Division "BSKSO 
 Section . V-- ~/ -^ I 
 
 V. 2 
 
THE BOOK OF PSALMS 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
THE 
 
 BOOK OF PSALMS 
 
 Translated from a revised text with 
 Notes and Introduction 
 
 IN PLACE OF A SECOND EDITION OF AN EARLIER 
 WORK (1888) BY THE SAME AUTHOR 
 
 BY 
 
 T. K. CHEYNE, D.Litt., D.D. 
 
 ORIEL FKOKESSOK OF THE INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE IN THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF OXFORD, AND CANON OF ROCHESTER 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES 
 VOL. IL 
 
 THOMAS WHITTAKER 
 
 3 BIBLE HOUSE, NEW YORK 
 1904 
 

THE PSALMS, 
 
 PSALM LXW. 
 
 1 RiMETERs. Faithful Jews (not counting those of the wider Diaspora) are 
 still divided into two sections — those in the Jewish land and those in cap^vity in 
 the N. Arabian border-land. Those at home are harassed by the double tyranny 
 of the '.impious ones ' (faithless Jews) and the ' folk of the Misrites. ' The former 
 even go as far as to encourage the aggression of the N. Arabians (//. 13 f.). The 
 faithful Jews, however, (here as in Ps. xii.) rely on the sure prophetic promise of 
 divine intervention. A change in the relation of captives and captors is at hand ; 
 the former will be restored, the latter will be destroyed (cp. Ps. ii , xviii. &c.). It 
 is the Messianic judgment. — The psalm is incomplete at the beginning. It has 
 been i)rovided with a liturgical preface and appendix, which assume that the 
 wonderful events anticipated have taken place. Uuhm speaks of the 'somewhat 
 artificial pathos and forced expressions ' of the psaim. ^Vith the clue supi)lied by 
 so many preceding psalms it is not difficult to remove this imputation by restoring 
 approximately the original text. The transposition of 7'. Ii (which may perhaps 
 be taken as favoured Ijy the H/D in f. 4 [but see crit. n.], though it is sufficiently 
 justified by other considerations [see on //. 9 f.]), falls in with the theory that the 
 original psalm was composed of quatrains. It was first suggested by Olshausen 
 (1853). Ewald and Del. refer the psalm to the Assyrian episode in the reign of 
 Hezekiah (cp. the title in G ?) ; Ilitz. and Olsh. to the MaccakT:an period (like 
 the following psalms). But see on Pss. xlvi., xlviii. 
 
 Deposited. Of Ethan the Ezrahite. Marked. Of Asaph. Marked, i 
 
 I To thee we give thanks, O God of Jacob, 2 
 
 We chant praise to all thy wonders. 
 
 {Fragment of Psalm . ) 
 
 * * # * 
 
 * * * * 
 
 For [thou hast promised], ' I will punish Edom. 3 
 
 The folk of the Misrites I will judge. 
 
 ' Missur and all its inhabitants tremble, 4 
 
 The dwellings of the Edomites^ rock. 
 
 All the horns of the wicked will I cut off, 1 1 
 
 10 +But+ the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.' 
 
 ' (The dwellings of) Jerahmeel. 
 II. Ii 
 
2 THE PSALMS. 
 
 To the impious I say, ' Rage not,' 5 
 
 To the wicked, ' Lift not up the voice ; 
 Lift not up your voice to the Aramites, 6 
 
 Nor speak insolently in Missur. 
 
 ' For God will bring them from Arabia, ^ 7 
 
 From the wilderness of Jerahmeel.- 
 
 For the Jerahmeelites will he judge, 8, 9 
 
 The Cushites, the Misrites also, will he destroy. '^ 
 
 {^Liturgical Appendix^ 
 
 As for me, I will give thanks to Yahwe, lO 
 
 20 I will chant praise to the God of Jacob. 
 
 I. Ood of Jacob. So/. 20; cp. Marduk's head),' quoted in Del. Ass. 
 
 XX. 2 (xxiv. 6), Ixxvi. 7. — 7. JJisstir, fflFB, p. i^- 
 &c. The perfect tenses are anticipative. 
 
 The approach of the Judge will throw II. The Impious, specially used 
 
 N. Arabia into consternation (cp. as a class-name for those Jews who had 
 
 Hab. iii. 7). thrown off legal restraints. See on 
 
 9 f The transposition enables us "iv. i, and cp. xxvi. 4, 1. iS (corr. 
 
 both to avoid a faulty exegesis (as if texts), Ixxni. 3.— 11-18. The party or 
 
 Israel claimed to cut off the ' horns ' of faction of the ' nnpious ' is warned not 
 
 enemies), and to keep the first person to go on hke raging madmen, trampling 
 
 in VlMi (instead of emending into law and religion under foot, and not to 
 
 ..._. _T r,\ ,, , ,-r. , . T,7 .. continue to speak insolently of the ews 
 
 V^^jT). Shall he bf ted tip. We meet ■ .u 1 1 r .1 ivr- ■. 1 t 1 
 
 ^.r \ r .■ ■ ■ in the land of the Misrites and |erah- 
 
 with_ the same figurative expression in ,,,eelites,encouraging these fierce peoples 
 
 Ixxxix. 25, xcu. II, cxlvm 14 ;^ cp. .^^ ^^^^.^. essi^,,,^ ^^^ ,„„„ ^,1 ^viH 
 
 lob xvi. !■;, I ^lacc. 11. 40 (Kai ovk , . , i ,. ^- -i. i r .1 
 
 •i" ,-"-,, ^ -\ 1 be changed ; destruction wilt be for the 
 
 toaiKaf Kfoas rw auai,rw\iu) and espe- . ° ^ .■ ^ ,i_ • 1, r 
 
 . ,, ^/ .'.. ' ' J:' , .S enemies, restoration to their home for 
 cially Dt. xxxiii. 17. Cp. also the ' ^ 
 
 Assyrian phrase, 'A cap («-.0 with the Jews. - 14. pj"iy "ini • Cp. 
 
 high horns, a cap of dominion (I set on xxxi. 19, xciv. 4, i S. ii. 3. 
 
 Ci-itical Notes, i. Omit the superfluous Ijmn , and for DTl'^'hi 
 ^llpT read 2p^>"'~\"i'7i^ . It is quite inadequate to change -fJD'i^r 2Tlp1 
 to l^l^'l '^^"}P^5 ^^''^^* ^y-' ^^^ ^^-^ Che.fi), Kau., We., or ^y^'^J)^ 
 "yyi^l, ^vith Street (1790) and Duhm (1899), following G S.— 2. M 
 nSD . Street and Duhm ^^-JSD . Rather 1^0 , of which -^yv — l^T 
 
 is a fragment. Before 'D3 insert "':'3 with C— 5. Insert m^l •— M 
 
 ° T T : - . 
 
 13711^ npS 1 which being so ' singular' Duhm will not ' venture to alter,' 
 
 but which Gratz rightly pronounces ' inexplicable.' Read D^^^J n^DJ^ • — 
 
 6. IDD'vi)?^ DH'*^^!^ ^J^< (cp. Iviii. 2). The separation of ^JS from its verb 
 
 is awkward. Read D^~1a*.2 Dl^"]- 
 
 7. M y"lJ<~D''!i;!D3 • The obscurity of this clause is w-ell known, 
 with V. 3, in its corrected form before us, the difficulty of v. 4 disappears. 
 
 ' This +means+ Ishmael. - This +means+ Jerahmecl. 
 
 2 All the wicked of the land. 
 
PSALM LXXV. 3 
 
 Read liiD I^QJ.— 8. M nm^y 'r\:i2n OiSV OJ^< in v. 4, with 
 
 \ . T T V -•:-•• T . 
 
 ^JJ< in TJ. 3, is improbable, and ^j~13Dj"1 is not the right word with 'pp . 
 For 'jn Gr. reads ^Jljjn ; cp. G farepiuxra. Restore rather ^y^ 
 D"^'7^^ ni:3l^9 (O frono', n from W).—rhD from ':'N:2ni^ = D11NV 
 
 II. Read I'^bnnr^"'?^^ Wb^t} m:^^ (cp. on I. 6, liii. 2).— 12 ff. 
 : :• - •t:-t:-t 
 
 M 1~lp , DDJ"1p' To harmonize with /. 14, we can hardly help reading 
 J . ' v'rr v: :- 
 7ip . For the phrase, see Gen. xxxix. 18. — M "1J^1ii3 > 'with neck 
 
 thrown back' (cp. Job xv. 26' ? .''). G, however, has Kara tov Qeov, i.e. m^^l ; 
 G constantly {e.g. Dt. xxxii. 4, 15, &c., Isa. xxx. 29) renders the divine 
 title mji by Gtoy. Hence Baethgen {Th. Stud. u. Krit. 1880, p. 762), 
 Che.'i', Now., Kau., following Cappellus, would restore m^H, which is the 
 more plausible if, with Baethgen, we take QTII^ in v. 6a to be, like "IliJ , 
 a designation of God, = D^(!2^ in New Hebrew. Still IHH, for 
 DN~t'?}<~7y , is not a natural expression, and the context, as we shall see 
 when V. 7 has been emended, leads us to expect in 7'. 6 the names of 
 peoples or countries. It so happens that we find elsewhere DIHilS con- 
 cealing D'''^^i^J^")'' (see on vii. 8, Ivi. 3), and probably lyii or lyv^ 
 representing "l'li{*3 (Gen. xiii. 10, xiv. 2, xix. 22 ; see Enc. Bib., 'Zoar'). 
 The passage does not become fully significant till we read, in /. 13, 
 
 D-ianS*':' for □ilD'? , and in /. 14 IViiD^ for "IJ^Vji^ • For the phrase 
 
 . — :- T- , • . • : T- : 
 
 in /. 13 cp. Isa. xui. 2, Qn? Pip l,'3''"in . 
 
 V T ' • T 
 
 1 5 f M 3~li^Dr:D1 4^'iia^ hi':' '•3 , ' for not from the east nor from 
 
 the west.' Read rather, 2ipr3 DJ^^JiX'^ Phi ^3 • The reason will appear 
 
 presently.— M DHrT "IJlia^'hiPT (so Baer, following T, Kimhi, MSS., 
 
 . T T . • • : 
 
 the two Soncino Bibles, and other edd.). Ginsburg, however, following 
 
 most vss., Ibn Ezra, and MSS., reads D"'~irT ~1211Qi!2 . and most moderns 
 
 • T - : .. . . 
 agree with him. Yet if these are the only possibilities, the former is to 
 
 be preferred ; so Hupf., Kautzsch, Driver. For plainly Qnn corresponds 
 
 to D^n*, and must, therefore, mean ' elevation.' Besides (2) what can ' the 
 
 •T 
 
 wilderness of the mountains ' mean ? Had the writer meant the Negeb, he 
 would surely have said the Negeb. Wellhausen's D^ini^l is surely a 
 desperate expedient. And (3) the sentence is incomplete ; we have to 
 supply something, r._^. tD3!i^Q- But is such an omission probable? A 
 little reflection, however, will suggest a remedy. Since ' Jerahmeel' is 
 the leading figure among Israel's enemies, must not both D^PH and D"*!^ 
 be mutilations of '^Si^^nP'' (cp. D^IH and JPi;:2^P"'). The phrase ' the 
 wilderness of Jerahmeel ' is as natural as the phrase ' the wilderness of 
 the mountains' is unnatural. The t) in IpT represents Phi in PJ^^FIPV 
 We now turn back to /. 15, and finding 3")J?*2, at once discern that it 
 represents 2iy;t3 ■ The remaining corrections in /. 15 are self-evident 
 
 ' Here, obviously, we should read y^P373 . Cp. Pi3J3 in the '[, xvi. 14. 
 
4 THE PSALMS. 
 
 to a keen critic ; so also is DTT7i< for J*j'^T in /. i6. No\v, too, 
 D^T nn '7^3'Z^^ n? becomes transparent. It is a combination of two 
 glosses "on "il^ 'and Qnn(?) respectively, viz. bii]?i2'p'' HT and 
 '?h<pn"T' nt. Parallel is the gloss in 2 S. \iv. 13 (see Cr//. Bib.). 
 
 17 f. M tD3'ii^ □'n'?J^"''3 • Not enough for a trimeter. Duhm 
 would read M^IH mn^~^3, but this is one of those superficial cures which 
 are much to be deprecated. Again and again we have found □n'?, DH/, 
 and DM'^^kS' supplanting "^J^l^jm^ or □''':'XDm^ . Read probably here 
 
 Verse 9 is full of difficulty. What is T^H ^^"'T (Pasek follows) ? And 
 what Tjpp n':'.:: ? (TJDD is a aV. Xey). And wliat H-TO lilj;!? (l^^SH , ' to 
 pour out ' occurs nowhere else). What does the suffi.x in rf^I^tl^ refer 
 
 T VT : . 
 
 to? Why ^Jlii;^ 12{D^? Various expedients have no doubt been devised 
 (e.g. G S read ^T~'7^< m-T^, but the psalmists would not thank the 
 critics for crediting them with so little style. Experience warns us that 
 we have here a specimen, on a large scale, of editorial ingenuity in 
 dealing with a mass of dittograms and corruptions. I will endeavour to 
 restore an earlier form of the text, omitting V~lN~''y>^1 73 (which is 
 clearly a gloss) and mere dittograms. DH^irjJ'^M D'vlO 7h}*JH'T' ^^13 O 
 jITTIi^V (Notice that '•3 = ^, and that "JD;:) = "];:^'3 , a regular cor- 
 ruption of Qti;3 , see on cxx. 5, and cp. on D3li> , Ix. 8). Remove the 
 dittograms, and we get two trimeters (see translation). P)h} for 'T[M is due 
 to Olshausen. 
 
 19. M DT'yt' l^ilh} . G, however, a-ydKKia(To\i.ai (t'''JS) fts rhv alojva 
 T : •- _ . T 
 
 (so Bii., Kau., Beer). Neither is natural, especially as a parallel to /. 20. 
 
 Read probably miT''? mihi (an imperfect 71 in HIIN became J in 
 
 Aramaic script ; D^1'7^^ , written instead of mil'', became D'?j,')- 
 
 PSALM LXXVI. 
 
 i Ri METERS. Anticipations of \'aluvt-'s crowning mercy — the hiuniliation of 
 Israel's oppressors. It is a companion-psalm to Pss. xlvi. and xlviii.; cp. also 
 xviii. 44-46. No Asaphite psalm is equally vivid and vigorous ; it is ' keen as 
 sword-blades flashing down upon Syrian helms.' Indeed if we work upon the 
 traditional text, it is jilausible to regard this as a Maccab;x;an psalm. Ilitziij and 
 Olshausen tht)uglu of the victory of Judas over Seron (l Mace. iii. 13-24), and 
 Duhm remarks that, as 'Salem ' in 7'. 3 shows, the psalm is later than Gen. xiv. 
 18-20, 'which verses are an insertion in one of the latest chapters of the Pen- 
 tateuch.' We can hardly^ liesitatc, however, on the analogy of so many other 
 passasjes in the Psalter, to restore in t7>. 4, 6 f., 11 f. the names of the N. Arabian 
 enemies of the Jews, and to accept such a doubtful form as 'Salem ' (for 'Jerusalem') 
 on the sole authority of a proper name in the traditional text of Gen. xiv. (which 
 is full of corruption in the proper names), is extremely bold. Kimhi's view that 
 the psalm refers to the wars of 'Gog and Magog' (Ezek. xxxviii., f.), is not 
 without an element of truth. 
 
PSALM LXXVI. 5 
 
 Deposited. Of the Ishinaclitcs. Marked. Of Asaph. Marked. I 
 
 I Yahwe has made himself known in Judah, 2 
 
 His name is great in Jerusalem ; 
 
 Yahwe has rescued his sanctuary, 3 
 
 His dwelling-place he has succoured ; 
 
 He has broken the quiver of Cusham, 4 
 
 The shield and the sword of Jerahmeel. 
 
 O Yahwe ! fearful art thou, 5 
 
 [And] venerable is the place of thy glory. • 
 The Ishmaelites fled in amazement, 6 
 
 10 The men of Jerahmeel were found no more ; 
 
 At thy stern voice, O God of Jacob ! 7 
 
 Jerahmeel and Cusham were routed. 
 
 Fearful art thou, and who can stand 8 
 
 Before thee for the violence of thine anger ? 
 
 From heaven thou didst proclaim sentence, 9 
 
 Earth feared, and held its peace, 
 
 When Yahwe arose for judgment, 10 
 
 To succour all the sufferers in the land. 
 
 All the Jerahmeelites shall serve him, 1 1 
 
 20 The remnant of Maacath shall do homage unto him, 
 
 The Ishmaelites shall bow down unto him, 12 
 
 All the Cushites shall bring him tribute, 
 +Who is+ terrible to those of Jerahmeel, 13 
 
 Fearful to the kings of Missur. 
 
 I f. Cp. xlviii. 2, 4. — 3 f. Cp. xlvi. xxix. 5, 7 f., a late insertion of eschato- 
 
 5, xlviii. 4.-5 f. Cp. xlvi. 10. 77ie logical purport.— 11. Hl^,! ; cp. i\. 6 
 
 <jtiiver of Cusham. Cp. Jer v. 16, j^^.jjj j^^^_ ^^.^^ ^^ 
 
 Their quiver IS an open sepulchre. In 
 
 the context of tliis passage the people <■ /^ 1 ■ 
 
 comhig from Saphon (not ' the north') ^5 »• «-P- xlvi. 7- — 18. Yl»>*~-1Jj;. 
 
 and from the utmost part of the land Same phrase in M of Isa. xi. 4, Zeph. 
 
 (not the earth) are the Jerahmeelites. ii. 3j -^"i- viii. 4, Job xxiv. 4. In Am. 
 
 Cp. also Jer. xlix. 35, ' I will break the and Job Kr. gives ^^jp. — 19-24. See 
 
 bow of Elam' (miswritten for ' lerah- -. .„ , ,"•"'. ,.,, „ . 
 
 , ,>. t^ )• r,-, ( D -^ 1 ) crit. notes, and cp. Ixvni.(-), //. 26-2Q, 
 
 meel ). Cp. J'.fu: Bib., 'Prophet, , . ,,) ; ,, c i*- .? ,-^' 
 
 ,.<• ' ^ A f ■/■ nn- T> . • Ixxxix.C, /. II f. — 20. Maacath. See 
 
 ^§ 40, 49, and tritica BilHica, Part 1. c- u-i iw u • > n-u . < ai 11 
 
 '^ t ' ^^' ' Enc.htb.,' Maacah, 11. That 'Maacath 
 
 Smj . So xlvii. 3. — 9. IDJ and 'Jerahmeel' are ultimately synony 
 
 . Cp. xlviii. 6. - 10. Were "^""■'' "^^'^ ""^ ""''P''''^'-^ "^V ' •^^'''''''^''''' 
 
 represents only a part of the regior 
 found no more = disappeared. Cp. Isa. occupied anciently by the Jerahmeelites 
 
 T T 
 
 Critical Notes. (Title.) G adds Trpoy rhv 'Aa-avpiov (attested by 
 Thcodorct). Did the original of this mean ' concerning the Asshurites 
 (of North Arabia)'? 
 
O THE PSALMS. 
 
 I f. M yiij . But the tlicmc of the psahn is not that \'ah\ve is 
 constantly known in Judah by the manifestations of his might, but that a 
 special manifestation has recently taken place. Read J/Tij (xlviii. 4), 
 
 with T, Gr.— M ':'^}^■;^■'3 (so too the vss.). ' Israel' and ' Judah,' it is 
 
 •• t: : 
 assumed, ha\e become synonymous. In the parallel psalm (xlviii.), how- 
 ever 'Judah ' and ' Zion ' fill up the canvass, nor can we in the statement 
 of the theme dispense with 'Zion ' or 'Jerusalem.' It is true, according 
 to M, ' Salem' (= Jerusalem.'') and Zion arc mentioned in the next verse, 
 but, as we shall see, this is more than doubtful. It seems highly probable 
 that 7S"1li,'^^ is a scribe's slip for D'^li'l"!^^ , as in Jen xxiii. 6 (cp. 
 x.xxiii. 16), li. 49, Zech. ii. 2 (dittogr.), xi. i, Mai. ii. 11 (diltogr.). Lam. 
 ii. 5 (so Gr., MGIV/, 1880, pp. 97-101), to which add Zcph. iii. 14, 
 according to the Heb. text presupposed by G. 
 
 3 f. M i3D U^V'2, \T'1 • Each of these words is improbable. 
 \ •• T : • :- 
 First, why TT^I ? Olshausen renders, 'And so (consequently) his lodging 
 
 is continually'; Ewald, 'for (^ in fact) his lodging was set.' Both 
 
 renderings imply the faulty reading ^"T^J, and both statements tell us 
 
 something which is altogether superfluous for the development of the 
 
 theme of the psalm. Next as to DaZ^ • Josephus, it is true, asserts 
 
 {A>iL vii. 3, 2) that 2oXv/xa was the original form of 'ifpoo-oXv/xa. This, 
 
 however, is certainly incorrect, nor have we even any sufficient reason 
 
 (apart from Ps. Ixxvi. 3 and the supposed mention of ' Jerusalem ' as 
 
 'Salem' [but see Enc. Bib., ' Melchizedek,' § 3J in Gen. xiv. iS) that a 
 
 shortened form ' Salem' existed. G here gives eV flprjvr]. If the general 
 
 structure of v. yz in M is correct it would be better to read r\7TV3, (cp. 
 
 2aXj;/Li, G° xli. 5, where M has i^U), but see £nc. Bib., ' Shiloh ') ; so Gr. 
 
 Lastly, as to 130 . Certainly we find i3D, as Kr. in xxvii. 5, 11 i'?n?^ , 
 
 but the reading is very doubtful. Nor is there any reason why tiie 
 
 humble designation ' booth ' should be applied here to the temple. 
 
 Rejecting, therefore, M's text, except as material for the cri tic to work 
 
 upon, what do the parallel psalms, xlvi. (z'. 5) and xlviii. {v. 4) suggest? 
 
 The answer cannot be doubtful. We have to read Vll^lpilD T^H mrT' • 
 
 T t': . 
 The loss of the "T in 'pl^ led to the misreading i3D ; then the feeling 
 
 that 'Jerusalem' must be somewhere mentioned led to the further 
 misreadings ti71i^^ for the indistinctly written Tjt'iin and T\'^^ for the 
 often misread group of letters which forms the Tetragrammaton. — M 
 ]PjJll inji37?Dl. In civ. 22, Am. iii. 4, nJ^D means a den. In Deut. 
 xxxiii. 27 and Jer. xxi. 13 the text is doubtful. On the analogy of the 
 preceding correction read p^*ii,'n Vj~1J3l17.3T (xlvi. 5, cp. xliii. 3) ; cp. next 
 note (on HQli'). 2. came from ,1 , as in /. 2 ; ](2) from ]; . 
 
 5. M j"l^'P~''S::'1 "13'X' nar. "in-ir is certainly right. The 
 
 V IT .. : • - . T T - • 
 
 disarming of the enemy, followed by the destruction of their warlike 
 implements, is the imagined occasion of the psalm. But why ilQ"i' ? 
 
PSALM LXXVI. 7 
 
 « 
 First, why is the long form preferred ? And next, the sense is not clear. 
 Does the poet mean that it was in the temple, as the centre of Yahwo's 
 effectual working, that he virtually defeated the enemy (01., Hu.) .'' or 
 that the action described took place just without the walls of Jerusalem? 
 Or, reading yilj in /. i, is the HDID temporal (cp. xiv. 5, Hupf. ; xlviii. 7, 
 Gr. alt.) ? And what is /1Z'p"^3il/n ? G renders v. 4a f/cel awfTpiyj/ev tu 
 KpaTT) Toiv To^ai', but a variant at the end of the verse (in B, but not 
 supported by B''^^JRT) runs. eW a-vvKXdaei rii Kepara. T gives ^TIJ 
 V/lti/pT , 'arrows and bows.' Most moderns explain, 'the lightnings of 
 the bow,' i.e. the swift-flying arrows. But that PjJtf"! ^'lightning ' is 
 uncertain (see on Ixxviii. 48), and the rhetorical phrase supposed here by 
 most is not in the style of the ps?dmists. Beyond doubt ^Bti'") is a cor- 
 ruption of a name for some warlike implement (see v. -[d). Herz suggests 
 jTii,'pT nSli'J^ ; ' the error is due to dittography, the repeated T having 
 
 V TT T : - . 
 
 supplanted the ciuiescent J>} .' G's Kparr^ or Kepara may, he thinks, have 
 
 come from (/)(i/jeVpai/. Half of this is right, but we expect the name of 
 
 Israel's enemies ; and if PIDntTJ in v. 4^ comes from '^NI^nT , DU^p 
 
 must come from D\i^3 (so also in Isa. xxi. 17, Ixvi. 19, Jer. xlvi. 9). Read 
 
 D^3 DBpa "lUTi^. r\i21D is cither a corrupt dittogram or a corrupt 
 
 correction ' of pv^'n {V and '.: confounded).— 6. M nr^nV'^T . But 
 
 . tt:. ■ 
 
 '^'2 "^^'i) is an impossible phrase. In Hos. i. 7, ii. 20, where ni^n?/!^ 
 
 appears to mean ' warlike equipment,' the text is corrupt ; in all these 
 
 passages, as well as in Zech. ix. 10, x. 4, n^3n'7*J, like n'7i3 (in h'^lS ''J), 
 
 is one of the many distortions of '7^ii^^"^'' ■ So too JIVZH'^D in xlvi. 10. 
 
 ' The shield and the sword of Jerahmeel ' corresponds here to ' the 
 
 quiver of Cusham.' [For Houtsma's mythologizing interpretation, see 
 
 ZATIV, 1902, p. 329] 
 
 7. M r\r\Vi lis: : rhU- ■^^^<J is impossible, for -nj^ has no 
 
 Niphal (Job xxxiii. 30 is corrupt ; see Budde). G, (pmrl^eis ; 'A, (pcoris-- 
 
 p-os ; J lumen ; all presupposing, neither "lij<^3 nor ~)J, but the equation 
 
 "lIX^^Aram. linj, 'light.' 2, ir;i(^avi]'i el. But /. 13 shows that 
 
 M~)1j is right; and G T presuppose this reading in both passages. So 
 
 Kr., 01. doubtfully, Gr., Hu., Kau , &c. ; Hi., wrongly, "TlhiJ • il'PD 
 
 • ' . . . ' T : V 
 
 comes from Q'*n'?hi (as in Ixviii. ;i^, &c.), i.e. TVsTV . 
 
