6s CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF Alfred C. Barnes / Cornell University Library %S1430 .C53 1895 Book of Psffls : or The P^^^^^^^^^^ olln 3 1924 029 297 301 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029297301 THE BOOK OF PSALMS THE BOOK OF PSALMS THE PRAISES OF ISRAEL A NEIV TRANSLATION, WITH COMMENTARY REV. T. K. CHEYNE, M.A. D.D. ORIEL PROFESSOR OF THE INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE AT OXFORD CANON OF ROCHESTER NEW YORK ^ \ ', THOMAS WHITTAKER S-^ \ \ THE BOOK OF PSALMS THE PRAISES OF ISRAEL A NEW TRANSLATION, WITH COMMENTARY BY THE REV. T. K. CHEYNE, M.A. D.D. ORIEL PROFESSOR OF THE INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE AT OXFORD CANON OF ROCHESTER NEW YORK THOMAS WHITTAKER 189s ^^ s ■*?' I^'\ TO PROF. FRANZ DELITZSCH IN ADMIRATION OF NOBLE SERVICES TO SCHOLARSHIP AND THE CHURCH AND IN GRATITUDE FOR THE PRIVILEGE OF HIS FRIENDSHIP INTRODUCTION. THE NATURE OF THIS NEW VERSION OF THE PSALMS, AND ITS JUSTIFI- CATION IN CERTAIN PERMANENT WANTS OF THE EDUCATED READER — HOW THOSE WANTS WERE SATISFIED IN THE REFORMATION PERIOD AND AFTERWARDS— EMENDATION OF THE TEXT, WHY AND HOW RESORTED TO — THE SPIRIT OF THE PRESENT COMMENTARY — THE ALTERNATIVE TITLE EXPLAINED — THE DIVISIONS OF THE PSALTER — THE DOXOLOGIES OR SUBSCRIPTIONS— THE TITLES OR SUPERSCRIP- TIONS — EWALD'S CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT — EWALD CHARAC- TERISED. Later than I hoped, but sooner than I have sometimes feared, comes this fresh contribution to the study of the Hagiographa ; the enforced delay, however painful, may at least have added somewhat to the maturity of the book. I need scarcely say that it would have been impossible to cover the whole subject of the Psalms in a single volume. I made it my object, therefore, to diminish the amount of necessary exposition by bestowing special care on the clearness of the transla- tion, reserving the higher criticism and the consideration of psalm- theology for another occasion. Circumstances led me, uncertain whether I should proceed further, to prepare a translation first, and to accept the offer of my publishers to include it in the Parchment Library. That translation is here repeated, with numerous cor- rections which do not, I trust, materially affect the style. Where a literary as well as a scholarly standard has been aimed at, it is desirable to exercise caution in alteration. For the friendly reception accorded to my version of 1884 on both sides of the Atlantic, I can but express mingled surprise and gratitude. It confirms me in the belief that the careful but still in many respects somewhat antique Revised Version does not sufificiently reveal to the educated reader the thoughtful, radiant beauty of Hebrew poetry. That he has not been uncared for by the Revisers is indeed evident ; a Revision merely viii THE PSALMS intended for use in churches, or for simple, uneducated readers, would have contained far fewer modifications and innovations. But his wants could only be satisfied by (to quote Dr. De Witt's words) 'inde- pendent, individual effort,' and the Revision Company had neither individuality nor independence. It is of course true— and most happily true— that no single translator, however independent, could fully meet the demands of educated Bible-readers. Next to fidelity, he is bound to cultivate ease and clearness of expression ; otherwise, instead of meaning too much, his version will certainly to the common ear and eye mean too litde. But he has also to warn the reader that the waters which run so clear are deep, and that it is often difficult to determine between different interpretations of some group of words, or different forms of a single vague idea, the key to which must be derived from the context, not to speak here of the frequent uncertainty of the text. It is possible to do this by marginal notes, with or without comment ; but evidently the reader can judge best of the effect of a different rendering by seeing it in a continuous version. One cannot therefore too strongly recommend the com- parison of such careful independent versions of the Psalter as those of Kay, Perowne, and De Witt, to which may be joined Reuss' French translation, and this not only from the point of view of literature, but from that of devotion. For I fear that there is too much truth in the late Professor Brewer's remark that the present generation, almost too familiar with the Church-versions, ' has broken down the strong meaning of his (David's) words into the devotional dust of vague generalities.' The two pleas which I have urged for independent translations of the Psalter — viz. their superior intelligibility and their devotional helpfulness — were, I suppose, advanced long since in the Reformation period. So at least I can better account for the constant popularity among the educated classes of Greek and Latin metrical versions of the Psalter, at least in the lands of the Reformation (for at Rome there were those who compared such classicized Psalters to ' seed com- mitted to the arid- sand,' the ' sand ' being not the classic but the Hebrew element^). We may observe in the first place that the modern literary style did but slowly develope ; to many educated persons the classic tongues seemed alone to furnish a worthy mould for the ' H. Stephanus, Liber Psalmorum Davidis cum Cathol. Exposii, EcclesiasHcA (Par. 1562), quoted by Tholuck. INTRODUCTION IX poetry of Zion. To us indeed the idea of Homeric and Virgilian grafts on the Davidic stock is an assthetic offence, and it is rightly regarded as one of the merits of Herder that, unlike the ' elegant ' Lowth, he forgot his Horace and ^schylus when he read David and Job. But if even Lowth was blind to this late-discovered law of good taste, can we wonder that in the previous century a greater scholar than either Lowth or Herder (J. Spencer, author of De Legibus HebreBorurri) called the Cambridge professor Duport's Meta- phrasis'va. Homeric verse (Lond. 1674) ' golden,' and that earlier still the friend of the author of the Faerie Queene delightedly asks — ^ ' \\Tiat Festivall Hymnes so divinely dainty as the swete Psalmes of King David, royally translated by Buchanan ' ? Certain at least it is, that these pseudo-classic works served a good purpose in their day. They promoted the enjoyment of the Psalms as continuous poems and artistic wholes — an enjoyment too seldom known to Bible-readers in our own time. My next observation may to some appear stranger, but I cannot help making it. These faulty and hybrid compositions were true helps to piety and kindled the flame of devotion. The frequent use of the Church-versions was even then seen to have its dangers ; ' devotional dust ' was no support for faith in those rough times of persecution. Personal edification was Olympia Morata's motive for translating the Psalms into Greek verse in 1552, and religious interests dictated the retention of Buchanan's Psalms in Scottish and in some English schools. As late even as 1722 we find a Scottish gentleman (Sir Patrick Hume, of Polwarth) declaring that this Psalter, which he could repeat from end to end, had been his comfort by night and by day, and most of all when, like the royal psalmist, he had been hunted into dark hiding- places.^ He was among the last of a good old school, brought up to value most in religion a strong and direct faith, and nourished intel- lectually on the lucid clearness of the classic models. To us the same escape from the combined familiarity and obscurity of the Church - versions is offered by translations such as I have mentioned, to which I venture diffidently to add my own in its present revised form. I trust that I need not defend myself for deviating so often from ' Gabriel Harvey, Foure Letters and certaine Sonnets, 1592, p. 48. (There is a copy of this curious work in the Bodleian. ) 2 See quotation in Ker's The Psalms in History and Biography, p. 182. X THE PSALMS the Massoretic text. I agree with an old commentator on Isaiah, earnestly commended to me by the late Dr. Pusey (alas ! at twenty- one, I found his noble work too voluminous)— need I mention the name of Vitringa ?—' Prsestat dicere, si res ita sit, nos sensum Vatis non perspicere, quam dura et voluntaria ei impingere. Yes, 'voluntaria'— that is the right word. Those who, out of simple conscientiousness, emend the Hebrew text are ofttimes accused of ' subjectivity.' The term is then used in a bad sense ; but I think that a subjectivity which forms and disciplines and tests itself by critical methods and canons is nothing to be ashamed of Where long reflexion has convinced me that the mutilations of time have rendered exegesis impossible, I have either left a blank in my version, or else sought for a worthy rendering, based upon some natural emendation. The critical notes, which, out of regard for my readers and my printers, I have limited to the most essential points, will, I hope, account for my innovations. Of the commentary proper, much need not be said here. This too could easily have been expanded into twice the size ; it would then perhaps have been easier reading. Delitzsch has somewhere remarked that the Oriental writer reckons largely on the intellectual cooperation of his reader, and that even Oriental commentaries them- selves need commentaries. I trust that there is not an unpardonable amount of this Orientalism in my book, though I confess that I think it no hardship myself to work on a good commentary. Some fair products of Christian scholarship there are which it is an education both for head and for heart to read. And though this book falls far short of its ideal, yet of one thing those who work at it may be assured — that it has been written from love, and contains nothing which the author has not found helpful to himself He has enjoyed this Book of Praises alike for its poetry, for its critical and exegetical problems, and for its rich historical and religious significance. The messages which, both in dark days and in bright, it has borne to him, he has endeavoured to hand on to others. He does not therefore compete with his predecessors, nor seek to supplant them. The Psalm-country is wide and full of interest ; each traveller may see something fresh, though not without toil and preparation. I know that it is also a ' holy land.' Thou, Jehovah, art the Holy One, Enthroned upon the praises of Israel. INTRODUCTION xi These Spirit-taught utterances of the heart can, Hke the ' throne- bearing ' cherubim, at any moment bring Him nigh : thus I venture to paraphrase the passage. I know and feel this. The Psalter is a Bible within the Bible, and has the twofold sacredness of its origin and its associations. I have lost no fair opportunity of showing my sense of this ; or rather, as I hope, a fragrant breath from the hills has followed me throughout. I have not said everything, however ; this is virtually the first volume of a treatise on the Psalms. Will the reader kindly remember this, and accept me as a sympathetic guide to the outermost part of the meaning of this deep Book ? Before passing on, I would offer a few indispensable hints on some technical points. And first, let me account for the alternative title ' The Praises of Israel.' One cannot, I think, be very grateful for the awkward foreign word Psalm, which conveys no definite mean- ing to the English reader, and which we owe to the old Latin version based upon the Septuagint. With the Greek-speaking Jews it was otherwise; i/.aX/ios (="iiOtt?, Syr. mazmiira^) gave them a truthful though not a complete description of the nature of the poems in this Book, which are in fact songs or poems set to music (and partly at least to the music of stringed instruments) for use in the temple and the synagogue.^ In like manner, iiaXrhpi-ov (properly a stringed instrument described by St. Augustine on Ps. xxxii. ; cf tht psante'rin of the Book of Daniel) is a metaphorical expression for the collection of such songs or poems : the idiom is well reproduced by Bythner in the title of his. once popular analysis of the Psalms called Lyra Davidis. But even if 'psalm' expressed more to us than it does, there is a title of this precious book which throws a brighter light upon its contents, and which is therefore even more preferable to the Greek title than Koheleth is to Ecclesiastes. The Jews in fact called the Psalter by ' The Arabic word zah^ir, used in the Koran (see Sur. iv. 6l, xxi. 105) for the Psalter, may, perhaps, be a mutilated form of mazMr = maznfUr, and so be virtually an Aramaic loan-word. More probably it was used in this sense by Mohammed on account of its resemblance to mazm^r, but was really derived from a S. Semitic root zabara ' to write,' whence also comes zubur ' Scriptures ' (Sur. iii. 181). Comp. T. Fra.enke\, Die aram. Fremdworterim AraUschen^LeiAen, 1886), p. 248. ^ Strictly speaking, of course, liDtp and i(ioA.;nbi mean the music to which the song C^^^ aSi) was set. This distinction is clearly expressed by Gregory of Nyssa, quoted by Delitzsch (Psalms, E. T., i. 132). Xll THE PSALMS the expressive title ' praises ' or 'songs of praise ' ' — a^'pn!^ (shortened into Qijin or, with the Aramaic termination, J»^p). This is attested for the third century a.d. by Hippolytus (ed. Lagarde, p. i88), 'EjSpaJot TTcpdypaxl^avrrjv /3ij3\ov%e(ppa dtXeifi ; ^ and Jerome after him, in the preface to his own translation of the Psalter, says, ' Titulus ipse hebraeicus, Sephear Theallim, quod interpretatur volumen hymnorum.' The Talmudic writers too draw attention to the eucharistic element as the most essential in the book. Obviously the name is pre- Talmudic, though of a date long subsequent to the return from the Exile. The long post-Exile period had many vicissitudes ; but this title could only have been given when the circumstances of the Church-nation were such as to inspire jubilant thanksgiving — some part of the age of the Ptolemies naturally suggests itself. But is the title an appropriate one for the earlier psalms ? Yes ; for the sympa- thetic reader cannot fail to notice an 'Undertone of praise even in the more melancholy psalms. Ps. Ixxxviii. is the solitary exception. The reason of this is clear. It is a foundation-truth with all good Israelites that, as one psalmist expresses it, Jehovah upholds all them that fall, and lifts up all them that are bowed down (cxlv. 14) ; or, to quote a passage from a less joyous psalm specially dear to the greatest of Christian poets (Dante, Farad, xxv. 73-75), And they that know thy name will trust in thee, since thou, Jehovah, forsakest not those that enquire after thee (ix. 11). It is possible indeed that an earlier title for the liturgical songs of the Israelites was ni^SPI or ' prayers ' (see Ixxii. 20, where the Septua- gint narrows the meaning too much ^ by rendering 01 ^/ivot). But, considering that the title 'praises' or 'songs of praise' comes to us recommended by the authority and religious experience of centuries, ' A synon)nnous title for the Psalter, which won favour as containing the most sacred Name, was Hallelujah {Midrash Tillim, u. I, cited by Fiirst, Der JCanon, &c., p. 65). In a narrower sense, eight (or in the Sept. fifteen) psalms may be called Hallelujah psalms (from their titles), and in a. still stricter sense the five last psalms in the Book are technically so termed. 2 Eusebius, quoting Hippolytus' list of books, gives the title 2(f)ap9e\A.ei|a (Burton's text). ' See on xlii. 9, and note that the famous liturgical forms known from their earlier number as ' the eighteen ' are called collectively the TefiUah (' prayer '), though the concluding Benedictions might give them a claim to be called the Tehillah ( ' praise '). TefiUah occurs in the heading of five psalms— xvii., Ixxxvi., xc, cii. cxlii. INTRODUCTION XIU and that even the great Sufferer in the Psalm-book speaks of the historic, self-revealing God as ' enthroned upon the praises of Israel ' (Ps. xxii. 4), we shall do well to accustom ourselves to the intelligent use of the title D^priri or ' praises,' and to make it a rule of our exegesis to look out in every psalm for an element of praise. I therefore describe the Psalter as a collection of the liturgical forms in which, 'in trouble and in joy,' the Jewish Church embodied its praiseful prayers and prayerful praises. On the division of the Psalter (or Praise-book) St. Jerome has some interesting remarks in the Preface from which I have already quoted. ' Scio quosdam putare Psalterium in quinque libros esse divisum, ut, ubicumque apud LXX. interpretes scriptum est yivoiro yevoiro, id est fiat fiat, finis librorum sit, pro quo in hebraso legitur amen amen. Nos autem hebraeorum auctoritatem sequuti et maxime apostolorum, qui semper in Novo Testamento Psalmorum Hbrum nominant, unum volumen asserimus.' In spite of the father of Christian Biblical criticism, it is worth while to emphasize the fivefold division of the Psalter, as a fact of some historical significance. The antiquity of the arrangement is attested by the presence of the very same formulae which in our Hebrew text close the first four books (see xli. 14, Ixxii. 19, Ixxxix. 53, cvi. 48) in the Septuagint version. It is possible, and I think even probable, that the development of a fivefold out of an earlier fourfold division was held to be justified by the analogy of the Pentateuch This theory is expressed in the third century in a remark of Hippo- lytus, — TovTO (re fJ)) TrapiXdoi, (3 (j>i\6icaXe, on Kal to ^aXriipiov tig wei'TS CieiXov (iijiXia oi 'Efipaiot, Aare tlvdi koX wuto a\Xy]v TrtvT&Tevxov (ap. Epiphan., De Pond, et Mens. c. 5). Similarly the Midrash Tillim, referred to above, in its introductory comparison of the sweetest of singers with the great legislator, points out that ' Moses gave them (the Israelites) the five fifths (i.e. parts) of the Law, and correspond- ing to these David gave them the book of Tehillim ('praises') in which are five books.' The remark is a suggestive one ; it seems to mean this — that the Praise-book is the answer of the worshipping com- munity to the demands made by its Lord in the Torah, the reflexion of the external standard of faith and obedience in the utterance of the believing heart. May we venture to go a step further, and say with Gratz that not xiv THE PSALMS only the number of the books but also that of the several Psalms (150) in the Psalter was arranged on the analogy of the Pentateuch? It is a well-known fact that the Law was divided into as many Sedarim (or ' orderings ') as would occupy those Sabbaths which did not coincide with a festival in a cycle of three years.' The number of the Sedarim is variously given as 154 (so Jacob ben-Khayim in the Massora, though he only enumerates 153), 167, and 175 j^ and there is no reasonable doubt that at any rate the lowest of these numbers was influenced by considerations based upon the calendar. But is there any proof that lessons were taken from the Psalter in the synagogue-worship* even in 44 A.D., which Gratz boldly gives as the approximate date of the Septuagint version of the Psalms (our earliest evidence as to the number 150) ? Has it even been ascertained that the three years' cycle of Pentateuch lessons is as old as the Septuagint Psalter (upon any view as to the date of this version) ? Certainly if we could answer the latter question in the affirmative, we might plausibly suppose that the number 154 of the Pentateuch Sedarim, partly influenced those who brought out the number of 150 psalms. Both in Palestine and in Alexandria, great importance seems to have been attached to this number. On the main point the two great churches were agreed ; but the Greek-speaking Jews united our psalms ix. and x., and cxiv. and cxv., which involved dividing our psalms cxvi. and cxlvii. In Palestine, however, there were some who counted only 147 psalms, ' according to the number of the years of Jacob.' ■* This meant uniting Psalms i. and ii. (David's favourite psalms, it was said, begin and end with nCN), xlii. and xliii., Ixx. and Ixxi. Kimchi, combining Psalms cxiv. and cxv., makes 149, a reckoning which also frequently occurs in both Karaite and Rabbanite MSS. Next, as to the subscriptions of the first four books (excluding Ixxii. 20 for a special reason '). To us they may serve no other purpose ' The three years' cycle (for which see Megilla 29 b) continued in some syna- gogues as late as the times of Maimonides and Benjamin of Tudela (Zunz, Die gottesdienstlicken Vortrdge, p. 410, note a). ^ See, besides Zunz, ibid., p. 4, Theodor in Gratz's Monatsschrift, 1887, p. 361. Gratz {Die Psalmen, i. 9) speaks of 150 sections of the Pentateuch, but I know not on what authority. ' See Herzfeld, Geschichte des Volkes Jisrael, iii. 216, and comp. Acts xiii. IS. 27- * (Talm. Jerus.) Shabbaih, u. 16, Midrash Tillim, c. 104, and other references in Fiirst, Der Kanon, &c., p. 71. ' Missing the fact that Ixxii. 20 is a subscription to a whole group of psalms INTRODUCTION XV than that of ' boundary-stones ' (Delitzsch) ; but properly speaking they are liturgical doxologies, as appears from the fact that in i Chron. xvi. 35, 36 the doxology in Ps. cvi. 48 (together with v. 47) is attached to the artificial psalm which precedes, with introductory invitation to the worshippers ' and say ye,' and that in Neh. ix. 5 the Levites summon the congregation to ' bless Jehovah their God from everlast- ing to everlasting.' A Talmudic tradition illustrates this. It states that to every benediction a response was uttered by the congregation which in the temple took this form : ' Blessed for ever be the name of the glory of his kingdom,' and elsewhere consisted of a simple 'Amen.' ' It is certainly strange that these liturgical doxologies should only occur at the end of four particular psalms, especially if we consider the fond- ness of the later Jews for benediction-formulae ; and it is one of Gratz's more probable conjectures that a benediction was usual at the end of every psalm, though to save space the scribes only wrote it at the end of Books I. -IV. This will account for the doxology appended to a composition in i Chron. xvi. mainly drawn from Psalms cv. and xcvi., which have no benediction either in the Hebrew or in the Greek text. It would seem, too, though further evidence is desirable, that the psalms were sometimes designated Berakhoth or ' benedictions.' ^ On the subject of the titles or superscriptions, I hope to write else- where. So far as they relate to the music of the psalms, we may perhaps assume that they come neither from the age of the national independence, nor yet from that of the Greek dominion, but mainly from the beginning of the Persian period, when Ezra and Nehemiah so systematically reorganised the temple-services. So far as they relate to the authorship of the psalms, we may refer them partly to that and partly to a later period. They represent, as I have said elsewhere, ' traditional opinions of ancient critical schools — opinions, however, which were not universally held, as the Hebrew headings do not altogether agree with those in the ancient versions. At an earlier day much labour was rather unprofitably spent in defending the Davidic authorship of psalms transparently non-Davidic. An opposite tendency now prevails. Of the three most distinguished (see note), Calvin actually supposes that Ps. Ixxii. is the last prayer of David put into a poetical form by Solomon. ' (Talm. Jerus.) Berakhoth, 14 c ; (Talm. Bab.) Taanith, 16 b. '' SeeGratz, ' Die Doxologien in den V&oXxwtn,' in his Monatsschriftior 1872, pp. 481-496 ; but comp. Perowne, The Psalms, i. 73, ii. 267. a XVI THE PSALMS recent critics, Ewald acknowledges only 1 1 entire psalms and some fragments of psalms as Davidic, Hitzig 14, and Delitzsch 44. All of these agree as to the Davidic authorship of Psalms iii., iv., vii., viii., xi., xviii., xix. 1-7, and two out of three as to that of Psalms ix., x., xii., xiii., xv.-xviii., xix. 8-14, xxiv., xxix., xxxii., ci. Kuenen, however, will admit no Davidic psalms, though Davidic passages may perhaps have been inserted. In any case, it is quite certain that there are none in the last three books, and the probability is that Ewald's is the most conservative view of the headings at present tenable.' Need I add that I merely record his position without either endorsing it ' or attaching any special weight to his authority ? ' Non enim me cuiquam eman- cipavi ; nullius nomen fero : multum magnorum virorum judicio credo, aliquid et meo vindico. Nam illi quoque non inventa, sed quaerenda nobis reliquerunt.' ^ I am in no other sense a disciple of Ewald than that in which Biblical scholars generally must continue to be so, as long as lofty ideals and noble achievements are had in honour. A recent American writer on the Psalms has called Ewald ' the great denier : ' the expression is singularly ill-chosen ; Ewald is much more moderate in denying than in asserting. Especially is this the case in his chronological rearrangement of the Psalms (first published in 1839), which might have been less defective if Ewald had not attempted it so early in his career. We must not therefore accept his contribu- tions to the conservative side of psalm-criticism without a careful test- ing ; as a critic, he stands decidedly higher in his other works. And yet how much may be learnt even from this premature attempt ! How much of permanent value it contains ! With the hasty assertions how much solid truth is intermingled ! And passing from the critical sphere, how precious upon the whole are its exegetical qualities i What a distinct view of the connexion of thought, and above all what a lively emotional sympathy with the psalmists ! This indeed is a characteristic which Ewald has in common with the accomplished scholar to whom this volume is dedicated, and it comes from that personal religious experience which alone can qualify any one to be a sympathetic interpreter of the Old Testament saints.^ May I not ' Comp. Parcimient Library Psalms, Inlrod., pp. xi.-xvi. AH that can be said for a more conservative view than Ewald's will be found in Delitzsch, or more clearly expressed in Perowne. '^ Seneca, Ep. ad Lucil, xlv. ' See ' Franz Delitzsch,' by Prof. Salmond, Expositor, 1886 (i), pp. 456-471, and 'The Life and Works of Heinrich Ewald,' by the present writer, ibid,, 1886 (2), pp. 241-265, 361-376. INTRODUCTION XVU then on this ground couple the preceding caution with an equally emphatic statement of Ewald's claims not only upon our admiration but upon our reverence? We need not adopt his or any man's chronology of tlie Psalter, but we may obtain from him the secret of the reconciliation of faith and criticism, and so like him maintain our spiritual ardour amidst the coldest and driest philological analysis. Would that the serene atmosphere which envelopes his best exegetical and historical work had more completely penetrated his outward life ! Would that his spiritual development had been less tragically inter- rupted ! We may learn many a lesson from the imperfections of our best teachers. But I must pause : we have lingered long enough in the vestibule. Let us now press on with alert minds and uplifted hearts into the sanctuary of the 'praises of Israel.' Notice. — Asterisks in the translation indicate either that an incurable corrup- tion is suspected in the Hebrew text, or that words appear to have dropped out which cannot even conjecturally be supplied. When, however, such words can be conjecturally restored the English equivalent is generally enclosed in square brackets. THE PSALMS. BOOK I. PSALM I. It is itientioned in the Talmud {Berakhoth, g b) that Psalms i. and ii. form a single Parasha ; and this was formerly the case in many more Hebrew MSS. than at present (Euthymius, in Wettstein on Acts xiii. 33). According to another arrangement in some MSS. of the Hebrew text and of Sept. this psalm is not Ps. i., but simply a prologue. Originally, it would seem, it was prefatory to Books I. and II. The date of the psalm is therefore specially important ; it is unwise to decide too hastily, on the ground of the parallelism of vv. 3, 4 and Jer. xvii. 5-8, that the psalm must have been written not later than the age of Jeremiah. 1 Happy the man that has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly,. nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the company of scoffers ! 2 But in the law of Jehovah is his delight, and on his law meditates he day and night. 3 For he is like a tree planted by water-courses, that brings forth its fruit in due season, and whose leaf withers not ; and whatever he does, makes he to prosper. 4 Not so are the ungodly, but they are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the ungodly cannot stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For Jehovah takes knowledge of the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly perishes. I Happy. Lit., ' O the happi- righteous man. So Moses before ness (or, good fortune) of;' not his death exclaims, 'Happy art 'blessed' (the word in Jer. xvii. 7) thou, O Israel' (Deut. xxxiii. 29). — to quote Carlyle's famous dis- The external rewards of righteous- tinction (De Witt) is not in point. ness will sooner or later be assigned The psalmist, standing aside like a (^ashrS implies this even in xxxii. i, Greek chorus, congratulates the 2, xciv. 12) ; one of the leading E THE PSALMS ideas of the psalmists, and natu- rally put forward in the prologue. May we not add that the ' generous universal invocation of all nature' which forms the envoi of the Psalter supplies a necessary balance to this heart-searching announcement ? — That bas not walked, &c. In this and the two next clauses both verbs and nouns have by many been regarded as forming a climax — by Ibn Ezra and Kimchi not less than Hitzig and Delitzsch. Hup- feld and Hengstenberg, however, take the clauses as synonymously parallel, and there is no adequate reason against this, which is the simpler view. Three forms of a corrupting association with the wicked are delicately distinguished (cf Judg. V. lo, ' ye that ride . . . sit . . . walk ') : for the first, cf Mic. vi. i6, Jer. vii. 24 ; for the second, Prov. iv. 14 ; for the third, xxvi. 4, 5, Jer. xv. 17. Tlie un- irodly. Whatever be the root- meaning of rasha', the word is cer- tainly the opposite of qaddiq. If the latter means ' one who adheres strictly to the divine rule or stan- dard,' the former signifies ' one who neglects this rule or standard.' In Proverbs and Job, it is clearly used of anyone who, at the bidding of his passions, violates the divinely appointed laws of ordinary mo- rality ; the wise men had reached that distinction between the ritual and the purely moral which was obscured again when the lawbook became predominant. There is con- sequently no occasion (except in Ps. cxix.) to assign to rasha}, ' the ungodly,' the sense which da-ffifis has in Josephus and avofios in i Mace, viz. 'one unfaithful to the true religion.' Sometimes, however, it means 'heathen enemy' (see on iii. 8). Company (as cvii. 32), al- most = ' club-meeting.' ' Seat ' (De Witt) seems too literal ; cf. Ar. mejlis ' social gathering ' (prop. ' seat '). Scoffers. The only place in the Psalms where this word leqlm occurs. In Prov. it is fre- quent in the sense of one who de- spises that which is holy, and avoids the company of the nobler ' wise men,' but yet in his own vain way seeks for truth : his character is marked by arrogance, as that of the wise is characterised by devout caution (suXa^cia) ; see Prov. xiv. 16, xxi. 24, and cf _/o6 and Solomon, pp. 119, 151. To the psalmist, as to the author of Prov. xxx. 5, the volume of revelation is sufficient for all the legitimate needs of human reason. 2 But In tlie law, &c. The 'law' itora) may here include the prophets (including the prophetico- historical books) as well as the Pentateuch ; tora, in fact, before the time of Malachi, is generally used of the revelations of God's will made through the prophets (cf The Prophecies of Isaiah, ed. 3, i. 6). In later Jewish literature, where nothing is said to the contrary, tora means the collection of canonical writings (see Sanhedrin, 90 b). Comp. Ecclus. xxxix. i, ' But he that giveth his mind to the law of the Most High and meditates thereon, will seek out the wisdom of all the ancients, and be occupied in pro- phecies.' I presume, however, that our psalmist would have placed all other books second in rank to the ' law ' properly so called, in the spirit of Josh. i. 8. 3 See the fuller description in Jer. xvii. 8, and comp. the appli- cation made in Pirke Abhoth, iii. 17. For he Is. So our language requires us to render. Part of the meaning of a Hebrew clause has to be gathered from the context, and it is clear that v. 3 unfolds the meaning of the /laKapwiJios in w. i ; the explanatory particle 'for' is therefore justified. But the Hebrew, through the 'vav consecutive,' states something else, which in English we should leave to be inferred. The literal rendering is. So he becomes (viz. as a consequence of studying the Law), and this is adopted by De Witt. like a tree, &c. The writer tacitly forbids us to speciaHse ; he implies a garden with 'trees of all kind of fruit' (Eccles. ii. 5), such as the vine PSALM I. (Ezek. xix. lo), the palm (Ps. xcii. 12, 13), the pomegranate (Cant. vi. 7), and the apple (Cant. ii. 3). Mohammed is equally vague ; ' Seest thou not to what God liken- eth a good word [the preaching of Islam] ? To a good tree ; its root firmly fixed, and its branches in the heaven : yielding its fruit in all seasons by the will of its Lord' (Kordn, xiv. 29). The psalmist's application of the figure is not so very different from Mohammed's ; the life of his happy man is one in which the good word of the Law has taken form. By water-courses, i.e. by artificial streams for irriga- tion (comp. Eccles. ii. 5, 6). See on xlvi. 5, Ixv. lo. Makes lie to prosper. The old doctrine of Hebrew faith, so common in Pro- verbs, that prosperity attends the righteous, is distinctly adopted. The psahnist, however, is well aware that the reward may be delayed ; hence he refers in vv. 4-6 to a sifting process through which the professedly righteous community \u. 5 ; comp. cxlix. i) will pass. 4 Kike tbe cbaff, &c. Thresh- ing-floors, as Isa. xvii. 13 suggests, were usually in high situations, where the wind would readily carry the chaff away. The winnower beats out the wheat or barley with a stick, and then throws it up in the air ; the grain and the crushed straw (Heb. tebhen) fall in heaps, but the chaff is blown away. Thus the figure is a comprehensive one. It is implied that a winnower has been at work ; that is, God, who in each successive judgment winnows the ' com of his floor' (Isa. xxi. 10). Comp. Matt. iii. 12. In Jer. xvii. 6 the corresponding simile is that of a stunted desert plant,' which ssthe- tically considered furnishes a better contrast to the figure of the tree planted by the watercourses. Comp. Wisdom V. 14 (' like chaff-dust,' XraCs). 5 Tberefore. The psalmist continues in a prophetic tone. He announces that the ungodly who so scandalise the pious of his day will, when another judgment-day comes round, be separated from the true Israel. This he infers from the fact, which is within his own experience, that the ungodly are 'like the chaff,' i.e. sooner or later meet with a just retribution. 6 Takes kno\(rIed^e of, i.e. is in- terested in, and takes trouble about. Cf. xxxi. 7, xxxvii. 18 ; Gen. xviii. 19, &c. The way, &c. ' Way ' here means not ' behaviour ' (as Prov. xii. 15, &c.), but the outward circumstances of a man's lot ; comp. xxvii. II, 'Lead me on an even path ; ' xxxvii. J, ' Roll (the care for) thy way upon Jehovah ; ' and ii. 12, (literally) 'and (lest) ye perish in respect of way ' (or destiny). The parallelism in the two members of the distich is not complete ; we might fill it up thus : For Jehovah notices (and makes to prosper) the fortunes of the righteous, but (disregards and) sends ruin to the fortunes of the ungodly. Perlsbes {yobhedh). Hupfeld, ' shall go astray ' — as a path fades away into the desert ; comp. Job vi. 18, '(the caravans) go up into the desert and lose their way' (yobhedhu). Here, as often, there may be a double sense ; an image of a fading path may have floated before the writer's mind ; but the derived sense of destruction is also present to him, and is obviously meant to be su- preme, 'perishing' being the ne- cessary antithesis to ' making to prosper' {v. 3). Comp. Jer. xii. i, ' Why doth the way of the ungodly prosper ? ' PSALM II. » This psalm falls into four nearly equal strophes. The first of these describes a rebellion of subject-kings against the Messianic king ; the second, Jehovah's destruction of the rebels. Then the poet turns back, 1 For another view, see on cii. 18. 4 THE PSALMS and introduces the Messianic king reporting a divine oracle in his favour ; after which, assuming the rebelHon to be in progress, he warns the kings of the earth to return to their allegiance. (Consequently v. 5 is virtually a conditional prophecy.) Compare OreUi's translation and expo- sition, Old Testament Prophecy , p. 158, &c. Many critics hold that the poem has a basis of contemporary fact. Without discussing their conflicting opinions, I may at least state my own, viz. that it refers not to any of the historical kings regarded as typically Messianic, but to the ideal or Messianic king himself.' So thought the doctors of the Synagogue (see Talm. Bab., Berakhoth 7 i5, Succa 52 a\ and the mediseval Rabbis (see Rashi and Kimchi ^ ), and this view is im- plied in the Judaising portion of the Apocalypse (Rev. ii. 7, xii. 5, xix. 15). Exegetical considerations point in the same direction. The psalm is a lyric echo and interpretation of the promises in 2 Sam. vii. 12, 14-16 {v. 13 is certainly a later insertion), and is in this respect parallel to part of Ps. Ixxxix. Ps. ii. differs, however, from the latter psalm in its tone of joyous confidence. Neither psalmist sees as yet either an empire or a ' son of Jehovah ' worthy of the promise, but whereas the author of Ps. Ixxxix. is content with laying Israel's low estate before his God, the other can forget the grey realities of the present in the glories which he anticipates by faith. How much is inevitably lost in translating (Dante would say ' trans- muting ') such a psalm as this ! The first six verses especially afford a specimen of the utmost art of Hebrew poetry. The words seem to live and breathe, and the rhythm to paint the actions. But the 'musical band' of which Dante spoke is broken, and he who would see how metre and rhyme and assonance may be skilfully though irregularly employed must read this psalm in the Hebrew. 1 Wherefore do the nations throng together, and the peoples meditate vanity ? 2 The kings of the earth stand forth, and the sovereigns take counsel together, against Jehovah and against his anointed : 3 ' Let us tear off their bonds ' (say they), ' and cast from us their cords.' 4 He who is seated in the heavens laughs, the Lord mocks at them. 5 Then speaks he unto them in his anger, and in his hot wrath confounds them : 6 ' . . . When / have established my king upon Zion my holy mountain.' The King speaks. 7 ' I will relate Jehovah's decree : he said unto me, Thou art my son, I have this day begotten thee. 8 Ask of me, and I will grant thee ' See Eichhom's vigorous summing up in his ^//^fm««fi5zWM<&,J, 1787, i. 534-5; and on the Christian fulfilment of this psalm cf. The Prophecies of Isaiah, vol. ii. Essay 3 ; Maurice, Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy, i. 15. '' Ibn Ezra gives a double interpretation, applying it either to David or to the Messiah, but prefers the strict Messianic interpretation as clearer. PSALM II. nations for thine inheritance, and the earth's utmost parts for thy possession. 9 Thou shalt break them with a mace of iron ; thou shalt shiver them like a potter's vessel.' [o Now therefore, ye kings, deal wisely ; be admonished, ye judges of the earth. [ I Serve Jehovah with fear, be in trembling agony. lest he be angry, and ye go to ruin ; for his anger kindleth easily : happy all those that take refuge in him ! 2 Tbe kin^s of tbe eartb. Both in the Old Testament and in the New this phrase has a very wide reference ; it cannot mean simply the kings of the nations round about Israel. See Ixxvi. 13, Ixxxix. 28, cii. l6,cxxxviii. 4,cxlviii. II, Lam. iv. 12, Rev. i. 5 (and elsewhere). The picture in this verse is like that in Joel iii. 2, Zech. xiv. 2, 3, except that the nations of the earth are here regarded as having previously been subject to Jehovah's Anointed One. (Ps. xlviii. 5, Ixxxiii. 6 are not parallel.) 4 Kaugbs. So xxxvii. 13, lix. 9. But here the mention of the heavens reminds us of the Thunder-god, whose ' wild raging ' is pictured in the myths as ' scornful laughter.' In the Hebrew of the next verse we seem to hear the thunder's roll, and see the lightning-flash. The Bibli- cal writers had a fixed purpose of utilising all that they could of the ancient vocabulary of the myth- forming stage of thought. The thunder is God's voice ; the heaven is His impregnable fortress. 5 Tben, i.e. when the crisis has arrived, and all bids fair for the success of the revolt. Comp. Isa. xviii. 5. 6 -vrben I. Literally, 'And I.' Comp. 1. 16, 17, 'What right hast thou, &c., whereas thou (literally, and thou).' So here we must un- derstand, 'What right have ye to independent action, when I — the King of kings — have established my royal deputy .? ' Zion, either Mount Zion properly so called (i.e. the eastern hill of old Jerusalem, on which the ' city of David ' stood, and — on the northern summit — the Temple), or, poetically, Jerusalem (comp. on xlviii. 2). The latter is the more probable view, if the psalm is post-Davidic. 7 The decree of Tebovata (see crit. note). The mention of the ' establishment ' of a king (v. 6) leads to the recital of the antecedent ' decree ' (or ' statute '). Strictly speaking, this ' decree ' is confined to w. 7 ; w. 8, 9 have more the cha- racter of an ' oracle ' (comp. Ps. ex. i). Tbon art my son. So, 'he shall call upon me. Thou art my father ' (Ixxxix. 28 ; see note) ; both passages echo 2 Sam. vii. 14, and imply membership of a society or college of (in some sense) super- human beings. This day. We may explain equally well with re- ference to the day of the king's birth and to that of his enthrone- ment. I incline to the former view. So Assurbanipal says at the begin- ning of his Annals that the gods 'in the body of his mother have made him to rule Assyria ; ' and the god Ra says to Ramses II., 'I am thy father ; by me are begotten all thy members as divine.' So too Ameno- phis II. says, ' He made me lord of the living when I was yet a child in the nest.' Comp. also the Alexan- drine translation of ex. 3. 8 The earth's utmost parts. THE PSALMS The king of Egypt claimed a dejure sovereignty over the world as son and heir of the sun (see Renouf, Hibbert Lectures, p. 162). The As- syrian kings were more sober in their inscriptions (see, however, Sargon, Records of the Past, xi. 33). There is no evidence, nor proba- bility, that the IsraeUtish kings put forward any such claims as the ' king ' puts forward here. If this were an accession-psalm we might compare Ixxii. 8, where among other idealistic anticipations occurs the hope that the young king may have dominion ' unto the ends of the earth.' But it is no anticipation that we have here, but a promise actually fulfilled. Observe that the promise outruns the revelation in 2 Sam. vii. (but comp. Ixxxix. 26, 28). Are not all these psalm-pas- sages (ii. 8, Ixxii. 8, Ixxxix. 26, 28) dependent on the Messiah-'^xoxms,^ in Zech. ix. 10 ? 9 Tbou sbalt break tbem. Comp. ex. 5. Not to be explained as a description of the habitually severe rule of the Messiah, but as a prophecy of what must happen if the nations persist in revolting from the appointed king. 'Witb a mace of Iron. Not with the sceptre of peace, but with the ' spiked iron mace used in war, which bears the same name {shdbhet\ the (ridripelri Kopivr) of //. vii. 140. Throughout Asia the history of this implement was doubtless the same ; the shepherd's oaken club (see on xxiii. 4) de- veloped on the one hand into the sceptre [comp. Assyr. ri'u = {i) shepherd, (2) ruler], and on the other into the formidable weapon a picture of which is given by Raw- linson. Ancient Monarchies, i. 459. ' Mace ' would have been the best rendering of sh^bhet in our version of Num. xxiv. 17, 2 Sam. xviii. 14, and of matteh in Hab. iii. 14. ■ Iilke a potter's vessel. So the Assyrian kings (e.g. Sargon) speak of crushing countries like earthen- ware {kima hasbdti). See Norris, Assyrian Diet., ii. 413. 11 Be In trembling: ag^ony. Or, 'exult with shuddering.' But these ideas are nowhere else found combined, and joy seems unsuitable here. See crit. note. 12 Xiest be be angry. This is preceded in the received text by ' Kiss the son ' (an Atamaic word for ' son ' is used). If these words be genuine, they must mean such a kissing as implies submission (some- what as Luke vii. 37) ; ' kissed my feet ' means ' did homage ' in As- syrian inscriptions. Instead of ' Kiss the son,' the Targum and the Sep- tuagint, which agree but rarely, have, ' Take hold of admonition,' or in better English, ' Learn well your lessons' (R. Stanihurst, 1583), which is adopted by the Peshitto (Ambro- sian Codex) and the Vulgate. This, however, is no equivalent of the traditional reading, but a marginal gloss upon ' be admonished ' (■?/. 10), which intruded (as glosses have often done) into the text, and which in course of time became corrupted into the present Hebrew reading. It is obvious ' that the subject of the verb in the clause ' lest he be angry' is Jehovah, who absorbs the attention in this part of the psalm. We must either emend, reading 'Seek ye his face' with Briill, or something similar, or else suppose that the two doubtful words are a post-Exile (Aramaising) insertion by one who wished to bring out the Messianic reference more distinctly. The former view seems the more probable. It is at any rate very doubtful whether the title ' son of God ' was applied to the Messiah in the time of Christ." And ye gro to ruin. Hup- feld, 'and ye go astray as to the way.' The image of the treacherous path seems more prominent here than in i. 6 ; still Hupfeld's render- ing is too weak. Some have thought 1 This too is implied by the Talmudic interpretation, 13 = n'lin. Bammidtar rabba, 10 ; cf. Sanhedrin, 92 a (Weber, System, p. 148). * See Drummond, Jewish Messiah, Bk. ii. chap. x. PSALM II. (see Rosenmiiller) that the way is astray ' means ' being ruined ' (see that which leads to the king, as if on i. 6). Xlndletb easily. Or, the enforced homage came too late, ' will soon kindle,' i.e. ' little more wrath being already kindled. But is needed for his wrath to bum ' ' way ' means ' fortune,' and ' going (Orelli). PSALM III. A MORNING-PRAYER in time of danger, purporting to be spoken by a leader of the church-nation, but apparently meant for liturgical use {v. 9). The enemies are evidently heathen (see on v. 8). There are four strophes, the first three tetrastichs, the fourth a pentastich. Read this and the next psalm together, and comp. xxvii. 1-6. 2 Jehovah, how many are my foes become ! many are they that rise up against me. 3 Many are saying of my soul, ' There is no salvation for him in God.' 4 But thou, Jehovah, art a shield about me, my glory, and the hfter up of my head. 5 I cry aloud unto Jehovah, and he answers me from his holy mount. 6 I laid me down and slept, I have awaked, for Jehovah sustains me. 7 I am not afraid of the myriads of people that have arrayed themselves against me round about. 8 Arise, Jehovah ; save me, O my God ! for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek-bone, the teeth of the ungodly hast thou broken. 9 Unto Jehovah belongeth salvation ; thy blessing be upon thy people ! 3 Of my soul, i.e. of myself as an earthly father is betokened by a living, conscious, personal being his good gifts to his wilful children. (see on xlii. 2). Salvation. A ' God ' and ' saviour ' or ' deliverer ' distinct word is desirable to express are in fact synonymous terms ; the wonderful deliverances which, see cvi. 21, Isa. xliii. 3, 11, xlv. 15, as the Israelites and their neigh- 21. This material sense of ' salva- bours ■ felt, God alone can give. tion ' is in accordance with the ' Salvation,' however, must not be physical meaning of the root of understood in a Christian, theo- fshuah, ' spaciousness ' (see on iv. logical sense. External deliver- 2). ' Deliverance ' (as an act) or ances — these were what pious ' liberty ' (as a state ; see 1. 23, xci. Israehtes longed for (so even in 16) is the derived sense in Hebrew ; li. 14) as 'tokens for good,' in- riches, knowledge, and power in volving no doubt the forgiveness of Arabic (so in the Korin). sins, but only as the forgiveness of 4 My griory, i.e. in the fullest ' Mesha (inscr., /. 4) says of Kem6sh that he 'saved' him. 8 THE PSALMS sense of the word, the source and death (xiii. 4)- Danger converts the preserver of all that in me is the most natural processes mto glorious, of my personal life (comp. proofs of God's ' passmg great kmd- vii. 6), of which many foresee a ness ' (iv. 4). speedy termination (z/. 3), and of my 8 Thou hast smitten. Such personal dignity (see iv. 2). has been my repeated experience. 5 I cry, &c. It is my constant Milton, 'hast smote ere now.'— — experience that Jehovah answers The ungrodly. Heathen enemies prayer. From his holy mount, are meant (see on Ixviii. 3) ; for no i.e. from Mount Zion, the equiva- psalmist ever describes his Jewish lent of heaven as a storehouse of enemies as ' ungodly ' {r'sha'im) in divine powers (see on Ixviii. 19). the mass, at any rate before the Possibly the psalmist is now far Maccabean period. Comp. ix. 5, from Jerusalem. where ' the nations ' and the ' un- 6 I might have slept unto godly ' are parallel. PSALM IV. 1 HIS and the preceding psalm are jewels on one string ; that was a morning, this is an evening prayer. Even in expression there are points of contact between them (cf. iii. 3, iv. 7 ; iii. 4, iv. 3 ; iii. 6, iv. 9). May we not supplement the one psalm from the other ? The dangers to which the psalmist and his friends are exposed, are represented in Ps. iv. as mainly from within, but surely vv. 7-9 give vague hints of dangers from without upon which a bright light is reflected from Ps. iii. 2 Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness ; O my heart's ease in distress, pity me and hear my prayer. 3 O sons of men, how long shall my glory be insulted, in that ye love vanity, and seek after falsehood ? 4 But see how passing great kindness Jehovah hath shown me ; Jehovah hears when I call unto him. 5 Tremble, and sin no more : resolve in your heart upon your bed, and be still. 6 Offer the right sacrifices, and put your trust in Jehovah. 7 Many are saying, ' O for the sight of good fortune ! ' Jehovah, lift thou up the light of thy face upon us. 8 Thou hast put more joy into my heart than when others have their corn and new wine in abundance. 9 In peace will I at once lay me down and sleep, for thou, Jehovah, makest me dwell alone in safety. 2 O God of my rlgrhteousness, ences, the ground of present faith i.e. thou who declarest my righ- (see on iii. 8). For the phraseology, teousness (see on vii. 18) by re- comp. Isa. Ix. 4, 'Thy heart shall warding me openly. Success viewed throb and be enlarged.' It is more as the gift of a righteous judge is obvious, indeed, though not more itself called 'righteousness' (cf admissible, to see in the Hebrew xxiv. 5, Isa. liv. 17, &c.) My an image from a walker who, after heart's ease, &c. Past experi- being hemmed in by rocks, is sud- PSALM IV. denly introduced into a broad space (comp. xviii. ig, xxxi. 8, and see notes on iii. 3 b, xxvi. 11 b, 12). In my version I had an eye to the brevity of the Hebrew ; we have, in fact, only half a line to spare ! The literal rendering is, ' Thou (who) in a strait hast enlarged (a space) for me.' 3 O sons of men. Or, as De- litzsch, 'ye men of high degree' (comp. on Ixii. 10) ; but the anti- thesis is perhaps not between great men and mean men, but between man and Jehovah. Strengthened by the thought of God, the psalmist can beard these 'blasphemers of dignities' (2 Pet. ii. 10, lit. 'glories'). My griory. Two meanings are open to us, (i) my personal dignity as a king or prophet (comp. on Ixii. S), (2) the God whose service is my glory (comp. on cvi. 20). The former accords with the best in- terpretation of the next line. Te love vanity and seek after falsebood. Taking these words in connexion with v. 6 a, as directed against worldly-mindedness, we might paraphrase with Milton, How long be thus forbom Still to love vanity, To love, to seek, to prize Things false and vain, and nothing else but lies ? Another view may be supported by comparing Isa. xxviii. 17 (where Delitzsch thinks ' lie ' and ' false- hood ' mean breach of faith towards Assyria). The psalmist, like Isaiah (xxx. 12), may perhaps reproach his opponents with relying on a crooked policy rather than on Jehovah, and with forming plans which, like those of 'the nations' in ii. i, are ' un- realisable ' (riq is the word in both places). Such plans necessarily in- volved contempt for the ' glory ' of prophets of the noble style, such as Isaiah and (perhaps) our psalmist. Or, taking ' my glory ' as a synonym for ' my God ' (see above), and re- membering that 'to love' and to ' seek after ' are used elsewhere in a religious sense (see xl. 16, Ixix. 33, 37), and that 'lying vanities' (hdbhel, not as here riq) and ' false- hoods ' (xxxi. 7, Am. ii. 4) are syno- nyms for idol-gods, we might view the passage as a reproof to the heathenish section of the Jewish nation. We might then compare xvi. 4 ; it is certain that the persons addressed are not hearty worship- pers of Jehovah. Still I think the psalmist would in this case have used sterner language ; and, on the whole, comparing that striking pas- sage Ixii. 5, I would rather explain ' vanity ' and ' falsehood ' of the calumnies uttered by the opponents of the psalmist (comp. xxxi. 14, Jer. XX. 10) ; or perhaps ' vanity ' may refer to the ' unrealisable ' plans which they loved to forge for his destruction. 4 But see (or, 'take notice'), as a contrast to your depreciation of my dignity ; or, ' then see,' since your passion so blinds you. Ho\ir passing grreat kindness,' &c. Vain is all this hostility, for my life exhibits a series of divine loving- kindnesses. No common phrase this. David, we are told, was anxious to find out members of Saul's family, ' that I may show the kindness of God unto him ' (2 Sam. ix. 3); the psalmist was now brought as low as the family of Saul in the hour of David's success. He needed a ' passing great ' or ' singular' (not ' marvellous ') exhibition of God's dearest quality — ' lovingkindness ; ' compare similar expressions in xvii. 7, xxxi. 22. To this manysided conception we shall have occasion to return. ' Lovingkindness ' {khe- sedh, usually TK^os in Sept.) means first of all the covenant-love of Jehovah to those who know and serve Him ; next, the covenant-love of a servant of Jehovah to his God ; next, the love of Jehovah's fellow- servants among themselves. We shall do well to begin with fixing in our minds this primal truth of the religion of the Psalms — that ' The traditional reading is, ' That Jehovah hath set apart a loving (i.e. pious) one for himself.' Against this see crit. note. lO THE PSALMS God is not merely man's Baal or lord, but the head of a community, bound together by mutual love. See further on xii. 2, xvi. 10, xviii. 26, xxxvi. 8-1 1, 1. 5, and my Hosea (1884), pp. 27-30. , , J 5 Tremble, &c. (see v. 6 b, and comp. xl. 4, ' that many should see it, and fear, and put their trust in Jehovah'). He would have them shaken out of their proud security (comp. Isa. xxxii. 11, Heb.) by the sight of the favour which he enjoys ; for this favour impUes Jehovah's disfavour for His servant's enemies. This view fol- lows the Targum. The Septuagint has, for ' Tremble,' ' Be ye angry ; ' i.e. ' Be angry, if you will, but let it be in silence ; let your factious op- position have an end.' But how unlike the religion of the psalmists, to allow a lower standard to others than to oneself, and to sanction the dumb brooding of unholy passion ! See V. 10. Resolve in your beart. Literally, ' say in your heart' The heart is the seat, not only of the desires and emotions, but also of the conscience and the intel- lect. The psalmist appeals, in these words, to the conscience and reason of his hearers. He would have them collect their thoughts, and ' say in their heart ' something like those words of Isaiah, ' Come ye, and let us walk in the light of Jehovah ' (comp. v. 7). The un- exampled omission of the words to be inwardly said constitutes the phrase one of those enigmas by which the psalmists from time to time love to stimulate the interest of their readers. ' Heart-speeches ' (if the word may be coined) are among the characteristics of the proud and self-confident (see x. 6, II, 13, xiv. I, XXXV. 25). But such ' communing ' is not ' for peace ; ' ' they frame deceitful plots against the quiet in the land' (xxxv. 20). Especially at night, when God 'giv- eth his beloved sleep ' or thoughts still sweeter than sleep (cxxxix. 18, cxlix. 5), these men, we are told, are as busy as ever ' devising mis- chief upon their beds' (xxxvi. 4). But now the psalmist hopes that his proud opponents will change their custom. There are heart- speeches of piety as well as of pride. They may be expressed in the form of prayer (see i Sam. i. 13), or in that of holy resolution (xxvii. 8). The latter seems the most ap- propriate here as a preparation for V. 5. Observe the mildness of the psalmist's reproof; other poets did not copy him in this. The calm of evening broods over his gentle thoughts. Be still. Or, 'be silent ;' this narrower sense is sug- gested by the context. A fatal fluency of speech was one charac- teristic of the 'ungodly' in Israel (v. 10, lix. 22). 6 True piety is both inward and outward. Inwardly it is trust ; out- wardly it is expressed in rlirht sacrifices, those which are offered from right motives, as opposed to 'false (or, hypocritical) offerings' (Isa. i. 13). So li. 19, Deut. xxxiii. 19- 7 liift tbou up, &c. An image for the restoration of the divine favour, says one. A poet of the school of Dante saw deeper, — Tu sei, Signor, la luce chiara e pura, La qual, levando su senza dimora, Far4 la rocca di Sion sicura. See further on xvii. 15, and comp. Num. vi. 25, 26 (of which some un- necessarily consider our passage to be an echo). Vpon us. It is a national psalm, therefore, even though the speaker may not here be the personified Israel. 8 The prayer of faith has been answered (cf xxxvi. 9, 10). From the contrast in this verse, we may assume that the persons spoken of had heathenish tendencies. The ' good fortune ' they desired con- sisted in mere material blessings, which followed as a matter of course on the due worship of the gods of the soil. To the prophets and psalmists, these same gifts were conditional on the moral obedience of the worshippers (comp. Deut. xxviii. 1-14), and the confirmed be- liever could, if called upon, dispense PSALM IV. 1 1 with them (Hab. iii. 17, 18). The 9 Comp. xvi. 9^. At once. exuberantjoy of harvest and vintage No tossing before slumber comes. is alluded to in Isa. ix. 3, Hos. ix. i Alone, i.e. without friends or (comp. vii. 14). allies ; comp. Deut. xxxiii. 28, Num. xxiii. 9, Mic. vii. 14, Jer. xlix. 31. PSALM V. Another morning-prayer {v. 4), designed, like Ps. iii., for the temple- service {v. 8). The central petition is in j/. 9 ; the psalmist fears by any lapse into sin to ' give occasion to the enemy to blaspheme.' Comp. this psalm therefore vdth xxvi. and xxviii., the leading petitions of which are similar. 2 Give ear unto my words, Jehovah, understand my murmuring. 3 Listen to the sound of my crying, my King and my God, for unto thee do I make my prayer. 4 Jehovah, in the morning dost thou hear my voice ; in the morning do I order (my sacrifice) for thee, and look out. 5 For thou art not a God that has pleasure in wickedness, evil cannot be a guest of thine : 6 Boasters cannot stand up before thine eyes, thou hatest all them that work naughtiness : 7 Thou destroyest them that speak lies ; the man of blood and of deceit Jehovah abhors. 8 But I, because of thine abundant kindness, can enter thy house, worshipping toward thy holy palace in the fear of thee. 9 Jehovah, lead me in. thy righteousness, because of my keen-eyed enemies ; make thy way even before my face. 10 For there is no sincerity in their mouth, their inward part is engulfing ruin ; an open grave is their throat, though they make smooth their tougue. 1 1 Declare them guilty, O God, let them fall by their own plots ; for their manifold transgressions thrust them down, for they have rebelled against thee : 12 So shall all that take refuge in thee be glad, and ring out their joy for ever ; and if thou protect them, in thee shall they triumph who love thy name. 13 For thou, Jehovah, givest thy blessing to the righteous ; with favour, as with a buckler, surroundest thou him. 12 THE PSALMS 2 My murmuring:, which none but God can interpret. 4 Order (my sacrifice). Prayer and praise, being ' mediative ' (see on xhi. 9 c), belong to the class of sacrifices (Trvevfiannai dva-iai, I Pet. ii. S). The same conception of prayer as in cxli. 2 ; cf. cvii. 22, Hos. xiv. 3. Milton, I' th' morning I to thee with choice Will rank my prayers. Others explain, 'will I set forth (my cause) ; ' cf. Job xiii. 18, xxiii. 4. Ibook out, viz. unto Jehovah (Mic. vii. 7) for an answer, or, more poetically, for the angel of His lovingkindness (xlii. 9). ' Look up ' (A. V.) in Bishop Alexander's para- phrase is fine, but 'look out' is truer to the feelings of the age ; Jehovah is not ' far above,' but waiting in his ' holy of holies ' (see on V. 7) to send help. 5 Cannot be a gruest of thine, i.e. cannot enjoy thy hospitable and protecting care. See on xv. i. 6 Boasters {hdl'lim). The root expresses a loud, noisy, self-import- ant demeanour. What ideas are connected with this will be seen from Ixxiii. 3, 8, 9. Kordn, Ivii. 23, is also instructive. The line of thought there is. Be neither dis- tressed at poverty, nor exultant at riches ; for God appoints this dif- ference, and ' God loveth not the presumptuous, the boaster.' Naugrbtiness, that which is mo- rally worthless. 7 A contrast to be explained thus. Since ' evil cannot be a guest of thine ' (w. 5), the only real con- gregation is that of believers ; all others do but 'trample God's courts' (Isa. i. 12). All others will sooner orlater perish ; but Jehovah's guests shall ' dwell in His house unto length of days ' (xxiii. 6). 81... can enter, &c. I, who am conscious of being a khdsldh (one who is duteously loving to God and man), can be assured of Jehovah's khesedh or covenant-love, and en- compassed and enabled by that love, can enter His house.^ Comp., with Driver, Isa. xxvi. 13, 'only through thee can we celebrate thy name.' Can worsblp. ' To worship ' in Hebrew is properly 'to prostrate oneself.' So in Arabic mesjid ' a mosque' (Dante's meschita) is strict- ly 'a place of bowing the head.' Toward thy boly palace, i.e., perhaps, towards the Holy of holies (comp. xxviii. 2), though in the de- scription of the Solomonic temple ' palace ' {hekal ; see crit. note) is the word for the Holy place, the ' nave,' one might say, as opposed to the ' chancel ' (i Kings vi. 5, 17, vii. 50). See further on xxviii. 2. 9 Encouraged by the thought of his privilege, the psalmist now offers his prayer. Kead me in thy righteousness, i.e. either ' lead me in thy quality of a righteous God ' (vii. 10), or, in the path of right- eousness (Prov. viii. 20, Heb.) The former explanation seems the safer. The second line explains the first. A fall, i.e. a misfortune, would cause my enemies to rejoice (xxxv. 15), and to imagine that I had been guilty of some great sin. Make thy way even, i.e. probably, free from misfortune ; see on xxvi. 12. The life of a saint is finely described as God's way (comp. xvii. 5), he- cause God alone has the plan or ' counsel ' of it (Ixxiii. 24, xvi. 7). lo Sngulflngr ruin. The root- meaning (see crit. note) may here have been present to the writer's mind (comp. on 'perishes,' i. 6), though the secondary sense, ' de- struction' (see xxxviii. 13, lii. 4, Iv. 12, Ivii. 2, xci. 3, xciv. 20) is evi- dently more prominent. The plural 1 ' House ' {iayith) might conceivably mean the so-called Tabernacle, just as bait in Arabic, according to the Arabic lexicons, may be used of a tent ; it does indeed mean this in Josh. vi. 24, 2 Sam. xii. 20. But I doubt if ' palace ' {hlkdl) could be so used. It would sound almost ironical to call the temporary tent in which (partly, perhaps, for want of space in the citadel of Jebus) David deposited the Ark a ' great house ' (see crit. note). Hengstenberg maintains that the Tabernacle is called hekal in I Sam. i. 9, iii. 3, but few will now deny that the hekal, or divine palace, referred to was the Temple of Shiloh, as to which see note on Ixxviii. 60. PSALM V. 13 (^az/w/;%)indicatesthemanifoldness ment, such as an Eastern scruples and intensity of the 'ruin.' not to use in prayer ( i Kings viii. 28, 11 Declare them irullty. Sept. Jer. xiv. 12, Lam. ii. 19, Ps. xviii. I, Kpivov avToii. Misfortune was re- &c.), but which is also equally garded as declarative of God's anger adapted for rejoicing and for lamen- against sin (see xxxiv. 22) ; this tation (see my note on Isa. xliii. 14). idea was stamped as deeply on the More in crit. note. language (see on xxxi. 11) as on the 13 As witb a buckler. It is theology of Israel. What ' search- the shield of largest size which is ings of heart' followed from it, the meant (i Sam. xvii. 7). Naturally, Book of Job and the cognate psalms for ' the righteous ' is collective ; in testify. short, it is a term like Jeshurun for 12 Ring' out tbeir Joy. This the ideal Israel. We may then is a peculiar word used with delicate compare Tasso's lines of liquid tact in Biblical Hebrew, and much harmony, more widely in the Targum on the _. , - .,,.,. P=;alms (<^ee rrit notel It mo- Si vedea fiammeggiar fra gli altri arnesi i-saims (,see crit. note;, it pro- scudo di lucidissimo diamante perly means a shnll, piercmg cry, Grande che pu6 coprir genti e paesi. expressive of emotional excite- Gerusalemme Liberata, c. vii. st. 81. PSALM VI. x\. RECORD of Still deeper depression (cf Ps. xxxviii.) Mental produces bodily suffering. Persecution is at its height ; by the ' workers of wicked- ness ' {v. 9) the psalmist means irrehgious oppressors (xiv. 4). Faith re- stores his wonted elasticity. The speaker is either the pious Israelite per- sonified, or a representative righteous man who feels the sins and sufferings of his people as his own (see on v. 2). 2 Jehovah, do not in thine anger reprove me, neither in thy wrath correct me. 3 Have pity upon me, Jehovah, for I am languishing ; neal me, Jehovah, for my bones are confounded. 4 My soul also is confounded exceedingly ; but thou, Jehovah, how long ? 5 Return, Jehovah, deUver my soul, save me, for thy lovingkindness' sake. 6 For in Death there is no mention of thee, in Sheol who will give thee thanks ? 7 I am wearied with my groaning, every night make I my bed to swim, I melt away my couch with my tears. 8 Mine eye has fallen in from vexation, it has grown old with the insulting of my foes. 9 Away from me, all ye that work wickedness, for Jehovah has heard my loud weeping. 10 Jehovah has heard my supplication, Jehovah will receive my prayer. 14 THE PSALMS II Ashamed and sore confounded be all mine enemies, let them turn back with shame suddenly ! 2 The 'whispered prayer' (Isa. xxvi. i6) of penitent Israel under a sense of God's anger. Not In ttalne an^er, 'but with mildnes's and with perfect love,' as the supposed Dante paraphrases. Cf xxxviii. 2, and the original of both passages— Jer. x. 23, ' Jehovah, correct me, but ac- cording to justice ; not in thine anger, lest thou make me small.' Here, as in the whole section (Jer. X. 17-25), the speaker is, not Jere- miah as an individual, but as a pro- phet who loses himself in the people which he represents. Hence he says, ' lest thou make me small,' i.e. 'lest I (Israel) survive as the mere shadow of my former self See above, and cf. on v. 6. 3 Heal me. The psalmist thinks partly of his own sufferings as a persecuted Israelite, but still more of those of the nation (see on XXX. 3) with which he identifies himself. ' Sickness ' is a figure of various application. As applied to the pious kernel of Israel, it means the danger in which it was of being extinguished by persecution. But this application is not to exclude a personal reference to the agonising anxiety of individuals, including the writer, for their own safety. iwy bones. The Hebrew conceives of physical and spiritual life as exist- ing in one undivided personality, while the Aryan nations are dualis- tic. Hence the bones sometimes (as here) represent the whole body, and sometimes even the whole nature of man. See, e.g., xxxi. 11, xxxii. 3, XXXV. 10, xxxviii. 4, li. 10, and compare the use of '■ecem, Gen. vii. 13, &c., for the essence or body of a thing (res ipsa). 6 Tor In Death, &c. Observe the writer's strong fear of death. Though most of all anxious pro- bably for the future of his nation (see on xxx. 4, 10, Ixxxviii. 4-6), he retains his hopes and fears as an individual ; the psalm of Hezekiah shows (Isa. xxxviii. 18) how terrible to a believer was the cessation in She61 of the life of prayer and praise. This terribleness was, however, one element in the training of the jews for a final ' illumination ' of ' life and immortality' (2 Tim. i. 10). Deatb, not the process or state of death, but another name for Sheol (as ix. 13, xxii. 16, Ixviii. 20, Ixxxix. 49, cvii. 18) ; comp. Rev. i. 18, vi. 8, XX. 13, 14. Sbeol, i. 2, the under- world, the land of the Refaim (Ixxxviii. 11) or shades. In the Sept. and in the N.T. the Hebrew Sheol is presented as Hades, a ren- dering which was adopted in the Parchment Library Psalms, and in- volves an anachronism far more in- nocent than that of using the Teuto- nic 'hell.' The Assyrian equivalent of Sheol is traced by some in su'&lu - ' place of decision : ' see Friedr. Delitzsch, Prolegomena, p. 109 ; Jeremias, Die bab.-ass. Vorstell- unge7i (1887), pp. 62, 109. 7 The first clause is taken from Jer. xlv. 3. Comp. Ixix. 4. 8 The first clause recurs with the slightest variation in xxxi. 10 (where the speaker is the nation). v;'ltb tbe Insulting: of. The re- ceived text gives, weakly, ' because of all.' See crit. note. 9 A strange but noble transition ! Sudden spiritual changes, then, are possible. God has ' prepared a table before him in the presence of his enemies ' (xxiii. 5, A.V.) He has an oracle within his heart which tells him that his prayer has been heard, and he humbly adds his own infer- ence (not the 'subjective tense') that God will ' receive ' it graciously, i.e. grant his petition (comp. I John v. 15). When this is realised, his ene- mies will be as much 'confounded' as he himself was [v. 4), labouring under the consciousness of God's wrath. PSALM VII. 15 PSALM VII. A. STORM of the most varied thoughts, fears, and hopes, rightly called in the heading a dithyramb,' says Ewald ; and Ainsworth long before (1627) had spoken of its ' sundry variable and wandering verses.' ' Not only by the variety but by the energy of its style the psalm contrasts with the two which precede it. A national psalm it is, beyond doubt. Righteous Israel (Jeshurun) is the speaker. Who else can utter the solemn declara- tion of innocence in v. 9 (see note) ? 2 Jehovah my God, in thee have I taken refuge ; save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me : 3 Lest he tear ray soul as a lion, when there is none to rescue, and none to deliver. 4 Jehovah my God, if I have done this, if there be iniquity in my hands, 5 If I have wrought evil unto him that was at peace with me, or oppressed him that was my foe for nothing, 6 Let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it, yea, let him trample my life to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust. 7 Arise, Jehovah, in thine anger, lift thyself up at the fury of my foes, yea, arouse thyself to meet me — a judgment hast thou (already) appointed ; 8 Yea, let the assemblage of the peoples come about thee, and sit thou above them on the high mount. 9 Jehovah judges the peoples ; right me, Jehovah, according to mine innocence and according to mine inward integrity. 10 O that the wickedness of the ungodly might come to an end, and that thou wouldest establish the innocent, thou trier of the hearts and reins, thou righteous Elohim ! 1 1 My shield over me is Elohim, the saviour of the upright in heart, 12 Elohim, a righteous judge, and a God who is wrathful every day. 13 If any do not turn, he whets his sword ; he has bent his bow and made it ready, 14 And has aimed at the man the weapons of death, setting his arrows aflame. 1 This assumes a derivation from shdgdh ' fo wander.' Zimmern [Babylonische Busspsalmen, p. i) compares Bab. ngu, the technical term for a class of penitential hymns, from the emotional excitement which characterises them. i6 THE PSALMS 15 Behold, he travails with wickedness ; he both conceives mischief and brings forth a lie. 16 A pit has he dug and hollowed it out, and he will tumble into the (very) pitfall he made. 17 His mischief shall return upon his own head, upon the crown of his own head shall his violence descend 18 I will thank Jehovah according to his righteousness, and make melody unto the name of Jehovah most high. 3 Tear my soul. Comp. ' his soul went into the iron' (cv. 18). 5 If I taave wrougrbt evil, &c. So (after Targ.) Ewald, Hupfeld, Riehm, Delitzsch., Less naturally, Dathe, Olshausen, Bottcher, ' If I have done evil to him that recom- pensed evil to me,' taking gamal in a pregnant sense (see on xiii. 6). Against this see Rodiger in Gese- nius' Thesaurus, s.v. xh^- *••■ oppressed, &c. The text, as ren- dered by Ewald and most critics, has 'and delivered, &c.,' which De Witt paraphrases into ' I, that would rescue my causeless foe.' But see crit. note. 6 Pursue my soul, as if a fugi- tive bird (xi. i). IWy glory not in the sense of iv. 3, but = 'my soul' (xvi. 9, XXX. 13, Ivii. 9, cviii. 2, Gen. xlix. 6). In spite of its obscurity to the English reader, it is import- ant to keep the literal rendering. The phrase illustrates and is illus- trated by ' my only one ' ( = my dear life), even though it be only different in degree of excellence (not in kind) from the ' soul ' of any other kind of animals (see on xlix. 13, 21). How natural it would be to take one step in advance and infer the happy immortality of this ' soul,' like Macbeth in the phrase 'my eierna/ jewel' \ This step was not with full consciousness taken by the early psalmists, but there seems to have been an intuitional belief in the higher truth (see on xvi. 9-1 1, Ixxiii. 25, 26), which was religiously as precious as the more developed creed of the Psalter of Solomon. 7 A. judgment (in my favour) bast tbou already appointed. We should have expected the im- perative (cf Ixviii. 29) ; the perfect is best explained (as xxii. 22) by a sudden burst of heaven-storming faith. ' Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ? ' Ewald and Driver, however, take this line, not as a coordinate but as a circum- stantial clause, 'having commanded judgment.' 8 Tbe assemblage of tbe peo- ples, viz. of the nations of the world whom Jehovah is about to judge, including Israel. Comp. Isa. iii. 13, 14, but not Ps. 1. I (where all nations are merely summoned to act as witnesses). And sit thou above them (lit. 'it'), &c. The received text was rendered in P. L. psalms, 'And return thou over it unto the high heaven.' The differ- ence of readings is but small, and the traditional text is somewhat favoured by the consideration that ' the height ' is very frequently (see on xviii. 17) used as a synonym for ' heaven.' (Some say that when used absolutely it always means ' heaven ; ' but see on Ixviii. 19.) But how unlikely that in the first half of V. 7 the scene of the judg- ment should be described only in order that in the second half the judge should return to his heavenly palace ! Observe too that in v. 9 the sentence is still waiting to be pronounced ; how can the psalmist pray to be righted if Jehovah has already returned to his holy habita- tion ? Calvin, indeed, supposes that ' return ' is spoken with refer- ence to Jehovah's previous in- activity, and means ' Resume thy judicial functions.' So too Hup- feld, but against the analogy of passages like xxi. 14. Hence the corrected reading and rendering given above (on which see crit. PSALM VII. 17 note). ' The height ' is, here, not ' the holy mount of Heav'n's high- seated \.«, assuming the latter to 18, Ivi. 2, Isa. li. 12, and especially mean 'the meek.' Probably they 2 Chr. xiv. 11 (10). PSALM X. Oee on Ps. ix. The Lamed quatrain in the original alphabetic psalm indicated a change in the psalmist's mood ; the later editor therefore bisected the psalm at this point. 1 Why, Jehovah, standest thou afar off, and hidest thee in times of hopeless trouble ? 2 The ungodly in his pride hotly pursues the afflicted : let them be caught in the knaveries which they have devised. 3 For the ungodly praises for his soul's desire, and robbing he blesses (but contemns) Jehovah. 4 The ungodly in his arrogance . . . ' He will not punish,' ' there is no God,' is the sum of his thoughts. 5 His ways are stable at all times ; thy judgments are too high in heaven for him to see ; as for all his foes, he puffs at them. 6 He has said in his heart, ' I cannot be moved ; I shall be firm in my goings age after age.' 7 His mouth is full of cursing, deceits, and oppression ; under his tongue are mischief and trouble. 8 He sits in the lurking-places of the villages, in hiding-places he slays the innocent : his eyes are on the watch against the hapless. 9 He lurks in a hiding-place as a lion in his lair, he lurks to catch the poor ; he catches the poor, dragging him with his net. 10 * * and, being crushed, (the poor) sinks down, and the hapless fall by his strong ones. 11 He has said in his heart, ' God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he can never see it.' 12 Arise, Jehovah ! O God, lift up thy hand, forget not the afflicted. 13 Wherefore does the ungodly contemn God, saying in his heart, ' Thou wilt not punish '? 26 THE PSALMS 14 Thou hast seen it ; for thou lookest on mischief and sorrow, to show forth [vengeance] with thy hand ; to thee the hapless commits [his way] — thou provest thyself the helper of the orphan. 15 Break thou the arm of the ungodly, yea, the evil man's ungodliness — punish it, till thou find none- 16 Jehovah is King for ever and ever : the nations are perished from his land. 17 Jehovah, thou hast heard the desire of the afflicted, thou establishedst their heart, thou madest attentive thine ear, 18 To right the orphan and the downtrodden, that mortals of the earth may overawe no more. 2 Ket tbem be caugbt, &c. So A.V. (R.V. marg., 'they are taken'). This is certainly the most natural rendering, as Hupfeld admits ; it has also some ancient authority (Targ., Aquila, Symmachus, Je- rome). I adopt it because I incline to think that v. 2 was not a part of the later insertion, but completed the Lamed quatrain from the first. Notice the parallelism between v. 2 b (as rendered above) and ix. i"] b ; also the use of the demonstrative su as a relative \r\v.i b and ix. 16 ; and notice lastly that m'zimmoth (comp. xxxvii. 7, in a contemporary alphabetic psalm) is here used in a different sense from v. 4 (in the later portion). Most moderns, however, make ' the afflicted ' the subject of the verb, the singular {'dm in 2 a) and the plural {'aniyytm in 2 b) alternating as in Gen. xii. 3. This seems necessary, if w. 2 and 3 are to run on consecutively. 3 For tlie ung-odly praises, &c. Whom he praises is clear from V. 'i b ; it is Jehovah, but not the Jehovah of true believers. Like the mercenary shepherds in Zech. xi. 5, they say, ' Blessed be Jehovah that I become rich.' But such ' blessings ' argue supreme con- tempt (comp. 57. 1 3) for the Governor of the world, ' the God of recom- pences' (Jer. h. 56). Blesses (but contemns). Or, ' renounces. yea, contemns ' (so R.V.) See crit. note. 4 The nngodly, &c. We should expect a verb to follow, such as ' thinks.' But the construction is suddenly changed. Tbere is no Ood, i.e. no divine government ; of. Jer. V. 12, Zeph. i. 12, and see on xiv. I. 5 His ways are stable, i.e. he has no vicissitudes of fortune. Tby Judgments, &c. The judg- ments of which ' the afflicted,' i.e. poor and pious Israelites, speak so much are to him as purely imagin- ary as their idea of God. Jehovah's dwelling-place is far removed from the stirring scenes of human acti- vity. 6 Age after age, &c. This re- presents the oppressor's feeling ; he never thinks of death. Pride stifles reason. The language of the heart cannot be translated into spoken words without seeming ex- aggeration. Comp. Hab. i. 11 (R.V.), ' he whose might is his god,' and Isa. xiv. 13, 14 (the self-deifica- tion of the king of Babylon). 7 Under his tongue, in readi- ness for uttering, as Ixvi. 17, cxl. 4. 8, 9 Comp. Ivi. 7, Jer. v. 26. Here again (see on v. 6) the remark is justified, that the details of de- scriptions are not to be pressed too far. ~ ■ • ■ "'-- tion ( far. To use this passage as an indica- tion of early date, and explain it' of 1 Canon F. C. Cook in Speaker's Com7nentary, ad loc. PSALM X. 27 ' the wild, half-savage nobles who re- tained habits formed or developed in the troubled period '(of the Judges), is an example of such undue pressure. That there is a certain amount of imaginativeness in the details, seems certain from the imitation in xvii. II, 12, and also from the change of figure at the end of v. 9. But I ad- mit that all is not drawn from the fancy ; the mention of the 'villages' must surely be connected with some recent facts. It is possible the editor of this psalm, like the prophet Micah, felt a special interest in country people. The oppression of which he was a witness bore with its full weight upon the ' villages,' though in representing the typical oppressor as the meanest of robbers he simply expresses his horror at the base conduct of the greedy upper class of his time. Incident- ally he contrasts these home-tyrants with thecruelbutnot ignoble foreign oppressors, referred to in Ps. ix. and in many a prophecy. If the Chaldasans may be compared to the eagle, and described as 'bearing themselves proudly,' 'scoffing at kings,' and ' deriding strongholds ' (Hab. i.), these unnatural Israelitish tyrants are like treacherous wild beasts,' lurking in 'hiding-places' near the unwalled villages, where the too trustful poor folk dwell. Comp. Ecclus. xiii. 18, ' What peace between a hyaena and a dog ? and what peace between a rich and a poor man?' His eyes, &c. 'Like those of a tiger in the dark.' See the weakened version of this in xvii. 12. 10 Hebrew poets have a strong sense of proportion, and one cannot believe that this verse has reached us in its integrity. His strong- ones, i.e. probably his claws (Ewald, Delitzsch). 14 This should be a symmetri- cal quatrain, like the other alpha- betic stanzas ; the present text must therefore be more or less in- correct. The first line here given is too long ; the second too short. According to the text it would be still shorter ; but the text-reading yields no satisfactory sense. ' To give it into thy hand ' cannot be intended as the object of God's beholding wrong. Many explain as if 'to give ' (or ' to lay ') could mean ' to keep ; ' but is this justifiable ? 15 Punlsta It, till tbon find none, i.e. till the last atom of wick- edness be removed. ' Punish ' (see on ix. 13) is literally ' seek,' viz. satisfaction. The psalmist, however, combines an allusion to the proverb ' to search for and not find ' (xxxvii. 36). 16 The psalmist's warrant for the foregoing prayer. A king by the very conception of kingship must ex- ecute judgment. The nations, i.e. Israel's foreign oppressors (as in Ps. ix.) Are perlsbed. The anticipated answer to prayer (see on ix. 6, 7). ' Prayer is possession ' (E. Irving). rrom his land. Not as if limiting the Divine sove- reignty. Jehovah is the judge of the world (ix. 9), and yet his throne is in Zion, and Israel is 'his own pos- session ' (cxxxv. 4). Cf Joel iii. 2, ' my land,' and for the expulsion or excision of foreigners, Nah. i. 15, Isa. Iii. I, Joel iii. 17. The inimitable alliteration is full of meaning ; see on xvii. 14. PSALM XI. A VIVID little poem full of antitheses— Jehovah on high and the ' children of men,' the righteous and the ungodly, the reward of the one and the punish- ment of the other. The ideas and expressions resemble those of Psalms v., vii., x., and xvii. A righteous man in trouble is the speaker m v. i, but, as the second line oiv. i shows, it is the Church within the Jewish nation of which the poet thinks. The individualising is merely poetical. There are two seven-lined strophes, and a closing motto. 1 The figure of the lion in v. 9 is even more appropriate in this context than in some of the prophetic descriptions of Assyrian and Chaldaean invaders. 28 THE PSALMS 1 In Jehovah have I taken refuge ; how say ye to my soul, ' Flee to your hills, ye birds ? 2 For lo ! the ungodly bend the bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, to shoot unseen at the upright in heart. 3 When the foundations are being torn down, what can the righteous do ? ' 4 Jehovah in his holy palace, Jehovah, whose throne is in heaven — his eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men. 5 Jehovah approves the righteous, but the ungodly and him that loves violence his soul hates. 6 Upon the ungodly he shall rain fiery coals and brimstone, and a burning wind shall be the portion in their cup. 7 For Jehovah is righteous, he loves righteous acts ; whoso is upright shall behold his face. 1 b Well-meant advice of little faith. A whole picture is con- densed in these few words, the ex- planation of which is given in v. 2. The ' soul ' or personality is ima- gined as a hunted bird (vii. 6, cxxiv. 7, Lam. iii. 52). How gladly would the weak in faith flee as birds {har and qippor are both collectives) to the ' rocks of the wild goats ' ! Cf. Iv. 7-9. 2 Similar expressions occur in Ixiv. 3, 4, where they are explained as descriptive of cruel and calum- nious language. Here persecution of any kind may be meant. 3 Tbe foundations, viz. of the state regarded as a house (as Ixxxii. 5) ; less probably, the higher classes of society (as Isa. xix. 10). 'What can tlie rl^rbteous do t Or, ' what has the righteous done ? ' (i.e. effected hitherto), as Miiller {Hebrew Syn- tax, § 3, i). Delitzsch and Driver support the first rendering ; for the delicate Hebrew idiom, see Driver, Hebrew Tenses, § 19. The sense is, ' What could he conceivably ef- fect?' Bickell forcibly, Wenn Saulen stiirzen, Hilft kein Gerechter. 4 In nis boiy palace. Mil- ton's ' palace of eternity ' is meant (xviii. 7, xxix. 9, Isa. vi. i, Hab. ii. 20). ' Holy,' implying inviolable security (see on xciii. 5). His eyelids try, &c. A Jeremian phrase ; cf. vii. 10. 6 Lightning, thunderbolts, and simoom (comp. Iviii. 10, cxl. 11, Ezek. xxxviii. 22, and especially Gen. xix. 24). One of those pic- tures of judgment, less frequent in the Bible than in the Korin, which remind us that we are reading an Oriental book. But what lies be- hind this Orientalism ? An im- portant theological conception, ex- pressed thus by Jeremiah : ' Israel is holiness unto Jehovah ; all that devour him shall be counted guilty ; evil shall come upon them ' (Jer. ii. 3). And what if those who ' devour' Israel and contemn his ideal are his own children ? (xiv. 4, Mic. iii. 3.) Then they must be treated like heathen enemies ; ' the Light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame ' (Isa. x. 17). For Jehovah is surrounded by a fire which guides and comforts His own people (Ex. xiii. 21, Isa. iv. 5), but descends in ' coals of fire ' (xviii. 13) on the ungodly. Comp. note on this circle of ideas in xiv. 3, and see crit. note. 7 Rlgbteous acts, i.e. 'the righteous acts of his rule ' (Judg. v. PSALM XI. 29 II, R. V.) ; so I Sam. xii. 7, Mic. communion with God. In this life vi. 5, Isa. xlv. 24. See note on vii. or the next ? The psalmist is not 18. Sball bebold tals face. in a mood to answer. He is close The rendering of A. V. is against upon St. John's conception of 'eter- usage, it is opposed by the parallel nal life ' as a present possession, passage cxl. 13; comp. 10). We (See further on xvii. 1 5.) have here a promise of spiritual PSALM XII. I\. PSALM in four stanzas or strophes of four lines each, which somewhat reminds us of Ps. v. (note the stress laid on sins of the tongue). The subject is the deep misery of the righteous, against which the psalmist can bring but one remedial agency — a divine promise, contrasting with the proud speeches of the enemies, and possibly taken from some pro- phetic writing. 