of the kings of Israel, niacs is a genitive governed by 'p|; and, while it is otherwise found only in reference to human hosts, in this combination it gains, of itself, the reference to the angels and the stars, which are called T>SOS in ciii. 21, cxlviii. 2: Jahve's hosts consisting of celestial heroes, Joel ii. 11, and of stars standing on the plain of the heavens as it were in battle array, Isa. xl. 26, — a reference for which experiences and utterances like those recorded in Gen. xxxii. 2 sq., Deut. xxxiii. 2, Judges v. 20, have prepared the way. It is, therefore, the Ruler commanding innumerable and invincible super -terrestrial powers, who desires admission. The gates are silent and open wide; and Jahve, sitting enthroned above the Cherubim of the sacred Ark, enters into Zion.
5 H Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me;
For Thou art the God of my salvation, On Thee do I hope continually.
6 T Remember, Jahve, Thy tender mercies and Thy loving-
7 n The sins of my youth and my transgressions remember not, According to Thy mercy remember Thou me For Thy goodness' sake, Jahve!
To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.
A question similar to the question, Who may ascend the mountain of Jahve? which Ps. xxiv. propounded, is thrown out by Ps. xxv., Who is he that feareth Jahve? in order to answer it in great and glorious promises. It is a calmly confident prayer for help against one's foes, and for God's instructing, pardoning, and leading grace. It is without any definite background indicating the history of the times in which it was composed; and also without any clearly marked traits of individuality. But it is one of the nine alphabetical Psalms of the whole collection, and the companion to Ps. xxxiv., to which it corresponds even in many peculiarities of the acrostic structure. For both Psalms have no i strophe; they are parallel both as to sound and meaning in the beginnings of the e, y, and the first £> strophes; and both Psalms, after having gone through the alphabet, have a B strophe added as the concluding one, whose beginning and contents are closely related. This homogeneousness points to one common author. We see nothing in the alphabetical arrangement at least, which even here as in Ps. ix — x. is handled very freely and not fully carried out, to hinder us from regarding David as this author. But, in connection with the general ethical and religious character of the Psalm, it is wanting in positive proofs of this. In its universal character and harmony with the plan of redemption Ps. xxv. coincides with many post-exilic Psalms. It contains nothing but what is common to the believing consciousness of the church in every age; nothing specifically belonging to the Old Testament and Israelitish, hence Theodoret says: ap|i6£si {xaXioxa tot* s; £ftvu>v xsxXtjjxsvoi?. The introits for the second and third Quadragesima Sundays are taken from vers. 6 and 15; hence these Sundays are called Reminiscere and Oculi. Paul Gerhardt's hymn "Nach dir, o fferr, verlanget mich" is a beautiful poetical rendering of this Psalm.
Vers. 1 — 2. The Psalm begins, like Ps. xvi. xxiii., with a monostich. Ver. 2 is the D strophe, *7v)X (unless one is disposed to read TI^N ~p according to the position of the words in xxxi. 2), after the manner of the interjections in the tragedians, e. g. ajjioi, not being reckoned afl belonging to the verse (J. D. Kohler). In need of help and full of longing for deliverance he raises his soul, drawn away from earthly desires, to Jahve (lxxxvi. 4, cxliii. 8), the God who alone can grant him that which shall truly satisfy his need. His ego, which has the soul within itself directs his soul upwards to Him whom he calls fl?K, be lause in believing confidence he clings to Him and is united with Him. The two Sn declare what Jahve is not to allow him to experience, just as in xxxi. 2, 18. According to a 19, 24, xxxviii. 17, it is safer to construe \\ wi'h lxxi. 10), as also in xxvii. 2, xxx. 2, Mic. vii. 8, although it would be possible to construe it with iayjN (cf. cxliv. 2). In ver. 3 the confident expectation of the individual is generalised.
Ver. 3. That wherewith the praying one comforts himself is no peculiar personal prerogative, but the certain, joyous prospect of all believers: yj IXttU oo xaxaia^ovei, Rom. v. 5. These are called?p1p (nip participle to PPp, just as ■Ql is the participle to "IS"!). Hope is the eye of faith which looks forth clear and fixedly into the future. With those who hope in Jahve, who do not allow themselves to be in any way disconcerted respecting Him, are contrasted those who act treacherously towards Him (cxix. 158, Aq., Symm., Theodot., ol diuooTaToovxes), and that Dp^, t> e. — and it can only mean this — from vain and worthless pretexts, and therefore from wanton unconscientiousness.
Ver. 4. Recognising the infamy of such black ingratitude, he prays for instruction as to the ways which he must take according to the precepts of God (xviii. 22). The will of God, it is true, lies before us in God's written word, but the expounder required for the right understanding of that word is God Himself. He prays Him for knowledge; but in order to make what he knows a perfect and living reality, he still further needs the grace of God, viz. both His enlightening and also His guiding grace.
Ver. 5. His truth is the lasting and self-verifying fact of His revelation of grace. To penetrate into this truth and to walk in it (xxvi. 3, lxxxvi. 11) without God, is a contradiction in its very self. Therefore the psalmist prays, as in cxix. 35, bhrflrpov jis iv rjj aXrfiziq. ooo (LXX. Cod. Alex.; whereas Cod. Vat. km ttjv..., cf. John xvi. 13). He prays thus, for his salvation comes from Jahve, yea Jahve is his salvation. He does not hope for this or that, but for Him, all the day, i. e. unceasingly, * for everything worth hoping for, everything that can satisfy the longing of the soul, is shut up in Him. All mercy or grace, however,
* Hupfeld thinks the accentuation inappropriate; the first half of the verse, however, really extends to ^y?, and consists of two parts, of which the second is the confirmation of the first: the second half contains a relatively new thought. The sequence of the accents: Rebia magnum, Athnach, therefore fully accords with the matter.
which proceeds from Him, has its foundation in His compassion and condescension.
Ver. 6. The supplicatory reminiscere means, may God never forget to exercise His pity and grace towards him, which are (as the plurals imply) so rich and superabundant. The ground on which the prayer is based is introduced with 13 {nam, or even quoniam). God's compassion and grace are as old in their operation and efficacy as man's feebleness and sin; in their counsels they are eternal, and therefore have also in themselves the pledge of eternal duration (c. 5, ciii. 17).
Ver. 7. May Jahve not remember the faults of his youth (nWtSn), into which lust and thoughtlessness have precipitated him, nor the transgressions (c^t^D), by which even in maturer and more thoughtful years he has turned the grace of God into licentiousness and broken off his fellowship with Him (2 yttf'5, of defection); but may He, on the contrary, turn His remembrance to him (b "IDT as in cxxxvi. 23) in accordance with His grace or loving-kindness, which HPiX challenges as being the form of self-attestation most closely corresponding to the nature of God. Memor esto quidem met, observes Augustine, non secundum iram, qua ego dignus sum, sed secundum misericordiam tuam, quae te digna est. For God is DlCO, which is really equivalent to saying, He is ayanY). The next distich shews that 2V2 is intended here of God's goodness, and not, as e. g. in Neh. ix. 35, of His abundance of possessions.
Ver. 8. The 3 with PHID denotes the way, i. e. the right way (Job xxxi. 7), as the sphere and subject of the instruction, as in xxxii. 8, Prov. iv. 11, Job xxvii. 11. God condescends to sinners in order to teach them the way that leads to life, for He is ■Hfity-alD; well-doing is His delight, and, if His anger be not provoked (xviii. 27&), He has only the sincerest good intention in what He does.
Ver. 9. The shortened form of the future stands here, according to Ges. § 128, 2, rem., instead of the full form (which, viz. TjTfl, is perhaps meant); for the connection which treats of general facts, does not admit of its being taken optative. The 2 (cf. ver. 5, cvii. 7, cxix. 35) denofc I the sphere of the guidance. BDtfO is the right so fai traversed, i. e. practised or carried out. In this course of right He leads the D^y, and teaches them the way that is pleasing to Himself. Ci:y is the one word for the gentle, mansueti, and the humble, modesti. Jerome uses these words alternately in ver. 9a and 9b; but the poet designedly repeats the one word — the cardinal virtue of nuy — here with the preponderating notion of lowliness. Upon the self-righteous and self-sufficient He would be obliged to force Himself even against their will. He wants disciples eager to learn; and how richly He rewards those who guard what they have learnt!
Ver. 10. The paths intended, are those which He takes with men in accordance with His revealed will and counsel. These paths are "DPI [loving-kindness, mercy, or grace], for the salvation of men is their goal, and DON [truth], for they give proof at every step of the certainty of His promises. But only they who keep Hic covenant and His testimonies faithfully and obediently shall share in this mercy and truth. To the psalmist the name of Jahve, which unfolds itself in mercy and truth, is precious. Upon it he bases the prayer that follows.
Ver. 11. The perf. consec. is attached to the iTP, which is, according to the sense, implied in?jdb> Wo}> just as in other instances it follows adverbial members of a clause, placed first for the sake of emphasis, when those members have reference to the future, Ges. § 126, rem. 1. Separate and manifold sins (ver. 7) are all comprehended in pj?, which is in other instances also the collective word for the corruption and the guilt of sin. *3 gives the ground of the need and urgency of the petition. A great and multiform load of sin lies upon him, but the name of God, t. e. His nature that has become manifest in His mercy and truth, permits him to ask and to hope for forgiveness, not for the sake of anything whatever that he has done, Ibut just for the sake of this name (Jer. xiv. 7, Isa. xliii. 25). How happy therefore is he who fears God, in this matter!
Ver. 12. The question: quisnam est vir, which resembles xxxiv. 13, cvii. 43, Isa. 1. 10, is only propounded in order to draw attention to the person who bears the character described, and then to state what such an one has to expect.
In prose we should have a relative antecedent clause instead, viz. qui (quisquis) talis est qui Dominum vereatur* The attributive "in IP, (viam) quam eligat (cf. Isa. xlviii. 17), might also be referred to God: in which He takes delight (LXX.); but parallels like cxix. 30, 173, favour the rendering: which he should chose. Among all the blessings which fall to the lot of him who fears God, the first place is given to this, that God raises him above the vacillation and hesitancy of human opinion.
Ver. 13. The verb yb (])b), probably equivalent to W (from W) signifies to tarry the night, to lodge. Good, i. e. inward and outward prosperity, is like the place where such an one turns in and finds shelter and protection. And in his posterity will be fulfilled what was promised to the patriarchs and to the people delivered from Egypt, viz. possession of the land, or as this promise runs in the New Testament, of the earth, Mat. v. 5 (cf. Ps. xxxvii. 11), Apoc. v. 10.
Ver. 14. The LXX. renders TJD, xpaiaia)|xa, as though it were equivalent to TiD*. The reciprocal "ipU, ii. 2 (which see), leads one to the right primary signification. Starting from the primary meaning of the root "ID," to be or to make tight, firm, compressed", tjd signifies a being closely pressed together for the purpose of secret communication and converse, confidential communion or being together, lxxxix. 8, cxi. 1 (Symm. 6[itXia), then the confidential communication itself, lv. 15, a secret (Aquila a-oppTjTov, Theod. (laoxYjptov). So here: He opens his mind without any reserve, speaks confidentially with those who fear Him; cf. the derivati passage Prov. iii. 32, and an example of the thing itself in Gen. xviii. 17. In ver. 14& the infinitive with b, according to Ges. § 132, rem. 1, as in Isa. xxxviii. 20, is an expression for the fut. periphrast.: fcedus sunm notum factum* est the position of the words is like Dan. ii. 1G, 18, iv. 15, ynin is used of the imparting of not merely intellectual, but experimental knowledge. Hitzig renders it differentl;
* The verb ver-cri, which signifies "to gimr.l on one's self from anything'1 according to its radical notion, I to do with N*V (fOp.
to enlighten them. But the Hiph. is not intended to be used thus absolutely even in 2 Sam. vii. 21. IITHB is the object; it is intended of the rich and deep and glorious character of the covenant revelation. The poet has now on all sides confirmed the truth, that every good gift comes down from above, from the God of salvation; and he returns to the thought from which he started.