 8. M C^"^[;3 ^n~inQ ^^^^i ; C^ davpaarrcos dno opeoov (ilcovtiov. Hitz. 
 
 •.•|T ••:"•• • ~ 
 
 thinks that the scribe thoughtlessly wrote ?1~1lD as a synonym for iy , 
 
 as if "ip meant ' booty,' a view which Bi., Che.''', Bii., Kau., Du. accept. 
 But if mountains are meant at all, it must be the mountains around 
 Yahwe's sanctuary that are meant. G's alwvMv can only be a guess, and 
 this of itself suggests that the translator's Heb. text was corrupt. Cer- 
 tainly our traditional text is so too ; even U}1p ■'"lliTJ would not 
 produce a clear and acceptable sense. The key is supplied by lxxxix.4o(see 
 crit. note), where Jl"'"!^ (cp. ^IID) certainly represents "Jjl IJ^Sn • Read 
 imNSD Dp?2 "in^^l (cp. xcvi. 6, Isa. Ix. 7, Ixiii. 15, Ixiv. 10). An 
 
8 THE PSALMS. 
 
 f 
 
 imperfect p became n, T became 1, and □ jxissed into n. [D. H. 
 Miiller ingeniously, l':»'?1JTy:'}< ^11^ nm^.tS- lint 'D 'D is too weak, 
 and 'j"1Ii'{< remains suspicious.] 
 
 9- M Dn:v V2^ 2b n^3^< i i'?^ij-niL%^ . 'n^a (followed by 
 
 . . TT : T - : : V 
 
 I'asek) is hi<,'-hly suspicious. The form only occurs again in Isa. lix. 15 
 
 (in partic), where it is corrupt. The supposed sense too is very unsuit- 
 able. Ruben suggests that it is a corrupt dittogram of '^Tt ^ti}2ii in z/. 
 6/>. Rather it is a corruption of D"''^N>.*J*Z^^ ; cp. b'^^'^f from bii^DW in 
 l.\xv. S. ^f ^n^3hJ is also unsatisfactory. It should mean 'obstinate, 
 contumacious' (Isa. xlvi. 12) ; hence G (and similarly S) gives ol davveroi 
 t;i Kapdia. UJiyi) 1!^J is also strange ; the other passages quoted by 
 Konig (§ 329//) are not fully parallel. Nor is the meaning clear. Duhm 
 thinks that a trance-like sleep, a nDllD (cp. ?'. yd), is meant ; other 
 critics think of the sleep of death (cp., however, xiii. 4 ; Jer. li. 39). The 
 true reading, however, is clear from xlviii. 6. -II^J should be 1D2 • 2'Z? , 
 which follows, has sprung from 1DJ , written as a correction of IQJ ; Qjl 
 
 from in^^Sn . 2.'7 nOJ< (cp. errors in Ixxiii. i, Ixxxiii. 6, xciv. i;) comes 
 T T •• . -^ 
 
 from '7^^:2^T , a gloss on t'^l in /. 10. Read therefore inQD 1DJ 'DW^. 
 
 10. M Dnn*; ':'^n-^:i?^j^-'?D ^^^■i•3-^^'7^. 'To find his hands' is 
 
 doubtless possible in the abstract. But such an odd phrase is not to be 
 credited to a psalmist. It would also be against parallelism, even if 
 V. 6 in AI were correct. Like the strange phrase in Job xxxvii. ya it is 
 corrupt, "^cn is one of the mutilations of '?^}^Jm^ (so r.j^. b''n~]2, 
 2 Chr. xvii. 7) ; OrT'T is a corruption of ',*jn~l\ a correction of b'^Tl ■ 
 Read ")> >i:OX-^D 1S^-:i-0J-N^':'T . 
 
 12. M moi ID"}") Q1"}:. G presupposes DID ■'3D") TD^IJ , 
 which Griitz and Herz adopt. Rapoport, cited by Geiger, _7/VV. Z/., 1*87 1, 
 P- 31 ij 331 I'jnj). A very poor result! Read certainly iHJ 
 D^^J') bi^'Zn")' . Cp. crit. note on xx. 8. "'^ 
 
 13 f. Omit first r^IM^ (Du.)— M tNVD (Ron, § 401/). Read ]y:2 
 (Geiger, Gr., Nold., Bruston, Now., We., Hal., Du.). Cp. xc. 11.— 16, 
 M niOp'yi^T . Hardly the right word. Read npn'yl' (Prov. xxvi. 20). 
 
 T TT : 't T T 
 
 19 f. M -liinn j~ibrr j^n^}•l:' iiiji d~in' n^n-'3 : n'^D. a 
 
 ... : ~ •• • •• : T IV TT - -: 
 
 strikmg proof of the helplessness of the old critical methods. Baethg. 
 
 renders v. ii^j, 'For the wrath of man must praise thee,' and leaves 
 V. lid untranslated. Kautzsch pronounces the entire verse 'altogether 
 inexplicable.' Wellhausen (Furness) renders, ' The most wretched 
 among men give thee thanks, | The residue of the most wretched keep 
 festival unto thee'; by ri*Dn ('pronunciation and meaning quite un- 
 certain ') the pious are meant. For ~i:inn , following G eoprda-ei aoi, 
 Bottcher and Ewald read "^pHB , Thrupp ^311^, Wellh. and Duhm 
 "i]^ Jnn ■ But (i) (opTiifTd (Toi may be corrupt ; (2) if not, the sense of 
 
PSALM LXXVI. 9 
 
 such a phrase in this context is far from clear. Thrupp, it is true, can 
 explain the passage : — ' Those of the wrathful who survive the judgment 
 with which thou shalt destroy them, shall turn to thee, and shall come up 
 to Jerusalem to the feast to adore thy name ' ; cp. Zech xiv. i6, to which, 
 according to Thrupp, this passage alludes. On this the present writer 
 long ago (in ed. i) remarked that it puts too much into the Hebrew, 
 adding that for his own part he agreed with Gratz and Briill that the 
 passage contained the name of an enemy whose submission the psalmist 
 anticipated. The former critic proposes to read QIS for 0~Tf<{ . and 
 Jinn n^n for Ijnn nbn, rendering, 'For Hamath of Aram will 
 confess thee, the remnant of Hamath will tremble.' The double mention 
 of Hamath, however, is improbable, nor can n"nn mean ' to confess as 
 overlord.' and Jlin , 'to tremble' (xviii. 46), is suspicious. A more 
 thorough application of the newer methods is indispensable. r\f211 in 
 O.T. is repeatedly miswritten for HD^D (the southern Maacath ; see 
 £nc. Bib., ' Maacah '). We shall not be far wrong in reading, — 
 
 The corruptions presupposed are all of familiar types ; 7^ for ''3 is due 
 to Uuhm (cp. /. 22). [G's fvdufiiou and ivdvjxiov, corresponding to j~lDn 
 in V. iia and b, seems to be a corruption of Ovfjios and 6vfj.ov. The 
 corruption began in b, where it was caused by the proximity of ev in 
 ^vKaTaXfififia. Nestle {ZATIV, 1896, p. 324) can hardly be right in 
 making iv6. equivalent to Tl'l/'^rT.] 
 
 21. M DDTt'?}^ T^^7Vh ^'^i>t^ nU- Duhm would omit mn% the 
 psalm being Elohistic ; it will be seen presently, however, that the editor 
 had no choice but to retain the mn'' of the original poem. It is a proof 
 of the glamour still attaching to the text of M that these four words have 
 hitherto had to undergo no serious criticism. Obviously, however, they 
 are not parallel to the second half of the verse, since "'liT ^'''^iil is only 
 used {e.g. Ixviii. 30) of subject peoples, while ID*?^! T1~TJ can only apply 
 to Israelites. The context suggests that some ethnic name underlies 
 one of the four words, and the analogy of other passages in the Psalms 
 suggests that the name required is D^'?J<Pr:3li'^ (for X^^V))- The 
 superfluous DJTl/J^ has probably come from D'^'^N'On"!'' , a gloss from 
 the margin, originally meant as a correction of J^l'irj'? (end of verse). 
 Read ^\^7vh '12^^ ^V^y (Ixxii. 9). 
 
 22. M snr:)^ "^t I'P^V Vn^aD~t'3 ; 'D~b'2 as Ixxxix. 8^ (the two 
 
 T - - . T . : T 
 
 passages must be treated together). J^n;;2 = ^<~n2 ? ? G rw (f)oj3fpa>; J 
 ierribili (twice). Wellh., ' 'I^D denotes God,' apparently thinking of 
 Isa. viii. 13. But we should expect IJi^liQ. Duhm would set 'X!^ 
 aside, as metrically superfluous. It is superfluous, but not an inter- 
 polation ; it comes from D^'TNI^Hn^ (see next note). Read D''Ii^13"t'3 
 
10 THE PSALMS. 
 
 ^•J i"? ^'P^aiv 2 in VT2D is dittographic ; 2 = 3, V = '^- Editorial 
 manipulation ? 
 
 23. M Dn^JJ mi "li^\ 'lie mows off the snorting of princes {i.e. 
 despots),' Del. ; 'he cuts off the spirit of tyrants (z.^. kills them),' Duhm, 
 Wellh. \'ery strange ; see Isa. xviii. 5. The remedy is suggested by 
 /. 24, and by the ethnic names in the rest of the psalm. Read — VHi^J 
 D-^iSprrn*'? (cp. Ixxxix. 8, ':i parallel to NIIJ. 
 
 24. M y"1^<~''3'^^'7 . For this colourless phrase read of course 
 "1'.i!3~"'D'?'j'? (N and' ::2 confounded, as Judg. xiv. 15). 
 
 PSALM LXXVIL— I. 
 
 1 KnJKTicRs. Another psalm of doubt, reminding us of Pss. xxxix.d), Ixxiii., 
 and cxvi. The problem, however, is not. Why do the wicked N. Arabians 
 aggrandize themselves at the expense of pious Jews, but this. Has Yahwe's 
 promise utterly failed ? In both cases, the mere statement of the problem appears 
 to the speaker (Israel), as he reviews the circumstances afterwards, to be the first 
 step towards apostacy. The only excuse is that the statement of the problem had 
 chilled the heart of the speaker, and made life not worth living (//. 11 f.). At 
 first he would not speak (//. 7 f. ). But at last the dreadful words came out, ' Has 
 his truth failed ' (//. 13-18). And now the loyalty of the sufferer reasserts itself. 
 All that he seemed to have forgotten comes back to hhn ; 
 ' The days she never can forget 
 Are earnest that he loves her yet ' ; 
 for a Biblical commentary we may compare Lam. iii. 21-23. Revived from his 
 depression, he promises to celebrate Yahwe's exploits in the songs of the sanctuary, 
 and in the closing words (or has another stanza dropped out ?) refers to the most 
 typical of all the "ancient wonders' — -the liberation of Israel from the very land of 
 Jcrahmeel where a part of the people is again in captivity. — Note the characteristic 
 
 word njT (/. 13) ; cp. xliii. 2, xliv. 10, 24, Ix. 3, 12, Ixxiv. i, Ixxxviii. 15, Ixxxix. 
 39. Parallel j^salms are xxxix"), Ixxiii., cxvi.; also xlii., xliii., Ixxiv., Ixxxv., cxlii., 
 cxliii.; and cp. Isa. Ixiii. 7-Ixiv. ii[i2], Lam. iii. Cp. also the view taken in 
 OP, p. 147 ; also Smend, p. 125 ; Coblenz, pp. 58-60. 
 
 1 In Jerahmeel I cried unto Yahwe, 2 
 
 In Jerahmeel I made supplication unto God. 
 In Jerahmeel I sought Yahwe, 3 
 
 [Mine eye] gushed forth without pause, 
 My soul refused to be comforted/ 
 My spirit within me was astonished ; 4 
 
 I held fast the guard of my tongue, 5 
 
 I became dumb, and would not speak ; 
 
 I forgot the ancient days, 6 
 
 10 The years of old time I remembered [not], 
 
 ^ I lost feeling in my reins and my heart, 7 
 
 I was depressed and alarmed in ni}' spirit : 
 
 ' I will remember Yahwi,-, and will moan ; I will complain. 
 
PSALM LXXVII. — I. II 
 
 ' Will Yahwe cast [me] off for ever? 8 
 
 Will he be favourable no more ? 
 
 Has his lovingkindness ceased for ever ? 9 
 
 Has his truth failed for all generations ? 
 
 Has God forgotten to pity ? 10 
 
 Is his compassion restrained toward us ? ' 
 
 And I said, ' It is my folly ; 1 1 
 
 20 [I will remember] the years of old time : 
 
 I will celebrate thine exploits, O Yahwe! 12 
 
 I will chant thine ancient wonders ; 
 
 I will muse upon all thy works, 13 
 
 Think upon all thine exploits. 
 
 I will praise thy way in Cush ; 14 
 
 Yahwe is great in Jerahmeel. 
 
 Thou art a wonder-working God; 15 
 
 Thou hast made known th}- strength among'the peoples. 
 Thou hast redeemed thy people from Missur ; 16 
 
 30 From the sons ofjerahmeel and Ishmael.' 
 
 The tenses in M's text of it'. 2-7 jc f. DSN I' "IDJ. as xii. 2. 
 
 present considerable difficulty. That __, __L , , . , , , 
 
 the view presented in Driver's Tenses, ' ' ' '~~ ' ^ Phrase which excludes 
 
 § 52, n. 3, and Parallel Psalier, and reference to any individual Israelite. — 
 
 also in my own, /"a-. ('), is natural, would i?- Cp. Isa. xlix. 15. — 18. Cp. Isa. 
 
 be too much to affirm. If the text is Ixiii. 15 (end). — 19. / said— 3. turning- 
 
 the psalmist's autograph, there seems point is here marked (xxxii. 5, xl. 8, 
 
 no help but to adopt it (m spite of ]^^iii_ „)_ ^j^i^Ji^ , < niy folly' (see 
 
 Hitz. and Kon. [§ 200/^ J) ; but in a • :- . 
 
 text which contains such a gross error as P'o^'- ...-^^i'- 23) not = ' my impiety ' 
 
 ...L,, ,»^.» c -,,»»i-,4,» / -^ , (xxxviii. 6, Ixix. 6 are corrupt). — 20 ff. 
 
 X\wV VU^ for Q^^2/iy (see crit. note ,- ,••• , t r ^ 1 ••• - 
 
 I' '■> \<^ k-i '-' A V (^p. cxlui. 5, Jsa. li. 9, 1x111. 7. 
 
 on /. 20) we have the ojition of suspect- 
 ing corruption. Arbitrariness would be «- o- -^^ 1 -> i j i- 
 ,'' ^, . • 1 . • 1 ,- 2, ri. Yahwe s wondrous dealings 
 shown not in using, but in neglecting -.u 1 • ^ ■ r' \ t u 1 
 , . . 1 •.• • '^ *^ with his people in (.ush or Jerahmeel 
 to use, a keen textual criticism. ■ ,•'■.' , , .,- , , ii 
 ' in antK|uity are a pledge that he will 
 
 3. Cp. on Ixxxvi. 7a. — 4. Cp. Lam. repeat them in the present. — 29 f. On 
 
 iii. 49. — 6. Cp. Ixxiii. 21, cxlii. 3. cxliii. this passage and on the marginal gloss 
 
 4 (corr. texts). — 7 f. (jp. xxxix. 2 f. (f. 21), which is an alternative reading 
 
 — II. I lost feeling, ^% xxxviii. 9. — 12. to 'Thou hast with +thine4. arm re- 
 
 Cp. xxxi. 22, cxvi. 11.^13. Cp. Ixxxv. deemed thy people, the sons of Jacob 
 
 6, and see introd. (on HIT). and Joseph ' {v. 16), see crit. note. 
 
 Critical A'Otcs. 2. M should mean, ' My voice is unto (jod, and I 
 
 will cry ; my voice is unto God, and he will hearken unto me.' For ''t'lp 
 
 read ':'j;rjn"l"'l (so iii. 5, cxlii. 2), and after Wrbi^ read (i) priiS. (2) 
 
 nnnhi (cxlii. 2). Omit "h^ (fragment of D\l':'J<). 
 T- : V 
 
 ^ Thou hast led thy people from Missur, 
 From the land of Ishmael and Jerahmeel (r'. 21). 
 
12 THE PSALMS. 
 
 3. The vague phrase TlTi DVD. does not suit well here, and we 
 have to account for the metrically superfluous HT'"''? • Probably this 
 stands for ':)N;:2n"l^^IlJ. If so, this original ':'J^rjn~l''2 was probably a 
 correction of QVH (= D~)''2) ; ^j"l~li appears to be a corruption of 
 MJi^n. n^ is also wrong ; it comes from ''"'\ i.i\ mn" as in the Heb. 
 text of Sirach ; note Pasek). 
 
 4. Insert 'J'y (Lam. iii. 49), unless ""J^^ underlies ''JT^{. 
 
 5 f. F. 4 opens with a collection of variants from the margin, HID't^ 
 
 for -^DT^*, /. 10 ; H^QHS for HDnn, /■ 6 ; nH^^L^i^ for 'n^^u;, /• 12.— 
 
 ^I n'?D TTl"! ^I3rPj~n- Read probably (in accordance with Ixxiii. 21, 
 corn text) "bv "Till "nanriV ^ItSmJl probably corresponds to ^"'D^^}, 
 which G renders by tjvcppcivdriv = n^yZ^H • a corruption of nit^nhi? ""^'J 
 (cp. cxlii. 4, cxliii. 4) has become H'TD ("d and y often confounded). 
 
 7 f. M ■'yv j~|i"i::DIi* J^TFTM ' thou boldest mine eyelids ' ? ' Thou hast 
 
 T ••••.: T : - T 
 
 held the night watches of mine eyes'? On either view, an unbiblical 
 
 phraseology. But Duhm's 'IJT Jnini^, 'accustomed to night-watches ^) 
 
 are mine eyes,' is no better. For the key to the passage, see xxxix. 2. 
 
 Read ^y)vb Jl'V^V /^T^^i (ist pers., as 2 I). V and 'i; confounded. G 
 
 . : - : T • : - T 
 
 TTpoKUTf'Kd^ovTo (jivXaKcis 01 ex^pot. [lav ; here the last phrase = ^^J3Ii^ j a 
 
 reading which grew out of >:i']]i)b ■— M "^ZL"r^{ ^j'?^ ''r):Di'3J • ' He suffers 
 
 thrusts and blows as if he were on an anvil (01*3),' Del. ; cp. Gen. xli. 8, 
 
 Dan. ii. 3. Not suitable in this context. S presupposes ^j^I^^W; an 
 
 imperfect 7 became a 3. 
 
 9 f. IM >P2Ii*n . ' I thought over.' The illustrative passages offered 
 
 are cxix. 59, Ixxiii. 16, but the latter passage is probably corrupt, and in 
 
 cxix. 59 ^i^2ti*n means ' I planned ' (cp. Prov. xvi. 9). To this it must 
 
 be added that the reference to ancient times is not in place here ; it makes 
 
 the subsequent despondency unintelligible (cp. w. 11-13). Underlying 
 
 ^j~l32'n must be some word which explains the consternation spoken of 
 
 in 7n'. 2 f. (where D\n'7J< niDThi is of course intrusive [see on //. 5 f.]). 
 
 What, then, is the verb which is most descriptive "of states of mind like 
 
 the speaker's? It is FTDll^ ; cp. Ixxviii. 7, 'That they might place their 
 
 confidence in Yahwe, and not forget the exploits of God.' 3 and 2 
 
 closely resemble each other ; transposition of letters too is a simple 
 
 phenomenon. Read therefore TIRDyi^, and in /. 10 read "13*^ S*?- 
 
 II. Vl n7)?3' "-H^^JJ, ' my music (see on Ixix. 13) in the night.' But 
 we expect 'my song,' not 'my music,' and why 'in the night'? Is 
 the phrase parallel to words in xlii. 9, Job xx\v. 10? But these passages 
 are most probably corrupt. Or is H/vIl to be combined (so accents) 
 with the whole clause — ' night is the time when I remember my music, 
 &c. ? How improbable I Remembering similar necessary corrections in 
 xvi. 7, xvii. 3, we surely need not hesitate to read ^jnv'73. ^nj^JJ not less 
 
PSALM LXXVII. — I. 13 
 
 plainly represents a verb — probal^ly M.ilBJ (xxxviii. 9). (". S, however, 
 presuppose "'JT'Dn (so Gr., Uu., Hcrz). 
 
 12. M "Tn") \DB^\''^ ^^''■;^^< (taking over ':i;M from 7'. 7(1). First, as 
 
 .. -:- T • T 
 to ti'Sn^T (so also 'A T), i.e. ' (my spirit) inquired.' G [ea-KoXKov J^* R% 
 
 but see Swete) 2 0. J, however, read vi^BrtJ^I, ' I examined my spirit' 
 
 (so Ba. formerly, Che/'*, Du.). The latter gives a sense more supported 
 
 by usage, but the context does not favour it. Wellh., TBH^T ; rather 
 
 perhaps T3n>}1. nn^'ii'J^, which is unsuitable, should perhaps be 
 
 T\T\t (xxxviii. 7). 
 
 13. M TOr. Read ""jriJiV The object of HJT must be contained 
 
 in one line of the couplet (cp. Ixxxix. 39). — M ^J*TJ< . Read miT' • 
 
 T -: 
 
 16. IVI "i;^^- Ci (S'-'') p7>a. The parallelism suggests j"10Nt . or, 
 better. Sp\u)'i^^ (Nestle. T/icol. S/iid. at/s U'ibiL. 1S82. p. 242) ; "1Q comes 
 from dittography. 
 
 18. M n'?D Vr^ni =1}<3 ypp'DSV □\:3n~) ySp is an unu5ual 
 
 phrase, nor is i^J>{2 wanted. The other parallelisms between our psalm 
 
 and Isa. Ixiii. 7. &c.. suggests as a possible and indeed extremely 
 
 probable correction. ^"^^ VitDH" ip3Mnn DX (Isa. Ixiii. 15). Ij";) became 
 It i_ TT-:-i ':-:••: 
 
 first □? . then by transposition 7,':2. then [n]7D • Herz '") ^}^^ e)*ijp QhJ ; 
 
 J<H)D = nDD.^^ But nSp"' in Prov. xxi. 14 should be r\2.y ; so*Hitz., 
 after 2.] 
 
 19. M ■'jn^Tn, 'my being bored through' (Kon. i. 341)? 2 rpcocris 
 fjLov. But 'a appaxTTia pov, J iinhccillitas luca. i.e. ^lltTT (so Bi , Che.'", 
 Du.). G vvv rjp^dfifv, i.e. Tli'^nn . The latter is more plausible (cp. 
 Jer. X. 19), but the strangeness of v. \\b suggests that corruption exists 
 both in {a) and in (^).— 20. M ^v'p^ ]"';::> jll^t^. Does the whole 
 prayer mean, ' That (viz. my scepticism as to the continuance of Yahwe's 
 kindness) is my affliction. (I will remember) the years during which 
 God interposed for His people.' So Driver, with AV. But we have no 
 right to supply H^TK . Or, ' My affliction consists in years which God's 
 chastening hand has allotted to me ' (Del.). Or, ' My affliction is this — that 
 the right hand of the Most High has become inactive.' So Lowth, Hitz., 
 Hupf , Duhm, following in part G («AXoicoo-is) and altogether 'A 2 6 E' S T. 
 liut T\W H. can hardly have this meaning ; in Lam. i\-. i the 'changing' 
 of gold means its loss of objective brightness, and in Mai. iii. 6 we read 
 that Yahwe ' changes not.' We must look further. AV shows more 
 tact than most modern scholars. ISThJ is essential here, and must be 
 restored. But if so ]V'7P '\'']y^ Jllji' is too lengthy. Is there any 
 specially suspicious word in it? There are two — ^^y and "IV*?!?, — 'V*?!^ 
 because it can so easily be miswritten for 0*71^ (see c.i^'. vii. 18, ix. 3), 
 and \ty because it cannot naturally be combined with Ts^l^ ■ The 
 right correction is now plain ;■ it is "l]D*hi D\'2'?U* J"li3ii^ • 1DTN fell 
 
14 THE PSALMS. 
 
 out before TD*}^ ; V'2'' and 1V'?37 represent the two parts of D^D'^IP ■ We 
 now obtain a complete antithesis to /. lo. As for the improbable ^/lltTf, 
 it is surely miswrittcn for ^JTllhJ ; hi and FT confounded (cp. 2 K. 
 xvii. 21). 
 
 21 ff. M ^3 r]''-''bb^g . Read mn^ ^\'p'?lVJ.— M HTDTNt. Read 
 
 maij^ (Gr.).— M ■^^i^D. Another reading*isTr'•^^'?^, but St'TD here, as 
 
 t:--: ~:: • i" vt : v v 
 
 in /. 27, can be taken collectively. So also Tj^J/B in /. 22. The vss. 
 
 give plurals. 
 
