” Nor is

Ewald's rendering, "As for me, when I speak of peace," at all probable;

for even if yKi can thus stand in the middle of the sentence, as in cxviii.

to, II, cxxviii. 2 (comp. dfa cxli. 10), it is very unlikely that ykiv; should

occupy such a position. The construction is the same as in cix. 4, where

see note.

 

                                    PSALM CXXI.

 

            THIS beautiful Psalm is the trustful expression of a heart rejoicing

in its own safety under the watchful eye of Him who is both the

Maker of heaven and earth, and the Keeper of Israel. The Creator

of the Universe, the Keeper of the nation, is also the Keeper of the

individual. The one ever-recurring thought, the one characteristic

word of the Psalm, is this word keep. Six times it is repeated in the

last five verses of this one short ode. The beauty of this repetition is

unfortunately destroyed in the Authorized Version by the substitution

in the last three instances, in verses 7 and 8, of the verb "preserve"

for the word "keep." For the use of the same word in the original

is evidently designed,—designed to mark by this emphasis of itera-

tion the truth of God's loving care for the, individual, and so to

banish all shadow of doubt, fear, anxiety, lest in the vast sum the

unit should be forgotten.

            Under what circumstances the Psalm was written is doubtful.

Some (as Ewald and De Wette) suppose it to have been written in

exile. The Psalmist turns his longing eyes towards the hills of his

native land, or the hills which bounded his sight in the direction

in which it lay, as Daniel opened his windows towards Jerusalem

when he prayed. Others (as Hupfeld) understand by "the moun-

tains " in ver. I, not the mountains of Palestine at large, but the one

mountain or mountain-group of Zion, as the dwelling-place of God,

the plural being used as in cxxxiii. 3, lxxxvii. I, and leave it an open

question whether the Psalmist was in exile, or merely at a distance

from the sanctuary.

            Others, again, have conjectured that this was the song sung by the

caravans of pilgrims going up to the yearly feasts, when first they

374                                 PSALM CXXI.

 

came in sight of the mountains on which Jerusalem stands. At

evening, as they are about to make preparations for their last night's

encampment, they behold in the far distance, clear against the dying

light of the western sky, the holy hill with its crown of towers. The

sight fills them with a sense of peace and security, and from the

midst of the band a voice begins: "I will lift up mine eyes to the

mountains," &c. And another voice answers, "Surely He will not

suffer thy foot to be moved. Surely He that keepeth thee will not

slumber." And anon the whole company of pilgrims take up the

strain: "Behold He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor

sleep; Jehovah shall keep," &c.

            To-morrow, in the words of the next Psalm, they will sing, "Our

feet are standing within thy gates, 0 Jerusalem."

            It is not, however, absolutely necessary to assume different voices

in the Psalm; there may be one voice only, the voice of the Poet

speaking to his own heart,—speaking to it, in words that are not his

own, heavenly strength and courage. That he is at a distance from

the sanctuary, if not from Palestine, is clear. It is almost equally

certain that there is no reference to "the special dangers of the

desert" as encountered by the exiles on their return. The baneful

influence of the sun and the moon (ver. 6) would not be peculiar to

the desert, and I can see no allusion to "perils from lawless tribes by

night" in ver. 3, 4. The expression, "thy going out and thy coming

in," would surely describe naturally, not the life of a traveller passing

through the desert, but the settled home life, with its usual occupa-

tions, whether in Palestine or in Babylon. Beyond this, and the

words of ver. 1, we have nothing to guide us.

            The Psalm has no marked divisions, but falls naturally into pairs

of verses. The Inscription, "A song for the goings up," differs

slightly from that which is prefixed to other odes of this collection.

 

 

                               [A PILGRIM-SONG.]

 

I I LIFT up mine eyes unto the mountains;

            Whence should my help come?

 

    1. THE MOUNTAINS, as already

remarked in the Introduction, either

those of Palestine, as in Nahum i.

15 [ii. I] and in Ezekiel, "the

mountains of Israel;" or, the ridge

on which lay Jerusalem and the

Temple. Comp. for the plural,

lxxxvii I, cxxxiii. 3; and for the

expectation of help from Zion,

xiv. 7, "Oh that the salvation of

Israel were come out of Zion;" xx.

2 [3], "Jehovah send thee help

from the sanctuary, and uphold

thee out of Zion."

    WHENCE. It is better to take

this as an interrogative than as a

 

 

                                          PSALM CXXI.                                375

 

2 My help (cometh) from Jehovah,

            The Maker of heaven and earth.

3 Surely He a will not suffer thy foot to be moved;

            He that keepeth thee will not slumber.

4 Behold, He doth neither slumber nor sleep

            That keepeth Israel.

5 Jehovah is thy Keeper,

            Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand.

6 The sun shall not smite thee by day,

            Nor the moon by night.

 

relative. In Josh. ii. 4, the only

passage where the word occurs as

a relative, it is really an indirect

interrogative.

      2. MAKER OF HEAVEN AND

EARTH; a name of God occurring

especially in these Pilgrim odes,

and other later Psalms, as in cxv.

15, cxxiv. 8, cxxxiv. 3, cxlvi. 6.

God's creative power and majesty

were, especially during the Exile,

impressed upon the heart of the

nation, in contrast with the vanity

of the gods of the heathen. Comp.

Jer. x. 11, "Then shall he say unto

them (i.e. the Jews to the Chaldeans),

The gods that have not made the

heavens and the earth, even they

shall perish from the earth, and

from under these heavens."

      3. The Psalmist turns to address

himself. First he utters the wish

that God's watchful care may be

extended to him; then the convic-

tion that the Keeper of Israel, He

who has been the God of his fathers,

whose Hand has led the nation

through all its eventful history,

doth not—will not, cannot—slum-

ber or sleep. Comp. cxxxii. 4; I

Kings xviii. 27; Is. v. 27; Job

vii. 20.

    SURELY HE SHALL NOT, as ex-

pressing the conviction of the

speaker (see Critical Note). It

must be confessed that the optative

rendering is somewhat weak. It

does not seem very pertinent to

express the wish that God may not

slumber. Or if we assume that

the Psalm was designed for anti-

phonal singing, then ver. 4, is the

answer to ver. 3, "you need not

fear that He should sleep. He

cannot slumber."

    4. SLUMBER . . . SLEEP. There

is no climax in these words, as

some have supposed. Etymologi-

cally, the first is the stronger word,

and it occurs lxxvi. 5 [6] (where see

note) of the sleep of death. In this

instance there is no real distinction

between the two. Possibly there

may be an allusion to the nightly

encampment, and the sentries of

the caravan.

    5. THY SHADE, as a protection

against the burning rays of the sun.

Comp. xci. I, "shall abide under

the shadow of the Almighty;" Is.

xxv. 4, "Thou hast been a shadow

from the heat;" xxxii. 2, "As the

shadow of a great rock in a weary

land."

    UPON THY RIGHT HAND. This

is not part of the former figure: it

does not denote the south side (as

some would explain), as that on

which the sun would be hottest,

and therefore protection most ne-

cessary. It is rather a separate

figure, denoting generally succour,

help, &c. (as in cix. 31, cx. 5), i.e.

Jehovah standing upon thy right

hand to defend thee is thy shade.

    6. Sun-stroke, a special danger

of the East. See 2 Kings iv. 18—

20; Jon. iv. 8; and comp. Ps. ciii.

 

376                             PSALM CXXII.

 

7 Jehovah shall keep thee from all evil,

            He shall keep thy soul.

8 Jehovah shall keep thy going out and thy coming in

            From this time forth and for evermore.

 

4 [5], where the heart is said to be

smitten like grass. In the same

way the influence of the moon was

considered to be very injurious to

the human frame, in hot climates

more particularly. De Wette refers

to Andersen's Eastern Travels,

Ewald to Carne's Life and Manners

in the East, in proof that this

opinion is commonly entertained.

Delitzsch mentions having heard

from Texas that the consequence

of sleeping in the open air when

the moon was shining was dizziness,

mental aberration, and even death.

The names given to persons of

disordered intellect, selhniazo<menoi,

lunatici, "lunatics," arose of course

from the wide-spread belief in the

effects of the moon on those who

were exposed to its influence. At

the same time, this is only a popular

belief. The injury is due not to

the light of the moon, which is in-

nocuous, but to the raw vapour and

chilling mists after the intense heat

of the day.

    8. THY GOING OUT AND THY

COMING IN; a phrase denoting the

whole life and occupations of a

man. Comp. Deut. xxviii. 6, xxxi.

2; I Sam. xxix. 6, &c. The three-

fold expression, "shall keep thee . . .

thy soul . . . thy going out and thy

coming in" marks the completeness

of the protection vouchsafed, ex-

tending to all that the man is and

that he does. Comp. I Thess. v.

23, kai> o[lo<klhron u[mw?n to> pneu?ma, kai>

h[ yuxh> kai> to> sw?ma . . . thrhqei<h

 

            a lxa = mh<, and must not, therefore, be rendered as if it were merely ou@.

Ewald takes it interrogatively, as mh< is also used, " Surely He will not

suffer thy foot to be moved?" Delitzsch takes it similarly, but without a

question, as expressing the subjective view of the speaker. Such a

rendering. "Surely He will not suffer," &c., is, I think, to be preferred

to the optative rendering, "May He not," &c., which I adopted in former

editions. See on xxxiv. 5, and I., note b (Vol. I. p. 41f). On the other

hand, the optative rendering may be defended, especially as we have a

similar transition from one form of the negative to the other in xxv. 1-3,

where see note.

                                 PSALM CXXII.

 

            THIS Psalm, more emphatically than any in the collection to which

it belongs, merits the title of a Pilgrim song. It was evidently com-

posed with immediate reference to one of the three yearly festivals,

when the caravans of pilgrims "went up" to the Holy City. The Poet

is living in the country. As the time of the Feast draws near, his

                                         PSALM CXXII.                                        377

 

friends and neighbours come to him, inviting him to join them in their

visit to Jerusalem. It is with this picture that he begins his Poem.

He tells us how his heart filled with joy as they bade him come

with them "to the house of Jehovah." We see the procession start-

ing; we see beaming eyes and happy faces, and hear the music of

gladness with which the pilgrims beguile the tediousness of the

journey. The next verse transports us at once to the Holy City

itself. "Our feet have stood within thy gates;" the few words are

enough. They have reached their journey's end; they are in the

city which they love. Then the Poet tells us, first, the impression

made upon his mind by her stateliness and her beauty, and next,

how there comes crowding upon his memory the scenes of her earlier

grandeur, the thought of all she had been as the gathering-place of

the tribes of Jehovah, the royal seat of David and of his house.

            Filled with these thoughts, inspired by these memories, he bursts

forth into hearty, fervent prayer—the prayer of one who loved his

country as he loved his God, with no common devotion—for the

welfare of that city so glorious in her past history, that city with

which all hopes for the future were so intimately bound up. And

so the beautiful ode closes.

            The Psalm is called in the title a Song of David. It is certainly

possible that Psalms written by him might be comprised in a collec-

tion which formed a hymn-book for the pilgrims. It is possible, also,

that David himself, although there was still a sanctuary at Gibeon,

even after the Ark was brought to Zion, may nevertheless have en-

couraged the people to regard Jerusalem as the true centre of worship,

and that the custom of keeping the annual feasts there may have

begun during his reign. In fact, this seems most natural and most

probable, when we remember how great and joyful an event was the

bringing up of the Ark to Zion. There, henceforth, must have been

"the heart of the Israelite religion." The expression in ver. 3 might

also be explained very naturally of Jerusalem as it was in David's

time,—"a city beautifully built, well compacted, adorned with

palaces, and fortified." Still, in spite of Hengstenberg's remarks to

the contrary, I cannot think that the expression "thrones of the

house of David "would be a natural one in David's lips. The phrase

points, surely, to a dynasty which has long been established: verses

4 and 5 are clearly a retrospect. "The great argument against the

Davidic authorship," remarks Mr. Cox, very pertinently, "is the

general tone of the second strophe (ver. 4, 5). Here the Poet uses

the historic tenses, and is manifestly recalling a time long past in

which the tribes went up to Jerusalem, to give thanks to the name

of the Lord. But Jerusalem was only wrested from the Jebusites by

378                                   PSALM CXXII.

 

David. How then could he speak of it as the place in which for

generations past, the Hebrew tribes had come before Jehovah?*

            As most, if not all, of these Psalms belong to a period subsequent

to the Captivity, we turn more naturally to that time as furnishing

the occasion for the composition of this ode. But, even if we fix

upon that as the most probable date, still the question arises, Is the

whole Psalm a retrospect, or does it spring out of the new life of the

people? Does it paint only the recollection of former pilgrimages in

the days of Zion's first glory, or does it paint the feelings of one who

sees the old state of things revived, and who joins the pilgrims going

up now as they went up of yore?

            Ewald supposes it to be a blessing on a party of pilgrims uttered

by an old man returned from the Exile, himself unequal to a journey

across the desert. "The departure of his friends reminds him of the

alacrity with which he too had once obeyed a similar summons; his

spirit is fired by sympathy with their enthusiasm, and he pours forth

the praises of that city which from the earliest times had been recog-

nized as the key-stone of the national unity, the civil and religious

metropolis of the tribes."† Delitzsch takes a somewhat similar view,

except that he supposes the Poet to be still in exile. But the Psalm

is too bright, the pictures are too fresh, to lend any colour to either

interpretation. There is none of that "deep sighing" of the exile or

the old man looking back on a departed glory which must have

made itself felt, none of that melancholy which breathes, for instance,

in such a Psalm as the Forty-second, and even the Eighty-fourth.

The gladness of the first verse is a gladness still warm at the heart of

the Poet; the picture of the second is one the lines of which are not

yet effaced from the eye of his mind. The reminiscences of the past,

as he has heard the tale from others, or as he has read it in the

words of other Psalmists and Prophets, mingle with the present, and

Jerusalem, rising from her ashes, seems to him fair and stately, her

bulwarks strong, and her palaces magnificent, as of old.

 

                         [A PILGRIM-SONG OF DAVID.]

 

1 I WAS glad when they said a unto me,

            Let us go into the house of Jehovah.

 

    1. I WAS GLAD WHEN; or, more                them that were saying unto me."

lit. "I rejoiced over, or because of,                       THE HOUSE OF JEHOVAH. His

 

            * The Pilgrim Psalms, p. 64. I gladly refer to this work as a really

valuable contribution to our exegetical literature on this portion of the

Psalter.

            † The Psalms Chronologically Arranged, by Four Friends, p. 292.

                                     PSALM CXXII.                                   379

2 Our feet have stood b

            Within thy gates, 0 Jerusalem.

3 Jerusalem that art built,

            As a city which is compactc together!

4 Whither the tribes went up, the tribes of Jah,

 

joy was that he should worship

there "in the presence of Jehovah."

Ex. xxiii. 17.

     2. HAVE STOOD. This maybe a

strict perfect, implying that they

are still standing. It is the lively

expression of the satisfaction and

delight of one who finds himself on

this high day of festal joy within

the sacred walls, mingling with the

throng of worshipers who crowd

the courts of the Temple, and

taking his part, with a full sense of

his privileges as an Israelite, in the

solemn services of the Feast.

     The rendering of the E.V., "shall

stand," is clearly wrong. The only

other possible rendering (see Criti-

cal Note) is one that would throw

the whole scene into the past, "our

feet once stood." It is the uncer-

tainty attaching to this form which

occasions so much difficulty in the

interpretation of the Psalm.

     3. BUILT. This has been ex-

plained in three different ways.

(I) It has been closely joined with

what follows, "built as a city

which," &c. (2) It has been taken

in the sense of "well-built, stately."

(3) It has been understood emphati-

cally to describe the city as rebuilt

after the Exile, "which is built

again," or, "0 thou that art built

again." Of these, the last is pre-

ferable: (I) injures the parallelism,

and (2) has no support in usage.

         COMPACT. This has been under-

stood by some to refer to the na-

tural conformation of the ground

on which the city stood. So Stan-

ley, speaking of "those deep ravines

which separate Jerusalem from the

rocky plateau of which it forms a

part," observes that they must have

not only "acted as its natural de-

fence, but must also have deter-

mined its natural boundaries. The

city, wherever else it spread, could

never overleap the valley of the

Kedron or of Hinnom . . . The

expression of compactness was still

more appropriate to the original

city, if, as seems probable, the val-

ley of Tyropa on formed in earlier

times a fosse within a fosse, shut-

ting in Zion and Moriah into one

compact mass, not more than half

a mile in breadth."—Sinai and

Palestine, pp. 172, 173.

     Others, as Herder, suppose the

epithet to mark the well-built city

with its fine streets and long rows

of contiguous houses, such an epi-

thet being peculiarly appropriate

and very natural in the lips of one

who, accustomed only to the scat-

tered dwellings of country villages,

is struck with the compact line of

stately buildings which form so

imposing a feature of the capital.

"This," he exclaims, "is indeed a

city:"

"Urbem quam dicunt Romam, Meli-

    boee, putavi

Stultus ego huic nostrae similem."

Herder accordingly renders,

"Jerusalem, du dicht-gebaute Stadt!

Wohnung an Wohnung ist in dir."

     So the peasants and fishermen of

Galilee were struck with admiration,

and expected their Master, to share

it with them as they exclaimed, "See

what manner of stones and what

buildings are here!" (Mark xiii.)

     If, however, the Psalm refers, as

is probable, to the city as rebuilt

after the Exile, then the epithet

alludes to the reconstruction of

walls and houses; the city is com-

pact, because there are no more

waste places, no more gaps and

heaps of ruin.

    4. The Poet glances here, and in

the next verse, at the earlier times,

 

 

380                              PSALM CXXII.

            A testimony unto Israel,

                        To give thanks to the Name of Jehovah.

5 For there were set thrones for judgement,

            The thrones of the house of David.

 

6 0 pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

            They shall prosper that love thee.

7 Peace be within thy bulwarks,

            Prosperity within thy palaces.

 

when Jerusalem had been the great

religious and political centre of the

nation, the dwelling-place of Jeho-

vah, to whose Temple all the tribes

were gathered at the three great

Feasts, and the seat of government

of kings of the house of David.

This had been its double glory.

It may be inferred, that he was

living at a time when all was

changed. There was still one sanc-

tuary, but all Israel was not united

under one sceptre. It was no longer

all the tribes who went up, as they

had done of old; there was now no

throne of the house of David. In

fact, even after the disruption of the

kingdom under Jeroboam, the tribes

did not go up to keep the yearly

Feasts in Jerusalem. It was a part

of "the Machiavellian policy" of

that prince to put a stop to this

custom, lest such occasions should

be made the means of restoring the

national unity (1 Kings xii. 26).

      TESTIMONY. The word seems

almost equivalent to "law" or

"statute," but there is in it also the

sense of a "witness" to the people

of their covenant relation to God.

The "law" is that, according to

which all males were to appear

before the Lord three times in the

year: Ex. xxiii. 17, xxxiv. 23;

Deut. xvi. 16; comp. Ps. lxxxi. 4,

5 [5, 6].

    The words "a testimony for Is-

rael," are grammatically in apposi-

sition with the previous clause, "the

tribes went up," &c.

     5. FOR. Jerusalem had become

the religious capital of the nation,

because it was already the civil

capital. The law had enjoined that

the, supreme tribunal should be in

the same place as the sanctuary

(Deut. xvii. 8, 9). But Jerusalem

was first the civil metropolis, "the

city of David" (2 Sam. v. 9, vi. 12,

16), before it became "the city of

God." To a Jewish mind, however,

the religious and the political im-

portance of the city were not so

much contrasted as identical;

Church and State were not two,

but one.

     WERE SET, lit. "sit," more com-

monly used of those who sit on the

throne, but the verb may be used of

things without life to describe their

position; as of mountains, cxxv. 1;

in many passages, of cities; and

even of countries (Jer. xvii. 6; Joel

iv. 20).

    THRONES FOR JUDGEMENT. The

king was also the judge: see on

lxxii. 1. Comp. 2 Sam. xv. 2; 1

Kings iii. 16, 17.

     THE HOUSE O DAVID. The ex-

pression plainly points to succes-

sors of David, not to members of

his family associated with himself

in government, administration of

justice, &c.

    6. PEACE . . . PROSPER, and in

the next verse PEACE . . . PROS-

PERITY, with a play of words in the

original (shalom shalvah), with an

allusion to the name of Jerusalem

(Yerushalaim) .

    7. BULWARKS . . . PALACES, as

in xlviii. 13 [14].

                               PSALM CXXII.                               381

8 For my brethren and friends' sakes,

            Let me now wish d thee peace.

9 For the sake of the house of Jehovah our God,

            I will seek thy good.

 

        8. The last four verses of the

Psalm breathe a spirit of the noblest,

most unselfish patriotism. Not for

his own sake, but for the sake of his

brethren—the people at large—and

for the sake of his God, His temple

and His service, he wishes peace to

Jerusalem, and calls upon others

to wish her peace. With love to

Israel, and love to Jehovah, there

is naturally united a warm affec-

tion for Jerusalem, a hearty interest

in her welfare.

 

            a Myrim;xoB;. Strictly, this means, "I rejoiced in, over, because of them

that were saying unto me." The difference in sense between this and

MrAm;xAB;, "when they said," is that with the part. the persons who speak

become more prominent, and the continuance of the action is marked

The LXX. rightly, e]pi> toi?j ei]rhko<si mou.

            yTH;maWA may be either past (as all the older interpreters) or present.

            b UyhA tOdm;fo. This compound tense may either be an imperfect, "were

standing," "used to stand;" or a strict perfect, "have been standing,

and now are standing." In this last case it may even be rendered as a

present.

            (i) hyh, with the part., is an imperfect, either (a) of habit, as Gen.

xxxii. 22, "Whatever they did (part.) there, he was doing," i.e. was in the

habit of doing; Jud. i. 7, "seventy kings were gathering (i.e. were in the

habit of gathering) their meat under my table:" or (b) of continued past

action simply, as Job i. 14, "the herd were ploughing."

            (2) hyH, with the part., is a strict perfect in Is. lix. 2, "Your sins have

been separating," i.e. have separated, and still do separate; Jer. v. 8,

where UyhA MyKiw;ma probably means either "they have strayed," or "they

have been fed to the full" (see Neumann, in loc.). In Is. xxx. 20 the

same construction is used to express a prophetic future, i.e. a perfect

transferred into the future, in which case it is followed by a future:

"Your eyes have been seeing (i.e. assuredly shall see) . . . and your ears

shall hear (fut.)."

            c hrAB;Huw,E. The verb is used of the putting together of the coverings of

the tabernacle, Ex. xxvi. Comp. wbH in Is. iii. 7, and rwqn; Neh. iii. 38.

The prefixed w, is not a later form of the pron., for it is found in the song

of Deborah. h.lA is the reflexive pron. used emphatically, as in cxx. 6.

            d 'b hrAB;daxE. This has been rendered (i) "Let me speak peace

concerning thee," as lxxxviii. 3. LXX. peri> sou?. So Del. who compares

Luke xix. 42, ta> pro>j ei]rh<nhn au]th?j. (2) As Hupf. "let me speak peace in

thee," i.e. in all my words, prayers, &c. wish that peace may be in thee;

and God is said "to speak peace," lxxxv. 9; comp. Esth. x. 3, where the

prep. lx, or l; is used; "to speak good," Jer. xii. 6, 2 Kings xxv. 28.

(3) "Let me speak: ‘Peace be in thee.'" Hengst., Olsh.

382                                 PSALM CXXIII.

 

                                       PSALM CXXIII.

 

            ALSTED beautifully entitles this Psalm Oculus Sperans, "The Eye

of Hope." "This," says Luther, "is a deep sigh of a pained heart,

which looks round on all sides, and seeks friends, protectors, and

comforters, but can find none. Therefore it says, ‘Where shall I, a

poor despised man, find refuge? I am not so strong as to be able

to preserve myself; wisdom and plans fail me among the multitude

of adversaries who assault me; therefore I come to Thee, 0 my God,

to Thee I lift my eyes, 0 Thou that dwellest in the heavens.' He

places over against each other the Inhabitant of heaven and the

inhabitants of the earth, and reminds himself that, though the world

be high and powerful, God is higher still. What shouldest thou do,

then, when the world despises and insults thee? Turn thine eyes

thither, and see that God with His beloved angels and His elect

looks down upon thee, rejoices in thee, and loves thee."

            This Psalm is either the sigh of the exile, towards the close of the

Captivity looking in faith and patience for the deliverance which he

had reason to hope was now nigh at hand; or it is the sigh of those

who, having already returned to their native land, were still exposed

to "the scorn and contempt" of the Samaritans and others, who

favoured by the Persian government, took every opportunity of

harassing and insulting the Jews. Comp. Nehem. ii. 19, "They

laughed us to scorn and despised us," with ver. 4 of the Psalm, "The

scorn of them that are at ease, the contempt of the proud."

            In structure the Psalm is noticeable for its number of rhymes, or

rather (for these do not always mark the ends of lines or half lines)

for the repetition at short intervals of the same terminal syllable

(e.g. 'eyneynu, eloheynu, y'chonnenu, &c.). These, however, are

apparently accidental, not intentional; rhyme, though frequent in

modern Hebrew poems, being no characteristic of ancient Biblical

poetry.

            But "the Psalm needs no singular or exceptional charm. It is

perfect as it stands. It is a little gem, cut with the most exquisite

art. Few poems, inspired or uninspired, have been more admired

or beloved. It has the charm of unity. It limits itself to one

thought, or rather it expresses a single mood of the soul—the upward

glance of a patient and hopeful faith. . . . This unity, moreover,

                                    PSALM CXXIII.                                          383

 

is blended with and enhanced by variety of expression. While

the first strophe sounds and illustrates the single theme of the Psalm,

the second, to use a musical term, is a variation upon it."—Rev. S.

Cox, The Pilgrim Psalms, p. 69.

 

                        [A PILGRIM-SONG.]

 

1 UNTO thee do I lift up mine eyes,

            0 Thou that art throned a in the heavens?

2 Behold, as the eyes of slaves unto the hand of their

                        masters,

            As the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress;

So our eyes (look) unto Jehovah our God,

            Until He be gracious unto us,

3 Be gracious unto us, 0 Jehovah, be gracious unto us,

            For we are exceedingly b filled with contempt.

4 Our soul is exceedingly filled

            With the scorn c of them that are at ease,

                        With the contempt of the proud.d

 

    1. Comp. cxxi. I.

    2. AS THE EYES OF SLAVES,

watching anxiously the least move-

ment, the smallest sign of their

master's will. The image expresses

complete and absolute dependence.

Savary (in his Letters on Egypt,

p. 135), says: "The slaves stand

silent at the bottom of the rooms

with their hands crossed over their

breasts. With their eyes fixed upon

their master they seek to anticipate

every one of his wishes." Comp.

the Latin phrases, a nutu pendere,

a vultu, ore, &c. Plautus (Aulul.)

uses the expression of a slave,

"oculos in oculis heri habere;" and

Terence (Adelph.), "oculos nun-

quam ab oculis dimovere." In

those passages, however, the ready

obedience of the slave may also be

denoted by his attitude. In the

Psalm the eye directed to the hand

of God is the oculus sperans, the

eye which waits, and hopes, and is

patient, looking only to Him and

none other for help.

    3. EXCEEDINGLY FILLED, or per

haps "has long been filled," lit.

"has been filled to itself," the re-

flexive pronoun marking the depth

of the inward feeling. (Comp. cxx.

6.) This expression, together with

the earnestness of the repeated

prayer, "Be gracious unto us,"

(shows that the "scorn" and "con-

tempt "have long pressed upon the

people, and their faith accordingly

been exposed to a severe trial. The

more remarkable is the entire ab-

sence of anything like impatience

in the language of the Psalm.

From the expression of trustful

dependence with which it opens,

it passes to the earnest, heartfelt

kyrie eleison in which it pours out

in a few words the trouble whence

springs the prayer.

 

 

 

384                                     PSALM CXXIV.

 

            a ybiw;y.ha. On this form, with the Chireq compaginis, see cxiii. note a.

            b bra = tBara, ver. 4, and cxx. 6, and is the older form of this word in

its adverbial use. See Gen. xlv. 28; 2 Sam. xxiv. 16; 1 Kings xix. 4.

            c  gfala.ha. The noun apparently in stat. constr. with the art., which is

unusual, though according to Ges, § 108, 2, a.c., Ewald, § 290, d.e., this

is allowable in certain instances, viz, either when the demonstrative

power of the article is required, or when the connection between the

noun and the following genitive is somewhat loose, so that the first forms

a perfect idea by itself, while the second conveys only a supplemental

idea relating to the material or purpose. It is on this latter principle

that the art. stands here.

            d Mynvyyxg. According to the Q'ri, this is to be read as two words

MyniOy yxeG;, "proud ones of oppressors" (which, however, as hx,GA does not

occur, ought rather to be yxeGe, from hx,Ge), but quite unnecessarily. It is

one word, a plur. from a form NOyxEGa (from hvAxEGa), as Gesenius, or NOyx;Ga, as

Ewald takes it, like NOyif;ra. The adjective, however, occurs nowhere else.

According to Hupf., this is substantially the same form as the NnAxEwa above,

the terminations NO- and N-A being originally adverbial, and formed from a

nunnated accusative.

 

                                      PSALM CXXIV.

 

            THE last Psalm was the sigh of an exile in Babylon, waiting in

absolute trust and dependence upon God for the deliverance of him-

self and his people from captivity. This Psalm is the joyful acknow-

ledgement that the deliverance has been vouchsafed. The next

Psalm (the 125th) describes the safety of the new colony, restored to

its native land, and girt round by the protection of Jehovah. Here,

then, we have three successive pictures, or rather three parts of one

and the same picture; for they are not only linked together, as repre-

senting successive scenes in one history, but they are also pervaded

by one great master-thought, which lends its unity to the whole

group. In each there is the same full recognition of Jehovah's grace

and power as working both for the deliverance and the security of

His people. In the 123rd Psalm, "The eye waits upon Jehovah, till

He be gracious." In the 124th, "If Jehovah had not been on our

side, men had swallowed us up alive... . Our help is in the name

of Jehovah." In the I 25th, "The mountains are about Jerusalem,

and Jehovah is round about His people."

                                     PSALM CXXIV.                               385

 

            There can be little doubt that this Psalm (the 124th) records the

feelings of the exiles when the proclamation of Cyrus at length per-

mitted them to return to their native land. Yet the figures employed

are somewhat startling. The swelling waters rising till they threaten

to sweep all before them is an image expressing, far more strongly

than anything in the history would seem to warrant, the hostility of

their conquerors to the Jews. The bird escaped from the broken

snare is an image rather of sudden, unlooked for deliverance, than

of a return so deliberate, so slow, in some instances apparently so

reluctant, as that of the Jews from Babylon. The figures remind one

rather of the earlier deliverance from Egypt. The Egyptians did

"rise up" against them. Pharaoh and his chariots and his horsemen

followed hard after them, and did seem as if about to swallow them

up, when they were entangled in the wilderness. The waves of the

Red Sea overwhelming their enemies might have suggested naturally

the figure by which the might of those enemies was itself compared

to swelling waters. The hasty flight might well be likened to the

escape of the bird from the broken snare; the blow struck in the

death of the first-born to the breaking of the snare.

            Still the language of poetry must not be too closely pressed. Indi-

viduals may have felt strongly their oppression in Babylon. How

keenly some had reason to remember their captive condition, we see

from the 137th Psalm. And the providential means by which their

deliverance was at last effected were unlooked for, and may have

well taken them by surprise. The power of Babylon had been

broken by Cyrus, and the conqueror had set them free. "When

Jehovah turned again the captivity of Zion, then were we like unto

them that dream." Moreover, we know how constantly both Prophets

and Psalmists are in the habit of comparing the return from Babylon

to the deliverance from Egypt. Twice had the nation been in bond-

age to other nations, in a strange land: twice had the yoke of its

masters been broken; and, unlike as the circumstances may have

been under which the two great acts of national redemption were

accomplished, still the one was naturally associated in the minds and

thoughts of the people with the other. And hence a Poet celebrating

the one might almost unconsciously borrow his imagery from the

other.

            Mr. Cox, however, remarks: "In the ancient Oriental world,

Babylon was much what the France of the first Napoleon was in the

modern European world; and its capture by the hardy Persians of

Cyrus was even more astonishing than the defeat of Napoleon by

the English. It was the great military empire of antiquity, ‘that

fierce and impetuous nation, which marched across the breadths of

386                                     PSALM CXXIV

 

the earth, to seize upon dwelling-places that were not its own.' . . .

That it should be overthrown by the poor hill tribes of Persia led by

Cyrus had indeed been predicted by Isaiah, but was nevertheless

well nigh as great a marvel to the Jews as to other Eastern races.

That the Lord should 'stir up the spirit of the king of Persia' to

proclaim Jehovah 'the God of heaven,' to affirm ‘the Lord God of

heaven, who hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, hath

charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem,’ and to set free as

many of His people as were willing to ‘go up to Jerusalem and build

the house of the Lord God of Israel’—all this was so strange, so

unexpected, so far beyond the reach of hope, that when the Hebrew

captives heard it, they ‘were like unto them that dream,’ and could

not believe for wonder and joy.  ‘This was the Lord's doing,’ none

but He could have done it, and it was marvellous in their eyes.'"

     The exquisite beauty of the Poem consists not only in the striking

figures which are employed, hut in the way in which these are

repeated and return upon !themselves. "The effect is indefinitely

enhanced by the lingering repetition of phrase after phrase." And

"the whole Psalm is alive with joy, the joy of an escape, of a

triumph as wonderful as it was unexpected."

            The title, which gives the Psalm to David, is evidently of no

authority. Delitzsch conjectures that the recurrence of certain words

found in the genuine Davidic Psalms may have led the collector to

assign this ode to him. In the LXX. and the Syriac it is anonymous.

            But apart from the Aramaic colouring of the diction, which points

to a later time, the theme of the Psalm is obviously such a captivity

as David never experienced.

 

                      [A PILGRIM-SONG. OF DAVID.]

 

I IF Jehovah had not a been on our side,—

            Let Israel now say

2 If Jehovah had not been on our side,

            When men rose up against us;

3 Then b had they swallowed us up alive,

            When their anger was kindled against us;

 

    3. SWALLOWED US UP ALIVE.               ravening beast swallowing its

Comp. lv. 15 [16]; Prov. i. 12; with                     prey, the figure being repeated in

Num. xvi. 32, 33, where the phrase                     ver. 6, "a prey to their teeth." If

is used of the company of Korah.                       so, we have three images. "The

     Or the figure may refer to the                       Babylonian beast had lost its prey,

 

                                 PSALM CXXIV.                                               387

 

4 Then had the waters overwhelmed us,

            The stream c had gone over our soul;

5 Then there had gone over our soul

            The proudly-swelling d waters.

6 Blessed be Jehovah,

            Who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.

7 Our soul is escaped as a bird from the snare of the

                        fowlers;

            The snare is broken, and we are escaped.

8 Our help is in the name of Jehovah,

            The Maker of heaven and earth.

 

the Babylonian torrent its victim,                    5. PROUDLY-SWELLING. Comp.

the Babylonian fowler his prize."             xlvi. 3 [4], lxxxix. 9 [10], and the

    4. THE STREAM, i.e. the moun-                   potamoj u[bristh<j AEschylus. Prom.

tain-torrent as swollen by the rains                      V 717.

and the melting of the snow in                                 8. This verse resumes the theme

spring. For the figure comp. xviii.                        of verses 1, 2, as well as of ver. 6.

16 [17], lxix. 1, 2 [2, 3], cxliv. 7, and                    The deliverance so marvellous, so

the still more exact parallel, Is. viii.                     unexpected, comes not from man,

7, 8; Hab. i. 11.                                                 but from Israel's covenant God.

 

            a yleUl, followed both in protasis and apodosis by preterite. See xxvii.,

note b.

            hyAhAw,. The use of the relative here is commonly accounted for by an

ellipse of the verb hyh, "If (it had not been) Jehovah who was on our

side," &c.  But Hupf. observes, that such an ellipse of the verb after a

conjunction is unheard of (in xciv. 17 it is virtually supplied in the

predicate), and supposes therefore that w is here used pleonastically after

yleUl as a conjunction, in the sense of "that." He compares the use of

the English if that and the pleonastic use of w in Cant. iii. 4, Eccles. vi. 3.

The LXX., too, render ei] mh> o!ti. Delitzsch compares the Aram. (d;) w,

yxval; (lit. o si quad).

            b yzaxE. According to Hupf., the genuine old Hebrew (not Aram.) form,

instead of the more common zxA, here introducing the apodosis (as in

cxix. 92), and rightly rendered by the LXX. a@ra. Del., on the other hand

(following Ewald, § 103, e), holds it to be a shortened form of the Aram.

Nyidax<. It here introduces the apodosis instead of the affirmative yKi, which

is employed in the older language to introduce the apodosis after yleUl, 

Gen. xxxi. 42, xliii. 10.

            c hlAH;na, in many MSS. and Edd., with the accent on the last syllable,

as if it were fem., but properly on the antepenultimate (as the Massora

and Qimchi, and the majority of MSS.), to distinguish it from the same

word as Milra, meaning, "an inheritance," and thus masculine, as the

388                                     PSALM CXX IV.

 

verb requires, with the old accus. termination, as cxvi. 15 (comp. cxx. 6,

and Is. viii. 23, hcAr;xa, where the accent is on the antepenultimate), which,

however, has lost its meaning. In Num. xxxiv. 5, on the other hand, it

is a real accusative, to the stream.

            d MyniOdyze, only here, a later adjective form for the more common Mydize

(but not Aramaic), bearing the same relation to NOdzA that NOyxEGa (see note c

on last Psalm) does to NOxGA.

 

                                            PSALM CXXV.

 

            THE exiles had been restored to their own land (see Introduction

to last Psalm), but fresh perils awaited them there. Not only were

they perpetually molested by the Samaritans and others in the re-

building of the Temple and of the city walls, but they were troubled

with internal dissensions. Ezra found the "abominations of the

heathen" countenanced by the intermarriages of the Jews who re-

turned from the Captivity with "the people of those lands," and was

dismayed when he learnt that "the hand of the princes and the

rulers had been chief in this trespass." Nehemiah, at a later period,

had to contend against a faction within the city who had taken the

bribes of the Samaritans. In rebuilding the walls, he did not trust

the priests, the nobles, or the rulers, till he had begun the work

(Neh. ii. 16, vi. 17). Even the prophets took part with his enemies

against him. Shemaiah, he found, had been hired by Tobiah and

Sanballat, and "the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the

prophets" had joined the plot, and sought "to put him in fear,"

and so to hinder his work (vi. 10-48).

            To these plots and this defection on the part of many of the Jews

themselves there is probably an allusion in ver. 3 and 5. On the

other hand, the faith of the Psalmist rises above all these dangers.

There is One who is the sure defence of His people, who is their

bulwark as the mountains are the bulwark of Jerusalem.

 

                            [A PILGRIM-SONG.]

 

1 THEY that trust in Jehovah are as Mount Zion

            Which cannot be moved,

 

      1, 2. Two images of the security                   they stand firm as Zion itself, they

of those who trust in Jehovah: (I)                        are like a mountain which cannot

                                  PSALM CXXIV.                                          389

 

            (But) is seated for ever.

2 As for Jerusalem, the mountains are round about her,

            And Jehovah is round about His people,

            From this time even for evermore.

3 For the rod of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of

                        the righteous,

 

be shaken; (2) they are girt as by

a wall of mountains--a natural bul-

wark against all enemies.

      I. IS SEATED, lit. "sitteth;" as

spoken of a mountain "lieth" or

"is situated," but here, with the

following "for ever," used in a still

stronger sense. Milton:--

"From their foundations loosening

            to and fro,

They plucked the seated hills."

See on the use of this verb cxxii. 5.

      2. MOUNTAINS ARE ROUND

ABOUT HER. "This image is not

realized," says Dean Stanley, "as

most persons familiar with our

European scenery would wish and

expect it to be realized. Jerusalem

is not literally shut in by mountains,

except on the eastern side, where it

may be said to be inclosed by the

arms of Olivet, with its outlying

ridges on the north-east and south-

east." Viewed from any other di-

rection, Jerusalem always appears

"on an elevation higher than the

hills in its immediate neighbour-

hood. Nor is the plain on which

it stands inclosed by a continuous

though distant circle of mountains

like that which gives its peculiar

charm to Athens and Innsbruck.

The mountains in the neighbour-

hood of Jerusalem are of unequal

height, . . . only in two or three

instances . . . rising to any con-

siderable elevation. Even Olivet

is only 180 feet above the top of

Mount Zion. Still they act as a

shelter; they must be surmounted

before the traveller can see, or the

invader attack, the Holy City; and

the distant line of Moab would

always seem to rise as a wall against

invaders from the remote east." It

is of these distant mountains that

Josephus speaks (Bell. Judr. vi. v. I)

as "the surrounding mountains,"

sunh<xei de> h[ perai<a kai> ta> pe<ric o@rh

 —Sinai and Palestine, pp. 174, 175.

AND JEHOVAH, instead of " so

Jehovah," &c., the comparison be-

ing formed by merely placing the

two objects side by side, as so fre-

quently in the Proverbs.

    IS ROUND ABOUT HIS PEOPLE.

Comp. Zech. ii. 4, 5 [8, 9], "Jeru-

salem shall be inhabited as towns

without walls, for I, saith Jehovah,

will be unto her a wall of fire round

about."

    3. FOR introduces an example of

God's protecting care—an example

not taken from the past, but which

faith anticipates and is sure of, as

if already accomplished.

    THE ROD OF WICKEDNESS. The

expression may refer to the Persian

rule under favour of which the

Samaritans and others annoyed the

Jews. The rod or sceptre, De Wette

urges, could not apply to the Sa-

maritans, for they did not rule over

the Jews. But it was through them

that the tyranny of the Persian

court made itself felt; and they

contrived, moreover, to gain over a

considerable part, and that the most

influential part, of the Jews to their

side. The fear was, as the next

clause shows, lest in this state of

things the defection should spread

still more widely.

    REST, i.e. "lie heavy," so as to

oppress, as in Is. xxv. 10, with a

further sense of continuance of the

oppression.

    THE LOT OF THE RIGHTEOUS is

the Holy Land itself; comp. xvi. 5,

6. The consequence of a long con-

tinuance of this oppressive rule

390                            PSALM CXXVI.

 

            That the righteous put not forth their hands unto

                        iniquity.

4 Do good, 0 Jehovah, to them that are good,

            And to them that are upright in their hearts.

5 But as for those who turn aside to their crooked paths,

            Jehovah shall make them go their way with the workers

                        of iniquity.

            Peace be upon Israel.

 

would be that THE RIGHTEOUS, the

sound and true part of the nation,

would itself be tempted to despair

of God's succour, and so be drawn

away from its steadfastness (comp.

xxxvii. 7, 8, xlix. 13 [14], lxxiii. 13,

14 [14, 15]; Job. xv. 4).

     4, 5. The Psalm ends with a con-

fident assertion of righteous requital

—first in the form of a prayer, and

then in the utterance of a hope,

both springing from the same faith

in the righteousness of God.

     5. TURN ASIDE TO THEIR CROOK-

ED PATHS. This may be, if we take

the participle transitively, "bend

their crooked paths," i.e. turn their

paths aside so as to make them

crooked. Comp. Jud. v. 6. But

in Num. xxii. 23; Is. xxx. 11, the

participle is used intransitively, and

so here we may explain "who turn

aside in, or to, crooked paths.” The

expression does not necessarily de-

note a going over to heathenism

it would describe the conduct of

those who, in the time of Nehemiah,

made common cause with the ene-

mies of Israel (Neh. vi. 10-14, xiii.

28-31).

    MAKE THEM GO THEIR WAY, i.e.

so as to perish., Comp. the use of

the same verb in (viii. 8 [9] (Hith-

pael), cix. 22 [23] (Niphal). Those

who begin with being crooked,

double, deceitful, will at last walk

openly with the wicked, and this is

Jehovah's doing, because it is His

law of righteous retribution.

    PEACE UPON ISRAEL. Comp. the

conclusion of cxxviii. So LXX.

ei]rh<nh e]pi> t&?  ]Isr. Jer. and Vul. pax

super Israel, but in the 128th Ps.

pacem.

 

 

                                    PSALM CXXVI.

 

            THE first colony of exiles had returned to Palestine. The permis-

sion to return had been so unexpected, the circumstances which had

led to it so wonderful and so unforeseen, that when it came it could

hardly be believed. To those who found themselves actually restored

to the land of their fathers it seemed like a dream. It was a joy

beyond all words to utter. God, their fathers' God, had indeed

wrought for them, and even the heathen had recognized His hand,.

            It is with these thoughts that this beautiful Psalm opens. But,

after all, what was that little band of settlers which formed the first

 

 

                                       PSALM CXXVI.                                 391

 

caravan? It was but as the trickling of a tiny rill in some desert

waste. Hence the prayer bursts from the lips of the Psalmist, Bring

back our captives like mighty streams, which swoln by the wintry

rains, descend to fertilize the parched and desolate wilderness. Then

comes the thought of the many discouragements and opposition

which the first settlers had to encounter; it was a time of sowing in

tears (Ezra iv. 11-24). Still faith could expect a joyful harvest.

He who had restored them to the land would assuredly crown His

work with blessing.

 

                              [A PILGRIM-SONG.]

 

1 WHEN Jehovah brought back the returneda of Zion,

            We were like unto them that dream.

2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter,

            And our tongue with songs of joy.

3 Then said they among the nations,

            "Jehovah hath done great things for them."

4 (Yea) Jehovah hath done great things for us;

            (Therefore) were we glad.

5 Bring back, 0 Jehovah, our captives,

            As the streams in the South.

 

     I. LIKE UNTO THEM THAT

DREAM, i.e. so unexpected and so

wonderful was our redemption from

the Exile, that we could scarcely

believe it was true, and not a dream.

     In Neale's Commentary there is

an apt and striking parallel, which is

quoted from Livy, xxxiii. 32, where

the Greeks, after the defeat of the

Macedonians by Flamininus, receive

the announcement at the Isthmian

games that the Romans would allow

them to retain their liberty." The

joy was too great for men to take

it all in. None could well believe

that he had heard aright, and they

looked on one another in wonder

like the empty show of a dream;

and as for each person singly, hav-

ing no confidence in their own ears,

they all questioned those standing

near them."

     2. FILLED WITH LAUGHTER, as

in Job viii. 21.

     3. JEHOVAH HATH DONE GREAT

THINGS, lit. "hath magnified to do

with (towards) these," as in Joel ii.

20. THEM, lit. "these," deiktikw?j.

     4. WERE WE GLAD. Or perhaps

present, "we are glad;" the con-

struction of the verb and participle

is the same as in cxxii. 2.

    5. STREAMS, or rather "channels"

(watercourses). THE SOUTH, i.e.

the south country, the Negeb, is the

image of a dry and thirsty land,

which wanted springs. Comp.

Judg. i. 15.

    Palestine without her people has

been like the south country parched

with the drought of summer: the

return of her inhabitants will be

grateful as the return of the moun-

tain torrents when, swoln by the

 

392                                  PSALM CXXVI.

6 They that sow in tears

            Shall reap with songs of joy.

7 He may go weeping as he goeth,

            Bearing (his) store of seed;

8 He shall come, he shall come with songs of joy,

            Bearing his sheaves.

wintry rains, they flow again along

the beds of the watercourses, carry-

ing with them life and verdure and

fertility. We find the expression of

the same feeling under a different

figure Is. xlix. 18, where the land,

like a bereaved mother, waits for

her children, whose return will fill

her heart'with joy. . . . The verse

is a prayer that all may be brought

back. There is a great past, may

the future be great also.

      6. THEY THAT SOW IN TEARS.

The sowing is a season of trouble

and anxiety, but the rich harvest

makes amends for all. So though

the new colonists were exposed to

many trials, yet a glorious future

was before them. That time of

labour, and trouble, and opposition,

and discouragement, and anxious

waiting, should by no means lose

its reward. The weeping should be

changed into joy; the weeping

should be the path of joy. Comp.

for the contrast between the sowing

and the reaping, Haggai ii. 3-9,

17-19.

     7, 8. These verses are merely an

expansion of the image in ver. 6,

with the common substitution of

the singular for the plural, to bring

out more clearly the figure of the

individual sower.

     7. This verse might perhaps be

more exactly rendered: "He who

beareth the handful of seed may

indeed weep every step that he

goes."

        7. Go WEEPING, or, yet more

strongly, "take no step of his way

without weeping," the double in-

finitive being employed to mark

the continued nature of the action.

Comp. 2 Sam. iii. 16; Jer. i. 4;

Gesell. § 131, 3b.

     STORE OF SEED, lit. "that which

is drawn," out of the store-house

and placed in the vessel or fold of

the robe to be scattered on the field.

Hence a sower is called "a drawer

of seed." Amos ix. 13.

 

            a 'c tbaywi, generally rendered, after the LXX.,th>n ai]xmalwsi<an Siw<n,

though perhaps unnecessarily. For the construction, comp. Deut. xxx. 3,

Ps. xiv. 7.

            hbAywi is formed from bvw, as hmAyqi from Mvq (Lam. iii. 63), and signifies

"the return," and so "those who return," just as tUbw; or tybiw;, "the

captivity," and hence "the captives," tUlGA, "the exile," and so "the

exiles." To this Hupf. objects that it is hardly likely that a form hbAywi

should be found as well as hbAUw, which occurs in the same sense

"return," Is. xxx. 15. Hence he maintains that tbayw is an old mistake

for tybiw; or tUbw;.

            That tUwB; refers to the past is quite certain, from the following UnyyihA  

and Jerome is right, "quum converteret . . . facti sumus."

            zxA introduces emphatically the apodosis, and the verbs which follow

are proper imperfects; "then our mouth began to be filled," &c. .. . then

they were saying, &c.

                                    PSALM CXXVII                                         393

 

                                    PSALM CXXVII.

 

            THIS and the next Psalm form two bright companion pictures of

social and domestic life, and of the happiness of a household which,

trained in the fear of God, is blessed by His providence. "These

pictures," says Isaac Taylor, "are mild and bright; humanizing are

they in the best sense: they retain certain elements of Paradise, and

yet more the elements of the Patriarchal era, with the addition of that

patriotism and of that concentration in which the Patriarchal life was

wanting. The happy religious man, after the Hebrew pattern, pos-

sessed those feelings and habitudes which, if they greatly prevail in a

community, impart to it the strength of a combination which is

stronger than any other; uniting the force of domestic virtue, of rural,

yeomanlike, agricultural occupations, of unaggressive defensive valour,

and of a religious animation which is national as well as authentic and

true. Our modern learning in Oriental modes of life and its circum-

stances and scenery may help us to bring into view either of two gay

pictures;—that of the Hebrew man in mid-life, at rest in his country

home, with his sturdy sons about him; his wife is still young; her

fair daughters are like cornices sculptured as decorations for a palace:

or else the companion picture, with its group on their way Zionward,

resting for the sultry noon-hour under the palms by the side of a

stream, and yet home, happy home, is in the recollection of the party;

but the Hill of God, ‘whereunto the tribes of the Lord go up,’ is in

the fervent purpose of all; and while they rest they beguile the time

with a sacred song and with its soothing melody. Happy were the

people while their mind was such as this, and such their habits, and

such their piety!"—Spirit of the Hebrew Poetry, pp. 165, 166.