Ver. 15. He who keeps his eyes constantly directed towards God (cxli. 8, cxxiii. 1), is continually in a praying mood, which cannot remain unanswered. TDFI corresponds to aSiaXeiTTio)? in 1 Thess. v. 17. The aim of this constant looking upwards to God, in this instance, is deliverance out of the enemy's net. He can and will pull him out (xxxi. 5) of the net of complicated circumstances into which he has been ensnared without any fault of his own.
Ver. 16. The rendering "regard me", so far as bx POD means God's observant and sympathising turning to any one (LXX. £tuj3Xstt£iv), corresponds to lxxxvi. 16, Lev. xxvi. 9. For this he longs, for men treat him as a stranger and refuse to have anything to do with him. TIT is the only one of his kind, one who has no companion, therefore the isolated one. The recurrence of the same sounds "ON "Oy is designedly not avoided. To whom could he, the isolated one, pour forth his affliction, to whom could he unveil his inmost thoughts and feelings? to God alone! To Him he can bring all his complaints, to Him he can also again and again always make supplication.
Ver. 17. The Hiph. DTTin signifies to make broad, and as a transitive denominative applied to the mind and heart: to make a broad space ■= to expand one's self (cf. as to the idea, Lam. ii. 13, "great as the sea is thy misfortune"), LXX. £TcX7j6uv6Y]oav, perhaps originally it was iirXaxuv8rjaav. Accordingly OTTin is admissible so far as language is concerned; but since it gives only a poor antithesis to HTO it is to be suspected. The original text undoubtedly was >nipttBD1 3Tnn (aTTp, as in lxxvii. 2, or STTjill, as e. g. in 2 Kings viii. 6): the straits of my heart do Thou enlarge (cf. cxix. 32, 2 Cor. vi. 11) and bring me out of my distresses (Hitzig and others).
Vers. 18 — 19. The falling away of the p is made up for by a double 1 strophe. Even the LXX. has I'os twice over. The seeing that is prayed for, is in both instances a seeing into his condition, with which is conjoined the notion of interposing on his behalf, though the way and manner thereof is left to God. b Nt?:, with the object in the dative instead of the accusative (toller e peccata), signifies to bestow a taking away, i. e. forgiveness, upon any one (synon. b r6o). It is pleasing to the New Testament consciousness that God's vengeance is not expressly invoked upon his enemies. >3 is an expansive quod as in Gen. i. 4. DOT n&Oiy with an attributive genitive is hatred, which springs from injustice and ends in injustice.
Ver. 20. He entreats for preservation and deliverance from God; and that He may not permit his hope to be disappointed (#12K~^K, cf. 1 Chron. xxi. 13, instead of nt^lDN"^N, which is usual in other instances). This his hope rests indeed in Him: he has taken refuge in Him and therefore He cannot forsake him, He cannot let him be destroyed.
Ver. 21. Devoutness that fills the whole man, that is not merely half-hearted and hypocritical, is called cr,; and uprightness that follows the will of God without any bypaths and forbidden ways is called *\w. These two radical virtues (cf. Job i. 1) he desires to have as his guardians on his way which is perilous not only by reason of outward foes, but also on account of his own sinfulness. These custodians are not to let him pass out of their sight, lest he should be taken away from them (cf. xl. 12, Pro v. xx. 28). He can claim this for himself, for the cynosure of his hope is God, from whom proceed DO and Ti^ like good angels.
Ver. 22. His experience is not singular, but the enmity of the world and sin bring all who belong to the people of God into straits just as they have him. And the need of the individual will not cease until the need of the wh undergoes a radical remedy. Hence the intercessory pra of this meagre closing distich, whose connection with w precedes is not in this instance so close as in xxxiv. 2 \, l\ looks as though it was only added when Pb. kxt. came to be used in public worship; and the change of th< God favours this view. Both Psalm of the alphabet. Perhaps the first D represents the tu, and the second the <p; for xxv. 16, xxxiv. 17 follow words ending in a consonant, and xxv. 22, xxxiv. 23, words ending in a vowel. Or is it a propensity for giving a special representation of the final letters, just as these are sometimes represented, though not always perfectly, at the close of the hymns of the synagogue (pijutim)!
THE LONGING OF ONE WHO IS PEESECUTED INNOCENTLY, TO GIVE THANKS TO GOD IN HIS HOUSE.
2 Prove me, Jahve, and try me, Purify my reins and my heart.
3 For Thy loving-kindness is before mine eyes, And I walk in Thy truth.
5 I hate the congregation of the wicked, And I sit not with the ungodly.
7 That I may join in with the voice of thanksgiving. And tell of all Thy wondrous works.
8 Jahve, I love the habitation of Thy house, And the place where Thy glory dwelleth.
9 Gather not my soul with sinners, Nor my life with men of blood,
Ps. xxv. and xxvi. are bound together by similarity of thought and expression. In the former as in this Psalm, we find the writer's testimony to his trust in God (Tm^I, xxv. 2, xxvi. 1); there as here, the cry coming forth from a distressed condition for deliverance (PHD, xxv. 22, xxvi. 11), and for some manifestation of mercy (\yp] xxvi. 11 xxv. 16); and in the midst of these, other prominent points of contact (xxvi. 11, xxv. 21; xxvi. 3., xxv. 5). These are grounds sufficient for placing these two Psalms close together. But in Ps. xxvi. there is wanting the self-accusation that goes hand in hand with the self-attestation of piety, that confession of sin which so closely corresponds to the New Testament consciousness (vid. supra p. 72), which is thrice repeated in Ps. xxv. The harshness of the contrast in which the psalmist stands to his enemies, whose character is here more minutely described, does not admit of the introduction of such a lament concerning himself. The description applies well to the Absolomites. They are hypocrites, who, now that they have agreed together in their faithless and bloodly counsel, have thrown off their disguise and are won over by bribery to their new master; for Absolom had stolen the hearts of the men of Israel, 2 Sam. xv. 6. David at that time would not take the Ark with him in his flight, but said: If I shall find favour in the eyes of Jahve, He will bring me back, and grant me to see both it and His habitation, 2 Sam. xv. 25. The love for the lio i of God, which is expressed herein, is also the very heart of this Psalm.
Vers. 1 — 3. The poet, as one who is persecuted, pn for the vindication of his rights and for rescue; and ba this petition upon the relation in which he Btandfl to God. "GE£^, as in vii. 9, xxxv. 24, cf. xliii. 1. cr, (synon. DUJ$, which, however, does not take any suffix) is, according Gen. xx. 5 sq., 1 Kings xxii. 34, perfect freedom from all sinful intent, purity of character, pnrei guileli harmless mind, without cherishing or provoking enmity, and trusted unwaveringly ("WEN tih, an adverbial circumstantial clause, cf. xxi. 8) in Jahve, he bases the petition for the proving of his injured right. He does not selfrighteously hold himself to be morally perfect, he appeals only to the fundamental tendency of his inmost nature, which is turned towards God and to Him only. Ver. 2 also is not so much a challenge for God to satisfy Himself of his innocence, as rather a request to prove the state of his mind, and, if it be not as it appears to his consciousness, to make this clear to him (cxxxix. 23 sq). jn2 is not used in this passage of proving by trouble, but by a penetrating glance into the inmost nature (xi. 5, xvii. 3). HD3, not in the sense of irsipcxCeiv, but of SoxtjxaCsiv. rn^, to melt down, i. e. by the agency of fire, the precious metal, and separate the dross (xii. 7, lxvi. 10). The Chethib is not to be read HDI^IS (which would be in contradiction to the request), but riDnv? as it is out of pause also in Isa. xxxii. 11, cf. Judges ix. 8, 12, 1 Sam. xxviii. 8. The reins are the seat of the emotions, the heart is the very centre of the life of the mind and soul.
Ver. 3 tells how confidently and cheerfully he would set himself in the light of God. God's grace or lovingkindness is the mark on which his eye is fixed, the desire of his eye, and he walks in God's truth, IDPI is the divine love, condescending to His creatures, and more especially to sinners (xxv. 7), in unmerited kindness; TOX is the truth with which God adheres to and carries out the determination of His love and the word of His promise. This lovingkindness of God has been always hitherto the model of his life, this truth of God the determining line and the boundary of his walk.
Vers. 4 — 5. He still further bases his petition upon his comportment towards the men of this world; how he has always observed a certain line of conduct and continues still to keep to it. With ver. 4# compare Jer. xv. 17. NitP inp (Job xi. 11, cf. xxxi. 5, where the parallel word is riE*]7p) are "not-real,* unreal men, but in a deeper stronger sense than we are accustomed to use this word. &ot£' (= &otr. from WW) is aridity, hollowness, worthlessness, and therefore badness (***) of disposition; the chaotic void of alienation from God; untruth white-washed over with the lie of dissimulation (xii. 3), and therefore nothingness: it is the very opposite of being filled with the fulness of God and with that which is good, which is the morally real (its synonym is ]1N, e. g. Job xxii. 15). OTpfrjO-, the veiled, are those who know how to keep their worthlessness and their mischievous designs secret and to mask them by hypocrisy; postbiblical D^DS, dyed (cf. avoTroxpixo?, Luther "ungefcirbt", undyed). (nK) UV K12, to go in with any one, is a short expression for: to go in and out with, i. e. to have intercourse with him, as in Prov. xxii. 24, cf. Gen. xxiii. 10. jTip (from yjn) is the name for one who plots that which is evil and puts it into execution. On j?bh see i. 1.
Vers. 6 — 8. The poet supports his petition by declaring his motive to be his love for the sanctuary of God, from which he is now far removed, without any fault of his own. The coloured future PDSbNli distinct from H32DW (vid. on iii. 6 and lxxiii. 16), can only mean, in this passage, et ambiam, and not et ambibam as it does in a different connection (Isa. xliii. 26, cf. Judges vi. 9); it is the emotional continuation (cf. xxvii. 6, Cant. vii. 12, Isa. i. 24, v. 19, ami frequently) of the plain and uncoloured expression OTTUt* He wishes to wash his hands in innocence (D of the st. that is meant to be attested by the action), and comp (lix.7) the altar of Jahve. That which is elsewhere a symbolic act (Deut. xxi. 6, cf. Mat. xxvii. 24), is in this instance ouly a rhetorical figure made use of to confess his consciousness of innocence; and it naturally assumes this form (cf. lxxiii. 13) from the idea of the priest washing his hands preparati to the service of the altar (Exod. xxxii. 20 Bq.) being ciated with the idea of the altar. And, in general, I expression of vers. 6 sq. takes a priestly form, without exceeding that which the ritual admits of, by virtue of the consciousness of being themselves priests which appertained even to the Israelitish laity (Exod. xix. 16). For III bo used even of half encompassing as it were Lik< circle (Gen. ii. 11, Num. xxi. 4), no matter whether in the immediate vicinity of, or at a \ from, the central point. yj2V?b is a syncopated and defectively written Hiph., for JPDltfhb, like 1DI&6, Isa. xxiii. 11. Instead of rnln b)p £W^>,"to cause the voice of thanksgiving to be heard", since jpctP'n is used absolutely (1 Chron, xv. 19, 2 Chron. v. 13) and.the object is conceived of as the instrument of the act (Ges. § 138, 1, rem. 3), it is "in order to strike in with the voice of thanksgiving". In the expression "all Thy wondrous works" is included the latest of these, to which the voice of thanksgiving especially refers, viz. the bringing of him home from the exile he had suffered from Absolom. Longing to be back again he longs most of all for the gorgeous services in the house of his God, which are performed around the altar of the outer court; for he loves the habitation of the house of God, the place, where His doxa, — revealed on earth, and in fact revealed in grace, — has taken up its abode, pyo does not mean refuge, shelter (Hupfeld), — for although it may obtain this meaning from the context, it has nothing whatever to do with ^Lfc, med. Warv, in the signification to help (whence maun, mdune, ma due, help, assistance, succour or support), — but place, dwelling, habitation, like the Arabic ma' an, which the Kamus. explains by menzil, a place to settle down in, and explains etymologically by jJJulJI Jl^juo, i. e. "a spot on which the eye rests as an object of sight"; for in the Arabic mddn is traced back to ^Lc. med. Je, as is seen from the phrase hum minka bi-ma dnin, i. e. they are from thee on a point of sight (= on a spot where thou canst see them from the spot on which thou standest). The signification place, soj-ourn, abode (Targ. Tjip) is undoubted; the primary meaning of the root is, however, questionable.