 25 f. M '?T3n"l linpS. D''^t'^^<■ An obscure and very questionable 
 expression. Bii. renders 'p2. 'hehr' (majestic); Duhm, 'im heiligen 
 Nahesein' (accompanied by the divine presence?). Strained interpreta- 
 tions. Surely something more definite, more suggestive of a historical 
 background is indispensable. Such definiteness has been restored to 
 the opening ; must we not look for it also in the closing stanza ? Wlp 
 is frequently miswritten for W'iD, and D\"17J< often conceals some other 
 word. Comparing (for 'bii) xxii. 23, read '1 t^DD. ':''?nj<{.— -M bii~':2 
 D^rf?hJ3 7i"Til. This is certainly possible, but in Ixxxix. 7 similar words 
 turn out to be due to the editor. D\1T'i^ has sometimes come out of 
 ^I<*.2n-)V Read here probably— ':'Nr.DnT2 ':'nj QMSsV 
 
 27. Read '?^<-^J^^J ; n in bi^n is dittographic. 
 
 T - 
 
 29 f. Bickell has recognized that ?'. 16 and 7'. 21 are variants. It is 
 tempting to seek to restore the original text by combining elements from 
 both forms. ]^^iiD, for instance, may seem to be confirmed, rather than 
 yTIQ, by the apparent fondness of Asaphite psalmists for the figure of a 
 flock (cp. Ixxviii. 52, Ixxix. 13, Ixxx. 2). But at the best the result is not 
 very satisfactory. Can we easily imagine a poet closing his work with 
 
 the couplet, — 
 
 Thou hast led thy people like sheep 
 By the hand of Moses and Aaron, — 
 
 or even with any improved version of this ? And how came Jacob and 
 Joseph to be supplanted by Moses and Aaron ? The latter question can 
 be scientifically answered. It is certain that both 3pP^ and ]TinS have 
 occasionally grown out of '^i^r.3n~)\ and both Hti^H) and S)DV out of 
 '^'NrQIi'"' (cp. Cn7. Bib. on Mic. vi. 4), and it is quite possible that ^TW 
 may, like ~iyi^ (sometimes), have grown out of m]irj. Knowing how 
 the editors were bent on removing traces of contemporary history from 
 the psalms, we can hardly hesitate to read (as the two original variants), — 
 
 • ', ' : - T : - T 
 
 ... I : - T . T 
 
PSALM LXXVII. — I, 2. I5 
 
 In the latter form we assume (i) that DTTJ comes from /n'^nj , and this 
 from pha^ , (2) that ]J^"iO has come from y^^^]2 , and this from ll^i^a , 
 and (3) that "T^3 has come from yiSD- It is possible, however, that 
 7>. 21 is in its original form, and that it grew up as a variant to 7^. 16 in 
 its present corrupt form. It only remains to add that nt'D in v. 16 
 (end), as elsewhere (e.j^. Ixxxi. 8), is a corrupt fragment of t'X^mv 
 
 PSALM LXXVII.— 2. 
 
 J. RIMETERS, This is a fragment of a psalm ; it falls into stanzas of three lines, 
 and so contrasts with Ixxvii.f'', which is in stanzas of six lines. It is a description 
 of a theophany, and as W. H. Ward, after Hilzig, has shown {Ainer. Joiirn. 0/ 
 TheoL, i. 136 ft'.), is closely parallel to passages in Hab. iii. The parallelism be- 
 comes still clearer when a keener criticism has been applied. The key to the poem 
 in Hab. iii. is supplied by the same theory which has cleared up so many other 
 dark passages in poetry, prophecy, and narrative. The foes of Israel referred to 
 are the N. Arabians who, in the restored text, are repeatedly mentioned by name. 
 It is also probable that Ps. lxxvii.(-J, though a mere fragment of a psalm, also 
 mentions these enemies. The idea of both psalms {i.e. that in Ilab. iii. and that 
 preserved in part in l.wvii.'-^) appears to be that Vahwe, in the midst of his wrath 
 remembering mercy (Hab. iii. 2/'), will renew that great catastrophe of (jld time — 
 the overwhelming of the guilty Jerahmeelites by a deluge (see Enc. Bib., ' Sodom 
 and Gomorrah'). Suggestions are also taken from the story of the overthrow of 
 Pharaoh's host in the Red Sea, and the song ascribed to Moses. The psalmist 
 realizes the future as if it were the present. 
 
 I The Jerahmeelites fear thee, O Yahwe ! 17 
 
 The JerahmeeHtes fear thee, they are anguished ; 
 The Maacathites also tremble. 
 
 The Misrites and Ishmaelites are alarmed ; 18 
 
 The skies give forth a peal, 
 
 Thine arrows dart hither and hither. 
 
 Thy thinider peals over Jerahmeel, 19 
 
 Thy lightnings shine upon Bethel, 
 The land trembles and quakes, 
 
 10 The Jerahmeelites [sink] into the sea, 20 
 
 The Ishmaelites into the great waters, 
 And their places are no more known. 
 
 1-4. The N. Arabian nei^jhbours original story of the Deluge (see Enc. 
 
 of the Jews (who are also their tyrants Bib., ' Sodom and Gomorrah'), 
 
 and oppressors) are terrified at the 6. Thine uTTovrst i.e. lightnings 
 
 approach of Vahvve, indicated by (xviii. 15, Hab. iii. ii). — S f. Cp. 
 
 thunder and lightning. Cp. Hab. iii. xcvii. 4. — 10 f. Cp. Ex. xv. 5. 
 
 7, 10 f., and partly Ex. xv. 14-16. 12. Cp. xiv. 13/', and see introd. 
 
 There seems to be a reference to the and crit. note. 
 
l6 THK PSALMS. 
 
 Critical Notes, i. M D'lD "^^^*^ (twice). In /. 3 M gives Jlll^nn, 
 apparently as a climax (note C]j^), but too tautologically. For Q^^ , 
 Hal), iii. 10 reads D'lil ; G, however, D'Sy {><aoi). Gr. adopts DHn , 
 but O'ltD and D^n are too unlike, and according to rule we have to look 
 out for some suitable word out of which the three variants D^!^ , D^"irT, 
 and D^Dy "lay have arisen. From Hab. iii. 7 it is plain (see Enc. Bib., 
 ' Cushan ') that the people interested in theophany are (besides the Jews) 
 the N. Arabians, and, as Perles has seen, there is a confusion in the M 
 of that passage between ^^J"1 and hil^. Thus we have a double clue 
 to the reatling and interpretation of Ixxvii. \']a. We should probably 
 read D'':'Kpn"]-_ "^"INIV On I'p^nV cp. Kon., § 154. 
 
 3. M J"1VJ^fJ'^ . On the analogy of Hab. iii. ^b we expect an ethnic. 
 
 Remembering that j"1Qn has sometimes (r.,','-. Ixxvi. 11) been miswritten 
 
 for ^I^V^3 , it is reasonable to restore Q^/I^Vi^- Thus the description 
 
 T-:- • T-:- 
 
 which once appeared so dead begins to burst into life. 
 
 4. M iSXlV D'.'tD 'X2'y{. Hab. iii. 10 gives lai* D"^ D"1T (G 
 
 „ T •^- : . iTT •- 
 
 o-KopTT-i'ftuf ilfiara TTopeiai). Both in Hab. and in Ps. Wellh. and Now. adopt 
 M Hab.'s text in the main, but read Tr^lT ; IHi. retains the Poel. Note, 
 however, that Dn!^~lT in xc. 5 is corrupt, and that Pasek after U''D in Ps. 
 warns us of uncertainty in the text. The fem. plur. j"n2^ occurs again 
 in ?. S. xxiii. 4, but the context needs much correction. Apparent fem. 
 nouns often conceal verbal forms in T. Unless we seek a possible 
 emendation from Judg. v. 4, we should read (in harmony with //. 1-3) 
 
 ^DV22 D'^iji'^n-Y') ani:D. r.:-)r = nnr = D^^jiD ; for D^■^, as a 
 
 mutilation of 'fn^ , cp. ' Abel-maim ' = Abel-meholah in Judith iv. 7, 
 
 vii. 3 = .'\bel-jerahmeel.— 6. For TT''^J^i^T read rr^^^n (Hab. iii. 11). 
 
 ' V T -: ' V • 
 
 7 f. M '?.D?33 . ' Thy thunder sounded /;/ t/ie li'hirlwind'' (Ges., 
 
 Hitz., 01., Del', Kau., &c.) ; or 'with rolling' (Now., Du.). All the 
 
 ancients (G 'A 2 9 J S T) explain "y as ' wheel,' i.e. the wheel (2 wheels) 
 
 of the divine chariot (cp. Ezek. x. 2, 13; Ps. xviii. 11, Hab. iii. 8?). 
 
 Hence Ba., 'The thunder of thy wheel sounded.' Houb., Kenn., Gr., 
 
 '73'?33» 'like a wheel (or, wheels).' But (1) there is a warning Pasek 
 
 close by ; (2) the obscurity of the phrase is much against it ; and (3) the || 
 
 line leads us to expect a mention of the place where the thunder was 
 
 heard, or whence the awful sound proceeded. In the latter case Kimhi's 
 
 explanation ' heaven ' {sp/ia-ra) would not be unplausible. In the former, 
 
 '^T?^ in the narrative books being so often the representative of 'pSi^nT', 
 
 we should read '?Nrorn''2 • Most probably this is right. This, however, 
 
 involves an easy emendation (by transposition of letters) in /. 8.— M 
 
 'PIl/l • In. spite of the quotation in xcvii. 4, we should probably read 
 
 bPi"!, or ':'N1il3, or '?hijn^:a. The southern Bethel is meant, unless 
 
 indeed 7Sj"T3 in i S. xxx. 27 should be by\r\ (against which would be 
 
 the fact, if correctly assumed, that Jeroboam's ' golden calf was placed 
 
PSALM LXXVII., LXXVIII. I7 
 
 at a place in the Negeb called Bethel. But certainly, if ']^!2 in (len. 
 X. 2, Ezek. xxvii. 13 (?), xxxii. 26, xxxviii, 2 f., xxxix. i, should be read 
 □^3 , it would seem probable that the accompanying S^D should be 
 reldhn2 (or 'li^lJia , or "psn^a)- Cp. Enc. Bib., 'Tubal.'— 8. Read 
 Ty^pHQ with G (see Swete) and xcvii. 4. 
 
 10. M "^5"}"=7 0"^. Insufficient. Hence W. H. Ward inserts DM'?1<, 
 Bi. and Uu. ^\^ll'' ■ This, however, is only a makeshift. On the analogy 
 of b^b^ (see on /. 7) and ~f")in (Zech. ix. i ; see note in Cr//. Bid.) from 
 "^hiDHT, and remembering Ex. xv. $d, we may probably read D'Z 
 D''':'N/':3ni"' My -, n")"* fell out as a supposed dittogram (n = 11) - 
 Clearness and symmetry are now restored. Hab. iii. 15 is also probably 
 cormpt (see OvV. Bifi.). 
 
 11. M "J>'7"'2ti^'' (Kt.), '^b''2t (Kr-)- b''2\D is not found ; >b')2^ (so 
 Kt. ; Kr. 'Tili') occurs in Jer. xviii. 15. On the analogy of "^^Stt'^ for 
 baV^^^ in 1-^-^v. 8 read wbi^yDp') • 
 
 12. M Tj^jni^p^V The traces of an ordinary traveller are visible ; not 
 so those of Yahwe. But what poet would make such needless statement .'' 
 Read :]TliQpm (cp. Nah. iii. 17). 
 
 PSALM LXXVIII. 
 
 X RIMETERS. A poetical Midrash, or popular exposition of the history of Israel, 
 from the events preceding the Exodus to the building of the temple. The object 
 of it is not so much to stimulate the people to grateful praise for past mercies 
 (cp. Ps. Ixxvii.) as to warn them against the ingratitude of their ancestors which 
 had necessitated such severe judgments. Specially strong censure is given to the 
 northern Israelites, whose * high places ' and images so greatly displeased \'ahvve 
 that he allowed his temple at Shiloh to he destroyed and the ark to be carried into 
 captivity. It is true, Yahwe interposed at last, and put down his enemies the 
 [erahmeelites {v. 66), but he would not again dwell among the fickle Ephraimites. 
 He placed his permanent sanctuary in Judah, and chose David, a man of Judah, 
 to be the shepherd or ruler of his people. 
 
 The text is not without serious corruptions, which have been too superficially 
 treated, and even not always observed. Another unfortunate characteristic of the 
 psalm is the weakness of its chronology. Two series of wonderful works of 
 Yahwe are described — t!ie first relating to the journeyings of Israel in the wilder- 
 ness, the second to the plagues of Egypt, or rather Misrim, the overthrow of 
 Israel's enemies in the sea, the successes of the Jerahmeelites (including the 
 destruction of the temple of Shiloh) and their subsequent humiliation, the choice 
 of the tribe of Judah, and the building of the temple. Last of all, out of due 
 chronological order, comes the selection of David to be king. .Saul is either 
 passed over, or mentioned only as one divinely rejected, while David is treated 
 with high respect in harmony with the idealistic tendencies of later writers. 
 
 It will be noticed that the account of the plagues of Egypt (Misrim) in rr'. 
 44-51 agrees with that given liy the Yahwist, and that there is no trustworthy 
 evidence (see on v. 28) that the poet, in writing this psalm, was influenced by the 
 Priestly Writer. This is remarkable in a poet whom on other grounds we must 
 regard as post-exilic. It may be conjectured, however, that we no longer possess 
 Ps. Ixxviii. in its original fonn. That it has been amplified by additions is plain, 
 partly from considerations drawn from the structure of the poem, partly from 
 
 II. C 
 
15 THE PSALMS. 
 
 ilie necessities of exegesis ; that omissions have been made in it appears from 
 7: 17, where the Israelites are said to have ' sinned yet more ' before any special 
 sins have been mentioned. The probability is that there was once in existence a 
 very long poetical Midrash on Israelitish history, selections from which constitute 
 the first half of our psalm (vf. I-39). After this selection had been in use for 
 some time, the same writer, or rather compiler, or another member of the same 
 school, supplemented it by a fresh selection, introduced by three opening verses, 
 which also serve as a bridge between the two parts of the psalm. It has been 
 rightly observed by Rothstein that in the second part of the psalm the second line 
 of the couplet is not always on quite the same metrical model as the first. We 
 cannot, however, lay any stress upon this. Occasional deviations from the strict 
 metrical scheme can be found in part I (see e.,:^. I'v. 31, 33). Long words, as 
 Rothstein hesitatingly admits, appear to be susceptible of two strong tones. 
 Rothsteiii's own view, that the original poem was a shorter work of pre-exilic 
 origin, is defended with great subtlety, but has no striking argument in its favour 
 except that drawn from the dependence of the psalmist upon J for his account of 
 the plagues of Lgypt. Duhm's theory, however, goes too far in the opposite 
 direction. He thinks that the psalmist's real object is to attack the ' heresy ' of 
 the Samaritans, which already existed in mice under Moses. This is not only in 
 itself very far-fetched, but opposed to the practically certain fact that the psalmist 
 had the narrative books before him in a more correct form than that afterwards 
 current, i.e. he refers (in part 2) to Cush of Jerahmeel as the source of Israel's 
 idolatry (/. 1 12), and to the people of Missur and Jerahmeel (/. 129) as the worst 
 enemies of the early Israelites and the captors of the ark — not, as later writers 
 would have said, the I'hilistines. On this ground, we must place Ps. Ixxviii. — 
 or, at any rate, the poem on which it is based — in the Persian and not in the 
 Creek period. 
 
 On this psalm see J. W. Rothstein, ' Psalm Ixxviii. als Zeuge fiir die jah- 
 wistische Gestalt-der Exodus-tradition und seine Abfassungszeit,' in the Zt, f. 
 wissetischaftl. Theologie, 1900, pp. 532 ff. 
 
 Deposited. Of Asaph. I 
 
 I Hearken, O my folk ! to my lore, 
 
 Bend your ear to the words of my mouth ; 
 
 I will open my mouth with right things, 2 
 
 I will pour out true things with the lyre, ^ 
 
 Yahwe's deeds of renown, and his strength, 4^ 
 
 And his wonders which he has wrought,- 
 
 That the next generation may know it, 6 
 
 [And] the children to be born [unto us],'' 
 And may put their confidence in Yahwe, 7 
 
 10 And not forget God's exploits, ^ 
 
 And not sin (?) like their forefathers, 8 
 
 [Like] that froward, rebellious race, — 
 
 I ' That which we have heard and known, | and our forefathers have related 
 to us, I we will not keep secret from our children, | to the next generation we 
 will relate them (z'Z'. 3, 4^). 
 
 " His righteous deeds in Jacob, | and his judicial acts in Israel, | which he 
 commanded our forefathers | to make known to their children {v. 5). 
 
 ^ That they may arise and relate it to their children. 
 
 ■• But keep his commandments. 
 
PSALM LXXVIII. ig 
 
 A race inconstant in heart, 
 
 And fickle in spirit toward God,' 
 
 Who kept not the covenant of Yahwe, lo 
 
 And refused to walk in his law, 
 
 And forgot [all] his exploits, II 
 
 And the wonders that he had showed them. 
 
 Before their fathers he had done wonders, 12 
 
 20 In the land of Misrim — the country of Zoan ; 
 
 He cleft the sea, and made them pass through, 13 
 
 And piled up waters like a harvest-heap ; 
 He guided them with a cloud by day, 14 
 
 And all the night through with a light of fire. 
 
 He cleft the rock in the wilderness, 1 5 
 
 And made the desert overflow with an ocean ; 
 He brought forth streams from the crag, 16 
 
 And made waters run down like rivers. 
 But they sinned yet more against him, 17 
 
 30 Provoking the most High in the desert. 
 
 In their heart they put God to the proof, 18 
 
 Requiring food for their craving ; 
 
 And spoke against Yahwfe,- ' Is God able 19 
 
 To furnish a table in the wilderness ?^ 
 
 Can he indeed supply bread, 20(5 
 
 Or provide flesh for his people ? ' 
 
 Therefore "'•' '•• '■' '■' 21 
 
 Yahwe heard it, and became furious ; 
 A fire was kindled against Jacob, 
 40 Also anger rose against Israel ; 
 
 Because they believed not in Yahwe, 22 
 
 And trusted not in his succour. 
 
 And he commanded the clouds above, 23 
 
 And opened the doors of heaven : 
 
 He rained manna* for food, 24 
 
 And gave them corn of heaven. 
 
 Bread for his hunger each one ate, 25 
 
 He sent them provision in abundance. 
 
 ' The sons of Ephraim. They were overthrown like Cusham-jerahmeel {v. 9). 
 - They said. 
 
 •' lie smote the rock, so that waters gushed out, | and torrents overflowed 
 (v. 20a). ■* Upon them. 
 
20 THE PSALMS. 
 
 He caused the east wind to blow in the heaven, 26 
 
 50 And by his power he led on the south wind ; 
 
 He rained flesh ^ hke dust, 27 
 
 Winged fowl hke the ocean's sand ;2 
 
 They ate, and were well filled, 29 
 
 That which they craved he brought unto them.-^ 
 
 P^or all this they sinned yet more, 32 
 
 And believed not in his wondrous works. 
 So he brought their days to an end in vanity, 33 
 
 And their years by sudden calamity ; 
 
 When he slew them, they would seek him, 34 
 
 60 They would turn, and become zealous for God ; 
 
 They remembered that Yah we was their help, 35 
 
 And the Most High God their redeemer ; 
 
 They enticed him with their mouth, 36 
 
 But they Had to him with their tongue. 
 
 Their heart was not constant towards him, 37 
 
 Nor were they faithful to his covenant. 
 
 But as for him, when his compassion [is moved], 38 
 
 He cancels guilt and destroys not ; 
 Ofttimes he takes back his anger, 
 70 And arouses not all his wrath ; 
 
 So he bethought him that they were but flesh, 39 
 
 A wind that passes, and comes not again. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 How oft did the}' provoke him in the wilderness, 40 
 
 And cause pain to him in the desert ! 
 
 Time after time they vexed God, 41 
 
 And stirred the Holy One of Israel. 
 
 They remembered not his hand, 42 
 
 The day when he set them free from Missur ; 
 
 Upon thcni. 
 
 He made il fall within their camp, | round about their tents {v. 2S). 
 Not yet liad they turned from their craving, 
 Their food was still in their mouths, 
 When the ani;er of ^'alnvc rose against them, 
 And made a slaughter among their strongest, 
 And cut off the noblest of Israel {v. 30, 31). 
 
PSALM LXXVIII. 21 
 
 How he set forth his signs in Misrim, 43 
 
 80 His prodigies in the country of Zoan ; 
 
 He turned their streams into blood, 44 
 
 And their rivers, so that they could not drink ; 
 He sent among them dog-flies which devoured them, 45 
 And frogs which destroyed them. 
 
 He gave their produce to the caterpillar, 46 
 
 The fruit of their toil to the locust ; 
 
 He wasted their vines with hail, 47 
 
 And their fig-trees with hot coals ; 
 
 He gave their cattle over to the murrain, 48 
 
 90 Their flocks to burning sickness. 
 
 He sent them against them " * 49a 
 
 He gave charge to a destroying angel 49^, 50 
 
 To lay low the sons that they delighted in ; 
 He kept not back their soul from death, 51 
 
 But gave their life over to pestilence : 
 
 He smote every firstborn in Alisrim, 52 
 
 The firstlings of strength in Jerahmeel, 
 But he led on his own people like sheep, 53 
 
 100 He guided them like a flock through the desert ; 
 
 He led them safely, so that they were fearless, 53 
 
 But the sea covered their enemies. 
 
 He brought them to his holy territory, 54 
 
 To the mountain that his riglit hand had acquired ; 
 
 He drove out nations before them, 55 
 
 And allotted their domain as an inheritance ; 
 
 And caused to dwell in the palaces of Ham, 
 
 The tribes of Israel [his people]. 
 
 But they provoked Yahwe the Most High, 5^ 
 
 no His precepts they observed not ; 
 
 They swerved and became traitors like their lathers, 57 
 They were overthrown like Cusham-jerahmeel ; 
 They vexed him with their high places, 5^ 
 
 And made him jealous with their images. 
 
 When Yahwe heard, he was enraged, 59 
 
 And altogether rejected Israel, 
 
22 THF, PSALMS. 
 
 So that he cast olTthc habitation of Shiloh, 6o 
 
 The temple where he had dwelt in Ephraim, 
 And gave up his strength to captivity, 6i 
 
 I JO His glory to the power of the foe. 
 
 He abandoned his people to the sword, 62 
 
 And was enraged against his inheritance. 
 
 Fire devoured their young men, 63 
 
 And their virgins made no wailing ; 
 
 Their priests fell b}- the sword, 64 
 
 And their widows wept not. 
 
 Then Yahwe awaked as one that had slept, 65 
 
 As a warrior who rouses himself from slumber; 
 He smote Mi.ssur [and] Jerahmeel, 66 
 
 130 He put upon them an enduring disgrace, 
 
 But he rejected the temple of Joseph, 67 
 
 He chose not the tribe of Ephraim. 
 
 He chose the tribe of Judah, 68 
 
 The mountain of Zion which he loved ; 
 
 He built his sanctuar}' like Hermon, 69 
 
 Like the earth which he has founded for ever ; 
 
 [He rejected Saul as king,] 70 
 
 And chose David his servant. 
 
 He took him away from Lshmael, 
 140 From those of Jerahmeel he brought him, 71 
 
 To tend Jacob his people. 
 And Israel his inheritance ; 
 
 So he tended them with an honest heart 72 
 
 And with guileless hand he led them. 
 
 The exegetical difficulties of tliis psalm are removed in our translation. 
 I'erhaps we may refer on the E.\odus to the Enc. Bib., ' Exodus' and ' Moses,' 
 and on the site of Shiloh to the Auc. Bib., ' Shiloh,' 2. 
 
 Critical Notes. 3,4. M jllTfT ; but what <?;■<• the ' riddles'? Mt. 
 xiii. 35 gives KiK\)v\i\).iva {n-rro KarajBoXiji), i.e. JllinDJ- This reading 
 seems implied in the "IMDJ S*? of the first gloss ; but is unsuitable. It 
 suggests, however, that an initial J has fallen out. We might possibly 
 read JlTT^^lJ , comparing Prov. viii. 6; but since for D^l^JJ we should 
 read, in Prov., D*niDJ (Gr., Toy), it is plain that the psalmist wrote 
 jmnDJ . This correction involves another, "p^i^^ , though possible, is 
 
PSALM LXXVIII, 23 
 
 not very probable. I'rov. viii. 6, 9 suggests the true reading Q'~)Z'^^21 • 
 For Dlp"'JQ read -)i-)Dn (xlix. 5). 
 
 Glosses in w. 4-7. Observe the Paseks after the second word in w. 
 4, 5, 6 respectively ; also the imperfection of the metre and the prolixity 
 of the style. G implies irjDJ S*? . Rather read IJ'-jnO IPTDJ n':' • 
 and (for DnSD,^) QIDD: (S and Gr. ISD:). In v. 5 tiie i'aseVfoHosvs 
 r\T\V as in the corrupt passage Ixxxi. 6. Surely neither jmp nor 
 nmjl can be right. We expect phrases suitable in a gloss on v. 4/'. 
 Read certainly ':5i^-)::rU TLOStt'DT 3pPU Vmpi^iT . Dislocation and 
 corruption. Cp. ciii. 6. TlliJ^ ; see on Ixi. 8. 
 
 7 fif. Read ^^TT (metre) and □''^21 (T absorbed). Insert ^i^ 
 (metre). Read TWTV'l (Bi.). 
 
 11 f. VrT* , though weak, may be right, but Pasek suggests a doubt. 
 Comp. cvi. 6, and read IJ^^H^ ("'). Read "1113. 
 
 Verse 9 inserted. As it stands it is a riddle. What is the ' day of 
 battle'? Where is the parallelism? Why are the 'sons of Ephraim ' 
 singled out ? The text cannot be right. It is an editor's attempt to 
 make sense out of a corrupt form of v. i']b (see note), inserted in the mg., 
 with the prefix DHSl^ ^J3 as a note on Dm^iO in v. 8. The passage 
 should run '^J^Dm"' 3^P3 IDBHJJ '^J "1. Of the last two words 
 rW^T'^iyr^. ""piinj is a corruption ; 'J comes from \Jj^3 (= D^i'O), '1 
 from V^Dni' . rWy> from QliO • 2")p DV3 also represents '-)"' '33 . 
 Cp. Crit. Bib. on Zech. xiv. 3/^ Duhm's correction is too superficial. 
 
 15, 17. Read TWTV ; insert '73 (metre), mistaken for a dittogram. 
 