            There is not a word in either Psalm to guide us as to the time of

its composition. The title gives the 127th to Solomon (only one

other in the entire Psalter, the 72nd, being ascribed to him), but it

may be doubted whether with sufficient reason. In form, in rhythm,

in general tone and character, it resembles all the others in this

collection. It has been conjectured that the proverb-like structure

of the Psalm, the occurrence in it of several words and phrases also

occurring in the Proverbs, and possibly a supposed allusion to the

name Jedediah in ver. 2, "His beloved" (y'dido), and to the building

of the Temple in ver. 1, may have led some collector to conclude

that the Psalm was Solomon's. In the Septuagint it is anonymous.

394                            PSALM. CXXVII.

 

In the Syriac it is said to have been spoken by David concerning

Solomon; but also concerning Haggai and Zechariah, who urged the

building of the Temple. Many, both ancient and modern inter-

preters have, in the same way, discovered in the Psalm an allusion

to the circumstances of the people after the return from the Captivity,

to the rebuilding of the Temple, and the guarding of the newly-

erected walls in ver. I, and to the numerical increase of the people

in ver. 4, 5, which at such a time would possess especial importance

in the eyes of a patriotic Hebrew. But the "house" in ver. I is

clearly not the Temple, but any house which men build, for the whole

Psalm is a picture of daily life, social and domestic; and, as De Wette

very truly observes, to build houses, to guard the city, to be diligent

in labours, would be just as important at any other period as after

the return from the Exile; and the Jews at all times of their history

esteemed a large family one of the chief of blessings.

            A want of unity, an abruptness, in the transition, from the first part

to the second part of the Psalm has been alleged, but without suffi-

cient reason. "The first part is engaged with the Home and the City;

the second part with the Children who are the strength and joy of the

Home, and with the Men who are the crown and defence of the City.

In both, in our home life and in our civic life, we are wholly de-

pendent on the providence and bounty of God."

            The great moral of the Psalm is, that without God's blessing all

human efforts and human precautions are in vain; that man can

never command success; that God gives and man receives. There

is a passage in Tennyson's "Lotos Eaters," the strain of which is not

unlike that of ver. 3 of the Psalm, except that there is a shadow of

sadness and weariness on the words of the modern Poet which finds

no response in the spirit of the Hebrew bard:--

 

            "Why are we weigh'd upon with heaviness,

            And utterly consumed with sharp distress,

            While all things else have rest from weariness?

            All things have rest: why should we toil alone?

            We only toil who are the first of things,

            And make perpetual moan,

            Still from one sorrow to another thrown:

            Nor ever fold our wings,

            And cease from wanderings;

            Nor steep our brows in slumber's holy balm;

            Nor hearken what the inner spirit sings,

            ‘There is no joy but calm!'

            Why should we only toil, the roof and crown of things?”

                                 PSALM CXXVII                                   395

 

               [A PILGRIM SONG. OF SOLOMON.a]

 

1 EXCEPT Jehovah build a house,

            They labour thereat in vain that build it;

                        Except Jehovah watch over a city,

            The watchman waketh (but) in vain.

2 Vain is it for you, ye that rise up early, ye that late

                        take rest,b

            That ye eat the bread of toil:

            Soc He giveth His beloved sleep.d

 

     I, 3. The truth seems obvious

and undeniable that all success is

from God, "An Gottes Segen ist

alles gelegen": yet practically this

is by most men forgotten. The

spirit of the Chaldean invader of

whom the Prophet says, "This his

strength is his God," the Dextra

milli Deus, is in the heart, if not

on the lips, of others besides the

atheist.

    1. A HOUSE, not "the Temple,"

as some explain, nor "the family,"

as others, but the structure itself,

as is evident from the context.

WATCHMAN, lit. "keeper," i.e. by

night, as in cxxi. 3, 4.

     THEY LABOUR, or rather "they

have laboured." It is the strict

perfect; the writer places himself

at the end of the work, sees its re-

sult, "they have spent their labour

in vain;" and so in the next verse,

"the watchman hath waked."

      2. YE THAT RISE. The Hebrew

expression runs literally: "making

early to rise, making late to sit

(down)," i.e. going forth early to

labour, and returning late at night to

take rest. It is an artificial lengthen-

ing of the natural day. Others

render the latter clause as in the

E.V. "sit up late," appealing to Is.

v. 11, where, however, the con-

struction is different, the participle

being followed not as here by the

infinitive, but by a noun with the

preposition, and the expression

being lit. "that make late in the

evening," i.e. no doubt that pro-

long their revels into the night.

     BREAD OF TOIL,or perhaps rather

"of wearisome efforts." Comp.

Prov. v. 10, "and thy wearisome

efforts (i.e. what thou hast gotten

with labour and toil) be in the house

of a stranger." There is an allu-

sion, no doubt, to Gen. iii. 17, "in

sorrow (or weariness) thou shalt

eat of it all the days of thy life."

     GIVETH SLEEP. Most follow

Luther in rendering "He giveth it,

i.e. bread, the necessaries of life,

in sleep." What others obtain only

with such wearing toil, such con-

stant effort, with so much disap-

pointment and so much sorrow,

God gives to the man whom He,

loves as it were while he sleeps, i.e.

without all this anxiety and exertion.

This is the interpretation now per-

haps commonly adopted; but it

seems to me very questionable

(though I accepted it in the First

Edition) for the following reasons:

(I) it is necessary to supply "bread," 

not "bread of toil," in this clause;

and (2) I am not satisfied that the

rendering of the accusative "in

sleep" is justifiable. The alleged

parallel instances (see Critical Note),

expressing parts of time, are not

really parallel. I am inclined,

therefore, to prefer the render-

ing, "So He giveth His beloved

sleep," though it is no doubt diffi-

cult to explain the reference of

the particle "so." I suppose it

 

 

396                      PSALM CXXVII.

3 Behold, sons are a heritage from Jehovah,

            The fruit of the womb is (His) reward.

4 Like arrows in the hand of a mighty man,

            So are the sons of (a man's) youth.

5 Happy is the man who hath filled his quiver with them,

 

refers to the principle laid down in

the previous verse, there being a

tacit comparison, "as all labour

is vain without God's providence,

as He builds the house, as He

watches the city, so He gives the

man who loves Him and leaves

all in His hands, calm refreshing

sleep."

     There is no discouragement here,

it is needless to say, to honest

labour. It is undue anxiety, a

feverish straining, a toiling, as if

toil of itself could command suc-

cess, the folly of which is con-

demned. Comp. for a similar

sentiment Prov. x. 22, "The bless-

ing of Jehovah maketh rich, and

toil can add nothing thereto." The

teaching is that of our Lord in the

Sermon on the Mount, "Wherefore

I say unto you, Be not anxious (mh>

merimna?te) for your life, what ye

shall eat and what ye shall drink,

neither for your body, wherewith

ye shall be clothed," &c., Matt. vi.

25-34. See also Luke x. 41;

1 Pet. v. 7. God's "beloved" are

not exempted from the great law

of labour which lies upon all, but

the sting is taken from it when they

can leave all results in a Father's

hand, with absolute trust in His

wisdom and goodness.

    3. BEHOLD, as drawing particular

attention to one marked example of

God's good gifts; which none can

question is emphatically His gift;

on this the Poet lingers, "allured by

the charm of the subject," for such

there was, especially to an Oriental,

to whom a numerous progeny was

the first of blessings, giving value

and stability to all others.

     A HERITAGE, or perhaps here, in

a wider sense, "a possession."

     4. SONS OF YOUTH, i.e. sons of

early married life (as in Prov. v.

18, Is. liv. 6, "a wife of youth"

is one married when a man is

young). On the other hand, in

Gen. xxxvii. 3, "a son of old age"

is lone born when his father is

old.

     These sons of a man's youth

are particularly mentioned, because

they would naturally grow up to be

a support and protection to their

father in his old age, when he

would most need their support.

     5. THEY. The pronoun cannot

be referred, with Calvin and many

expositors, to the sons, for it is

clearly the father whose cause is

supposed to be at stake, and who

in the emergency finds his sons

ready to defend him. Others, with

more probability, suppose it to in-

clude both father and sons. But

it may refer only to the father.

Hupfeld calls the change of number

harsh (from singular to plural), but

it is not more so than in cvii. 43,

"Who is wise that he should

observe... and that they should

understand," &c. When the singu-

lar means the genus, the transition

is easy to the plural.

    THEIR ENEMIES. The pron. is

inserted by the LXX. toi?j e]xqroi?j

au]tw?n, Jer. iniricis suis. Cf. Job v.

4.

     IN THE GATE, here mentioned

chiefly as the place of judgement

(Deut. xxi. 19; Is. xxix. 21; Amos

v. 12), as well as of all public acts.

See on ix. 14. The allusion is to

lawsuits, in which, if unjustly ac-

cused or brought before an un-

righteous judge, a man need not

fear lest he should be "put to

shame," i.e. lose his cause; his

stalwart sons would not suffer might

to prevail against right.

    The phrase "speak with their

enemies," in the sense of defending

                             PSALM CXXVII.                                         397

 

They shall not be ashamed, when they speak with (their)

            enemies in the gate.

 

their cause, may be illustrated by

Josh. xx. 4, Gen. xlv. 15, "And he

(the manslayer who has fled) shall

stand in the entrance of the gate of

the city, and shall speak his words

(i.e. plead his cause) in the ears of

the elders of that city." Comp. 2

Sam. xix. 30; Jer. xii. 1.

    Others understand by speaking

with enemies in the gate a battle

fought with besiegers at the gates.

So apparently Ewald, who refers to

Gen. xxii. 17, "thy seed shall

possess the gate of his enemies;"

and xxiv. 60, "let thy seed possess

the gate of those which hate them."

This certainly harmonizes better

with the warlike figure of the quiver

full of arrows: but can "to speak

with enemies" mean to fight with

them? If so, it must be an idiom

something like that of "looking

one another in the face," 2 Kings

xiv. 8, 11. But it may be under-

stood of "parleying with them," as

Rabshakeh for instance with the

captains and ministers of Hezek:iah.

      With the sentiment of ver. 4, 5,

compare Soph. Antig. 641—644:

tou<tou ga>r ou!nek ] a@ndrej eu@xontai gona>j

kathko<ouj fu<santej e]n do<moij e@xein,

w[j kai> to>n e]xqro>n a]ntamu<nwntai kakoi?j,

kai> to>n fi<lon timw?sin e]c i@sou patri<.

So, too, in Ecclus. xxx. 5, 6, it is

said of a father that "while he

lived, he saw and rejoiced in him

(his son); and when he died, he

was not sorrowful. He left behind

him an avenger against his enemies,

and one that shall requite kindness

to his friends." The coincidence

of expression in the last two

passages is remarkable.

 

            a The following coincidences of expression have been supposed to

justify the title. MybicAfE, wearisome efforts, ver. 2, occurs also Prov. v. 10;

yreHExam;; making late, in Prov. xxiii. 30. As in ver. 4 of the Psalm ‘ n.;ha ‘yneB;

sons of youth, so in Prov. v. 18 ‘n tw,xe, wife of, youth. Ver. 5, in the gate,

as in Prov. xxii. 22, xxiv. 7. And the whole Psalm may be considered

an expansion of Prov. x. 22.

            b tb,w,, opposed to MUq as cxxxix. 2, Lam. iii. 63, as also are the two

participles in the stat. constr. Aquila, rightly, bradunou?si kaqh?sqai.

            c NKe, so. i.e. with just the same result. So in the passages cited by

Del.: Num. xiii. 33, "we were. so, i.e. just the same in their sight;"

Is. li. 6, Nke-OmK;, as so, i.e. in like manner; Job ix. 35, "for it is not so with

me (as you think)," i.e. I am not guilty, as you assert; 2 Sam. xxiii. 5

may be interrogative, "For is not my house so with God that He hath

made an everlasting covenant with me?" In all these instances Del.

would take NKe as meaning small, or as nothing (gering, wie nichts), which

can only be justified if we suppose the word to be used deiktikw?j.

            d xnAwE, with Aramaic termination, for hnAwe, here it is said not acc. of the

object, but of time, as frequently in other words, such as rq,Bo br,f,, &c.,

Ges. § 118, 2; but, as I have said in the note on ver. 2, I do not think

these can be regarded as really parallel instances, because xnAwe is not a

word of time but of state.

                                 PSALM CXXVIII.                                       398

 

                                 PSALM CXXVIII.

 

            THE Introduction to the preceding Psalm may be consulted on

this, which is a sunny picture of the family happiness of one who

fears God, and leads a holy life.

            Luther says: "In the former Psalm the prophet treated of both

kinds of life, that is, both of national life and domestic life (politia  

et aeconomia). The same thing almost he doth in this Psalm, but yet

after another sort. For although here also he joineth the two together,

and wisheth the blessing of God and peace unto them both, yet hath

he more respect to household government or matrimony, because it

is, as it were, the fountain and source of civil government For the

children whom we bring up and instruct at home, these will, in time

to come, be the governors of the state. For of houses or families

are made cities, of cities provinces, of provinces kingdoms. House-

hold government, then, is with reason called the fountain of policy

and political government, for if you destroy the one, the other

cannot exist.

            "Wherefore to this Psalm we will give this title, that it is an

Epithalamium or Marriage Song, wherein the Prophet comforteth

them that are married, wishing unto them and promising them from

God all manner of blessings."

            The Psalm consists of two parts:

            I. The description of the happy life. Ver. 1-4.

            II. The good wishes and promises for him who has entered upon

it. Ver. 5, 6.

 

                                [A PILGRIM-SONG.]

 

1 HAPPY is every one that feareth Jehovah,

            That walketh in His ways.

2 For a the labour of thy hands shalt thou eat,

            Happy art thou, and it (shall be) well with thee.

 

    2. THE LABOUR OF THY HANDS.

This is the first part of the blessing,

—the quiet peaceful life of a thriv-

ing, prosperous yeoman in the

country, with no fear that the har-

vest will be trodden down by the

invader before it is ripe, or the

cattle swept off by some roving

predatory tribe. The opposite con-

dition is threatened as a curse :in

the Law: "Ye shall sow your seed

in vain, for your enemies shall eat

it," Lev. xxvi. 16; "Thou shalt build

an house, and thou shalt not dwell

therein; thou shalt plant a vineyard,

and shalt not gather the grapes

 

 

                                  PSALM  CXXVIII.                                   399

3 Thy wife b (shall be) like a fruitful vine, in the inner part

                        of thy house;

            Thy children, like olive-plants, round about thy table:

4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth Jehovah.

5 Jehovah bless thee out of Zion,

            And see thou the prosperity of Jerusalem

                        All the days of thy life,

6 And see thy children's children.

            Peace be upon Israel.

 

thereof, &c., Deut. xxviii. 30-33,

39, 40. See also Am. v. 11; Micah

vi. 15; Eccles. vi. 1, 2; and for a

contrast in this respect, between

the lot of the righteous and that of

the wicked, Is. iii. 10, 11.

    3. The comparison would per-

haps be brought out more clearly

by arranging the verse as follows:--

 

Thy wife shall be in the inner part

          of thy house

     Like a fruitful vine;

Thy children round about thy table

     Like the shoots of the olive.

 

    IN THE INNER PART, lit. "the

sides of thy house," as in Am. vi.

io, i.e. the women's apartments, as

marking the proper sphere of the

wife engaged in her domestic duties,

and also to some extent her se-

clusion, though this was far less

among the Jews than among other

Orientals.

     The VINE is an emblem chiefly

of fruitfulness, but also of grace-

fulness and dependence, as needing

support ; the OLIVE of vigorous,

healthy, joyous life. The same

figure is employed by Euripides,

Herc. Fur. 839, Med. 1,098.

    5. Looking on the beautiful family

picture, the Poet turns to greet the

father of the household, and to wish

him the blessing of which he has

already spoken in such glowing

terms.

       OUT OF ZION, as the dwelling-

place of God, His earthly throne

and sanctuary, whence all blessing

comes, cxxxiv. 3, xx. 2 [3].

     Then follows the truly patriotic

sentiment—the wish that he may

see the prosperity of Jerusalem, as

well as that he may live long to see

his children and grandchildren.

The welfare of the family and the

welfare of the state are indissolubly

connected.

     SEE, THOU, an imperative follow-

ing the optative, and therefore to

be understood as expressing a wish,

and even more, a promise, as in

xxxvii. 3, where see noteb.

      6. CHILDREN'S CHILDREN. SO

Virgil: "Adspicies . . . natos nato-

rum et qui nascentur ab illis."

 

a yKi is sometimes thus placed after other words instead of standing

first in the sentence: comp. cxviii. 10-12; Gen. xviii. 20. Hupfeld

contends that it retains its usual meaning for, but he would transpose the

two clauses of the verse: "Happy art thou, and it is well with thee, For

thou shalt eat," &c. Del. on the other hand, following Ew., takes it as

emphatic, surely; in German ja. Hupf. says yKi never has this sense;

but surely it may be used elliptically, = "'be assured that, &c. yki xlohE,

I Sam. x. 1;     yKi MnAm;xA, Job xii. 2 ; and the common expression yKi Jxa, &c.

            b j~T;w;x,; only here with this punctuation, instead of j~T;w;xi. hyAriPo is

for hr;Po, as hy.AkiBo Lam. i. 6, for hkBo, Ew. § 189, e.

400                          PSALM CXXIX.

 

                                 PSALM CXXIX.

 

            THE nation, delivered from the Babylonish Captivity, may well

look back to all her past history, and trace in it the same great law

of suffering, and the same ever-repeated tokens of God's mercy. The

record is a record of conflict, but it is also a record of victory (ver. 2).

The great principle on which Israel's final deliverance rests is the

righteousness of Jehovah (ver. 4). That has been manifested, as often

before, so now in cutting asunder the cords by which the people had

been bound in Babylon. Full of thankfulness at this deliverance,

the Poet draws thence an augury and a hope for the overthrow,

complete and final, of their oppressors.

            The Psalm consists, accordingly, of two stanzas, each of four

verses; the first containing the record of the past, the second the

prayer (which is also a hope, and almost a promise) for the future.

            In subject, style, and rhythmical structure, it most nearly resembles,

Psalm cxxiv., so nearly indeed that there can be no doubt that both

are by the same author. Observe how exactly the opening of the two

corresponds in form, and how in each Psalm two principal figures

are wrought out.

 

                                      [A PILGRIM-SONG.]

 

1 GREATLY have they fought against me, from my youth

                        up--

            Let Israel now say

2 Greatly have they fought against me, from my youth up,

            (But) they have not also a prevailed against me.

3 The ploughers ploughed upon my back,

            They made long their furrows b

 

     1. GREATLY, or "long:" the

same word as in cxx. 6, cxxiii. 4.

FOUGHT AGAINST ME, lit. "have

been adversaries unto me."

     FROM MY YOUTH UP. The youth

of the nation was in Egypt, at

which time God speaks of His rela-

tion to Israel as "love of youth,"

"espousals of youth," &c. Hos. ii.

15; Jer. ii. 2, xxii. 21; Ezek. xxiii.

3.

   2. HAVE NOT PREVAILED. This

is the point of the Psalm. The

New Testament parallel is 2 Cor. iv.

8-10, and the whole history of the

Christian Church is an echo of the

words.

     3. FURROWS. Deep wounds, such

as those made by the lash on the

back of slaves. Comp. Is. i. 6, and

a different but not less expressive

image li. 23. Isaiah, a town poet,

 

 

                           PSALM CXXIX.                                 401

 

4 Jehovah is righteous,

            He hath cut asunder the cord of the wicked.

5 Let them be ashamed and turned backward,

            As many as hate Zion.

6 Let them be as the grass on the housetops,

            That withereth afore c it be plucked up:d

7 Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand,

            Nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom;

8 Neither do they which go by say,

            "The blessing of Jehovah be upon you."

                        "We bless you in the name of Jehovah."

 

takes his image of the same oppres-                   of a plaster of mud and straw,

sion from the street: "Thou madest                      where the grass would grow still

thy back like the ground, and like                        more freely: as all the images are

the street to them that go over it"                        taken from country life, it is doubt-

(li. 23): But the rural poet in the                          less to country dwellings that the

Psalm takes his image from the                          Poet refers. Comp. 2 Kings xix.

farm, from the deep furrow driven                      26; Is. xxxvii. 27.

by the ploughshare.                                                 7, 8. These two verses are a

4. THE CORD. The figure is                             poetic expansion of the figure, an

probably taken from the yoking of                       imaginative excursus, exactly paral-

oxen: when the traces are cut, the                      lel to that which occurs in ver. 4, 5,

bullock is free. Or "the cord" may                       of the 127th Psalm. "The charm

be, in a wider sense, an image of                        of the subject allures" the Poet in

slavery, as in ii. 3.                                              each instance.

    6. GRASS ON THE HOUSETOPS,                  The picture of the harvest-field

easily springing up, but having no                        is like that in Ruth ii. 4, where in

root. The flat roofs of the Eastern                       like manner we have the greeting

houses "are plastered with a com-                      and counter-greeting. "And be-

position of mortar, tar, ashes, and                        hold Boaz came from Bethlehem

sand," in the crevices of which                           and said unto the reapers, Jehovah

grass often springs. The houses of                      be with you. And they answered

the poor in the country were formed                   him, Jehovah bless thee."

 

            a MGa. According to Ew. § 354 a, in this and other passages, such as

exix. 24, Ezek. xvi. 28, Eccl. vi. 7, the particle is equivalent to the Greek

o!mwj, nevertheless. Hupf. denies this, and argues that there is no need to

depart from the usual signification in any case: thus here, "They have

fought . . . they have not also prevailed." Comp. Gen. xxx. 8, xxxviii. 24,

Job ii. 10.

            b MtAOnfEmal;.  So the K'thibh, rightly, the word being plur. of hnAfEma,

which occurs besides only in I Sam. xiv. 14. The l;, marking the object,

is not necessarily an Aramaism, though found more frequently in the

later Psalms. Comp. lxix. 6, cxvi. 16. Here, however, the construction

may be explained by the form of the verb as = "have made length to

their furrows."

402                              PSALM CXXX.

 

            c tmad;q.aw,, a doubly Aramaic form; for (I) the relative belongs to

the verb, which withereth, and (2) tmad;qa occurs elsewhere only in Chal.d.,

Ezra v. 11, Dan. vi. 11, but not as here, immediately before a verb.

            d jlw, to draw out, used of drawing out a weapon, &c., here impersonal

for the passive, before one pulls up, i.e. before it is pulled up. So the

LXX., Th., and the Quinta, pro> tou? e]kspasqh?nai, and so Gesen. Thes. in v.,

Hupf., De W., &c. Others render before it shoot up, or be grown so as

to blossom (the blossom coming out of the sheath, as it were). So

according to Theodoret, some copies of the LXX. e]canqh?oai, Aq. a]ne<qalen.

But it is extremely doubtful whether Jlw can be taken thus intransitively:

no other instance of such usage has been alleged. Symm. has e]kkaulh?sai,

which may mean has come to a stalk, or perhaps be equivalent to

e]kkauli<zein, root up.

 

                                     PSALM CXXX.

 

            THIS Psalm is a cry to God for the forgiveness of sin. The

Psalmist pleads that he has long waited upon God, trusting in His

word. Out of his own experience, he exhorts all Israel in like

manner to hope, and wait, and look for God's mercy and redemption,

which will assuredly be vouchsafed.

            "When Luther, in the year 1530, was in the fortress of Coburg, on

four occasions during the night there seemed to pass before his eyes

burning torches, and this was followed by a severe headache. One

night he saw three blazing torches come in at the window of his

room, and he swooned away. His servant coming to his assistance,

poured oil of almonds into his ear and rubbed his feet with hot

napkins. As soon as he recovered, he bade him read to him a

portion of the Epistle to the Galatians, and during the reading fell

asleep. The danger was over, and when he awoke, he cried out

joyfully: 'Come, to spite the devil, let us sing the Psalm De profiandis,

in four parts.'

            "Being asked on one occasion which were the best Psalms, he

replied, 'The Pauline Psalms' (Psalmi Paulini); and being pressed

to say which they were, he answered: ‘The 32d, the 51st, the 130th,

and the 143d. For they teach us that the forgiveness of sins is

vouchsafed to them that believe without the law and without works;

therefore are they Pauline Psalms; and when David sings, "With

Thee is forgiveness, that Thou mayest be feared," so Paul likewise

saith, "God hath concluded all under sin, that He may have mercy

                              PSALM CXXX.                                           403

 

on all." Therefore none can boast of his own righteousness, but the

words, "That Thou mayest be feared," thrust away all self-merit,

teach us to take off our hat before God and confess, gratia est non

meritum, remissio non satisfactio—it is all forgiveness, and no merit.' "

—Delitzsch.

            This is the sixth of the seven Penitential Psalms, as they are called.

Delitzsch notices that several of the words and phrases of this

Psalm occur also in Psalm lxxxvi., but there are few of them of a

marked kind. It may be taken as evidence of the late date of the

Psalm that the word rendered "attentive," ver. 2, occurs besides only

in 2 Chron. vi. 40, vii. 15, and the word "forgiveness," ver. 4, only

in Dan. ix. 9, Neh. ix. 17.

 

                              [A PILGRIM-SONG.]

 

1 OUT of the depths have I called upon Thee, 0 Jehovah!

2 Lord, hear my voice:

            Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my sup-

                        plications.

 

3 If Thou, 0 Jah, shouldest mark iniquities,

            0 Lord, who shall stand?

4 But with Thee is forgiveness,

 

       1. OUT OF THE DEPTHS. Deep

waters, as so often being an image

of overwhelming affliction: comp.

ixix. 2 [3], 14 [15]; Is. ii. 10.

     "Unde clamat?" says Augus-

tine. "De profundo. Quis est ergo

qui clamat? Peccator. Et qua

spe clamat? Quia qui venit solvere

peccata, dedit spem etiam in pro-

fundo posito peccatori. . . Clamat

sub molibus et fluctibus iniquitatum

suarum. Circumspexit se, circum-

spexit vitam suam; vidit illam un-

dique flagitiis et facinoribus co-

operatam: quacunque respexit, nihil

in se bonum invenit, nihil illi jus-

titiae serenum potuit occurrere."

     HAVE I CALLED, a strict perfect

(not a present), as marking a long

experience continued up to the pre-

sent moment: comp. ver. 5.

    2. LET THINE EARS BE ATTEN-

TIVE. The same expression occurs

2 Chron. vi. 40.

      3. MARK, lit. "keep," or " watch,"

so as to observe: the same word as

in ver. 6, but used in the sense of

marking, observing, Job x. 14, xiv.

16 (comp. for the sense Ps. xc. 8);

and with the further sense of keep-

ing in memory, i.e. in order to

punish, Jer. iii. 5; Amos i. 11.

     WHO SHALL (OR CAN) STAND?

Comp. lxxvi. 7 [8]; Nah. i. 6; Mal.

iii. 2. "Non dixit, ego non sus-

tinebo; sed, quis sustinebit? Vid.it

enim prope totam vitam human am

circumlatrari peccatis suis, accu sari

ornnes conscientias cogitationibus

suis, non inveniri cor castum prae-

sumens de sua justitia."—Augus-

tine.

     4. BUT, or rather FOR, the con-

junction referring to what is implied

in the previous verse. The senti-

ment expanded would be: "If

Thou shouldest mark iniquities,

none can stand: but Thou dost

 

 

404                    PSALM  CXXX.

            That Thou mayest be feared.a

 5 I have waited for Jehovah, my soul hath waited;

            And in His word have I hoped.

not mark them, for with Thee is forgiveness."

     FORGIVENESS, lit. "the forgive-

ness" (either the common use of

the article before abstract nouns, or

possibly with reference to some-

thing not expressed, e.g. " the for-

giveness we need"). This noun

occurs besides only in two later

passages, Neh. ix. 17, Dan. ix. 9;

and the adjective from the same

root only in Ps. lxxxv. 5 [6]; but the

verb occurs frequently, both in the

Pentateuch and the later books.

    THAT THOU MAYEST BE FEARED.

God freely forgives sin, not that

men may think lightly of sin, but

that they may magnify His grace

and mercy in its forgiveness, and

so give Him the fear and the

honour due unto His Name. So

in xxv. 11, the Psalmist prays, "For

Thy Name's sake pardon mine

iniquity;" and lxxix. 9, "Purge

away our sins for Thy Name's

sake," i.e. that God's Name may be

glorified as a God who pardoneth

iniquity, transgression, and sin.

This forgiveness is a far more

powerful motive than any other to

call forth holy fear and love and

self-sacrifice. Luther says:  "Why

doth he add, ‘That Thou mayest

be feared?' . . . It is as if he should

say, I have learned by experience,

0 Lord, why, there is mercy with

Thee, and why of right Thou may-

est challenge this title unto Thyself,

that Thou art merciful and forgivest

sins. For in that Thou shuttest all

under free mercy, and leavest no-

thing to the merits and works of

men, therefore Thou art feared.

But if all things were not placed in

Thy mercy, and we could take

away our sins by our own strength,

no man would fear Thee, but the

whole world would proudly contemn

Thee. For daily experience shows

that where there is not this know-

ledge of God's mercy, there men

walk in a presumption of their own

merits. . . . The true fear of God,

the true worship, the true reverence,

yea, the true knowledge of God,

resteth on nothing but mercy,

that through Christ we assuredly

trust that God is reconciled unto

us. . . Christian doctrine doth not

deny or condemn good works, but

it teacheth that God willeth not to

mark iniquities, but willeth that we

believe, that is, trust, His mercy.

For with Him is forgiveness, that

He may be feared and continue to

be our God. Whoever, then, do

believe that God is ready to forgive,

and for Christ's sake to remit, sins,

they render unto God true and

reasonable service; they strive not

with God about the law, works,

and righteousness, but, laying

aside all trust in themselves, do

fear Him because of His mercy,

and thus are made sons who re-

ceive the Holy Ghost, and begin

truly to do the works of the law.

So in these two lines, David sets

forth to us the sum and substance

of all Christian doctrine, and that

Sun which giveth light to the Church."

     5. I HAVE WAITED. This has

been the attitude of soul in which

God's mercy has come to me.

    IN HIS WORD, on the ground of

His promises I have claimed that

mercy, and now my soul "is unto

the Lord," that I may ever find

fresh mercy, and grace for all my

n ed. This waiting, hoping atti-

tude is the attitude of a true heart,

of one not easily discouraged, of

one that says, "I will not let Thee

go, except Thou bless me."

     Luther, taking the verbs as pre-.

sents, "I wait," &c. traces the con-

nection somewhat differently. "The

Psalmist," he observes, "first prays

to be heard (ver. 2), then, obtaining

mercy, he perceiveth that he is

heard. Now, therefore, he addeth

                           PSALM CXXX.                                   405

 

6 My soul (looketh) for the Lord,

            More than watchmen (look) for the morning,b

                        (I say, more than) watchmen (look) for the morning.

7 0 Israel, hope in Jehovah;

            For with Jehovah is loving-kindness,

                        And with Him is plenteous redemption.

8 And HE will redeem Israel

            From all his iniquities.

 

an exhortation whereby he stirreth

himself up constantly to persevere

in this knowledge of grace. As if

he had said, I know that there is

mercy with the Lord. This princi-

pal article I have in some part now

learned. Now this remaineth for

me to do, to wait upon the Lord,

that is, to trust in the Lord, that I

may continue in this knowledge,

and hold fast this hope of mercy

for ever."

    6. MY SOUL (LOOKETH) FOR, lit.

"my soul is unto the Lord" (as in

cxliii. 6, "my soul is unto Thee"),

as the eyes of watchers through the

long and weary night look eagerly

for the first streaks of the coming

day. Delitzsch quotes in illustration

of the expression the words of Chr.

A. Crusius on his death-bed, when

lifting up his eyes and hands to

heaven he exclaimed: " My soul is

full of the grace of Jesus Christ, my

whole soul is unto God."

    WATCHMEN, as in cxxvii. I. The

allusion here is probably to the

night-watch of the Temple (see In-

troduction to Ps. cxxxiv.) anxiously

expecting the moment when they

would be released from their duties.

But sentinels watching a city or an

encampment might also be included

in the term, and indeed all who,

from whatever cause, are obliged

to keep awake. No figure could

more beautifully express the long-

ing of the soul for the breaking of

the day of God's loving mercy.

     7. He has not been disappointed

of his hope, and therefore he can

bid Israel hope. "Here he hath

respect," says Luther, "to that great

conflict, wherein the mind, op-

pressed with calamities, beginneth

to doubt of the mercy of God. In

this conflict, because the mind doth

not so soon feel those comforts

which the word promiseth and faith

believeth, as it would do, it is ready

to despair. Against this tempta-

tion David armeth us, and warneth

us to be mindful that we must wait

upon the Lord, and, never depart

from the word or believe anything

against the word, and he showeth

the cause why. For with the Lord

is mercy. . . . In myself I perceive

nothing but wrath, in the devil

nothing but hatred, in the world

nothing but extreme fury and mad-

ness. But the Holy Ghost cannot

lie, which willeth me to trust be-

cause there is mercy with the

Lord, and with Him is plenteous

redemption."

     PLENTEOUS REDEMPTION, or

more literally, "redemption plen-

teously" (the inf. absol. being used

as an adverb). He calls it plen-

teous, as Luther says, because

such is the straitness of our

heart, the slenderness of our hopes,

the weakness of our faith, that

it far exceeds all our capacity,

all our petitions and desires.

     8. HE emphatic, He alone, for

none other can.

     FROM HIS INIQUITIES, not

merely from the punishment (as

Ewald and Hupfeld). The re-

demption includes the forgiveness

of sins, the breaking of the power

and dominion of sin, and the set-

ting free from all the consequences

of sin.

406                       PSALM CXXXI.

 

            a xreUATi Nfamal;. The words seem to have been a stumbling-block to the

Greek translators. The LXX. render as if it were j~m;wi Nfaml;, joining

these words with what follows, e!neken tou? o]no<mato<j sou u[pe<meina< se, Ku<rie.

Aq. Th., e!neken tou? fo<bou. Symm., e!neken tou? no<mou (possibly taking the

fear of Jehovah to be a name of the Law, as in xix. 10). Another has

e!neken tou? gnwsqh?nai to>n lo<gon sou?; and another o!pwj e]pi<foboj e@s^,

this last alone being a rendering of the Hebrew. Jerome goes equally astray:

"Quia tuum est propitiatio, cum terribilis sis, sustinui Dominum." The

Fathers, of course following the Greek or the Vulgate, "propter legem

tuam sustinui te, Domine," miss the whole scope of the passage.

            b This is clearly the construction: "My soul is unto the Lord," A,q.

yuxh< mou ei]j Ku<rion. The construction in the E.V., "more than they that

watch for the morning," is not supported by usage: rmw followed by l;

never means to watch for.

 

                                    PSALM CXXXI.

 

            WHETHER written by David, to whom the title gives it, or not, this

short Psalm, one of the most beautiful in the whole Book, assuredly

breathes David's spirit. A childlike simplicity, an unaffected humility,

the honest expression of that humility as from a heart spreading itself

out in conscious integrity before God—this is what we find in the

Psalm, traits of a character like that of David. Delitzsch calls the

Psalm an echo of David's answer to Michal, 2 Sam. vi. 22, "And I

will become of still less account than this, and I will be lowly in

mine own eyes." At the same time, with the majority of interpreters,

he holds it to be a post-exile Psalm, written with a view to encourage

the writer himself and his people to the same humility, the same

patient waiting upon God, of which David was so striking an

example.

            "Few words, short lines, sober images, all conspire to place in striking

relief that virtue which certainly was not a characteristic of the Jewish

nation, but which has been sanctioned and consecrated by the

Gospel."—Reuss.

 

                          [A PILGRIM-SONG. OF DAVID.]

 

I JEHOVAH, my heart is not haughty,

 

     I. "All virtues together," it has                        chief crowning virtue to which the

been said, "are a body whereof                           Poet lays claim; "for Jehovah bath

humility is the head." It is this                             respect unto the lowly," cxxxviii. 6,

                              PSALM CXXXI.                              407

 

                        Nor mine eyes lifted up:

            Neither do I busy myself in things too great,a

                        And in things too wonderful for me.

2 But b I have stilled and hushed my soul;

            As a weaned child with his mother,

                        As the weaned child c (I say) is my soul within me.

 

and "dwelleth with him that is

of an humble spirit," Is. lvii. 15.

The remarkable thing is that the

Poet can assert his own lowliness

without losing it. "To claim this

virtue is as a rule to forfeit it, but

David contrives to claim humility

with humility. His words have no

taint of pride in them;" they are

not like the prayer of the Pharisee,

God, I thank thee that I am not as

other men are: there is no compa-

rison with others. "We feel that

he is alone with God; that he is

showing God his heart as it really

is; that he is virtually thanking

God for the meek and quiet spirit

which He has given."—Cox, Pil-

grim Psalms.

     MINE EYES LIFTED UP, as in

xviii. 27 [28], ci. 5; therefore a

Davidic expression. Pride has its

seat in the heart, looks forth from

the eyes, and expresses itself in the

actions.

     I BUSY MYSELF, lit. "walk," a

common figure for the life and

behaviour. The perfects denote

strictly past action continued to the

present moment (as in cxxx. 1, 5),

and the intensive form of the verb

(Piel), the busy, continual action.

     TOO GREAT . . . TOO WONDER-

FUL, here probably in a practical

sense, "I have not aimed at a posi-

tion above me, involving duties and

responsibilities too heavy for me."

Though the lesson applies also to

speculation on abstruse mysteries.

He had not sought "for some great

thing to do, or secret thing to

know." Comp. for the phrase,

Gen. xviii. 14, "Is anything too

wonderful for Jehovah?"  Deut.

xvii. 8, "When a matter is too

wonderful (too hard) for thee for

judgement:" xxx. 11, "For this

commandment . . . is not too won-

derful for thee, it is not far off."

    2. I HAVE STILLED MY SOUL, i.e.

the pride and passions which were

like the swelling waves of an angry

sea. The word is used in Is. xxviii.

25, of leveling the ground after the

clods have been broken by the

plough. The E.V. uses "behaved "

in the old sense of restraining,

managing, as for instance in Shake-

speare's Timon of Ath., "He did

behave his anger ere 'twas spent."

    The next two clauses of the verse

would be more exactly rendered: —

"As a weaned child upon his mother"

(i.e. as he lies resting upon his

mother's bosom);

"As the weaned child (I say), lies

     my soul upon me."

     The figure is graceful, touching,

original, beautifully expressive of

the humility of a soul chastened by

disappointment. It expresses both

the cost at which he gained rest,

for the child is not weaned without

much pain and strife, and also the

purity and unselfishness of the rest

he gained. As the weaned child

when its first fretfulness and un-

easiness are past no longer cries,

and frets, and longs for the breast,

but lies still and is content, because

it is with its mother; so my soul

is weaned from all discontented

thoughts, from all fretful desires

for earthly good, waiting in still-

ness upon God, finding its satis-

faction in His presence, resting

peacefully in His arms.

     "The weaned child," writes a

mother, with reference to this

passage, "has for the first time

408                      PSALM CXXXI.

 

3 0 Israel, hope in Jehovah,

            From henceforth even for ever.

 

become conscious of grief. The

piteous longing for the sweet

nourishment of his life, the broken

sob of disappointment, mark the

trouble of his innocent heart: it is

not so much the bodily suffering;

he has felt that pain before, and

cried while it lasted; but now his

joy and comfort are taken away,

and he knows riot why. When his

head is once more laid on his

mother's bosom, then he trusts and

loves and rests, but he has learned

the first lesson of humility, he is

cast down, and clings with fond

helplessness to his one friend."

    At a time when the devices of

our modern civilization are fast

tending to obliterate the beauty of

this figure, mothers no longer doing

their duty by their children, it

seems the more necessary to draw

attention to it.

     3. Prayer, as at the close of the

last Psalm, that the experience of

the individual may become the

experience of the nation, that they

too may learn to lie still, and trust,

and wait, in that hope which, like

faith and love, abideth for ever

(I Cor. xiii. 13).

 

 

 

            a It is doubtful whether the comparison ynim,.mi belong to both the

adjectives. Perhaps the rendering of the E.V. "in great things, and in

things too wonderful" is to be preferred.

            b xlo Mxi, not conditional, with the apodosis beginning at lmugAK;, nor

interrogative, as if = xlohE, but either an asseveration, surely (commonly

so used after words of swearing, but also without the adjuration, Num„

xiv. 35, Is. V. 9, and often in Job), or serving to introduce an opposition

to what precedes, as in Gen. xxiv. 38, Jer. xiii. 6, Ezek. iii. 6; but even

in these instances, the force of the particles is rather that of emphatic:

assertion than of mere opposition. "God do so to me, if I do not this

or that," is the formula always implied in their use.

            c lmuGAKa. The article is clearly the article of reference, i.e. it resumes

the word in the previous line : "As a weaned child . . . as the weaned

child, I say." And this resumption of the previous expression is in entire

accordance with the common rhythmical structure of so many of these

Pilgrim-Songs. Hupf. most unnecessarily takes the double K; as correla-

tive, and explains, "As a weaned child, so is that which is weaned in me,

viz. my soul." There is, I think, a designed parallel in the use of the

prep. lfa in the two lines (though Del. denies this): As the weaned child

lies upon its mother's breast, so my soul lies upon me; the soul being for

the moment regarded as separate from the man, as that part which is the

seat of the affections, passions, &c.

                                PSALM CXXXII.                                    409

 

                                PSALM CXXXII.

 

            THIS Psalm is a prayer that God's promises made to David may

not fail of fulfilment, that He will dwell for ever in the habitation

which He chose for Himself in Zion, and that the children of David

may for ever sit upon his throne. It opens with a recital of David's

efforts to bring the Ark to its resting-place; it ends with a recital of

the promises made to David and to his seed.

            There has been much difference of opinion as to the occasion for

which the Psalm was written.

            i. The majority of the ancient interpreters regard it as a prayer of

David's, either at the consecration of the Tabernacle after the removal

of the Ark thither, or at the time when he formed the design of build-

ing the Temple, and received in consequence the promise in 2 Sam.

vii., or at the dedication of Araunah's threshing-floor, 2 Sam. xxiv.

But the petition in ver. 10, "For Thy servant David's sake, turn not

away the face of Thine Anointed," does not seem natural in the

mouth of David. In the mouth of one of his descendants, whose

confidence and hope rested on the promise made to his ancestor, and

who could plead David's faithfulness to the covenant, such a petition

becomes much more intelligible. In any case, it is clear that the

Psalm could not have been composed till after the promise had been

given to David in 2 Sam. vii., to which it contains a distinct reference,

and therefore was not intended to be sung at the consecration of the

Tabernacle on Mount Zion.

            2. Others, with more probability, have thought that the Psalm was

written in commemoration of the completion and dedication of the

Temple, either by Solomon himself, or by some Poet of his time. On

such a view, this ode is seen to be harmonious and consistent

throughout. It is perfectly natural that Solomon, or a Poet of his

age writing a song for such an occasion, should recur to the earlier

efforts made by his father to prepare a habitation for Jehovah. On

the completion of the work, his thoughts would inevitably revert to

all the steps which had led to its accomplishment. It is no less

natural that at such a time the promise given to David should seem

doubly precious, that it should be clothed with a new interest, a fresh

significance, when David's son sat upon his throne, and when the

auspicious opening of his reign might itself be hailed as a fulfilment

of the promise. It is, moreover, in favour of this view that ver. 8—10

410                            PSALM CXXXII.

of the Psalm form, with one slight variation, the conclusion of Solo-

mon's prayer at the dedication of the Temple, according to the

version of that prayer given in the Chronicles (2 Chron. vi. 41, 42).*

            3. Many of the more recent expositors, starting with the prejudice

that all these Pilgrim Songs belong to a period subsequent to the

Exile, suppose the Psalm to have been written for the dedication of

the Second Temple, or in order to encourage Zerubbabel, the chief

representative at the time of David's family, "whose spirit God had

stirred to go up to build the house of the Lord" (Ezra i. 5). But the

title of "the Anointed" would hardly have been given to Zerubbabel.

He never sat on the throne. The crowns which Zechariah was

directed to make were to be placed not on the head of Zerubbabel,

but on the head of Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest: the

sovereignty was to be with him; "he shall bear the glory, and shall

sit and rule upon his throne " (Zech. vi. 10—13). It is possible, of

course, that a Poet in these later times might have transported him-

self in imagination into the times of David, and that his words might

borrow their colouring and glow from the brighter period which

inspired his song. Yet it is hardly probable that there should have

been no allusion to the existing depression of David's house, no

lamentation over its fallen fortunes, as in Ps. lxxxix. for instance, no

hint of any contrast between its past and its present condition.†  Such

entire sinking of the present in the past is hardly conceivable.

            Still less probable does it appear to me, that some prince of the

House of David, at a still later period of the history, should be the

Anointed of the Psalm, or that it is to be brought down to the age

of the Maccabees.

 

            * It is at least evidence that the compiler of the Book supposed the

Psalm to have been written with reference to that event. The passage

does not occur at all in Solomon's prayer as given in I Kings viii. This,

of itself, makes it probable that the Chronicler borrows from the Psalmist,

not the Psalmist from the Chronicler. Besides, the variations in the

Chronicles are such as would be made in changing poetry into prose,

especially the explanation given of ver. 10 in the Psalm:  "Remember the

mercies of David Thy servant." We have already seen, in the Introduc-

tion to Ps. cv., that the writer of that book allows himself some liberty

in quoting from the Psalms.

            † I confess I can see no indication in the Psalm of any such contrast,

though it has been assumed by many interpreters, both ancient and

modern. The mention of the Ark does not prove that the Psalm was not

intended for the dedication of the Second Temple, for although it. may be

inferred from Josephus (Bell. Jud. v. § v. 5), and from the Mishnah (Yoma,

v. 2)—where we are told that the place of the Ark was an altar-stone

three fingers' height above the ground, on which the High Priest placed

the censers on the Day of Atonement—that the Ark had perished in the

destruction of the First Temple, still the exiles might have used, without

changing them, the words which were sung at Solomon's dedication.

                               PSALM CXXXII.                                     411

 

            Reuss argues for the later date. He contends that the Anointed

(ver. 17) is one of the priest-princes of the post-exile history, and that

the diadem (ver. 18) is the distinctive mark of the spiritual chief,

representing the theocratic power (Ex. xxix. 6, &c.) before it became

the mark of royalty. He is right, I believe, in saying that the main

and dominant thought of the Psalm is to be found in the last strophe,

the fulfilment, namely, of the promise and the oath to David, the first

two strophes being merely the historical prelude clothed in the forms

of poetry. No doubt we have "a poetic ideal, and not a simple

narrative in exact conformity with history." But neither this fact, nor

the other arguments which Reuss has adduced, satisfy me that he

is right in his inference as to the age of the Psalm.

            4. It may be mentioned that Origen, Theodoret, and some other

of the Greek fathers, hold the Psalm to be a prayer of the exiles in

Babylon, longing for the rebuilding of the Temple, and the restoration

of David's dynasty.

            5. Finally, Maurer would refer the Psalm to the time of Josiah,

and conjectures that it may have been written after the reformation

which he introduced in accordance with the law of Moses.

            The Psalm consists of three strophes. The first, ver. 1-5, is a

grateful acknowledgment of the completion of the Temple, the

crowning of the purpose which had been in David's heart. The

second, ver. 6-10, traces briefly the history of the Ark and its wander-

ings, till it was brought to its final resting-place in the Temple, and

recalls the prayer which was uttered on the occasion. The third,

ver. 11-18, is virtually the Divine answer to the prayer, and echoes

each petition, only that the answer is larger.

 

                                 [A PILGRIM-SONG.]

 

I  O JEHOVAH, remember for David

            All his anxious cares;

 

    I. REMEMBER, i.e. so as to fulfil

Thy promise made to him: comp.

2 Chron. vi. 42.

    FOR DAVID. " The Temple was

built in David's heart before it was

built by Solomon's hands; and

Solomon asks, not that his toil may

be accepted, but that his father's

devotion may be remembered."

—Cox, Pilgrim Psalms, p. 271.

     ALL HIS ANXIOUS CARES, lit. "all

his being afflicted " (the infin. Pual

used as a noun). See the same

word cxix. 71; Is. liii. 4. David

had tormented himself with his

anxiety to prepare a suitable earthly

dwelling-place for Jehovah. First,

the building of the Tabernacle on

Mount Zion, and the solemn bring-

ing up of the Ark there, had engaged

his thoughts. The prayer in ci. 2,

when wilt Thou come unto

me?" is the best comment on

David's afflictions and anxious

cares till his purpose was accom-

plished. In contrast with this, he

says himself, "We did not seek it

(did not trouble ourselves about it)

in the day of Saul," I Chron. xiii. 3.

Next, if we suppose the Psalm to

412                                    PSALM CXXXII.

 

2 How he sware unto Jehovah,

            (And) vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:

3 "I will not come into the tent of my house,

            I will not go up to the couch of my bed,

4 I will not give sleep a to mine eyes,

            Nor slumber to my eyelids,

5 Until I find a place for Jehovah,

            A dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob."

6 Lo, we heard of it in Ephrathah,

 

take a wider range, there may also

be included in these "anxious cares"

his earnest desire to build the

Temple, and the great preparations

which he made with that object, by

collecting the materials, furnishing

the design to his son, and making

provision for the service and wor-

ship of God on a scale of unex-

ampled magnificence.

     2. HOW HE SWARE, lit. "who

sware."

    MIGHTY ONE OF JACOB. This

name of God (repeated in ver. 5)

occurs first in Gen. xlix. 24, in the

mouth of the dying Jacob. It is

found besides only in three pas-

sages: in Is. i. 24 ("Mighty One

of Israel"), xlix. 26, lx. 16. "Jacob

is mentioned here for two reasons:

(I) because he is the first-mentioned

of those who vowed, and (2) for his

having erected a pillar for a House

of God: comp. v. 5."

    3. TENT OF MY HOUSE, i.e. "the

tent which is my house" (as in the

next clause, "the couch which is

my bed"), a good instance of the

way in which the associations of

the old patriarchal tent life fixed

themselves in the language of the

people.

    4. SLEEP TO MINE EYES. See

the same proverbial expression,

Prov. vi. 4.

    5. A DWELLING, lit. "dwellings;"

but see on the plur. lxxxiv. 1. This

has been referred (I) to David's

intention of building the Temple,

2 Sam. vii., and the preparatory

consecration of the threshing-floor

of Araunah, 2 Sam. xxiv.; (2) to

the placing the Ark in a fixed abode

on Zion, after its many wanderings :

comp. lxxviii. 68, 69. The latter is

the more probable.

    6. This verse is extremely ob-

scure, but it seems at any rate to

describe in some way the accom-

plishment of David's purpose.

There are three principal points in

it to be considered

    (I) To what does the feminine

pronoun "it," which is the object

of the two verbs " heard," "found,"

refer? Either (a) it is an indefinite

neuter, "We heard of the matter,"

or as Bunsen more precisely ex-

plains, "We heard it, viz. the joyful

cry in ver. 7, Let us go to the

Temple on Zion." The objection

to taking the pronoun in this way

is, that the second verb, "we

found," is not very suitable on

either explanation. Or (b) the

pronoun refers to the Ark, which

has already been tacitly brought

before us in ver. 5 (where "a dwell-

ing for Jehovah" is a dwelling for

the Ark, as the symbol of His pre-

sence), and is expressly mentioned

in ver. 7. The noun is fem. as well

as masc., and, by a not uncommon

Hebrew usage, the pronoun antici-

pates the mention of the object to

which it points. G. Bauer (in a

note to De Wette) objects that

Hebrew usage will not allow of the

rendering "We heard of it," and

that the only proper translation is

"We heard it," viz. the rumour.