Vers. 9 — 11. It is now, for the first time, that the petition compressed into the one word ^DBtP (ver. 1) is divided out. He prays (as in xxviii. 3), that God may not connect him in one common lot with those whose fellowship of sentiment and conduct he has always shunned. D^pi ^X, as in v. 7, cf. avQpwiroi cujidtKuv, Sir. xxxi. 25. Elsewhere HBT signifies purpose, and more particularly in a bad sense; but in this passage it means infamy, and not unnatural unchastity, to which crp"V2 is inappropriate, but scum of whatever is vicious in general: they are full of cunning and roguery, and their right hand, which ought to uphold the right — David has the- lords of his people in his eye — is filled (HN^E, not Hi^p) with accursed (Deut. xxvii. 25) bribery to the condemnation of the innocent. He, on the contrary, now, as he always has done, walks in his uprightness, so that now he can with all the more joyful conscience intreat God to interpose judicially in his behalf.
Ver. 12. The epilogue. The prayer is changed into rejoicing which is certain of the answer that shall be given. Hitherto shut in, as it were, in deep trackless gorges, he even now feels himself to be standing TJt£fyD3,* upon a pleasant plain commanding a wide range of vision (cf. srnBS, xxxi. 9), and now blends his grateful praise of God with the song of the worshipping congregation, bnp (LXX. h &xxXi)oiots), and its full-voiced choirs.
whom shall I fear? Jahve is the defence of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
my heart shall not fear, Though war should rise up against me, in spite of it I will be confi
* The first labial of the combination D3, D3, when tl word ends with a vowel and the two WOl receives the Dageth contrary to the general i Dag. line, vid. Luth. Zcitschr., 1863, S. 414.
that do I desire: That I may dwell in the house of Jahve all the days of my life, To behold the graciousness of Jahve, and to meditate in His temple.
in the day of evil, He hideth me in the shelter of His tabernacle, Upon a rock doth He raise me up.
mine enemies round about me, And I will offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of thankful joy. I will sing and play the harp to Jahve.
8 To Thee saith my heart: Seek ye My face — This Thy face, Jahve, will I seek.
12 Give me not over into the will of mine oppressors, For false witnesses rise up against me and such as
13 Did I not believe to see Jahve's goodness in the land
The same longing after Zion meets us sounding forth from this as from the preceding Psalm. To remain his whole life long in the vicinity of the house of God, is here his only prayer; and that, rescued from his enemies, he shall there offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, is his confident expectation. The tOV) of God, the King, is at present only a bnX which, however, on account of Him who sits enthroned therein, may just as much be called b^n as the byr\ which Ezekiel beheld in remembrance of the Mosaic tabernacle, ^>n&, Ezek. xli. 1. Cut off from the sanctuary, the poet is himself threatened on all sides by the dangers of war; but he is just as courageous *in God as in iii. 7, where the battle is already going on: aI do not fear the myriads of people, who are encamped against me." The situation, therefore, resembles that of David during the time of Absolom. But this holds good only of the first half, vers. 1 — 6. In the second half, ver. 10 is not in favour of its being composed by David. In fact the two halves are very unlike one another. They form a hysteron-proteron, inasmuch as the fides triumphans of the first part changes into fides supplex in the second, and with the beginning of the osYjai? in ver. 7, the style becomes heavy and awkward, the strophic arrangement obscure, and even the boundaries of the lines of the verses uncertain; so that one is tempted to regard vers. 7 — 14 as the appendage of another writer. The compiler, however, must have had the Psalm before him exactly as we now have it; for the grounds for his placing it to follow Ps. xxvi. are to be found in both portions, cf. ver. 7 with xxvi. 11; ver. 11 with xxvi. 12.
Vers. 1 — 3. In this first strophe is expressed the bold confidence of faith. It is a hexastich in the caesural schema. Let darkness break in upon him, the darkness of night, of trouble, and of spiritual conflict, yet Jahve is his Light, and if he is in Him, he is in the light and there shims upon him a sun, that sets not and knows no eclipse. This Bublime, infinitely profound name for God, niKi is found only in this passage; and there is only one other expression t; can be compared with it, viz. "p\N* N2 in Isa. lx L; cf. <pw; £A7jXo6a, John xii. 46. iy&) does not stand beside r]tM as an unfigurative, side by side with a figurative expression; for the statement that God is light, is not a metaphor. David calls Him his "salvation" in regard to everything that oppresses him, and the "stronghold (fijjo from ]iy, with an unchangeable a) of his life" in regard to everything that exposes him to peril. In Jahve he conquers far and wide; in Him his life is hidden as it were behind a fortress built upon a rock (xxxi. 3). When to the wicked who come upon him in a hostile way (b}7 3"}p differing from?&jl 2"]j?),he attributes the intention of devouring his flesh, they are conceived of as wild beasts. To eat up any one's flesh signifies, even in Job xix. 22, the same as to pursue any one by evil speaking (in Aramaic by slander, back-biting) to his destruction. In31P2 the Shebd of the only faintly closed syllable is raised to a Chateph, as in tt5B6l, xxxi. 12, blK&6, and the like. The ^ of *b ^K may, as also in xxv. 2 (cf. cxliv. 2), be regarded as giving intensity to the notion of special, personal enmity; but a mere repetition of the subject (the enemy) without the repetition of their hostile purpose would be tame in the parallel member of the verse: ib is a variation of the preceding *6y, as in Lam. iii. 60 sq. In the apodosis ^531 I^BO HEPI, the overthrow of the enemy is regarded beforehand as an accomplished fact. The holy boldness and imperturbable repose are expressed in ver. 3 in the very rhythm. The thesis or downward movement in ver. 3a is spondaic: he does not allow himself to be disturbed; the thesis in ver. 3b is iambic: he can be bold. The rendering of Hitzig (as of Rashi): "in this do I trust, viz. that Jahve is my light, &c," is erroneous. Such might be the interpretation, if "OK HND ntOD closed ver. 2; but it cannot refer back over ver. 2 to ver. 1; and why should the poet have expressed himself thus materially, instead of saying miTD? The fact of the case is this, HDID signifies even by itself "of good courage", e. g. Prov. xi. 15; and HND "in spite of this" (Coccejus: hoc non obstante)^ Lev. xxvi. 27, cf. Ps. lxxviii. 32, begins the apodosis, at the head of which we expect to find an adversative conjunction.
Vers. 4 — 5. There is only one thing, that he desires, although he also has besides full satisfaction in Jahve in the midst of strangers and in trouble. The future is used side by side with the perfect in ver. 4#, in order to express an ardent longing which extends out of the past into the future, and therefore runs through his whole life. The one thing sought is unfolded in 'Ul 'Mt^. A life-long dwelling in the house of Jahve, that is to say intimate spiritual intercourse with the God, who has His dwelling (rP2), His palace O^Tl) in the holy tent, is the one desire of David's heart, in order that he may behold and feast upon (2 DTI of a clinging, lingering, chained gaze, and consequently a more significant form of expression than Din with an accusative, lxiii. 3) 'n CJJJ (xc. 17), the pleasantness (or gracefulness) of Jahve, i. e. His revelation, full of grace, which is there visible to the eye of the spirit. The interpretation which regards amoenitas as being equivalent to amcenus cultus takes hold of the idea from the wrong side. The assertion that 2 1P2 is intended as a synonym of 2 DTPl, of a pleased and lingering contemplation (Hupf., Hitz.), is contrary to the meaning of the verb, which signifies "to examine (with b to seek or spie about after anything, Lev. xiii. 36), to reflect on, or consider"; even the post-biblical signification to visit, more especially the sick (whence D^'n Tip?), comes from the primary meaning investigare. An appropriate sense may be obtained in the present instance by regarding it as a denominative from *ip*3 and rendering it as Dunash and Rashi have done, "and to appear early in His temple"; but it is unnecessary to depart from the general usage of the language. Hengstenberg rightly retains the signification "to meditate on". I^pPD is a designation of the place coi crated to devotion, and '•fod? is meant to refer to contemplative meditation that loses itself in God who is there manifest. In ver. 5 David bases the justification of his desire upon that which the sanctuary of God is to him; the futures affirm what Jahve will provide for him in Hia Banctuary. It is a refuge in which he may hide himself, wl Jahve takes good care of him who takes refuge therein from the storms of trouble that rage outside: there he Lfl far removed from all dangers, he is lifted high above them and his feet are upon rocky ground. The ChetMb may be read PI2D3, as in xxxi. 21 and with Ewald § 257,tf; but, in this passage, with ^Plfc alternates *|b, which takes the pi of D2D in the poetic style (lxxvi. 3, Lam. ii. 6), though it does not do so by itself, but always with a suffix.*
Ver. 6. With HnjJI the poet predicts inferentially (cf. ii. 10) the fulfilment of what he fervently desires, the guarantee of which lies in his very longing itself, nynn TI2T do not mean sacrifices in connection with which the trumpets are blown by the priests; for this was only the case in connection with the sacrifices of the whole congregation (Num. x. 10), not with those of individuals, nynn is a synonym of HTjn, xxvi. 7; and Dj^nn TDt is a stronger form of expression for mm TOT (cvii. 22), i. e. (cf. pns TOT, iv. 6, li. 21) sacrifices of jubilant thanksgiving: he will offer sacrifices in which his gratitude plays a prominent part, and will sing songs of thanksgiving, accompanied by the playing of stringed instruments, to his Deliverer, who has again and so gloriously verified His promises.
Vers. 7 — 8. Vows of thanksgiving on the assumption of the answering of the prayer and the fulfilment of the thing supplicated, are very common at the close of Psalms. But in this Psalm the prayer is only just beginning at this stage. The transition is brought about by the preceding conception of the danger that threatens him from the side of his foes who are round about him. The reality, which, in the first part, is overcome and surmounted by his faith, makes itself consciously felt here. It is not to be rendered, as has been done by the Vulgate, Exaudi Domine vocem qua clamavi (rather, clamo) ad te (the introit of the Dominica exspectationis in the interval of preparation between Ascension and Pentecost). }?£ty has Dechi, and accordingly i?1p feClpK) voce mea (as in iii. 5) clamo, is an adverbial clause equivalent to voce mea clamante me. In ver. 8 Tib cannot general, shorter forms are sometimes found in the inflexion, which do not occur in the corresponding principal form, e.g. CHlU, xlix. 15, for DrmSf; D-MD, lv. 16, for Dm^O; DD->y2, Job v. 13, for DnD")*;2;
possibly be so rendered that *p is treated as Lamed auctoris (Dathe, Olshausen): Thine, saith my heart, is (the utterance:) seek ye my face. The declaration is opposed to this sense, thus artificially put upon it. 1DK ^ are undoubtedly to be construed together; and what the heart says to Jahve is not: Seek ye my face, but by reason of this, and as its echo (Calvin: velut Deo succinens): I will therefore seek Thy face. Just as in Job xlii. 3, a personal inference is drawn from a directly quoted saying of God. In the periodic style it would be necessary to transpose ^D listed thus: since Thou hast permitted and exhorted us, or in accordance with Thy persuasive invitation, that we should seek Thy face, I do seek Thy face (Hupfeld). There is no retrospective reference to any particular passage in the Tora, such as Deut. iv. 29. The prayer is not based upon any single passage of Scripture, but upon God's commands and promises in general.