2 Save, Jehovah, for the man of love is no more, for the faithful have vanished from among the children of men. 3 They speak falsehood every one with his neighbour : flattering language do they speak with a double heart. 4 May Jehovah cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that talks grandly, 5 Those that say, ' With our tongue do we make a firm covenant, our lips are our allies ; who is Lord over us ? ' 6 For the oppression of the afflicted, for the groaning of the needy, now will I arise, saith Jehovah, I will set him in the safety after which he pants. 7 The sayings of Jehovah are pure from dross, silver well tried (and running) to the ground, seven times refined. 9 All around walk the ungodly, meanness being on high above the sons of men. 8 Mayest thou preserve us, Jehovah, and guard us from this generation for ever ! 2 See on xiv. 3, and Mic. vii. 2, has the ethical sense which we find Isa. Ivii. I (reign of Manasseh ?) as early as Mic. vii. 2, and as late Tlie man of love. Here for the as Sir. xxxix. 13, 24. There is no first time we meet with the fine, English word to express the full characteristic word khasld, which meaning of the Hebrew ; I defend some scholars (represented in the my paraphrase by a reference to margin of R. V., Ps. iv. 3) render Prov. xi. 17, Hsh khhed, ' a man of 'one graced or favoured, viz. by love' (the love arising from the God,' but which, as I must think, sense of a covenant relation ; see certainly means rather one who on iv. 4). The ' godly ' and ' samt ' himself practises the virtue of khd- of King James's Bible fail to give sed. In 1. s the phrase is equiva- the emotional tinge of Hebrew lent to Israelite ; here, however, it piety. Jehovah requires that a 30 THE PSALMS man should do his duty both to God and to his brother man with a certain warmth of feehng. Love and duty, then, are both implied : comp. 'love is dutiful in thought and deed.' Here, however, this duteous love finds its chief sphere among mankind; comp. on xliii. i. -Tlie faltbfal, i.e. the trustworthy in all the relations of life = ' the upright ' in the parallel passage, Mic. vii. 2. ' Faithfulness ' is here a department of that ' lovingkindness ' which is the bond of Israel's covenant ; so in xlv. 5, ' good faith ' or ' truth- fulness ' is a department of ' right- eousness.' 5 IVltb our tongue . . . The tongue is more than their faithful servant ; it unweariedly suggests the most artful lies, the most terri- fying threats, which are a strong- hold to these wicked ones, as the praises of children are to God's people (viii. 3). The tongue is in fact their ally, better than any 'lord ' or 'god' to them. They are in covenant, neither with Baal, nor with Jehovah, but with their tongue.' This is Ewald's interpretation of the obscure passage. It is possible to regard one of the idioms as a sign of late date. See crit. note. 7 Pure from dross, with no admixture of falsehood ; purer than the purity of refined silver. Simi- lar references to the ' promises ' or ' sayings ' (Heb. imrdh) of Je- hovah occur in late psalms, cv. 20, cxix. 140 (and often), and a bold critic might include the striking parallel xviii. 31 (cf. Prov. xxx. 5). See also xix. 7-10. (And run- ning;) to tlie ^ound; mentioned as the sign that the smelting pro- cess has been effectual. See crit. note. 8 With Hupfeld, I transpose vv. 8 and 9 ; the gain is clear (cf. on xxxiv. 17, 16). All around, &c. Again the psalmist's courage sinks at the ubiquity and power of the irreligious faction. Israel has become ' like the grape-gleanings of the vintage,' which in point of fact amounts to nothing at all ; ' there is no cluster to eat ' (Mic. vii. i). How could it be otherwise, meanness (or, vileness, abjectness) being: on bigrli for tlie sods of men ? ' For' may be here put in- stead of ' above ' (comp. xiii. 3), or it may be a case of the 'dativus in- commodi,' so that we might para- phrase, ' the vilest men being pro- moted to the pain and grief of the common people' {b'ne 'adam, not ffne HsK). But though this render- ing is perfectly possible, the oddness of the phraseology suggests that the text may be corrupt. See crit. note. 9 From this generation, i.e. from this class of men (as xiv. 5, xxiv. 6, Ixxiii. 15, cxii. 2). PSALM XIII. A STORM-PIECE, but the storm is a spiritual one. Many pious Israelites may have found in this psalm a true reflection of their feelings in time of persecution. The opening words remind us of those of Ps. Ixxiv. Ob- serve that the tristich which fomis v. 6 corresponds to that which forms V. 3. The irregularity is designed, and there was no occasion for Sept. to complete v. 6 by inserting vii. li b. 2 How long, Jehovah, wilt thou ' forget me for ever ' ? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me ? 3 How long shall I lay up sorrow in my soul, heaviness in my heart, day [and night] ? how long shall mine enemy be on high above me ? 1 A.V. : ' With our tongue will we prevail ' (lit. , show ourselves strong). Delitzsch: ' To our tongue we will give strength ' (i.e. will give effect to our words). PSALM XIII. 21 4 Look hither and answer me, Jehovah my God, Hghten mine eyes, lest I sleep unto death ; 5 Lest mine enemy say, ' I have prevailed against him,' and my foes exult because I am moved. 6 But as for me, in thy lovingkindness is my trust ; let my heart exult in thy salvation, let me sing unto Jehovah, for he has dealt bountifully with me. 2 How long- . . . for evert A diflScult phrase, but only from its excess of meaning. The psalmist, we must suppose, has been ringing the changes on those gloomy words, ' My God has forgotten me, and that for ever ; I shall soon sleep the sleep of death.' Day after day and night after night (see V. 3) he has lain helpless in Doubt- ing Castle, till at last he plucks out the key of Promise (see Isa. Ivii. 1 6) and exclaims, 'The needy shall not be forgotten for ever' (ix. 19). But the battle is not yet won ; the weaker element — the ' soul ' — de- clares, ' with strong crying and tears,' that God has really forgotten for ever. This conflict within the man is reflected in his language. 'How long shall I be in such a state that my lower self is forced to exclaim, God has forgotten me for ever?' Comp. the aposiopesis in vi. 4. Dr. De Witt prefers to re- gard the second part of line i as an additional question, rendering (nearly as A. V.), ' How long, O Jehovah ? wilt Thou forget me for ever?' But this explanation does not suit Lam. v. 20. The render- ing 'entirely' is plausible, but an unnecessary deviation from usage. Even in bcxiv. 3, Job xxxiv. 36, the ordinary rendering ' for ever ' is adequate, both passages being coloured by emotion. Sept. and Symm., ds reXos, which Theodoret interprets navTeXais ; Aquila, reXeov. 3 In both lines the text has lost something. In a it reads, ' How long shall I array plans,' &c. (Sept., ^owXas); in^, 'heaviness ... by day' (Gesenius violently, 'the whole day '). See crit. note ; 'array' and ' lay up ' are equally justifiable ren- derings of the same verb ; ' array ' corresponds best to ' plans,' ' lay up ' to ' sorrow.' 4 Kest I sleep unto deatb. Now we see what God's 'forgetting for ever ' involved ; it meant death, ' the eternal sleep,' Jer. li. 39, 57 ; for the dead are those whom ' thou rememberest no more,' Ixxxviii. 6. Death of the nation ? or of the in- dividual ? See on vi. 6. 6 A striking contrast to the pre- ceding complaints. The psalmist is in mortal danger, but he trusts still, and this trust, through finding expression, deepens into a sure hope. In line 3 deliverance is even assumed as a fact. Dealt bountifully with me — a heavy rendering of gamal alai ; but how can we reproduce the pregnant sense of gamal (for which cf. Ass. gimil 'to do good,' Budge, Proceed- ings of Soc. of Bibl. Arch., 1883, p. 7) ? Sept., Tffl evepyerriiTavTi fie. In a different context, the same phrase might mean ' he hath done evil to me' (cf vii. 5), the root meaning being probably to com- plete or accomplish. PSALM XIV. < T7 JilNER der schwungvoUsten Psalmen,' Ewald. Its theme resembles that of Ps. xii. General depravity and practical atheism meet the psalmist at every turn. Illustrating this fact of experience by the truth of God's omniscience, he arrives at the conclusion that things are no better in the 32 THE PSALMS larger theatre of the world. Being a poet, however, and an earnest believer, he expresses this in a dramatic way, reminding us of Psalm ii. The Most High bends over His world (as xxxiii. 13), to see if there be not at least ' ten righteous ' (Gen. xviii. 32) in the crowd of evil-doers (comp. xi. 4) ; but his eyes rest upon a mere mass of moral corruption. Even in Israel, He can only find His own people among the poor and afflicted ones, who are eaten up by the exactions of irreligious oppres- sors. Thereupon He reveals Himself, to the consternation of those who deny Him and to the joy of those who have fled to Him for refuge. The concluding verse, which is in a different rhythm, contains an aspiration after deliverance (fuller deliverance is probably meant) for Israel. This seems to have been added to give distinctness to the meaning of the psalm in liturgical use. The psalm evidently belongs to a period either of persecution of the higher religion within the nation, or of oppression exercised upon Israel from without. It was evidently popular, for it exists in a duplicate ver- sion (see on Ps. liii.), as also do Pss. xviii. (see 2 Sam. xxii.), xl. 14-18 (see Ps. Ixx.), xcvi., and parts of cv., cvi. (see i Chron. xvi. 8-36). It is an interesting fact that the later editor of the Psalter respected the integrity of the minor collections which he took up. On Pss. xiv., XV., xvi., xix. cf Delitzsch, Der Dekalog in Exodus und Deuteronomium, in Luthardt's Zeitschrift, 1882, p. 290; on the interpola- tion in Rom. iii. 10-12, see Field, Hexapla {ad loc.) 1 The fool says in his heart, ' There is no God.' Corrupt and abominable are their practices, there is none that does good. 2 Jehovah looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there be any that deals wisely, and inquires after God. 3 The whole race has turned aside, together they have become tainted ; there is none that does good, no, not one. 4 ' Shall they not rue it, all that work naughtiness, that eat up my people ? They have eaten up the bread [of the afflicted], they call not upon Jehovah.' 5 Thereupon do they shudder indeed, for Elohim is in the righteous generation. 6 Ye would frustrate the purpose of the afflicted ! yea, but Jehovah is his refuge. 7 Oh that from Zion were come the salvation of Israel ! when Jehovah turns the fortune of his people, let Jacob exult, let Israel be glad. PSALM XIV. 33 I The fool. One surely need not suppose that an individual is here stigmatised : ' fool ' {nabhal), like ' scoffer ' {leq), is a class- word ; both words denote that kind of ungodliness which not only acts irreligiously, but justifies its irreli- gion on theoretic grounds, which grounds may be derived either from an erroneous view of the nature of Israel's God or from an absolute negation of His existence. (For the contrast seecxi. lo.) The 'fool' of Isaiah's time is thus defined by the prophet : ' The fool speaks folly, and his heart prepares wickedness, to practise profanity and utter error concerning Jehovah, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail' (Isa. xxxii. 6). The 'fool' of the Maccabean age was one who (like Antiochus Epiphanes) ' insulted ' Jehovah and ' contemned (or, blasphemed) his name,' from the point of an alien religion (Ixxiv. 1 8). It is possible that Prov. xxx. 1-4 are quoted from a poem by a post-Exile scoffer of a third, the intellectualistic type. Now, to which class does the ' fool ' of our passage belong? There is. nothing to sug- gest an absolute negation of Jehovah (except it be v. 4 V). The psalmist at once proceeds (w. i b) to com- ment, not on the fool's theory, but on his practices. So in Ps. x., ' there is no God,' is the sum and substance of the fool's thoughts, but, as the same verse shows, this merely means, ' El will not punish,' i.e. the generally recognised God- head, who has no special relation to Israel, has also no special rela- tion to the speaker. So too in xxxvi. 3, which explains the ' oracle ' in V. 1. And so in Ps. xii., ' who is Lord over us,' means, in Ewald's words, that the speakers 'have transferred their homage to a new sensuous God.' The safest infer- ence is that of Dr. Benisch— ' The utterance quoted is that of atheism characterising an over-refined age, and seeking to reason away the existence of an avenging Deity.' ^ Comp. Jer. v. 12, 'They denied Jeho- vah and said, He is not,^ neither shall evil come upon us ; ' one among a series of parallels in Jer. v. See also on xxxvi. 2, Ixxiii. 11. With the last line compare Savonarola's fervid complaints in his early trea- tise ' On Contempt of the World : ' ' Virtues are turned into vices ' and vices into virtues. There is none that doeth good, no not one.' ' May not this suggest that the psalmist is a disciple of the prophets, and writes in the spirit of Elijah (i Kings xix. 10, 14 ; comp. 18) and Jeremiah (Jer. V. I, 23) ? 3 The ivhole race has, &c. Precisely as Jer. v. 23, ' This people has a heart that turns aside and rebels ; they have turned aside and gone away.' The prophet and the poet are agreed. Though the for- mer only speaks of Israel, he would not have rejected the wider state- ment ; the symbolic name Jacob, as he well knows, is as applicable to mankind as to the people of Israel.* The expressions used by the psalmist here are still stronger than those in xii. 2. The idea in both passages is that while man, as man, is neces- sarily sinful, there are times when his sinful impulses manifest them- selves on a singularly large scale and in forms singularly displeasing to God. At such times men of heart- religion would not be surprised if the judgment upon Sodom and Go- morrha were to be repeated (xi. 6). Wo, not one. The same re- sult of a divine scrutiny as in Jer. V. I. 4 A divine speech, in spite of the inconsistency in /. 4. Shall they not rue It ? Literally, ' Shall they not come to know [their folly] ?' ' Miscellanies of Jewish Literature (by various writers), p. iig. ^ This cannot mean positive or theoretic atheism, for in Jer. v. 2 the same persons are described as swearing by Jehovah. ' CraghtoWs History of t/te Popes, iii. 146. * An inference from the Hebrew of Jer. xvii. 9, ' The heart [of man] is treacherous {'dqobhy D 34 THE PSALMS Comp. Isa. V. 19, ix. 9. It is best to take this view of the text in pre- ference to that which found favour with the Massoretic critics. The surprise and anger which the speaker evidently feels receive thus a more vigorous expression, and the transition to v. 5 becomes more natural. The case would be dif- ferent if we accepted the form given to the next verse in Ps. liii. (see note there). Tbat eat up . . . upon Jebovab. This arrangement of the verse seems to me, as well as to De Dieu, Hupfeld, and Bickell, rhythmically preferable to the Mas- soretic one adopted by A.V. The figure of ' eating ' a people is com- mon in Hebrew ; sometimes it is applied to the destruction wrought by invaders (Num. xiv. 9, and espe- cially Jer. X. 26, Ps. Ixxix. 7), some- times to the cruelties of native oppressors (Mic. iii. 3, Prov. xxx. 14). I have said above why I prefer the parallel from Micah to that from Jeremiah as illustrative of the meaning. The ' workers of naugh- tiness ' and the ' eaters of my people ' are designations of unworthy Israel- ites who do not own Jehovah with heart-homage, and whom Jehovah will not own as His people. ' My people,' spoken doubtless in pitying tones (comp. Isa. iii. 12, 15), means those who are so often called ' the afflicted' (see on ix. 13). So far all is plain. Then follows, accord- ing to the text, ' they eat [or, they have eaten] bread ; they call not upon Jehovah.' How are these two clauses related to each other, and to the context ? The former clause seems to be incomplete ; the distich to which it belongs is not symme- trical compared with its fellows. Whatever explanation of the pas- sage we adopt, this has to be borne in mind, and the incompleteness must be conjecturally removed. Three views of the meaning may plausibly be taken. The Targum explains thus : ' Do not all the workers of a lie know that food is given by him? why then do not the devourers of my people, who eat bread, bless the name of the Lord ? ' Following this we might render, ' They eat bread, [and are full,] and call not upon Jehovah,' viz. to 'bless Him for the good land which He has given them' (Deut, viii. 10). But thus we get no con- nexion with the context. De Dieu indeed provides one ' by taking the ' eaters ' to be the Babylonian op- pressors of the Jews, and the ' not calling upon Jehovah' to be the omission of a proper 'grace after meat ' consequent on the profession of heathenism ! A second possible view may be mentioned — to render, ' They eat bread, [they drink wine ;] they do not call upon Jehovah,' and explain this of the absorption in sensuous enjoyment which God would soon interrupt by a frightful catastrophe (comp. Isa. xxi. 5). This is better than the first view, but we still miss a connexion with the first part of the verse. The third view seems to supply this want. I do not offer it as certain, but as plausible ; it is due to Bic- kell, who has however since then changed his opinion, not (I feel sure) for the better. We should paraphrase thus : 'They have eaten up the bread that the afflicted should eat, they have robbed Jeho- vah of his homage.' Who can help comparing Isa. iii. 14, ' So then ye have devoured the vineyard ; the spoil of the afflicted is in your houses' ? Precisely as in that pas- sage the second clause explains the first, so here ' eating the bread of the afflicted ' explains the sense in which the oppressors were called in the first distich ' those who eat up my people.' The latter phrase means more than S?;jtio|3opos3a(riXeis (//. i. 231 ; comp. I Sam. viii. 14-17); it implies that, instead of, or in addi- tion to, the customary exactions of a royal master, the mass of poor Israehtes had now to undergo the unmitigated oppression of a niulti- tude of despots who were void of that heart-religion characteristic of 1 Animadversiones in Vet. Test, liiros omnes (1648), p. 315. PSALM XIV. 35 the 'poor' and 'afflicted.' Long ago, Amos had denounced the selfishness of the rich creditors who ' trode upon the helpless, and took from him presents of wheat ' (Am. V. n). Kindred expressions of Isaiah have been quoted al- ready ; it is interesting to notice that one mark of 'folly' in Isa. xxxii. 6 is depriving the poor man of his livelihood. The concluding words of the verse describe the injury done to Jehovah. The two middle lines of the verse refer to the afflicted ; the first line and the last refer to the afflicted one's God. ' Workers of naughtiness ' expresses the character of a class of men in the sight of Jehovah. He who judges men by their deeds can find no moral element in the works of these tyrants. The words, 'they call not upon Jehovah,' explain the secret of this ; such men have no communion of the heart with God. They are of those ' who say in- wardly, Jehovah does neither good nor evil ' (Zeph. i. 12), i.e. He is a non-moral deity, and leaves the world to itself. Those who carry the sheaves may be hungry (Job xxiv. 10), but He cares not ; bread is not 'the bread of the afflicted,' but of those who possess that might which is really their 'god ' (Hab. i. II ; c£ Mic. ii. i). Having no con- science, the rich oppressors of course do not pray, at least with the heart. But in the very midst of their cankered prosperity, a great change comes (see next verse). Such appears to be the connexion. Note the stress laid in this passage upon prayer, which may possibly be an indication of date ; cf Isa. xliii. 22 (with note) and Isa. xxvi. 16. 5 Tbereupon, i.e. when Jeho- vah has thus spoken. The perfect of prophetic certitude follows. In tbe rlgrbteous g-eneration. There is, besides, another ' genera- tion ' (see xii. 10), but this one has an invisible ally in Jehovah. This limitation of the divine presence to a section of the natural community of Israel is very striking. Comp. Isaiah's doctrine of the righteous remnant. 6 Ye would frustrate, &c. Probably an allusion to some reli- giously important object which the psalmist andhis friends werehoping to gain. 7 From Zion. This verse has the air of a liturgical addition. Both in the Exile and the post-Exile period, Zion and salvation are con- nected ideas ; comp. cxxi. i, Isa. lii. 7, 8, and especially Ixvi. 6 (as I believe, a post-Exile passage). Turns tbe fortune. Against the rendering, ' brings back the cap- tives,' see crit. note. PSALM XV. Ps. xiv. gave an emphatic recognition to prayer (v. 14). Ps. xv. aptly follows with its description of the conditions upon which communion with God may be enjoyed. Add to it Ps. xxiv. 1-6 and Isa. xxxiii. 15-16, and you have a fine triad of poetic catechisms on the elements of moral religion. Ps. XV. reminds us somewhat of the declaration of innocence pro- nounced by the soul before the tribunal of Osiris in the Book of the Dead (ch. cxxv.) Only ten testing qualities, however, are mentioned in the psalm. 1 Jehovah, who can be a guest in thy pavilion ? who can dwell upon thy holy mountain ? 2 He that walks blamelessly, and works righteousness, and speaks truth with his heart : 3 He that has no slander upon his tongue, that does no ill to his companion, nor utters a reproach against his neighbour : D 2 36 THE PSALMS Despicable is a reprobate in his eyes, but those that fear Jehovah doth he honour ; if he swear to (his) hurt, he changes not : He that gives not his money for usury, nor takes a bribe against the innocent : he that does these things can never be moved. I It is a plausible account which A.V. gives of this psalm in the heading, ' David describeth a citizen of Zion.' By ' Zion ' it means (see Ps. xxiv. A.V.) the Messianic or spiritual Zion spoken of in the prophecies of Isaiah (Isa. ii., iv., xi.) Plausible but superficial; for the ger (' foreign guest ' or ' so- journer ') was only a ' half-citizen ' (Ewald '), and required the protec- tion of an Israelite. ' To be Jeho- vah's guest ' means primarily ' to enjoy an inviolable security.' The phrase is connected on the one hand with the old customs of hos- pitality, and on the other with the ancient Semitic right of sanctuary, which lingered on, though with limitations, in Israel (Ex. xxi. 14, I Kings i. 51, ii. 29). It is an ag- gravation of the offences of the un- godly that ' they slay the widow and the sojourner' (xciv. 6), and the readiness with which the duty of hospitality is still accepted among the Arabs is shown by the every- day formula, ' I am the dakhil of such an one,' i.e. ' I claim his pro- tection.' Social customs are one great source of religious imagery, and so it is not surprising that we find a Hebrew worshipper describ- ing himself as the ' guest ' of Jeho- vah, and Phoenician inscriptions ' containing the names Gersacun (' guest of Sacun '), Germelkart (' guest of Melkart '), Gerastart (' guest of Astarte '), and even Ger- hecal (' guest of the temple '). The prominent idea in all these names is not so much participation in the sacrificial feasts, as Renan would have it,* but the enjoyment of divine protection ; comp. the Arabic phrase for an inhabitant of Mecca, jdr-ullah, ' God's protected one.' * The faithful worshipper has, as it were, 'taken sanctuary,' whether he lives near his god's shrine or not. But what constitutes fidelity? Abundant material sacrifices, or 'walking blamelessly'? Thepsahn- ists differ from their heathen neigh- bours ; ' evil cannot be a guest of thine ' (v. 5). Jehovah's require- ments are far greater than those of Astarte ; on the other hand, his gifts are proportionately valuable. His 'guest' is secure in a far deeper than the common sense of the phrase. See Ixi. 5, where it is veiy clear that a deep spiritual meaning lies behind the words (see on xxvii. 4). Pavilion. Milton's syno- nym for ' tent ' (see his version of iii. 18) is adopted for rhythm, ' Tent ' or ' pavilion ' = ' house' (comp. cxxxii. 3, ' the tent of my house,' I Kings viii. 66). More especially, as the context shows, the temple is meant ; nothing com- pels us to think of the Davidic 'tabernacle.' upon thy holy mountain. ' Holy,' i.e. unap- proachable by sinners (see xxiv. 3). 1 Antiquities, p. 236, note 9. Kuenen, however, has noted variations intlie different legal systems overlooked by Ewald. See, e.g., Hihlert Lectures (1882), p. 183. 2 For the three former, see Euting, Punische Steine, pp. 13, 15, 16 ; for the latter. Corpus Inscr. Semit., torn. i. fasc. 2, pp. 132, 133. ^ Le yudaisme et le Christianisme (1883), p. 9. . , * The Arabic verb/rJra in conj. iii. and iv. means ' to receive under protection; inx., ' to ask protection. ' Compare A'izmija, p. 51, ' A mountain have we where dwells he whom we take under our protection ; ' and Kordn, ix. 6, ' And if any one of tie idolaters ask thee for protection, then receive him under protection .... then let liira gain his place of safety. ' PSALM XV. 2>7 On this sense see Baudissin, Stu- dien zur semit. Religionsgeschichte, ii. 91, 92. 2 And speaks trutb. The importance and the range of truth- Mness was only recognised by de- grees. The Decalogue, however, contains the germs of subsequent developments. Ex. xx. 16 refers to all kinds of false statements re- specting a neighbour ; and a pre- ceding law, Ex. XX. 7, contains a still more comprehensive prohibi- tion of false asseverations, that is, if KIB'^ means ' for a falsehood.' (It implies that an Israelite, in af- firming something, would naturally appeal to Jehovah, and requires that this appeal shall not be made ' with reference to vanity.') The Egyptians, however, were beyond the Israelites in emphasising the religiousduty of truthfulness. This Elysium in ' Amenti ' was called ' the land of truth of speech,' and line 7 of the declaration of the soul (referred to above) ran, ' I have lied in no man's face.' ■Witb bis beart. We should say, '■from the heart.' But the Hebrew regards the lips as merely the servants of the heart, i.e. of the mind and con- science (comp. xii. 3). So too the hands ; hence Isa. xxxii. 6, ' his heart does iniquity.' 4 If be swear to (bis) bnrt. Literally, ' to do evil ; ' the context shows that he himself is the suf- ferer in the case supposed. The allusion is to the law in Lev. v. 4, which supplements Ex. xx. 7, ' If any one swear in idle talk to do evil or to do good,' (he shall confess and make atonement for his sin) ; or at least to some current law in which the obligation of keeping one's word was expressed in similar phraseo- logy. Followers of Wellhausen will grant that the technical phrases of Leviticus may in part be ancient. Be cbang'es not, i.e. he does not go from his word. Not, there- fore, in the technical sense of Lev. xxvii. 10, 33. 5 He that ^Ives not, &c. To the poor Israelite such a man lends gratuitously (xxxvii. 26, cxii. 5 ; comp. Prov. xxviii. 8). Here, too, there is an allusion to some current law, probably to Ex. xxii. 24 or Deut. xxiii. 19 ; comp Lev. xxv. 37. PSALM XVI. If this were the only psalm with the title Miktam, one could easily adopt the explanation ' a golden song,' this psalm being, as De Dieu says, Uke gold for preciousness. God, the one great good, is its theme, and it is written not only for the Jewish Church (Theodore of Mopsuestia) but for any pious Israelite. Alluding, perhaps, to the close of a neighbouring psalm (xii. 8), the psalmist opens with a short petition for preservation (7/. i) ; he then assumes the tone, successively, of profession, description, and prophecy. He professes his own utter faith in Jehovah, which makes all other joys pall, and his exclusive attachment to his spiritual leaders (2, 3). Why this mention of Jehovah and Jehovah's ' noble ones ' in the same breath ? Because, in times like the present, a man's society is the test of his religion. There are many recreant Israelites who have fallen into heathenism ; intercourse with these would too surely involve a share in their defilement. ' At every table was the altar, on every tongue the light oath, of idolatry.' But loneliness is no grief to the believer ; his mind is to him a kingdom. Jehovah is at his side, and knowing this, he would not change his lot (4-6). He blesses Him who guides him in ac- cordance with his wise purpose (Ixxiii. 24) and is jealous (like Bishop Ken) of the sleep which cuts short his Hallelujahs. He continually looks to Israel's invisible Guide ; this is his talisman (7, 8). And now from de- scription he passes to prophecy. He is confident that Israel's work is not yet done, and that even for him (however his persecutors may rage. 38 THE PSALMS or may lately have raged) a share in this work is reserved. But he seeks something more — not 'in the world to come life everlasting' — but 'a path of life' beginning here, though broadening in what later writers called the ' age to come ' (9-12). Jehovah's guest begins his banquet on earth (xxiii. s) ; the psalmist would not have pourtrayed the present age as only the vestibule leading to the triclinium or banquet-hall, i.e. the world to come.' In fact, his antithesis is not this world and the next, but life with God and life without God (comp. xvii. 14). But more of this below. The prevalent misapprehension of the psalm seemed to call for the above analysis. What is wanted to understand such poems is, first, a feeling for literature, and secondly, a strong and deep theistic consciousness. To follow the leadings of these inward monitors obliges us to modify the sense of the words 'Davidic' and ' Christian.' To us, the former becomes a symbolic term for vigour and originality of style, and the latter describes a peculiar spiritual intuition and tone of feeling. Ps. xvi. is in a high degree both Davidic and Chris- tian. Comparing it with neighbouring psalms more or less parallel, we find little in it that is absolutely new, but the intensity with which all is felt and expressed makes it seem original. All earthly desires are stilled ; the psalmist is in the mood of the writer of Ixxiii. 25, 26. For a special study of Ps. xvi., see Dr. Robertson Smith, Expository 1876, pp. 341-372. See also Delitzsch (see introd. to Ps. xiv., end), who remarks that Ps. xvi. is a development of the idea that all Israel is ' a kingdom of priests and an holy nation ' (Ex. xix. 6). On the linguistic relation of this and the next psalm, see crit. note. 1 Preserve me, O God ; for I seek refuge in thee. 2 I say unto Jehovah, ' Thou art my Lord, without thee my welfare is nought, 3 And in thy noble ones is all my delight' 4 They multiply their own griefs who change for another : their drink-offerings of blood will I not pour out, nor take their names upon my lips. 5 Jehovah is mine appointed portion and cup, thou wilt be continually my lot. 6 My measuring-lines have fallen in pleasant places ; yea, I have a delightsome heritage. 7 I will bless J ehovah, who has given me counsel : yea, in the night-seasons mine own reins admonish me. 8 I have set Jehovah before me continually : for with him at my right hand I cannot be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory exults, liiy flesh also dwells in safety. 10 For thou wilt not give up my soul to Shedl, neither wilt thou suffer thy loving one to see the pit ; 1 1 Thou makest known to me the path of life ; near thy face is fulness of joys, all pleasant things are in thy right hand for ever. 1 Pirke Aioth, iv. 23 (Taylor). PSALM XVI. 39 2, 3 An emphatic confession of laith, supplemented by a declara- tion of brotherly fellowship with Jehovah's 'noble ones.' The cor- rection in V. 3 (see crit. note) re- lieves the text from great awkward- ness. 2 I say. An emphatic intro- duction to the confession of faith which follows ; comp. xci. 2. My lord. So Adonai must be rendered in xxxv. 23. There is thus a contrast to the 'Who is Lord over us ' of xii. 5. V^elfare bave I none, &c., i.e. to Thee alone do I look for happiness. I would not lay, too much stress on the point, but the writer seems here (comp. V. 6) to imply that, though danger still threatens, a comparative degree of prosperity is enjoyed. The con- text of Ixxiii. 25, 26 is quite dif- ferent. 3 Thy noble ones. The He- brew addir expresses here ' ampli- tude' of rank and power, as Jer. xxv. 34-36, 2 Chron. xxiii. 20, Neh. X. 30 (see on xciii. 4). Jehovah's 'noble ones' are opposed to worldly grandees ; possibly the priests are meant, who in I Chron. xxiv. 5 are called 'hallowed princes.' The interpolated line in this verse comes from the margin ; it does not, in- deed, make the verse senseless, if we approach it with a disposition . to find a particular meaning. We have then a declaration that the ' noble ones ' in whose company the speaker delights are ' the holy ones that are in the land.' ' Holiness,' i.e., in this connexion, severance from the impurities of heathenism, is specially the mark of the . Mac- cabean rising (see on 1. 5) ; but of course we are not shut up to the theory that this is a Maccabean psalm. Holiness is the predomin- ant thought of the whole post- Exile period. ' Holy ones ' occurs again of individuals in xxxiv. 10 ; the expression says more than 'holy people '(Isa. Ixiii. 18, Dan. xii. 7). In Num. xvi. 3 the two statements, that the people is holy, and that its members are holy, are virtually combined. ' In the land ' of course means in Canaan. The phrase suggests that many Jews were not ' holy ; ' cf the phrases ' the quiet in the land ' (xxxv. 20), ' the faith- ful of the land' (ci. 6). Cf. also 'his holy ones '(xxxiv. 10), where, however, the context does not re- quire the same shade of meaning as here. 4 Tbelr own griefs. Comp. Jer. ii. 19, Isa. 1. II («(7/cxxxix. 24). Je- hovah is a 'jealous God,' and will not ' give His glory to another' (Isa. xlii. 8). VTbo cbang^e for anotber. We do not often in these psalms meet with direct references to idolatry. This is the first, unless there be another in iv. 3. For the phraseo- logy, see cvi. 20, Jer ii. 11. There may be a secondary meaning, ' pur- chase,' maharu alluding to mohar, the purchase-money for a wife ; comp. Isa. Ivii. 9. That idolatry was a constant temptation to Israel needs no showing. It was not least so after the Return, as is clear, not indeed from Isa. Ivii. 5, 6, but cer- tainly from Isa. Ixv. 1-7, 11, and from I Mace. i. Tbeir drlnk- offerlni^s of blood. ' Of blood ' is best taken figuratively (so Kimchi) ; comp. Isa. Ixvi. 3, ' He that slaughters an ox is a man-slayer.' The psalmist execrates the apostasy of these men so much that the choice wine of their libations (comp. Isa. Ixv. II) is to him as offensive as the blood of a human sacrifice. (It is not the bloodshed of rapine — comp. Isa. i. 15 — which is referred to ; an error of Kimchi's.) On this view, the phrase ' their drink- offerings of blood ' is as comprehen- sive as ' their idol-names ' in the next line. The figure involved may seem somewhat harsh, but remem- ber the poetic expression ' the blood of grapes,' Gen. xlix. 1 1. Accepting the post-Exile origin of the psalm, I think this view the most probable. Otherwise we might hold that hea- thenism in general is credited with the abominations of particular cults in which it found its climax. Hu- man sacrifices were certainly offered to Moloch in Judah in the time of Ahaz and later (see 2 Kings xvi. 3, 40 THE PSALMS Isa. Ivii. 5, 6). That literal blood- libations are meant is held by Ibn Ezra, and among the moderns by Calvin, Ewald, Baethgen, and Dr. Robertson Smith. Dr. Trumbull, specialising too much, sees an allu- sion to a custom connected with the rite of blood-brotherhood, still re- cognised in Syria as a primitive custom.^ It is worth remarking that libations appear to have been more prominent both in the heathen cults of Palestine and in the quasi-hea- then worship of Jehovah (see Hos. ix. 4) than in the Levitical worship. Tbelr names, viz. those of the idol-gods whom the renegades in- voked ; cf. Ex. xxiii. 13, Hos. ii. 17 (Heb. 19). 5 IMlne appointed portion and cup. Two figures are combined ; first that of the distribution of the communal land with which we meet again in v. 6 (comp. Cambridge Bible on Mic. ii. 5), next that of a host filling up his guest's cup (comp. xxiii. 5). The first figure properly belongs to Israel (Jer. x. 16, Ii. 19), but, as Ixxiii. 26 and the name Hilkiah show, it was appropriated by indi- vidual believers. My lot, a sy- nonym for ' my portion ; ' comp. Isa. lix. 7, ' they, they are thy lot.' ' Continually ' is added, because the believer feels one with a God who is eternal. Comp. Ixxiii. 23, ' I am continually with thee,' and V. 26, ' God is for ever . . my por- tion.' The Massoretic reading is variously rendered, 'Thou boldest fast,' and ' Thou makest broad (my lot).' But there are strong objec- tions to it. 6 ncy measuringr-Iines ... In pleasant places. This may of course be a materialising expression for the 'pleasantness' (i.e. tender friendship, xxvii. 4) of Israel's God. But it is clear from v. 1 b and v. 8 b that outward prosperity and secu- rity are prominent in the writer's mind : in short, he is not merely conscious of Jehovah's favour in the heart, but sees it expressed in act. Was not Canaan, ' the lot of your inheritance' (cv. 11), a 'pleasant place ' ? (see cvi. 24, Mai. iii. 12.) Does not the psalmist mean, not only his 'pleasant ' or gracious God, but the land which Jehovah has ' chosen ' ? Spiritual and material blessings are not yet separated; Jehovah and Jehovah's land are both the ' portion ' of Israel. Comp. I Mace. xiv. 8, &c., ' And [in the days of Simon] they tilled their ground in peace, and the earth gave her products, and the trees of the field their fruit. Elders sat in the streets ; all communed together of good things ; and the young men put on honours and warlike apparel. ... He made peace in the land, and Israel rejoiced with great joy.' May not these be among the 'pleas- ant things ' in Jehovah's right hand (w. 11)? Comp. Job. xxxvi. 11. 7, 8 See introd. Others explain the ' admonishing ' of the moral warnings of conscience. But the ' reins ' mean the feelings, which stimulate to the expression of joy or gratitude (comp. Prov. xxiii. 16), not the reason, nor the conscience. 9 The psalmist's joy in God is no mere physical sensation. A holy calm fills his body, and a rapturous joy his inner man, while the 'heart' brings all this into the full light of the central consciousness. So in Prov. xiv. 10, 'The heart knows the grief of one's soul.' The same ap- parent trichotomy occurs in Ixxxiv. 3 ; remember, however, that the true Hebraic division of human nature is into soul andflesh (see, e.g., Ixiii. 2). 10, 1 1 See introd. for the sense in which these verses may without any effort be called Christian. V. 11 is easier than v. 10. ' Life,' 'joys,' and ' pleasant things ' are all those good things, both material and spiritual, which the author of Prov. i.-ix. repeatedly holds out in pro- spect to the God-fearing man. That beautiful didactic poem, and the psalms which resemble it (e.g. Ps. xxxiv.), treat of the ' beginning of wisdom,' but the ' secret of Jehovah' ' Blood-covenant, p. 251 (cf. p. 6) — a striking passage. PSALM XVI. 41 (xxv. 14) must be sought in psalms like this. He who has God for his ' portion ' cannot attach an extreme importance to what 'men of the world' (xvii. 14) call ' life.' He does, indeed, \'alue it, highly value it, but more for Israel's sake than for his own. The sad complaints in vi. 4-7 express the despondency of one who fears deeply for Israel. The title, ' Thou that liftest me up from the gates of Death' (ix. 14), refers to some past national trial little less bitter than death. The thanksgiving of one alive from the dead in xxx. 4 is spoken in the name of the true IsraeL And so the psalmist in v. 10 is thinking of Israel when he says, in the 7rX);po(^opta of faith, ' Thou wilt not give up my soul to Sheol.' But not of Israel only (so Theodore of Mopsuestia). Israel's work is not yet finished ; and Israel needs my help. Therefore ' I (like Israel) shall not die but live, and tell out the works of Jehovah' (cxviii. 17). Pleasant are God's earthly gifts, but not for selfish reasons do I seek them. ' Let the pleasantness of Jehovah our God be over us, and the work of our hands prosper thou over us' (xc. 18). But the psalmist may have soliloquised still further. It is consistent with his view of things to imagine him speaking thus : When my own share in this work is over, and the hand of She61 takes hold of me, then He who is my portion, and whose portion I am (see Deut. xxxii. 9, 2 Mace. xiv. 15), will ' set free my soul ' (xlix. 16), will finish ' making known ' to me ' the path of life,' will give me 'joys' and 'pleasant things' which last for ever ; above all, will ' receive me with glory ' (bcxiii. 24), and bring me nearer to Thy face (z/. 11, xvii. IS)- An important question arises here, to which two very different answers have been given, the truth lying probably midway between them. How far can passages like this be employed in illustration of the belief of the average pious Israelite? M. Haldvy thinks ' that, few and incidental as are the refer- encesto Sheol in the OldTestament, and careful as both narrators and poets are to spiritualise popular ex- pressions and to transform them into poetical images, ' the form of the popular beliefs disengages itself in a luminous manner — beliefs which are evidently identical with those which the Assyrio-Babylonians pro- fessed relatively to the fate of man after death.' Putting together the notices of Enoch and Elijah and the phraseology of Ps. xvi., xlix., Ixxiii., and Prov. xii. 28,^ he con- cludes that ' the pious Hebrew hoped to escape from She61, either by ascending alive into heaven, or by being received after a short so- journ in Hades into the presence of Jehovah, seated at whose right hand he would enjoy everlasting delights.' Some Christian critics will strongly object to this, as confusing the distinction between the Old Testament and the New. Others, with whom I agree, will steer a middle course.'* They will draw that most important distinc- tion between the spiritualising mo- notheistic writers of the canonical books and the average believer in Sheol, but require as a preliminary to any inferential reconstruction of Jewish beliefs a critical examina- tion of the date, origin, and object of each writing to which reference may be made. They will see in M. Hal^vy a predisposition to identify popular Jewish beliefs with those of the Assyrio-Babylonians, without allowing room for a somewhat dif- ferent course of development among the different peoples, and to extract 1 Reuue archiologiiue,-yx\\\e.1 1882, p. S3> &= I <=f- Melanges decrifique,;p. 368, &c. '' On the psalm-passages my notes will show how far I agree with M. Haievy. Against his rendering of niD'^K. Prov. xii. 28, ' immortality,' see Job and Solomon. ^' s^^At the last moment I can specify among these Dr. A. Jereniias (fije hab.-ass. Vorstellungen vom Uben nach dem Tode, 1887, the appendix of which is concernea with the O. T. 42 THE PSALMS a more definite form of belief from for I am duteous in love ' {khasid), the Hebrew records than it is always Ixxxvi. 2. Have we not here a fore- quite safe to do. That traces of gleam of Christianity ? (The expo- mythic ideas of She61 do exist in the sition of vv. 10, 1 1 may, I know, be Old Testament I have long since weakened, but only by a wholesale repeatedly admitted, also that both introduction of hyperbole both here in primitive times and in the Exile and elsewhere— see on Ps. xxi.) period the Israelites came under the The pit (as vii. 16, ix. 16, xlix. 10). influence of Babylonian concep- That shakhath commonly means tions, but reserves and qualifications ' pit ' is undeniable ; and that there have to be made all along the course should be a second shakhath = 'cor- that M. Hal^vy has taken. -Thy ruption ' is not at all probable (as loving- one. The phrase implies Perowne has already pointed out), an argument. ' Thou wilt preserve Even in Job xvii. 14 the ordinary me because of the bond of loving- sense seems to me sufficient. But kindness {khe'sed; see on v. 8) which does not the rendering 'pit' impair unites Thee to Israel.' So another the Messianic element in the psalm? psalmist, ' Preserve thou my soul, No (see Perowne, Psalms, i. 205). PSALM XVII. 1 HE complaint of the nobler Israel personified, of a representative pious Israelite ; comp. z/. 11. The assertions of innocence are to be explained as in vii. 9. The tone is in marked contrast to that of Ps. xvi. ; it more resembles that of Pss. vii., x. — psalms of painful and agitated feeling. The antithesis presupposed is within the sphere of the religion of Jehovah ; it is not that of Jehovism and heathenism, but that of morality and immorality. Pss. xvi. and xvii. agree indeed in one respect, viz. that in both the psalmist rises above the struggles of his day into the pure air of mystic devotion, where God is felt to be the all-sufficient ' portion ' (see on xvi. 5, xvii. 14). The points of contact between them (see Ewald and DeUtzsch) have been pressed too far ; there is a more striking relation (see v. 14) to Ps. xlix. (where n^n occurs in the sense of world, xlix. 2), to Job (seexx. 26 a), and to Ecclesiastes (where we find the phrase ' in life,' i.e. in the life of the senses, Eccles. vi. 12, ix. 9). For though these parallels are suggested by a single verse of one psalm, even Bickell does not regard this passage as an interpolation. We may add that the phrasing of the confession of faith in xlix. 15 illustrates that in xvii. 15. The style of Ps. xlix. maybe smoother than that of Ps. xvii., but the Book of Job itself contains examples of the calmer and of the more excited style ; the moods of the wise men who discussed these deep problems would vary with their circumstances. Ps. xvi., again, differs in tone from each of these psalms, while Ps. Ixxiii. reminds us in various degrees of all of them, though in the bright happiness of its conclusion it alone can be compared to Ps. xvi. 1 Hearken unto innocency, Jehovah ; attend unto my piercing cry ; give ear unto my prayer from guileless lips. 2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence ; let thine eyes behold uprightly. 3 Thou triest my heart, thou visitest it by night, thou assayest me, but canst find no evil device ; my mouth transgresses not. PSALM XVII. 43 4 As for the doings of men, by the word of thy lips I have shunned the paths of the spoiler. 5 My steps have held fast to thy tracks, my feet have not trembled. 6 I (being such an one) call upon thee, for thou wilt answer me, O God; incline thine ear unto me, hear my speech. 7 Make passing great thy kindnesses, O saviour of those that flee for refuge from them that assail, by thy right hand. 8 Watch over me as the apple of the eye, cover me with the shadow of thy wings, 9 From the wicked ones who treat me with violence, my greedy enemies, who compass me about. 10 Their unfeeling heart they have shut tight, with their mouth they speak haughtily. 1 1 No step of ours but they are already about us, with eyes fixed on our swerving in the path. 12 He is like a lion longing to tear in pieces, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. 13 Up, Jehovah, confront him, make him bow down, deliver my soul from the wicked by thy sword, 14 From men of the world, whose portion is in life, and whose belly thou iillest with thy treasure, who are full of sons, and leave their abundance to their children. 15 As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness ; may I be satisfied, when I awake, with thine image ! I My piercing cry. DeWitt, from Deut. xxxii. 10, II ; cf. on ' my wailing.' See on v. 11. xxxvi. 8, xci. 4. 3, 4 Comp. on vii. 9, 10. The 9-12 Comp. vii. 2, x. 8-12, xxii. divine searcher will find me free 13, 14, 17, 18, Ivii. 5, Iviii. 7. from sin in thought, in word, and in 10 Tbeir unfeeling- beart. deed, that is, sincerely faithful to Lit., 'their caul' (the membrane the Law. Sins of thought are exa- surrounding the heart, Hos. xiii. 8, minedbynlgrbt, when the thoughts A.V.) Comp. Ixxiii. 7. and imaginations rove unchecked, 13 confront him. Or, 'inter- and thus call for the divine Judge. cept him ' (when he is in act to The spoiler ; or, ' the robber ' spring). ' Bow down ' of the lion, as — the type of lawlessness (Hos. vii. Gen. xlix. 9. I). Cf. x. 3, 7. 14 On the text see crit. note, 7 Make passing- rreat, &c. and on the points of contact with See on iv. 4. ' Surpassingness ' is Ps. xlix.. Job, and Eccles., see introd. themarkofthedivine(Judg. xiii. 18, Men of the world, &c. 'The Isa. ix. 5, Heb.) world ' and ' life ' have here a special 8 The figures may be borrowed and deep signification. A true Is- 44 THE PSALMS raelite has a better home than ' the ■world,' and a greater prize than the 'hfe' of the senses (Ixiii. 4). He has ' laid hold on the hfe which is life indeed' (i Tim. vi. 19, R.V.), or, in Old Testament language, he dwells in the ' house of Jehovah,' that 'living God' who 'makes known to him the path of life ' (see introd.) With ' men of the world ' comp. the phrase ' the children of this aeon,' opposed to ' the children of light ' (Luke xvi. 8). Comp. also ' mortals of the earth ' (x. 18), which reminds us of the phrase ' he that is of the earth ' (John iii. 3 1 ). Note in passing the religious use of the term ' por- tion ' as a synonym for ' protecting deity ' (see on xvi. 5). ' Life,' or pleasure, is in fact idolised. Whose belly, this part of the body being regarded as the seat of greed and avarice ; comp. Job. xx. 1 1, ' nothing escaped his eating.' VTitb tliy treasure. A coinci- dence with Job XX. 26a (see Heb. and R.V.) Vrbo are lull of sons. Job felt the same difficulty (Job xxi. 8, 11). 1 5 As for me, &c. Worldlings forget the Giver in the gifts (' thy treasure '), and practically say, ' There is no God but pleasure.' As for me, who am called upon to ' serve God for nought,' what is my ' portion ' ? It is to ' see thy face in righteousness ' (i.e. either ' recog- nised by Thee, the great Judge, as righteous,' or ' in accordance with Thy promise,' Isa. xlii. 6, xlv. 13) — mystic communion with God, begun in this life, and to be perfected when I awake. A phrase of much- disputed import. Does it mean ' on the morning of the resurrection ' ? This is possible, if the psalm be a Maccabean one ; comp. Dan. xii. i, Isa. xxvi. 19. But a vague allusion to so great and definite a hope is improbable ; and in the Book of Job, with which this psalm is partly parallel, the idea of waking from the sleep of Sheol is only mentioned to be dismissed (Job xiv. 12). ' On to-morrow's dawning ' ? Far too weak for a climax ! ' After weeping has tarried for the night and gone on her way ' ? But there is no parallel for this interpretation, 'Every morning, when I awake'? Hermann Schultz has adopted this view ; the ' image ' or ' form ' of God will then mean the apparition of the divine Champion of afflicted Israel.' But this requires the pre- sent instead of the cohortative ; Schultz boldly renders 'erwache ich, sattige ich mich.' Only one explana- tion remains. 'When I awake' may mean ' when life's short day is past.' That life, when past, is a sleep, we find (perhaps) in another psalm (xc. 6) ; is it surprising that the correlative truth that death is an awaking out of sleep should meet us in a grand utterance like that before us ? Is it not rather an image which mystics in all ages have claimed as their own? Thy face . . . thy form. (Comp. xi. 7, xvi. II.) On the latter expression, see below ; it is only a synonym for ' thy face,' which is the proper expression in the early religious systems of Palestine for that aspect of the Divine Being which was turned towards and capable of being apprehended by man.^ The Ca- naanitish Deity was in fact, not a triad, but a duad. The phrase 'the face of God ' was retained by ' Moses and the prophets,' being a part of the received language of religious thought in those symbol-loving ages. ' The face of Jehovah ' was therefore not a metaphorical phrase for His favour, derived from earthly courts. His ' face ' was one aspect of Him- self, was therefore personal (comp. XX. I, Ex. xxxiii. 14, Isa. xxx. 27), and to ' see His face ' was to re- ceive from Himself intuitive revela- 1 AUtestamentUche Theologie, ed. 2, pp. 600-2. But I regret the exegetical paradox on p. 601, n, I. ' Prophecies of Isaiah, notes on Isa. i. 12, xxvi. 8 ; Gm^\ag,Moabite Stone, p. 43. That the ' Face ' of Jehovah was not a co-ordinate deity with Jehovah, entitles us perhaps to compare the worship of Assur, who ' stands by himself ' and ' has no ' ' face or reflection ' (Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, pp. 126, 127), PSALM xvir. 45 tions of His nature and character, so far as these concerned Israel and the individual Israelite ; it was, in short, to 'know' Him. God as He is ' can no man see and live ' (Ex. xxxiii. 20), but \vith a ' faithful ser- vant' like Moses Jehovah 'will speak mouth to mouthy and ' the form of Jehovah shall he behold' (Num. xii. 8, R.V.) This softening of God's brightness in condescen- sion to the weakness of Moses is a beautiful feature of the Yahvistic narrative,' and helps to prepare the way for the devotional use of the expression ' seeing God's face ' in the Book of Psalms. Probably there was a parallel movement in Assyrian religion. In the Annals of Assurbanipal we read thus : ' Istar, who dwells in Arbela, entered, and right and left she was sur- roimded with glory.' It is indeed only a vision that is granted ; but even in Israel the experience of Moses is said to be unique. The parallel is a real one, but stops short where we most want it. That ' God is love,' is a truth which, as Hosea and the psalmists preached it, is peculiar to Israel. And without this truth, ' seeing the face of God ' loses the tenderest part of its mean- ing. The sterner part of course remains ; without God's love. His face is as a consuming fire (comp. on xi. 6). Nothing is gained by changing ' with thy form ' into ' and thou wilt appear ' (De Witt). ' See- ing thy form ' expresses the objec- tive reality of communion with God. Indeed, I do not myself think that more than this is claimed for Moses in the passage quoted above (Num. xii. 8). The case is different in Ex. xxiv. 10, which appears to state expressly that the sight of the God of Israel vouchsafed to the 'nobles ' was such as under ordinary circum- stances would have involved their destruction. The solemnity of the moment (we are probably intended to infer) was recognised by this unique privilege. PSALM XVIII. L^LOVis's psalm ^ and John Wesley's (see on v. 2). A song of triumph, but with one or two touches of a milder sentiment. The critics agree in eulogising the skill of the poet, from Amyraut (the colleague of Louis Cappel), who calls it ' artis poeticae luculentissimum specimen,' to Ewald, who points out the symmetry of its divisions. It is true that the poem falls at first sight into two unequal parts, viz. •w. 2-28 and vv. 29-51. But remove the four distichs numbered 25-28, and the number of distichs and tristichs in either part becomes very nearly equal, and approximate symmetry is, so far as I can see, all that the Hebrew poets usually aimed at. The first part is ' Davidic ' in virtue of its style ; the second may be thought to be so, in spite of the falling off in the style, in virtue of its regal and triumphant tone. An ancient belief in the integrity of the poem is guaranteed by its occurrence, not only in the Psalter, but in our second Book of Samuel (chap, xxii.), where it forms part of an appendix to the history of David. Besides this, Micah, or some prophet in the reign of Manasseh, alludes to v. 46 of our psalm (Mic. vii. 17), and Habakkuk in Jehoiakim's reign (if the ode in Hab. iii. be really his) seems to copy v. 34 (Hab. iii. 19). The imitative psalm in Jon. ii. is partly based on vv. 5-7. A wise man of the post-Exile period copies v. 31 (Prov. xxx. 5), and a very late psalmist adopts features from both parts of the psalm (see introd. to Ps. cxliv.) I cannot stay to speak here on the relation of our psalm to Deut. xxxii., with which it has some points of contact ; but, without a long argument, I may safely assert that Ps. xviii. as a whole is not later than the reign of Hezekiah, whose reforms may be alluded to in vv. 21- 1 Kautzsch, art. Theophanie in Herzog-Plitt's Reahncyclofcidie. '' Gibbon, Decline and Fall, chap, xxxviii. (ed. 1855, iv. 358), 46 THE PSALMS 25, and that it was found in a collection of sacred lyrics, which also con- tained at any rate Ps. xxxvi. (compare the headings of the two psalms) by the second or final editor ' of the Books or rather Book of Samuel. There are some hard problems connected with the higher criticism and the exegesis of this psalm. For instance, is the poem the work of king David himself ? Ewald thinks so, and the insertion of it in the closing part of 2 Samuel may seem to some to decide the point. Other critics (with whom I coincide) are content with affirming that the psalm was at least written with an eye to the life of David (comp. Perowne Psalms, i. 6). On this and other points I may hope to speak elsewhere ■ on the question as to the relation of this recension of the psalm to that in 2 Sam. xxii. I must refer to the critical notes, though a condensed treat- ment of it is all that will be possible. 2 I will exalt thee, Jehovah my strength, 3 Jehovah my high crag and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, whereon I take refuge, my shield, and my horn of salvation, my sure retreat. 4 I call upon him who is to be praised, upon Jehovah, and so am I saved from mine enemies. 5 The breakers of Death had come about me, the rushing streams of perdition had affrighted me, 6 The cords of Shedl had surrounded me, the snares of Death had surprised me. 7 In my strait I called upon Jehovah, and cried for help unto my God : he heard my voice out of his palace, and my cry came into his ears. 8 Then the earth shook and quaked, the foundations also of the hills trembled, and shook violently, because he was wroth. 9 There went up smoke at his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured, coals were set aflame therefrom : 10 And he bowed the heavens and came down with a mass of clouds under his feet. 1 1 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly eagle-like upon the wings of the wind : 12 He made darkness his covert, round about him as his bower, cloud-masses, dark with water : 13 From the brightness before him there issued forth hail-stones and coals of fire. 1 See that useful book Kleinert's Abriss der Einleitung zum A. T. in Tabelkn- form (1878), p. 14, and compare Bleek and Wellhausen's Einleitung, p. 229. PSALM XVIII. 47 14 And Jehovah thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice ; 15 And sent out his arrows and scattered them, flashed forth lightnings in abundance and confounded them; 16 And the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare, at thy rebuke, Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. 1 7 He reached out from high heaven and took me, he drew me out of many waters ; 18 He delivered me from my fierce enemy, and from my haters, for they were too mighty for me ; 19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but Jehovah became my stay ; 20 And he brought me forth into a broad place, he rescued me, because he delighted in me. 21 Jehovah dealt with me according to mine innocence, according to the purity of my hands he recompensed me, 22 Because I kept the ways of Jehovah, and did not sin myself away from my God ; 23 For all his ordinances were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me ; 24 I was also without flaw towards him, and I kept myself from guiltiness. 25 So Jehovah recompensed me according to my innocence, according to the purity of my hands in his eyesight. 26 With the loving thou showest thyself loving, with the flawless man thou showest thyself flawless ; 27 With him that purifies himself thou showest thyself pure, and with the wayward thou showest thyself wayward. 28 For thou savest lowly people, but haughty eyes thou dost abase. 29 For thou lightest my lamp, Jehovah my God makes my darkness radiant. 30 For by thee I can break down a fence, and by my God I can leap over a wall. 31 As for God, his way is flawless, the promise of Jehovah is well-tried ; he is a shield unto all that take refuge in him. 32 For who is God save Jehovah ? or who is a Rock save our God ? 48 THE PSALMS 33 The God who girt me with strength, and rendered my way flawless, 34 Who made my feet hke hinds' feet, and set me upon my high places, 35 Who trained my hands to war, so that mine arms could bend a bow of bronze. 36 Yea, thou gavest me the shield of thy salvation ; thy right hand held me up, and thy lowliness made me great. 37 Thou madest for me a broad place to walk in, that mine ankles did not waver. 38 I pursued mine enemies, and overtook them, and turned not again till I had consumed them. 39 I dashed them to pieces that they could not rise, but fell under my feet. 40 For thou didst gird me with strength for war, thou didst bow down mine assailants under me. 41 Thou madest mine enemies turn their backs unto me, and them that hated me I extinguished. 42 They cried, but there was none to save ; unto Jehovah, but he answered them not. 43 I beat them small as the dust before the wind, I emptied them out as the mire of the streets. 44 Thou didst win for me escape out of the strifes of peoples, thou didst set me to be head of the nations ; people whom I knew not did serve me. 45 At the hearing of the ear they were obsequious unto me, aliens came cringing unto me. 46 The alien folk languished, and came trembling out of their holds. 47 Jehovah lives, and blessed be my Rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation ; 48 The God that gave me vengeances, 1 and subdued peoples under me, 49 That won for me escape from mine enemies, yea, that set me on high above mine assailants, that delivered me from the violent man. 50 Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, Jehovah, among the nations, and make melody unto thy name : 51 Great salvations gives he unto his king, and shows lovingkindness unto his anointed, to David and to his seed for evermore. PSALM XVIII. 49 2 I \rill exalt thee. Comp. xxx. 2, cxlv. I, Isa. XXV. I. The received reading followed by A.V., and per- haps alluded to in Ecclus. xhii. 8 (' and loved him that made him '), is scarcely consistent with the con- text. Wesley's fine hymn (based on the German) — Thee will I love, my strength, my tower, &c. shows what a lyric beginning ' I love thee ' ought to be. See crit. note. 3 My bl^ta crag, &c. ' Great rock (or, mountain)' — sadA rabii — is a common title of Assur and Bel in Assyrian. A truly Palestinian image (cf on V. 32). 5 'The waters of the under- world had broken in upon me.' He means the great river whose waters bathe the foundations of the world, and which bounds the vast city of the dead on every side. • Breakers of Deatb (so 2 Sam. xxiL 5) is evidently the true read- ing ; ' cords (of) ' is a scribe's error (see opening of v. 6). ' Death ' is a synonym for Sheol (the city of the dead), which was placed under- neath the sea (cf Job xxvi. 5, 6, Jon. ii. 3, 5, 6). Another name is T-aalaag streams of perdition (Heb. beliyya'ar), i.e. such as endan- gered my life. Sept., ;(ei'/xappo4 dvofiias. But x^''-l"'-PP°^ >s inappro- priate in this connexion, and though ' Belial ' {beliyya'al) usually (e.g. ci. 3) means that degree of evil which is without any ' soul of good- ness,' it may also mean deadly ruin (as xli. 9). The word being parallel to Death and Sheol, the latter sense is preferable. Observe that the road is open to the personification of deadly ruin or perdition (Mil- ton's word for Abaddon in Ixxxviii. 12) as a prince of the demons ; see 2 Cor. vi. 15, 16, where ' Christ' is parallel to ' light ' as ' Belial ' to 'darkness.' Compare Milton— . . . hurl'd headlong down To bottomless Perdition, there to dwell. {P. L., i. 45-47) ; also his phrase 1 See Steinthal, ' The Legend of Samson p. 420, &c.) ' baleful streams ' {ibid., ii. 576), a possible alternative rendering 6 Death or She61 (i.e. the prince of the underworld) is imagined as a hunter with cords and snares (cf on xci. 3). 7 Out of bis palace, i.e. the heavenly dwelling of Jehovah (see on xi. 4). Came Into bis ears. So 2 Sam. xxii. 7. The additional words in the text are evidently a marginal explanation. 8 In 2 Sam. we read ' the foun- dations of the heavens,' but this unique (Job xxvi. 1 1 has ' the pil- lars of heaven ') phrase is impro- bable in a description full of con- ventional expressions. A proof of the importance of the twofold form of the text. 9-13 Comp. 1. 3, Isa. xxix. 6, Ixiv. I, and especially Ex. xix. 16, XX. 18. Let us imitate the frank simplicity of the writers, and enjoy this imaginative description. Our own anthropomorphism differs from that of the psalmist, but it is none the less real. We are therefore equally well able to analyse and to sympathise with his anthropomor- phic language, and the sympathy must never be disjoined from the analysis. The description now be- fore us is clearly based on tradi- tional mythic pictures of the Heaven- god (heaven is in fact in v. 7 called Jehovah's ' palace '). When com- pared with parallel passages in the Old Testament and elsewhere, it shows that, in times still earlier than the psalmist's, the phenomena of the sky, now bright and cheerful, now dark and threatening, were ascribed to the action of mythic beings.' In short, this whole pas- sage is a reflexion of an older mythology, and it is to this re- flexion that the epic tinge which has been noticed in our psalm (see above) is due. If Israel had not been destined to be the vehicle of a spiritual revelation, there is no reason why it should not have pro- duced a genuine epic poem. • Upon a cberub. We meet else- sect. 10 (GoXdzihe-n's Hebrew Mythology, 50 THE PSALMS where with ' cherubim ' (except indeed in Ezek. xxviii. 13-16), and Sept. gives em XepovjiiiJ. here. To the Hebrew poets they represent the more awful forces of nature, and the ' cherub ' in this passage may almost be taken as an equi- valent for the storm-cloud. The psalmist remembers the original meaning of the word just as the poet of the Odyssey (xx. 66, 77) still describes the mythic Harpies as dvfWai. The root-meaning of ' cherub ' seems to be, not ' cover- ing' (as Goldziher thought), but ' greatness, power.' ' See on xxii. 4. And did fly eagle-Iike. The Heb. has two verbs, one of which is the simple word for ' flying,' the other describes the peculiar hover- ing motion of birds of prey (Deut. xxviii. 49, Jer. xlviii. 40, xlix. 22). The 'cherub' was probably an eagle- winged animal, like the Assy- rian steer-god, and imagined as the bearer as well as the attendant of the Deity. Comp. the ' throne- bearers ' in the Assyrian Flood- story.^ But apart from this, the eagle's wings formed part of the constant religious symbolism of the poets (e.g. Deut. xxxii. 11, Ps. xci. 4). On tlie -wing's of the wind. (Cf Isa. xix. I, but not Ps. Ixviii. 34.) This may be a mythic phrase = ' on a cherub ; ' if so, the storm- wind will be meant. The Assyrian star-god is addressed (once) as ' begotten by the god Zu ' (the divine storm-bird) ; see Isaiah, ii. 296. Or perhaps the phrase be- fore us may merely mean ' swiftly as the wind ; ' there is a second mythology of the imagination. Cloud-masses, &c. Awordforword rendering would fail to express the sense. See on Ixxvii. 18. From tbe bri^btness before taim, &C. The ' brightness ' is that of Jeho- vah's glory (as Ezek. x. 4), from which lightnings and hail ' issue forth' (with an impetus as of a flood or a hostile force, Isa. viii. 8, Job xiii. II, &c.) On the much- disputed text of this and the next verse see crit. note. 14, 15 The thunder is, semi- mythically, God's voice ; hence Jehovah is said to ' roar.' ' After it (the lightning) a voice roars '(Job xxxvii. 4). So Ps. xxix. The light- nings are His arrows, as Ixxvii. 18 and (in the parallel psalm of Habak- kuk) Hab. iii. 9, 11. The Most High. An ancient title suggesting at once God's exaltedness and His supremacy over the forces of the universe. See on vii. 18. 16 The effect of the earthquake {v. 8) on the seas is mentioned out of its place to smooth the transition to the figurative 'many waters.' Cf civ. 7. The channels of the sea. A vigorous expression found in 2 Sam., and rightly preferred by Street (1790), Ewald, Hitzig, De- litzsch, &c., to the Psalter-reading. 17 He reached out, &c. ; comp. Ivii. 4. 'The height ' = heaven, as often, e.g. xciii. 4, Isa. xxxiii. 5, and especially Mic. vi. 6 ('the God of the height '). He drew me, &c. Luther paraphrases strikingly, ' He made a Moses of me,' since the word rendered ' drew out ' (mashd) only occurs again in Ex. ii. 10. For this we might compare a plausible rendering of Isa. Ixiii. 11 a, and group this supposed allusion with other possible allusions in the con- text to passages in Exodus. But my judgment does not go with it. Many waters. See introd., and comp. v. 5. The same image in Ixix. 2, 3 and elsewhere. 21 Jehovah dealt with me, &c. Legal righteousness is meant ; see on vii. 9, xvii. 3, 4. If the view maintained in introd. be correct, the psalmist looks forward to a ' son (or, sons) of David,' in whom this description shall be verified. Yet he would hardly have written thus unless the actual king and people had made some visible progress towards ' righteousness.' ■ Comp. Goldziher, Hebrew Mythology, i. 118 ; Friedrich Delitzsch, Wo lag das 296-99. ^ Ass. guzaM ; see Haupt in Schrader's K. A. 7". , p. 500. , pp. 196, 197 ; Lenormant, Lesorigines, te Paradiesf p. iiSi and my own Isauh, n. PSALM XVIII. 51 Hezekiah's reformation would be such a step in advance. It fell indeed ' far short of giving full ex- pression to the spirituality of pro- phetic teaching," but, as the first great visible result of prophetic activity in Judah, a fervent disciple of Isaiah may well have overrated. But, while overrating it, by faith he dimly imagined an obedience far more complete and flawless (^v. 23, 24). Delitzsch considers vv. 21-25 to be quite in harmony with David's language in i Sam. xxvi. 23 a, and the prophetic utterance respecting David in i Kings xiv. 8 (comp. I Kings xv. 5, xi. 4). But though this prophetic utterance contains a kernel of truth, yet in form it is an exaggeration, such as was natural to one who lived and wrote not earlier than the ' finding ' of Deuteronomy. As to the ' lan- guage of David,' who shall guaran- tee that it was handed down at all by tradition ? 22 Sin myself airay from my Cod. One of those 'brief and suggestive phrases ' spoken of by Miiller in Hebrew Syntax, § 49, i. I justify the English by ' drinking himself drunk' (i Kings xvi. 9, A. v.), i.e. 'bringing himself by drinking into a state of drunken- ness.' Or we might render, ' tear myself by sin from my God.' 23 'Were before me ... I did not pnt. Delitzsch, ' are before me ... I do not put.' But this is not in harmony with his and my view of the context. It involves carrying the present tense through- out vv. 21-27 (so De Witt), and obscuring the whole picture. After the ' four central distichs,' however (see introd.), the present is natural. 24 From gniltlnesB. ' From mine iniquity ' is a misleading ren- dering, as suggesting a reference to 'indwelling corruption' (so Hengst.). Geier paraphrases well, ' ne peccatum aliquod fieret meum.' 26 \Witli tbe loving, &c. An impressive statement of the eternal tragedy of history (cf. i Sam. ii. 30, Prov. iii. 34). It implies the great idea of the covenant, which is in fact the main principle of Jeho- vah's government, so that another psalmist can say that His loving- kindness and truth are for such as keep His covenant (xxv. 10). The epithet ' loving ' or ' kindly ' (see on xii. 2) is only once again applied to Jehovah (cxlv. 17). 37 Sbowest tbyself pure. Job complains of God for being hostile to him in secret (x. 13) — in short, not being ' pure ' (in heart). vritb tbe wayward. So the Wycliffite version of 1388 (Lat. cum perversa). God's ' waywardness ' may be illus- trated by Isa. xxviii. 21 ; it is his ' strange work.' His delight is to do good ; His ' righteousness ' is to bless those who are 'upright' towards Him ; but ' if ye will walk contrary unto me, then will I also walk contrary unto you' (Lev. xxvi. 23 24). 28 Ziowly people. See on ix. 13, and comp. Zeph. iii. 12. 31 His \iray is flawless. So ' his work is flawless ' in the great historical psalm called the Song of Moses (Deut. xxxii. 4). Tbe promise, &c. This and the next line recur in Prov. xxx. 5 (see in- trod.) ; comp. also xii. 7 (note). 32 Wbo Is God . . . For ' God ' 2 Sam. has El ; the psalter, Eloah. The latter is the singular implied in the plural Elohim, and seems to have been revived,^ or virtually formed, by the poets of the eighth century (see Deut. xxxii. 15, 17) ; it is specially frequent in the litera- ture of the Chaldaan and later periods ; see Hab. i. 11, Isa. xliv. 8 (the two isolated passages of pure prophecy), Hab. iii. 3," Prov. xxx. S, Job {passim), Dan. xi. 37-39 (four times), Neh. ix. 17, Ps. 1. 22, cxiv. 7, cxxxix. 19. The question. ^ RoherisonSmixh, The Prophets of Israel, -p- 'i^'i- ^ , , i-i, ,,,- 2 Comp. Ewald, Lehrbuch d. hebr. Sprache. § 178 * ; JahrbUcher der biil. Wiss., X. 10, K. 3. .... J • 3 I separate this passage from Hab. i. 11 as occurrmg m a poetical passage, and m one moreover which may, hke the ' song of Hezekiah,' have been mserted long after the time of the chief writer of the book. E 2 52 THE PSALMS ' Who is God,' &c., reminds us of I Sam. ii. 2, 2 Sam. vii. 22. With- out denying the existence of the so- called gods (comp. Deut. xxxii. 17), it asserts that none is possessed of divine power. Comp. Baudissin, Studien zur semit. Religionsge- schichte, i. 72. A. Rock. So v. 47. An old phrase for God, more poetical than El (the strong one) ; comp. Deut. xxxii. (six times), Isa. xvii. 10, XXX. 29, xliv. 8. It reminds the student of the poor natural sub- stratum of the spiritual religion of Israel, which must have included a ' fetishistic ' stone-worship. 33 IWy way, i.e. my career. Flawless, i.e. unspoiled by sins or blunders. 34 This verse is found again, with two variations, in Hab. iii. 19. The latter part nearly agrees with Deut. xxxii. 13 a; but the phrase- ology is familiar (see Am. iv. 13, Mic. i. 3, Isa. Iviii. 14), so that there need not be indebtedness on either side. Kike binds' feet. Swift- ness was a heroic quality (2 Sam. i. 23, ii. 18, I Chron. xii. 8 ; comp. on xix. 6). I«y bigli places, i.e. those which I claim as mine by right, and which are the bulwarks of my power. 36 Tby lowliness, i.e. thy fel- low-feeling with the lowly. The phrase is remarkable as applied to God, but the idea is the same as in cxiii. 5, 6, Isa. Ivii. 15. Comp. Zech. ix. 9, where the ideal or Mes- sianic king is described as not only a great conqueror, but 'lowly' (is there an allusion to this in Matt xi. 29 ?). In both passages there is an evident reference to the ' lowly' people whom Jehovah or His anointed delivers (comp. v. 28). A.V. gives the fine paraphrase 'thy gentleness ; ' comp. Dante's use of ' umile ' in the sense of ' sweet ' or ' gentle ' ( Vita Nuova, xxviii. ; Can- zoniere, ii. i, 2). But this makes an insufficient contrast with ' made me great.' 2 Sam. has anotlier reading — 'thine answer' (viz. to prayer). 42 iTnto Tehovah. Suggesting that the foes are Israelites. But this detail may be merely pictur- esque. 43 I emptied tbem out. 2 Sam. has, ' I trode them fine.' — As tbe mire of the streets, ' Dust ' and ' mire ' are again paral- lel in Zech. ix. 3. The sun-dried bricks of Eastern houses 'make the streets dusty when there is wind, and dirty when there is rain.' ' Upon a violent rain at Damascus,' says Maundrell, 'the whole city be- comes, by the washing of the houses, as it were a quagmire.' ' 44 Strifes of peoples. See crit. note. The text has, ' strifes of the people ' (or, as 2 Sam., 'of my people '), which might refer to civil wars (comp. v. 49) ; hut the paral- lelism is against this. S I The concluding tristich may well be a liturgical addition, al- though it agrees in rhythm with the rest of the psalm. PSALM XIX. i wo of the distichs of part i. of this psalm are incomplete ; but the sense is unaffected. Vv. 2-7 consist of 26 (or, shall we say, 28) hues, each with four tones ; vv. 8-15 of fourteen five-toned lines. This variety of rhythm of itself suggests a diversity of origin for the two parts.'* Vv. 2-7 have probably been taken from a longer psalm, since v. 6 does not form a suit- able close. It is only by an afterthought that the two parts of the psalm have been brought into relation, the sun being regarded as a type of the law of God. (Comp. Kant's deep saying on the two great themes of perennial wonder, the starry sky and the moral law.) The first part is 1 Harmer, Observations on Divers Passages of Scripture (1776)1 vol. i. p, I78' , 2 We shall meet with this phenomenon repeatedly. So in Assyrio- ''"''"''' hymnology, poems originally separate were joined together by editors. PSALM XIX. 53 obviously the finer ; but the second shows a great development of the conscience ; as St. Paul says, 8ia vo^ou imyvaa-is dfiaprias (Rom. iii. 20). Clearly the Scriptures are now the great source of spiritual life (comp. Ps. i., cxix., and see on xii. 7) ; notice the six different designations given to them. Regenerate Israel began to find in these books, or in this book, his truest home. Pressure from vi^ithout contributed to this result, for (see V. 14) it was a time of great danger from heathenism. 2 The heavens recount the glory of God, and the firmament declares his handiwork. 3 Day unto day is a well-spring of speech, and night unto night shows forth knowledge ; 4 Their voice has gone out through the whole earth, and their words unto the end of the world ; ***** for the sun has he set a pavilion in them ; 6 And he is like a bridegroom going forth from his chamber, and rejoices hero-like to speed on his path ; 7 From one end of the heavens is his going forth, and his circuit unto the ends thereof, and there is nothing hidden from his heat. (Fragment of another Psahn. ) 8 The law of Jehovah is perfect, [restoring the soul, the testimony of Jehovah is faithful,|making wise the simple ; 9 The behests of Jehovah are right, |rejoicing the heart ; the commandment of Jehovah is pure,|enlightening the eyes ; 10 The fear of Jehovah is pure,|abiding for ever ; the ordinances of Jehovah are truthful, |and righteous altogether. 11 More to be desired are they than gold,|yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey | or the droppings of the comb. 12 Moreover thy servant gets warning bythem;|in the observance of them is great reward. 13 Lapses — who discerns thempjfrom unknown (faults) absolve thou me. 14 Hold back thy servant also from the proud, | let them not rule over me : then shall I be blameless, |and absolved from great transgression. 15 Accepted be the words of my mouth] and the musing of my heart before thee, Jehovah, continually, |my rock and my redeemer. 2 The divine name here used is gaged the attention of the author El, i.e. God outside his relations to or authors of Job ; see the question Israel, God the Strong One. The in Jobxxxvii. 18. Did our psalmist wonders of the sky especially en- live equally late ? 54 THE PSALMS 3 Day unto day, &c. Eveiy day the heavens renew their testi- mony to God's glory. This is the sense. The form, however, is semi- mythical. The days were regarded in primitive times as having an independent, quasi-personal exist- ence (Job iii. i-io). Comp. Emer- son — Daughters of Time, the hypocritic Days. 3-5 A fourth verse is given in the Hebrew text, which is variously rendered, ' It is not a speech, neither are they words, the voice whereof cannot be heard ' (so Sept., Targ., Vulg., followed by Vitringa, Hitzig, and Delitzsch), and 'Without speech and without words ; not heard is their voice' (Hengst., Hupfeld, Ewald, Perowne, Kay, De Witt). The latter rendering is the more plausi- ble,' but involves a direct contra- diction of V. 2 (' speech without speech'). But no explanation re- moves the prosaic character of the distich, which has this further pecuharity, that it is not composed of regular four-toned lines like the rest of the psalm. It must be a gloss, i.e. a marginal note for dull readers which has intruded into the text. Of course, though poorly ex- pressed, it is in substance correct. Comp. Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris, c. Ixxv., ' For the Divine Reason stands not in need of voice, but walking along a silent path and rule, guides mortal affairs accord- ing to justice.' It also confirms the reading ' their voice ' in v. 5. How much the brilliant psalm- fragment gains by its omission ! Tlieir voice, i.e. either that of the heavens, or of day and night. Louis Cappel's sharp-sighted emen- dation. The text-reading is gene- rally rendered, ' Their line,' i.e. their dominion (Hengst., Hupfeld, De- litzsch) ; but the older interpretation (Sept., Symm., Jerome) is ' their sound,' a paraphrase upon the (questionable) literal rendering ' their string : ' comp. tovos. So Ewald. Hitzig, on the other hand, ' They span the whole earth with a chain of praise.' This is better than the ' CEolian harp theory,' but lacks proof. On St. Paul's Haggadic use of this verse, see Briggs, Biblical Study, p. 316. In tbem, i.e in the heavens. Hitzig, less probably, ' where ' (i.e. at the end of the world ; the plural pronoun, as in Isa. xxx. 6, to express the neuter). If the psalmist were recording a myth, he would place the sun's tent, not in heaven, but in the underworld. Comp. introd. to Ps. xxiv. 6 Iilke a bridegroom. Aprimi- tive solar myth has died down into a metaphor (see on cxxxix. 9). Comp. Rig Veda, ix. 86, 32 (of the setting sun), ' The husband of the wives approaches the end.' ' A bride- groom is the symbol of youthful vigour ; comp. Pirki Aboth, v. 21 (Strack, p. 45), ' He who is eighteen years old is (ripe) for the khufpah! The sun is masculine in Hebrew (generally), Aramaic, and Assyrian, feminine in Arabic. From his cbamber. Strictly, ' from his al- cove ' (not ' canopy,' as De Witt, in accordance with the later Jewish custom). From Joel ii. 16 we may infer that the khuppah (rendered ' alcove,' and I say, not on etymo- logical grounds) was a part of the nuptial chamber curtained off for the bride, and probably a survival of the wife's separate tent * (comp. Gen. xxiv. 67). Hero-like, &c. Another mythic corruption— that of the sun as a warrior (comp. again introd. to Ps. xxiv.) His 'swift- ness ' reminds us of the picture of the ideal warrior in xviii. 34 ; 'horses of the sun ' (reminding us of Aryan mythologies) are mentioned in 2 Kings xxiii. 11. See Pardise Lost, vii. 372, where the myth is still further attenuated. 8 Tbe law of Jehovah, i.e. probably the Pentateuch, and the prophetico-historical and stnctly prophetic writings (see on i. 2)- Observe that at this point Jehovah 1 Max Miiller, Leciures on the Science of Language, ii. 513. * Robertson Smith, Kinship in Arabia, p. i58. PSALM XIX. 55 (Yahvfe) takes theplaceof El(7'. i). Num. xv. 22). Note the eiXd^eia, Restoring: tbe soul ; see on the scrupulous conscientiousness, xxiii. 3. of the writer, a characteristic in 10 The fear of Jehovab, i.e. which the Jew more reminds us of the religion reg^ated by the sacred the Roman than of the Greek, books. The context obliges us so 14 Hold back . . . from the to define it Pure (comp. xii. 7), proud. Less probably (see crit. i.e. without the moral defilements note), ' from presumptuous (sins),' of all merely natural religions. — — called ' sins with a high hand ' in Truthful, because based on the Num. xv. 30. The difficulties in eternal laws of morality. Rig:bt- keeping the Law were of two kinds. eous altoiretheri Is this an echo Within, there was the fear of one's of Deut. iv. 8, or is the reverse the own infirmities, a fear intensified case ? by the manifoldness of the precepts 12 Thy servant, i.e. either of the Law. Without, there was Israel (comp. Jer. xxx. 10, xlvi. 27, the fear of the ' proud men,' so 28, 'my servant Jacob,' and 'the often mentioned in Ps. cxix., viz. Second Isaiah') or a representative the paganising upper classes. We Israelite. So xxvii. 9, xxxi. 17, cannot be sure whether the writer box. 18, bcxxvi. 2, 16, Ixxxix. 40, actually lived under heathen rule cxvi. 16, cxix. 125, cxliii. 12. (comp. cxix. 133-4, cxxv. 3). 13 Kapses, i.e. errors due to Oreat transg-ression, or, 'the great ignorance or inattention (Lev. iv. 5, revolt ' (viz. to heathenism). PSALM XX. 1 HIS, like its companion-psalm, seems intended for liturgical use. The people had been called together to take part in a sacrifice, on the occasion of the king's going forth to battle. Vv. 2-6 may be assigned to the people, vv. 7-9 to some priest or prophet who declares God's acceptance of the sacrifice, and v. 10 again to the people (as chorus). These are Ewald's very probable inferences. At this point I must lea\e him : I do not see why king Asa should be referred to. The style is simple and flowing ; the ideas popular but pure from superstition. Israel is inferior in physical strength to its enemy, but is compensated by its faith. 2 Jehovah answer thee in the day of trouble ; the name of the God of Jacob be thy-sure retreat ; 3 Send thee help from the sanctuary, and uphold thee from out of Zion ; 4 Remember all thine offerings, and find thy burnt sacrifice fat ; 5 Grant thee according to thy heart, and fulfil all thy purpose ! 6 We would shout for joy at thy salvation, and exult for the name of our God ; Jehovah fulfil all thy petitions ! 7 Now am I sure that Jehovah saveth his anointed, he will answer hfi^.from his holy heaven with the mighty saving acts of his right hand. 8 Some (boast) of chariots, and some of horses, but we will boast of the name of our God. 56 THE PSALMS 9 They must stoop and fall, whilst we arise and stand erect. lo O Jehovah, save the king, and answer us when we call. 2 The name, &c. Precisely as 7 JIow am Z sure, &c. A Prov. xviii. lo. The 'Name of sacrifice has probably just been Jehovah ' is one of those symbolic offered to make the war a ' holy phrases which are capable of inde- war' (see i Sam. xiii. 9, and comp. finite expansion. To many of the my note on Isa. xiii. 3). people it may have had a very 8 Some (boast), &c. The hea- simple meaning (victory, for in- then enemy is probably referred to ; stance ; see v. 6) ; to the disciples see 'Isa. xxxvi. 8, xxxvii. 24, and c£ of the prophets its signification Isa. xxxi. i, Deut. xvii. 16. was complex and deep (see on Isa. 9 Tbey must stoop, &c. In xxvi. 8, XXX. 27, Ixiii. 9), in all which the Hebrew, the perfect of pro- passages Jehovah and Jehovah's phetic confidence. It is evidently Name are all but synonymous. implied that Israel is now weak 4 Find . . , fat, i.e. accept. (comp. cxlvi. 9). Comp. Gen. viii. 21, ' And Jehovah 10 Save tlie kln^;. 'Save' = smelted a sweet savour.' give victory. The absolute use of 6 At thy salvation, i.e. at thy 'the king' for God in the received success in warfare (as 2 Sam. xix. text is without parallel. The cor- 2). Victory is counted upon as the rection is dictated by the rhythm gift of Jehovah (see on iii. 3). ■ (the lines are four-toned) ; it in- Exult. Comp. xxi. 2. The text- volves a further correction in line 2 reading is supposed to mean ' wave (' and answer '). the banner ; ' but see crit. note. PSALM XXI. Another liturgical hymn ; vv. 2-8 may be assigned to the people, vv. 9-13 to a priest, and v. 14 again to the people (Ewald). We might natu- rally infer from vv. 2 and 3 (comp. xx. 6, 5) that this psalm commemorates the victory prayed for in Ps. xx. ; vv. 4, 5 equally suggest a coronation- feast or birthday ; lastly, vv. 9-14 seem prompted by the expectation of renewed hostilities. It is not accurate, therefore, to describe our psalm as a pasan for the victoiy prayed for in Ps. xx., nor yet as a poem on the royal birthday (Ewald). The tone adopted towards the king reminds us of expressions in the Assyrian royal psalms, e.g. ' Distant days, everlasting years, a strong weapon, a long life, many days of honour, supremacy among the kings, grant to the king, the Lord, who made this offering to his gods.' ' It was natural, as long as the O.T. was studied without reference to its roots in Orientalism, to think that vv. 5-7 could only be explained of the Messiah of the future (see Rashi and Kimchi) ; but the exalted language of Hebrew writers with reference to their kings is now perfectly explicable by the popular belief in kings as reflections of the divinity (cf ' Let the king live for ever '). To this view we are led by a comparison of the still more exalted language of Assyrian and Egyptian writers. I do not say that the gulf between the king and his subjects was as great in the land of Israel as in Egypt or even in Assyria ; but the distinction existed, though in a less marked form. These remarks of course also apply to Ps. xlv. (where see notes). Has the psalm a meaning for Christians ? Yes. That all blessings come from above, and that evil must sooner or later be de- 1 Die Hollenfahri der Isiar, p. 73 ; comp. Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, pp. 35"^7' PSALM XXI. 57 stroyed, are Christian ideas ; and besides this, the peculiar Orientalisms of w. 5, 6 furnished the moulds in which the highest and most distinc- tively Christian sentiment naturally ran at the time when Christian phra- seology was fixed. The stem predictions in vv. 9-1 1 belong of course to a lower level of feeling than that on which the heroes of revealed religion, so far as they are true to their message, move. 2 Jehovah ! for thy strength the king is glad ; and for thy salvation how greatly doth he exult ! 3 The desire of his heart hast thou given him, and the request of his lips hast thou not withheld. 4 For thou meetest him with richest blessings, thou settest on his head a crown of fine gold. 5 He asked life of thee — thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever. 6 His honour is great through thy salvation, glory and grandeur thou layest upon him. 7 For thou makest him most blessed for ever, thou cheerest him with joy near thy face. 8 For the king trusts in Jehovah, and through the lovingkindness of the Most High he shall remain unmoved. 9 Thy hand shall reach all thine enemies, thy right hand shall reach them that hate thee. 10 Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven when thou showest thy face, Jehovah shall swallow them up in his wrath, and fire shall devour them : 11 Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men. 12 For though they cause evil to impend over thee, and plan a wicked device— they will perform nothing ; 13 For thou wilt make them turn their backs, with thy bowstrings thou wilt aim against their faces. 14 Exalt thyself, Jehovah, in thy strength ; we will sing and make melody to thy might. 2 For thy Btrengtb, i.e. for thy of Yehawmelek, king of Gebal, ' us protection (Ixxxvi. 16). (or, me) whom the lady the Baalath 4 (J, S Some would explain v./^b of Gebal hath set, a royal race, over by 2 Sam. xii. 30, and v. 5 by Isa. Gebal.'— For ever and ever. Comp. xxxviii. 5. How prosaic ! On v. 5, xlv. 3, Ixi. 7- This is of course not see the quotation above ; on ?/. 4 * an assertion of non-mortality. We (where the king's own crown is might even weaken it into ong meant), cf. line 2 of the inscription life.' But probably a special golden 58 THE PSALMS mansion'' was believed to be in 9-13 The king is addressed (not store for worthy kings in heaven Jehovah, as Hupfeld) ; see espe- (called in Schrader's royal psalm cially vv. 8 and 10. Glowing but ' the land of the silver sky ' ^) ; see unpurified anticipations, which con- my note on Isa. xiv. 13, 14. Besides trast with the calm and dignified the quotation in introduction and tone of xx. 2, 3. the phrase ' let the king live for 10 'When thou showest thy ever ' (Dan. ii. 4), comp. /. 9 of Ye- face. Lit., ' at the time of thy face.' hawmelek's inscription, ' May she ' Face ' here is a symbolic or semi- preserve his life, may she lengthen mythic phrase for ' divine manifes- his days and his years over Gebal, tation ' (whether for good, see on for he is a just king.' 'yEtemitas' xvii. 15, or for evil, see on ix. 4). too was a title of the Roman em- The actions of the king are identi- perors. ' Rogatus per setemitatem fied with those of the heavenly king tuam, ut,' &c., Plin. Ep. x. 87 (to (see next line). Swallow them Trajan). up, i.e. make them as though they 6 The royal majesty is described had not been. Comp. Isa. iii. 12, as a reflexion of the divine (see civ. xxv. 7, 8. 1,31). So xlv. 4. II Their fruit. Comp. the last 7 Most blessed. Lit., ' bless- line of the inscription of Eshmun- ings ' (comp. Isa. xxvi. 18), i.e., as in azar, king of Sidon, ' and the man J. Montgomery's hymn, 'all-blessing shall be slain and his seed for ever.' and all-blessed.' Near thy face. 14 Exalt thyself, i.e. exercise So cxl. 15. The king is regarded thy supernatural power and autho- as seated at Jehovah's right hand, rity (as xlvi. 11, Ivii.) where is 'fulness of joys ' (xvi. 11). PSALM XXII. /\n appeal for help from the depths of affliction, followed by a joyous announcement of the answer vouchsafed, and prophecies of its far-reaching effects, in which all nations, and (in what sense, will have to be examined) even the departed, shall share. An appeal, but_;^o;« whoini To be con- sistent I ought to reserve my answer for another place ; but most of my readers will agree that Ps. xxii. is an exceptional psalm. From whom, then, does the appeal come ? From some one of those great men who tower like mountain-peaks above the low average attainments of Israel— from David, Jeremiah, or even the Christian Messiah Himself? David? The David of history ? or even (if I may say so) the writer of Ps. xviii. ? But is there anyone so prosaic as to maintain that any scene in the great king's life explains and justifies such terrors and such complaints ? Jere- miah (so Hitzig), or at least 'an eminent leader of the theocratic church' (so Orelli ') ? But we must look at the psalm as a whole, and of the latter part Jeremiah himself would have been the first to declare that it soared > Comp. Theocritus, xvii. 15, 16 (Lang), ' Him (Philadelphus) hath the Father stablished in the same honour as the blessed immortals, and for him a golden mansion in the house of Zeus is builded.' Mr. Lang well remarks that there is a strong tinge of Egyptian sentiment in this Greek hymn. =* The bright, changeless region of the upper heaven is of course meant, Comp. Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, p. 190. 3 Orelli's solution of the problem of authorship {Old Testament Prophecy, p. 174) is not very different from Hitzig' s. But we have a right to ask who this 'eminent leader, banished or a prisoner,' of the ' next age ' (to David) can have been. The case is very different from that of the second part of Isaiah. We know next to nothing of the history and biography of the Exile-period, and cannot be bound to suggest a name for the author of that prophecy. But we know much of the ' leaders ' of the germinal Church in the regal period, and cannot allow Orelli to put us off so easily. "' virtually almost assumes a Christophany before Christ. PSALM XXII. 59 far above his spiritual atmosphere. That the psalmist was influenced by Jeremiah is a more reasonable inference from parallelisms of expression than that he was Jeremiah himself The Christian Messiah ? Many- parts truly are applicable to Jesus, as few perhaps will deny, but Theodore of Mopsuestia and Calvin have already pointed out ' how inapplicable are some of the most striking expressions. David and Christ conjointly ? This is the so-called typical-Messianic theory, which dates from the same Theodore (see on v. 2), and has been held by many from Calvin and Amyraud to Tholuck, Stier, and Delitzsch. Nothing but the fear of lowering the credit of the New Testament (a book so little understood by those who undervalue Jewish lore) could have suggested a view so sub- versive of the laws of psychology. ' How David could extend his own consciousness to that of his offspring, cannot be conceived, without con- fusion of the soul-life and destruction of personal identity.' ''■ Is it then a personification of the exiled Jewish people that we have before us ? So De Wette (originally), following Rashi and Kimchi. But the sufferer, though he speaks partly as the mouthpiece of Israel (see on V. 5), yet distinguishes himself from the people to which he belongs (■z/i/. 23, 24, 26), and the entire description is in the highest degree individual- ised. More defensible is the view of Olshausen, who explains the psalm as a record of the religious differences of the Maccabean age (comp. v. 9 with Iv. 23). And certainly that the religious differences of the Exile or post-Exile period (or both) have contributed ideas to the mental stock of the psalmist, must at any rate be acknowledged. The nobler spirits of the Jewish people did, from the Exile onwards, form a church within the nation, and did both strengthen and justify the belief in an ideal Israel of the fiiture. But, as the Israel of the past, so the greater Israel of the future needed a Moses (comp. Isa. Ixiii. ii). Here I must check my pen, not to repeat what I have said in Essays II. and V. of The Prophecies of Isaiah, vol. ii. (ed. 3). To be brief Ps. xxii. is most probably a description, under the form of a dramatic monologue, of the ideal Israelite, called by a kindred writer 'the covenant of the people,' and ' the light of the nations' (Isa. xlii. 7), who shall rise out of the provisional church-nation, and, identifying him- self with it, lead it on to spiritual victory. This view includes the essence at least of Olshausen's, but goes beyond it. The speaker is an individual who might also be sumamed ' Israel,' for he is the flower of Israel. The foes who have reduced him to such straits are not merely ' those of his own household ' (comp. Ixix. 9), but the heathen as well (see on vy. 7, 22). His victory will be the final reunion of the human race. Ewald is on the road to this view when he gives up the ' collective ' theory of the ' Servant of Yahvfe ' in Isa. liii., and substitutes a view which, to be consistent, he should have extended to Ps. xxii.= The ' Servant,' as explained by him, on the analogy of the ' Wisdom' of Prov. viii., is a poetical impersonation (suggested, however, by the life and death of some martyr-prophet) of the nobler and spiritually more aspiring side of Israel's character. This seems too weak an explanation, whether of the ' Servant ' or of the speaker of Ps. xxii. The ancient Orientals were ideal-realists, and did not, with an English poet, seek in poetry 'an ever surer and surer stay ' than the facts ' Kihn, Theodorvon Mopsuestia, p. 161 ; Calvin, Comm., on v. 2. ^ Hengstenberg, Commentary on the Psalms, E. T. . i. 363. ' In his work on the Psalms, Ewald describes our psalmist as ' presumably a very- important person,' who lived at the very beginning of the Exile, before the destruction of the Temple, and whose fearless confession of his faith drew upon him the most bitter persecution. Though in danger of death he ' painfully rescues himself from despair,' and believes in spite of appearances that he will not only himself be delivered but that wondrous consequences will proceed from his deliverance. 60 THE PSALMS of religion. A Hebrew writer, not less (comp. Renoufs Hibbert Lectures) than an Egyptian, believed in the fact of the supersensible life of ideals like Wisdom and the national Genius. When, therefore, a psalmist or a prophet, in the circumstances of the Babylonian period, portrays this ' Genius ' in the colours of human life, is it not reasonable to go further than Ewald, and see a presentiment of an ' Israelite indeed,' in word and in act, in life and in death, rivalling and surpassing the Israel and Moses of antiquity ? This view enables us to combine the elements of truth in other solutions of the problem. I do not, however, attempt even an im- perfect criticism of Christian and Jewish interpretations of this and similar psalms, because this would interfere with that immediateness of impres- sion which it is my perhaps too bold hope to produce in the reader. But the presentiment of an ideal Israelite and second Moses is not the only spiritual acquisition of this unnamed writer. As the Jewish scholar Cas- telli has well pointed out, the psalmist's great idea of the denationalising of religion is justification enough for calling the psalm Messianic (// Messia, p. 69). It is important to compare Ps. xxii. with other similar psalms, some of which may be adequately explained as utterances of pious Israel, while others (as xxxv., I hesitate to add Ixix.) seem to have a fuller significance. In general, too, the parallel passages referred to should be carefully studied in reading this psalm. We are evidently in the midst of saintly and un- ambitious writers, deeply exercised by the ways of God with their nation, and zealous and admiring students of Israel's best religious literature. The date I may at present leave open ; readers of vol. ii. of Isaiah will, how- ever, divine my opinion and its grounds. The poem falls almost entirely into strophes of eight lines of trimeters. If the text were free from cor- ruption (see crit. notes), we might be able to carry this division all through the psalm. 2 My God, my God, [hearken unto me ;] why hast thou forsaken me ? far off [art thou] from my salvation, from the words in which I roar, my God. 3 I cry by day, and thou answerest not, by night also, and get no respite : 4 But thou art the Holy One, enthroned upon the praises of Israel. 5 In thee did our fathers trust, they trusted, and thou didst deliver them ; 6 Unto thee they cried, and made their escape : in thee did they trust, and they were not shamed, 7 But I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised of people. 8 All that see me make a mock at me, they open wide the lips, they shake the head. 9 ' He has rolled (his cares) upon Jehovah ; let him deliver him ; let him rescue him, since he delights in him.' 10 Yea, but thou art he that drew me out of the womb, thou didst make me to trust upon my mother's breasts. PSALM XXII. 6 J 1 1 Upon thee was I cast from the birth, thou art my God from my mother's womb. 12 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help. 13 Many bulls have come about me, strong ones of Bashan have encompassed me. 14 They gape upon me with their mouths, (as) a ravening and roaring lion. 15 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint ; my heart hath become like wax, molten in the midst of my bowels. 16 My palate is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my gums, and thou layest me in the dust of Death. 1 7 For dogs have come about me, the crew of evil-doers have closed me round ; they have digged into my hands and my feet. 18 I can number all my bones, while these — with delight they gaze upon me. 19 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture : 20 But thou, Jehovah, be not thou far off ; O my strength, speed to my help. 21 Deliver my soul from the sword, my dear Ufe from the power of the dog. 22 Save me from the lion's mouth, — yea, from the horns of the wild oxen — thou hast (already) answered me. 23 I would fain rehearse thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 24 ' Ye that fear Jehovah, praise him ; all ye seed of Jacob, glorify him ; and stand in awe of him, all ye seed of Israel : 25 For he has not despised norabhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither has he hid his face from him, but when he cried, he hearkened unto him.' 26 From thee is my praise in the great congregation, my vows will I pay in the presence of them that fear him. 27 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied ; they that inquire after Jehovah shall praise him ; let your heart revive for ever ! 62 THE PSALMS 28 All the ends of the earth shall remember and return unto Jehovah and all the families of the nations shall bow down before him. 29 For the kingdom is Jehovah's, and he is ruler among the nations. 30 All the fat ones of the earth shall surely bow down unto him all that have gone down into the dust shall bend the knee before him, 31 And as for him that kept not his soul alive, his seed shall be reckoned unto Jehovah ; 32 To the next generation they shall rehearse his righteousness, to a people that shall be born, that he hath done nobly. One ' nothing but ' numen veneran- dum.' ' The Holy One is recognised as such by His judgments, by the destruction of sinners and the deli- verance of His faithful servants in righteous accordance with the plan summed up in the technical phrase ' the covenant.' Comp. Isa. v. 16, xxix. 23, lii. 10. Jehovah, being 'holy,' i.e., primarily, separate from all creaturely weakness, and next sacrosanct, inviolable, has the power, and being ' Israel's Holy One,' has also the will, to interpose for His people. How is it then (comp. Isa. xlix. 14) that Jehovah has become deaf to the complaint of Israel's representative? En> tbroned upon, &c. The ' praises of Israel ' are like the wings of the cherubim on which Jehovah is en- throned. Thus the phrase is an adaptation of the title ' who dwells upon the cherubim' (kxx. 2, xcix. i). The cherubim, as we have seen (on xviii. 11), are at once the bearers and the guards or attendants of the Deity ; an old mythic form of ex- pression retained for its symboKc usefulness by the sacred poets. Jehovah's throne was a throne of clouds (xviii. 10, xcvii. 2), symbolised by the cherubim. The clouds themselves are, however, to the psalmists merely the representa- tives of the obscure forces of nature. Another view of the expression, ' who dwells upon the cherubim,' brings it into connexion with the cherubim of the sanctuary. Riehm, 2 Mrs. Brovniing has well caught the parallelism between this verse and Isa. xlix. 14. The two passages combined have inspired her touching poem, ' Cowper's Grave.' The second member of V. 2 in the Hebrew is very difficult in spite of the easiness of the con- text. The stanza, moreover, is too short. Some such filling out as Bickell has suggested seems neces- sary (see crit. note). My Cod. Heb. Eli, not Elohai. The short- est name for God {Er) best suits the agonised speaker. So again V. II. Comp. on xlii. 3. in wblcb Z roar. Lit., ' of my roaring.' The same figure as in xxxii. 3, xxxviii. 9. Theodore of Mopsues- tia's comment is too characteristic to be withheld (see introd.), evTavda ixivroi 6 Selos Aa^ld kol ttjv els avrov yeyevrjixeinjv dSiKiav 8iSdv iradrj^idroiv eva^pwofievos Ka\ jioi/ovov^i ^omv fxera a-anan fiov ^aa-Ta^ai (Migne, Synes. et Theod. col. 678). 3 Ana gret no respite (lit, no silence, rest). Understand, from the griefs which find expression in my tears. Comp. Jer. xiv. 17. 4 The Koly One. Heb. Qadosk, used in the manner of proper names, as xcix. 3, 5 (comp. on Isa. xl. 25). Why is ' holiness ' here referred to ? Certainly not in the ethical sense of the word. But, as Vatke remarks, it would be a great mistake to find in the phrase or name ' the Holy 1 Die Religion des Alien Testamentes, i. (1835), p. 475, «. 2. PSALM XXII. 63 for instance, thinks it meant that Jehovah, as manifested in the tem- ple, was altogether inclosed by the cherubs and their wings. He ren- ders ' who inhabits the cherubim,' which equally well suits the account of the cherubim in i Kings vi. 23- 27 and that in Ex. xx-v-. 1 8-22 (the priestly legislation). The phrase will then mean ' who dwells in the midst of His people, as their pro- tector.' But the first explanation is preferable. The semi-mythic view of the cherubim per\'ades the Old Testament ; and wherever we find this phrase, in Isa. xxxvii. 16, as well as in Ps. Ixxx. 2, xcix. i, it clearly describes Jehovah, not as the God of Israel, but as the master of the forces of the universe. Now see how exquisitely the poet glorifies the old mythic phrase. The true cherubim are the praises of God's people for His wondrous works. He is not merely a God of force, but a God of praise-producing lovingkindness. It is another form of the same idea, when another psalmist calls Righteousness ' the base of His throne ' (xcvii. 2). 5 Our fatbers. The phrase suggests the idea that the speaker is a personification of Israel (so Lagarde, Orientalia,n. 63). I pre- fer to say that the speaker is the mouthpiece of the Church of which he is the leader. See introd. 7 Awonnandno man. Comp. Isa. xli. 14 (of Israel, oppressed by the heathen), lii. 14, Hii. 2 (of Israel, or Israel's leader ?) Despised of people. Comp. Isa. liii. 3 and especially xlix. 7 (of the indivi- dualised ' Servant '). The ' people ' referred to are all those with whom the speaker has to do, in so far as they obstruct his religious mission, whether Jews or Gentiles. 8 Tbey sbake tbe bead. So xxxi. i2,xliv. 14, cix. 25, Lam. ii. 15. 9 He bas rolled, &c. An un- usual phrase, perhaps from the common speech. So in a more complete form in xxxvii. 5, Rev. xvi. 3. Others render in the im- perative, ' Roll it ' (as if an ironical counsel), rather unnaturally in this context, and against the ancient versions, though the pointers understood thus, thinking of xxxvii. 5. 10 Tbat drew me out of tbe womb. So Ixxi. 6 (see crit. note). If the speaker be the pious Israel personified, we may compare Isa. xlviii. 8, ' Rebellious from the womb.' 13, 14 Observe (l) how fre- quently the Hebrew writers identify Israel's enemies with wild beasts {drjpia avSparrifiopcjia, Ignat. ad Smym. 4 ; cf. I Cor. xv. 32). They could not see any great moral gap between the human and non-human races, and put the former too low and the latter too high (cf Jon. iii. 7). Could they have judged otherwise in those early ages, when man still acted so much by impulse? See on xxxvi. 7, and comp. introd. to Ps. xlix. There are exceptions, however ; see viii. 6, cxlix. 14. And (2) the carefully varied imagery — a herd of Bashan bulls (comp. Ezek. xxxix. 18, Am. iv. i), a single, stately lion (so V. 22 a ; comp. Isa. xv. 9, R. V.) Note, 'abbirim, ' strong ones' = bulls (as 1. 13, Ixviii. 31). In Jer. viii. 16, xlvii. 3, 1. 11 for horses ; in Ps. Ixxviii. 25 for angels. 15 Cf Isa. xiii. 7, 'Therefore shall all hands be slack, and every heart of man shall melt ; ' also Josh, vii. 5. 16-18 To understand this stro- phe, comp. cii. 5, 6. Both passages mean the same thing, viz. that dis- tress and anxiety have reduced the body of the persecuted man to skin and bones. All is clear, if for a moment we omit v. 17, which is partly, indeed chiefly, intended to explain why the speaker feels as God-forsaken as if he were in Sheol. It is not only because he is as ' strengthless ' as the shades (see Ixxxviii. 5), but because, under the fascinating gaze of a hundred in- solent eyes, he cannot realise the ' guidance ' of that Eye (xxxii. 9), without which all is like the shadow of death ('while these,' in v. 18 b, will still be intelligible from v. 14). Next restore v. 17, but with the provisional omission of the third Missing Page Missing Page 66 THE PSALMS over the whole world.' ^ See in- land where praise is silent ; but this trod. psalmist proffers as a viaticum to 30-32 (See crit. notes ; ' eating' the dying the privilege of worship is quite out of place here.) Many after death. He goes beyond the see in v. 30 simply the antithesis author of Job, who can simply affirm of rich and poor, rendering in b, that ' (even) they that are deceased ' all that are on the point of going tremble (before Eloah),' Jobxxvi. 5 down ' = in extreme poverty. But R. V. a parallel is wanting. Tlio fat 31 ' One generation goeth, and ones, i.e. those in the full vigour another cometh.' But there is of life (as xcii. 15), opposed to the comfort in the thought that k/« shall feeble shades in the underworld, have trained our successors to the The dust, i.e. She61 (see on service of God. My strength may V. 15). Jehovah's covenant em- be brought down, and my days braces the living and (in some sort) shortened (sings Israel personified, the dead ; comp. Phil. ii. 10. The cii. 24; comp. 19), butanewgenera- eschatologyoftheauthorispeculiar, tion shall fill up that which re- but do we not find various escha- maineth. Suffer me to live on earth tologies and views of death else- till the tradition of God's might he where, e.g. in the Book of Isaiah, firmly fixed in Israel (Ixxi. 18; comp. XXV. 8, xxvi. 19, Ixv. 20 ? Earlier above, v. 23). Similarly xlviii. 14, psalmists thought of Hades as the Ixxviii. 4. PSALM XXIII. 1 HE resting pilgrim's song. The speaker is any pious Israelite in whose mind both national and personal hopes and fears rest side by side. A national element in the psalm cannot be denied. The language used in v. I reminds us, on the one hand, of the Asaphite references to Je- hovah's flock, and on the other, of the lovely words referring to the nation in Deut ii. 7. The foes in v. 5 may well be national foes (comp. iii. 7). The dark valley ' may be parallel to the ' valley of Baca (?) ' in Ixxxiv. 7, and the ' table ' to the feast of the afflicted in xxii. 26. Still the ' national ' and the ' personal ' elements cannot be dissevered by the most potent analysis. The Shepherd's tending is, no doubt, ' for the sake of His name '(' Jehovah, /rra^/'j God'). But 'Israel's Shepherd' (Ixxx. 2) does not neglect the individual ; from Jeremiah's time onwards this truth was realised with increasing vividness. It has found its classic expression in this psalm, which brightly contrasts with the pathetic confession of the noble Clifford, ' We have felt with utter loneliness that the Great Com- panion is dead.' On the character described, see Ecce Homo, ed. 2, p. 8. The rhythm is perhaps not uniform throughout ; but there is a tendency to alternate trimeters (lines with three beats) and dimeters (those with two). By some happy instinct C. B. Cayley (the translator of Dante) approaches in his verse-rendering the form of the original. But from an sesthetic point of view Herder's version must be pronounced far supenor. Crashaw's is a beautiful adaptation to the Christian sentiment. 1 Jehovah is my shepherd ; I want for nothing. 2 In pastures of young grass he couches me : to reposeful waters he gently guides me j my soul he doth restore. 1 Brownlow Maitland, The Argument from Prophecy, p. 96. This smallwork proves that it is possible to be an apologist and yet a candid student of exegesis." PSALM xxin. 67 3 He leads me along in right tracks because of his name ; 4 Should I even walk in a ravine of Hades gloom, I will fear no evil. [No unseen foe shall hurt me,] for thou wilt be with me ; thy club and shepherd's staff, they will comfort me. 5 Thou furnishest a table before me in the presence of my foes ; thou hast anointed my head with oil, my cup is abundance. 6 Surely good fortune and lovingkindness shall pursue me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in Jehovah's house for length of days. 1 My sliepherd. A title equally true of Jehovah's relation to the people and to the individual (re- garded as drawing his moral and physical life from the nation). See on Ixxx. 2. 2 Reposeful (or rest-giving) waters. Lit., 'waters of rest,' or, perhaps, ' waters of resting-places ' (such as the oases in the desert). Comp. cxxxii. 8, and Ass. manakhtu 'resting-place.' Gently guides me. Friedrich Delitzsch would render, 'makes me to lie down,' na'dlu being a synonym of rabaqu. To me, this simply confirms the idea of restful guidance which A.V. found mynahelm Isa. xl. 11. See, how- ever, crit. note. Hengstenberg, ' he tendeth me,' following Sept., Vulg. (comp. Purvey, 'he nurschide me on the watir of refreisching '). Doth restore. Crashaw — When my wayward breath is flying, He calls home my soul from dying. The ' soul ' is the conscious, indivi- dualised principle of life ; faintness indicates, in Hebrew phrase, that ' Such , for instance, as the Wady el Haramiya ( ' the Robbers' Valley ' ) , described by Renan in his Vie de Jisus, chap, iv., and which he identifies with the 'valley of weeping' (i.e. of ' oozing waters ') in Ixxxiv. 7 (but see note). National tastes differ ; Tristram gives a very different description [Land of Israel, p. 165). Socin seems to agree with Renan (Baedeker's Paldstina, p. 341). F 2 this ' soul ' has ' gone out ' (Cant. ii. 6, A. v., ' my soul failed '). Explain- ing this line of the nation, it finely expresses the tenacity of Israel's self-consciousness under the stress of prolonged trial. 3 Still as applicable to each ' Israelite indeed' as to Israel. Sigbt tracks, as opposed to delu- sive tracks which lead nowhere. Calvin and even Clericus, with A. V., prefer ' paths of righteousness,' but this spoils the allegory by introduc- ing an interpretation. ' Just paths ' would be better — i.e. paths traced out in accordance with the divine standard ; cf. 'just balances.' 4 The happy ' lamb of God ' holds fast to his confidence alike in prosperity and adversity, the one figured by ' the reposeful waters,' the other by one of those narrow mountain glens so common in cen- tral Palestine, haunted by robbers and wild beasts, and dismil even at midday.' Badea gloom (lit, shadow of Death, i.e. of Hades) may mean either ' gloom like that of Hades ' or ' the very gloom of 68 THE PSALMS Hades.' I now incline to the former view, but the latter is not at all im- possible, and deserves to be ex- plained. Accepting it, the ' ravine ' will be, not She61 or Hades itself (which is a city with gates. Job xxxviii. 17), but Virgil's 'fauces Orci,' Milton's ' rifted rocks whose entrance leads to Hell' {Comus) : one remembers that the Baby- lonian Hades was situated in the recesses of Mount Aralu. The psalmist may perhaps be allud- ing to the dread moments preced- ing the judgment of the soul (cf Halevy's view, on xvi. 10, 11).^ The Egyptians figured to themselves the departed soul as going through narrow passes and defiles haunted by serpents and monsters (such as the Babylonians also imagined in their own underworld). The psalmist may hope to be escorted by his good shepherd along the awful road to the city of darkness,^ as the pious Egyptian king was escorted by Amen Ra, when approaching the tribunal of Osiris. On the alterna- tive rendering ' black darkness ' see crit. note. — —Thou wilt toe wltb me, in the darkness where unseen foes may attack me at an advantage. The words supplied may not be the right ones, but they complete the sense and restore symmetry. Tliy club. Of this ' club ' the weapon rendered in ii. 9 ' mace ' was a development. Osiris had such a 'mace ' {Records of the Past, viii. 122 ; cf x. 79). Tliy staff. Moses the shepherd says in the Kordn (xx. 19), ' It is the staff on which I lean, and with which I beat down leaves for my sheep, and I have other uses for it ' (e.g. guid- ance). They ■will comfort me. Clericus well, ' ea sunt quse me con solabuntur.' 5 We are now at one of the ' resting-places ' of the flock (cf Cant. i. 7). Or better, like a true Semitic poet, our author leaps to a new figure, and says, 'Jehovah bids me to a feast ' (cf. on xvi. 5, xxii. 26). Is the table spread in this world or the next? The psalmist does not draw the distinction. Whilst life lasts, that feast shall last (see introduction to Ps. xvi.) Thefoeswill look on, themselves excluded. Thou hast anointed, &c. See on xlv. 8, and cf civ. 1 5, Cant. i. 12. An Egyptian illustration may be added. Every rich man had in his house- hold an anointer who had to place a cone of ointment on the head of his master, where it remained during the feast. Ointment to the Jews was a symbol of joy ; so too it was in Egypt. At the solemn entry of a king on a festival-day, everyone poured sweet oil on his head (Er- man, Aegypten, i. 316-7). is abundance. A large portion being a proof of hospitality (Gen. xliii 34). 6 This is not (like its seeming antithesis, cxI. 12 b) 3. naive asser- tion of the retribution-doctrine of Job's friends, but a riddle for the believing heart to solve. So also is the following statement of the psalmist's assured dwelling-place. See note on xxvii. 4, and for the image of the guest in Jehovah's house, note on xv. i, Ixxxiv. 11. The alternative rendering of the second line (notice the points) is ' And I shall return (and dwell) in the house,' &c., implying that the psalmist is in exile Less naturally (cf. Perowne) PSALM XXIV. i HE psalm as it stands is divisible into two parts, the connexion of which is at any rate not obvious. The God oivv. 1-6 is the God of the infinitely great and the infinitely small, the God who made the earth and all that is ^ Tke Monthly Interpreter, iii. 470-72. * She61 is called indifferently Death, and the Shadow of Death (' Hades gloom'), Job xxxviii. 17. The Babylonian Hades, ' the house from whose visitors the light is excluded' [Descent of Isiar, I, 7, Sayce's transl.) PSALM XXIV. 69 in it, and yet does not disdain to be called ' my God ;" the God of vv. 7-10 is a victorious war-God. The religion of the first part is inward and moral ; the religion of the second, so far as it can be characterised at all, is not in harmony with that of the first. The first part speaks of a going up to meet Jehovah (to explain v. 3, ' Who may go up [with the ark] to the mountain of Jehovah,' ^ is surely as arbitrary as anything in German exege- sis) ; the second, of Jehovah's entering an ancient fortress. It is much more natural (as in the case of xix., xxvii., Ixxxi.) to suppose that two psalms have been joined together by a later editor for use in the temple- service. Not, however, out of mere wilfulness. The great God may be conceived of as coming either to His people collectively, or to each mem- ber thereof individually. But as are the individuals, so is the nation ; the psalm begins therefore with a testing description of the worshipper whom the ' King of glory ' will own when He enters His citadel. This may have been the connexion which he would have us supply mentally, regardless of the distinctive peculiarities of the two parts. The second part is evidently taken from a song of victory (comp. xx., xxi., xlvii.) Its more precise object must be considered elsewhere. 1 The earth is Jehovah's, and the fulness thereof ; the world, and they that dwell therein, 2 For it was he that founded it upon the seas, and estabUshed it upon the floods. 3 Who may ascend the mountain of Jehovah, and who may rise up in his holy place ? 4 He that has clean hands and a pure heart, that has not set his desire upon treachery, nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive a blessing from Jehovah, even righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 Such is the generation of those that enquire after him, of those that seek the face of Jacob's God. (Fragment of arwther Psalm.) 7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates, yea, lift yourselves up, ye ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 ' Who, then, is the King of glory ? ' ' Jehovah the Strong and Valiant, Jehovah the Valiant in battle.' 9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates, yea, lift them up, ye ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10 ' Who, then, is the King of glory ? ' ' Jehovah Sabaoth, he is the King of glory. » See Ewald, Die Lehre der Blhelvon Gott, &c., ii. i, p. 267. 2 Comill, in Luthardt's Zcitschrift, 1881, p. 341. ^o THE PSALMS 1-6 On this moral compendium, see introduction to Ps. xv. 4 Heart = conscience (li. 12). Set his desire. Lit., 'lifted up his soul.' Note same phrase in XXV. I, whence Hitzig infers that the next phrase 'upon emptiness' (so literally) is the opposite of 'upon Jehovah,' i.e. 'upon idols ' (cf xxxi. 7, Jer. xviii. 15). ' Upon wicked- ness,' however (cf Isa. v. 18), suits the context better ; or, which I pre- fer, ' upon treachery ' (falsehood in action ; cf xii. 3, xxvi. 4, xli. 7). 5, 6 Rigrhteousness, i.e. right- eous treatment from a faithful God. Sucb is the g-eneratlon, i.e. the class of men (see on xii. 8). How well V. 6 concludes the psalm ! The face of Jacob's God. The text-reading is usually rendered 'thy face, even Jacob' (so Delitzsch, after Targ.) ; but we should have ex- pected ' even Israel ' (comp. Ixxiii. i). See crit. note. 7 Iilft up your heads. A feel- ing hyperbole, similar to one in Sappho (Grotius). The gates seem too low for the majesty of the great king. Comp. the image in Prov. x^ ii. 19. Ve ancient doors. So Grotius, with true historical tact. ' Everlasting' was suggested by the Messianic application ; Milton re- tains it in his own poetic application of the passage, Par. Lost, vii. 565-9. Thatthe King', &c. Not only by the Philistines (i Sam. iv. 7), but by Moses himself (Num. x. 35) we are told that the ark was in some sense identified with Jehovah, as the symbol of his mighty invi- sible aid in Israel's wars. It is very probable (comp. 2 Sam. vii. 17) that David and any contemporary psalm- ists had the same form of belief. But to suppose that the later psalm- ists whose works have been thought worthy of preservation cherished this ' archaic religion ' (Ewald, Al- ierihiimer, p. 1 69) would be to deny the progressiveness of the sacred writers. In xlvii. 6, Ixviii. 19, there- fore, we seem bound to hold that Jehovah's ' going up ' is a poetical way of saying that His special in- terposition for the armies of Israel is over. It seems to me that we obtain a worthier meaning by inter- preting on the analogy of these two passages. It is slightly captious to object that to ' go in ' is not to ' re- turn.' The secondary sense of 're- turning ' is as justifiable in Hebrew as in Arabic. 8 Valiant. Or, ' hero ; ' or, ' warrior.' Comp. Ixxviii. 65, ciii. 20. So in Ex. XV. 3 (a post-Davidic hymn), ' Jehovah, the man of war.' 10 Jehovah Sabaoth. Yahv^ (the God of) Cebdoth (i.e. hosts or legions) is the fullest title of ' Israel's God ' (lix. 5), and occurs first in I Sam. i. 3, II, whence it has been thought to have arisen at the close of the period of the Judges. It is doubtful whether it referred in the first instance to the hosts of Israel (as Kautzsch among recent critics '), or, as I have argued elsewhere,'' to the stars — the ' host of heaven ' — in which case this title is a protest against star-worship. It is true that the earliest proof of star-wor- ship in Israel is Am. v. 26 ;^ but mythologic researches show that Babylonian influences existed all round the Israelites in a degree which presupposes a long and con- tinuous propagation. The date of Deuteronomy may be long after Moses, long after David ; and yet the tendencies referred to in Deut. iv. 19, xvii. 2, 3, may well have been more or less known long before that book was written. I look upon Jehovah Sabdoth as a kind of con- densed creed, expressing (i) the superiority of Israel's God even to creations so great and so mysteri- ously potent as the stars, (2) the manifoldness of the heavenly powers which Jehovah can employ in his people's behalf Compare in this connexion two passages, the one much earlier than the other — 2 Sam. ' Yitriog-VXiW, Realencyclofadic'SA. 'Sabaoth.' 2 The Prophecies of Isaiah, i. 11, &c. 3 See Schrader, The Cuneiform. Inscriftions and the O. T., on Am., I.e. ; Lotz. Herzog-Plitt's Realencyclopddie, xiv. 694. PSALM XXIV. 71 vi. 2, ' the ark of God, over which made. That Sabioth also came IS called the name of Jehovah Sa- to have a reference to the armies bioth that dwelleth upon the cheru- of Israel is suggested by i Sam. bim,'and Jer. x. 16, 'the Former of xvii. 45 ; comp. Josh. v. 14, but the all things, he is his inheritance, stars, vifith which the angels were whose name is Jehovah Sabdoth.' in general so closely connected ' That dwelleth upon the cherubim' (but see on ciii. 20, 21), have the (see on xxii. 4), and 'the Former first claim to be considered. Whether of all things,' both express the su- ' Sabioth ' may be regarded as a premacy of the great God over the germinal proper name, is considered powers of nature which He has below on lix. 6. PSALM XXV. An appeal to the divine compassion, interrupted by a few verses (8-10, 12-14) ™ the didactic style, and proceeding, as the closing verse suggests, from pious Israel personified. Ps. xxxiv., a hymn of thanksgiving, is its counterpart. The two poems have the same structural peculiarities. Each is composed of 21 'alphabetic' distichs, and an additional closing distich. In each of the former, the first word begins with a fresh letter of the alpha- bet, the 22 letters being taken in order, except that in v. 5 each line does duty for a distich, He beginning v. 5 a, and Vdv v. 5 b. This statement, however, will only be correct, if we may be allowed, following Bickell, to correct xxv. i, 5, 7, which appear in the received text the first as a mono- stich, the second and third as tristichs, and also xxv. 18, which, on the ' alphabetic ' principle, wants an initial word beginning with Qof. Each psalm too closes with a second /"^-distich, relative to the deliverance of Israel, from which, on the analogy of a later (post-Christian) Jewish cus- tom, Lagarde ' too boldly concludes that the authors of the psalms were named respectively Pedael and Pedaiah (cf Neh. viii. 4). For other alphabetic psalms, see ix. and x., xxxvii., cxi., cxii., cxix., cxlv. 1 Unto thee, Jehovah, do I lift up my soul ; for thee have I waited all the day long. 2 In thee do I trust, let me not be shamed ; let not mine enemies triumph over me. 3 Yea, let none that wait for thee be shamed : let those be shamed who vainly break their faith. 4 Make me to know thy ways, Jehovah ; teach me thy paths. 5 Direct me in thy truthfulness, and teach me, for thou art my saviour-God. 6 Remember thy compassions, Jehovah, and thy lovingkindnesses, for they have been from of old. 7 The sins of my youth and my transgressions remember not for thy goodness' sake, Jehovah. 8 Good and upright is Jehovah, therefore will he instruct such as miss their aim in the way. 1 Symmikta (1877), p. 107 ; Academy, Jan. i, 1872. Hofmann compares Nos. I, 2, 5 of the Reshuyoth which foUow'the Targum to the prophets in Lagarde's edition. 72 THE PSALMS 9 The afflicted will he direct in that which is right, yea, the afflicted will he teach his way. 10 All the paths of Jehovah are lovingkindness and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. 1 1 For thy name's sake, Jehovah, forgive mine iniquity, for it is great. 12 Who, then, is the man that feareth Jehovah ? him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. 1 3 He himself shall abide in good fortune, and his seed shall inherit the land. 14 The secret of Jehovah is for them that fear him, and his covenant for their instruction. 15 Mine eyes are continually toward Jehovah, for he shall bring my feet out of the net. 16 Turn thou unto me, and have pity upon me, for desolate am I and afflicted. 1 7 Enlarge the straitness of my heart, and bring me out of my distresses. 18 [Arise,] behold mine affliction and my travail, and pardon all my sins. 1 9 Behold mine enemies, for they are many, and they hate me with cruel hatred. 20 Preserve my soul, and deliver me : let me not be shamed, for I have taken refuge in thee. 2 1 Let integrity and uprightness guard me, for I await thee still, Jehovah. 22 Set Israel free, O God, from all his straitenings. I The second line is restored by of incapacity or want of thought. Bickell from v. 5, where it does not The second line of v. 7 in the fit in well with lines i and 2, whereas received text supplies an unneces- here it is the counterpart of line i. sary qualification of the first — 'ac- 3 Vainly, i.e. without any (good) cording to thy lovingkindness re- result ; cf. ii. I, 2 Sam. i. 22. member them for me.' See intro- 7 Israel's ' youth ' is meant, as duction. in cxxix. I ; so that this passage 8 Such as miss tbelr aim. supplies the key to li. 8. The dis- The text-reading is ' sinners,' but tinction between 'sins'or 'failings' this seems to say too much (see i. i). and deliberate ' transgressions ' Bickell's correction of the points is seems clear. To ' sin ' {khdta) is beautiful. Comp. on xxxix. 2, and properly ' to miss the mark ' (see see Prov. viii. 36, xix. 2. next verse, and comp. Prov. viii. 36). 1 1 ror it Is great. Calvin, Generally, however, /JAn/Za/y^ is used 'quia multa est' (comp. xl. 13). in a stronger sense, as Julius Miiller The plea is virtually that in xxxviii. {Doctrine of Sin, i. 93) rightly ob- 5 b. serves, without implying the excuse 14 The secret, viz. that of divine PSALM XXV. 73 truth, not necessarily as embodied i6 Desolate. Or 'friendless' in a written revelation (comp. cxix. (lit., solitary). The psalmist lacks 1 8), but that which suffering be- the full faith which inspired iii. 7, lievers found it so difficult to under- iv. 9, xxvii. 10. stand — the principle of God's pro- 17 BnlaTg^e . . . Or, 'relieve vidential dealings. For the sense the troubles of my heart, and bring of ' secret ' or ' private communica- me out of my straits.' Comp. cxix. tion,' comp. Prov. xi. 13, Am. iii. 7. 32, 2 Cor. vi. 11, and see on iv. 2. We may also render, 'the intimacy' Ancient authorities are on the comparing Iv. 18; notice, however, side of A.V. and R.V. ; but R.V.'s the difference of the contexts in marg. has the weight of scholarly the two psalms. V. 14 a is re- opinion on its side, peated in Prov. iii. 32 b (see Del. 22 Set free. The root-meaning ad loc.) And his covenant ... is to sever, to separate (cf. Ex. viii. Understand, 'is designed,' or ex- ig, A.V. 23, ^'(/z^;'/4 = division). This plain, ' his secret and his covenant verb is a favourite element in pro- are appointed for their instruction. per names ; see introduction (end), 15 Mine eyes, &c. Comp. the and refer to the Concordance ; in proper name Elyoenai or Elye- Phoenician we have Baalpada hoenai, ' Unto Yahv^ are mine eyes,' (Euting). I Chr. iii. 23, Ezra viii. 4, &c. PSALM XXVI. Innocence and especially love to Jehovah's house appeal confidently (see V. 12) for their natural reward. According to Ewald, v. 9 expresses the occasion of the psalm — a prevalent wasting sickness. But surely the petition which it contains is only incidental, though doubtless it suggests that the times were dangerous. The speaker represents the nation (see on V. 11). 1 Right me, Jehovah, for I walk still in mine integrity and trust in Jehovah without wavering. 2 Prove me, Jehovah, and try me ; assay my reins and my heart. 3 For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes, and I walk still in thy truthfulness. 4 I have not sat with men of falsehood, neither have I converse with dissemblers. 5 I hate the congregation of evil-doers, and will not sit with the ungodly. 6 I wash my hands in innocency, and would fain compass thine altar, Jehovah ; 7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell out all thy wonders. 8 Jehovah ! I love the precinct of thy house, and the place of thy glory's habitation. 9 Take not away my soul with sinners, nor my life with men of blood ; 10 In whose hands are outrages, and their right hand is full of bribes. 74 THE PSALMS 1 1 But as for me, I walk on in mine integrity ; O set me free, and have pity upon me. 12 My foot stands on even ground ; in full choirs will I bless Jehovah. 3 In thy truthfulness, i.e. ever conscious of it as my guide (xxv. 5, xliii. 3). God's will marks out the saint's path, and the truthful revela- tion of this, whether in command or in promise, is his guide. So Ixxxvi. II. 4, 5 See on i. I. For dissem- blers, the Heb. has, picturesquely, ' self-hiders.' Cf the 'dyed' or hypocritical class of Pharisees in the Talmud {Sola, 22 b). 6 I wash my bands, i.e. I keep them free from sin (as Ixxiii. 13). The symbol is explained by Ex. XXX. 17-21 ;comp. Deut. xxi. 6 Matt. xxvii. 4. Compass tbine altar. Going round in procession was a characteristic form of Israelitish as as well as of Arabian and Roman religion. The special object of the rite in the present case was a sacri- fice of thanksgiving (see v. 7). See further on cxviii. 27. 8 I love, &c. To take part in the temple-services seems the high- est conception of happiness to the ' Israelite indeed.' Comp. xxvii. 4. Thy glory's habitation. Comp. Ex. xvi. 10. To the psalm- ists, however, the conception of God's glory is spiritualised, like that of the 'form' (xvii. 15) which the glory enveloped (Ex. xiii. 21). Hence in xxvii. 4 'glory 'is para- phrased into ' pleasantness ' (see note). 1 1 I walk, i.e. I go on walking, in spite of these ' outrages.' Or, 1 will still do so (after my deliver- ance). Set me free, Israel, then, is the speaker (see xxv. 22). 12 Faith anticipates the answer to prayer. On even g:round (as xxvii. 11). The speaker has been like a man stumbling over a rugged path. Comp. iv. 2 ; the ideas of broadness and levelness are con- nected, as in the Arabic salutation, ' God give thee breadth and level- ness ' (Freytag, s.v. rahubd). In full choirs (Heb. Vmaqhelim). Cf xxii. 23, 26 {b'qahal). The same form (with fem. term.) occurs in Ixviii. 27, where (as here) the ' con- gregation ' spoken of is vocal with praise, justifying the above version. PSALM XXVII. i HE rhythm of this psalm changes at v. 7, and both tone and contents of the remaining verses differ widely from those of part i. The obvious ex- planation is that two psalms have been linked together, the one full of in- ward calm delight, regular in form and gracefully simple in style, the other a psalm of anxious supplication, which, judging from the Massoretic text, is inferior in rhythm and of less carefully turned expressions. Both seem to be national psalms. 1 Jehovah is my light and my salvation ; whom have I to fear? Jehovah is the fortress of my life, at whom have I to tremble ? 2 When evil-doers came near against me to eat my flesh, those my foemen and mine enemies stumbled and fell. PSALM XXVII. 75 3 Though a host should encamp against me, my heart would not fear ; though war should rise against me, still would I be tranquil. 4 One thing have I asked of Jehovah — that is my desire ; that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to gaze upon the pleasantness of Jehovah, and to contemplate his temple. 5 For he treasures me in his bower in the day of trouble ; he covers me in the covert of his pavilion, upon a rock does he exalt me. 6 And now shall my head be exalted above mine enemies round about me : fain would I offer in his pavilion sacrifices of resounding mirth, I would sing and make melody unto Jehovah. (Probably another Psalm.) 7 Hear, Jehovah, when I cry with my voice, have pity upon me and answer me. 8 [Hast thou not said unto me,J ' Seek ye my face ' ? unto thee my heart hath said, 'Thy face, Jehovah, will I seek.' 9 Do not hide thy face from me, thrust not thy servant aside in anger : thou hast been my help, abandon me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. 10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but Jehovah will take me up. 1 1 Show me thy way, Jehovah, and lead me on an even path because of my keen-eyed enemies. 12 Give me not over unto the greed of my foes : for against me there have risen up false witnesses and such as breathe out injurious words upon me. 13 I am confident of beholding the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living. 76 THE PSALMS 14 Wait for Jehovah : be courageous, and let thine heart gather strength, wait, I say, for Jehovah. 2 To eat my flesli, like wild beasts (Jer. xii. 9, Isa. Ivi. 9). See xiv. 4. 4 That I may dwell, &c. How this can be, is an enigma for the faithful (cf on xxiii. 6). The psalm- ist thinks in the first instance of the house of Jehovah on Mount Zion. There he has learned what commu- nion with God means, and he feels towards the temple like a child to- wards its mother. But though, like another poet (Ixxxiv. 5), he envies those who can always worship God in the one local sanctuary which the law permits, he reaches out towards a purely spiritual solution of faith's enigma. Those who are not mere formal worshippers, and whose sa- crifices are symbols of heart-devo- tion (see onz/. 6), will find themselves in God's house at all times and in all places, and will enjoy a fuller and deeper security than that implied in the old phrase, ' Jehovah's so- journer' {ger Yakve). Thus ex- plained the words will seem to some to anticipate those lines of Brown- ing- Why, Where's the need of temple, when the walls O' the world are that? What use of swells and falls From Levites' choir, priests' cries, and trumpet calls ? But the three following lines do not represent the position of any psalm- ist. Nor do even the three lines quoted fully represent our psalmist's mind. Caanan, which Hosea (viii. i) calls 'the house of Jehovah," is still the centre of his world, and the temple still holds a place of special honour (cf on xxviii. 2), like the sacrament of the Eucharist to one who fully believes in extra-sacra- mental spiritual influence. H is point of view is naturally a little different from that of a post-Christian writer who exclaims, ' O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how large the place of his possession' (Baruch iii. 24) ! To i^aze upon the pleasantness of Jehovah. Sept. well, TOV 6eo)pclv ll€ TTjV TepTTVOTrjTa Kvpiov. We should have expected 'to gaze upon His glory (or His face) ; ' but the conceptions of God's ' glory ' and of His ' face ' have be- come spiritualised (xxvi. 8 i). ' To gaze upon,' therefore, means 'to experience.' God's 'pleasantness' (so xc. 17) means His tender friend- ship : ' softness ' is the root-mean- ing ; the verb is used of a friend (2 Sam. i. 26), the adjective of a beloved one (Cant. i. 16). So too, in Phoenician, the cognate is used of the divine favour (Yehawmelek's inscr., /. 8). To contemplate his temple (or, ' his palace '), like a stranger admitted to a sight of the king's ' great house ' {hekal). Spi- ritually explained, this means 'to see traces of God's greatness and goodness wherever I may be.' 5 Treasures me, &c. So xxxi. 21. The righteous man 'lives 'at such times ' in virtue of his trust ' (Hab. ii. 4). To ' trust' is to hold fast by the ' Rock of ages ' (Isa. xxvi. 4). ' Treasures ; ' for this sense, see on Ixxxiii. 4. in his bower, i.e. in the shelter which he has screened off, as by thick plants, from plotting enemies (symbolised in Isa. iv. 6 by heat, storm, and rain). So Ixxvi. 3 (•sI'D), Lam. ii. 6 {^), Ps. xxxi. 21, Isa. iv. 6 (nap). 6 The psalmist does not under- value sacrifices ; these, however, are made real by the spiritual qua- lities of faith and love. Sacrifices of resounding mirth, i.e. such as are accompanied by songs of thanks- giving (cf cvii. 22 a). T'ril'dh, pro- • The expression is pecuhar. If it stood alone it might mean the people of Yahv^, but see Hos. ix. 15, compared with v. 3 ; also Jer. xii. 7. The nearest parallel is Ass. bit Kliumri — 'house of Omri,' i.e. N. Israel, but Omri is not the name of a god. PSALM XXVII. n perly, a loud sound ; the context decides whether that of a trumpet (Num. X. lo), a voice singing (xxxiii. 3), or a voice shouting (Ixxxix. i6). We might also render ' sacrifices with a trumpet sound ' (De Witt, after Gesenius) ; this requires us to assume that Israel is the speaker (Num. X. lo does not apply to the thank-oflferings of individuals). 8 The verse is formed of two distichs, the first of which is imper- fectly preserved. Clearly some- thing must be supplied, and a small transposition eflfected. To avoid this conclusion, Hitzig ingeniously but impossibly gives us, ' Seek him, O my face,' continuing as in A.V. 9, lo Does not the psalmist clearlyspeak in the name of Israel — ' thy servant ' (see on xix. 12), the ' friendless and afflicted' (xxv. 16) ? He seems to compare himself to a sobbing child, deserted by its pa- rents (note the monotonous rhyming cadence in z/. g (5). We might render V. 10, 'Should my father and my mother have forsaken me, Jehovah would take me up.' Comp. with Calvin Isa. xhx. 15 (scarcely Isa. Ixiii. 16). 1 1 Tby way , . , an even path. See on v. 9. The ' path ' is ' even ' in a physical, and not (as in cxliii. 10) in a spiritual sense. That the good man is directed by God's Spirit is ' doctrina perutilis,' but ' prsesenti loco quadrare non vide- tur' (Calvin). For the figure of ' even ground,' see on xxvi. 12. 12 False witnesses. The phrase suggests more than it ex- presses. The foes of the righteous psalmist were absolutely devoid of good faith (as v. 12, xii. 3, and else- where). Persecution is represented again as mainly carried on by false witness in xxxv. 1 1, cix. 2 ; but false witness stands for a class of hostile actions, just as ' bloodshed ' stands for great crimes in general (see on li. 16). Breatbe out; rather, 'puff out.' Injury, i.e. false wit- ness, one of the principal forms of injustice (see on xxxv. 11). 131 am confident, &c. The received text implies an aposiopesis — ' Unless I had been confident, &c. (I should utterly have fainted).' But the first word is marked as spurious by the points placed above it, and evidently it makes the rhythm too heavy (see crit. note). The author of Ps. cxvi. (see vv. t)b, 10 a) may possibly allude to the verse in its correct form. In the land of the living:. See Isa. xxxviii. 11 (comp. 18, 19). 14 Perhaps this verse belongs to the chorus ; comp. xxxi. 2S,xxxii. II. PSALM XXVIII. 1 HE peril hinted at in Ps. xxvi. (comp. v. 3 with xxvi. 9, 10) has become more imminent, and deliverance now becomes the central thought of pious worshippers. It is a life and death struggle between the depositaries of pro- gressive religion and a selfish, malignant enemy ; hence the imprecations, which deserve to be treated as leniently as ' the words of the desperate ' in Job and Jeremiah. At v. 6 (see note) the tone changes. The supposed Jeremian authorship must be considered elsewhere. Unto thee, Jehovah, do I cry, my rock, be not deaf unto me, lest if thou hold thy peace towards me I become like those that have gone down into the pit. Hear the voice of my beseeching when I cry unto thee for help, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy chancel. 78 THE PSALMS 3 O drag me not away with the ungodly and with those that work naughtiness, who speak peace to their neighbours, while evil is in their hearts. 4 Give them according to their deeds, and according to the evil of their practices ; give them after the work of their hands, render to them their deserts. 5 For they give no heed unto the deeds of Jehovah, nor unto the work of his hands — he shall throw them down, and not build them up. 6 Blessed be Jehovah ! for he has heard the voice of my beseeching. 7 Jehovah is my stronghold and my shield, my heart trusted in him, and I was helped ; therefore my heart dances for joy, and with my song will I thank him. 8 Jehovah is a stronghold for his people, and an asylum ; he is a full salvation for his anointed. 9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance ; shepherd them, and carry them for evermore. 2 Toward thy holy chancel. mistake. The Sept. translators Comp. Kordn, Sur. ii. 139, 'Turn either render vadr (as here), or tran- thou thy face towards the sacred scribe Sa/Sip or Safielp (so Theodo- Mosque.' The psalmist too has tion). his kiiia ; comp. v. 8 (note), I Kings 6 It is difficult to decide whether viii. 29, Dan. vi. 10. R. V. marg. the portion which begins here ante- renders, ' toward the innermost dates the answer to prayer (cf. vi. place of thy sanctuary.' This is 9-ii,xxvi. 12), or was added by the correct (it is the ' holy of holies ' same psalmist later (so Ewald, Hit- which is meant ; see i Kings vi. 16), zig). I incline to the former view, but lengthy. Analogous renderings regarding the tense as the perfect to ' chancel ' are sanctioned by the of certitude. ' Such sudden turns,' authority of A. V. ; and ' chancel ' remarks Driver {H. Tenses, ed. 2, p. in (Christian) Ethiopic literature is 44), 'are no less effective and empha- actually rendered by the cognate of tic than the abrupt introduction of a Heb. d'iMlr. See also Ixviii. 30 new and dissimilar key in a piece (note), where, as in i Kings vi., of music. ' temple ' (hekaT) is used somewhat 8 For his people. Sense, as our ' nave.' The root-meaning rhythm, and parallelism require of i^'Mzr is 'to be behind,' the holiest this rendering, instead of 'for them' place, in the temple of Jehovah as (Mass. text.) So Sept., Pesh. ; cf in that of Bel-Merodach,' being at xxix. 11. Rhythm too favours the extreme end. The rendering bringing ' and an asylum,' or (the 'oracle' (Aquila,Symm., Jerome) is other wifl'o^) ' and a fortress,' into based on a pardonable etymological the first line. For the close coup- 1 Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, p. 64 ; cf. Tiele, Bemcrkungen iiber E-sagila in Babel, &c. (Separatauszug), p. 184. PSALM XXVIII. 79 ling cf ^oz and ma'^oz comp. Jer. xvi. may compare Isa. Ix. 18, ' thy walls, 19 ; for fshu'Sth as applied to Je- Salvation.' hovah, xlii. 6, &c. Those, however, 9 Sbepberd them. Cf. on who prefer R. V.'s rendering, ' and Ixxx. 2. he is a stronghold of salvation,' &c., PSALM XXIX. I\. NOBLE specimen of parallelism and a poetical gem of purest ray. The storm-piece in vv. 3-9 may be compared to one of the fairest works of Arabian poetry (see Imra-al-Kais, as rendered by Lyall, Translations, p. 103). Prologue and epilogue, too, are worthy of their position. With remarkable tact, the psalmist recognises the poetical value of the concep- tion of the b'ne elim. Milton with equal tact follows him in those numerous passages in which the phrase ' gods ' or ' sons of God' is applied to super- natural beings, less than ' God Supreme ' and more than man. Comp. ' O Sons, like one of us Man is become ' {Paradise Lost, xi. 84). The reader of Goethe will not forget to compare the songs of the Archangels in Faust ; Job and Ps. xxix. have both contributed ideas and motives. The tone of the last two lines of the song of Michael reminds us especially of the peaceful close of the psalm. Ps. xxix. is specially important with re- ference to Israel's view of nature (see on Ps. civ.) Comp. Ewald, His- tory, ii. 128. 1 Ascribe unto Jehovah, O ye sons of the gods, ascribe unto Jehovah glory and strength. 2 Ascribe unto Jehovah the glory of his name, worship Jehovah in hallowed pomp. 3 The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters, the God of glory thunders, Jehovah is upon the great waters. 4 The voice of Jehovah is with power ! the voice of Jehovah is with majesty. 5 The voice of Jehovah breaks the cedars ; yea, Jehovah breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon ; 6 And Lebanon he makes to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of Jehovah hews [the rocks], [hews them with] flames of fire ; 8 The voice of Jehovah shakes the wilderness, Jehovah shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of Jehovah pierces the oaks, yea, strips the forests bare ; [fearful is he from his high places,] whilst in his palace all are saying, Glory. 10 At the storm Jehovah sat enthroned, Jehovah is enthroned as King for ever 8o THE PSALMS 1 1 Jehovah will give strength unto his people, Jehovah will bless his people with peace. between God and the angels (comp. Rev. xix. lo) arose later. Twice at least in the Psalter (Iviii. 2, Ixxxii. 1,6; see also on xcvii. 7) the 'angels' are even called Elim or Elohim, which reminds us of Gen. i. 27, xxviii. 17, xxxii. 2, where the title is given to the angels exclusively, not to mention Gen. xx. 13, &c. May we illustrate this by the variable and elastic application of ' god ' even in Christian Greek ? ' 2 In hallowed pomp, i.e. in festival attire. The celestial wor- shippers must not be behind those of earth (xcvi. 9). Sept. has, 'in his holy court ' (rather, courts), as again in xcv. 9. A various reading (Del.) ; comp., however, Jennings and Lowe on xcvi. 9. 3 The voice of Jehovah refers no doubt primarily to the pealing thunder (see Isa. xxx. 30, Ex. ix. 28, A. v., marg., and comp. Kordn, xiii. 14), but also, as the context shows, to the other awful sounds which accompany the storm. Ewald's ' Hark ! Jehovah,' &c., is therefore unsuitable. This 'voice' is said to be upon the waters, i.e. possibly the Mediterranean Sea (Schroder), more probably the ' cloud-masses, dark with water ' (xviii. 12 ; cf Jer. x. 13); but if the phrase means the same thing in line i as in Hne 3, almost certainly the ' waters that are above the heavens ' (cxlviii. 4 ; cf. on civ. 3). T^hovab Is upon, Ewald, '(even) Jehovah upon,' ' Jehovah ' being in apposition to 'the God of glory.' But Jehovah himself and not merely his 'voice' is ' upon the great waters ' (civ. 3). 5-8 The storm discharges itself in its full fury,passingfrom Lebanon in the north to Kadesh in the south. The cedars of Iiebanon, a grander image than even the traveller can 1 Cf. the phrase ' sons of the prophets,' and Robertson Smith's The Prophets of Israel, pp. 85, 388. See also crit. note. ' The ' angels ' or ' messengers ' of civ. 4, which forms a link between the ordinary idea of the ' angels ' and those Titanic forms the cherubim and seraphim. ^ Harnack, Dogmengeschichte, p. 8?, n. 2. I Sons of the gods. Heb. b'ne 'elitii, which means either ' sons of El (or, God) '—a double plural form ben 'el (so Gesenius, Gram. § 103, 8 ; Ewald, Gram. § 270 c\ or ' sons of (the) Elim (or, gods).' Elim - Elohim ; cf Ex. xv. 11, Dan. xi. 36. ' Sons of El ' would emphasise the derived and dependent existence of the beings referred to ; ' sons of (the) Ehm,' their membership in the class ' of superhuman, heavenly powers, and consequently their possession of a common nature with the head of this class, Jehovah. The latter explanation seems the more natural one, and brings our passage into closer relation to the narrative in Job, where, precisely as here, a special assembly of the court of heaven is described. (' The sons of God ' in Job i. 6, ii. i , A. V., should rather be ' sons of the Elohim ; ' cf Gen. vi. 2, where the article is again expressed. Davidson.) 3'ne 'elim occurs once again (Ixxxix. 7) in a striking context relative to the celestial ' ecclesia ' (Sept.) Are we to identify these ' sons of the gods ' (we can hardly say, ' of the Elim ; ' see on Ixxxii. I, 7) with the 'sera- phim ' (see Isa. vi. i, and comp. v. 9 with Isa. vi. 3), or with the dis- tinctly spiritual beings called an- gels?^ Probably with the latter (as Targ.) The heavenly 'seraphim' are mentioned but once, and in Job (v. I ; cf iv. 18) we find the same term 'holy ones' used of the 'angels' which in Ixxxix. 6-8 is applied to the ' sons of the gods.' ' Sons of the gods ' is in fact a fragment of that naive, popular phraseology which had affinities with the common Semitic religion. The mythic sys- tems of ' heathen ' nations knew of no messengers, who were not them- selves gods. The broad distinction PSALM XXIX. >I now realise, except from the descrip- tion of Ezekiel (Ezek. xxxi. 3-9). On V. 6, see crit. note. 7 The text has simply, ' The voice of Jehovah cleaves (or, hews) flames of fire,' i.e. sends forked lightning, or, less plausibly, ' hews them out ' from the stonn-clouds. But this gives no parallelism and is a strange expression. The cleaving of rocks is a regular feature of theophanies. 9 Pierces the oaks. ' The common translations suppose this passage to relate to the hinds bringing forth young, which agrees ver)' little with the rest of the ima- gery either in nature or dignity : ' nor do I feel myself persuaded e\'en by the reasonings of the learned Bochart on this subject, Hierozoicon, part i. bk. 3, ch. i j? Whereas the oak struck by lightning admirably agrees with the context.' Bishop Lowth, Lect. 27. See crit. note. [Fearful Is be, &c.] Some- thing has evidently dropped out, or the distich will be imperfect. The parallel line suggests the contrast of God's awful working upon earth, and the jubilation of the heavenly ones at this glorious revelation of Di\ ine power. (The ideas of fear- fulness and glory combined, as in Deut. xxviii. 58.) Comp. the transi- tion at the opening of Faust — Doch ihr, die achten Gottersdhne, Erfreut euch der lebendig reichen Schone. For it is surely the temple of heaven which is meant (xi. 4, xviii. 7, Isa. vi. i), not of heaven and earth to- gether (as Cook). The participle are saying expresses that the cry of praise is heard while the storm rages. dory reminds us of Isa. vi. 3. Those who cry are the ' sons of the gods' {v. i); the singular is used Call of it'), to show that all cry in unison. ' Cry,' for we have not yet come to the ' harpers hai"p- ing with their harps ' (Rev. xiv. 3). 10 The psalmist's healthy reli- gious nature reacts against the de- pressing physical effect of these awful sights and sounds. In justifi cation of storm see crit. note. The common rendering is 'flood,' i.e. either Noah's flood or the inunda- tion produced by a violent rain, such as that which Imra-al-Kais de- scribes in its effects in the poem referred to above — ' ces ondees violentes, qui suivent les grands coups de tonnerre, et qui arrivent de pr^fi^rence k la fin des orages ' (Volney). But one can scarcely suppose an abrupt reference either to the Deluge or to a phenomenon which the description of the storm has ignored. What we expect in the epilogue is a final word con- taining the poet's reflexions as he looks back on this fearful but glori- ous manifestation of Israel's God. 1 1 Comp. xxviii. 8, 9. ■With peace (or welfare). Perhaps im- plying that storms are but good angels in disguise. Or this last verse may be a liturgical addition. c PSALM XXX. LOSELY parallel to Ps. vi. comp. TJ. J)b with vi. 3 i5, 7/. 6 with vi. 2 a, 10 with \'i. 6. Compare also Ps. xxviii. Here again we must ask. Is it the resurrection of Israel (see on v. 2), or the deliverance of any righteous man whose sorrows are not merely personal but national ? Or may both references be combined ? 2 I will extol thee, Jehovah, for thou hast drawn me up, and not made mine enemies to rejoice over me. 3 Jehovah my God ! I cried unto thee for help, and thou didst heal me. 1 It is inanimate nature which is elsewhere referred to by the poet. ^ For the premature ' calving' of the hinds, Ewald refers to line 76 of the Arabic poem already mentioned (in introd.) ; cf. Mr. Lyall's translation, part 3. G 82 THE PSALMS 4 Jehovah ! from Hades thou broughtest up my soul, from those sunk in the pit thou recalledst me to life. 5 Sing unto Jehovah, O ye his loving ones, and give thanks to his holy memorial. 6 For a moment passes in his anger, a life in his favour ; weeping may come to lodge at eventide, but (hark !) a glad cry in the morning. 7 But I — I said in my security, I shall never be moved. 8 Jehovah, in thy favour thou hadst set me on strong mountains : thou didst hide thy face, and I was confounded. 9 Unto thee, Jehovah, did I cry, and unto the Lord made I supplication. 10 'What profit is there in my blood, in my going down to the pit ? can the dust give thee thanks ? can it declare thy truthfulness ? 1 1 Hear, Jehovah, and have pity upon me : Jehovah, be a helper unto me.' 1 2 Thou didst turn for me my mourning into dancing, thou didst loose my sackcloth, and gird me with joy, 13 To the end that my glory might make melody unto thee without ceasing : Jehovah my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. 2 Drawn me up, viz. from 5 His lovlnir ones = those who Sheol {v. 4 ; cf. Ixxxviii. 5, Jon. ii. 3) ; are in covenant with God (1. 5). or from a ' sea of troubles ' (cf. xviii. Khdsed^ like the Christian dyan-i;, is 17, Ixix. 2, 3). The former view gives born of duty and not of impulse greater force. Ephraim ' died,' says (see on xii. l). His lioly memo- Hosea (xiii. i), when he 'became rial. So xcvii. 12. Jehovah is guilty through the Baal,' and the holy, i.e. separate and different from same prophet speaks of the future all that is earthly, and in the sphere resurrection of Israel and Judah of morals inconceivably just and (Ho3.vi.2). The idea was taken up by kind (Isa. Iv. 9). Holy too must later prophets and psalmists (Ezek. be His memorial {zdker),^ \.t. His. xxxvii. i-io, Isa. xxvi. 19, and notes name (Ex. iii. 15), that by which on vi. 6, Ixxxviii. 4-10). He reveals Himself and would be 3 Ttiou bealedst me. A phrase rememb jred. From v. 6 it appears used of Israel (Ex. XV. 26, Isa. vi. 10, that in the writer's present mood XXX. 26, Ivii. 18, 19, Hos. vii. I, the leading feature in God's self- xi. 3, and elsewhere). revelation is forgiving love (xxxiii. 1 The Assyrian cognate zikru = name ; cf. Haupt in Hebraica, vol. iii. (1885), p. 230. PSALM XXX. 83 21 is slightly different). We may compare Hos. xi. g, where ' the Holy One ' is almost a synonym for ' the Forgiving One,' just as in Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7, ' Jehovah ' is para- phrased as ' compassionate and pitiful.' 6 A ' moment ' is opposed to ' a life,' as the shades of ' evening ' to the brightness of morning.' Grief is but a moment in a lifetime of God's favour. Comp. Isa. xxvi. 20, liv. 8, Ps. xlvi. 6, xlix. 15, xc. 14, cxliii. 8. 7-12 The speaker had to learn this truth {v. 6) by experience. He had never thought that he might lose God's favour. Hence suddenly trouble came ; he fancied that God had forsaken him. Then he tried the effect of prayer, and soon a ' glad cry ' followed. 8 On strong mountains. (See crit. note.) A figure of security. Hitherto the psalmist had been walking ' in slippery places.' Comp. xxvii. 5, Isa. xxxiii. i6 (note here the same use of the plural of cate- gory), and this fine passage of the Mu'allaqa of al-Harith — As though the Fates, beating against us, met A black mountain, cleaving the topmost clouds. (Lyall, Translations y p. 22.) 9-1 1 Note the repetition of the name Jehovah. Trouble gave the speaker an intuition of its meaning In my blood. As if Jehovah were the slayer. Cf xxii. 15, Job xiii. 15, xvi. 18. The dust, i.e. ' the grave ' (xxii. 30), not ' my dead body ' (as Gesenius after Theodoret and Kimchi) ; see vi. 6. 13 IWy riory. The text has simply ' glory,' which Kimchi ex- plains of the immortal soul in anti- thesis to the dead body (see last note), while Ewald, Hitzig, and Olshausen give it the sense of ' praise.' Even great scholars neg- lect the Septuagint. PSALM XXXI. A BE.\UTIFUL psalm in which all the keys of the soul's music are touched ; see Savonarola's touching application of it to his own case in his unfinished Meditatio. The speaker may be either a prophet or the pious kernel of Israel regarded as having a prophetic calling (cf on v. 17); but the parallelism between vv. 10-13 and some at least of the so-called typically Messianic psalms (see Isaiah, ii. 200) suggests that the latter is the truer view. The elegiac tone and the variableness of mood suggest a comparison with Jeremiah ; and, true enough, we find verbal points of contact both with Jeremiah and with Lamentations. Comp. v. 11 with Jer. XX. 18 ; 7/. 13 (5 with Jer. xxii. 28 ; -v. 14 (especially) with Jer. xx. 10 ; V. 18 with Jer. xvii. 18 ; v. 23 with Lam. iii. 54. The phrase ' a dread (is) on every side' occurs six times in Jeremiah (see also below, on 11. 17). 2 In thee, Jehovah, have I sought refuge, let me never be put to shame : in thy righteousness rescue thou me. 3 Incline thine ear unto me, deliver me speedily, be unto me an asylum-rock, a fortified house, that thou mayest save me. 4 For thou art my high crag, and my fortress, and for thy name's sake thou wilt guide and gently lead me. 5 Bring me out of the net that they have hidden for me, for thou art my stronghold. 84 THE PSALMS 6 Into thy hand I commend my breath ; thou settest me free, Jehovah, thou God of truth. 7 Thou hatest those that give heed to lying vanities, but as for me, in Jehovah do I trust. 8 Let me exult and be joyful in thy lovingkindness, who sawest mine affliction, and tookest notice of the troubles of my soul, 9 And didst not enthrall me under the hand of the enemy, but didst plant my feet in a broad place. 10 Have pity upon me, Jehovah, for I am in trouble ; mine eye is fallen in for sorrow, my soul and my body [are confounded]. 1 1 For my life is consumed with heaviness, and my years with sighing ; my strength breaks down because of my guilt, and my bones are fallen away. 1 2 I am the butt of insult to all my foes, and to my neighbours a shaking of the head, and a terror unto all my familiar friends ; they that see me without flee away from me. 13 I am cut oif, like a dead man, from remembrance, I am become like a vessel left to perish. 14 For I hear the backbiting of many, cause for terror is on all sides ; now that they conspire together against me their devising is how to take away my life. 15 And I — on thee, Jehovah, have I trusted ; I have said. Thou art my God. 16 My times are in thy hand ; rid me out of the hand of mine enemies and from my pursuers, 1 7 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant ; save me for thy lovingkindness. 18 Let me not be shamed, O Jehovah, for I have called upon thee ; let the ungodly be shamed, and put to silence in She61. 1 9 Let the lying lips become mute, which speak arrogantly against the righteous in haughtiness and scorn. 20 How plenteous is thy goodness, Jehovah, which thou hast treasured up for those that fear thee, which thou dost practise unto them that take refuge in the2 before the sons of men ! PSALM XXXI. 85 21 Thou coverest them in the covert ot thy face from slanderers among men : thou treasurest them in a bower against the accusing of tongues. 22 Blessed be Jehovah ! for he hath made passing great his lovingkindness unto me in a fenced city. 23 And I — I had said in mine alarm, I am cut away from before thine eyes : but surely thou heardest the voice of my beseeching when I cried for help unto thee. 24 O love Jehovah, all ye his devout ones : Jehovah keeps faithfulness, and abundantly recompenses him that deals haughtily. 25 Be courageous and let your heart gather strength, all ye that wait for Jehovah. 2-4 These verses are copied, with some variations, in Ixxi. 1-3. Strange enough, as they are full of the conventional phraseology of the psalms of supplication. 6 Theodoret sees here a reference to past deliverances as the ground of present confidence (and so in vv. 8, 9). But the perfect of con- fidence is here more natural and forcible than that of history. Into tby band, i.e. into thy provi- dential care. A more tender ex- pression than 'thy hands' (Sept., Luke). IWy breath. Heb. rukhi. Comp. Job x. 12, ' and thy care (or, providence) hath preserved my breath.' ' My spirit ' facilitates a confusion with ' my soul ' (as in Theodoret) ; the poet means ' the breath {ruakh) of life ' (Gen. vi. 17 ; cf. Lam. iv. 20, Gen. ii. 7). Cod of trntb. Almost equivalent to ' God of faithfulness ■' (Deut. xxxii. 4). God's 'faithfulness' is the revelation of His essential ' truth.' 7 Imitated in Jon. ii. 9. lying vanities, the opposite of ' God of truth.' Hitzig, ' der wesenlos [un- real] nichtigen.' But the qualifying word may mean 'useless,' and so ' disappointing.' 10-13 See introd. Have pity, &c. Faith grounded on past ex- periences revived the psalmist's courage for a moment. But his sensitive nature cannot long resist the trials without and within to which it is subjected. 1 1 IWy guilt (or, mine iniquity). ' My punishment ' is also possible ; cf xl. 13, Ezek. iv. 5, Gen. iv. 13 (?), xix. 15. This combination of senses of '■avon reminds of the twofold sense of Assyr. annu ( = Heb. avcii) — I, sin, guilt (Deluge-story, iv. 15, v.l.) ; 2, penalty (Annals of Assur- banipal, viii. 10). \2a Lit., ' I am (the subject of) insult (proceeding) from all my foes.' lib A. sbaklng: of tbe bead (as xliv. 1 5). The text has ' exceed- ingly,' though Delitzsch and De Witt (after Michaelis and Dathe) assume a right to render ' a burden.' Comp. the descriptions in xxxviii. 12, Iv. 14, Ixxxviii. 9, 19, Job xix. 13, Isa. liii. 3 b. 14 Lines I and 2 come from Jer. XX. 21, and being at once un- rhythmical and but ill adapted to ■ the context, are possibly a later in- sertion and substituted for some- thing else. It is of course hopeless to restore the original words, which were probably already illegible in the time of the editor. See on Ixxix. 5. The backbiting of many (comp. z/. 21). Or, perhaps, ' a stealthily spreading evil report.' In Jer. xx. 10, some understand the word here rendered ' backbiting ' of the hostile talk,others of the injurious reflections upon character, of which 86 THE PSALMS the prophet was the subject. In the former case, the ' hostile talk ' is explained by the ' Let us inform against him' which follows. But usage is in favour of the latter view. Etymologically dibba seems to mean that which ' creeps ' from mouth to mouth (comp. Pro v. xxv. lo), though Hitzig explains the 'creeping' or rather ' soft treading ' as an ana- logical metaphor for ' whispering.' The limitation to ' evil report ' comes from Old Testament usage ; yet from Gen. xxxvii. 2, where ra'ah is added epexegetically to dibba- ihain, we see that the original meaning of dibbah (like that of Syriac tebSi, ; see Matt. iv. 24, ix. 26 Pesh.) is simply ' report.' Cause for fear, &c. Heb. mdgor missa- blb. A favourite expression of Jere- miah, reflecting his timid and re- tiring character. 16 My times, i.e. the crises, the ' changes and chances ' of my life. Browningglorifies this passage by intertwining with it the idea of development {Rabbi Ben Ezra, st. i). The psalmist merely thinks of life as a series of hairbreadth escapes. 17 Ttay servant. This modest though glorious title is never applied to himself by Jeremiah, but only to Israel (Jer. xxx. 10, xlvi. 27, 28 ; comp. Ezek. xxxvii. 25). May not this be at least a faint sign of date ? The psalmist is hardly influenced by the great prophecy in II. Isaiah. Comp. on xix. 12. 2 1 The covert of thy face. A lovely variation upon the phrase in xxvii. 5. The shining of God's face (like brooding wings, Ixi. 5) shelters believers from the storms of human passion. From slan- derers among- men. An exact parallel, at least in idea, to 'against the accusing of tongues ' (comp. v. 14 ffi), gained, it is true, at the ex- pense of an emendation. But He- brew text must surely be wrong though R.V., giving it a gentle twist, renders, not quite as unsuit- ably as most, ' from the plottings of man.' [So too Dathe, and Gesenius as an alternative.] A.V.'s render- ing, however, 'from the pride of men ' (derived from Kimchi) is also a plausible guess ; see Isa. xl. 4, Heb., where 'the ridges' — seem- ingly a cognate word — might be a figurative expression for pride; cf. Hab. ii. 4 (Heb.), Ps. cxxxi. 2 (Heb.) But a figurative phrase like this is improbable here. See crit. note. From the accusinir of tongues. Sept. excellently, ano dw-iXoyias yXmo-a-m!' ; 'strife ' of A.V. and R.V. is too vague. 22 In a fenced city (see crit. note); i.e. (if the words are to be taken literally) either by protect- ing me in it when besieged, or by bringing me safely into it (comp. Iv. 19, Hne i). We may also render ' like (in the manner of) a fenced city' (comp. Isa. xxxiii. 21, or Jer. i. 18). In any case, the expression ' hath made passing great,' &c., favours a reference to some excep- tional event in the speaker's history (see on iv. 4); similarly the next verse. 23 Borrowed by the author of Jon. ii. 5. Comp. xxx. 7 a. In mine alarm. Or, ' in my trepida- tion, scare, anxiety.' ' In my haste' (A.V. ; Kay) substitutes a weak secondary for the strong primary meaning. Better Keble, 'in my wild hurrying heart.' 2 5 A verse forthe chorus ; comp. xxxii. II. A seldom noticed quo- tation occurs in i Cor. xvi. 13 (see Sept.) PSALM XXXII. 1 HE prologue {vv. 1,2; comp. v. w) strikes the keynote of the poem— the happiness of the truly righteous, that is, of the forgiven man. The strain then becomes first lyric and afterwards didactic. The lyric portion, which describes a fact of personal experience, is naturally the finer. As PSALM XXXII. 87 in the two partly parallel psalms (vi., xxxviii.), the speaker is a pious Israelite who represents his people (Israel as it should be, and to a reasonable extent actually is) : in short, we have here, principally though not exclusively, a national psalm. The way to obtain forgiveness is to confess the sin which has displeased God ; this is certainly the second of the leading ideas of the psalm. It is, however, not merely an idea, but a fact. One great ' time of distress ' — of distress occasioned by national sin — is over ; God has visibly forgiven His penitent people (comp. Ixxxv. 2, 3), and every ' devout man ' feels the more assured in view of the possible recurrence of great national dangers {v. 6). It was not all at once that the singer and his brethren connected the ideas of sin and punishment, or rather of definite sins with definite punishment. At first they were like Job in the early period of his sufferings ; they denied that God could have aught against them. Afterwards they came to recognise the existence of sins which no human eye could detect (xix. 13), and then what had been felt an unmerited punishment became a humbly accepted chastening. This is the second of the three Beatitude-psalms in Book I. 1 Happy he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Happy the man to whom Jehovah reckons not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 3 ^\'^he^ I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my roaring all the day long : 4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me, my sap was turned as in the droughts of summer. \ 5 My sin I made known unto thee, and mine iniquity I covered not ; I said, I will confess my transgressions unto Jehovah, and thou — thou tookest away the guilt of my sin. 6 For this let all men of love pray unto thee in time of distress, when the flood of the great waters is heard ; unto such an one they shall not reach. 7 Thou art a covert for me ; thou wilt guard me from trouble : * * wilt thou surround me. 8 I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way thou art to go ; I will counsel thee, keeping mine eye upon thee. 9 Be ye not like unto horse or mule, without understanding, who must be curbed with bit and bridle, till he can be brought unto thee. 10 Many pains hath the ungodly, but he that trusts in Jehovah — • with lovingkindness will he surround him. 1 1 Be joyful in Jehovah, and exult, ye righteous ; and ring out your gladness, all ye upright in heart. 88 THE PSALMS I, 2 Observe the three terms for sin (compare v. 5 and li. 3-7, Ex. xxxiv. 7), which describe it (i) as a breaking loose from God, (2) as a missing of the right aim, (3) as per- version or distortion. To each of these a special term for forgiveness corresponds, (l) the taking away (of sin), nasa,XTix. aipfiv, having a double sense, (2) its covering, or, less pro- bably (on kipper, see Isaiah, vol. ii. index), its obliteration, (3) its non- imputation in the great account. The last of these three terms for forgiveness struck home to St. Paul (see Rom. iv. 6-9), who quotes w. 1 , 2 a to show that human right- eousness in the sight of God is not legal but imputed. He might also have quoted xix. 13, where it is clear that the ' absolution ' or ' ac- quittal ' is based upon the non-im- putation of ' unknown ' faults. In one sense, the sins cannot but exist ; in another sense, they are non-existent, because God does not call them to mind (evidently a popular mode of conceiving of for- giveness ; see 2 Sam. xix. 19, 20). • No g:ulle ! that is, according to most, no attempt to make oneself out to be better than one is. This is, perhaps, a little too special. Sincerity is with the psalmists a criterion of goodness ; a ' guileless spirit ' is equivalent to an upright character. If the set of the will is towards God and his moral law, a man is ' guileless ; ' if away from God, he is ' treacherous ' or ' faith- less.' It took the psalmist some time to find out that he was really ' treacherous.' His sin was not a mean one, like David's in 2 Sam. xi. 3 The psalmist kept silence, but only so far as concerns confes- sion of sin. To expunge ' my roar- ing ' (cf xxii. 2) with Ley only sim- plifies the passage by weakening it. 4 Turned ; cf ' dried up like a potsherd' (xxii. 16). 6 In time of distress. The received text has, ' at a time of 1 De Wette and Hupfeld understand Rabbis thought of ' a wife.' ' the Tora,' or i. 23. finding,' or ' of hitting the mark ' (comp. Prov. viii. 35, 36, where ' wisdom ' is represented as an aim which may be 'found' or 'missed') so that Sept's. eV evBera Kaipa (simi- larly Pesh. renders) would seem a good paraphrase. The mark is surely God himself — no mere gift of God ; ' whatever we think of Lagarde's derivation of El, God to the psalmists is their mark and their prize. To me, however, the implied possibility of missing the goal of life seems out of place in this connexion. If it were 'let all ungodly men,' or ' let all that are backsliders,' &c., it might pass, but for a khdsid, i.e. one who responds to God's covenant-love, can there be a time which is not a 'finding time ' ? This consideration, joined to the strangeness of the form of expression in the Hebrew, leads me to accept Lagarde's very natural correction. See crit. note. ■When ... Is beard. The cor- rection involved hangs together with the preceding one ; the re- ceived reading is best rendered, 'surely, when great waters over- flow,' &c. The ' overflow ' of the ' great waters ' may be simply a figure for any sore trouble, but the analogy of Isa. viii. 7, 8, xxviii. 15, Jer. xlvii. 2 (cf Dan. ix. 26) suggests that the danger to Israel's national existence from her foreign foes (Assyria and Chald^a) is meant, as perhaps also in cxxiv. 4, 5. The exemption promised to the khasld corresponds to that of the 'believer' in Isa. xxviii. 