But in Jer. xlvi. 12, we have the

 

 

                               PSALM CXXXII.                                        413

            We found it in the field of the wood:b

 

same construction (the verb with

the accus.), "The nations have

heard of thy shame."

    (2) In the use of the verbs

"heard" . . . "found" is the paral-

lelism synonymous or antithetical?

Do they describe two parts of the

same action, "We heard it was. &c.

and there we found it"? or do they

mark two distinct and opposed ac-

tions, "We heard it was in one

place, we found it in another"?

The answer to this question must

depend on the interpretation we

give to the proper names which follow.

    (3) What are we to understand

by Ephrathah and "the field of the wood"?

    (A) To take the latter expression

first. This may be either an appel-

lative or a proper name. In the

last case it may be rendered, "fields

of Jaar," Jaar being a shortened

form of Kirjath-Jearim, "the city

of woods," for Jearim, "woods," is

only the plural of Jaar, "wood."

The name of this city, as it hap-

pens, appears in a variety of dif-

ferent forms; in Jer. xxvi. 20, as

Kirjath-hajearim (i.e. with the ar-

ticle) and apocopated, Kirjath 'arim,

Ezra ii. 25 (comp. Josh. xviii. 28);

it is also called Kirjath-baal, Josh.

xv. 6o, and Baalah, xv. 9, 1 Chron.

xiii. 6 (comp. Josh. xv. to, "the

mountain of Jearim," with 11,"the

mountain of Baalah"); and ap-

parently Baale-judah, 2 Sam. vi. 2.

There is no reason why, poetically,

it should not be called Jaar; and

when we further remember that the

Ark, after having been captured

by the Philistines and restored by

them, remained for twenty years

at Kirjath-jearim (1 Sam. vii. 2), it

is at least probable that, in a pas-

sage which speaks of the removal

of the Ark to Zion, there may be some

allusion to the place of its previous sojourn.

    (B) Ephrathah, as the name of a

place, only occurs elsewhere as the

ancient name of Bethlehem, Gen.

xxxv. 16, 19, xlviii. 7; Ruth iv. 11.

In Micah v. 2 [1], the two names

are united, Bethlehem-Ephrathah.

Hengstenberg maintains that the

usage is the same here, "We, being

in Bethlehem, heard." There, he

says, David spent his youth while

as yet he had only heard of the

Ark of the covenant. It was

known only by hearsay, no one

went to see it, it was almost out of

mind; comp. Job xlii. 5; Ps. xviii. 44,

45 (and David's words in i Chron.

xiii. 3). But the pronoun "we"

must surely refer, not to David, but

to the people at large. And besides,

although the construction "We in

Bethlehem heard it" may possibly

be defended by Matt. ii. 2, "We

in the East saw His Star," yet here

the parallelism seems rather to re-

quire the sense, "We heard that it

was at Ephrathah, we found it at

Kirjath-jearim." [Reuss recently

takes the same view: "It was at

Ephratah, i.e. Bethlehem, where

they lived, that they heard of his

project. It was at Ja'ar, i.e. Qiryat-

le'arim, that they found the holy Ark." ]

      Other explanations have accord-

ingly been given of the name.

     (a) Although Ephrathah is only

an ancient name for Bethlehem, yet

since Ephrathite as frequently de-

notes an Ephraimite as a Bethlehem-

ite, so it is possible that Ephrathah

here may be a name for Ephraim. In

that case, the allusion is to the first

resting-place of the Ark in Shiloh,

which was the capital of Ephraim :

"We heard in ancient story that

the Ark was placed in Shiloh; we

found it, when at last it was to be

removed to its new abode, at Kirjath-

jearim." The word found would

naturally suggest the many vicissitudes and

wanderings of the Ark in the interval.

     (b) It has been supposed that

Ephrathah is not a proper name, but denotes,

in accordance with its etymology, the fruitful

land, by way of contrast with the fields of

the wood, i.e. the forest district; the

former denoting the southern part

414                              PSALM CXXXII.

7 " Let us come into His dwelling,

            Let us bow ourselves before His footstool.

8 Arise, 0 Jehovah, into Thy resting-place,

 

of Palestine, as the more culti-

vated, the latter the northern, and

especially the woody ranges of

Lebanon. Thus the whole land

would be poetically summed up

under the two heads of the fertile

and the woody regions, and the

meaning would be, "From all parts

of the land we flocked at the sum-

mons of our king, to bring up the

holy Ark to its dwelling-place in

Zion." In this case, the, verbs

"heard" . . . "found" cannot be

taken as describing different and

contrasted acts, but as referring to

one and the same event.

     (g) Ephrathah has been conjec-

tured (also with reference to its ety-

mological meaning of "the fruit-

ful country") to be a name for

Beth-shemesh, the spot where the

Ark was first deposited by the

Philistines, and whence it was sub-

sequently removed to "the fields of

the wood," i.e. Kirjath-jearim. Ac-

cording to this interpretation, which

is that of Hupfeld, the verse would mean,

"We heard that the Ark was brought

      to Beth-shemesh first,

We found it at Kirjath-jearim."

     (d) Lastly, Delitzsch identifies

Ephrathah with the district about

Kirjath-jearim, and on these

grounds: Caleb had by Ephrath,

his third wife, a. son named Hur

(I Chron. ii. 19). By the descen-

dants of this Hur Bethlehem was

peopled (i Chron. iv. 4); and from

Shobal, a son of this Hur, the in-

habitants of Kirjath-jearim were

descended (2 Chron. ii. 50). Kir-

jath-jearirn then is, as it were, a

daughter of Bethlehem. Bethlehem

was originally called Ephrathah,

and this latter name was afterwards

given to the district about Bethle-

hem, whence in Micah v. 2 [I]

we find the compound name Beth-

lehem-Ephrathah.  Kirjath-jearim

belonged to Caleb-Ephrathah. (1

Chron. ii. 24), which is probably to

be distinguished as the northern

part of the territory from Negeb

Caleb, "the south of Caleb " (I

Sam. xxx. 14).

      On the whole, whichever inter-

pretation we adopt, the general

scope of the passage seems to be:

Remember Thy servant David, re-

member all his efforts to build Thee

an habitation for Thy Name; he

gave himself no rest till he had

brought the Ark to Zion. We

heard where the Ark was, we went

to fetch it, saying one to another as

we brought it to its new abode,

"Let us come into His dwelling,"

&c. And now, by the memory of

David, by the memory of Thy

covenant with him and his faithful-

ness to that covenant, we plead

with Thee. Reject not the prayer

of our king who is David's son, grant

him the request of his lips, fulfil

all his desires. (Comp. xx. 1-4.)

     The Poet by what is scarcely a

figure of speech identifies himself

and his contemporaries with the

generation of David. In the time of

Solomon, many would be living who

had taken part in the ceremonies

attending the removal of the Ark of

Zion. Reuss, who brings the Psalm

down to Maccabean times, remarks:

"The Jews, eight centuries later,

say: We found the Ark at Qiryat-

Ie'arim, just as Frenchmen of today might

say, We gained the battle of Bouvines."

     7. HIS DWELLING, or "taber-

nacle," the house which David

calls "curtains," 2 Sam. vii. 2, pur-

posely repeated from ver. 5. On

the plural form of the word see on

lxxxiv. I.

     HIS FOOTSTOOL. See on xcix 5.

     8. As in ver. 7 we have the ex-

pression of the feelings of the con-

gregation in David's time, so in

ver. 8 there may be a transition to

                                  PSALM CXXXII.                                      415

 

            Thou, and the Ark of Thy strength.

9 Let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness,

            And let Thy saints shout for joy.

10 For Thy servant David's sake,

            Turn not away the face of Thine Anointed."

 

11 Jehovah hath sworn unto David,

            It is truth,c He will not depart from it,

                        "Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.

12 If thy sons will keep My covenant,

            And My testimony d that I shall teach them,

 

the language of the people in Solo-

mon's time. To the Poet's thoughts

the congregation is one, and the ut-

terance of their feelings is one. He

blends together the song which was

raised when the Ark was carried

up to Zion, with the song which was

raised when it was again moved

from Zion to its final resting-place

in the Temple, 2 Chron. v. 2-5,

vi. 41.

      ARISE. The words are taken

from the old battle-cry of the na-

tion, when the Ark set forward,

"to search out a resting-place for

them" (Numb. x. 33-36). Comp.

Ps. lxvii. I [2].

     ARK OF THY STRENGTH. The

only place in the Psalms where the

Ark is mentioned. The designa-

tion occurs only here and in 2 Chron.

vi. 41.

     9. LET THY PRIESTS. The bless-

ing of God's presence in its effects

both upon the priests and the

people.

    RIGHTEOUSNESS. In the promise,

ver. 16, which corresponds to this

prayer, SALVATION is the equivalent

word: see on lxxi. 15.

     SAINTS, or "beloved," as also in

ver. 16. See on xvi. to. From this

verse are taken the petitions in, our

Liturgy: "Endue Thy ministers

with righteousness. And make

Thy chosen people joyful."

     10. TURN NOT AWAY THE FACE,

i.e. refuse not the prayer. See the

same phrase I Kings ii. 16, 17, 20 ;

2 Kings xviii. 24, where the E.V.

renders "deny me not, say me not

nay."

    THINE ANOINTED. This cannot

be David (as Hengst., Hupf., and

others). It would be extremely

harsh to say, "For David's sake

refuse not the prayer of David."

Obviously the Anointed here must

be Solomon (or some one of David's

descendants), who pleads David,

and the promises made to David,

as a reason why his prayer should

not be rejected. In 2 Chron. vi.

42, the verse stands somewhat dif-

ferently: "0 Jehovah God, turn

not away the face of Thine Anoint-

ed: remember the loving-kindnesses

of David Thy servant." The last

clause most probably means, "Thy

loving-kindnesses to David," but

others render "the goodness or

piety of David Thy servant," the

meaning of the Hebrew word chesed

being ambiguous. The prayer is a

prayer for the fulfilment of the

promise. Hence the promise is

quoted, ver. 11, 12. Others sup-

pose that the subject of the prayer

is to be found in ver. 8, 9.

     11. HATH SWORN . . . WILL NOT

DEPART, marking the unchange-

ableness of the promise, as is cx. 4,

"Jehovah hath sworn and will not

repent." Comp. lxxxix. 34-37 [35

-38]. The substance of the pro-

mise follows, as given in 2 Sam. vii.

 

416                                  PSALM CXXXII.

 

            Their sons also for evermore

                        Shall sit upon thy throne."

13 For Jehovah hath chosen Zion,

            He hath desired it as an abode for Himself.

14 This is My resting-place for evermore,

            Here will I abide, for I have desired it.

15 I will abundantly bless her provision,

            Her poor I will satisfy with bread.

16 Her priests also will I clothe with salvation,

            And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.

17 There will I make the horn of David to bud,

            I have prepared a lamp for Mine Anointed.

18 His enemies will I clothe with shame,

            But upon himself shall his crown shine.

 

      13. The choosing of Zion as the

seat of the sanctuary is mentioned

as being closely and intimately con-

nected with the choosing of David

as King, and the tribe of Judah as

the ruling tribe. The connection

is: Jehovah has given the sove-

reignty to David and to David's

house; for He hath chosen Zion to

be His own dwelling-place. The

religious centre and political centre

of the people are one and the same:

exactly as in cxxii. 4, 5. Comp.

lxxviii. 67-71. "He chose the

tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion

which he loved . . . He chose

David also His servant," &c.

     14. The answer to the petition in

verse 8. MY RESTING-PLACE.

Shiloh had been abandoned; for a

time the Ark was at Bethel, Jud.

xx. 27; then at Mizpah, Jud. xxi. 5;

afterwards, for twenty years, at

Kirjath-jeariin, I Sam. vii. 2; and

then for three months in the house

of Obed-Edom, before it was finally

brought to its last resting-place.

     16. The answer to the petition in

ver. 9.

     17. The answer to the petition in

ver. Io. MAKE THE HORN ... TO

BUD. Giving ever new strength to

his house and victory over all ene-

mies. See on lxxv. 5 [6], and comp.

Ezek. xxix. 21.

    We might render " I will make

an horn to bud for David," (as

in ver. I "remember for David,")

but "David " is here put for the

house of David, and therefore the

rendering in the text is perhaps

preferable.

     A LAMP. See on xviii. 28 [29].

Comp. 1 Kings xi. 36, "And unto

his son will I give one tribe, that

David My servant may have a lamp

always before Me in Jerusalem, the

city which I have chosen Me to

put My Name there."

       18. SHINE, lit. "blossom." On the

etymological connection between

the two ideas, see Gesenius, Thes.

in v.

 

            a tnAw; for hnAwe. Hupf. correctly explains this as apocopated from the fuller

form like ytinAw;, like trAm;zi, tlAHEna (see on xvi. note k), as he says is plain from the

rejection of the first vowel, which cannot otherwise be explained. Del.,

following Ewald (Lehrb. § 173 d), regards the termination as Aramaic.

hmAUnT;, he observes, is always said of the eyelids, Gen. xxxi. 40, Prov. vi. 4.

                                      PSALM C:XXXIII.                                         417

 

Eccl. viii. 16, never of the eyes, and this distinction is carefully maintained

even in the post-biblical T'phillah style ; but the word only occurs in one

passage which he quotes, Prov. vi. 4, and this is the only place where it is

found with the word eyelids.

            b ydeW;. This may be the construct state singular, from the poetic form

ydaWA; and except the LXX. (e]n toi?j pedi<oij) most of the ancient Versions

have the sing. Aq. and Sym. e]n xw<r%, with which Kay compares the e]n

t^?> xw<r% used of the same locality in Luke ii. 8. The Quinta e]n a]gr&?.

Jer. in regione.

            c tm,x<. This is not the object of the verb fBaw;ni, "He hath sworn a

faithful oath." Del. makes it an adverbial accus., and claims the support

of the accents, the Pazer (distinctive) marking the close of the first

member of the verse. But it is better to take tm,x< independently, as

standing at the beginning of a parenthetical clause: "It (i.e. the oath) is

truth, He will not depart from it."

            d ytidofe, either sing. for ytiUdfe, like ytnoHTa for ytiUnHETa 2 Kings vi. 8, or

plur. with the suffix of the singular, as for instance Deut. xxviii. 59,

Ges. § 89, 3.

 

 

                                    PSALM CXXXIII.

 

            HERDER says of this exquisite little song, that “it has the fragrance

of a lovely rose." Nowhere has the nature of true unity—that unity

which binds men together, not by artificial restraints, but as brethren

of one heart—been more faithfully described, nowhere has it been so

gracefully illustrated, as in this short Ode. True concord is, we are

here taught, a holy thing, a sacred oil, a rich perfume which, flowing

down from the head to the beard, from the beard to the garment,

sanctifies the whole body. It is a sweet morning dew, which lights

not only on the lofty mountain-peaks, but on the lesser hills, em-

bracing all, and refreshing all with its influence.

            The title of the Psalm gives it to David. Hence it has been con-

jectured that it may refer to the circumstances attending his corona-

tion at Hebron, when, after eight years of civil war, "all the tribes of

Israel," laying aside their mutual animosities, came to David unto

Hebron, and spake, saying, "Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh"

(2 Sam. v. I). The picture of a united nation is given still more

vividly in the narrative of the Chronicles:  "All these men of war that

could keep rank came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David

king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart

to make David king. And there they were with David three days

 

 

418                                PSALM CXXXIII.

 

eating and drinking; for their brethren had prepared for them.

Moreover, they that were nigh them, even unto Issachar, and

Zebulun, and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels,

and on mules, and on oxen, and meat, meal, cakes of figs, and

bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep abun-

dantly: for there was joy in Israel." (I Chron. xii. 38-40.)

            Others have supposed, that the Psalm was suggested by the sight

of the multitudes who came up from all parts of Palestine to be

present at the great national Feasts in Jerusalem.

            Again, others, and perhaps the majority of commentators, refer the

Psalm to the time of the return from the Captivity, when, there being

no longer any division of the kingdom, the jealousies of the tribes

had ceased, and all who returned, of whatever tribe, were incor-

porated in one state. That at this time there was a real unity of

heart and mind in the nation may be inferred from the narratives in

Ezra and Nehemiah. Thus, for instance, we read in Ezra iii. 1, that

"when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were

in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to

Jerusalem." And in Nehem. viii. 1: "And all the people gathered

themselves together as one man into the street that was before

the Water Gate, and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring

the book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded

to Israel."

            But in truth there is not a syllable in the Psalm which can lead

us to any conclusion respecting its date. Such a vision of the

blessedness of unity may have charmed the Poet's heart and inspired

the Poet's song at any period of the national history. And his

words, though originally, no doubt, intended to apply to a state,

would be equally true of a smaller circle, a family, or a tribe.

 

                       [A PILGRIM SONG. OF DAVID.]

 

1 BEHOLD how good and how pleasant (it is)

            For brethren to dwell together (in unity).

 

     1 BEHOLD draws attention to an

important truth. Augustine says of

this first verse, that the very sound

of it is so sweet that it was chanted

even by persons who knew nothing

of the rest of the Psalter. He also

says that this verse gave birth to

monasteries: it was like a trumpet-

call to those who wished to dwell

together as brethren (fratres or

friars).

      FOR BRETHREN TO DWELL TO-

GETHER. The exact force of the

Hebrew is, "for them who are

brethren also to dwell together, i.e..

that those who are of one race and

 

                                  PSALM CXXXIII.                                          419

2 It is like the precious oil upon the head,

            Which descended upon the beard, (even) Aaron's beard,

 

one stock should live in peace and

harmony together as living mem-

bers of the same body, filled with

the same spirit, seeking, in mutual

forbearance and sympathy, the same

ends."

      2. The first figure is taken from

the oil which was poured on the

head of the High Priest at his con-

secration (Ex. xxix. 7; Lev. viii. 12,

xxi. 10). The point of the compari-

son does not lie in the preciousness

of the oil, or in its all-pervading

fragrance; but in this, that being

poured on the head, it did not rest

there, but flowed to the beard, and

descended even to the garments,

and thus, as it were, consecrated

the whole body in all its parts. All

the members participate in the same

blessing. Comp. 1 Cor. xii. This

is the point of the comparison.

Other thoughts may be suggested

by it, as that the spirit of concord,

both in a state and in a family,

will descend from those who govern

to those who are governed; or again,

that concord is a holy thing, like

the holy oil, or that it is sweet and

fragrant, like the fragrant oil; but

these are mere accessories of the

image, not that which suggested its

use. If, as is commonly assumed,

the point of comparison lay in the

all-pervading fragrance of the oil,

the addition to the figure, "which

descended upon the beard . . . which

descended to the edge of his gar-

ments," would be thrown away. But

understand this as typifying the

consecration of the whole man,

and the extension of the figure at

once becomes appropriate and full

of meaning. Luther remarks: "In

that he saith ‘from the head,’ he

showeth the nature of true con-

cord. For, like as the ointment ran

down from the head of Aaron the

High Priest upon his beard, and so

descended unto the borders of his

garment, even so true concord in

doctrine and brotherly love floweth

as a precious ointment, by the unity

of the Spirit, from Christ the High

Priest and Head of the Church,

unto all the members of the same.

For by the beard and extreme parts

of the garment he signifieth, that as

far as the Church reacheth, so far

spreadeth the unity which floweth

from Christ her Head."

     THE PRECIOUS OIL, lit. "the good

oil," i.e. the sacred oil, for the pre-

paration of which special directions

were given, and which was to be

devoted exclusively to the conse-

cration of holy things and persons,

Ex. xxx. 22-23. Hence the image

implies not only that the whole body

is united, but that the whole body is

consecrated.

     AARON, named not because he

only was thus anointed, but as the

representative of all priestly anoint-

ing: see Ex. xxviii. 41, xxx. 30, xl.

15.

    WHICH DESCENDED. I have

followed the Hebrew in retaining

the same word in the- three succes-

sive lines. The LXX. have through-

out katabai<nein, Jerome and the

Vulg. descendere. In the second

line, "Which descended to the edge

of his garments," there is consider-

able doubt to what the relative refers.

Is it the oil (as in the previous line),

or is it the beard, which descends to

the edge of the garments? Some of

the recent interpreters understand

it of the beard, as a kind of con-

necting link between the head and

the garments: the oil descended on

the beard, the beard touched the

garments, and so imparted to them

the sanctification which it had itself

received from the oil (so De W.,

Stier, Hengst., Del., Hupf.). But

the other interpretation, which has

the support of all the ancient Ver-

sions, and the majority of interpre-

ters, is certainly to be preferred, and

is even required by the rhythmical

structure of the Psalm. We have

here, as in so many of the Pilgrim

420                          PSALM CXXXIII.

 

            Which descended to the edge of his garments;

3 Like the dew of Hermon which descended upon

                        mountains of Zion;

            For there Jehovah commanded the blessing,

                        (Even) life for evermore.

 

Songs, the repetition of the same

word in connection with the same

subject. See the repetition of the

word. "keep" in cxxi., and the same

rhythmical figure in cxxiii. 3, 4,

cxxiv. I, 3, 4, &c.

            EDGE, or rather "collar," lit.

"mouth," "opening," as the mouth

of a sack. The word is used Ex.

xxviii. 32, xxxix. 23, of the opening

at the top of the robe of the ephod.

The image does not represent the

oil as descending to the skirts, the

lower edge of the garment. It is

enough that it touch the robe to

sanctify it. [According to the Law,

the garments of the priests were

sprinkled with the holy oil, Ex.

xxix. 21; Lev. xiii. 30.]

     3. The second image expressive

of the blessing of brotherly concord

is taken from the dew. Here again

it is not the refreshing nature of the

dew, nor its gentle, all-pervading

influence, which is the prominent

feature. That which renders it to

the Poet's eye so striking an image

of brotherly concord, is the fact

that it falls alike on both mountains:

that the same dew which descends

on the lofty Hermon descends also

on the humbler Zion. High and

low drink in the same sweet refresh-

ment. Thus the image is exactly

parallel to the last; the oil descends

from the head to the beard, the dew

from the higher mountain to the

lower. (Hermon in the north, and

Zion in the south, may also further

suggest the union of the northern

and southern tribes.) Luther says:

"Whereas the mountains often seem,

to those that behold them afar off,

to reach up even unto heaven; the

dew which cometh from heaven

seemeth to fall from the high moun-

tains unto the hills which are under

them. Therefore he saith that the

dew descendeth from Hermon unto

Mount Zion, because it so seemeth

unto those that do behold it afar

off. And this clause, after my judge-

ment, pertaineth to civil concord,

like as the former similitude per-

taineth to the Church, because God

through peace and concord maketh

commonwealths and kingdoms to

flourish; even as seeds, herbs, and

plants are fresh and flourish through

the morning dew. The beginning

of this peace cometh from the

princes and magistrates, as from

Mount Hermon: from whom it

floweth unto every particular person,

and to the whole commonwealth,

which is refreshed thereby."

     THERE. In Zion the blessed

fruits of this brotherly concord

may chiefly be looked for, for Jeho-

vah Himself has made it the great

centre of all blessing and all life.

This last verse lends some colour

to the view, that the Psalm was in-

tended to be sung at the gathering

of the tribes for the great national

Feasts. Comp. cxxviii. 6, cxxxiv.. 4.

    The similitude of the dew has

taken shape in a legend.

    An old pilgrim narrates, that every

morning at sunrise a handful of dew

floated down from the summit of

Hermon, and deposited itself upon

the Church of St. Mary, where it

was immediately gathered up by

Christian leeches, and was found a

sovereign remedy for all diseases:

it was of this dew, he declares,

that David spoke prophetically

in this Psalm.—Itinerary of St.

Anthony.

 

                                 PSALM CXXXIV.                                           421

 

 

                                 PSALM CXXXIV.

 

            "THREE things are clear with regard to this Psalm," says Delitzsch.

"First, that it consists of a greeting, ver. 1, 2, and a reply, ver. 3.

Next, that the greeting is addressed to those Priests and Levites who

had the night-watch in the Temple. Lastly, that this Psalm is pur-

posely placed at the end of the collection of Pilgrim Songs in order

to take the place of a final blessing."

            That the address is not to any persons in the habit of frequenting

the Temple is evident, because it was only in rare and exceptional

cases (Luke ii. 37) that such persons could be found in the Temple

at night. And, further, the word "stand" in ver. 1. is the common

word to express the service of the Priests and Levites, who had

their duties by night as well as by day (1 Chron. ix. 33).

            The Targum, too, explains the first verse of the Temple watch.

"The custom in the Second Temple appears to have been this.

After midnight the chief of the door-keepers took the key of the inner

Temple, and went with some of the Priests through the small postern

of the Fire Gate (dqvmh tyb rfw). In the inner court this watch

divided itself into two companies, each carrying a burning torch; one

company turned west, the other east, and so they compassed the court

to see whether all were in readiness for the Temple service on the

following morning. In the bakehouse, where the Mincha (‘meat-

offering’) of the High Priest was baked, they met with the cry, ‘All

well.’ Meanwhile the rest of the Priests arose, bathed themselves,

and put on their garments. They then went into the stone chamber

(one half of which was the hall of session of the Synhedrin), and

there, under the superintendence of the officer who gave the watch-

word and one of the Synhedrin, surrounded by the Priests clad in

their robes of office, their several duties for the coming day were

assigned to each of the Priests by lot (Luke i. 9)."

            Accordingly it has been supposed by Tholuck and others, that the

greeting in ver. i, 2, was addressed to the guard going off duty by

those who came to relieve them; and who in their turn received the

answer in ver. 3. Others conjecture that the greeting was inter-

changed between the two companies of the night-watch, when they

met in making their rounds through the Temple. Delitzsch, how

422                           PSALM CXXXIV.

 

ever thinks that the words of ver. 1, 2, are addressed by the con-

gregation to the Priests and Levites who had charge of the night-

service, and that ver. 3 is an answer of blessing from them to the

congregation who were gathered on the Temple-mount.

 

                              [A PILGRIM SONG.]

                                   (The Greeting.)

 

1 BEHOLD, bless ye Jehovah, all ye servants of Jehovah,

            Which by night stand in the house of Jehovah.

2 Lift up your hands to the sanctuary,a

            And bless ye Jehovah.

 

                                (The Answer.)

3 Jehovah bless thee out of Zion,

            (Even He who is) the Maker of heaven and earth.

 

            I. BEHOLD. The word draws at-                      there were no other mention of a

tention here to a duty, as at the be-                                 night-service in the Temple, con-

ginning of the last Psalm it drew                                     sidering how meagre the notices are,

attention to a truth at once im-                                        we should not be justified in setting

portant and attractive.                                                    this aside: but we have express

     SERVANTS OF JEHOVAH. The                            reference to a night-service in I

expression of itself might denote                                     Chr. ix.33.

the people at large, but the next                                           STAND. A common word for the

clause limits it (as in cxxxv. 2) to                                    service of the Priests and Levites,

the Priests and Levites.                                                  Deut. x. 8, xv. 2, 7; I Chr. xxiii. 30 ;

      BY NIGHT. Lit. "in the nights."                               2 Chr. xxix. 11.

This cannot mean merely "night                               3. BLESS THEE. The singular

as well as day," and therefore "at                                    instead of the plural "bless you,"

all times," as Hupfeld maintains.                                     because the words are taken from

In xlii. 8 [9], and xcii. 2 [3], to                                         the form used by the High Priest

which he refers, "the morning" is                                    in blessing the people, Numb. vi.

expressly mentioned as well as "the                                24.

night," and in v. 3 [4], where "the                                          OUT OF ZION. See on cxxxv. 21.

morning" only is mentioned, the                                        MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

morning only is meant. Even it                                        As in cxxi. 2, cxxiv. 8.

 

 

a wd,qo. The accusative of direction, as frequently; and so the

LXX. ei]j ta> a!gia, Jer. ad sanctum, Vulg. in sancta. In v. 8, xxviii. 2, we

have the full phrase. For the constr. Del. compares Hab. iii. 11. But it

may be rendered "in holiness." So Symm. a[gi<wj. Mk,deyi is merely an

incorrect form for Mk,ydey;.

                                    PSALM CXXXV.                                     423

 

                                     PSALM CXXXV.

 

            A PSALM intended for the Temple service, and one of the Halle-

lujah Psalms, though not placed in the same series with the rest.

It is, like Ps. cxxxiv, an exhortation to the Priests and Levites who

wait in the sanctuary to praise Jehovah, both because of His good-

ness in choosing Israel to be His people, and because of His great-

ness and the almighty power which He has shown in His dominion

over the world of nature, and in the overthrow of all the enemies

of His people. Then His abiding Majesty is contrasted with the

nothingness of the idols of the heathen. The Psalm is almost

entirely composed of passages taken from other sources. Compare

ver. 1 with cxxxiv. 1; ver. 3 with cxlvii. 1; ver. 6 and 15-20 with

cxv.; ver. 7 with Jer. x. 13; ver. 14 with Deut. xxxii. 36; ver. 8-12

with cxxxvi. 10-22.

            Delitzsch not inaptly describes the Psalm, on this account, as a

species of mosaic, applying to its structure the expression of the old

Roman poet Lucilius: "Quam lepide lexeis compostm ut tesserulm

omnes." The prophecies of Jeremiah furnish many instances of a

similar composite diction. Zephaniah takes his words and phrases

almost entirely from Jeremiah. Many sentences in the Book of

Proverbs would naturally appear in other writers, and a collector of

proverbial wisdom must, by the very nature of the case, compose a

mosaic instead of painting a picture. Several of the Psalms are speci-

mens of this composite work. The diction of the 97th and 98th Psalms

in particular is a series of coloured fragments, as it were, from the

later chapters of Isaiah. The tesserulae of this Psalm, on the other

hand, are gathered from the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa.

 

            HALLELUJAH!

1 Praise ye the Name of Jehovah,

            Praise (it), 0 ye servants of Jehovah.

2 Ye that stand in the house of Jehovah,

            In the courts of the house of our God,

 

1. The opening of the Psalm re-              2. IN THE COURTS. See on

sembles the opening of cxxxiv.               lxxxiv. 2 [3]. The mention of these

424                        PSALM CXXXV.

 

3 Praise ye Jah, for Jehovah is good;

            Sing psalms unto His Name, for it is lovely.

4 For Jah hath chosen Jacob to Himself,

            Israel for His peculiar treasure.

5 For I know that Jehovah is great,

            And that our Lord is above all gods.

6 Whatsoever Jehovah pleaseth that hath He done,

            In heaven and in earth,

                        In the seas and in all deeps.

 

"courts" is no evidence that the

exhortation is addressed not merely

to the Priests, but to the people.

Nor can this be inferred from the

formula in ver. 19, 20, which is com-

mon to these liturgical Psalms;

comp. cxv. 9-11. The address is,

as in cxxxiv. 1, to the Levites who

sang Psalms and played on the

different musical instruments which

were used in the service of God,

and to the Priests who blew with

the trumpets and repeated the litur-

gical prayers and the blessings.

The thrice-repeated Jehovah, fol-

lowed by Jah—Jehovah—Jah, may

have a reference to the form of the

priestly blessing in which they "put

the Name of Jehovah upon the

children of Israel," Num. vi. 22-

27. Thrice the Priests uttered the

Name; thrice, and yet thrice again,

the congregation echoed it back in

their song.

   3. JEHOVAH IS GOOD. "Breviter

uno verbo," says Augustine, "expli-

cata est Taus Domini Dei nostri:

bonus Dominus. Sed bonus, non ut

sunt bona qux fecit. Nam fecit

Deus omnia bona valde; non tan-

turn bona, sed et valde. Ccelum

et terram et omnia qua; in eis sunt

bona fecit, et valde bona fecit. Si

hxc omnia bona fecit, qualis est

ille qui fecit ? Et tainen, turn bona

fecerit, multoque sit melior qui fecit

quam ista qua fecit non invenis

melius quod de illo dicas nisi quia

bonus est Dominus: si tamen intel-

ligas proprie bonum, a quo sunt

caetera bona. Omnia enim bona

ipse fecit: ipse est bonus quern

nemo fecit. Ille bono suo bonus

est, non aliunde participato bono:

ille seipso bono bonus est, non ad-

hxrendo alteri bono.... Ineffabili

dulcedine teneor cum audio bonus

Dominus; consideratisque omnibus

et collustratis quae forinsecus video,

quoniam ex ipso sunt omnia, etiarn

cum mihi hsec placent, ad ilium

video a quo sunt, ut intelligarn

quoniam bonus est Dominus."

      IT IS LOVELY. According to the

parallelism, this will refer either to

the Name of Jehovah, or to Jehovah

Himself, "for He is lovely." But

according to the analogy of cxlvii. 1

(comp. Prov. xxiii. 8) the subject is

the song: "for it is pleasant, viz.

thus to sing praise."

    4. Then follow the several grounds

of this praise. First, because He

has chosen Israel. Next, because

He is higher than all the gods of the

heathen, as He has shown in His

absolute supremacy over the world

of nature, ver. 5-7. Then, because

He redeemed His people from

Egypt, ver. 8, 9. Lastly, because,

vanquishing all their enemies, He

gave them the Promised Land, ver.

10-12.

     5. I KNOW. The pron. is em-

phatic, and the phrase marks a

strong personal conviction (some-

times, as in xx. 6 [7], one newly

gained).

    6. WHATSOEVER HE PLEASETH.

This absolute supremacy of God

over all the forces and phenomena

of the natural world is stated in the

 

                                PSALM CXXXV.                                 425

 

7 He bringeth up vapours from the end of the earth,

            He hath made lightnings for the rain,

                        He sendeth fortha the wind out of His treasuries.

8 Who smote the firstborn of Egypt,

            Both of man and beast;

9 (Who) sent signs and wonders into the midst of thee,b

                        0 Egypt,

            Upon Pharaoh and upon all his servants;

10 Who smote many nations,

            And slew mighty kings.

11 Sihon,c king of the Amorites,

            And Og, the king of Bashan,

                        And all the kingdoms of Canaan

12 And gave their land as an heritage,

            An heritage unto Israel His people.

13 0 Jehovah, Thy name'(endureth) for ever,

            Thy memorial, 0 Jehovah, to all generations.

14 For Jehovah judgeth His people,

            And repenteth Himself concerning His servants.

15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,

            The work of men's hands.

 

same way as in cxv. 3, with refer-

ence more particularly to the weak-

ness of the gods of the nations, as

also in this Psalm, ver. 15-18.

    7. The verse occurs almost word

for word in Jer. x. 13, li. 16.

    VAPOURS, or perhaps "clouds,"

as formed of masses of vapour.

     FROM THE END OF THE EARTH.

i.e. either from the horizon on which

they seem to gather, or from the

sea; or, perhaps, as Augustine says,

because "unde surrexerint nescis."

      FOR THE RAIN, i.e. so that the

rain follows the lightning; see Is.

x. 13, li. 16. The lightning is sup-

posed to precede the rain. A com-

mon Arabic proverb says of a man

who turns out other than was expec-

ted of him, that he lightens but does

not rain. The LXX., a]strapaj ei]j

u[eton e]poi<hsen.

     HIS TREASURIES. Comp. Job

xxxviii. 22. "Occultis causis, unde

nescis."—Augustine.

    8. BOTH OF MAN AND BEAST.

Lit. "from man unto beast."

    13. Comp. Exod. iii. 15.

    14. Borrowed from Deut. xxxii.

36. Comp. for the second clause of

the verse Ps. xc. 13.

     FOR. Here is the proof and evi-

dence that Jehovah's Name and

memorial abide for ever; that He

will manifest, as in the past, so in

the future, His righteousness and

His mercy to Israel.

      JUDGE, i.e. see that they have

right, which is in fact the conse-

quence of His "repenting concern-

ing," or "having compassion of,"

His servants.

     15-18. Borrowed with some va-

riation from cxv. 4-8.

 

 

426                             PSALM CXXXV.

 

16 They have a mouth, and speak not;

            Eyes have they, and see not.

17 They have ears, and (yet) they hear not,

            Yea, they have no breath at all d in their mouths.

18 They that make them shall be like unto them,

            Every one that putteth his trust in them.

19 0 house of Israel, bless ye Jehovah:

            0 house of Aaron, bless ye Jehovah:

20 0 house of Levi, bless ye Jehovah:

            Ye that fear Jehovah, bless Jehovah.

21 Blessed be Jehovah out of Zion,

            Who dwelleth in Jerusalem.

                                                Hallelujah!

 

     19, 20. Precisely as in cxv. 9--

11, cxviii. 2-4, only that here "the

house of Levi " is added.

     21. As in cxxviii. 5, cxxxiv. 3,

Jehovah blesses out of Zion, so

here, on the other hand, His people

bless Him out of Zion. For there

they meet to worship Him ; there

not only He, but they, may be said

to dwell (Is. x. 24); and thence ac-

cordingly His praise is sounded

abroad.

 

            a xceOm, either incorrect for xyciOm, the accent being drawn back after

the analogy of the fut. conv., or, as the participle is somewhat lame after

hWAfA, perhaps it is merely an error for xceOy.va, which is found in the parallel

passages, Jer. x. 13, li. 16.

            b ykikeOtB;. For this form see on ciii. note a.

            c The l; after grh is not necessarily due to Aramaic influence. It

occurs not only in 2 Sam. iii. 30 (where Del. alleges that ver. 30, 31, and

36, 37, are a later addition, and therefore not exempt from Aramaic

tendencies), but also in Job v. 2. We have it also again in cxxxvi. 19,.20.

Maurer explains that with the accus. it is interficere aliquem, and with l;

caedem facere alicui. For other instances of the l; after the active verb

see xxxv. 7, lxix. 6, cxvi. 16, cxxix. 3, cxxxvi. 23. With the exception of

this use of the l; and the w,, the whole colouring and language of ver.

10-12 is that of Deuteronomy.

            d wye, constr., and quite superfluous after Nyxe. It occurs also 1 Sam.

xxi. 9, where, however, according to Del., the punctuation should be Nyxi.

and wye Nyxi = Aram. tyxi Nyxi num (an) est, Nyxi being a North Palestine

Aramaising form of the Heb. interrog. Mxi.

 

                                    PSALM CXXXVI.                                   427

 

                                    PSALM CXXXVI.

 

            HIS Psalm is little more than a variation and repetition of the

preceding Psalm. It opens with the same liturgical formula with

which the 106th and 108th Psalms open, and was evidently designed

to be sung antiphonally in the Temple worship. Its structure is

peculiar. The first line of each verse pursues the theme of the

Psalm, the second line, "For is loving-kindness endureth for ever,"

being a kind of refrain or response, like the responses, for instance,

in our Litany, breaking in upon and yet sustaining the theme of the

Psalm: the first would be sung by some of the Levites, the second

by the choir as a body, or by the whole congregation together with

the Levites. We have an example of a similar antiphonal arrange-

ment in the first four verses of the 118th Psalm; but there is no

other instance in which it is pursued throughout the Psalm. The

nearest approach to the same constant repetition is in the "Amen "

of the people to the curses of the Law as pronounced by the Levites,

Deut. xxvii. 14.

            In the Jewish liturgy (see T. B. Pesachim 118) this Psalm, with

its twenty-six responses, is called "the Great Hallel," by way of

distinction from "the Hallel," simply so called, which comprises

Psalms cxiii.—cxviii., though there is some uncertainty as to the

former designation; for according to some "the Great Hallel"

comprises cxxxv. 4—cxxxvi.. and according to others, cxx—cxxxvi.

            According to an old rule of writing observed in some of the most

ancient MSS., the two lines of the verses ought to be arranged each

in a separate column, or, as the phrase runs, "half-brick upon half-

brick, brick upon brick."

            It may be observed that the verses are grouped in threes as far as

ver. 18, and then the Psalm concludes with two groups of four verses

each. It is possible (as Delitzsch suggests) that ver. 19-22 did not

originally belong to this Psalm, being introduced from the previous

Psalm, and that there were thus, in the first instance, 22 lines, cor-

responding to the number of letters in the Hebrew Alphabet.

428                            PSALM CXXX VI.

 

10 O GIVE thanks unto Jehovah, for He is good,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

2  O give thanks unto the God of gods,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

3 O give thanks unto the Lord of lords,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

4 To Him who alone doeth great wonders,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

5 To Him who by understanding made the heavens,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

6 To Him that stretched out the earth above the waters,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

7 To Him who made great lights,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

8 The sun to rule the day,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

9 The moon and (the) stars to rule the night,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

10 To Him that smote Egypt in their firstborn,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

11 And brought forth Israel from the midst of them,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

12 With a mighty hand and a stretched-out arm,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

13 To Him who divided the Red Sea into parts,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

 

    2, 3. GOD OF GODS . . . LORD

OF LORDS, from Deut. x. 17.

       5. BY UNDERSTANDING, as in

Prov. iii. 19. Comp. civ. 24; Prov.

iii. 19; Jer. x. 12, li. 15.

     6. STRETCHED OUT; from the

same root as the word firmament or

expanse in Gen. i. Comp. Is. xlii.

5, xliv. 24.

    ABOVE THE WATERS: comp.

xxiv. I [2].

     7. LIGHTS. The word is em-

ployed here strictly, instead of, the

corresponding word in Gera. i. 14-

16, which means not lights, but

luminaries; the bodies, that is,

which hold the light.

      9. TO RULE, lit. "for dominions

over;" the plural, poetically, in-

stead of the singular, as in the

preceding verse, and in Gen. 1.

10-22. Almost word for word as

in cxxxv. 8-12.

     13. DIVIDED; the same word as

in 1 Kings iii. 25 and the noun

PARTS (lit. "divisions," from the

 

                         PSALM CXXX VI.                                    429

 

14 And made Israel to pass through the midst of it,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

15 And overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

16 To Him who led His people through the wilderness,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

17 To Him who smote great kings,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever,

18 And slew mighty kings,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

19 Sihon king of the Amorites,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

20 And Og the king of Bashan,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

21 And gave their land for a heritage,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

22 An heritage unto Israel His servant,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

23 Who remembered us in our low estate,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

24 And set us free from our adversaries,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

25 He giveth food to all flesh,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

26 0 give thanks to the God of heaven,

            For His loving-kindness (endureth) for ever.

 

same root), as in Gen. xv. 17. A

different word is used of the dividing

of the Red Sea, Ex. xiv. 16, 21. See

also Ps. lxxviii. 12 [13].

     15. OVERTHREW, lit. “shook

out," as in Ex. xiv. 27.

     19. The occurrence of the prepo-

sition l; at the beginning of this

verse before the object is the

more remarkable because hitherto

throughout the Psalm it has been

employed at the beginning of the

verse to connect some fresh attri-

bute or work of God with the verb

"Give thanks" in the first verse.

So in ver. 4, "(Give thanks) unto

Him who doeth great wonders;"

in ver. 5, "(Give thanks) to Him

who made the heavens;" and so

on, ver. 6, 7, 10, 13, 16.

 

430                                   PSALM CXXXVII.

 

                                          PSALM CXXXVII.

 

            THERE can be no doubt whatever as to the time when this Psalm

was written. It expresses the feeling of an exile who has but just

returned from the land of his captivity. In all probability the writer

was a Levite, who had been carried away by the armies of Nebuchad-

nezzar when Jerusalem was sacked and the Temple destroyed, and

who was one of the first, as soon as the edict of Cyrus was published,

to return to Jerusalem. He is again in his own land. He sees again

the old familiar scenes. The mountains and the valleys that his foot

trod in youth are before him. The great landmarks are the same,

and yet the change is terrible. The spoiler has been in his home,

his vines and his fig-trees have been cut down, the House of his God

is a heap of ruins. His heart is heavy with a sense of desolation,

and bitter with the memory of wrong and insult from which he has

but lately escaped.

            He takes his harp, the companion of his exile, the cherished relic

of happier days,—the harp which he could not string at the bidding

of his conquerors by the waters of Babylon; and now with faltering

hand he sweeps the strings, first in low, plaintive, melancholy cadence

pouring out his griefs, and then with a loud crash of wild and stormy

music, answering to the wild and stormy numbers of his verse, he

raises the pavan of vengeance over his foes.

            He begins by telling in language of pathetic beauty the tale of his

captivity. He draws first the picture of the land—so unlike his own

mountain land—the broad plain watered by the Euphrates and in-

tersected by its canals, their banks fringed with willows, with no

purple peak, no deep, cool glen to break the vast, weary. monotonous

expanse; and then he draws the figure of the captives in their deep

despondency, a despondency so deep that it could find no solace

even in those sacred melodies which were dear to them as life—"As

for our harps, we hanged them up on the willows by the water-side.''

Next, his verse tells of the mocking taunt of their captors, "Sing us

one of the songs of Zion;" and the half sad, half proud answer of

the heart, strong in its faith and unconquerable in its patriotism,

"How shall we sing Jehovah's song in a strange land? "It were a

profanation, it were a treachery. Sooner let the tongue fail to sing

than sing to make the heathen mirth; sooner let the hand lose he

cunning than tune the harp to please the stranger.

                                   PSALM CXXXVII.                               431

 

            No wonder that then, brooding over the memory of the past,

brooding over his wrongs, and seeing around him in blackened ruins

and wasted fields the footsteps of the invader, the Poet should utter

his wrath. No wonder that the Psalm concludes with that fierce

outburst of natural resentment, a resentment which borrows almost a

grandeur from the religious fervour, the devoted patriotism, whence

it springs. Terrible have been the wrongs of Jerusalem: let the

revenge be terrible. Woe to those who in the day of her fall took

part with her enemies and rejoiced in her overthrow, when they

ought rather to have come to her aid. Woe to the proud oppressors

who have so long held her children captive, and made their hearts

bitter with insult and wrong. “Blessed shall he be who taketh thy

little ones, and dasheth them against the rock."     

            What a wonderful mixture is the Psalm of soft melancholy and

fiery patriotism! The hand which wrote it must have known how to

smite sharply with the sword, as well as how to tune his harp. The

words are burning words of a heart breathing undying love to his

country, undying hate to his foe. The Poet is indeed

            " Dower'd with the hate of hate, the scorn of scorn,

            The love of love."

 

1 BY the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept,

            When we remembered Zion

2 Upon the willows in the midst thereof

            We hanged up our harps.

3 For there they that led us captive demanded of us songs,

            And they that spoiled us a (demanded of us) mirth,

                        (Saying) "Sing us (one) of the songs of Zion,"

4 How should we sing Jehovah's song

            In the land of the stranger?

5 If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem,

           

3. SONGS. Heb. "words of song,"

or subjects of song, as in lxv. 3 [4]

"words of iniquities."

     4, 5. How sing a holy song on a

strange, profane soil? How sing a

song of joy when the city and Temple

of our God lay in ruins? Compare

the words of Nehemiah, "Where-

fore the King said unto me, Why is

thy countenance sad, seeing thou

are not sick? And I said, Let the

King live for ever: why should not

my countenance be sad when the

city, the place of my father's sepul-

chres, lieth waste, and the gates

thereof are consumed with fire?"

(Neh. ii. 2, 3.)

     5. FORGET. Probably there is

 

 

432                       PSALM CXXXVII.

 

            Let my right hand forget (her cunning).

6 Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,

            If I remember thee not;

                        If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy.

7 Remember, 0 Jehovah, the children of Edom

            In the day of Jerusalem,

                        Who said, Down with b it, Down with it, even to the

                                    foundation thereof.

 

an aposiopesis; or we may supply

either, as the E.V., "her cunning,"

i.e. her skill with the harp, or,

more generally, "the power of mo-

tion."

    6. MY CHIEFEST JOY, lit. "the top

of my joy." Comp. Exod. xxx.. 23;

Song of Sol. iv,. 14. Others, "the

sum of my joy."

    7. This verse may also be ren-

dered :

     Remember for (against) the

            children of Edom..

    The day of Jerusalem—

the construction being the same as

in cxxxii. I. As he broods over his

wrongs, as he looks upon the deso-

lation of his country, as he remem-

bers with peculiar bitterness how

they who ought to have been allies

took part with the enemies of

Jerusalem in the fatal day of her

overthrow, there bursts forth the

terrible cry for vengeance; ven-

geance first on the false kindred,

and next on the proud conquerors

of his race.

      "Deepest of all was the indigna-

tion roused by the sight of the

nearest of kin, the race of Esau,

often allied to Judah, often indepen-

dent, now bound by the closest

union with the power that was truly

the common enemy of both. There

was an intoxication of delight in

the wild Edomite chiefs, as at each

successive stroke against the vene-

rable walls they shouted, ‘Down

with it! down with it! even to the

ground.' They stood in the passes

to intercept the escape of those who

would have fled down to the Jordan

valley; they betrayed the fugitives;

they indulged their barbarous revels

on the Temple hill. Long and loud

has been the wail of execration

which has gone up from the Jewish

nation against Edom. It is the one

imprecation which breaks forth from

the Lamentations of Jeremiah; it

is the culmination of the fierce

threats of Ezekiel; it is the sole

purpose of the short, sharp cry of

Obadiah; it is the bitterest drop in

the sad recollections of the Israelite

captives by the waters of Babylon;

and the one warlike strain of the

Evangelical Prophet is inspired by

the hope that the Divine Conqueror

should come knee-deep in Idumxan

blood. (Lam. iv. 21, 22; Ezek. xxv.

8, 12-14; Obad. 1-21; Jer. xlix.

7—22 ; Is. lxiii. I--4)."—STANLEY,

Jewish Church, ii. p. 556.

       In later times, Edom and Bozrah

were used as typical names to

denote Rome, Christian and pagan,

as the destroyer of Jerusalem and

the temple, and the persecutor of

the Jews. So Qimchi, "While he

was prophesying with regard to the

Babylonish captivity, he saw by the

Holy Spirit, the captivity of the

Second House which was effected

by the hands of Edom; for Titus

destroyed it who was of the king-

dom of Rome, which is of the sons of

Edom." And Abarbanel in his Com-

mentary on Obad., says that the

prophecy is directed not merely

against the literal Edom, but

against "the Nazarene people who

are of the sons of Edom, whose

beginning and origin is the city of Rome."

 

                       PSALM CXXXVII.                                      433

 

8 O daughter of Babylon that shalt be destroyed,c

            Happy shall he be that rewardeth thee

                        As thou hast served us.

9 Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little

                        ones

            Against the rock.

 

    8. THAT SHALT BE DESTROYED,

or, perhaps, "doomed to destruc-

tion." Others, "that art laid waste,"

as if referring to the taking of

Babylon by Cyrus. The LXX.

ambiguously, h[ talai<pwroj. See

more in Critical Note. Compare

for the sentiment, Jer. li. 56, "Be-

cause the spoiler is come upon her,

even upon Babylon, and her mighty

men are taken, every one of their

bows is broken: for Jehovah is a

God of recompenses, He shall

surely requite." See also for the

same principle of retribution in the

overthrow of Babylon, Is. xlvii. 1-9.

     As THOU HAST SERVED US, lit.

"the requital wherewith thou hast

requited us."

    9. LITTLE ONES, lit. "sucklings."

With such barbarous cruelty wars

were carried on, even by compara-

tively civilised nations. Comp. for

Biblical examples 2 Kings viii. 12,

xv. 16; Is. xiii. 16; Hos. x. 14, xiii.

16 [xiv. 1]; Nah. iii. 10. So Homer,

painting the sack of a city, mentions,

as one of its features, nh<pia te<kna

Ballo<mena proti> gai<^. And again,

Andromache addressing her child

says, su> d ] au# te<koj, h{ e]moi> au]t^? . . .

!Eyeai . . . h! tij  ]Axaiw?n  [Ri<yei, xeiro>j

e[lw>n a]po> pu<rgou, lugro>n o@leqron.