 20. Point Dn^iD • So -IVjJD , /• 78 ; an^'^D , //. 79. 97 ; cp. on 
 /. 129.— For ]jr\j; we'might read ~y^^. But yg-^ may = b'^'^'d^'^ (J- 139 f-)- 
 
 26. M -3 px'n . Read pp'i:?^ (Ixv. 10). M n3"l : read r73"ir 
 
 ' ''••:- T - T T-: 
 
 (Gr., Du.). The former correction removes Bii.'s objection that the 
 
 water was not to quench the thirst of the desert. 
 
 30, 33. M ni")Q7 , a possible form; cp. Isa. iii. 8 (Konig, ii. i, 
 
 § 112, i). Olsh. suggests /I'n;^'^. But mO is not the most natural 
 
 verb. Read "11^7. (^ mipfTrLKiMvav (so S). — Read r\')r\'' (also in /. 41), 
 
 and omit ^~1Q^^ . 
 : T 
 
 Verse 20a inserted. An unnietrical and unchronological amplification. 
 
 The striking of the rock came afterwards. 
 
 2;]. Pasek favours the view that words have dropped out (cp. 
 Num. xi. 1). 
 
 47. M Dn^3J< UXt) • Too singular a phrase for this psalmist to 
 have coined. The ' true Jewish realism ' of the view that the angels 
 
24 THE PSALMS. 
 
 lived on manna is also very suspicious in a psalm. The parallel line 
 suggests i^'l3in Unb; cp. (ion. xlii. 19. 
 
 49. M yO'' . Rather perhaps ^^£^"1 ; y and 2 confounded. 
 
 Verses 30, 31 inserted. The mention of a judgment (cp. Num. xi. 33) 
 is out of place. For TIT read T\0 , and for Q^il'^N read rnH' • For 
 T'^'2T\ read j-inDn(Gr.f; || Jin^'. 
 
 61 . M D~1J)^ . G ^nrjdoi avTciv, i.e. here at least D^TJ? • (In xciv. 22 
 T t:v 
 
 "l^li is much more suitable than it would be here ; ^orjdos of course is 
 
 vague.) "ITi? and "nji are both titles of God ; for "1TP see cxv. 9, 
 
 cxlvi. 5, cxviii. 7 (corr. text), also Dt. xxxiii. 29. See on xxxiii. 20, and 
 
 cp. Geiger,y«V. Z/., '72, p. 88. 
 
 67. M Dinn hiim. Not enough for a line ; observe Pasek. Read 
 V.^rn TI^DD^ >^im ; Hos. xi. S (reading rpn*}). Of two similar groups 
 of letters one fell out. 
 
 73. U imir.22- l-^ead ^rmnD^ (Gen. xhx. 23); note parallelism. 
 Cp. on //. 30, 115, and cvi. 33. 
 
 75 f- ^D^.l- ^^^^ suitable than ^D''J?p^ (so /. 115).— M ?nrin , 
 ' caused to repent ' (.Aram. J^Hip) ? The true reading must be ^JT'DH 
 (I K. xxi. 25) ; cp. G S.— 78. M 'l':^'^^!^ ■ Read 1^72 (xliv. 11).— 79. 
 Point D"'~1^*I2. 
 
 87 f. M Jin^ . It is rash to retain this word. Nowhere is JIH used 
 
 with reference to plants ; inierfice messes (V'irg., Georg., iv. 330) is not 
 
 Hebraic. Houb. noticed the corruption, but could not heal it. Read 
 
 2in^-— ^1 T'Djn , 'an unknown word' (Duhm). Mich., Ges. {T/ies. 
 
 •'-:- 1-T-: , . 
 
 A99<^)i and Kon. (ii. 402) suspect a connection with 7;^^ = H^l^J , 
 
 T T : 
 ' mouse. But there is no sure instance of n as a formative prefix. 
 
 Tg.'s ^J31T~I^ suggests D"'3^n. The right word, however, is uhn^ 
 
 (Exp. T., July, 1899). 
 
 89 f. M Ti;i7. The strong expression l^D^T (cp. /. 102) favours 
 "13"^2 ' pestilence is no common mishap, but an unaccountable malign 
 agent. Read "^y^b (^ ''^"^^ some MSS.) ; so Ew., Dy., Bi.<2), Or., Du.— 
 M D^H)Ii7"l7, rendered 'to the flames,' i.e. lightnings. But S)Iir"l by itself 
 does not mean ' lightning ' (see on Ixxvi. 4) ; bl^ ^3li;~1 would be required 
 (see Buddc on Ct. viii. 6). If "llZl'^ were right, the parallel should be 
 D^3ik"l7 'to glowing stones' (i K. xix. 6; Is. vi. 6). I^l"? requires 
 ^'itl':' ; (p. Mab. iii. 5. Thus we gain a reference to Ex. ix. 3 (131). 
 Cp.'^Hail,' E/ic-. Bib. 
 
 91 fT. Note Pasek after QB. The following words in M seem to be 
 an editorial substitute for the true reading.-M niilV Sense and metre 
 
PSALM LXXVIII. 25 
 
 require a verb ; read "lii"*! (Gr,).— M Q'^);i ''D^<'pD STpWD ; cp. Kiin. 
 Syn/. § 2676, 244^. A combination of improbabilities. Read TJi^'^T^t' 
 JTTfli^iD . D"'P"1 represents 7^iQ/'0^"^^ (cp. on i S. ii. 23). a marginal gloss 
 on oh (t'. 55/-'). 
 
 T 
 
 98. M D''jil<- G rwv TT<'>vo)u avTwv. Read DJihi (Cr.).— For Qn "'S"1»SZ1 
 read '?^<D^S'n• 
 
 106. The Pasek in 7'. 55 is placed a little too early. t'QH^ D'?'3''T 
 
 n^nj is untranslatable. J)ulim reads QJltTlJ, transferring D from 
 
 Da3"'T, but r0112 in such a context must refer to the Israelites. Read 
 
 n'pnjB nbli bB^'\ ; cp. Num. xxxiv. 2. 
 T-:-: T\ : 
 
 107 f. For Q^^';?^^<2 read QH '•'^D^nH (DH • a popular form of 
 7K!2nn^), and insert ID^ (metre), which may indeed underlie the super- 
 fluous inrj^T in 7'. 56. Perhaps IQy was inserted by a corrector, 
 and afterwards misplaced and corrupted into TII^^V 
 
 109. On lirj^l see above M's ^DT'\ is a corruption of ^DT?^] 
 
 (/. 81). 
 
 112. M n^'^l j"l^p3, 'like a bow which does not respond to the 
 T • : V 'v: 
 archer's aim'.'' The same phrase occurs in Hos. vii. 16, where the text 
 
 is suspicious. In Ps. cxx. 2 f. nVJSI ]wb is certainly a combination of 
 
 bi^Vi^W* with .1: The doubtful word n''u5"1 now becomes clear ; it can 
 
 only be '7^<^3^")V Cp. the proper name n''/":2"), Ezr. x. 25, which, 
 
 close to nOt'i^, must needs be another of the current distortions of 
 
 bsomv Cp. on 7'. 9. 
 
 118. M DlhJii ]3]i) bn'H. The versions only differ as to the verb. 
 
 T T T .. . V ^ /- • 1 
 
 M 2 betray a religious scruple (cp. Geiger, Ursdu-ift, 321} ; G e imply 
 '\y32- This is plausible, but produces a mere gloss on l7lt' ]DIi'<'2. 'ind a 
 very poor one, for it repeats Vpli^, and g-i\es the vague DIN for 't>'V 
 (perhaps iV^ was intended). The psalmist is so careful about 
 parallelism that we are bound to suppose a great accident to the text — 
 not greater, however, than has occurred often elsewhere. Read '7D^~T 
 □^3}^ lyifj ; transposition and confusion of letters ; D in '?D\~I lost. 
 Loeb's Y'^^<3 for D1S2 is impossible ; independently, I had at first 
 thought of ^/2^^J21 . < '-r. has already suggested D^"^^^*2. but 1 evidently 
 represents 3, and wc need a parallel to i'^Ii?. 
 
 124, 126. M I'^'pin. 'a vfjLvr]0i](T(iu,'2Q E (n;jvfdr}(Tau, as if^'^^H, with 
 reference to the marriage-songs. Cp. Talm. NT'lyil ' a wedding.' So 
 Wellh. 'undoubtedly.' More naturally (cp. Cir.) G has eTrtudqarav ; J 
 (/ief;!(>) luxii; i.e. '^^'h^T^.—^ Tyy'^'irS-, rightly; so ST. But G J S 
 ni03j"n. So Duhm, who asks why" the widows and the \irgins should 
 not have wept. Because under the oppressive sense of Vahwi-'s anger 
 
26 THE PSALMS, 
 
 all religious ceremonies would be suspended (Jer. xvi. 4-9, Job 
 
 NXVU. 
 
 128. IM ]'''''J pi"1712. ('• KfKpanrnXtjKws f^ oiVov ; J posf craplilavt 
 villi. Tg npDn^l, suggesting "lli^/li'^S (Or.)- But the corruption is 
 not fully accounted for. To heal it, we must dig deeper. Read certainly 
 n*.3^3n!t3 nij72, improving the parallelism and getting rid of the unseemly 
 figure of intoxication, "liyj of Vahwe, as Zech. ii. 17. Perles ingeniously 
 but vainly defends IM {Anal. 79). 
 
 129. M nin}«? V")^ TfT. This involves a slightly veiled coarseness. 
 
 T TT '-- 
 
 which, experience warns us, is due to corruption of the text. Even Ba., 
 who considers linhJ (G ets ra oTrtVco) to refer to the D'''!?E)y of i S. v.. 
 supposes inconsistently that the victories of Saul and David must (some- 
 how-; be intended. Read '?Nr2m''T "lliirj '7\^^. 
 
 IjS- M □'*^~1"1,*03; G ojsynoj/oKfpwrwi/ (so J). Street DV.21"1('2^ (Job xvi. 
 19, XXV. 2, cp. x.xxi.2); Hitz., D\w1T:JD ; Bick. DTlQ^ ■ None of these 
 readings are satisfactory. In xxxvi. ^a the divine righteousness is 
 probably compared to Mt. Jerahmcel (|[ ' the great deep'). Probably 
 here too either T'K/'^rn^, or some popular distortion of that name, such 
 ^s ]VJ"^rT , should be read. 
 
 139 f- nj^'l'D.^Dr.D and n'bv -inSV^ both represent Q^t'i^.'^ni^D. IN*:*, 
 like ^^^, probably comes from t'WDIi/'' ; so too perhaps even in i .S. 
 x\M. 1 1, 19. \vii. 34, and Gen. xxxvii. 2. Cp. on IJ,*^, /. 20. 
 
 144. M j~nj13nnT cannot go with V33. From Gen. xx. 5 we see 
 that ]VpJin must have been the original reading, p and JH , J and 3 
 have been confounded ; transposition of the letters accounts fornearly all 
 the rest. The final J^ %vas added under the impression that the corrupt 
 form before the scribe (which must have ended with T) was a fem. plural 
 form, and that the mark of abbreviation had fallen out. Montfaucon 
 represented 2 as giving khtIi ti)i> Ka6ai}ivTi]Ta tUv x- c^tov, but Field 
 questions the accuracy of this. 
 
 PSALM LXXIX. 
 
 1 kimi:teks, hut tlic appendices are in telranieters. It is a psahn of complaint 
 on llic clefilcnicnt (jf the tenii>le, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the slaughter of 
 many of ihe pious around the capital, after which comes a prayer for vengeance. 
 We are somewhat reminded t)f I's. l.wiv. (cp. v. 5 with Ixxiv. i, 10), but auile as 
 much of I's. xlii.-xliii. (cp. ?■. lO with xlii. 4, ivic), and one interpolator has 
 introduced (as v. 4) a passnge from I's. xliv. (z: 13 ; cji. lxx\. 7), while another 
 (I'c'. 6 f.) has copied Jer. x. 25. All tliese passages relate to the same period, 
 though not to the same part of the period, viz. that of the N. Arabian oppression 
 of Judah. Certainly I'ss. Ixxiv.C and Ixxix. are not in all points parallel. In the 
 former tlie temple is destroyed ; in the latter, it is only 'defded.' In I's. Ixxiv., 
 moreover, nothing is said of the bloodshed round ahout Jerusalem. In the 
 
PSALM LXXIX. 27 
 
 original form of Ps. Ixxix. the word used for tlie enemies of Judah may liave been, 
 not D^lJ[n], but D^'7^i^^m^ , or the like. The later editors of the psalms 
 sought to efface historical colouring which no longer conduced to edification. 
 In /. 7 it may be possible to restore the ethnic name. For a probable view of the 
 real or supposed historical occasion of the psalm, see on Ps. Ixxx. 
 
 Marked: of Asaph. i 
 
 I O Yahwe ! the heathen have entered thine inheritance, 
 They have defiled thy holy temple, 
 They have made Jerusalem heaps -f-of stones+. 
 
 They have given the dead bodies of thy servants 2 
 
 As food to the birds of the heaven, 
 
 The flesh of thy loyal ones to the wild beasts ; 
 
 [The Edomites] have shed their blood 3 
 
 Like water round about Jerusalem, 
 
 And there is none to bur}- [their corpses].^ 
 
 10 How long, O Yahwe ! [wilt thou hide thyself]? 5 
 
 Wilt thou be angry at thy loyal ones ? 
 Will th}^ jealousy burn like fire?'- 
 
 Remember not the guilty acts of our princes I 8 
 
 Let thy compassions qbickly come to meet us, 
 
 For we have come down very low [we have come down]. 
 
 Help us, O God who art our succour, 9 
 
 Because of the honour of thy name. 
 And cancel thou our sins ! 
 
 Rescue us because of thy name ; 
 20 Why should the heathen say, 10 
 
 Where is [Yahwe] their God ? 
 
 Mayest thou avenge on the heathen in our sight 
 
 The blood of thy servants that is shed ! 
 ***** 
 
 * We are become a +mark for+ insult to our neighbours. 
 For derision and mockery to those round about us (i'. 4). 
 
 ■^ Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not, | and on the 
 kingdoms that call not on thy name : | for they have devoured Jacob, | and made 
 his dwelling desolate (z'v. 6, 7). 
 
20 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Appendix i. 
 
 Let tlie sighing of the prisoner come before thee, ii 
 
 Thy might being great, loose those that dwell in gloom ; 
 And pay our neighbours back sevenfold into their lap 12 
 
 The insults which they have put upon thee, O Yahwe ! 
 
 Appendix 11. 
 
 And we, thy people, the flock that thou tendest, 13 
 
 Will give thee thanks [O Yahwe] for ever, 
 
 Will tell out to all generations thy deeds of renown. 
 
 " 1-3. The writer of I Mace. vii. 16 f. 93, 104). The application was ren- 
 
 found in ',-.•. 2 f. (how read ?) an dered possible by the effacing of 
 
 anticipation of the massacre of sixty the references to jerahmeelites and 
 
 leading Asidxans (D^^^DH) by Al- Edomites (see introd.). Elegies like 
 
 cinuis (see Enc. Bib., 'Alcimus'). this always can be applied to parallel 
 
 The (juotation is introduced by b circumstances. Cp. the lamentation 
 
 •ypa^a^ ; the Syriac inserts ' the pro- of the priests of Uruk (Erech) over the 
 
 phet,' perhaps assuming, like Theodore desolation of their city and temple 
 
 of Mopsuestia, that the psalm refers to about 2285 u.C. (Maspero, Strui^gle of 
 
 Maccabaan times, but that the psalmist if>£ A'ations, 37; Pinches, Bab. and 
 
 spoke projihetically in the character of Or. Record, Dec, 18S6, pp. 22 f.). 
 he Tews of the early Maccabaan age. It 
 
 hasbeen asked whether or no (following 4-6. Cp. Dt. xxviii. 26, Jer. vii. 
 
 the Greek text) the writer of 2 iMacc. 33. >^vi. 4, xxxiv. 20. 
 
 quotes the passage as a Scripture. Of ,„ ,^ <- 1 ■ 1 
 
 course, he found Ps. Ixxix. in the , /°"'% ?" •■''^^^; '' JP ' r J'l:- 
 
 Psalter, but what has this to do with ^ '::"'^'- 5' '-^^'^>-^- 47-- 16. Cp. Leh. 
 
 its date? It is also true that the same '^' ^'^' 
 
 historian indirectly applies vv. 1 and 3 20 f. Cp. xlii. 4, &c., cxv. 2, 
 
 to the earlier cruelties of the Syrian Joel ii. 17. — Appendix i. Cp. cii. 21. 
 
 Greeks in the time of Mattathias \0P, —Appendix 2. Cp. Ixxiv. i (flock). 
 
 Critical Notes. Verse 4 comes from xliv. 13 ; verses 6, 7, from Jer. 
 X. 25 (see introd.). 
 
 7. Metre requires an insertion, such as DV^*TN , which may easily 
 ha\ c fallen out before or after DQT .—9. Similarly here we may insert 
 DrT'"lJ3. If written 'n;i3 , this may have dropped out after "12p. 
 
 10. Insert IjlDP (Ixxxix. 47).— 13, 15. In /. 13 omit ^j"? (so Du.), 
 and in /. 15 insert a second ?) j'?'[T . yi^ seems to be a misplaced 
 fragment of IJ^l. D"•Jtt'^J"^ is inappropriate here ; Israel had sins of its 
 own to get forgiven (?•. 9). Read f^yyti (or li^^n). 
 
 19- IJv^ljm is misplaced in M ; metre i^ains by transposition 
 (so Du.). 
 
 21. Insert mn% which fell out after rVtH., but was (perhaps) restored 
 from marg, after '?M, but became corrupted into the very improbable 
 
PSALM LXXX. 29 
 
 22. Duhm reads Ujyi (for M's /IDpj) on account of the masc. verb 
 i?7V . But there is a better solution of the problems. yiV comes from 
 mn^, which belongs to /. 21 (see note), and jlt2p2 is probably a cor- 
 ruption of Dpr) ; Dp2 with 2, as Judy. xv. 7, &c. 
 
 App. I, /. 2. For IJ-nn read ir^Q (cxlvi. 7(^). with S T, Bii., Kau., 
 We., Herz, and for rrmon >J2 "read mD'?]i 'JDlt'. nnnn is 
 suspicious. See cvii. 10, and cp. on cii. 21. 
 
 PSALM LXXX. 
 
 i RIMKTERS. A beautiful specimen of parallelism. The psalmist appeals for 
 divine help against the N. Arabian oppressors (//. 4, 27 f., 35 f.), who have as it 
 were rent asunder and burned the flourishing vine, or (/. 32) oak, of Israel. 
 Ps. Ixxx. is parallel to Pss. xlii., xliv.(-), Ixxxix.*'-', and to Isa. Ixiii. 7 — Ixiv. ii (see 
 on vv. 6, 7, 13, 15). The arguments as to date, drawn from certain readings of 
 M, naturally fall to the ground if these are incorrect. The psalm was neither 
 written during Pharaoh-necoh's occupation of Judah (Gratz), nor in the early 
 Maccabaan period by a Jewish-minded Samaritan (Hitz., Gesch., 387). Nor is it 
 a tenable view that vv. 2-4 are derived from a pre-exilic psalm used by northern 
 Israelites in the temple of Bethel (Peters, y^^Z, 1893, P- 59)- It is also needless, 
 on our view of the text, to put vv. 13 f. after vv. 15 f. (so Bickell), or v. 17 after 
 V. 14 (so Schroder and Hupfeld). It is possible that there were changes in the 
 attitude of the leading N. Arabian power towards the Jews — that the king mis- 
 called Evil-merodach really permitted a number of captives to return, and, in 
 conjunction with those Jews who had never been carried into exile, to rebuild the 
 temple, and constitute something like a Jewish state, and further that fresh 
 ]5olitical difficulties supervened, followed by fresh calamities, which are described 
 in Pss. xliv.f-*, Ixxiv., Ixxix., Ixxx., Ixxxiii. If we could make this reasonably 
 certain, it would be the easiest explanation of the language of these psalms. But it 
 is barely possible that the psalmist throws himself back by imagination into the 
 time when, as we know for certain, Jerusalem was destroyed, and its inhabitants 
 slain or carried captive, so that all that is real {i.e. not imagined) in the psalms 
 would be the strong passion of resentment against the N. Araljians, which was still 
 kept alive by continued acts of N. Arabian oppression (cp. on Pss. xHi.-xliii.). 
 
 Deposited. Of the Ishviaelites. Of^Arab-ethan. Of Asaph, i 
 
 I O Shepherd of Israel ! cause -fthy face-n to shine, 2 
 
 Let thy splendour shine forth from Zion, 
 O Cherubim-enthroned One ! do thou punish 
 The sons of Jerahmeel and Missur. 3 
 
 Stir up thy heroic might, 
 And come to succour us ! 
 
 O Yahwb [Sebaoth], refresh us! 4 
 
 Cause thy face to shine, and we shall be succoured ! 
 
 O Yahwe Sebaoth ! how long 5 
 
 10 Wilt thou reject the prayer of thy servants ? 
 
30 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Thou feedest us with wormwood for bread, 6 
 
 And givest us tears of gall to drink : 
 
 Thou makest us a scoff for our neighbours, 7 
 
 Our enemies jeer at us, 
 
 O Yahwe Sebaoth, refresh us ! 8 
 
 Cause thy face to shine, and we sliall be succoured ! 
 
 A vine didst thou transplant from Misrim, 9 
 
 Thou didst expel the nations and set it : 
 
 Thou didst clear the ground before it, lO 
 
 20 It took root, and filled the land : 
 
 The mountains were covered with its shadow, 1 1 
 
 The cedars of God with its branches ; 
 
 It sent forth its tendrils to the sea, 12 
 
 And its shoots to the river. 
 
 Why hast thou broken down its fences, 13 
 
 So that all that go by lay it bare ? 
 
 Jerahmeel tramples it down, 14 
 
 Cush and Asshur break it. 
 
 Look +down+ from heaven, and behold, 15 
 
 ^o And take notice of the vine of thy possession. 
 
 And the garden which thy right hand planted, 16 
 
 And the oak which thou madest strong for thyself. 
 
 They have burned it with fire, they have torn it ; 17 
 
 At a threat from thy mouth let them perish ! 
 Let thy hand be against Asshur and Jerahmeel, 18 
 
 Against the sons of Edom and Missur ! 
 
 [Refresh us,] and we will not swerve from thee ; 19 
 
 Revive us, and we will call upon thy name ! 
 O Yahwe Sebaoth, refresh us ! 20 
 
 40 Cause th\' face to shine, and we shall be succoured ! 
 
 I. O Shepherd of Israel. 15 (Isa. xxxvii. 16); cp. Enc. Bib., 
 
 See xxiii. I, Ixxviii. 52, Gen. xlviii. 15, 'Cherub,' § 4. — 11-14. See crit. notes. 
 
 and cp. Ass. n"'//, 'shepherd, 'ruler' ^^ ^^ ^ f^^^ allegorical picture of 
 
 (properly a participle). HJ^I in Gen. Israel as a vine ; cp. Isa. iii. 14, v. 1-7, 
 
 ,. . , ,, ,v i T>i„oe Ter. ii. 21, Hos. X. i. Amonsrthe pecu- 
 
 xhx. 24 IS probably corrupt (see ' Ble s- - ^^^ =,^1^^. J ^^^^ 
 
 ings on Asher, Naphtha), and Joseph, ^^^^^^^ ^^ .^^ ^^^^^.^^ ^^^^ ^H^^.^^ ^^^^^_ 
 
 PSBA, June, 1899).— 2. V^SIH of plantation. The history of Israel. 
 
 Yahwe's appearance in glor)'rxii- 6 (?), according to him, begins in Egypt 
 
 1. 2, xciv. 1, Dt. xxxiii. 2. — 3. Chein- (or rather □"n^JQ , ' Misrim,' cp. 
 
 I'iiii-ent/ironed one, i.e. seated on the Hos. xi. i). Cp! '.£"«<■. i5/^., ' Vine.' 
 (heavenly) throne which is guarded by 
 
 the cherubim. So xcix. I, 2 K. xix. 21-24. Do the ' mountains' represent 
 
PSALM LXXX. 31 
 
 the southern, the * cedars of God' (cp. TreSi'o), is doubtful ; the words may have 
 
 the 'cedars in the garden of Elohini,' arisen out of a corrupt various rendcr- 
 
 Ezek. xxxi. 8, and see on I's. xxxvi. 7) ing of the preceding figure (see Klost. 
 
 the northern frontier? If so, the 'sea' ad he). And the text of Ixviii. 31 
 
 is the ^fediterranean, and the river being corrupt (see note), wc cannot 
 
 the Euphrates, i.e. the W. and E. refer to it in justification of the roatling 
 
 boundaries. — 25 f. Cp. Ixxxix. 4I«, 42^. 'the wild boar from the Nile.' Pro- 
 
 27 f. See crit. note. There is no bably, therefore, it is correct to say 
 
 valid reason why an oppressor of the that the wild boar is nowhere referred 
 
 Jews should not have been likened to to in the canonical O.T. (cp., however, 
 
 a wild boar (cp. Adonis and the wild Nestle, Alari^inalien, iS). 
 boar). In 4 Esd. xv. 30 tlie Car- 
 
 monians are compared to ' wild boars 29. Cp. Isa. Ixiii. 15. — 31 f. Garden. 
 
 of the forest' ; in Eth. Enoch Ixxxix. Cp. Isa. li. 3, Iviii. 11. — Oak. Cp. Isa. 
 
 72, by ' wild boars ' the Samaritans Ixi. 3, ' that they mi^^ht be called 
 
 appear to be meant. Whether in 2 S. ^,_„_ i,L,v\ -»-^^»^ n 
 
 xvii. 8 we are justified in following G, V^^Jl YJ:^--34. HliM : cp. ix. 6, 
 
 which inserts koX coj 5s rpaxHa- ^o t^ xviii. 16, Ixxvi. 7, civ. 7. 
 
 Critical No/es. i. ^2"'t^<^ (preceded by Pasek). Tlic context is 
 against this. Read H'T'Sn ; cp. lines 8, 16, 40. 
 
 T . T 
 
 2. M ^DV ^S-^3 jni • But where is the imperative required by the 
 pai-allelism ? And is it certain that 'Joseph' can be a synonym for ' Israel' 
 (see on Ixxvii. 16, Ixxxi. 5 f.)? Read J^ElV ir-il2 "?jn;!j ; D dropped (as if 
 dittographic), y and D confounded (as often). 
 