17 (comp. the false boast in v. 15). Those who like may transpose the (,) and (;) at the end of lines i and 2 of this verse. 7 b ' With shouts of deliver- ance ' begins the line in the received text. The Hebrew phrase, how- ever, though plausibly defended by Delitzsch, is difficult, and so too is the meaning — to be 'surrounded' by one's own ' shouts,' is an expres- sion which has no pai-allel. Instead of ' shouts ' we should rather expect ' forgiveness ' or the hke. The ancient death.' See Wunsche, i^CT-^oi. Talmud, PSALM XXXII. 89 something from the heavenly world, such as God's ' lovingkindness ' {v. 10) or His 'favour' {v. 13). To answer this by referring to such phrases as ' girding with joy ' (see XXX. 12, Ixv. 13) does not hit the mark. But though the received reading is impossible, a poet like Keble, with gentle violence, can transmute though not translate it — Thou fill'st with songs of Uberty The glad air as I go. 8 I will instruct thee, &c. A promise, first, of moral teaching, and next, of protection in the path of duty. It is disputed whether Jehovah (so Tholuck, Olshausen, Ewald, Hitzig ; cf xvi. 7 a, xxv. 8, 1 2) or the psalmist (Calvin, Hupfeld, Delitzsch ; cf xxxiv. 12, h. 15) be the speaker. The figure of the ' horse or mule ' in the next verse, and the reference in the present to a vigilant and powerful Eye (comp. Jer. xxiv. 6, and on xxxiii. 18), seem to favour the first view. Would a 'wise man,' like him who speaks here in the tone of Prov. i.-vii., have asserted such an absolute su- premacy over his pupil as this verse describes ? Whichever view be adopted, the transition, it must be owned, is extremely harsh. One almost regrets the insertion of w. 8-10. 1 win counsel tbee, &c. A. V.'s rendering is appropriate (the soft guidance of the eye being con- trasted with the harsh constraint of the rein), but too bold. See crit. note. 9 Horse or mule. Israel is likened to domestic animals in Hos. x. II, xi. 4, Deut. xxxii. 15, &c., and contrasted with them, somewhat in the manner of our psalmist, in Isa. i. 3. "WTao must be curbed, &c. A beautiful anti- thesis. The horse or mule, at first so wild, is curbed with bit and bridle, and can then be led along, as quiet as a lamb (Isa. liii. 7), to its master. The received text is admittedly very difficult. Hupfeld renders, ' whose trappings consist in bit and bridle for curbing it, (be- cause) it comes not near unto thee:' Delitzsch, ' with bit and bridle, its trappings, must it be curbed, else it comes not near unto thee.' But ' trappings ' puts force upon the He- brew ; there is also a difficulty in the construction of the last clause, which Olshausen even gives up as unintelligible. One way out of the maze might yet be suggested ; ' ornament ' (so the Hebrew word, 'edyo, rendered ' trappings ' above, strictly means) might refer to the ' soul,' i.e. the feelings and longings of the animal or non-human ' soul ' being described by a term also ap- plicable (see on ciii. 5) to the human, to throw contempt on the splendour of human pride (comp. xlix. 21). In this case we should render, ' Whose spirit (or, wildness) must be curbed,' &c. But the awkward word 'edyo is certainly not what the poet wrote. Bickell boldly omits it, on the plea of metrical necessity, but the Hebrew still remains diffi- cult. In justification of my own reading, see crit. note. 10 Pains, viz. physical ones (as Ex. iii. 7, and partly Isa. liii. 3, 4). Here in the sense of 'plagues' (Sept. fidcrnyes). 11 A verse for the chorus, like xxxi. 25. Note how the O.T. reh- gion is throughout one of joy (of 'ringing joy') ; even in Nehemiah (viii. 10) we read, 'The joy of Jeho- vah is your bulwark.' The final ruin of the outward forms of Judaism alone destroyed this joyousness. PSALM XXXIII. A COLLECTION of twenty-two distichs ; the number dictated by that of the Hebrew letters. (So Pss. xxxviii., xxxix., cxivi.. Lam. v.) The distichs known are grouped in pairs, except at the beginning and the end, where we meet with triplets ; and there is a clearly marked division at v. 12. 90 THE PSALMS 1 Ring out, ye righteous, your gladness in Jehovah ; for the upright praise is seemly. 2 Give thanks unto Jehovah with the lyre ; with a ten-stringed harp make melody unto him. 3 Sing unto him a new song ; play cunningly with sonorous tone. 4 For the word of Jehovah is straight, and all his doing is in faithfulness. 5 He loves righteousness and justice : the earth is full of the lovingkindness of Jehovah. 6 By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth, 7 Who gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle, who laid up the floods in store-chambers. 8 Let all the earth fear Jehovah ; of him let all the world's inhabitants be in awe. 9 For ke spake, and it came into being ; Ae commanded, and there it stood. 10 Jehovah has brought the purpose of the nations to nought, he has made the designs of the peoples of none effect. 1 1 The purpose of Jehovah shall stand for ever, the designs of his heart unto all generations. 1 2 Happy the nation whose God is Jehovah, the people he has chosen for a heritage unto him. 1 3 Out of heaven looks down Jehovah, he beholds all the sons of men : 14 From the place of his habitation he gazes on all the inhabitants of the earth — 5 He who forms all their hearts together, who gives heed to all their works. 16 A king is not saved by a great army, a hero does not deliver himself by great power : 1 7 A horse is vain for saving help, neither causeth he any to escape by his great strength. 18 Behold, the eye of Jehovah is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope for his lovingkindness ; 19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waits for Jehovah : he is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. 22 Let thy lovingkindness, Jehovah, brood over us, according as we have hoped for thee. PSALM XXXIII. 91 1 Comp. xcvii. i2, cxlvii. i, and see on cxi. i. 2 ^ So cxliv. 9. Comp. xcii. 4, where the ten-stringed ndbhel (Sept. generally vaSka. or \jraXTfipi,op, but twice opyavov) seems distinguished from the less perfect instrument in conmion use, which perhaps had fewer strings (comp. the Greek tetrachord). Against Josephus, who states that the vdfiXa had twelve 0floyyoi, see Gratz's Commentary, pp. 67-71, which gives the Jewish traditions. The best description of the n^bhel and the kinnor, bring- ing them into connexion with the Assyrian and Egyptian delineations, \r\S\. however be found in Delitzsch's note on the subject, as rewritten in his 4th edit, (now translated). See also Wilkinson (Manners and Cus- toms of the Ancient Egyptians, ii. 296), who complains of the confused accounts of Israelitish music, and compare Rowbotham's Hist, of Music, i. 221. 3 A new song:. So in five other places ; see especially xcvi. i , xcviii. I, evidently based on Isa. xlii. 10. The deliverance from Babylon seemed to dim the splen- dour of all previous divine inter- positions (Isa. xliii. 18). 5 b What a noble expansion of the range of the divine quality of covenant-lovingkindness (see on iv. 4)! Comp. cxix. 64, which is decisive against Hitzig's rendering ' the land ' (i.e. Judah). 6 Comp. V. 9, cxlviii. 5, Isa. xlviii. 13. By tbe word of Jeho- vali, &c. Alluding probably to Gen. i. 6, &c. The creatorship of Jehovah is a favourite subject with II. Isaiah (e.g. Isa. xlii. 5, xlv. 12, 18, xlviii. 13), but without the con- ception of the agency of the divine word. The 'word' of prophetic revelation meets us often in pre- Exile writings ; the creative ' word ' in this passage only, which is there- fore (as also cxlviii. 5, which pre- supposes this use of ' word ') pre- sumably a reflexion of the nDK'l D'n^K of Gen. i. Sirach took up the expression and extended its reference : ' by His word,' he says, ' all things consist ' (Ecclus. xliii. 26). Ewald,' from whom I take this reference, adds one to Wisd. xviii. 15, 16, but this splendid per- sonification of the judicial ' word ' of God has its antecedents in Isa. ix. 8 [7], Hos. vi. 5. The expres- sion is anthropomorphic, and is based on the inseparable connex- ion of language and thought ; it might mean simply God's plan (comp. ' he said in his heart ' = he thought), but the context and the usage of the original phrase in Gen. i. show that it rather describes symbolically the effectual working out of God's plans and purposes, a mystic power being attributed to sacred words in the primitive stage of thought. Need it be added that the psalm-passage is not to be used as a proof-text for ' creation out of nothing ' (2 Mace. vii. 28) ? Poetic feeling and not later theology must be the guide of the interpreter. C£ H. Schultz, Alttestamentliche Theologie, ed. 2, p. 527. 7 As In a bottle (or, wine-skin, aaKof ; see on cxix. 83). This is the rendering of the oldest authorities (see crit. note). Most, however, pronouncing differently, ' like a harvest-heap.' So the Massoretic critics, supposing a reference to the passage of the Red Sea (Ex. xv. 8) ; but the context and the parallel line support the rival view. With Ewald we may compare Job xxxviii. 8, 'Or who shut up the sea with doors ? ' That the sea means the ' waters above the heavens' (Hitzig) is less likely, in spite of Job ix. 8, ' and treadeth upon the high places of the sea ' (parallel to ' the hea- vens '), and Job xxxviii. 37, where ' the pitchers of heaven ' = the clouds. Instore-clianibers. So in Job xxxviii. 22, ' the store-cham- bers of the snow,' and ' of the hail ; ' and in Jer. x. 13 of the wind (cf cxxxv. 7). 10 Has brougbt. Or, 'bring- eth' (comp. vv. 13. '4) ; less pro- ' Geschichte Christus , p. 98; comp. Die Lehrc der Bibel von Gott, iii. 2, 83-4. 92 THE PSALMS bably, as the 'new song' {v. 3) requires a justification. Tbe purpose of tbe nations, i.e. the Chaldseans, the Edomites, and all other enemies of the nationality of Israel ; or perhaps those referred to in Ixxxiii. 4-9. The designs of his heart, as in Jer. xxix. 11, Isa. Iv. 8, 9, are God's plans of mercy for Israel, and through Israel for the world. 12 Comp. cxliv. 15 and (see also V. 20) Deut. xxxiii. 29. 13 Comp. xi. 4, xiv. 2, cii. 20. 1 5 He ■vitko forms, &c. So Zech. xii. i ; comp. cxxxix. 13. Not merely the human body is the work of the Creator, but the mind and conscience, the intellectual, moral, and emotional nature of man, and not only of man, but of individual men (' together ' virtually — Kara fiovas, as Sept. and Symm. render). Individual life has now fully realised its existence ; the man has fully emerged from the family and the tribe. Were the psalmist a philosopher, we should say that he inclines to Creationism rather than to Traducianism, but he is far removed from scholastic theories (see Schultz, referred to on V. 6). 16, 17 Note the parallelism be- tween lines I and 3, 2 and 4. is not saved . . . for saving- help (as xcviii. 2). Comp., besides Deut. xxxiii. 29, Zech. ix. 9, 'he is just and saved,' i.e. victorious ; victory being a gift from on high (xxi. 6). These verses give a generalisation from facts of recent experience. Cf cxlvii. 10 (xx. 8). 18, 19 The eye of TehoTab. A lovely symbol of 'providence.' Comp. xxxii. 8, Ezra v. 5. So faqad ' to visit ' = care for (so often used of God ; comp. on viii. 5) is etymologically 'to open the eyes wide (upon).' Vpon them that hope, &c. Comp. cxlvii. 1 1 b. From death, i.e. probably from pestilence (Jer. xv. 2). War, fa- mine, and pestilence, the three great outward dangers of ancient Israel (2 Sam. xxiv. 3). War has been mentioned in the last distich. 20 VTalts, A different word from that in xxvii. 14, and only found again in cvi. 13. But the proper name read by the Masso- retic critics Hakaliah (Neh. i. i, X. 2) should probably be pronounced Hakke-le-yah (i.e. Wait for Jeho- vah) ; comp. Elyoenai (see on xxv. 15). Our help, &c. Comp. cxv. 9, 10, II (and on v. 12, above). 21 In his holy name. 'Holy' = divine (see on xxx. 5). The con- text must decide which of the ele- ments of God's ' holy' nature is in the writer's mind. In xxx. 5 it is His forgivingness ; elsewhere (e.g. Isa. X. 20, xxxi. i) it is His almighti- ness. Here it seems to be pri- marily His power which excites trust (w. 20 b), but a power which is wielded by love iy. 22 a). PSALM XXXIV. y\.N alphabetic psalm, the first ten verses of which (2-1 1) have the cha- racter of a hymn, the last twelve (12-23) of a sermon. On the structure, see introd. to Ps. xxv., of which this psalm is the counterpart, as well in contents as in form (except in the relative order of the 3 and the JJ verse). Columba, the apostle of the Picts, had transcribed the Psalter as far as V. 10 when the hand of death touched him. 2 I will bless Jehovah at all times : his praise shall be continually in my mouth. 3 My soul shall make her boast in Jehovah ; the afflicted shall hear, and rejoice. 4 Magnify Jehovah with me, and let us exalt his name together. PSALM XXXIV. 93 5 I enquired of Jehovah, and he answered me, and dehvered me from all my terrors. 6 O look unto him, and ye shall beam with joy, and your face cannot be abashed. 7 This afflicted one cried, and Jehovah heard, and saved him out of all his troubles. 8 The angel of Jehovah encamps round about them that fear him, and sets them at liberty. 9 Taste ye and see that Jehovah is good : happy the man that takes refuge in him. 10 Fear Jehovah, ye his holy ones ; For they that fear him want nothing. 1 1 Young lions pine and suffer hunger, but they that enquire after Jehovah cannot want anything good. 12 Come, (my) sons, hearken unto me, I vfiQ teach you the fear of Jehovah. 13 ^^'ho is the man that delights in life, that loves many days, to see good fortune ? 14 Guard thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. 15 Depart from evil, and do good ; seek peace, and pursue it. 1 7 The face of Jehovah is against them that do evil, to cut off their memorial from the earth. 16 The eyes of Jehovah are towards the righteous, and his ears are towards their cry. 18 They cry, and Jehovah hearkens, and delivers them out of all their troubles. 19 Jehovah is nigh unto the broken in heart, and saves them that are crushed in spirit. 20 Many are the misfortunes of the righteous, but Jehovah delivers him out of all : 2 1 He keeps all his bones, not one of them is broken. 22 Misfortune shall slay the ungodly, and the haters of the righteous shall be dealt with as guilty. 23 Jehovah sets free the soul of his servants and none shall be dealt with as guilty that take refuge in him. 5 From all my terrors. Comp. thy light do we see light' (xxxvi. xxxi. 14, ' Cause for terror is on all 10). sides.' 7 This afflicted one. Does 6 o look unto bim, &c. Fol- the psalmist point to some particu- owing Sept. and Pesh. The text lar poor man whose history was nas, ' They looked . . . and were . . . well known (cf. Eccles. ix. 14, 15), and their faces,' &c. Comp. 'By or (less probably) to himself (eii-eX^ 94 THE PSALMS ovra fiF Ki\a8eX(j)ta had widened into (piKavdpania. Comp. note on xii. i. 3 Send fortb, &c. God's light and truthfulness are personified ; comp. 'Frau Treue' and 'Frau Wahrheit' in old German poetry. One would take them for angels (see on xHi. 9). In fact, the angels are in course of becoming pure symbols. God is now more pre- cious than any mere messenger of his. He is a God, however, who does not sit aloof, but is ever radiating 'light;' that is, loving- kindness (see on Ivii. 4) and 'truth ;' that is, all those blessings which He has promised, especially return from exile and the enjoyment of the temple services. 4 Upon the lyre. For in this land of exile we have hung up our lyres on the willows (cxxxvii. i, 2). Theodoret's comment, who sup- poses the psalmist to assume pro- phetically the standpoint of the Babylonian exile. PSALM XLIV. i HE prayer of the martyr-nation — oppressed, scattered, and insulted Israel, which feels itself, like Job its type, to be suffering innocently. A Maccabean date has most recent authority in its favour (cf Ps. Ix., also in Book III., Ixxiv., Ixxix., Ixxx., and others) ; but at this point I can only glance here. 2 We have heard with our ears, Elohim, our fathers have rehearsed unto us, the work thou didst in their days, in the days of old. 3 With thy hand thou didst root up nations and plant them in, didst hew down peoples, and spread them, abroad. 4 For they conquered not the land by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them : but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst pleasure in them. 5 Thou thyself art my King, O God ; command salvation for Jacob. 6 Through thee can we push down our foes, in thy name can we tread down our assailants. 7 For not in my bow do I trust, neither can my sword save me PSALM XLIV. 121 8 But thou hast saved us from our foes, and hast put them to shame that hated us. 9 We make our boast of Elohim all day long, and give thanks unto thy name for ever. 10 Yet thou hast cast off and hast disgraced us, and goest not forth with our hosts. 1 1 Thou causest us to turn back from the foe, and they that hate us plunder at their will. 12 Thou makest us like sheep for eating, and hast scattered us among the nations. 13 Thou sellest thy people cheaply, and hast not set their prices high. 14 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a mocking and a derision to those around us. 15 Thou makest us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples. 16 All the day long is my disgrace before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me. 1 7 At the voice of him that reproaches and reviles, at the mien of the enemy and the revengeful. 18 All this is come upon us ; yet have we not forgotten thee, nor become disloyal to thy covenant ; 19 Our heart hath not turned back, neither have our steps swerved from thy way, 20 That thou shouldest (therefore) have crushed us down into the place of jackals, and covered us with Hades gloom. 21 If we had forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to any strange god, 22 Would not Elohim search this out ? for he knows the secrets of the heart. 23 But nay ; for thy sake are we killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for slaughter. 24 Rouse thee, why sleepest thou, Jehovah ? awake, cast not off for ever. 25 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, forgetting our affliction and oppression ? 26 For our soul is bowed down to the dust, our body cleaves to the earth. 27 Arise to be our help, and set us free for thy lovingkindness' sake. 122 THE PSALMS 3 Spread them abroad. First, Israel is 'planted in;' next, its branches are ' spread abroad.' So Ixxx. 9, 12. 5 Sept. has, 2u ^i airos 6 0aiJi€Vos ?/3Xe7r€, y ' thy family ' (cf. 2 Kings iv. 13), of Hezekiah.' Delitzsch's view is certainly the more plausible. To whom would the warning mv. 1 1 ^ be more suitable than to AthaUah ? And if Tyre is mentioned as sending presents to Jerusalem, the Tyrian descent of Athaliah may perhaps account for this. The word ^JB> too in v. 10 a, if specially north-Palestinian, would be very appropriate to the daughter of Ahab. I confess that this latter argument seems to me to overshoot the mark. There are other words besides, or meanings of words (E^m, TinD, Cl*?0), which might plausibly be regarded as north-Palestinian (because possibly Aramaising), and which a bolder critic might even treat as indications of a post-Exile date (the king being some heathen king— some Ptolemy or 1 But would the favour of a Jewess (Hezekiah's wife) have been courted by foreigners ? 124 THE PSALMS Persian king, for instance — who was friendly to the Jews). To me the most conservative view which is probable is either Hitzig's or Ewald's. But the question must be treated again under a more comprehensive heading. For my own part, I have no doubt that the psalm was preserved in the Psalter on the theory of its original Messianic reference — a theory which few will maintain now. Wetzstein's theory that the songs in the Shir ha- Shirim were admitted into the Canon as models of worthy marriage-songs may at least suggest a reason for the retention both of Canticles and of Ps. xlv. in our Bible. It is in fact most instructive to see how loftily even a Hebrew court-poet thinks of the institution of marriage. ' Und wer das Alte Testament von einem freiem Gesichtspunkt auffasst, sei er Theolog Oder bloss Literator, um keinen Preis ein so seltenes .Stiick des hebra- ischen Alterthums missen wollen ; denn unstreitig wirft das Niedere ein Licht zuriick auf das Hohere.' These are the words of Ewald, full of youthful fire, in ed. i of his work on the Psalms. The traditional Chris- tian application, whether of single verses or of the whole psalm, cannot here be examined (see Calvin and Delitzsch) ; I am here confined to the historical meaning. But how striking, in the light of the history of the retribution-doctrine, is Gregory VII.'s application of w. 8 to himself The sense does not seem to me to favour Bickell's division of the psalm into five strophes of eight lines each. How, for instance, can we break up vv. 4-8 ? 2 My heart bubbles with goodly words ; I address my work unto the king : be my tongue the pen of a ready scribe ! 3 Beauteous art thou, beauteous, above the sons of men ; grace is shed over thy lips : therefore God has blessed thee for ever. 4 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, thou hero, even thy glory and thy grandeur. 5 * * ride on, press through, in behalf of good faith, righteousness, and humbleness, and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. 6 Let thine arrows be sharp, [thou hero,] in the heart of the king's enemies ; let the peoples fall under thee. 7 As for thy throne, [firm is its foundation,] God [has established it] for ever and ever : a sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom. . 8 Thou lovest righteousness and hatest iniquity, therefore Jehovah, thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of joy above thy fellows. 9 Myrrh and aloes (and) cassia are all thy garments, out of the ivory palace stringed instruments make thee glad. 10 Kings' daughters are among thy favourites : upon thy right hand stands the consort in gold of Ophir. PSALM XLV. 125 1 1 Hearken, O daughter, and behold, and incline thine ear ; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house ; 1 2 And when the king longs after thy beauty (for he is thy lord), bow down unto him. 13 [And unto thee] shall they [come], O daughter of Tyre, with gifts, the richest of people shall sue for thy favour. 14 All glorious is the king's daughter ; of pearls in ouches of gold is her clothing. 15 In broidered apparel is she led along unto the king : a train of virgins her companions is brought unto thee ; 16 Led along with all joy and exultation, they enter into the king's palace. 1 7 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. 18 I will celebrate thy name throughout all generations, therefore shall the peoples give thanks unto thee for ever and ever. 3 Thepoetfeels himself inspired, but as yet feeling is in excess of judgment Words crowd in upon his mind, but require to be artfully arranged, for he bethinks himself that he is to celebrate a king. A ready scribe (cf Ezra vii. 6, A.V.) De Witt (with Sept), 'a swift ^vriter ; ' i.e. the poet says he can improvise the beautiful lines which follow as fast as the nimblest pen can write. Hitzig thinks the allu- sion is to calligraphy. If so, the singer compares the choice form of his poem to the elegant characters of a master-scribe. But would not this better suit an Arabic writer ? 3 Beauteous art tbou • . • Comeliness being one important attribute of a king (comp. Isa. xxxiii. 17, 'the king in his beauty') ; still more of a royal bridegroom. Above tbe sons of men. Comp. I Sam. ix. 2, x. 23. Grace Is shed, &c. ' Words of grace ' (Luke iv. 22) proceed from lips about which a smile plays. Therefore, expressing the poet's inference from the noble appearance of the king. Por ever. See introduction to Ps. xxi. 4-6 The mention of the king's graciousness suggests that of his chivalrous prowess. He smiles on the righteous, but frowns on the oppressor. The poet imagines him taking the field, and calls upon him to exhibit himself in the truly royal light of a defender of the innocent. Comp. Milton's noble application of the passage. Paradise Lost, vi. 710-4. 4 Tbou hero. As xxiv. 8. Or, ' thou valiant one ' (as xix. 6). Tby fflory and tby grandeur. These are divine attributes (see on xxi. 6), and communicate a divine force to the king's weapons. In short, they are his true panoply. Nothing is said of the king's men of war. He is filled with the spirit of Rameses,as described by another ' skilful scribe ' (Pentaur) ; ' I am with thee, I, thy father Ra : my hand is with thee. I am worth to thee a hundred thousand joined in one ' (Records of the Past, ii. 70). 5 The received text repeats ' And thy grandeur.' We could understand this, if the king's gran- deur or splendour (taking this in a weakened sense of the king's splen- did weapons) stood in any real re- lation to the following verbs — if, for 126 THE PSALMS instance, we could render, with Ewald, 'and clad with thy gran- deur' (an anadiplosis like that in xciii. i). De Witt's ' In thy splen- dour ride on to victory' requires the insertion of a preposition. In bebalf of good faith, &c. The king is to take the field against all oppression both within and without Israel's boundaries. He is to pro- tect the faithful as opposed to liars and deceivers, the righteous as op- posed to breakers of the law, and the humble as opposed to the proud. ' Good faith ' or ' truthfulness ' is, strictly speaking, a department of ' righteousness,' just as ' humbleness (of mind)' is a condition of that ' righteousness ' which Jehovah loves ' (so that a prophet can say, ' seek righteousness, seek humble- ness,' Zeph. ii. 3). On the concep- tion of'anavak (idealised poverty) in passages like this, see on ix. 13. Others suppose the three qualities named to belong to the king — ' be- cause of (thy) faithfulness, justice, and condescension' (cf for this last xviii. 37, Zech. ix. 9) ; this view, like the former, assumes a transposition. The received text, however, gives one simple and one compound virtue — ' faithfulness and humbleness-innocence ' (or, ' con- descension-justice,' if the king be referred to). There being no com- plete parallel in Hebrew for an ap- position of this kind, one might follow out the hint given in the points, and read 'anvath ; this, how- ever, gives an unsuitable sense, 'righteous humbleness' or 'just condescension,' and it is much sim- pler to assume a transposition as above.' Terrible. The word is poor ; we might paraphrase ' fear- ful-glorious ' (see on Ixv. 6). 6 Iiet the peoples, &c. Cer- tainly an idealistic but not a self- ishly patriotic hope. The poet longs for an universal empire of truth and goodness, and by a bold anticipation awards this empire to the king whose prowess he cele- brates. 7 Thy throne, &c. If we ac- cept the text, ' Elohim ' may (i) here be a title of the king. In defence of this, observe that the title Elohim is applied to the judicial authority (Ex. xxi. 6, xxii. 8), to Moses (Ex. vii. i), and to the apparition of Samuel (i Sam. xxviii. 13), and that a prophet, looking into the future, declares the Davidic family to be ' as Elohim, as the (or, an) angel of Jehovah' (Zech. xii. 8). Again, in a Temanite inscription, discovered by Dr. Euting, we find p^K used for 'princes,' and KilPS in a Palmy- rene (Neubauer, Studia Biblica, p. 212). This use of the word was therefore a Semitic idiom. The one conclusive objection to this view is, that in the very next verse ' Elohim ' is used with distinct and sole reference to Jehovah (unless indeed with St. Jerome and Bishop Pearson we take ' Elohim ' there too as a vocative') — a use which corresponds to the pervading ten- dency of the Korahite psalms. It would be unnatural to interpret the word differently here. Or (2), 'Elohim' may be the predicate, the noun, however, which is the subject forming an unexpressed ele- ment in the predicate ; comp. 'thine eyes are doves' (Cant. i. 15), for ' eyes of doves.' Thus, ' thy throne is God ' will be equivalent to' ' thy throne is God's throne,' i.e. as per- manent as God's throne. But this 1 Cf. A. Ritschl, Die Lehre der Recktfertigungt &c., ii. 564. ^ Some will ask, Why not adopt A.V.'s rendering (cf. Sept.), 'and meekness (and) righteousness,' the construction being as in w. 9 a? Because this spoils the rhythm of the verse, as the authors of the points appear to have felt. 5 Pearson, ' Being those words are spoken unto God as well as of God ' {An Exposition of the Creed, ifyjt, p. 98). Of course we might equally well say, ' unto the king as well as of the king, ' and Pearson himself admits that there may be a reference to the anointing of a king of Israel (Solomon). St. Jerome, ' Satis miror cur Aquila non, ut coeperat in primo versiculo [o Qfiovo^ aov 0ee'], vocativo casu interpretatus sit, sed nominativo, bis nominans Deum qui supradictum unxerit Deum ' {Epist. 104, quoted by Pearson). PSALM XLV. 127 is very harsh, and would a Hebrew reader have understood the phrase thus? A dove has really eyes, but God has only metaphorically a throne : would the reader have naturally thought of 'God's throne ' ? If theHebrewwords form a separate clause, surely the only rendering can be, ' Thy throne is God,' or ' God is thy throne,' neither of which ex- pressions would be consistent with the religion of the psalmists. (The latter rendering, however, is actu- ally that of Doderlein, who com- pares ' God is my rock,' Ixii. 3.) The sum of the matter is that the only natural rendering of the re- ceived text is that of the versions, 'Thy throne, O God,' and the only natural interpretation that of the Targum, ' Thy throne, O Jeho- vah.' But is such an abrupt tran- sition to Jehovah conceivable ? Must not the poet's idea be this : that the king's success is assured, because his throne (not Jehovah's) is founded in righteousness? So in substance Saadia (see Ibn Ezra). Sense and rhythm are equally fur- thered by Bickell's correction. 8 Has anointed tbee, &c. An official anointing (Ixxix. 21) is not meant here ; the phrase is symbolic for 'gladdened thee with pros- perity ' (see on xxiii. 5, and cf. Isa. Ixi. 3). For construction, cf Am. vi. 6. Above thy fellows. A singular expression. Are these companions the other members of the royal caste (e.g. the kings of Egypt and Assyria), or (if a N. Israelitishkingbe meant) the other nobles, any of whom might, through the application of the elective prin- ciple, have risen, or even yet rise, to the throne (cf Isa. xxxiv. 12) ? The latter is Ewald's view ; but in this connection the passage seems rather an idealisation parallel to that in Ixxxix. lib. 9 Here the psalm becomes a marriage-song. First, the nuptial dress of the bridegroom is de- scribed ; then, out of the natural order, his entrance into his palace. Myrrh and aloes are combined as in ProV. vii. 17, Cant. iv. 14. Cassia is only mentioned again as the name of one of Job's daughters (Job xlii. 14). For the omission of ' and,' cf Deut. xxix. 22, Isa. i. 13. In each of these three passages, the two objects coupled by Waw are regarded as having a specially close connexion. Neither v. 5 nor Job xlii. 9 is parallel ; in the latter passage Waw should be sup- plied before Cofar. are all thy grarments. It is as if they were one mass of precious perfume. Construction as in Isa. v. 12. Out of the Ivory palace (the Heb. has ' palaces ' — the plural of exten- sion). Cf I Kings xxii. 39, Am. iii. 15. ' Ivory ' = adorned with ivory, like the Ninevite palaces and the chambers of Menelaus {Odyss. iv. 72, 73). String-ed Instruments, &c. Music welcomes the king as he enters the palace to receive his bride. How could music be omitted in such a festi- val ? This view of the line is not absolutely certain, but is infinitely preferable to Bishop Horsley's, who renders, ' from cabinets of ivory of Armenia (cf Targum) they have pleasured thee ' (similarly Dr. Kay, except as regards ' Armenia,' which comes from the Targum ; he com- pares Prov. xxvii. 9). For the ren- dering of minnim (so read), see crit. note on cl. 4. 10 A chronological leap is taken. The king is in his hareem ; among his wives are kings' daughters, but the post of honour is given to the newly espoused Tyrian princess. The consort. Heb. shegal. The word is found in late books (see Lexicon), but this may be ac- cidental, especially if it be rightly inserted, for shalal, in Judg. v. 30 (Deborah's song being assumed to be north-Palestinian). 11-13 The poet, as a fatherly friend, offers advice to the inex- perienced princess. He then holds out in prospect the rich presents which her influential position will bring to her. Thine own peo- ple. See introd. and comp. Isa. ii. 5, if we may render there, ' thou hast cast off thy people (i.e. the 128 THE PSALMS ways of thy people), O house of Jacob.' In any case, the exhorta- tion doubtless has special reference to religious usages. And unto thee, &c. So Bickell. The text, as pointed and accented, is ren- dered either, ' And, O daughter of Tyre, with gifts shall they sue for thy favour, (even) the richest of people ' (so St. Jerome, Hupfeld, Hitzig, Wickes), or, ' And the inha- bitants (lit, daughter) of Tyre shall sue for thy favour with gifts, (even) the richest of people' (so Ewald, Delitzsch, Perowne). Against the former view it is urged that though Waiu may be prefixed to a voca- tive, this is elsewhere done only when another vocative precedes (except in the doubtful passage, Jer. XX. 12), e.g. Prov. viii. 5. Against the latter, that ' daughter ' is not a collective term, equivalent to ' inhabitants,' but a personifica- tion ; even in Mic. iv. 10, where the statements made of the daugh- ter would suggest putting the verb in the plural, the singular is pre- ferred. Both views, then, are ob- jectionable ; and if we next try the rhythm of the verse, it is clear that the distich will be unsymmetrical, unless we divide as proposed above, and either supplement line i as suggested by Bickell, or else, in a manner favoured by the Targum (comp. Sept., Pesh.), rendering ' And unto thee shall the daughter of Tyre come with gifts' (so in the main Bottcher). The view which I have taken of z/. 11 b, and the use of bath for ' damsel ' mv. \ia, justify me in adopting Bickell's suggestion. 14-16 Another violation of the natural order, like that in v. 9. First, the attire of the queen is celebrated ; then the bridal pro- cession. Of pearls. The text reading is ' within,' i.e. not ' in- wardly,' as opposed to ' outwardly,' as if the poet meant 'her greatest charms are those which do not strike the eye' (so even Herder), but in the inner apartment. The context requires Krochmal's correc- tion. 17, 18 Closing wishes for the king and his poet. In all the earth. For many peoples will have become the king's loyal sub- jects {^v. 6, 18). Not only the character {vv. 5, 7) but the fortunes of the king are idealised. But we might equally well render, 'in all the land,' i.e. throughout the king- dom. PSALM XLVI. Luther's psalm. The theme is the same as in the two following psalms — God is the Ruler of the nations. The three strophes are singu- larly well-marked and symmetrical, if at least, to the advantage of the sense, we restore the noble refrain at the end of the first. The third strophe clearly refers to some recent danger, possibly to the invasion of Sennacherib. The refrain reminds us of ' Immanu-el ' in Isa. viii. 8, 10, and Ps. xlviii. presents points of contact with Isa. xxxiii. Notice the divine titles Elyon {v. 5 ; cf. on vii. 18) and 'Jehovah Sabioth' (see on xxiv. 10). Elohim is our refuge and stronghold, fully proved as a help in troubles : Therefore will we not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains should sink into the ocean's midst ; Let the waters thereof roar and foam, let the mountains quake at the insolence thereof : PSALM XLVI. 129 [Jehovah Sabaoth is with us ; our sure retreat is Jacob's God.] 5 [His lovingkindness is] a river, the arms whereof make glad the city of God, the sanctuary of the Most High. 6 Elohim is in the midst of her ; she totters not ; Elohim helps her when the morn appears. 7 Nations roar, kingdoms totter : he utters his voice ; the earth melts away. 8 Jehovah Sabaoth is with us ; our sure retreat is Jacob's God. 9 Come, behold the works of Jehovah, who appoints such astonishments in the earth, 10 Who makes wars to cease unto the end of the earth, who breaks the bow, and cuts the spear in sunder ; who burns the chariot in the fire. 1 1 • Give up, and be sure that I am Elohim : I will exalt myself among the nations, I will exalt myself in the earth.' 1 2 Jehovah Sabaoth is with us ; our sure retreat is Jacob's God. 2 Folly proved. Or, ' fully proving himself;' more strictly, 'letting himself be found exceed- ingly' (comp. I Chr. xxviii. 9, Isa. bcv. i). 3 Sbonld cbange. This may perhaps pass as a vaguer and more awful expression than ' should be moved.' But I doubt the text. 5 An antithesis to the stormy sea. [His lovlnerkindness Is] a river, &c. Rhythm, syntax, and sense are equally helped by the word supplied. Even putting aside the two former, it is clear that ' a river, (that is) the arms thereof make glad the city of God' is not a very intelligible sentence. Some explanation of the river is indis- pensable to prevent us from taking it literally on the analogy of the ocean and its waves in vv. 3, 4 ; in xxxvi. 9, a parallel passage, such an explanation is suggested. If we reject the above ' restoration ' of the text, we are reduced to render with Hitzig, ' A stream, whose arms .... is the Holy One of the dwelling of the ' Most High ' (for the circuitous phraseology Hitzig compares xlviii. 2, Ixv. 5). This can be supported by Isa. xxxiii. 21, where the presence of Israel's God is said to place Jerusalem on an equality with cities like Babylon and Nineveh, but is less natural than the view adopted above. ' Lovingkindness ' is also the pre- vailing note in the cognate forty- eighth psalm (see xlviii. 10). This, therefore, is just the word to supply in this connexion (comp. also v. 6 with xlviii. 10). On Sept.'s reading, see crit. note. The arms where- of. De Witt, ' whose conduits.' If accuracy is desired, ' canals ' would be better (comp. the synonymous word in Isa. xxxiii. 21). The ' river ' is a broad, sea-like stream such as the Euphrates or Tigris, with arti- ficial canals. But in rendering a poem, I prefer 'arms 'or 'branches' (see on Ixv. 10). It is strange that there should still be some literalists (e.g. Mr. King, in Bypaths of Bible Knowledge, vol. iv.) who look for the ' river ' underneath the Temple-hill, and explain it, not 130 THE PSALMS indeed any longer of the pool of late, a short 'night of weeping' Siloam, but at least of some peren- (xxx. 6) gives place to morning nial stream which was the source brightness. of the water-supply of ancient Jeru- 7 Nations roar, &c. The con- salem. But the psalmist must text suggests that this is a hypo- mean a ' river ' worthier of the thetical clause, ' If nations roar,' name {nahar). niake g-lad. To &c. ; but it is also admissible to be glad in Jehovah is a common take it as a retrospect, ' Nations religious phrase (ix. 3,xxxii. II, &c.) roared . . . earth melted away' The city of Cod, i.e. the city (strictly, 'began to melt'). where the 'great king' is en- 9 Tbe works of 7eIiovata. A throned (xlvii. 3, 6, xlviii. 3). well-supported variant is 'the works The sanctuary. Lit., ' the holy of Elohim ' (see De Rossi and place of the dwelling.' 'Holy'= Baer). The alteration was a natural inviolable. Mount Zion is used one ; we find the same reading in interchangeably with Jerusalem the imitative passage Ixvi. 5. (comp. ii. 6). If the one is 'holy,' Astonishments, i.e. astonishing, so also is the other. We are on stupendous things. Or we may the road to the phrase ' the holy equally well render, ' devastations.' city,' found in the later books (see 10 That the danger has been my note on Isa. xlviii. 2). averted is represented as due to a 6 Elohim helps her, &c. word from God (comp. Zech. ix. 10). Whenever danger threatens, as of PSALM XLVII. OTRICTLY speaking, the first of the theocratic or ' accession ' psalms (see on xciii.) 2 O all ye peoples, clap your hands together, shout ye unto Elohim in ringing tones. 3 For Jehovah is most high and terrible, a great king over all the earth. 4 He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet ; 5 He chose out our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loved. 6 God is gone up with a shout, Jehovah with the sound of the trumpet. 7 Make melody unto God, make melody, make melody unto our King, make melody. 8 For God is the King of all the earth ; (make melody with an artful song) ; 9 God is become King over the nations : God has seated himself upon his holy throne. 10 Princes of peoples have gathered together with the people of Abraham's God : for to God belong the shields of the earth, greatly is he become exalted. PSALM XLVII. 131 3 Terrible. So Deut. vii. 21, X. 17, and often in the Psalms. There is no allusion here to a ' dark nature-principle in God ' (see on Ixv. 6). 4, 5 A retrospect of the subjec- tion of the Canaanites and the con- quest of Canaan. The pride of Jacob, i.e. the goodly land of Israel (Jer. iii. 19). The phrase seems taken from Amos, who, how- ever, seems to use it in a different sense or senses (Am. vi. 8). 6 God is g'one up. The phraseology is suggested by those early times in which the presence of the ' ark of Elohim ' was regarded as the pledge of victory ; but the meaning is simply that God is no longer so visibly working for Israel as before, the need of a special in- terposition having passed away. * Gone up,' viz. in the original sense of the phrase, to the sanctuary on Mount Zion ; but the contemporaries of the poet would more naturally think of the heavenly temple (comp. ciii. 19), where in the strictest sense Jehovai had a ' holy ' or inviolable throne (w. 9). See on xxiv. 7, Ixviii. 19, xcii. g. 7 Our King-. Not merely in the common Semitic sense of King of heaven,' nor yet in the old He- brew theocratic sense (' I will not rule over you . . . Jehovah shall rule over you,' Judg. viii. 23 ; comp. Deut. xxxiii. 5), but in that sense which became increasingly pre- valent in later times, of Israel's and the world's Ruler. See on xciii. i. 8, 9 The theme of the psalm. In V. 8 b, most render, ' chant ye a song of praise,' but how the Heb. maskil comes to mean a ' song of praise' is not clear. Delitzsch himself, who adopts this rendering, says that inaskil properly means only ' a pious meditation' (introd. to Ps. xxxii.) I follow Ewald and Riehm. CC Sept., \//-aXa7-e (ruxerSr. 10 A vision of the future (comp. cii. 22) is here described as a present fact. The Hebrew text has no pre- position before ' the people ; ' hence R.V. renders, ' (To be) the people of the God of Abraham.' But what of ' Jacob whom he loved ' {v. 5) ? Abrabam's God, Abraham being ' the first of the confes- sors of God ' {Chagiga, 3 a) and ' the father of many nations ' (Gen. xvii.4). 'For to God, &c. Exactly parallel to i Sam. ii. 8, ' for to Je- hovah belong the pillars of the earth.' ' Shields ' = rulers, as Hos. iv. 18. Bickell, to improve the rhythm, changes ' God ' (Elohim) into 'Yahvfe,' and inserts at the end ' above all gods ; ' comp. xcvii. 9. ' Yahvfe ' would certainly come in well, as explanatory of ' the God of Abraham.' But it is not clear why rhythm is to be always so uniform. PSALM XLVIII. Is this a psalm of praise for Sennacherib's overthrow (comp. Isa. xxxvii. 18, 20), or a post-Exile pilgrim-song (cC Ps. cxxii.)? The significance of the psalm will vary much according to our answer. Ewald has remarked on its elegance as a lyric. The first strophe is eulogistic, the second historical, the third and fourth pervaded by a personal reference —to whom? to the citizens? or to pilgrim-visitors? In the latter case, one cannot help referring to the two lovely terzine of Dante beginning, ' E quasi peregrin che si ricrea ' (Parad. xxxi. 43-8). 2 Great is Jehovah, and highly to be praised in the city of our God, his holy mountain. 3 Beauteous in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, the city of the great king 4 Elohim in the palaces thereof has made himself known as a sure retreat. 132 THE PSALMS 5 For, behold, the kings combined — they came onward together. 6 When they saw, they were amazed — were confounded — were scared away. 7 Shuddering took hold of them there, agony, as of one in travail. 8 By an east wind thou didst break in pieces ships of Tarshish. 9 Even as we have heard, so have we seen in the city of Jehovah Sabaoth, in the city of our God ; Elohim estabhshes it for ever. 10 We think of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple. 1 1 According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth : thy right hand is full of righteousness. 12 Let mount Zion rejoice, let Judah's daughters exult, because of thy judgments. 1 3 Walk about Zion, and make the round of her, reckon up the towers thereof. 14 Mark well her rampart, study her palaces, that ye may tell the next generation, 15 That there is Elohim — our God — he it is that shall lead us for ever and for ever. 2 Rls holy mountain. Mount may have lived by faith in that ideal Zion symbolises Jerusalem (see on time when this feature of 'holiness' xlvi. 5). would be exemplified in the sacred 3 Beauteous in elevation, the hill in such a way as to excite the joyofthe whole earth. Jerusalem, admiring joy of 'all the earth.' above all other great capitals, is a Another poet speaks in similar mountain-city. But it is Mount termsof Mount Zion (1. 2)— probably Zion which the poet specially refers he had read our psalm — while a third to, the ' elevation ' of which in uses still more completely parallel ancient times well deserved the phraseology of Jerusalem as a whole epithet ' beautiful.' It is a question, (Lam. ii. 15). is mount Zion, however, whether this very obvious the city of the great king:. After explanation exhausts the meaning. ' mount Zion ' the received text in- The prophets had taught men to serts 'the utmost parts of the north,' look forward to a wondrous exalta- from which Sir Charles Warren, tion of the temple-mount (see Isa. like Lightfoot before him, infers ii. 2, Mic. iv. i), loftiness being an that Zion, the City of David, stood essential element in the conception on the north side of the city. But, of God's ' holiness ' (cf. Isa. Ivii. 1 5). first, have we a right to expect a It is conceivable that the psalmist topographical description here, and PSALM XLVIII. 133 next, would this be the form that such a description would take ? The answer must surely be negative. Hence some critics have sought for another solution. The use of the same phrase, ' the utmost parts (or, recesses) of the north' in Isa. xiv. 13, with reference apparently to a mythic mountain of the gods,' has suggested to them that a parallel is intended between the Israelitish and the Babylonian Olympus ; or, in Halevy's modified form of the view, that the Hebrews regarded Mount Zion as a miniature of the immense 'world -mountain' of Semitic mythology, crowned as it was with the sanctuary of Jehovah, and having at its feet the awful valley of Hinnom — the supposed entry to the region of the under- world.' We might indeed support Haldvy's view by Isa. xxix. i, 2, where 'Ariel' probably alludes to the name of the Assyrian ' world- mountain' Arilu. But I would ask, how can ' the recesses of the north ' be equivalent to ' a moun- tain like that mythic one in the far north ' ? ^ The words thus ren- dered, though found by the Septua- gint translator, are surely a gloss, due, perhaps, to a scribe who noted in the margin two catch- words from Isa. xiv. 13 which seemed a parallel passage — words which found their way into the text. See axticlem£xpositor,]a.n. 1888, p. 24. 4 In tbe castles thereof. The word 'armon (again in 7/. 14 and cxxii. 7) will include both ' burgs ' or castles and high (and strong) houses (see on vv. 13, 14). The former were indispensable for security (see on vv. 13, 14) ; chief among them was the Baris, fortified by the early Maccabees as a safeguard of the temple against the Acra. Baris (in plur.) is the Sept.'s word here ; it seems cognate with Heb. Mra (Ass. birat), which is equivalent to 'armon (comp. Neh. ii. 8, 2 Kings xv. 25). 5 The poet describes the fact on which he bases the foregoing assertions. Tbe kings, i.e. the Assyrian generals, ' altogether kings' (Isa. x. 8). Combined. Parad. Lost, ii. 750-1, ' with them combin'd in bold conspiracy.' 6 Tbey saw it, viz. Jerusalem. But the Hebrew has simply ' they saw.' The opposite of Caesar's ' Veni, vidi, via.' 8 Probably an allegorical de- scription of the overthrow of the hostile power. Comp. Isa. xxix. 6, xxxiii. 21. Sharpe,* indeed, sees an allusion to the destruction of the Tyrian vessels which were carrying supplies to the army of Sennacherib at the siege of Pelu- sium (comp. Herod ii. 141). But a transition from plain description to allegory (comp. my note on Isa. xxxiii. 21) is quite m the style of Hebrew writers (comp. bcxviii. 9), and the poet simply speaks (see v. 9) of that which he has seen. 9 Heard . . . seen. Does the poet mean that the lessons of the ear have now become truths of personal experience (comp. Job xlii. S) through the recent wonder- ful deliverance of his native city ? Or that he is now at length able to realise the facts of history by actually seeing the palaces of Jeru- salem, so stately and strong, in this his first pilgrimage to the holy city ? For ever. See on Ixxviii. 69. 10 VTe tblnk, &c. 'We seek to realise thy love' (comp. last note) ; this is the fiill meaning of the verb (lit., ' to make like'). The temple is the place for pious medi- tation, as Ixxiii. 17. 11 According to tby name, 1 On which see Lenormant, Les origines ; Schrader, K. A. T., pp. 389, 390 ; ]e!em\as, Die bai.-ass. Vorstell-ungen, Si.Q., ■p'p. S9-61. 2 Revue archiologigue, juillet 1882, p. 52, where, for the description of Hinnom, the Talmudic treatise JE/-«^z'« 19 is quoted. r:., u- ' Hence Dr. Bredenkamp, ' Even in the uttermost north, in Nineveh, Elohim is known as a strong defence through the recent overthrow of Sennacherib ' {Gesetz una Propheten, pp. 145, 146). * History of the Hebrew Nation, p. 131 134 THE PSALMS &c. Many names are ' named ' (Eph. i. 2l), but only one receives such high, impassioned, world-wide praise as Jehovah. World-wide (comp. V. 2), partly because, by an emotional fallacy, the psalmists reckon upon the sympathy of heathen bystanders, partly because the dispersion of the Jews was by this time, speaking rhetorically, world-wide (comp. my note on Isa. xli. 9). 12 Judah's dauirbters, i.e. the provincial towns (as ' thou and thy daughters ' (Ezek. xvi. 48). For the whole personification, comp. Isa. xl. 9). 13, 14 Either the citizens are bidden to inspect Jerusalem, to convince themselves of its freedom from injury, or 'Civ^ pilgrims exhort one another to impress the sights of Zion on their memories, guiding their eyes, as Dante says, ' now up, now down, and now all round about' {Parad. I.e.) The former view is probable enough. The un- hurt condition of those high houses was well worthy of mention if, as in Ames's time (Am. vi. 11), even the mansions of the nobles were liable to ' breaches ' and ' clefts.' Maun- drell (Travels, p. 125) speaks of houses at Damascus, the walls of which were of mud, though the doors were adorned with carved and inlaid marble portals (cf. on Isa. ix. 10, Jer. ii. 34). Reckon up the towers. ' Towers ' there were from the first in the fortress- city ; Hezekiah's zeal for fortifica- tion is mentioned in 2 Chr. xxxii. 5, nor did he stand alone. And yet the admiring emphasis of the psalmist seems to point to a time subsequent to some great over- throw. Ps. cxxii. produces the same impression, and both psalms must be compared with the ac- counts of the fortification of Mount Zion in i Mace. iv. 60, x. 11, xiii. 52, and of Jerusalem in i Mace. xiii. 10, xiv. y]. The next g-eneratlon, i.e. not the Christian Church (as virtually Bishop Alex- ander), but the Jews of the next age, who at any rate would not know how splendid Jerusalem had appeared on the morrow of its great danger ; or else, those chil- dren of the pilgrims who could not as yet follow their fathers' example. 1 5 That there is Elohlm (cf. Isa. XXV. g). Or, ' that this one (who has so wonderfully protected Zion) is God.' But the immediate context favours the first rendering. Even if n.t be not adverbial but adjectival the sense must be that in yonder buildings God is manifestly present, or, in the old Hebrew phrase, that Zion is a ' Beth-el.' ' Where is thy God ? ' (see xiii. 3) is a question which psalmists will henceforth be able to answer with flashing eyes and erect head. He it is, &c. This is certainly a near approach to the actual words of the poet. It involves transposing ' for ever and for ever ' from the last line but one to the last. Delitzsch well remarks that the close of the psalm, as it now stands, is not full- sounding enough (he of course re- jects the last word of the received text — 'al-muth, perhaps a misplaced musical note ; comp. 'al-muth labben, ix. i). The transposition proposed by Bickell, which follows the analogy of xxviii. 9 b, sufficiently remedies this defect. PSALM XLIX. CJne of the finest didactic psalms, containing, as Hupfeld remarks, not merely consolation for righteous sufferers (like Ps. xxxvii.), but a real, however crude and imperfect, theodicy. Compare it with Pss. xxxix. and Ixxiii., and vv. 15, 16 with xvi. 10, 11, xvii. 14, 15. 2 Hear ye this, all ye peoples, give ear, all ye dwellers in the world. PSALM XLIX. 135 3 Both those of low and those of high degree, rich and poor alike. 4 My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the musing of my heart shall be of understanding. 5 I win indine mine ear to a parable, I will open my riddle to the lyre. 6 Wherefore should I fear in the days of misfortune, though the malice of my foes surround me, 7 Even of such as trust in their riches, and make their boast of their great wealth ? 8 Nevertheless none can set himself free, nor give unto God his ransom ; 9 (Yea, too costly is the redemption of man's soul, and one must let that alone for ever ;) 10 So that he should live on perpetually, and should not see the pit. 1 1 Truly, see he must that (even) wise men die, the fool and the brutish man alike perish, and give up their riches to others. 12 The graves are their houses for ever, their habitations for generation after generation ; [forgotten are] they whose names men spoke with honour in the lands. 13 But man in splendour hath no continuance ; he is become as the beasts that are cut off. 14 This is the fortune of those who have self-confidence, and of those who after them applaud their speech. 15 Like sheep, they are folded in Shedl ; death is their shepherd, and their form shall waste away ; Shedl shall be their castle for ever, and the upright shall trample upon them in the morning. 16 Nevertheless God shall set free my soul, from the hand of Shedl shall he take me. 17 Be not thou afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases ; 18 For he will not take away all that when he dies, — his glory will not descend after him. , 19 Although in his hfetime he bless his soul, (and men praise thee that thou doest well unto thyself,) 20 He shall go to the generation of his fathers, who shall never see the light. 21 Man, being in splendour but without understanding, is become as the beasts that are cut off. 136 THE PSALMS 5 I will incline mine ear. This wise man claims inspiration in prophet-like words (comp. Job and Solomon, p. 43). Not so Ixxviii. 2. Parable . ■ . riddle. See ibid. p. 75. 6 The malice of my foes. A reproduction rather than a version. But 'the iniquity of those who would trip me up ' is lengthy. 7 What does trusting: in ricbes mean? Making it a god, some will reply. Yes ; but ' a god ' in the primitive sense, i.e. one who can protect against adversity. The psalmist regards such confidence as a delusion, because a premature death will overtake the ungodly rich (see on v. 15). 8 Hevertbeless. 'Sicherdoch' (Ewald). As the particle indicates, this is one of the fixed points in the psalmist's philosophy of life. (Comp. Kordn, ii. 117, 'And fear the day when no soul shall pay a recompense for a soul,' &c., also that fine passage, //. ix. 401, &c.) It is only half the truth, as he well knows, and mv. 16 the other half is given. The received text can be ingeniously defended, but is cer- tainly wrong. Psalms xxxix. and Ixxiii. show us how these wise men expressed their conclusions. They expressed them piecemeal, and each fragment was introduced by the appropriate particle ('^8). It would be strange \i v. 16 had no counterpart, introduced, as it is itself, in the characteristic way. The received text runs, according to the Revised Version, None (of them) can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him. This rendering, however, inserts one word which is not in the original (' his ' before ' brother '), and does not take notice of the unusual posi- tion of the object or accusative (i.e. that the clause begins not with B*''!!?, but with riK). We surely want such a word as ' even ' prefixed to ' (his) brother.' Ewald would there- fore take nx to be an error of the ear (both the ear and the eye bein fertile sources of false reading: for '^^, and render as above. If w keep the received text (whic agrees with the Sept.), we mus suppose a digression. There ma have been in popular Hebrew, a well as in popular Arabic phraseolog {i&eHamasa,i. 3, i), such an expres sion as ' May I be thy ransom,' i.e May I bear the evil destined fo thee. There may have been i Hebrew dirge like that Syrian on from which Wetzstein translate two couplets thus : — Ah ! if he could be ransomed ! Truly : would pay the ransom ! Redeem me, O my dear kinsfolk, will steeds of noble limbs. Ah ! if he could be ransomed ! Truly '. would pay the ransom ! Redeem me, O dear brother mine, will pure virgins. It is possible that the digressiot was suggested by a sudden recol lection of language such as this The poet may thus illustrate th( idea that, just as Dives can do nc real harm to those whom he op presses (see v. 6), so he can do nc real good to those whom he woulc fain befriend. Digressions, however are not to be expected in a didacti( psalm like this. The leading thought is the perishableness a life without God. This, and nc subordinate idea, requires illustra tion. It is Dives himself who will when his hour comes, be unable tc shake off the hand of death. It ii possible that the false reading n^ (' brother ') was introduced in oppo sition to the later Jewish doctrine that the living could redeem the dead by almsgiving (the same word for ' to redeem' was currentlj used on this subject which we fine in the psalm). See Weber, Alt- synagogale Theologie, p. 315- Set Himself free. Or, 'redeem himself.' 1 1 VTise men die. If the texl is right, ' wise men in their own eyes' (Isa. v. 21), i.e. perhaps, the secularist portion of the class 01 ' wise men,' who had no positive PSALM XLIX. ^2>7 religious belief (Prov. iii. 7). See onz/. 13. Tbe fool, &c. Charac- teristic terms ; see Ixxiii. 22, xcii. 7, xciv. 8. 12 The reading adopted here has at least equal authority with the Massoretic, and it alone suits the context. If the palaces of these men were referred to, it would at any rate not be the indestructible- ness of these buildings on which the poet would dwell, but the part- ing between the rich man and his splendid home (' Linquenda tellus et domus'). And if Egypt and Babylon may furnish examples, it was not in any irreligious spirit that rich men built houses to defy time, and they rested their hopes of fame chiefly on their temples. Thus Usertsen I., the founder of the great temple at Heliopolis (see Jer. xliii. 13) says — Let my name be the temple, my monument the lake. Immortality is a glorious deed. There is no desolation by the effect of time, the works will last : It is a striving for glories ; It is an enterprise of a perfect name ; It is the watching over an eternal work.^ Tbelr bouses for ever. First, in the sense that the sepulchres of the rich were carved out or built up with a view to permanence (comp. Isa. xxii. 16), and next, that the grave (a type of Sheol) is, in the popular phrase, ' an everlasting house ' (Eccles. xii. 5 ; see the commentators). Forgrotten are tbey, &c. Something must be supplied; sense and rhythm re- quire it. Observe that the context speaks of honouring men's names, and that 'landofforgetfulness ' is a synonym of Shedl equally with ' the grave' in kxxviii. 12, 13. in tbe lands, viz. in those which these rich men owned. 13 A poetic anticipation of Eccles. iii. 18, 19. The psalmist agrees with Abelard, 'cum fere omnes animales sint homines, ac paucissimi spirituales' {Introd. ad TheoL, p. 1047). He has already told us that there is a wisdom which is no better than folly, inasmuch as, to use Koheleth's words, ' one chance happens to them all' (Eccles. ii. 14). Such wisdom may have a temporary use {fb. ii. 13), but in the end ' what pre-eminence hath the wise above the fool ' {ib. vi. 8) ? Our psalmist, however, is a wise man of another stamp, who knows that true understanding gives the pledge of continuance, and he ex- presses this by a significant rhyme in the two slightly different forms of the refrain (z'. xj,, yalln 'hath continuance ; ' v.7.\, yabhin ' under- standeth ; ' the Sept., however, reads yabhin in both verses). In splendour. Probably this goes with the subject, not with the pre- dicate. ' Fearfully am I distin- guished ' (cxxxix. 15). Is the poet thinking of the cosmogony in Gen. i., like the author of Ps. viii. ? As tbe beasts. Comp. Ixxiii. 20 (note). In one sense this verse (and V. 21) may be called the maskdl {v. 5) ; it draws a moral lesson from the outer world of nature. 14 This verse closes the fore- going description ; comp. the form of Job xviii. 21, xx. 29. 'This' = such. Tbe fortune. Lit., 'the way' (as xxxvii. 5). Self-confl- dence. ' Folly ' would be too weak a rendering here, though suggested by k'silm v. lib;' confidence ' (see Job iv. 6, xxxi. 24) would be better, but still too indefinite. The context shows that an ill-grounded self- trust is meant — in short, obstinacy. So Ixxxv. 9. IWbo after tbem, &c. Comp. Ixxiii. 10 (received text), where the pernicious influence of false teaching may, as here, be referred to. 15 \iv. 13 is the ;;2ar^a/(' para- ble') ^. 15 is the khida ('riddle') of the poem. To us, that is, not to the original readers. They had an unfailing key to the sense, having the same circle of ideas and images as the author, and sharing his pas- sionate resentment at the wicked, which mirrors itself in an abrupt. 1 Stem, Records of the Past, xii. 54, 55. 138 THE PSALMS sharp style. A parallel from Arabic literature may throw light on the imagery. It occurs in an Arabic poem in the Hamasa which is pro- bably of pre-Islamic origin. A plague had smitten the tribe to which the poet belonged, and the tribe is therefore compared to a herd of camels, with Death for their herdsman, 'to whose stall they must all come home, some sooner, some later.' And to-day they wander, a trembling herd, their herdsman Death : One speeds away to his rest at eve, one stays till dawn. ' Like most figures from pastoral life, this image admits of more than one application. Take this from a fine work by the Abb^ Gratry. ' La masse des hommes, qui toume le dos k la mort et qui fuit devant elle, constitue le trou- peau de la mort. La mort est le pasteur, et le genre humain le troupeau. Plus on tourne le dos, plus elle frappe. Plus on va vite, plus elle vous ^crase de fardeaux.' ^ But is not the interpretation of the Arab poet that which most completely corresponds to the con- densed allegory of the figure ? What reason is there for not adopt- ing a similar one in our passage, especially as in a parallel psalm the ungodly rich men are said to be ' swept off' in a moment by ' terrible events ' (bcxiii. 19) ? Thus V. 15 goes beyond v. 11, where the psalmist describes the fate of dull, insensible men in general (rich, but not ' towards God ') ; it expresses the author's conviction as to the future of those violently hostile rich men spoken of in vv. 6, 7. Dull insensibility in these psalms is by no means synony- mous with active hostility to the cause of God. It is a mental disorder which might for a moment attack even the righteous (Ixxiii. 22), and is in one passage made to consist in a shortsighted view of the career of the ungodly (xcii. 7, 8). The dull man cannot wait God's time for retribution to the ungodly (who are therefore distin- guished from the dull). This de- termines the sense in which Death Is tbeir sbepberd. He is so, not merely (as Speaker's Comm. takes it) by ruling his victims like Pluto, in his own sad realm, but by ' stealing upon them ' when in the height of their prosperity, so that they 'go down alive (in fiiU strength) into She6r (Iv. 16). Those who are less violently hostile ' die,' ' perish ' {v. 11); but these men are over- thrown 'as in a moment ' (Ixxiii. 19). She61 is called their castle for ever (comp. v. 12), because mythology represented Hades as an underground city with gates (see on Isa. xxxviii. 10). At the close of the verse (or quatrain), we have the triumphant demeanour of the righteous. The description is an unpleasing one, but is outlined with more reserve than that in Isa. bcvi. 24. Line 4 must of course be taken in connexion with the latter part of line 2 ; the ' wasting ' of the 'forms' certainly does not take place in She61 (as the received text has it). And what of the time- definition? Can the 'morning' be that of the resurrection? If so, it is a resurrection of the righteous only which is meant ; for the un- godly ' never see the hght ' {v. 20). But, as Del. remarks, not even in the latest psalms does the hope of the resurrection find a living ex- pression. ' Morning' is a symbol of deliverance (see on xxx. 6). 16 The counterpart of v. 8. ' None can set himself free,' but 'my soul shall God set free.' The psalmist is the representative of the class of those religious wise men who have learned the secret of true ' life.' For surely it is the weakest of explanations to say that he re- joices thus in the prospect of mere deliverance from the danger of death. A few years later, and the 1 Mr. Lyall's metrical version ; comp. Freytag, Arabic text, p. 375, Latin version, 21. 2 Gratry, De la connaissance de I'dme, ii. 469 (fepilogue). PSALM XLIX. 139 danger will return in a heightened degree. Possibly in xvi. 10 the poet who speaks there may partly mean deliverance from danger, but not here. The problem of human for- tunes is set forth here in such a way as excludes even a partial reference to this. That ' wise men die ' (i*. 11 ), is true of religious as well as secu- lar-minded sages. We must com- pare Ixxiii. 24. The 'taking' is really ' receiving with honour ' — a ' taking home' (as Keble finely ren- ders). Perhaps indeed there is an allusion to that fuller passage. The poet has that religious intuition which forms the kernel of the hope of immortality. Was his language suggested by some popular belief? It is an open question.' [We may, however, equally well render, ' when it (viz. She61) takes me away ; ' comp. Ezek. xxxiii. 4. So Ewald and Hitzig. The rendering adopted conduces more to rhythm.] 17-21 The poet resumes the didactic tone. Like a fellow-psalmist (see Ixxiii. ), he cannot remain on the heights of mystic devotion. The person addressed is a scholar of the wise men (see on xxxvii. i). He is not to be afraid lest the power which wealth gives should be turned to evil purposes. How short is the time for its enjoyment ! The tone of this epilogue is calmer (contrast V. 18 with Isa. v. 14). The poet no longer distinguishes degrees of bad- ness and of punishment. Earthly wealth is a disqualification for that high honour referred to m.v. 16 (as explained above). Note the signi- ficant phrase In bis life. The rich man has had ' his portion in life,' and (z/. 20 b ; comp. xxxvi. 9) there is no other ' light ' for him to see. He has ' blessed his soul,' like the rich man in Luke xii. 19 (comp. Deut. xxix. 18), but for what? His fathers, where are they ? To them shall he be gathered in the dark land. (Observe that ' going to his fathers ' is distinguished from death and burial ; see Gen. xxv. 8, xxxv. 29, 2 Kings xxii. 20. The received text has, ' thou shalt go ' — a scribe's error, caused by the use of the second person in the preceding hne.) PSALM L. J EHOVAH judges His people in the presence of 'heaven and earth ;' He sets forth His character and the worship which He requires. We find here the same purified conception of true religion as in xl. 7 and in the great pre-Exile prophets. The divisions are well marked. 1 El Elohim Yahveh has spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. 2 Out of Zion the perfection of beauty God has shone forth. 3 Our God will come, and may not keep silence : fire devours before him, and around him it is very tempestuous. 4 He calls to the heavens above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. ■' It is proper to speak with reserve on such a subject. But certainly we can best account, psychologically, for the revelation of the indestructible higher Iile, 11 tne sou was. prepared by a popular belief in at least the bare possibihty of escaping trom tne hand of She61 ' (see above, p. 41 , and cf. i Sam. ii. g)- The revelation will then con- sist in the extension of this escape to a much larger number of persons, and in maKing it depend on the attainment of a certain character. 140 THE PSALMS 5 ' Gather my duteous loving ones unto me, those that have made a covenant with me with sacrifice. 6 And the heavens declare his righteousness, for God is about to judge. 7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak, Israel, and I will protest unto thee ; Yahveh thy God, am I. 8 Not for thy sacrifices will I reprove thee, (truly, thy burnt offerings are continually before me ; 9 I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he-goats out of thy folds ; 10 For mine is every beast of the forest, the cattle upon the mountains of God. Ill know all the birds of the mountains, and the roamers of the plain are in my mind. 12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee, for mine is the world and the fulness thereof. 13 Would I eat bulls' flesh, or drink the blood of goats ? 14 Sacrifice unto God thanksgiving, and (so) pay thy vows unto the most High ; 15 And call upon me in the day of trouble, 1 will rescue thee, and thou shalt glorify me. 16 But unto the ungodly saith God, What right hast thou to rehearse my statutes, or to take my covenant into thy mouth ? 17 Whereas thou hatest correction, and castest my words behind thee. 18 When thou seest a thief, thou hast pleasure in him, and with adulterers is thy portion. 19 Thou hast let thy mouth loose for evil, and thy tongue contrives deceit. 20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother ; thou givest a push to thine own mother's son. 21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence ; thou imaginedst that I was even like thyself ; I will reprove thee, and order the facts before thee. 22 O consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear in pieces, and there be none to deliver. 23 Whoso sacrifices thanksgiving, glorifies me, and to him that is blameless in his walk will I show the salva- tion of God. PSALM L. 141 1-6 The appearance of the divine Judge ; the summons to the witnesses and to the defendants. Who is it, whose voice peals forth ? A king of many titles, three of which are given, to impress the ful- ness of the Divine Being. This triple name, in which it were too painful to write 'Jehovah,' occurs again only in Josh. xxii. 22, but the principle is the same as in ' Yahveh [Jehovah] Elohim' in Ixxii. 18, Gen. ii., iii., &c. El is put first, because in the primitive Semitic world, to apply Dante's words, 'El s'appellava in terra 11 sommo Bene ' (Farad, xxvi. 135). Whatever its origin,' a con- nexion with the idea of ' strength ' must have suggested itself to Israel- itish writers, just as, whatever the origin of Yahveh, the ideas of self- existence and self-manifestation must have inseparably cohered with that name to reflective worshippers. El is the most general, Yahveh the most special name for the Divine Being (see on cxviii. 27). Elohim does not at once suggest a signifi- cant Hebrew etymology ; but con- sidering the idiomatic use of this plural noun with a singular verb (as if acollective'') we may perhaps para- phrase it, ' the many in one.' ' He in whom all that man has ever con- ceived of strength, wisdom, good- ness, &c., is summed up and ex- ceeded.' From the use made of Ps. 1. I in a Talmudic treatise, it would seem that early Jewish Christians quoted it to prove the doctrine of the Trinity. The answer of the Rabbi to the objector {Bera- khoth, c. 9) was, that these three ex- pressions are the attributes of a single person, as we say indifferently, Csesar, Augiastus, or Emperor. A good answer. Each has a different meaning, and brings out one side of the Old Testament conception of God. iii]cre Geos fuiKapea-a-iv avdo-a-iov. And called tbe earth. Not to be judged, but to witness the judgment of the covenant-people {v. s). 2 The perfection of beauty. As Lam. ii. 15 (comp. i Mace. ii. 12). For the idea, see on xlviii. 3. 3 •Will come, as a judge. This is the object of the bright radiance {v. 2). May not . , . because the occasion is so great. Literally, ' let him not . . .' It is the vehe- ment protest of the emotional na- ture against a grievous evil. See xxxiv. 6, xli. 3, cxxi. 3, Isa. ii. 9. Comp. also the phrase common in Arabic elegies, la tab'ad, ' die not,' and the beginning of the 37th elegy in the Hamasa (Freytag, p. 405), ' Let not God cause to die {la yuVid) our brothers who are de- ceased.' S The ministers of justice are to gather God's duteous loving ones (see on xii. 2), i.e. not, as in xii. 2, Israelites worthy of the name, but all those who are outwardly at least servants of Jehovah. (See further on vv. 16, 23.) There being no special indication of a Macca- bean date, I abstain from comparing I Mace. ii. 42, vii. 13, 2 Mace. xiv. 6 (where the Asidasans — ' every one who offered himself freely for the law '—are the strict Jehovists who rallied round Judas the Maccabee). A mutual relation of ' lovingkind- ness' {khdsed) between Jehovah and His servants, arising out of the ' cove- nant ' between them, entitles us to call either party by the title khasidh, khasidhim. Jehovah is khasidh (cxlv. 17, Jer. iii. 12). Levi is khasidh (in connexion with a reli- gious ' covenant,' Deut. xxxiii. 9) ; the whole people, and each of its righteous members, is khasidh (xvi. 10, 1. 5, and nineteen other psalm- passages). The second half of v. 3 emphasises the connexion of the Duport's rendering ( 1 674) is a praiseworthy attempt, 'ASavoTos 1 On this point, see Nbldeke, ' Ueber den Gottesnamen 5^,' in Monatsberichte der Akademie d. W. zu Berlin, 1880, p. 760, &c. ; Friedrich Delitzsch, Wo lag das Parodies ? 1881, p. 165 ; D. H. Miiller's paper on ^X and n7K among the Sabeans in the Proceedings of the 6th International Congress of Orientalists ; Lagarde, Mitthei- lungen, 1884, p, 94, &c. ^ The Ethiopic amldk ' God' is a pure collective form. 142 THE PSALMS ideas of covenant ' and lovingkind- ness, with the addition — somewhat strange in the hght of vv. 14, 23 — of the words wltb sacrifice. It is not enough to explain these words by a reference to Ex. xxiv. 5. Clearly they are ironical (comp. Isa. xlii. 19). Jehovah, who at the out- set permitted the great covenant of blood, still tolerates the sacrifices by which the covenant is continu- ally renewed.' Sacrifice is a form of devotional expression, but how childish a form ! ' Ye have been very zealous,' He seems to say, ' about something which I enjoined not (Jer. vii. 22, Isa. xliii. 23 ; cf. Ixvi. 3) ; but ye have not been equally careful about that which I did enjoin.' 6 The heavens declare His righteousness. Why ? Because Jehovah stands in a quasi-legal re- lation to Israel, and before He can judge, a witness must guarantee His perfect righteousness. 7-15 The continuation of this dramatic scene scarcely answers to the commencement. The judgment seems to be adjourned, or it is left to the conscience of the defendants (Jehovah is both plaintiff and judge). The speech which follows is an ex- position of the claims of Jehovah, which is substantially equivalent to the first table of the Decalogue, and which, like the Decalogue (Ex. xx. 2), begins with the solemn assertion, Tehovab tliy God am I. Comp. Ixxxi. 1 1, and (for the reading) see on xlv. 8. The greater part of this passage is strongly ironical. In- stead of bringing definite charges against the people, Jehovah states what the subject of reproof is not, viz. the due performance of sacrifi- cial rites. Much has been said by commentators on this and similar passages (e.g. Hos. vi. 6, Isa. i. 11- 13, Mic. vi. 6, 7, Jer. vii. 22) on the relation of the higher teachers of Israel to animal sacrifices. It seems to me certain that neither the prophets nor the wise men (see Prov. xxi. 3) regarded these as ideally good. The spiritual mean- ing of the sacrificial system cannot have been recognised by them. Probably they considered it a means of keeping up the religious sentiment adapted only to less noble spirits. The psalmist, at any rate, as it seems to me, not only with the greatest emphasis denies that God (as some undeveloped minds imagine'') requires nourish- ment, but reveals a sympathetic interest in the animal creation (cf. Ps. ciii.), which is hardly consistent with a cordial endorsement of the principle of animal sacrifice. I speak with hesitation, but my phrase ' hardly consistent' may be defended by the obvious indifference of the wise men as a class (except Sirach) to the sacrificial system. The speech concludes with a restate- ment of Jehovah's ancient promise of protection together with its con- ditions. Thus far the divine speaker has confined Himself to these for- mal but not openly ungodly wor- shippers who formed (perhaps) the larger part of Israel. 10 XTpon tbe mountains of God (xxxvi. 7). Although God Himself is speaking, the phrase is not from a Hebrew point of view objectionable (see vv. 14, 23). The received text is perplexing. The easiest rendering is, perhaps, ' upon the mountains where thousands are' (so Hupfeld) ; or, by altering one point, we might render the text, 'upon my mountains by thousands' (Bredenkamp). The Sept. may seem to have read differently ; it renders the line, Kn]vr\ iv toIs open Koi /Soej (comp. viii. 8, Heb.) But every view both of text and of ' So Jeremiah (in spite of the strong words in Jer. vii. 22) concedes the practice ot sacrifice in Jer. xvii. 26, xxxi. 14, xxxiii. 11, though not its divine origin (see the exposition of Jer. vii. 22 in the Pulfit Commentary]. 2 This gross theory, repudiated by our psalmist, survives in the phraseology of Leviticus (iii. 11, xxi. 8, 17, 21). Expressions like the 'food of Jehovah' can only have been derived from consecrated traditional formulae. The compiler or compilers of Leviticus had a different view of sacrifice from our psalmist (see end of note on vv. 16-21), but are not to be held responsible for the invention of such phrases. PSALM L. construction seems awkward but that suggested by Olshausen and adopted above. II Tbe roamers of tbe plain (viz. either ' that which moves to and fro,' or 'that which comes forth abundantly '). So in another Asaph- psalm (boot. 14). 14 Thanksgiving and the per- formance of vows, the (only) true sacrifice (so xl. 7, 10, li. 17, 18, and perhaps Ixix. 31, 32). The expres- sions are synonymous ; see xxii. 26, Ixi. 9. ' Vowing ' has become spiri- tualised ; comp. Hos. xiv. 2.' 16-21 Israel's judge, who has (it would seem) severed the imper- fectly good from the bad, now ad- dresses Himself to the latter. This time the subject of reproof is speci- fied — viz. the neglect of the simplest moral duties. In short, the second table of the Decalogue is virtually expounded. Observe that the class now addressed is not composed of paganisers ; it is as familiar with the ' covenant ' as the former class. I mean that the reference to the covenant links the ' ungodly ' who are addressed here to the formal but (as it would seem) not ungodly worshippers who are indirectly and with gentle irony reproved in w. 7-13. But besides the 'covenant' we find that in this verse the ' sta- tutes ' of Jehovah are spoken of. Bredenkamp thinks that from the whole tenor of the psalm these ' statutes ' must include ordinances respecting ritual, and consequently denies that the first part of Jeho- vah's address can possibly mean to disparage sacrifice in itself. The answer is that the psalmist, like Jeremiah, draws a distinction be- tween more and less important ' sta- tutes.' There is much in Deutero- nomy (which substantially, I sup- pose, represents the 'covenant' here referred to) which is simply adopted from current sacerdotal tradition ; there is much also which proceeded from a direct revelation, whether to ' Moses ' of old or to his late prophetic successor. The two tables, called the 'tables of the covenant,' are what the psalmist is especially thinking of. These, and the prophetic enforcements of these in Deuteronomy and Jeremiah, are the ' words ' which the ' ungodly ' is accused of 'casting behind him,' instead of keeping them in his heart (xl. 9, Deut. vi. 6). According to this compendium of the covenant, there is but one indispensable re- ligious form, the observance of the Sabbath ; sacrifices are omitted, as belonging to purely natural religion and supremely unimportant from the point of view of the searcher of hearts (Jer. xvii. 10). Of course, the formalists, both the moderately good and the openly bad, gave a diflTerent interpretation to the ' sta- tutes ' and the 'covenant.' This seems to be ironically alluded to by the divine speaker, who is however far from endorsing it. By the phrases, my statutes and my covenant, then, I understand that part of the Law which the ungodly nian regarded as in a special sense divine appointments, and by my words those ' weightier matters ' which he spoke of but little and practised still less. The expressions are not synonymous, but antithe- tical. This is confirmed by the use of the term correction (z/. 17 a), which clearly expresses the aim and object of the divine words {v. 17 b). The true ' statutes ' of Jeho- vah are those upon which both public and private morality depend ; they of course include the fear of God, but prescribe no fixed form of worship. The authors of the Levi- tical legislation of course thought otherwise ; they must have written subsequently to our psalmist in a different set of providential circum- stances. 18-20 Transgressions of the seventh, sixth, and eighth com- mandments. The ' brother ' in v. 20 is any fellow-Israelite (for ' mother,' comp. Isa. 1. i). To ' push ' or ' overthrow ' is to oppress in the forms of justice. 1 Against this view, however, see Bredenkamp, Gesetz und Propheten (i88i), p. 64. 144 THE PSALMS 23 b For the received text, see xx. 7), but rather (note the Hebrew R.V. (text and margin ; the latter idiom, more fully rendered at xci. follows Del.) It may be rendered 16) some grand interposition of Je- literally, 'whoso lays down a way,' hovah, placing His people in a state but does this fit the context ? See of perfect happiness (comp. on Isa. crit. note. The ' salvation ' spoken xii. 2). It is a greater promise than of is no small temporary victory (as v. 15. PSALM LI. Uevotion has its own canons of exegesis. But reverence for historical truth, which is equivalent to reverence for the ways of God, bids us en- quire into the original meaning of this most sacred lyric. First of all however, we must ask, Do the two closing verses belong strictly to the psalm, or are they a later addition ? Upon the answer depends in no slight degree our view of the meaning of the psalm. Assuming the former alternative, the psalmist holds a different theory of sacrifice from the writer of Ps. 1. Sacrifices fell through during the Exile, but as soon as Jerusalem was rebuilt, legally correct offerings would again be brought to the temple. I cannot help referring to the beautiful Jewish service for the Day of Atonement. This liturgy expresses the feelings of pious Jews during their second great Exile, and it does so in language borrowed from Ps. li. ' rebuild (the temple) speedily, and then will we prepare the offerings en- joined upon us.' Meantime, how is God to be propitiated ? The answer is that repentance {fshitbah) is tantamount to burnt-offerings. ' There would be no end,' it adds, to the burnt offerings for our debts, and no number to the sweet savours for our guilt.' In the same spirit the Unity Hymn quotes Ps. 1. 8 and Jer. vii. 22, and adds these lovely lines : ' I will build thee an altar with my broken heart, and will also break my spirit within me. The shreds (lit., breakings) of my spirit are thy sacrifices ; may they come up acceptably on thine altar.' The interpretation of the psalm adopted in this liturgy is precisely that advocated by Dr. Robertson Smith in his first volume of lectures.' It is at first sight commended by the connexion of thought which early readers must surely have found between vv. 18, 19 and vv. 20, 21. That con- nexion is subtle and beautiful ; too subtle as I think for the author of this psalm, who would have expressed his idea more plainly, but not too subtle, nor too beautiful, for those editors of the religious classics of Israel who, as I have said before, had some at least of the qualities and the gifts of their more inspired predecessors.'^ Assuming the latter alternative, we find a beautiful progress in the three kindred psalms — xl., 1., and li. The first merely says, Obedience is better than sacrifice ; the second adds that prayer and thanksgiving are essential to true worship ; the third, that, since Israel and each Israelite are sinners, they must be forgiven before they can obey or praise, and that God will forgive them, not for sacrifices, but for heartfelt repentance. Perfect obedience is impossible ; but, as a Jewish doctor expresses it, ' that which God declares to be a defect in an animal sacrifice, He accounts an advantage in the heart-sacrifice of a man.' ' The view which has been indicated above seems to have been antici- patedby Theodore of Mopsuestia, who is thus epitomised by Bar Hebrseus :* ' (This psalm was) spoken with reference to the people in Babylon, which 1 The Old Testament in. the yewish Church, p. 416, ^ The Prophecies of Isaiah, ed. 3, pp. 228, 229. 3 So Holdheim [Predigten, i. 86) paraphrases a sentence in Wayikra, raiba, t. 7. * See Baethgen In Stade's Zeitschrifi, 1885, p. 95. PSALM LI. 145 confesses its sins, and prays forgiveness and the cessation of its exile.' He wealcens the sense of v. 6 a, however, by explaining, ' against thee alone, and not against the Babylonians.' The affinity of the poem to the Second Isaiah cannot be overlooked. 3 Have pity upon me, Elohim, according to thy lovingkindness : according to thy plenteous compassions wipe out mine offences. 4 Wash me throughly and oft from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 5 For I myself acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is continually before me. 6 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thine eyes, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear what time thou judgest. 7 Behold, in iniquity was I brought forth, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 8 Behold, thou desirest truth in the dark places, therefore in the secret place make me to know wisdom. 9 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean ; wash me throughly, and I shall be whiter than snow. 10 Fill me with mirth and gladness, that the bones thou hast crushed may thrill with joy. 1 1 Hide thy face from my sins, and wipe out all mine iniquities. 12 Create me a clean heart, O God, and renew within me a stedfast spirit. 1 3 Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy spirit from me. 14 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 15 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall turn back unto thee. 16 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, Jehovah, my saviour-God, and my tongue shall ring out thy righteousness. 17 Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall pubhsh thy praise. 18 For thou hast no pleasure in sacrifices, that I should present them, burnt offerings [and whole burnt offerings] thou favourest not. 1 9 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a crushed heart, O God, thou canst not despise. 20 Do good in thy favour unto Zion ; build thou the walls of Jerusalem. 146 THE PSALMS Then wilt thou be pleased with the right sacrifices, burnt oiifering and whole burnt offering ; then will they offer bullocks upon thine altar. 