At a far later period, Athenus tells

us, such inhuman barbarity was to

be found even among the Greeks,

that in one insurrection the popu-

lace wreaked their fury on the upper

classes by throwing their children

to be trampled under the feet of

oxen, and when the aristocracy in

their turn got the upper hand,

they took their revenge by burning

their enemies alive, together with

their wives and children. (Tholuck.)

    But we need not turn only to the

history of he past. We have had

in our own times the awful records

of Turkish atrocities on the one

hand, and Bulgarian atrocities on

the other. In all conflicts between

antagonistic races, where the anta-

gonism has been exasperated by re-

ligious animosities, or where the keen

sense of humiliation in a subject

race held down under the yoke

of foreign masters has roused

them to revolt, there have been these

bloody reprisals. In our own Sepoy

War in India, men of humanity

and Christian principle showed a

sternness little less than that of the

Jewish poet. The historian of that

war writes: "And now there lay

before them (the English) the great

question, the most difficult, perhaps,

which soldiers and statesmen ever

have the responsibility of solving—

whether after such convulsions as

have been illustrated in these pages

true righteousness and true wisdom

consisted in extending the hand of

mercy and aiming at conciliation,

or in dealing out a stern and ter-

rible retribution. Our soldiers and

statesmen in June, 1857, at Allaha-

bad, solved the question in practice

by adopting the latter course. Sir J. Kaye's

Hist. of the Sepoy War, vol. ii. p. 268. See

also p. 236, and pp. 269-271, &c.

 

            a UnylelAOT. The LXX. oi[ a]pagago<ntej h[ma?j, and similarly the Chald. and

Syr. "our plunderers," the word being regarded as an Aram. form, with

t for w, instead of UnylelAOw. There is a twofold objection, however, to

434                            PSALM CXXXVIII.

 

this: first, that llAOw only occurs as a passive; and next, in Aram. the

form is llw, not llt, in this sense. Hence it seems probable that we

ought to read Unylel;Ow. Otherwise we must derive the word from a root

lly, "to howl" (after the analogy of bwAOT, from bwy); then the abstract

"howling" will stand by metonymy for the torture, punishment, &c. which

occasions it, and this, again concrete, for the torturers. In the abstract

sense, Abulwal., Qimchi. In the concrete, Ges., De W., Win., and others,

and so Jerome, qui affigebant nos.

            b UrfA. Imp. Piel, with a drawing back of the accent to the penult.

because of the pause, Ges. § 29, 4, b, c. hrf, "to make bare, shave

smooth, &c., reduce to a flat, level surface." Comp. Hab, iii. 13, and

the noun in Is. xix. 7.

            c hdAUdw;.ha. This cannot be active with the present punctuation, Thou

that wastest (Symm. h[ lhstri<j, but it is a further objection to this that the

root does not mean to plunder).

            (I) If we give the active meaning, which certainly seems very suitable,

the punctuation must be hdAOdwA.ha, like hdAOgBA, Jer. iii. 7, 10 (with immovable

Qametz), or at any rate hdOdw;.ha, Ew. § 152 b.

            (2) In its existing form it is a pass. part., as Aq. pronenomeume<nh, Jerome

vastata. But (3) it has been rendered as a part. fist. pass., vastanda.

Theod., diarpasqhsome<nh. And so Rod. in Gesen. Thes., but Del. objects

that though the Ni ph. part. (e.g. xxii. 32, cii. 19) and the Pual (xviii. 4)

may have this meaning, it is not found in the Qal. However, he would

himself give the meaning vastationi devota, which he defends by Jer. iv.

30, where dUdwA is used hypothetically = "when thou art wasted." So he

says the sense is here: "O daughter of Babylon, that art wasted, blessed

shall he be who, when this judgement of wasting shall come upon thee,

shall take thy sucklings," &c. Hupf., on the other hand, contends for

the simple passive rendering, thou that art wasted, which he explains of

the capture of the city by Cyrus.

 

 

                                 PSALM CXXXVIII.

 

            ACCORDING to the Hebrew title, this is a Psalm of David. The

LXX. have added to this title the names of Haggai and Zechariah

(t&? Daui>d,  ]Aggai<ou kai Zaxari<ou), which would seem to show that the

translators were not satisfied with the traditional view as to the

authorship of the Psalm, and would rather refer it to a time subse-

quent to the Exile. So far as the Psalm itself is concerned, we have

no clue to guide us; neither the language nor the allusions will

warrant any conclusions as to date or authorship. The mention of

                            PSALM CXXXVIII.                                           435

 

the Temple in ver. 2 does not prove that the Psalm was not written

by David, for the word rendered "Temple" might be used of a

structure like the Tabernacle (see on Ps. v. 7). Nor does the hope

or prophecy concerning the kings of the earth in ver. 4 necessarily

point to a post-Exile time, for hopes of a similar kind are found

also in earlier Psalms (see note on that verse).

            The Psalm consists of three strophes:--

            (I) In the first the Poet encourages himself to praise God both

because of His goodness and faithfulness and His great promises,

and also because he himself had had his prayers answered. Ver.

1-3.

            (2) He utters the hope, the prophecy, that the kings of the earth

shall acknowledge the greatness of Jehovah,—His greatness chiefly

in this, that He does not measure by any human standard of great

and small, of high and low. Ver. 4-6.

            (3) The application of all that he has learnt of Jehovah's character

to his own individual experience in prospect of trouble and danger

Ver. 7, 8.

 

                          [(A PSALM) OF DAVID.]

 

I I WILL give thanks unto Thee with my whole heart,

            Before the gods will I sing praise unto Thee.

2 I will bow myself before Thy holy Temple,

            And I will give thanks to Thy Name, because of Thy

                        loving-kindness and Thy truth,

 

     I. UNTO THEE. The Being who

is addressed is not named till ver.

4. The LXX. have thought it neces-

sary to insert a Ku<rie, and in this

have been followed by the Vulg.

and by our P. B. V. The absence

of the vocative is, however, more

emphatic. It is as though in the

Psalmist's heart there could be but

one object of praise, whether named

or unnamed.

    BEFORE THE GODS. This has

been variously explained. (I) The

LXX., who are followed by Luther,

Calvin, and others, understand it of

the angels. But though the angels

are called upon to praise God, they

are nowhere in the O.T. regarded

as witnesses of, or sharers in, the

worship of men. (2) The Chald.,

Syr., Rabb., and many recent inter-

preters suppose that kings or judges

are meant (see on lxxxii.). (3) Ewald

and others would render "before

God," and consider this as equiva-

lent to "before the Ark," or "in the

sanctuary." But the extreme awk-

wardness of such a phrase here,

"Before God I will give thanks to

thee, 0 Jehovah," is sufficient to

condemn the interpretation. (4) It

is far more probable that "the

gods" are the false gods, the ob-

jects of heathen worship, in the

very presence of whom, and to

the confusion of their worshipers,

the Psalmist will utter his praise

of the true God. See xcv. 3, xcvi.

4, 5, cxv. 3-8.

     2. THY WORD, or "promise."

Comp. lvi. 10 [11], lx. 6 [8], lxii. 11

[12]. No particular promise is meant.

 

436                                PSALM CXXXVIII.

 

            For Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy

                        Name.

3 In the day that I called, Thou answeredst me,

            Thou madest me courageous a with strength in my soul.

4 All the kings of the earth shall give thanks unto Thee,

                        0 Jehovah;

            For they have heard the words of Thy mouth.

5 And they shall sing of b the ways of Jehovah;

            For great is the glory of Jehovah.

6 For Jehovah is high, yet He seeth the humble;

            And the proud He knoweth c afar off.

 

The same word occurs frequently

in cxix. See note on ver. 25 of that

Psalm.

     ABOVE ALL THY NAME. The ex-

pression seems to mean that to the

soul waiting upon God, and trusting

in His word, the promise becomes

so precious, so strong a ground of

hope, that it surpasses all other

manifestations of God's goodness

and truth; or in the promise may

here also be included the fulfilment

of the promise. Many interpreters

have stumbled at the expression,

and Hupfeld objects that "it is

contrary to all analogy. The name

of God cannot be surpassed by any

individual act or attribute of God,

for every such separate act is only

a manifestation of that Name; nor

can it be limited to past manifesta-

tions of God's character, or taken

as equivalent to calling upon His

Name. On the other hand, to make

great (magnify) is only said of God's

acts, of His grace, His salvation,

and the like, and could scarcely be

said of His word or promise. One

would rather expect, Thou hast

magnified Thy Name above all Thy

word; it surpasses all that Thou

hast promised."

            The difficulty has been felt from

the first. The LXX. e]mega<lunaj e]pi>

pa?n to> o@noma to> a!gio<n sou, "Thou

hast magnified, Thy Holy Name

above all." The Chald. "Thou

hast magnified the words of Thy

praise above all Thy Name." Hup-

feld would follow Clericus in read-

ing "above all Thy heavens,"

which involves only a very slight

change of the text. But all the

Ancient Versions had the present

reading.

    4. ALL THE KINGS OF THE EARTH.

See the expression of the same feel-

ing in lxviii. 29-32 [30-33], lxxii.

10, 11, cii. 15 [16].

     FOR THEY HAVE HEARD. This

sounds in the Old Testament almost

like an anticipation of St. Paul's

words: "But I say have they not

heard? Yea verily, their sound is

gone forth into all the world." It

is to be explained by the deep con-

viction in the Psalmist's heart that

God's words cannot be hidden, must

be published abroad. Others, how-

ever, render, "When they (shall)

have heard."

    5. SING OF THE WAYS. Having

heard the tidings, "the words of

God's mouth," they will joyfully

celebrate His mighty acts. Comp.

ciii. 7, where "His ways" corre-

spond to "His acts" in the paral-

lelism. The second clause may

also be rendered, "That great is,"

&c. Ibn Ezra says: "They shall

no more sing of love or war, but of

the glory of the Lord."

    6. IS HIGH. Comp. cxiii. 5, 6.

HE KNOWETH AFAR OFF. This

 

                           PSALM CXXXVIII.                                 437

 

7 If I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt quicken me:

            Against the wrath of mine enemies Thou wilt stretch

                        out Thine hand,

            And Thy right hand shall save me.

8 Jehovah will perfect that which concerneth me

            Jehovah, Thy loving-kindness (endureth) for ever:

                        Forsake not the works of Thy hands.

 

is the only proper rendering of the                       afar (parallel to "high" in the first

clause; but the expression is some-                     member) knows the proud, just as

what remarkable. (I) It has been                                    he sees the humble.

explained by reference to cxxxix. 2                         7. 1F I WALK., Compare xxiii. 4,

("Thou understandest my thoughts                      and lxxi. 20.

afar off "), which would mean, God                      QUICKEN ME, or perhaps "keep

knows (observes) the proud, distant                    me alive."

as they may think themselves to be                         8. PERFECT, i.e. accomplish the

from His control. (2) Or, God knows                   work He has begun. See the same

them (regards them) only at a dis-                      word in lvii. 2 [3], and comp. the

tance, does not admit them into His                     e]pitelei?n of Phil. i. 6.

fellowship: He does not "see" them                         FORSAKE NOT, or "relax not,"

as He "seeth the humble." (3) Or                        turning into a prayer what he had

it would be possible to explain, He                      just before expressed as a convic-

knows them so as to keep them at a                  tion of his own mind. For the

distance. (4) Or, again, God from                        word see Nehem. vi. 3.

 

            a ynibehir;Ta. LXX. poluwrh<seij. De-Rossi says that he found in several

MSS. and Edd. ynibeyHir;Ta which is also expressed by Jerome, dilatabis.

But the change is not necessary : the root bhr means strictly to be proud.

Is. iii. 5, "behave himself proudly" (in a bad sense). Prov. vi. 3, "press

(make sure, E.V.) thy neighbour." Song of Sol. vi. 5, "for they (thine

eyes) have overcome me" (Hiph. as here), or perhaps "have dazzled or

bewildered me." If we trace the shades of meaning, we shall see that

the root-meaning is to act with spirit. This applies both in Is. iii. 5 and

in Prov. vi. 3, and so here, "Thou hast infused spirit into me," a sense

which would not be unsuitable in Song of Sol. vi. 5. The tense obtains

a past signification, because it follows a fut. with Vau consecutive.

            b ‘y yker;daB;. The prep. denotes the object as often with analogous verbs

as rbd, llh, hGh, &c.

            c fdayey;, fut. Qal, apparently formed after the analogy of the Hiph'il forms,

lyliyey;, Is. xvi. 7, byFiyey;, Job xxiv. 21, and originating in the effort to restore

the sound of the first radical, which in the Hiph, coalesces with the

preceding vowel, and in the Qal is lost altogether.

438                                 PSALM CXXXIX.

 

                                       PSALM CXXXIX.

 

            NOWHERE are the great attributes of God—His Omniscience, His

Omnipresence, His Omnipotence, set forth so strikingly as they are in

this magnificent Psalm. Nowhere is there a more overwhelming sense

of the fact that man is beset and compassed about by God, per-

vaded by His Spirit, unable to take a step without His control; and yet

nowhere is there a more emphatic assertion of the personality of man

as distinct from, not absorbed in, the Deity. This is no pantheistic

speculation. Man is here the workmanship of God, and stands in

the presence and under the eye of One who is his Judge. Tne power

of conscience, the sense of sin and of responsibility, are felt and

acknowledged, and prayer is offered to One who is not only the

Judge, but the Friend; to One who is feared as none else are feared,

who is loved as none else are loved.

            Both in loftiness of thought and in expressive beauty of language

the Psalm stands pre-eminent, and it is not surprising that Aben Ezra

should have pronounced it to be the crown of all the Psalms.

            The Psalm both in the Hebrew and the LXX. is ascribed to David.

In some copies of the latter it is also said to be a Psalm of Zechariah

(Zaxari<ou), with the further addition by a second hand of the words,

"in the dispersion" (e]n t&? diaspor%?), which Origen tells us he found

in some MSS. Theodoret, on the other hand, says that he had not

found the addition either in the Hebrew or the LXX., or in any of

the other interpreters. The strongly Aramaic colouring of the

language certainly makes it more probable that the Psalm was written

after the Exile than before, unless, indeed, this tendency to Aramaisms

is to be regarded as evidence of a variation merely of dialect, perhaps

the dialect of Northern Palestine,—a supposition which seems not

to be wholly without foundation.

            The rhythmical structure is, on the whole, regular. There are four

strophes, each consisting of six verses; the first three strophes con-

taining the proper theme of the Psalm, and the last the expression of

individual feeling.

            I. In the first strophe the Poet dwells on the omniscience of God,

as manifested in His knowledge of the deepest thoughts and most

secret workings of the human heart. Ver. 1-6.

            II. In the second, on His omnipresence; inasmuch as there is no

corner of the universe so remote that it is not pervaded by God's

                                    PSALM CXXXIX                                      439

 

presence, no darkness so deep that it can hide from His eyes. Ver.

7-12.

            III. The third strophe gives the reason for the profound conviction

of these truths of which the Poet's heart is full. No wonder that God

should have so intimate a knowledge of man, for man is the creature

of God: the mysterious beginnings of life, which none can trace;

the days, all of which are ordered before the first breath is drawn,—

these are fashioned and ordered by the hand of God. Ver. 13-18.

            IV. In the last strophe the Psalmist turns abruptly aside to ex-

press his utter abhorrence of wicked men—an abhorrence, no doubt,

deepened by the previous meditation on God and His attributes, and

called forth probably by the circumstances in which he was placed;

and then closes with a prayer that he himself may, in his inmost

heart, be right with that God who has searched him and known him

and laid his hand upon him, and that he may be led by Him in the

way everlasting. Ver. 19-24.

 

                  [FOR THE PRECENTOR. A PSALM OF DAVID.]

 

I O JEHOVAH, Thou hast searched me, and known (me).

2 THOU knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,

            Thou understandest my thoughta afar off.

3 Thou hast examined b my path and my lying down,c

            And art acquainted with all my ways.

4 For before a word is yet on my tongue,

            Lod 0 Jehovah, Thou knowest it altogether.

5 Behind and before hast Thou beset me,

            And laid Thine hand upon me.

 

      1. KNOWN (ME). The form of

the verb marks a consequence of

the previous action.

     2. AFAR OFF. However great the

distance between us. See on cxxxviii.

6. The P.B.V. " long before."

      3. THOU HAST EXAMINED, lit.

"Thou hast winnowed," or " sifted."

     4. FOR BEFORE A WORD. This

is probably the better rendering (see

Critical Note), though that of the

E.V., "For there is not a word . . .

but lo, 0 Lord, Thou knowest it

altogether," is not certainly wrong.

      5. BESET ME, or "shut me in."

Comp. Job iii. 23, xiii. 27, xiv. 5, 13,

16, xix. 8. The P.B.V., "fashioned

me," follows the LXX., e@plasaj Jer.

formasti, but these renderings de-

pend upon a wrong derivation of

the word from rcy.

     LAID THINE HAND. Job xiii.

21, xxxiii. 7. Therefore, in the ut-

most exercise of his freedom, man

is only accomplishing what God's

counsel and foreknowledge have

determined.

   With the general sentiment of

 

 

440                       PSALM CXXXIX.

 

6 (Such) knowledge is too wonderfule for me,

            It is too high, I cannot attain unto it.

 

7 Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit?

            Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?

8 If I climb up f into heaven, THOU art there,

            If I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there;

9 If I take the wings of the morning,

            If I dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10 Even there shall Thy hand lead me,

            And Thy right hand shall hold me.

11 And should I say, Only let darkness cover g me,

            And the light about me be night;

 

the first strophe compare Acts xvii.

28, "In him we live, and move,

and have our being."

     6. (SUCH) KNOWLEDGE. See a

similar strain of acknowledgement

at the close of the third strophe,

ver. 17, 18, and compare Rom. xi.

33, "O the depth of the riches both

of the wisdom and knowledge of

God! How unsearchable are His

judgements, and His ways past

finding out!"

    7. WHITHER SHALL I GO. It

was this and the following verses,

in all probability, which led a Span-

ish commentator (Father Sanchez)

to ascribe this Psalm to the Prophet

Jonah. Comp. Jon. i. 3, "But Jo-

nah rose up to flee unto Tarshish

from the presence of Jehovah."

      THY SPIRIT. "The word Spirit,"

says Calvin, "is not put here simply

for the power of God, as commonly

in the Scriptures, but for His mind

and understanding. For inasmuch

as the spirit in man is the seat of

understanding, the Psalmist trans-

fers the same to God; which is

clearer from the second member,

where the word face (presence) is

put for knowledge or sight." He

then remarks that the passage has

been wrongly applied to prove the

infinite nature of God (ad proban-

dam essentiar Dei imnnensitatem);

for it is not with metaphysical con-

ceptions that the Psalmist is em-

ployed, but with the practical truth

that by no change of place or cir-

cumstance can man escape from

the eye of God. There is further

implied, too, in the thought of

escape, and in the thought of dark-

ness, a sense of sin and the terror

of an awakened conscience, which

of itself would lead a man to hide

himself, if it were possible, from

his Maker.

      8. MY BED IN HELL, lit. "Should

I make the unseen world (Sheol)

my bed." Comp. Is. lviii. 5. For

the same thought see Prov. xv. 11;

Job xxvi. 6-9.

     9. If I could fly with the same

swiftness from east to west as the

first rays of the morning shoot from

one end of heaven to the other.

      WINGS OF THE MORNING. SO

the sun is said to have wings, Mal.

iv. 2.

     UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE SEA,

i.e. the furthest west.

     11. AND THE LIGHT ABOUT ME.

The apodosis does not begin here,

as in E.V., "even the night shall

be light about me," but with the

next verse, where it is introduced

by the particle "even," as in ver. 10.

The predicate "night" stands first

in the Hebrew, as is not unusual.

 

 

                          PSALM CXXXIX.                                 441

 

12 Even darkness cannot be too dark for Thee,

            But the night is light as the day;

                        The darkness h and light (to Thee) are both alike.

13 For THOU hast formed my reins,

            Thou didst weave me together in my mother's womb.

14 I will give Thee thanks for that I am fearfully and

                        wonderfully made;

            Wonderful are Thy works,

                        And my soul knoweth (it) right well.

15 My frame was not hidden from Thee,

            When I was made in secret,

                        (When) I was curiously wroughti (as) in the lower

                                    parts of the earth.

16 Thine eyes did see my substance j yet being imperfect,

 

       12. CANNOT BE TOO DARK FOR

THEE, lit. "cannot be dark (so as

to hide) from Thee;" or we may

retain, both in this and in the next

clause, Something of the causative

meaning of the verbs, and render

"make darkness" . . . "give light."

     13. "Who can have a truer and

deeper knowledge of man than He

who made him?"

    FORMED. The connection and

parallelism seem to show that this

must be the meaning of the word

here, as in Deut. xxxii. 6, "Is not

He thy Father that formed thee?"

where E.V. has "that bought thee;"

and Gen. xiv. 19, "Maker of heaven

and earth," where E.V. has "pos--

sessor."

     MY REINS. See on xvi. 7. It

seems to denote the sensational and

emotional part of the human being,

as afterwards "the bones” denote

the framework of the body.

     WEAVE ME TOGETHER, as in Job

x. 11, "Thou has woven me to-.

gether (E.V. fenced me) with bones

and sinews."

    15. MY FRAME, or, "my strength"

(and so Symm. h[ kratai<wsi<j mou),

but there evidently meaning the

bony framework of the body.

      CURIOUSLY WROUGHT, Aq. e]poi-

ki<lqhn. The verb is used of some

kind of parti-coloured work, but

whether woven or embroidered is

doubtful. Gesenius, who discusses

the question at large in his Thesau-

rus, decides for embroidery. On

the other hand, it has been denied

by Hartmann that the Hebrews

possessed this art. Camp. explains

well: "Velut tapetum e nervis et

venis contextus."

    IN SECRET. Comp.AEsch. Eumen.

665, e]n sko<toisi nhdu<oj teqramme<nh.

     IN THE LOWER PARTS OF THE

EARTH. Elsewhere the phrase de-

notes "the unseen world," comp.

lxiii. 9 [10], lxxxvi. 13. Here, as

the parallelism shows, it is used in

a figurative sense to describe the

womb as a region of darkness and

mystery.

      16. MY SUBSTANCE YET BEING

IMPERFECT. One word in the ori-

ginal which means strictly any-

thing rolled together as a ball, and

hence is generally supposed to mean

here the fetus or embryo. Hupfeld,

however, prefers to understand it

of the ball of life, as consisting of

a number of different threads ("the

days" of ver. 16) which are first a

 

442                     PSALM CXXXIX.

           

            And in Thy book were they all of them k written,--

                        The days which were ordered, when as yet there was

                                    none of them.

           

17 And how precious unto me are Thy thoughts, 0 God,

            How great is the sum of them!

18 If I would tell them, they are more in number than

                        the sand:

            When I awake, I am still with Thee.

 

19 Oh that Thou wouldest slay the wicked, 0 God!

            Depart from me, ye bloodthirsty men.

 

compact mass, as it were, and which

are then unwound as life runs on.

    ALL OF THEM, i.e. the days men-

tioned in the next verse. Or, "all

the parts of the one mass, the

various elements of the embryo yet

undeveloped." If the reference be

to them, then we must render the

next clause "the days that (i.e.

during which) they were ordered."

17. He breaks off in wonder and

admiration and holy thankfulness,

as before in ver. 14; these expres-

sions of personal feeling lending

not only much beauty and force,

but also much reality, to the con-

templation of God's attributes.

Comp. xxxvi. 7 [8], xcii. 5 [6];

Rom. xi. 33.

     HOW PRECIOUS, or perhaps (in

accordance with the root-meaning

of the word) "how hard to un-

derstand" (lit. "how heavy, or

weighty"), in which case it would

correspond with the anecerunhta of

Rom. xi. 33.

    SUM, lit. "sums," an unusual

plural, denoting that the investiga-

tion and enumeration extend in

many directions.

    18. MORE IN NUMBER. Comp.

xl. 5 [6].

     WHEN I AWAKE, lit. "I have

waked," i.e. as often as he awakes

from sleep, he finds that he is again

in the presence of God, again occu-

pied with thoughts of God, again

meditating afresh with new wonder

and admiration on His wisdom and ,

goodness. Others explain, "Wak-

ing and sleeping, day and night, I

think of Thee, and find ever the

same inexhaustible depth and ful-

ness." Others again would inter-

pret the "awaking" as awaking out

of a reverie in which the Psalmist

had lost himself while meditating

upon God. But the first explana-

tion is the simplest and most

probable.

     19. How strangely abrupt is the

turning aside from one of the sub-

limest contemplations to be found

anywhere in the Bible, to express a

hope that righteous vengeance will

overtake the wicked. Such a pas-

sage is startling,—startling partly

because the spirit of the New Testa-

ment is so different; partly too, no

doubt, because "our modern civili-

zation has been so schooled in

amenities" that we hardly know

what is meant by a righteous indig-

nation. It is well, however, to no-

tice the fact, for this is just one of

those passages which help us to

understand the education of the

world. Just because it startles us is

it so instructive. The 63rd Psalm

presents us, as we have seen, with

a similar contrast. There, how-

ever, the feeling expressed is of a

more directly personal kind. David

is encompassed and hard pressed

by enemies who are threatening his

life. He has been driven from his

                        PSALM CXXXIX.                                   443

 

20 Who rebell against Thee with (their) wicked devices,

            (Who) lift up m themselves against Theen in vain.

21 Should I not hate them which hate Thee, 0 Jehovah.

            And should I not be grieved with them that rise upo

                        against Thee?

22 With perfect hatred do I hate them,

            I count them mine enemies.

23 Search me, 0 God, and know my heart:

            Try me, and know my thoughts;

24 And see if there be any wicked way in me,

 

throne by rebels, and the deep sense

of wrong makes him burst forth in

the strain of indignation and of

anticipated victory. "They that

seek my life to destroy it shall be

cast into the pit," &c. Here, ap-

parently, the prayer for the over-

throw of the wicked does not arise

from a sense of wrong and personal

danger, but from the intense hatred

of wickedness as wickedness, from

the deep conviction that, if hateful

to a true-hearted man, it must be

still more intensely hateful to Him

who searcheth the hearts and trieth

the reins. The soul, in the imme-

diate presence of God, places itself

on the side of God, against all that

is opposed to Him. Still, the prayer,

"Oh that Thou wouldest slay the

wicked," can never be a Christian

prayer.

     20. WHO REBEL. Either the con-

struction is changed from the second

person in the preceding verse ("De-

part from me") to the third in the

relative clause; or the last clause

of ver. 19 must be regarded as

parenthetical, which is natural

enough in a strong outburst of per-

sonal feeling, and then the con-

struction proceeds regularly: "Wilt

Thou not slay the wicked, who

rebel," &c.

    WITH WICKED DEVICES . . . IN

VAIN. The parallelism would be

better preserved by taking both

words as adverbs: "wickedly" .. .

"foolishly."

     23. SEARCH ME. "That man

must have a rare confidence," says

Calvin, "who offers himself so

boldly to the scrutiny of God's

righteous judgement." And then

he remarks that such a prayer is no

evidence of self-ignorance, or a pre-

sumptuous spirit, but of integrity of

heart and the absence of all hypo-

crisy. It is connected with what

precedes in this way: that, having

declared his utter separation from,

and aversion to, the wicked, he

prays that this may be no mere

outward separation; he remembers

that, even whilst he seems most op-

posed to the wicked, the All-seeing

Eye may discern in him some way

of evil and sorrow; that only as

God holds his hand, and leads him,

can he walk in the way of life.

     24. WICKED WAY, or rather "way

of pain," i.e. leading to pain, such

pain and smart being the conse-

quences of sin, as in Is. xiv. 3.

Others, "way of idols," as in Is.

xlviii. 5, "the way of idolatry"

being opposed to "the way of

Jehovah," xxv. 4. Comp. also Am.

viii. 14, and the use of  o[do<j Acts

xix. 23, xxii. 4.

    WAY EVERLASTING, i.e. the one

true abiding way, which leads to the

true and everlasting God. Calvin,

who translates via seculi, supposes

merely the course of life in this

world to be meant, and that the

Psalmist prays God to be with him

to the end ("ac si peteret Deum sibi

 

 

444                 PSALM CXXXIX.

            And lead me in the way everlasting.

 

esse ducem stadii sui usque ad                           the true religion, the religion of his

metam "); but the Hebrew 'olam                        fathers, as in Jer. vi. 16, "the old

(ai]w<n) has not of itself this meaning.                 paths," xviii. 15.

Others render "the old way," i.e.

 

            a yfire only here fare = Chald. tUfre frequent in Ecclesiastes (from root

hfAr; = hcr, properly "will," here "thought." The l; prefixed to the

obj. is perhaps an Aramaism (comp. cxvi. 25, cxxix. 3, cxxxv. 11), but

not necessarily, as the l; may denote the direction of the thought.

            b tAyrzi (cognate with hrz, frz), Thou  hast spread out, and so winnowed.

LXX. e]cixnia<saj, tracked;. Jerome, eventilasti.

            c yfib;ri. Another apparently Aram. or later form for ycib;ri, and another

a!p. leg. This and the preceding word are properly two infinitives, "my

walking and my lying down." Though the noun Hraxo is Hebrew, the verb

occurs only here and in Job xxxiv. 8, a passage which has also an Aram.

tincture.

            d Nhe. The construction of this verse has been taken in two ways:

(I) There is no word on my tongue (which) Thou dost not know

altogether; (2) A word is not (yet) upon my tongue, (but) lo! Thou

knowest it altogether. This last is the rendering of Qimchi, Calvin, and

others, and the Nhe favours it, as Hupf. observes. Comp. Is. xl. 24. [But

Nhe in later writers = Mxi. See Gesen. Lex. Can it here be used after a

negative in the sense of nisi or quin?]

            e hyxlp. Fern. of the adj. yxil;Pi (as the K'thibh, Jud. xiii. 18), and

therefore to be read hy.Axil;Pi, and not as the Q'ri, hxAyl;Pi.

On l; lky see xiii. 5.

            f qsa.x, (only here) from qsan;, Aramaic (for the usual Heb. hlf), but only

used in fut. imperat. inf. Qal and Aphel. The alternate form is qles;, but

we must not therefore assume, with Ges., Ew., and others, that qsa.x, is for

qsal;x,, and this again by transposition for qlas;x,.  The roots are distinct,

though cognate. Comp. also hqAs;n;hi, Dan. vi. 24.

            g ynpvwy. In the two other passages where the same word occurs,

Gen. iii. 15, Job ix. 17, it means "to bruise," "to crush," a meaning

evidently not applicable here, though the LXX. have katapath<sei. Hence

Umbreit would connect it with Jxw, in the sense inhiare, insidiari (comp.

LXX. threi?n), and so invadere, "to fall upon." Even this, however, gives

but a poor meaning, as Hupfeld truly remarks. Either, therefore, we

must connect it with another root, Jw,n,, "the darkness shall be gloomy,

thick, about me"—so the Targ., Se'adyah, Rashi, Qimchi, &c., and so

Symm. e]piskepa<sei me, another Greek Vers. kalu<yuei, Jerome, operient—or

we must adopt a different reading, such as ynipeUfy;, which Bottcher proposes,

comparing Job xi. 17; or ynikeUWy;, as Ewald suggests, from j`Wa = j`sa, to

cover, as dUwyA, for dOwyA, xci. 6.

                                   PSALM CXXXIX                                        445

            h hkAyweHE, a fern. with a superfluous y inserted, but not otherwise an

uncommon form, whereas the fern. hrAOx only occurs besides Esth. viii. 16,

and is a later and Aram. form.

            i YTim;qa.ru (Pu'al only here). The root means to variegate, poiki<llein.

The body of the foetus is described as woven together of so many

different-coloured threads, like a cunning and beautiful network of

tapestry—"velut tapetum e nervis et venis contextus,"—Camp.—similar

therefore to the use of jks, ver. 13; Job x. 11.

            i ymil;GA from Mlg, to roll together, 2 Kings ii. 8, whence MOLG;, a mantle,

Ezek. xxvii. 24. The word Ml,Go occurs here only in the O.T., but is used

in the Mishnah of any unformed, unshapen mass. So the LXX., Aq.,

have here a]kate<rgasto<n mou, Symm. a]mo<rfwto<n me, as describing the

embryo. Hupfeld, however, understands it not of the embryo,, but of the yet

undeveloped course of life, the days of which are so many threads which

as yet are rolled together in a ball, and which are unwound as life goes

on. So that ymil;GA would mean my ball of life, just as in classical and

other writers we have the thread of life, the web of life, &c. Comp.

Catull., " Currite ducentes subtemina, currite, Parcae."

            k MlA.Ku. To what does the suffix refer? Some suppose that the yet

undeveloped members in the embryo are alluded to, as so many threads

rolled and twisted together, and fashioned day by day. But the pronoun

must rather be anticipative of the following plur. days; these are so

many threads of life (comp. Is. xxxviii. 12) which were written (imperf.)

in God's book. For other instances of this anticipative use of the

pronoun see ix. 13, lxxxvii. I, cxxxii. 6; Job vi. 29; Is. viii. 2r, xiii. 2.

            In the following xlov; the K'thibh is obviously right; though the Rabb.

attempt to explain the Q'ri Olv; "to Him (i.e. God) they are as one day."

            1 j~Urm;y. This cannot be "speak against Thee," from rmx, with

omission of the x (of which there is only one instance in this verb, 2 Sam.

xix. 14, though other elisions of the x may be cited, civ. 29; 2 Sam. xx. 9.

xxii. 40; Is. xiii. 20), for this must have been expressed by rBeDi, with the

prep. lfa or B;; nor "speak of Thee," as the Chald. paraphrases "swear

by Thy name wickedly." There is no other instance in which rmx with

the accus. means "to speak of a person." Passages like Gen. xliii. 27,

Num. xiv. 31, Lam. iv. 20, have been alleged as other instances of this

usage, but, in each of these cases the object is the relative rwExE, "with

respect to whom," and the thing said follows, so that they are not real

parallels. The correct reading is probably j~Urm;ya (as the Quinta renders,

parepi<kran<an se) "Provoke Thee," "rebel against Thee," this verb being

construed with the accus. Then the following hmA.zim;li is used adverbially like xv;w.Ala in the

next member, as further explaining the nature of the provocation or rebellion, for xv;wA.la

may mean foolishly, i.e. wickedly, as well as in vain, to no purpose.

            m xUWnA, an anomalous form, after the analogy of verbs h ‘l with

prosthetic x. It ought to be Uxw;nA (comp. Jer. x. 5; Ezek. xlvii. 8). The

same mode of writing is found ( Jer. x. 5) in the Niph'al.

446                                    PSALM CXL.

 

            For this absolute use of the verb comp. lxxxix. 10; Hab. i. 3, xw.Ayi NOdmAU,

"and contention lifteth itself up."

            n j~yr,fA. This is generally rendered Thine enemies, and as the verse

begins with the relative rw,xE, a second subject is thus awkwardly in-

troduced. So the Chald. and so Aq., a]nti<zhloi< sou, Symms, oi[ e]nanti<oi

sou, Jerome, adversarii tui (but rendering the relative preceding by quia).

Some, feeling the awkwardness of the double subject, render, "And they

have lifted up Thine enemies (i.e. raised them to honour) in vain."

Others, again, would explain ‘l ‘n, with reference to Ex. xx. 7, "they have

uttered lies, sworn falsely;" or would read j~m,w; for j~yr,fA as to bring

the passage into a closer resemblance to Ex. xx. 7. But it is a slighter

and simpler change to read j~yl,fA, a change which ought perhaps to be

made also in I Sam. xxviii. 16. Seven MSS. Kenn., and twenty De-R.,

have here j~yd,fA, unto Thee. j~yr,fA is usually taken to be an Aramaic form

for j~yr,cA. Otherwise it must mean Thy cities (ix. 7, Is. xiv. 21), a sense

which is unsuitable here, though it is given by the LXX., lh<yontai ei]j

mataio<thta ta>j po<leij sou, and also by the Syr. and Vulg.

            o j~ym,m;OpT;. The only instance of an apocop. Hithp. part. Either the

is omitted incorrectly, or, as Buxtorf conjectures, in order to avoid the

concurrence of four servile letters at the beginning of the word. For the

objective affix comp. xvii. 7.

 

                                   PSALM CXL.

 

            THIS Psalm is a prayer for protection against enemies who were at once violent and crafty and unscrupulous in the use of their tongues.

The general strain of the Psalm is like that of many which occur in

the earlier Books, and like them it is ascribed to David. In tone

and language it resembles Psalms lviii. and lxiv., but we have no

means of testing the accuracy of the Inscription. The chief pecu-

liarity of the Psalm is, that it has several words which occur nowhere

else. Ewald would refer this and the two following Psalms,--but, as

it appears to me, without any sufficient reason,—to the age of

Manasseh. The impression left upon the mind in reading them, I

think, is that they are cast in David's vein and in imitation of his

manner rather than written by David himself; but it would be ab-

surd to dogmatize in a matter where we are really left with nothing

to guide us, unless we are disposed to accept the tradition from

which the title has sprung.

            The strophical division of the Psalm is, on the whole, regular.

There are four strophes, consisting each of three verses, except that

                                      PSALM CXL.                                   447

 

the third, instead of consisting of three verses of two members, con-

sists of two verses of three members, so that the length of each

strophe is in fact the same. There is also a concluding strophe of

two verses. The close of the first three strophes is marked by the

Selah.

                [FOR THE PRECENTOR. A PSALM OF DAVID.]

 

1 DELIVER me, 0 Jehovah, from the evil-man,

           From the violent man preserve a me.

2 Who have imagined evil things in (their) hearts;

            All the day they stir up b wars.

3 They have sharpened their tongue like a serpent,

            Adder's poison is under their lips. [Selah.]

 

4 Keep me, 0 Jehovah, from the hands of the wicked,

            From the violent man preserve me.

                        Who have purposed to thrust aside my steps.

5 The proud have hidden a snare for me, and cords,

            They have spread a net by the side of the road,

                        They have set gins for me. [Selah.]

 

6 I said to Jehovah, THOU art my God,

            Give ear, 0 Jehovah, to the voice of my supplications.

7 0 Jehovah Lord, Thou strength of my salvation,

            Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.

8 Grant not, 0 Jehovah, the desires c of the wicked;

            Further not his wicked device, that they be not lifted

                        up.d [Selah.]

 

I. EVIL MAN, or " evil men "

. . . "violent men" (the sing. being

used collectively for the plur.),

which is more in accordance with

the plural in the next verse.

    THE VIOLENT MAN, lit. "the man

of violences," as in 2 Sam. xxii. 49,

instead of "man of violence," as in

Ps. xviii. 48 [49].

     3. SHARPENED THEIR TONGUE.

Comp. lii. 2 [4j. And for the next

clause, lviii. 4 [5], x. 7.

    4. The opening of the second

strophe is a repetition with slight

variation of the opening of the

first.

       5. THE PROUD HAVE HIDDEN,

or the adjective may be a predi-

cate, and the subject the same as

before: "who have hidden in their

pride," &c.

     7. COVERED MY HEAD, i.e. as

with a helmet. Comp. lx. 7 [9].

     BATTLE, lit. "armour," as in

I Kings x. 25; 2 Kings x. 2; Ezek.

xxxix. 9, 10.

 

 

448                        PSALM CXL.

 

9 [When they lift up] the head that compass me e about,

            Let the mischief of their own lips cover them!

10 Let hot burning coals fall g upon them,

            Let them be cast into the fire,

                        Into floods of water h that they rise not again.

11 An evil speaker shall not be established in the earth,

            The violent man—evili shall hunt him to overthrow

                        (him).

12 I know that Jehovah will maintain the cause of the

                        afflicted,

            The right of the poor.

13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto Thy Name;

            The upright shall dwell in Thy presence.

 

     9. WHEN THEY LIFT UP. The

verb should probably be transferred

here from the end of the previous

verse (see Critical Note). In the

next clause, and verses, 10, 11, I

have followed the E.V. in pre-

ferring the optative to the future.

But the LXX., Jerome, and the

majority of modern commentators

give the future : "Though they that

compass me may lift up the head,

the mischief of their own lips shall

cover them; hot burning coals, shall

fall upon them," &c.

     10. LET THEM BE CAST, lit. "let

one cast them," or perhaps Jehovah

may be the subject of the verb,

"May He cast them."

    11. AN EVIL SPEAKER, lit. "a

man of tongue;" not, however, used

here in the sense of "a talkative

man;" as the similar phrase, "a

man of lips" (E.V. "a man full of

talk"), in Job xi. 2, but with the

further notion of evil speaking, as

in ver. 3.

     13. DWELL IN THY PRESENCE.

See xi. 7, xvi. 11.

 

            a ynrec;n;Ti. The full term, as in lxi. 8, Ixxviii. 7, &c.

            b UrUgyA. The verb is usually intrans. "gather themselves," in a hostile

sense, as in lvi. 7. So it is commonly taken here, the prep. lx, or l; being

understood, or the accus. being regarded as the accus. of direction,.

Qimchi, however, makes the verb trans. here gather wars, i.e. gather the

materials for war. Perhaps it is better to take rvn=hrG, to stir up, as

the Chald., Syr., and others. In the next verse bUwk;fa,is a a!p. leg.

            c yy.evaxEma (only here, instead of tUaxa, tvaxETa). Constr. plur. of hv,xEma (not of

yvixEma or yvAxEma as Gesen.), for the termination h-,  is a contraction from ai—a

false formation, with euphonic doubling of the third radical, according to

the analogy of Myni.maw;mi, MyDimaHEma, &c., here transferred to 3 Yod, contrary

to rule. It would be better to write yyevAxEma like the constr. forms yyedAG;

(Gen. xxvii. 9, 16); yyeHAl; (Is. xxx. 28, instead of  yey;d;Gi &c.), after the analogy

                                          PSALM CXL.                                      449

 

of the termination yxe-A. This is proposed by Abulwalid, who found it in

his MS., and Qimchi (Mikhlol), and Kenn. and Shelomoh Yedidyah of

Norcia mention having found it in some MSS.; but the form does not

occur elsewhere. (See Hupfeld.) MmAzA is another a!p. leg.

            d UmuUryA. This is commonly taken as loosely subjoined to the previous

sentence, either as governed by the preceding negative, LXX., mh<pote

i[ywqw?si, Symm. i!na mh> e]parqw?si (comp. Is. xiv. 21, UmUqyA lBa), or as

describing the consequences of their success, "they will lift themselves

up." But it is impossible not to feel that in all probability the word is

misplaced before the Selah, and that it belongs to the following verse,

especially as the first clause of that verse requires a verb to make sense:

"They that surround me have lifted up the head." It is true that Mvr in

the Qal is not trans., and therefore wxr must either be the accus. of

reference, "as to the head," or perhaps we ought to read UmyriyA.  For the

fluctuations between Qal and Hiph. in this word comp. lxxxix. 18, 26,

cxlviii. 13.

            e yBasim;, usually taken as part. Hiph.: but the Hiph. of this verb is

never intransitive, not even in Josh. vi. 11, 2 Sam. v. 23. It must

therefore be from an abstract bsame, whence plur. constr. tOBsim;, used

adverbially, and yBesim;, 2 Kings xxiii. 5; and here with suffix =ytaboybis;  

xxvii. 6.

            f vmvsky. The K'thibh is plur., referring to the lips as the subject

(Ges. § 148, 1). The correction to the sing. in the Q'ri is therefore

unnecessary.

            g vFymy. The K'thibh can only refer to an indefinite subject: "Let

them (men) cast hot burning coals," &c., which is equivalent to a passive :

Let hot burning coals (which may perhaps mean lightnings, as in xviii.

13, 14) be cast, &c. See on lvi. note e. The Q'ri, however, substitutes

the Niph. UFOm.yi, which is contrary to the usage in the Niph. Hupf. there-

fore would read ryFm;ya (comp. xi. 6), making Jehovah the subject here, as

in the next clause.

            h tOrmohEma, only here. Ibn Ez. and Qimchi explain it to mean deed pits,

but without any reason. It is probably to be explained by the cogn.

Arab.       , to pour out water,         , a cataract.

            i frA. The accent is clearly wrong, for this is not an adjective to

'H wyxi, a wicked, violent man, but a noun, which is the subject of the

following verb, as the Chald., the LXX., the Rabb., and others have

taken it. The Athnach should therefore be transferred to smAHA.

450                            PSALM CXLI.

 

                                   PSALM CXLI.

 

            THIS Psalm presents some peculiar difficulties of interpretation,

which, however, are due neither to the words employed, nor to the

grammatical construction, but to the extreme abruptness with which

in verses 5—7 the thoughts follow one another, and the extreme

obscurity which hangs over the allusions. To translate each sentence

by itself is no difficult matter, but it is almost hopeless either to link

the sentences plausibly together, or to discover in them any tangible

clue to the circumstances in which the Psalmist was placed. As all

the Ancient Versions must have had substantially the same text, the

deviations in any of them being very slight, it is hardly probable

that, as Olshausen and Hupfeld maintain, the text is corrupt: it is

more likely that our entire ignorance of the circumstances under

which the Psalm was written prevents our piercing the obscurity of

the writer's words.

            It has been usual to accept the Inscription which assigns the

Psalm to David, and to assign it to the time of his persecution by

Saul. Ver. 5 has generally been supposed to allude to David's

generous conduct in sparing the life of his foe when he was in his

power (seer Sam. xxiv., and comp. the note on ver. 6 of this Psalm),

but it is quite impossible on this supposition to give any plausible

Interpretation to ver. 7.

            Delitzsch, with more probability, refers the Psalm to the time of

Absalom's rebellion. He sees an allusion to David's distance from

the sanctuary and the worship of the sanctuary in ver. 2, and he

explains ver. 6. of the punishment which shall overtake the rebel

leaders, and the return of the people to their allegiance.

            Ewald would assign this, as well as the preceding and following

Psalms, to a time subsequent to the Assyrian invasion,—perhaps the

reign of Manasseh. He supposes that in the persecution to which

the true worshipers of Jehovah, and especially the leading men

amongst them, were exposed, the Psalmist, who was apparently a

man of some distinction (cxlii. 7 [8]), had himself suffered. He had

been assailed by threats (cxl„ 3 [4], 9 [101), and by flatteries (cx1i. 4);

and if these failed in drawing him away, his destruction was resolved

upon (cxl. 5 [6], cxli, 9, 10, cxlii. 3 [4]). But undaunted by threats,

unseduced by flatteries, he cleaves with the most resolute faith and

 

                                 PSALM CXLI.                                          451

 

love to his God, and will rather submit to reproof from the true-

hearted than suffer himself to be cajoled and led astray by the

wicked (cxli. 5). And when at last his enemies, enraged at his firm-

ness, seize him and cast him into prison, leaving him there to perish

(cxlii. 7 [8]), he does not give way, but still cries to Jehovah for help,

and trusts in His power and faithfulness.*

            Maurer thinks that this Psalm was written at a time when idolatry

had become prevalent, especially among men of the highest rank and

station, and that in consequence the faithful servants of Jehovah

were exposed to bitter persecution. We thus obtain a suitable mean-

ing, he says, for the whole Psalm, of which he thus sketches the out-

line:—"There are three strophes (I) Hear my prayer, 0 Jehovah:

suffer me not to speak any word against Thee, nor to fall away to the

wicked, allured by their luxurious banquets (ver. 1-4). (2) Why

should I not rejoice in my God? Nay, if their leaders are over-

thrown, the men shall gladly hear me raising a song of joy and

triumph, though now our bones cover the earth (ver. 5-7). (3) Keep

me, 0 Jehovah, from the devices of the wicked. Let them be snared

in their own nets, whilst I escape " (ver. 8-10).

            It is curious that, whilst De Wette, describing the Psalm as "a

very original, and therefore difficult, Psalm," holds it to be one of

the oldest in the collection, Maurer, almost on the same grounds

("oratio maxime impedita ac talis in qua manifeste cum verbis

luctetur vates"), sets it down as belonging to a comparatively late

period.

 

                        [A PSALM OF DAVID.]

I O JEHOVAH, I have called upon Thee, haste Thee unto me ;

            Give ear to my voice when I call upon Thee.

 

            * I subjoin Ewald's rendering and explanation of ver. 5-7: "Let the

righteous smite me in love and chastise me; let no oil for the head soften

my head! For still—my prayer is uttered in their misfortunes. Their

judges have been hurled into the rifts of the rock; so shall they hear how

sweet my words are! As though one should furrow and cleave the earth,

our bones have been scattered for the jaws of death." That is, "So far

am I from partaking of the dainties of the wicked, I will rather turn to

the righteous, and welcome their reproofs for my past coldness. I will

net even anoint my head," for that would be a sign of joy and festivity,

whereas now they are in suffering, and I can only pray. The chiefest

among them have already perished, "but the righteous who have escaped

the general persecution shall hear my words of sympathy and my prayers "

(such, for instance, as we have in this Psalm); and then, as if deeply

sympathising with the judges, the princes who have been slain, he

counts himself in their number, "Our bones lie scattered," &c., as on

a field of battle (liii. 5 [6].)

452                                 PSALM CXLI.

 

2 Let my prayer be set forth (as) incense before Thee,

            The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

3 Set a watch,a 0 Jehovah, before my mouth,

            Keep the door b of my lips.

4 Incline not my heart to any evil thing,

            To busy itselfc in wicked doings with men d that work

                        iniquity;

            And let me not eat of their dainties.

 

5 Let a righteous man smite me, it shall be a kindness;

            And let him reprove me, it shall be as oil upon (my) head,

                        Let not my head refuse e (it):

            For yet is my prayer f against their wickednesses.

 

    2. LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS.

i.e. evidently, as the parallelism re-

quires, in prayer: comp. xxviii. 2.

Others, as the Syr., and recently

Ewald and Hengstenberg, explain

it of bringing an offering. This,

however, is against both the paral-

lelism and the comparison with the

evening sacrifice.

    EVENING SACRIFICE. The sacri-

fice here meant is strictly the offer-

ing consisting of fine flour with oil

and frankincense, or of unleavened

cakes mingled with oil, which was

burnt upon the altar (Heb. minchah,

E.V. "meat-offering"): see Lev. ii.

1-11. This, however, like the

"incense," was only added to the

burnt-offering, the lamb which was

offered every morning and evening

(Ex. xxix. 38-42; Num. xxviii. 3-

8). It would seem, therefore, that

these two, "the incense" and "the

offering of fine flour," &c., stand

for the morning and evening sacri-

fices; and the sense is, "Let my

daily prayer be acceptable to Thee

as are the daily sacrifices of Thine

own appointment." (The minchah

is used I Kings xviii. 29, 36, of the

whole evening sacrifice, and of the

morning sacrifice, 2 Kings iii. 20)

The incense may be mentioned be-

cause, as ascending in a fragrant

cloud, it was symbolical of prayer

(Rev. v. 8, viii. 3, 4); and the same

would hold also of the "meat-offer-

ing" of which it is said that the

priest was to burn a part as "a

memorial," "a sweet savour unto

Jehovah" (Lev. ii. 9).

    3. SET A WATCH. Comp. xxxiv.

13 [14], xxxix. 1 [2]; Prov. xiii. 3,

xxi. 23. The prayer is apparently

directed against the temptation to

indulge in rash and foolish words

such as wicked men would indulge

in (see next verse). Others suppose

that he prays to be kept from the

temptation to break out into bitter

words against his persecutors (as

against Saul, if the Psalm be

David's); or into murmurs and

complaints against God.

     4. INCLINE NOT. See note on

li. 4.

     DAINTIES. It is unnecessary to

explain this of things sacrificed to

idols (Kos., Del.), as if the Psalmist

were surrounded by heathen: comp.

xvi. 4. The temptation is rather to

an easy, luxurious, sensual life, as

in lxxiii.