 3 f. The verse division produces an opening tristich, which is 
 metrically wrong. nySIH is plainly corrupt. So also is a"'~^3^i ^^3*? 
 rrtiOi^T '1^2''J2"1 (Pasek after D''13^^)• Why do Ephraim, Benjamin, and 
 Manasseh receive such a prominent place ? Is it because of the 
 proselytes from Galilee (cp. 2 Chr. xv. 9, and see Bertholet, StcUiuiii; 
 178)? But should we not expect rather Zebulun and Naphthali {OP, 
 148) ? Or is it a result of the pan-Israelitish sentiment of the Persian 
 period {OP, I.e.) ? But if so, why is Judah left out ? The key is furnished 
 by Ix. 9, where ' Ephraim ' and ' Manasseh ' conceal names unfamiliar to 
 the later scribes, yty^l does not occur in that passage, but ]^;t3' (of 
 which the i;;^"'^^ of the text is an expansion) is a pretty common cor- 
 ruption of 7KI2nT(i S. ix. I, &.C.). Who the foes of Israel were, \ve 
 know from Ps. Ixxxiii. and many other psalms. Read, therefore, 
 m^'DT '^'hil^ni^ ■'JZl'^ . D"'"lDJ<i and "|Q"'[22] are variants ; underneath 
 both'lies '3*J<Qn"S''-"'''J33'p is found in some MSS. (dc R.). '311 should 
 probably be nnOin • 
 
 7. For Cn'^l^ restore, of course, mn"' , and insert JTlJ"}!!^ (//• 1 5> 
 39). See on lix. 6. 
 
 10. M Tjay n^3rQ rs:^tli. ; the perfect as in Ex. x. 3, xvi. 28, 
 ' V - - • : • T : - T 
 Hab. i. 2. But (i) the elliptical use of \1Vy (contrast Ixxiv. i, Dt, xxix. 
 
 19), and (2) the idea that Yahwe could be angry at the prayer of the 
 
 pious community (Isa. i. 15 is, of course, not parallel), are intolerable. 
 
 Hence Lag., Now. (.?) read Jli^'^B^. But HlD'^S occurs nowhere else in 
 
 Pss., and elsewhere no use is made of the idea of the 'escaped ones of 
 
J2 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Israel.' The chief error hcs in the verb, which should be VN^Fi (I-am. ii. 
 6); transposition and sliyht corruption. Omit 2 before '3J1 ; it was 
 ]>refi\ed to help the sense trf/c'r the verb had become corrupted. For a 
 parallel see /. 12. For "jay read probably '^lliy, or rather T7Pr (^'^^ 
 both see C). 
 
 II f. Read suffixes of 1 plur. ((; 2, Gr., Du.)— M ni?'2l • In itself 
 possible enough (cp. xlii. 4, Job iii. 24, where read ^sb). but here unsuitable 
 (see /. 12). Jer. ix. 14, xxiii. 15 guide us in correcting both lines. In /. 11 
 
 read H^yS.— M U^^bt jliPDl^. Read 'v:r^^-| Jliyai- On the prefixed 
 
 T-:- • T T : • : • 
 
 3, see on /. 10. Nearly so Gnitz (he retains 2)- Del., m commenting on 
 
 Z^-'b'Z;, involuntarily shows how unlikely the word is. Cp. also P. Haupt. 
 
 13 f. M \)10. Read liiD (Lag., Now., Bevan, J. of Phil., 1889, 144 ; 
 cp. xliv. 15) ; ^l^") is unnecessary.— M Sr^. Read ^i^> (G S J, Houb., 
 Kcnn., Gr., Du.). 
 
 15. M '2*i □Tl'^J^. 't'N is carelessly substituted for Hl/T (but 
 cp. Kon. § 285^'). 
 
 26. M ^■^^^^. But 'pluck it 'is an unsuitable sense. S interprets 
 
 T T : 
 ' tread it down ' {"tiT^)- But clearly miyi is intended. 
 
 27. M ^3Dp')J^ for T^DD'? See OP 478, and Kcin. i. 202. The 
 vss. paraphrase. G fXvfiijvaTo avrr'jv (cp. Acts viii. 3) ; T nj^")312'. DDD 
 occurs again in Ezek. xliv. 20 (of hair), and is not the right word. Read, 
 with Herz, nUDDy ■ The D in 'y is dittographed (-|-)1).— M TTn 
 iy^72 ■ The y si'ispensiun in "ly^ has been much discussed. Was the y 
 omitted by accident and replaced above the line? Or had the text 
 originally "TT.S, which might mean either ly^Q or IS^'D- There is 
 indeed a Talmudic statement {KiddiisJtm -^oa) that the y siispcnsum 
 stands in the middle of the Psalter. P)Ut Wayyiki-a ralba 13 and the 
 Midrash corroborate the view that there was a variant IS^rj, and 
 Pcsahiin wZb affirms that HJp T\T\ (Ixviii. 31) and -)S*Q inn are 
 equivalent. See Ginsb., Introd., 338 ff. ; GrJitz, MGWj , 1874, pp. 
 394 fif., but also Geiger, Urschrift, 259. Griitz and Herz prefer li^SQ , 
 but is it likely that the hippopotamus was ever called ' the wild boar of 
 the Nile ' ? We may even go further and question whether it is probable 
 that, when much nobler symbols than the wild boar were close at hand, a 
 psalmist would have selected this animal in preference. We, at any 
 rate, who have found the enemies of the Jews so constantly referred to 
 by ethnic names, may naturally scrutinize the text to see whether such an 
 ethnic does not underlie both "ly^D (")N^'2) "1^11 and the still more 
 puzzling nii^ rr in the second part of the same verse (14). When 
 examined closely, one becomes J^!^")^ and the other "ll^^n (^ = Q) ; in 
 short, both represent fragments of ':?hiOmV— M HiiT TI. G iW (B), 
 or }xicrovu)i (B'), or \>.ov\.oi (^}«•''•AR"T), <iypws. T^I is too mean and too 
 
PSALM LXXX. 33 
 
 late a word (see on 1. ii). Herz, ']i; DID- I>'it we expect an ethnic or 
 ethnics. Read probably -n^N") t'13 ; IVji'hi = "nn'4'S=: "irL:^:! .— M 
 
 mv^'- Read myiv 
 
 TV :. T : 
 
 29 f. M ^<: 2yx: 2'^ n^Pibi^- Plainly ^*: nir comes from 
 U^^IiTI. The scribe beyan to write the refrain {z'7'. 4, 8, 20). But this 
 was not the poet's intention. A more impassioned appeal was needed, 
 such as we find in the passage beginning with QV2W12 tO^n. [So now 
 Duhm, who, however, omits 7'. 161^ as a mere variant to ?'. 18/^, and 
 transfers 7n'. lyb and 19 to Ps. Ixxix., placing the former after ?'. 7 and 
 the latter after v. 13, a view with which a more thorough textual criticism 
 enables us to dispense.] — M jlJ^T- Read Tyjl-TIIM (cp. crit. note on 
 Ixxiv. 18). 
 
 31. M ni33 with 3 inajusciiliiin ; perhaps the original text had 
 
 some other letter, which being indistinct was erased by a corrector. 
 
 Certainly nj3 is confirmed by T S J, on the supposition that it is a noun 
 
 = ' plant' (so Ibn Ezra, Kimhi) ; G also supports 3. but apparently 
 
 reads n233 {Kara^Tifrai nvTj]p). I>ut evidence for such a noun is deficient. 
 
 T-: 
 and the imperat, does not give a good sense. Ibn Janah rightly corrects 
 
 r\2D into 7M12 (so also Gr.). 
 
 3.?. M ]^~7^1 . Clearly either this alone, or the whole stichus, is 
 wrong. Ew., Bo., and Lag. suppose that 7'. 16/' is an erroneous repeti- 
 tion of 7'. 18/' ; G inserts QThJ {dvdpoiTrnv), harmonizing with 7'. 18^ (?) ; so 
 
 TT. 
 
 S and some MSS. A right view of the poetical structure, however, does 
 not favour this view. If 7/. 16^ is wrong, some other stichus must have 
 been displaced by it. But considering that '^'j ilD'IDi^ makes a very good 
 parallel to '!2^ tTPLDJ . on condition that the preceding- word is the name 
 of a tree (cp. Isa. xliv. 14), it is enough to suppose that ]2~^y (from the 
 corrupt V. i8<J) is incorrect. Looking closely at it. we can easily detect 
 underlying it the very suitable word pV^^. 
 
 33 f- ^I nSnii^. nmOZ). To suit /. 34 read mSTii', mnD3 (cp. 
 S), with Kcnn. We.; Street, not so well, ^''3"ll:^ rTTTDD-— M T^S . 
 
 ' VT 
 
 Read Ty-g. So Prov. xv. 14, Kt. ^J3 , but Kr. rightly *3 ; cp. also 
 Num. xxxviii. 8. 
 
 35. M Tj^T^'' ti^^J^ . Hitz. divines an allusion to Benjamin (cp. IM's 
 V. 3). Such an allusion may have been fancied by the scribe or editor to 
 whom the present reading is due ; or he may have taken ^12^ in the sense 
 of 'contract' (cp. c.xliv. 8). But neither view is satisfactory. Read 
 certainly either '?^<,p^"T' W''i^ . or (better) 'm'' ti'lD (D and i^ con- 
 founded). 
 
 36. M rf? n^QJ^ DIK"]!!"':'^* • ' Israel ' called ' son of man ' ? 
 Clearly I'^'jTil^N'hVs comVin'from /. 32. Read 'W^rz') Dl^_ "J?"'^!! 
 (cp. //. 27 f.). "]':> may be a fragment of '^Nr^H')"' (/. 35)- 
 
 II. D 
 
34 THE PSALMS. 
 
 37. Prefix ^Jl^l^n (note |1 line), and for ^Sv^ read perhaps "IIDJ . 
 ;nD in Kal seems doubtful. In liii. 4 we should perhaps read ID (as 
 xiv. 3), and in Prov. xi. 14, jiDJ • 
 
 PSALM LXXXI. 
 
 1 wo distinct psalm-fragments, as Olshausen first observed, are here combined, 
 like jewels on one thread. Both consist of trimeters. The first is a conventional, 
 however earnest, liturgical song of praise to Yahwe as King (cp. xlvii., xcv., \c.). 
 The second is a solenm protestation of Yahwe in the tone of Deuteronomy ; see 
 £.,;,'•. on //. 9-12, 23 f 'ihere is an equally rhetorical passage in Mic. vi. 1-6, 
 wliere, according to the most probable and defensible text (see Cnt. Bid.), the 
 early subjugation of the Jerahmeelites (in the Negeb and in Canaan proper) is 
 referred to, certainly not for an ornamental purpose, but with a view to point a 
 moral. The warning against foreign gods in v. 10 is no reason for assigning 
 I's. Ixxxi., witii Baethgen and Kirk pat rick, to the last years of the kingdom of 
 Judah. The imitative character of both parts of the psalm is enougli to forbid 
 liiis. In vv. 14 ff. we even find the psalmist imitating Isa. xlviii. 17-19, which is 
 itself probably a late insertion {Jn(r. Js. 302 ; cp. JNIarti) ; i.e. he knows Isa. 
 xlviii. in something like its present form. It is no objection to this view that the 
 post-exilic Jews did walk in the ' ways ' {i.e. religious laws) of Vahwc, for there is 
 good reason to think that Ezra by no means succeeded in putting down at once the 
 inveterate Jewish tendency towards heathenish practices (cp. Intr. Is. 316). 
 Among phraseological points, note jm"1^1\£/ (eight times in Jer., once in Dt.). 
 The omission of v. iia and the transposition of v. 6b seem to justify themselves. 
 
 LXXXI. 1. 
 
 Deposited. 0/ the Ishmaelites {}). 0/ Asaph. I 
 
 I Give acclamations to Yahwe our Rock, 2 
 
 Shout for joy to the God of Jacob ; 
 
 Make melody to his name with the timbrel, 3 
 
 With the sweet notes of the lyre and the harp. 
 
 Blow the horn in the sanctuary, 4 
 
 Sing to Yahwe our king ; 
 
 For he is the marshal of Israel, ? 
 
 Our judge is the God of Jacob. 
 
 3 f. Cp. cxlix. 3, cl. 3 f — 7. For these titles of Yahwe, see Isa. xxxiii. 21 f. 
 
 Critical Notes, l.x.xxi."' i. M ^Miy. Read 1^-)"):;^ (see on x.xviii. 7). 
 
 3 f. ISI 5lh"^Jj"11 ^■1DT■•^^<■;:r . "The idioms are not Hebrew (Job 
 : T : . : 
 
 .xxi. 12 is corrupt) ; WF's translation is much too free. Read ?)T£!T 
 =1j1^ ^^V • M's IJJIT probably arose out of a dittographed li^D-— 
 M ^arny li33 . Read b'lTi^ -1133 T^'pT^^ • Cp. on cl. 4^. 
 
 5 f. M 'ti^in^ , 'at the new moon '.'' G iv veofj.t]via. In the || line M 
 gives nD321(so Baer,Ginsb.). According to the Talmud (see Levy), '3 = the 
 
PSALM LXXXI. — 2. 35 
 
 covering of the moon, /.^. the new moon, which produces a perfect paralleHsm, 
 but is obviously a poor guess. G ei/ euo-ij/iw (favourable). Most moderns, 
 however, hold that HDD (Frov. vii. 20, i^DH) means the 'full moon' (cp. 
 'A J) ; for supposed derivation see BDB, and cp. Toy on Prov. /.c. It is 
 also usual to render 'H DV7 '/or our feast-day.' But several points 
 remain very uncertain. That the poet means that the horn was to be 
 blown on two occasions, is the reverse of probable ; that nDD is another 
 way of writing i^VD is unproved ; the reference of ^^Stl is obscure ; 
 and against the proposed rendering of 'fT D^V w'e may refer to Hos. 
 ix. 5, Prov. vii. 20. Lines 5 and 6 must be corrupt. Let us take each 
 part separately. Plainly (see vv. 2 f.) we have before us in vv. 2-5 a 
 fragment of an 'accession-psalm' (cp. Pss. xlvii., xcv., &c.); and not less 
 plainly, vu. 4, 5 are not appropriate for such a poem. The remedy is not 
 far to seek. For ')'E}VV Z^in2 read ]V1^3. ISViT (cp. cl. i). And what 
 of npiDH ? VD2. represents a dittographed tD~]p2. ', 71 should be attached 
 to V^ which follows. V does double duty. First, it represents 17 , so 
 producing I'^'^H • Next, it is also a fragment of mH^ ; perhaps it arose 
 out of ^> , an abbreviation of the Tetragrammaton. The final Q in DV / 
 (final letters established themselves but slowly) should be connected with 
 l!inn , so producing I^JFTQ , ?'■''• 1J3'^itD . a word which could not fail to 
 occur in this context. 
 
 7 f. M N^n '^STli^''':' p'n "^3 ■ The reference of hJl.l is obscure 
 (see Hupf.-Now.), and ho\v can ^'hilli'"' be || to ^PV ''7t?iib ? What we 
 expect is a glorification of Yahwe. Remembering Isa. xxxiii. 21 (and 
 Ps. Ixviii. 27, corr. text) emend pfl into pphl2 ■— M l^BVD ■ Read 
 ^y^i^V (Isa. xxxiii. 22); ^2 = ^2 •— M ''r\'?iib . "Omit first '^ (dittogr.). 
 
 LXXXI. 2. 
 
 I I released thee from the hand of Ishmael, 6a 
 
 I brought thee out of the land of Alisrim; 
 I delivered thee from the toils of Ishmael, 7 
 
 From the snare of Missur and the Arabians. 
 
 Thou didst call in trouble, and I rescued thee, 8 
 
 Amidst issuing lightnings I answered thee : 
 
 Thou didst prove me at the waters of Meribah ; 
 
 Thou didst open thy mouth wide, and I filled it. ua 
 
 Hear, O my people ! and I will warn thee ; 9 
 
 ID O Israel, if thou wouldst hearken unto me ! 
 
 Let no strange god be in thee, 10 
 
 Do not thou worship any foreign god." 
 
 ' I am Yahwe thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Mi.srim (v. ii<;)- 
 
36 THE PSALMS. 
 
 But my people hearkened not to my voice, 12 
 
 Israel was not compliant unto me ; 
 
 So I let them go in the obstinacy of their heart, 13 
 
 That they might walk in their own counsels. 
 
 Oh that ni}' people would hearken unto me, 14 
 
 That Israel would walk in my ways ! 
 
 Right soon would I subdue his enemies, 15 
 
 20 And turn my hand against his foes. 
 
 Those that hated him would seek him eagerl}-, 16 
 
 And would become his servants (?) for ever. 
 From those of Jerahmeel would I rescue him, 17 
 
 From Missur and Zephath would I deliver them.' 
 
 1-4. There is .1 contrast between 16, iS, Hab. iii. 4. — Meribah, &c. See 
 
 the ancient deliverance from Misrim Ex. xvii. 1-7. 
 
 and the present long-continued Misrite „ /- t^^ _ /t- \ 
 
 • / /? .„ , \ -7^ •/ 9-12. Co. Dt. V. I, 7 (Lx. XX. X), 
 
 oppression (cp. //. 19-24). — T^/A, • ^. wv .c-^o 
 
 sitarc. Cp. xviii. 6, cxxiv. 7, <.\:c. 
 
 vi. 3 f., XXX. 15-20. 
 
 Ish/iiael, &c. Cp. Ixxvii. 16, Ixxx. 3. 13-16. Imitated from Jer. vii. 24. 
 The received text (G nearly agrees) — 17 f- Cp. Isa. xlviii. 17-19. 
 gives, 'I removed his shoulder from 21. Cp. xviii. 45. On M's Iti^fTD'' 
 the burden ; his hands passed from the Loeb remarks, ' There is here a 
 basket,' which is taken to be a vivid nuance of hypocrisy. But it is some- 
 description of the change from servitude thing that the nations aftect submission, 
 to freedom. See, however, crit. note. and these lying flatteries are only a 
 — V. 6/' in M G has no connexion. stronger proof of the power of Him 
 Hence Ol. supposed a lacuna in the who imposes them ' {La litteratitre dcs 
 text. But see crit. note on /. 7. paiivrcs, p. 97). See, however, crir. 
 
 note. — 23 f. Corresponding to //. 3 f. 
 
 6-8. Xlg:htnlng-s. Cp. Ex. xix. See crit. note. 
 
 Critical Notes. lxxxi.<-' i. I\I S':2V ^D^TV2. I mij,*. Note the 
 warning Pasek after 'J7. If the whole of Ps. l.xxxi. is really one psalm, 
 miy (if correct) will naturally refer either to the 'day of our feast,' or 
 to the precept of the 'blowing of the horn ' (7'. 4). Griitz renders, 'as the 
 festival-time he appointed it in (Judah) and Joseph/ comparing c.xxii. 4, 
 '^KTvi'^'^ mij.', which he renders, ' an assembly for Israel.' Both here 
 and in cxxii. 4, however. j"n"7^', if right, ought to mean 'law.' But is 
 there any sound evidence that it does mean ' law.' Then, what is to be 
 said of 5]Din'^ ? Resolved verbal forms like "\TV are very suspicious 
 (see on x.xviii. 7), nor can ' Joseph ' be a designation of the entire people 
 of Israel (cp. E/tc. Bib., col. 2582, note 2). Gnitz would read 
 ^DV[T rmliT^ . /•'■■ in S. and N. Israel. But if the poet had meant to 
 speak of S. Israel as 'Judah ' and N. Israel as 'Joseph,' he would have 
 distributed these names in two parallel lines. It would be better to read 
 J^'^'i'n TVi^*2> f^Il miy, at least on the assumption that we may keep 
 
 ' [From] Zephath [and] Jerahmeel would I deliver them (r-. 6/'). 
 
PSALM LXXXI. — 2, 37 
 
 j~nTP > explaining it of tlie admonition beginning. 'Hear, O my people' 
 (see Enc. Bid., I.e.). Certainly the resemblance (noticed by Kimhi) 
 between "1^1 ^J^^<^2 and (ien. xli. 45 cannot be held to prove that 
 'Joseph' is here referred to. It is, however, at least as easy and 
 decidedly more natural to take a hint from 7't'.7,8,and look beneath the pre- 
 sent text oiv.ba for a statement of Yahwo's great deliverance of his people 
 in the olden times, and to read ':)X^'''3Ii>"' TrO '^"/T'lt) (cp. Mic. vi. 4, CriL 
 Bib.), il in PjOin^ may represent, not merely "T , but n, and 5^DV (as 
 probably in Ixxvii. 16, Mic. vi. 4) come from b'ii.y^'^'' ■ IDZ* , as in 
 numerous parallel casc^ may be a fragment of a correction of the 
 preceding false reading, i.e. = 'rjti'V 
 
 2. M DniiO Sm^-bV M-\i^)i2 . G J T (ait.) 'T2 \li^^ ; so 
 Dathe. The M.S.S. of Pesh. vary (see Barnes, y. d/ Tlieol. St., ii. 191 
 [1901]). Y'^^?!2 is surely right ; 'J^~7V ™ay have arisen from a remi- 
 niscence of Gen. xli. 45. '^2 should probably be ^^nX^^I (7 was 
 
 indicated by a stroke). M adds yrjilL'hJ ^^lyl■'"^^b JlS^i; , ' I hear (or, 
 
 T : V • : -T - : 
 
 heard) an unknown discourse ' (cp. Bauniann, Hcbr. J\clativsiU::i\ 39), or 
 
 ' the discourse of one unknown.' Duhm, ' when he (Jacob-Joseph) had 
 gone to Egypt, (and) heard a language which he did not understand ' 
 (reading "^hi and J,'12ti^''; cp. G, ykuiacrav fjv oik (yv(o t'JKovafv). He com- 
 pares cxiv. 1, Tp7 D^!2 J 'living among a people with a foreign language 
 was bad for Israel's religion.' But see crit. note on cxiv. i. Remember- 
 ing that glosses and variants not seldom get into the text, sometimes a 
 good way off from the jiassage to which they refer, we may read — 
 DP^'^:^*^ '^S^nTr^ r\^T2r a variant to /. 28 {v. 17^). Cp. M^'T ^i^ in 
 XXXV. I [b. 
 
 3. M ^t2DU} b2D^2 ^"I'lTDn • A somewhat strained expression, 
 and the more doubtful on account of /. 4. In this context it is plain 
 that "^^D (cp. ':'3rM) comes from '7S^';:2i:^V lltDDti' might come from 
 ^'S^') , hut more probably we should transpose, and read 'l^iy li'pbD ; 
 'on should perhaps be ^''np'v^,*,! . 
 
 4. M nj')aj>j"l 1M:2 VDD . VSD cannot be right. We should 
 expect VBJni) (|| l!^3!i^). The ambiguous word "Til is also very im- 
 probable. The usual theory is that a basket for carrying clay to the 
 brick-kiln is meant. But why is nothing said of the brick-making.' 
 Some MS.S. and edd. have ni,^ . Probably 'ID comes from Tl^r.S , a 
 name which the editors often do their best to efface. To produce a good 
 parallelism read D^QHi^T IV^D 113^ • 
 
 6. M D>n "iriDH , ' in the covert of thunder,' i.e. ' in a stonn- 
 
 cloud'? See xviii. 12, where, however, such a phrase is more natural 
 
 than here. Read D^p12 Tl.^liB (p and ]> confounded). Cp. Hab. iii. 4. 
 . T : •• : ' 
 
38 THE PSALMS. 
 
 7 f. M ^:3^3^J • Surely wc require "'Jjnan .—Read Tj-^ ri^n"}n 
 '7*^^^^ ■ — K S.'end. n^D. as in Iwvii. 16, <tc.. may represent t'J^bni* , 
 a correci g\oss on n^^nO (Meribath-kadesh = Jerahmeel-kadesh). 
 
 12. M G insert, as 7". i\a, the greater part of Ex. xx. 2 (Dt. v. 6). 
 This spoils the structure of the poem, and the passage reads better 
 witliout it. 
 
 21 f. Read rSJ'^ITQ (so too Du.), and for ^Z^T^2'' read UnUf^^ (see 
 
 on xviii. 45). — M q'?!!''? UPW "'H^I (so too G). A reference to Israel 
 
 is altogether out of place. Herz and Duhm (after S) read QFin , 'their 
 
 terror '(?); Griitz, Dj"1"1TN • Surely the corruption lies deeper. One 
 
 T t: v 
 expects VT2V VH^V But this is a bare possibilitv. 
 T T -: : • : 
 
 23 f. M niarr q'^HD lil^DS^. a very improbable change of 
 
 person. Hence Houb., Dathe, Del., Bi., Che.'", Ba., Kau. read 'D^^NT ; 
 
 Duhm, '^ihil ; while G S give 3rd pers. in both a and /'. But the 
 
 difficulty lies deeper. Can 'the fat of wheat ' (cxlvii. 14, D'^n Tf) 
 
 possibly be right? In Dt. xxxii. 14 (M) the phrase becomes 'the fat of 
 
 kidneys of wheat.' Worse and worse. Corruption is the cause of it. as 
 
 shown in Crif. Bib., ad loc. In the passage before us we should read 
 
 [PDr?] ':'N,::n-i^o ^^^'-^'^D^l- ''■^^*^»'^ JiDr^ is a variant to "rs^n-iv 
 
 There are few better specimens of the quaint ingenuity of the editors in 
 dealing with corrupt readings, and few more cogent disproofs of the 
 theory that the simplest emendations are always the best. — ISI "ll^'J'l 
 "^r^'fX ^21. I MS. de R. has C]-2{^ , and 01., Lag., Dy., Gr., 
 Bruston, Nowack, Wellh., adopt this (cp. Prov. xvi. 24). On the other 
 hand Bii. and Du. invoke the || passage. Dt. xxxii. 13. But surely this 
 passage is deeply corrupt (sec Crii. Bib.), and a keener methodical 
 criticism compels us in our passage to read D);''*^^;}^ DS'jI^ "lliiSiD . 
 This is confirmed by v. bb, a variant to v. i-jb, under which the original 
 text can clearly be discerned. Wellh. 's note {Ski::c?i. vi. 179) seems to 
 miss the main point. 
 