3 The first plea for pardon — God's lovingkindness (implying the ex' stance of a 'covenant') ; comp. XXV. 6. 4 vrasb me ttarou^bly (so v. 9), like a fuller, Trkivov (Sept.), not vl^ov (Duport). 5 The second — the sinner's sin- cere confession. Comp. xxxii. 5, and, for the form of expression in b, xxxviii. 18, xliv. 16. 6 The third — God permitted, or even caused transgressions. ' Against thee, thee only ' is not said to enhance the gravity of the sin, but to enforce a humble appeal for mercy. God made that holy law which Israel has broken ; He placed Israel in circumstances too difficult forhim. Therefore, agrainst thee, tbee only, bave I sinned, tbat tbou mlg'btest be justified, &c. (Not, in this context, to be weakened into ' so that thou art,' &c.) Clearly Israel is suffering under God's judgment, and in his physical and mental agony he can- not choose his words. Another spokesman of the Jewish Church used equal freedom of speech — ' Why hast thou hardened our heart so as not to fear thee?' (Isa. Ixiii. 17). But this free language involves a plea for pardon with both speakers. ' It is thine own doing at least in part. Our freedom has been im- perfect ; we have been tethered by divine predestination.' We have not been able to resist the stream of circumstance. We have done wrong ; thou art sure to be just in thy sentence. But since thou art partly the cause of our wrong-doing, deal gently with us.' The speaker is clearly Israel personified, or one who feels himself entirely united to his people in guilt and punishment. No other speaker could say, ' Against thee, thee only.' [Comp. The supposed objector there assumes that God is unjust in punishing. The psalmist would urge, not that God has been unjust in punishing, but that He would be not just, i.e. not Jehovah, if He did not ' in the midst of wrath remem- ber mercy.'] Be clear, viz. in the eyes of the world. Sept., viKTjo-Tis {iv rm Kpivfo-daL o-f), giving the verb an Aramaising sense. The radical idea of a clear bright light may in fact equally well develope into that of glory or of victory (comp. n^^akh, 1 Sam. xv. 29) 7 The fourth— man's natural liability to sin. Yes ; it is again a plea for pardon that we have before us, and Calvin errs in declaring that this view of the passage makes the psalmist into a hypocrite, who seeks to evade a just judgment by mini- mising his guilt. Nowhere does the speaker extenuate his faults ; but nowhere does he think of his God as other than a kindly and considerate judge ('judge' indeed is a poor makeshift word to describe the relation of the covenant-God to his offending but repentant people). In his horror at the idea of 'extenuation,' Calvin rushes to the other extreme, and speaks of ' amplification ' — ' quin potius ad amplificandam malorum suorum gravitatem a peccato or ginali ducit exordium . . . illustre testimoni- um de peccato originali, quo Adam totum humanum genus, implicuit' Not so ; the O.T. contains no theory whatever on the origin of sin. Gen. iii. simply relates a fact ; at any rate, it stands by itself, and is no- where referred to again in the O.T. (Hos. vi. 7, Isa. xliii. 27, Job xx.\i. ^:^ are not proofs to the contrary). All that the speaker means (and is not that a sad confession enough ?) is that he belongs to an erring race and drew his first breath in sin. So far as he is an individual, he re- Rom, ni. 5. 1 Later Jewish theology recognises the coexistence of predestination and free-will. R. Akiba said, ' Everything is foreseen, and free-will is granted ' (Pirke Aioth, iii. is)' PSALM LI. 147 calls the fact that his own mother, and that mother's mother, sinned ; '■ so far as he represents the nation, that Israel from the first was prone to infidelity (see Isa. xlviii. 8). Upon the latter view, the ' mother ' is an altogether ideal person (as we speak of our ' mother-country '), and to be explained as in xxii. 10, II, 1. 20, Ixxi. 6, Isa. 1. I ; this indeed is chiefly in the speaker's mind, so that die passage is virtually equiva- lent to XXV. 7. I say, ' virtually,' because what is there ascribed to Israel, is here predicated of the contemporary Israel's 'mother,' i.e. of the nationality. [There is a note- worthy discussion of this passage in J. Miiller's classic work, TAe Chtis- tian Doctrine of Sin, ii. 274-5. He says that it may be understood either ' as affirming that the mother, in conceiving and bearing children, is tainted with iniquity and sin ; or that man, from the beginning of his existence, from conception onwards, is in a state of sin and iniquity.' The former view, he says, contra- dicts the moral teaching of the O.T., especially the divine ordinance of marriage in Gen. i. 28. He thinks that it weakens the passage to assi- milate it to xxii. 10, II, Iviii. 3, Ixxi. 6 ; but it is rather he who weakens these passages by his inadequate explanation of them as ' proverbial or figurative.' Comp. also Ewald {Die Lehre der Bibel von Gotf, iii. 147, note 4), who however misses the national reference of the psalm, though the ' Second Isaiah' repeat- edly speaks of the persistent sinful- ness of Israel from the first, Isa. xliii. 27, xlviii. 8, Ivii. 3.] 8 The fifth — God's own pleasure in true inward religion. This verse is in antithesis to the foregoing. Two things are too obvious to be contradicted — that human nature is deeply ingrained with sin, and that God would have it as deeply pene- trated with 'truth'or'stability.' This comprehensive word means here not merely a true recognition of our sinfulness (Tholuck), but a stable, truthful character, one rooted in the fear of God and moulded by His in- dwelling law (xl. 9), which is 'truth' (cxix. 142), in contrast to that of the ungodly, who are ' like the troubled sea,' and false to the only standard of right. The controlling principle of such a character is called ' wis- dom,' i.e. the fear of God (cxi. 10 ; comp. xc. II, 12). In the latter part of the verse the psalmist passes again into the language of prayer (the imperfect is an optative), but he expressly bases his petition on God's known desire for true inward religion. 9, 10 First, purification ; then a joy with no undertone of sadness. V. 10 reflects its sweetness on ^'. 9 : ' Asperges me si dolcemente udissi,' &c. (Dante, Purg. xxxi. 98). • ■WTitli byssop. Which plant, or plants, may be designated by 'ezobh (which, received from the Phceni- ciaHs, became xxrcramoi) need not here be decided. The allusion is, not to the plant as such, but to the legal rite of purification (Lev. xiv., Num. xix.) ^'Wasli me, &c. Sin is too deeply ingrained for the sin- ner himself to efface it ; God Him- self must do this wonder (see also on V. 4). For the phraseology comp. Job ix. 30, and still more Isa. i. 18, where there is also a certain incomplete parallelism of sense (see my note, ad loc.) Observe, the psalmist presupposes the deepened intuitions of Jeremiah (see Jer. ii. 22, xiii. 23). Fill me witb mirtb. The text has, ' Make me to hear of mirth,' i.e. ' send me a message of glad tidings.' But the form of expression is too strange ; Pesh. has preserved the original reading (see crit. note). Tbe bones wbicb tbou bast crusbed. The ' bones ' represent the whole nature of man (see on vi. 3) ; 'crushed' points on to v. 19, and reminds us also of xxxviii. 9, xliv. 20. II It is not enough that to earthly eyes he may be whiter than the driven snow. His sins must be as though they had not been for God Himself— — Hide tby face, &c., viz. that Thou mayest not see my He does not make any such abstract statement as that in Job xiv. 4. 148 THE PSALMS sins-(comp. xc. 8). Riehm, on the ground of Hebrew usage, explains differently — that my sins personified may not see Thee and accuse me before Thee.^ In either case, for- giveness is referred to a free act of divine grace ; but the former seems the more natural interpretation. 12 ' Thou art a God that doest wonders. Therefore do more than forgive, do more than cleanse ; make me a new as well as a clean heart, as the central organ of my moral and rehgious life' (see on cii. 19 and comp. Ezek. xi. 19, xxxvi. 26, Jer. xxiv. 7). Observe that ' heart ' and ' spirit' are parallel, both here and in v. 19 ; so too Ixxviii. 8 (comp. 37), where, by the way, the equivalence of the ideas of the words rendered respectively 'truth ' (z/. 8) and ' stedfast ' (in this verse) is apparent. ' Heart,' like ' soul,' emphasises the individual side of a man's life ; ' spirit,' its divine or at least preternatural side. ' Stedfast- ness ' is a quality which is equally manifested in obedience (Ixxviii. 37 b ; comp. 1. 16 (5) and in trustful- ness towards God (cxii. 7 b). 13 He asked \X).v. 12 for purity of heart ; he now completes the pe- tition (xi. 7, Matt. V. 8). That gift would be precious, as bringing him near to God, whereas exclusion from God's presence would prove that the gift was denied. But how could such a gift and such a station be preserved ? Only by the spirit of Jehovah's holiness. The ' spirit ' is here evidently more than a mere influence ; it is an undefinable something which represents or makes effectual the presence of God. So in Isa. Ixiii. 9, 10 the ' angel of God's face ' (or, presence) is paral- lel to ' the spirit of his holiness.' But why is the special epithet 'holy' added to ' spirit ' ? Jehovah is holy in two senses, as separate from creaturely weakness and impurity, and as devotedly attached to Israel. This double meaning explains Hos. xi. 9, ' the Holy One in the midst of thee,' which says more than ' Israel's Holy One.' But the latter sense predominates in the phrase ' holy spirit ' in Isa. Ixiii. 10, 1 1 (see my notes), and this determines the primary meaning here. The psalm- ist's petition relates in the first in- stance to the confirmation to Israel of the gift of Jehovah's felt presence. And yet the context shows that it includes a prayer for the assimila- tion of Israel and of each good Israelite to Jehovah. Observe that V. 12 refers more prominently to the individual Israelite ; v. 13 to the Israelites collectively. In the for- mer we hear of a (divinely renewed) human spirit ; in the latter, of the (humanly tabernacled) divine spirit. In the former, the psalmist asks for a new gift ; in the latter for the confirmation of an old one. 14 Salvation {yesha') has not quite the same full significance as in 1. 23 ; but here too outward blessings are at any rate included. Sin is attended by chastisement; forgiveness by an equally visible deliverance. So it is with the indi- vidual ; so also with the nation. The psalmist, even if referring to his own sins and chastisements, re- gards them as shared by every other Israelite. The burden of guilt removed, he (and such as he) can obey the divinely given impulse, walking in the ways of God. A wllUngr spirit, or, a spirit of willingness, of spontaneous motion towards goodness — ' the princely heart of innocence' (Keble). 15 Personal experience, the text of a sermon addressed not to be- lievers (as xxii. 23, xxxii. 6, 8), but to sinners. The speaker is one of those who ' turn many to righteous- ness ' (Dan. xii. 3), and is not ne- cessarily a prophet. 16 The Hebrew writers are wont to specify some typical sin or sins, where we should rather employ a generic term. Thus, ' your hands are full of bloodshed ; ' ' they build up Zion with bloodshed ; " for his unjust gain I smote him' (Isa. i. I5> Mic. iii. 10, Isa. Ivii. 17 ; see notes). Another peculiarity of theirs is to speak of sins, when they mean 1 Der Begriffder Siihne im A, 7'. , p. 8, n. z. PSALM LI. 149 rather the punishments of sins (see, xxxiv. 19, Isa. Ivii. 15 b, where, e.g., xxxviii. 5). So that the petition, however, there is no clear reference 'Deliver me from bloodshed' (so to sorrow for sin. a. crusbed literally), means, ' Deliver me from taeart points back to v. 10. the punishment of those heinous 20, 21 The theme changes, sins (such as murder) which led Spiritual duties and blessings give Israel captive in the past ' (comp. place to Jerusalem and the temple, cxxx. 8). This accounts for the re- the disciple of the Second Isaiah to ference which follows to God's the earnest fellow-worker of Ezra ' righteousness.' Jehovah is equally and Nehemiah. The community ' righteous ' when he sends and has to be built up ; it needs walls when he removes chastisements. and a systematised ritual. Without 18, 19 Why express thanks in these Jerusalem is but a wailing- words ? Because God cares for no place. As a historical fact, the re- other sacrifice but a broken spirit, stored exiles obtained both together. i.e. the expression of sincere peni- Tbe rig^bt sacrifices ; see on tence (see introduction). Comp. iv. 6. PSALM LI I. Addressed to some high official who misused his power, and is threa- tened somewhat as Isaiah threatened Shebna (see on vv. 7, 9). Note the wonderful change of key in vv. 10, 11. The speaker is probably Israel (see on v. 10). 3 'WTiy gloriest thou in mischief, thou tyrant ? the divine lovingkindness endures perpetually. 4 Thy tongue devises engulfing ruin, like a whetted razor, O thou that workest guile. 5 Thou lovest evil more than good ; lying rather than to speak righteousness. 6 Thou lovest all devouring words, [the devices of] a deceitful tongue. 7 God in return shall pull thee down for ever, grasp thee, and pluck thee out of thy tent, and uproot thee from the land of the living. 8 The righteous shall see it, and fear, and shall laugh at him : 9 ' Lo, there is the man that made not God his asylum, but trusted in his great wealth, and felt strong in his substance.' 10 But I am like a flourishing olive-tree in the house of God ; I trust in the lovingkindness of God for ever and ever. 1 1 I will give thanks unto thee for ever, for thou hast done nobly, and declare before thy loving ones that thy name is good. 3 Tbou tyrant. Lit., 'thou scription of the antediluvian «i?/?/z;« mighty man ; ' but the word gibbor (' destructive ones ' ?) in Gen. vi. 4, connotes the idea of tyranny (or, and gibbor in the notice respecting more widely still, as Schultens says, Nimrod in Gen. x. 8. As Dillmann arrogance towards both God and says (note on Gen. vi. 4), 'Wo man). Gibborim occurs in the de- Kraftmenschen ihr Wesen treiben, ISO THE PSALMS kann es ohne Verletzung von Recht und Ordnung nicht abgehen.' The Arabic jabbdr has the same full meaning ; comp. Kordn, Sur. xi. 62, where Palmer renders '(the Adites) followed the bidding of every headstrong tyrant.^ Gratz quite unnecessarily emends haggib- bor into haggebher (see v. 9). ' 4 Note how violent words are taken as specimens of malignant hostility. Thy tongue devises (comp. on XXXV. 28, &:c.), the speech of the ' tyrant ' being the embodi- ment of the imaginations of the heart. — ^Engulfing: ruin (comp. Iv. 12). 'Plans of destruction' (De Witt) is not strong enough ; the utterances of this evil tongue are ' words of swallowing up ' {v. 6, Uterally rendered ; cf on xxxv. 25), which of itself suggests a lingering consciousness of the root-meaning of havvoth (see on v. 10). 6 A. deceitful tongue. Or, ' O deceitful tongue ' (comp. note on the parallel phrase, cxx. 3). This is certainly better than to make ' a deceitful tongue ' the se- cond object of the verb ' thou lovest ' (as Sept.) ; the phrase is not strong enough to stand thus. But prefix a noun in the construct state, and the case is altered. The parallel- ism gains. 7 Comp. Isaiah's threat, Isa. xxii. 17, 18. — — Outoftliytent. So Job xviii. 14. Tent = dwelling (see on cxxxii. 3) ; but there may be an allusion to the nomadic character (may we say?) of human life in general. In Isa. xxxviii. 12 the image of the ' tent ' is applied dif- ferently. ITproot thee from, &c. Comp. the picture of the wicked tyrant in xxxvii. 35, 36, and note the fine contrast below, v. 10. See also xxvii. 13. 8 Shall see it, &c. The key- note is in the second verb, which ex- presses reverence for the law of the Divine government (comp. Iviii. 12). 9 There is the man. Heb. haggibher, not haggibbor ; the for- mer is a word descriptive of age, the latter of an exceptional gift. The speech quoted seems to have a touch of sarcasm. The ' right- eous ' cannot use the word haggib- bor, for this would be to recognise the position usurped by the bad man ; in preference to 'ish or 'adam, they select gdbher (properly 'a grown-up man,' ' a man in his full strength '), because it suggests the claim which they contemptuously disallow. Comp. ' Gird up thy loins like a man ' {k'ghSher, ' like a man who thinks himself strong'), in Jehovah's address to Job (Job xxxviii. 3), and ' Jehovah will hurl thee, O man ' (gSAer, ' thou who thinkest thyself strong'), in the prophecy against Shebna (Isa. xxii. 18). But trusted, &c. Comp. xlix. 7. In his substance (see crit. note). The text-reading, how- ever interpreted, does not suit the parallelism. The word ihavvSM) having but two actual meanings, (i) passionate desire (Prov. x. 3, xi. 6, Mic. vii. 3), (2) ruin, calamity (Job vi. 2, XXX. 13); comp. the usage of the plural havvoth (see above on v. 4). 10, u Who is the speaker— an individual, or the nation? Com- paring xcii. 13 (which forms part of a strikingly parallel passage) we might say, Any and every righteous member of the nation. But in xcii. 10 the speaker must be Israel, and here too this is not improbably the case. See the other parallel passage, Jer. xi. 16, where Israelis compared to ' a flourishing olive- tree, fair, and of goodly fruit' (comp. Rom. xi. 24). like a flourisli- ing olive-tree. The epithet is often rendered ' fresh-green.' ' Green ' is no doubt a vague word in ancient languages (comp. Plin)''s cceluin viride, ' H.N.' xvii. 10, 14). But ra'-anan is not properly a word of colour (see on xcii. 14) ; 'fresh green ' would be scarcely accurate. Tristram speaks of the 'pale-blue foliage ' of the olive {Nat. Hist, of the Bible, p. 374). In the house of God. In the parallel line we have 'in the lovingkindness of God.' Now, as another psalmist reminds us, 'the earth is full of the lovingkindness of Jehovah ' (xxxni. 5). Clearly the tie ot a mutual PSALM LII. 151 love based on the covenant ' mus Haram. But to infer from Ixxxiv. make, not merely the temple of 4, Zech. i. 8, and 2 Mace. xiv. 4 Jerusalem and the land of Israel, that such trees existed in the sacred but the whole earth ' the house of precincts in ancient times seems God and the gate of heaven ' (see hazardous. On the first of these on xxiii. 6). I cannot persuade passages see below, and cf Wright, myself then that the psalmist al- Zechariah (1879), pp. 8, 530, and ludes here to olive-trees actually Grimm's note on 2 Mace. I.e. planted in the precincts of the 11 Tbou bast done nobly. temple (comp. xeii. 14). It is true Strictly, a future-perfect (cf. liv. 9, that magnificent cypresses and a Ivi. 14). Declare. A necessary few olive and lemon trees may be correction, for the senseless text- seen at this day in the area of the reading ' wait.' PSALM LIII. Another recension of Ps. xiv., with ' Elohim ' for ' Yahveh ' (Jehovah), and certain various readings which in -uv. 2-5 are obviously wrong, but which Hitzig and Merx accept as correct in v. 6. This is the form in which this verse (cf xiv. 5, 6) appears : Thereupon did they shudder indeed, where no cause was, for God scattered the bones of him that encamped against thee ; thou didst put (them) to shame, for God had rejected them. As Street long since remarked, the variations may be intentional, the psalm having been retouched to adapt it to a second great deliverance. But they may also be simply due to the ordinary causes of corruption. PSALM LIV. 1 HE expressions in this psalm of supplication need illustration from the more definite ones in the psalms which follow. 3 Save me by thy name, Elohim, and right me by thy strength. 4 O God, hear my prayer, give ear to the words of my mouth. 5 For strangers are risen up against me, and the violent seek my soul, not setting God before their eyes. 6 Behold, God is my helper ; the Lord is the great upholder of my soul. 7 Their evil shall return unto my foes : do thou exterminate them in thy truthfulness. 8 I will sacrifice unto thee with a free will, and give thanks unto thy name, Jehovah, because it is good. 9 .For out of all trouble has he delivered me, and mine eye has looked its fill upon my spying enemies. 5 Here, as in Isa. i. 7, critics zarlm is used of foreigners (e.g. are divided as to the meaning of Isa. xxv. 3, xxix. 5, Ezek. xxviii. 7), strangers. Generally no doubt but so also is the parallel word 152 THE PSALMS 'an^im. If there were an Israelite so deaf to the voice of the law (Lev. xix. 1 8) and of nature as to be an 'arii;, for instances of which see perhaps xxxvii. 35, Jer.xv. 2i,there was no reason why he should not also be called zdr. There is a various reading here (MSS. and Targ.) — zedlm 'proud ones,' but this is caused by Ixxxvi. 14. Wot setting Godi &c. Cf xvi. 8. 6 The ^reat upboliler of my soul, Sept., di/T-iXijnrojp TJjr ■^v)(r)'i fiov. To render, ' among them that uphold my soul,' would mislead. The sense is not that God is the support of the psalmist among many others, but that He is so in a supreme degree — that He sums up in Himself the qualities of a class, viz. the class of helpers (so cxviii. 7). Comp. Judg. xi. 35, 'Alas, my daughter, thou hast bowed me down ; even thou art my greatest troubler' (A.V. 'thou art one of them that trouble me '). The con- struction is the £eik essentia (see on XXXV. 2). 7 Tbeir evil sball return, &c. So the text, but the margin, ' He shall requite their evil,' &c. With this reading the preposition is a little more natural. But need we for this desert the text ? 8 With a free will. Or, as De Witt, 'with a gift of free-will' (similarly R.V., after Hengstenberg and Hupfeld). But the sacrificial reference of the context does not necessitate this rendering. In con- firmation of this, see Num. xv. 3, where render, with Hupfeld himself, ' willingly,' not (as R.V., forcing a Beth essentia) ' as a freewill offer- ing.' It Is good, viz. thy name (cf on cxxxv. 3). 9 The poet looks fonvard, and treats the future as past (see on lii. I la). Has he delivered me, viz. either Jehovah or (what is virtually the same) the Name of Jehovah ; see on Isa. xxx. 27, &c. Mine eye has looked, &:c. Comp. lix. II, xcii. 12. The word rendered ' spying enemies ' has a special force here. The psalmist had suf- fered from the piercing gaze of the scoffers, ovetSia-fiois re Kal OXiy^eat BEUrpi^OfjLevos (Heb. X. 33). Cf xxii. 18. PSALM LV. J\ PRAYER against ungodly enemies, especially against a treacherous friend. The psalm must be taken in connexion with Ps. lix., from which it would seem that the enemies spoken of are partly heathen (see below, on V. 1 1). See also Ps. Ivi., and comp. some phenomena of Pss. ix., a. 2 Give ear to my prayer, Elohim ; And hide not thyself from my beseeching : 3 Attend unto me and answer me ; I am distraught in my musing, and can but moan, 4 For the sound of [the revilings of] the enemy, because of the cries of the ungodly : for they are ever hurling wickedness at me, and in wrath they persecute me. 5 My heart is sore pained within me, and deadly terrors have fallen upon me. 6 Fearfulness and trembling penetrate into me, and a horrible dread enfolds me. 7 Then I said, ' Oh that I had wings like a dove ! I would fly away and abide : PSALM LV. 153 8 Truly, I would flit far away, and lodge in the wilderness, 9 Would wait for him that is my deliverer from storm-blast and from tempest.' 10 Confound, Jehovah ; divide their speech : for I behold violence and strife in the city. 1 1 Day and night they make their rounds on the walls thereof ; trouble and mischief are in the midst of it. 12 Engulfing ruin is in the midst thereof : oppression and deceit depart not from its forum. 13 (For it is not an enemy who insults me — that I might well bear ; nor is it my hater who hath been insolent towards me — from him I might well hide myself 14 But it is thou, a man mine equal, mine associate and my familiar friend ; 15 Together we had sweet intimacy, and walked to the house of God in the throng.) 16 Let Death guilefully swallow them up ; let them go down alive into Shedl ; for wickedness is in their dwelling, [abominable outrages are] in their midst. 17 As for me, I will call upon Elohim ; and Jehovah shall save me. 18 Evening, and morning, and at noon will I muse and make my moan : so shall he hear my voice. 19 He hath set free my soul in peace that they might not come nigh me, for in great numbers have they been against me. 20 God heareth [the cry of the afflicted], yea, he that is enthroned of old answereth them. (Here follows a misplaced portion of this or of another Psalm.) « # * » * To whom there are no changes, and who fear not Elohim. 21 He has laid his hands upon those at peace with him, he has desecrated his covenant. 22 His mouth is smoother than butter, but his heart is all war ; his words are softer than oil, and yet are they drawn swords. 154 THE PSALMS 23 Cast thy care upon Jehovah, and he will support thee ; he will not always appoint tottering for the righteous. 24 And thou, Elohim, shalt cast them down into the pit of the grave : bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days. But I — will trust in thee. 3 I am distraught (Heb.'an^. The psalmist feels inwardly as if driven hither and thither by a like violent impulse to that of an animal which has broken loose (comp. the cognate Arabic word, radd). 4 The unerodly in this con- nexion are heathen men ; or, at least, these are primarily thought of (comp. on lix. 6). 7 At last his anguish condenses itself in words. He wishes, like Jeremiah, that he could leave his people, and lodge in the wilderness (Jer. xi. 2). This is not, as Petrarch and many others have taken it, an aspiration after heaven. It is rest upon earth which the persecuted psalmist longs for. He craves to live his life to God without let or hindrance, even though it be in the desert. But the writer of xi. i takes a higher position, remembering that he is ' continually with ' Jehovah (Ixxiii. 23). Win^s like a dove. The psalmist speaks for Israel, who is sometimes symbolised by the dove, Heb. yonah (see Ixviii. 14). But he also alludes to the habits of the wild doves (comp. Cant. ii. 14, Jer. xlviii. 28, Ezek. vii. 16), which abound in rocky districts, especially in Lebanon. The Arab poet Abu Katlfa makes a singularly con- trasted use of the image of the dove. He represents himself among the pillared palaces of Damascus, ' on whose parapets the tame dove coos.' Like the psalmist, he longs for freedom, and the tame dove is the symbol of the too artificial life at which he chafes. (Ruckert, Hamdsa, ii. 230, ' Anhang.') The Ethiopic version renders yonah by regeb (proprie 'avis pavida,' Dill- mann). 7 b-f) We seem to trace the fluctuating feelings of the speaker (see V. 3 0) in his language. The verbal forms in w. 7 ^ express eager readiness ; the tone sinks in v. 8 (note the imperfects), and in v. g ardour revives in voluntatives. On text of V. 9, see crit. note. 8 Flit, Comp. ' He that oft- times flitteth,' ' Thou tellest my flit- tings,' Prov. xxvii. 8, Ps. Ivi. 8 in the Bible of 155 1. 10 Comforted by prayer, the psalmist can endure the sad sights and sounds which beset him ; he no longer craves to be taken away. He thinks of the builders of the Tower of Babel, and imprecates the fate of those builders on his enemies. This reference confirms the view (see introd.) that the most danger- ous of the psalmist's enemies are foreigners. Confound, Jeho- vali; dlvldethelr speech (lit, their tongue). Note the allusion to the Jehovistic passages. Gen. a. 25, xi. 1-9. The meaning is. Pro- duce dissension among mine adver- saries. But the ground immedi- ately afterwards given is not very clear. The violence and strife which the psalmist beholds are not characteristics of adesign of heaven- storming arrogance like the Tower of Babel. It would be unsafe to dogmatise ; but possibly the descrip- tion of the precarious situation of the psalmist and all good men in vv. ioi5-i5 may stand in some such connexion as this with v. 10 a. The enemies of Jehovah's cause are partly foreigners (see on v. 19), partly Israelites. Wisdom to plan and strength, to execute belong to the former, biit these are materially aided by the violent and factious conduct of the latter. The former, being the most dangerous, are the first objects of the psalmist's impre- cation. ' Confound ' (their counsel), PSALM LV. 155 he prays, ' for they will otherwise get the complete mastery of our ill- governed city.' 11 Say and ni^bt, &c. Comp. lix. "J b, 155. It is not a siege or blockade which is described, and the persons spoken of are not foreign but native enemies — the men of ' violence and strife.' These are compared to watchmen on the walls ; only, instead of keeping watch against the enemy, they ' watch for iniquity ' (Isa. xxix. 20). This line is parallel to ?'. \ib ; the next line, \a v. 12 a. Trouble and miscbief. The terms used here and va. v. 12 b remind us of x. 7 ; the two psalms are partly parallel. 12 Eng^ulfin^ ruin. Perhaps the city was still under the tyranny of the gibbor, who is said to ha\e planned such a sore evil (lii. 2, 3). Prom its forum. The r'khob (broad place), the ayapa or ' forum ' of the East, devoted alternately to gossip, trafific, and judicial business, was the courtyard adjoining the vaulted passage of the city-gate (cf V. 10a). Hence Isa. lix. 14, 'for truth hath stumbled in the broad place, and rectitude cannot enter (the city).' SeePerrot-Chipiez, History of Art in Chaldaa and Assyria, ii. 66-72. 13-15 Public grief has had the precedence, but cannot expel the thought of a cruel personal injury. Some may think indeed that there is a personal accent in v. 4, but probably the psalmist speaks there in the name of his people. Here, however, one's sympathies seem to be drawn out towards a suffering individual. I can believe that the language used in xli. 10 is that of personification, and am far from denying that in v. 22 of this very psalm the subject of the verb may be the ungodly regarded collectively (I would rather say, each ungodly person). But the description in vv. 13-15 is individualising to such a singular extent that I cannot bring myself to suppose any poetic fiction in the case. We know what Jeremiah suffered at the hands of his townsmen (Jer. xi. 21) and other ' men of his peace ' (Jer. xx. 10), one of whom perhaps was Pashhur the priest, who might certainly have Iseen called ' a man of [Jeremiah's] rank' (Ps. Iv. 14). Without identi- fying the psalmist with Jeremiah, we may at least argue that at various times of religious dissension and persecution the prophet's expe- riences may have been renewed. So a prophet in Manasseh's reign says, ' Trust ye not in a companion, put ye not confidence in a fami- liar friend^ (Mic. vii. 5 ; cf. Jer. ix. 4). 13 Tbat I mi^bt well bear — as the inevitable lot of God's poor. Calvin, with fine insight, objects that this is not in character with David, who would not have patiently suffered reproach from an open enemy ; ndsa, he thinks, must mean here to parry the blow (' quod Gallice dicimus, feusse receu h coup''). But if the psalmist is neither David nor any other war- rior r Evidently Segond's '■ je le supporterais ' is more accurate than Calvin's version. 14 A man mine equal. Lit., ' a man ('enosk) according to my valuing;' i.e. not a true man, one who seemed to come up to my standard (this would require 'h/i) — comp. Jer. V. I — nor yet a man whom once I valued at the same rate as myself (Sept. av8pa>77e la-d-^vxf ; comp. Phil, ii. 20), but, one of my own social rank (comp. the verb in Ixxxix. 7), with whom therefore I was on easy and natural terms, and who had no claim to lord it over me. 15 To^etber \re bad, &C. Symm., €Koi.vo\oyovne6a y'KvKflav ojxiXiav. The psalmist's complaint assumes the form of a melancholy retrospect. 'At home and in society,' he says, ' we were never far apart' (comp. Ixiv. 3, Heb.) V. iSa reminds us of Job xix. ig, 'All the men of my intimacy (A.V., my inward friends) abhor me ; and those whom I loved are turned against me.' The word sodA also has the sense of 'secret' (xxv. 14) and ' council ' (Ixxxiii. 4) ; nor gan 156 THE PSALMS we venture to exclude these senses altogether here. With the second line comp. xlii. 5. May we infer that the false friend was also false to his religion ? 16 Death (here = She61 ; see vi. 6, xviii. 6, xlix. 15) is summoned, that he may gruilefuUy swallow them up (lit., 'deceive — swallow them up'). Briill's correction seems inevitable. The phraseology of line 2 is from Num. xvi. 30 ; is it not reasonable to expect an allusion to the same passage in line I , so completing the parallelism ? The text-reading is admittedly difficult, and puts a strain on the resources of the interpreter (see crit. note). The idea of v. 16 a (corrected text) is that of xxxv. 8 a. In their dwelling. Strictly, ' in their settlement,' with the idea of temporariness (cf. Job xviii. 19, Heb.) In their midst. The words supplied before Vqirbam (with Bickell) remove one more thorn from this verse. 17-20 A renewal of spiritual strength is needed after this long outburst of feeling. The speaker knows where to seek it. He will call upon Elohim (the Manifold One, the strong God of the world), and Jehovah (the Self-revealing God of Israel) will hear him. Jehovah, then, is clothed with the might of Elohim. The psalmist will pray without ceasing (first, in silent musing, and then in an inarticulate but not inexpressive moan). The result is as certain as any fact in history ; the Hebrew of V. li b suggests this — we might accurately render, 'and he heard my voice.' In v. 19 the psalmist still dwells on the thought that prayer is linked to its answer (as sin to punishment ; see on Ixiv. 8), and expresses this by the ' perfect of prophetic certitude.' In v. 20 a, with calmed feelings, he states the general truth. 18 Remember that the Hebrew like the Assyrian day began with sunset. The Talmud finds a refer- ence to the three customary times of prayer (Dan. vi. 11, 12, 14) ; on this point, R. Joshua ben Chananya was the first Protestant. 19 For In great numbers, &c. The clause gives the reason, not why Jehovah will surely deliver him, but why his feelings have been so deeply moved, and his prayer so earnest. The foreign enemies, whose are the greater might and skill (see on v. 10), far outnumber the servants of Jehovah (Ivi. 3 ; comp. iii. 2). 20 Enthroned of old, Comp. Ixxiv. 12, and the Second Isaiah's repeated references to Jehovah's eternity as a pledge of the continu- ance of His people. The sense of the epithet is clear enough, but how is it fitted into the structure of the verse ? If we follow the text (with the one exception admitted even by Delitzsch), we should render, ' [God] will hear and answer them — He that sitteth King from of old — these that are changeless and that fear not God.' So De Witt. ' Answer them' means 'give a judicial sen- tence against' (the ungodly). But surely ' hear and answer ' must — especially so near to vv. 17, 18 — signify ' hear and answer prayer.' Yet how can we connect this with the following words ? We cannot. The rest of the psalm has no obvious appropriateness where it stands ; at any rate, the next four distichs, which are certainly misplaced, if they are not a later insertion. It is worth noticing that the Hebrew text interposes a ' Selah ' between the two distichs of v. 20. To whom, &c. Ewald, following the great Dutch scholar Albert Schul- tens, renders, ' who have no good faith ; ' but the philological basis of this is unsound. I wish it were otherwise, for the rendering makes the connexion perfect. But what if in the text to which this whole passage (yv. 20 1^-23) must once have belonged, and which doubtless described the character and doings of the ungodly, v. 26 d stood at the close of a section? In this case, there need not be a parallelism of contents between v. 20 6 and the fol- lowing distichs. ' Changes ' {k/iali- PSALM LV. 157 foth) may then mean (rt), vicissitudes of fortune' (Calvin), comp. x. 6 ; or iff) 'changes from evil actions to good' (Hupfeld), comp. Jer. ii. 30, V. 3 ; or (c), ' relief-troops ' or ' dis- charges ' (Hengstenberg), comp. Job X. 17, xiv. 14. The last of these three meanings is the most ingenious. In •z'. 11 the ungodly are said figuratively to patrol the city-walls hke soldiers on the watch. May not a similar figure have occu- pied the distich to which v. 20 b must have been attached ? In this case V. 20 b means ' those who are never relieved in, nor discharged from, their godless function of " watching for iniquity " ' (see on V. II). The second meaning will to most appear safer ; the distich will then signify ' those who are unceasing in their disregard for religion ' — to me a rather weak idea, unnaturally expressed. The first meaning requires too much to be supplied. The text, however, may well be unsound, especially as it gives us an incomplete sentence. May not khalifoth be a corruption of khargubboth, and the line be a quotation from Ixxiii. 3, ' for tor- ments have they none ' .' 21 What is the subject of the verb? The faithless friend (Hup- feld, supposing the passage to have stood originally after v. 15), or the ungodly collectively (comp. xxxv. 8) ? Ps. xli. 10 may seem to favour the former view ; note however that the persecution is (apparently) directed in that passage against an individual, but here against a num- ber of persons. The covenant spoken of in v. 21 b may be, not that between friend and friend (as I Sam. xviii. 3, xxiii. 8), but that between members of the same nation, worshipping the same God. 22 The mouth is described as smootb (cf. V. 10), because deceit- ful words are produced by it with such fatal facility. Sept. has ' face ' instead of ' mouth ' (see crit. note). 23, 24 A liturgical appendix (comp. xxvii. 14, xxxi. 25). Cast thy care. So Sept. and Pesh., in harmony with the context (comp. xxxvii. 5, xxii. 9). ' Cast thine appointed (lot) ' is unnatural ; 'cast thy burden,' ill supported from Arabic, is inconsistent with 'he will support thee.' The precise sense of the noun is uncertain. into the pit of the grave. Two syno- nyms joined as cxxxii. 3, Prov. viii. 31, Ezek. xxxvi. 3. Half their days. So Jer. xvii. ii. PSALM LVI. 1 HIS and the next psalm are twins ; Ewald considers them among the most beautiful in the Psalter. Both begin in the same way ; both have refrains ; both have the strong expression ' to crush ' (Ivi. 2, Ivii. 4), in- dicating the heartless cruelty of the enemy. They are, however, not without points of contact with Pss. liv., Iv., lix. 2 Have pity upon me, Elohim, for man crusheth me ; fighting all day he oppresseth me. 3 All day they crush me that are my keen-eyed enemies, yea, many with high looks do fight against me. 4 The day when I might fear I will trust in thee. 5 Through God can I praise his word, in God do I trust without fear : what can flesh do unto me ? 6 All day they torture me with words : all their thoughts are against me for evil. 158 THE PSALMS 7 They attack, they set an ambush ; they, even they, mark my footsteps, even as they have long waited for my soul. 8 * # * * * In anger do thou cast the peoples down, O God. 9 My wandering life have I recounted unto thee ; put thou my tears into thy bottle. 10 Straightway shall mine enemies turn back, the day that I call upon thee : this I know, that God is for me. 1 1 Through God can I praise his word : 12 In God will I trust without fear : what can man do unto me ? 13 Vows made unto thee are upon me, God : I will render thank-offerings unto thee. 14 For thou hast delivered my soul from death ; surely [thou hast saved] my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life. 2 IMtan crusbetb me. ' Man,' or ' weak, mortal man ' (as a Hebrew writer might naturally explain 'enosh), is opposed to God (as ix. 20, X. 1 8). ' Crusheth ' (note the paral- lelism), so substantially the versions (comp. Baur on Am. ii. 7). Most moderns, since Gesenius, ' panteth after ; ' better perhaps, ' would eat me up.' 4 Wlien I mi^Iit fear, i.e. when I have good excuse for fearing. ■ I will trust. ' I ' is emphatic — I, the poor, the weak one. 5 Tbrougli God, &c. Soz/. 10; comp. Ix. 12 and especially Isa. xxvi. 13, 'only through thee (i.e. through thy interposition) can we celebrate thy name.' Kls word, i.e. his fulfilled word of promise (cxxx. 5). 6 They torture me with words. The text has either, ' they torture my words' (but this verb always has a personal object), or 'they hurt my interests' (this is prosaic). Would it not be strange if sins of speech were here alone not imputed to the enemy ? 7 Comp. x. 8, 9. Sven they. The expression of the pronoun seems at first sight unnecessary. But it may refer to the men of the ambush, or, more probably, it em- phasises the unnaturally cruel con- duct of men who have been in covenant with the psalmist (comp. Iv. 21). Even as, &c. Their malignant watchfulness is in cha- racter with their conduct from the first (comp. lix. 4). 8 In the text, the first line of this verse runs thus : ' In spite of iniquity, an escape unto them,' a short line and of difficult construc- tion, containing, moreover, a word which only occurs elsewhere in apro- bably corrupt passage (xxxii. 7). See crit. note. Tbe peoples. As in Pss. Iv., lix., the chief enemies of the Israelites are at this time heathen, and the psalmist regards their overthrow as a part of the divine judgment upon 'the peoples.' Comp. vii. 7-10. 9 My wandering- life, &c. The text of this difficult verse is evidently incorrect, but needs gentle treatment (see crit. note). We must not touch the significant word nodi, and so cut out a characteristic play upon words {nodi ' my wan- dering,' Vnod'ka 'in thy bottle'). We fleed not of course try to repro- PSALM LVr. 159 duce this play in English, as the idea of the verse is beautiful enough in itself The psalmist is no lover of vagueness in prayer ; he ' makes known his requests ' with the utmost particularity. He is a wanderer (the lot deprecated in xxxvi. 12), and his eyes are ' a fountain of tears ' (Jer. ix. i). Shall this stream of sorrow flow in vain ? No ; put tbou my tears in a bottle (a skin- bottle of large capacity ; see on cxix. 83). To some early readers this may have appeared grotesque, and so a scribe ventured to substi- tute 'in thy book' (cf Mai. iii. 17). Probably his view of the meaning was correct ; probably the psalmist's thought was, ' Store them up in thy memory.' And yet, if this psalm were the work of a great lyric poet, who, like Dante, bent the forms of poetry to his own ends, we should be justified in seeking a further meaning, such as this — ' Store up my tears as precious wine for that table which thou wilt yet prepare for me in the presence of my foes.' Comp., ' They that sow in tears shall reap in joy' (cxxvi. 5), and George Herbert's line — I have not lost one single tear. II The second line in the re- ceived text is a feeble Jehovistic interpolation, which interrupts the refrain. 14 Comp. the parallel in cxvi. 8. Before Cod, i.e. under His protection (Gen. xvii. 18). in the li^bt of life (or, of the living, as Sept.) The phrase is a deep one (see John viii. 12 and note on xxxvi. 10), and the psalmist may have had a latent consciousness of its fuller meaning. I admit, how- ever, that the context does not force this view upon us, as does that of xvi. II. PSALM LVII. V ERSES 8-12 are repeated in cviii. 2-6 (an inferior form of the text). 2 Have pity upon me, Elohim, have pity upon me, for in thee my soul takes refuge, yea, in the shadow of thy wings shall be my refuge, till the storm of ruin hath passed by. 3 I call unto God most High, unto the Strong One that deals bountifully with me. 4 He shall reach out from heaven and save me, giving to dishonour him that would crush me ; God shall send forth his lovingkindness and his truthfulness. 5 My soul has dwelt among lions, fire-breathers, (but) sons of men, — their teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. 6 Exalt thyself, O God, above the heavens ; let thy glory be above all the earth. 7 They have prepared a net for my feet ; they have bowed down my soul — they have digged before me a pit into whose midst they have fallen ! 8 Stedfast is my heart, O God, stedfast is my heart ; I would sing and make melody. i6o THE PSALMS 9 Awake, my glory ; awake, harp and lyre ; fain would I awaken the dawn. 10 I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the peoples, I will make melody unto thee among the nations : 1 1 For thy lovingkindness is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the skies. 1 2 Exalt thyself, O God, above the heavens ; let thy glory be above all the earth. 2 The storm of ruin. Heb. havvoth. Etymologically, the figure is that of a yawning gulf (see on v. lo), but the choice of the verb sug- gests that a storm is more present to the writer's imagination. 3 God most High. Heb. 'elohim '■elyon, which occurs again only in Ixxviii. 56 ; we have, how- ever, 'el '■elyon in Ixxviii. 35 (and virtually Ixxiii. 11), and Yakveh '■elyon in vii. 18 (see note). The word is here equivalent to ' al- mighty ' (see V. 6). 4 Line i reminds us of xviii. 1 7 ; line 3 of xliii. 3, where ' light ' (more suitable to the figure of a guide) takes the place of ' loving- kindness ' in the divine a-vfi^i.ax'-a. Line 2 in the Hebrew interrupts the description of God's gracious activity with the short and abrupt statement, ' he that would crush me hath insulted.' We can no doubt treat this as a ' circumstantial clause ' (see Driver, Hebrew Tenses, § 163), and render 'my enemy having insulted me,' but at the cost of simplicity, the two parts of the sentence thus produced being (as Hitzig remarks) not in any close relation to each other. See crit. note. 5 This verse explains the second line of V. 2. ' In thee my soul takes refuge, because it dwells and has long dwelt among "beasts in human form '" (Ignatius ; comp. on xxii. 13). How common the lion once was in Palestine, is shown by the numerous words for it in Hebrew ; that here used (J'bM, in plur. I'batm) seems to mean 'the voracious ' (comp. Hos. xiii. 8). Presumably the enemies described are foreigners (comp. on xxii. 13). My soul has dwelt. The same phrase as in cxx. 6. The text has, ' (With) my soul let me (since I must) lie down,' a very improbable sentence ; a slight cor- rection suffices to restore natural- ness. Fire-breatbers. Or, ' fiery-eyed.' 6 God is by right 'Elyon ' most High ; ' may He now show Himself in fact supreme over and superior to all created things. There is no occasion to render 'al ' above ' in line I, and ' over ' = throughout in line 2. See end of note on viii. 2. 8 Stedrast, i.e. 'rooted and grounded ' in the fear of Jehovah (see on li. 12), and therefore fear- less. Comp. cxii. 7. 9 My glory ; see on vii. 6. Awaken the dawn. Milton's ' cheerly rouse the slumbering morn.' See on cxxxix. 9. PSALM LVIII. V ERSES 2, 3 must be explained by Ps. Ixxxii. (see introd.) The situation may be described thus : Ungodliness and wrong have made such pro- gress, that the psalmist can only ascribe it to supernatural agency. The ' gods ' or ' sons of the Most High ' (Ixxxii. 6), to whom the actual ad- ministration of the world's government has been entrusted (Deut xxxii. 8), have neglected their duties, and in the persons of their subordinates have actually helped forward the cause of wickedness. From the wicked PSALM LVIII. l6l tyranny practised, even in the land of Israel (see on v. 4), the psalmist seems to have inferred that Jehovah had withdrawn from the government of that ' inheritance ' which, according to the Song of Moses (Deut. xxxii. 9), He had reserved for Himself Observe that from v. 4 onwards we hear no more of the 'elim. What their fate is to be, the psalmist saith not, and there is an analogy for this silence in Isa. xxiv. 22, where the imprisonment referred to is that of the ' kings of the earth,' not that of their heavenly patrons. It is otherwise in Ixxxii. 7. 2 Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O ye gods ? do ye judge in equity the sons of men ? 3 (Nay,) surely ye all prepare unjust acts ; ye weigh out in the earth the violence of your hands. 4 The ungodly have been estranged since the womb : they have gone astray from their birth, speakers of lies. 5 They have poison as the poison of a serpent : yea, as that of a deaf adder which stops her ear ; 6 Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, nor of the most cunning binder of spells. 7 Elohim ! shatter their teeth in their mouth : tear out the jawbones of the young lions, Jehovah. 8 Let them melt as water that runs away ; as grass, let them be quickly cut off : 9 [Let them be] as a snail melting as it goes along, as an untimely birth which never saw the sun. 10 Before your pots can feel the thorns, [and] while your [flesh] is [still] raw, the hot wrath (of Jehovah) shall sweep it away. 1 1 The righteous shall rejoice that he has seen vengeance, he shall wash his feet in the blood of the ungodly ; 12 And men shall say. Surely there is a fruit for the righteous, surely there are divine powers that judge in the earth. 2 Do ye indeed, &c. Com- direct negative is unnecessary ; the paring this passage with Ixxxii. 2, particle used implies a strong anti- &c., it seems most probable that thesis (see on ■z/. 12). 'Ye all;' the the speaker is the most High. The world must be at its darkest before (see on xxix. i) or 'elohim the bright light of Jehovah will (Ixxxii. i) have presented them- dawn (Isa. Ix. 2). See crit. note. selves before Jehovah, and reported Ve welgb out. A severe sar- that they have exercised a righteous casm. ' Ye are as accurate in in- sway in the world of men. Jehovah justice as ye ought to be in adminis- first expresses a sarcastic doubt of tering justice.' An example of that this, and then, as He who seeth and Semitic o^vixapov which in Arabic knoweth all, declares the contrary, literature exceeds the bounds of See crit. note. discretion (see, e.g.. Harm, passim). 3 (Way,) surely ye all. A 4 Here the psalmist drops the 1 In this remarkable passage 'Elyon {• the most High ') means Him who is supreme both over the ' Sons of El' or ' Elohim ' and over the nations which he assigns to those inferior supernatural beings. See ^06 and Solomon, pp. 81, 291. M l62 THE PSALMS 'elim (see above), and passes into a description of the wicked men, who prosper through the neglect of the heavenly powers and their human instruments. It is not ex- pressly said, but from the position of the psalm and from the ideas of vv. I, 2, it is most probable that these ' ungodly ' men are, at any rate chiefly, foreigners (see on ix. 5). Have been estranged, &c. Calvin finds it difficult to reconcile this with the doctrine of original sin ; but the psalmists are no theo- logians, and simply record in poetic language here and elsewhere the facts of an experience, which Calvin throughout his noble commentary admits to agree with his own, and which shows ' quosdam esse vere- cundos et honestis moribus : alios mediocri tantum corruptelaimbutos : alios vero naturae adeo perversa, ut sint prorsus intolerabiles.' The words of V. 4 simply mean that evil habits have to these men be- come a second nature ; they are ail ra KaxS xaipovTfs {Theod. Mops.) 5, 6 Comp. Sir. xxv. 15, 'There is no poison (KeipdXr] = K^jii) above the poison of a serpent, and no wrath above the wrath of an enemy.' On serpent-charming, comp. Jer, viii. 17, Eccles. x. 11, Sir. xii. 10, and an Arabic proverb for obstinate resistance, 'Answer not, serpent' (Meidani). 7 Description passes into im- precation, with an ' Elohim ' empha- tically placed first, and the figure changes to that of a lion (comp. Ivii. 5). ' Charming ' being impos- sible, violent means must be adopted for curbing such foes. 8, 9 Four terribly strong figures for the utter destruction of the wicked. V.Sd runs, in the received text, ' when he aims his arrows, let them be as if they were headless, which Segond polishes into, ' qu'ils ne lancent que des traits ^moussds/ without making the image itself a better parallel to that in line i. See crit. note. As a snail, &c. Alluding to the slimy trail which the snail leaves behind it, for surely we need not think of the ' myriads of snail shells ' still found adhering to the surface of rocks in Palestine (Tristram, Nat Hist, of Bible, p. 295). The untimely birtb. Comp. Job iii. 16, Eccles. vi. 3-5. 10 From the time of the ancient versions this verse has challenged interpreters by its obscurity. I can but offer a rendering of the text as corrected. The key to lines i and 2 is the description of the perse- cuted people of Jehovah, in Mic. iii. 2, 3, as with skin plucked off and broken bones, and made ready for the caldron. The wicked op- pressors of Israel have done the like in the time of the psalmist. In figurative language, pots full of flesh have been placed on a fire of thorns (comp. Eccles. vii. 6), or, more strictly, of 'atad or buck- thorn, which, as jotham hints (Judg. ix. 15), readily takes fire, though the flame may not last (cxviii. 12). The cook stands by, watching to see on the pots the effect of the burning thorns. But One above ' quenches the violence of the fire' (Heb. xi. 34), or rather, before the sparks of flame can affect the still raw flesh, a tempest sweeps the man away. It is, how- ever, no common whirlwind, but the divine wrath which falls, like a burning simoom (xi. 6), upon Jeho- vah's enemy; comp. Ixxxiii. iSiJob xxvii. 21. Meantime, what of the tormented righteous? The key to line 3 is a passage in Ezekiel (xi. 7), where the Jews in Jerusalem are warned that they are not safe even in the 'caldron' of misery (be- sieged Jerusalem), but shall be fetched out thence to suffer the punishment of their bloody deeds. So, by a different application of the figure, the psalmist declares (taking V. 10 with V. II) that the righteous, released from their 'caldron' of persecution, shall look with satis- faction on the divine vengeance. The various attempts to explain the received text are failures. How can the sweeping away of pot, flesh, and fuel be a figure for the sudden ruin of the plans of the wicked? And how too can the PSALM LVIII. 163 psalmist leave the fate of the wicked man himself out of his de- scription ? Hengstenberg sees the force of the latter objection, and therefore renders ' shall sweep him away.' But the text as it stands will not allow this. We might of course emend ' your pots ' and ' your flesh ' into ' his pots ' and ' his flesh ; ' but it is really less arbitrary to admit at once the muti- lation and corruption of the text, and adopt Bickell's very natural way of remedying these (see crit. note). For the figure of the boiling caldron, comp. i Pet. iv. 12, 1-3 cV u^tv ffupoxret. 1 1 The righteous probably are the Israelites as a nation (cf on v. 4) ; the antithesis reminds us of Ixvili. 3, 4 (see note). Other nations 'walk in the name of their (un- righteous) gods' (Mic. iv. 5), but Israel, walking in the name of Jehovah, 'follows after a law of righteousness ' (Rom. ix. 3 1 ). Power, knowledge, art, may be their ideals ; but Israel's is righteousness ; hence his family name is Jeshurun 'the upright.' We must perhaps admit that the use of such a phrase im- plies a consciousness of innocence such as the Israelites did not possess in the Babylonian, but did possess in the Maccabean period. Tbatbe bas seen veni^eance. Dante may comment on this — O Signer mio, quando sar6 io lieto A veder la vendetta, che nascosa Fa dolce I'ira tua nel tuo segreto ? Purg. XX. 94-96. — ^^-He sball wasb bis feet. Cf Ixviii. 24. 12 The confession of the rest of mankind that, in spite of the doubts which have so long harassed them C^K ' but surely ; ' see on Ixxiii. I, 18), ' it is well with the righteous, for the fruit of their doings do they eat' (Isa. iii. 10); or perhaps, more precisely, ' it is well with the righteous nation, Israel ' (Isa. xxvi. 2 ; comp. the congratulatory song of mankind, Isa. xxiv. 16) : and further, that the ' divine powers do really trouble themselves about men, and 'judge in the earth.' The poet doubtless intends a contrast between the 'elim iy. 2) and the ^elohim (v. 12) ; so too 'judge, 'men' l^adani) in v. 2, and 'in the earth' (w. 3) correspond to ' the same expressions in v. 12. 'Elohim with the plural (contrast Gen. i. i), because the speakers are, not merely in expression but in feeling, "^ polytheists : an explanation which may not suit all the passages in which this construction is found, but which is required by some, e.g. by I Sam. iv. 7, 8 (in v. 7 read •INa with Sept.) PSALM LIX. 1 HESE companion-psalms resemble each other, but the most important parallels to Ps. lix. are in Ps. Iv. The situation of the psalmist is obscure ; but who the most dreaded foes are, is clear enough from vv. 6, 9, 12, 14. Notice the refrains in ■z/z/. 7, 15 and 10, 18; the two former are initial refrains (see on Pss. Ixii., Ixvii., and cf Am. i. 3, 6, &c). 2 Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God, set me secure from them that assail me : 3 Deliver me from the workers of wickedness, and save me from the men of blood. 4 For lo they have long lain in wait for my soul ; 1 This is said to forestall a criticism. In expression, the authors of Pss. IviiL and Ixxxii. are polytheists, but in feeling they are monotheists. Some rags of polytheism may still cling to them, but they are working their way to a monotheism like that of the author of Pss. ciii, , civ. M 2 164 THE PSALMS fierce (invaders) attack me without any transgression or sin of mine, Jehovah. 5 Without my fault they run and take their place ; awake thou to meet me, and behold. 6 But thou, Jehovah Sabaoth, Israel's God, rouse thee to visit all the nations ; have no pity on all these wicked traitors. 7 They come evening after evening, they snarl like dogs, and go round about the city. 8 Behold, they belch out with their mouth, swords are in their lips, for ' Who hears ? ' 9 But thou, Jehovah, laughest at them, thou mockest at all the nations. 10 My strength, unto thee will I make melody, for God is my sure retreat. 1 1 My God shall meet me with his lovingkindness, God shall make me look my fill upon my spying enemies. 12 Slay them not, lest my people forget ; by thine army make them to wander, and cast them down, O Lord our shield. 13 Their mouth sins by each word of their lips, therefore let them be taken in their pride, and for the cursing and lying which they talk. 14 Make an end in wrath, make an end, that they be no more, and let them know that Elohim is ruler in Jacob, unto the ends of the earth. 1 5 And they come evening after evening, they snarl like a dog, and go round about the city. 16 They indeed wander about to devour, they murmur if they be not satisfied ; 1 7 But I will sing of thy strength, and will ring out thy lovingkindness in the morning, for thou hast been unto me a sure retreat and a refuge in the day of my trouble. 18 My strength, unto thee will I make melody, for God is my sure retreat, the God of my lovingkindness. 4-6 Observe the stress laid on was contrary to the primary law in the unprovoked aggression and on Lev. xix. 18. V. 4 a, 6 reminds us the treachery of the foe (comp. Isa. of Ivi. 7 ; comp. liv. 5. xxxiii. i) ; also on his 'fierceness,' 6 'But tkou, being what thou a quality which in fellow-Israelites art, Jehovah, Israel's God, and yet PSALM UX. ^05 also the disposer of hosts of super- natural and natural ' powers, be not like one in a deep sleep (Jer. xiv. 9, Sept.) ; succour us once for all by a general judgment upon all the nations ' (see on v. 9, and comp. on Ivi. 8). This latter phrase decides the question as to the foes spoken of; they are, primarily at least, foreigners (comp. liv. 5), and therefore enemies of Jehovah's people. The war is a religious war, and as long as these naturally hostile peoples remain there is no peace for Israel. This is why the psalmist says, ' all the nations,' and not, as some by their paraphrase show that they would rather he had said, 'all these heathenish men.' Jebovab Sabaotb. The text has ' Yahveh 'Elohlm (^ebaotk,' which Olshausen explains as a triple name of Israel's God. This latter statement goes too far ; Sa- bioth may be in process of becom- ing a personal name, but it is not altogether so ; we cannot say with Spenser {Mutability), ' May I that Sabaoth see.' The case is different from that of Astar-Kemos, a com- pound divine name of two independ- ent personal names (cf also Hadad- Rimmon). Most probably, how- ever, 'Elohim in our passage is an editorial correction which was in- tended to supersede the name Je- hovah. In Ixxx. 8, 15 the received text actually gives us the ' impos- sible form' (Bickell) 'Elohim f«- baolh ; the equally impossible form quoted above recurs in Ixxx. 5, 20, Ixxxiv. 9. The latter is specially surprising here, since directly after we read Elohe Yisrael. Comp.. on xxiv. 10. 7 Here, with a description of the recreant Israelitish enemies, a new stanza begins. Tbey come, &c. Lit., ' they keep returning at evening.' Kike dogrs. The half- wild dogs of an Eastern city, re- ferred to in xxii. 17 (note); comp. Matt. vii. 6, xix. 24, Mark x. 25. Go round about. Some infer from this expression that the psalmist's city was being besieged or blockaded. But there is no more occasion for this inference here than in Iv. 11. They seek out opportunities for disquieting and robbing the righteous {v. 16) — that is the meaning of the phrase. 8 They belcb out, viz. ' arro- gant things,' as xciv. 4. The same verb in a good sense in xix. 3, cxix. 171. Swords, &c. Cf. Iv. 22, Ivii. 5. Who hears 1 Cf x. II, 13, Ixiv. 6, Ixxiii. 11, xciv. 7. 9 Iiaugtaest at them, for they have become ' aliens from the com- monwealth of Israel,' and are in- fected with the folly of 'all the nations.' Comp. xxxvii. 13, and still more ii. 4, the context of which refers to a similar madness on the part of 'the nations.' Does the psalmist regard the present cala- mities of Israel as the first stage in that great uprising of the heathen world so vividly describedinjoeliii.? 12 Slay them not, &c. We need not attempt to reconcile this with V. 14 ; th« inconsistency is due to the psalmist's mental agita- tion (comp. on Ixxxiii. 16). His first thought is that by lingering on in life for awhile the wicked may be more edifying monuments of the divine anger. For a parallel see Ex. ix. 16, ' But in very deed for this cause have I kept thee alive, to show in thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.' By thine army. So Hitzig and Riehm, Delitzsch more than half assenting. The 'army' is the heavenly host, the ' heroes ' (gib- borim ; see on ciii. 20) whom Jeho- vah Sabdoth will summon to the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel iv. 11). The ungodly heathen nations are to become vagabonds, and beg their bread (see cix. 10, Heb.), chased, like the Wandering Jew, by invisi- ble angels (comp. xxxv. 5, 6). 13 Curslngr. Ewald, as also in X. 7, ' perjury ; ' but this is more allowable as exegesis than as trans- lation. 1 The reader will pardon this anachronism ; such logical distinctions are no part of the psalmist's intellectual world. But see on Ps. ciii. 20, 21. 1 66 THE PSALMS 14 See on 7/. 12. The ungodly, 16, 17 An antithesis between in perishing, are to acknowledge the insatiable greed of the traitorous that Jehovah, Israel's God, is the Israelites (?) and the praiseful ruler of the world. religious trust of the psalmist. PSALM LX. 1 SRAEL has but now sustained a grievous defeat in an expedition against Edom, and in Israel's name the psalmist implores deliverance and an answer of peace. The answer comes ; but the psalmist's joy is not un- troubled by doubt, and the contrast between the third stanza and the second is so great that one is tempted to suppose vv. 8-10 to be a quota- tion subsequently added from an older psalm. In truth, if these verses really contain a special revelation to the psalmist, how can we account for his relapse into despondency {vv. 7-14 are repeated in Ps. cviii.) ? 3 Elohim, thou hast cast us off and scattered us, thou hast been angry, O vouchsafe to restore us ! 4 Thou hast made the land to quake ; thou hast cleft it ; heal the breaches thereof, for it totters. 5 Thou hast caused thy people to see hard things ; thou hast made us to drink the wine of reeling. 6 Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, (only) that they may flee before the bow. 7 That thy beloved ones may be delivered, save with thy right hand, and answer us. 8 God has promised by his holiness ; let me triumph (therein) ; I, shall divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. 9 Mine shall be Gilead and mine Manasseh, Ephraim also the defence of my head ; Judah my staff" of command : 10 Moab shall be, my washpot, over Edom shall I cast out my shoe : over Philistia shall I break into shouting. 1 1 Who will bring me into the entrenched city ? who can lead me into Edom ? 12 Surely thou, O God, hast cast us off, and goest not forth, O God, with our armies. 13 O give us help from trouble, for vain is man's deliverance. 14 Through God we shall do valiantly, and it is he that shall tread down our foes. 4, 5 To express the seventy of a people and its land (see on Hos. the blow, the poet says that land ii. 3). Torn from its native soil, and people have both sufifered. and therefore ■ (as it seemed) from This is one among many evidences itsgod,aprimitivenation 'collapsed' in the O.T. of the primitive senti- entirely ; a crushing defeat like the ment of the intimate union between present seemed the prelude of such PSALM LX. 167 a wreck, the effects of which the poet naturally extended to the land for which he had some of the feel- ings of a lover. Comp. 4 b with Isa. iii. 6, 7, xxxt*I3. 5 Wine of reeling-. Another psalmist has finely developed this figure (Ixxv. 9), which indeed be- came a commonplace of the pro- phets (see Isa. li. 17, Jer. XXV. 15-17, xlix. 12, Ezek. xxiii. 32-34, and comp. Jer. li. 7, Zech. xii. 2). 6 We have no right to convert this verse into a suggestion of com- fort, ' Thou hast given a banner for the fugitives to rally round and re- new the fight' (this requires too much to be supplied). The only natural view is that which sees in w. 6 a continuation of the de- scription of calamity in v. 5. Un- fortunately V. i)b '\xi the received text obstinately refuses to harmonise with this view. Hence Delitzsch (somewhat as Calvin) connects v. 6 with V. 7, and explains, ' Since thou hast given thy people a banner, that we may lift ourselves up banner- wise because of the truth, therefore help, in order that thy beloved ones may be delivered.' This connexion might be accepted, in spite of the fact that V. 7 begins the extract in Ps. cviii., if it pointed the way to even a plausible interpretation of V. lb; but can it be said to have done so? Can a poet have ex- pressed himself as Del. supposes the psalmist to have done ? Be- sides, even if ' to lift oneself up ' be an admissible rendering of Phithno- ses (see Zech. ix. 16), ' because of (i.e. to further the interests of) the truth' is not a possible rendering of the complementary words. In short, the only satisfactory view is that of Ewald, who sees in the Hebrew oi v. 6 b a characteristic wordplay (comp. Ivi. 9). 'Thou gavest us indeed a banner, when we took the field for the true reli- gion ; but what a banner ! Far from being a rallying-point for God's warriors, it seemed as if only in- tended to scatter us m flight.' There is one deficiency, however, in Ewald's comment, viz. that he does not propose to insert '^IS at the beginning of line 3, though the in- sertion improves the rhythm and is indispensable for the sense. 7 Answer us, viz. by ' terrible acts of righteousness' (Ixv. 6), at least if w. 8-10 were a later addi- tion. If, however, these verses were placed where they now stand by the psalmist himself, they may be taken as the desired ' answer ' to prayer. That they contain the substance of a prophecy, is no objection ; pro- phetic revelation is in Jer. xxxiii. re- presented as an answer to prayer. 8-10 Does this strophe contain the very words of a divine oracle, or is it merely a picturesque elabo- ration of its substance ? In the for- mer case, it is Jehovah who says, ' Let me triumph, dividing She- chem,' &c.; ' in the latter, some Is- raelitish general encourages himself by this divine word of promise. A passage like Isa. xhi. 13 (where 'he shall shout ' — the same verb as in V. lo, only Hifil — is said of Jehovah, who is compared to a ' man of war') may make us hesitate to pronounce the former view impossible. Still, the extremely realistic details in- cline one to prefer the latter. De- litzsch thinks that the substratum is the promise of Nathan (2 Sam. vii. 9, &c.), which is similarly recast or adapted as the case may be in Pss. ii., Ixxxix. Cod bas promised (comp. the use of the verb in Ixxxvii. 3, Deut. vi. 3, xii. 20, xix. 8). Or (if God be the speaker in the follow- ing verses), ' God has sworn ' (lit., 'hath spoken'). By his holi- ness (comp. Ixxxix. 36, Am. iv. 2). The oath or promise is inviolable like Jehovah's majesty. Comp. cv. 42, ' his holy promise (lit, ' word '). Divide . . . mete out. Al- luding to the original distribution of Canaan (see Joshua). sue- cbem . . . Sucootli. The former represents the west, the latter the ' So Ewald, who however makes ' let me triumph ' a parenthetic exclamation of the psalmist. i68 THE PSALMS east side of the Jordan. There were, it seems, other Succoths, but the ' valley ' in which this Succoth lay was, we may infer, specially populous (Josh. xiii. 27) and fruitful (see on Ixv. 14). So too in a high degree was the district of Shechem. Both places are mentioned together in a narrative known perhaps to the psalmist (Gen. xxxiii. 17, 18, R.V.), according to which Jacob-Israel sojourned at Succoth (' Deir Ula') on his way to ' the city of Shechem.' 9 Gilead and Manasseh, E- Jjhraim and Judah are again geo- graphically representative. My staff of command. Alluding to the royal dignity of Judah (see Gen. xlix. 10). 10 Ewald (see Salomonische Schf iften, p. 427,' Zusatze') strangely enough sees here a description of the successive preparations of the royal warrior for repose. But the language does but represent figura- tively the subjugation of Israel's most troublesome neighbours — that of Moab is described with a con- tumely reminding us of Isa. XXV. 10. Cast out my sboe, on the other hand, is probably a legal symbol for taking ' seisin ' of a piece of land. In Ruth iv. 7 (cf Deut. XXV. 9) the drawing off the shoe is a form which expresses giving up a right ; a similar Arabic phrase sig- nifies divorce (see Delitzsch). That there is no example of a phrase like the psalmist's elsewhere in the O.T., may be ascribed to accident. But, even without this supposition, a poet might easily coin such a figure on the analogy of a familiar legal form. I do not venture to seek further light from Mr. McLennan's theories. Philistia is mentioned last as most westerly ; she loved to taunt Israel of old (comp. 2 Sam. i. 20), now she is to be taunted her- self Sball I break into, &c. So cviii. 9 reads. The text (which 1 only mean to paraphrase) reads, when rightly pointed, ' is my shout- ing.' The received text, however, gives a different colour to the line, ' Philistia, triumph thou because of me ' (as anew subject), or, ironically, ' triumph, if thou canst ; ' or, per- haps, ' cry aloud for pain because of me ' (cf Isa. xv. 4, Heb.) 1 1-14 ' But who, oh ! who, will conduct my champion-warriors through the strong entrenchments of the Edomitish city?' {v. 11), i.e. probably, the rock-city Sela ; cf. 2 Kings xiv. 7. The psalmist (who speaks, as in vv. 3-7, for Israel) longs for a divine guide. But, alas ! Jehovah has ' surely cast us off and goeth not forth,' &c. {v. 12). Surely tbou, &c. Hitzig plausibly, ' Who but thou, O God, who hast (hitherto) cast us off?' &c. This facilitates the defence of the unity of feeling and of composition, but is not the most natural construction of the Hebrews. In v. 3 the com- plaint ' thou hast cast off' refers to time present, and so in the parallel passage xliv. 10. The speaker yearns for reconciliation with God, and through prayer rises out of his depression into triumphant faith {vv. 13, 14). PSALM LXI. X RAYERS of a pious Israelite afar (as it seems) from the Holy Land. Must he be a king because of w. 9 ? At any rate, the petition for the king {v. 7) connects this psalm with Ixiii. 2 Hear my cry, Elohim, attend unto my prayer. 3 From the utmost part of the earth I call unto thee with fainting heart ; lead me upon the rock that is too high for me. PSALM LXI. 169 4 For thou hast been a refuge to me, a strong tower against the enemy. 5 Let me be a guest in thy pavihon perpetually, let me take refuge in the hiding-place of thy wings. 6 For thou, O God, hast hearkened to my vows, thou hast granted the request of those that fear thy name. 7 Mayest thou prolong the king's life, may his years be for generations on generations. 8 May he sit before God for ever ; appoint (thy) lovingkindness and truthfulness to guard him. 9 So will I make melody unto thy name for ever, that I may perform my vows day by day. 2 iHy cry. Heb. rinndtht, 'my piercing cry' (see xvii. i, and note on V. 11). 3 Fromtbeutmost part of tlie earth. The natural exaggeration of one parted from all that his soul counts most dear. Whether we are to explain the phrase of the land beyond Jordan, whither David for instance betook himself at a great moment of his life, or of some more distant region (the speaker being supposed to belong to the great Diaspora), is disputed. The ana- logy of Ps. xlii. (if interpreted rightly above) seems, however, to point to the former view (the con- nexion with David being of course left uncertain). To one who mourns such spiritual privations as the psalmist, the ' end of the land ' is virtually the ' end of the earth ; ' such is the power of feeling some- times to exaggerate, sometimes to extenuate difficulties. Comp. on Ixiii. 2 c. lead me apon the rock, &c. All safe retreats seem to be on eminences too far off for him to reach and too high for him to climb. 4 For thou hast been, &c. ' Thou hast been true to thy cove- nant-purpose of love, true to thy sacred name, ' I am ' — or ' I will be ' (viz. whatever Israel my people needs), Ex. iii. 14.' 5 The psalmist shares the long- ing of his fellow-believer in xv. i, but piles another big word on the phrase — perpetually (more lite- rally, ' for seons ' i^dlamim ^). 6 According to Ewald, a verse has dropped out after v. 5, express- ing the psalmist's desire to praise God in His temple, upon which would follow, ' that thou, O God hast,' &c. ; comp. liv. 8, 9. This however, seems unnecessary. V. 6 is a preface to vv. 7, 8 ; w. 9 is their supplement. The tenses are prophetic perfects (cf xx. 7) ; the psalmist confidently anticipates the fulfilment of his prayers. Vows and prayers go together in z/. 6 ; praise, as the fulfilment of the vows, is the theme of v. 9. Midway come specimens of the ' requests ' or ' petitions ' of ' those that fear Thy name' (comp. xxi. 4, note). The re- ceived text has, not ' request,' but ' heritage ' — i.e. perhaps the land of Israel, which may have been re- cently delivered from a dreaded foe. 7, 8 a See on xxi. 5. The prayer va. i, b reminds us of xl. 12. The verb rendered ' appoint ' is used of God's providential appointments in Jon. ii. I (i. 17), iv. 6, 7, 8. ' Comp. Dr. Robertson Smith, British and Foreign Evangelical Review, Jan. 1876, p. 161. '' The plural of •olam is rare in the Psalter. In Ixxvii. 6 it signifies ancient times, in cxliii. 13 the whole course of the world's existence. 170 THE PSALMS PSALM LXII. OOME pious Israelite of high rank (see v. 5) is in imminent danger from mahgnant opponents, and encourages himself and his companions to hold fast to their faith. The last four distichs are in a different key, and seem to claim prophetic inspiration (see on v. 12). Observe two peculiarities of this psalm, the six times repeated particle 'HS (see on v. 2), and the refrains at the beginnmg of the first and second strophes (comp. on Pss. lix., Ixvii.) There are some resemblances to Pss. iv. and xxxix. 2 Be all at rest, my soul, toward Elohim ; from him comes my salvation. 3 He alone is my rock and ray salvation, my sure retreat — I cannot be shaken. 4 How long will ye be frantic against a man ? will ye be dashing in pieces all of you — as it were a toppling wall, a fence pushed in ? 5 They only consult how to thrust him from his dignity ; they delight in lies ; they each of them bless with the mouth, but inwardly they curse. 6 Be all at rest, my soul, toward Elohim, for my expectation is from him. 7 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my sure retreat — I cannot be shaken. 8 Upon God rests my salvation and my honour ; the rock of my stronghold and my refuge are — God. 9 Trust ye in him, O assembly of the people ; pour out your heart before him ; God is a refuge for us. 10 Simply vanity are men of low degree, the lordly are (simply) a lie ; being weighed in the balances, they are altogether as a breath. 1 1 Trust not in perverseness, neither become vain by crookedness : if riches shoot up (as a plant), give no heed thereto. 1 2 God hath spoken once ; twice have I heard this ; that strength belongs unto God : 15 Thine, too, Jehovah, is lovingkindness, for thou renderest unto every man according to his work. 2 Be all at rest, &c. Hitzig's (comp. on Ixxiii. i), by no means al- ' Nur auf Gott still hoffet meine ways affects the words most closely Seele' preserves the order of the which it immediately precedes. To Hebrew, but, as this critic points render this fine phrase briefly is outinhis note, the particle 'qS, which difiicult. The sense is, 'Do no- some render 'only,' others ' surely,' thing but look trustfully to Jeho- and others even ' nevertheless ' vah ; " stillness ' is the root-idea ot PSALM LXII. 171 the verb, a ' stillness ' which implies not merely the cessation of that moaning of which another psalmist speaks (xlii. 6, &c.), but also of use- less endeavours to bring one's own feet out of the net (xxv. 1 5). For the idea, comp. Lam. iii. 26 ; for the corrected reading, see crit. note. 4 Against a man. Observe that here, as in Psalm iv., it is on the ground of humanity, not of a common citizenship in Israel, that the speaker appeals to his enemies. 5 They only consult, &c. There is a fine though subtle con- nexion with vv. 3, 7. Only God can be my helper, for my enemies are only considering how to destroy me. A single humane thought on their part would have been to me a secret ally ; but I am quite alone, or in the midst of friends who are paralysed by despair (see on v. 9). The mention of the psalmist's en- dangered ' dignity,' and of the de- lighting of his foes in falsehood, reminds us of iv. 3. For the de- scription which follows comp. xii. 3, xxviii. 3, Iv. 22. 9 This verse forms a transition to the last strophe. The speaker forgets his ' dignity,' and speaks to his fellow-believers, whose dangers, and whose high hopes, he shares. Or rather, he puts more value on the permanent functions of a wise man and a teacher than on the accidental dignity of leadership thrust upon him by the exigencies of the times. In rendering O as- sembly of the people I follow Sept. (see crit. note). 10, II Here the psalmist be- comes didactic. The connexion, however, is not at first sight clear. Does this verse contain the encou- raging thought that the numerous band of the enemies of Israel has but. an apparent existence, all men being naturally but 'vanity' (or, 'a breath') and 'a lie' (both names given to the idol-gods, Jer. ii. 5, Am. ii. 5) ? A comparison of xxxix. 6, 7 suggests a safer view. There the connexion is, that pious Israel- ites are tempted by the oppression which they suffer from the rich and prosperous ungodly to covet the ' mammon of unrighteousness.' To meet this temptation, the psalmist is led through a fierce conflict to the conviction that piling up trea- sure is irrational, because man has but a short and, as it were, phantom existence. We see from iv. 7, 8 that in very similar circumstances a psalmist had to warn his friends against thinking too much of ma- terial blessings. II For perverseness and crookedness the text has ' oppres- sion ' and ' robbery ' (which in fact are parallel terms in Ezek. xxii. 29). But what sense does this give ? Why should the psalmist's com- panions in misfortune be exhorted not to centre their trust on such objects ? On the other hand we cannot suppose a sudden transition to the hostile party, because of the evident connexion of this verse with V. 10. Besides, how little would the enemy have minded a gentle caution not to trust in their high- handed pohcy of injustice ! The correction of the text adopted is in harmony with the didactic tinge of this part of the psalm. The wise man whose work introduces the ' proverbs of Solomon ' describes those who are the enemies of true wisdom as men who ' are perverse in their paths and crooked in their ways' (Prov. ii. 22)— a passage which seems to me more completely parallel than Isa. xxx. 12 (following the Sept. with Bishop Lowth), where ' perverseness ' and ' crook- edness' have perhaps a more special reference to false statecraft. In our psalm it is not worldly poli- ticians but average Israelites who are addressed — those to whom an- other psalmist addresses the warn- ing, ' O lovers of Jehovah, hate ye that which is evil' (xcvii. 10). ' Trust in Jehovah ' means, not merely belonging to the ' assembly of the people' (w. 9), but 'doing that which is good ' (xxxvii. 3), and to 'be at rest towards Jehovah' is incompatible with ' being incensed ' at the prosperity of the unjust, an irritation which 'would only lead 172 THE PSALMS to evil-doing ' (xxxvii. 7, 8). The great teacher, therefore, who speaks here, warns the ' assembly ' against practically transferring their ' trust ' from Jehovah to a course of action which may be lucrative but which He abhors. Ueitber become vain. He said before that men of high and low degree were equally vanity ; but now he warns his hearers not to ' become vain.' Why is this ? Because to the believer Jehovah ' makes known the path of (true) life ' (xvi. 12) ; ' vanity of vanities ' was not said of life in God, which is the only real life to the psalmists. Comp. Jer. ii. 5, ' (your fathers) walked after that which is vanity and became vain ' (so 2 Kings xvii. 15). If rictaes shoot up. Obviously he means the riches of the ungodly, which the faithful are warned not to gaze at, lest, like wine (Prov. xxiii. 31), the glittering heaps should fascinate them. The figure in the verb is pecuhar ; Sept. substitutes a more common one, nXovTos €av per; (cf. Milton's ' flow- ing wealth '). ' Shoot up ' perhaps involves an allusion to usury, two of the names for which mean pro- perly multiplication ijnarblth, tar- bith). Comp. the somewhat differ- ent meaning in xlix. 17. 12, 13 God hatb spoken once. ' Once ' and ' twice ' in parallel clauses mean ' again and again ' (Job xxxiii. 14, xl. 5). Others ren- der, ' One thing has God spoken ; these two have I heard.' The writer claims for himself an assured know- ledge of certain fundamental truths produced by the divine Spirit. A similar claim is made by another psalmist (Ixxxv. 9). Both writers do but follow the example of the 'wise men' (see Job iv. 16, and comp. Job and Solomon, pp. 43 186), one of whom even maintains that divine revelations are vouch- safed to all who are willing to re- ceive them (Jobxxxiii. 14-16; comp. Joel ii. 28, 29). On the ground ot this claim the writer once more pro- claims the old and ever-precious truth that absolute power belongs only to God, but supplements it directly by a less generally re- cognised truth that the God who reveals Himself in Israel is also essentially kind, that instead of crushing frail man for his 'lapses' (xix. 12) He will reward him ac- cording to his work, i.e. in propor^ tion to his honest endeavours to serve God. ' Lovingkindness ' is that gracious quality which knits together the members of a commu- nity and the parties to a covenant ; it is therefore not inconsistent with 'justice ;' indeed, it is one form ot justice. S.uch a quahty in its high; est degree alone can unravel the tangled skein of human responsi- bility, and determine how much in each human life is the ' work' of the man, and how much that of other members of the community. There- fore it is that we read in v. 13, ' Thine, Jehovah, is lovingkindness.' The psalmists tend to. resolve mo- rality into love, as Plato into justice. PSALM LXIIL riElMWEH nach dem Dienst Gottes' (Julius Hammer). The circum- stances described remind us partly of Ps. Ixi.; comp. also Pss. xlii., xliii. 2 Jehovah, thou art my God ; earnestly do I seek thee ; my soul thirsts for thee, my flesh pines for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is ; 3 In such wise do I long for thee, in the sanctuary to behold thy power and glory. 4 For thy lovingkindness is better than hfe itself j (therefore) my lips shall praise thee. PSALM LXIII. 173 5 So will I bless thee while I live, and lift up my hands in thy name. 6 My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and with mirthful lips doth my mouth sing praise. 7 When I call thee to mind upon my bed, in the night watches do I meditate upon thee. 8 For thou hast been my help, and in the shadow of thy wings can I shout for joy, 9 My soul clings fast after thee : thy right hand upholds me. 10 As for them, they seek my soul to destroy it : they shall enter into the nether world. 1 1 They shall be given up into the grasp of the sword ; they shall be the portion of jackals. 12 But the king shall rejoice in Elohim ; everyone that swears by him shall glory : for the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. 2 The psalmist's whole nature (see on xvi. 9) longs for the sanc- tuary ; comp. Ixxxiv. 3, and for the figure of thirsting, xlii. 2. The word rendered 'pines' occurs here only (Symm., IfieipeTai). In a dry and tbirsty land, &c. It is tempt- ing to render (with Pesh.) ' as a dry and thirsty land ' (properly ' in the the manner of . .; ' comp. xxxvii. 20). The image produced is a fine one, and this view has the support of cxliii. 6 b, which is clearly an imi- tation of our passage. But the later psalmist was not bound to copy the exact phrase of his original, and indeed began the line in a way which necessitated continuing ' like a thirsty land.' On the other hand, the ordinary rendering in Ixiii. 2 seems favoured by a somewhat parallel passage in a cognate psalm (see Ixi. 3). The region in which the psalmist is seems to him at the very end of the world, seems to him dry and barren, because of his spiritual privations. It is just the opposite of Ixxxiv. 7, where the psalmist probably means that hot, parched valleys appear full of deli- cious fountains to those who have a joyous trust in Jehovah. 3 In sucli wise, i.e. with such eager longing. Bo I long- for tbee. Or, ' have I longed for thee,' viz. in former times when I had the privilege of worship in the sanc- tuary. But there is no reason for explaining the time-reference otherwise than in v. 2, and the analogy of xlii. 3 pleads strongly for the view that the poet here ex- presses bitter regret at his absence from the temple. The text-reading is rendered, ' So have I gazed at thee ; ' against which, see crit. note. In tbe sanctuary. Because there, in happier days, ' service high and anthem clear ' could ' bring all heav'n before mine eyes.' To bebold, i.e. to realise (xxvii. 4). The temple being the citadel and throne of the Most High. 4 Thus far we are reminded of Pss. xhi., xliii. But here the resem- blance ceases. In that psalm it is only by a painful effort that the hope is formed of praising God at some future day ; but here the lips of the psalmist are opened at once for praise. How is this? Evidently this poet has had a deeper experi- ence than the other. Severed though he is from the material 174 THE PSALMS sanctuary, his heart has become a temple of praise. Much as he loves the temple, he knows that God's name is not confined to the ' holy mount,' and that He can be wor- shipped even in a dry land ; he has solved the enigma of xxvii. 4. He knows that God's lovingkindness is not of fitful operation, but follows him wherever he goes (xxiii. 7), and in this knowledge his heart becomes a temple of praise. He forgets all that is painful in his situation, and remembers only what God is per- manently and essentially. Hence he continues, Tot thy lovlngrkind- ness, &c. God's ' power and glory ' are at the disposal of His ' loving- kindness.' It is only or chiefly to intensify the sense of God's loving- kindness, which is ' better than life itself (see on xvii. 14), that the psalmist longs so much to see His power and glory in the sanctuary. But he already has in no slight degree that happy consciousness, and so V. 4 a becomes the justifica- tion of V. 4 d, and the psalm takes a new turn. We can now under- stand the transition from the me- lancholy of the first to the ecstatic joy of the second stanza. 