Vers. 9 — 10. The requests are now poured forth with all the greater freedom and importunity, that God may be willing to be entreated and invoked. The Iliph. niSH signifies in this passage standing by itself (cf. Job xxiv. 4): to push aside. The clause n^H THTJJ does not say: be Thou my help (which is impossible on syntactical grounds), nor is it to be taken relatively: Thou who wast my help (for which there is no ground in what precedes); but on the contrary the prcet. gives the ground of the request that follows "Thou art my help (lit. Thou has become, or hast ever been) — cast me, then, not away", and it is, moreover, accented accordingly. Ver. 10, as we have already observed, does not sound as though it came from the lips of David, of whom it is only said during the time of his persecution by Saul, that at that time he was obliged to part from his parents, 1 Sam. xxii. 3 sq. The words certainly might be David's, if ver. 10« would admit of being taken hypothetically, as is done by Ewald, § 362, b: should my father and my mother forsake me, yet Jahve will &c. But the entr ty "forsake me not" is naturally followed by the reason: for my father and my mother have forsaken me; and just as naturally does the consolation: but Jahve will take me up, prepare the way for the entreaties which begin anew in
Vers. 11 — 12. He is now wandering about like a hunted deer; but God is able to guide him so that he may escape all dangers. And this is what he prays for. As in cxliii. 10, Ti£"p is used in an ethical sense; and differs in this respect from its use in xxvi. 12. On CHT^, see the primary passage v. 9, of which this is an echo. Wily spies dodge his every step and would gladly see what they have invented against him and wished for him, realised. Should he enter the way of sin leading to destruction, it would tend to the dishonour of God, just as on the contrary it is a matter of honour with God not to let His servant fall. Hence he prays to be led in the way of God, for a oneness of his own will with the divine renders a man inaccessible [to evil]. tt'EJ, ver. 12, is used, as in xvii. 9, and in the similar passage, which is genuinely Davidic, xli. 3, in the signification passion or strong desire; because the soul, in its natural state, is selfishness and inordinate desire, ns^ is a collateral form of ITS*; they are both adjectives formed from the future of the verb niD (like D"P, yy)' accustomed to breathe out (exhale), i.e. either to express, or to snort, breathe forth (cf. ttvsTv, or IfiTTvsiv cpovov and cpovou, Goaoo, and the like, Acts ix. 1). In both Hitzig sees participles of V&\ (Jer. iv. 31); but x. 5 and Hab. ii. 3 lead back to T?B (iTD); and Hupfeld rightly recognises such nouns formed from futures to be, according to their original source, circumlocutions of the participle after the manner of an elliptical relative clause
(the aLLo of the Arabic syntax), and explains C2T3 ITS', together with DEfi!jD% from the verbal construction which still continues in force.
Vers. 13 — 14. Self-encouragement to firmer confidence of faith. Joined to ver. 12 (Aben-Ezra, Kimchi), ver. 13 trails badly after it. We must, with Geier, Dachselt, and others, suppose that the apodosis is wanting to the protasis with its \?hh pointed with three points above,* and four
* The 1 has not any point above it, because it might be easily mistaken for a Cholem, vid. Baer's Psalterium p. 130.
below, according to the Masora (cf. B. Berachoth 4a), but a word which is indispensably necessary, and is even attested by the LXX. (eauxfj) and the Targum (although not by any other of the ancient versions); cf. the protasis with 6, which has no apodosis, in Gen. 1. 15, and the apodoses with ^ after ^hh in Gen. xxxi. 42, xliii. 10, 1 Sam. xxxv. 34, 2 Sam. ii. 27 (also Num. xxii. 33, where ^)K — tib DN = *W0j which are likewise to be explained per aposiopesin. The perfect after vbb 0^) has sometimes the sense of a plusquamperfectum (as in Gen. xliii. 10, nisi cunctati essemus), and sometimes the sense of an imperfect, as in the present passage (cf. Deut. xxxii. 29, si saperent). The poet does not speak of a faith that he once had, a past faith, but, in regard to the danger that is even now abiding and present, of the faith he now has, a present faith. The apodosis ought to run something like this (cxix. 92, xciv. 17): did I not believe, were not confidence preserved to me... then (tn or IX >3) I should perish; or: then I had suddenly perished. But he has such faith, and he accordingly in ver. 14 encourages himself to go on cheerfully waiting and hoping; he speaks to himself, it is, as it were, the believing half of his soul addressing the despondent and weaker half. Instead of J>DNJ (Deut. xxxi. 7) the expression is, as in xxxi. 25, ^ttp&pi, let thy heart be strong, let it give proof of strength. The rendering "May He (Jahve) strengthen thy heart" would require pW; but PONH, as e.g. ZVpn xxv. 17, belongs to the transitive denominatives applying to the mind or spirit, in which the Hebrew by no means poor, and in which the Arabic is especially rich.
My Rock, remain not deaf to me, Lest, ifThoube silent to me, I be like them thai >wn to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplication, when 1 cry unto Th When I lift up my hands to Thy boly Banctuary.
Who speak peace with their neighbours, While evil is in their hearts.
4 Give to thern according to their work and the wickedness
of their deeds; According to the work of their hands give to them, Requite them what they have done!
5 For they regard not the doings of Jahve, Nor the work of His hands —
In Him my heart trusted and I was helped — Therefore my heart exulteth, and with my song do I praise Him.
To Ps. xxvi. and xxvii. a third Psalm is here added, belonging to the time of the persecution by Absolom. In this Psalm, also, the drawing towards the sanctuary of God cannot be lost sight of; and in addition thereto we have the intercession of the anointed one, when personally imperilled, on behalf of the people who are equally in need of help, — an intercession which can only be rightly estimated in connection with the circumstances of that time. Like Ps. xxvii. this, its neighbour, also divides into two parts; these parts, however, though their lines are of a different order, nevertheless bear a similar poetic impress. Both are composed of verses consisting of two and three lines. There are many points of contact between this Psalm and Ps. xxvii.; e. g. in the epithet applied to God, nyo; but compare also ver. 3 with xxvi. 9; ver. 2 with xxxi. 23; ver. 9 with xxix. 11. The echoes of this Psalm in Isaiah are very many, and also in Jeremiah.
Vers. 1 — 5. This first half of the Psalm (vers. 1 — 5) is supplicatory. The preposition jp in connection with the verbs ttnrijto be deaf, dumb, and H£Tl,to keep silence, is a pregnant form of expression denoting an aversion or turning away which does not deign to give the suppliant an answer. Jahve is his "fitf, his ground of confidence; but if He continues thus to keep silence, then he who confides in Him will become like those who are going down (xxii. 30), or are gone down (Isa. xiv. 19) to the pit. The participle of the past answers better to the situation of one already on the brink of the abyss. In the double sentence with ]D, the chief accent falls upon the second clause, for which the first only paratactically opens up the way (cf. Isa. v. 4, xii. 1); in Latin it would be ne, te mihi non respondente, simiiis fiam. Olshausen, and Baur with him, believes that because ^pb&W has not the accent on the ultima as being perf. consec, it must be interpreted according to the accentuation thus, "in order that Thou mayst no longer keep silence, whilst I am already become like.." But this ought to be b'&tt "ONl, or at least 'P.T'ttfED yw. And if irfrtPCJl were to be taken as a real perfect, it would then rather have to be rendered "and I should then be like." But, notwithstanding V)^tgfp?l is Mitel, it is still perf. consecutivum ("and I am become like"); for if, in a sentence of more than one member following upon |B, the fut., as is usually the case (vid. on xxxviii. 17), goes over into the per/*., then the latter, in most instances, has the tone of the perf. consec. (Deut. iv. 19, Judges xviii. 25, Prov. v. 9 — 12, Mai. iii. 24), but not always. The penultimaaccentuation is necessarily retained in connection with tintwo great pausal accents, Silluk and Athnach, Deut. viii. 12, Prov. xxx. 9; in this passage in connection with Rebia mugrash, just as we may say, in general, the perf. c<>;< sometimes retains its penultima-a.ccentvLa.tion in connection with distinctives instead of being accented on the ultima \ e. g. in connection with Rebia mugrash, Prov. xxx. 9; with Rebia, xix. 14 (cf. Prov. xxx. 9 with Ezek. xiv. 17); with Zakeph. 1 Sam. xxix. 8; and even with Tiphcha Ob ver. 10, Joel iv. 21. The national grammarians are ignorant of any law on this subject.*
The point towards which the psalmist stretches forth his hands in prayer is Jahve's holy Tin. Such is the word (after the form I7H3, K"6?, pfig) used only in the Books of Kings and Chronicles, with the exception of this passage, to denote the Holy of Holies, not as being ^prjfxaxLOTyjpiov (Aquila and Symmachus), or XaXrjiyjpiov, oraculum (Jerome), as it were, Jahve's audience chamber (Hengstenberg) — a meaning that is not in accordance with the formation of the word, — but as the hinder part of the tent, from -Qi, Arabic dcibara, to be behind, whence dubr (Talmudic "121"), that which is behind (opp. kubl, kibal, that which is in the front), cf. Jesurun p. 87 sq. In vers. 3, 4 the prayer is expanded. Tjt&to (in&tead of which we find FpN in xxvi. 9), to draw any one down forcibly to destruction, or to drag him to the place of judgment, Ezek. xxxii. 20. cf. x. 9, Job. xxiv. 22. The delineation of the ungodly David borrows from his actual foes. Should he succumb to them, then his fate would be like that which awaits them, to whom he is conscious that he is radically unlike. He therefore prays that God's recompensing justice may anticipate him, i. e. that He may requite them according to their desert, before he succumbs, to whom they have feigned d1^', a good understanding, or being on good terms, whereas they cherished in their heart the pftH that is now unmasked (cf. Jer. ix. 7). |ro, used of an official adjudication, as in Hos. ix. 14, Jer. xxxii. 19. The epanaphora of Oi"6"]n is like xxvii. 14.* The phrase fe} 2^'n (Q^), which occurs frequently in the prophets, signifies to recompense or repay to any one his accomplishing, his manifestation, that is to say, what he has done and merited; the thoughts and expression call to mind more particularly Isa. iii. 8 — 11, i. 16. The right to pray for recompense (vengeance) is grounded, in ver. 5, upon their blindness to God's just and merciful rule as it is to be seen in human history (cf. Isa. v. 12, xxii. 11). The contrast of nJ3 and D*in, to pull down (with a personal object, as in penult, in Prov. xxx. 9 from the conformity of sound, and Kimchi {Michlol 66) simply records the phenomenon.
* This repetition, at the end, of a significant word that has been used at the beginning of a verse, is a favourite custom of Isaiah's {Comment. S. 387; transl. ii. 134).
Exod. xv. 7), is like Jeremiah's style (ch. xlii. 10, cf. i. 10, xviii. 9, and frequently, Sir. xlix. 7). In ver. 5a, the prominent thought in David's mind is, that they shamefully fail to recognise how gloriously and graciously God has again and again acknowledged him as His anointed one. He has (2 Sam. vii.) received the promise, that God would huild him a house, i.e. grant perpetual continuance to his kingship. The Ahsolomites are in the act of rebellion against this divine appointment. Hence they shall experience the very reverse of the divine promise given to David: Jahve will pull them down and not build them up, He will destroy, at its very commencement, this dynasty set up in opposition to God.