     5, According to the rendering I

have preferred of this verse, the

sense will be: "I will gladly wel-

come even the reproofs of the good

(comp. Prov. xxvii. 6; Eccl. vii. 5),

and I will avail myself of prayer

(as in ver. 2-4) as the best defence

 

 

                                 PSALM CXLI.                                   453

6 (When) their judges have been hurled down the sides of

                        the rock,

            Then they shall hear my words that they are sweet.

 

against the wickedness of my per-

secutors." The last member of the

verse may be rendered, "For even

in their wickedness (whilst it con-

tinues and whilst I suffer from it)

shall my prayer continue." So

Mendels. "Ich bete noch da jene

Schandthat üben." Aq. o!ti e@ti kai>

proseuxh< mou e]n kaki<aij au]tw?n. It is

possible, however, that this last

clause refers not to his enemies, but

to the righteous, in which case it

must be rendered, "For still my

prayer shall be offered  in their

misfortunes." (So Ewald.)

     Again, the first two clauses have

been rendered: "Let a righteous

man smite me in love (accus.) (LXX.

e]n e]le<ei), and reprove me. Such oil

upon the head let not my head re-

fuse." (Delitzsch.) But nothing is

gained by this, and the balance of

the members is not so well pre-

served. Others again (as Maur.,

Hengst.) understand by "the right-

eous," God, appealing to Is. xxiv.

16—where, however," the righteous"

means not God, but "the righteous nation."

     In ver. 4 he had prayed that he

might not be led astray by the evil

he saw around him, nor allured by

the blandishments and luxurious

prosperity of the wicked. Now he

says, on the contrary, "let me ever

be ready to welcome even reproof

from the righteous," which, how-

ever harsh, is salutary. The wounds

of a friend are faithful, and better

than the kisses of an enemy.

     6. This verse, difficult in itself, is

still more difficult, because it has no

very obvious connection either with

what precedes or with what follows.

The allusions are so obscure that it

is impossible to do more than guess

at the meaning.

    THEIR JUDGES must be in a gene-

ral sense the "rulers" or "princes "

of " the wicked;" for the pronoun

must refer to them. (Ewald, how-

ever — see Introduction to the

Psalm—supposes the leading men

amongst the righteous to be meant,

who are the principal sufferers in

the time of persecution.) The verse

apparently describes a punishment

which has been, or will be inflicted

upon them (see for this mode of

punishment 2 Chron. xxv. 12; Luke

iv. 29). The verb HURLED DOWN

is the same which is used, 2 Kings

ix. 33, of the throwing down of

Jezebel from the window.

     THE SIDES OF THE ROCK, lit.

"along," or " by the sides (Heb.

hands) of the rock or precipice.'

Comp. cxl. 5 [6], " by the side of

the path"; Jud. xi. 26, "by the

sides (E. V. coasts, Heb. hands)

of Arnon." Others, "into the

hands (i.e. the power) of the rock,"

with the same notion of punish-

ment, but rather, as in cxxxvii.

9, being hurled against the rock.

(The preposition employed favours

the latter explanation; see Lam.iv. 14.)

     THEY SHALL HEAR, i.e. of course

not the "judges," but either their

followers who have been led astray

by their pernicious influence, or

perhaps more generally, men shall

hear. If the Psalm is to be referred

to Absalom's rebellion, or any

similar occasion, the sense will be,

"When the leaders in the insurrec-

tion meet with the fate they deserve,

then the subjects of the king will

return to their allegiance." And the

expression, "they shall hear my

words that they are sweet," would

be a throughly Oriental mode of

describing the satisfaction with

which they would welcome the gra-

cious amnesty pronounced by their

offended sovereign.

    Others, who suppose that the

Psalm alludes to David's magnani-

mity in sparing Saul when he was

in his power (I Sam. xxiv.), explain

"When their leaders (meaning

454                          PSALM CXLI.

 

7 As when one furroweth g the earth (with the plough),

            Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the

                        grave.

8 For unto Thee, 0 Jehovah, the Lord, are mine eyes,

            In Thee have I found refuge, 0 pour not out h my soul.

 

Saul) were let go (suffered to escape)

along the sides of the rock, they

heard my words that they were

sweet,"—recognized, that is, my for-

bearance and generosity in sparing

my enemy, instead of taking his

life.

     7. AS WHEN ONE FURROWETH,

&c., lit. "as one who furroweth and

cleaveth in the earth" (the parti- 

ciple absolute being used for the

finite verb). The allusion is as ob-   

scure as in the previous verses, and

the point of the comparison is

differently explained. The bones

scattered are compared either (I)

to the clods broken by the plough-

share, or (2) to the seed scattered

in the earth turned up by the plough.

Maurer finds the point of the com-

parison in the length of the furrow:

"Quemadmodum qui terram arat,

longas facit series sulcorum, sic ossa

nostra, longa serie sparsa, prostrata

sunt orci in praedam." But the

emphasis is laid by the use of the

double verb on the breaking-up of

the clods. There is no reason to

supply a different object, as the

E.V., "As when one cutteth and

cleaveth wood upon the earth." The

explanation first given is the most

probable. In 2 Chron. xxv. 12,

where ten thousand Edomites are

said to have been cast down from

the top of the rock (sela', as here),

the same verb is used to describe

their destruction which is here used

of cleaving the earth by the plough.

    AT THE MOUTH, or perhaps "for

the mouth," i.e. so as to be swal-

lowed up by it.

     THE GRAVE. Heb. Sheol, the

abode of the dead, though here

perhaps nothing more than the

grave may be meant. The verse

thus describes a complete and dis-

astrous overthrow and apparently

of the whole nation; for now we

have the pronoun of the first per-

son, "our bones." It is true that

in some of the Ancient Versions

the pronoun of the third person is

found. So in the LXX. although

ta> o]sta? h[mw?n is the original reading

yet B has an alternate reading

au]tw?n, and this is found in A (by a

second hand) and in the Syr., Arab.,

and AEthiop. Bottcher insists upon

this as the correct reading, and ex-

plains "their bones" of the bones of

the judges hurled down the rock.

Hengst. and Delitzsch, on the other

band, find here a figure expressive

of hope and consolation. The

bones, according to them, are com-

pared to seed scattered in the up-

turned earth, from which a harvest

may be expected. So here a na-

tional resurrection (the first germ

of what is expressed in Is. xxvi.

19; Ezek. xxxvii.), a new life, is

anticipated. But if this be the

point of comparison, it is very

strangely expressed: it certainly

does not lie on the surface of the

words.

     8. FOR. The conjunction does

not refer to what immediately pre-

cedes, but either to what is said in

ver. 4, 5 (so Maurer), or perhaps

rather to the whole of the former

part of the Psalm, so far as it con-

sists of petition: "Listen to my

prayer,—keep me from temptation,

—for unto Thee are mine eyes."

    POUR NOT OUT MY SOUL, i.e.

give not my life up to destruction.

Comp. the use of the same verb Is.

liii. 12, " He poured out His soul

unto death."

     But the rendering of the E.V.,

"leave not my soul destitute" is

in accordance with the root signifi-

                                    PSALM CXLI.                                     455

 

9 Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me,

            From the gins of the workers of iniquity.

10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

            Whilst that I withal i escape.

 

cation of the word, and therefore

may be right.

    9. FROM THE SNARE, lit. " from

the hands of the snare." So we

have in xxii. 20 [21), "from the

hand of the dog ; " in Job v. 20,

"from the hand of the sword;"

Is. xlvii. 14, "from the hand of the

flame."

     INTO THEIR OWN NETS. The

pronoun is singular, used distribu-

tively,—"Each one of them into

his own net." For the sentiment

comp. vii. 15 [16].

 

            a hrAm;wA. The noun occurs only here. Qimchi (after R. Mosheh,

Hakkohen, Ib. Giqitilla) defends it by forms such as hmAk;HA, hmAc;fA. Hupf.

finds a difficulty in admitting this abstract noun from a transitive verb,

especially as we have another noun, rmAw;mi, in this sense; and is inclined

therefore to take the word as the imperative with h paragog., in the same

construction with ypil;, as in xxxix. 2, where, however, it is followed by the

accus. MOsH;ma, Like Ibn 'Ezr., he supposes that the writer intended to

imitate the construction in xxxix. 2, but to break it up into ypil; ‘m tywi and

rmawA, but then either omitted 'm or dropped the construction he had begun.

It is so far in favour of this view, that hrAc.;ni is of the same imperat. form

(Qal with euphon. Dagesh, as in Prov. iv. 13); here followed by lfa (which

it is nowhere else), after the analogy of rmw. Some, however, would

make hrAc;.ni, like hrAm;wA, a noun.

            b lDa another a!p. leg., instead of the tl,D,.

            c lleOft;hi. This Hithp. (denom. from hlAylifE) occurs only here.

            d Mywiyxi. This plur. form occurs also Is. liii. 3 ; Prov. viii. 4.

            Mym.ifan;ma, in the next line, is another a!p. leg.

            e yniyA for xyniyA, as ybixA for xybixA, Micah i. 15, written defectively, perhaps

because optative or jussive. See lv. note i; Ges. § 73, Rem. 4, § 74;

Rem. 21 c. The rendering of the LXX., mh> lipana<tw th>n kefalh<n mou,

with which Jerome and the Syr. agree, cannot be defended. There is,

indeed, an Arab root, .., to become fat, but said only of camels, and

there is no active formation from it "to make fat," and no such root in

Hebrew.

            f ‘t;U dOf yKi. The v must introduce the apodosis, and the sentence is

elliptical: "For (so it is) still, that my prayer," &c. With this elliptical

use of v dOf compare rw,xE dOf, "it will still be that," Zech. viii. 20, and

v rHaxa, Prov. xxiv. 27, "afterwards it shall be that," &c.

            g HalePo is taken by some of the ancient interpreters as = a noun, "hus-

bandman," and as the subject of the sentence. Sym. w!ssper gewrgo>j o!tan

h[rh<ss^ th>n gh?n ou!twj e]skorpi<sqh k.t.l.  Jer. Sicut agricola cum scindit

456                            PSALM CXLII.

 

terram. The root is of course the same as that of the common Arabic

word Fellah.

            h rfaT; for rfAT; (Ges. § 75, Rem. 8), Pi'el, or incorr. for rfaTa, Hiph., which

is found in Is. liii. 12. The root is used of emptying a vessel, Gen. xxiv.

20; a chest, 2 Chron. xxiv. 11; then it gets the sense of pouring out, as

Maurer observes: "Quod evacuandi verba facillime a vasis transferuntur

ad id quod vasis continetur." But it is better perhaps to keep to the root

meaning of making bare, destitute, empty.

            f dHaya. Some would join this to the previous hemistich: "into their

own nets together." Maurer considers it to be = dhaya lKo, and supposes

it to refer to the nets, and to be the object of the verb: "Whilst I escape

them all." But it is better to take dhaya here in the sense of at the same

time (comp. iv. 9, xxxiii. 15), and dfa (whilst, as in Job viii. 21) as merely

placed second in the sentence (comp. cxxviii. 2), in order that the

emphatic word may occupy the first place.

 

                                 PSALM CXLII.

 

            THIS is the last of the eight Psalms which, according to their

Inscriptions, are to be referred to David's persecution by Saul. Like

the 57th Psalm, it is supposed to describe his thoughts and feelings

when he was "in the cave," though whether in the cave of Adullam

(1 Sam. xxii. 1) or in that of Engedi (1 Sam. xxiv. 3) is not clear.

(See Introduction to Psalm lvii.) The general strain of the Psalm

is that of the earlier Books. It expresses in language like that of

David the cleaving of the heart to God, the deep sense of loneliness,

the cry for deliverance, the confidence that that deliverance will

call forth the sympathy and the joy of many others. But whether

it is written only in imitation of David's manner, or whether it is a

genuine work of David's extracted perhaps from some history, and

added, at a time subsequent to the Exile, to the present collection,

it is impossible now to determine.

 

[A MASCHILa OF DAVID WHEN HE WAS IN THE CAVE. A PRAYER.]

 

1 WITH my voice to Jehovah will I cry,

            With my voice to Jehovah will I make supplication.

2 I will pour out before Him my complaint;

            My trouble before Him will I make known.

 

                    PSALM CXLII.                                457

 

3 When my spirit is overwhelmed within me,

                        THOU knowest my path:

            In the way wherein I walk,

                        Have they hidden a snare for me.

4 Look b on the right hand and see,

            There is none that will know me;

                        Refuge hath failed me;

There is none that seeketh after my soul.

 

5 I have cried unto Thee, 0 Jehovah,

            I have said, THOU art my refuge,

                        My portion in the land of the living.

6 Attend unto my cry,

                        For I am brought very low:

            Deliver me from my persecutors,

                        For they are too strong for me.

7 Bring forth my soul out of prison,

 

     3. WHEN MY SPIRIT. The first

member of this verse is, perhaps,

to be connected with the preceding

verse, precisely as the same words

are found connected in the title of

Ps. cii. (So Hupfeld and Bunsen.)

     IS OVERWHELMED, lit. "darkens

itself." See on lxxvii. 3 [4].

     WITHIN ME, lit. " upon me." See

on xlii. noted,

     THOU: lit. "and THOU." If the

existing arrangement of the text is

right, the conjunction only serves

to introduce the apodosis. But if

the first clause, "when my spirit,"

&c., belongs to the previous verse,

then we must render here, "And

Thou knowest," &c.

     4. LOOK. There is no contradic-

tion in this prayer to the previous

statement of belief in God's omni-

science, "Thou knowest my path,"

as has been alleged. Such appeals

to God, to see, to regard, &c., are

common enough, "and are bound

up with the very nature of prayer,

which is one great anthropomor-

phisms."

     ON THE RIGHT HAND, as the

direction in which he would natur-

ally lock for succour (a parasta<thj).

See xvi. 8, cix. 6, 31, cx. 5, cxxi. 5.

     THAT WILL KNOW, lit. "that re-

cognizes me." Comp. Ruth ii. 10,

19.

    HATH FAILED, as in Am. ii. 14;

Jer. xxv. 35; Job xi. 20.

     SEEKETH AFTER, i.e. "troubleth

himself concerning," "careth for,"

as in Deut. xi. 12; 2 Sam. xi. 3;

Job x. 6; though according to the

analogy of Jer. xxx. 17, it would be

possible also to render, "My soul

hath none that seeketh (it); "or

"seeker" may here mean "avenger,"

as Hammond explains, vindex et

servator sollictus. Comp. for this

use of the verb x. 13.

     5. MY PORTION. Comp. xvi. 5,

lxxiii. 26.

    THE LIVING, or "life." See

xxvii. 13.

    7. OUT OF PRISON. This is

clearly to be understood figura-

tively. Comp. the parallel passage,

cxliii. 11.

 

 

                              PSALM CXLIII.                              458

 

                        That I may give thanks unto Thy Name.

            The righteous shall come about c me,

                        Because Thou dealest bountifully with me.

 

COME ABOUT ME, i.e. sympa-                       sense. The P.B.V. "then shall the

thising in my joy, though else-                             righteous resort unto my company."

where the word is used in a hostile

 

            a See on xxxii. note a, and Introduction to lvii.

            b FyBeHa. This can only be imperat. (like the following hxer;) for FBeha,

as in Job xxxv. 5. See on lxxvii. note c, xciv. note a. The Ancient

Versions, nearly without exception, have here the first person. LXX.

kateno<oun kai> e]pe<blepon. Similarly the Chald. and Syr., and the Rabb.

commentators, and so the E.V., evidently taking the forms as infinitive

absolutes, which would hold of FyBeha, but not of hxer;, for the apparent inf.

constr. hyeh<, Ezek. xxi. 15, proves nothing as it follows Nfamal;. Ewald would

read hxorA, but no change is necessary. Jerome is quite right in keeping

the imperative, Respice... et vide.

            c UrTik;ya. The verb, both in Hiph. and Pi'el, is elsewhere used in a

hostile sense, and with the accus. Here it must be expressive of

sympathy, though neither this meaning nor the constr. with is to be

found elsewhere. Others, following the LXX. and Aq., render "shall

wait for me; "but then it must be Pi'el, as in Job xxxvi. 2, where it is

also followed by l;. Others again take the word as a denom. from rt,K,,

and explain crown, or put on a crown, in a figurative sense, i.e. triumph

in me, boast themselves of me as of a crown. Del. compares Prov. xiv.

18. Symm. to> o@noma< sou stefanw<sontai di<kaioi. Jerome, in me corona-

buntur justi. The following yKi is rendered in the E.V. for. The LXX.

have e!wj ou$ a]ntapod&?j moi. Jer. cum retribueris mihi. Symm. o!tan

eu]ergeth<s^j  me.

 

                                     PSALM CXLIII.

 

            THIS is the last of the seven Penitential Psalms, as they are called.

(See Introduction to Vol. I. p. 23.) In the Hebrew it is styled

a Psalm of David; in some copies of the LXX. it is further said to

have been written when he had to flee from his son Absalom. It is

probable that the deep tone of sorrow and anguish which per-

vades the Psalm, and the deep sense of sin, led to the belief that

it must be referred to that occasion. The spirit and the language,

it is true, are not unworthy of David; yet the many passages borrowed

                               PSALM CXLIII.                                        459

 

from earlier Psalms make it more probable that this Psalm is the

work of some later Poet. Delitzsch says very truly, that if David

himself did nor write it—and he admits that the many expressions

derived from other sources are against such a supposition—still the

Psalm is "an extract of the most precious balsam from the old

Davidic songs." Like other post-exile Psalms (such, for instance, as

the 116th and 119th), it is a witness to us of the depth and reality

of the religious life in the later history of the nation, and an evidence

also of the way in which that life was upheld and cherished by the

inspired words of David and other Psalmists and prophets of old.

 

The Psalm consists of two parts, each of which is of six verses, the

conclusion of the first being marked by the Selah. The first portion

contains the complaint (ver. 1-6); the second, the prayer founded

on that complaint (ver. 7-12).

 

                               [A PSALM OF DAVID.]

 

1 0 JEHOVAH, hear my prayer,

            Give ear to my supplications.

                        In Thy faithfulness answer me, (and) in Thy

                                    righteousness.

2 And enter not into judgement with Thy servant;

            For before Thee no man living is righteous:

 

     1. IN THY FAPTHFULNESS ... IN

THY RIGHTEOUSNESS. It is to

God's own character that the ap-

peal is made. It is there first, and

not in his own misery, that the

sinner finds the great argument

why his prayer should be answered.

It is precisely the same ground

which St. John takes: "If we con-

fess our sins, He is faithful and

righteous (true to His promise and

true to His revealed character) to

forgive us our sins."

     2. ENTER NOT INTO JUDGE-

MENT, as in Job ix. 32, xxii. 4. He

traces his suffering to his sin: the

malice of his enemies is the rod of

God's chastisement, calling him to

repentance.

    BEFORE THEE, i.e. at thy bar, in

the judgement.

     IS RIGHTEOUS. Our translators

are not consistent in their rendering

of this verb. Here they follow the

LXX. ou] dikaiwqh<setai, "shall not

be justified." But in Job ix. 15, x.

15, xv. 14, xxii. 3, xxxii. 1, xxxiv. 5,

xxxv. 7, xl. 8, they give as the equi-

valent "to be righteous;" so, too,

in Ps. xix. 9 [10]. But in Ps. li. 4

[6] they have "justify," as here;

and so in Job xi. 2, xiii. 18, xxv. 4;

whereas in iv. 17, xxxiii. 12, they

render "to be just."

      In many of the passages referred

to in Job we see the same deep sense

of man's unrighteousness before a

righteous God which the Psalmist

here expresses. Yet it is that very

righteousness before which he trem-

bles, to which he appeals, which he

needs, in which alone he can stand

before his Judge. The passage

clearly shows, says Calvin, that he

is justified who is considered and

accounted just before God, or whom

the heavenly Judge Himself acquits

as innocent.

 

 

460                         PSALM CXLIIII.

 

3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul,

            He hath smitten my life down to the earth,

            He hath made me dwell in darkness as those that are

                        for ever dead.

4 And my spirit is overwhelmed in me,

            My heart within me is desolate.

5 I have remembered the days of old,

            I have meditated on all Thou hast done;

                        On the work of Thy hands do I muse.

6 I have spread forth my hands unto Thee,

            My soul (thirsteth) after Thee as a thirsty land.

                                                                                    [Selah.]

 

    3. FOR THE ENEMY. This is the

reason why he turns to God so ear-

nestly. The outward suffering, the

persecution, the chastisement laid

upon him — it may have been

through some guilt of his own--had

purged the spiritual eye, had made

him look within, had shown him

his own heart, its sinfulness and its

misery, as he had never seen it be-

fore; and this deep sense of sin

and misery had led to the prayer in

ver. 2. Hence his deliverance from

his enemy and the forgiveness of

his sin are naturally connected in

his mind.

     IN DARKNESS,lit. in "darknesses,"

or "dark places," as in lxxxviii. 6

[7], where it is used of the abode of

the dead.

     Comp. with this verse vii. 5 [6];

Lam. iii. 6; Ps. Ixxxviii. 3-6 [4-7].

     FOR EVER DEAD. The dead are

so called as "fixed in an eternal

state," as those who can never re-

turn again to this world.

      4. IS OVERWHELMED. The same

word as in lxxvii. 3 [4], cvii. 5 (where

see note), cxlii. 3 [4]. "Having

spoken of his outward troubles,"

says Calvin, "he now confesses the

weakness of his spirit, whence we

gather that this was no stony forti-

tude (non saxeam fuisse ejus forti-

tudinem), but that, whilst over-

whelmed with sorrow so far as his

natural feelings were concerned, he

stood and was supported only by

faith and the grace of the Spirit."

    Is DESOLATE, or rather "is full of

amazement," lit. "astonies itself;"

seeks to comprehend the mystery

of its sufferings, and is ever beaten

back upon itself in its perplexity:

such is the full force of the reflexive

conjugation here employed. The

form occurs besides Is. lix. 16, lxiii.

5; Dan. viii. 27; Eccl. vii. 16. This

and the next verse are an echo of

lxxvii. 3-6 [4-7], 11, 12 [12, 1[3].

See notes there.

     6. I HAVE SPREAD FORTH MY

HANDS, as the weary child stretches

forth its hands to its mother, that

on her bosom it may be hushed to

rest.

    THIRSTY, lit. "weary," "languish-

ing," but used as here Is. xxxii,. 2.

The construction is doubtful. Ac-

cording to the accents it would be,

"My soul is a land thirsting after

Thee." But as the adjective is used

both of the soul, Prov. xxv. 25, and

of a land, Ps. lxiii. 1 [2], it is pro-

bable that it here belongs to both

words. "In great heat we see the

earth cracking and gaping, as

though with open mouth she asked

for the rain from heaven."—Calvin.

     AFTER THEE. "Observe how he

hinds himself to God alone, cuts off

every other hope from his soul, and,

 

                      PSALM CXLIII.                                            461

 

7 Make haste to answer me, 0 Jehovah,

                        My spirit faileth:

            Hide not Thy face from me,

                        That so I become like them that go down into the pit.

8 Cause me to hear Thy loving-kindness in the morning,

                        For in Thee have I trusted;

            Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,

                        For unto Thee have I lifted up my soul.

9 Deliver me from mine enemies, 0 Jehovah,

            Unto Thee have I fled to hide me. a

10 Teach me to do Thy will,

            For Thou art my God;

                        Let Thy good b Spirit lead me in a plain country.

 

in short, makes his very need a

chariot wherewith to mount up to

God."

    7. In the second half of the

Psalm many of the expressions are

borrowed from earlier Psalms.

With the prayer in this verse comp.

lxix. 17 [18], xxvii. 9, cii. 2 [3]; with

the second clause comp. lxxxiv. 2

[3], where the ardent longing for

God is expressed in the same way.

      THAT SO I BECOME, &c., is word

for word as in xxviii. 1; comp.

lxxxviii. 4 [5].

      8. IN THE MORNING, i.e. early,

soon. Comp. Moses' prayer, xc, 14.

Various interpretations have been

given, which are thus summed up

by Calvin: "Adverbium mane

frigide quidam restringunt ad sa-

crificia. Scimus enim quotidie bis

sacrificia offerre solitos, matutinum

et vespertinum. Alii subtilius ac-

cipiunt, quod Deus mitius agens

cum suis servis dicatur formare

novum diem. Alii metaphoram

esse volunt et notari prosperum

lxtumque statum: sicut triste et

calamitosum tempus saepe notatur

per tenebras. Sed minor in hac

voce quaeri extraneos sensus, qua

simpliciter repetit quod prius dix-

erat festina. Mane ergo tantundem

valet ac tempestive vel celeriter."

     THE WAY IN WHICH I SHOULD

WALK. Comp. xxv. 4, cxlii. 3 [4],

with Exod. xxxiii. 13.

     LIFTED UP MY SOUL, as in xxv.

1, lxxxvi. 4.

     9. FLED TO HIDE ME, lit. "unto

Thee have I hidden (myself)." But

the phrase is very peculiar and its

meaning doubtful. See in Critical

Note.

     10. TO DO THY WILL, not merely

to know it; hence the need of the

Holy Spirit's aid, His quickening,

guiding, strengthening, as well as

His enlightening influence. "Ne-

cesse est Deum nobis non mortua

tantum litera magistrum esse et

doctorem, sed arcano Spiritus in-

stinctu, imo tribus modis fungitur

erga nos magistri officio: quia

verbo suo nos docet; deinde Spiritu

mentes illuminat: tertio cordibus

nostris insculpit doctrinam, ut vero

et serio consensu obediamus."

     THY WILL, lit. "Thy good plea-

sure," as in ciii. 21. P.B.V., "The

thing that pleaseth Thee."

       THY GOOD SPIRIT, as in Neh. ix.

20; comp. Ps. li. 11 [13].

      IN A PLAIN COUNTRY, lit. "in a

level land," or "on level ground,"

where there is no fear of stumbling

and falling, LXX. o[dhgh<sei me e]n

t^? eu]qei<%, Sym. dia> gh?j o[malh?j. The

word mishor is constantly used of

the plain (champaign) country. See

 

 

                                PSALM CXLIII.

11 For Thy Name's sake, 0 Jehovah, quicken me,

            In Thy righteousness bring my soul out of distress.

12 And of Thy loving-kindness cut off mine enemies,

            And destroy all the adversaries of my soul;

                        For I am Thy servant.

 

for instance Deut. iv. 43. Comp.                         ance from suffering, and now not

Is. xxvi. 7, "The path of the right-                       only for deliverance from his ene-

eous is level. Thou makest level                          mies, but for their destruction (ver.

(even, as if adjusted in the balance)                    11, 12).

the road of the righteous." It is                                  Hence the second petition in (1)

unnecessary with Hupf. to correct                      answers to the second petition in

the text, and substitute "path" for                        (2); the first in (2) to the second

"land," for we have a similar expres-                   in (3).

sion in Is. xxvi. 10, "the land of                               Further, in ver. 8-10, the ground

uprightness."                                                     of the petition in each case is the

     Comp. with this verse generally                     personal relation of the Psalmist to

xxvii. 11, xxxi. 3 [4], xl. 8 [9], ciii.                       God: "In Thee have I trusted,"

21.                                                                    "Unto Thee have I lifted up my

11. OUT OF DISTRESS. Comp.                       soul," "Unto Thee have I fled,"

cxlii. 7 [8].                                                        "Thou art my God;" and so also

     The series of petitions in ver. 8—                  at the close of ver. 12, "I am Thy

12 may thus be grouped:—                                 servant." On the other hand, in

     (I) Prayer for God's mercy or                        ver. 11, and the first member of

loving-kindness, as that on which                        ver. 12, the appeal is to God and

all hangs, and then for guidance                          His attributes, "For Thy Name's

(ver. 8).                                                                        sake," "In Thy righteousness," "of

     (2) For deliverance from ene-                        Thy loving-kindness."

mies, and then still more fully for                             12. I AM THY SERVANT. "Tan-

a knowledge of God's will, and the                      tundem hoc valet acsi Dei se cli-

gifts of His Spirit, that he may                            entem faciens, ejus patrocinio vitam

obey that will (ver. 9, 10).                                  suam permitteret."—Calvin.

    (3) For a new life, and deliver-

 

            a ytiysi.ki j~yl,xe.  It is not easy to explain the construction. The Syr.

omits the words altogether. The LXX. render o!ti pro<j se kate<fugon,

from which it might seem that they read ytiysiHA, were it not that elsewhere

they render svn, and not hsH (comp. sUH), by katafugei?n. The Targum

paraphrases, "Thy word have I counted as a Redeemer," whence it

might be inferred that they read yTs;Ka (see this verb, Ex. xii. 4). Jerome

apparently had our present text, only that he changed the vocalization,

making it passive instead of active, Ad Te protectus sum (ytiys.eKu). Qimchi

would explain the phrase as a locutio praegnans:  "I cried unto Thee in

secret, and so as to hide it from men." Similarly Ibn 'Ez., who remarks

that "to hide to a person" is exactly opposite to the expression "to hide

from a person " (Gen. xviii. 17), and means, therefore, to reveal to him

what is hidden from others. J. D. Mich. (Supplem. p. 1317) takes the

same view, and so does Rosenm., "Tibi in occulto revelavi quod homines

celavi." Se'adyah, who is followed by Ewald, Maurer, Hengst. and others,

takes the verb in a reflexive sense, "Unto Thee (i.e. with Thee) have I

hidden myself," which they defend by the use of the Pi'el in Gen. xxxviii.

                                 PSALM CXLIV.                                          463

 

14, Deut. xxii. 12, Jon. iii. 6. The last of these, however, proves nothing,

as vylAfA is to be supplied from the preceding vylAfAme, and then the construction

will be "he covereth sackcloth, i.e. he puts it as a covering, upon him,”

the construction being exactly the same as in Job xxxvi. 32, Ezek. xxiv. 7.

In the other two passages Hupf. would adopt the somewhat arbitrary

method of substituting the Hithpa'el for the Pi'el. Delitzsch more pro-

bably explains the use of the Pi'el in these passages as elliptical, Gen.

xxxviii. 14, "And she put a covering with a veil (before her face);" (Deut.

xxii. 12, "Wherewith thou puttest a covering (on thy body)." Hence

they do not justify our taking ytiysi.ki here in a reflexive sense. Hupf.,

Olsh., and others, would read ytiysiHA; but the objection to this is, that this

verb is elsewhere always followed by B, not by lx,.

            b hbAOF. The art, is omitted occasionally with the adj. after a definite

noun, Ges. § 111, 2 b. He quotes 2 Sam. vi. 3, Ezek. xxxix. 27. In the

very same expression, Neh. ix. 20, we have the article with the adj.

LXX. to> pneu?ma sou to> a]gaqo<n.

 

                                  PSALM CXLIV.

 

            THIS is a singularly composite Psalm. The earlier portion of it, to

the end of ver. 11, consists almost entirely of a cento of quotations,

strung together from earlier Psalms; and it is not always easy to

trace a real connection between them. The latter portion of the

Psalm, ver. 12-15, differs completely from the former. It bears the

stamp of originality, and, with the exception of the last line, which

occurs also in xxxiii. 12, is entirely free from the quotations and allu-

sions with which the preceding verses abound. It is hardly probable,

however, that this concluding portion is the work of the Poet who

compiled the rest of the Psalm: it is more probable that he has here

transcribed a fragment * of some ancient Poem, in which were por-

trayed the happiness and prosperity of the nation in its brightest

days,—under David, it may have been, or at the beginning of the

reign of Solomon.

            His object seems to have been thus to revive the hopes of his

nation, perhaps after the return from the Exile, by reminding them

how in their past history obedience to God had brought with it its

full recompense.

 

            * The latter portion of the Psalm is plainly a fragment, and has not

even a verbal connection or link with what precedes. Yet in all MSS.

and Editions and Versions, ancient and modern, it is joined to the first

part as one Psalm.

464                            PSALM CXLIV.

 

            Qimchi, who holds the Psalm to be David's, refers it to the events

mentioned in 2 Sam. v., when having been acknowledged by all the

tribes of Israel as their King (see ver. 2 of the Psalm, "who sub-

dueth my people under me"), and having completely subjugated the

Philistines, he might look forward to a peaceful and prosperous

reign.

            In some copies of the LXX. the Psalm is said to have been corn-

posed in honour of David's victory over Goliath; which may perhaps

be due to the Targum on ver. 10, which explains "the hurtful sword "

as the sword of Goliath. It is scarcely necessary to remark how

improbable such a view is.

            Others, again, have conjectured that the Psalm was directed against

Abner (2 Sam. ii. 13, &c.), or against Absalom.

            Theodoret supposes it to be spoken in the person of the Jews

who, after their return from Babylon, were attacked by the neigh-

bouring nations.

            Another Greek writer, mentioned by Agellius, would refer the

Psalm to the times of the Maccabees.

            But the language of ver. 1-4, as well as the language of ver. 10,

is clearly only suitable in the mouth of a king, or some powerful and

recognized leader of the nation; and it is difficult to find a person

of rank in the later history in whose mouth such a Psalm as this

would be appropriate.

            The Psalmist recounts glorious victories in the past, complains

that the nation is now beset by strange, i.e. barbarous, enemies, so

false and treacherous that no covenant can be kept with them, prays

for deliverance from them by an interposition great and glorious as

had been vouchsafed of old, and anticipates the return of a golden

age of peace and plenty.

 

                            [(A PSALM) OF DAVID.]

 

1 BLESSED be Jehovah my rock,

            Who traineth my hands for war,

                        My fingers for the battle.

2 My loving-kindness and my fortress,

 

     The first two verses are taken                                   loving-kindness," lix. 10 [11], 17

from Ps. xviii. 2 [3], 46 [47], 34                                      [18]; Jon. ii. 8 [9]. "Deum .

[35]                                                                              bonitatem suam nominat, ab eo

     2. MY LOVING-KINDNESS. A sin-                                   manare intelligens quicquid possi-

gular expression for "God of my                                     det bonorum."—Calvin.

                             PSALM CXLIV                                   465

 

                        My high tower and my deliverer,

            My shield, and He in whom I find refuge,

                        Who subdueth my people under me.

3 Jehovah, what is man, that Thou takest knowledge

                        of him?

            A son of man, that Thou makest account of him?

4 As for man, he is like a breath;

            His days are as a shadow that passeth.

5 Bow Thy heavens, 0 Jehovah, and come down,

            Touch the mountains that they smoke.

6 Shoot out lightning, and scatter them,

 

       MY DELIVERER, lit. "my de-

liverer for me," as the expression is

found in the other version of Ps.

xviii. in 2 Sam. xxii. 2. On the

heaping together of epithets and

titles of God Calvin remarks, that

"it is not superfluous, but designed

to strengthen and confirm faith;

for men's minds are easily shaken,

especially when some storm of trial

beats upon them. Hence, if God

should promise us His succour in

one word, it would not be enough;

in fact, in spite of all the props and

aids He gives us, we constantly

totter and are ready to fall, and

such a forgetfulness of His loving-

kindness steals upon us, that we

come near to losing heart alto-

gether."

     WHO SUBDUETH, as in xviii. 47

[48]; only there we have "peoples"

instead of " my people," as here.

Some indeed would correct the text

here, or regard the form as an im-

perfect plural. The Syr. and Chald.

have the plural, and it is found in

some MSS. It is certainly not easy

to understand how any but a despo-

tic ruler, or one whose people had

taken up arms against him, could

thus celebrate God as subduing his

own nation under him. Delitzsch

suggests that the words may have

been the words of David after he

had been anointed, but before he

had ascended the throne. And

similarly Calvin, supposing this to

be one of David's Psalms, "Post-

quam ergo David quas adeptus erat

victorias contra exteros Deo ascrip-

sit, simul etiam gratias agit de or-

dinato regni statu. Et certe quum

esset ignobilis, deinde falsis calum-

niis exosus, vix credibile fuit posse

unquam tranquillum imperium con-

sequi. Quod ergo prater spem

repente se populus dedidit, tam ad-

mirabilis mutatio praeclarum fuit

Dei opus." In any case, the Psalm-

ist is not triumphing in the exercise

of despotic power, but gratefully

acknowledges that the authority he

wields comes only from God.

    3. This and the next verse are

again borrowed from other pas-

sages. The weakness of man seems

here to be urged as a reason why

God should come to his succour

against his enemies. Ver. 3 is a

variation of viii. 4 [5]. Ver. 4 re-

sembles xxxix. 5, 6 [6, 7]: compare

cii. 11 [12]; Job viii. 9, xiv. 2.

    5. Here begins the direct prayer

for the overthrow of his enemies.

The Psalmist longs for a Theo-

phany, a coming of God to judge-

ment, which he describes in lan-

guage again borrowed from xviii. 9

[10], 14-16 [15-17].

     TOUCH THE MOUNTAINS, as in

civ. 32, with allusion perhaps to

Exod. xix. 18, xx. 18.

    6. SHOOT OUT LIGHTNING, lit.

"lighten lightning." The verb oc-

curs nowhere else, and the verb

 

466                            PSALM CXLIV.

 

            Send forth Thine arrows, and discomfit them.

7 Send forth Thine hand from above,

            Rid me, and deliver me from many waters,

                        From the hand of the sons of the alien,

8 Whose mouth hath spoken falsehood,

            And whose right hand is a right hand of lies.

9 0 God, a new song will I sing unto Thee,

            Upon a ten-stringed lute will I play unto Thee,

10 Who giveth victory unto kings,

            Who riddeth David His servant from the hurtful

                        sword.

11 Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange

                        persons,

            Whose mouth hath spoken falsehood,

                        And whose right hand is a right hand of lies.

12 We whose a sons are as plants

            Grown up in their youth;

 

translated "rid" in the next verse

is found only here in this sense

(which is the meaning of the root

in Aramaic and Arabic), so that

even a writer who borrows so

largely as this Psalmist has still

his peculiarities. Comp. with this

verse, xviii. 14.

    7. THINE HAND. Many MSS.

and editions have the singular, and

so have all the ancient versions,

though the received text has the

plural.

     SONS OF THE ALIEN, as in xviii,

44 [45].

    8. A RIGHT HAND OF LIES, de-

noting faithlessness to a solemn

covenant, the right hand being

lifted up in the taking of an oath.

     9. The prayer for deliverance is

followed by the promise of thank-

fulness for the aid vouchsafed. The

new song," however, is not given.

    O GOD. "The Elohim in this

verse is the only one in the last two

Books of the Psalter, except in Ps.

cviii., which is a composite Psalm

formed of two old Davidic Elohis-

tic Psalms, and therefore clearly

a weak attempt to reproduce the

old Davidic Elohistic style."—De-

litzsch.

    A NEW SONG. Comp. xxxiii. 3,

xl. 3 [4]. UPON A TEN-STRINGED

LUTE, xcii. 3 [4].

    10. DAVID HIS SERVANT. Men-

tioned here apparently as an ex-

ample of all kings and leaders, but

with obvious reference to xviii. 50

[51].

      11. This verse is repeated as a

refrain from ver. 7, 8.

     12. The passage which follows to

the end is, as has already been re-

marked, altogether unlike the rest

of the Psalm.

      For its grammatical construction

see Critical Note; on its connection

with the preceding verses some-

thing has been said in the Intro-

duction to the Psalm.

     AS PLANTS. In a striking sermon

 

 

 

 

                              PSALM CXLIV.                            467

 

            Our daughters as corner-pillars,

                        Sculptured to grace a palace;

13 Our garners b full,

                        Affording all manner of store;

            Our sheep multiplying in thousands,

                        In ten thousands in our fields;

14 Our oxen c well laden;

                        No breach and no sallying forth,d

            And no cry (of battle) in our streets.

 

on this verse, the late Archdeacon

Hare says of the figure here em-

ployed, "There is something so

palpable and striking in this type,

that, five-and-twenty years ago, in

speaking of the gentlemanly cha-

racter, I was led to say, ‘If a gentle-

man is to grow up, he must grow

like a tree: there must be nothing

between him and heaven.’"

    This figure marks the native

strength and vigour and freedom

of the youth of the land, as the

next does the polished gracefulness,

the quiet beauty, of the maidens.

They are like the exquisitely-

sculptured forms (the Caryatides),

which adorned the corners of some

magnificent hall or chamber of a

palace.

    CORNER-PILLARS, lit. " corners,"

Zech. ix. 15.

    To GRACE A PALACE, lit. "(after)

the mode of structure of a palace."

     13. ALL MANNER OF STORE, lit.

"from kind to kind." The word is

a late Aramaic word.

     MULTIPLYING, lit. “bringing forth

thousands, multiplied into ten thou-

sands,” or "made ten thousands."

    FIELDS. This (and not "streets,"

E.V.) is the meaning of the word

here, as in Job v. 10, Prov. viii.

26; and this is in accordance with

the root-meaning, "places outside

the city." "Field" is used in this

sense in English: "By the civil

law the corpses of persons de-

ceased were buried out of the city

in the fields."—Ayliffe, Parergon.

        14. Every expression in this verse

is of doubtful interpretation.

     LADEN, or perhaps "our cattle

great with young," i.e. "fruitful,"

which accords better with the pre-

ceding description of the sheep.

See more in Critical Note.

     NO BREACH. This is the obvious

meaning of the word: see on lx.

2 [2, 3].

      NO SALLYING FORTH, lit. "going

out," which has been interpreted

either of "going forth to war," or

"going forth into captivity." This

and the previous expression, taken

together, most naturally denote a

time of profound peace, when no

enemy lies before the walls, when

there is no need to fear the assault

through the breach, no need to

sally forth to attack the besiegers.

Comp. Amos v. 3. The LXX. have

die<codoj Symm. e]kfora<, Jerome

egressus. Ainsworth, "none going

out, i.e. no cattle driven away by

the enemy. See Amos iv. 3."

     CRY (OF BATTLE). Such seems

the probable meaning from the con-

text; and so Calvin, clamor qui

ex subito tumultu exoritur, and

Clericus, pugnantium; or it may

mean, generally, "cry of sorrow,"

as in Jer. xiv. 2.

    STREETS, broad open places,

platei?a. In Jer. v. 1, the E.V. has

"broad places."

     The whole passage, 12-15, is a

picture of the most perfect, undis-

turbed peace and tranquillity.

 

 

468                              PSALM CXLIV

15 Happy is the people that is in such a case; e

            Happy is the people which hath Jehovah for its God.

 

     15. HAPPY. The temporal bless-                  haec duo conjunctim legenda esse,

ing of prosperity, as a sign of God's                     beatos esse qui in sua abundantia

favour, is natural enough under the                     Deum sibi propitium sentiunt; et

Old Dispensation. Calvin, however,                     sic ejus gratiam degustant in hene-

says truly: "Si quis objiciat nihil                dictionibus caducis ut de paterno

nisi crassum et terrenum spirare,                        ejus amore persuasi, aspirent ad

quod de felicitate hominum aestimat                    veram haeditatem."

ex caducis commodis; respondeo,

 

            a rw,xE. The relative at the beginning of this verse is very perplexing.

(I) The LXX., with their rendering w$n oi[] ui[oi<, would seem to refer it to

the enemy, "the strange persons" of the preceding verse. But it is clear,

from ver. 15, that the picture of ver. 12-14 is a picture of the felicity of

the Jewish nation under the protection of Jehovah. (2) Hence De Wette

and others would give to the relative the meaning of "in order that," "so

that," as in Gen. xi. 7, Deut. iv. 40, I Kings xxii. 16; but then it must be

followed by the finite verb, whereas here we have nothing but participles.

(3) It has been suggested, therefore, to take the relative in the sense of

"for," "because," as in Gen. xxxi. 49, Deut. iii. 24 ; but it is not clear

how what follows in this and the next verse can be alleged as a reason for

the prayer of the previous verse. (4) Bunsen refers the relative to God,

and supplies a verb: "Who maketh our sons like plants," but does not

attempt to defend the rendering. (5) Maurer joins the relative with the

suffix of the following noun—certainly the most obvious construction--

but finds here the expression of a wish, to which the form of the sentence

(in participles) does not lend itself. He connects the verses thus: "Save

me, Thy people, even us (ver. I t) ; whose sons, may they be as plants,"

&c. (6) Ewald also keeps to the common use of the relative, but

connects it with ver. 15, "We, whose sons are, &c. . . . 0 happy is the

people that is in such a case." And, supposing that the relative is to be

retained, this is, on the whole, the most satisfactory. Hupfeld, however,

and others, consider the whole passage, 12-15, as a fragment belonging

to some other Psalm, and here altogether out of place. Delitzsch

suggests, that perhaps ver. 11, where the refrain is repeated, ought to be

struck out. In this case, however, the relative would naturally refer to

God, and then we should expect some verb to follow it.

            [Kay renders, "what time ;" but though rw,xE may mean this, such a

sense is doubtful with the participle. The only other passage in which

rw,xE stands with the participle, so far as I am aware, is Eccl. viii. 12,

where Dr. Ginsburg, after a careful discussion of the use of the particle,

renders "because." That sense, however, would not be suitable here,

and I am now inclined (3rd Edit.) to suggest the rendering "whereas," as

best suiting the context and the participle.]

            b UnyvezAm;, a a!p. leg., from a sing. vz,m, or UzmA (Ew.), and in either case

shortened from hv,z;m. The Aram. Nza in the next line occurs again

2 Chron. xvi. 14, instead of Nymi, which is the older word.

                                PSALM CXLV.                                              469

 

            e ‘m UnypeUl.xa. The word means elsewhere "princes," "leaders," and

Maur., Furst, and others, would retain this meaning here: "Our princes

are set up, i.e. full of power and dignity." They appeal, for this sense of

MyliBAsum; to the Chald. form in Ezra vi. 3. This interpretation accords

with what follows, but not with what precedes. After the mention of

"sheep" (Unnevxco a form in which the v is evidence of late writing), it is

more natural to take MypiUl.xa here as the representative in the later

language of the older MypilAxE (viii. 8) oxen. But assuming this to be the case,

the meaning of 'sm is still doubtful. It means laden or burdened, but how?

(I) It has been explained to mean "capable of bearing burdens," laboris

patientes, robusti (so the Chald. and Qimchi), but it is doubtful whether

the pass. part. can bear this meaning. (2) "Laden, i.e. with the fruits of

the land," as an image of plenteousness; or "laden with fat or flesh," and

so "strong," which comes to pretty much the same thing as (I). So the

LXX. paxei?j, and so the Syr., Jer., and most of the older interpreters.

(3) Pregnant (laden with the fruit of the womb), as descriptive of the

fruitfulness of the herds: so Ros., Ges., De W., Ew., Hitz., Hupf. The

chief objection to this is the masc. form of the noun, but JUlxa, like rqABA,

may be epicene.

            d txcey. App. here used as a noun, though strictly speaking the fern.

participle as in Deut. xxviii. 57.

            e hkAKAw,.  The same form occurs again Song of Sol, v. 9. The  w

prefixed to hOAhy; is a solitary instance.

 

                                         PSALM CXLV.

 

            THIS is the last of the Alphabetical Psalms, of which there are

eight in all, if we reckon the 9th and 10th Psalms as forming one.

Like four other of the Alphabetical Psalms, this bears the name

of David, although there can in this case be no doubt that the Inscrip-

tion is not to be trusted. As in several other instances, so here, the

acrostic arrangement is not strictly observed. The letter Nun (n) is

omitted. The LXX. have supplied the deficiency by intercalating a

verse, Pisto>j (Nmxn, as in cxi. 7) Ku<rioj e]n toi?j lo<goij au]tou?, kai> o!sioj e]n

pa?si toi?j e@rgoij au]tou?; but the latter part of this is taken from ver. 17,

and none of the other Ancient Versions except the Syr. and those

which follow the LXX. recognize this addition.

            This is the only Psalm which is called a Tehillah, i.e. "Praise" or

"Hymn," the plural of which word, Tehillim, is the general name for

470                                  PSALM CXLV.

 

the whole Psalter. The LXX. render it ai@nesij, Aquila u!mnhsij, Sym-

machus u!mnoj, and "Hymn" is given as the equivalent in the Midrash

on the Song of Solomon. In the Talmud Babli (Berakhoth, 4b) it is

said: "Every one who recites the Tehillah of David thrice a day may

be sure that he is a child of the world to come. And why? Not

merely because the Psalm is alphabetical (for that the 119th is, and

in an eightfold degree), nor only because it celebrates God's care

for all creatures (for that the Great Hallel does, cxxxvi.. 25), but

because it unites both these qualities in itself."

 

                             [A HYMN OF DAVID.]

 

I x I WILL exalt Thee my God, 0 King,

            And I will bless Thy Name for ever and ever.

2 b, Every day will I bless Thee,

            And I will praise Thy Name for ever and ever.

3 g Great is Jehovah, and highly to be praised,

            And His greatness is unsearchable.

4 d One generation to another shall laud Thy works,

            And shall declare Thy mighty acts.

5 h Of the glorious honour of Thy majesty,

            And of Thy wondrous works will I meditate.

6 v And men shall speak of the power of Thy terrible

                        acts,

            And I will tell of Thy greatness.a

7 z The memory of Thine abundant goodness b they shall

                        utter,

            And sing aloud of Thy righteousness.

 

      I. FOR EVER AND EVER. Not

merely, as Calvin, etiamsi filura

secula victurus est: but the heart

lifted up to God, and full of the

thoughts of God, can no more con-

ceive that its praise should cease,

than that God Himself should cease

to be.

     3. GREATLY TO BE PRAISED, or

"greatly praised; " but see on

xviii. 3.

      5. OF THE GLORIOUS HONOUR,

&c., or "of the majesty of the glory

of thine honour."

       THY WONDROUS WORKS, lit.

"the words of Thy wondrous

works." Comp. lxv. 3 [4].

      MEDITATE, or perhaps "re-

hearse," i.e. in poetry. The E.V.

commonly renders the word " talk

of."

      6. AND I WILL TELL, &c., lit.

"and as for Thy greatnesses (or

great acts), I will tell of every one

of them."

      7. UTTER, lit. it is "pour forth,"

the same word as in xix. 2 [31

lix. 7 [8], where see Note.

 

 

                            PSALM CXLV.                                   471

 

8 h Gracious and of tender compassion is Jehovah,

            Long-suffering and of great loving-kindness.

9 F Jehovah is good unto all,

            And His tender compassions are over all His works,

10 y All Thy works give thanks to Thee, 0 Jehovah,

            And Thy beloved bless Thee.

11 k They talk of the glory of Thy kingdom,

            And speak of Thy might.

12 L To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts,

            And the glorious majesty of His kingdom.

13 m Thy kingdom is a kingdom for all ages,

            And Thy dominion for all generations.

 

14 s Jehovah upholdeth all them that fall,

            And raiseth up all those that be bowed down.

15 f The eyes of all wait upon Thee,

            And Thou givest them their food in its season;

16 p Opening Thine hand,

            And satisfying the desire of every living thing.

17 c Jehovah is righteous in all His ways,

            And loving in all His works.

18 q Jehovah is nigh to all them that call upon Him,

            To all that call upon Him in truth.

19 r He fulfilleth the desire of them that fear Him,

            And when He heareth their cry He helpeth them.

 

     14. The glory, the majesty, the

eternity of God's kingdom, of which

so much has been said—how are

they manifested? Where is the

conspicuous excellence of that king-

dom seen? Not in the symbols of

earthly pride and power, but in

gracious condescension to the fallen

and the crushed, in a gracious care

which provides for the wants of

every living thing. (We have here

a resumption and expansion of the

thoughts in ver. 8, 9.)

     ALL THEM THAT FALL. Others,

"them that are ready to fall:" but

see xxxvii. 24.