 PSALM LXXXII. 
 
 1 KiMETKRs (except the appendix, which consists of two tetrameters). The 
 traditional text sugt^ests that Vahwe, the supreme head of the assembly of the 
 heavenly ones, has summoned the angels (conventionally called the 'divine ones' 
 and ' the sons of the Most High') to hear an expostulation and a warning of the 
 gravest import. The charge brought against these patron-angels of the nations is 
 that they have (in the persons of their human subordinates) committed acts of 
 such gross violence and injustice that the moral bases of the earth are shaken. 
 Unable to answer the charge, they are threatened with the one great evil common 
 to princes and peasants alike among their human subjects. In Isa. xxiv. 21 f. the 
 celestial patrons of the earthly kinijfloms are represented as 'visited' {i.e. 
 inmished) for their offences ; it would be in harmony with this that when the 
 tyrannical earthly kingdoms were overthrown, their heavenly patrons should, like 
 
PSALM LXXXII. 39 
 
 tlie tiansf^iessing inhaljitants of llie mountain of tlie gods (Isa. xiv. 14 f., Ezek. 
 xxviii. 16), be expelled from the divine abode and suffer the punishment of death 
 (see /".*•.(", 229 f.; OP, 120 ; Smend, AT J\el.-gesc/iS-\ 45i);cp. I's. Iviii. Itwouhl 
 be strange, however, that the conception of tiie patron-angels of kingdoms should 
 appear only in two of the psalms, and a keen criticism disallows its right of 
 existence. The judges so severely chastised are human judges; they are oppres- 
 sive Jewish rulers ' of the down-trodden ]ii<)us Jews, who show that they deny 
 \'ahwe by rejecting tiie fundamental jirecepts of his law, and, as other psalms 
 enable us to add, by acting in concert with still more powerful oppressors of non- 
 Jewish origin (cp. xciv. 3-7). Yahwe solemnly calls them to account for this, 
 
 declares them to be D^/I2^ , 'impious ones' (= deniers of Ciod) and 'sons of 
 Belial,' and threatens them with a violent death in the very land from which their 
 leaders in wickedness came. Summing up the offences of these men as ' profana- 
 tion ' of Vahwe, a liturgical appendix calls upon Yahwe to cany out the great 
 final Messianic judgment. Cp. Ps. xiv., where Yahwe is said to ' look down from 
 heaven ' on the ojipression of his people (without any reference to patron-angels). 
 
 Marked. Of Asaph. I 
 
 I Yahwe stands in the assembly of Israel, 
 He judges the league of the nnpious : 
 
 ' How long will ye judge unjustly, 2 
 
 And show partiality to the wicked ? 
 
 Judge the down-trodden and the orphan, 3 
 
 Do justice to the sufferers and the needy, 
 Deliver the helpless and the poor, 4 
 
 Snatch them from the grasp of the wicked.' 
 
 They neither perceive nor give attention, 5 
 
 10 They go about with deeds [of violence], 
 ***** 
 
 All the foundations of the earth are tottering. 
 
 '+This-f- I declare — that ye are impious ones, 6 
 
 And workers of utter ruin are ye all ; 
 
 Surely in Edom shall ye die, 7 
 
 In Jerahmeel, O ye wicked ! shall ye fall. ' 
 
 Litiiri^icai Appendix. 
 
 Arise, O Yahwe ! judge the earth, 8 
 
 18 For thou art profaned among all the traitors. 
 
 I f. The ' league of the impious ' Ixxiv. 2) ; this agrees with xxvi. 4 f., 
 
 is here represented as a section of 1. 18, Hi. 3. Impiety may be shown in 
 
 ,, r T 1 ! /_-,-,,, different ways; here, it is exhibited by 
 
 the 'assemi)ly of Israel (^jHi;.. acts of judicial injustice. 
 
 ' Unless, indeed, we .suppose that '?i«{TZ''in ?•. I is miswritten for "^KyDti/* 
 (Ishmael), an error which has now and then occurred. 
 
40 THE PSALMS. 
 
 3. Ho\7 long-. Tlie cry of the community (cp. xciv. 5 f.). — 17 f. The 
 
 impatient N'ahwc (cp. Kx. x. 3, xvi. 28, appendix !■; recognized by Duhni and 
 
 Num. xiv. II, 27). 5-8. The terms (Irimm (Liliirg. App., 19), though its 
 
 'orphan,' i^-c, represent the Jewish purport is not quite correctly stated. 
 
 Ct ideal Noics. if. ^I '?^<"/^lV5 • Read probably '^^^-1t^>-Jn■T17^ . 
 Cp. Hos. X. 15, bti Jl-n, C, otKos Tov'n(T,mni\.—M UThi^ ^'"?,i?.'^'- ^^^"^^ 
 probably D^'?^^ l^n . Ihe initial "2, i>i QHp^ may perhaps represent 
 2. in D^'?33-~=;- ^l' b"^ ■ Read probably r\1 ; so Gr., cp. \. 18. '^1 
 
 T T T 
 
 follows in /. 7. 
 
 10. M nD'yi^m . Read [DOn] "'ii'1'123- Similar correction in 
 T •• -:- T T •• -:- : 
 
 Ix.xiv. 20. 
 
 13 f. M D'n'^S. Read ub^^ (/• 2).— M ]V^y ^^^1 • Read 
 •l^r^^n ^J^Kcp. Iviii. 3,0- 
 
 iSf. Xo poet would have written thus. M DIJO • Read D^J^iil • 
 
 T T : 
 Less obvious is D"'1J2D (cp. on xlix. I3)-— M QH'^'ri inN3 • beer, 
 
 n"V'"tir\ : C. Margoliouth (Acad.. ^Larch 18, 1893) and Duhm", □"'irn. 
 
 Rcad'pi'obably D'^i^in '?N::m'l (written 'mO ?)• 
 • T :t 
 
 18. M D^iiin'^^D^l "^V}:!!^- For 'jn (h-., Hal., We. and Du. read 
 Vli^ltDFI > (0 because ^H^ does not have 3 after it. and (2) because Israel 
 is Yahwc's nVnj , not the nations. This is too bold ; Herz seems to 
 have a better thou.^h not a perfect suggestion. For tTF^Tl he would 
 read ^TTJ ; /l he views as a virtual dittogram (il precedes). Rather read 
 n'^'nj . Cp. Ezek. xxii. 16, ^D^HJ (in a speech of Vahwe ; see Cornill), 
 xxxvi. 20 (Yahwc's name profaned). — 18. M D^'lilH . Read D'lH^n (cp. 
 on ix. 6, and see (}, Hab. i. 5, 01 KnTa^pov-qral = D^"T!)3n)- 
 
 PSALM LXXXIII. 
 
 X RIMETER. A passionate cry towards heaven in response to the words of the 
 foe in 7,'. 5. The N. Arabian peoples, whose ancient names give an archaic 
 colouring to the poem, are represented as having combined against Israel, whom 
 they have resolvetl to sweep away from the face of the euth. The psalmist prays 
 that Yahwe will bestir himself, for it is a war, not only of peoples, but of religions 
 (v. 3). May he destroy the enemies as in the time of Deborah and of Gideon. 
 Many commentators both in anticpiily (especially Theod. of Mops.) and in 
 modern times (Hitz., (Jl.,(jr., Dulini) have found the occasion of our psalm in the 
 events related in I Mace. v. i fi'. Cp. Hertholet, S/r-//i/>i^, 216 ; Cheyne, OT, 98. 
 That the work is of late origin, is undeniable. This appears, not so much from 
 the archaistic suffixes in 77'. 12, 14, or from the appositional locution in -■. 12, as 
 from the passionate rcentment which pervades the psalm, and which presupposes 
 the overthow of the kingdom and the oppression which fjilowed, and is confirmed 
 by the reference to early history, and by the extraordinary combination of ethnics 
 in vv. 7-9 (see note). If ' (Jebal ' is right in f. 8, it is specially corroborative of 
 this view, being the -\rabic designation of the mountain-range of Seir, and 
 
PSALM LXXXIII. 41 
 
 pointing, llierefore, to tlie Persian and Greek period, when the Nabativan Arabs 
 hecame masters of the land of Edom. To this question we shall return in the 
 crit. note on /. 13. There is, however, no need to seek the occasion of the psalm 
 among the events of the Maccalnvan rising, nor indeed do we hear at that period 
 of a coalilioii of the peoples understood to be referred to in vv. 7-9.' As we have 
 seen (on Ps. Ixxx.), there may well have been an earlier period of Jewish history, 
 when the expressions of this psalm were fully justified. Would that there were 
 external evidence justifying us in using more confident language ! Ps. ii. is in 
 several places parallel to our psalm, and may perhaps be regarded as an imitation. 
 
 Marked. Of Asaph. I 
 
 1 O Yahwe ! liold not thy peace, 2 
 
 Be not still, rest not, O God ! 
 
 For lo, thine enemies are in an uproar, 3 
 
 Those that hate thee lift up their heads. 
 
 They range themselves in order against thy people, 4 
 
 And take theij- stand against thy poor ; ' 
 
 ' Come, let us extinguish them as a people, 5 
 
 And let the name of Israel be mentioned no more.' 
 
 For those of Jerahmeel have consulted, 6 
 
 10 Against thee they make a covenant, 
 
 Edom and those of Ishmael, • 7 
 
 [The people of] Moab and the Hagrites, 
 
 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, 8 
 
 Pelesheth with the dwellers in Missur ; 
 
 Asshur also has joined them, " 9 
 
 They have become allies to the sons of Peleth. 
 
 O God ! deal with them '^ as with Sisera, 10 
 
 As with Jabin at the torrent of Kishon, 
 
 Who were destroyed with none to survive them, ii 
 
 20 Who became as dung for the ground. 
 
 Destroy them like Oreb and like Zeeb, 12 
 
 Like Zebah and like Shalman extinguish them. 
 Who have said, ' Let us take in possession 13 
 
 All the habitations of God.' 
 
 ' As an indication of the date of the psalm (see v. S/>) Robertson Smith 
 {0'jyC^-\ 439) refers to a notice of Pseudo-Scylax (written under Artaxerxes 
 Ochus) which makes Ascalon a Tyrian possession. ]5ul the correctness of the 
 reading ' Ascalon ' is doubtful. 
 
 - They say. 
 
 ■' As with Midian. 
 
42 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 O my God ! make lliem as stubble, 
 As stalks of straw before the wind. 
 As fire burns up the forest, 
 Or as a flame sets mountains ablaze, 
 
 So pursue them with thy storm, 
 30 And with thy hurricane affright them. 
 Fill their countenance with disgrace, 
 Let them be ashamed and affrighted together, 
 
 Until they desist and serve thee, 
 And seek thy name, O Yahwe ! 
 And perceive that thou — thou alone — 
 Art the Most High over all the earth. 
 
 14 
 
 IS 
 
 16 
 
 iSa 
 
 19 
 
 I. 'jl' ^r21 '?i^ , as Isa. Ixii. 7.— 
 3. n*On , as xlvi. 4. — 6-8. Cp. Ixxiv. 
 //. 7, 17 f. 
 
 II ff. The list of peoples \s pardy 
 conventional. Cp. the list in Ivi., //. 
 5-8, where the names are Arabians, 
 Asshurites, Zarejjhaih, Jerahmeel. In 
 Iv., //. 21-24, the list is longer. See 
 also xcii., /. 13; xciv.f", /. 13 f . ; 
 Sirach 1. 26. The last of these pas- 
 sages specifies three 'hateful' peoples. 
 For the Samaria of the Greek we 
 should, as most agree, read ' Seir ' 
 (= Edom) ; ' Philistines,' i.e. Peie- 
 sheth, should he ' Zarephathites' (see 
 below), and Shechem (see Eiic. Bib., 
 ' Shechem,' 2) should be 'Cusham.' 
 The passage may or may not be Ben 
 Sira's work, but at any rale it shows 
 the persistent hatred of Edom and (m 
 ' Zarephath ' and 'Cusham ') the fond- 
 ness of late writers for archaic names. 
 
 II. fidom. Here, at any rate, 
 there is no conventionality, hh'nacl, 
 a synonym for 'Jerahmeel.' 
 
 13. Gebal. See on xiv., /. i. 
 The name may be an inrlication of date 
 (see introd.). Hut it is just possible 
 to connect 'Gebal" with 'Gebalon,' 
 which appears (no more than this is 
 
 claimed) to be s^imetimes used for the 
 Jerahmeelite mountains. Cp. Crii. 
 
 Bib. on Q^t'^iin, i l"^- ^'^ 32, and note 
 on xxix. 6. Hommel {Aiifsatze, iii. i, 
 
 p. 280) doubtfully reads 'b'^l'^ , 'the 
 Ijorders (of).' A maid:, i.e. Jerahmeel. 
 Properly the less advanced, predatory 
 portion of the race is thus designated. 
 But the writer merely uses this archaic 
 name to swell the list of ethnics. 
 
 14. Pelesheth. The poet means, 
 not Philistia, but Zarephath in N. 
 Arabia. We keep the incorrect name 
 because of the shortened form Peleth 
 in /. 16. Pelesheth is grouped with 
 Missur as in Joel iv. 4 (see Crit. Bib.). 
 
 15. The troublesome Asshtir (which 
 ^Y. R. Smith, 0T/O-\ 439, supposed 
 to refer to the satrap of Syria) is a N. 
 Arabian region, near Missur, otherwise 
 called Ashluir and (cp. Eiic. Bib., 
 'Geshur,' 2) Geshur. For other views 
 see OP, p. 109, notes aa and /'/'.' — T/ie 
 sons of Pektii. The text has ' the sons 
 of Lot' (Dt. ii. 9, 19). This would 
 be the only reference (but see Crit. 
 Bib. on Isa. xxv. 7) to Lot outside the 
 Pentateuch. But the reading is ques- 
 tionable. It is very improbable that 
 the poet meant to give precedence 
 
 ' It is there stated that ' though " Asshur" may mean Persia, represented iiy 
 the satrap (Ezra vi. 22), it is more natural (Babylon being out of the question) to 
 take it as equivalent to Syria.' It is probable, however, that in Zech. x. lO f. and 
 Isa. xxvii. 13, and also in Ezra vi. 22, it is neither Syria, nor Assyria, nor Persia, 
 that the writers meant, but a N. .Vrabim region called by them, archaistically, 
 Asshur or Ashhur. 
 
PSALM LXXXIII. 
 
 43 
 
 among the confederate peoples to 
 Moab and Amnion. Pele[she]th, how- 
 ever, or Zarephath, is a common 
 designation in the psahiis for the N. 
 Arabian foe of the Jews. See crit. 
 note. 
 
 17 f. The poet is acc|uainted with 
 the contents of Judg. iv. — 21 f. Oreb, 
 &c. See Judg. vii. 25, viii. 4 ft". 
 
 23 f. Parallel passage, Ixxiv. S. — 
 25 f. Cp. XXXV. 5, Isa. xvii. 13. 
 
 25-36. Perplexity has been caused 
 by the apparent inconsistency between 
 different expressions in the traditional 
 text of vv. 14-19. How can the 
 psalmist utter the hope, first that the 
 enemy may (as though converted to 
 the true fsiith) seek the name of Yahwe 
 {i.e. apply to be admitted to the wor- 
 ship of Vahwe), and next that they 
 may be put to a perpetual shame, 
 and even cease to exist, and, after this, 
 
 that they may become convinced that 
 the God of the Jews is tlie Lord of the 
 wiiole earth ? Ilengstenberg tliinks 
 that ' seeking \'ahwe's name ' means 
 the forced subjection of those who, like 
 Pharaoh, are not able any longer to 
 hold out against the intlictions ol Ood. 
 Hu]ifeld-Nowack apparently hold that 
 the utter destruction of the foe may be 
 prevented by a timely recognition of 
 Vaiiwc's supremacy. Duhm prefers to 
 
 alter "Iti'p2^ into l]/"!^ , on the theory 
 tliat V. I9« is in part a variant to 
 ''. 17/', and gives the l)etter text. The 
 view here adopted agrees wiih that 
 which we have taken in dealing with 
 xviii. 45 ff.. xlvi. 12, lix. 14. Some of 
 the enemies will no doul)t perish, but a 
 remnant will save their lives by sul)- 
 mitting to Yahwe (cjx ii. 10-12, Isa. 
 Ixvi. 19). 
 
 29. Note the recovered parallel 
 in Ps. ii., /. 10. 
 
 Critical Notes. 5 f. 1*10 1!2''1i^''. 'they hold crafty discourse 
 
 (Driver)? Construction as in Iv. 15, no pTIDJ (but see crit. note). It 
 
 is strange, however, that the ' uproar ' and the proud self-consciousness, 
 
 spoken of in v. 3, should lead up to a session of crafty plotters ; we need 
 
 something stronger than HD "lyv Besides, the consultation comes in 
 
 v.da. Read probably T\'q KP^T (^P- - I^- -^i- 8, 15). Cp. on ii. 2.— M 
 
 ^layri". Read 12-iiTI"' ; cp. ii. 2.— M T^13i;,'thy hidden (/>. protected) 
 
 -:t : • . : - : • ' v : 
 
 ones'; cp. xxvii. 5, xxxi. 21. J, however, 'arcanum tuum.' But this 
 
 does not suit the parallel, ' thy people.' Nor could it be said that the 
 
 enemy persecutes Israel as ' Yahwe's protected ones ^ ; Israel indeed 
 
 knows himself protected, but the enemy deems Yahwe to be practically 
 
 nonexistent, and cries, 'Where is thy God?' What we require is 
 
 evidently '^''JVQi^. cp. Ixxii. 4, Isa. iii. 13, xiv. 32. 
 
 9. M Tin^ ':t> • 01., Dv., Bi., Che.", Now., Kau., Du., ini^ l"? 
 
 T : - •■ ' T V . •• 
 
 (i Chr. xii. 38). If so, transfer T to /. 10. But, apart from the question 
 of the text of i Chr. xii. 38, we may fairly doubt whether "inj^ ID is the 
 original reading here. Why should the unanimity of the debaters be 
 specially emphasized? Hence presumably Haldvy reads (for "2^7) D/3 • 
 But metre requires us to claim "nn"' 3*? for /. 10. It is possible and 
 appropriate to read DvNl^ni' ; cp. similar errors in Ixxiii. i. Ixxvi. 6> 
 xciv. 15, Jer. Ii. i (Leb-karnai). 
 
 1 1 f . M inserts ^'7^^<, which is unsuitable, and, as in many || cases 
 {c.i:;. I Chr. iv. 41), represents ';?Nrjm\ a correction of lin* zt> ■ To 
 render >SlhJ ' families ' is needless audacity. Before 2i^1D insert Di? •, 
 which fell out after □> — . 
 
44 THI-: PSALMS. 
 
 14 f- M Dr':'3--1"li;- Cp. on Ixwvii. 4. For l")^ read ~niiO ; 
 Lagaide, 1^2 or illji^ . 't'S represents TIBTi . See exeg. note. — 
 "lllfifh? • Lagarde. needlessly, IW-i (cp. on 2 S. ii. 9). 
 
 16. M l^')b"'22b ■ -More suitably (see exeg. note) jn':'3"'*j;3'? . Cp. 
 hi., /. 7, where Id'^S = j~l':'3 = j~l3")i: . 
 
 1 7- ri/D «Tt tlie end of?'. 9 comes from D'^'?^< , which should open 
 T'. 10. Omit ^nD2 (Du.). For Midian, see v. 12. 
 
 19. M ■^^j"^~Vy21 . See the full treatment of this passage in £";/t". 
 /)//'..' Endor.' ~lin"i^J<21 is an inadeciuate correction. Read Tl^ V^^^- 
 
 21-24. ir23''"T3 V2r\'^''V is clearly wrong. It is a weak remedy to 
 omit the V2 in r.D/TZ' (so Hu.-Xow.), or even li^D^HJ (Du.). The latter 
 course in\olves bringing VJD^DJ"'?^ into /. 23, and 12'?~rTlt'~l^J into /. 24, 
 and so putting a great strain on the metre. Two other words besides 
 "TJ 'li^ must also be wrong, viz. ")DD*DJ and jmK.3- It was surely not 
 only the 'princes' who uttered injurious words against Yahwe (see Ixxiv. 
 8, where the subject of the verb is 'thine adversaries'); and it is very 
 doubtful whether j~)")Si could be used of Yahwe's sanctuaries. The 
 parallelism of Ixxiv. 8 suggests that VOD^DJ~t'D represents a phrase 
 meaning ' all the dwellings (of).' It is now easy and safe to read "7^ 
 /TlJDIi'r.3 ('fD'2 is a word specially liable to corruption), which is no doubt 
 an early correction of msj . IiDH^IJ > a reading due to the influence of 
 the corrupt V.2D''D2 , ought to have sprung out of some verb (with plur. 
 sufit".). ir07T"Z7 and IDQ^IJ must, therefore, be emended so as to be 
 parallel. The best corrections appear to be l!!3/l*nti^D and V0T3Nn . 
 To this Duhm may object that yj:^'?^^! requires two beats. But ^^ot'^ 
 is a wrong reading, which it is not certain that the true text of G favours 
 (R* has (Tu\fiat>), and which at any rate we may without rashness emend 
 to y^iblV (see Efw. Dib.y 'Shalman,' 'Zalmunna'). 
 
 31-34. The transpositions and textual changes seem to justify them- 
 selves (cp. exeg. note). In v. iS "Ti?"''"!]? is evidently wrong. The right 
 adverb to be attached to imprecations like that in %>. iZa is surely "TH^ or 
 'nXV (cp. xl. 15), which, therefore, should be substituted for ny . V. \'?>b 
 appears in M (G) as ^■T3^<^^ 1"13n^1 • On the grounds mentioned in 
 exeg. note we should hesitate to adopt this reading, which not improbably 
 arose througli editorial manipulation of ']TT33^"'1 ^3~1^ (cp. xivi. 12). 
 
 PS.\LM LXXXIV. 
 
 l.N symmetry of form this reminds us of P.s. xlii.-xliii. ; each of the two strophes 
 consists of six pentameters together witli a refrain of two more. The view taken 
 of the meaning of tlie psalm depends of course on the reading of the text, which 
 is mucli disputed. The points of contact wiih Ps. xlii.-xliii. which even the re- 
 ceived text presents, sugf^est that in emending the text we should use that psalm 
 
PSALM LXXXIV. 45 
 
 as a guide. Both psalms appear to have been written for pious Jews (not 
 necessarily those of the Diaspora) who, in tryint; times, were prevented from re- 
 sorting to the temjile. In other words, the historical setting is probably imaginary ; 
 the writer assumes the position of Jewish exiles in X. Arabia who were unable 
 to join their brethren in Palestine. The ' I ' who speaks is a personification of a 
 company. Detained in 'Jerahmeel' (see introd. to Ps. xlii.-xliii. ), they cry for 
 help to Vahwe ; it is a cry of pain, like that of the thirsty hind (xlii. 2). With 
 the N. Arabians they have no sympathy. Zarephath and Jerahmeel (both names 
 are archaistic) reject the house of \'ahwe, but the altars of A'ahwe are to Israel the 
 most sacred objects. To dwell beside them is true happiness ; even to be on the 
 road to Jerusalem opens in the heart a well-spring of praise. For those fortunate 
 exiles wlio have started on the homeward journey God will so transform the barren 
 places in tlieir way that the)- will tirink, or seem to drink, of fountains and rivers. 
 At present indeed they pine with regret and cry out in pain. But their faith con- 
 soles them, for Vahwe is ever true to his lovingkindness and fa'thfulness. Israel's 
 life is blameless, and a recompense is sure. Happy, then, are those who dwell in, 
 and hapjiy too are those who journey to, the true home of the heart. Cp. also 
 Ps. Ixiii.") — An insertion ( = 77'. 9-I1) was made in the second strophe by the 
 editor. It is apparently a fragment of another psalm, and is in trimeters. The 
 time referred to may lie the same as in Isa. Ixiii. 18 ; cp. also Ps. Ixxiv. 
 
 On the textual criticism, besides the commentaries (see especially Olshausen). 
 cp. van Gilse, Tlieol. Tijdsclir. 1896, pp. 455-468 (he supposes 77'. 6-10 to be a 
 later insertion). For the present writer's earlier view, see /'sM\ and cp. 0/\ 
 119 f., 132 (note^/), 479. 
 
 Deposited. 0/ the Is/iiiiaelites{}). Of the sons of KoraJi. Marked, i 
 
 I From Jerahmeel-ciishani I call upon thee, | O Yahwe 
 
 Sebaoth ! 2 
 
 * * * 
 
 My soul longs, 3'ea pines, | for Yahwe's courts, 3 
 
 My heart and my body cry in pain | to the God of my 
 life. 
 
 Though Zarephath reject thy house, | and the race of 
 
 Jerahmeel, 4 
 
 Thine altars do I choose, | O my king and my God ! 
 
 Happy are those that dwell in th}- house, | that praise thee 
 evermore ! 5 
 
 Happy are those that journey to thine altars, | in whose 
 heart are songs of praise ! b 
 
 Passing in the midst of plains 1 they will drink from a 
 fountain, 
 10 Even in the deserts * ] he will set streams. 
 
 The)' pine [in the * of] Jerahmeel | for the God of their 
 
 life. 
 They cry in pain to the God of gods | [who dwelleth (?)] 
 
 in Zion. 
 
 / 
 
46 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 For lovingkiiidness and faithfulness are dear [ to Yahwe 
 our shield ; i~ 
 
 Favour and glory' he will not withhold] - | from the blame- 
 less in life. 
 
 [Happy are those that dwell in thy house, | that praise 
 
 thee evermore !] 
 Happy are those that journey to thine altars, | O Yahwe 
 
 Sebaoth ! 
 
 Inserted passage. 
 