G Blessed be Jahve,
Vers. 6 — 9. The first half of the Psalm prayed for deliverance and for judgment; this second half gives thanks for both. If the poet wrote the Psalm at one sitting then at this point the certainty of being answered dawns upon him. But it is even possible that he added this second part later on, as a memorial of the answer he experienced to his prayer (Hitzig, Ewald). It sounds, at all events, like the record of something that has actually taken place. Jahve is his defence and shield. The conjoined perfects in ver. lb, denote that which is closely united in actual realisation; and in the fut.consec, as is frequently the case, e.g. in Job. xiv. 2, the historical signification retreats into the background before the more essential idea of that which has been produced. In '"PtSfo, the song is conceived as the spring whence the ni"lin bubble forth; and instead of 13T1N we have the more impressive form ISniriN, as in xlv. 18, cxvi. 6, 1 Sam. xvii. 47, the syncope being omitted. From suffering (Leid) springs song (Lied), and from song springs the prai (Lob) of Him, who has "turned" the suffering, just as it is attuned in vers. 6 and8.*The ocotol, who are intended by x,:7 in ver. 8a, are those of Israel, as in xii. 8, Lsa. xxxiii. 2 (Hitzig). The LXX. (xpaTGUcopot xou Xaou a&xou) reads Jojft, as in xxix. 11, which is approved by Bottcher, Olshausi and Hupfeld; but Mfi yields a similar sense. First of M
* There is a play of words and an alliteration in this M-ntenee which we cannot fully reproduce in the English. — TK.
David thinks of the people, then of himself; for his private character retreats behind his official, by virtue of which he is the head of Israel. For this very reason his deliverance is the deliverance of Israel, to whom, so far as they have become unfaithful to His anointed, Jahve has not requited this faithlessness, and to whom, so far as they have remained true to him, He has rewarded this fidelity. Jahve is a iy to them, inasmuch as He preserves them by His might from the destruction into which they would have precipitated themselves, or into which others would have precipitated them; and He is the tTiJflB*] fiJJD of His anointed inasmuch as He surrounds him as an inaccessible place of refuge which secures to him salvation in all its fulness instead of the destruction anticipated. Israel's salvation and blessing were at stake; but Israel is in fact God's people and God's inheritance — may He, then, work salvation for them in every future need and bless them. Apostatised from David, it was a flock in the hands of the hireling — may He ever take the place of shepherd to them and carry them in His arms through the destruction. The CX&j coupled with DJfJ (thus it is to be pointed according to Ben-Asher) calls to mind Deut. i. 31, "Jahve carried Israel as a man doth carry his son", and Exod. xix. 4, Deut. xxxii. 11, "as on eagles' wings." The Piel, as in Isa. lxiii. 9, is used of carrying the weak, whom one lifts up and thus removes out of its helplessness and danger. Ps. iii. closes just in the same way with an intercession; and the close of Ps. xxix. is similar, but promissory, and consequently it is placed next to Ps. xxviii.
1 GIVE unto Jahve, ye sons of God, Give unto Jahve glory and might!
3 The voice of Jahve is upon the waters, The God of Glory thundereth,
4 The voice of Jahve goeth forth in power, The voice of Jahve goeth forth in majesty.
5 The voice of Jahve breaketh the cedars, Yea, Jahve breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
6 And He maketh them to skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young antelope.
8 The voice of Jahve shaketh the wilderness, Jahve shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
11 Jahve will give power to His people, Jahve will bless His people with peace.
The occasion of this Psalm is a thunderstorm; it is not, however, limited to the outward natural phenomena, but therein is perceived the self-attestation of the God of the redemptive history. Just as in the second part of Ps. xix. the God of the revelation of salvation is called miT seven times in distinction from the God revealed in nature, so in this Psalm of thunders, 71 b)p is repeated seven times, so that it may be called the Psalm of the stttoc (3povxai (Apoc. x. 3 sq.). During the time of the second Temple, as the addition to the inscription by the LXX. iijo&too (e?65oo) oxtjvtj? ( = wujvo- KTflLrjLQ) seems to imply *, it was sung on the Shemini Azereth^ the last day (iftBiov, Lev. xxiii. 3G) of the feast of tab< rnacles. Between two tetrastichs, in each of which the name
* The Ttf of the Temple liturgy of the Shemini Azerelh ii stated in the Talmud (vid. Tosefoih to B, Succa 47a, wl to So/rim xix. § 2 and a statement of the Jerusalem Talmud xii, is guessed at). We only know, that Pe. xxix. Del portions for the intervening days of the fea t of tabero
HUT occurs four times, lie three pentastichs, which, in their sevenfold 71 ^lp, represent the peals of thunder which follow in rapid succession as the storm increases in its fury.
Vers. 1 — 2. The opening strophe calls upon the celestial spirits to praise Jahve; for a revelation of divine glory is in preparation, which, in its first movements, they are accounted worthy to behold, for the roots of everything that takes place in this world are in the invisible world. It is not the mighty of the earth, who are called in lxxxii. 6 V\bv VQ, but the angels, who are elsewhere called D^'btt 02 {e.g. Job ii. 1), that are here, as in lxxxix. 7, called obit 02. Since D^N never means God, like DWk (so that it could be rendered sons of the deity), but gods, Exod. xv. 11, Dan. ix. 36, the expression nb$ 02 must be translated as a double plural from *?N")2, after the analogy of D^ij6p VD, Isa. xlii. 22, from vb$ TO (Ges. § 108, 3), "sons of God", not "sons of gods." They, the God-begotten, i.e. created in the image of God, who form with God their Father as it were one family (vid. Genesis S. 121), are here called upon to give unto God glory and might (the primary passage is Deut. xxxii. 3), i.e. to render back to Him cheerfully and joyously in a laudatory recognition, as it were by an echo, His glory and might, which are revealed and to be revealed in the created world, and to give unto Him the glory of His name, i.e. to praise His glorious name (lxxii. 19) according its deserts. 12H in all three instances has the accent on the ultima according to rule (cf., on the other hand, Job vi. 22). Uhp rmn is holy vestments, splendid festal attire, 2 Chron.
comprehended in the vox memorialis ^TY^'^T] (Succa 55a, cf. Rashi on Joma 3a), viz. Ps. xxix. (il); 1. 16 (l); xciv. 16 (d); xciv. 8 (2); lxxxi. 7 (n); lxxxii. hb (,). Besides this the treatise So/rim xviii. § 3 mentions Ps. xxix. as the Psalm for the festival of Pentecost and the tradition of the synagogue which prevails even at the present day recognises it only as a festival Psalm of the first day of Shahuoth [Pentecost]; the Psalm for Shemini Azereth is the 65th. The only confirmation of the statement of the LXX. is to be found in the Sonar; for there (section y) Ps. xxix. is referred to the pouring forth of the water on the seventh day of the feast of tabernacles (Hosianna rabba), since it is said, that by means of the seven fll^'p (corresponding to the seven compassings of the altar) seven of the Sephirolh open the flood-gates of heaven.
xx. 21, cf. Ps. ex. 3.* A revelation of the power of God is near at hand. The heavenly spirits are to prepare themselves for it with all the outward display of which they are capable. If ver. 2 were a summons to the church on earth, or, as in xcvi. 9, to the dwellers upon the earth, then there ought to be some expression to indicate the change in the parties addressed; it is, therefore, in ver. 2 as in ver. 1, directed to the priests of the heavenly ^DT). In the Apocalypse, also, the songs of praise and trumpeting of the angels precede the judgments of God.
Vers. 3 — 9. Now follows the description of the revelation of God's power, which is the ground of the summons, and is to be the subject-matter of their praise. The Allglorious One makes Himself heard in the language (Apoc. x. 3 sq.) of the thunder, and reveals Himself in the storm. There are fifteen lines, which naturally arrange themselves into three five-line strophes. The chief matter with the poet, however, is the sevenfold 'PI blp. Although bsp is sometimes used almost as an ejaculatory "Hark!" (Gen. iv. 10, Isa. lii. 8), this must not, with Ewald (§ 286, /*), be applied to the 'n b)p of the Psalm before us, the theme of which is the voice of God, who announces Himself from heaven, — a voice which moves the world. The dull sounding 7p serves not merely to denote the thunder of the storm, but even the thunder of the earthquake, the roar of the tempest, and in general, every low, dull, rumbling sound, by which God makes Himself audible to the world, and more especially from the wrathful side of His doxa. The waters in?ei are not the lower waters. Then the question arises what are they? Were the waters of the Mediterranean intended, they would be more definitely denoted in such a vivid description. It is, however, far more appropriate to the commencement of this description to understand them to mean the mass of water gathered together in the thick. black storm-clouds (yid. xviii. 12, Jer. x. 13). The ruinh-
* The reading proposed in B. Berachoth 300 H* trembling) has never been a various reading; nor which the LXX. renders it £v b6X{ 4*4 a&toO, ling* of Jahve is, as the poet himself explains in ver. 3b, the thunder produced on high by the 1123H ^N (cf. 112DH "jta, xxiv. 7 sqq.), which rolls over the sea of waters floating above the earth in the sky. Ver. 4a and 4&, just like ver. da and 3&, are independent substantival clauses. The rumbling of Jahve is, issues forth, or passes by; 2 with the abstract article as in lxxvii. 14, Prov. xxiv. 5 (cf. Prov. viii. 8, Luke iv. 32, ev l<3y6'i Apoc. xviii. 2), is the 2 of the distinctive attribute. In ver. 3 the first peals of thunder are heard; in ver. 4 the storm is coming nearer, and the peals become stronger, and now it bursts forth with its full violence: ver. ba describes this in a general form, and ver. 5b expresses by the fut. consec, as it were inferentially, that which is at present taking place: amidst the rolling of the thunder the descending lightning flashes rive the cedars of Lebanon (as is well-known, the lightning takes the outermost points). The suffix in ver. 6a does not refer prolepticaHy to the mountains mentioned afterwards, but naturally to the cedars (Hengst., Hupf., Hitz.), which bend down before the storm and quickly rise up again. The skipping of Lebanon and Sirion, however, is not to be referred to the fact, that their wooded summits bend down and rise again, but, according to cxiv. 4, to their being shaken by the crash of the thunder, — a feature in the picture which certainly does not rest upon what is actually true in nature, but figuratively describes the apparent quaking of the earth daring a heavy thunderstorm.)W, according to Deut. iii. 9, is the Sidonian name of Hermon, and therefore side by side with Lebanon it represents Anti- Lebanon. The word, according to the Masora, has w sinistrum, and consequently is?F"NI?, wherefore Hitzig correctly derives it from L^i, fut.i., to gleam, sparkle, cf. the passage from an Arab poet at cxxxiii. 3. The lightning makes these mountains bound (Luther, lecken, i.e. according to his
* The simple rendering of 7*p by "voice" has been retained in the text of the Psalm, as in the Authorised Version. The word, however, which Dr. Delitzsch uses is Gedrohn, the best English equivalent of which is a "rumbling." — TK.