    15. This verse, and the first

clause of the next, are taken

from civ. 27, 28.

     16. SATISFYING THE DESIRE, lit.

"satisfying every living thing with

(the object of) its desire," or, "satis-

fying every living thing with favour,"

see Dent. xxxiii. 23; but in the 19th

ver. of this Psalm it seems quite

clear that "desire" is the proper

rendering. The P.B.V. has "with

plenteousness."

 

 

 

 

472                 PSALM CXLVI.

 

20 w Jehovah keepeth all them that love Him,

            But all the wicked will He destroy.

21 t Let my mouth speak the praise of Jehovah,

            And let all flesh bless His holy Name for ever and

                        ever.

 

            a jytvldg. The K'thibh is in the plur., which has been very unneces-

sarily corrected to the sing., because of the following singular suffix,

which, however, is not uncommon with the plur. (see for instance 2 Kings

iii. 3, x. 26), and here, moreover, can be readily explained as distributive,

especially as the sing. suffix follows.

            b j~b;UF-bra. The adj. is irregularly prefixed, possibly, as Hengst.

suggests, because it forms one word with the noun following = much-

goodness. Qim., Ros., Olsh., Del., would take bra as a subst., for bro; but

according to the analogy of xxxi. 20, Is. lxiii. 7, it must be an adj.

 

                                         PSALM CXLVI.

 

            THIS Psalm is the first of another series of Hallelujah Psalms, with

which the Book closes. Certain of the words and phrases seem to

connect it with the 145th; others are borrowed from the 104th and

118th. The LXX. ascribe it, as they do the 138th and the next two

Psalms (or the next three, according to their reckoning, for they divide

the 147th into two), to Haggai and Zechariah ( ]Allhlou<ia:  ]Aggai<ou kai>

Zaxari<ou). It is by no means improbable that this Inscription repre-

sents an ancient tradition, for nothing would be more natural than

that these Prophets should directly or indirectly have contributed to

the liturgy of the Second Temple, to which these Psalms so evidently

belong. Later they formed, together with Psalms cxix. and cl., a

portion of the daily morning prayer; they also had the name of

“Hallel,” though expressly distinguished from "the Hallel" which

was to be sung at the Passover and the other Feasts.

            The Psalm bears evident traces, both in style and language, and

also in its allusions to other Psalms, of belonging to the post-Exile

literature; and the words of verses 7-9 are certainly no inapt ex-

pression of the feelings which would naturally be called forth at a

time immediately subsequent to the return from the Captivity.

                                          PSALM CXLVI.                                 473

 

            It has an exhortation to trust not in man (ver. 3, 4), but in Jehovah

alone (ver. 5),--an exhortation enforced by the exhibition of Jehovah's

character and attributes as the one really worthy object of trust

(ver. 6-9), and confirmed by the fact that His kingdom does not

contain the seeds of weakness and dissolution, like all earthly king-

doms, but is eternal as He is eternal (ver. 10).

 

              HALLELUJAH!

1 PRAISE Jehovah 0 my soul!

2 I will praise Jehovah as long as I live,

            I will play (on the harp) unto my God while I have

                        any being.

3 Trust not in princes,

            (Nor) in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

4 His breath goeth forth; he turneth to his earth,

            In that very day his thoughts perish.

5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help,

            Whose hope (resteth) upon Jehovah his God,

6 Who made heaven and earth,

            The sea, and all that therein is;

                        Who keepeth truth for ever;

 

    2. WHILE I HAVE ANY BEING,

lit. "while I yet (am)." See civ.

33. Not in this song only will he

utter His praise, but "his life shall

be a thanksgiving unto the Power

that made him."

     3. TRUST NOT IN PRINCES. A

warning which might be called

forth by the circumstances of the

nation after their return from

Babylon. See on cxviii. 8, 9.

     No HELP, or "no salvation."

Comp. xxxiii. 16, lx. 11 [13].

     4. HIS BREATH, &c., or, "When

his breath goeth forth, he turneth,"

&c., the two apocopated forms indi-

cating perhaps that the two clauses

are protasis and apodosis.

     HIS BREATH. Comp. civ. 29.

And, with his breath HIS THOUGHTS

or "purposes," or "schemes,"

though this is a modern word in

this sense (a Chald. word for which

we have the Hebrew equivalent Job

xii. 5), however grand the concep-

tion, however masterly the execution,

all come to an end. The science,

the philosophy, the statesmanship

of one age is exploded in the next.

The men who are the masters of

the world's intellect to-day are dis-

crowned to-morrow. In this age of

restless and rapid change they may

survive their own thoughts: their

thoughts do not survive them. There

is an almost exact parallel in 1 Macc.

ii. 63.

      5. FOR HIS HELP. The predicate

is introduced by the preposition (the

Beth essentiae, as the grammarians

term it), as in xxxv. 2, for instance.

      6. WHO MADE (as in cxv. 15,

cxxi. 2, cxxiv. 8, cxxxiv. 3, this

designation of God being charac-

teristic of the later Psalms). First,

He is an Almighty God, as the

 

 

 

 

                            PSALM CXL VI.

 

7 (Who) executeth judgement for the oppressed,

            (Who) giveth bread to the hungry:

                        Jehovah looseth the prisoners,

8 Jehovah openeth the eyes of the blind,

            Jehovah raiseth up them that are bowed down;

                        Jehovah loveth the righteous;

9 Jehovah keepeth the strangers,

            He setteth up the widow and the fatherless,

                        But the way of the wicked He turneth aside.

10 Jehovah shall be King for ever,

            Thy God, 0 Zion, unto all generations.

                                                                        Hallelujah!

 

Creator of the universe; next, He

is a faithful God ("who keepeth

truth for ever"); further, He is a

righteous God (ver. 7), a bountiful

God (ib.), a gracious God (ver. 7

-9).

     WHO KEEPETH. In the series of

participles marking the several acts

or attributes of God in this and the

next two verses, this only has the

article prefixed, perhaps because

the Psalmist designed to give a

certain prominence or emphasis to

this attribute of God, that He is

One "who keepeth truth for ever."

It is, in fact, the central thought of

the Psalm. For on this ground be-

yond all others is God the object of

trust. He is true, and His word is

truth, and that word He keeps, not

for a time, but for ever.

      7-9. These verses portray God's

character as a ruler. It is such a

God who is Zion's King, ver. 10.

Such an One men may trust, for

He is not like the princes of the

earth, ver. 3.

     7. LOOSETH THE PRISONERS.

Comp. Is. lxi. 1. Delitzsch quotes

a curious instance of the allegorical

interpretation of these words from

Joseph Albo, who in his Dogmatics

(bearing date 1425), sect. ii. cap.

16, maintaining against Maimo-

nides that the ceremonial law was

not of perpetual obligation, appeals

to the Midrash Tanchuma, which

interprets this loosing of the pri-

soners as an allowing of what had

once been forbidden.

     8. OPENETH THE EYES, lit. "open-

eth the blind," i.e. maketh them to

see. The expression may be used

figuratively, as a remedy applied

either to physical helplessness, as

Deut. xxviii. 29, Is. lix. 9, 10, Job

xii. 25; or to spiritual want of dis-

cernment, as Is. xxix. xlii. 7, 18,

xliii. 8. Here the context favours

the former.

     RAISETH UP. This word only

occurs once besides, cxlv. 14.

9. THE STRANGERS . . . THE

WIDOW . . . THE FATHERLESS, the

three great examples of natural de-

fencelessness. "Valde gratus mihi

est hic Psalmus," says Bakius, "ob

Trifolium illud Dei: Advenas, Pu.

pillos, et Viduas, versu uno luculen-

tissime depictum, id quod in toto

Psalterio nullibi fit."

     SETTETH UP, the same word as

in cxlvii. 6.

     HE TURNETH ASIDE, rendered by

the E.V. in Ecclesiastes, "made

crooked." That which happens in

the course of God's Providence, and

as the inevitable result of His

righteous laws, is usually ascribed

in Scripture to His immediate

agency.

    10. SHALL BE KING. See Intro-

duction to xcix.

 

                                 PSALM CXLVII.                                          475

 

                                 PSALM CXLVII.

 

            LIKE the last Psalm, and like those which follow it, this is evidently

an anthem intended for the service of the Second Temple. It cele-

brates God's almighty and gracious rule over His people and over

the world of nature, but mingles with this a special commemoration

of His goodness in bringing back His people from their captivity and

rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. In the allusions to these events

in ver. 2, 3, and ver. 13, 14, we shall probably be justified in seeing

the occasion of the Psalm. It may have been written for the dedi-

cation of the wall of Jerusalem, which, as we learn from Nehem. xii.

27, was kept "with gladness, both with thanksgivings and with sing-

ing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps." It is indeed not

improbable, as Hengstenberg suggests, that not this Psalm only, but

the rest of the Psalms to the end of the Book, are all anthems

originally composed for the same occasion. The wall had been built

under circumstances of no ordinary difficulty and discouragement

(Neh. ii. 17-iv. 23): its completion was celebrated with no common

joy and thankfulness; "for God had made them rejoice with great

joy; the wives also and the children had rejoiced: so that the joy of

Jerusalem was heard even from afar off." See Neh. xii. 27-43.

The Psalm cannot be said to have any regular strophical arrange-

ment, but the renewed exhortations to praise in ver. 7, 12, suggest

a natural division of the Psalm. It is a Trifolium of praise.

            The LXX. divide the Psalm into two parts, beginning a new

Psalm at ver. 12.

 

I HALLELUJAH!

            For it is good to sing a unto our God,

                        For it is sweet; comely is the hymn of praise.

2 Jehovah doth build up Jerusalem,

            He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel;

 

     1. This verse might perhaps be                                  hymn of praise." Comp. cxxxv. 3,

better rendered with the change of                                 xxxiii. i. See more in Critical Note.

a single consonant: "Praise ye                                             2. DOTH BUILD UP. With refer-

Jab, for He is good; sing unto our                                    ence to the rebuilding of the walls

God, for He is lovely; comely is the                                 after the Captivity, as in cxxii. 3.

476                          PSALM CXLVII.

 

3 Who healeth the broken in heart,

            And bindeth up their wounds;

4 Who telleth the number of the stars,

            He giveth names unto them all.

5 Great is our Lord, and of great power,

            His understanding is infinite.

6 Jehovah setteth up the afflicted,

            He casteth the wicked down to the ground.

 

     GATHERETH TOGETHER. A verb

found in this conjugation only,

Ezek. xxii. 20 [21], xxxix. 28, and

in the latter passage with the same

reference as here.

   OUTCASTS, lit. "those who are

thrust out, driven away." Symm.

e]cwsme<nouj, whereas the LXX. ex-

press the sense more generally, ta>j  

diaspora<j. It is the same word as

in Is. xi. 12, lvi. 8.

      3. BROKEN IN HEART. As in

xxxiv. 18 [19], Is. lxi. 1, where,

however, the participle is Niph'al.

     4. WHO TELLETH THE NUMBER,

lit. "apportioneth a number to the

stars." This is adduced as a proof

of the omniscience and omnipotence

of God, and hence as a ground of

consolation to His people, however

they may have been scattered, and

however they may have been op-

pressed. Surely He must know,

He must be able to succour, human

woe, to whom it is an easy thing to

count those stars which are beyond

man's arithmetic (Gen. xv. 5).

     The argument is precisely the

same as in Is. xl. 26-29, "Lift up

your eyes and see: Who hath

created these things? It is He that

bringeth out their host by number,

who calleth them all by name.

For abundance of power, and be-

cause He is mighty in strength, not

one faileth. Why sayest thou, 0

Jacob, and speakest, 0 Israel, My

way is hid from Jehovah, and my

cause is passed away from my God?

Hast thou not known, hast thou

not heard? An everlasting God is

Jehovah, who created the ends of

the earth. He fainteth not., neither

is weary: there is no searching of

His understanding. He giveth to

the weary strength, and to them

that have no power He increaseth

might," &c. The passages in italics

will show how evidently the words

of the Prophet were in the mind of

the Psalmist.

     GIVETH NAMES, an expression

marking not only God's power in

marshalling them all as a host (Is.

xl. 26), but also the most intimate

knowledge and the most watchful

care, as that of a shepherd for his

flock, John x. 3. For the idiom see

Gen. ii.

     5. OF GREAT POWER, lit. "abound-

ing in power," as in Is. xl. 26,

"mighty in strength," though there

perhaps the epithet applies to the

stars, unless indeed we may take

the use of the phrase here as de-

ciding its application there.

     HIS UNDERSTANDING IS INFI-

NITE, lit. "to (of) His understand-

ing there is no number," apparently

in the Heb. a play on ver. 4, where

it is said "He telleth the number,"

&c., whereas both in cxlv. 3 and Is.

xl. 28 it is, "there is no searching."

Comp. Rom. xi. 33, a]necixni<astoi ai[

o[doi> au]tou?.

     6. The same Lord who with infi-

nite power and unsearchable wis-

dom rules the stars in their courses,

rules also the world of man. The

history of the world is a mirror

both of His love and of His

righteous anger. His rule and His

order are a correction of man's

anarchy and disorder.

 

                            PSALM  CXLVII.                                            477

 

7 Sing unto Jehovah with thanksgiving,

            Play upon the harp unto our God;

8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds,

            Who prepareth rain for the earth,

                        Who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains;

9 (Who) giveth to the cattle their fodder,

            (And) to the young ravens which cry.

10 Not in the strength of an horse doth He delight,

            Not in the legs of a man doth He take pleasure;

11 Jehovah taketh pleasure in them that fear Him,

            In them that hope for His loving-kindness.

12 Laud Jehovah, 0 Jerusalem,

            Praise thy God, 0 Zion;

13 For He hath strengthened the bars of thy gates,

            He hath blessed thy children in the midst of thee;

14 Who maketh thy border peace,

            (And) satisfieth thee with the fat of wheat;

 

     7. A fresh burst of praise because

of God's fatherly care, as shown in

His provision for the wants of the

cattle and the fowls of the air. And

as He feeds the ravens (comp. Luke

xii. 24), which have neither store-

house nor barn, but only cry to

Him for their food (Job. xxxviii. 41),

so amongst men (ver. 10) His de-

light is not in those who trust in

their own strength and swiftness,

but in those who look to Him, fear

Him, put their trust in His good-

ness.

    In ver. 8 the LXX. have added,

from civ. 14, "and herb for the ser-

vice of men," whence it has found

its way into our P. B. V. But here

this addition is out of place, and

disturbs the order of thought. It

is not till ver. to, 11, that man is

introduced.

     9. WHICH CRY, Or, "when they

cry."

    12. Again the Psalmist begins his

hymn of praise, and now with a

direct reference to the rebuilding of

Jerusalem, and the bright prospect

which seemed to dawn upon the

nation after its restoration.

     13. HATH STRENGTHENED THE

BARS OF THY GATES. The expres-

sion might certainly denote figura-

tively (as Hupfeld says) the security

of the city, but as the Psalm so

evidently refers to the return from

the Captivity and the rebuilding of

Jerusalem (ver. 2), there can be

little doubt that there is here a

direct and literal reference to the

setting up of the gates as described

in Neh. vii. 1-4.

    With the latter part of the verse

comp. the promise in Is. lx. 17, 18,

"I will also make thy officers peace

violence shall no more be heard

in thy land, wasting nor destruction

within thy borders, but thou shalt

call thy walls Salvation, and thy

gates Praise."

    14. FAT OF WHEAT. See on lxxi.

16 [17].

 

478                      PSALM CXLVII.

 

15 Who sendeth forth His commandment upon earth:

            His word runneth very swiftly;

16 Who giveth snow like wool,

            (And) scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes;

17 (Who) casteth forth His ice like morsels:

            Who can stand before His frost?

18 He sendeth His word, and melteth them,

            He causeth His wind to blow, (and the) waters flow.

19 He declareth His word unto Jacob,

            His statutes and His judgements unto Israel.

20 He hath not dealt so with any nation;

            And as for (His) judgements, they do not know them.

                                                Hallelujah!

 

     15-18. This repeated reference                      merely in the general resemblance

to God's power as manifested in the                    of the snow, frost, ice, to the different

world is certainly remarkable, and                       objects mentioned, not in "the ease

is characteristic of these later with                      which God accomplishes the

Psalms. It may perhaps be ac-                           greatest things as man does the

counted for by the fact that never                       least, such as causing some locks

had so strong a conviction laid hold                     of wool to fly, or scattering a few

of the national heart, of the utter                         ashes." (Hengst.)

impotence of all the gods of the                               19. God's works in Nature are

heathen as after the return from the                    for all men; "He maketh His sun

Exile; never, therefore, so trium-                         to rise on the evil and on the good,

phant and living a sense of the                            and sendeth rain on the just and on

dominion of Jehovah, not in Israel                       the unjust" (Matt. v. 45) but there

only, but throughout the universe.                        is a special privilege belonging to

      15. His COMMANDMENT, or "say-           His chosen people. They, and they

ing," with reference perhaps to the                     alone in the world, have received

creative fiat, "And God said:"                             the lively oracles of His mouth.

comp. xxxiii. 9. God is said to                             Comp. Rom. iii. 1, 2. "What ad-

"send" this as His messenger, as                         vantage then hath the Jew? .. .

in ver. 18 of this Psalm, and cvii.                        Much, every way: first, because

20, where see note.                                           that unto them were committed the

    16. SNOW LIKE WOOL, &C.                      The oracles of God."

point of the comparison is probably

 

            a hrAm.;za. This, as it stands, must be a fem. infin. Pi'el, and as such it is

usually defended by hrAs.;pya, Lev. xxvi. 18, the only other instance of such a

form; but Hupf. contends that such fern. infin. in the Pi'el and Hiph.

ought to be of the forms hlAFA.qa and hlAFAq;ha, as in Aramaic. He also

objects that bOF yKi cannot mean "for it is good," but "for He is good,"

the adjective being always predicated of God, and he appeals especially

to the parallel passage, cxxxv. 3. Further, according to the usual

rendering, the second hemistich of the verse consists of two verses

 

 

                              PSALM CXLVIII.                                     479

 

dependent on yKi, yet unconnected with one another; and in the next

verse the construction is carried on with a participle, which implies that

Jehovah is already the subject of the previous verse. Hence, unless

hrAm....;za is imperat. paragog. sing., instead of plur. (which here would be a

harsh enallage of number), we must either read Urm.;za (so Ven., Olsh.) or

hrAm;zaxE, with the same change from the 3rd pers. to the 1st as in cxlv. 6.

The Athnach is wrongly placed : it should clearly stand with MyfinA, not

with Unyhelox<.

 

                                   PSALM CXLVIII.

 

            IN this splendid Anthem the Psalmist calls upon the whole crea-

tion, in its two great divisions (according to the Hebrew conception)

of heaven and earth, to praise Jehovah. Things with\ and things

without life, beings rational and irrational, are summoned to join the

mighty chorus. The Psalm is an expression of the loftiest devotion,

and embraces at the sane time the most comprehensive view of the

relation of the creature to the Creator. Whether it is exclusively the

utterance of a heart filled to the full with the thought of the infinite

majesty of God, or whether it is also an anticipation, a prophetic

forecast, of the final glory of creation, when, at the manifestation of

the sons of God, the creation itself shall also be redeemed from the

bondage of corruption (Rom. viii. 18-23), and the homage of praise

shall indeed be rendered by all things that are in heaven and earth

and under the earth, is a question into which we need not enter.

The former seems to my mind the more probable view; but the

other is as old as Hilary, who sees the end of the exhortation of the

Psalm to be, "Ut ob depulsam seculi vanitatem creatura omnis, ex

magnis officiorum suorum laboribus absoluta, et in beato 'regno aeter-

nitatis aliquando respirans Deum suum et laeta praedicat et quieta, et

ipsa secundum Apostolum in gloriam beatae aeternitatis assumpta."

            Isaac Taylor says: "It is but faintly and afar off that the ancient

liturgies (except so far as they merely copied their originals) come

up to the majesty and the wide compass of the Hebrew worship

such as it is indicated in the 148th Psalm. Neither Ambrose, nor

Gregory, nor the Greeks, have reached or approached this level;

and in tempering the boldness of their originals by admixtures of

what is more Christianlike and spiritual, the added elements sustain

 

 

480                          PSALM   CXLVIII.

 

an injury which is not compensated by what they bring forward of

a purer or less earthly kind: feeble, indeed, is the tone of these

anthems of the ancient Church; sophisticated or artificial is their

style. Nor would it be possible,—it has never yet seemed so,—to

Christianize the Hebrew anthems, retaining their power, their earth-

like richness, and their manifold splendours—which are the very

splendours and the true riches and the grandeur of God's world—

and withal attempered with expressions that touch to the quick the

warmest human sympathies. And as the enhancement of all these

there is the nationality, there is that fire which is sure to kindle fire in

true human hearts

 

            ‘He showeth His word unto Jacob,

            His statutes and His judgements unto Israel.

            He hath not dealt so with any nation;

            As for His judgements, they have not known them.'

 

[From the close of the 147th Psalm]."—Spirit of the Hebrew Poetry,

pp. 157, 158.

            The earliest imitation of this Psalm is "The Song of the Three

Children," interpolated by the LXX. into the 3rd chapter of Daniel.

The Hymn of Francis of Assisi, in which he calls upon the creatures

to praise God, propter honorabilem fratrem nostrum solem, has also

been compared with it, though there is really no comparison between

the two. The same Francis, who thus calls the sun our "honourable

brother," could also address a cricket as his sister, "Canta, soror

mea cicada, et Dominum creatorem tuum jubilo lauda." But neither

in this Psalm, nor elsewhere in Scripture, is this brotherly and sisterly

relation of things inanimate and irrational to man recognized or

implied.

 

The Psalm consists of two equal parts:

 

I. The praise of God in heaven.                     Ver. 1—6.

II. The praise of God on earth.                     Ver. 7-12.

 

I HALLELUJAH !

            0 praise Jehovah from the heavens,

                        Praise Him in the heights.

 

     I. FROM THE HEAVENS. This                  lude comprising all afterwards enu-

first verse is not to be restricted                          merated, angels, sun, and moon,

merely to the angels. It is the pre-                       &c.

 

                             PSALM CXLVIII.                                 481

 

2 Praise ye Him, all His angels,

            Praise Him, all His host.

3 Praise Him, sun and moon,

            Praise Him, all ye stars of light.

4 Praise Him, ye heavens of heavens,

            And ye waters, that be above the heavens.

5 Let them praise the Name of Jehovah,

            For HE commanded, and they were created;

6 And He made them to stand (fast) for ever and ever,

            He hath given them a decree, and they transgress

                        it not.

 

7 0 praise Jehovah from the earth,

            Ye sea-monsters and all deeps;

8 Fire and hail, snow and vapour,

            Stormy wind fulfilling His word;

 

    2. HIS HOST. Here, as is plain

from the parallelism, "the angels,"

as also in I Kings xxii. 19, though

elsewhere the expression is used of

the stars, and some would so under-

stand it here.

     4. HEAVENS OF HEAVENS. A

superlative, according to the com-

mon Hebrew idiom, denoting "the

highest heavens; " comp. 2 Cor. xii.

2. Others take it as a poetical way

of expressing the apparently bound-

less depth of the heavens. So

Luther, "Ihr Himmel allenthal-

ben; "Maurer, " Omnia coelorum

spatia utut vasta et infinita"; an

interpretation which perhaps de-

rives some support from the phrase,

"the heaven and the heaven of

heavens," Deut.x.14; I Kings viii. 27.

WATERS . . . ABOVE THE HEA-

VENS, as in Gen. i. 7. This is usu-

ally explained of the clouds, though

the form of expression cannot be

said to favour such an explanation,

nor yet the statement in Genesis,

that the firmament or expanse was

intended to separate the waters

above from the waters below.

Taken in their obvious meaning,

the words must point to the exist-

ence of a vast heavenly sea or re-

servoir. However, it is quite out

of place, especially when dealing

with language so evidently poetical

as this, to raise any question as to

its scientific accuracy.

     5. HE COMMANDED. The LXX.

add here from the parallel passage,

xxxiii. 9, the other clause, "He

spake, and it was done," or, as

they render, ". . . and they were

made."

     6. AND THEY TRANSGRESS IT

NOT, lit. "and none of them trans-

gresses it; "for the verb is in the

singular, and therefore distribu-

tive. Others, as the E.V., follow-

ing the LXX., Jerome, the Syriac,

&c., "a law which shall not pass,"

or "shall not be broken." The ob-

jection to this is, that the verb is

never used elsewhere of the passing

away of a law, but always of the

transgression of a law.

     7. The second great division of

created things,—that is, according

to the Old Test. view, THE EARTH.

    SEA: MONSTERS, mentioned first,

as at the bottom of the scale in

creation, as in Gen. i. 21.

     8. FIRE, i.e. "lightning," as in

 

 

 

482                             PSALM CXLVIII.

 

9 Mountains and all hills,

            Fruit-trees and all cedars;

10 Beasts and all cattle,

            Creeping things and winged fowl;

11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,

            Princes and all judges of the earth;

12 Both young men and maidens,

            Old men and children;

13 Let them praise the name of Jehovah,

            For His Name only is exalted,

                        His majesty above earth and heaven.

14 And He hath lifted up the horn of His people,

            —A praise to all His beloved,

                        (Even) to the children of Israel, a people near unto

                                    Him.

                                                                        Hallelujah!

 

xviii. 12 [13], where it is in like

manner joined with hail.

    VAPOUR, or perhaps rather

"smoke," answering to "fire" as

"snow" to "hail."

    STORMY WIND, as in cvii. 25.

     11, 12. Man mentioned last, as

the crown of all. The first step

(see ver. 7) and the last are the

same as in Gen. i. In the inter-

vening stages, with the usual poetic

freedom, the order of Genesis is not

adhered to.

     13. LET THEM PRAISE, exactly

as at the close of the first great

division of the anthem, ver. 5; and,

in the same way as there, the rea-

son for the exhortation follows in

the next clause. But it is a different

reason. It is no longer because He

has given them a decree, bound

them as passive unconscious crea-

tures by a law which they cannot

transgress. (It is the fearful mys-

tery of the reasonable will that it

can transgress the law.) It is be-

cause His Name is exalted, so that

the eyes of men can see and the

hearts and tongues of men confess

it; it is because He has graciously

revealed Himself to, and mightily

succoured, the people whom He

loves, the nation who are near to

Him. If it be said, that what was

designed to be a Universal Anthem

is thus narrowed at its close, it

must be remembered that, however

largely the glory of God was written

on the visible creation, it was only

to the Jew that any direct revela-

tion of His character had been

made.

    EXALTED. Is. xii. 4, &c., xxx. 13.

    14. LIFTED UP THE HORN. See

on lxxv. 6, others "hath lifted up a

horn unto His people," the horn

being the house of David.

     A PRAISE. This may either be

(I) in apposition with the whole

previous sentence, viz. the lifting up

of the horn is "a praise," a glory,

to His beloved (comp. I s. lxi. 3, II,

lxii. 7); or (2) in apposition with

the subject of the previous verb,

God Himself is "a praise (i.e. object

of praise) to," &c. So the LXX.

u!mnoj, Jerome laus. So the P.B.V.

gives the sense: "all His saints

shall praise Him."

     NEAR UNTO HIM, as a holy

people, Deut. iv. 7. Comp. Lev.

x. 3.

 

                           PSALM CXLIX.                                             483

 

                            PSALM CXLIX.

 

            THE feelings expressed in this Psalm are perfectly in accordance

with the time and the circumstances to which we have already re-

ferred the whole of this closing group of Hallelujah-Psalms, beginning

with the 146th. It breathes the spirit of intense joy and eager hope

which must have been in the very nature of things characteristic of

the period which succeeded the return from the Babylonish captivity.

Men of strong faith and religious enthusiasm and fervent loyalty

must have felt that in the very fact of the restoration of the people

to their own land was to be seen so signal a proof of the Divine

favour, that it could not but be regarded as a pledge of a glorious

future yet in store for the nation. The burning sense of wrong, the

purpose of a terrible revenge, which was the feeling uppermost when

they had first escaped from their oppressors (as in Psalm cxxxvii.),

was soon changed into the hope of a series of magnificent victories

over all the nations of the world, and the setting up of a universal

dominion. It is such a hope which is expressed here. The old days

of the nation, and the old martial spirit, are revived. God is their

King (ver. 2), and they are His soldiers, going forth to wage His

battles, with His praises in their mouth and a two-edged sword in

their hands. A spirit which now seems sanguinary and revengeful

had, it is not too much to say, its proper function under the Old

Testament, and was not only natural but necessary, if that small

nation was to maintain itself against the powerful tribes by which it

was hemmed in on all sides. But it ought to require no proof that

language like that of ver. 6-9 of this Psalm is no warrant for the

exhibition of a similar spirit in the Christian Church.

            "The dream that it was possible to use such a prayer as this,

without a spiritual transubstantiation of the words, has made them

the signal for some of the greatest crimes with which the Church

has ever been stained. It was by means of this Psalm that Caspar

Sciopius in his ‘Clarion of the Sacred War’ (Classicum Belli Sacri),

a work written, it has been said, not with ink but with blood,

roused and inflamed the Roman Catholic Princes to the Thirty

Years' War. It was by means of this Psalm that, in the Protestant

community, Thomas Munzer fanned the flames of the War of the

Peasants. We see from these and other instances, that when in her

484                               PSALM CXLIX.

 

interpretation of such a Psalm the Church forgets the words of the

Apostle, ‘the weapons of our warfare are not carnal’ (2 Cor. x. 4),

she falls back upon the ground of the Old Testament, beyond which

she has long since advanced,—ground which even the Jews them-

selves do not venture to maintain, because they cannot altogether

withdraw themselves from the influence of the light which has

dawned in Christianity, and which condemns the vindictive spirit.

The Church of the Old Testament, which, as the people of Jehovah,

was at the same time called to wage a holy war, had a right to ex-

press its hope of the universal conquest and dominion promised to

it, in such terms as those of this Psalm; but, since Jerusalem and the

seat of the Old Testament worship have perished, the national form

of the Church has also for ever been broken in pieces. The Church

of Christ is built up among and out of the nations; but neither is the

Church a nation, nor will ever again one nation he the Church, kat ]

e]coxh<n. Therefore the Christian must transpose the letter of this

Psalm into the spirit of the New Testament."—Delitzsch.

 

I HALLELUJAH !

            0 sing to Jehovah a new song,

                        His praise in the congregation of (His) beloved.

2 Let Israel rejoice in Him that made him,a

            Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King;

3 Let them praise His Name in the dance,

            With tabret and harp let them play unto Him;

4 For Jehovah taketh pleasure in His people,

            He beautifieth the afflicted with salvation.

 

5 Let (His) beloved exult with glory,

 

 

     1. A NEW SONG. As expressive

of all the new hopes and joys of a

new era, a new spring of the nation,

a now youth of the Church bursting

forth into a new life.

     (HIS) BELOVED, or "them that

love Him;" see on xvi. 10. A name

repeated ver. 5 and 9, and therefore

characteristic of the Psalm.

    2. IN THEIR KING. God again

is claimed emphatically as the King

of the nation, when they had no

longer a king sitting on David's

throne. Such a King will not leave

them under foreign rule; He will

break the yoke of every oppressor

from their neck.

     4. TAKETH PLEASURE, as has

been shown by their restoration to

their own land. Comp. Is. liv. 7, 8.

     BEAUTIFIETH. Comp., as having

the same reference to the change in

the condition of the nation, Is. lv.

5; lx. 7, 9, 13; lxi. 3.

   5. WITH GLORY, or it might he

rendered " because of (the) glory

(put upon them)."

      UPON THEIR BEDS. Even there,

 

 

 

                        PSALM CXLIX.                                              485 

 

            Let them sing for joy upon their beds;

6 With the high b (praises) of God in their mouth,

            And a two-edged sword in their hand;

7 To execute vengeance on the nations,

            (And) punishments on the peoples;

8 To bind their kings with chains,

            And their nobles with iron fetters;

9 To execute upon them (the) judgement written,

            It is an honour for all His beloved.

                                                                        Hallelujah!

 

even when they have laid them-

selves down to rest, let them break

forth into joyful songs at the thought

of God's high favour shown to

them, in the anticipation of the

victories which they shall achieve.

This appears to me to be the ob-

vious and most simple explanation.

Maurer, "Tam privata quam pub-

lica sit laetitia." Hengstenberg,

"Upon their beds,—where before,

in the loneliness of night, they

consumed themselves with grief for

their shame." Comp. Hos. vii. 14.

     6. A revival of the old military

spirit of the nation, of which we have

an instance Neh. iv. 17 [11], "With

the one hand they did their work,

and with the other they held the

sword." But a still better parallel

is 2 Macc. xv. 27, tai?j me>n xersi>n

a]gwnizo<menoi, tai?j de> kardi<aij pro>j

to>n qeo>n eu]xo<menoi.

    MOUTH. Heb. "throat," prob-

ably intended to express the loud

utterance.

    9. (THE) JUDGEMENT WRITTEN.

This has been explained to mean

the judgement written in the Law,

and that either (1) the extermination

of the Canaanites, as a pattern for all

future acts of righteous vengeance

(Stier); or (2), in a more general

sense, such judgements as those

threatened in Deut. xxxii. 40-43.

Comp. Is. xlv. 14; Ezek. xxv. 14,

xxxviii., xxxix.; Zech. xiv. But the

extermination of the Canaanites

could not be regarded as a typical

example, for the Jews were not sent

to exterminate other nations, nor is

any such measure hinted at here.

Nor, again, if by "written " we un-

derstand " prescribed in the Law,"

is the allusion to Deut. xxxii. 40-44

and similar passages more pro-

bable; for in those passages ven-

geance on the enemies of Israel is

not enjoined, but God speaks of it

as His own act.

      Hence others understand by "a

judgement written" one in accord-

ance with the Divine will as written

in Scripture, as opposed to selfish

aims and passions (so Calvin). But

perhaps it is better to take it as

denoting a judgement fixed, settled

—as committed to writing, so as to

denote its permanent, unalterable

character—written thus by God

Himself. As in Is. lxv. 6 God says,

"Behold it is written before Me : I

will not keep silence, but will re-

compense, even recompense into

their bosom."

     IT IS AN HONOUR. That is, the

subjection of the world described in

the previous verses. But perhaps it

is better to take the pronoun as re-

ferring to God: "He is a glory to

all," &c.: i.e. either (1) His glory

and majesty are reflected in His

people; or (2) He is the author and

fountain of their glory; or (3) He is

the glorious object of their praise.

 

486                            PSALM CL.

 

            a vyWAfo. This has been usually taken as a plur., adapting itself to

Myhilox<: but it is rather sing. (with the usual substitution of y for h, in

verbs h"l), and particularly in this participle, Job xxxv. 10, Is.. liv. 5.

So Hupf. and Ewald, Lehrb. § 256 b, and so also Gesen. in the latest

editions of his Grammar.

            b tOmm;Or, infin. subst. from MmeOr: see on lxvi. note f.

 

 

                                      PSALM CL.

 

            THE great closing Hallelujah, or Doxology of the Psalter, in which

every kind of musical instrument is to bear its part as well as the

voice of man, in which not one nation only, but "everything that

hath breath," is invited to join. It is one of those Psalms which "de-

clare their own intention as anthems, adapted for that public worship

which was the glory and. delight of the Hebrew people; a worship

carrying with it the soul of the multitude by its simple majesty and

by the powers of music, brought in their utmost force to recommend

the devotions of earth in the ears of heaven." "Take it," says Isaac

Taylor, "as a sample of this class, and bring the spectacle and the

sounds into one, for the imagination to rest in. It was evidently to

subseive the purposes of music that these thirteen verses are put

together: it was, no doubt, to give effect first to the human voice,

and then to the alternations of instruments,—loud and tender ,and

gay,—with the graceful movements of the dance, that the anthem

was composed and its chorus brought out,

 

            'Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord!

                        Praise ye the Lord!'

 

And so did the congregated thousands take up their part with a

shout, ‘even as the voice of many waters.'"—Spirit of the Hebrew

Poetry, pp. 156, 157.

 

1 HALLELUJAH!

            0 praise God in His sanctuary,

                        Praise Him in the firmament of His strength.

 

    I. IN HIS SANCTUARY. This                        would seem to show that the former

may be either the earthly or the                         is meant; the parallelism would

heavenly Temple. The character                       favour the latter. See xi. 4, where

of the Psalm, as a liturgical anthem, there is the same ambiguity.

 

                                           PSALM CL.                                     487

 

2 Praise Him for His mighty acts,

            Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.

3 Praise Him with the sound of the cornet,

            Praise Him with lute and harp.

4 Praise Him with tabret and dance,

            Praise Him upon the strings and pipe.

5 Praise Him upon the clear cymbals,

            Praise Him upon the loud cymbals.

6 Let everything that hath breath praise Jah!

                                    HALLELUJAH!

 

    FIRMAMENT OF HIS STRENGTH,

i.e. the heaven in which His kingly

power and majesty are displayed.

Comp. lxviii. 34 [35].

    3. CORNET, properly the curved

instrument made of a ram's horn

(see on lxxxi. 3), and distinct from

the straight metal trumpet, though

in the Talmud it is said that after

the destruction of the Temple the

distinction of names was no longer

observed.

    4. TABRET, or "tambourine."

The Hebrew toph is the same as

the Arab. duff; and the Spanish

adufe is derived, through the Moor-

ish, from the same root.

      STRINGS. This is probably the

meaning, as in Syriac. See on xlv.

note h.

    PIPE, properly "shepherd's flute,"

Gen. iv. 21; but not elsewhere men-

tioned as an instrument employed

in sacred music.

     5. CYMBALS. The Hebrew word

is onomatopoetic, intended to de-

scribe the clanging of these instru-

ments. It occurs in sacred music,

2 Sam. vi. 5, LXX. ku<mbala. The

distinction between the two kinds

mentioned is, probably, that the

first, as smaller, had a clear, high

sound; the latter, as larger, a deep,

loud sound. (So Ewald, Jahrb. viii.

67.) Others render, "castanets."

    6. LET EVERYTHING THAT HATH

BREATH, and, above all, the voice

of man, as opposed to the dead

instruments mentioned before.

    What more fitting close than this

of the great "Book of Praises"?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           APPENDIX.

 

 

 

                      I. – MESSIANIC INTERPRETATION.

 

 

            PSALM ii.—In former editions of this work, I had quoted in the

note on ver. 4 of this Psalm a passage from the Mechilta (the most

ancient Jewish Commentary on Exodus), which not only seemed to

be evidence of the early Messianic interpretation of this Psalm, but

even to show that the doctrine of a persecuted and suffering Messiah

was not unknown to the Rabbis. In the Yalqut Shimeoni (If.

90, i.), the comment on the words of the Psalm, "Against Jehovah,

and against His anointed" is, "Like a robber who was standing and

expressing his contempt behind the palace of the king and saying,

‘If I find the son of the king, I will seize him and kill him, and

crucify him, and put him to a terrible death;' but the Holy Spirit

mocks thereat, and says, ‘He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh.’"

            As the Psalm is admitted by the Jews to be Messianic, this

certainly looked like a Messianic interpretation; and as in some of

the early Rabbinical writings, there are distinct traces of a belief in a

suffering Messiah, such a belief might have found expression here

This seemed the less improbable because in the comment which

follows on the words, ‘But I have set my King’ in ver. 6, after various

explanations have been given of the verb ‘I have set,’ we are told

that R. Huna in the name of R. Acha, says: "Chastisements are

divided into three portions; one for David and for the fathers, and

one for our own generation, and one for King Messiah Himself; for

it is written, ‘He was wounded far our transgressions, he was bruised

for our iniquities’" (Is. liii. 5).*  It is however somewhat startling to

read not only that the Messiah was to be persecuted, but that the

death with which He was threatened was a death by crucifixion.

And when we turn to the Mechilta, from which the comment of the

 

            * This comment of R. Huna's is quoted again with slight variations in

the Yalqut (ii. f. 53) on Is. lii. i4.; in the Midraslt Tillim on Ps. ii. 7,

and in the Agadah Shemuel, xix.

 

                                               489
490                               APPENDIX.

 

Yalqut on ver. 4 is taken, we find that the words are applied not to

the Messiah, but to the nation of Israel in Egypt. The ‘robber’ is

Pharaoh, the king's son is Israel. It is Pharaoh who thus threatens

to destroy the nation, and whose proud boast is derided by Him who

sitteth in the heavens. "Five words," says the Mechilta, "did

Pharaoh utter blasphemously in the midst of the land of Egypt.

The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake; I will divide the

spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword;

my hand shall destroy them' (Ex. xv. 9). And the Holy Spirit

answered him in five corresponding words, and said:  'Thou didst

blow with thy wind, the sea covered them, they sank as lead in the

mighty waters; thy right hand, 0 Lord, dashed in pieces the enemy;

and in the greatness of thy majesty thou didst overthrow them that

rose against thee; thou didst send forth thy wrath which consumed

them as stubble; thou stretchedst out thy right hand." And then

follow the words quoted in the Yalqut, as given already, "Like a

robber (lhsth<j in Hebrew letters) who was standing," &c. Massichta

deshiretha, Parashah vii. (ed. Weiss, Wien, 1865, p. 49). Nor is the

passage cited as Messianic in the Yalqut. The subsequent reference

to a Messianic interpretation in ver. 6, and the acknowledged typical

character of the nation in accordance with which the prophecies

which have their first application to Israel find their final fulfilment

in the Messiah, may be held to justify such an interpretation. But

as no such sense is put on the passage either in the Yalqut or in

the Mechilta, I have not felt myself at liberty to make use of it as

an illustration of the Jewish Messianic explanation of the Psalm.

            In the Talmud Babli, Succah, 52a, there is the following comment

on ver. 8 of the Psalm: "God says to Messiah the Son of David

who is about to appear—may it be soon, in our days!—'Ask of me

and I will give thee,' as it is said, ‘I will tell the decree . . . I have

this day begotten thee.' ‘Ask of me and I will give.’ And when

he (i.e. Messiah the son of David) sees that Messiah the son of

Joseph has been slain, then he says before Him, ‘Lord of the

Universe, I ask of Thee nothing but life,’ and God says to him,

‘Life! Before thou saidst that, David thy father prophesied con-

cerning thee, for it is said, ‘He asked life of thee, thou gavest it

him.’"

            PSALM xxii.—Although, as I have said in the Introduction to this

Psalm, it has been explained by the Rabbis as having a reference to

the nation in exile and not to the Messiah, it is interesting to observe

that the doctrine of a suffering Messiah is distinctly acknowledged

in Jewish Rabbinical literature, even before and apart from the

notion of the two Messiahs, the Messiah, the son of Ephraim, who

                                      APPENDIX.                                           491

 

was to be persecuted and put to death, and the Messiah, the son of

David, who was to reign and triumph.

            Thus there is a story in the Talmud Babli (Synhedrin, 98b), which

tells us how different Rabbis of different schools gave each a name

to the Messiah; one saying his name is Shiloh; and another Yinnon

—in allusion to the word in the 17th verse of the 72nd Psalm, His

name shall be continued (or, propagated, Heb. NOn.y yinnon) before the

sun;—and another, the Comforter. But others said, His name is

the Leprous One of the house of Rabbi, the proof being taken from

the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, He hath borne our sickness, and carried our

sorrows, though we esteemed him smitten of God. For this word smitten

was applied by the Jews to the case of the leper, in whose affliction

they saw the evident hand of God, and it is rendered in the Latin

version of Jerome quasi leprosum. It enhances the interest of the

story when we remember that the Rabbi to whose house the Messiah

is said to belong, had himself been grievously afflicted for thirteen

years, and that it was believed commonly that his sufferings had a

vicarious efficacy; for during those years, it was alleged, there had

been no untimely birth. It argues surely a deep conviction of the

clinging taint, the deep ineradicable pollution of sin, as well as of

the shame and degradation and suffering to which the Messiah must

stoop in taking it upon himself to put it away, that a name otherwise

so opprobrious should have been given him.

            In the Midrash Rabbah on Ruth (cap. v.) the words of Boaz to

Ruth are thus explained: "This passage speaks of King Messiah.

Come thou hither means, Draw near to the kingdom, and eat of the

bread means, the bread of kingly rule, and dip thy morsel in the

vinegar means, affliction and chastisements, for it is said, He was

wounded for our iniquities."

            Such a comment as this is no doubt fanciful in the extreme. It

departs altogether from the plain sense of the text, from the obvious

literal and historical meaning. But it has notwithstanding, it has even

on this very account, its value. The mind must have been saturated

with a belief in, a suffering Messiah, or it would not have fastened it

on a passage such as this; it would not have hung the doctrine

upon so slender a thread. It is with such comments, as it is with

their direct offspring in patristic and mediaeval glosses. We may de-

plore the injury done to the plain sense of Scripture, and the license

given to violent dealing with it by these ingenious conceits. We

may feel that they have thrown back, perhaps for centuries, a truer,

a healthier, a more rational exposition, that they have really im-

poverished the mind while professing to enrich it, that they have

encouraged men to treat Scripture as a book of riddles in which

492                              APPENDIX.

 

every man may exercise his fancy to the uttermost to see what

meaning can be extracted from it, or thrust upon it, instead of taking

the meaning that obviously presents itself; that in the search after

some mysterious hidden sense men have lost the richer and more

fruitful lessons which lay on the surface; but still we must admit

that the heart was full of Christ which could see Him in Ruth's

morsel dipt in vinegar, or in Samson's rude feats of strength, or in

the scarlet thread of Rahab.

            I quote two more striking passages from the Pesiqta Rabbathi,*

xxxvi., xxxvii., because they contain a reference to this Psalm the

more remarkable that many of the later Rabbis have refused to

recognise the Messianic interpretation.

            (i.) "The congregation of Israel spake before the Holy One

(blessed be He!), Lord of the world, for the sake of the Law which

Thou hast given me, and which is called the Fountain of Life, I shall

delight myself in Thy light. What is the meaning of these words

(Ps. xxxvi. 10), In Thy light shall we see light? This is the light of

the Messiah ; for it is said, And God saw the light that it was good.

This teaches us that the Holy One (blessed be He!) had respect to

the generation of the Messiah and to His works, before the world

was created, and treasured it up for Messiah and for his generation

under His throne of glory. Satan said before the Holy One (blessed

be He!), Lord of the world, for whom is the light that is treasured

up under Thy throne of glory? He replied, It is for him who will

turn thee back, and put thee to confusion and shame of face. (Satan)

said to Him, Lord of the world, shew him to me. God said, Come

and see him. And when he had seen him, he was overwhelmed

with terror, and fell on his face and said, Truly this is he that shall

cast me and all the nations into Gehenna; for it is said, He will

swallow up death for ever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears

from all faces (Is. xxv. 8). In the same hour the nations were moved

and said before. Him, ‘Lord of the world, who is this into whose

hands we are to fall? What is his name and what is his nature?’

The Holy One (blessed be He!) replied, His name is Ephraim,

my righteous Messiah, and he shall make high his stature and the

stature of his nation, and shall enlighten the eyes of Israel, and

shall save his people. No nation nor language shall be able to stand

against him; for it is said, The enemy shall not exact upon him, nor

the son of wickedness afflict him (Ps. lxxxix. 22 [23]). All his enemies

and adversaries shall be afraid and flee before him; for it is said,

And I will beat down his foes before his face (ver. 23 [24]); and even

 

            * They are quoted also with slight variations in the Yalqut Shimen  

(on Is. Ix), ii. f. 56b, col. 2, § 359.

                                   APPENDIX.                                       493

 

the rivers that empty themselves in the sea shall cease (before

him); for it is said, I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right

hand in the rivers (ver. 25 [26]). When they (the nations of the

world) fled, the Holy One (blessed be He!) began to make con-

ditions with him. He said to him, ‘Those whose sins are

treasured up beside thee will bring thee under a yoke of iron, and

make thee like this calf whose eyes are dim, and will torment thy

spirit with a yoke [or, will stifle thy breath through iniquity]: and

because of the sins of these, thy tongue shall cleave to the roof of thy

mouth (Ps. xxii. 15 [16]). Dost thou consent to this?’ Messiah

answered before the Holy One (blessed be He!), Lord of the world,

is this affliction to last many years? The Holy One (blessed be He!)

said, By thy life, and by the life of thy head, I have decreed upon

thee one week (Dan. ix. 27). If it grieves thy soul, I will expel

them now. He answered, 'Lord of the world, with joy and cheer-

fulness of heart, I will take this upon myself; on condition that not

one of Israel be lost, and that not only the living shall be saved in

my day, but also those that are treasured up in the dust; and not

only the dead shall be saved (who died) in my days, but also the

dead who died from the days of the first Adam until now; and not

these only, but also the untimely births shall be saved in my days;

and not only the untimely births, but also all that Thou intendest to

create and have not yet been created:  Thus I consent, and on these

terms I will take this upon myself.'"

            (ii.) In the next quotation it will be observed that the whole

Psalm is referred to the sufferings of the Messiah. "Our Rabbis

have taught [this shows] that the Patriarchs will rise (from the dead)

in the month Nisan (the Paschal or Easter month) and will say to

him, ‘0 Ephraim, our righteous Messiah, though we are thy fathers,

yet art thou [better] greater than we, for thou hast borne the iniquities

of our children, and there have passed upon thee hard destinies such

as have not passed on them that were before, neither (shall pass) on

them that come after. Thou hast been a scorn and derision among

the nations for the sake of Israel; thou hast sat in darkness and

gloom; and thine eyes have not seen the light, and thy skin hath

cleaved to thy bones, and thy body hath been dried up like wood,

and thine eyes have been darkened through fasting, and thy strength

is dried up like a potsherd, and all this because of the iniquities of

our children. Is it thy good pleasure that our children should have

their portion in the prosperity which the Holy One (blessed be He!)

bestoweth upon Israel? Perchance by reason of the suffering which

thou hast suffered exceedingly on account of them when they bound

hee in the prison-house, thy mind will not be favourable unto them.'

494                                  APPENDIX.

 

Ile said unto them, ‘O ye Patriarchs, all that I have done, I have

not done it but for your sakes, and for the sake of your children that

they may have their portion in the prosperity which the Holy One

(blessed be He!) bestoweth upon Israel.’ The Patriarchs say unto

him, ‘O our righteous Messiah, let thy mind be appeased; for thou

hast appeased the mind of thy Lord and our mind.' "

            R. Simeon b. Pazzi said, "In the selfsame hour the Holy One

(blessed be He!) exalts Messiah unto the heaven of heavens, and

spreads over him the splendours of His glory before [or, because of ]

the nations of the world, before [or, because of ] the wicked Persians

saying unto him, ‘O my righteous Messiah, be thou judge over these,

and do with them that which thy soul desireth, for but that fulness of

compassion had prevailed towards thee, already would they have

destroyed thee from the world as in a moment,’ &c., for it is said Is

not Ephraim a dear son to me? &c. (Jer. xxxi.); why (does it say)

‘should have compassion on him’ twice?* but this means compassion

in the hour when he was bound in the prison-house, seeing that

every day they, i.e. the nations of the world, were gnashing their

teeth at him, and winking with their eyes, and shaking their heads,

and shooting out their lips; for it is said, All they that see me

laugh me to scorn, they shoot out the lip, they shake the head (Ps. xxii.

8),—and the whole Psalm. ‘I will have compassion upon him’ in

the hour that he goeth forth out of the prison-house; for not one or

two kingdoms are coming against him, but a hundred and forty

kingdoms will compass him about. But the Holy One will say unto

him, Ephraim, My righteous Messiah, be not afraid of them, for all

these shall be slain by the breath of thy lips; for it is said, And

with the breath of his lips shall the wicked be slain."