5 So will I bless thee, i.e. in thankful recognition of Thy love. (' So ' = accordingly, as Ixi. 9.) While I live. Lit., ' in my life- time.' Lagarde would emend this into ' in a dry land.' It is true that in V. 4 a the psalmist seems to be speaking in the spirit of R. Baxter ; Lord, it belongs not to my care Whether I die or live There is an inconsistency in con- tinuing ' in my lifetime ;' but such inconsistencies are frequent in the psalms, and show the sincerity of the authors. 6 As with marrow and fat- ness. There was perhaps a strong sensualism in the idea of being a ' guest of God' (at sacrificial feasts) formed by the Phoenicians (comp. on V. 5) ; ' marrow and rich altar- steam' (Keble) was something to be desired for its own sake. But to the psalmists, as well as to the author of Isa. xxv. 6, the most ex- quisite delights were not those of the lower man, though described in sensuous language. 10 Like Savonarola, and like the Scotch Covenanters, the psalm- ist has no sense of any incongruity between deeply spiritual musings and vehement denunciations of his enemies. His enemies are those who would frustrate God's purposes for Israel. The nether world. See Ixxxvi. 13 (note), Ixxxviii. 7. 12 a This one line devoted to the king is strange (contrast Ixi. 7, 8). In d, by him certainly means ' by Jehovah' (Ixiv. 11). PSALM LXIV. V RESH complaints and anticipations of a great turn of events— these latter expressed in the tone of prophecy (see on vv. 8-10). 2 Hear my voice, Elohim, in my complaint : guard my life from fear of the enemy. 3 Hide me from the conspiracy of the ungodly, from the throng of them that work wickedness ; 4 Who have whet their tongue like a sword, and stretched their arrow — a bitter speech, 5 That they may shoot in their hiding-places at the blameless, suddenly shoot at him, and not be afraid. 6 They fix their choice upon an evil purpose, PSALM LXIV. 175 they discourse of hiding snares, they ask who looks at them. 7 They think out acts of injustice, [and say,] ' We have accomphshed a well thought out thing,' and the inward part of each one [is unsearchable], and the heart [of every one] is deep. 8 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow ; suddenly shall they be wounded. rt * ■*■ *■ * ^F so that all that look upon them shall shake the head ; 10 And all men shall fear and shall declare God's work, and shall understand his operation. 1 1 The righteous shall rejoice in Jehovah, and take refuge in him, and all the upright in heart shall glory. 4, 5 Comp. Iv. 22, Ivii. 5, lix. 8, Punishment, the effect, is already and(forw. 5)x. 8,lv. 2o(end). At latent in sin, the cause. Comp. the blameless. (Heb. tam.) An- xciv. 22, 23. other rendering is possible. Jacob 9 a Can the text be correct? the tent-dweller is called tani, in The easiest rendering is, ' So shall distinction from Esau the roving they against whom their tongue hunter (Gen. xxv. 27). ' Blameless ' was make them to stumble,' but the in the sense of ' honest' this cannot mention of human instruments of mean (see Ewald, History, i. 352) ; punishment is not in harmony with 'friendly' is not unsuitable, and the the context. The only alternative same rendering is admissible here. is, ' So they shall be made to On the possible Arabic affinities of stumble, their own tongue [i.e. the tam, see Delitzsch on Job i. i. fate which they imprecated upon 7 The words supplied in others] coming upon them ; ' but brackets are required either for this is harsh in the extreme. The sense or to produce symmetry. middle word in the Hebrew may With "] c,d comp. Jer. xvii. 9, 10. be corrupt ; we might correct, ' So 8-10 But Cod Bballslioot, &c. shall the mischief of their own Lit., ' And (or, so) God hath shot at tongue bring them to ruin ' (comp. them,' and so on. That which is cxl. 10 15), but this is not quite satis- here described is historically future, factory. Comp. 9 b with Hi. 8. but past in the language of faith. 11 Comp. Iviii. ii, Ixiii. 12. PSALM LXV. 1\ SONG of praise, composed in the spring, when the ' pastures were already green, the ' meadows ' clothed with flocks, and the ' valleys ' covered with swelling com. Not long before, a great national deliverance had probably occurred, but this is not directly mentioned. The most pro- minent blessings in the psalmist's mind are the early and the latter rain. 2 Meet for thee, Elohim, is praise in Zion, and unto thee let the vow be performed. 3 O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee may all flesh come. 176 THE PSALMS 4 Manifold guilt is too strong for me : our transgressions — vouchsafe to cancel them ! 5 Happy is he whom thou choosest and causest to approach, that he may abide in thy courts : fain would we have our fill of the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. 6 In terrible acts of righteousness dost thou answer us, O God of our salvation ; thou confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of the regions afar off : 7 Who establishes the mountains by his force, being girded with might : 8 Who hushes the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their billows, and the tumult of the peoples ; 9 So that upon those who dwell at the ends comes fear at thy signs, the sources of morning and evening thou fillest with ringing cries. 10 Thou hast visited the land and given her abundance, greatly enriching her ; with God's full river thou didst prepare their corn. 1 1 For right well dost thou prepare her, drenching her furrows, smoothing down her ridges, softening her with showers, blessing all that springs of her 2 Thou hast crowned the year of thy goodness, and thy chariot-tracks drop with richness, 1 3 The pastures of the wilderness drop (therewith), and the hills are girt with dancing joy. T4 The meadows are clothed with flocks, and the valleys are covered with corn ; they shout for joy ; yea, they sing. 2, 3 Observe how closely prayer tion) is praise ;' or, ' . . is resignation and praise are connected. Men (and) praise.' The former render- are coming to see that these are the ing gives a fine but an unbiblical truest sacrifices (see on 1. 14, 15), sense; in the latter, 'resignation' and since 'prayer' includes 'prais;' seems out ofplace(rfa»2iy^a/4 should (see on xlii. 9, Acts xvi. 25) the precede not accompany praise ; see temple may be called by a kindred Ps. Ixii.) in zion. See note on writer ' a house of prayer for all next verse (end). peoples ' (Isa. Ivi. 7). Comp. on 3 May all flesb come. An Ixxxiv. 5. Meet for tbee. So aspiration after the time of which Ewald, Hitzig (formerly), Gratz, Isaiah prophesied in ii. 2, 3 ; comp. and Bickell (with Sept.) ; comp. Jer. xvi. 19, Isa. Ixvi. 23, Ps. xxii. xxxiii. I, and see crit. note. The 28, Ixxxvi. 9. The answers to text has, ' Unto thee (or, towards prayer (i.e. supplication) of which thee) silence (or, expectant resigna- Israel is abundantly conscious fill PSALM LXV. 177 the psalmist with a longing that all mankind may have recourse to the same divine Friend. That such a longing is in his mind we can see from the second part of v. 6 (comp. also V. 9). We have therefore no occasion to limit the reference of 'all flesh' to the people of Israel (with Ewald and Hitzig). We might, however, with most critics, render ' doth all flesh come,' or inter- pret ' may come ' in this sense. The most illuminated minds of Israel were in fact so absorbed in the pro- phetic ideas that they now and then treat spiritual germs as if full-grown plants, and idealize the religious con- dition of the world (see especially Mai. i. II, 'my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered unto my name and a pure offering"). Inthis case, what is the connexion of this verse with v. 2? Surely this — that though God is the general Father, yet in a special sense he is the Father of Israel (c. 3 ; comp. v. i), and that though 'all flesh' can everywhere approach God, yet there are some whom He takes by the hand and causes to draw specially near to Him in Zion. As Tholuck boldly expounds, ' All prayers, even those which men direct to fictitious deities, are known to the true God ;' and yet truly spiritual sacrifices ' the Lord receives in Zion as no- where else upon earth.' 4 Manifold guilt. Lit., ' mat- ters of guilts.' The colourless word ' matters ' seems chosen designedly. There is an emphasis on the plural form — the two plural nouns to- gether strongly mark the variety of the sins spoken of; comp. the solemn repetition of ' all ' in Lev. xvi. 21. The same idiom occurs in cv. 27, cxlv. 5. The psalmist is op- pressed by his representative cha- racter. He speaks for the nation, and the national sins in their mani- foldness and separate individuality weigh down his spirit : he knows that neither he nor the nation nor (really) the high priest can atone for them. But though this is the sad truth {v. 4 is virtually a hypo- thetical sentence), he can ask the God who answers prayer to cancel them, and with simple faith he passes into another strain. 5 To whom does this iiaKapuriios refer ? To the ' house of Levi,' or to the whole 'house of Israel' (cxxxv. 19, 20) ? The expressions in the first line may seem to suggest the former (comp. Num. xvi. 5, xviii. 22, Deut. xxi. 5). But the un- priestly tone of v. 2 and v. 4 favours the view that the church-nation of Israel is meant, which is described in Ex. xix. 6 as ideally a ' kingdom of priests and a holy nation ' (comp. Ixxiii. i). By the ' temple ' and its ' courts ' the psalmist means (see on xxvii. 4), not merely the temple ' in Zion' {v. 2), but also that spiritual temple of which the psalmist has conceived the idea while using to the full the means of grace provided for him in the visible sanctuary. On the other hand, by ' the good- ness ' (i.e. the good things) of God's house he cannot mean in any de- gree the meats of the sacrificial feasts ; he refers to the blessings common to all the true Israel, as well those of the material as those of the spiritual order. Comp. xxxvi. 9, Ixiii. 6. 6 Here the special thanksgiving begins. Again and again, when Israel 'cries unto Jehovah in his distress' (cvii. 13), He answers him in acts not less terrible than right- eous (note the double accusative). For terrible, we might substitute 'fearful-glorious;' for, as Dathe re- marks, the phrase describes those deeds at which the ungodly are affrighted, but' for which the godly, whose good they promote, give praise to God. See on cxxxix. 14. Of (lit., in = in accordance with) righteousness. God must be faithful to his acknowledged principles, which include interposi- tion for his covenant-people (comp. ' See Kuenen, Hibbert Lectures for 1882, p. 181, and cf. my art. ' The Invisible Church in Hebrew Prophecy,' in Monthly Interfreter, May 1885, pp. 77-79. N 178 THE PSALMS Isa. xlii. 6, xlv. 13). Tbou confi- dence, &c. The wonderful history of Israel (such is the faith of the psalmist) has impressed, or is sure to impress, the nations outside first with fear {v. 9) and then with con- fidence (cf. xl. 5). The regrions afar off. The phrase occurs in Isa. Ixv. 19; cf also Isa. xxxiii. 13. The text-reading is, ' and (of) the sea of those who are afar off.' 7, S The God of nature and the God of history are one. There may be also a secondary symbolic reference, the mountains suggesting the colossal power (cf Isa. xli. 15), and the seas the restless character of the world-empires which so often troubled Israel (xlvi. 4, 7, Isa. xvii. 12-14). 9 The reverent awe and enthu- siastic delight of spectators at the downfall of tyrannical powers. The ends, viz. of the earth {v. 6) ; in other words, east and west, the sources (lit., places of outgoing) of morniniT and evening (a zeugma which is illustrated by ' the two orients,' Korfc, xliii. 37). Morning and evening are here synonyms for the rising and the setting sun (cf introduction to Ps. xxiv.) 10, 1 1 Again a change of key. God also ' answers ' his people by the gifts of the soil. Lovingly the poet describes the ' early rain ' or first showers of autumn, without which the operations of husbandry cannot begin. Visited means ' taken notice of (see on viii. 5, xxxiii. 18, and cf Ruth i. 6). ■With God's full river, i.e. with water from heaven ; cf the Tal- mudic but doubtless also primitive Hebrew expression ' field of Baal,' i.e. 'a field nourished, not by springs, but by rain' {Isaiah,\\. 295). Schultens quotes a passage from the (Arabic) history of Tamerlane (p. 82), ' When the river of God c:omes, the river Isa ceases.' A mythic conception lies at the root of the Hebrew phrase, as the Targum already suggests by para- phrasing, 'from the cask (or cis- tern) of God which is in heaven ' (cf Job xxxviii. 37, ' the bottles of heaven ' = the clouds). The rain was naively regarded in the earliest times as coming from the heavenly ocean (see on civ. 3), which was behind the ' doors ' and ' lattices ' of heaven (Ixxviii. 23, Gen. vii. 11). The word for ' river ' {jiileg) is re- markable ; generally it means ' con- duit ' or ' canal,' but here, as in xlvi. 5, ' river ' is evidently the sense required. A divine stream, though not of the same character, being referred to, a peculiarword is chosen in both passages (see crit. note). And truly the contrast between the state of the soil before and after the early rain, might well suggest the expression, ' a stream of Elohim.' 1 1 I"or right well, &c. In the text these words close the preced- ing verse, but how awkwardly ! There is a play upon the word ken, which may signify either ' so ' or ' right ' (the latter meaning sug- gested here by the word ' prepare ' or ' righten '). ' So ' would mean ' so generously.' All that springs of her. The Heb. qimakh being almost always used collec- tively (see on Isa. iv. 2). 12-14 If the ' early rain' might be called a ' river of Elohim,' the ' latter rain ' and its consequent blessings well deserved to be called 'the crowning of the year.' The development of the grain stands almost still in January and Febru- ary ; in the months of March and April, when the ' latter rain ' falls, it has to become fully ripe. How eagerly the Israelites looked out for this precious gift, may be seen from Job xxix. 23, Prov. xvi. 15, Jer. iii. 3, Zech. X. I, as well as from the landscape-picture in vv. 12-14, which is suffused with emotion, though, remarkably enough, the emotions of grateful Man are transferred to the hills and valleys which he cultivates. The only figure indeed besides the quiet sheep is that of One who drives through the land in His chariot, not as a man of war (as Hab. iii. 12), but to scatter richness (lit., fatness) on the waiting earth (Hos. ii. 21). Poets make their own myths when PSALM LXV. 179 they do not find them. No doubt passages in II. Isaiah (e.g. xliv. 23, the meaning is that the ' latter rain' xlix. 13; cf. also Ps. xcvi. 11, 12, had fallen in abundance when the xcviii. 7, 8). Some indeed would com was coming into ear (Deut. supply ' men ' as the subject ; but xxxiii. 26, quoted by Del., is parallel Virgil at least would not have been rather to Ixviii. 33). The valleys shocked at making nature ' sing ' {v. 14) are ' the long broad sweeps (see £cl. v. 62). .There are surely sometimes found between parallel scenes in which it is not enough to ranges of hills ' l^emeq). Tbey speak of ' smiling fields.' shout for Joy reminds us of lyric PSALM LXVI. A LITURGICAL psalm. It is uncertain, however, whether the sacrifices spoken of are offered in the name of the people by the high priest or some other leader, or by an individual in his own name (see v. 16). In the latter case, as there is no historic setting to vv. 13-20, we must suppose the psahn to be intended for any individual who might bring the offering which he had vowed to the temple. The exordium echoes (we might say, popularises) the prophetic idea of the worldwide significance of Israel's history. Passages parallel to it, in form and contents, will at once suggest themselves (e.g. xcviii. 4 for v. i ; Prov. xv. 3 for z/. 11 i^ ; Isa. xlviii. 10, Jer. ix. 7, Zech. xiii. 9, Mai. iii. 3 for v. 10). 1 Shout ye merrily to Elohim, all ye upon earth, 2 Make melody unto the glory of his name, ascribe glory to praise him. 3 Say unto God, ' How terrible are thy works ! so great is thy strength that thine enemies cringe unto thee. 4 All upon the earth shall worship thee, and make melody unto thee, make melody unto thy name.' 5 Come ye and see the works of God, how terrible he is in his doing toward the sons of men. 6 He turned the sea into dry land ; they went on foot through the river — there let us rejoice in him. 7 He rules by his might for ever ; his eyes survey the nations : let not the rebellious deal so proudly. 8 O bless our God, ye peoples, and make the sound of his praise to be heard, 9 Who hast set our soul in life, and hast not suffered our foot to waver. 10 For thou, O God, hast proved us : thou hast refined us, as silver is refined. 11 Thou broughtest us into the dungeon ; thou laidest upon our loins a crushing weight. 12 Thou didst cause mortal men to ride over our heads ; i8o THE PSALMS we went through fire and through water, but thou broughtest us out into a place of liberty. 13 I will go into thy house with burnt offerings, I will render unto thee my vows, 14 Such as escaped from my lips, and my mouth did utter, when I was in straits. 15 Burnt offerings of fatlings will I offer unto thee, with the sweet savour of rams ; I will sacrifice bullocks with goats. 16 Come ye, hearken, and let me rehearse, all ye that fear God, that which he did for myself. 17 I cried unto him with my mouth, and a lofty hymn was (already) under my tongue. 1 8 If I have intended iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear ; 19 But verily God has heard, and been attentive to the sound of my prayer. 20 Blessed be Elohim, who has not driven [from him] my prayer, [nor withdrawn his kindness] from me. 3 How terrible. Cf. cxlv. 6. The paraphrase ' fearful-glorious ' (see on Ixv. 6) is very suitable here, and in v. 5 (cf. 6). 5 Tovard tbe sons of men. And yet the example given in v. 6 is a deliverance of Israel. But Israel is beginning to feel himself the elder brother of ' the nations ; ' indeed, it is ' the nations ' who are now addressed in sympathetic lan- guage. 6 If the text is correct, this seems the only intelligible render- ing. The poet implies the soli- darity of his people in all genera- tions (cf. cxxxii. 6, 7, Josh. v. i, Hos. xii. 5 ; in the two last passages, however, the pronoun is uncertain). That the rendering adopted is grammatically possible, there is no reasonable doubt ; see Delitzsch, and cf Driver,//". Tenses, § 54. A.V. requires us to suppose that the speaker as it were ecstatically trans- ports himself and his fellow-Isra- elites to the period of the Exodus, and speaks with the lips of the earlier generation. In such a con- text I fail to realise this as possible ; xxxvi. 13, cited by Perowne, is a very questionable analogy. 7 His eyes survey (as Prov. XV. 3), as from a watch-tower ; cf. on xliv. 24. The rebellious. See on Ixviii. 7. 11 Into the dungreon. A figure for the depressed conscious- ness of a conquered people. Cf Isa. xlii. 23, ' hidden in houses of restraint.' 12 Mortal men. That the poet is, if not etymologising, yet playing upon the word 'enosh, can hardly be doubted (see on viii. 5). Elsewhere Israel is encouraged by the thought of the mortal nature of its tyrants (Isa. li. 12) ; here, however, it is the ignominy of servitude to be tyrannised over by the creatures of a day. Israel's true king is divine. Comp. ' Arise, Jehovah ; let not mortal man be too strong' (ix. 20 ; see note). Plre and water aie images for the varieties of deadly peril (cf Isa. xliii. 2). Into a PSALM LXVI. i8i place of liberty (cf. xviii. 20). The text-reading is, 'into abund- ance' (same word in xxiii. 5). 14 Sacb as escaped . . , Ex- torted by the necessity of the moment, hke the vow of Jephthah (Judg. xi. 35, 36, same word). 15 Sweet savour. Whether this rendering favours radical Pen- tateuch criticism or not, it is the only natural one. See my note on Isa. i. 13, and comp. Wellhausen, Prolegomena, p. 67, and Dillmann's obscure and, I fear, prejudiced note on Deut. xxxiii. 10. 16 Is this the address of an in- dividual to the Jewish church at large ? or that of a representative Israehte to those who fear God in all lands ? If in any sense this part of the psalm has a national refer- ence, ?/. 19 with its declaration of innocence suggests that it was written at the same time as Ps. xliv. 17 Such was the speaker's faith that a lofty bymn (cf cxlix 6) to a prayer-hearing God had all but risen to his lips (see on x 7). But the text may be in disorder. Would not such a striking idea have re- quired a couplet for itself? 18 If I bave .... will not bear. Not, 'If I had .... would not have heard.' It is a general proposition, ' My prayers will be in- effectual, unless my heart is pure.' Then in the next verse the speaker applies this theory to the case of his own recent prayer. God has heard me ; therefore I am free from ' great transgression.' He is con- tent with hinting this inference, which puzzled the quaint Fuller. Contrast Job's complaint, ' My prayer is pure ; yet God treats me as an enemy' (Job xvi. 17 ; cf 9). 20 The text has only, ' who has not withdrawn my prayer and his lovingkindness from me.' But see crit. note. PSALM LXVII. A HARVEST-HOME hymn in the widest sense. Looking upon the com, now ready to be reaped, the poet thinks of the spiritual harvest, when Jehovah shall be king over all the earth. It is no compulsory empire which he has in his mind ; the sight of Israel's blessedness will gently bring the other nations to the true religion. Will Israel's blessedness one day really attain such potency ? Yes ; each fruitful season is a guarantee of this. Comp. the lovely picture of the ' Messianic ' period, when spiritual and material blessings shall be poured out in equal abundance, in Ixxxv. 11-13. The psalm consists of three strophes, the second and third of which have an initial refrain (see on Pss. lix., Ixii.) \nv.ia and b there is an echo of the first two parts of the priestly blessing (Num. vi. 24, 25). 2 Elohim be gracious unto us and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us, 3 That thy way may be known upon earth, even thy salvation among all nations. 4 Let the peoples give thanks unto thee, O God ; let the peoples all of them give thanks unto thee. 5 Let the nations rejoice with ringing cries, for thou wilt judge the peoples in equity, and lead the nations upon earth. 6 Let the peoples give thanks unto thee, O God, let the peoples all of them give thanks unto thee. 1 82 THE PSALMS 7 The earth has yielded her increase ; may Jehovah, our own God, bless us. 8 May God bless us ; and let all the ends of the earth fear him. PSALM LXVIII. A. PATRIOTIC and religious ode of wondrous range and compass and in the grandest style. So full is it of reminiscences of other psalms (not to cXaxm. allusions to Habakkukand II. Isaiah), that we cannot help referring it to the post-Exile period. But to which part of that period of periods ? It were hopeless to justify a single view here ; much less to examine the many theories which have been proposed, and which make Ps. Ixviii., in Reuss' words, ' ein Denkmal exegetischer Noth und Kunst.' Elaborately artistic as the poem may be, how strong is the lyric emotion which pervades the whole, and makes it live ! All the feelings, recollections, hopes, and anticipations of the age have found in it an adequate expression. Bishop Alexander has given a fine rendering of this psalm, in the variable measure of an English 'ode,' in his Poems (i886) ; which, however, I was unable to consult. Marat's version, beginning, ' Que Dieu se montre seulement,' was known among the Huguenots as the ' song of battles,' and the Ex- surgat Deus was chanted by Savonarola and his brother-monks as they marched to the trial of fire in the Piazza of Florence. 2 Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered, and let them that hate him flee before him. 3 Like a drift of smoke, so mayest thou drive them : as wax melts before the fire, so perish the ungodly at the presence of Elohim ! 4 But let the righteous rejoice and triumph before Jehovah, let them be merry and joyful. 5 Sing unto God, make melody unto his name, cast up a way for him who rides through the deserts, bless his name, and triumph before him — 6 Who is a father of the orphans, and an advocate of the widows, even God in his holy mansion, — 7 God, who makes the desolate to return home, who brings forth the prisoners into prosperity, the rebellious notwithstanding dwell in a parched land. 8 O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou marchedst through the wilderness, 9 The earth did quake, the heavens also dropped, at God's presence yonder Sinai [shook], at the presence of Jehovah, Israel's God. 10 A liberal rain didst thou shed, O God, upon thine inheritance [so weary] and fainting, thou didst restore [the dry land]. i'SAJjM i^AVm. 183 11 Thine army dwelt therein : in thy goodness, O God, thou preparedst for the poor. 12 The Lord gives the word : the heraldesses of victory are a great host. 13 Kings of hosts flee — they flee, and she that has tarried at home divides the spoil. 14 Will ye lie among the sheepfolds ? The wings of a dove that is covered with silver, and her feathers with green-shimmering gold. 15 [For full is our land of spoil,] when Shaddai scatters kings therein, [as the snow, when] it snows on Salmon. 16 A mountain of Elohim is the mountain of Bashan, a mountain with peaks is the mountain of Bashan. 1 7 Why look ye askance, ye mountains with peaks, on the mount which God has desired to dwell in ? yea, Jehovah will abide there for ever. 18 The chariots of God are myriads twice-told, thousands upon thousands ; the Lord hath come from Sinai into the sanctuary. 1 9 Thou hast gone up to the high mount to abide ; Jah, thou hast carried away captives, thou hast received gifts among men, yea, even among the rebellious. 20 Blessed be the Lord ! day by day he bears us — even the God who is our salvation. 21 God is unto us divine in saving acts ; yea, unto Jehovah belong escapes from Death. 22 Surely Elohim will shatter the head of his enemies, the longhaired crown of the head of him who goes on in his sins. 23 The Lord said, I will bring (them) back from Bashan, 1 will bring (them) back from the ocean-gulfs, 24 That thou mayest wash thy foot in blood, that the tongue of thy dogs may have its portion from the enemies. 25 They have seen thy progress, O God, the progress of my God, my King, into the sanctuary. 26 Singers went before, minstrels followed after, in the midst of damsels playing on timbrels. 27 'In full choirs bless ye Elohim, even the Lord from the fountain of Israel.' 28 Then went little Benjamin before, 184 THE PSALMS the chiefs of Judah in its bands, the chiefs of Zebulun, the chiefs of Naphtali. 29 Command thy strength, O God ; show thyself strong, O God, thou who (before) hast wrought for us. 30 From thy temple above Jerusalem kings shall (then) bring presents unto thee. 31 Rebuke thou the wild beast of the reeds, the troop of bulls, of lords of peoples, that rolls itself in mire for gain of money ; scatter thou the peoples that delight in wars. 32 (Then) shall they come in haste out of Egypt, quickly shall Ethiopia stretch out her hands unto God. 33 kingdoms of the earth, sing ye unto God, make ye melody unto the Lord, 34 (Sing) unto him that rideth through the ancient heavens of heavens ; behold, he uttereth his voice, and that a mighty voice. 35 Ascribe unto Jehovah strength which sheltereth Israel, (unto him) whose majesty and strength are in the skies. 36 Terrible is Jehovah ruling from his sanctuary, — he is the God of Israel : Strength and mightiness he giveth to his people, — blessed be God. 2-7 A prayer for deliverance, tioned ; here it is ' deserts.' No which almost rises into prophecy, single ' desert ' is referred to ; it is a so fervent is its emotion. Then, in characteristic of Jehovah to make calmer tones, a summons to Israel royal progresses alike in the vast to prepare joyously for the Deli- expanse above {v. 34), and in those verer. great desert regions in which His 2 let Cod arise, &c. The people twice learned a lesson of chant with which the ark set forward faith in Him. When Israel is in in the wilderness (Num. x. 35). affliction, it seems as if Jehovah 3 They shall be scattered, when had retired to the desert. He hears God arises, like smoke-wreaths ; His people's cry, and then, as Ha- they shall melt like wax ; nay more bakkuk says, ' Eloah cometh from (for these figures might merely Teman, and the. Holy One from signify flight, i Sam. xi. II, xiv. 16), mount Paran' (Hab. iii. 3). they shall perish. The ung-odly Bless tais name. The text has, are opposed to the rlg-bteous {v. 4) ; 'In Jah is his name.' i.e. foreigners to Israehtes ; see on 6 But dare the Israelitesrejoice? ix. 5, Iviii. II, and cf. Hab. i. 13, True, they are ' righteous ' (z/. 4); ii. 4, iii. 13 (see above). but as yet they share the fate of 5 Cast up a way, as pioneers 'orphans' and ' widows' (x. 14 ; cf for a royal progress — an allusion to xciv. 6). Still let them rejoice ; for Isa. xl. 3. There, however, the God is a righteous though long- ' desert' in the singular is men- suffering judge (Luke xviii. 7, R.V.), PSALM LXVIII. i8s and, like the importunate widow in the parable, orphaned and widowed Israel shall come to her 'rights.' Jehovah 'prepared' for the ' poor' in former troubles ; is he not already ' preparing ' now ? Is he not safe from attack himself in his boly mansion, and able as willing to fight for Israel (these ideas are suggested by the phrase ; see on xxii. 4, xciii. 4, 5) ? The heavenly and not the earthly temple is meant (Hitzig, Hupfeld, and Delitzsch) ; see Deut. xxvi. 15, Jer. xxv. 30, Zech. ii. 13. He looks down thence upon the children of men, and is about to speak ; ' hush before him ' (Hab. ii. 20, Zeph. i. 7). 7 Here type is exchanged for allegory. The psalmist looks back on the two great Returns, that from Egfypt and that from Babylon. (I suppose there is no doubt that he would have regarded Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the founders of the 'home ' in Canaan ; cf Ps. cv.) A parched land is not the desert (?) of Sinai, where so many Israelites perished, but a figurative expression for a land without the spiritual and material blessings showered by Jehovah upon His faithfal ones ; cf. Ixiii. 2 c, Isa. Ixv. 11-14. 'Imprisonment' (prisoners) is an allegory for the manifold afflictions of 'captivity' (cf. cii. 20, and see on Ixvi. 11) ; hence its opposite is ' prosperity.' ' Isolation ' (desolate) expresses the want of friendly sympathy and aid so painfully felt by the Jewish exiles and by the Maccabean patriots (see, for the expression, xxv. 16, and for the idea cii. 7, 8, xliv. 14, 17). The text-reading of line i is rendered, ' God setteth the solitary in famihes' (A.V. and R.V.; cf. cxiii. 9). This gives an excellent antithesis, but is not in perfect harmony with the context, which requires an allegorical description of the change which a divine deli- verance produces in the circum- stances of Israel. The ' family ' of Israel did not cease to exist when expatriated ; the sentence in A.V., however fine, is not in point here. We might of course take the parti- ciple in a pregnant sense, ' brings the solitary ones home and causes them to dwell there ; ' but this is arbitrary. Isa. Iviii. 7 (compared by Hupfeld and others) gives no help. See crit. note. The re- bellious, i.e. those Israelites who 'take another (god) in exchange' (xvi. 4), and shut themselves out from the 'covenant of promise' (Isa. bcv., Ixvi.) For another use of the phrase, see v. igc. 8-19 Is this confidence pre- sumptuous ? No ; Jehovah has already given an example of his willingness and ability to save. The deliverance from Egypt is a foreshadowing of deliverances to come. The poet sketches succes- sively the journey through the wilderness, the conquest of Canaan, and the occupation of Mount Zion by the great King. 8, 9 Amidst signs and wonders, Jehovah leads forth his people from Sinai, not (according to this picture) from Egypt, as Grill and Bertheau would have it. Comp. Deut. xxxiii. 2, Hab. iii. 3, and especially Judg. V. 4, 5, from which passage in fact these verses are freely quoted, and which also enables us to supply the indispensable word ' shook.' I have also ventured to emend ' Elo- him' into Tetaovab in v. 8 c, as in xliii. 4, for the sake of sense (so Judg. V. s). 10, II A poetic view of the origin of Canaan's extraordinary fertility. The storm which marked the appearance of Jehovah was not confined to Mount Sinai, and the heavy rain, endued with super- natural power,' transformed the parched land of Canaan into a 'garden of Jehovah.' It had not been so in the times of the patri- archs ; such at least was the poet's fancy. Perhaps he even thought of Gen. xlvii. 13, where the land of 1 Delitzsch, however, explains ' a hberal rain ' of ' the abundance of gifts which God rained down upon Canaan after Israel's entrance.' i86 THE PSALMS Canaan (as well as that of Egypt) is said to have ' fainted ' by reason of famine. Thus a gracious God 'prepared' (cf Ixv. ii) for His people. This seems to me the wor- thiest explanation, though the difficulties of the passage must be frankly confessed. Tblne army, in particular, is a doubtful rendering ; njO only occurs once ' in this sense, 2 Sam. xxiii. 13, and the chronicler substitutes for it the better known word n^no (i Chr. xi. 15). Still it is a genuine old Hebrew word, and the Karaite Arabic translator Yepheth has set a good example by rendering 'askarka 'thine army.' Rashi and Ibn Ezra give a slightly different version (Rashi, "jmu ; Ibn Ezra, inPnp), and from them comes A.V.'s rendering, ' thy congrega- tion.' I should prefer ' thy family ; ' cf '!D, I Sam. xviii. 18 ; 'congre- gation ' says too much. But ' family' is less supported than ' army,' and is less suitable as a designation of Israel. The alternative is to render ' thy living creatures ' (taking the singular as a collective, or pointing as a plural). The Heb. khayyah (strictly, 'something alive') gene- rally means ' a wild beast ' (or ' wild beasts '), and Israel is only com- pared, from the point of view of its religious position, to tame animals (see on cxi. 5) ; in Lev. xi. 10, how- ever, it is used in a wide sense of animals of all kinds except man, and why should it not once be used of man ? To be Nature's ' dearest living creatures ' is a title of honour according to Dante {Purg. xxix. ^37 1 138) ; why not according to the psalmist ? The early Israelites looked to Jehovah for life and food and protection, and without Him the powers of the world would have crushed them. This course is at any rate not more violent than explaining khayyah of the quails referred to in Ixxviii. 27, 28, Ex. xvi. 13. It commends itself to most of those commentators who take V. 1 1 to refer, not to Canaan, but to the wilderness, interpreting ' thine inheritance ' of the people of Israel (as xxviii. 9, Ixxviii. 71, and often), and ' a liberal rain ' (or, ' a rain of gifts') of the manna (cf. Ixxviii. 24, Ex. xvi. 4, but see the Hebrew). Of course the words supplied in. v. \oc will have to be dropped, with this result, that ?I3 ' therein ' is without a feminine noun to refer to (' therein ' surely cannot mean ' in the midst of Israel, thine inheritance ' — Hupfeld's view). As I have said, the first view set forth above, which is substantially that of the foremost commentators, com- mends itself most to me, on the supposition that the text is free from material corruption. That view is not dependent on the accu- racy of the words supplied (after Bickell) in v. 10 b,c. We may (if we think the construction a natural one) grammatically render, after ' thine inheritance,' ' and when it was fainting, thou hast restored it ' (i.e. we may take v. 10 b to refer to Canaan, and v. 10 c to refer to Israel), and continue 'thine army (or, thy living creatures) dwelt in the desert ' (taking n3 to be the first and last letters of n*S2 — the middle letters having become ob- literated ; cf Merx, Hiob, pp. liv.- Ivi.) Didst restore. Or, if this sense be confined to persons, ' didst set in order,' ' didst prepare.' 12 Here begins a scene, de- scribed in vivid historical presents, from the early wars of Israel with the kings of Canaan. But what is this word 1 Is it a creative ' fiat ' issuing in victory (cf Ixxvii. 9, where "id'X = the self-fulfilHng word of divine promise, but not Hab. iii. 9, which is too corrupt) ? Or is it the song of victory (cf Gen. xlix. 10 in the pointed text) ? Or is it either the summons to the fray— the battle-note — or (the view to which I lean myself) the watchword (cf. Judg. vii. 18, 20)? The 1 In 2 Sam. xxiii. 11 we should certainly read il^n? Bible. to Lehi ; ' see Variomm PSALM LXVIII. 187 beraldesses proclaim the news of victory in all parts of the land ; or (if ' word ' = song) chant an imvlKmv like Miriam (Ex. xv. 20, 2 1 ; cf Judg. v., I Sam. xviii. 6, 7), of which vv. 14, 15 are, as Ewald thinks, a fragment (why not also v. 13 ?) 13 Plee — tbey flee. So Judg. V. 22, ' the pransings — the pran- sings.' Divides tlie spoil, viz. such as had fallen to the husband as his portion (cf. Judg. v. 30). 14 The two images in this verse are clear enough ; the difficulty lies in the connexion. ' Lying among the sheepfolds ' is a current phrase for a quiet country life (Gen. xlix. 14, Judg. V. 16) ; the brilliant hues of the dove's wings are an emblem of the rich clothing of some un- determined person or persons. The latter image is noteworthy from the keen appreciation which it dis- plays of the effects of light. Seen in the bright glow of the sun's slanting rays, the outspread wings of a dove might fitly be described as ' yellow gold ; ' then, when the bird has wheeled round, and is seen against the light, they might as fitly be called ' molten silver.' ' But what can be made of the connexion of the images ? Some regard the verse as an address of the women to the men, depicting the happiness which Israel will so soon enjoy again in pastoral life (taking the initial particle DX in a temporal sense, ' when ye lie . . . (Israel shall be) as the wings of a dove,' &c.) The objection is twofold : I, that this particle (properly ' put the case that') never quite loses a hjrpothetical tinge ; and 2, that if vv. 8, 9 are a free quotation from Judg. V. 4, 5, it is probable that this verse contains more than an allusion to Judg. v. 16. (That there is at least an allusion, will be admitted ; but if there is any con- nexion between the two passages it is probably a closer one than is implied in this slender admission.) Grant that it is more than allusion. and the initial particle becomes, not a conjunction, but an interro- gative (corresponding to 'why' in Judg. V. 16), and the whole line is an exhortation to the men of those more distant parts to which the ' heraldesses ' have gone (see above) to be up and doing, and join in the pursuit of the fugitives. But how, upon this view of line i, shall we connect it with lines 2 and 3? Various answers have been given. Herder, for instance, takes lines 2 and 3 as an exclamation ; one shep- herd admiringly points out to another the lovely wings of the dove for want of anything better to do. How idyllic ! But why did not the poet continue his quotation, adding from Judg. v. ' to hear the bleatings of the flocks ' ? Grill thinks that ' the wings of a dove,' &c. = ' see how they fly — the doves with gorgeous wings ' (i.e. the richly clothed enemies), comparing for the construction Nah. i. 15 (Heb. ii. i). But would this remark inspire the sluggish with zeal to join in the pursuit? Is not the dove elsewhere an emblem of swiftness in flight (Iv. 7) ? All such theories attempt too much. Why should there be so close a connexion between line i and lines 2 and 3 ? If line I is taken from one old poem why should not lines 2 and 3 (which are not a complete clause in them- selves) be quoted from another, en- tirely unconnected with the first ? For instance, they might be ex- tracted from a song in praise of some Hebrew lady. In the Song of Songs, a bride's eyes are com- pared to doves' eyes (Cant. i. 15, iv. I ; comp. v. 12) ; why should not her dress be compared to a dove's wings transfigured by the eastern sun, according to Miss Whateiys description ? Of course it is possi- ble that the song also explained how the bride got this rich dress, viz. from her heroic bridegroom (comp. Judg. V. 30, 2 Sam. i. 24). But what sense does the fragment ^ I borrow from Miss Whately's Ragged Life in Egyft. (The Land and the Book, p. 271) shows no poetic feeling. Thomson's explanation i88 THE PSALMS bear in its new position ? May not the dove, to the psalmist as well as to the later poets (D»:aiQ), symbolise the people of Israel ' (see Ivi. i, title, in Heb. ; Ixxiv. 19, 'thy turtle- dove ;' Hos. vii. 11, xi. II ; and cf. Dr. C. H. H. Wright, Biblical Essays, p. 45) ? Through cloud and storm that ' dove ' has passed, and now suns itself in the light of prosperity. There may also be an allusion to the rich garments and jewellery in the spoil, which of course were not coveted by women alone (cf Josh. vii. 21, Judg. viii. 24, 26). 1 5 Still a heavy stress upon the interpreter. First of all, is therein correct ? Is the view implied in the punctuation of na to be en- dorsed? A mere glance at the second line shows that it is too short. Something must have dropped out, and of this ' some- thing ' n3 may be a surviving frag- ment (see crit. note). To me, however, line i seems to read better if the received view be re- tained. Possibly this couplet too is more or less a quotation from an old song in which 'the land' (viz. Canaan) had just before been re- ferred to (or else a line or two has dropped out of our psalm, just before V. 15). Next, what are we to make of the second line in the received text, which runs, 'it snowed on Sal- mon ' .'' What is Salmon ? There was a small mountain of this name near Shechem (Judg. ix. 48). In the Talmuds too the name occurs frequently, but, as Neubauer says,^ without topographical data. May there not have been several moun- tains called Salmon ('dark'), either from their dark forest covering (cf. Schwarzwald) or the black rocks of their geological formation? The mountain-range of Haurin is called in Ptolemy's Geography Asalma- nos (v.l. Alsalamos, and Alsada- mos). It is at least possible that this has arisen out of the name galmdn = galmon, and in this case V. IS leads on naturally to the next verse. Hermon, at any rate, is not to be thought of ; the name would be inappropriate, and Hermon was not really on Israelitish territory.' But why should it be said that ' it snowed on Salmon ' ? The usual reply is that it is a condensed phrase meaning ' it was like a snow- fall on Mount Salmon,' alluding either to the bleached bones of the slain (cf Virg. j^n. v. 865, xii. 36) or to the glistening armour which has been dropped by the fugitives (cf Hom. //. xix. 357-361). But (i) there is no parallel for such a condensed phrase in the psalm, and (2) we want some distinct reference to bones or to armour in the con- text. Olshausen would emend ' it snowed ' into ' as the snow.' Bickell with good reason prefers to lengthen the line, so as to render ' as the snow when there is a snow- fall on Salmon.' If we may follow him in supposing a line relative to booty to have dropped out before V. 15, or to have existed in the original from which our poet quotes (see above), no further objection can be raised. Certainty is unattain- able, but the probability of an ap- proximate restoration is great. Sbaddai. A primitive name of God (see on xci. i). 16 Perhaps another quotation from an old song, expressing the popular veneration for the Bashan- mountains. The original context may well have referred to Israel's victories over Og. The mountain- god was unable to protect his wor- shippers from Jehovah's army. A mountain of Elohim may mean (like 'mountains of El,' xxxvi. 7) one which seemed in a special de- ' See the old poem, founded on the Midrashic interpretation of the Song of Songs, in the Jewish Passover Service (De Sola's ed. , p. 97, &c.), and cf. M. Sachs' lines, 'Du wirst, mein Volk, der Taube gleich genannt,' SHmmen vom Jordan und Euphrat, i. 91. ' Neubauer, La giographie du Talmud, p. 275. ^ 5 Hermon is called in Arabic ' the Old Man's Mountain,' and ' the Snow Mountain. The suggestion of the Hauran is Wetzstein's in an Anhang to Delitzsch's Psabnen. PSALM LXVIII. 189 gree to show forth creative power ; or possibly one which possessed divine sanctuaries (so Baudissin, Studien, ii. 255), hke Carmel and Hermon. Grill, in fact, finds a reference to Hermon, which has at any rate three summits, and is therefore called ' Hermonim ' in xlii. 7. The objection is that Her- mon was not a ' mountain of Ba- shan' (see Deut iii. 8, iv. 48). The only ' mountain of Bashan ' to which the title 'many-peaked' can be ap- plied, is the range of the Haurin. One of its highest summits is called Guwelin, which by an ingenious linguistic argiunent Wetzstein brings into connexion with the gabhnon ('peaked') of the psalm, and explains as meaning ' gabled ; ' har gabhnunnlm he renders, not ' das kuppenreiche,' but ' das giebel- reiche Gebirge ' — a picturesque description of the crater formations of this highly volcanic region (cf Baedeker-Socin, Paldstina, p. 431). Cf. Aquila, oprj ix^pviojieva (like opv6eis, Herod, v. 92) ; Duport, Batrdvolo opos iroXvdeipddos, 17 Much might seem to plead for the selection of a site for the sanctuary in Bashan, whose grand mountain range had as it were been consecrated through having wit- nessed the early victories of Israel. But from the first Jehovah ' chose the weak things of the world to con- found the mighty.' 18 By a poetic license the be- ginning and the end of Jehovah's 'march' (v. 8) are combined. At- tended, we are told, by a vast army. He transfers his throne from Sinai to the true sanctuary. The cba- riots are those of the heavenly host (see 2 Kings ii. 11, vi. 17, and cf Deut. xxxii. 2). Comp. Milton's chariots wing'd From th' armoury of God, where stand of old Myriads, &c. The latter part of both lines is uncertain ; ' thousands of repeti- tion ' seems a forced expression, and ' into the sanctuary ' makes the second line very bald. But if Ps. Ixviii. is a late poem, a deviation from naturalness need not surprise us, and the baldness of line 2 is caused by the introduction of a quotation (from Deut. xxxiii. 2) which left but little space to fill up. The text, however, has, ' the Lord is among them, Sinai is in the sanctu- ary ;' i.e. the presence of Jehovah and His angels makes Sion a se- cond Sinai, or, as Merrick (1766) puts it — And Israel views within her shrine (Blest seat of majesty divine) The scene that erst his tribes beheld On Sinai's mystic top reveal' d.^ 19 A fuller description of Jeho- vah's victory. The high mount, lit. the height, is, not heaven (against this, see on vii. 8), but Mount Zion (as vii. 8 ; cf Jer. xxxi. 12, Ezek. xvii. 23, XX. 40). This favoured mount Jehovah ascends to abide (a word constantly used of Jeho- vah's earthly habitations), and carries with him the captives of his resistless arm, and the tribute which he received among- men, i.e. on the field of battle. (Less pro- bable is Ewald's view that ' cap- tives ' and ' gifts ' both refer to persons, viz. to enemies who have surrendered of themselves ; cf. Isa. xlv. 14. This view requires us to render 'of men,' i.e. consisting of men.) The rebellious are the neighbouring peoples who have heard of Jehovah's terrible prowess. The received text has one great difiiculty ; it places the words ' to abide, Jehovah' at the end of the verse (adding ' Elohim,' which is most probably due to the Elohistic reviser). The last line thus be- comes either, ' and even the rebel- lious shall abide (see Gesenius, Grammar, § 132, n. l) with Jah Elohim' (i.e. as his guests ; see on V. 5), or, ' and even of the rebellious, that Jah Elohim may abide there.' 1 Unimportant modifications of the exegesis will be caused if, with Hitzig, Ewald, and Kay, we render iakkodesh. ' in holiness. Hitzig, rendering ' vom Sinai unnahbar,' compares Ixxvii. 14. igo THE PSALMS The first rendering is supported by tradition (see Targ. and Theodoret's comment on the Greek), but is against the hne of thought ; the second entirely breaks both rhythm and logical connexion. 20-24 Here, with a benediction, a fresh strain begins. Strengthened in his faith by the foregoing pic- tures of the past, the poet throws himself into the interests and pro- spects of the present. Jehovah is not poorer in resources than of old ; he will again prove his might. In- deed, he has himself promised to bring the scattered Israelites home, and show them his awful revenge on their foes. 20 Bay liy day, i.e. now as of old. Bears us, as a shepherd (cf. xxviii. 9, Isa. xl. 11). So Hup- feld, with Aq., Symm., and St. Je- rome. Or, ' bears our burdens ' (lit. for us), as Ewald, Delitzsch, and Grill. 21 From Beatb. Buchanan finely — Irremeabilis Orci Unus claustra tenes (cf. I Sam. ii. 6, Rev. i. 18), imply- ing (i) that Death = She61, (2) that 'of Death' is the right rendering. The position of the words in the Hebrew is against (2), but (i) cer- tainly adds force to the passage (see on vi. 5). 22 A reminiscence of Num. xxiv. 17 in its original form (see Variorum Bible). Cf. Judg. v. 26, Hab. iii. 13, 14. Hair, the symbol of strength and pride (cf Deut. xxxii. 42, R.V. marg.) 23 A divine oracle either freshly granted to the psalmist (see on Ixii. 12), or, more probably, quoted from some earlier work. The mountains of Bashan, with their lofty peaks, and secluded woodland glens, shall not be too high, nor the ocean-gulfs too deep, for Jehovah to bring back from them — whom ? The scattered Israelites, or the fugitive enemies ? Either alternative will suit the context ; but the former compels us to limit the oracle to v. 23. In favour of the latter. Am. ix. 3 has been quoted. It must be remem- bered, however, that the shep- herd-prophet is not speaking of heathen enemies, but of Israelites who had fallen away, and might poetically be described as hiding themselves in the top of Carmel or the bottom of the sea. Looking at V. 23 by itself, one must incline to prefer the former view. ' I will bring (them) back,' if interpreted in the light of Hebrew usage, can only mean, ' I will bring my scat- tered people back.' (Possibly ' Bashan ' may allude to some cir- cumstances of the time of which we are ignorant.) 24 One of the grounds for the restoration of Israel announced in the foregoing oracle, according to the psalmist. Cf. Iviii. 11, and see crit. note. 25-28 With an access of strong church feeling, the psalmist de- scribes a recent religious procession, which was accompanied, as he be- lieves, hke the hosts of Israel under Moses, by Jehovah himself There must have been something speci- ally striking about this procession, but our ignorance of the circum- stances of the psalmist's time pre- vents us from saying what it was. At any rate the psalmist has no doubt that it has been well-pleasing to Jehovah, and that it may rightly be called ' the progress of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.' Some think a triumphal procession is referred to ; but seeing that the psalmist repeatedly supplicates a divine interposition, this can hardly be right. Nor can we evade this objection by interpreting the pas- sage either of some ancient triumph, such as the conquest of Canaan, or of the great act of redemption for which the poet longs. Israel's part is exhaustively treated in the first part of the psalm ; only four of the tribes take part in the procession ; and nothing indicates that the poet has passed in prophetic ecstasy into future times. 25 Tbey liave seen. Who? The answer depends on what is meant by 'thy goings,' or 'pro- PSALM LXVIII. 191 gresses ' (so literally). This phrase is doubtless unclear, and it is use- less to explain ' obscurum per ob- scurius' (Hab. iii. 6). Probably, however, the plural is that of ma- jesty, and if so, the meaning must, I think, be, not ' the progress,' or ' procession, in honour of thee' (cf. 'his song,' xlii. 9), but ' the royal pro- gress which thou makest.' Either the ark is referred to, as canied at the head of the procession, or poetic- ally, Jehovah is supposed to be present in some visible form — in short, there is a theophany. The spectators are of course those who are mentioned in the following verses. 26, 27 The procession is led by singers and players upon instru- ments (these in the post-Exile period were distinct; cf. Ezra ii. 41,65, Neh. vii. 67), who are, as it were, set in a flower-border of damsels playing on timbrels ; cf Ex. xv. 20, Judg. xi. 34. The refrain of the song is given in v. 27 (like that of Miriam's, Ex. xv. 21). in full cboirs IVmaqhelotK). Did the writer forget himself, since the phrase, strictly taken, means 'in the congregations,' and the poet has been describing a procession, not a temple-assembly ? So thinks Prof. Land. But observe that the procession is going into the temple i^. 25), and when the Israelites present have followed the singers and minstrels into the sanctuary they will doubtless respond to the invitation. The words of the re- frain themselves hint this, for they call for praise not only in full ctaoiTS (see on xxvi. 12), but from tbe fountain of Israel, which, comparing cxviii. 26, cxxxv. 21, surely means 'from the temple' (as Dr. Kay). But why was this par- ticular phrase chosen ? Because the precious water-supply con- nected with the temple (cf. King's handy R.T.S. monograph) had be- come a type of the temple itself, from which streams of living water earth (Joel iii. 18 and parallel pas- sages). Hence another poet makes the sacred singers chant, ' All my fresh springs are in thee ' (Ixxxvii. 7). Against alterations of the read- ing, see crit. note. 28 The general procession fol- lows. Four tribes only take part ; why only four, and why these in particular? The favourite answer is that the two former represent the south and the two latter the north. The tribe of Benjamin ('little' with reference to its size ; cf. i Sam. ix. 21) furnished Israel's first king, and according to Deut. xxxiii. 12 and the boundaries in Josh, xviii. 16, 17, xv. 7, 8, the sanctuary lay within its limits.^ Judah was since David the royal tribe. Zebulun and Naph- tali were renowned in the psalmist's favourite national song (Judg. v. 18). This is possible ; but a much more cogent explanation can be given if we may place the psalm in the post-Exile period, when Judsea and Galilee formed the two ortho- dox provinces. Cf. Isa. ix. i, Sept. The cblefs (or, princes) are the ' elders' (Isa. iii. 14), a dignity which lingered on during and after the Exile (see on Isa. iii. 2). Each town would furnish its contingent to the procession, led by one of the ' el- ders.' 29-32 Sure of the unbroken connexion between Israel and its God, the psalmist is now in the right mood for prayer. Jehovah long since began his 'work ;' may He but crown it with a fresh revela- tion of his power ! May the foe be defeated and scattered (as vv. 2, 3) ! Then will kings and distant lands do homage to Jehovah. 29 Command, i.e. give a charge or commission to (as xlii. 9, xliv. 5, cxxxiii. 3) ; see crit. note. God's ' strength ' is personified, like the 'spirit of might' in Isa. xi. 2. 'Strength' is one of the leading words in w. 29-36. Hast wrougbt, used absolutely, as Isa. xhii. 13. 30 Line i is so inelegant that were in the latter days to fertilise the ' In Ps. l.xxx., however, Benjamin appears attached to two of the tribes. northern 192 THE PSALMS one might be tempted to omit it, taking ' from thy temple ' as a gloss upon ' thou who hast wrought for us' (cf on V. 36 a), 'unto Jeru- salem' (as we might render) as an explanatory note on line 2. It would make line i easier if ' from ' might be emended into ' unto ' (cf. the Ethiopia version). I prefer to keep the text, as this psalm is else- where not one of the smoothest, and to explain with Hitzig and (now, but not formerly) Delitzsch. ' Temple ' (hekaT) is used here (as in I Kings vi. 5, 17, vii. 50) of the so-called 'holy place' as distin- guished from the ' holy of holies,' where Jehovah, strictly speaking, dwelt. The kings are supposed to have reached the ' holy place,' and there, like a psalmist, to ' lift up their hands towards God's holy chancel ' {d'bhir, xxviii. 2 ; see note), and offer their gifts. The descrip- tion above Jerusalem may seem at first sight weak ; but if the cita- del is so honoured by distant na- tions, a reflected brightness falls on the city below. ' Because of thy temple' (as A.V., Ewald, &c., after Symm.) is not natural in this con- nexion (see Zeph. ii. 11, iii. 10). 3 1 This verse is parallel to v. 29, as V. 32 to V. 30 ; /. i is parallel to I. 4, and /. 2 to /. 3. The wild beast of tbe reeds is clearly a symbol (cf. ' leviathan,' Ixxiv. 14) of the warlike empire of the Nile- valley ; Job. xl. 21 suggests the hippopotamus. The troop of bulls, i.e. of fierce kings (as the poet him- self explains ; see crit. note), is further described as rolling' itself in mire, &c., i.e. condescending to the base conditions of mercenary soldiers. The view here taken of the general sense of the passage is unaffected by the uncertainty of one or two words in it. The allu- sion may be, as Street thinks, to the Syrians, who were ' hired ' as auxiliaries by the Ammonites in David's time (2 Sam. x. 6), or, as Reuss, to the mercenaries of various nations of the extensive empire of the Seleucids. The latter view is more natural ; the image might be suggested by the ' bulls of Bashan.' ' Gain of money, if correct, will be another allusion to the Song of Deborah (Judg. v. 19). See crit. note. 32 Then shall the predictions of the Second Isaiah at length be fulfilled ; Egypt and Ethiopia shall lavish their treasures on the con- quering God (cf Isa. xliii. 3, xlv. 14), and both shall hasten (see crit. note) to do this, lest a second ' rough word ' of ' rebuke ' (cf Wisd. xii. 9) should prove their ruin. Quickly stretcb out ; lit., ' make to run.' The reference is probably not so much to prayer as to the offering of gifts (cf Isa. xviii. 7). 33-36 Full of this happy pro- spect, the poet calls upon all nations to join him in praiseful song, and closes with a grand thanksgiving. With vv. 34, 35 comp. Deut. xxxiii. 26. 34 Vnto bim tbat rides, &c. Jehovah's earliest ' progress ' (see on V. 5) was through the 'heaven of heavens' (Deut. x. 14, i Kings viii. 27), i.e. the invisible or upper heavens, emphatically called 'an- cient' like the mountains (Deut. xxxiii. 15), and indeed like Jehovah himself (Deut. xxxiii. 27 ; cf Ps.lv. 20). In Gen. xix. 24 we find the very primitive phrase vaph. Kvpiov e| ovpavov (Sept.), with which comp. the Babylonian phrase ' the heaven of Anu ' ^ (cf on civ. 3). 35 Strength which shelters Israel. So nearly the Targum ('unto Jehovah who is over Israel'). Comp. the construction in xc. 17 a and h, also Judg. iii. 10, vi. 2. A trichotomy of the verse. 36 Terrible, as xlvii. 3, and often ; see on Ixv. 7. rrom his sanctuary. The Heb. has ' sanc- tuaries,' as Ixxiii. 17, Ezek. vii. 24 (not xxi. 7), taking in the various buildings belonging to the temple, or perhaps as the 'plural of ma- 1 Stade thinks that ' Bashan ' in v. 23 refers to the Syrian (Seleucid) empire (Zeit- schr. f. d. alttest. Wissenschaft, 1882, p. 293). 2 Mentioned by Sayce, Hibhert Lectures, p. 190. PSALM LXVIII. 193 jesty.' The Targum, the Peshitto, his people. Cf. xxix. 11. Strength Symmachus, and St. Jerome all and the sanctuary connected, as render ' sanctuary.' On pronoun, xcvi. 6 b. see crit. note. Gives ... to PSALM LXIX. A PLAIXTIVE psalm in the style of Jeremiah (cf. especially Jer. xv. 1 5-18), though probably much later, and reminding us also of Pss. xxii., xxxv., xl. It is composed mainly of distichs (see on v. 5, end), but there is no trace of any quasi-strophic divisions. 2 Save me, O God ; for the waters are come in even to the soul. 3 I am sunk in the mire of a gulf where there is no standing ; I am come into watery depths, where the tide overwhelms me. 4 I am wearied with my crying, my throat is burnt up, mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. 5 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head, they that are lyingly mine enemies are more in number than my bones ; * # * * that which I had not robbed, I had to restore. 6 God, thou knowest my foolishness, and my guiltinesses are not hid from thee. 7 Let not them that wait for thee be shamed in me, O Lord, Jehovah Sabaoth ; let not those that seek thee be dishonoured in me, O God of Israel. 8 For it was for thee that I bore insult, dishonour covered my face ; 9 I became a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children : 10 Because zeal for thy house consumed me, and the insults of them that insulted thee fell upon me. 11 I afflicted my soul with fasting, and it turned to insults for me. 12 I made sackcloth also my vesture, and became a proverb unto them ; 13 They that sit in the gate take me for their theme, and (of me are) the ditties of the revellers. 14 But as for me, my prayer do I direct unto thee, Jehovah ; o 194 THE PSALMS at the favourable time, O God, through thy plenteous loving- kindness, answer me in the stedfasthess of thy salvation. 15 Dehver me out of the mire, that I sink not, let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the watery depths. 16 Let not the sweUing tide overwhelm me, neither let the gulf swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. 1 7 Answer me, Jehovah, for thy lovingkindness is good ; according to thy plenteous compassions turn towards me. 18 And hide not thy face from thy servant ; for I am in straits : answer me speedily. 19 Draw nigh unto my soul and release it : set me free, because of mine enemies. 20 Thou knowest mine insult, my shame, and my dishonour : before thee are .all my foes. 2 1 Insult has broken my heart, and very grievous [is the wound of my soul] ; 1 looked for sympathy, but there was none and for comforters, but I found none. 22 For they gave me gall as my food, and in my thirst they would have me drink vinegar. 23 Let their table before them become a snare and to the tranquil let it become a trap. 24 Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not ; and make their loins continually to shake. 25 Pour out thy fervent ire upon them, and let thy hot anger overtake them. 26 Let their encampment be desolate, let there be none to dwell in their tents. 2 7 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten, and they add to the pain of thy mortally wounded. 28 Put on iniquity to their iniquity, and let them not come into thy righteousness. 29 Let them be wiped out of the book of life, and not be written with the righteous. 30 And as for me, I am afflicted and sore pained ; let thy salvation, O God, set me secure. 31 I will praise the name of God with a song, and magnify him with thanksgiving ; 32 And it shall please Jehovah better than an ox, better than a bullock with horns and hoofs. PSALM LXIX. 195 33 The afflicted, seeing it, shall rejoice ; ye that enquire after God, let your heart revive : 34 For Jehovah hearkens to the needy, and despises not his prisoners. 35 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and all that moves therein. 36 For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah ; and men shall dwell there and have it in possession. 37 The seed also of his servants shall inherit it, and they that love his name shall abide therein. 2, 3 Cf. xl. 3, Ixxxviii. 6, 7, Lam. iii. 54. The imagery becomes in- tensely vivid in the light of travel. Dry and rocky as Palestine is, its numerous swamps, and the muddy bottoms of its rivers, must always have exacted some tribute of lives. Dr. Tristram was nearly sucked into the vast and impenetrable swamp three miles north of the lake of Huleh [The Land of Israel, p. 593). The tide, &c. Milton's ' whelming tide ' (Lycidas). 5 Cf the phraseology of xl. 13 ; also of XXXV. 19, xxxviii. 20. Than my bones. The text has 'they that would destroy me (are many).' The parallelism is im- proved by the correction (so Pe- shitto) ; a play upon words also comes into view in the Hebrew, which ex- cuses the unusual figure, if excuse be needed (cf Job iv. 14, Heb.) That which I had not robbed, &c. This clause seems to explain ' lyingly mine enemies ; ' it is very obscure, however, and, as the aste- risks above indicate, a parallel and explanatory line has probably fallen out. It is true that we do find tri- stichs three times besides in this psalm as handed down to us, but the case in v. 35 is probably due to the later insertion of a line, and that in V. 14 is compensated by the cor- responding tristich in close proxi- mity to it (v. 16). 6, 7 Thou knowest my fool- ishness, &c. Scarcely = ' thou knowest that I have no foolishness ' (i.e. no sin ; see on xxxviii. 6). Dif- ferent views of suffering are taken in the Psalter. One psalmist, who thought himself (i.e. Israel) inno- cent at first, came at length to take a very dark view of himself (see introd. to Ps. xxxii.) ; another (see xliv. 18-23) entirely denies that the sufferings of his people are a proof of their guilt. Our psalmist stands midway between them ; he admits that he must have ' hidden sins ' (xix. 13, so literally), but these can be but 'lapses' known only to God, and would be perfectly venial in the eyes of men ; they neither ac- count for nor justify the behaviour of his enemies. Nor is it only his own fortunes that are at stake ; the general religious standard will be lowered if he is given over to his enemies ; for who will ' wait for ' God or ' seek' Him, if in so notable an instance trust in God be disap- pointed? Note the same appeal to God's omniscience in v. 20 ; and cf Jer. xv. 15, xvii. 16, xviii. 23- 8-13 Cf xliv. 14-23 ; also v. 8 with Jer. xv. 15, w. II, 12 with Ps. xxxv. 13, I'. 13 with Lam. iii. 14, Job XXX. 9. 10 Thy house, not here quite equivalent to ' thy land and people' (cf Hos. viii. 1), but = ' the ordering of thy household ' (cf Num. xii. 7), though no doubt the household is composed of the chiurch-nation of Israel. 1 1 I humbled my soul, &c. So Sept., Pesh. The text has, ' I wept in (or, with) fasting my soul,' in which 'my soul' is usually ex- plained as a 'second subject' (iii. o 7. 196 THE PSALMS 5, xliv. 3, Ixxxiii. 19 are compared). But the Hebrew is awkward. 14 At the favourable time. Lit., 'at the time of favour,' i.e. when thou wilt show favour (cf. Isa. xhx. 8, Iviii. 5, Ixi. 2). The accents con- nect line 2 with hne i ; but see v. 17, and especially cvi. 4, Isa. xlix. 8. How has it been revealed to the psalmist that this is a ' favour- able time ' ? 21 Very grievous, &c. Cf. Jer. XV. 18, ' Why is . . . my wound \'ery grievous, refusing to be healed ? ' See crit. note. 22 Gall . . . vinegar. Figures alone seemed strong enough to ex- press the opposite of 'sympathy' and ' comfort.' 23-28 Passionate imprecations on the foes of Jehovah (cf. vv. 8-10) — less startling, indeed, than those in Ps. cii., but still requiring, for Christian readers, to be qualified by ' Father, forgive them.' 26 Iiet tbeir encampment, &c. It is the circular encampment of a nomad tribe which is meant (see on Gen. xxv. 16) — a specimen of those persistent references to nomad life which show how early this stage began and how long it lasted with Israel. See Jer. iv. 20, X. 20. 27 They add to. So Sept. The text has, ' they talk (mockingly) of Tby mortally wounded, i.e. those whom thou, for some ' un- known sin (see on v. 6), hast chas- tened.' For the form of the phrase cf Isa. Ixvi. 16, Jer. xxv. 33. 28 Put on iniquity, &c., i.e. let them fall from one iniquity into another, and so have ' double guilt ' and ' double destruction ' (Jer. xvi. 18, xvii. 18). Wot come into thy righteousness, i.e. not share in the (outward) blessings which flow from Jehovah's 'righteousness' — from His will to carry out His covenant-engagements to His people. 29 For the book of life, or ' book of Jehovah,' which involves the idea of predestination, cf Ivi. 8 (in received text), Ex. xxxii. 32, )\Ial. iii. 16, Dan. xii. i, Phil. iv. 3, Rev. iii. 5, xiii. 8, xxi. 27. The image is derived from the civiclists of the ancient Jews; see Jer. xxii. 30, Ezek. xiii. 9. On St. Augustine's violent dealing with this passage, cf Trench, Seven Churches of Asia, p. 177- 32 Praise, the acceptable sacri- fice (cf on Pss. 1., U.) 33 Line 2 is perhaps taken from xxii. 27. Comp. v. 34 with xxii. 25. 37 His servants. Here, as probably in xxxiv. 23, in the nar- rower sense = Israelites (see on cxxxv. i). Line 2 may possibly be an interpolation. The feminine suffix in line 3, and in v. 37 a and b, is most easily explained on this hypothesis ; and an isolated tristich is improbable. If an interpolation, however, it is a happy one (cf Jer. xxxii. 34, xxxiii. 10-13), and the fem. suffix can be explained on the analogy either of Isa. Ixv. <)b (so Olshausen) or of Jer. xxxvi. 23, Job xxxix. 1 5 (so Hitzig). PSALM LXX. i\ FRAGMENT, accidentally (as it seems from the omission of the indis- pensable word ' Be pleased') detached from Ps. xl. (see xl. 14-18). I' contains some various readings, such as ' Elohim ' twice for ' Yahv^, and once for ' Adonai,' also ' Yahvi ' once for ' Elohim.' Slightly more im- portant is 'speed to me' {v. 6) for 'will care for me' (see crit. note on A. 18). PSALM LXXL L^ARGELY made up of reminiscences of other plaintive psalms, especially xxii., xxxi., XXXV., xl. Hence a want of natural transitions, both logical PSALM LXXI. 197 and emotional ; e.g. strong appeal in v. 5, supportecl by forcibly expressed petitions based on xxii. 10, 11, is greatly weakened by the preceding verses taken from xxxi. 2-4. The psalmist speaks in the name of the nation (see on vv. 17, 18, 20, and cf. on v. 21). 1 In thee, Jehovah, have I sought refuge, let me never be put to shame : 2 In thy righteousness deliver me and rescue me, incline thine ear unto me and save me. 3 Be thou unto me an asylum-rock, a fortified house, that thou mayest save me : for thou art my high crag and my fortress. 4 My God, deliver me from the hand of the ungodly fi-om the grasp of the unjust and violent man. 5 For thou art my hope, O Lord Jehovah, my confidence from my youth. 6 On thee have I been stayed from the birth ; thou art he that loosed me from my mother's womb ; of thee is my praise continually. 7 I am as a prodigy unto many, but thou art my strong refuge. 8 Let my mouth be filled with thy praise, even with thy glory all the day long. 9 Cast me not away in the time of old age ; forsake me not when my strength fails me. 10 For mine enemies speak concerning me, and they that watch my soul take counsel together, 1 1 Saying, ' God has forsaken him, set on, and seize him, for there is none to deliver.' 12 O God, be not far from me, my God, speed to my help. 13 Put to shame and dishonour be the adversaries of my soul, let them be covered with insult and dishonour that seek rny hurt. 14 But as for me, I will wait on continually, and will add to all thy praise. 15 My mouth shall rehearse thy righteousness, yea, thy salvation all the day long, for I know not the numbers thereof. 16 I will show the valiant acts of the Lord Jehovah ; I will celebrate thy righteousness, even thine only. 17 O God, thou hast taught me from my youth up, - and hitherto have I made known thy wondrous works : 198 THE PSALMS 18 And even unto old age and grey hairs, O God, forsake me not ; until I have made known thine arm to the next generation, thy might unto all that are to come. T f\ * '5S' 'ff' and thy righteousness, O God, unto high heaven ; thou who hast done great things, God, who is like unto thee ? 20 Thou, who hast made us see troubles great and sore, wilt revive us again, and bring us up again from the abysses of the earth. 2 1 O multiply my greatness, and turn to comfort me. 22 I also will give thanks unto thee with the harp, even unto thy truthfulness, O my God ; 1 will make melody unto thee with the lyre, O thou Holy One of Israel. My lips shall ring out their joy unto thee, and my soul which thou hast redeemed. My tongue also shall speak musingly of thy righteousness all the day long, because they are ashamed, because they are abashed, that sought my hurt. 23 24 3 I follow Sept., which agrees with xxxi. 3, and represents the original text.' 7 As a prodigy, or, portent (a strong synonym for ' sign '). The word is used in Deut. xxviii. 46 with reference to Jehovah's penal justice, but here of His protecting care. 13 Cf. xl. 14, XXXV. 4, 26. 15 Tbe numbers thereof. Cf xl. 5, cxxxix. 17, 18. 17 Taug-ht me, i.e. given me themes for praise ( = 'put a new song in my mouth,' xl. 3). ' Trained me' (Keble) accords well with the speaker (Israel), but does not suit the immediate context so well. From my youtli up. Cf. Ixxxix. 46, cxxix. I, Jer. ii. 2, Hos. xi. i. 18 TTnto old age, &c. Cf Isa. xlvi. 4, Hos. vii. 9 (' old age whitens his hair, and he knows it not'). 19 A line appears to have dropped out, for 'thy righteousfless' can hardly be ' closely attached' to ' thy might ' in i*. 18 (as Delitzsch). Wbo Is like unto tbee! See on xxxv. 10, Ixxxvi. 8. 20 Wlio bast made us see, &c. The Hebrew margin substi- tutes 'made me see,' &c. The Jewish critics, it appears, stumbled at the interchange of the singular and the plural pronoun, as in Jer. li. 34. The plural, however, is the key to the meaning of the surround- ing singulars ; it shows that the speaker represents a plurality of persons. From tlie abysses of the eartb. He does not say, nor mean, 'from the abysses of the sea' (as Hupfeld), but, virtually, from the deep places of the underworld (Sheol) ; see on Ixxxvi. 13. T'hSm is best rendered, with Sept., 'abyss.' No ordinary 'deep' is meant, nor is it well to emphasise the secondary ' See Schrader, Theolog. Shidien und Kritiken, 1868, p. 645, &c. To correct xxxi. 3 in accordance with Ixxi. 3 (Burgess) is clearly wrong. PSALM LXXI. 199 meaning- ' deepness.' A great mass and the reference to water has of rushing waters is the primary vanished. On the third meaning, meaning (' roaring ' being the root- cf. the restricted sense of yd7>t idea). From the primeval sea (' sea '), which runs parallel with which was the source of all things the restricted sense of the Ass. aps:i (in the Hebrew as in Chaldseo-As- ocean (Sayce, Hibbert Lecturer, p. Syrian cosmogony) it was applied 63 ; cf p. 166, note). (2) to the ocean-stream together 21 lay g^reatness. Or 'my with the subterranean waters (e.g. majesty.' Elsewhere ' greatness ' xxxiii. 7, Isa. li. 10, Gen. vii. 11, is ascribed either to God (e.g. cxlv. xlix. 25) ; then (3), as in St. Ephrem 3, 6) or to a king or grandee (Esth. (see Gesenius, Thes.), to any mass i. 4, vi. 3, x. 2). So too Deut. iii. of waters, acquiring from its origi- 24, Ezek. xxxi. 2, 18 (same word in nal reference to the ocean the se- masc. form). condary idea of depth (so xlii. 8 ; cf 24 iwy tongue, &c. See on on cvii. 26) ; at last, as here (4), the xxxv. 28. secondary idea becomes primary, PSALM LXXII. i X highly figurative language, Israel prays that his king and (through his king) himself and all other nations may receive God's best temporal (Messianic) blessings. One may suppose that here, as in Ps. xlv., the reigning king (Solomon, Uzziah, Josiah, or some other) is idealised. Did the poet long maintain this fervour of enthusiasm ? We know this at least — that even if the ' vision tarried,' the kingdom of Israel was the ' heir of hopes too fair to turn out false' (Browning, Paracelsus). The political side of the Messianic ideal is forcibly presented to us here ; we may compare in imagery as well as in ideas the first part of the fine poem preserved in 2 Sam. xxiii. The psalm ends with a distich partly perhaps modelled on the Abrahamic promise (see on v. 17), which more or less favours the view of Prof. Briggs that the psalm presents Israel's aspirations for the ideal Messianic king, typified by but distinct from the reigning monarch {Messianic Prophecy, pp. 137, 138). 1 Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son. 2 May he give doom to thy people in righteousness, and to thine afflicted ones according to right. 3 May the mountains bear the fruit of peace to the people, and the hills through righteousness. 4 May he judge the afflicted of the people, save the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor. 5 * * and live as long as shines the sun, and the moon, generation after generation. 6 May he come down like rain upon the meadow ; like showers may he water the earth. 7 In his days may the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon be no more. 200 THE PSALMS 8 Let him have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. 9 Before him let foemen bow, and let his enemies lick the dust. 10 Let the kings of Tarshish and the far countries bring presents, let the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts. 1 1 Let all kings fall down before him, let all nations do him service. 12 Because he delivers the needy when he cries, the afflicted also who has no helper ; 1 3 He feels for the helpless and needy, and the souls of the needy he saves ; 14 From injury and violence he releases their soul, and costly is their blood in his sight. 15 May he live, and there be given him of Sheba's gold ; and let prayer be made for him continually, all day long let them bless him. 16 May abundance of corn be in the land, upon the top of the mountains may it wave ; [and the people] — like Lebanon be its fruit, and may they blossom out of the city like the herb of the earth. 1 7 Be his name [blessed] for ever ; while shines the sun, may his name have increase ; may [all tribes of the earth] bless themselves by him, may [all] nations call him happy. (Subscription to Book II. ) 18 Blessed be Yahveh Elohim, the God of Israel, who alone doeth wondrous things ; 19 And blessed be his glorious name for ever, and let the whole earth be filled with his glory ! Amen and Amen. I Thy judgrments, i.e. judg- 2 Thine afflicted ones. Israel ments as righteous as thine ; the as a whole is thus styled (cf. ix. 13, ' spirit of judgment ' being a gift of Ixviii. 11). God (Isa. xi. 3, xxviii. 6 ; cf. I Kings 3 may the mountains, &c. iii. 28). Unto the king-'s son. Cf Ixxxv. II, Isa. xlv. 8 (the Oriental An antique respect for hereditary conception ofthe' bridal of the earth royalty breathes in this phrase, and sky'). with which comp. Mesha's words, 5 In the text, this verse begins, ' My father was king over Moab ' Let them fear thee,' viz. God (as thirty years, and I became king Calvin, Olshausen, Delitzsch) or after my father,' and Ptolemy V.'s the king (as Hupfeld, Hitzig, description of himself as ' imme- Orelli). The words interrupt the diate successor of his father' {Re- flow of speech, and the Sept. favours cords of the Past, 'yv. 71). the idiomatic reading adopted. PSALM LXXII. 20I Cf. V. 17, Ixxxix. yj, 38, and see crit. note. A literal rendering would be, ' And let him prolong (his days).' The Hebrew continues, witb the sun and before the moon, words which appear to claim eternal life for the king (see introd. to Ps. xxi., and cf. xl\-. 3). 6 May he cozne do^n, &c. ' May he be gentle, beneficent, con- descending as the rain,' &c. (cf. Hos. vi. 3). 7 Comp. the prayer for peace (or, welfare) with Isa. ix. 7 a. 8 Prom sea to sea, &c. Ap- parently an allusion to Zech. ix. 10. 9 liick the dust. A more extravagant way of testifying sub- mission than ' kissing the feet ' (see on ii. 12). 10 Tarshish, i.e. strictly Tar- tessus in Spain. But here ' Tar- shish ' only individualises the dimly known regions of the West. Staeba, i.e. southern Arabia. Sela, i.e. the Ethiopian island and city of Meroe. 12-14 Such blessings are the rewards of the character and pre- vious conduct of the king, who is specially sympathetic towards the ' afflicted ' (in the narrower sense ?). Comp. V. 12 with Job xxix. 12. Costly is their blood, i.e. some- thing to be rescued at all costs. An important part of the royal duties was to 'judge the poor and needy,' and if necessary to avenge their blood. Cf. on cxvi. 1 5 (parallel passage). 15 May he live, &c. This line is obscure. The subject of the first verb (granting the correctness of the rendering) is the king, for whom in the sequel prayers are offered up by the grateful ' afflicted ones.' If so, the reference to Sbeba's grold seems strangely out of place, at least assuming the 'afflicted' to be the donors, unless of course with Hitzig we. regard the psalm as the work of an age when many of the Jews had enriched themselves by commerce. May we then with De Dieu and Delitzsch suppose the ' afflicted one ' to be, not the giver, but the receiver of the treasure ? This would be an unique statement, and would surely be followed by a distich developing this idea. It would be slightly more natural if 'the afflicted' were the subject of the first verb (Delitzsch, but not De Dieu) ; but the word 'may he live' reminds us too forcibly of the for- mula ' May the king live ' to allow of this supposition. ' May he live' surely means, as Keble expresses it, ' O King, for ever live.' But how abruptly the exclamation comes in here ! It is possible that the line is a quotation from some inter- cessory prayer for the king which was written by one scribe in the margin, and mistakenly incorpo- rated into the text by another. 17 Have increase; a man's name being ' propagated ' by his offspring. May all tribes, &c. See Gen. xxii. 18, xxvi. 4, and cf Briggs, Messianic Prophecy, p. 89. Observe that Sirach, like our psalmist, combines a reference to these passages and to Zech. ix. 10 (see on v. 8) in Ecclus. xliv. 21. At the end of the doxology the Heb. text has, 'The prayers of David, son of Jesse, are ended ' {v. 20), where Sept. renders ffilloth by 01 v\ivoi (we need scarcely suppose the translator to have read fhilloth ; see on xlii. 9). Of course the note is misplaced ; it should have stood at the end of a collection of ' Da- vidic ' psalms. 202 THE PSALMS BOOK III. PSALM LXXIII. W E are no strangers (see Pss. xxxvii., xlix.) to the problem which disturbs the psalmist, but nowhere, even in Job, have we found a more striking treatment of it. In his spiritual intuitions, he reminds us of Pss. xvi., xvii. (see introds.) Twenty-five sermons (the only ones published by himself) were preached by Savonarola on this congenial psalm, which so well expresses his own continual mental conflict. On its intrinsic and historical importance, cf a fine passage in Wellhausen's Prolegomena, E.T., p. 506. Except at the beginning and end, Ps. Ixxiii. consists of octastichs, of which there are six groups or strophes. 1 Surely Elohim is gracious unto Israel, Even to the pure in heart ; 2 But as for me, my feet had almost swerved, my steps had well nigh slipped. 3 For I was envious at the boasters, when I saw the welfare of the ungodly : 4 For torments have they none ; sound and plump is their body. 5 They partake not of the travail of mortals, neither are they plagued like other men : 6 Therefore pride is about their neck ; violence covers them as a garment. 7 From an unfeeling heart their iniquity comes forth : the imaginings of their mind overflow : 8 They mock, and speak maliciously ; of oppression do they speak from on high. 9 They have set their mouth in the heavens, and their tongue goes about in the earth. 10 Therefore he satisfies them with bread, and water in abundance they drink up at their ease ; 1 1 And they say, ' How should God know ? and is there knowledge in the most High ? ' PSALM LXXIII. 203 12 Behold, these men are ungodly, and secure for ever, they have won great substance. 13 ' Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart, and washed my hands in innocency. 14 And yet I was plagued all the day, and my rebuke came every morning.' 15 If I had said, ' Let such be my discourse,' I should have been a traitor to the generation of thy children. 16 But when I considered this, to comprehend it, it was wearisome trouble in mine eyes ; 1 7 Until I went into the sanctuary of God, and gave heed unto their latter end, — 18 Surely thou settest them in slippery places, thou easiest them down into ruins. 19 How are they made desolate in a moment, swept off, undone by calamities ! 20 As a dream when one has awaked, so, Lord, when thou art aroused, thou wilt despise their semblance. 21 For my heart was becoming embittered, and I had a stinging pain in my reins. 22 I indeed was brutish and ignorant, I was (like) the beasts toward thee. 23 And yet I am continually with thee ; thou hast taken hold of my right hand. 24 According to thy purpose wilt thou lead me, and afterward receive me with glory. 25 \\Tiom have I (to care for) in heaven ? and possessing thee I have pleasure in nothing upon earth. 26 Though my flesh and my heart should have wasted away, God would for ever be the rock of my heart and my portion. 27 For behold, they that go afar from thee shall perish ; everyone that wantonly deserts thee, dost thou clean put out. 28 But as for me, to be near to God is my happiness ; I have put my trust in the Lord Jehovah that I may rehearse all thy works. I Surely Eloblm.&c. 'Siestce zig, Hengstenberg, Delitzsch, and que Dieu est trfes doux,' in Marot's Kay prefer ' nichts als giitig,' ' only fine old version. The recurrence of good ' — good in spite of appear- the opening particle (■^X) is characte- ances ; while (adopting the derived ristic of this psalm. As in xxxix. 6, adversative sense) Jerome gives Ixii. 2, &c., renderings vary. I have 'attamen' (cf xxxviu. 7, Vug.), followed Hupfeld, but Ewald, Hit- Symmachus iv\r,v ovtcos, Calvin 204 THE PSALMS 'atqui.' On the latter view, we must suppose that the poet has had a sore inward struggle (cf. on Iviii. 12), or interpolate mentally ' Let the air lighten and the con- stellations mingle,' or the like, following George Buchanan (see his fine rendering). One might also combine two senses, rendering 'But surely.' Even unto, &c. A definition of the true Israel (cf the same construction in Lam. iii. 25). The same idea of a spiritual Israel has met us in xxiv. 4-6 ; it points the way to the conception of ' the Servant' in II. Isaiah. 2 iwy feet, &c. There are sins of the intellect, as well as of outward practice ; hence the figure of stum- bling can be applied to theoretical doubts as to God's righteousness as well as to open violations of His law. In fact, there is no clear severance in the Scriptures between the moral and the intellectual life. The ' heart ' is the central organ of both. 3 I was envious, &c. Or, ' I was incensed ;' envy, jealousy, zeal, indignation, are equally well ex- pressed by this word (root-meaning, to be deep red). The ' boasters ' are noisy, self-important men (see on v. 6) ; comp. vv. 8, 9. 4 See crit. note. The text- reading mentions the happy deaths of the wicked too soon. 7 From an unfeeling: heart, &c. The character of the heart deter- mines that of the actions (Matt. xii. 35). Picturesque as the received readingmay be (see A.V.),itmustbe rejected as against the parallelism. See on xvii. 10. 8 Prom on hlg-li, as if they were gods (Isa. xiv. 13) ; lit., ' from the (heavenly) height.' The ex- pression is paraphrased in v. 9 a. 10 Therefore, &c. In a pre- vious quatrain, the poet ascribed the pride of these men to their immunity from trouble. Here he reverses the relation ; the pride of these ' loud boasters ' is represented as the cause why the Governor of the world gives them all material good things. His confusion of mind ex- presses itself in his phraseology. [The received text runs, ' Therefore he turns his people hitherward, and water in abundance is greedily drunk up by them,' or, as the Hebrew margin, ' Therefore his people turns,' &c. ' His people ' may mean those who are disposed to follow such a one as has been described ; ' water ' may be a figure for pernicious teaching ; comp. Pirke Abhoth i. II. But the phraseology, especially in the first line, is unnatural] II, 12 V. n contains the lan- guage not of more or less unwilling sceptics, but of obstinate sinners (see x. 4, II, 13). 'El (rendered God) and '■Elyon (the most Hi^h) are both very primitive divine names (see on Ixxviii. 35, and cf on vii. 18). The next error is the emphatic close of the previous de- scription, summing up its main facts. In form it reminds us of the Book of Job (see Job v. 27, viii. 19, 20, xiii. i). 13, 14 A speech such as might have escaped the lips of the poet himself, and expressing at any rate the inference which he had been tempted to draw from the contrast between the prosperity of the un- godly and his own successive misfortunes. The characteristic 'surely' (see vv. i, 18) of itself suggests this. V. 15, however, clearly proves that it was only a temptation. Surely in vain. Or, as Kay, 'AH in vain' (or simply, ' To no purpose ; ' comp. Ixii. 2, 6, 10); Hitzig, 'Eitel fiir nichts.' 'Washed mine hands, &c. See on xxvi. 6.