explanation: to spring, skip) like young antelopes. DK1* like (3ou[3aXos, (3ouj3aXi<;, is a generic name of the antelope, and of the buffalo that roams in herds through the forests beyond the Jordan even at the present day; for there are antelopes that resemble the buffalo and also (except in the formation of the head and the cloven hoofs) those that resemble the horse. The LXX. renders: w? ulo? jiovoxepwituv. Does this mean the unicorn [Germ, one-horn] depicted on Persian and African monuments? Is this unicorn distinct from the one horned antelope? Neither an unicorn nor an one horned antelope have been seen to the present day by any traveller. Both animals, and consequently also their relation to one another, are up to the present time still undefinable from a scientific point of view.**
Each peal of thunder is immediately followed by a flash of lightning; Jahve's thunder cleaveth flames of fire, i. e. forms (as it were Xoctojisi) the fire-matter of the storm-clouds into cloven flames of fire, into lightnings that pass swiftly along; in connection with which it must be remembered that 'n b)p denotes not merely the thunder as a phenomenon, but at the same time it denotes the omnipotence of God expressing itself therein. The brevity and threefold division of ver. 7 depicts the incessant, zigzag, quivering movement
** By CNl Ludolf in opposition to Bochart understands the rhinoceros; but this animal, belonging to the swine tribe, is certainly not meant, or even merely associated with it. Moreover, the rhinoc< [Germ, nose-horn] is called in Egypt charnin (from ^^ — lJT^' ^ut
the unicorn, charnit. "In the year 1862 the French archaeologist, Bl V» dington, was with me in Damascus when an antiquary br< an ancient vessel on which a number of animals were « names being written 'on their bellies. Among the well known anil there was also an unicorn, exactly like a zebra or a horse, but wit long horn standing out upon its forehead; on its body was bfa,riv ^- M. Waddington wished to have the vessel and 1 I up to him; and he took it with him to Paris. We talk about this unicorn, and felt obliged to come to the 1 form of the fabulous animal might have become known I the time of the crusades, when the English coat of an Syria." — Wetzstein.
of the lightning (tela trisulca, ignes trisulci, in Ovid). From the northern mountains the storm sweeps on towards the south of Palestine into the Arabian desert, viz. as we are told in ver. Sb (cf. ver. 5, according to the schema of "parallelism by reservation"), the wilderness region of Kadesh (Kadesh Barnea), which, however we may define its position, must certainly have lain near the steep western slope of the mountains of Edom toward the Arabah. Jahve's thunder, viz. the thunderstorm, puts this desert in a state of whirl, inasmuch as it drives the sand (^fi) before it in whirlwinds; and among the mountains it, viz. the strong lightning and thundering, makes the hinds to writhe, inasmuch as from fright they bring forth prematurely. Both the Hiph. TTP and the Pil. 77irp are used with a causative meaning (root in, VI, to move in a circle, to encircle). The poet continues with F|i£VP1, since he makes one effect of the storm to develope from another, merging as it were out of its chrysalis state. fVhJP is a poetical plural form; and rj-^n describes the effect of the storm which "shells" the woods, inasmuch as it beats down the branches of the trees, both the tops and the foliage. While Jahve thus reveals Himself from heaven upon the earth in all His irresistible power, TOVp, in His heavenly palace (xi. 4, xviii. 7), f-o (note how taVD resolves this fo out of itself), i. e. each of the beings therein, says: "1123. That which the poet, in vers. 1 — 2, has called upon them to do, now takes place. Jahve receives back His glory, which is immanent in the universe, in the thousandvoiced echo of adoration.
Vers. 10 — 11. Luther renders it: "The Lord sitteth to prepare a Flood", thus putting meaning into the unintelligible rendering of the Vulgate and LXX.; and in fact a meaning that accords with the language — for b 3#J is most certainly intended to be understood after the analogy of 72^72b 3#», cxxii. 5, cf. ix. 8 — just as much as with the context; for the poet has not thus far expressly referred to the torrents of rain, in which the storm empties itself. Engelhardtalso (Lutherische Zeiischrift, 1861, 216 f.), Kurtz (Bibel und Astronomie, S. 568, Aufl. 4), Riehm (Liter. -Blatt of the Allgem. Kirchen-Zeit., 1864, S. 110), and others understand by b)2l2 the quasi-flood of the torrent of rain accompanying the lightning and thunder. But the word is not bocfr, but toD1?, and TDaT] (Syr. momul) occurs exclusively in Gen. vi. — xi. as the name of the great Flood. Every tempest, however, calls to mind this judgment and its merciful issue, for it comes before us in sacred history as the first appearance of rain with lightning and thunder, and of the bow in the clouds speaking its message of peace {Genesis, S. 276). The retrospective reference to this event is also still further confirmed by the aorist 3Bty which follows the perfect 2W^ (Hofmann, Schriftbeweis i. 208). Jahve — says the poet — sat (upon His throne) at the Flood (to execute it), and sits (enthroned) in consequence thereof, or since that time, as this present revelation of Him in the tempest shews, as King for ever, inasmuch as He rules down here upon earth from His throne in the heavens (cxv. 16) in wrath and in mercy, judging and dispensing blessing. Here upon earth He has a people, whom from above He endows with a share of His own might and blesses with peace, while the tempests of His wrath burst over their foes. How expressive is D1/B'3 as the closing word of this particular Psalm! It spans the Psalm like a rain-bow. The opening of the Psalm shews us the heavens opened and the throne of God in the midst of the angelic songs of praise, and the close of the Psalm shews us, on earth, His people victorious and blessed with peace (3 as in Gen. xxiv. 1*), in the midst of Jahve's voice of anger, which shakes all things. Gloria in excelsis is its beginning, and pax in terris its conclusion.
2 I WILL extol Thee, Jahve, that Thou hast raised me up. And hast not made mine enemies to rejoice over i
* The Holy One, blessed be He — says the Mishl with reference to this passage in the I'^ilms — has nol ' other vessel (^d) to hold the blessing ipeciallj I to Ul
4 Jahve, Thou hast brought up my soul from Hades, Thou hast revived me, that I should not go down to
5 Sing unto Jahve, ye saints of His, And give thanks to His holy name.
G For His anger endureth but for a moment, His favour for a life long; At eventide weeping cometh in for the night — And in the morning cometh a shout of joy.
"I shall not totter for ever." 0 Jahve, by Thy favour hadst Thou made my mountain to stand strong;
10 "What profit is there in my blood, in my going down to the grave? "Shall the dust praise Thee? shall it declare Thy truth?
12 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing, Thou hast put off my sackcloth and didst gird me
The summons to praise God which is addressed to the angels above in Ps. xxix., is directed in Ps. xxx. to the pious here below. There is nothing against the adoption of the 1l"6. Hitzig again in this instance finds all kinds of indications of Jeremiah's hand; but the parallels in Jeremiah are echoes of the Psalms, and >JrP:H in ver. 2 does not need to be explained of a lowering into a tank or dungeon, it is a metaphorical expression for raising up out of the depths of affliction. Even Hezekiah's song of thanksgiving in Isa. xxxviii. has grown out of the two closing strophes of this Psalm under the influence of an intimate acquaintance with the Book of Job. We are therefore warranted in supposing that it is David, who here, having in the midst of the stability of his power come to the verge of the grave, and now being roused from all carnal security, as one who has been rescued, praises the Lord, whom he has made his refuge, and calls upon all the pious to join with him in his song. The Psalm bears the inscription: A Song-Psalm at the Dedication of the House, by David. This has been referred to the dedication of the site of the future Temple, 2 Sam. xxiv., 1 Chron. xxi.; but although the place of the future Temple together with the altar then erected on it, can be called HIPP r\^2 (1 Chron. xxii. 1), and might also at any rate be called absolutely n^ij (as rPDH "1PI, the Temple hill); yet we know that David did not himself suffer (2 Sam. xxiv. 17) from the pestilence, which followed as a punishment upon the numbering of the people which he instituted in his arrogant self-magnification. The Psalm, however, also does not contain anything that should point to a dedication of a sanctuary, whether Mount Moriah, or the tabernacle, 2 Sam. vi. 17. It might more naturally be referred to the re-consecration of the palace, that was defiled by Absolom, after David's return; but the Psalm mentions some imminent peril, the gracious averting of which does not consist in the turning away of bloodthirsty foes, but in recovery from some sickness that might have proved fatal. Thus then it must be the dedication of the citadel on Zion, the building of which was just completed. From 2 Sam. v. 12 we see that David regarded this building as a pledge of the stability and exaltation of his kingdom; and all that is needed in order understand the Psalm is, with Aben-Ezra, Flaminius, Crusius, and Vaihinger, to infer from the Psalm itself, that I' ivid had been delayed by some severe illness from takio session of the new building. The situation of Ps. xvi. i> jusl like it. The regular official title rvrr^' ~"N (majordoi shews, that rvin, used thus absolutely, may d palace just as well as the Temple. Tin- LXX. which r it xou ^xce.vioaou too oixou (too) A ao(S, understand ace, not the Temple. In the Jewish ritual, Ps. xxx. is certainly, as is even stated in the Tractate Sofrim xviii. § 2, the Psalm for the feast of Chanucca, or Dedication, which refers to 1 Mace. iv. 52 sqq.
pendulous, whether upwards or downwards, conj. V. J, Jo, to dangle) signifies to lift or draw up, like a bucket (^l, Greek aviXiov, Latin tollo, tolleno in Festus). The poet himself says what that depth is into which he had sunk and out of which God had drawn him up without his enemies rejoicing over him (^ as in xxv, 2), i. e. without allowing them the wished for joy at his destruction: he was brought down almost into Hades in consequence of some fatal sickness. PIT! (never: to call into being out of nothing) always means to restore to life that which has apparently or really succumbed to death, or to preserve anything living in life. With this is easily and satisfactorily joined the Kerl "\)2 "HTO (without Makkeph in the correct text), ita ut non descender em\ the infinitive of "IT in this instance following the analogy of the strong verb is TV, like tt/2], filth, and with suffix jordi (like josdi, Job xxxviii. 4) or jaredi. for here it is to be read thus, and not jordi (vid. on xvi. 1, lxxxvi. 2).* The Chethib HTPD might also be the infinitive, written with Choi em plenum, as an infinitive Gen. xxxii. 20, and an imperative Num. xxiii. 8, is each pointed with Cholem instead of Kametz chatuph; but it is probably intended to be read as a participle, HTPO: Thou hast revived me from those who sink away into the grave (xxviii. 1), or out of the state of such (cf. xxii. 22b) — a perfectly admissible and pregnant construction.
Vers. 5 — 6 call upon all the pious to praise this God, who after a short season of anger is at once and henceforth gracious. Instead of Ct£ of Jahve, we find the expression
* The Masora does not place the word under f*\ pTP NDn^n ]*bs I^Dp pDDm (Introduction 28b), as one would expect to find it if it were to be read mijordi, and proceeds on the assumption that mijardih infinitive like T!Py (read 'amddcha) Obad. ver. 11, not participle (Ewald, S. 533).