 O Yahwe," hear my prayer ; 
 Hearken, O God of Jacob ! 
 Behold, O God, the Kenizzites, 
 And look upon the sons of Cusham ! 
 For they trample ' upon thy courts, — 
 Zarephath and the house of Jerahmeel.^ 
 
 n 
 
 lO 
 
 II 
 
 I. Cp. Ixi., /. 3, Ixxvii.f'', //. I-3-— 
 4. 'My heart and mv body . Cp. xvi. 9, 
 Ixiii. 2, and ('the God of my life ') xlii. 
 3. — 5. D^l refers to the whole clause. 
 
 That uppor, ' bird,' should rather be 
 sarcphath is highly probable. If we 
 adhere to the received text, we must 
 interpret thus (filling up a supposed 
 defective portion), ' Birds fail not to 
 find places to build their nests in, but I, 
 less happy, am far from the home ot 
 my heart.' The ordinary interpretation, 
 however, is, ' If even birds love to build 
 their nests in the sacred precincts, how 
 rriuch more reason has the believing 
 heart to find its home in the house ot 
 its C'lOil.' But the words "jli^ 
 "]\~nn2T^3 obstinately refuse to be 
 brought into relation to the birds. It 
 it is true that trees were planted in the 
 outer court of the temple, we might 
 suppose the birds to have built there 
 witli impunity; but surely this was not 
 possible in llie tem]ilc proper (cji. Jos. 
 B.y., V. 5,6). But were trees planted in 
 the precincts of the tem|)le ? This is an 
 unproved assertion (see on Hi. 10, xcii. 
 14). The ))assage is evidently corrupt 
 (see crit. n.), and the interesting state- 
 ments of Robertson Smith {Kel. SmtS- , 
 225) throw no real light upon it. DNO 
 and "in3 represent respectively the 
 initiation and the severance or repudia- 
 
 tion of a mystic religious bond such as 
 that between Yahwe and his people. 
 The same antithesis in xli. 9. 
 
 7. The temple is regarded as the 
 house of praise ; cp. xxii. 4 (?), cxi. I, 
 Isa. Ixiv. II. — 8. To thine altar. Cp. 
 xliii. 4. — In whose heart, &c. Songs of 
 praise are stored up in the heart of the 
 jiilgrim, ready to find utterance as soon 
 as he stands within the temple-gates. 
 
 9 f. Old prophecies receive new ap- 
 plications. Cp. on Isa. xli. iS, xlviii. 
 21. The riddle of the Baca-trees seems 
 to have arisen out of corruption of the 
 
 text. Granting the correctness of J^D^, 
 it was natural to see a play on the root- 
 meaning of SD^ , ' to weep ' ; cp. 
 Ges. Thes., ' D'NDQ, arbor quiddam a 
 /acri/nando dicla..' But see crit. note. 
 
 II f. Cp. on 7>v. 3 f. God of ^s^ods, 
 as in 1. I (?), Josh. xxii. 22, cp. Dan. 
 xi. 36. 
 
 13. See crit. note. ^DH and 
 TirON as in Ixxxv. 11 f., xlii. -xliii., //. 
 7, 20, 28. — Our shield, as xxxiii. 20 
 (lix. 12 and Ixxxix. 19 are corrupt) ; 
 cp. iii. 4, xviii. 3,31,36, xxviii. 7, &c. 
 
 Insertion. 5 f, Cp. Isa. Ixiii. 1 8. 
 
 ' Yahwe gives. 
 
 3 Good. ■'' Elohim. Sebaoth. 
 
 * Missur, Jerahmeel, Asshur. 
 
 Jerahmeel. 
 
PSALM LXXXIV. 
 
 47 
 
 Critical Notes, i. M Tj^Jlij3ii^Q J-|il>T~n^ . One of the numcroLis 
 cases in which apparent simplicity does not exclude corruption. To 
 produce a connected view of the meaning of the psalm it is presumable 
 that the opening words express the longing of a captive to be free. In 
 xlv. I jmn^ is a corruption of p/T*"!^ (on which see Introd.). Here, 
 however, it seems to be corrupted from jI'Q^I^ , i.e. t'Nl^nT- The next 
 word 'JtC^D is probably made up of Tj"'j~i}^"1p "[ii^'O , where ']iiy'0 , as in 
 cxx. 5 and constantly (see .£"//r. jff/^., ' Tubal ' and ' Meshech '), is a dis- 
 tortion of UV3 ■ ' Jerahmecl-cusham ' is as natural a compound as 
 ' Cusham-jerahmeel.' Cp. £/2e. Bib., 'Tower of Shechem.' 
 
 4- j\I '1J3"1^. This produces no parallelism ; nor can heart and body 
 very well be said either to 'shout for joy ' or ' to wail ' (cp. nj"1 , xvii. i). 
 
 T . 
 
 Gr., Hal., liny ; rather ^ll'j)"' (see on xlii. 2). Easier, but less forcible, 
 
 would \)&^.'^'^'', Aramaicc (in T xlii. 2 = ;)"ip ; in Ixxxiv. 3 = =]DDi)- — 
 
 Read ^'^H 7^7 ; see on xlii. 3. 
 T- •• : 
 
 5. M '1J1 ~li3i:"D3 • That this does not cohere with IMinaT/'D'jli^ 
 
 is clear (see exeg. note). Next, as to .M's n^illSM HJlIi' ~lli'j< (ou 
 
 TV : V T T. V -: 
 Q'nuii Tu voaain nvrrji). The objections to this are (i) that it destroys 
 
 the symmetry of the stanza, and (2) that a reference to the young 
 
 nestlings is out of place here. It is God who tends his own, like the 
 
 mother-eagle (Dt. xxxii. 1 1 f.) ; God, who places the Levites in a house 
 
 where they can 'ever praise' Him. In another context this could fitly be 
 
 said. But when a psalmist compares a band of pilgrims to a bird, we 
 
 feel that to bring in the young ones of the nest obscures and mars the 
 
 poetical beauty. We have a right to expect something like xlii. 3/-', xliii. 
 
 4^. It will be noticed that there are two Paseks in M's text. Here, as 
 
 elsewhere, we cannot be sure that they are placed with perfect accuracy ; 
 
 misplacements would easily happen. But so much at least we may infer — 
 
 that in early times the proposed reading of the text was felt to be doubtful, 
 
 n[l]3^ for j~l3"1ii is a not uncommon error ; cp. E/ie. Bib., ' Zippor,' and 
 
 note that ~1DD J~inp probably comes from [DjDliJ 'p • For iV2i Hk^J^D 
 
 read possibly '^T^^H CJ^i^/- ^'^'^ '^^^ ^. P "'''"n.') read t'^<;2"^^' ^HP 
 
 (cp. xlii -xliii., //. 14,24). T^TW IIi)^<, prosaic and unmctrical. Probably 
 
 T T .V -: 
 from j13"1^ , originally a correction of ms^ • '3J^ iTiay come from 
 
 "r^in:! . /IINQ^' '■' is a gloss on ''^'?^<"l Oba . [For other attempts to 
 
 deal with this passage see Bickell, Che '", and Duhm. The two former 
 
 suppose words to have dropped out before 'TQ"j"1J< ; the latter transfers 
 
 those words to a stanza produced by the union of v. 2,b and 7'. 4^, which 
 
 is followed by a stanza consisting oi v. 4a ; he reads ")i"n /T^-] 
 
 7. At the end of 7'. 5 M gives n'?D (G 5t(i\//-«X/Lto). This comes from 
 wbTV dittographed. See on Ixviii.'^', //, 9 f.,1xviii.(-', /. 2,2)- 
 
 8. M TT^'i'!' ("ly DTJ< . For D7^^ (a word which is often wrongly 
 
 ' T TT TT 
 
48 THE PSALMS. 
 
 read) we require some participle which can be 1 to ''2V'' in /. 7. It is 
 l)oth possible and suitable to read I'miinirj'? QTini^ ''~)lUii (or 
 in^o':').— M ni'pD'J. 'highways'? Neither Hupfeld's rvhD3 , 'C- 
 ' confidence' ? nor D)'?^^ (Ba., We., l)u. ; G aual3ii<r(is), i.e. ' pilgrimages,' 
 produces a natural sense, or a suitable parallel to "]v'?n'' (/• ?)• Read 
 
 Ts'bTMrs ; cp. on rhx) , /. 7- 
 
 9 f. M SDnn pr21*2 niy (Pasek after 'y). Duhm retains the 
 ' Baka-vallcy.' but recognizes that the text of ?-. 7 is ' not altogether in 
 order.' Hut ought not this fact to make us distrust the enigmatical 
 phrase h?D2n pQy ? The ancients with one voice explain ' the valley 
 of weeping.' and the Massora remarks that J< stands for n. which indeed 
 a icw MSS. read. Most moderns, however, render ' the valley of baca- 
 trees ' (cp. 2 S. v. 23 f., i Chr. xiv. 14 f.), and since G gives (cXai-^/^ic'i/. not 
 only here, but in Judg. ii. r (where M has DOJl), we might be tempted 
 to read D''J^D2in , so that the \'alley (Plain) of Rephaim. usually placed 
 near Jerusalem, might be meant. But it is extremely difficult to identify 
 the • baca trees ' botanically, and the question arises whether both Q^h^DQ 
 in 2 S., I Chr., and ^{D^ in our psalm are not corrupt. See Enc. Bib., 
 ' Mulberry.' In the present passage we should probably read ^iJH^ 
 j"lij7p3 • The misreading pi^^j; was produced by the pro.ximity of ^<D2• 
 Cp. Isa. xli. 18.— M inn^i:^'' VyD. G presupposes inn"'lt^'; (so Kt.), 
 which We., Du. adopt. Some MSS. imn^V 'bibunt eum'; so Michaelis 
 and Halevy . Read probably '^TW'^ ]^1/Q!3 (Herz, independently, 
 
 : • t: - 
 
 10. M n"^i^3 ntS^'' /liD"131"D3, which J renders ' benedictionem 
 
 Cjuoque amicietur doctor' I Clearly impossible ; but JllDn^ , ' reservoirs' 
 
 (Derenb.. Hal., Duhm), is no improvement. mDH^ was made up by an 
 
 editor out of fragments of Jli^inil (Isa. .\lviii. 21). P'or mi*.3 niDl" 
 
 tt:t 
 read DHnj D^Ii'^ (cp. xliii. 19) ; I> and itj . 10 and Jl confounded. 
 • T : .T ^ 
 
 11. M >n"'?S '?''nr^ '^zh\ whether '7-n means ' strength ' (':)''n), 
 or ' rampart, 7r/jo7-€i;^io-/itt (/TT), the sense produced does not suit the 
 |)arallel line. Some part of the passage ought to contain a parallel to 
 Q^il/hi in the next line, and Griitz acutely conjectures t'}^ h'yrh o'?^ 
 *n . This, however, is not only weak in itself, but insufficient for the 
 long line which the metre requires. It must be confessed that the next 
 line in the received text is liable to the same objections. But we are 
 freer in dealing with v. Za than with 7'. 8/', because ]V^*3 D^"^'7^} {'<'. 8/>) 
 is self-evidcntly right, and this determines the general sense of?'. 8a. It 
 appears probable (more cannot be said) that lines ii, 12 correspond 
 
PSALM LXXXIV. 49 
 
 to lines 3, 4, and that I. w should run — '^.v}':' '^J^'^PI'T' [ * 3] ^'^ri^ 
 
 12. IVI ]V:i^ Q''rt^J^"'?iV} ^^^'^V O S 'a, however, presuppose 
 D^n'^J^ t'J^ , which Gr., Du. rightly adopt. But this is surely insufficient. 
 To satisfy metre, let us, with Bickell (doubtfully), read '^Zl [Uli^^] ; Du. 
 is content to insert m^^ It remains to deal with ^^^^"^^ It is too 
 
 V T" 
 
 slight an improvement to read ^^^'T'^ (' that they may sec ' ; Duhni). In 
 accordance with the preceding note one may suggest D\l'?S bl^? inj.'J' 
 '11 'yD" • For nj;;i see on v. 4. After y had dropped out, it was 
 natural that ~1J' should become ^i■^ . 
 
 13 f. M Wrb"^ '"• P'^T ^'.pr ""B (Pasck after "it'). Nowhere, how- 
 ever, is Yahwe directly called 'sun '; the expression may have seemed to 
 the O.T. writers equivocal. If "^ is correct, it surely ought to mean 
 ' battlement ' (cp. TsyOtyt) , Isa. liv. 12); so Derenbourg {REJ,\\. 163), 
 Gr., Ba., Du. Still, even this is not quite satisfactory', and Pasek warns 
 us to be cautious. Is. Loeb arbitrarily reads piV'p ; but G has on eXeoi/ 
 Ka\ akrjOeiav CiyaTia. Ki'pios 6 6e6s, which suggests Il^^i n'^NI "TDH O 
 mn'' , ?>• tl'i^Dli; has arisen out of Dt^ii . p!2'l seems to have come out 
 of ^2^T2 , which should stand after nTT' (rather than D\l'7N)- Omit 
 
 ••• T 
 
 '^ ]J^^ and nijOi disturbing insertions of a scribe. 
 
 15 f. Complete the refrain. In /. 16 Ql^^ should be DTniji (/• 8). 
 ■?f^ niOil comes from ']nn^/'^ , a fragmentary form of "]^rin2TD'7 i^- 8). 
 
 Insertion. n'?D (7'. 9. end) may come either from Q"'^7^i, or from 
 t'^i(!D^T (marginal note). In /. i omit D'^^'?^< . a variant to n"in\ and 
 also either jnSlj; or T1'73j~| (metre). In /. 3 ^JiHD cannot be right- 
 'Shield' cannot possibly be a synonym for ' prince ' (assuming provisionally 
 that 'in^ti'l^ in v. \ob is correct), while if used metaphorically as a title 
 of God it ought to stand after D\~l'?i^ ■ In two other passages (lix. 12 
 and Ixxxix. 19) 1JJJD is certainly corrupt. Surely it must also be so 
 here. In Ezek. xxiii. 24, xxvii. 10, xxxviii. 4 f., xxxix. 9, \y^ appears to 
 represent TJp (see OvV. Bib). In this context '\y^T^ probably represents 
 QHJpOJ=<2). For Trrfl^JD ""JQ read Dli;0 ^IH- So a poor verse is 
 Strengthened. Out of v. 1 1 (awkwardly long) we have to extract the 
 material for //. 5. 6. The words in M which are most clearly wrong arc 
 5^'?^i^J, Minn, =131j*1DrT. and -niQ. Nor must we underrate the 
 difficulty of connecting v. 11 with v. 10. To remedy the first two 
 difficulties Bickell and Duhm would emend ^Din^ into yiH^ - thus 
 producing the sense ' a day in thy courts is better than a thousand 
 (spent) abroad.' But the emendation is too violent. 5)31ilDrT , ' to 
 busy oneself with the threshold'? But why not ^T^ ib'^.^'^ ? And if 
 "ITT in ")TT^ means ' to sojourn,' how are the two words parallel? As to 
 II. E 
 
50 THE PSALMS. 
 
 "m great doubt exists. Nowlicre else in llie O.T. is this Aramaic verb 
 found. Pcrles (Anal., 76) conjectures that it is a late correction for the 
 Heb. -)?i:i ; cp. xv. i, "j'^HN^ ^^^y' \r) • But why should -\^^ be cor- 
 rected just here.'' To evade the last-mentioned difficulty Bickell and 
 Duhm would give ?/. 11 a fresh place, the former after ?'. 3, the latter 
 after -,•. 8. It is clear, however, that some keen textual criticism is 
 necessary. The prosaic MinZl is a fragment of [^]\T11fn2 ; so also, 
 most probably, is 3113 = '/Tniina • ^"^ii^ comes from '?i<r2m' . a 
 marginal note ; cp. the corrupt place-names Ha-eleph (Josh, xviii. 28), 
 Irpeel (Josh, xviii. 27). 'DDn is a corruption and expansion of J13"l^ 
 (1 from "1 , D fiom ji). TllD comes from l^iJQ . Let us now fill up the 
 gaps. D1^ must represent a verb ; the subject is the N. Arabian 
 oppressor. 1DI2T' seems to be the verb required; cp. SBOT on Isa. 
 Ixiii. 18. ^rh'ik n'2^ = b'ikr2'n-\'' n^y\; D*^'^^< for 'HT is not un- 
 common. 3,»I:;T■'':5^T^<2 comes from ■)r^:r^< '^hJ^irn"' ; Missur, Jerahmeel, 
 and Asshur (Ashhur) are a scribe's insertion, as an amplification of 
 'Zarephath and the house of Jerahmeel.' 
 
 PSALM LXXXV. 
 
 1 RIMETERS. A prayer for Messianic deliverance, which is described, in the 
 spirit of Ezekiel (xxxvii.) and a later eschatologicai description (Isa. xxvii. 17 ft'.), 
 as a restoration to life. There is here no passionate complaint of present misery, 
 but an importunate pleading for speedy restoration. The opening stanza (with 
 its perfects) has even variously interpreted, i. Is it a retrospect of the mercies 
 of the first century after the fall of Babylon, reflected through an idealistic 
 medium? This isconceivalile if we put tlie psalm late enough for idealization to 
 have taken place (cp. cxxvi.). But the transition to the melancholy present in the 
 second stanza is, on this hypothesis, extremely abrupt, and the poet has even made 
 this more painful liy using the same verb '2^\D to express the divine mercy in both 
 stanzas, and by distinctly stating (as Kimhi has pointed out) that the divine anger 
 has never had pause or remission (7'. 6). 2. Are the perfects in //. 1-6 ' prophetic,' 
 i.e. does the poet open his poem with a prophetic vision of the future, and then 
 pass on to a prayer for its realization? This is Smend's view (p. 86, note). 3. Are 
 the perfects precative (see on x. 16) ? The jirecative perfect expresses the energetic 
 movement of tlie will towards the object desired ; the speakers wrestle, like Jacob, 
 with their God. AVhen it is let^itimate to suppose the precative perfect — which is 
 closely akin to the prophetic — it is in the interests of intelligibility to do so. In 
 Ixxxv. *" it ts possible to do so. 
 
 I's. Ixxxv. -' is also in trimeters. As the text stands, the community personified re- 
 ports a revelation which it has just now received, to the eft'ect that the Messianic 
 prophecies are about to be fulfilled. Originally, however, the opening stanza 
 referred, not to righteous Israel, but to guilty Jerahmeel ; the prophecy contained in 
 it seems to be based on Zech. ix. 10. Tiie second stanza, in like manner, is de- 
 pendent on that fine jirophetic passage, Isa. xlv. S, and the third on Isa. Iviii. 8. 
 The editor of the precetling poem ought to counteract its melancholy by some 
 gracious and soul-reviving j)romises, taking care, however, to rewrite the two 
 opening lines relative to the foes of the past. 
 
 Deposited. Of the sons oj Kora/i. Marked. 
 
 I Oh that thou wouldcst become gracious to thy land, 2 
 
 Wouldcst restore Jacob to life, 
 
PSALM LXXXV. 51 
 
 Wouldest take away the guilt of thy people, 
 
 Wouldest cancel all their sin,i 
 
 Wouldest withdraw all thy fury, 4 
 
 Wouldest restrain thy hot anger ! 
 
 Restore us +to life,+ O God our deliverer, 5 
 
 And turn aside thine indignation at us ! 
 
 Wilt thou be perpetually angry with us ? 6 
 
 10 Wilt thou prolong thy wrath for all time ? 
 
 Wilt thou not now restore us to life, 7 
 
 That thy people may rejoice in thee ? 
 
 Make us, O Yahwe, to enjoy thy lovingkindness, 8 
 
 And grant us thy deliverance I- 
 
 uxxxv.- 
 
 I Yahwe will bring down those of Ishmael, 9 
 
 Will bring down Ishmael and Jerahmeel ; 
 His deliverance is near for those that fear him, 10 
 
 That his glory may abide in our land. 
 
 Lovingkindness and faithfulness meet, 1 1 
 
 Righteousness and welfare join together ; 
 Faithfulness springs out of the earth, 12 
 
 Lovingkindness looks down from heaven. 
 
 Yahwe also will give generously, 13 
 
 10 And our land will yield its increase. 
 
 Righteousness will walk before him, 14 
 
 Welfare will run after his footsteps. 
 
 Ixxxv.'-' if. The original text has angels in human form (cp. Ixi. 8, Ixxxix. 
 
 been finely rewritten. The community 14), which wander delightedly about 
 
 is introduced as a prophet (cp. Ixii. 12, the places of concourse (contrast Isa. 
 
 Ilab. ii. i), who, in vv. 10 ft'., gives a lix. 14 f.). ' Faithfulness,' by a change 
 
 free reproduction of the revelation of figure, is also represented as a plant 
 
 which he has received (as Ixii. 12, (cp. Isa. xlv. 8), for it is God who 
 
 Ixxxi. 6, «S:c. ). enables Israel to be 'faithful.' From 
 
 4. His glory, i.e. the manifested 'righteousness' (or, prosperity) to 
 
 presence of Israel's God. See Ix. i f., ^'^''^^ reasons is an easy transition. 
 
 and cp. Ps. Ixxxiv. 12. ' His deliver- <-P- Hos. 11. 23 f. Increased fertility 
 
 ance is almost a synonymous term ; cp. ^^ "^^ .^o^' is a constant feature of 
 
 • r descriptions of iVIessianic IjIiss (cp. 
 
 Am. IX. 13, Isa. xxx. 23 1.). 
 5 ff. Xiovingklndness and 
 
 faithfulness? finely represented as u. Cp. Isa. Iviii. 8. 
 
 ' O God. - The last four lines of the stanza have perished. 
 
52 Tin-: PSALMS. 
 
 Critical Notes. Ixxxv.O z. Read probably 3pr t'^l -Hnnir . 
 Cp. on xiv. 7, Ix. 3 ; cxxvi. 4. — 4- H'^D . as often, comes from Dm'pJ* 
 (a gloss). 
 
 6. M ni^^'y^'n ; Ci rJ7rt'o-T/)€\//Tis. An 'inwardly transitive' verb 
 (Hengst., Ba. ; comparing Ezek.xiv.6,xviii. 30) is not natural here. Nor 
 does~'?D in /. 5 allow us to take p as partitive (Ol.). The phrase is 'hybrid' 
 (Hu.), but it is a scribe's fault. Schradcr and Duhm read nmi''Ii'rT 
 'N 'n ; but another occurrence of IW would be intolerable. Probably 
 n^trr is right. M's error may presuppose a still earlier error r^Ilt^'Q 
 Ontcrroyative). which, in fact, Gr. reads by conjecture. 
 
 7 f . M ^jnV^. Read probably ^JT^'n (Ixxx. 4).— M ISn. Read 
 "IDH (Cr., Bi.rChe., Du.). 
 
 •• T 
 
 II. M X^^\'^^ Rather nPV, 'now, at length' (suggested by 
 
 ~)n "ii'^). so^Gr.— M ^TT\r\ iwr\ ■ Rather innv^'r^ ; IJ^^nJl is a 
 
 gloss. For S'^n , G, Ba., Now. read ':>^}^ (cp. v. 9), less naturally. 
 
 lxxxv.'2) I f. The difficulties of this passage in MT admit of no 
 adequate solution. Why '7^^n beside m.l''? And why ri-DirbST 
 beside 1/2J?~'^i< ? And how can a suspicion be expressed of the loyalty of 
 the Q''l"'Dn?* Th'D'2 too is questionable (see on xlix. 14). G gives 
 something quite different for v. qb ; see liiithgen, Stitdicn u. Kritikefty 
 1880, p. 762. Evidently there was considerable doubt among the early 
 Jewish scholars how to read and explain this passage. Anyone, however, 
 who has followed the scribes in their attempts to understand miswritten 
 forms of ethnics, or perhaps to get rid of them, will not long remain in 
 perplexity. The key is gi\en by Zech. ix. 10, where U^b'^ "121^ means 
 
 '?syr:)i:''' i''"iv • nr^ nrroi^^s , then, comes from D"''?^ii^:3'^'' ; bt^7\ is 
 
 a fragment of '^Sl^mV a correction from the margin. ^^.^l'~7^?, 
 VTDn"'?hJ, and H^DD'? come from "^J^^^m' (!2 and D confounded), 
 121Ii/^~'?hi (in accordance with many parallels) from 7Ny!2^"' • 
 
 4. M pi:'^. T ]3^ (see on Ixxviii, 60).— M in3 . Read 
 ni23 (^ T), with Geiger (6^r.\77/;-., 31 8). 
 
 8 f. M plJiT . Read IDm (A 5). For the confusion see on 
 cxliv. 2.— M 2^t3ii . Read Hidli (3 precedes). 
 
 10. IM Di^'^T • Schrader {St. Kr. '68, p. 639), 1,'b'i?'''). But parallelism 
 requires □'^iLh 0)y.,We., Du.). jri:;^1 (Bevan,/. of Phil., xviii. ['89], 144, 
 and Smend, AT Rcl.-gcsc/i., 419) is against /. 6 ; ^ sprang from b ■ For 
 -^-^ib read C)^"l^ (Du.). 
 
PSALM LXXXVI. 53 
 
 PSALM LXXXVI. 
 
 1 RIMETERS. This psalm, like others, has had a liistory. Originally it was a 
 psalm of persecution, or at any rate written in imhation of psalms of ]iersecution ; 
 it is gratuitous to suppose that the original writer mixed up supplications for 
 deliverance with thanksgiving for mercies received. The community, through its 
 psalmists, is the real author both of the psalm of supplication and of the inserted 
 thanksgivings. For though some scholars (Stekhoven, ZATIV, i.\. 132; ]. 
 Robertson, Croall Lectures on the Psaliiis)dQnyiha.i\.\\e\A\\!is*t l/lJ^hi ]^ (7'. 16) 
 can have been applied to itself by the community, yet others of not inferior reputa- 
 tion (Sta'de, ZA J'ir,\m. 126; M'a.,ad loc; Beer, /;/a!Vt'.-/j.) find no difficulty in this. 
 The present writer agrees witli neither school. There is the strongest probability liiat 
 another and much easier reading underlies our text. Nor, indeed, is it a priori 
 likely that such a very unoriginal psalmist would have coined such a phrase. The 
 possible literary reminiscences of the psalmist, or psalmists, are collected by 
 Robertson Smith in 0TyO'\ 435-437 ; it is true, textual criticism may modify 
 details of the list (see notes). \'erses 14 and 15 seem, from the metrical irregularities, 
 to be a later insertion. On this psalm, cp. Coblenz, pp. 63-65 (who shows the 
 speaker to be the community). 
 