^ Plagued. To be ' plagued ' (lit. ' smitten ') by God's chastening hand is the com- mon lot of man {y. 5 b), and is quite consistent with the consciousness of innocence ; Ps. xxxii. is one specimen of the perplexed medita- tions of some who could not ac- count for their troubles by any known sin ; the present passage is another. Hence my rehuke (i.e. my punishment ; see xxxix. 12) means the penalty of some ' secret sin ' (xix. 13). 15 The generation of tby PSALM LXXIII. 205 children, i.e. the true Israel {v. 1), whose members are called collec- tively God's ' sons,' Deut. xiv. i and elsewhere. Comp. 'the generation of those that enquire after him' (xxiv.6), and see on xii. 8. Observe too the form of the phrase, not ' I should have been a traitor to my father,' or ' to my rank as a son ; ' the rela- tion of an Israelite to his God is dependent on his membership in the community-. See on Isa. Ixiii. 16. 16 It ipas wearisome trouble, &c. The word rendered ' weari- some trouble ' {^ainal) is character- istic of Ecclesiastes. Like the author of that book, the psalmist thinks that no one by searching can find out God (comp. Eccles. viii. 17). But we might also render, ' It was a miser>' in mine eyes,' i.e. this phenomenon of the undeserved prosperity of the wicked. 17 Tbe sanctuary of God. The Hebrew has, ' the sanctuaries of El' (cf Ixxiv. 8), which means either the temple (see on Ixviii. 36) or the ' holy,' i.e. (to profane human reason) inviolable plans of provi- dence ( = ' mysteries of God,' Wisd. ii. 22). The latter view is that of Hitzig ; the clue to ' God's secrets' (Hitzig's rendering) is furnished by the awful end of the wicked. But the former is the simpler. The temple, being at once the ' house of prater ' (Isa. Ivi. 7) and the seat of God's earthly government (Ixviii. 36), is the appropriate place for seeking enlightenment on the subject which exercised the psalmist. There devout men were accustomed to 'see Jehovah's power and His glory ' (Ixiii. 3) ; our much-tried thinker as naturally went there ' to see' His providential wisdom. 18 Surely. Or, 'But surely' (see on v. i), i.e. in spite of my doubts. Others, ' only' (as in v, i), which Kay explains, ' My view was wrong after all ; the only true ac- count is,' &c. In slippery places, i.e. in circumstances of danger (xxxv. 6, Jer. xxiii. 12). 19 The psalmist's solution agrees with that in Pss. xxxvi., xlix., and in some of the speeches in Job. He had certainly read Job, as the word rendered calamities itself suggests (cf Job xviii. 11, 14, &c.) 20 A man is half angry with his dreams on awaking (cf Job xx. 8). So the Lord, when He reas- sumes His judicial functions (see xxxv. 23), will despise, i.e. pro- nounce unworthy of life, their semblance, i.e. their unsubstantial phantom-life {simidacriini vita: ; see crit. note on xxxix. 7). Thus ' dream ' and ' shadow ' are not figures for the soul, in spite of Odyss. xi. 221, ■<^vxri S', r^ir' Sveipos, but for human life apart from God, which, as Sadi says of the world, is ' like the dream a sleeping man has seen, which, when the night is gone, has vanished.' (The pas- sage also gives a parallel to an admired figure in Wisd. v. 14 ; see Dr. Lee on Job viii. g.) 21-24 Breathless (to apply Dante, Inf. i. 21) he looks back on the perilous passage. He does not justify his conduct, but explains it. Unbelieving thoughts had fer- mented in his mind, and a pang of passionate discontent had pierced his inmost being. But the higher self blames the lower for such folly. ' Be ye not like to horse and mule (xxxii. 9), is God's counsel to the believer ; and yet I on my side have been like an untamed horse or mule towards God (cf xcii. 7, Prov. XXX. 2). I have thus for a moment lost the pledge of " con- tinuance" — the sweet, faint hope of immortality (see on xlix. 13). Meantime God on his side has generously kept hold of my struggling right hand.' Note the parallelism of w. 22, 23 in the Hebrew ; both verses begin with 'and I.' The sen«e would have been clearer, however, if the psalm- ist had made v. 23 begin with ' and (yet) thou art continually beside me ; ' there is an evident contrast between the folly of the tempted believer and the uninterrupted love of his divine Guide. (liik"") the heatts. Sept., KTjji'mSrjs. Or, ' a behemoth' (Job xl. 15) ; so Hitzig and Delitzsch. Tastes differ. 206 THE PSALMS 24 VTllt thou lead me. In his recovered sense of the divine love the poet ceases to enquire into things too high for him. He is absorbed in the blissful thought of God's assured purpose and plan for his life (comp. on xvi. 7). Receive me with glory (or, to glory). The ' path of life ' (xvi. 1 1 ) is not limited to this phantom-world (xxxix. 7). The story of Enoch, spiritualised, is that of each devout believer.' 'Walking with God' is followed by a reception ' with glory ' (or ' into glory '). Comp. Gen. v. 24, and above on xlix. 16. 25 One of those exalted mo- ments in which ' heaven's morning breaks.' Having God, earth has become a heaven. What more could heaven itself give him? Society? But 'to which of the holy ones should he turn?' (Job V. I ; cf on Ixxxix. 6, 7.) 26 See on xvi. 9-1 1. The poet speaks of a beart, or personality, which will survive even when the old ' heart,' or personality, shall have wasted away. It is the mysticism of faith ; we are on the verge of St. Paul's conception of the TTwC/xa — the organ of life in God. ' Non omnis moriar,' in a new sense. The believer ' cleaves ' (so V. 28, Sept.) to his 'rock.' 27 God and Israel were the two absorbing objects of the psalmist's love, and a passionate love for Israel did not involve (it did not even with Jeremiah) a similarly strong charitable affection for single ' lost sheep.' 28 To be near to God is to trust Him (see Zeph. iii. 2), and so to be truly wise ; to ' desert God' is to be unbelieving, and so to be comparable in folly to the beasts (cf vv. 22, 27). PSALM LXXIV. i HE contents of Pss. Ixxiv., Ixxix. seem to carry us down not only to the Chaldaean, but even the Maccabaean period.' So Delitzsch, who hesitates, however, to come to a conclusion, on the ground that the exe- getical phenomena point in different directions. I do not feel the same hesitation, but readily grant that the psalmist may remember descriptions of the Chaldaean trouble, and therefore not give a thoroughly accurate account of the later calamity. For such a fusion of kindred historical scenes there are analogies in the prophets. Comp., however, i Mace. iii. 45, and especially the prayer of Judas Maccabaeus, 2 Mace. viii. 2-4. (See also introd. to Ps. Ixxix.) 1 Why, Elohim, hast thou ' cast off for ever ' ? why doth thine anger smoke against the flock of thy shepherd- ing? 2 Remember thy congregation which thou gottest long since, which thou didst redeem as the tribe of thine inheritance ; Mount Zion, whereon thou hast dwelt. 3 Lift up thy feet unto the ' everlasting ruins ; ' the enemy hath marred all in the sanctuary. 4 Thy foes roared amid thy trysting-place ; they set up their signs for (true) signs. 5 They seemed like those who wield on high hatchets in a thicket of wood ; 1 I see that Prof. Sayce recognises a similar course of thought in Babyloniart theology [Hibbert Lectures, p. 365). Cf. my article in Expositor, Jan. 18S8. PSALM LXXIV. 207 6 At last — the carved work thereof altogether with axes and hammers they struck off. 7 They set on fire thy sanctuary ; they profaned the habitation of thy name, (bringing it) to the ground. 8 They have said in their hearts, ' Let us suppress them alto- gether ! ' they have burned up all sacred meeting-places in the land. 9 We see not our signs, there is no prophet any more ; neither is there with us any that knows how long. 10 How long, O God, shall the foe insult? (how long) shall the enemy ' contemn thy name for ever ' ? n I AMiy drawest thou back thy hand, and thy right hand (why) keepest thou within thy bosom ? 1 2 For God is my King from of old, who works salvation in the midst of the earth. 13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength ; thou breakest the heads of the dragons on the waters. 14 Thou didst crush the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be food for a people of wild beasts. 1 5 Thou didst cause fountain and torrent to break forth ; thou didst dry up ever-flowing streams. 16 Thine is the day, thine also is the night ; thou didst establish luminary and sun. 1 7 Thou didst set all the bounds of the earth ; summer and winter — thou didst form them. 18 Think how the enemy insults Jehovah, and how a foolish people contemn thy name. 19 Deliver not unto the sword the soul of thy turtle-dove ; forget not the life of thine afflicted for ever. 20 Look upon the covenant, for full are now become the dark places of the land of haughtiness and violence. 21 let not the down-trodden turn back ashamed ; let the afflicted and the needy praise thy name 22 Arise, O God, plead thy cause ; think how the fool insults thee all day long. 23 Forget not the voice of thy foes, the uproar of thine assailants which ascends continually. I Cast off for ever. The like a shepherd concerned for his psalmist quotes from himself ; whj', flock when a black thunder-cloud he asks, am I to go on repeating hangs overhead. (The true shep- this sad phrase (see on xiii. 2)? herd of Israel, Jehovah, leads his Sotb thine anger smoke. He is flock no more ; see on Ixx.x. 2.) 208 THE PSALMS 2 The tribe, &c. The con- ventional phrase, 'the tribes of Israel,' was not always used after the fall of the northern kingdom. See Jer. x. l6 (U. 19), but cf Isa. Ixiii. 17. 3 Kilft up thy feet, &c., i.e. proceed in long swift steps to the ruined sanctuary. Sept., however, has ' thy hands.' Sverlastln? ruins. The psalmist again quotes from himself In his moments of agonised doubt it seemed as if this desolation must last for ever. Isa. Iviii. 12, Ixi. 4 are not parallel. 4-9 A retrospect of the cruel work of destruction. Roared. A common expression for the battle-cry (Isa. v. 29, Jer. ii. 15). So of the Chaldsaans, ' They have uttered their voice in the house of Jehovah as on a festival-day ' (Lam. ii. 7). Thy trysting-place. Or, ' thy place for meeting (us).' The same phrase occurs in Lam. ii. 6 ; it resembles the well-known title of the tabernacle — 'tent of meeting' — in Ex. xxvii. 21, &c. The Var. reading, ' thy places of meeting ' (supported by many MSS. and editions, and by the Targum), seems due to the spirit of harmo- nising (see V. 8). Their sigrns. These are to be taken as military standards (Jerome, ' posuerunt signa sua in tropsum ; ' Athanasius, to. KaXov/xeva napa rols crTpaTevp.a(TC a-lyva), but, more suitably to the context, as the images and other symbols of a heathen religion. Comp. I Mace. i. 54. 6 At last. There is a pause, the attention of singer and listener being strained to the utmost. The costly carved work, with its sacred even if little understood symbols, is wantonly destroyed. Comp. i Kings vi. 29. For ' carved work,' Sept. has 'gates,' which supplies a strik- ing correspondence to i IMacc. iv. 38, 2 Mace. viii. 33, i. 18. 7 Comp. 2 Kings xxv. 9, and the passages last referred to in Maccabees. 8 (See crit. note.) Radical measures were more than once proposed in dealing with this ' un- social nation' (see on Ixxxiii. 4). But ' to kill the body ' was a tedious undertaking ; to 'kill the soul'— or at least the nerve of the spiritual life— seemed a shorter and not less effectual way of quenching the light of Israel. Hence the syna- gogues and ' places of prayer ' (first mentioned after the Exile ; cf i Mace. iii. 46) are given to the flames. Sacred meeting- places. Lit, ' meeting-places of God (El),' i.e. those which are concerned with religion (cf. ' God's comforts,' i.e. religious consola- tions. Job XV. II). Gesenius thinks of the ancient sanctuaries of the land, ' excelsis prophetarumque coloniis insignia' (similarly De Wette and even Vitringa) ; but even if the banioth had in some form survived, how could the psalm- ist regret their final extinction ? Besides the bamoth were in some degree ' habitations of God's name ' (cf V. 7) ; something fresh must be spoken of here. Those who meet in a mo^ed are not necessarily God and His people (as in v. 4), but possibly those who, though far from any venerated shrine, wish to pray or to be instructed together. Leopold Low thinks that 'town- halls ' existed before the Exile, and that religious instruction was given in them, and finds them alluded to in Job XXX. 23. The sole advan- tage of this hypothesis is that it removes what Delitzsch calls a weighty argument for the Macca- bsean date of the psalm —viz. a direct reference to synagogues, which, as most are agreed, did not become a national institution till the second century B.C.' But whv hold out against Maccabrean psalms ? nU ni;i in the Mishna {Sota ix. 15) appears to be used synonymously with nDJ3n rvi for 'synagogue;' ndcras ras rrvvaya>yds is actually the renderingof AquilaandSymmachus 1 Strack thinks an earlier date more probable (Herzog-Plitt, Realencyclopddie, art. Synagogen) ; but in any case we can hardly carry the date above the reformation of Ezra. PSALM LXXIV. 209 here, though, it is true, they give iv fiiato riji (Tvvayay^s (70V in V. 4* (Sept. V. 8, ioprds ; V. 4, eopT-ijs). 9 Our si^ns. Possibly (comp. z/. 4) he thus designates the entire body of Jewish religious forms, including not only such comparatively trifling things as s)Tnbolic figures (e.g. the cherubim in the temple), but those distinctive ' signs ' of the covenant (Gen. xvii. 11, Ex. xxxi. 13, 17) the rite of circumcision and the Sab- bath (comp. Lam. ii. 6, and espe- cially I Mace. i. 45, 46, 60, 61). It is equally possible, however, that the phrase ' our signs ' means the facts or events which students of Scripture would regard as betoken- ing the near fulfilment of prophecy — 'so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors' (Matt. xxiv. 33). This view harmonises well with the mention of the pro- phets and the concluding 'how long.' ' Signs ' in this sense of the word were of course not neces- sarily what we call supernatural ; we need not, therefore, accept G. Buchanan's paraphrase, ' signa nusquam, nulla jam miracula,' though it has the support probably of Theodore of Mopsuestia and certainly of the prayer of the son of Sirach, ' Renew the signs, and repeat the wonders ; glorify (thy) hand and (thy) right arm' (Ecclus. xxxvi. 6). No prophet . . . how long:. So, then, prophecy has become mainly an unveiling of the immediate future. Complaints of the extinction or of the nourfulfil- ment of prophecy are characteristic of the Maccabaean and the following period. For the former, see i Mace. xiv. 41, ' until there should arise a faithful prophet' (comp. i Mace. iv. 46, ix. 27) ; for the latter, Ecclus. xxxvi. 15^,' ratify the pro- phecies in thy name.' [Those, however, who assign our psalm to the Chaldaean period suppose the psalmist to complain, not that there are no prophets alive, but that there are none who foretell what shall come to pass, ' quia licet tunc viverent Jeremias, Ezechiel et Daniel, scimus tamen quasi voca- tionis suae cursu perfunctos tacuisse ad fempus ' (Calvin). Comp. Lam. ii. 9, Ezek. vii. 26.] 10 Contemn thy name for ever. A phrase which we may sup- pose the psalmist often used, and now quotes, as it were, from himself (of xiii. 2, Ixxix. 5, Ixxxix. 47). Otherwise ' how long ' is inconsist- ent with ' for ever,' and we are compelled to give nSJ7 a strained meaning. 1 1 Srawest tbou back thy hand, viz. from repulsing the enemy (Lam. ii. 3). So the son of Sirach, ' Renew the signs and re- peat the wonders ; glorify (thy) hand and (thy) right arm ' (Ecclus. xxxvi. 6). It is the universal reli- gious anthropomorphism; 'gracious are thy hands, O Indra,' says a Vedic poet, ' beneficent thy palms ; . . . why, then, dost thou sit still ? ' {Hi^ Veda, iv. 21, 9). And thy rigrht hand, &c. The text-read- ing is, ' and thy right hand from within thy bosom (pluck out and) make an end' (comp. lix. 15). Bickell's correction is simple and gives a more natural sense. The context of ' make an end ' in lix. 1 5 is entirely different. 12 Comfort springs from the thought that Israel's King (comp. xliv. 5) has long since showed His saving power in the midst of the t-artb, i.e. not in the land of Canaan as the centre of the earth ' (comp. Ezek. v. 5, xxxviii. 10), but quite broadly, in various parts of the earth. The same phrase is used of Egypt in Ex. viii. 18 (A.V. 22), and of Egypt the psalmist is especially thinking. 13, 14 The dragons . . . levi- athan. The 'dragon' and 'levi- athan ' (or the ' wreathed ' serpent) are symbolical expressions for ' The idea of the central position of Jerusalem, so congenial to Talmudic Judaism, lingered on in Christendom through the middle ages (see JVIoore, The Ttme-references of the Divina Commedia, 1887, p. 68). Cf. General Gordon's Reflexions m Palestine. P 2IO THE PSALMS Egypt (comp. on Ixviii. 31). See for the former Isa. li. 9, Ezek. xxix. 3, xxxii. 2. Cavest him to be food, &c., i.e. gavest the unburied corpses of the Egyptians to be a prey to the tribes of wild beasts. For the Talmudic fable based on this passage, see references on civ. 26. A people of wild beasts. A favourite primitive conception. See Prov. xxx. 25, 26, and comp. Walther von der Vogelweide, speak- ing of the communities of animals : Sie wahlen Kbnige, ordnen Recht, Und unterscheiden Herrn und Knecht. (Simrock's version, p. 5.) 15 An allusion to the miracles of the water from the rock, and the passage of the Jordan. 16 Iiumlnary and sun. The exact sense is doubtful. ' Lumi- nary ' may be a class-name for the heavenly lights {(jiaa-Trjpis) ; the poet has used other class-names in t/. 1 5 a. ' Sun ' may be added, because no class-name suggested itself as a companion to 'lumi- nary.' On the whole, this is the easiest view. I admit that it pro- duces an imperfect parallelism ; but for this compare Eccles. xii. I, where ' the sun and the light ' are parallel to ' the moon and the stars.' Another opinion is that ' (the) luminary ' stands for the moon, just as ' (the) light ' (lux) stands for the sun in Job xxxi. 26. The objection is that the moon would thus be too vaguely indi- cated, 'luminary' being also used of the sun (see Gen. i. 14, 16). A third, that the phrase means the sun ; comp. ' thy hand and thy right hand,' v. 1 1 (received text), and ' thy right hand and thine arm,' xliv. 4 ; Buchanan's solis jubar may express this view. But what of ' the day ' and ' the night ' in the parallel line ? Comp. the dispute over la Stella, Dante, Inf. ii. 55. 18 Insults Jebovata. An abrupt transition to the third per- son, bespeaking the writer's mental agitation. The foolish people (so V. 22). Comp. Deut. xxxii. 21, and see on xiv. i. 19 The difficulty felt in line i arises from a corruption (see crit. note). Thy turtle-dove. Israel is here finely symbolised (comp. on Ixviii. 14) by the turtle-dove,' whose ' low, sad plaint may be heard all day long at certain seasons in the olive-groves, and in the solitary and shady valleys among these mountains ' (Thomson). 1 1 is tempt- ing to find in this line a contrast between the ' wild beast ' and the 'turtle-dove,' the Israelites being accustomed to classify sentient beings, not on scientific zoological, but on the most primitive moral principles (see on xxii. 13). But in my opinion this can only be done if we omit khayyath in the second line, as proposed by Bickell. The course adopted is certainly less arbitrary (see crit. note). Thine afSicted. The .poet falls naturally into individualism. Not merely Israel, but the individual members of the nation, are, at this stage of religious progress, re- garded as the objects of the divine love. St. Francis is therefore right when he speaks {Fioretti, cap. xxii.) of ' uccelli cosi mansueti, a' quali nella Scrittura sono assomigliate le anime caste e umili e fedeh.' 20 Iiook upon the covenant, i.e. give heed to the straits of thy worshippers. So in Dan. xi. 28, 30 ' covenant ' means the faithful Israelites, and in Isa. Ivi. 4 the true religion (or, we might say, the Church). The dark places of the land, i.e. (if the text is sound) either the region darkened by mis- fortune (cf Isa. ix. 2), or the obscure hiding-places of the Jewish fugitives. For the latter view, cf I Mace. i. 52, 53, 'And many of the people were gathered unto them, every one that forsook the law ; and they committed evils in the land, and drove the Israelites into hiding- places (Kpvipot), wherever they could ' From Isa. xxxviii. 14 compared with Jer. viii. 7 it is clear that ior and yondi were used indiscriminately, according to the exigencies of rhythm. PSALM LXXIV. 211 find a refuge.' Comp. 2 Mace. vi. of violence ; ' why ? For Bickell's II. Of taaugbtiness and vio- easy correction, c£ Ixxiii. 6. lence. The text has, ' of the homes PSALM LXXV. i HE psalm opens with praise, but continues in a different tone. The promised rehearsal of God's wonders will take place elsewhere. Here we listen to two divine oracles, separated by a lyric comment. God utters them as a Judge — a representation familiar to us in the Asaphite psalms. 2 "We give thanks unto thee, Elohim, we give thanks unto thee ; and they that call upon thy name rehearse thy wonders. { God speaketh. ) 3 ' For I seize the appointed time ; I myself judge in equity. 4 '\Mien the earth and all its inhabitants melt with fear, I myself adjust the pillars of it. 5 I say unto the boasters. Be not so boastful, and to the ungodly. Do not exalt your horn ; 6 Do not exalt your horn toward heaven, nor speak arrogantly of the Rock.' 7 For not from the east, nor from the west, nor yet from the mountainous desert » * * 8 Nay, but Elohim is judge ; this one he puts down, and that one he raises up. 9 For in the hand of Jehovah there is a cup with wine — foaming wine that is full of mixture ; and he pours out to this one and to that one : surely the dregs thereof shall all the ungodly of the earth sup up and drink. ID And as for me, I will declare it for ever ; I will make melody unto the God of Jacob. II 'All the horns of the ungodly also will I cut off ; exalted shall be the horns of the righteous.' 2 Tliey that call, &c. Or, ment of His protecting care (cf. ' they that called.' In any case, the xxxiv. 19, xlvi. 2). psalmist connects deliverance with 3 ' For I seize,' &c. The in- the offering of public supplications. spiration of the writer, at first The text, however, has ' and near merely poetic, becomes prophetic, is thy name ; they have rehearsed To the believer he offers comfort, thy wonders ; ' or, less in the H ebre w to the ungodly warnings and threats, spirit, 'and "near is thy name," He speaks in the name of Jehovah, (this) have thy wonders rehearsed.' the principles of whose government The nearness of God's 'name' he proceeds to declare. As soon would meaii the conscious enjoy- as the ' appointed time ' (Hab. ii. 3) p a 212 THE PSALMS has fully come, Jehovah will seize upon it for executing just judgment. Through violence and injustice the moral bases of the earth (not only of Palestine) are shaken (Ixxxii. 5), and its oppressed inhabitants melt witli fear ; at such times Jehovah interposes visibly, and ' adjusts,' or reendows with their old efficacy, ' the pillars' or standards of right and wrong. Comp. Luther, ' The world seems to me like a decayed house. David and the prophets are the spars ; Christ is the main pillar in the midst that supporteth all' {Table Talk). 5, 6 It is doubted whether these distichs belong to Jehovah or to the poet himself. But as the first per- son continues, the former view is more natural, unless, with Bickell, we suppose 'Therefore' to have fallen out at the beginning of the verse. 'Exalting the horn' is a new figure ; we shall meet with it again. It symbolises here overweening self-importance, but \-s\ v. 11 the attainment of power and dignity. Jehovah being the speaker, it is likely that the ' arrogance ' is that of heathen invaders (as in xciv. 4 ; comp. 7 ; not as in xxxi. 19). Of the Rock, i.e. Israel's Rock, Isa. XXX. 29, Deut. xxxii. 37, Hab. i. 12 (see crit. note). 7-9 The psalmist's comment. Help to believers and retributive justice come from God, who alone disposes of the destinies of the nations. Three only of the four quarters of the globe are mentioned ; the north is excepted, because dan- ger menaces Judah from this quar- ter. The third quarter is described with reference to Judah, as the mountainous desert, i.e. the region bounded by the hilly wilderness of Judah. There may be an allusion here to some fact of contemporary history of which we are ignorant. To take the phrase as an equivalent for the Arabian border of Egypt seems to me less natural. But how is the sentence to be completed? The analogy of cxxi. i suggests the supplement 'cometh our help.' The rendering, 'nor yet from the desert cometh exaltation,' imputes to the poet a want of feeling for language. There is no parallel for such a phrase. The coming of a redeemer and of redemption is familiar to us, but not the coming of an exalter and of exaltation. The singularity of the Hebrew is due to the desire for a rhyme ; v. 7 ends with harim, v. 8 ends with yarim. 9 A cup witli wine. See on ' wine of reeling,' Ix. 5. The cor- responding figure is the ' cup which is satisfaction' (xxiii. 5; cf Sept.) We are reminded of the two vessels by the throne of Zeus, //. xxiv. 527, &c. mixture alludes to ingre- dients such as spices and pome- granate-juice (Cant. viii. 2), which would make the ' strong drink ' {shekar) more seductive to those who drank it (comp. Isa. v. 22, Prov. ix. 2).— — To this one and to that one. (See cnt. note.) So Jer. xxv. 17 ; cf an-Nibigha's verse on the giving and taking of the 'wine of Doom' (Lyall, Arabian Poetry, p. 96). PSALM LXXVI. i HE shortest and most vigorous of the Asaphite psalms, referred in the Septuagint to the catastrophe of the Assyrian army. 2 In Judah is Elohim renowned ; his name is great in Israel. 3 For in Salem his bower was set, and his mansion in Zion : 4 There brake he the lightnings of the bow, shield and sword, and equipment of war. PSALM LXXVI. 213 5 Terrible art thou and glorious (in thy ruling) from the everlasting mountains. 6 Spoiled are the stout of heart, they sleep their sleep, and all the men of might have lost their hands. 7 At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, deep sleep hath fallen both upon chariot and upon horse. 8 Thou ! terrible art thou, and who can stand before thee when once thou art angry ? 9 Out of heaven didst thou sound forth judgment ; earth feared and became still, 10 At God's rising up for judgment, to save all the afflicted of the earth. 1 1 For the wrath of man shall give thanks unto thee ; with the residue of (thy) great wrath thou wilt gird thyself. 1 2 Vow and pay unto Jehovah your God, let all around him bring presents, 13 Unto the Terrible One, who lops off the passion of princes, and is terrible to the kings of the earth. 3 Salem, or, more strictly, Sha- lem. The name may be taken from Gen. xiv. 11. According to Josephus (Ani. i. 10, 2) it is the original form of Jerusalem (SoXviia — 'le/joo-oXu/iia). More probably it is a shortened form of that name ; the tendency to abbreviate names was and is strong among the Semitic races (comp. Peor for Baal Peor, Num. XXV. 18, &c. ; el Chalil for 'Mosque of ike F7iend of Allah,' i.e. Hebron ; el Kuds for Beit el kuds, i.e. Jerusalem). The poet in- stinctively feels that ' Salem ' is the really important element in the compound. May it not be, as Grill suggests,' an old name of Israel's God ? We find Yahveh-Shalom (Yahv^-Peace) as a title of Yahveh (Jehovah) in Judg. vi. 24, and Salmanu is the name of an Assyrian god (a god of peace), Schrader, K.A.T., ed. 2, p. 266.^ His bower (or, pavilion). This is surely a better rendering than 'his covert,' as if Jehovah were compared to a lion issuing from its ' covert ' or ' lair ' to attack its prey (comp. Jer. xxv. 38). The temple is meant, which is a ' bower' of peace {Shalem sug- gests the idea of shalom) to the believer. See the fine passage on Zion, Isa. iv. 6. This is in har- mony with the view adopted on xxvii. 5. His mansion. Others, ' his lair ' (same word of the lion, civ. 22). The masculine form of this word is used of God's heavenly dwelling-place, Ixviii. 6. 4 Tbe ligbtning-s of tbe bow, i.e. the swift-flying arrows. See on Ixxviii. 48. 5 Terrible art tbou, &c. The idiom as in Ixviii. 36. ' The ever- lasting mountains,' as Hab. iii. 6, Gen. xhx. 26. Jehovah is supposed to be enthroned on the mountains of Jerusalem (comp. Ixxxvii. I, cxxxiii. 3). This view jjerhaps suits the context best ; but it is also ad- missible to render, ' Fearful art thou and more glorious than,' &c. If Jehovah's glory may be compared to that of the ocean, why not also to that of the 'everlasting moun- 1 Zeitschrift fUr die alttest. Wissenschaft, 1884, p. 145. ' The above may now be compared with Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, pp. 57, 58 [^lOVaVTa (TUfeTOtfftc), 214 THE PSALMS tains ' (the text-reading ' mountains of prey ' must be discarded) ? 6, 7 A vivid description of the catastrophe. They sleep their sleep. The Hebrew, more finely, gives ' they have skimbered into their (last sleep.' Have lost their hands. Their hands, or vital forces, are paralysed (by death). Comp. the idiom in Josh, viii. 2o, 2 Sam. vii. 27, Dukes, Rabbin. Blumenlese, p. 191. Both upon chariot and upon horse. The poet means of course the warriors who use chariot and horse. Comp. Ex. xv. ig, Isa. xliii. 1 7. 9 Out of heaven, &c. Jehovah may be said interchangeably to judge the world from heaven and from his throne on Mount Zion (comp. Ixviii. 34-36). ' Sounding forth judgment ' implies the image of thunder as God's voice ; comp. xlvi. 7. 1 1 For the ivrath of man, &c. The whole verse is dark, but the first part admits of a plausible ex- planation. ' Jehovah,' says a pro- verb (Prov. xvi. 4), 'hath made everything for its end, and the wicked also for the day of evil.' Man's passionate rebellion does but provide a fresh theatre for God's mighty power. But how can God ' gird himself with the ' residue of (his) great wrath ' ? D oes it mean that after each fresh display of anger there is still wherewith to gird Himself for a fresh battle — in short, that His capacity of wrath is as in- exhaustible as man's sin ? Or is the ' great wrath ' that of Jehovah's foes? In this case ' girding ' must have the sense of ' putting on as an ornament' — a sense not favoured by the context, and therefore less probable. The view provisionally adopted is that of Delitzsch and Hitzig ; the latter well compares Rev. xi. 18, Kai TO. e'dj/rj &pyi(r6r](rav, Koi rjXSev 17 opyij a-ov. ' Great wrath,' literally, ' wraths ; ' just as ' salva- tions ' means ' (God's) abundant salvation.' I confess my mind re- mains unsatisfied. The least pos- sible correction of the text would be Ewald's, ' shall hold festival unto thee' (from Sept.) ; but the expres- sion seems strained. It is just pos- sible that the error lies principally in ' wrath ' and ' wraths.' Might we cor- rect this so as to render, ' For the tumult of Aram shall praise thee ; the remnant of Hamath shall come trembling unto thee?' See crit. note. 13 Unto the Terrible One. So Isa. viii. 13 (see Heb.) Who lops off, &c. When the fruit of human passion is ripe, Jehovah ' cuts it off with pruning-knives ' (Isa. xviii. 5.) PSALM LXXVII. 1 HE psalmist recalls some dark moments he has lately had ; perhaps even quotes the psalm in which he expressed his struggle against despair. He describes how he recovered his balance by remembering God's mercies in ancient times (so that national mercies are meant, and therefore national troubles). The connexion is as difficult as in Ps. cxvi. Notice in advance the use of ' Joseph ' for the northern kingdom in this and the neighbour- ing psalms (Ixxvii. 15, Ixxviii. 67, Ixxx. 2, Ixxxi. 6); also the favourite Asaphite comparison of Israel to a flock (Ixxvii. 15, Ixxviii. 52, Ixxix. 13, Ixxx. 2 ; cf. Mic. vii. 14). ' With my voice unto Jehovah fain would I cry, with my voice unto Elohim, that he may hearken unto me.' In the day of my trouble (thus) did I seek the Lord ; in the night was my hand stretched forth incessantly, my soul refused to be comforted. PSALM LXXVII. 215 4 ' Thinking upon God, I can but moan ; musing thereupon, my spirit faints away.' 5 Thou didst hold open the guards of mine eyes ; I was so stricken that I could not speak. 6 I considered the days of old, the years of ancient times : 7 ' Let me call to mind ' (said I) ' my song in the night, let me muse in my heart ; ' and I (thus) searched out my spirit : 8 ' Will the Lord cast off for ever, and be favourable no more ? 9 Is his lovingkindness come utterly to an end ? has his promise failed for all generations ? 10 Has God forgotten to pity ? or has he drawn in his compassion angrily ? ' 1 1 And I said, ' It is my sickness : the years of the right hand of the most High ! 12 I will celebrate the exploits of Jehovah, yea, remember thy wonders of old ; 13 I will also meditate upon all thy work, and muse upon thy exploits.' 14 Elohim, in holiness is thy way ; who is so great a God as Jehovah ? 15 Thou art the God that doeth wonders ; thou hast made known among the peoples thy strength. 16 Thou hast guided thy people like a flock, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. (Fragment of another Psalm.) 17 The waters saw thee, Elohim, the waters saw thee, and were horror-struck ; the abysses also trembled. 18 Cloud-masses gushed out in water ; yea, they uttered a voice ; thine arrows also went hither and thither. 19 The voice of thy thunder was in a whirlwind, flashes lightened the world, the earth trembled and quaked. 20 Through the sea went thy way, and thy path through great waters, and thy footprints could not be known. 3 Was my hand stretched cxliii. 3-5. K 4 is parallel to w. i ; forth, viz. in supplication (xxviii. 2). these verses together represent the 4-6 Comp. the parallel passage, sad complaint of the psalmist ' m 2l6 THE PSALMS the day of his trouble.' z can but moan. The thought of God is no source of comfort as yet ; because the poet is still absorbed in the gloomy present. He is below the spiritual level of the author of Pss. xlii., xliii., who can look, however unsteadily, at the mercies of the past, and who thus admits a sunbeam of hope. 7 My son^ in the niprbt, i.e. my former grateful thanksgivings. Comp. xlii. 9 (note), xcii. 3. 1 (thus) searched out my spirit. The higher expostulates with the lower self (cf Pss. xhi., xliii.) ' Do I really mean to say that the Lord has cast me off ; or is there not in the recesses of my spirit, when I have searched these out, a con- sciousness that Jehovah is un- changeably the same ? ' 8-10 At first sight these lines seem inconsistent with the plan of a retrospect, hinted at in v. 7 a. But all depends on the tone in which the questions are uttered. The tone (as vv. 11-13 show) is that which expects a negative answer. The poet ' searches out ' his unbelieving suspicions, and ex- poses his own unreasonableness. II It Is my sickness, i.e. this trouble of mine is a chastening from God (comp. Jer. x. 19). Understand, 'but let me not de- spair ; he hath not given me over unto death' (cxviii. 18). Then follows an elevating thought ex- pressed in its simplest form like an exclamation, the years, &c., i.e. I will remember (comp. v. 6) the time when ' the right hand of Jehovah had the pre-eminence' (cxviii. 16). The image presents itself to his mind in its simplest form. He is too ' stricken ' to build an argument upon it in words. There are of course other explana- tions, owing to the ambiguity of the words rendered ' my sickness ' and ' the years (of).' For instance, De Witt renders, 'This is my misery, that the right hand of the Most High is changed ' (i.e. become inactive, Ixxiv. 11). So Lowth {Pralect. xxvi.), Hitzig, Hupfeld, following the versions. But see the Hebrew of v. 6, and consider whether this rendering is suitable at the opening of an expostulation. 14 In holiness. 'Holiness'has at any rate here no ethical tinge ; it is the correlative of greatness, and is displayed in wonderful works. Practically it means uniqueness, with the secondary idea of unapproachableness (comp. I Sam. vi. 20). 16 There is a double reading of each half of this verse. Rhythm and poetry are equally the gainers by combining 21a and ibb (pro- posed by Bickell). The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Does this mean 'the children of Israel,' es- pecially those of the leading tribe or tribes of Joseph ('a prince among his brethren,' Gen. xlix. 26) ? Or does Jacob mean southern and Joseph northern Israel (also called Isaac in Am. vii. 9)? The latter alternative is the easier one ; see Ixxx. 2, Ixxxi. 6, Am. v. 6, 15, vi. 6, Hos. xii. 2, and Obad. 18 (where Jacob and Joseph make up the whole nation ; comp. Am. vi. 6, 8). At any rate, these two names had taken root in Canaan as early as Thothmes III. (about 1600 B.C.);' it would always be natural to use them when a fuller phrase than ' the sons of Israel' was required. 17-20 These verses are on a different model from that of the rest of the psalm, being tristichs. They do not cohere well either with vv. 14-16 or with v. 21. They are lyric, not reflective, in tone and style, and have the appearance of having been taken from some other poem. It is idle to say that they are a poetical account of the pas- sage of the Red Sea. They are simply a description of a theophany, without any special reference to ' Whether they belonged to tribes or to cities, or to both, is uncertain. They occur in the Kamak list of Palestinian towns, which includes names restored in Hebrew form, as Ja'kob-el, Jo§ep(?)-el. See Meyer, ' Der Staram Jakob,' in Stade's Zeiischrifi, 1886, p. i, &c., comparing letters in the Academy, Sept. 1887, PSALM LXXVII. 217 any personal intervention of Jeho- rendering ' cloud,' or ' clouds,' is re- vah in the past. Of course the quired here and in xviii. 12, Ixxviii. poet believed in such interventions ; 23 (cf. Job. xxxvi. 28, xxxviii. 37, so did the author of Hab. iii. lo-i j, Prov. iii. 20, Isa. xlv. 8). The old but neither writer is to be tied down exegetical tradition is in favour of to any definite point in history. the rendering ' clouds ' even where Both writers belong to the period (Pss. Ixxxix. 7, Ixviii. 35) ' skies' is of imitative, artificial poetry. absolutely required. The root- Whether one imitated the other, meaning is probably to be thinly or whether both copied some older stretched out (Gesenius; Fleischer), and more creative poet, is impos- 19 in a whirlwind. The sible to decide, and superfluous to thunder, that is, pealed to the discuss here. accompaniment of a whirlwind. 18 Cload'inasses. ' Clouds' = See crit. note. sKkhaqim ; ' masses ' = 'dbkotk. A 20 Thy footprints. The twofold liberty will strike the He- marks of Jehovah's passage over braist ; sense is the gainer. The the bed of the Red Sea. PSALM LXXVIII. A ' HISTORICAL PSALM ' (see On cv.), the facts of which are supplied by the Jehovistic narrative (JE). 1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching, incline your ear to the words of my mouth ; 2 I would open my mouth in a parable, I would utter riddles of ancient date. 3 That which we have heard and known, and our fathers have rehearsed to us — 4 We will not hide from their children, rehearsing it to the generation to come, even the praises of Jehovah and his great force, and his wonderful works that he has done. 5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a rule in Israel, whereby he commanded our fathers to make it known to their children, 6 That the generation to come might know it, the children who should be born, who, rising up, might rehearse it to their children ; 7 That they might place their confidence in Elohim, and not forget the exploits of God, but keep his commandments, 8 And might not be as their fathers, an unruly and rebellious generation, a generation that had not established their heart, and whose spirit was not faithful towards God. 2l8 THE PSALMS 9 The children of Ephraim, armed with the bow, turned back in the day of battle ; 10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law, 11 And forgot his exploits, and his wonders that he had showed them. 12 Before their fathers he had done wonders, in the land of Egypt, the country of Zoan ; 13 He clave the sea, and let them pass over, and piled up the waters as a harvest-heap ; 14 And he guided them with a cloud by day, and all the night through with a light of fire. 15 He clave rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as from the ocean-floods abundantly ; 16 And brought forth streams from the crag, and made the waters run down like rivers. 17 But they sinned yet more against him, defying the most High in the desert. 18 And they tempted God in their heart, requiring food for their lust ; 19 And spake against Elohim, and said, ' Can God furnish a table in the wilderness ? 20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and torrents overflowed ; can he give bread also, or provide flesh for his people ? ' 2 1 When he heard it, therefore, Jehovah was furious, and a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel ; 22 Because they believed not in Elohim, and trusted not in his salvation. 23 And he commanded the clouds above, and opened the doors of heaven, 24 And rained upon them manna to eat, and gave them the corn of heaven. 25 Men did eat the food of the Mighty : he sent them provisions to the full. 26 He caused the east wind to set forth in heaven, and by his power he led on the south wind : 27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and winged birds as the sand of the sea ; PSALM LXXVIII. 219 28 And let it fall within their camp, round about their habitations. 29 So they did eat and were well filled, for that which they fancied he had brought unto them. 30 (But) not yet were they cloyed with their fancy, still was their food in their mouths, 31 AMien the anger of Elohim came up against them, and slew the stoutest of them, and laid low the ripened youths of Israel. 32 For all this they sinned yet more, and believed not in his wondrous works. 33 So he made their days to vanish like a breath, and their years by a sudden end. 34 "When he slew them, they enquired after him, and turned back, and sought God earnestly. 35 And they remembered that Elohim was their Rock, and God most High their redeemer, 36 But they only enticed him with their mouth, and lied unto him with their tongue ; 37 Their heart was not stedfast towards him, neither were they faithful unto his covenant. 38 But he is full of compassion, forgives iniquity and destroys not ; yea, many a time takes he back his anger, and arouses not all his wrath ; 39 So he bethought him that they were but flesh, and wind that passes away, and comes not again. 40 How oft did they defy him in the wilderness, and pain him in the desert ! 41 Yea, time after time they tempted God, and grieved the Holy One of Israel. 42 They remembered not his hand, the day when he set them free from the foe ; 43 How he had set forth his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the country of Zoan. 44 For he turned their Nile-canals into blood, and they could not drink their streams ; 45 He sent among them dogflies, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them. 46 He gave also their produce unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust. 2 20 THE PSALMS 47 He killed their vines with hail, and their fig-trees with stones of ice, 48 And gave their cattle over to the hail, and their flocks to the (sky-sent) flames ; 49 He sent against them his hot anger, fury, fervent ire, and trouble, as commissioned angels of woe. 50 He made a smooth road for his anger ; he held not back their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence. 51 And he smote every firstborn in Egypt, the firstlings of strength in the tents of Ham : 52 But he made his own people to go stage by stage like sheep, and led them on like a flock in the wilderness, 53 And guided them safely, that they were not affrighted, but the sea covered their enemies. 54 And he brought them unto his holy borders, to yon mount, which his own right hand had gotten ; 55 And he drove out the nations before them, and those he allotted as a measured inheritance, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. 56 But they tempted and defied God most High, and observed not his ordinances ; 57 But swerved and were faithless like their fathers — turned aside like a deceitful bow, 58 For they vexed him with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. 59 When God heard this, he was furious, and greatly abhorred Israel, 60 So that he cast off the habitation of Shiloh, his pavilion where he had dwelt among men, 61 And delivered his own strength to captivity, and his splendour into the hand of the foe. 62 He abandoned his people to the sword, and was furious against his inheritance. 63 The fire devoured their young men, and their virgins were not praised in the song. 64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows could make no lamentation. 65 Then the Lord awaked as one that had slept, and like a warrior who shouts from wine. PSALM LXXVIII. 221 66 He beat his foemen backward ; he put upon them a lasting insult. 67 And he rejected the pavilion of Joseph and chose not the tribe of Ephraim, 68 But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved ; 69 And he built his sanctuary like the heavenly heights, like the earth which he has founded for ever. 70 He chose David also his servant, and took him away from the sheepfolds ; 71 From following the ewes he brought him, to feed Jacob his people and Israel his inheritance. 72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and with the skilfulness of his hands he guided them. 1-8 Introduction. The opening lines remind us of xlix. 2-5. There the teaching of the psalmist is ex- pressly referred to divine revelation, whereas here the author bespeaks attention for 'his teaching' (torii) on the lower ground that it is based upon a divinely sanctioned tradi- tion. He is more a 'wise man' than a poet. The 'parable' (via- shdl) and the ' riddles ' ikhidoth) — comp. xlix. 4 — are not the psalm itself, but the lessons inherent in Jewish history. The object is, not so much to glorify Jehovah (' praises ' in V. 4 means ' glorious works '), as to promote edification. The ' testi- mony' and 'rule' (z/. 5) relate to the instruction of the young in those wonderfiil works by which Jehovah in old time rewarded those who trusted Him. 9 The disobedience of N. Israel is at once singled out as one of the special subjects of the psalm. This is described allegorically (comp. ■z/. 57). The historical details begin at V. 12. 12-25 How wondrously did Jehovah guide the ancestors of these rebellious Ephraimites ! Strict chronological accuracy indeed is not preserved. ' Massa' and' Meri- bah' occur in Exodus subsequently to the sending of the manna. The allusion in v. 11 is to Num. xi. ; another violation of strict order. Corn of beaven ; comp. cv. 40, Ex. xvi. 4. The food of the iMll^hty, i.e. of the angels (Sept.), elsewhere called ' heroic in power ' (ciii. 20). 26 The east and the south belong together ; it was a khamasin or sirocco wind of the desert, which blows from south and south-east with the force of a gale. Hence in line I it is compared (as Num. xi. 31) to a general breaking up his encampment (cf VDJ in 2 Kings xix. 8). 35 Cod most High, Heb. El Efyon, a combination only found here and in Gen. xiv. 18, 20, 22. (See, however, Ixxiii. 11.) 40 How oft did they defy him, &c. An allusion to Isa. Ixiii. 10, where the same combination of verbs occurs. ' Defied,' of the Spirit of Jehovah, occurs in cvi. 33. 43 For the phraseology, comp. Ex. X. 2. So cv. 27. 48 To the hall ... to the flames. So Sept., Targ., in accord- ance with Ex. ix. 23, 24. Another psalmist thinks the union of light- ning and hail too poetic a feature to be omitted. Otherwise it would be plausible to transpose two letters, and render (in a) ' to the pestilence,' in which case ' the flames ' (in b) mean ' fiery sickness ' (comp. Hab. iii. 4, Deut. xxxii. 24, where, how- ever, it is ' the flame,' in the singu- 222 THE PSALMS lar form). In Ixxvi. 4 we found the same word rendered here ' flames ' in the phrase ' the hghtnings of the bow' (i.e. swift arrows) ; the sing. (rishef) occurs in Job v. 7 ^, ' the sons of flame ' (i.e. ' the sparks ' ?). ' Flame ' {rhhef) is also a name of the Phcenician Fire-god/ and in Cant. viii. 6 the same word is used (in the plural) of flames which issue forth from Jehovah. 49 As commissioned ang:els of -woe. Lit, 'a mission of mes- sengers of (the class of) hurtful ones.' Comp. Job xxxiii. 22, ' and his life (draw near) to the Slayers.' Sept. wrongly, omo Zeitschr. d. deutsch. morgenl. Gesellschaft, xxxi. 274, &c. Altsynag. Pal. Theologie, pp. 156, 195, 370, 384. comp. Weber, 2 86 THE PSALMS 4 Enquire after Jehovah and his strength, be seeking his face continually. 5 Remember his wonders that he has done, his prodigies and the judgments of his mouth, 6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen ones. 7 He, Jehovah, is our God, his judgments are in all the earth : 8 He remembers his covenant for ever, the word which he appointed for a thousand generations, 9 That which he contracted with Abraham, his oath also unto Isaac, 10 And which he confirmed unto Jacob for a statute, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, 1 1 Saying, ' Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, to be your measured inheritance.' 1 2 While they were still easily numbered, very few, and sojourners in the land, 13 And went about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, 14 He suffered no man to oppress them, and punished kings for their sakes, 15 (Saying,) Touch not mine anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm. 16 And he summoned a famine on the land, he brake the whole staff of bread : 17 He sent a man before them, Joseph was sold to be a bondservant : 1 8 They galled his feet with fetters, his soul felt iron chains : 19 Until the time that his word came to pass, when the promise of Jehovah had assayed him. 20 The king sent and loosed him, the ruler of peoples, and let him go free. 2 1 He made him lord over his house, and ruler of all his possessions, 22 To bind his princes at pleasure, and to make his elders wise. 23 So Israel came into Egypt, and Jacob was a sojourner in the land of Ham ; 24 And he increased his people exceedingly, and made them stronger than their foes. PSALM CV. 287 25 He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants. 26 He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron whom he had chosen. 27 He set forth among them his varied signs, and prodigies in the land of Ham. 28 He sent darkness, and it grew dark, and yet they rebelled against his words 29 He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. 30 Their land swarmed with frogs, they came up into their kings' chambers. 31 He spake and the beetles came, and gnats in all their borders. 32 For rains he gave them hail, fiery flames in their land. 33 He smote their vines also and their fig-trees, and brake in pieces the trees of their borders. 34 He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillars without number, 35 And ate up every herb in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground. 36 He smote also every first-born in their land, the firstlings of all their strength ; 37 But those he brought out with silver and gold, not a man that stumbled among his tribes. 38 Egypt rejoiced at their departing, for their terror had fallen upon them. 39 He spread out clouds for a covering, and fire to illumine the night. 40 They asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. 41 He opened the rock and the waters gushed out, they coursed through the desert as a river. 42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant ; 43 And brought forth his people with joy, his chosen ones with ringing cries ; 44 And gave them the lands of the nations, and they inherited the toil of the peoples, 45 In order that they might keep his statutes, and observe his laws. 288 THE PSALMS 6 For Ills servant Sept. has ' his servants.' This may possibly give the sense correctly ; ' servant ' may be a collective, and refer to ' seed.' I Chron. xvi. 13 reads ' seed of Israel,' which perhaps implies this view (comp. Isa. xli. 8, xlv. 4, &c.) In the parallel line, ' his chosen ' (A. V.) refers to the ' children of Jacob.' See, however, vv. 42, 43, and comp. Gen. xxvi. 24. 8 Comp. cxi. 5, 9. Clearly this is not a psalm of the Exile. The peculiar phrase ' to a generation- thousand' comes from Deut. vii. 9; comp. Ex. XX. 6, Deut. v. 10. 1 5 Toucli not, &c. The words are addressed to the kings of Egypt and the Philistines (comp. Gen. xii., XX., xxvi.) Abimelech threa- tens death to 'him that toucheth this man or his wife,' implying that these persons were sacred. Reve- rent students of Scripture idealised the patriarchs into kings, priests, or prophets (comp. on xcix. 6) : traces of such a conception may indeed be found even in Genesis (see Gen. xx. 7). ' Anointed,' of course, need not mean more than ' consecrated to my service ' (see on Isa. Ixi. i). 18 His soul felt iron cbalns. Lit., ' his soul went into the iron ; ' i.e. his inner being sympathised ' with the pain of his fettered limbs.' Comp. 'lest he tear my soul' (vii. 3), and similar passages. See crit. note. 19 Kls word, i.e. Joseph's pro- phetic word, which, at any rate at first, was combined with the 'pro- mise of Jehovah ' to himself The delay in the fulfilment of the pro- mise assayed or purified his spiri- tual character. 23, 27 la the land of Ham. Suggested by Ixxviii. 51 (comp. also V. 27 with Ixxviii. 43 ;. cf Ex. X. 2, which justifies us in correcting the plural into the singular). 28 And yet they rebelled, (So Sept., Pesh.) Why does this not stand at the close of the plagues? Because a reason is required for the continuance of the judgments. This answer, it may be said, implies that the psalmist was ill informed as to the order of the plagues. Not so ; he began his list with that which first occurred to his mind, and which was one of the most important. The text has, ' and they rebelled not,' i.e. pre- sumably Moses and Aaron, who at another time did ' rebel' (Num. xx. 24, xxvii. 14). 37 Not a man stumbled, i.e. from weariness ; comp. Isa. v. 27, 2 Chron. xxviii. 15 (where A.V.'s ' feeble ' should be ' exhausted'). 40 The bread of heaven. See on Ixxviii. 24, ' the com of heaven.' 41 Comp. the expressions with Ixxviii. 20, 15, 16. 42 His holy promise. 'Holy' either in the wide sense of ' divine,' or in that of inviolable. I prefer the latter (see on Ix. 8, and comp. I Sam. vi. 20, which also illustrates the phrase ' his words of holiness,' Jer. xxiii. 9). PSALM CVI. A RETROSPECT of the sins of the past (recent transgressions are too bitter to be treated in poetry), introduced by praise, prayer, and penitent confession, and strongly reminding us of Neh. ix. Reminiscences of the Pentateuch and of Exile and post-Exile writings abound. Some verses (i, 47, 48) of this psalm are incorporated into the psalm in i Chron. xvi. — one of the features which Ps. cvi. has in common with Ps. cv. 1 O give thanks unto Jehovah, for he is good, for his lovingkindness endures for ever. 2 Who can tell out the valiant deeds of Jehovah, or publish all his praise ? PSALM CVI. 289 3 Happy are they that observe right, and do righteousness at all times. 4 Think of me, O Jehovah, when thou favourest thy people visit me with thy salvation ; 5 That I may look on the good fortune of thy chosen, may rejoice in the joy of thy nation, may glory with thine inheritance. 6 We have sinned with our fathers, we have done perversely, wickedly. 7 Our fathers considered not thy wonders in Egypt, remembered not thine abundant lovingkindnesses, but were defiant at the sea, even by the Red Sea. 8 Yet he saved them for his name's sake to make his might to be known. 9 For he rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry, and he led them through the floods as through the wilderness ; 10 And saved them from the hand of the malicious, and released them from the hand of the enemy. 1 1 The waters covered their foes ; not one of them remained. 12 Then believed they his words ; they sang his praise. 13 Soon they forgot his works : they did not wait for his purpose ; 14 But lusted a lust in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert ; 15 And he gave them their petition, but sent wasting sickness against their soul. 16 They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the holy one of Jehovah. 17 The earth opened, and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram ; i8 And fire kindled on their company, the flame licked up the ungodly. 19 They made a calf at Horeb, and worshipped a molten image. 20 Thus they exchanged his glory for the image of an ox that eateth herbage. 21 They forgot God their saviour, who had done great things in Egypt, 22 Wondrous things in the land of Ham, terrible things by the Red Sea ; 23 And he said he would exterminate them. 290 THE PSALMS but Moses his chosen one [arose], and stood in the breach before hini, to turn away his wrath, that he might not destroy. 24 They held the dehghtsome land for nought, they believed not his word, 25 And murmured in their tents, hearkening not unto the voice of Jehovah. 26 So he sware to them with uplifted hand to cause them to fall in the wilderness ; 2 7 To scatter their seed among the nations, and to winnow them in the lands. 28 They yoked themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead, 29 And vexed (Jehovah) by their doings, and a plague broke in upon them. 30 Phinehas stood forth and interposed, and so the plague was stayed ; 3 1 And that was counte'd unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore. 32 And they stirred up indignation at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account ; 33 For they had been defiant towards God's spirit, and he spoke at random with his lips. 34 They exterminated not the nations, concerning whom Jehovah had commanded them, 35 But mingled themselves among the nations, and learned their works ; 36 And they served their idols, and these became a snare unto them, 37 For they sacrificed their sons, their daughters also, to the demons, 38 And shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, so that the land was profaned with bloodshed ; 39 And they became unclean through their works, and committed whoredom by their misdeeds. 40 Then did the anger of Jehovah burn against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his inheritance ; 41 And he gave them into the hand of the nations, and they that hated them ruled over them. 42 Their enemies oppressed them, and they were made subject to their hand. PSALM CVI. 291 43 Many times did he deliver them, but they clung defiantly to their own purpose, and pined away for their iniquity. 44 But he looked on their adversity, when he heard their cry, 45 And remembered for them his covenant, and relented according to his plenteous kindness, 46 And caused them to get compassion from all those that carried them captives. 47 Save us, Jehovah our God, and gather us from among the nations to give thanks unto thy holy name, to make our boast of thy praises. {^Subscription to Book /V.) 48 Blessed be Jehovah, Israel's God, from aeon to aeon ; and let all the people say. Amen. Hallelujah. 4, 5 The reference to the person of the psalmist (as most, perhaps rightly, view it) is surprising, when compared with w. 6, 47 (' IVe have sinned ; ' ' Save us ')• An unusual effect is also produced by the re- currence of the same suffix (-ka) at the end of each of the five lines of these verses. Considering that many marginal glosses have in- truded into the Hebrew texts, and that scribes are prone to insert petitions for themselves (generally at the end of MSS.), it is plausible to regard vv. 4, 5 with Bickell as an interpolated marginal note. Otherwise we may compare the parenthetical prayers for the writer in Nehemiah's chronicle. Social was not designed to overpower individual religion. 9 Tbrongb tbe floods. Comp. the fiiller passage, Isa. Ixiii. 13. 12 Believed . . . sangr- Al- luding to Ex. xiv. 31 and the songs in Ex. XV. 15 Sent wastln^r sickness, &c. For the expression, comp. Isa. x. 16. George Sandys gives a noble rendering of this line, ' Sent meager Death into their hungry Soules.' 16 The boly one, &c. Comp. 2 Kings iv. 9, ' a man of God, a holy one' (i.e. devoted to God's service) — the only parallel passage. 17 Why is not Korah men- tioned? For the same reason as in Deut. xi. 6, because he was a Levite, and his name was dear to temple-poets.' Similar considera- tions must have led to the insertion of the notice in Num. xxvi. 11, 'but the sons of Korah perished not.' 20 ' They exchanged the spiri- tual revelation of Jehovah in His manifold glorious attributes " (comp. Ex. xxxiv. 5-7, the proclamation of Jehovah's Name) for a material emblem which could at best sym- bolise only one of them (His power), and which might at worst suggest unseemly thoughts of God and be misapprehended and misused.' So the whole verse as rendered above may be ex- plained. The reading 'their glory' ' See Geiger, Urschrift, p. 83; and on Num. xxvi. 11, Kuenen, The Hexateuch, P- 335- ^ See H. Schultz, Alttestamentliche Theologie, ed. 2, p. 519. u 2 292 THE PSALMS is represented in early Jewish sources (e.g. Ochla we-Ochla, no. 68) as a correction introduced by ' the Scribes ' (one of the Tiqqiine Soferim). Is the old reading cor- rect? I agree with Noldeke that this is ' doubtful, but perfectly possible.' I would even go further and say that it is rather probable. Proclivi lectioni prastat ardua, is a canon applicable here, if any- where. There was an obvious reason for altering ' his glory ' into ' their glory ' (the received reading), the reverence of Jewish students being easily alarmed at phrases such as ' exchanging God's glory (the Shechinah, as they would in- terpret it) for an idol.' ' A similar diversity of reading occurs in Hos. iv. 7, Jer. ii. ii. The versions as generally printed agree in each case with the received text (proving the antiquity of the alteration of the pronoun), except that Codd. Alex, and Sin. (as corrected) give in the Sept. of Ps. cvi. 20 ttjv ho^av avTov, and that the Targum of this passage has ' the glory of their Lord.' St. Paul too agrees with these authorities, if we may argue from the words in Rom. i. 23, Kai rpiXa^av (Sept., rjKKa^avTo) ttju do^av Tov dtpdaprov Qeov €V ofiocwfiaTi K.T.X." The received reading is, however, not in itself bad. ' Their glory' will mean 'him whom to serve is Israel'sboast ; ' comp. Deut. X. 21, iv. 6-8. So in Am. viii. 7 Jehovah is called 'the Excellency of Jacob' (Reuss's /a gloire de Jacob confounds two synonyms). See also above, on iv. 3. 21 Cod tlielr saviour. See on iii. 3. Idols are ' things that do not profit ' (Jer. ii. 8). 23 Said, i.e. resolved (as iv. 5). The phrase comes from Deut. ix. 25. 24-27 The phrasing is partly derived from Pentateuch-passages — Num. xiv. 31 ; Deut. i. 27 ; Ex. vi 8, Deut. xxxii. 40 ; Num. xiv. 29, 32. 24 The deli^btsome land. ' See Geiger, op. cit. , p. 316. 2 Delitzsch (on Romans) compares Sifri S3 a, "Oi. ^UPKl '"33 HS 1T0 Lit., ' the land of desire.' So Jer. iii. 19, Zech. vii. 14. 27 To scatter their seed, &c. Based upon Ezek. xx. 23, which enables us to correct with certainty the erroneous repetition at the beginning of the verse. 28 They yoked themselves. A phrase taken from Num. xxv. 3, and sometimes thought to be sug- gestive of some licentious rite ; against which view see my note on Hos. ix. 10. 'Yoking' is an ex- pression for the mystic, quasi-phy- sical union supposed to exist between a god and his worshippers, and to be kept up by sacrificial meals (see on Isa. xliv. 11, and cf. Judg. vi. 34 R.V. marg.) The sacrifices of the dead. See Num. xxv. 2. The ' dead ' are opposed to the 'living God.' Nothing sug- gests a reference to funeral offer- ings, like those of Egypt. 29 A plae:ue. The Hebrew (as in Num. xxv. 8) indicates the slaughter wrought by judicial au- thority upon the offenders. So in I Sam. iv. 17, 2 Sam. xvii. 9 it means the slaughter accompanying a defeat. 30 Interposed, viz. as a me- diator. Another possible meaning is, 'judged' (comp. i Sam. ii. 25). But the impalement of the guilty Israelites was an act of judgment (Num. xxv. 3). Mediation now became requisite, Jehovah and the people being regarded as two con- tending parties. Sept. therefore renders well, though freely, f?iXa- uaTO. 32 The 'object' is omitted, as in V. 29. But that the divine 'in- dignation ' is meant, is clear from the usage of the word (Deut. ix. 7. 8, 22). 33 This verse gives the cause of the adversity which befell Moses (comp. Deut. i 37), viz. that Moses (see Num. xx. 10) spoke words, which being unbelieving {ibii ■"■ 12), were mere babbling or^nrro- \oyla (note the Hebrew). The PSALM CVI. 293 cause of this 'babbling' is also explained, viz. that the people (hardly Moses and Aaron, as Kimchi) had ' defied his (i.e. Jeho- vah's) spirit' (a condensed refer- ence to Isa. Ixiii. 10 ; comp. Ps. Ixxviii. 40). Thus the lines of vv. 32, 33 are alternately parallel. 34 The subjugation of the Canaanites was not, according to the psalmist, complete. He infers this from the assimilation by the Israehtes of much that was pro- perly Canaanitish. Here we are on the confines of a great historical problem. 37 To the demons. Need it be said that the word 'demons' (8ai'p)>/Es) does not here imply that the objects of worship were ' evil spirits ' ? ' The psalmist simply takes a current name for one class of divinities (or superhuman powers), and extends its reference to any and every deity to whose worship the Israelites fell away. Shedim, here rendered ' demons,' is the plural of shed, and connected with Ass. sidu, which, like lamassu, stands for the genii or (may we say?) demigods, who were sub- ordinate to the gods strictly so- called, and were represented by the symbolic winged bulls placed at the entrance of Assyrian palaces. The shedim, who are so prominent in later Jewish theology, are only mentioned again in the Bible in Deut. xxxii. 17 (a work of the As- syrian or Babylonian period), where they are defined as ' not god.' Comp. the discussion in Baudissin, Studien zur semit. Religionsgeschichte, i. 130-136. 38 "Was profaned. Cf Num. XXXV. 33, and see on Isa. xxiv. 5. ^ Sept. , however, renders 5aijiioFtoi5 both here and in Deut. xxxii. i/.andthe Peshitto gives shido as the rendering of SmVaii' and Saindxioi' in the N. T. (similarly Delitzsch gives shed). 294 THE PSALMS BOOK V. PSALM CVII. y ERSES 1-32 consist of a series of picturesque descriptions each closed by a refrain, and exhibiting the contrast between present peace and past tribulation. It is therefore virtually another hymn to Providence. At first, indeed, the psalmist simply intended a thanksgiving for Israel's restoration, but to fill out his poem he included some scenes not con- nected with that great turning-point. He seems to have been a special admirer of Job and II. Isaiah. At -u. 33 the treatment becomes more meagre, the connexion less cared for, and the thought less original. The refrains too are dropped. 1 O give thanks unto Jehovah, for he is good, for his lovingkindness endures for ever. 2 Thus let the released of Jehovah say, whom he hath released from the hand of the foe, 3 And gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. 4 They wandered in the wilderness, yea, in the desert, they found no road to a city of habitation : 5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. 6 So they cried unto Jehovah in their strait, and he delivered them out of their distresses, 7 He directed them also by a straight way, that they might go to a city of habitation. 8 O let these give thanks unto Jehovah for his kindness, and for his wondrous works to the children of men ! 9 For he has satisfied the longing soul, and filled the hungry soul with good. 10 Those that sat in darkness and in death-shadow, bondsmen of affliction and iron — 1 1 Because they had defied the commands of God, and reviled the purpose of the most High, 12 So that he bowed their heart down with travail, they stumbled, and there was none to help ; PSALM CVII. 295 13 But they cried unto Jehovah in their strait, and he saved them out of their distresses, 14 Brought them out of darkness and death-shadow, and tore away their bonds — 15 let these give thanks unto Jehovah for his kindness, and for his wondrous works to the children of men ! 16 For he has broken the gates of brass, and hewed the bars of iron in sunder. 17 Sick men, who for the way of their transgression and for their iniquities suffered affliction — 18 Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew nigh unto the gates of Death, 1 9 But they cried unto Jehovah in their strait, and he saved them out of their distresses, 20 He sent his word to heal them, and caused them to escape from their pitfalls — 21 let these give thanks unto Jehovah for his kindness, and for his wondrous works to the children of men, 22 And offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and recount his works amid cries that ring. 23 They that go down upon the sea in ships, that do business on the great waters, 24 These men see the works of Jehovah, and his wonders in the ocean-gulf. 25 For he spake, and caused a stormy wind to appear which lifted up the waves thereof ; 26 They went up to the sky, they came down to the abysses, their soul melted away in the trouble ; 27 They reeled and staggered like a drunken man, and all their wisdom was swallowed up. 28 But they cried unto Jehovah in their strait, and he brought them out of their distresses. 29 He turned the storm into a soft air, and the waves thereof were hushed. 30 Then were they glad, because they were laid to rest, and he guided them to their wished-for haven. 31 let these give thanks to Jehovah for his kindness, and for his wondrous works to the children of men ; 32 Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the company of the elders. 33 He turned rivers into a wilderness, and watercourses into thirsty ground ; 296 THE PSALMS 34 A fruitful land into a salt waste, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein 35 He turned the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watercourses ; 36 And there he made the hungry to dwell, and they founded a city of habitation. 37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards, and obtained fruits of increase. 38 He blessed them, and they multiplied exceedingly, and their cattle he diminished not. 39 And when they were minished and brought low through oppression of trouble and heaviness, 41 He set the needy secure from affliction, and made him families like a flock ; 42 The upright see it, and rejoice, and all unrighteousness stops its mouth. 43 Whoso is wise, let him observe these things, and let them understand the kindnesses of Jehovah. 1-3 Cf. cxviii. 2-4, and also Isa. Ixii. 12 ; xliii. 5, 6 ; xlix. 12. In the last-named passage, as here, the text unsuitably has ' from the sea,' which in this context could only, I think, in accordance with Hebrew usage, mean ' from the west.' The connexion, from the soutb, is an easy one (see Isaiah, ii. 16, 165). Out of the lands, i.e. out of foreign lands (comp. cv. 44, cvi. 27), just as 'the nations' means ' foreign nations.' 10 Comp. cxiiii. 31?, Isa. ix. i. Job xxxvi. 8 ; and for the sense of 'iron,' Ps. cv. 18. 16 That great word of faith, Isa. xlv. 2, has been fulfilled — in the spirit, if not in the letter (see Isaiah, i. 293). 17 At this point the tableaux cease to have a special reference to the sumiounted trials of the Exiles ; comp. the following one with that in Elihu's speech (Job xxxiii. 19-26). sick men. The text has 'foolish ones.' Can this be right? Does not the context require a word significant of the physical condition of the sufferers ? One remembers indeed that sin and sickness are closely connected in the O. T Among the many proofs of this, see Isa. xxxiii. 24, Ps. xxxi. II, and especialiy Ps. xxxviii. 6, where a sick man accounts for his ' wounds ' by his ' foolishness ' (the cognate substantive to the adjective here used). It would therefore be perfectly intelligible if our psalmist had written ' their fooHshness ' for ' their transgression.' But the poet must be credited with sound judg- ment, the laws of which are the same in the East and in the West. Can we conceive him introducing a fresh tableau by an ethical term such as 'fools' (Prov. i. 7 and often) ? Let us consider v. 10 and V. 23, and in this very stanza v. 1 8 a and v. 20 a, before answering. 18 A reminiscence of Job xxxiii. 20, 22.- The g-ates of Death. See on ix. 14. 20 He sent his word. Such a phrase prepares the way for the Targumic use of JH Np'P 'the Word of the Lord ' for ni n^i Comp. cxlvii. 15, 18, and see on xxxiii. 6, Isa. ix. 8. 23-32 Mohammed, too, full of the thought of God's liberahty PSALM CVII. 297 points to the ships and their de- liverances, for which men are so ungrateful {Kordn, Sur. xvii. 68-72). 23 Tbat so down, &c. Or, ' that have gone down.' ' Upon the sea ; ' the surface of the sea being below the level of the land. Comp. Isa. xlii. 10. 26 Tbey went up to tbe sky, viz. the shipmen, not the waves, in spite of the seductive parallel in Ovid's Tristia (i. 2, 27-32). The abysses. Not ' the abyss ' (as Street ; cf xxxvi.'7) ; the ocean-deep is made up of deeps below deeps. Cf. cxxxv. 6, cxlviii. 7. 29 Tbe craves tbereof. Lit. ' their waves.' Had rhythm allowed, the poet would have quoted 'his waves ' from v. 25. But the plural suffix can be justified (awkwardly, no doubt) by 'great waters' in v. 23. 30 To their wistaed-forbaven. ' Haven' (or ' mart ') is near enough to the sense. The word makhoz is doubtless of Babylonian origin, and its Assyrio-Babylonian equivalent means 'city.' So also does »2a^^^^a in the Babylonian Talmud (see Levy's Lexicon), though this is also the proper name of a city on the Tigris, chiefly inhabited by Jews (see Yoma 1 1 a). Our psalmist evidently limits the sense of the word ; he thinks of cities of com- mercial rather than of political importance. See crit. note. 33 The hymn of praise for God's manifold deliverances is suc- ceeded by specimens of His equally manifold providential dealings with countries and nations. The refer- ence is in no case to be confined to any single historical event. The details are given in familiar language reminding one of earlier writings, such as Job and II. Isaiah. Comp. V. 33 with Isa 1. 2, XXXV. 7. 34 Into a salt waste. The poet generalises from events like the destruction of Sodom (cf. Tris- tram, Land of Israel, p. 367). Cf. Jer. xvii. 6, Job. xxxix. 6, also Ecclus. xxxix. 6 (where aX/ui; sug- gests that Sirach knew the Sept. of our psalm). 35 Imitated from Isa. xh. 18. 38 ^ A poetic understatement for effect. 39 The transition is abrupt ; we have just heard that at any rate 'their cattle' had not diminished. Hitzig supposes that by an awkward retrogression (cf Driver, Hebrew Tenses, § 76, Obs.) the time preced- ing God's gracious gifts {yv. 35-38) is referred to ; Delitzsch, that a subsequent change in the fortunes of the persons so blessed is indi- cated. To me it seems as if the author of the appendix iyv. 33-43) strung sentences together without much reflexion. Still more evident is this, if he really inserted v. 40, which is taken from Job xii. 21a, 24 b. This verse, however, so seri- ously disturbs the logical sequence and obscures the sense that 1 follow Bickell in rejecting it as an inter- polation. In the best editions of the Massoretic text, an inverted Nun stands before this verse, and also before vv. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. Did the ancient critics regard all these verses as spurious ? So think Geiger and Bottcher ; but this is uncertain (cf Strack, Pro- legomena Critica, p. 91). 43 Comp. Hos. xiv. 9 (there too a closing formula). PSALM CVIII. See Psalm LVII. 7-1 1, LX. 5-12. PSALM CIX. 1 HE speaker, representing the pious kernel of the nation, complains of persecuting enemies, particularly of one who is high in office and fore- most in malignity. More fearful anathemas than this psalm contains can hardly be conceived. The misuse made of them in Calvin's time 298 THE PSALMS (see his note on v. 6, and below on Ps. cxlix.) is a warning to us not to idolise even so precious a gift as the Psalter. We cannot (see Luke ix. 55) justify such expressions ; can we excuse them ? An enquiry into ttie circumstances of the psalmist will, I think, give the only solid grounds for doing so. Would that I had space for this here. At any rate, he is not eminent as a poet. Contrast his ineffective elaboration of the idea that a ' curse causeless' falls back on the speaker with the measured ex- pressions of a Vedic poet (Rig Veda, i. 147, 4, Grassmann). 2 O God of my praise, hold not thy peace, for the mouth of ungodliness and deceit have they opened upon me, they have spoken against me with lying tongue ; 3 And with words of hatred have they surrounded me, and fought against me without a cause. 4 In return for love, they behaved as mine adversaries, whilst I was all prayer ; 5 Yea, they rendered me evil for good, and hatred for my love. 6 Set thou an ungodly man over him, and let an adversary stand at his right hand. 7 When he is accused, let him go forth condemned, and let his prayer pass for a sin. 8 Let his days be few ; his store let another take. 9 Let his children be orphans, and his wife a widow. 10 Let his children be vagabonds, and beg, yea, let them be driven from their desolate home. 1 1 Let the creditor ensnare all that he has, and let foreigners take his labour for a prey. 12 Let him have none that continues kindness to him, neither any that has pity on his orphans. 1 3 Let his posterity be cut off as their doom, in the next generation let their name be blotted out. 14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be mentioned before Jehovah, and the sin of his mother — let it not be blotted out. 1 5 Let them be over against Jehovah continually, and let him cut off their memory from the earth. 16 And that because he thought not to show lovingkindness, but persecuted the afflicted and needy, and the desponding in mind, to murder him, ' The theory of Kennicott, Mendelssohn, Dr. C. Taylor, and, as it seems, Canon Westcott [Cathedral Psalter), which puts the curses into the mouth of the psalmist's enemy, however plausible it may seem, labours under insuperable difficulties (see Perowne, and Jennings and Lowe). PSALM CIX. 299 17 And he loved cursing (so it will come to him), and delighted not in blessing (so it will be far from him) ; 18 And clothed himself with cursing even as with his robe (so it will come into his inward parts like water, and like oil into his bones). 19 Let it be unto him as a vesture wherein he wraps himself, and as a girdle wherewith he binds himself continually. 20 Be these the wages of mine adversaries from Jehovah, and of them that speak evil against my soul. 21 And thou, Jehovah Lord, do nobly for me for thy name's sake ; because thy lovingkindness is so good, deliver thou me. 22 For afflicted am I, .and needy, and my heart is wounded within me : 23 Like a shadow when it stretches out, I disappear ; I am shaken off as the locust : 24 My knees totter from fasting, and my flesh falls away into leanness : 25 And I — I am become a reproach unto them, when they see me they shake their head. 26 Help me, Jehovah my God, save me, according to thy lovingkindness : 27 That they may know that this is thy hand, and that thou, Jehovah, hast done it. 28 They may curse, but thou dost bless ; when they arise, they will be confounded, but thy servant will rejoice. 29 Mine adversaries will be clothed with disgrace, and wrap themselves in their shame as in a mantle. 30 I will give great thanks unto Jehovah with my mouth, and praise him in the midst of many, 31 Because he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those that judge his soul. 2 False witness was always one prayer,' and suppose the writer to great means of persecution (as mean that he seeks refuge and xxvii. 12, XXXV. II) ; but in all such comfort in prayer. But what sort passages it represents a class of of prayer is that which follows, the hostile actions (see on xxvii. 12). effect of which is only to let loose Vng-odllnegs here means ' un- a flood of unpurified passion ? righteousness ' (comp. z/. 7, and see (Compare introd.) The immediate on V. 6). context, however, compared with 4 In return for love. Comp. xxxv. 13, suggests a different ex- XXXV. 13, Ixix. II, 12 ; Jer. xviii. 20. planation, 'I was all prayer for 1 was all prayer. For the them.' So the Peshitto and Ibn construction see ex. 3, cxx. 7. Most Ezra. There must, I fear, be some commentators render ' I am all error in the text. 300 THE PSALMS 6 Set tbou . . . over bim, viz. with the authority of a judge. The Peshitto has 'over them,' and keeps the plural reference throughout, probably because he applied the imprecations to the enemies of Jesus Christ. But evidently some great personage is referred to ; and hence the special mention of some greater (heathen) personage by whom he is displaced. The term ungodly {rashd') in this passage probably means ' heathen ' (comp. Ixviii. 3), in spite of the purely ethi- cal reference of the noun in v. 2, and the forensic use of the adjective in V. 7. For it is surely implied that there is some profound differ- ence between the judge and the accused. An adversary, or, as the context seems to some to suggest, a false accuser. The word (sdtarf) having no article, we might take it as a proper name, as in i Chron. xxi. I, 'And Satan stood up against Israel.' If we so explain it, we must, however, with Hitzig, go further, and say that God is the judge. This view may no doubt be confirmed by v. 7 b, and by a seemingly parallel passage (Zech. iii. l), but is opposed by z/. 6« (which Hitzig boldly renders, ' Erkenne gegen ihn : schuldig ! '). But are we bound to take sdtdn as a proper name ? Surely not. On v. j b I will speak presently ; with regard to Zech. iii. i, does the parallelism go further than the use of a legal phrase ? For the right hand as the place of the accuser, comp. also Job XXX. 12, ' Upon my right hand rise the rabble ' (R.V.) 7 Condemned. A third and more technical meaning of rdsha!- (see on vv. 2, 6). The context implies that a sentence of capital punishment is meant. let his prayer pass for a sin. This clause has been felt difficult, both on account of the seeming limita- tion of God's mercy and because of the context (see on v. 6). But unlimited mercy is not a doctrine of the Old Testament. ' The sacri- fice of the ungodly is an abomina- tion to Jehovah ; but the prayer of the upright is his delight,' is a proverb in which ' sacrifice ' and ' prayer ' are virtually synonymous (Prov. XV. 8 ; comp. xxviii. 9). As to the context, this is not really inconsistent with the view adopted above. The idea of the earthly suggests that of the heavenly judge, as in xxxvii. 33. The ungodly man, when he falls into the hands of a tyrant, and, like many an innocent man in his own day of power (Prov. xxiv. 11), is being 'dragged away to death,' prays despairingly to the national God, Jehovah. But Jehovah is not a mere national God. 8 His store. Following the sense of the word in Isa. xv. 7. For the idea of the clause, see xlix. II. Others render 'his office;' but the whole picture, after v. 7, is one of poverty and misery. 10 ILet tbem be driven, &c. This line explains the first. The ruined home precedes the begging family. In order of time, however, the events oi v. 11 precede that of V. 10 b. The text-reading, 'let them seek [bread, fleeing] from their desolate home,' is both unnatural and weak in sense. 14, 15 The curse opens out backward in accordance with Ex. XX. 5' So mentioned. Comp. I Kings xvii. 18. Xiet tbem be, viz. the sins of his forefathers. 16 Because be tbougbt not, &c. The 'law of kindness' (if we may so apply a fine phrase in Prov. xxxi. 26) is in the first rank of Jehovah's commandments (Hos. vi. 6, Mic. vi. 8). The ungodly man neglected this, and, instead of cherishing the poor, carried on his persecution to the bitter end. Tbe desponding: In mind. ' De- sponding,' not merely because ' over- awed' by bad men (x. 18), but because of the delay of God's promised lovingkindness. Comp. Isa. Ixi. 3, Ixvi. 2 (striking parallels). 17, 18 So it will come, &c. Lit., ' so it came,' &c. The paren- thetical clauses represent future events as ideally past. ' Crime and punishment,' according to an Indian PSALM CIX. 301 proverb, 'grow out of one stem ;' the softening of another psalmist's ' when Ephraim offended by Baal,' mood in Ixix. 30, ' And as for me, I says Hosea (xiii. i), ' he died.' am afflicted and sore pained.' Notice the climax of the imagery 23 Iilke a sbadow, &c. The in V. 18. figure seems borrowed from cii. 12. 20 Be tbese the wages, &c. As the locust, a helpless, un- Surely this verse is inconsistent steady creature ; comp. Job xxxix. with Kennicott's view (see introd.) 20. If the preceding imprecations were 25 Comp. Ixix. 11-13, xxii. 8. a quotation from the ' ungodly man,' 26-31 Lamentation gives way would not the psalmist have said, to assured hope, as in xxii., Ixix. 'Not upon me, Jehovah, not upon 31 How finely Jehovah is said me, but upon mine adversaries let to place Himself at the right hand this curse come ' ? (comp. xvi. 8, cxxi. 5), ready to 22 Tor afflicted, &c. Comp. repel any false accuser (comp. v. 6). PSALM ex. UiviNE oracles and lyric anticipations addressed to the king. The poem is so abrupt and rugged in style that one can well believe it to have lost some distichs. Its historical interpretation is correspondingly difficult ; nor have I space to discuss rival hypotheses. To me, it appears like an imitation of Ps. ii. ; but I am not positive that we can follow the analogy of that psalm in our interpretation. Ps. ex. may perhaps refer to the ideal or Messianic king himself (cf The Prophecies of Isaiah, ii. 200) ; but it is equally possible to explain it of some historical ruler regarded as typically Messianic. Ewald assigns the authorship to some prophet like Gad or Nathan. But even simple psalmists are found elsewhere to claim prophetic inspiration (cf on Ixii. 12), and we must not be too sure that we know what sort of poetry Gad or Nathan would write. 1 Jehovah's oracle touching my lord, 'Be enthroned at my right hand, till I make thine enemies a footstool for thee.' 2 Thine overpowering sceptre doth Jehovah stretch forth from Zion ; 'Have sway in thine enemies' midst.' 3 All alacrity are thy people in the day of thy muster upon the holy mountains ; from the womb of the morning-sky comes to thee the dew of thy youth. 4 Jehovah swears irrevocably, ' Thou art priest for ever, after the manner of Melchizedek.' 5 The Lord is at thy right hand ; he shatters kings in his angry day, giving doom amidst nations. 6 Full is the wide field of corpses ; he shatters heads thereon. 7 Of the brook doth he drink in the way ; therefore can he lift up his head. I The first oracle, either freshly into a new form (cf ii. 7-9). It is received by the psalmist, or taken an irregularity (not unparalleled, by him from some book and put however — see on Isa. Ivi. 8) for the 302 THE PSALMS phrase Tebovab's oracle to intro- duce a divine utterance. Touch- ing- my lord. 'My lord' is the customary title of respect in ad- dressing a king, or indeed any supe- rior (see I Sam. xxii. I2,xxiv. 8, Gen. xxiii. 6). Hence the second person in vv. 2, 3. Be entlironed, &c. Mount Zion is the earthly sym- bol of the invisible 'mountain of Elohim.' Jehovah upon his throne summons Israel's king to become his ffopeSpos (Find. 01. viii. 22) ; comp. ii. 5. Nor is this an empty honour (cf I Kings ii. 19) ; it in- volves a share in the world's govern- ment. The king of Israel is as much the deputy of Jehovah as the Assyrian king is the vicegerent of Assur (see, e.g.. Records of the Past, xi. 3) ; his rule is the ' royalty of Jehovah by the hand of the soils of David' (2 Chron. xiii. 8 ; cf. I Chron. xxviii. 5, xxix. 23). Hence in Zech. xiii. 7 Jehovah calls the king ' my fellow ' (iri'DV 13). 2 Kave sway, &c. Again the words of Jehovah, which have a self-fulfilling power (see on Isa. ix. 8). 