-pi in this instance, as in xcvii. 12 after Exod. iii. 15. Jahve, by revealing Himself, renders Himself capable of being both named and remembered, and that in the most illustrious manner. The history of redemption is, as it were, an unfolding of the Name of Jahve and at the same time a setting up of a monument, an establishment of a memorial, and in fact the erection of a KHp 137; because all God's self-attestations, whether in love or in wrath, flow from the sea of light of His holiness. When He manifests Himself to His own love prevails; and wrath is, in relation to them, only a vanishing moment: a moment passes in His anger, a (whole) life in His favour, i. e. the former endures only for a moment, the latter the whole life of a man. ttAlles Ding wahrt seine Zeil, Gottes Lieb' in Ewigkeit." All things last their season, God's love to all eternity. The preposition 2 does not here, as in the beautiful parallel Isa. liv. 7 sq., cf. lx. 10, denote the time and mode of that which takes place, but the state in which one spends the time. Ver. 6 b c portrays the rapidity with which love takes back wrath (cf. Isa. xvii. 14): in the evening weeping takes up its abode with us for the night, but in the morning another guest, viz. HS*], appears, like a rescuing angel, before whom ">22 disappears. The predicate vb^ does not belong to ver. 6c as well (Hupfeld, Hitzig). The substantival clause: and in the morning joy = joy is present, depicts the unexpectedness and surpi of the help of Him who sends ^22 and HjI-
Vers. 7 — 8. David now relates his experience in detail, beginning with the cause of the chastisement, which he has just undergone. In TDEX Wl (as in xxxi. 23, Psa. \li\. he contrasts his former self-confidence, in which (like the jRfih, x. 6) he thought himself to be immoveable, with tin* God-ward trust he has now gained in the school of affliction. Instead of confiding in the Giver, he trusted in the gift, though it had been his own work. It is uncertain, — but it is all the same in the end,— whether —'J' - the in! infinitive ihw of the verb)bmV/ (which we adopt in our translation), or the inflected noun ^U' \S) l!>Bf • >™ Titf, a swimming, Ezek. xlvii. 5, rijjtt^i Jer. ixii. 21. The inevitable consequence of Buch carnal < 1 is more minutely described in Dent. viii. 11 18, humbling divine chastisement. This intimate connection is expressed by the perfects in ver. 8, which represent God's pardon, God's withdrawal of favour, which is brought about by his self-exaltation, and the surprise of his being undeceived, as synchronous, fy TCgjI, to set up might is equivalent to: to give it as a lasting possession; cf. 2 Chron. xxxiii. 8, which passage is a varied, but not (as Riehm supposes) a corrupted, repetition of 2 Kings xxi. 8. It is, therefore, unnecessary, as Hitzig does, to take b as accusatival and X$ as adverbial: in Thy favour hadst Thou made my mountain to stand firm. The mountain is Zion, which is strong by natural position and by the additions of art (2 Sam. v. 9); and this, as being the castle-hill, is the emblem of the kingdom of David: Jahve had strongly established his kingdom for David, when on account of his trust in himself He made him to feel how all that he was he was only by Him, and without Him he was nothing whatever. The form of the inflexion "H"]ri, instead of i*in = karri, is defended by Gen. xiv. 6 and Jer. xvii. 3 (where it is i"nn as if from Tin). The reading "Hiri; (LXX., Syr.), i. e. to my kingly dignity is a happy substitution; whereas the reading of the Targum HinS "placed (me) on firm mountains", at once refutes itself by the necessity for supplying "me."
Vers. 9 — 11. Nevertheless he who is thus chastened prayed fervently. The futures in ver. 9, standing as they do in the full flow of the narration, have the force of imperfects, of "the present in the past" as the Arabian grammarians call it. From the question "What profit is there (the usual expression for ti ocpsXoc, quid lucri) in my blood?", it is not to be inferred that David was in danger of death by the hand of a foe; for yKD*lffl in ver. 3 teaches us very different, "what profit would there be in my blood?" is therefore equivalent to (cf. Job xvi. 18) what advantage would there be in Thy slaying me before my time? On the contrary God would rob Himself of the praise, which the living one would render to Him, and would so gladly render. His request that his life may be prolonged was not, therefore, for the sake of worldly possessions and enjoyment, but for the glory of God. He feared death as being the end of the praise of God. For beyond the grave there will be no more psalms sung, vi. 6. In the Old Testament, Hades was as yet unvanquished, Heaven was not yet opened. In Heaven are the D^K "03, hut as yet no blessed C"k "02.
Vers. 12 — 13. In order to express the immediate sequence of the fulfilling of the prayer upon the prayer itself, the otherwise {e.g. xxxii. 5) usual i of conjunction is omitted; on 'IJI PDDH cf. the echoes in Jer. xxxi. 13, Lam. v. 15. According to our interpretation of the relation of the Psalm to the events of the time, there is as little reason for thinking of 2 Sam. vi. 14 in connection with ^np, as of 1 Chron. xxi. 16 in connection with \*?ip. In place of the garment of penitence and mourning (cf. pfcf rHJno, Isa. iii. 24) slung round the body (perhaps fastened only with a cord) came a girding up ("yTX, synon. ~nn lxv. 13, whence TjN, rnjn) with joy. The designed result of such a speedy and radical change in his affliction, after it had had the salutary effect of humbling him, was the praise of Jahve: in order that my glory (ls23 for "H123 = '#B3, as in vii. 6, xvi. 9, cviii. 2) may sing Thy praises without ceasing (u~\] fut. Kal). An 1 the praise of Jahve for ever is moreover his resolve, just as he vows, and at the same time carries it out, in this Psalm.
2 IN Thee, Jahve, have I hidden — Let me not be ashamed for ever; In Thy righteousness set me free.
3 Bow down Thine ear to me, deliver me speedily; Be Thou to me a rock of refuge,
5 Thou wilt pull me out of the net they hive Laid privily
for me, For Thou art my defence. 0 Into Thy hand do I commend my Bpirit, Thou redeemest me, Jahve, God of trot
8 I will exult and rejoice in Thy mercy, That Thou hast regarded my poverty,
9 And hast not shut me up in the hand of the enemy, Thou hast set my feet in a broad place.
10 Be gracious unto me, Jahve, for I am straitened: Consumed with grief is mine eye, and my soul, and
My strength has failed by reason of mine iniquity, And my bones are consumed.
12 Because of all mine adversaries I am become a reproach, And a burden to my neighbours, and a terror to my
13 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind; I am become like a broken vessel.
While they take counsel together against me — They devise to take away my life.
17 Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant, Save me in Thy mercy.
18 Jahve, I shall not be ashamed, for on Thee do I call; The wicked shall be ashamed, they shall be silent in
19 Lying lips shall be put to silence, Which speak insolently of the righteous, With pride and contempt.
20 How great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast reserved
for them that fear Thee, Which Thou dost effect for them that hide in Thee in the presence of the children of men.
from the factions of man; Thou keepest them in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
"I am cut off from the vision of Thine eyes." — Nevertheless Thou heardest the cry of my supplication when I cried to Thee.
In Ps. xxxi. the poet also, in 'FTON "0KJ (ver. 23), looks back upon a previous state of mind, viz. that of conflict, just as in xxx. 7 upon that of security. And here, also, he makes all the Q'Hrn partakers with him of the healthful fruit of his deliverance (cf. xxxi. 24 with xxx. 5). But in other respects the situation of the two Psalms is very different. They are both Davidic. Hitzig, however, regards them both as composed by Jeremiah. With reference to Ps. xxxi., which Ewald also ascribes to "Jeremja", this v is well worthy of notice. Not only do we find ver. 1 •!'/ curring in Jeremiah, ch. xx. 10, but the whole Psalm, in language (cf., e. g., ver. 10 with Lam. i. 20; ver. 11 with Jer. xx. 18; ver. 18 with Jer. xvii. 18; ver. 23 with Lam. iii. 54) and its plaintive tenderness, reminds one emiah.
But this relationship docs not decide the question. 1 passage Jer. xx. 10, like many other p jofthispropl whose language is so strongly imbued with that ot the I ter, may be just as much a reminiscem Jon. il and as regards its plaintive tenderness there a:
characters more closely allied naturally and in spirit than David and Jeremiah; both are servants of Jahve, whose noble, tender spirits were capable of strong feeling, who cherished earnest longings, and abounded in tribulations. We abide, though not without some degree of hesitation, by the testimony of the inscription; and regard the Psalm as a song springing from the outward and inward conflict (LXX. IxotdaEo)?, probably by a combination of ver. 23, ev ixoxaoet, MDnD, with Sam. xxiii. 26) of the time of Saul. While ver. 12c is not suited to the mouth of the captive Jeremiah (Hitzig), the Psalm has much that is common not only to Ps. lxix. (more especially lxix. 9, 33), a Psalm that sounds much like Jeremiah's, but also to others, which we regard as Davidic; viz. the figures corresponding to the life of warfare which David then lived among the rocks and caves of the wilderness; the cheering call, xxxi. 25, cf. xxii. 27, xxvii. 14; the rare use of the Hiph. fcO^BH xxxi. 22, xvii. 7; the desire to be hidden by God, xxxi. 21, cf. xvii. 8, lxiv. 3; etc. In common with Ps. xxii. this may be noted, that the crucified Christ takes His last word from this Psalm, just as He takes His last utterance but three from that Psalm. But in xxxi. 10 —14, the prefigurement of the Passion is confined within the limits of the type and does not undergo the same prophetical enhancement as it does in that unique Ps. xxii., to which only Ps. lxix. is in any degree comparable. The opening, vers. 2 — 4, is repeated in the centonic Ps. lxxi., the work of a later anonymous poet, just as ver. 23 is in part repeated in cxvi. 11. The arrangement of the strophes is not very clear.
Vers 2 — 9. The poet begins with the prayer for deliverance, based upon the trust which Jahve, to whom he surrenders himself, cannot possibly disappoint; and rejoices beforehand in the protection which he assumes will, without any doubt, be granted. Out of his confident security in God OrVDH) springs the prayer: may it never come to this with me, that I am put to confusion by the disappointment of my hope. This prayer in the form of intense desire is followed by prayers in the direct form of supplication. The supplicatory 'Otp^S is based upon God's righteousness, which cannot refrain from repaying conduct consistent with the order of redemption, though after prolonged trial, with the longed for tokens of deliverance. In the second paragraph, the prayer is moulded in accordance with the circumstances of him who is chased by Saul hither and thither among the mountains and in the desert, homeless and defenceless. In the expression?1j?D "7)2$,?tyQ is genit. appositionis: a rock of defence (fiyo from TTJ7, as in xxvii. 1), or rather: of refuge (fiyo = oLxjo, from fly, Tip = 6U, as in xxxvii. 39, lii. 9, and probably also in Isa. xxx. 2 and elsewhere);* a rockcastle, i. e. a castle upon a rock, would be called fiyn TO, reversing the order of the words, nyjp TO in lxxi. 3, a rock of habitation, i. e. of safe sojourn, fully warrants this interpretation. ilTOD, prop, specula, signifies a mountain height or the summit of a mountain; a house on the mountain height is one that is situated on some high mountain
* It can hardly be doubted, that, in opposition to the pointing a3 we have it, which only recognises one TtyD (lyi^ from HJJ, to be strong, there are two different substantives having this principal form, viz. ljJD a fortress, secure place, bulwark, which according to its derivation is inflected *$?.?• etc., and TtylJ equivalent to the Arabic ma'udh, a hiding-place, defence, refuge, which ought to have been declined "*Vr or >I?yD like the synonymous ''DUD (Olshausen § 201, 202). Mora t*y> t>Lfc j like non, of which it is the parallel word in Isa. xxx. J, means to hide one's self anywhere {Piel and Hiph., Hebrew r>n, according to the Kamus, Zamachshari and Neshwan: to hide any one,
e. g. Koran iii. 31); hence joLc, a plant that grows among bushes esh-shok accordingtothe.Kamus)orin the crevices of the rocks [fi-l-h according to Neshwan) and is thus inaccessible to the herds; £«X, gazelles that are invisible, i. e. keep hidden, for seven days after birth, also used of pieces of flesh of which part is bidden an
bones; sO«.r, an amulet with which a man covers himself [proUgit^
Consequently ItyO (formed like £>\juo, according to Neshwan top and affords a safe asylum (yid. on xviii. 3). The thought "shew me Thy salvation, for Thou art my Saviour", underlies the connection expressed by >3 in vers. 4 and bb. Koster considers it to be illogical, but it is the logic of every believing prayer. The poet prays that God would become to him, actu reflexo, that which to the actus directus of his faith He is even now. The futures in vers. 4, 5 express hopes which necessarily arise out of that which Jahve is to the poet. The interchangeable notions DPi-H and ^rtf, with which we are familiar from Ps. xxiii., stand side by side, in order to give urgency to the utterance of the longing for God's gentle and safe guidance. Instead of translating it "out of the net, which etc.," according to the accents (cf.x. 2, xii. 8) it should be rendered "out of the net there", so that "6 'OOtO is a relative clause without the relative.