            PSALM xlv.—The great difficulty of the 6th verse (in the Hebrew

the 7th verse) of this Psalm is acknowledged on all hands.†  If the

vocative rendering is retained—and it certainly seems the most

natural, and is that of the great majority of the Ancient Versions—

then it is not easy to explain how the king, who is certainly spoken

of as an earthly monarch (see, for instance, verses 9 and 16) should be

addressed directly as God. This difficulty may not present itself to

those who suppose that the mystery of the Incarnation was clearly

revealed under the Old Testament dispensation, though even then

 

            * In allusion to the repetition of the verb in the Hebrew idiom, MHr

MHrx.

            † Except indeed in The Speaker's Commentary, which merely says

of the vocative rendering:  "This is the literal and grammatical con-

struction," and dismisses such a rendering as "thy throne (is a throne of)

God" with the remark, "it is certain that no such explanation would have

been thought of, had not a doctrinal bias intervened."

                                      APPENDIX                                                  495

 

the strange blending of the literal and the allegorical interpretation

must be admitted, but to those who believe that in its primary sense

the Psalm refers to a human monarch sitting upon David's throne,

the title "Elohim" given to him is not a little startling and per-

plexing, however he may be regarded as glorified in the light of the

promise given to David and to his seed. I am not aware that there

is an exact parallel to this elsewhere. Elohim is, however, used of

others beside the Supreme Being, and Ibn Ezra, though not adopting

the explanation himself, remarks, "there are some who say that it is

used here as in the expression, 'thou shalt not revile the Elohim.'

But the Gaon (Seadyah) says, 'God shall establish thy throne:' but

according to my view, the word jxsk is used (once) instead of

repeating it, [thy throne the throne of God,] as in xybnh ddvf hxvbnh,"

[where Ibn Ezra means us to understand that the first word having

the article, and not being in the construct state, the noun must be re-

peated in the construct state,] which is equivalent to, ‘the prophecy,

viz., the prophecy of Oded.’ And in the same way here, ‘Thy throne,

a throne of God,’ as it is said, ‘And Solomon sat on the throne of

Jehovah.’" Ibn Ezra therefore seems to prefer the rendering "thy

throne which is God's throne," or simply "thy Divine throne is for

ever," &c., thus making "for ever and ever" the predicate of the

sentence.

            A larger number of interpreters, however, prefer the other order,

"Thy throne is a throne of God for ever and ever," which is defended

by such a passage as Song of Sol. i. 15, “thine eyes are doves,” i.e.,

"thine eyes are like the eyes of doves." That such a construction is

possible can hardly be questioned. But it is not the natural or obvious

construction, and can only be justified by the exegetical difficulty

of taking "Elohim" in the sense of "judge," "prince," and the

like.

            This difficulty, however, did not present itself to Rashi. He

writes:—"Thy throne, 0 prince and judge, is for ever and ever, in

the same sense as it is said ‘I have made thee a god (Elohim) unto

Pharaoh’ (Exod. vii. I); and why? Because the sceptre of thy

kingdom is a right sceptre and thou art worthy to be king."

            Qimchi, on the other hand, argues as follows against the vocative

interpretation, in a polemical passage against the Christians, which,

having been struck out by the Papal Censor in the first edition of

Qimchi's Commentary, is not to be found now in the printed text.

            "The mistaken Christians who apply the Psalm to Jesus of

Nazareth and who say that the daughters of the king are to be

taken figuratively, meaning the nations that have been converted

to his religion, allege in proof what is said (before) Thy throne,

 

 

496                                 APPENDIX.

 

0 God, seeing that he calls him in one place King;, and in

another, God. There are two answers to be given. (I) The words

Myhlx jxsk [thy throne, 0 God, which Qimchi explains, 'thy

throne is the throne of God']; and even if we were to take it as a

vocative addressed to God [not to the king], 0 Lord, may Thy throne

be for ever and ever. (2) But how could we apply to God the ex-

pression, the oil of joy, above thy fellows, or how can we explain the

word lgw (shegal, the queen-consort), even in a figure, of a relation

to God, seeing that it implies the matrimonial usus; and how can it

be said, Instead of thy fathers thou shalt have children? If they say

God has children, as we find it said in Deuteronomy of them that

believe in Him, Children are ye unto the lord your God, then answer

them, If he has children, he has not fathers, and if they appeal to

their doctrine of a Trinity, in explanation, Father, Son, and Holy

Ghost, then we have already answered this in our commentary on the

Second Psalm. And, moreover, there is a further answer, for if they

could say according to their view 'father,' they could not say

fathers' in the plural."

            Many other passages of a polemical character directed against the

Christians have in the same way been struck out of the early editions.

Dr. Schiller-Szinessy, however, is preparing a critical edition of

Qimchi's Commentary on the Psalms in which these passages will

appear. I am indebted to his kindness for the following account of

a copy of the Editio Princeps of the Commentary in the University

Library at Cambridge

            1. The copy in question was printed in 1477, sine loco, but the

type is that of Bologna.

            2. It was in the possession of Abraham de Portaleone, the uncle

of the author of the Myrvbgh yFlw (of the same name), and who was

consequently Abraham b. Eliezer b. Binyamin, the Hebrew Knight

(yrbfh wrph), Physician to Ferdinand I. of Aragon, King of Naples.

The book belonged subsequently to his son Shelomoh, and no doubt

remained in the family till 1640-42. It then came into the possession

of R. Yitzchaq b. Menachem, after whose death, about 1646-7, it

was bought and presented by the House of Commons in 1647 to the

University.

            3. There are two Censors' entries on leaf 152b, Domenico Geru-

solomitano, 1595, and Alessandro Scipione, 1597, To judge from

the ink (but Dr. S. S. is not quite certain), it was the former Censor,

a Jewish convert, who struck out the passages in question, but this

was not done very completely, or a sponge was passed over the

erasure, so that the text is legible beneath.

            PSALM cii.—The directly Messianic interpretation of this Psalm

                                     APPENDIX.                                                   497

 

in the Epistle to the Hebrews (i. 10-12) is somewhat remarkable,

verses 25-27 [26-28], which are an address to God as the Creator

of the world, being quoted in proof of the Divinity of Christ. It is

plain, therefore, that the Alexandrine author of that Epistle con-

sidered the address here, like the address in Psalm xlv., "Thy

throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever," to be made to the Eternal

Word who became incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ. Yet

there is no evidence, so far as I am aware, that the Psalm has ever

been held by the Jews to be directly or personally a Messianic

Psalm. The most ancient Rabbinic commentators have interpreted

it of the congregation of Israel towards the close of the Captivity.

In this sense, as looking forward to the deliverance and rebuilding

of Zion, and the glory that should follow, the Psalm had indirectly

a Messianic reference. But that its words should have been so

immediately applied, and that, moreover, in an argument addressed

to Jews, in support of the Divine nature of the Christ, seems to show

that there was a Jewish exegetical school in Alexandria, which

differed in its interpretation of the Scriptures from the Palestinian.

            PSALM cx.—As I have already remarked I have omitted in this

edition some passages alleged by R. Martini in his Pugio Fidei

as evidence that the Jews put a Messianic interpretation upon

this Psalm. That they did so is indisputable; but there is much

reason to suspect the genuineness of the passages which he professes

to quote from the Bereshith Rabbah of R. Moses Haddarshan;

though why he should have thought it necessary to forge them is a

mystery. With abundance of genuine material at hand, it is strange

that he should have had recourse to such artifices, except that there

are some natures which delight in this sort of ingenuity for its own

sake. However, the question it may be hoped will shortly be set

at rest by the publication of the Bereshith Rabbah from the unique

MS. at Prague which Jellinek has undertaken to edit.

            I subjoin some of Qimchi's remarks on this Psalm.

            He supposes it to have been written "when the men of David

sware unto him, saying: ‘Thou shalt no more go out with us to

battle;’ and the words Sit on my right hand mean, ‘Sit in my house,

i.e. the Tabernacle, and serve me; and there will be no occasion for

thee to go into the battle for I will fight thy battles.’"

            "The dew of thy youth, &c. Thou art predestined from the very

day of thy birth to have this dew of blessing. From the womb of the

morning. The morning of thy birth was then, and the dew of thy

birth was then."

            With regard to the priesthood of Melchizedek, he observes that

the priesthood ought to have gone in the direct line from Shem, who,

498                                APPENDIX.

 

according to the Jewish tradition, was Melchizedek; but they said

because Melchizedek blessed Abraham first, and not God first,

therefore the priesthood was taken from him.

            Qimchi * also charges the Christians with having corrupted

the text of the Psalm in two places. In the first verse they

have ynAdoxla ynAdoxE ‘n writing yndx twice with Qametz as showing

that two Persons of the Trinity are here mentioned, God (the Father)

says to God (the Son), the Spirit being the Third. Another error

is that in ver. 3 they had j~m.;fi instead of j~m;.fa.  Curiously enough,

he charges the first error upon Jerome.†  "Jerome, their translator,

made a mistake; for we must read . . . . and how can they

uphold the error of one man against the great majority? From the

rising of the sun to the setting thereof, go where you will, you will

find the Chireq under the Nun, and so likewise you will find in all

MSS. j~m;.fi." Then he refers to the argument in support of the

Divinity of Christ drawn from this Psalm: "If the Father and the

Son are Gods, the one does not stand in need of the other, because

you cannot call any one God who stands in need of another. How

(then) can the Father say to the Son, Sit on my right hand till I make

Mine enemies thy footstool? For if this be so, he stands in need of

his help, and if he does need it, there must be weakness ; and if

there be weakness, he cannot be God, for God cannot be lacking in

power. And besides how could He have said to him, Thou art a

cohen‡ for ever, that is, 'a noble and great one;' but if so, was he

not noble and great before? But if they (the Christians) should say

to this, the sense here is more definitely that he should be ‘a priest,’

that henceforth from the coming of Jesus the priesthood shall be

after a different manner, that there shall be no more sacrifices of

flesh and blood, but only of bread and wine such as Melchizedek

offered; for it is said that Melchizedek brought forth bread and

wine; then give them this answer: To whom does he say, Thou art

a priest? Does he say this to the Son, who is addressed in the

beginning of the verse and from this verse to the end of the Psalm,

and is it he who is the minister that sacrifices? But God is not one

who brings sacrifices; on the contrary, they bring sacrifices to Him.

 

            * This passage is in the printed text, but more correctly in MS. 114 in

the Paris Library.

            † In the existing text of Jerome, however, we have: "Dixit Dominus

Domino meo," and there is no variation apparently in the MSS.

            ‡ The Hebrew word, commonly rendered "priest," is sometimes used

in a wider and less restricted sense of persons holding any office of

dignity. Such at least is the opinion of Qimchi, and of many other

interpreters.

                                       APPENDIX.                                                499

 

But if they should say the words are addressed to any one

indefinitely, ‘I have founded a new priesthood,’ without saying

to whom, as they have no priestly families, any one may be con-

secrated to the office; if so, to whom does this apply, The Lord

hath sworn, &c.? And moreover, why has God changed His will?

First He desired sacrifices of flesh, and now He is satisfied with

bread and wine; and how can He add, And will not repent, when in

this very thing he shows that He did repent? And Malachi, the

seal of all the Prophets, says: Remember ye the Law of Moses my

servant, and he says, Behold I send my messenger. Elijah is not come

yet, and will not come till the time of the Messiah. And Malachi

says that they shall remember the Law to do it as he commanded,

not as Jesus commanded. From this thou canst see that the Law

has never been altered as it was given to Moses, so it shall remain

for ever.

            Again, Where are the battles that he fought? and where are the

kings whom he conquered? and how can he say, He shall rule among

the nations full of corpses? Surely he came (i.e. according to their

view) to judge souls, and to save them, and so the phrase, he lifts up

the head; and hereby he has not lifted up the head. Let the blind

ones open their eyes and confess, Our forefathers have inherited an

untruth."

            The above is a good specimen of Qimchi's polemics against the

Christians of his time, and is very instructive as showing the nature

of the difficulties which presented themselves to a cultivated Rabbi

in the Middle Ages.

500                              APPENDIX.

 

 

                             II. THE MASSORETH.

 

            As frequent references occur in the Notes to the Massoreth, and as

the widest misapprehension exists with respect to it, and to what is

familiarly known as the Massoretic text, it may not be out of place to

make a few remarks upon the subject in this Appendix.

            What is the Massorah? The word Massorah, or, as it ought to

be written, Massoreth, means tradition. The text in our printed

Bibles is commonly supposed to be the text as settled by a certain

body of men called Massoretes, who were the custodians of this

tradition. No mistake could be greater. The Massoretes were not

a single body of men or a single school; the Massoreth is not a

single collection of marginal glosses establishing for ever one uniform

text. On the contrary, the Massoretes were learned annotators,

belonging to many schools, and their marginal annotations vary con-

siderably in different copies. The Eastern Recension differs from

the Western, and the different families of MSS. belonging to the

latter, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, present more or less

considerable variations. The critical value of these glosses consists

in the fact that the labours of the Massoretes were directed to the

careful enumeration of all the words and phrases of the Bible. The

marginal note tells us exactly how often each particular grammatical  

form and each phrase occurs in the whole Bible and in the several

books, and also in what sense it is employed. It is obvious, there-  

fore, at a glance that no new reading could creep into a passage

without being immediately detected. The scribe may make a

blunder, but the Massoreth checks it; for the Massoreth is not the

compilation of the scribe who copies it, but is taken from model

codices of a much earlier date.

            The extreme minuteness of this verbal criticism has so multiplied,

and has been carried to such an extent, that Elias Levita says in his

work on the Massoreth, that he believes that if all the words of the

Great Massoreth which he had seen in the days of his life were

written down and bound up in a volume, it would exceed in bulk all

the twenty-four books of the Bible. Only two attempts have till

very lately been made to collect these scattered notes and glosses

—the one in the well-known work entitled Ochlah-ve-Ochlah, the

other in Yakob ben Chayyim's Rabbinic Bible published at Venice

 

 

                                       APPENDIX.                                             501

 

in 1526. Another scholar is now, however, labouring in the same

field. Dr. Ginsburg for the last eighteen years has devoted himself

to the task, and has already accomplished far more than his pre-

decessors. With infinite pains and labour he has collected and

digested this vast mass of textual criticism. For the first time the

Hebrew scholar will really know what the Massoreth is. Hitherto it

has been scattered in a number of different MSS., often written in

the form of an ornamental border to the text, in minute characters

and with numerous abbreviations, and in many cases requiring not

only great patience, but a wide acquaintance with the peculiarities of

the Massoretic scribes, for its decipherment. Now, all these various

editions of the text, all these traditional notes, will be classified and

arranged under the head of the several MSS. to which they belong,

in parallel columns, so that the eye will see at a glance how far the

MSS. agree, the additions in one case, the deficiencies or variations

in another.

            It is a special advantage attending Dr. Ginsburg's labours that he

has been able to make use of the Eastern or Babylonian recension of

text and Massoreth for comparison with the Western. It was well

known that a divergence did exist between these two recensions, and

that as there was very early a different system of vocalisation, as well

as a difference in traditions between the Eastern and Western Jews,

so there was also a difference in their MSS. of the Bible. But before

the year 1840 the only record of that difference that had been

preserved was the list of variations given in Yakob ben Chayyim's

Bible, which was extremely defective. Now, however, a very im-

portant discovery has been made. Among the MSS. recently

acquired by the Imperial Library at St. Petersburg, there is, besides

a fragment of the Pentateuch, a MS. containing the whole of the

later Prophets, exhibiting the Eastern recension; and as this MS. has

also the Massoreth, we are enabled thereby to ascertain the Oriental

reading of a large number of passages in other books of the Bible,

besides those which are comprised in the MS. We thus get a

recension of the text which is very much earlier than any existing

MS. of which the age is undisputed.

            It must always be a matter of the deepest regret that no Hebrew MS.

of the Bible of any antiquity has come down to us; for on how many

dark passages might light be cast, if a codex were discovered even as

ancient as the most ancient MSS. of the New Testament? It must

always enhance our regret to reflect that Christian barbarism is to a

large extent responsible for this calamity. The savage and unrelent-

ing persecution of the Jews has left an indelible blot on the pages of

Christian history from the beginning of the eleventh century to the

 

502                                       APPENDIX.

 

middle of the sixteenth. There is not a European nation, scarcely

a European town of any, magnitude, the annals of which are not

disgraced by the intolerable cruelties practised on this people.

Popes, Fathers, and Councils vied with one another in denouncing

them. Edict after edict was issued against them. No insult was too

coarse for them; Jew and devil were synonymous terms in the

Christian vocabulary; they were outside the pale of humanity.

Again and again the fury of the populace, stirred up often by

renegades of their own nation, was let loose upon them; their

houses were plundered, their property confiscated, their wives and

children violated before their eyes. The tale of "Christian

Atrocities" in those ages reads in many exact particulars like the

tale of "Turkish Atrocities" with which we have all of late been

familiar. Thousands of Jews were compelled to abjure their faith

and to submit to baptism; thousands more were banished from the

cities or countries in which they had settled; great multitudes were

tortured and cruelly put to death. Their Selichoth or Synagogue

hymns for centuries were one great wail going up to heaven, a

cry like the cry of the souls pleading beneath the altar, " Lord,

how long?" a bitter lamentation, a burden of weeping and great

mourning as of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to

be comforted.

            In these outbursts of religious fanaticism we know that many

precious books and MSS. perished. Synagogues were plundered,

burnt, razed to the ground, and the rolls of the Law torn to pieces

and strewed in the streets. On the 17th of June, 1244, twenty-four

cartloads of MSS. were burnt in Paris alone. "I have not a single

book left," writes a French Rabbi to R. Meir of Rothenburg; "the

oppressor has taken from us our treasures." Many books were

thrown into wells; many were buried in the earth to conceal them

from Christians. The possessor of one Codex thanks God that he

and not the earth has been the means of preserving it. "We are

forbidden," writes Abr. ibn Ramoch, at the close of the fourteenth

century, "to have the Torah (the Law) in our possession, and other

books which they have carried off into the churches." Another

complains that the holy books were disfigured by the ruthless hand

of the Christian scribe, and many a fair parchment cut to pieces and

made to serve for repairing the boots of the Nazarene. It is the

persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes repeated, intensified, prolonged,

through centuries.

            Add to all this the fact, that it has been the practice of the Jews

themselves to consign to oblivion all imperfect copies of their Scrip-

tures. The Talmud enacts that if a copy of the Law have two errors

 

                                      APPENDIX.                                      503

 

in a page, it shall be corrected; if three, it shall be stowed away.

The act by which this is done is called Genizah. By the Karaite

Jews the receptacle itself in which incorrect or mutilated copies of

the Bible were placed were called Genizah, but it is not so called in

the Talmud. The receptacles in which all imperfect or injured MSS.

of the kind are placed are called by the German Jews "Shemoth-

boxes," in allusion to the names (Shemoth) of God, because every

scrap on which that name might chance to be written, as might be

the case with any leaf of the Bible, was held too sacred to be

destroyed, and must, therefore, be solemnly deposited in the recep-

tacle prepared for it. No Hebrew MS. consequently was preserved by

the Jews merely on the ground of antiquity, and taking this circum-

stance into connexion with the wholesale destruction of MSS. by

Christians during the Middle Ages, to which we have already referred,

it can no longer appear surprising that our oldest MSS. are so

comparatively late.

            Thus Jews and Christians have conspired together for the destruc-

tion of these precious documents. The earliest known MS. of the

Old Testament (which is in the University Library at Cambridge)

only dates from the middle of the ninth century. A fragment belong-

ing to the beginning of the same century is in the Library at St.

Petersburg. The beautiful MS. of the Later Prophets in the same

Library, already referred to, bears the date A.D. 916. We must not,

therefore, indulge unreasonable expectations. It is scarcely probable

that even Dr. Ginsburg's collations will furnish us with a large harvest

of important textual variations. But his work is one of which it is

scarcely possible to exaggerate the value notwithstanding. It will

give us, what we have never had before, a really accurate collation

of all the best MSS. of the Old Testament, together with a complete

view of the Massoreth of each. We shall at least have all the

evidence with which we are ever likely to be furnished now, for

constructing a critical text of the Hebrew Scriptures.

                                          GENERAL INDEX.

 

                       A.

 

ABARBANEL, quoted, ii. 432.

Aben Ezra—see Ibn Ezra.

Acrostic Psalms, i. 158, 162, 257, 298,

     315, ii. 315, 319, 320, 347, 348, 469,

    470.

Adder, the wicked compared to the, i.

     456, ii. 174.

Addison, hymn quoted, i. 223; his ad-

      miration of the description of a ship

      in a storm in Ps. cvii., ii. 279.

Adonai, ii. 121, 128, 309.

Adversary, ii. 275, 289 (bis).

AEschylus, quoted, i. 212, 379, 529, ii.

     387, 441.

Ahithophel, supposed allusion to, in Ps.

     xli., i. 343; probably not the trea-

     cherous friend alluded to in Ps. lv.,

     435.

Ainsworth, quoted, i. 292, 529.

Alamoth, i. 86, 140.

Albertus Magnus, quoted, i. 42, 107.

Albo, Joseph, quoted, ii. 474.

Alford, quoted, i. 361, 550, ii. 193.

Alphabetical Psalms — see Acrostic

      Psalms.

Alsted, quoted, i. 90, ii. 382.

Altar, compassing the, a part of Divine

      worship, i. 264; horns of the, ii.

      345.

Ambrose, quoted, i. 26.

Amen, use of, in O. T., i. 574.

Amen folk, i. 177.

Amyraldus, quoted, ii. 233.

Angel of Jehovah, i. 302.

Angels, God's ministers, ii. 174.

Anointed, footsteps of the, interpreted

     by the Targums of the delay of the

     Messiah, ii. 155; of whom spoken,

     251, 415.

Anonymous Psalms, i. 95.

Anthony, Itinerary of St., quoted, ii.

     420.

Antiochus Epiphanes, use of Ps. xxx. in

   regard to, i. 278; supposed allusion

    to, in Ps. xliv., 362; in Ps. lxxiv., ii.

    21, 22; in Ps. lxxix., 74.

Antiphonal chanting, i. 23.

Arabian Nights, referred to, ii. 215.

Arabians, ii. 369.

Araunah, supposed reference to dedica-

    tion in his threshing-floor, ii. 409,

     412.

Aristides, quoted, ii. 304.

Aristophanes, quoted, i. 529.

Ark, removal of, to Zion, i. 186, 253,

    385, 513, ii. 415.

Armfield, on titles, i. 103.

Arndt, quoted, i. 501, 521.

Arnold, on imprecatory Psalms, i. 62;

    (Thucydides) quoted, 393.

Arrogant, ii. 9.

Asaph, chief musician, i. 11; wrote

     twelve Psalms, 94, L, lxxiii.—

     lxxxiii.; peculiarities of these, 97;

     similarity to those for Sons of Korah,

     100.

Ashamed, ii. 350.

Ashkenazim, ii. 150.

Assembly, meaning of word, i. 109, ii.

     26, 28, 148.

Assyria, ii. 112.

Athanasius, quoted, i. 25, 481, H. 177,

      227, 235, 236, 242.

Athenmus, quoted, ii. 433.

"Attentive," rare occurrence of the

     word, ii. 403.

Attire, ii. 307.

Augustine, on liturgical uses, i. 23; his

    estimation of the Psalms, 27; appli-

    cation of each to Christ, 42; Ps.

     xxxii. favourite of, 289; on confession

     and taking away of sin, 291; against

     the Pelagians, 464; quoted, 546, 572,

     575; the sabbath in the heart, ii.

     177; a feast of joy, 191; Christ as

     King, 200; on the shame of idola-

     ters, 201; worship of demons by such,

     ib.; " all the earth," 210; freedom of

 

 

 

506                                  GENERAL INDEX.

 

     God's service, 211; God's benefits,

     226; on the great Physician, ib.;

     the highest good, 227; story of

     the eagle renewing its youth, 231;

     ease with which God works, 235

     on wisdom, 318; on "doing," 319;

     on idol worship, 329; on loving God,

     333; "out of the depths," 403;

     "who shall stand," ib.; says that Ps.

     cxxxiii. gave birth to monasteries,

     418; on God as the fountain of good-

     ness, 424; on ignorance of natural

     phenomena, 425 (bis).

Avenger of blood, i. 16o.

Awake, meaning of, ii. 442.

Awaking, whether used of the resurrec-

     tion, i. 206.

Ayliffe, quoted, ii. 467.

Babrius, quoted, ii. 237, 241.

Babylas, Bp., quoted, i. 39.

Babylonish captivity, return of the

     exiles from the, ii. 123; their feel-

     ings on their return expressed, 379,

     384, 385.

Baca, or the Valley of Weeping, ii. 120.

Bacon, quoted, i. 184, 224.

Bahr, quoted, i. 212 (bis).

Bakius, quoted, i. 262, 318, 322, ii. 474.

Bands in death, meaning of, ii. 9.

Basalt, or Basanites, i. 526.

Bashan, the land of, i. 241, 352; moun-

     tain range of, i. 526.

Basil, quoted, i 500.

Basket, ii. 98.

Bear in the bosom, to, ii. 154.

Beast of the reed, explanation of, i. 531.

Belial, ii. 215.

Bellarmine, quoted, i. 490.

Beloved (of God), i. 195, 279, 4o6, ii.

     78, 151, 484.

Bemidbar I,tabba, quoted, ii. 302.

Bengel, quoted, i.-336, ii. 207,

Benjamin, little, why so called, i. 531.

Bereshith Rabba, quoted, ii. 302 (ter).

Bernard, St., quoted, i. 300, ii. 175,

     229.

Bethlehem, ii. 413.

Bind, to, used in a sense approaching

     the modern meaning in the phrase

     "binding and loosing," ii. 253.

Binnie, W., quoted, i. 237, 238.

Birds in the Temple, ii. 118.

Birks (Dculties of Belief), quoted, i.

     418.

Bieck, quoted, ii. 103, 193 (bis).

Blomfield, Bp., his regular use of Ps. i. 40.

Bloodthirsty man, i. 132.

Blunt (Undesigned Coincidences), quo-

     ted, i. 435, ii. 71; (Veracity of the

Books of Moses) quoted, ii. 262.

Boar, the, out of the wood, ii. 88.

Bochart, quoted, ii. 30.

Book of life, i. 552.

Book of the Wars of Jehovah, i. 2.

Bottcher, quoted, i. 400, 519, 526,

     536.

Bottle, skin, i. 447.

Bottle, a, in the smoke, ii. 358.

Bow of brass, i. 215; deceitful, emblem

     of faithlessness, ii. 70.

Breach, in the, ii. 263.

Bread, of the mighty, ii. 64; mentioned

     as one of the three most essential

     elements of an Eastern banquet,

     240; staff of, 252; of sorrows,

     395.

Breaketh, the word applied to the soul,

     ii. 351.

     "Brick upon brick," &c., MS. arrange-

     ment by, ii. 427.

Bridal, Psalm for a, i. 366.

Brill, quoted, ii. 308.

Brook in the way, ii. 310.

Brooke, Stopford, quoted, i. 249 (bis), 251.

Broom, ii. 379.

Browne, Bp. Harold, quoted, i. 76.

Buchanan, quoted, ii. 27.

Bulls, lit. "strong ones," i. 532.

Bunsen, quoted, i. 214. 429, 457, 525,

     ii. 90, 189.

Burckhardt, quoted, ii. 120, 370.

Byron, his lines on the destruction of

     Sennacherib alluded to, ii. 43.

 

                       C.

Callimachus, quoted, ii. 304.

Calovius, quoted, i. 343,

Calvin, his value of the Psalms, i. 29;

     on Ps. xix., 56; on the inclination of

     our hearts to evil, i. 109; motto of,

     in trouble, 139; on Apostles' liberty

     in citing Scripture, 152; human

     dignity, 155; endurance under perse-

     cution, 171 (bis); on flattering lips,

     177; faith in affliction, 180, 181; on

     "the excellent," 192; God our per-

     petual inheritance, 194; explains the

     importance of joining prayer with a

     good conscience, 202; David's

     prayer for special deliverance, 203;

     explains the waking of which David

     speaks, 206; our ignorance of sur-

     rounding evils, 226; the earthly and

     heavenly sanctuary, 231; faith in

     God. 251 David's anticipation of a

     future life, 252 on being led in the

                                     GENERAL INDEX.                                507

     truth, 259; warning against praying

     for the destruction of the wicked,

     272; on God's power in creation and

     providence, 296; the omniscience of

     God, 297; on Ps. xxxviii., 322, 323,

     324; on Ps. xxxix., 329; on the temporal

      promises of the O. T., 341; interpretation of

     "longing after God," 350; on attributing

     calamities to God, 363; polygamy of the

     ancients, 372; grace compared to a

     stream of water, 382; the supports

     of our faith, 383; "veni, vidi, vici,"

     391; describes the subject of Ps.

     xlix., 396; iniquity of the heels, 398;

     thanksgiving and prayer great part of

     religion, 408; on sin, 409, 414-416,

     418; forgiveness and renewal, 420;

     the faith of the elect, ib.; co-existence

     of hope and fear in the human heart,

     445 (bis); resting in God's word,

     447; on comparing the wicked to

     dogs, 464, 466; the watch-tower of

     faith, 464; promises of God's favour,

     472; submission of the faithful to

     God, 481; His faithfulness, 482;

     God's attribute of hearing prayer,

     498; reverence towards God, 506;

     the ark of the covenant, 519; on

     means of escape from death, 529;

     power of faith, 287, 545; blotting

     from the book of life, 552; God's

     means of deliverance, 558; on author

     of Ps. lxxii., 564, 565; man's

     righteousness the work of Christ,

     569; his view of Messianic Psalms,

     229, 371, 498, 513, 546, 565; story

     of Dionysius the Less, ii. 9; on open-

     ing of Ps. lxxiii., 16; on Ps. lxxiv.,

     24; Ps. lxxvii., 51; his view of the

     application of Ps. lxxviii. 2 by St.

     Matthew to Christ, 60; on going out

     of Egypt, 97; the redemption of

     Israel from a people of foreign lan-

     guage, a special mark of God's

     favour, ib.; on hearing what God will

     speak, 126; the four virtues meeting,

     ib. (bis); the mixing of temporal and

     spiritual blessings, ib.; on fruitfulness

     of the earth, 127; on the date of Ps.

     lxxxvii., 135; on "God of my salva-

     tion," 141; on "cast away," ib.;

     "with all Thy waves," ib.; trust in

     God's omnipotence, 143; on the

     numbering of our days, 168; God's

     "work," 169; His majesty, ib.;

     styles the devil an acute theologian,

     175; fools, 179, 186; glory of God

     the prop of our faith, ib.; establish-

     ing of the world, 198; angels as op-

     posed to fictitious deities, 202; sing-

     ing Psalms, 214; God's unchange-

ableness our consolation, 220; "plea-

     sure in her stones," 221; the return

     from captivity, 222; view of Ps. civ.,

     232; light compared to a robe, 235;

     God. meets us with living pictures,

     236; on quotations from O. T. in

     N. T., 237; cites the story of the wit

     in the Temple, 273; wandering in the

     wilderness, 276 (bis); on the impre-

     cations in Ps. cix., 286; God's glory

     at stake, 328; on religion of ancient

     Sicilians, 329; on the word "spirit,"

     440; on "search me," 443; on justifi-

     cation, 459; being overwhelmed, 460;

     a thirsty land, ib.; "in the morning,"

     461; "Thy servant," 462; "God of

     my loving-kindness," 464; "my de-

     liverer," 465; "who subdueth the

     people," ib.; who are happy, 468.

Caryatides, ii. 467.

Cassiodorus, quoted, i. 73, ii. 77, 87, 90.

Catena Aurea, quoted, ii. 61.

Caterpillar, ii. 68, 255.

Catullus, quoted, i. 141, ii. 445.

Cedars of God, ii. 88.

Chaff, i. 110.

Chaldean invasion, reference to, ii. 22, 74.

Chambers in heaven, ii. 236, 240.

Cherub, i. 212.

Children, God's, spoken of collectively,

     not individually, in the Old Testa-

     ment, ii. 12.

Cholera, Ps. xci. recommended as a

     preservative against, ii. 172; prayers

     for preservation from, 274.

Christ, application of Ps. ii. 10, i. 117;

     subjugation of all things to, 156;

     vicarious sufferings of, 239; David in

     his sufferings a type of, 245; the Good

     Shepherd, 249; part of Ps. lxviii.

     applied to, 528; Solomon, an imper-

     fect type of, 565, 573; kingdom of,

     dream of the heathen philosophers of

     a common citizenship of nations, and

     its fulfilment in, ii. 133; Melchizedek,

     type of, 308.

Christian character, perfect, delineation

     of, in Ps. xv., i. 187.

Christmas Day, why Ps. xix. is used on

     this day, i. 221; Ps. lxxxv., ii. 124.

Chrysostom, St., quoted, i. 39, 486, H.

     286, 303, 306, 319.

Cicero, quoted, i. 155, 335, 370, ii. 137,

     231, 329.

"Clap the hands," ii. 205.

Clericus, quoted, i. 296.

Colenso, Bp., his criticisms examined,

     i. 75, 428, 429, 469, 477, 504, 510,

     517, 519.

Coleridge (Confessions of an Enquiring

     Spirit), quoted, i. 65.

508                               GENERAL INDEX.

 

Coney, word imperfectly translated, ii. 241.

Confidence of a righteous man, in ap-

      proaching God, i. 133, 145, 202, 263,

      265; in the protection of God, ii.

      175.

Congregation, word representing the

      people in their religious aspect, ii.

      25.

Cord, the, ii. 401.

Cornet, the, ii. 95, 487.

Council, ii. 317.

Courts of the Temple, ii. 117, 423.

Covenant, appeal to the, ii. 31.

Covetousness, ii. 353.

Cox, quoted, ii. 377, 382, 385, 407,

      411.

Creation, God's glory in, i. 220; Ps.

      cvi., a divine ode of, ii. 232; God's

      continuous work in, 233.

Criticism apart from orthodoxy, ii.

      249.

Crucifixion, the, foreshadowed, i. 242.

Crusius, Chr. A., words of, on his

      deathbed, ii. 405.

Cup, figurative sense of, i. 174, 193;

      waters of a full, ii. 11; the, 37,

      334.

Curtain, like a, ii. 235.

Cush, the Benjamite, i. 142; Ethiopia,

      532, 570.

Cymbal, or castanet, meaning of word,

      ii. 487.

 

                        D.

Daniel, his probable acquaintance with

      Ps. lxxix., ii. 76.

Dante, on translations, i. 129.

Dark places, ii. 31.

Dark sayings, meaning of, ii. 59. See

      also note on Ps. xlix., i. 397.

Darkness, the place of, ii. 144.

Darkness of soul, why permitted, ii. 141.

Darling, my, i. 242.

Date-palm, ii. 181.

David, life of, unfolded in Psalms, i. 5;

      his hope of a future life, 195, 206,

      252; his personal affection to God,

      203, 447, 451, 487; his assertion of

      innocence, 202, 213, 263; servant of

      God, 209; Ps. lxxxvi., the only one

      ascribed to, in the third book, ii. 127;

      promise to, referred to, 146; not a

      priest, 298, 299; house of, 380.

Dawn, etymology of the word, i. 487.

Days shortened, meaning of, ii. 54.

Death, premature, deprecated, i. 139;

      waking from, 206; regarded as a

      shepherd, 400; as the wages of sin,

      characteristic of Ps. xc., ii. 163.

Deborah, Song of, part of Ps. lxviii.

      borrowed from, i. 514, 520.

Deceitful how, an emblem of faithlessness, H. 70.

De Dieu, quoted, i. 393, 431, 537.

"Deep calleth unto deep," i. 353.

Degrees, Songs of, i. 87, ii. Ps. cxx.-cxxxv., 368.

Delitzsch, on the Hallel, i. 17; on divi-

      sion of the Psalter, 73; David a type

      of Christ, 124; on iambics closing Ps.

      iv., 129; compares Ps. xii. to a ring,

      178; on the feelings of God's people

      in affliction, 180; the morning sun

      compared to a bridegroom, 224; dis-

      tinction between'' divine names, ib.

      God's loving-kindness, 259; vain

      persons, 264; beginning and ending

      of Ps. xxix., 277; rendering of Ps.

      xxxiv. 5, 299; interpretation of Ps.

      xxxv. 13 as alluding to the posture of

      prayer, 303; heroic faith of the

      O. T. saints, 329; "a bitter-sweet

      remembrance," 351; authorship of

      Ps. xlv., 367; on Ps. xlvi., 380

      connection of heaven and earth, 452;

      how to show our gratitude to God,

      499; on Ps. lxviii., 526; on Ps. lxix.,

      542; authorship of Ps. lxxii., 564;

      Solomon a type of Christ, 573; on Ps.

      lxxvii. as compared with Hab. iii.,

      ii. 47; power of the divine wrath,

      86; relation of Pss. lxxvii., lx:xvii

      and lxxxi., 93; Jewish feasts, 95;

      "a language that I knew not," 98

      traces influence of Isaiah in Psalms,

      124; animation' of David's poems,

      128; supposes Heman the author of

      Job, 141; sees the complaint: of a

      leper in Ps. lxxxviii., 143; regards

      Ps. xci. as dramatic, 176 ; God's

      name, 207; Ps. C. an echo of xcv.,

      210; God's temple open to all, 211

      strong terms for "indignation," &c.,

      in Ps. cii., 220; suggests that writer

      of Ps. civ. did not think the Flood

      universal, 239; "nation" and

      "people," 251; flesh offered to idols,

      264; considers Pss. cv.—cvii. a tri-

      logy, 271, 272; "God of my praise,"

      288; on Ps. cxix., 349; an anecdote

      of Luther, 402; an echo of David's

      answer to Michal, 406; Ps. cxxxiv.

      a greeting and reply, 421; describes

      Ps. cxxxv. as a species of mosaic,

      423; calls Ps. cxliii. "an extract of

      most precious balsam," 459; the

      Elohistic style, 466; Ps. cxlix. em-

      ployed to incite to crimes, 483.

Deliverer, epithet applied to God, ii. 465.

De Muis (or De Muys), i. 204, 290.

                           GENERAL INDEX.                           509

 

Deserts, the, i. 520.

Devouring pestilence, ii. 173.

Dew, figurative sense of, ii. 307; of

      Hermon, ii. 420.

De Wette, quoted, i. 71, 172, 362, 426,

      513, 517, 524, ii. 53, 225, 323, 329,

      394.

Diodati, quoted, i. 320, 328, 342 (bis),

      344, 392, 397, 398, 478, 498, 500.

Diodorus Siculus, quoted, ii. 65.

Dionysius the Less, story of, quoted

      from Calvin, ii. 9.

Diseases, God the healer of, ii. 226.

Displeasure or anger of God, i. 138.

Dithyrambic poems, i. 147.

Divine Name, use of, in the first and

      second books of the Psalms, i. 346.

Divine providence, an argument for, ii.

      183.

Doeg, whether referred to, i. 424.

Dogs, i. 242, 463, 466.

Donne (Sermons), quoted, i. 32, 290

       (bis), 291, 419, 481, 483, 486, 489

       (bis).

Doorkeeper, ii. 121.

Doubter, forbearance towards the,

      urged, ii. 6.

Doubts, comparison of ancient and

      modern, ii. 5; wisdom of not intrud-

      ing, 12; in the hour of temptation,

      129.

Dove (in inscriptions), i. 90.

Doxology, purpose of, i. 73; instances,

      344, 574, 575, ii. 155, 249, 258;

      Ps. c. regarded as one, 210; why in-

      corporated into the Psalm, ii. 267; Ps.

      cvii. opens with a, 275; Ps. cxvii. a,

      337; Ps. cl., 486.

Drink-offerings, i. 193.

Drusius, quoted, i. 437.

 

                    E.

Eadie, quoted, i. 528.

Eagle, alluded to, ii. 227; fable of the,

renewing its youth, 231.

Ears, to open, meaning of; i. 335; in

      cline the, 397.

Earth, world, etymology of, i. 165.

Ecce Homo, quoted, ii. 134.

Ecclesiastes, i. 12.

Ecclesiasticus, prologue recognises

      threefold division of Scriptures,

      i. 18.

Eichhorn, on the eras of the Psalms, i.

      15; date of Ps. xxvii., 385; on the

      Ridafat, ii. 304.

Elohim, i. 155, 346, 371, 405, ii.  466.

Enchanters, i. 456.

Endor, ii. 112.

Engel, quoted, on the cornet, ii. 95.

Ennius„ quoted, ii. 236.

Ephraim specially rebuked, ii. 57, 61;

      their faithlessness, 61.

Ephrathah, ancient name of Bethle-

      hem, mentioned in Ps. cxxxii., ii.

      413.

Epithalamium, Ps. cxxviii. an, ii.

      398.

Ethan, i. 85, 94, ii. 144.

Eucharist, Ps. cxi. supposed by some

      to bear reference to, ii. 318.

Euripides, quoted, i. 353, 524, ii. 399.

Evans, Miss, referred to, i. 162.

Ever and ever, for, applied to David, i.

      233.

Ewald, on Maccabean additions to the

      Canon, i. 19; on divine names, 75;

      "raining snares," 174; hail in Pale-

      stine, 213; compares half of Ps. xix.

      to a beautiful torso, 221; structure

      of Ps. xxix., 273; regards Ps. xxxix.

      as most beautiful of elegies, 326; on

      the ships of Tarshish, 392; on poeti-

      cal character of Ps. 1., 405; era of

      Ps. lv., 435 ; of Ps. lx., 469; author-

      ship of Ps. lxii., 480; divides Ps.

      lxvi. into two, 505; lying among the

      sheepfolds, 524; authorship of Job,

      ii. 4; the one everlasting Friend, 14;

      difference between Ps. lxxv. and

      Isaiah's prophecies, 34; places Ps.

      lxxviii. in time of Ezra, 57; supposes

      Jehoiachin alluded to in Ps. lxxxiv.,

      115; arid entrance into Palestine,

      120; on Ps. xc., 162; "cut down

      and withereth," 166; structure of Ps.

      176, 177; Ps ci. marks the sanc-

      tifying of Zion, 213; view of Pss. ciii.,

      civ., 225; on Ps. cxli. 5-7, 451.

Excellent, the, i. 192.

Expostulation with God, ii. 153.

Extortioner, ii. 290.

Ezra and Nehemiah, collections of

      Psalms by, i. 79, ii. 347.

 

                     F.

Fainteth, ii. 117, 276.

Faith and fear, co-existence of, i. 444.

Faith in God, i. 174; in the hour of

      death, 284; justification by, 290;

      meaning of, 559; victory of, ii. 175.

Faithful witness, the, ii. 152.

Farrar's Bampton Lectures, quoted, on

      "difficulties concerning Providence,"

      ii. 5; wisdom of the Psalmist in con-

      cealing his doubts, 12.

Fat of wheat, ii. 100.

Feast of the Harvest, quoted, ii. 274.

510                                   GENERAL INDEX.

 

Feeling, blending of the personal and

       national, in the mind of the Psalmist,

       ii. 259.

Feet, to lift up the, phrase explained,

       ii. 26.

Fergusson, quoted, i. 390.

Festival, Ps. lxxxi. sung at a great

       national, ii. 92.

Fire as lightning, i. 276.

Firstborn, ii. 151.

Flesh, i. 487.

Flood (the Deluge), i. 277; the Shibbo-

       leth of the Ephraimites, 545.

Floods, lifting up of the, ii. 183.

Fool, the, a practical atheist, i. 183.

       See also i. 165.

Foolish men, to whom the term is ap-

       plied, ii. 31; why so called, 278.

Footstool, His holy, ii. 208; emblem

       of subjection, 305.

"Forgiveness," rare occurrence of the

       word, ii. 403, 404.

Forgiveness of sins, comfort to the

       penitent, ii. 1226.

Fountain of Life, God only, i. 312.

Frame, our, ii. 228.

Francis of Assisi, quoted, ii. 480.

Franciscans, hired to curse in words of

       Ps. cix., ii. 286.

Francke, quoted, i. 32.

French and Skinner, quoted, i. 560,

       571.

Friday, Psalm for, according to the

       LXX., ii. 182.

Frost, meaning of word uncertain, ii.

       68.

Furrows, ii. 400, 454.

Future life, how far revealed. to the

       O. T. saints, i. 65, 139, 161, 195,

       252, 281, 288, 400, ii. 15, 142, 175.

 

                           G.

Galileo, passage from Ps. civ. quoted

       in controversy with, ii. 237.

Gall, i. 550.

Gate, the place of public concourse, i.

       161, 438; or market, ii. 396,

Gemara, quoted, i. 187.

Genesis, Ps. viii. a lyric echo of the

       first chapter of, i.150; account of

       creation in, poetically expanded in

       Ps. civ., ii. 232.

Gerhardt, quoted, i. 447.

Gesenius, quoted, i. 87, 308, 358, 366,

       375, 526.

Ginsburg, quoted, i. 12.

Gittith, i. 89, 156.

Glory, the manifested presence of God, ii. 126.

God, a shield, i. 123, 135, 210, 217,

       465; an upholder of all that trust in Him, 123,
       559; of my righteousness, 127; name of, 135

       chastisements of, 137, ii. 152; glory of, in
       creation, i. 149, 220, 255, 277, 294; confi-

       dence in, 172, ii. 172; graciousness and
       meekness of, i. 216; revelation of, in nature and

      His word, 220; holiness of, 239, 255; the
       Shepherd of His people, 249; a king, 277,

       ii. 182; holy Name of, i. 279, ii. 203; of truth, i.
      284; omniscience and omnipresence of, 297, ii.
      438, 476; mountains of, i. 311, 526; loving-

       kindness of, 312; the fountain of life, ib., ii.

       243; providence of, vindicated, i. 315; living,
       name occurring only twice in the Psalms, 349,

       ii. 117 ; with us, Immanuel, i. 380 of gods, 405;
       the Judge, 406, 453, ii. 186; righteousness of, i.
       422, ii. 459; of Hosts, i. 463, ii. 86; of power

       and love, i. 484; the hearer of prayer,

       498; the loving Father and righteous

       Judge, 521; God's kingdom, tri-

       umph of, 527; tenderness of, 529

       judgement of, celebrated, ii. 37; His

       forbearance to man, 66; cedars of,

       88; ever active, 127; His faith-

       fulness, 148, 146, 459; His omnipo-

       tence and His faithfulness set forth

       in his relation to David, 150; work

       of, before work of man, 169; ma-

       jesty of, 182; above all gods, 191

       prayer for presence of, with man, re-

       markable in O. T., 214; pleasure of,

       in creation, 244; faithfulness of,

       traced in a nation's history, 248; for-

       giveness of, motive for fearing Him,

       404; great attributes of, 438, 414

       glory of, manifested in condescension,

       471; fatherly care of, 477; power of,

       manifested in the world, 478.

Godly sorrow, hope in, i. 412.

"Gods" as applied to rulers, &c., ii.103, 105, 107,
     435.

Gebal, position of, ii. III.

Gods of the heathen, whether idols or

Geier, quoted, i. 109, 415, 530, ii. 27.

       demons, ii. 196, 201.

Geiger, quoted, ii. 248.

Goel, the next of kin, explanation of

       term and derivation, ii. 25.

Gog and Magog, Ps. ii. interpreted of,

       i. 114; referred to, 389.

Going out and coming in, ii. 376.

Good Friday, use of Ps. lxxxviii. upon, ii. 141.

Grass on the housetops, ii. 401.

Grasshopper, ii. 255.

Gratz, quoted, ii. 148.

Grave, or Graves, ii. 279, 454.

 

                          GENERAL INDEX.                                511

 

Grotius, quoted, i. Io9, 336, ii. 154.

Grove, on writer of Ps. i., i. 76; on

     mention of the Temple in Ps. xxvii.,

     268; identity of Salem with Jerusa-

     lem, ii. 41; on the mountains of

     Palestine, 42; on the word " meat "

     or "food," 317.

 

                        H.

Habakkuk, resemblance between Ps.

     lxxvii. and chap. iii. of, ii. 47.

Hagarenes,

Haggai, Psalms ascribed to, i. 14, 19,

     95, ii. 434, 472-

Hallel, the name given to a series of

     Psalms according to the ancient

     Jewish tradition, i. 17, ii. 322; the

     Great, 427; another, 472.

Hallelujah, the first in the Psalter, why

     remarkable according to the Talmud

     and Midrash, ii. 244; Psalms, list of;

     249, 257, 316, 427.

Hammond, on vindictive Psalms, ii.

     287, 292.

Hand, Heb. for power, ii. 446, 450;

     washing the, i. 264; stretching forth

     the, ii. 143; to lift up the, 263, 452;

     setting at the right, a mark of honour,

     304; for side, 457.

Hannah, resemblance between Ps. lxxv.

     and Song of; it. 35-37; also two

     verses in Ps. cxiii., 322, 323.

Happiness, recollections of past, may be

     made instruments of temptation by

     Satan, ii. 50.

Harden, use of the word, ii. 193.

Hare, Archdeacon, quoted, ii. 467.

Harless, quoted, i. 225. 

Harvest-field, greeting in the, ii. 401.

Haven, meaning of the word, ii. 481.

Heads, meaning of word, ii. 310.

Heap, water gathered as a; i. 296.

Heaps of stone, or "ruins," ii. 77.

Heart, the whole, required by God, ii.

     130; to harden the, spoken of as

     man's act, 193; a "proud," different

     from " a wide heart," 215.

Heathen, word, why so translated, ii. 77.

Heavens, above the, ii. 323.

Heels, iniquity compassing the, mean-

     ing of, i. 397, 402.

Height, as a predicate of God, ii. 179.

Heman, i. 11. 94, ii. 141, 144.

Hengstenberg, on " Thou alone art my

     salvation," i. 192 ; on " not con-

     founded," 299; honouring and loving

     God, 416; occasion of Ps. lxviii.,

     513; Zebulun and Naphtali, 516;

     God's habitation, 521; wings covered

   with silver, and snow in Zalmon,

     525; defends Massoretic text, 540;

     on the idea of justice, 566; error in

     assigning Ps. lxxviii. to the time of

     David, ii. 56; refers Ps. lxxix. to the

     Chaldean invasion, 74; on the tribe

     of Benjamin, 83; on prayer, 86;

     month and moon, 92, 97; Joseph

     and Israel, 96; on going out of

     Egypt, ib.; upholds inscription of

     Ps. Ixxxiv., 115; on ways made in

     the heart, 120; darkness at end of

     Ps. lxxxviii., 144; promises, 148; in-

     fluence on consciences of heathen,

     187; the name Jehovah, 276.

Herder, quoted, 1. 33, 67, 212, 327, 524,

     ii. 163, 172, 186, 234, 235 (Lis), 379,  417.

Hermon, i. 352, ii. 149, 420.

Herzfeld, quoted, i. 440.

Hezekiah, established learned society to

     preserve early literature, i. 13; odes

     with his name prefixed, lb.; col-

     lection of Psalms by, 78; Psalms

     written in the time of, 379.; Korahite

     Psalms attributed to his time, ii. 124;

     Ps. lxxxvii., 134; Ps. xc., 163; Ps.

     cx. wrongly interpreted of, 303.

Hidden ones, Thy, ii. III.

Hiding-place of God's presence, i. 287.

High priest, blessing of; alluded to, i. 128, 511.

Hilary, quoted, i. 72, ii. 479.

Hind, i. 215; of the dawn, 89, 236, 245.

Hinds, Bp., quoted, ii. 7.

Hippolytus, quoted, i. 71, 73.

