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
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."—
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):
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
(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 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. this,
and reminds us that "they are not
all 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 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 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 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 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 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. 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 passed
through the Vulgate, into our
Prayer-Book Version. |
16 PSALM
LXXIII.
a
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.
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
Sanctuary:
but the Seventy-fourth dwells chiefly on the destruction
of
the
inhabitants
of
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
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
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
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
written
when Jeremiah had already been carried away in chains to
Ramah,
on his way to
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
|
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
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 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
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 ( 19,
with Is. lxiii. 17. The two great facts,
the redemption from 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 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 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 " 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: " 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 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, |
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 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 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 water
from the rock, and in the passage
of the 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 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 |
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 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
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, Ephraim
and 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 giving
laws to the material universe. A FOOLISH PEOPLE, i.e. the hea- then
oppressors of 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 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 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 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
|