Into the hand of this God, who is and will be all this to him, he commends his spirit; he gives it over into His hand as a trust or deposit (]Hj?D); for whatsoever is deposited there is safely kept, and freed from all danger and all distress. The word used is not ^DJ, which Theodotion substitutes when he renders it rrjv ejj.ai>Tou ^/Jiy TTl °Xi ^apa- Tt67]fn upo[X7j6£ta, but VTH; and this is used designedly. The language of the prayer lays hold of life at its root, as springing directly from God and as also living in the believer from God and in God; and this life it places under His protection, who is the true "life of all spirit-life (Isa. xxxviii. 16) and of all life. It is the language of prayer with which the dying Christ breathed forth His life, Luke xxiii. 46. The period of David's persecution by Saul is the most prolific in types of the Passion; and this language of prayer, which proceeded from the furnace of affliction through which David at that time passed, denotes, in the mouth of Christ, a crisis in the history of redemption in which the Old Testament receives its fulfilment. Like David, He commends His spirit to God; but not, that He may not die, but that dying He may not die, i. e. that He may receive back again His spirit-corporeal life, which is hidden in the hand of God, in imperishable power and glory. That which is so ardently desired and hoped for is regarded by him, who thus in faith commends himself to God, as having already taken place,
"Thou hast redeemed me, Jahve, God of truth." The perfect PinHQ is not used here, as in iv. 2, of that which is past, but of that which is already as good as past; it is not precative (Ew. § 223,&),but, like the perfects in vers. 8, 9, an expression of believing anticipation of redemption. It is the prcet. confidentice which is closely related to the prcet. prophet.; for the spirit of faith, like the spirit of the prophets, speaks of the future with historic certainty. In the notion of pDN btt it is impossible to exclude the reference to false gods which is contained in DEN TO, 2 Chron. xv. 3, since, in ver. 7, "vain illusions" are used as an antithesis. D^zn, ever since Deut. xxxii. 21, has become a favourite name for idols, and more particularly in Jeremiah (e. g. ch. viii. 19). On the other hand, according to the context, it may also not differ very greatly from HilDN bi<, Deut. xxxii. 4; since the idea of God as a depositary or trustee still influences the thought, and HEX and nJIB&jj are used interchangeably in other passages as personal attributes. We may say that ncx is being that lasts and verifies itself, and HjION is sentiment that lasts and verifies itself. Therefore TON ^N* is the God, who as the true God, maintains the truth of His revelation, and more especially of His promises, by a living authority or rule.
In ver. 7, David appeals to his entire and simple surrender to this true and faithful God: hateful to him are those, who worship vain images, whilst he, on the other hand, cleaves to Jahve. It is the false gods, which are called NUJ/'^iri, as beings without being, which are of no B vice to their worshippers and only disappoint their exp tations. Probably (as in v. 6) it is to be read Tn:2' with the LXX., Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic versions (Hitzi hi,
Olshausen, and others). In the text before us, which gi us no corrective Keri as in 2 Sam. xiv. 21, Ruth iv. 5, »JK1 is not an antithesis to the preceding clause, but to the member of that clause which immediately pri to
Jonah's psalm, ch.ii. 9, this is expressed by Nltf"^2i1 z*"—' in the present instance the Kal is used in the Bignifi observare, colere, as in llos. iv. 10, and ev< n in Pj rii.
18. In the waiting of service is included, accordio r to lix. 10, the waiting of trust. The word mjja which d< D fiducia fidei is usually construed with 3 of adhering to, or bv_ of resting upon; but here it is combined with bx of hanging on. The cohortatives in ver. 8 express intentions. Olshausen and Hitzig translate them as optatives: may I be able to rejoice; but this, as a continuation of ver. 7, seems less appropriate. Certain that he will be heard, he determines to manifest thankful joy for Jahve's mercy, that (T£;K as in Gen. xxxiv. 27) He has regarded (sirspXs^s, Luke i. 48) his affliction, that He has known and exerted Himself about his soul's distresses. The construction 3 JHJ, in the presence of Gen. xix. 33, 35, Job xii. 9, xxxv. 15, cannot be doubted (Hupfeld); it is more significant than the expression "to know of anything"; 3 is like stu in im*yiYva>oxsiv used of the perception or comprehensive knowledge, which grasps an object and takes possession of it, or makes itself master of it. T-JDn, ver. 9, oopiXstsiv, as in 1 Sam. xxiii. 11 (in the mouth of David) is so to abandon, that the hand of another closes upon that which is abandoned to it, i. e. has it completely in its power. 3ITV2, as in xviii. 20, cf. xxvi. 12. The language is David's, in which the language of the Tora, and more especially of Deuteronomy (xxxii. 30, xxiii. 16), is re-echoed.
Vers. 10 — 14. After the paean before victory, which he has sung in the fulness of his faith, in this second part of the Psalm (with groups, or strophes, of diminishing compass: 6. 5. 4) there again breaks forth the petition, based upon the greatness of the suffering which the psalmist, after having strengthened himself in his trust in God, now all the more vividly sets before Him. ^>""1S, angustum est mihi, as in lxix. 18, cf. xviii. 7. Ver. 10& is word for word like vi. 8, except that in this passage to *yg, the eye which mirrors the state of suffering in which the sensuous perception and objective receptivity of the man are concentrated, are added tffij, the soul forming the nexus of the spirit and the body, and)t03, the inward parts of the body reflecting the energies and feelings of the spirit and the soul. CTI, with which is combined the idea of the organic intermingling of the powers of soul and body, has the predicate in the plural, as in lxxxviii. 4. The fact that the poet makes mention of his iniquity as that by which his physical strength has become tottering (butS as in Neh. iv. 4), is nothing surprising even in a Psalm that belongs to the time of his persecution by Saul; for the longer this persecution continued, the more deeply must David have felt that he needed this furnace of affliction.
The text of ver. 12ab upon which the LXX. rendering is based, was just the same as ours: tsj/A rJrnac, to-j; ky()yy'jz (xoo b{zv'ffir^ ovcioo;, xal zoic, yetxoat {xou acpoopa xal cpoPo? to:;
"(vcoaxot; [xou. But this ocpoopa (Jerome nimis) would certainly only be tolerable, if it could be rendered, "I am become a reproach even to my neighbours exceedingly" — in favour of this position of "ftp we might compare Judges xii. 2, — and this rendering is not really an impossible one; for not only has \ frequently the sense of "even" as in 2 Sam. i. 23, but (independently of passages, in which it may even be explained as "and that", an expression which takes up what has been omitted, as in Amos iv. 10) it sometimes has this meaning direct (like xai, et = etiam), Isa. xxxii. 7, Hos. viii. 6 (according to the accents), 2 Chron. xxvii. 5, Eccl. v. 5 (cf. Ew. § 352, b). Inasmuch, however, as this usage, in Hebrew, was not definitely developed, but was only as it were just developing, it may be asked whether it is not possible to find a suitable explanation without having recourse to this rendering of the) as equivalent to q, a rendering which is always hazardous. Olshausen places yrt&6l after >jnw, a change which certainly gets rid of all difficulty. Hitzig alt nftp into -|20, frightened, scared. But one naturally looks for' a parallel substantive to PiETl, somewhat Like Bterr (Syriac) or "burden". Still ftio (dread) and rN~": (a burd do not look as though 1ND could be a corruption of either of those words. Is it not perhaps possible foriNO il be equivalent in meaning to fWO? Since in the signification o<p68pa it is so unsuited to this passage, the expression would not be ambiguous, if it were here used in
J. D. Michaelis has even compared the Arabic j>.: in the sense of onus. We can, without the hesitation I Maurer and Hupfeld, suppose thai 1NO baa indeed this m< ingin this passage;, and without any Dece8sity for pointed "ftc; for even the adverb ifczj ia originally a substantive derived from "11K, o! (after the form 1)20 from TO) gravitas, firmitas, which is then used in the sense of graviter, firmiter (cf. the French ferme). TN, of, however, has the radical signification to be compressed, compact, firm, and solid, from which proceed the significations, which are divided between dda,jaidu, and ada, jaudu, to be strong, powerful, and to press upon, to burden, both of which meanings
The number of opponents that David had, at length made him a reproach even in the eyes of the better disposed of his people, as being a revolter and usurper. Those among whom he found friendly shelter began to feel themselves burdened by his presence because they were thereby imperilled; and we see from the sad fate of Abimelech and the other priests of Nob what cause, humanly speaking, they, who were not merely slightly, but even intimately acquainted with him (d^td as in lv. 14, lxxxviii. 9, 19), had for avoiding all intercourse with him. Thus, then, he is like one dead, whom as soon as he is borne out of his home to the grave, men are wont, in general, to put out of mind also (rGBft 2^0, oblivione extingui ex corde; cf. PlE)£j Deut. xxxi. 21). All intimate connection with him is as it were sundered, he is become "CK,!?D2, — a phrase, which, as we consider the confirmation which follows in ver. 14, has the sense of vas periens (not vas perdilum), a vessel that is in the act of TDK, i. e. one that is set aside or thrown away, being abandoned to utter destruction and no more cared for (cf. Hos. viii. 8, together with Jer. xlviii. 38, and Jer. xxii. 28). With id he gives the ground for his comparison of himself to a household vessel that has become worthless. The insinuations and slanders of many brand him as a transgressor, dread surrounds him on every side (this is word for word the same as in Jer. xx. 10, where the prophet, with whom in other passages also IT2EO lUo is a frequent and standing formula, under similar circumstances uses the language of the psalmist); when they come together to take counsel concerning him (according to the accents the second half of the verse begins with C^DirD), they think only how they may get rid of him. If the construction of 2 with its infinitive were intended to be continued in ver. lid, it would have been »#QJ mpb 1D071 or
Vers. 15 — 19. But, although a curse of the world and an offscouring of all people, he is confident in God, his Deliverer and Avenger. By ljfcfl prominence is given to the subject by way of contrast, as in ver. 7. It appears as though Jahve had given him up in His anger; but he confides in Him, and in spite of this appearance, he even confides in Him with the prayer of appropriating faith. nsP>? or ctv (1 Chron. xxix. 30) are the appointed events and circumstances, the vicissitudes of human life; like the Arabic 'iddt (like r\V from lyi), the appointed rewards and punishments. The times, with whatsoever they bring with them, arein the Lord's hand, every lot is of His appointment or sending. The Vulgate follows the LXX., in manibus tuis sortes mece. The petitions of vers. 16&, 17, spring from this consciousness that the almighty and faithful hand of God has moulded his life. There are three petitions; the middle one is an echo of the Aaronitish blessing in Num. vi. 25. *pHJOp '3, which gives the ground of his hope that he shall not be put to shame (cf. ver. 2), is to be understood like iFHDK in ver. 15, according to Ges. § 126, 3. The expression of the ground for n£i2N"^>N, favours the explanation of it not so much as the language of petition (let me not be ashamed) as of hope. The futures which follow might be none the less regarded as optatives, but the order of the words does not require this. And we prefer to take them as expressing hope, so that the three petitions in vers. 10, 17, correspond to the thj hopes in vers. 18, 19. He will not be ashamed, but the wicked shall be ashamed and silenced for ever. The form 101% from CE1, is, as in Jer. viii. 14, the plural of the fut. Kal C'-P, withthe doubling of the first radical, which is customary in Aramaic (other examples of which we have in TJT, Dfcr;, err), not of the/ut. Niph. DT, the plural ofwhi would be id?, as in 1 Sam. ii. 9; conticescere in orcum equivalent to: to be silent, i. e. being made powerl sa to fall a prey to hades. It is only in accordance with the conn tion, that in this instance c\x:,vrr. 19, just like CD1 that which is forcibly laid upon them by the judicial in! vention of God: all lying lips shall be dumb, i. c made dumb.