3 Martial Israelites stream to the royal banner (comp. Judg. v. 2, 9, Heb.) It is an early morning muster ; and suddenly (cf. 2 Sam. xvii. II, 12) as the dewdrops which the sun Impearls on every leaf and every flow'r (Milton's figure for the angel-hosts), and not less past counting than these, there seems to start up on all sides a youthful army, brimming over with that freshness and vigour of which 'dew' in the prophets (Hos. xiv. 5, Isa. xxvi. 19) is the symbol. Such is the imaginative picture. The expressions are partly borrowed from myth. The sky was conceived of by the early men as shedding an* impregnating influence on the earth (see on Isa. xlv. 8), and so the dewdrops which ' the skies drop down' (Prov. iii. 20)' could poetic- ally be described as ' children of the dawn ' (or, to give the force of IDB'P, 'of the morning-sky^). This is at least a not unworthy view of the meaning ; it assumes, however, that there is such a word as "iDtpp, and it may seem to some too poeti- cal for our psalmist. Another pos- sible rendering (point int^J?) of line 2 is, ' from the womb, from the very dawn, (devoted) to thee is thy youthful band' (Geiger, Urschrift, p. 29). Youth is here taken to be compared to the dawn, just as Job calls his mature age his ' autumn,' Job xxix. 4 (nnriB'in Eccles. xi. 10 can scarcely be quoted) ; the same figure is not unknown to the Tal- mud.^ But does not ' dew ' hang in the air, so to speak, without the support of some elucidating words ? Hence Bickell's suggestion that 70 may have been miswritten * for ?* in inn'?' seems a necessary supple- ment to Geiger's view. Line 2 thus becomes a statement that the young warriors have been devoted to Israel's king since their infancy — have drunk in loyalty to ' God and the king ' at their mothers' breasts (cf xxii. 10, 11). But I prefer to adhere to the text ; inE'D may be a rare word brought out by the * So Lane {Arabic Lexicon, s.v, talla) quotes the phrase, 'The sky rained small rain (fallat) upon the earth,' which suggests the question whether Heb. tal, like Ar. tall^i^, may not often mean the fine shower or night-mist which is more than the equi- valent of ' dew' in Palestine in the hot months of late summer. See Neil, Palestine Explored, p. 129, &c. 2 Mr. Neil interprets "iHti'D |t33 of the ' fleecy, enfolding clouds ' of night-mist from out of which an autumn morning appears to emerge, and which after glistening awhile in the brilliant light are sucked up by the sun, leaving behind them a delightful moisture (Pffl/. ExpL, p. 138). This helps us to realise the possibility of a Semitic dew-myth such as seems to be alluded to in Job xxxviii. 28. 2 See Jebamoth, 62 b {Wunsch, Der hab. Talmud, ii. i, p. 17), where ' morning ' and ' evening ' in Eccles. xi. 6 are explained of youth and age. ■* Bickell appeals to the Septuagint, which, however, omits to translate not only 7t3 but "^, suggesting that the Hebrew text used had both words or neither. PSALM ex. 303 poet ; or the whole phrase may be borrowed from some old poem now lost. Upon tbe Iioly moun- tains, i.e. at Jerusalem (see Ixxxvii. I, cxxxiii. 3), whence the army set forth. The text has, 'in hallowed splendours ;' cf. 2 Chron. xx. 21 ; but see crit. note. 4 A fresh revelation, affecting not merely the king, but his family. Note the solemnity of the introduc- tion (Heb. vii. 21). The person ad- dressed is already a king (the Mac- cabees were to all intents and pur- poses as much kings as David was, even before Aristobulus assumed the regal title) ; he may or may not be also a subordinate priest ; but he is now to be inducted into the office of priest par excellence, with the promise that the office shall descend to his posterity (cf. i Sam. ii. 35) and a confirmation of his royal dignity. In a word, he is to be a priest-king. If a Davidic prince is meant, comp. 2 Sam. vi. 14, &c., I Chron. xxix. 10, i Kings viii. 14, 55 ; if a Maccabee, i Mace. x. 21, xiv. 41 ; if the Messiah, Zech. iii. 8, vi. 11-13 (Delitzsch regards the parallel as complete, Messianic Prophecy, pp. 97, 98 ; see, however, Riehm, Die messia- nische Weissagung, ed. 2, pp. 146, 147). ^After the manner (or, in accordance with the relation or state) of Melclilzedek (Gen. xiv. 18), and not merely of Aaron and of Zadok. The allusion is a happy one, Salem being shortened from Jerusalem (see on Ixxvi. 3) and Melchizedek suggesting some of the chief attributes of the idealised or Messianic king — righteousness before God, prosperity (i.e. righte- ousness before man, Isa. liv. 17), and legitimacy. 5 The description in vv. 2, 3 is resumed. The lord is Jehovah (surely not the king), who is invisibly standing at His viceroy's right hand (see xvi. 8, cxxi. 5, and cf. Rameses in battle. Records of the Past, ii. 70). Shatters kin^s ; so l". 6 (al- luding to Ixviii. 22, Hab. iii. 13, 14) ; cf ii. 9. Giving doom, &c. A Messianic feature (vii. 9, ix. 9, xcvi. 10). 6 The expression is awkward ; but the sense is clear (cf last note). Perowne, however, has ' heads over wide lands.' 7 Cf Judg. vii. 5, 2 Sam. xxiii. 15, and Shakespeare's lines — Three times they breath'd, and three times did they drink, Upon agreement, of swift Severn's flood. (King Henry IV., Act i, Scene 3.) Has not something dropped out of the text ? Perowne's admirable paraphrase certainly suggests this, ' Then with renewed ardour, with head erect and kindling eye, [the king] continues the pursuit. Thus shall victory be crowned, and not a foe remain.' PSALM CXI. r SS. cxi. and cxii. are twin psalms. They are both 'alphabetical' in the full sense, each of the three-toned lines beginning with one of the twenty- two Hebrew letters taken in order ; and in both psalms the last two verses are tristichs. In contents they are still more closely akin. Ps. cxii. is a ' heilige Parodie' (Hengstenberg phrases it) of Ps. cxi., designed to suggest the lesson of Matt. v. 48. Probably enough they are both by the same author, who is equally at home in the law, the history, and the wisdom of Israel. 1 I will thank Jehovah with my whole heart, in the council and assembly of the upright. 2 Great are the works of Jehovah to be studied of all that delight therein. 304 THE PSALMS 3 Glorious and grand is his doing, and his righteousness abides eternally. 4 A memorial has he made for his wonders : Jehovah is full of pity and compassion. 5 Food has he given unto them that fear him, he is ever mindful of his covenant. 6 The might of his works has he declared to his people, giving them the heritage of the nations. 7 The works of his hands are truth and justice, all his behests are faithful ; 8 They are established eternally and for ever, wrought out in truth and uprightness. 9 He has sent deliverance unto his people, he has appointed his covenant for ever ; holy and reverend is his name, lo The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom, good discernment have all such as practise them ; his praise abides eternally. 1 The uprlg-lit. Comp. (in a semi-alphabetical psalm) xxxiii. i, where 'upright' alternates with ' righteous.' Righteousness was in truth the aspiration of the post- Exile community. A pre-Exile poet may have coined the word Jeshurun {Eidis, Aq., Symm., Theod.), but Ezra and his fellows made the name in some measure a reality, and the psalmist would fain confirm and deepen their work by insisting on the moral and spiritual character of true Israelites (comp. cxii. I, 2). 2 To be studied, &c. Might we with Sept. adopt another read- ing,^ ' studied (lit. sought out) with regard to all his purposes ' (f Iijti;- ixeva etff navTa ra OelKviiaTa avTov) ? This word gives an excellent sense ; the works of God are not to be studied as mere external facts, but as the monuments of His gracious purposes (for the rendering ' pur- pose,' comp. Isa. liii. lo, 'the plea- sure (or, purpose) of Jehovah '). If it seems not worth while to desert the text, might we render, 'studied with regard to all their precious things ' ? 'AH precious things,' says the wise man, ' do not equal wisdom' (Prov. viii. ii, iii. 1 5) ; but the saying is perhaps too uncommon for such a plain writer. I therefore retain the common ren- dering, though to my feeling as well as to Hitzig's it is tautological (comp. Mai. iii. i). Delitzsch, in eds. 1-3, rendered 'according to all their objects ; ' but the sense intended would perhaps have been expressed otherwise (comp. Prov. xvi. 4 a). He has now returned to the usual rendering. 3 His righteousness. Comp. cxii. 3, where man's righteousness has the same permanency predicted of it. ' Righteousness ' and ' lov- ingkindness ' are closely connected ideas, both have relation to the twofold covenant ; '' yet we must not render with Dathe, ' Benignitas ejus sibi semper constat,' for the divine ' righteousness ' has its stern side (Ex. xxxiv. 7 a). 4 & memorial, viz. a constant tradition (comp. Ixxviii. 3), con- 1 In Sept.'s interesting version of xvi. 3 we again meet with ra (leKTiij.ara airoi!. 2 Viz. that which unites Jehovah to Israel and the members of Israel to one an- other. See Hosea (Cambridge Bible), pp. 29, 30. PSALM CXI. 305 firmed by observances like the Passover (Ex. xii. 14). Tebovab, &c. So ciii. 8. 5 Pood. Marg. A.V. and R.V., ' prey.' Fresh green food is, how- ever, the primary meaning of teref (Ar. ratba). God's people are likened, not to wild but to tame beasts ; comp. Isa. Ixiii. 14, and the comparison of Israel to a flock in the Asaphite psalms. Note too that both in Prov. xxxi. 15 and in Mai. iii. 10, where the same word is used of man's sustenance, vege- table food is meant. (Of course the choice of the word here was prompted by the necessary initial letter : see introd.) Does the psalmist allude (as Del. thinks) to the manna ? An exclusive reference must be denied (comp. xxxvii. 25). 9 He sent deliverance. Not merely at the Exodus, but again and again. 'Thy God' is a per- manent title of Israel's God (xlvii. 4, and elsewhere). Holy and reverend. Comp. xcix. 3. One of the principal elements in the con- ception of Jehovah's ' holiness ' is an irresistible might. Comp. Isa. xxix. 23. 10 a A commonplace of the sages of Israel (see Prov. i. 7, ix. 10, and cf. Job xxviii. 28, Sirach i. 20). It means that the begrinnin? or foundation (some render ' chief part,' but this will not suit Prov. ix. 10) of true wisdom is true religion. Comp. Oehler, Old Testament Theology, § 240, and cf Job and Soloino?i, p. 158. \ob Practise them. The di- vine ' behests ' {v. 7) are referred to by an incorrectness like that in cvii. 29 iJ. His praise, i.e. Jeho- vah's {v. 2ib). PSALM CXII. 1 Happy the man that fears Jehovah, that delights much in his commandments. 2 Wealthy in the land shall be his seed ; the generation of the upright shall be blessed. 3 Substance and riches are in his house, and his righteousness abides eternally. 4 Unto the upright there beams a light in the darkness, (unto him who is) pitiful, compassionate, and righteous. 5 It is well with the man that shows pity and lends ; he maintains his cause in the judgment. 6 For he can never be moved ; the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance. 7 He is not afraid of evil tidings ; stedfast is his heart, trusting in Jehovah. 8 Established is his heart, he is not afraid, until he looks his fill upon his enemies. 9 He has scattered abroad, he has given to the poor ; his righteousness abides eternally : his horn shall be exalted in glory. 10 The ungodly sees it and is vexed, he gnashes with his teeth and melts away : the desire of the ungodly perishes X 3o6 THE PSALMS 2 vrealtby. Gibbor, here at least, has a peaceful reference. So Boaz is a ' mighty man of valour ' (Ruth ii. i), i.e. rich ; comp. I Sam. ix. I, 2 Kings xv. 20. 3i5 In what sense can these words, originally (cxi. 3) said of Jehovah, be true of the good man ? Only in this, that, unlike the un- godly, the good man will be able to ' stand in the judgment ' (i. 3) ; his righteous deeds will stand for ever as a monument of his character. There is no occasion to give the word the sense of outward success (as, e.g., in Isa. liv. 17). Comp. v. 9. 4 There are doubts as to the explanation of the second line. Do the epithets refer to Jehovah or to the good man ? Before answering, we must ask another question. In an ' alphabetical psalm ' must we follow grammar, or may a broken sentence be allowed ? If a license is permissible, and so we are left free to follow the suggestions of the context, we must, it seems, interpret the epithets of the good man, and not (as in cxi. 4) of Jehovah. V. 5 is manifestly an expansion of v. 4, and the ' rising of the light in the darkness ' is closely parallel to the promise which in Isa. Iviii. 8, 10 is the reward of works of compassion. This view is in accordance with the obvious intention of the writer of these twin psalms. 'We have to expect here, not a repetition, but a sacred parody' (Hengstenberg), that which is said of Jehovah in the one psalm being affirmed of the righteous man in the other. It is the 'alphabetical' arrange- ment which has caused the ob- scurity. But for this, the psalmist would have expressed himself somewhat as in xcvii. 11. Even on the more common theory that Jehovah is referred to in v. 3 b^ the verse is not free from difficulty, for a ' dawning light ' cannot be said to have moral attributes. In a long allegory such a statement might occur, but in a single distich a poet may be trusted to be con- sistent. 5 Cf. xxxvii. 21. In tbe judgment, i.e. not in the divine judgment, but in a human court of justice. Others (e.g. Calvin), 'with rectitude.' 7, 8 Compare the phraseology with Isa. xxvi. 3 (according to R.V. margin), and, for ' stedfastness,' see on li. 12/5. 9 His rig'liteousness. Even here 'righteousness' is not to be weakened into ' beneficence ; ' other forms of ' righteousness ' are tacitly presupposed, though (as in Dan. iv. 24) regarded as less im- portant than active love. See on cxi. 3. His born. See onlxxv. 5. 10 Perisbes. See on i. 6, and note the correspondence of Pss. i. and cxii. in the first and last clauses. PSALM CXIII. 1 SALMS cxiii.-cxviii. constitute the so-called ' Hallel,' which was recited at the three great Feasts, at the New Moons, and on the eight days of the Hanukka or Feast of Dedication (cf the commentators on viivqa-avres, Matt. xxvi. 30). Of this group of psalms, Pss. cxiii., cxiv. form the intro- duction, the former describing the condescension of Israel's God, the latter the wonders of the early history of the people ; Pss. cxv.-cxviii., on the other hand, have, as it seems, th?^ historical background of a later period. Linguistically, notice in Ps. cxm. the unexampled accumulat on of archaising ' construct ' forms m ;. 1 Praise, O ye servants of Jehovah praise the name of Jehovah. 2 Blessed be the name of Jehovah from henceforth even for ever. PSALM CXIII. 307 3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof worthy to be praised is the name of Jehovah. 4 High is Jehovah above all nations, above the heavens is his glory. 5 Who is like unto Jehovah our God, that is enthroned so high, 6 That sees so low down — in heaven and on earth ? 7 That raises the helpless out of the dust, and out of the dunghill lifts the needy, 8 To give him a home with princes, even with the princes of his people ; 9 That seats the barren housewife in a home as the joyful mother of her sons I Servants of Tetaovali. The poet means primarily Israelites, but (see v. 3) perhaps contemplates Israel's expansion into a world-wide church. So cxxxv. i, cf. ^ob ; and so Isa. Ivi. 8, where foreign prose- lytes are said to 'become Jehovah's servants.' 2, 3 Let time and space be filled with the praise of Jehovah. V. 3 reminds us of Mai. i. 11, but there it is open to doubt whether the conversion of the Gentiles is referred to, or whether the prophet takes a large-minded view of the spiritual value of ethnic religions. 4 Above tile heavens. Comp. on viii. 2 ^, civ. 3. 5, 6 Comp. Isa. Ivii. 15, Ps. xviii. 36^, cxxxviii. 6. In beaven and in eartb. Does this describe the infinite range of the divine vision ? Or, comparing Deut. iii. 24, is this line the complement of w. 5 a ? Or, does ' in heaven ' be- long to V. 5 b, and ' on earth ' to v. 6a? The third view is the most probable on account of ' so low ' (see Keble's version). 7, 8 These verses define the meaning of ' on earth ; ' God's self- humiliation is for the lowly, not for the proud. They are almost a verbal quotation from the Song of Hannah (l Sam. ii. 8), which is at any rate older than this psalm. 9 Tbat seats ... in a borne, the security of the married woman consisting in her having borne children. Again compare Hannah (i Sam. ii. 5), and, for the phrase- ology of line I, bcviii. 7. PSALM CXIV 1 When Israel went forth from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbaric people, 2 Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion. 3 The sea saw and fled, Jordan turned backward. 4 The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like the young of the flock. 3o8 THE PSALMS 5 What ails thee, O thou sea, that thou fleest ? thou Jordan, that thou turnest back? 6 Ye mountains, that ye skip hke rams ? ye hills, like the young of the flock ? 7 Be in agony, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob ; 8 Who turns the rock into a pool of water, . flint-stone into a gushing fountain. 1 Barbaric (Heb. lo'-ez^ )3ap- Bapo'^ami). The word contains a suggestion of character (cf. Cic, Fontei. x. 2i, 'immanis ac barbara consuetudo'). Harshness from one with whom we can only communi- cate by signs, seems doubly harsh (see en Isa. xxviii. ii). Egyptian, even more than Assyrian (read lo'^ez in Isa. xxxiii. 19), must have seemed a ' stammering ' or ' bar- barous' tongue to the Israelites. In late Hebrew la'az is used for a non-Hebrew vernacular (cf the Translator's Preface to A.V.) 2 Tudah . . . Israel. The land, or the people ? The fem. verb will suit either. But, to avoid fourfold mention of the people, we should prefer the latter view, which is also rather the more obvious linguistically. His sanctuary, the temple being popularly regarded as in Judah; bis dominion, Israel being the national designation. Both this passage and Ixxvi. 2 suggest that the northern tribes had already been lost, and that Jerusalem was now in all respects the centre of Israel. Why ^ his dominion ' ? Probably for effect's sake, the name of the king being reserved for v. 7. The psalm is evidently by a skilled artist. 3 The parting of the waters of the Red Sea and of the Jordan — the two marvels which marked respectively the beginning and the end of Israel's long journey (cf Hab. iii. 8). The former is again connected with the foundation of the sanctuary in Ex. xv. 13 and 16-17. 4 Cf xxix. 6, and for the facts Ex. xix. 18. 8 See Ex. xvii. 6, Num. xx. 11. What greater proofs of almighti- PSALM CXV. i HE battle-song of Sobieski and of Christendom in 1683. It is very specially a liturgical psalm. Vtj. 1-8 belong to the congregation ; at ■z/. 9 a change of singers takes place, and possibly 9 a, 10 a, and 1 1 a may be intended for one of the Levites, the second part of these verses be- longing to the whole choir. Vv. 12-15 will then be sung by the priest, and vv. 16-18 by the congregation. The Sept. (followed by Theodotion and the Peshitto) unites this to Ps. cxiv., Ps. cxvi. being divided into two (see introd.) So also many Heb. MSS. The reason is simply that Pss. cxiv., CXV. are separated by no Hallelujah. See on. Ps. cxxxv. 1 Not unto us, Jehovah, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth's sake. 2 Wherefore do the heathen say, 'Where, pray, is their God?' PSALM CXV. 309 3 Whereas our God is in heaven, all that he pleaseth he worketh out. 4 (But) their idols are silver and gold, the handiwork of men ; 5 Mouths have they, but they speak not ; eyes have they, but they see not ; 6 Ears have they, but they hear not ; noses have they, but they smell not ; 7 As for their hands, they handle not ; as for their feet, they walk not ; no sound give they with their throats. 8 Like unto them shall their makers become, and every one that trusts in them. 9 O Israel, trust thou in Jehovah ; he is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust ye in Jehovah ; he is their help and their shield. 11 Ye that fear Jehovah, put your trust in Jehovah ; he is their help and their shield. 12 Jehovah has remembered us ; he will bless — will bless the house of Israel, will bless the house of Aaron, 13 Will bless them that fear Jehovah, small as well as great. 14 Jehovah add to you, to you and to your children ! 15 Blessed may ye be of Jehovah, who made heaven and earth ! 16 The heavens are heavens for Jehovah, but the earth has he given to the children of men. 1 7 The dead are not they that praise Jah, neither all such as have gone down into Silence. 18 But we will bless Jah, from henceforth even for ever. I Israel is in danger from 22, 23. We need not therefore heathen enemies, and appeals for stumble at the reference to Jeho- help. 'We indeed are not fully vah's/j/^A«(/ in line 2 as inconsistent khasidim (contrast Ixxxvi. 2), and v/ith line i. Possibly, however, a do not deserve our name as thy line has fallen out before line 3. servants : but thou art most truly 3 Jehovah is not only (for his khasid, and wilt glorify, not us, but name's sake) willing, but (being thy covenant-name and promise.' ' the God of heaven;' cf. w. 16) able Comp. Deut. vii. 7, 8, Ezek. xxxvi. to help his covenant-people. The 3IO THE PSALMS question in w. 3^ (see below) ' im- plies the localisation and conse- quently the limited power of Jeho- vah. If Israel's God is only the God of Jerusalem, he can of course be paralysed by a superior God. The psalmist answers by anticipa- tion that ' our God ' cannot be localised on earth. Heaven is to him doubtless in process of becom- ing a symbolic expression (cf cxlviii. 13, I Kings viii. 27). V. 2,i recurs in cxxxv. 6 a. 4-8 A later psalmist copies this piece of caustic humour (cxxxv. 1 5- 18) ; comp. also Deut. iv. 28, Isa. xliv. 9-20. What can such vain gods do against the Almighty? like unta them, &c. So II. Isaiah says, 'The fashioners of images are all of them tohil ' (im- potent, lifeless chaos), Isa. xliv. 9 ; cf Jer. ii. 5 (above, on Ixii. 11). g-ii The versions give, 'trusts . . . trust.' The imperative ren- dering, as Street long ago observed, does not agree so well with the latter part of the verses. But the antiphonal character of w. 9-1 1 accounts for the variation of per- sons. A threefold division of the faithful, as vv. 12, 13, cxviii. 2-4, and (with ' house of Levi ' added) cxxxv. 19-20. -Israel. Sept. and Pesh. read, 'house of Israel,' har- monising with V. 12 ; but, as in cxviii. 2, symmetry requires a tri- syllable = betk AKron. House of Aaron. Singled out as the aristocracy of ' Israel.' Ye that fear Jebovab. St. Jerome renders, ' Timentes Dominum.' Better, ' metuentes ' — the word used in Latin inscriptions for proselytes — for proselytes, in a wide sense, are surely included (see my note on Isa. Ivi. 6).^* The ordinary Greek phrase is o-f^o/ievot tov deav (on which see Schiirer). Help and shield, as xxxiii. 20. 12 Has remembered ns. If the psalm was sung during the offering of a sacrifice, this may mean that Jehovah has accepted the sacrifice (Del. compares the use of askarah for that part of the offering which was to 'remind' God ; see on Lev. ii. 2). But the psalmist may mean only that Jeho- vah has constantly shown his favour to Israel. 16-18 The mention of heaven and earth {v. 15) suggests the thought that on earth, and on earth alone, can men enjoy the privilege of praising their God. Sheol is (the land of) Silence (xciv. 17); its chief pang will be the loss of per- sonal communion with God (cf Isa. xxxviii. 18, 19). PSALM CXVI. 1 HE tender musings of a devout soul on some personal or rather national deliverance ; see Keble's lovely version. The want of continuity reminds us of Ps. cxviii., and the variation in the point of time of Ps. Ixxvii. Notice the recurrence of key-phrases (as in Ps. cxviii.) Sept. begins a new psalm at w. 10 ; a new part at any rate begins there. 1 I am confident that Jehovah will hear the voice of my beseeching. 2 For he has leaned his ear unto me, and my calling shall last all my days. 1 ' Where is thy God ? ' If he were in Israel (so we may expand the question), we ought to see some signs of his effectual working for his people (comp. xlviii. 13). Is he asleep, or infirm, or on a journey (cf i Kings xviii. 27) ? 2 SoKuenen; ' Judaism is extending its borders ; proselytism has begun ' (ffiWert Lectures, p. 186). PSALM CXVI. 311 3 Cords of Death had encompassed me, and straits of Hades had come upon me ; 4 I suffered pain of heart and dejection, and called on the name of Jehovah, 'Ah, Jehovah ! deliver my soul.' 5 Full of pity is Jehovah, and righteous, yea, our God is compassionate. 6 Jehovah is the keeper of the simple ; I was brought low, and he saved me. 7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for Jehovah has dealt bountifully with thee. 8 For thou hast rescued my soul from death, mine eye from tears, my foot from stumbling. 9 I shall walk before Jehovah in the lands of the living. 10 I was confident that I should speak (thus) ; but as for me, I was sore afflicted ; III said in mine alarm, ' All men are liars.' 12 What can I render unto Jehovah for all his bounties unto me ? 1 3 I will lift the cup of salvations, and call upon the name of Jehovah, 14 My vows will I pay unto Jehovah, I would pay them before all his people. 1 5 A grave thing in the sight of Jehovah is the death of his duteous loving ones. 16 Ah, (save me still,) Jehovah ! for I am thy servant, I am thy servant, the son of thy handmaid ; * * * thou hast loosed my bonds. 1 7 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of Jehovah. 18 My vows will I pay unto Jehovah, I would pay them before all his people, 19 In the courts of the house of Jehovah, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. I, 2 A good resolution, and its love to God, which, as Letronne ground in experience. For I am (after Pascal and De Maistre) has confident, the text has ' I love ' observed, is a specially Hebrew ("or (continue, ' for Jehovah hears '). at least Semitic) conception ; the One would gladly find in the Psalter Greeks had the name Theophilos one such emphatic expression of but not Philotheos. Love to God 312 THE PSALMS is certainly more suitable in this context than in xviii. 2 (rec. text). But the omission of the object is difficult (? comp. i John iv. 19, Lachmann). Accepting the cor- rection, part i. and part ii. both begin in the same manner, which is in the style of our psalmist. 3 Based on xviii. 5, 6. straits of Hades may mean ' distresses no more to be escaped from than Hades (She61).' If so, our poet may have given the first ■f^^.T) ^'^ his original in the sense of ' pains ' (not ' cords'). But possibly ' straits of She61 ' may be = ' fauces Orci ' (see on xxiii. 4), since elsewhere 1VD is (allegorically) literal ; see on cxviii. 5. 9 I shall walk, unhurried and free from care (cf. cxix. 45, same stem). Or, ' I can walk.' The poet's present and future are alike free from clouds ; it is the inference of faith (cf cxviii. 17). lands (instead of ' land,' xxvii. 1 3) gives the same idea as ' a land of distances ' (Isa. xxxiii. 17) : it is the plural of extension. Geddes, ' (Hence) I yet walk in the regions of the liv- ing ; ' Keble — In fields of life and light Speed fearless here and there (expressing the Hithpael). How widely the Diaspora spread at an early period, is well known (cf ' in the lands,' cvi. 27). Ewald remarks the accumulation of plurals in late Hebrew [Lehrbuch, ^2yoc). See, however, crit. note. 10,11 Connexion and rendering are obscure. In any case, the order of time is broken : what the poet here tells us precedes the deliver- ance just described. He means, I think, that, in spite of the dark view of human nature expressed in the speech which he will pre- sently quote, he was fully confident that he would sooner or later have to record thanksgivings for deliver- ance (such as in w. 5-9). But there are other explanations, e.g. (a) ' I kept my hold upon God (even) when I spake, or, had to speak, (saying,) I am sore afflicted.' Just as Koheleth was regardful of 'wisdom' in the midst of his experi- ments on 'folly' (Eccles. ii. 3), so the psalmist retained his faith even when God and man seemed to have forsaken him, and when two de- spairing cries forced themselves from his lips. Or, (i) ' I am full of faith when (thus) I speak (referring to w. 5-9), and yet I (the person who speak thus confidently) have been so afflicted and alarmed that I said,' &c. I prefer (6), because v.iob seems to me parallel in form to V. II a. The view actually adopted, however, has the support of xxvii. 13 (see also above, on vv. 1,2). 1 1 Line i comes from xxxi. 23. Are liars (not, ' are a lie,' as Ixii. 10), i.e. disappointing expecta- tions. Israel was to owe its de- liverance, not to human allies, but to Jehovah (Ix. 13). Not the state- ment (cf cxviii. 8, 9), but the tone was wrong. 13 The speaker, who wiU natur- ally make a thank-offering to Jeho- vah, looks forward to the happy meal which will follow, and at which, solemnly raising the cup (as in later Jewish festival rites), he will commemorate his rich and abundant deliverance (salvations). So on the great stel^ of Byblus (Gebal) the king is represented standing before the local deity with a cup in his hand. In lines 2 and 3 he says, ' I call upon my lady the Baalath of Gebal, because she [hath heard my voice] ; ' Ganneau, Etudes d archeologie orientate, 1 880, p. 12. That a sacrificial meal and not a drink-offering is meant by the psalmist, is suggested by the verb mv. 14 a (cf sMlem). 1 4 Repeated as w. 1 8 to lengthen the psalm. My vows will 1 pay, &c. Perhaps this psalm was to be sung before a sacrifice. 15 In xliv. 13 Jehovah is said to have rated his people low ; here, however, to regard the death of his khasldlm (see on 1. 5) as something precious, i.e. dearly to be paid for by those who are its agents. We should have expected ' the blood, PSALM CXVI. 313 as in Ixxii. 14. Might we explain even if this were grammatically yaqar ' weighty,' as cxxxix. 1 7 ? possible, the context shows that 16 God's past kindness em- deliverance is past (see vv. 7, 8). boldens the prayer (to be completed Nor, for the same reason, can it be in thought from cxviii. 25) for its a ' prophetic perfect,' in spite of a continuance. The words of happy superficial resemblance to xxii. 22. self-abasement which follow are Rather, the clause serves a double suggested by Ixxxvi. 16. But what purpose : it furnishes a basis for shall we say to the third line as it the petition in lines i and 2, and stands in all parallelistic versions for the grateful resolution in v. of the received text? Can tbou 17. But surely, as Olshausen and hast loosed be, as Ewald takes it, Bickell have seen, something must a ' precative perfect,' and mean have fallen out : the clause, as it ' mayest thou loose ' ? No ; for stands, is scarcely tolerable. PSALM CXVII. OOME MSS. attach this doxology to Ps. cxvi. ; others prefix it to Ps. cxviii. But why may it not have been prefixed or appended to other liturgical psalms, according to convenience ? Comp. w. 2 a with ciii. 1 1 b. 1 O praise Jehovah, all ye nations, laud him, all ye peoples. 2 For his lovingkindness is mighty over us, and the truth of Jehovah endures for ever. PSALM CXVIII. 1.,UTHER's psalm at the Wartburg, and less appropriately used as a battle-song by the Huguenots. It is really a string of pearls, each verse being independent like a proverb. The historical background is more definite than in Ps. cxvi. Some happy event has taken place, which is celebrated by festival rites, not unlike (see on v. 27) those of the Feast of Booths. A procession is on its way to the temple, different sections of which alternately sing the several verses of the first part (w. 1-18). Verse 19 is spoken in the name of the whole band on its arrival at the gates ; v. 20 is the reply in the name of the Levites who receive it. Verses 21-24 are sung antiphonally as before ; ■Z'. 25 is the cry of the whole chorus ; v. 26 is spoken by those within to the approaching pro- cession ; Tj. 27 belongs to the leaders of the band ; v. 28 to a part of the chorus ; v. 29 to the whole body of worshippers. 1 O thank ye Jehovah, for he is good, for his lovingkindness endures for ever. 2 O let Israel say that his lovingkindness endures for ever. 3 O let the house of Aaron say that his lovingkindness endures for ever. 4 O let them that fear Jehovah say that his lovingkindness endures for ever. 5 From out of my straits I called upon Jah ; Jah answered me in a broad place. 314 TflE PSALMS 6 Jehovah is on my side ; I will not fear ; what can man do unto me? 7 Jehovah is on my side, as my great helper, therefore I shall look my fill upon them that hate me. 8 It is better to take refuge in Jehovah than to put any confidence in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in Jehovah than to put any confidence in princes. 10 All nations have come about me, in Jehovah's name will I mow them down. 1 1 They have come about me, yea, they have come about me, in Jehovah's name will I mow them down. 12 They have come about me as bees about wax, they flame like a fire of thorns, in Jehovah's name will I mow them down. 13 Thou didst thrust sore at me that I might fall, but Jehovah helped me. 14 Jah is my strength and my song, therefore he became my salvation. 1 5 The sound of a ringing shout of salvation is in the tents of the righteous ; ' The right hand of Jehovah does valiantly : 16 The right hand of Jehovah is exalted, the right hand of Jehovah does valiantly.' 17 I shall not die but live, and tell out the works of Jehovah. 18 Jehovah has chastened me indeed, but he has not given over unto death. 1 9 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter into them, and give thanks unto Jah. 20 This is the gate of Jehovah, the righteous may enter into it. 21 I will give thanks unto thee, for thou didst answer me, and become my salvation. 22 The stone which the builders rejected is become the chief corner stone. 23 This was by Jehovah's appointing, wondrous is it in our eyes. 24 This is the day which Jehovah has made, let us exult and rejoice in it. 25 Ah, Jehovah ! save (still) ; Ah, Jehovah ! send prosperity (still). PSALM CXVIII. !I5 26 Blessed be he that enters in the name of Jehovah, we bless you from the house of Jehovah. 27 Jehovah is God ; light has he given us ; bind the procession with branches, (step on) to the altar-horns. 28 Thou art my God, and I will thank thee, my God, I will exalt thee. 29 O give thanks unto Jehovah, for he is good, for his lovingkindness endures for ever. 1-4 Comp. this prelude with Ezra iii. 10, 11, cvii. 2, cxxxvi. i, cxv. 9-1 1. 5 My straits (lit, the strait place). Cf. Lam. i. 3, 'All her pursuers overtook her between the straits.' See same allegory, cxvi. 3. In a broad place, i.e. by setting me at ease (cf. xviii. 20, xxxi. 9). 6, 7 At this point the speaker transfers his point of view into the past ; he is once more fearless in the midst of foes. This continues till V. 13. Notice in z/. 6 a verbal quotation from Ivi. 10, 12, and in V. 7 an allusion to liv. 6 (note). 8,9 See cxvi. 11, cxlvi. 3, and comp. these lines from an oracle said to have been given to Esar- haddon (Budge, History of Esar- haddon, pp. 3, 4), ' Upon mankind trust not, (but) bend thine eyes upon me — trust to me ; for I am I star of Arbela,' and these from an Egyptian hymn to Amen the sun- god {Records of the Past, vi. 99). Let no prince be my defender in all my troubles : Let not my memorial be placed under the power Of any man who is in the house . . . my Lord is (my) defender. 10 The speaker is still absorbed in the past. His battle-cry is, I will mo\ir tbem down. Sept. wilfully, T]^vvaia\v avTovs (suggested by the ' bees '). Hengstenberg, in strict accordance with usage, ' I will circumcise them' (as Charlemagne baptised the Saxons ; cf Jos. Ant. xiii. 9, I ; II, 3 ; or, in the vindic- tive manner of David, i Sam. xviii. 25). One might also suggest, ' I will weaken them, or make them harmless, I will (as in the Indian figure) mix their blood with water ' (cf the use of mahal, Isa. i. 22). But ' mow them down ' is simpler and stronger (cf malal. Job xxiv. 24 Nifal) ; cf similar bold expres- sions in Judg. XV. 8, i Sam. xv. 33. 12 See crit. note. On the second figure, comp. 2 Sam. xxiii. 6, 7. 13-16 Here the point of time is shifted to the deliverance. K 14 is an appropriate quotation from Ex. XV. 2 (cf. Isa. xii. 2). 19 Xbe gates of rlgbteous- ness, i.e. (l) the gates which open only to the righteous {v. 20 b ; cf Isa. xxvi. 2), and (2) those from which Jehovah's righteous acts of deliverance proceed {v. 19 b ; cf Jer. xxxi. 23). To enter God's house is in itself a proof of right- eousness (v. 6, 8 ; cf 2 Sam. xv. 25). 22 An old proverb in a new light. The stone means Israel, which, contrary to all human pro- bability, had again become pro- minent in the complex organisation of peoples. The builders are non- Israelites who would fain have arranged the world to their liking. 25 Sung, perhaps, by the pro- cession carrying and shaking festal branches, the use of which was not confined to the Feast of Booths (i Mace. xiii. 51, 2 Mace. x. 6 ; cf Madden, Coins of the Jews, pp. 71, 73, 203, 239). See below. Save (still). So Jer. xxxi. 7. Again and again tears mingled with Israel's laughter (Ezra iii. 12, 13), so in- complete seemed the fulfilment of the promises ; see, e.g., Ixxxv. 5, cxxvi. 4, Isa. xxvi. 18 (contrast 1-7, 3i6 THE PSALMS 15). The pleading 'Hosanna' in time acquired the character of an eucharistic formula, accommodat- ing itself to the joyousness of the festival (see Matt. xxi. 9, and cf. Dante, Purg. xxix. 20, 31). The next verse indeed is already eucha- ristic (same transition as in cxvi. 16, 17). 26 In the name of Jebovab. These words go with ' Blessed ' (cf Deut. xxi. 5) ; so the accentuation. 27 Bind tbe procession, &c. The passage is difficult, but so much is clear that it must be ex- plained by the rites of the Feast of Booths. For 'procession' {khag) we might substitute 'festal victim' (see Ex. xxiii. 18, Mai. ii. 3), or perhaps (a secondary meaning theoretically as defensible) ' festal staves ' [thyrsi). Neither rendering, however, seems to me perfectly suitable to the con- text. On the other hand, it is cer- tain that a solemn procession round the altar (cf xxvi. 6 and xxvii. 6 Sept.) was one of the most charac- teristic usages of the Feast of Booths. Western parallels to such a custom will at once suggest them- selves (e.g. Thucyd. iv. 80, Liv. xxvi. 9, Virg. yEn. viii. 285) ; nor is there any want of Semitic illus- trations. Thus the Arabic poet Labid alludes to the dance of maidens round Duw4r ' (from ddra ' to go round ; ' cf n-H) — a custom of the ' days of the ignorance ' — and the Tawaf or circum-ambulation of the Kaaba was too deeply rooted to be touched even by Mohammed.* The Targum on Cant. iii. 2 may give a strange exegesis, but sup- plies a valuable confirmation of what we know well from other sources. Philo, too, evidently regards the custom of sacred dances as Semitic, for he twice refers to it in connexion with the Israelites in the wilderness. A similar joyous procession (not a dance) is referred to here. The welcome in u. 26 is followed by a summons to the members of the chorus to bind themselves with branches (see below). Then, with a quick, impe- rious gesture, the same speakers point to the altar-horns (i.e. the corners with their horn-like projec- tions) as the points round which the procession is to move. The ' horns ' were the symbols, not only of strength (Deut. xxxiii. 17) and dig- nity (Ixxv. 5) in general, but of divine strengthand divine dignity (the bull was a divine symbol with the Egyp- tians, Phcenicians, and Assyrians'). To touch or to move round them was to make a direct appeal for divine help, as is clear from i Kings i. 50, ii. 28, and (to illustrate one popular usage by another) Plutarch's life of Theseus, i\6pivai n(pi Tov Keparmva ^ajxov. The con- text of the latter passage shows that the efficacy of the dance was connected with the (numerous) horns of the altar. The great Jewish altar had indeed but four horns (Ex. xxvii. 2), but these were invested with profound sanctity. Hence the strongly Jewish author of the Book of Judith (ix. 8) says that the Assyrians presumed ' to overthrow with the axe the horn of God's altar.'* Now to return to the 'branches,' which the Septuagint and Symma- chus have already found here. The former, it is true, may have explained them of the leafy booths of the o-kiji-o- ■jrriyla. It is certain, however, that ' the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, and boughs of branch- ing trees, and willows of the stream' (Lev. xxiii. 40) were, in the later ' So Lyall (Specimens, p. 125) ; Duwa.r or Daw^r, however, is surely not ' the Pillar,' but ' that which devotees encircle.' Cf. Antara's poem in Freytag's Hamdsa, p. 209, V. I ; and see further Lane's Lexicon. 2 Krehl, Religion der vorislamischen Araber, p. 63, &c. ; Griinbaum, Zeitschr. d. deutschen morg. GeselUchaft, 1886, pp. 276, 277. 5 See my note on Isa. i. 24, and cf. Euseb. Prep. Ev. i. 10 (p. 38, ed. 1688) ; Sayce, Hihbert Lectures, p. 290. * For facts bearing on this subject, see Spencer, De Legibus HebrcEorum, lib. iii. c. 4 and lib. iv. c. 5, 8 ; Botticher, Der Baumktdtus der Hellenen, chaps. 27, 28 ; and Grun- baum's article in the Z. D. M. G. PSALM CXVIII. period, not plucked merely to make booths, but also for ritual pur- poses.' We need not consult a more recent authority than Jose- phus,'' who expressly speaks of thyrsi as carried in the hands (cf 2 Mace. X. 7). Plutarch (Sympos. iv. 6, 2), with one of his hasty com- binations, conjectures that this Svpa-ocpopia was accompanied by Bacchic dances. What the ancient popular rites of the great autumn festival were, we can hardly be said to know, but processions of priests moving round the altar with a measured step did take place at the Feast of Booths in the later period. Once on the first six days of the festival, and seven times on the seventh day, this solemn circuit was made, the priests repeating meanwhile the 25th verse of our psalm ; ' and Jewish wor- shippers even now bear witness in the words of their liturgy that they 'with songs of praise wave the palm-branch seven days, a memo- rial of the sanctuary observed out- side it on the Feast of Booths.'* It is surely much more natural to find such a procession (but not of priests) referred to in our passage than an elliptically expressed de- scription of a sacrifice (Perowne, ' Bind the victim with cords till it is sacrificed, and its blood sprinkled on the horns of the altar'). We may also reasonably suppose that the favourite rite of shaking or waving the branches towards the altar in token of supplication was practised on this occasion.* If so, the shaking probably took place between the singing of v. 24 and V. 25. But this is not all ; the branches are now to be put to another use- that of 'binding,' i.e. perhaps link- ing, the members of the procession together before they leave the temple. How this was done is matter for conjecture (cf Griin- baum's article, referred to already). Butat any rate we can hardly avoid interpreting D'tiajJ of the branches prescribed in Lev. xxiii. 40 (where notice the phrase n^JJ^y). No doubt therewas another rite in which these branches were used at the Feast of Booths. Every morning fresh willow-branches were stuck on either side of the altar, ap- parently to decorate it, and Sym- machus seems to explain our pas- sage of this rite, for he renders, arail^are (TTetfiavdfiaTa Kai kXciSovs. So too does Dr. Gratz, rendering the line — Bind ye garlands with myrtles ; but, apart from the difficulty of jusdfying 'garlands,' would not such a decoration of the altar have been completed before the proces- sion set forth ? To the altar- taorns, i.e. from one horn to another (see above). PSALM CXIX. A SWEETLY monotonous meditation, in which, partly to assist the memory, and partly as one of love's quaint ways of expressing itself, the eight lines of each stanza begin with the same letter of the Hebrew alpha- bet (cf Lam. iii.) The subject is the duty and blessedness of the study ' Dillmann explains Lev. /.c. , with reference to v. 42, of the making of booths ; Kalisch of the special ritual purpose [Ovptroifyopia). ^ Jos. Ant xiii- 13, 6, i^6fj.ov ovto^ n-apa toi? 'louSaiots if TTf]' l,Ki}vOTrriyia exetc HKatrrov BvpTOVi Ik ^OLfiKuv ■ cf. iii. 10, 4, epotfT€g ev rats x^piTLtf elpecrtiovrjv fivpaCvijg Kai ireas orui/ KpdSj] tjfoCviKO^ TTeTTOiJlfJierrii; ' See Talm. Bab., Succa, 45 a. * Festival Prayers, ed, de Sola, vi. 20. * Gratz's theory that the shaking of the willow-branches (on the seventh day of the feast) had a magical import, was of Babylonian origin, and was not practised within the temple (see his Monatsschrift, 1887, pp. 509-21), need not be here discussed. Comp. his statem-nts with Herzfeld's [Geschichte, iii. 178). The magical theory (see Succa, 37 b) may have been superimposed upon the more innocent earlier ones. 3l8 THE PSALMS of the Law. One can understand the delight which a Christian like Pascal took in this psalm. There may be little variety in the ideas, but there is much in the expression, and in the grouping of the familiar phrases. Nor are the verses always unconnected, if we will spend a little thought upon them (see, e.g., stanzas 12 and 13, Lamed and Mem). Can we recon- struct the outer life of the author ? May we take all his expressions auto- hiogr&phica.Wy au pied de la lettrel If so, he has a rich and manifold experience — mostly a sad one — behind him ; persecution and captivity have long been his portion, but he trusts in the salvation of Jehovah, and looks forward to witnessing for his God before kings. And yet, though as a rule his language is that of an old man, he speaks in some verses i^v. 9, 100, 141) as if he were but a youth ; how is this ? The answer is, that he is not thinking of himself at all, but sometimes of Israel (of which exile and imprisonment are often enough elsewhere said to be the lot) sometimes of the individuals of different ages and spiritual attainments who may use his works. Doubtless he sympathises with each of his dis- ciples, but only in that which is common to many, and not in that which is peculiar to a few. He would fain propagate his own type of character, which is that of a spiritually-minded student of the Law, in the. broader sense of the word, according to which the Torah strictly so called is a little Bible, and the Bible an expanded Torah (see on i. 2). ALEF. 1 Happy those that are blameless in walk, that walk in the law of Jehovah ! 2 Happy those that keep his testimonies, that seek him with their whole heart, 3 That also have not worked iniquity, but walked in his ways ! 4 Thou hast appointed thy behests to be observed exceedingly. 5 Ah, may my ways be directed to the observing of thy statutes ! 6 Then shall I not be ashamed, whilst I look unto all thy com- mandments. 7 I will thank thee with an unfeigned heart when I learn thy righteou's ordinances. 8 Thy decrees will I observe ; O forsake me not utterly ! 9 Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his path, to keep himself after thy word ? 10 With my whole heart have I enquired after thee ; let me not wander from thy commandments. 11 Thy saying have I treasured within my heart, that I should not sin against thee. 12 Blessed art thou, Jehovah ; teach me thy decrees 13 With my lips have I rehearsed all the ordinances of thy mouth. 14 In the way of thy testimonies I have as great a joy as in all manner of riches. 15 I will muse upon thy behests, and look towards thy paths. 16 I wiU solace myself with thy statutes ; I will not forget thy word. PSALM CXIX. 319 GIMEL. 17 Deal bountifully with thy servant that I may live ; so will I heed thy word. 18 Uncover mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. 19 A sojourner am I upon earth ; hide not thou thy commandments from me. 20 Crushed is my soul with longing for thine ordinances at all times. 21 Thou hast rebuked the proud, who wander from thy command- ments. 22 Roll away from me insult and contempt, for thy testimonies have I kept. 23 Yea, princes sit and speak against me ; thy servant muses upon thy statutes. 24 Yea, thy testimonies are my solace, and my counsellors. DALETH. 25 My soul cleaves unto the dust ; revive me according to thy word. 26 I have rehearsed my ways, and thou hast answered me ; teach me thy statutes. 27 Make me to understand the way of thy behests, so will I muse on thy wondrous works. 28 My soul weeps itself away for sorrow; establish thou me accord- ing to thy word ! 29 Remove from me the way of falseness, and grant me thy law graciously. 30 The way of faithfulness have I chosen ; thine ordinances have I set (before me). 31 I cleave unto thy testimonies ; Jehovah, make me not ashamed. 32 I will run the way of thy commandments, for thou dost enlarge my heart. HE. 33 Point out to me, Jehovah, the way of thy statutes, and I will keep it to the last. 34 Give me understanding, and I will keep thy law ; yea, I will observe it with my whole heart. 35 Direct me in the track of thy commandments, for therein do I delight. 36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not unto unjust gain. 37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity ; revive me in thy ways. 38 Ratify unto thy servant thy promise, which leads to thy fear. 320 THE PSALMS 39 Turn away my reproach which I dread, for thine ordinances are good. 40 Behold, I long after thy behests : revive me in thy righteousness. VAU. 41 And let thy lovingkindnesses come unto me, Jehovah, even thy salvation, according unto thy promise ; 42 So shall I have an answer for him that insults ; for my trust is in thy word. 43 And snatch not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for I have waited on for thine ordinances ; 44 So would I keep thy law continually for ever and ever, 45 And would walk at large, for I study thy behests, 46 And would speak of thy testimonies before kings, and not be ashamed. 47 Yea, I will solace myself with thy commandments, which I love, 48 And will lift up my hands unto thy commandments, and muse upon thy statutes. ZAIN. 49 Remember (thy) word unto thy servant, seeing that thou hast caused me to hope. 50 This is my comfort in my affliction, that thy promise has given me life. 51 The proud have mocked me exceedingly ; I have not declined from thy law. 5 2 I have remembered thine ordinances which are of old, Jehovah, and have received comfort. 53 A fever-glow has seized upon me because of the ungodly that forsake thy law. 54 Thy statutes have been to me for melodies in the house of my sojourning. 55 I have remembered thy name in the night, Jehovah, and have observed thy law. 56 This good has been mine, that I have kept thy behests. KHETH. 57 My portion art thou, Jehovah; I have resolved to heed thy words. 58 I entreated thy favour with my whole heart ; have pity upon me, according to thy promise. 59 I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. 60 I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments. 61 The cords of the ungodly have wound about me ; I have not forgotten thy law. PSALM CXIX. 321 62 At midnight I arise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous ordinances. 63 I am a companion of all them that fear thee and of those that observe thy behests. 64 Of thy lovingkindness, Jehovah, the earth is full ; teach me thy statutes. TETH. 65 Thou hast dealt graciously with thy servant, O Jehovah, accord- ing unto thy word. 66 Train me to rightness of judgment and perception, for I have believed thy commandments. 67 Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now have I heeded thy sayings. 68 Thou art good, and doest good ; teach me thy statutes. 69 The proud have forged a lie against me ; I with my whole heart will keep thy behests. 70 Their- heart is as gross as fat ; I have solaced myself with thy law. 71 It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. 72 The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver. VOD. 73 Thy hands made me and fashioned me ; give me understanding that I may learn thy commandments. 74 Let those that fear thee be glad when they see me, because I have waited on for thy word. 75 I know, Jehovah, that thy judgments are righteous, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. 76 O let thy lovingkindness come forth to comfort me, according to thy promise unto thy servant. 77 Let thy compassions come unto me that I may live, for thy law is my solace. 78 Let the proud be ashamed, for they have lyingly distorted me ; as for me, I will muse upon thy behests. 79 Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and they that know thy testimonies. 80 Let my heart be sound in thy statutes, that I be not ashamed. CAF. 81 My soul pines for thy salvation ; I have waited on for thy word. 82 Mine eyes pine for thy promise, saying. When wilt thou comfort me? 32 2 THE PSALMS 83 For I am become as a wine-skin in the smoke ; thy testimonies do I not forget. 84 How many are the days of thy servant ; when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me ? 85 The proud have digged pitfalls for me, they that are not after thy law. 86 All thy commandments are faithfulness ; they persecute me lyingly ; give me thy help. 87 They had almost made an end of me in the land, but I forsook not thy behests. 88 Revive me after thy lovingkindness, so shall I observe the testi- mony of thy mouth. LAMED. 89 Eternally, Jehovah, thy word is fixed in heaven. 90 Age upon age thy faithfulness endures ; thou didst setde the earth, and it stood. 91 They stand this day according to thine ordinances, for all crea- tures are thy servants. 92 Unless thy law had been my solace, I should then have perished in mine affliction. 93 I will never forget thy behests, for with them thou hast given me life. 94 I am thine, O save me, for I have studied thy behests. 95 The ungodly have waited for me to destroy me ; I will give close heed to thy testimonies. 96 To all perfection I have seen a hmit ; thy commandment is exceeding broad. MEM. 97 O how I love thy law ! it is my meditation all the day. 98 Thy commandments make me wiser than mine enemies, for they are mine for ever. 99 I am prudent above all my teachers, for thy testimonies are a meditation unto me. 100 I have more understanding than the aged, for I keep thy behests. 1 01 I have withheld my feet from every evil path, that I may heed thy word. 102 From thine ordinances have I not departed, for thou thyself hast instructed me. 103 How smooth are thy sayings unto my palate ! yea, more than honey to my mouth. 104 Through thy behests I get understanding ; therefore do I hate every false path. PSALM CXIX. 323 NUN. 105 Thy word is a lamp unto my foot, and a light unto my track. 106 I have sworn, and have made it good, to observe thy righteous ordinances. 107 Very sore am I afflicted, Jehovah ; revive thou me, according to thy word. 108 The freewill offerings of my mouth do thou accept, Jehovah, and teach me thine ordinances. 109 My soul is in my hand continually, but I do not forget thy law. no The ungodly have laid a snare for me, but I have not gone astray from thy behests. 111 Thy testimonies have I claimed as my heritage for ever, for they are the very joy of my heart. 112 I have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes, for ever, even to the last. SAMECH. 113 I hate the double-minded, but thy law do I love. 114 Thou art my covert and my shield ; I wait on for thy word. 115 Avaunt, ye evil-doers ; I would keep the commandments of my God. 116 Sustain me, according to thy promise, that I may live, and let me not be ashamed of my hope. 117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be saved ; so will I have regard unto thy statutes continually. 118 Thou makest light of all them that wander from thy statutes, for their self-deceit is but a lie. 119 All the ungodly of the earth I account as dross ; therefore I love thy testimonies. 120 My flesh shudders for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy judg- ments. 121 I have practised justice and righteousness ; thou wilt not leave me to mine oppressors. 122 Be surety for thy servant for good ; let not the proud oppress me. 123 Mine eyes pine for thy salvation and for thy righteous promise. 124 Deal with thy servant according to thy lovingkindness, and teach me thy statutes. 125 I am thy servant ; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies. 126 It is time for Jehovah to do valiantly ; they have made void thy law. 324 THE PSALMS 127 Therefore do I love thy commandments above gold, yea, above fine gold. 128 Therefore I guide myself by all thy behests ; every false way do I hate. PE. 129 Marvellous are thy testimonies, therefore has my soul kept them. 130 The opening of thy words gives light ; it gives understanding to the simple. 131 I rent wide my mouth and panted, for I longed after thy com- mandments. 132 Turn towards me and have pity upon me, as is just unto those that love thy name. 1 33 Establish my steps by thy sayings, and let not aught of wicked- ness tyrannise over me. 134 Set me free from the oppression of man, so will I observe thy behests. 13s Make thy face to shine upon thy servant, and teach me thy statutes. 136 Mine eyes run down with rills of water, because men keep not thy law. SADE. 137 Righteous art thou, Jehovah, and straight are thine ordinances. 138 In righteousness hast thou appointed thy testimonies and in exceeding faithfulness. 139 My zeal hath even extinguished me, because my foes have forgotten thy words. 140 Thy promise is well tried in the fire, and thy servant loveth it. 141 Young am I and despised ; thy behests do I not forget. 142 Thy righteousness is right for ever, and thy law is truth. 143 Distress and anguish have come upon me ; thy commandments are my solace. 144 Thy testimonies are right for ever ; give me understanding that I may live. KOF. 14s I have called with my whole heart, answer me ; thy statutes Jehovah, would I keep. 146 I have called unto thee, save me ; so will I observe thy testi- monies. 147 I forestalled the daylight and cried for help ; I have waited on for thy word. 148 Mine eyes outgo the night watches, that I may muse upon thy sayings. PSALM CXIX. 325 149 Hearken to my voice after thy lovingkindness ; revive me, Jehovah, according to thine ordinances. 150 They draw near that pursue deeds of mahce, that have gone far from thy law. 151 Thou, Jehovah, art near, and all thy commandments are truth. 152 Long since have I known from thy testimonies that thou hast founded them for all time. RESH. 153 Behold my affliction and rescue me, for I do not forget thy law. 154 Plead thou my cause and release me ; revive me according to thy promise. 155 Far is salvation from the ungodly, for they enquire not after thy statutes. 156 Thy compassions are many, Jehovah ; revive me according to thine ordinances. 157 Many are my presecutors and my foes ; I have not declined from thy testimonies. 158 I beheld the faithless, and had loathing, because they heeded not thy sayings. 159 Behold how I love thy behests ; revive me, Jehovah, according to thy lovingkindness. 160 The sum of thy word is truth, and each of thy righteous ordi- nances is everlasting. SHIN. 161 Princes have persecuted me without a cause, but my heart throbs at thy word. 162 I spring up for joy at thy saying as one that has gotten great spoil. 163 I hate and abhor lying ; thy law do I love. 164 Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous ordi- nances. 165 Great peace have they that love thy law, and they have no stone of stumbling. 166 I have hoped for thy salvation, Jehovah, and thy commandment have I done, 167 My soul has heeded thy testimonies ; yea, I have loved them exceedingly. 168 I have heeded thy behests and thy testimonies, for all my ways are before thee. TAU. 169 Let my piercing cry come near before thee, Jehovah ; give me understanding, according to thy word. 326 THE PSALMS 170 Let my supplication come before thee ; deliver me, according to thy promise. 171 My lips are a wellspring of praise that thou teachest me thy statutes. 172 Let my tongue bear record of thy sayings, that all thy com- mandments are righteousness. 173 Let thine hand come forth to help me, for thy behests have I chosen. 174 I long, Jehovah, for thy salvation, and thy law is my solace. 17s Let my soul but live, and it shall praise thee, and let thine ordi- nances help me. 176 I wander like a lost sheep ; seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy commandments. 21 The proud. 'Boiling' or 'boiling over suggested the idea of pride (see Gen. xlix. 4, R.V. marg.) The word occurs six times in this psalm. Whether it refers to Jews (as Jar. xliii. 2, Mai. iii. 14) or to foreigners (as Isa. xiii. 11), or to both, the context must decide. At any rate, opponents of the strict worship of Jehovah are meant — those who calumniate {vv. 69, 78) and {v. 122) oppress the speaker, and both transgress and mock at God's law (t/w. 21, 51, 85). Some of the expressions used point espe- cially to apostate Jews. But cf on xix. 14. After 'the proud' the text has ' accursed,' which equally spoils the structure of the distich, to which- ever line (see R.V.) we attach it. Cf vv. I, 53. 22 Roll away. Shame is viewed as a burden ; cf Ixix. 8, 10, Mic. vi. 16, &c. The points, however, sug- gest the rendering ' Uncover' (shame is a cloak, as xxxv. 26). Less naturally. 25 Ky soul cleaves . . . re- vive me. Comp. similar expres- sions of the nation, xliv. 26, Ixxi. 20, Ixxxv. 7. 30 Have I set. A condensed quotation from xvi. 8 a. 36 nrot unto unjust gfain. Cf. Isa. Ivii. 17 (said of Israel). 43 The word of truth, i.e. of testimony for the truth ; cf vv. 42, 46. 46 Before fcingrs, in whose dominions the dispersed Jews were settled. Cf Ecclus. xxxix. 4. 75 Thy Judg-ments, viz. those of providence (as Del.) ; not 'thine ordinances' (xix. 10), though comp. Kautzsch's Tract on the stem pnjj, PP- M, 33)- 79 And they that know. So Heb. marg. (cf v. 63). The text has, ' and let them know ' (cf v. 125, Heb.) 83 A urine-skin in the smoke, i.e. dried up and wrinkled, unused and seemingly useless (an appro- priate figure for exiled Israel). 84 How many, &c. He means, ' how few of my days are left ' ! Cf Ixxxix. 48 and on cii. 13. 89 Thy word, i.e. not merely the word by which thou didst create the world (Kimchi), but that by which thou didst found Israel and decree its wondrous history. Cf Ixxxix. 3. 92 XTnless thy law, &c. The ' solace ' which the psalmist derives from the Law contains within itself the promise of continued life (one might almost say, of eternal life ; cf Ibn Ezra). 96 To all perfection, &c. All earthly perfection is limited ; but God's Law, which is heavenly and eternal {v. 89), is of measureless range. It is the ideal realised. Would it be this if Israel, whose chief good it is, could be destroyed ? See V. 95. 113 The double-minded) i.e. PSALM CXIX. 327 the undecided in religion (cf. Hos. X. 2, I Kings xviii. 21, Ecclus. ii. 12) ; or, as one might say, the 'doubters' (cf. xciv. 19, R.V. marg.) Kay, ' sceptical thoughts.' 119 I account. So Sept. ; Aquila, Symmachus, and Jerome, ' thou accountest.' The text has, 'Thou makest to cease' — an un- suitable word. 128 I guide myself, &c. So Street renders (after Sept.) See crit. note. 130 The opening, i.e. the un- folding (as De Witt). 132 As is just, taking mishpat in the sense of ' rule.' Cf John i. 12, I John i. 9, R.V. 1 52 For all time. A variation upon the usual rendering ' for ever,' to bring out the meaning. The re- ference is not to the aypaCJioL vofjioi, but to the Law (i.e. the Greater and the Lesser Bible), which has no merely temporary validity, because ' the changing circumstances of the human race cannot destroy the significance and worth of any insti- tutions or facts which reveal the life of God' (Dale, TAe Ten Com- mandments, p. 5). 161 Princes, &c. Here again the psalmist evidently speaks for the nation. Tlirobs, either from fear (as usually, e.g. xxvii. i) or from delight (as Jer. xxxiii. 9), or from both together (see on Isa. Ix. s). 162 Thy saying need not here have the special meaning ' thy pro- mise' (as vv. 58, 76, &c.) ; in w. 11 it is clearly a synonym for 'thy word,' i.e. the Scriptures as a whole. Each ' wondrous thing ' the psalmist finds in the Law (7/. 18) makes him 'spring for joy' (c£ Keble). 164 Seven times, i.e. constantly (improving upon Iv. 18). Cf Prov. xxiv. 16. 176 Kike a lost sheep. Not here in a spiritual sense, but as a figure of the dispersion of Israel (see Jer. 1. 6, 17 ; cf Isa. xxvii. 13, Zech. xi. 16). PSALM CXX. 1 HEME — pious resignation under the almost intolerable miseries of heathen rule. The key to the special circumstances is lost. How numerous were the disappointments which followed the crowning mercy of the Restoration ! 1 Unto Jehovah in my straitness I called, and he answered me. 2 Jehovah, deliver my soul from the lying lip, from the deceitful tongue. 3 What shall he give unto thee, and what more give unto thee, O deceitful tongue? 4 Arrows of a warrior, well-sharpened ones, moreover glowing coals of broom. 5 Woe is me that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell beside the tents of Kedar ! 6 All too long my soul has had her dwelling beside one that hates peace. 7 I am all peace, but if I speak, they are bent on war. 3 The poet suffers either from cxix. 69), and imprecates the di- calumny or from treachery (cf. vine vengeance. He miagmes the 328 THE PSALMS tongue endowed with will (cf. Hi. Bedawins of Sinai still burn this 6? Prov. X. 31, Zeph. iii. 13, Mic. very plant into a charcoal which vi. 12). Illustrate the idiom in /. i throws out the most intense heat by I Sam. iii. 17 ('God do so,' (Burckhardt; Palmer). Cf. Job &c.). Others render, 'What can the xxx. 4, i Kings xix. 4, 5 (a modern false tongue give thee, and what Elijah would enjoy the sight and more give thee ? ' So Hupfeld and perfume of its pink blossoms). Riehm, taking the false tongue to 5 Mesbecb (tribes between the mean a flattering but unfriendly Black and the Caspian Sea) and neighbour, and the question to be Kedar (the nomad tribes of North rhetorically addressed to an ima- Arabia) either represent the inhos- ginary person. pitable regions in which many of the 4 The wrath of Jehovah is de- Jews were dispersed, or symbolise scribed in figures borrowed from the malignant neighbours of the nomad life (cf xviii. 15, xi. 6, cxl. Jews at home. The former name 11); or (on Hupfeld's theory of v. =the Assyrian MuSki, which was 3) the fatal consequences to be the northern limit of the empire of apprehended from the false-hearted Sargon. neighbour (whose words are com- 6 All too long-, &c. The pared, says Riehm, first to arrows, psalmist endures, but he is tired then to hot coals ; cf Prov. xxvi. 21, with the effort (cf cxxiii. 3, 4). James iii. 6, 7). Coals of broom 7 If 1 speak, i.e. peaceably (cf (Heb. rdthem = kx. ratama). The xxviii. 3, xxxv. 20). PSALM CXXI. It is the poet's sweet faith that help comes when it is wanted, and that ' o'er the mountain walls young angels pass.' Presently he hears in his heart ' a voice which, though it be his own, is charged with a message from some one else than himself With vv. 3-8 comp. xci. 3-13. Most probably a pilgrim-song. Notice the ' fugue-like ' parallelism. A passage m Kingsley's Life (abridged edition, i. 10) gives a fresh charm to the psalm. I I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains : whence will my help come ? 3 My help comes from beside Jehovah, who made the heaven and the earth. 3 He cannot suffer thy foot to waver, he that keeps thee cannot slumber. 4 Behold, he that keeps Israel can neither slumber nor sleep. 5 Jehovah is he that keeps thee, Jehovah thy shelter upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 Jehovah shall keep thee from all evil ; he shall keep thy soul. 8 Jehovah shall keep thy going out and thy coming in from henceforth even for ever. PSALM CXXI. 329 I Unto tbe mountains, viz. of Jerusalem (see on Ixxxvii. i, and cf. cxxxiii. 3), whose cincture of hills is a symbol of the ' heavenly heights ' (Ixxviii. 69). See cxxiii. i, and cf cxxv. 2. 'Wbence . . . The question is only asked to give more effect to the answer (cf xxiv. 8). 3, 4 There may be here an allusion to the dangers of caravans. Purvey, for ' slumber,' gives ' nappe.' Comp., from the Egyp- tian hymn cited on Ps. civ. — Hail to thee for all these things, the One alone with many hands, lying awake when all men lie (asleep), to seek out the good of his creatures ; also this from the Kordn (Sur. ii. 256), ' God, there is no god but He . . . Slumber takes him not nor sleep ' (/a sinat""- wald naum"", where note that the Arabic verbs are cognates of the Hebrew, but that the usage is the reverse), and the cry of the night-watchman in Lane's Modem Egyptians (ed. 5), p. 283. 5 Thy sbelter, i.e. thy defence (see next verse), as Num. xiv. 9. Sept. well, o-Kenr) a-ov (cf Plat., Tim. 76, (TKiav Koi (TKiiTrjv irapex^iv). ■ ^TTpon tliy rlgbt band— the side for a friend and ally (cf xvi. 8, Ixxiii. 23, cix. 31, ex. 5). Less naturally Stanley, 'on thy southern side against the noonday sun' {Jewish Church, iii. 80). 6 smite tbee. Cf Browning {Saul), ' Those sunbeams like swords.' Sept., a-vyKavcrei (scorch, or inflame), probably taking line 2 of the effects of nightly cold (cf. Ecclus. xliii. 21, and the use of Ar. haraqd). But the ordinary expla- nation of the zeugma is more natural ; the belief in the injurious influence of the moon was common in the East. PSALM CXXII. A PILGRIM recalls his delight upon reaching the sacred city. ( V. 1 was sung by the pilgrims who carried up the firstfruits as they entered the gates : Mishna, Bikkurim.) Before him rises Jerusalem, once destroyed, but now restored and thickly peopled. Historic memories crowd upon him. There was a time when the phrase ' the tribes of Israel ' was literally accurate, and when from all parts the people ' went up ' three times in the year — a time when kings of the beloved Davidic line sat here m state. He is not pained as he recalls this ; Jerusalem is indeed spiritually greater than ever. In his sense of union with ' brethren ' far and near, he utters a blessing on the City of Peace. 1 I was full glad when they said to me, ' Let us go to the house of Jehovah.' 2 Our feet were standing at last within thy gates, Jerusalem. 3 Jerusalem, that art built up as a city that is well compact together, 4 Whither the tribes went up, even the tribes of Jah, (According to) the ordinance for Israel, to give thanks unto the name of Jehovah. 5 For there were set thrones for judgment, even the thrones of the house of David. 330 THE PSALMS 6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem : prosperous be they that love thee. 7 Peace be within thy rampart, prosperity in thy palace-towers. 8 For my brethren and companions' sakes I would wish thee peace. 9 For the sake of the house of Jehovah our God I would seek thy good. I, 2 It is not easy to trace the connexion, unless we grant that the standpoint of the writer is the same in both verses. Assuming this, all becomes clear. V. 2 men- tions where the persons were stand- ing who exhorted the psalmist in v. I to accompany them to the temple. They had all ' come up ' in the same o-wohla (Luke ii. 44) to Jeru- salem, and were now standing within one of the roomy city-gates, when from one to another the word was passed, ' Let us go at once to the temple.' In his 'full glad was I,' the psalmist does but interpret the common feeling (so inimitably expressed by Tasso, Gerus. Lib. iii. 5). Ket us g-o. Why not 'let us go up' (cf Jer. xxxi. 6,' and below, v. 4) ? Because the pilgrimage is virtually ended ; an easy walk will bring them to the goal of their wishes. 'Were standing- at last. To express the emphasis which the Hebrew gives by the arrangement of the words, ' Standing were our feet.' The clause is ' circumstantial.' 3 Well compact togetber. Such must have been the first im- pression of a foreign pilgrim. Jerusalem can never have had any straggling suburbs. ' It was com- pressed within three deep ravines such as run round Durham or Luxemburg, and on its fourth side was strongly fortified. The smallness of Jerusalem was certain likewise to have arrested the atten- tion of those who visited it. No large capital could have existed on such a spot ' (Dr. Liddon, sermon at St. Paul's, Aug. 22, 1886). 4 The ordinance, referring to Ex. xxiii. 17, xxxiv. 23, Deut. xvi. 16. 5 Tbrones, i.e. tribunals (as ix. 5, Prov. XX. 8, Isa. xvi. 5). The houseof David. EithertheDavidic kings are meant, or princes of the royal house. The latter shared the judicial function with the king (see Jer. xxi. 11, 12, and note on Isa. vii. 13). 6 The peace of Jerusalem. Alluding to a possible interpreta- tion of Jerusalem (like Hildebert — ■ Me receptet Sion ilia, Sion, David urbs tranquilla). Comp. the Assyrian city Temen- Sallim, 'the foundation of peace' (Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, p. 58). 7 In thy palace-toivers. Sept. eV raiff irvpyofBapea-i tyov, Comp. on xlviii. 4, where Sept. iv rais ^a^ea-i. Bapis is the Graecised form of blrah, which is a late synonym for the psalmist's word 'armon ; Jose- phus uses it for the temple fortress (called birah, Neh. ii. 8, vii. 2). Another synonym for 'armon is, for an obvious reason, not used here {hekal—se.e Isa. xxii. 13, and note the etymology of the two words). PSALM CXXIII. 1 HE idiom in ^'. 4 « and the general tone remind us of Ps. cxx. 1 This passage supplied the formula with which the pilgrims of each district were summoned to the pilgrimage of Bikkurim or ' firstfruits.' PSALM CXXIII. 331 1 Unto thee I lift up mine eyes, O thou that art seated in the heavens ! 2 Behold, as the eyes of servants are upon the hand of their lord, as the eyes of a handmaid are upon the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are upon Jehovah our God, until he have pity upon us. 3 Have pity upon us, Jehovah, have pity upon us, for we are but too full of contempt. 4 Our soul is but too full of the mocking of them that are at ease, the contempt of the haughty. 2 Why upon the hand ? Be- ship ; but he feels that Israel are cause the hand is the symbol of not mere slaves of the Deity, but power (Ass. idu = power) ; it re- have been brought by a covenant wards and punishes, sends hither into the moral relation of sons, and thither, and ' rules the whole Such passages as xvi. 2 a, xxxv. house.' We should expect ' Jeho- 23 b are not really opposed to this vah our Lord' (as viii. 2, 10), but view of the mental attitude of the the psalmist knows that ' God ' and later psalmists towards Jehovah, 'lord' are not synonymous — that 4 Them that are at ease, and ' Elohim ' says more than ' Adonai.' therefore regardless of the feelings He may indeed think in the first of others — irresponsible tyrants. instance of God's universal lord- PSALM CXXIV. A FRESH, bright Ijrric, contrasting with some of its companions. Form and contents remind us of Ps. cxxix. 1 Had not Jehovah himself been on our side, thus let Israel say, 2 Had not Jehovah himself been on our side, when men rose up against us, 3 Then would they have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was so hot against us. 4 Then would the waters have overwhelmed us, the torrent would have gone over our soul, 5 Then would they have gone over our soul — the raging waters. 6 Blessed be Jehovah, who gave us not up for a prey unto their teeth. 7 Our soul escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers : 332 THE PSALMS the snare broke, and we — made our escape ! 8 Our help is in the name of Jehovah, who made heaven and earth. I Jehovah. No mere national god, but the Creator Himself {v. 8). And yet no mere Demiurge, but, for the fathers' sake and for the world's sake, Israel's God. 3 Swallowed us up alive re- minds us of descriptions of She61 (Iv. i6, Prov. i. 12), but, as v. 6 shows, the psalmist rather imagines his enemies as wild beasts. Truly the Assyrians and their successors did ' swallow up ' many weaker nationalities ; the word hits the mark. 4, 5 The psalmist changes the figure (cf xviii. 17, Ixix. 2, 3, 16). Comp. Dante's retrospect. Inf. i. 22-27. The torrent means the swelling winter-torrent of Palestine. Over our soul. The inner- most centre of man's being has been reached (cf Ixix. 2). 7 As a bird. Cf on xi. I. 8 The name of Jehovah. This great ' name ' has a wider sense here (see line 2) than in xx. 8 (comp. 2). PSALM CXXV. V^OMFORT and threatening blended. Israel enjoys divine protection even under a foreign yoke. Lest the faithful should be tempted to apos- tatise, the days of the heathen rule shall be shortened. As for the double- minded (cxix. 113), they have no more part nor lot with the true Israel than open evil-doers. ,1 They that trust in Jehovah are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken, but is seated for ever. 2 Jerusalem — mountains are round about her, Jehovah too is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. 3 For the sceptre of ungodliness will not rest on the lot of the righteous, lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity. 4 Do good, Jehovah, unto those that are good, and unto the upright in their hearts. 5 But those who make their paths to slant — Jehovah shall send them adrift with the workers of wickedness. Peace be upon Israel ! I, 2 There is no real inconsist- Jehovah himself (cf cxxi. i) is the ency between v. i and v. 2. The antitype of Jerusalem's cincture believer can only be like Mount of hills (see on Ixxxvii. i). Zecha- Zion because he ' takes hold on ' riah (ii. 9) still more boldly calls Israel's Rock— Jehovah (cf Isa. Jehovah 'a wall of fire round xxviii. 16). The description in the about.' next verse is doubtless more correct. 3 por the sceptre, &c. Cf 2 PSALM CXXV, 333 Sam. vii. lo. Precisely the same fear is expressed in xix. 14 (note). Xest, i.e. continue. 5 'The caitiff band of those who halt between two opinions' (comp. cxix. 113). PSALM CXXVI, T HERE is an enigmatical contrast' between the two parts of Ps. cxxvi. which reminds us of Ps. Ixxxv. The moral element, however, so conspi- cuous in the latter poem is wanting here. 1 When Jehovah turned the fortunes of Zion, we became like them that dream. 2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with ringing cries ; then said they among the nations, Jehovah hath dealt nobly with them. 3 Jehovah dealt nobly indeed with us : we became right glad. 4 Turn our fortunes, O Jehovah, as the streams in the south land. 5 They that sowed with tears shall reap with ringing cries. 6 Weeping may a man go on his way bearing seed for scattering ; with ringing cries shall he come home bearing his sheaves. I The fortunes of Zion. Zion, not Judah, is queen of the psalmist's thoughts (note the prominence of Zion in II. Isaiah). See crit. note. Uke tbem that dream. Not, 'like them that have dreamed,' the past being regarded as a ' bad dream' (comp. Isa. xxix. 7). The natural rendering surely is that adoptedabove. Newborn joycannot realise its own existence. Clericus seeks a parallel in western history. So felt the Greeks, as Polybius and Livy say, at Flamininus' declaration of their ' freedom ' at the Isthmian Games B.C. 196. But 'freedom' only meant postponement of servi- tude. The phrase needs no parallel. It is important, however, as showing how few Jews were in the position described in Dan. ix. 2. 4 Salvation proves to be a bitter-sweet thing (see on cxviii. 25). As the streams ... As the water-courses in the parched Negeb (see on Gen. xx. i)are filled with rushing torrents by the autumn rains. 5 A proverb, say the commen- tators. Rightly ; the contrast be- tween the toil of husbandry (Gen. iii. 19, 2 Tim. ii. 6) and the exu- berant joy of harvest (Isa. ix. 2) was proverbial. But it is in form a literary not a popular mashal. Hence the exaggeration, for the sake partly of the antithesis, partly of the application to present cir- cumstances. The antithesis (' tears ' — ' ringing cries ') is lost in R.V., which has expunged A. V.'s marginal rendering ' singing ' (connecting v. 5 with V. 2), but happily expressed in Sept.'s eV ayctfCKiatru. The appli- cation doubtless is that the work of establishing the new Israel may be full of pain and grief, but that future generations will enjoy the blessed 334 THE PSALMS results : aXXot KfKomaKaaiv, mi 6 Seed for scattering. Lit., iufif fiy Tov Korrov avTuiv dcreKrjkiBaTc ' a draught of seed' (comp. Am. ix. (John iv. 38). 13)- ESALM CXXVII. T. HE fullest and most suggestive view of the connexion is perhaps this : The leaders of the renascent Jewish community are like ' builders ' and ' watchmen.' They are tempted (like those who take part in more modem revivals of spiritual life) to overestimate the importance of routine work. Our poet recalls them to a ' wise passiveness ' — this doubtless is what he means by ' sleep.' To those who cherish this jewel of the soul, God grants those things for which the worldly wise often toil in vain. For in- stance, those for whom the prophet speaks in Isa. xxvi. 18 were uneasy at the scanty population of Judaea. Our poet, in the second half of the psalm, reminds them that a numerous progeny of sons is a blessing from Jehovah (comp. Ps. cxxviii.) Labour as they may, they cannot do as much for the defence of the state as the 'joyful mother of her sons' (cxiii. 8). A more meagre but still possible view of the psalm is to take the four pictures (the builder, the watchman, the man who works for his daily bread, and the 'fruit of the womb') separately, as independent examples of the truth that ' the blessing of Jehovah maketh rich ' (Prov. X. 22). It must be admitted, however, that they are not perfectly parallel, for in the three first cases long-continued human labour is a condition of the divine blessing. As explained above, a family of sons is mentioned as an example of the blessings which Jehovah gives without human labour. 1 Except Jehovah build the house, they labour in vain thereat that build it : except Jehovah keep watch over the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. 2 It is in vain for you to rise up early, and sit down late, eating the bread of heart-aches ; surely he giveth to his beloved in sleep. 3 Behold, sons are a heritage of Jehovah, the fruit of the womb is (his) reward. 4 As arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are sons of (a man's) youth 5 Happy is the man that has filled his quiver therewith ; they shall not be ashamed when they speak with enemies in the gate. I, 2 In lines i and 2 common spiritual authorities ' who in the next language is used in a higher sense. distich are called ' watchmen.' The ' house ' is the house of Israel Without the blessing of Him who (as indeed banlm in v. 3 suggests) ; has promised both to build (Am. ix. the ' builders ' are the secular and 11) and to 'keep watch over' 1 Cf. Acts iv. II, 'by you the builders,' and for the later use of the terra, Levy, Neuhebr. Worterbuch, s.v. ^J3- PSALM CXXVII. 335 (cxxi. 4) His people, the sleepless anxiety (cf. Eccles. viii. i6) of statesmen is in vain. And sit down late, viz. to the evening meal. Or, 'and sit up late' (Del.) ; but see cxxxix. 2. Eating: the bread of heart-aches. Anxiety embitters even the food they eat (cf. Ezek. xii. 18, 19). Others explain, 'bread won by toil.' But if bread is won by toil, long hours of work are not ' in vain.' Surely the object of these workers was not bread but the prosperity of the state. Be giveth to his beloved in sleep. (' In sleep ' — the accusative of con- dition ; cf Deut. iv. 11; Ewald, Lehrbuch, § 300 c.) Why make life a burden, and ' turn the twilight of my desire into trembling' (Isa. xxi. 4) ? Rest is no loss of time to God's 'beloved:' He surprises them with His gifts while they slumber. For a lovely commentary, see Dante, Purg. ix. 'isi-(s2,- [Or, ' Surely He giveth His beloved sleep,' and in doing so proves that the sleepers are His beloved, and that ' all these (other) things shall be added unto ' them. Mohammed more than once specifies sleep as a gift of God, Kordn, xxv. 49, Ixxviii. 9 ; comp. Homer's ' ambrosial sleep.' Sleeplessness in the Psalter of Solomon (iv. 18) is the portion of the ungodly. Many have clutched greedily at this beautiful interpreta- tion. Not to quote our recent poetess, George Buchanan finely expresses it thus : At ille amicis interim suis dabit Purura soporem somniis. But it is decidedly less suitable to the context than the alternative version.] A slight correction, how- ever, is involved (see crit. note). The text might be rendered, ' Is it thus (i.e. in such scanty measure) that He gives sleep to His beloved?' 3 An example of gifts directly coming from God. In a quieter age, the poet might have chosen the fruits of the earth, like our Lord in Mark iv. 27. At present, with his mind full of the ' house ' of the state, he points to children {banim ; cf banah) as the stones of which the house of the family, and there- fore also (Ruth iv. 11) that of the state, is built. Herltag-e (or, pos- session) . . . reward. The next psalm explains this. 4 Sons of (a man's) youth. Comp. ' a wife of youth,' Isa. liv. 6. An aged father would hope to be protected by the sons of his youth. 5 Girt with a phalanx of lusty sons, a father can defy all dangers abroad and at home. In the g-ate, the place of concourse, where the judges sat. PSALM CXXVIII. Domestic happiness is generally left to the proverb-writers ; our psalmist, however, seizes upon the neglected theme, side by side with which observe his deep love for Zion. 1 Happy is every one that fears Jehovah, that walks in his ways. 2 The labour of thy hands shalt thou eat ; happy art thou, and it is well with thee. 3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine in the recesses of thy house ; thy children like olive shoots round about thy table. 4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that fears Jehovah. 336 THE PSALMS 5 Jehovah bless thee out of Zion ! yea, do thou behold with glad eyes the good fortune of Jeru- salem all the days of thy life ; 6 Yea, do thou behold thy children's children. Peace be upon Israel ! 3 How well the figures are aged olive-tree (a single tree in chosen ! The clinging vine, and Syria is a valuable property), the vigorous offshoots from the PSALM CXXIX. Israel's retrospect (cf. w. i, 4 with cxxiv. i, 6, 7). 1 Much indeed have they vexed me from my youth up — thus let Israel say — 2 Much indeed have they vexed me from my youth up, yet they have not prevailed against me. 3 The ploughers ploughed upon my back, and made their furrows long. 4 Jehovah is righteous, he hath cut asunder the cord of the ungodly. 5 Let them turn back with shame as many as hate Zion. 6 Let them be as the grass of the housetops, which withers before it be unsheathed ; 7 With which the mower fills not his hand, nor he that binds sheaves his bosom ; 8 And they that go by say not, ' The blessing of Jehovah be upon you ; We bless you in the name of Jehovah.' I The youth of personified it be unsbeathed (i.e. shoot up in Israel is long past (as bcxi. 17). blossom). Equally possible is the 4 Righteous, viz. from the rendering, 'before one plucks it off.' point of view of Israel's covenant But see crit. note, (see vii. 10, 12, and cf. on cxxxii. 9). 8 A- 'poetic expansion' of the 6 In March the village house- figure in v. 6. The reply of the tops in Palestine are bright green harvesters is not given here (see with grass, which soon withers when Ruth ii. 4). the latter rains are over. Before PSALM CXXX. Israel is suffering for its transgressions and pleads for forgiveness, which, according to the Old Testament writers, involves the removal of the physical consequences of sin (see on v. 8). Its strong sense both of PSALM cxxx. 337 Israel's sin and of Israel's unbroken connexion with Jehovah gives this psalm a peculiar pathos. The Chronicler must have loved it ; for he has included a portion of ti. 2 in his appendix to Solomon's temple-prayer (see 2 Chron. vi. 40, and cf. on Ps. cxxxii.) The psalm has also left its mark on the history of Luther and of Wesley. \_First Voice. 1 1 Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, Jehovah ; 2 Lord, hearken to my voice ; attentive be thine ears to the voice of my beseeching. [^Second Voice.'] 3 If thou, Jah, shouldest bear iniquities in mind, O Lord, who could stand ? 4 Yea, but with thee there is forgiveness, that thou mayest be feared. [First Voice.] 5 I wait for Jehovah, and in his word do I hope. 6 My soul [waits] for the Lord, more than watchmen for the morning. [Chorus. ] 7 Hope, Israel, in Jehovah, for with Jehovah there is lovingkindness, and with him is plenteous deliverance ; 8 And he shall deliver Israel from all his iniquities. I Out of the depths, i.e. out of meeting the wants of human nature, the flood of calamity which has We might have expected a different come upon me through my sins verb. But hope and fear are nearly (cf. Ixix. 3, 15). allied. A trembhng hope befits 3 The standard which Jehovah the sinner ; besides which, ' fear of applies is an equitable and relative Elohim (or, Jehovah) ' was a corn- one (ciii. 10). Comp. Psal. Sol. ix. mon phrase for the true religion 15, SiKaiovs eiXoyrja-ets, Ka'i ovk €i6v-. (xix. lo. Gen. xx. 11). vels TTf/ji &v TJjxapTov. 5 In his word, i.e. his promises 4 Comp. the new covenant, Jer. of deliverance (as often in Ps. cxix.) xxxi. 33, 34. -vwith thee, as thy 6 See crit. note, more than inseparable companion. For- watchmen, tired with the night's grivrnesB. Sept. badly, tXo