Hitzig, quoted, i. 367, 435, 542, ii. 336:

Hodu Psalms, or Confitemini, ii. 249.

Hofmann, quoted, i. 527, ii. 140, 245.

Holiness, oath by, ii. 152.

Holy, i. 240.

Holy city, David's desire for a, on earth,

     ii. 213; affection of the Psalmist for

     the, 136.

Holy One of Israel, name of God, i.

     240; used only three times in the

     Psalms, 563.

Holy ones, i.e. the angels, ii. 148.

Holy Spirit, not fully revealed as a

     Person to the O. T. saints, i. 421;

     Luther's illustration of the union of,

     with man, 421.

Homer, quoted, i. 157, 243, 437, 526,

     ii. 167, 279, 433.

Hooker, quoted, i. 31.

Hope and fear, not inconsistent feel-

     ings, i. 446.

Hope of Israel, i. 118.

Hope, union of faith with, i . 174; sus-

     taining influence of, ii. 119.

Horace, quoted, i. 115, 381, ii. 104,  251.

512                                 GENERAL INDEX.

 

Horn, lifting up the, ii. 37, 482.

Horne, Bp., quoted, i. 33, 63.

Horsley, Bp., quoted, i. 42, 45.

Hort, quoted, i. 376.

Hosannah, the great, the seventh day

     of the feast of tabernacles so called,

     ii. 339.

Hosts, His, expression used sometimes

     of the stars, ii. 481.

Houbigant, quoted, i. 45.

House, Thy, meaning of term, i. 133.

Housman (Readings on the Psalms),

     quoted, ii. 169, 191, 199.

Hulsius, quoted, ii. 17.

Humboldt, quoted, ii: 234.

Humility, ii. 406.

Hupfeld, suspects Ps. xxxvi. to be com-

     bined from two, i. 311; olive-trees

     in the Temple, 428 ; marrow and fat-

     ness, 489; occasion of Ps. xxviii., 513,

     515; on " the Lord hath come from

     Sinai," 537; on names of the sanc-

     tuary, ii. 28; on the authorship of

     Ps. lxxix., 75; tribes referred to in

     Ps. lxxx., 83, 84; on the term "gods,"

     103; inner connection of Ps. lxxxix.,

     151; objects to Mosaic authorship of

     Ps. xc., 162; on use of word

     "strength," 171; arrangement of

     Ps. xci., 176; estimate of Ps. civ.,

     233; on the false tongue, 372; use

     of " Thy Name," 436.

Hyrcanus, John, i. 359.

Hyssop, cleansing with, i. 419.

 

                        I.

Iambics ending Psalms, i. 129, 181.

Ibn Ezra, quoted, i. 246, 369, 532, ii.

     247, 304, 438; story of a Spanish

     Jew, ii. 153.

Immanuel, God with us, i. 380.

Immortality, not clearly discerned under

     the O. T. dispensation, i. 139, 281;

     doctrine conveyed in Ps. xc.., ii. 161.

Imprecations in the Psalms, how to be

     explained, i. 62, 271, 305, 343, 550,

     ii. 285, 442.

Indian mutiny, alluded to, ii. 433.

Indignation, righteous, i. 177, 305,

     427, 456.

Infatuation, word denoting Divine pun-

     ishment, i. 471.

Iniquities, confession of, by the Psalmist

     cannot be applied to Christ, i. 338,

     342; of fathers visited upon children,  ii. 80.

Iniquity, meaning of word, ii. 189.

Innocence, David's assertion of, ex-

     plained, i. 59, 202, 213, 263; as-

     sertion of national, 364.

Inscriptions of Psalms, i. 84; how far

     trustworthy, 95; historical notices in, 101.

Irving, quoted, i. 34.

Isaiah, affinity between chapter vii. of,

     and Ps. ii., i. 113; between chap.

     xxxiii. and Ps. xlvi., 380; between

     chap. viii. and Ps. xlvi., ib.; simi-

     larity between passages in, and Pss.

     xxii., lxxxv., 240; also between later

     chapters and Pss. xcvii., xcviii., ii.

     423; between chap. xl. and Ps.

     cxlvii., 476.

Isaki, Sol., quoted, i. 114, ii. 303.

Ishmaelites, ii. 111.

Isidore, quoted, i. 315.

Isles, multitude of, ii. 200.

Israel, why used in the parallelism with

     Judah, ii. 40.

Israelite, our difficulty in understanding

     the feelings and expressions of a true,

     i. 463.

 

                            J.

Jackals, place of, figurative meaning of

     the phrase, i. 364.

Jacob, pride of, i. 387.

Jahaziel, ii., 109.

Jebb, quoted, i. 355.

Jeduthun, i. 85, 89, 330 (Note a).

Jehoiachin, supposed allusion to, in

     Ps. lxxxiv., ii. 115 ; in Ps. l.xxxix.,

     146.

Jehoshaphat, appointed public in-

     structors, i. 12; whether Ps. lxxxiii.

     refers to, ii. 108.

Jehovah, a refuge in trouble, i. 172 ;

     repetition of name in Ps. xix., 224;

     angel of, 302; the coming of, to

     judgement, ii. 198; as King, ib.,

     199, 200; trees of, 241; theory of

     Hengstenberg on use of the name in

     Ps. cvii., 276; trust in, inculcated,

     334.

Jehovah Elohim, is 463, ii. 121.

Jehovah Sabaoth, i. 461.

Jehovistic Psalms, i. 346.

Jeremiah, Psalms supposed to be

     written by, i. 95, xxx., xxxi. lxix.,

     lxxi. ; borrows from Ps. i., i. 108;

     relation of, to Pss. lxxiv. and lxxix.,

     ii. 23; passages in, almost identical

     with verses in Ps. lxxix., 75; compo-

     site diction of, 423.

Jerome, quoted, i. 39, 71, 197, 239,  

     377, ii. 370.

Jerusalem, elevation of, i. 389 de-

     struction or sack of; by Antiochus

     Epiphanes, subject of Ps lxxix.,

     ii. 74.

                                  GENERAL INDEX.                                  513

 

Jewish nation, narrow exclusiveness of,

      ii. 132.

Joab, Ps. lx. composed in commemora-

      tion of the victory of; over the Edom-

      ites, i. 468.

Job, difficulties of, compared with mo-

      dern doubts, ii. 5, 13; Ps. lxxxviii.

      ascribed to, by some, 141.

Jonah the Prophet, authorship of Ps.

      cxxxix. ascribed to, ii. 440.

Josephus, quoted, i. 254, 570, ii. 95,

      389, 464.

Josiah, supposed to be the author of Ps.

      xxviii., 1. 270; Ps. cxxxii. referred to

      time of, ii. 411.

Judaism, spirit of, ii. 132.

Judas Iscariot, Ps. cix. supposed to refer

      to, ii. 286.

Judgement, i. I Io, 566 ; after death, ii.

      13; of God, celebrated, 37, 40;

      vision of, 101.

"Judgements," equiv. to "law," ii.

      350.

Judges, unjust, ii. 101, 106; in what

      sense to be understood, 453.

Justification, ii. 265.

Justin Martyr, cited, ii. 303.

Juvenal, quoted, i. 537.

 

               K.

Kadesh, i. 276,

Kay, quoted, i. 390, ii. 204, 211.

Kaye, Sir J., quoted,'ii. 433,

Kedar, ii. 371.

Kennicott, quoted, i. 47.

King, office of, i. 52; Jehovah as, ii.

      198, 199, 200.

"King, my," i. 131; expression of

      strong feeling used by the Psalmist,

      ii. 29.

"Kiss the Son," i. 118.

Kitto (Bible Illustrations), quoted, ii.

      26.

Korah, Psalms of the Sons of, i. 94,

      xlii.—xlix. and lxxxvi.; peculiarities

      of, 99; singularity of this inscription,

      355.

 

                 L.

Lagarde, quoted, i. 257.

Lamp, lighted, a symbol of prosperity,

      i. 215; figure of, in Ps. cxxxii., ii.

      416.

Lane (Modern Egyptians), quoted, i.

      456-

"Language, a, I understood not,"

      meaning of passage, ii. 97.

Law, the, " the Testimony," i. 225.

Leanness, meaning of expression, ii.

      261.

Leeser, quoted, i. 268.

Leighton, Archbishop, quoted, i. 127;

      guilelessness pleasing to God, 290

       (bis); on confession and forgiveness,

      ib.;, on "roaring," 291.

Leviathan, meaning of, ii. 29, 30;

      general term for sea monster, 243.

Liar, a, pourtrayed and condemned, i.

      426.

Liddon, quoted, ii. 278.

Life, the path of, i. 195; the Book of,

      552; a long, promise of, as a tempo-

      ral blessing, ii. 175; future, see

      Future life.

Lifting up, i. 279, ii. 37.

Light, the only instance of direct appli-

      cation of this name to God, Ps.

      xxvii., i, 266; word, denoting all the

      heavenly bodies, ii. 30; a character-

      istic of God, 121; God's countenance

      spoken of as a, 167.

Light: and truth, i. 354.

Lightning cast forth, ii. 465.

Lilies, on, i. 90, 375.

Liturgical Psalms, i. 228, ii. 327; for-

      mulae ii. 259, 275, 338, 424, 427.

Living God, name occurring only twice

      in the Psalms, i. 349, 11. 117.

Livy, quoted, H. 391.

Locust, ii. 255, 293.

Long life, promise of, in O. T., ii. 175.

Longevity of Moses, Joshua, &c., ii. 162.

Longinus, referred to, ii. 279.

Loosing prisoners, allegorical interpre-

      tation of, ii. 474.

Lord, Adonai, iii. 309.

Lord, our, meaning of epithet, i. 153.

Lot of the righteous, ii. 389.

Loving-kindness, or grace, i. 259, 263, 312.

Loving-kindness and faithfulness, ex-

      pressive of God's covenant relation-

      ship to His people, ii. 204.

"Loving-kindness, God of my," sin

      gular expression for, ii. 464.

Lowth, quoted, i. 532.

Lucilius, quoted, ii. 423.

Luminary, ii. 167, 428.

Luther, on excellence of the Psalter, i.

      22, 27; delight in the law of the

      Lord, 58; applies Ps. ii. to the

      Christian Church, 115 (bis), 116 (bis);

      on God's chastisements, 138 ; Moses,

      161; "Amens Leute," 176; God's

      people in affliction, 180, 181; on the

      character of a righteous man, 188;

      view of Messianic Psalms, 194, 217,

      228; adopts the allegorical explana-

514                    GENERAL INDEX.

 

     tion of Ps. xix. as given by the older

     interpreters, 223; application of Ps.

     xx. to the Church in all ages, 230;

     on trust in the Name of the Lord,

     231; describes a blessed death, 284;

     Ps. xxxvi. "the patience of the

     saints," 315; his "Ein' feste Burg,"

     381; on sin, 415 (bis), 418; illus-

     trates the union of the Spirit of God

     with the spirit of man, 421; the only

     foundation, 500; " My people," ii.

     99; the faithful witness, 153; on Ps.

     xc., 163; on Ps. cxxiii., 382; Ps.

     cxxviii., 398; anecdote of, related

     by Delitzsch, 402; forgiveness of

     God, motive for fearing Him, 404;

     waiting on the Lord, ib., 405 plen-

     teous redemption, 405; on the an-

     ointing oil, 420.

Lyra, quoted, ii. 78, 86, 88.

 

                       M.

Macaulay, quoted, i. 392.

Maccabean Psalms, are there any, i. 17,

     358, 364, ii. 21, 74.

Maccabees, Canon extended in time of,

     i. 19; First Book of, passage in Ps.

     lxxix. similar to one in, ii. 76.

MacDonnell, quoted, i. 59.

Maclaren, quoted, i. 143, 151.

Maker, our, ii. 192; of heaven and

     earth, 375.

Man, subjection of the world to, in

     Christ, i. 155.

Man of Thy right hand, ii. 89.

Manna, allusion to, i. 522, ii. 64.

Marriage song, i. 366.

Martini, referred to, ii. 301, 302.

Maschil (or Maskil), i. 86, 289, 293.

Massah, ii. 193.

Massoreth, quoted, i. 70, 309, 562, ii.

     347.

Maurer, quoted, i. 333, 373 (bis), 411,

     ii. 54, 411, 451, 454.

Meat, ii. 317.

Meditate, i. 109, 115.

Melchizedek, type of Christ, ii. 298,  308.

Melissus, quoted, i. 90.

Men of the world, description of, i.

     205.

Mendelssohn, quoted, i. 120, 145, 154,

     239, 267, 276, 278, 287, 288, 292,

     356, 394, 399, 405 (bis), 407, 433,

     449, 501, 554, 567, ii. 17, 19, 28,

     54, 117 (bis), 237, 282, 453.

Meribah, ii. 193.

Meshech, ii. 370.

Messengers of God, ii. 236.

Messiah, expression of hopes of, in

     Psalms, i. 41; as King, 53; as

     Prophet and Sufferer, 54 and Son

     of God, two of the names given to the

     Hope of Israel by the Jews, taken

     from Ps. ii., 118.

Messianic Psalms, application in N. T.,

     i. 42; how to be understood, 49,

     151, 231, 234, 237, 242, 245, 256,

     336, 343, 368, 374, 528, 543; pro-

     phecy, ii. 124; character of Ps.

     lxxxvii., 133; lxxxviii., 141; :xciii.,

     182; xcvi., 195; cii., 218; connection

     of Messianic prophecy with N. T.,

     223; Ps. cx., 295, 308, 313; Ps.

     cxviii., 344 (bis).

Meyer, quoted, ii. 296.

Michaelis, J. D., quoted, i. 276, 522,  524.

Michaelis, J. H., quoted, i. 278, 342,  489, ii. 230.

Michtam, i. 86, 192, 196.

Midian, ii. 112.

Midrash, quoted, i. 73, 348, 565, 576,

     39, 150, 301 (bis), 303, 344, 370,

Mighty, ii. 319, 370.

Mighty One of Jacob, name of God, ii. 412.

Milman, quoted, i. 3, 4.

Milton (Paradise Lost), quoted, i. 289,

     ii. 138, 203, 238 (bis), 389.

"Miserable," the Hebrew word not

used before the time of David,

     106.

Mishnah, quoted, ii. 264, 410.

Mixture, herbs put into wine, ii. 38.

Mizar, i. 352.

Mizmor, i. 71, 159, ii. 203.

Mockers or scorners, word used but

     once in the Psalter, i. 108.

Moll, quoted, i. 140, ii. 207.

Monod, quoted, i. 36.

Monsters, a symbolical term descriptive

     of the Egyptians, ii. 29.

Moon, marked the Jewish feasts, ii. 93;

     why mentioned before the sun in the

     work of the creation, 241; supposed

     injurious effect of, upon outdoor  sleepers, 376.

Morning, in the, meaning of phrase, ii.

     169; womb of the, 303.

Moses, his authorship of Ps. xc:., ii.

     16x; the priestly office of, 208; the

     reasons why he was excluded from

     the Promised Land, more fully stated

     than in the narrative, 265.

Mother, a, quoted, ii. 407.

Mountain, image of security, ii. 388.

Mountains, corn on the, i. 572.

Mozley, quoted, i. 327.

Miinzer, T., referred to, ii. 483.

Musculus, quoted, i. 109.

Musician, the Chief, i. 84.

 

                                    GENERAL INDEX.                      515

 

                 N.

Name of God, i. 75, 135.

Name, Holy, i. 279 ; Thy, above all,

      ii. 436.

Nation, meaning of the word used in

      the plural and in the singular, ii. 260.

Nature, God's revelation of Himself in,

      i. 220.

Neale, quoted, ii. 391.

Neander, quoted, ii. 296, 297.

Nebuchadnezzar, invasion of, referred

      to, ii. 21, 74.

Neck, regarded as the seat of pride, ii.

      10.

Nehemiah, his connection with the

      Canon, i. 18; with Ezra collects

      Psalms, 79; Ps. lxxxv. probably

      written in his time, ii. 123.

Net, the meaning of, i. 507.

Newman, Dr. (Sermon on the Feast of

      St. Michael), quoted, ii. 237

Night, picture of, ii. 242.

Nob, sanctuary at, 428.

 

               O.

Octave, i. 138.

"Oculus Sperans," the Eye of Hope,

      name given to Ps. cxxiii., ii. 382.

Ode, on employment of good and bad

      angels, ii. 69.

Offerings, drink, i. 193; difference be-

      tween burnt and sin, 335; thanks-

      giving better than burnt, 407, 422;

      free-will, 434; free-will, God's people

      are, ii. 306.

Oil, face made to shine with, ii. 241,

      the precious, 419.

Olive-tree, type of fruitfulness, i. 428;

      emblem of healthy, vigorous life, ii.

      399.

Olshausen, quoted, i. 264.

Open the eyes, to, ii. 474.

Oreb, article in Smith's Diet., quoted, ii. 52.

Oreb and Zeeb, ii. 113.

Orthodoxy, questions of, growing out of

      criticism, ii. 249.

"Our Lord," first time used in the

      Book of Psalms, i. 153.

Overwhelmed, ii. 460.

Ovid, quoted, i. 350, 443, 452, 568, ii.

      219, 238; on a storm at sea, 280.

Owl, called in Arabic "mother of the

                ruins," ii. 219.

Ozanam, quoted, i. 37.

 

                      P.

Palm, rareness of allusion to, in the

      Old Testament, ii. 180.

Palmer (Orig. lit.), quoted, ii. 191.

Parable, meaning of, i. 397, ii. 59. 

Parallelism, Hebrew instance of, Ps. i.,

      i. 108; Ps. xix., 224; Ps. xxx., 280.

Passage of the Red Sea, ii. 52.

Passover, Pss. exv.—cxviii. supposed to

      have been sung by our Lord after His

      last, ii. 322.

Pasture, ii. 79, 113.

Paul, St., comparison of his language

      with that of the Old Testament, con-

      cerning the hope of a future life, ii.15.

Pauline Psalms, ii. 402.

Paulla;, last words of, i. 39.

Paulus, quoted, i. 347, ii. 322.

Peace, God's great word, ii. 126.

Pekah, i. 113.

Pelican, ii. 219.

Pericles, difference between the patriotic

      sentiment of the Grecian orator and

      the Jewish poet, i. 393.

Perowne, T. T. (Essential Coherence of

      the New Testament), reference to, for

      a clear view of Ps. lxxiii., ii. 8, 13.

Perret-Gentil, quoted, i. 501.

Petronius, quoted, ii. 241.

Philipson, quoted, ii. 271.

Phillips (Commentary on the Psalms),

      quoted, i. 573, ii. 253.

Piercing the hands and feet, i. 242.

Pilgrim songs, i. 16, 88, ii. 373, 376, 385, 419.

Pindar, quoted, ii. 304.

Pipe, but twice mentioned as a musical

      instrument, ii. 487.

Pit, explanation of, i. 333,

Plagues of Egypt, ii. 67.

Plato, quoted, i. 243.

Plautus, quoted, i. 169, 350, ii. 236,

      383.

Play on words, ii. 380.

Pliny., quoted, ii. 65, 281.

Plumptre, quoted, i. 122, 126, 524,

      ii. 116, 120, 124, 134, 172, 339, 342, 343.

Plutarch, quoted, ii. 95, 96.

Pococke, quoted, i. 114.

Poet, affinity between Prophet and, i. 177.

Poole, R. S., quoted, on the cultiva-

      tion of the vine in Egypt, ii. 68.

Poor destitute, ii. 221.

Praise, or Hymn, Ps. cxlv. the only

      one so called, ii. 469.

Prayer-book version, see Psalms.

Prayer, morning, i. 132; passage dis-

      cussed relating to, 303; true, 420;

      for spiritual, should precede that for

      temporal blessings, 130; for tem-

      poral blessings, efficacy of, ii. 273.

Precentor, i. 84.

516                              GENERAL INDEX.

 

Presents, custom of bringing to an

      Oriental king, ii. 197.

Priest, offering of, i. 51.

Priesthood, military character of, ii.

      300.

Promotion, incorrect rendering of E.V.,  ii. 37.

Prophecy, Psalm of the nature of, i. 113.

Prophet, office of, i. 50; derivation of

      word, ii. 251.

Prophet and Poet, affinity between, i. 177.

Proverb, Jewish, quoted, i. 212.

Proverbs, book of, i. 11.

Providence and Grace, i. 251; of God

      ever active, ii. 127.

Psalmist, relation of, to the law, i. 55;

      the prophetic character of the, ii. 192.

Psalms, see Chronological Index of;

      penitential, i. 23; place of, in Bible,

      70; names of, ib.; division into

      books, 72, ii. 267, 271; collection

      of, by Solomon, i. 78; by Hezekiah,

      ib.; by Ezra and Nehemiah, 79;

      chronological arrangement, ib.; num-

      bering, 81; changes from original

      form, 82; inscriptions of, 84; authors,

      93; royal Psalms, 565, ii. 205;

Prayer-book version referred to, i.

      184, 189, 240, 245, 269, 278, 288,

      316, 330, 398, 401, 406, 425, 506,

      520, 527, 546, 549, 572 (bis), ii. 9,

      10, 11, 15, 18, 20, 27, 52, 55, 61, 89,

      97, 113, 165, 166 (bis), 187, 221, 227,

      238, 253 (its supremacy), 255, 264,

      276, 319, 352, 435, 439, 458, 461,

      471, 477, 482; Chronologically Ar-

      ranged, by Four Friends, quoted,

      310, 348, 349, 378. See also Acrostic,

      Hallelujah, Liturgical, Messianic.

Punishment, lit. " a blow," i. 323

      testimony of Scripture with reference

      to men's, ii. 80.

Pusey, Dr. quoted, i. 120, 201, 377,

      532, 569 (bis), 572, 573, 576; on the

      closing of the Canon, ii. 74.

 

 

                     Q.

Qimchi, quoted, i. 80, 114, 188, 227,

      236, 329, 575, ii. 155, 432.

Qimchi, Jos., quoted, i. 162, 575, ii.

      119.

Quails, i. 522; how brought by an east

      and south wind, ii. 65.

Quinet, quoted, ii. 6.

 

                       R.

Rabbah, ii. 310.

Rabbis, older, regard Ps. xcii. as " said

      by the first man," ii. 177.

"Radaf," the rank of, ii. 304.

Rahab, a poetical name for Egypt,

      134, 137, 149.

Rain, a bountiful, figurative, i. 522;

      effect of, in the East, ii. 165.

Ram's horn, why the trumpet is made of, ii. 95.

Rashi, quoted, i. 232, 236, 343, ii. 247,

Rationalistic views, i. 41.

Red Sea, storm during passage of, ii,  52.

Redeem, meaning of word, ii. 25 the

      peculiar meaning of the word to the

      Israelite, ib.

Redemption, how the word first re-

      ceived significance, ii. 51.

Reinke, quoted, ii. 310.

Reins, the, i. 194, 263, ii. 441.

Rest, or confidence of the servant of

      God when surrounded by evil, ii.

      188; whether referring to present or

      future, 1.94.

Return, interpretation of word, ii. 165,

      168.

Reuss, regards all Psalms as national,

      i. 91; quoted, 154, 412, 413, 461,

      472, 496, 499, 514, 535, 538, ii. 227,

      337, 369, 406, 411, 414.

Revelation, God's glory in, Ps. xix., i.

      220.

Rezin, reference of Ps. ii. to, i, 113.

Rhyme, use of, in Psalms, ii. 258, 259,

      382.

Riches, vanity of, i. 396, 398, 399, 428.

"Ridafat," ii, 304.

Rieger, quoted, ii. 225.

Riehm, quoted, i. 129, 373.

Right hand, denoting succour, i. 194,

      ii. 294, 309, 375, 457; man of Thy,

      ii. 89 ; of lies, 466.

Righteous judgement of God, ii. 31.

Righteous man, description of a, i. 187.

Righteous, to be, verb so rendered,

      variously translated, ii. 459.

Righteousness, God's, i. 134; paths of,

      251; Old Testament meaning of the

      term, 256; final triumph of, 400,

      409; God's, vindicated by repentance

      of sinners, 422; sacrifices of, 423

      meaning of, 566; of God, 567; attri-

      bute to be desired for a king, 569

      human, gift of God, ii. 320; gates of, 342.

Rivers, ii. 151.

Robertson (Sermons), on value of

      Psalms, i. 35; description of the

      Syrian shepherd and his flock, 250

      craving of the finite after the infinite,

      349, 350; taunting of the world in

      religious perplexity, 350; on hope,

      351 (ter); on Ps. li., 418.

Robinson, quoted, i. 475, 491.

 

517                            GENERAL  INDEX

 

Rock, at Horeb, ii. 62, 256, 326; of

      salvation, 191; hurling down from,

      mode of punishment, 453.

Rod of wickedness, ii. 389.

Rödiger, quoted, i. 141.

Roll of the book, different explanations

      of the passage, i. 336.

Rolling thing, ii. 113.

Rome, use of Psalter in Church of, i. 24.

Romish interpretation noticed, i. 255.

Rosenmüller, quoted, i. 311, 352, 358,

      ii. 154, 225, 306, 342.

Rückert, quoted, i. 102.

Ruding, quoted, i. 181, 335.

 

                      S.

Saadyah, quoted, i. 119, 343, 377, ii. 231,

      301.

Saba, i. 570.

Sabaoth, i. 461.

Sabbath-day, Psalm for, ii. 177.

Sackcloth, symbol of sorrow, i. 547.

Sacrifice, of righteousness, i. 128, 423;

      thanksgiving better than, 128, 422;

      of prayer, 228; of shouting, 268;

      i.e. offerings, 335, 422; obedience

      better than, 335; evening, ii. 444.

Sacrifices, human, ii. 266.

Saints, the, i. 192, 406, ii. 415.

Salem, whether identical with Jerusalem, ii. 41.

Sallying forth, ii. 467.

Samaritan and Persian hostility, ii. 341,

      369, 382, 388.

Samuel, priestly office of, ii. 209.

Sanchez, quoted, ii. 227, 233 (bis), 237, 369, 440.

Sanctuary, the, refers to the Temple,

      or heaven, ii. 12, 486; grief of the

      Psalmist at. the desecration of, 26;

      planted on the confines of Judah and

      Benjamin, 71; refers to the Pro-

      mised Land, 326.

Saul, Psalms said to be written during

      David's persecution by, xi., xvii.,

      xxv., lii., liv., lvi., lvii., lix.

Savary, quoted, ii. 383..

Savonarola, quoted, i. 193.

Schiller, quoted, i. 179.

Schmid, S., quoted, i. 138, 290.

Schnurrer, quoted, i. 532, 537.

Schottgen, quoted, i. 576.

Schultens, Arabic proverb cited by, i. 501.

Sciopius, referred to, ii. 483.

Scripture, fearlessness of expression in,

      in comparison with dogmatic forms

      of modern controversy, ii. 265.

Sea, the, the rivers, to what they refer,

      ii.151; life in the, 242.

Search, meaning of word, ii. 443.

Seiler, quoted, i. 542.

Selah, i. 91.

Selden, quoted, ii. 264.

Selnecker, quoted, i. 255, 289.

Seneca, quoted, ii. 105.

Sennacherib, Psalms referred to the

      invasion of, xlvi., xlvii., xlviii., lxiv.;

      Ps. lxxvi. composed in celebration

      of the overthrow of his army, ii.  39.

Sephardim synagogues, use of Ps.

      lxxxiv, by, ii. 117.

Serpent-charmers, i. 456.

Servant of Jehovah, i. 209.

Service, Morning and Evening, i. 23,

      ii 177, 190, 203.

Set time, critical meaning of word, time

appointed by God, ii. 36.

Shakespeare, quoted, 407.

Sheba, i. 570.

Shechem, i. 472.

Sheep of Thy pasture, a favourite figure

      in the Psalms of Asaph, ii. 24.

Sheminith, i. 140.

Shemmoth Rabbah, quoted, ii. 87.

Sheol, i. 141. See Unseen World.

Shepherd, figure of, i. 249; God, the,

      of all nations, i. 511.

Shibboleth, i. 545.

Shield, explanation of term, i. 123, 135,

      210, ii. 121, 150.

Shields of the earth, i. 388

Shiggaion, i. 86, 147 (Note a).

Shishak, Ps. lxxxix. assigned by De-

      litzsch to time of his invasion, ii. 157.

Shower, a fertilizing, the special gift of

      God, i. 501, 522, 569.

Sides of the north, what is meant by,  i. 390.

Sidonius Apollinaris, quoted, i. 39.

Sign, meaning of term, ii. 26, 28.

Silence of the grave, ii. 188.

Silver and gold, ii. 329.

Sin, full depth and iniquity of, not

      disclosed to the O.T. saints, i. 61,  263; whole

       idea of, given in Ps. xxxii,, 289; blotting out of,

      414;  one, the mother of many, ib.; how viewed

      in the O.T., 414, 417; conviction of, in a heart

      that deeply loves God, 416; source of, 417;

      original, 418; forgiveness of, 420.

Sirion, i.e. Anti-Lebanon, i. 276.

Slaves, attitude of, ii. 377.

Smith, Robertson, quoted, i. 193, 196.

Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, on

      Numbers, i. 2; Zechariah, 14;

      Shield, 135; Genesis, Jehovah,

      Pentateuch, 346; Urim and Thum-

      mim, 354; Succoth, 473; Midbar,

 

518                             GENERAL INDEX.

 

      490; Gall, 550; Vinegar, ib.; Tar-

      shish, 570; Sheba and Saba, ib.;

      Solomon, 574; Wine, 38; Pales-

      tine, 42; Psalms, 48; Oreb, 52,

      113; Ephraim, 61; Zoan, 62;

      Quails, 65; Caterpillars, 68; Vines,

      ib. ; Gebal, III; Palm-tree, 180;

      Coney, 241; Meat, 317.

Snare of the hunter, ii. 173.

Snow, image of, i. 525; like wool,

      ii. 478.

Solomon, religious poetry did not

      flourish under, i. 11; his writings,

      ib.; Psalms attributed to, 95, i.,

      lxxii., cxxvii.; xlv. appliied to, i.

      366, 374; a type of Christ, 565,  573.

Son of wickedness, ii. 151.

Song of Songs, i. I2.

Song of the Three Children, earliest

      imitation of, Ps. cxlviii., ii. 480.

Sons of God, i. 275; of men, 127; of

      youth, ii. 396.

Sons of the Highest, ii. 103.

Sophocles, quoted, i. 522, ii. 397.

Soul, blesseth his, i. 401.

South, quoted, i. 184.

South country, the, ii. 275, 391.

Spectator, The, quoted on Ps. cxiv., ii.

      325. See Addison.

"Speculum Regis," Ps. ci. described as,  ii. 212.

Spirit of God, ii. 440; rebellion against

      the, 265.

Stahelin, quoted, i. 90, 97.

Stanley (yewish Church), on poetry of

      the Hebrews, i. 67; on the word

      "redemption," ii. 51; on the de-

      liverance of Israel by the passage of

      the Red Sea, 52 (bis); bitterness of

      the Edomites at the fall of Jerusalem, 432.

Stanley (Sinai and Palestine), on

      Kadesh, i. 276; the hills of Pales-

      tine, 348; "deep calling unto deep,"

      353; on the .position of Jerusalem,

      382, ii 136, 379, 389; the pit, i.

      548; the cliff at Kadesh., ii. 63;

      Tabor and Hermon, 149.

Stanley, on covetousness, ii. 353.

St. James, Epistle of, expansion of, and

      comment on Ps. xv., i. 189..

Stier on Christ's vicarious sufferings,

      i. 239; on the future rest alluded to

      in Ps. xxiii., 251; David's faith,

      267; sanctification, 414; original

      sin, 418; the lament of Ps. lxxiv.,

      ii. 28; use, of the term "gods," 103;

      a St. Petersburg physician on pre-

      servation from cholera, 172; error

      as to Ps. cix., 290.

Stone, the rejected, ii. 343.

Stork, meaning of name in Hebrew,

      Greek, and Latin, ii. 241.

Strange, stranger, how used in Hebrew,

      ii. 99.

Stranger and sojourner, i. 330.

Streams of water, i. 110.

Stringed instruments, i. 88.

Stubbornness, incorrectness of E.V. in

      rendering the word "lusts," ii. 99.

Succoth, geographical position of, i. 472.

Sun, a, God so called only once in the

      Psalms, ii. 121,

Sun-stroke, ii. 375.

Super Maria, the Romish interpretation

      of, i. 255.

Supplications, peculiar form of ,the word

      in Ps. lxxxvi., ii. 129.

Sympathy, word so rendered used but

      once in the Psalter, i. 549.

Synonyms, use of, ii. 258.

Syrtes, or whirlpool, figure taken from,

      ii. 281.              

 

                       T.

Tabernacle, what is meant by, i. 187;

      referred to, 252, 268, 477; lit.

      "booth," may be understood as the

      "lion's lair," ii. 41; at Shiloh re-

      moved, 70.

Tabernacles, Feast of, ii. 96.

Tabor and Hermon, ii. 149.

Tabret, ii. 487.

Tadmor, ii. 28i.

Talmud, quoted, i. 23, 70, 87, 383,

      561, 566, ii. 91, 100, 127, 177, 301,

      370, 470.

Tambourine, or Tabret, ii. 487.

Targum, quoted, i. 232, 296, 479, 538,

      565, ii. 54, 155, 177, 309 ; on the

      night watch in the Temple, 421.

Tarshish, i. 570.

Tautological expansion, ii. 258.

Taylor, Bp. Jeremy, quoted, i. 23, ii.

      352.

Taylor (Gospel in the Law), quoted, ii.

      287, 292.

Taylor, Isaac (Saturday Evening),

      quoted, i. 190; (Spirit of Hebrew

      Poetry), i. 67, ii. 161, 393, 479,   486.

Temple, i. 132, 211, 392, 531, 547,

      ii. 409.

Temple worship, Psalms for, ii. 177,

      190, 273, 327, 338, 423, 475.

Tennyson, quoted, ii. 394.

Terence, quoted, ii. 383.

Tertullian, quoted, i. 23, 42, 315, 319,

      in. 303; treatise .De Spectaculi's re-

      ferred to, ii. 287.

Testament, Old, spirit of, different from

                                   GENERAL INDEX.                               519

 

that of the New, i. 61; contains hints

of the Incarnation, ii. 107.

Tetralogy, Pss. civ.- cvii. supposed to

      constitute a, ii. 271.

Thebes, mural paintings at, ii. 68.

Themistius, quoted, i. 537.

Thenius, quoted, i. 142.

Theocritus, quoted, i. 375.

Theodoret, quoted, i. 204, ii.

Theognetus, quoted, i. 568.

Theognis, quoted, ii. 167.

Thiriwall, Bp., quoted, ii. 236, 246,

      313.

Tholuck, songs of praise amidst storms,

      i. 182 ; the wilderness of Judah, 491;

      David at Saul's court, 494; on prayers

      to other gods, 498, 500; on the sub-

      ject of Ps. lxxiv., ii. 23; on the

      Covenant, 31; overthrow of the As-

      syrians, 42; intercession with sighs,

      49; recollections of past happiness,

      50; on Ps. lxxxvi., 128; God's guid-

      ance in our every-day life, 131; feel-

      ing of security in God's people in

      danger, 174; arrangement of Ps. xci.,

      176; the palm and cedar, 178; " to-

      day," 193.

Thomson, Archbishop of York (Sermons

      preached at Lincoln's Inn), quoted,

      ii. 163, 165.

Thought, emblem of speed, ii. 167.

Thoughts, anxious, ii. 188.

Thrupp, quoted, i. 230, 390; his view

      of the Levitical Psalms, ii. 48.

Thucydides, quoted, i. 393.

Thunderstorm, description of, in Ps.

      xxix., i. 273.

Time, conception of, and its Jewish

      division, ii. 165.

Torrent-bed, word corresponding to the

      Arabic "wady," ii. 239.

Trench, Abp., quoted, i. 500.

Tribe, the word as applied to the nation

      of Israel, ii. 25.

Tribes of Israel, why mentioned indi-

      vidually sometimes, and why collec-

      tively, in the Psalms, ii. 82.

Trilogy, Pss. cv.—cvii. regarded as a, ii. 271.

Tuch, quoted, i. 552.

Types, imperfect nature of, i. 49.

 

                         U.

Umbreit, quoted, i. 195, 196, 201.

Unchangeableness, God's character of,

      man's greatest comfort in his own

      conscious weakness, ii. 220, 229.

Unfaithfulness deprecated, ii. 215.

Ungodly, punishment of the, in this

      world and the next, ii. 13; overthrow

      of the, and final triumph of the

      righteous, celebrated in Ps. xcii., 178.

      Unseen world, the, i. 162, 195, 211,

      279, 400, 490, ii. 131, 440, 454.

Until, meaning of the word, ii. 301.

Upright, a light for the, ii. 320.

Uprightness, assertions of, i. 59.

Urim and Thummim, i. 125, 354.

 

                       V.

Vaihiiiger, quoted, i. 347.

Vanity, i. 255, ii. 187, 353.

Vaughan (Christian Evidences), quoted,

      ii. 232.

Venema, quoted, i. 224, 500.

Vengeance, prayers for, see Impreca-

      tions; a righteous, may be desired by

      a pious man, ii. 114, 442, 483.

Verses, structure of, in Pss, i. and xix.

      remarkable as examples of Hebrew

      parallelisms, i. 108, 224.

Vestments, holy, ii. 307.

Villages, i. 166.

Vindictive Psalms, see Imprecations.

Vine, image of planting, i. 360; culti-

      vation of the, in Egypt, ii. 68;

      figure of the, 87; emblem of fruit-

      fulness, 399.

Vine-dresser, image made use of, ii. 44.

Vinegar, what is probably meant by, in

      the N.T., i. 550.

Virgil, quoted, i. 288, 437, 438, ii. 219,

      277, 281, 379, 399.

Vitringa, quoted, ii. 28.

 

                      W.

Wake the morning dawn, i. 452.

Wash, to, i. 414.

Washing the hands, figurative, i. 264.

Watch in the night, ii. 165.

Watchmen, H. 405, 421.

Waters of a full cup, ii. 11.

Way, figurative use of, ii. 443.

Weaned child, ii. 407.

Whately, Abp., annotations on Bacon,

      ii. 6.

Wheat, fat of, ii. loo.

Whewell (Astronomy), quoted, i. 155.

Wicked, the, contrast between the

      righteous and, i. 109, 319; God's

      judgements upon, 134, 141, 158;

      identified with the heathen nations,

      164; deny God, 165; compared to

      lions, 166, 205, 456; description of,

      183, 311; compared to dogs, 242,

      463 to the adder, 456; their fate,

      ib.; the mischievous tongue of, 494;

      career of, a perplexity, ii. 13.

520                                 GENERAL INDEX.

 

Wickedness, rod of, ii. 389.

Wilson (Lands of the Bible), quoted,

      i. 352.

Winer, quoted, i. 417, 475.

Wings, figure of, i. 204, 489.

Witness, the faithful, ii. 152.

Womb of the morning, ii. 307.

Women, custom of Israelitish, to com-

      memorate victory with songs of

      triumph, i. 523.

Word of God, comparison of the use of

      the term in Old and New Testaments,

      ii. 279.

Wordsworth, quoted, i. 397.

Wordsworth, Bp., quoted, i. 146, 221.

Work, meaning of God's; ii. 169; rela-

      tion to man's, ib.

World, the, i. 396; inhabitants of the,

      205, 396.

World, unseen, see Unseen World.

Writing, mentioned once in the Psalms,

      ii. 221.

Written judgement, meaning of, ii. 485.

 

                      X.

Xenophon, quoted, ii. 237.

                   Y.

Yesterday, Jews' division of time dif-

      ferent from ours, ii. 165.

Youth, sons of, ii. 396.

 

                      Z.

Zalmon, or dark mountain, i. 525,

Zechariah, Psalms ascribed to, i. 14, 19,

      95, ii. 434, 438, 472.

Zephaniah, borrows from Jeremiah,

      ii. 423.

Zerubbabel, Ps. cxxxii. supposed to

      refer to, ii. 410.

Zion, i. 116, 16o; elevation of, 389;

      God's entry into His sanctuary on,

      256, 512 ; Psalms written on occa-

      sion of removing the Ark to, see

      Ark; citizenship in, ii. 137.

Zoan, in Egypt, Greek name Tanis, the

      city where Pharaoh dwelt, mentioned

      in Exodus, ii. 62.

Zohar, quoted, ii. 301, 303.

Zunz, quoted, i. 157, 202.

 

 

 

 

 

     


 

                    GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL INDEX.

 

                       A.

Absolute for construct, ii. 371.

Abstract plural, i. 170, 178.

Accent, anomalous, ii. 181; drawn

      back, ii. 426, 434; misplaced, ii. 224,

      449, 479; peculiarity of, i. 174, ii.

      184, 346.

Accusative, defining action of the verb,

      i. 189 ; of direction, ii. 422; of

      the instrument, i. 125, 179, 205, ii.

      145; of nearer definition, ii. 283; of

      time, i. 554, ii. 397; Semitic, signifi-

      cation of, ii. 45; termination in 117,

      i. 124, ii. 366, 388; with passive verb,

      ii. 55; with verbs of dwelling, i. 136;

      with verbs of motion, i. 220; double,

      with verbs of covering, &c., i. 137.

Adjective after the construct, ii. 73

      before the noun, ii. 157, 184, 472

      masc. with fem. noun, i. 491; sing.

      with plur. subject, ii. 321; without

      the art. after definite noun, ii. 463.

Adonai, i. 197; 'Adonim, ii. 266.

Adverbial clause, i. 265, 308.

Aorist of repeated action, i. 218, 293,

      534, ii. 72.

Apocopated forms, i. 331, 378 (plur.),

      ii. 248, 416.

Apodosis, introduced by zxA, ii. 392.  

Aposiopesis, i. 270.

Apposition, nouns in, i. 476, ii. 90,

      371, 380; participle in, i. 157; pro-

      noun in, i. 325.

Aramaic construction, ii. 344 ; forms, i.

      442, ii. 401, 433, 444 (bis), 445, 468.;

      plural suffix, ii. 337; termination, ii.

      230, 337, 397.

Article, force of, i. 248; of reference,

      ii. 408; omitted in poetry, i. 120;

      unusual insertion of, ii. 324.

                 B.

Belial, derivation of, i. 218.

                  C.

Collective noun sing. with plural verb,

     i. 157.

Comparison, particle of, omitted, i. 174.

Compound expressions, ii. 181; forms,

     doubtful in Hebrew, i. 252; tense, ii.

Conjunctions

     MGa, ii. 401.

     v, emphatic, ii. 467; explanatory, i.

     443; introduces apodosis, i. 468,

     ii. 455; uses of, ii. 53; can it

     mean "even"? i. 288.

     yKi, construction of, i. 174, 366, 402,

     ii. 20; its place in the sentence, ii.

     346, 399.

     NKe, i. 394, 491, ii. 397.

     NP,, construction of, i. 273, 325.

Construct state, with article, ii. 384;

     followed by object, i. 224, 402; rela-

     tive clause, i. 198; by verb, ii. 101,

     172; of verbal adjective, i. 270; in-

     finitive instead of absol., i. 411;

     irregular form of, ii. 448; middle

     form between, and absolute, i. 376;

     termination of, in 117, i. 199; with

     long final vowel, i. 411, ii. 81, 217,

     311, 324, 327; relation of two ad-

     jectives in, i. 309; of two nouns

     both in construction with the third,

     ii. 72.

Copula, omitted, ii. 190.

 

                  D.

Dagesh euphonic, i. 378, ii. 156; lene,

     ii. 44, 155; omitted in Piet form, i.

     485.

Defective forms, i. 197, 199, 442, ii.

     455.

Dialectic variations, ii. 230.

Diminutive verbal form, i. 325.

 

 

                                                        521

522    GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL INDEX.

 

                    E.

Elliptical construction, i. 384; sen-

      tences, i. 130, 459, ii. 455.

Emphatic forms, i. 308.

Energetic future, i. 466.

 

                   F.

Feminine plural with verb sing. masc.,

      i. 453; noun with masc. verb, ii. 247.

Feminine termination of the noun in

      -ath, i. 199, 477, 479, ii. 33; of the

      verb, ii. 346; pronoun, reference of,

      i. 523, 526, 536 ; pronominal suffix,

      ii. 230.

Final consonant, doubled in adjectives,

      i. 536.

Fuller forms of words with h inserted,

      i. 375.

 

                     G.

Gender, anomaly of, adj. and noun, ii.

      371; verb and noun, i. 356, ii. 139, 231.

Gerund, ii. 231, 367.

Grammatical forms, older and later, i.

      518.

 

                    H.

Hallelujah, differently written in MSS.,

      ii. 248.

Hiphil of verbs y’p with h retained, ii.

      336; conjugation, not always causa-

      tive, i. 111, 344, 535, ii. 114, 127,

      216; abbreviated, i. 189; infinitive,

      the h coalescing with the prep., i. 265,

      ii. 20, 72; fluctuates with Qal, ii. 442;

      expresses state or condition, i. 384;

      with double accusative, i. 534, ii.

      122.

Hithpael, force of, i. 540, ii. 45, 114,

      264, 280; part. apocopated, ii. 446;

      incorrectly pointed with suffix, i. 357.

 

                          I.

Imperative, double, i. 370, 423; of

      verbs N’’f, i. 246; with h paragogic,

      ii. 91, 455; used as future, i. 320.

Imperfect, relation of, to the perfect, i.

      111, 218; with yKi, 356, ii. 20, 91,

      170; Qal with y inserted, i. 228;

      with paragogic h, i. 230, 231; with

      v consecutive, ii. 19; with Mxi for

      participle, i. 467.

Infinitive, of verbs f’’f with fem. termi.

      nation, i. 207, ii 54; absolute for finite

      verb, i. 207; impersonal, i. 384;

      with l followed by finite verb, ii.

      247; transition from, to finite verb, i.

      384; periphrastic with l for fut., i.

      485, 538, ii. 181, 294 ; substantive,

      ii. 486; feminine, ii. 478.

Irregular verbal forms, i. 148, 199, 228,

      231, 246, 253, 288, 533, 540, ii. 437.

 

                             K.

Kal, see Qal.

K'ri, see Qri'.

 

                             M.

Masora (on xl and Ol), ii. 212.

Metonymy, i. 234, 537.

Midrash (on MyrihA), ii. 39.

 

                             N.

Negative particles, 5S with infin,, i.

      294.

      yliB; with participle, i. 227.

      lx, i. 258, 341, 410, ii. 376.

      xlo for xloB;, i. 466.

      position of, i. 402.

Niphal, in a reflexive sense, i. 220; in-

      finitive, irregular, i. 533.

North Palestine, dialect of, ii. 230.

Noun with suffix in apposition, not in

      construction, i. 376.

 

                         O.

Optative, i. 261, 356, 387, 410, 503,

      509, 511, ii. 127 ; of internal neces-

      sity, i. 453, ii. 146.

Order, inversion of, i. 137.

 

                     P.

Paragogic forms, i. 453, ii. 53, 146.

Participle, absolute for finite verb, ii.

      139, 455; Qal with y inserted, i. 200;

      as neut. adjective, i. 157; as neut.

      noun, ii. 139; of verbs, N’’f, i. 245;

      with finite verb expressing both per-

      fect and imperfect, ii. 381; with verb.

      substantive, ib.; with suffix instead

      of prep., i. 261, 432; passive, past

      and future, i. 283, ii. 434; passive

      with objective suffix, ii. 224; with l;,

      ii. 319.

Particle of asseveration, ii. 408.

Partitive adj. in construction, i. 309.

 

          GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL INDEX.                 523

 

Pausal forms, i. 411, ii. 321.

Pealal conjugation, i. 325, 375.

Perfect followed by future, ii. 18 ; hypo-

     thetic use of, i. 175; concessive, i.

     453; with 1 emphatic for imperative,

     i. 261.

Periphrastic future, i. 485, ii. 294.

Persons, change of, ii. 101, 176.

Plural for sing. (poet.), i. 533, ii. 171;

     with suffix of sing., ii. 417, 472.

Predicate in the accus., ii. 32; position

     of, with the object, i. 454, 11. 245.

Prepositions

     B; denoting cause as well as time, i.

     163; essentiae, i. 307 after verbs

     of speaking, &c., ii. 381, 437, 445.

     K;, i. 356.

     L; of general reference, time, condi-

     tion, &c., i. 179, 198, 207, 539, ii.

     16, 139; after transitive verb, i. 235,

     554, ii. 337, 401, 426, 444.

     yneP;mi, i. 477.

     Nmi, i. 171, 331, 403, 467, ii. 184,

     247,

     lfa, i. 198, 375, 394.

Pronoun, anticipative use of, i. 496,

     526, ii. 415; placed emphatically first

     in sentence, ii. 156; of 3rd pers. sub-

     joined to those of 1st or 2nd emphati-

     cally, i. 365; reflexive use of, i. 179,

     458; repeated in appos. with noun,

     i. 16o, 308, 325; with l; as dat. com

     modi, i. 509, 539.

Protasis and Apodosis, i. 356, ii. 248,

     257.

 

                        Q.

Qal for Hiphil, i. 186.

Q'ri and K'thibh, i. 169, 174, 200, 246,

     282, 325, 330, 344, 423, 448, 467,

     576, ii. 384, 401, 449, 472

Quadriliteral forms, i. 541, 575.

 

                       R.

Radical Yod retained in future of verbs,

     y’’p, i. 575.

Reduplication of termination, ii. 146 ;

     of two first radicals, i. 375.

Reflexive pronoun, emphatic use of, ii.

     381, 462.

Relative pronoun, used adverbially, ii.

     122, 195; pleonastically after a con-

     junction, ii. 387; doubtful construc-

     tion of, i. 169, ii. 468; clause before

     the antecedent, ii. 72.

Relative preterite, i. 282, 293, 509, 534,

     ii. 247.

 

                         S.

Selah, out of place, i. 541.

Septuagint, differs from Hebrew, i. 159,

     313, 336, ii. 328.

Sheva, compound, anomalous, ii. 156.

Singular cuff. for plural, i. 136, 384;

     noun with plur. predicate, i. 175;

     with plur. suffix, i. 163; verb with

     plur. subj., i. 220, ii. 18, 231; and

     plural forms interchanged, ii. 367.

Subject and predicate, i. 189.

Subordinate clause marking purpose, i.

     503.

Suffix, Omy- singular as well as plural,

     i 174; M-A for M-e ii. 33; 1:17 for M-A,

     i. 539; sing. with in verbs

     375, 509, ii. 486; omitted, i. 186,

     282, 44.9 ; noun with, in apposition,

     not in construction, i. 376, 564.

 

                       T.

Tenses, sequence of, i. 111, 148, 157,

     218, 331; order of, in dependent sen-

     tence, i. 273; rendering of, doubtful,

     i. 509.

 

                        V.

Verb with accus. instead of prep., i.

     135, 182; with accus. and prep.,

     i. 235; with double accus., ii. 367;

     with indefinite subject,, i. 168, 402,

     453, 11. 449; denominative, ii. 17;

     supplied in one clause from another,

     i. 373; impersonal, i. 459, 496, ii.

     81, 171; masc. with fern, noun, ii.

     82; fem, with masc. noun, i. 356;

     sing, with plur. noun, ii. 368; sub-

     stantive (copula) omitted where the

     reference is to the past, ii. 55.

Verbal adjective, i. 270; noun, i. 294.

Voluntative form in apodosis when the

     protasis is hypothetical, i. 535.

Vowel, transposition of, ii. 190.

 

 

 

Please report any errors to Ted Hildebrandt:  ted.hildebrandt@gordon.edu