 A prayer. Of ''Arab-eihan. I 
 
 1 Incline thine ear, O Yahwe ! and answer me, 
 For I am one that sufferetii and is need}'. 
 Guard my soul, for in thee I take refuge, 2 
 
 Deliver thy servant who trusteth in thee. 
 
 Have pity upon me, O Yahwe ! for unto thee 3 
 
 I call from those of Jerahmeel. 
 
 Sustain the soul of thy servant, 4 
 
 Guard me from those of Ishmael. 
 
 For thou, O Yahwe ! art good and forgiving, 5 
 
 10 Rich in lovingkindness to all that call upon thee. 
 
 Give ear, O Yahwe ! to my prayer, 6 
 
 Attend to the sound of my supplications. 
 
 In Jerahmeel I seek thee, [O Yahwe !] 7 
 
 I call upon thee, for thou answerest me. 
 
 There is none like thee among the gods, 8 
 
 O Yahwe ! no works like thine. 
 
 All nations of the countries shall come 9 
 
 And do homage before thee, O Yahwe !' 
 For- +thou art+ great and a doer of wonders, 10 
 
 20 Thou art God, thou alone. 
 
 ' And shall glorify thy name. - Thou art. 
 
54 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Show me, O Yahwe ! thy way, 
 
 And I will walk on in thy faithfulness. 
 
 I will give thanks to thee' with all my heart. 
 
 And will glorify thy name for ever. 
 
 For great is thy lovingkindness towards me. 
 And thou hast rescued my soul from Ishmael. 
 Turn thou unto me, and have pity upon me, 
 Grant thy help to thy servant. 
 
 II 
 
 12 
 
 13 
 16 
 
 30 Give succour because of thy faithfulness ; 
 And my haters will see with shame 
 That thou, O Yahwe ! hast helped me and comforted me. 
 
 17 
 
 2. iva^T ^2y- As XXXV. 10, 
 
 xxxvii. 14, xl. iS, Ixxiv. 21. — 4. On 
 Thi^ nna see crit. .1. 
 
 6. From tbose of Terabmeel. 
 
 Cp. Ixxvii. 2 f. ' All the day long, is an 
 edifying substitute, or rather disguise 
 (cp. XXV. 5 &c.). 
 
 7 f. Sustain, i.e. lest I faint in 
 the long struggle. Cp. Ixiii. 2, Jer. iv. 
 31. — Guard vie, c\;c. Cp. on xxv. i. 
 
 9 f. Cp. Ex. xxxiv. 6 f. The mercy 
 of God was strongly felt in post-exilic 
 times. A similar feeling in Bal)ylon, 
 in Nebuchadnezzar's time, prompted 
 the application of the epithet rimiiiu 
 (cp. D'lm, V. 15) to the great god 
 
 Marduk. — n?D, ' forgiving,' here only ; 
 but cp. nrivD, cxxx. 4. On the 
 linguistic points see OP, p. 479. The 
 Targumic equivalent of 1170 is pili.^ 
 
 12 f. '•jn^l^nn (fem. ending), as 
 cxxx. 2. — 13 f. Cp. Ixxvii. 3, xvii. 6. 
 
 15 f. Cp. Ex. XV. II, Dt. iii. 24. — 
 17 f. Cp. xxii. 28 ft". — 19 f. Cp. 
 xivii. 3, xlviii. 2, Ixxii. 18, Ixxvii. 
 14 f., Ixxxiii. 19. 
 
 21 f. Cp. xxvii. II, xxvi. 3. At 
 the end of v. 1 1 the received text gives 
 a fine prayer for the 'union' of the 
 'heart' with a view to fearing God's 
 name. This is usually taken to mean, 
 ' concentrate all my powers and affec- 
 tions on thy service' (cp. Augustine's 
 Confessions, i. 3, i, ii. i, i). G gives, 
 ' let my heart rejoice,' «\;c. Neither 
 rendering, however, gives a natural sense 
 for a Hebrew prayer ; satisfactory 
 parallels are wanting. Appearances 
 point strongly to the view that the 
 passage is a misread and misunder- 
 stood gloss (see crit. n.) on the word 
 ' Ishmael ' in /, 26. 
 
 26. For ' from Ishmael ' the editor 
 has given ' from the lowest Sheol' (see 
 crit. n.). This is due to a reminiscence 
 of Dt. xxxii. 22. Captiviiy in a foreign 
 land and sore oppression in their native 
 land seemed like death to the Israelites 
 (cp. Ivi. 13). Verse 14 in M (taken 
 from liv. 5, Ex. xxxiv. 6) describes one 
 of the experiences which, collectively, 
 are described sometimes as 'death.' 
 \ erse 15 comes from Ex. xxxiv. 6. 
 
 28. Help, i.e. as shown in victory 
 over the foe. See on IxxxixC-', //. 1-4, 
 and cp. Ebenezer, ' stone of help.' 
 
 » O Yahwe my God I 
 
 - Jerahmeelites, Cushites (r'. 11/'). — (From Sheol) the lowest (i". 13). — 
 O God ! the proud have assaulted me, ] a crew of violent ones have sought my 
 soul, I and have not set thee before them. | ]5ut thou, O Lord! art a God com- 
 passionate and pitiful, | longsufiering, and rich in lovingkindness and faithfulness 
 
 (ZT-. 14 f.). 
 
PSALM LXXXVI. 55 
 
 30. Because of thy faithfulness. ihe inner circle of the D^^Jl^, his- 
 
 As cxvi. 16. 'riic text has ' (t(j) the , ■ ,, r^ 1 *'"••. 1 
 
 son of thy handmaid,' wiiere Wihwe's l"'"^^"y S""''- See, however, nitrod. 
 
 'handmaid' may possibly be taken to '^^'^ ^'■'^^- '^• 
 mean the peo[)le of Israel, out of whicir 
 the pious community, and esjiecially 31. Cp. xl. 4, Hi. 8, vi. 11, xxxv. 4. 
 
 C7'itical Notes. 3. M ''Ji^ I'^Dil O • Elsewhere the more modest 
 expression "Jl^Dn is used. Another '*JS — O is also surprising. Read 
 perhaps f 11 ■'J~)''Dn ""D • (''J^< due to editor.) 
 
 4. M "Tl'^'J^ nnhi, superfluous, Ijut not to be omitted without ex- 
 planation. Possibly it represents D^'?N*jm^u3 ; D'H'^i^ often stands for 
 7J^Qn~)^ • If so, it may represent an early correction of □Vn~'73 (^- 'j)- 
 
 6. M DVn~'7D. Read D^'7^<^^-1>Q (see on xxv. 5, xlii. 4, lii. 3, 
 hi. 2, &c. 
 
 7. M riQii^, cp. xc. 16. The context favours TjbD ; cp. liv. 6. 
 
 8. '•JIJ^ 'yh'^ O is superfluous ; ^^^^i ^li'SJ , as in xxv. i, may 
 represent D"''7Si;;:Diy^?2 ""Jirj^ • 
 
 13. For ^PTSl DVl read "^'r^Ii^l'T ^^<Dm^2, as in Ixxvii. 3. 
 Insert TV\TV ; '> was lost after '^TW'^'i • 
 
 17. For the prosaic rK'"^V "lti'^^ I'^ad probably m}i"^^}ll (cvi. 27, 
 Gen. xxvi. 3 f ). 
 
 18. M adds ■jl^Dti^'? 112D^T , against metre. 
 
 19. ^^^^i is metrically superfluous ; it can be supplied in thought 
 from /. 20. 
 
 22. Read *J''^^^<^ ; G Ka\ TTopevaofiai. At the end of 7'. ii M gives 
 "^DV TMi~)''b "'22'p in"' . This is usually illustrated by Jer. xxxii. 39, 
 where, bow'e'ver, G' reads *^^^i 2^ • Gr., Bi., Che.'", following G S read 
 inv But see exeg. note. It is to be feared that we must read 
 &\b3 W^bi^Dni" ■ The former word is doubly represented. The cor- 
 ruptions are of a recurrent type. 
 
 23. M inserts ^"^'?^< ''2"I?< • We might, however, keep ''i*7^i ; so Du. 
 
 26. M n^nnri ':'^^<'j^.3. cp. Dt. xxxii. 22, j-i^r^nri '?ij<'X'"ir, 
 
 The deliverance, however, is always represented as from Jerahmeel or 
 Ishmael. blhiti^ and '^Nlli^"' or '^Nl^r^t:^'' are readily confounded. 
 Read "TSyilOLy^L^ ; nTinn is probably a rhetorical addition to ':'"lNi:' . 
 
 28. M Tj-Tj;. Rather Tji;^ (Gr.) The phrase TV ]D2 \voukl seem 
 to say too much for the occasion ; contrast Ixviii. 36. 
 
 30. M •:JJn:^^*"'I2'? . This passage and cxvi. 16 have been har- 
 monized. The triie reading is Tjj-^^j^ lyrj":) . The error was caused by 
 the occurrence of "^l^y close by (iii both passages). The proof of the 
 correction is in ?'. \~aa, where Dij^ -ayiltT "s unintelligible, and does 
 
56 THE PSALMS. 
 
 not connect with ''\^) IJ^TV Hli'i? for V]i}r\ occurs in xxii. 32, iScc. 
 Read inpK i^'D*? nri:nn (clitto.^raphecl). HiViD':' comes from 
 S^n*^ = biiX"2V , a gloss on ^i^yZ! . Cp. Cn7. Bib. on D'^PUtD , Ezek. 
 xxiii. 15. 
 
 PSALM LXXXVII. 
 
 Jr^ENTAMKTERS. A psalm of the expanded Israel, which is to include all the 
 converted remnants of the neighbouring peoples (xviii. 44-46, Ixxvi. 11, Zech. xiii. 
 16). A jiropiietic writer looked forward to the time when Misrim should 
 he ackn<nvledged by \'alnve as his people, Asshur as the work of his hands, and 
 Israel as his iiilieritance (Isa. xix. 25) ; but the psalmist goes beyond this, though 
 not beyond the prophetic writer of Isa. xliv. 3-5. The prospect which both the 
 ]isalmist and the Second Isaiah open to us is that of the ado]:)tion by Zion of a 
 number of \. Arabians, hitherto known as Asshu rites, Rehobites, Jerahmeelites, 
 Zarephathiles, Misrites, Cushites, as lier sons. Respectfully these new children 
 address Zion as their mother and Israel as their father, and Vahwe ratifies the 
 adoption by a note entered in the heavenly register of peoples. Happy is the city 
 thus enriched by an enlarged spiritual citizenship. No earthly or heavenly power 
 can subvert it. Well may the local congregation of Zion burst into choral 
 songs of praise. The Holy Land, once thought to be the region of Horeb, is now 
 the country whose centre is Zion. Here are the holy mountains ; here are 
 dwellings dearer to Yahwe than those which gather round the once venerated 
 shrines of the mountain-land of Jerahmeel. 
 
 It has been remarked by VVellhausen {Isr. 11. jud. Gesch. 163), that the Judaizing 
 of Palestine began with Galilee (2 Chr.xxx. 1,10 f., 25), then passed on to "the coast- 
 districts (* Philistia and Tyre,' Ps. lxxxvii.4), and later on advanced to Bashan (Ps. 
 Ixviii. 16, 23). It has also been remarked that the choice of Tyre in our psalm as 
 the representative of Phcenicia suggests that the destruction of Sidon by Artaxerxes 
 Ochus (350 B.C.) was in the past. According to Duhm,'the 'dwellings of Jacob' 
 in V. 2 are (cp. vv. 4ft,) all those places where Jews are settled, Alexandria, 
 Tyre, &c. He regards this psalm as an expression of the feelings of the Jews of 
 the Dispersion. One would gladly follow these able critics, but their theories are 
 based on the corrupt traditional text. With regard to 2 Chr. xxx. i, 5-II, it can be 
 made probable that the Chronicler used an older document, in the original text of 
 which reference was made to Jewish inhabitants of the Negeb. 
 
 Of the Korahites. Marked. I 
 
 I Happy the city whose foundations | are on the holy mountains ! 
 Yahwe loves the gates of Zion | more than the dwellings 
 
 of Jerahmeel. 2 
 
 We glorify thee, we bless thee continually, | O thou city 
 of God ! 3 
 
 Ashhur, Rehob, and Jerahmeel — | they are thy sons ;i 4 
 
 Zarephath, Missur, and the people of Cush — | Israel is 
 
 their name ; 
 Zion they address ' my Mother,' | Israel * my Father.' 5 
 
 Yahwe notes in the register of peoples | ' Israel is their name.' 6 
 
 [Happy the city whose foundations | are on the holy mountains I] 
 Yahw^ [our God] doth establish her, ] the Most High [doth 
 support her]. 5^ 
 
 ' Those of Asshur and Jerahmeel arc thy sons {v. 7). 
 
PSALM LXXXVII. 57 
 
 1. The sure foundation of Zion, Dni\ i.e. ^ii,72'n'V . jllere, liow- 
 and the divine protection which it ever, ^iTI seems to come from 2171 
 enjoys, are repeatedly referred to (xlviii. . . 
 
 2 ff., cxxv. 1 f., cxxxiii. 3, Isa. xiv. 32, =-m2rTl • ' Rehoboth ' plays such 
 
 xxviii. 16). a large 'part in the traditions of 
 
 2 f. See introd.; Mai. i. 2 f. is not Israel's wars with the horder-lands of 
 
 parallel. — U'c glorify thee, lvic. Cp. ^i'. Arabia that we cannot be surprised 
 
 I's. xlviii. ; cxxii. 6-9. at its mention in a psalm which 
 
 4 f. See introd., and crit. note. celebrates the annexation of those lands 
 
 Ashhur, Rehob (Rehoboth), and Jerah- t*^, Canaan.-//;^;/ are thy sons. The 
 
 meelare virtual svnonyms. Zarephath adoption of these peoples among the 
 
 M'as sometimes regarded as in Missur ; ^ons (Jer. ni. 19) is equivalent to their 
 
 ' Cush,' inasmuch as it adjoined Missur, 'ncorporation as citizens of Zion.— 
 
 is used as virtually synonymous with it. (-^''^^^ '^ '/'"'■ "«"'^- Precisely as 
 
 'i'he view that ' Rahab ' (M gives ^^^"Z r^ ^-_ ^ n-, j 
 
 ^_— f~ a\ ■ .1 TT 1 6 ff. IVly mother. 1 heodoret 
 
 3n I, Cj paa/3) IS the Hebrew or .,, . . ,, 1 j 1 
 
 - -' r "-y illustrates the passage, as rendered by 
 
 Hebraized name of a mythological G, by Gal. iv. 26. — /;/ the ret^ster of 
 
 monster applied to Egypt is plausible peoples. For Vahwe is the king of all 
 
 (cp. Enc. Bib., ' Rahab'). There is peoples, though none is so near to him 
 
 also another theory. 2m in Ixxxix. as Israel. — Doth, establish her; as 
 
 II may be a sarcastic modification of xlviii. 9. 
 
 Critical Notes, i. Many have thought that the opening of the 
 psalm is incomplete. Very possibly, however, T'ti^ in the title is a 
 remnant of ~)^V "'Ili^hJ . — M IjmD'- The existence of nnON however, 
 is doubtful. G 01 dfixeKioL avrov. Read probably H^P'TD'' • 
 
 2. M 2p;;> niJ3:i^;:3 b'372' This is rather much for the shorter 
 half of a pentameter. Nor is there much force in the statement that 
 Zion is dearer to Yahwe than any of the (ordinary) dwellings of Jacob. 
 It is, however, highly probable that 3pJ7^ has sometimes arisen out of a 
 corruption of '?hJ,^n"l^ , of which word '?3[(2] may also be a fragment. 
 We thus get, as /. 2d, b^<a^~l^ m^^'^Dl^ , to the great advantage of the 
 sense. See introd. 
 
 3. M "^3. IZl/^ DilBDi . Harsh in the extreme. Biithgen 
 
 • • """ * ■ 
 
 renders, ' Noble things are to be said {diccnda sunt) of thee,' and 
 
 criticizes the i\iiKr]6r] of G. Griitz would emend "jQ "121"Th} ; Uuhm 
 ^2 121"TD (partic, Arainaizing, instead of verb fin.). But it is a col- 
 lective expression of Israel's love for Zion that we expect. The trouble- 
 some 1Dj"1 is probably l\pj"l . Read TJD^^? T'-'j'n "^1233 • 
 
 4- ■'jn^'? byys 2n")|T3T}<. The exact meaning of '•^n'' is 
 T : : V T - - • : - 
 
 disputed ; does it mean ' as those who know me,' or ' with reference to 
 
 those,' &c.? Shall we readlOThi (M) orliDIhi (G)? And how conies Egypt 
 
 (as is supposed) to be mentioned by the obscure title ' Rahab ' ? Indeed, 
 
 the whole sentence is unnatural. Griitz proposes to read '^ ^^^7'';'' 
 
 rendering, ' Shall I mention Egypt and Babylon [foes of Israel] as the 
 
 friends of Yahwe?' Almost more unnatural. A ray of light, however, 
 
 shines from '^yv'") , when we remember the prop, name 7N^n' , which, 
 
 from a study of i Chr. xii. 20, we caji see to be a corruption of 'PS'^HT ; 
 
58 THE PSALMS. 
 
 most probably this word was written in the margin as a correction of 7^2,- 
 That '7^2 is frequently written in lieu of some popular corruption of 
 7SL2m^ \ve shall see again and again as we revise the text of the Hebrew 
 Bible (see r.i^". on cxxxvii. i). ^m (see exe.i^. note, and cp. Efic. Bib., 
 'Rahab ') is probably an editorial modification of ^m (Rehob). ~)*^Ti< 
 (followed by Pasek) probably comes from ■^^^'<i'^^ (Ashhur) ; cp. i Chr. 
 ii. 24, where the Tekoa referred to is a place in the Negeb. Read, there- 
 fore, 'p^^D^■^"'^ nmi "nnt^^j; .— M niin . This should be a fragment of 
 a statement respecting the three peoples just mentioned. The context 
 (see V. ^aa in G) suggests "?J*iIl HSn, and this is supported by v. 7, 
 which, when carefully examined, shrivels up into "T^ D'^'^Ni'^FT")''! DHtl'NI 
 (^J'i^'J '?D represents two fragments of bhJDfn^)- This is probably a 
 variant to the opening of v. 4, and it enables us to complete the text of 
 /. 4 by inserting *]3 , i.e. *]''J3 . 
 
 5. M ri3"Di^ liT T\d~>^ ■ '3 and ~)ii are so often miswritten for 
 
 j~I3")a and "l^rj , that it would be rash to build a theory to account for 
 
 the strange combination, ' Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia.' D^ should 
 
 be D^l (Gr., Bi.). Cp. on Ixxxiii. 7. So, on the main point, Wi. {Miesri, 
 
 ii. 9) and Hommel {Aufsiitzc, iii. i, p. 307), Enc. Bib., col. 3164 (written 
 
 early in 1901). — M Qli; IT HT . A corruption which has had theological 
 
 consequences ; see Delitzsch's note. Read probably D!2^ '7hJ"1t£/^ • 
 
 T : •• t: • 
 
 6. M '^ly^'^ 'IV^7T. G /iijT-T/p crftwi/ fpfT, whence Wellh. and Duhm, 
 
 nOhJ Di^ ''ir\". Better II^N'* >a^* ''il^ . ^DI^ easily fell out before 
 
 rzi^i .— M rTn"")^''' ^'^i^\ ^''^* ■ ' ^he repetition i:r>J^") Ti;>ii paraphras- 
 
 tically expresses "the whole"' (Bii.). Read probably ''3l>? '?J<"lii'^';'T . 
 
 • T •• T : • : 
 So parallelism is restored (cp. on /. 5*^). 
 
 7. Note that v. $b should come after ?'. 6. For 2*1/133 I'cad 
 
 2DD3. (cp. Du.).— In /, yb read again Uuit bii''\)i}'' ■ Tibu is probably a 
 
 Tj. f t:-»t:. 
 
 corruption of 7^J'^ti*^ (originally a correction). 
 
 9, Wellh. omits ]V'?y ; it should, however, be a remnant of z'. gb. 
 
 Nim = mnv Read [n'ps'pp;] iv*?:;! nyo; [^ij^h'^n] mnv 
 
 As 7'. 7, Wellh. and Haupt suggest D3iy?:2 d?3 □'•^<D'7^D □"•TltTT 
 
 T : T\ 
 
 "7"^. . See, however, end of note on /. 4. With regard to G's 17 KaroiKia eV 
 
 aui, note a similar confusion of S in Ixxxiv. 7. 
 
 PSALM LXXXVIII. 
 
 i KIMETKRS. The speaker, excluded from Vahwe's presence, seems to himself like a 
 dead man, — like the di.-.honoured corpses of Israel's ancient enemies (see on //.g (.). 
 In language reminding us of other elegiac works, he complains of his rejection by 
 Yahwe, and describes his sufferings. '1 he psalmist sees no ray of hope ; no 
 liturgical poet has corrected him by an encouraging appendix. As Bishop Hare long 
 ago pointed out, the close of the psalm is wanting (so also Olshausen). The 
 speaker is obviously (see ri'. 5, 6, 16) pious Israel; so in early times TS, Theod. of 
 
PSALM LXXXVIII. 59 
 
 Mops., Kashi, Kimlu. Cp. Smend, 126 f. ; Beer, 68 f. ; Coblenz, 127 ff. A 
 closer criticism of the text confirms this. In v. 5/' ' a man without strength ' is 
 corrupt (indeed, how could the speaker, who is at any rate imaginatively a person, 
 say that he was like a man ?) ; and in vv. 16 fif. N. Arabian ethnic names probably 
 reappear. 
 
 There are many literary reminiscences. But we need hardly say, with 
 Kirkpatrick, that the community identifies itself with the typical sufferer. Job. If 
 there are points of contact with Job, this is only because it was still felt that Job 
 was a personification of rigiiteous Israel (cp. Lam. iii.). It is certain, however, 
 that the speaker is the pious community, a view which was current in early times 
 (see Targam and Peshitta). There is no occasion whatever to suppose that the 
 primary reference of the psalm was personal. 
 
 The title is given in three forms. Note that j"nj^'^ probably comes from 
 iT)D'?;r, and that mi^S'^y and r^'^FT^D represent either n^^*:; and D''7^<Dm^ 
 respectively, or, both D'^'^Nl^jm'' (cp. JITDt^). See Introd. 
 
 Marked. Of tJie sons of Korah. Deposited. Of the Jerahmeelites ( ? ) . 
 Deposited. Of Neman the Ezrahite {or Ash/uiritel). i 
 
 I O Yahwe my God ! I cry for help by day, 2 
 
 In the night my calHng is before thee ; 
 
 Let my prayer reach thy presence, 3 
 
 Bend thine ear to m}' wail. 
 
 For m}' soul is sated with troubles, 4 
 
 My life is on the threshold of Sheol; 
 
 I resemble those that have gone down to the pit, 5 
 
 I am become like a dishonoured corpse. 
 
 I am accounted as the dead Jerahmeelites, 6 
 
 10 As those mortally wounded by the sword, 
 Whom thou rememberest no more, 
 For they are banished from thy sight. 
 
 Thou hast made me to dwell deep down in the pit, 7 
 
 In dark places, in gloom +of Deathland+ ; 
 Thou hast poured out upon me thy wrath, 8 
 
 All thy floods thou hast made to sweep over me. 
 
 My familiar friends thou hast put far from me, 9 
 
 Thou hast made me an abomination to them ; 
 Wasted and terrified is my frame, 10 
 
 20 Mine eye is quenched from sorrow. 
 
 Yahwe ! I invoke thee daily, 1 1 
 
 1 spread out my hands unto thee. 
 
 Wilt thou perform wonders for the dead ? 1 1 
 
 Will the Rephaim arise and praise thee ? 
 
60 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Can thy lovingkindness be rehearsed in the grave, 1 2 
 
 Thy faithfuhiess in Perdition-huid ? 
 
 Can thy wonders be made known in the darkness, 13 
 
 Thy righteousness in the land of the sleepers ? 
 
 Unto thee, O Yah we ! do I cry for help, 14 
 
 30 Early does my prayer go to meet thee. 
 
 Why, O Yahwe ! dost thou cast off my soul, 15 
 
 And hide thy face from me ? 
 
 Wretched am I and exhausted because of Arabia, 1 6 
 
 I bear [the hatred of] Jerahmeel : 
 
 Tents of Arabians encompass me, 17 
 
 Terrors of +deathly+ gloom beset me. 
 
 Jerahmeelites, like water, surround me, 18 
 
 They all beset me together ; 
 
 My friends thou hast put far from me, IQ 
 
 40 Aly neighbours and familiar friends thou hast with- 
 holden. 
 
 ( Conclusion 7va?itiiig.) 
 
 9. See crit. 11.-13. See on Ixxxvi. 24. The Rephaim, equivalent to 
 
 13, and Lam. iii. 55.-14. In dark 'the dead.' See ^//t. AV(^., ' Rephaim.' 
 
 places. So cxliii. 3, Lam. iii. 6. The 25. Perdition - land. Heb. 
 
 land of darkness is Sheol, Job x. 21 f. ' Abaddon.' Like ' Death ' a syno- 
 
 So the Babylonians call the underworld nym for Sheol (see Job xxvi. 6, xxviii. 
 
 ' the land where one sees nothing.' 22). Abaddon was one of the seven 
 
 /-_...- ^ ^ o hells in the Talmud (ci"). on xl. 3). 
 
 16. All thy floods. See on ^jjj^^^ ^^.^,,j ^^^^ ^-^^ ^^^dition.' 
 
 xvni. 5, xln. 0. The ocean-floods are -„,,... , 
 
 meant ; cp. Ex. xv. 5, Ts. Ixviii. 23. 39 f- See Job xvn. 14, xix. 13 and 
 
 op. the oppressive description of the 
 
 23-28. The speaker repeats his Egyptian Anienti, ' The country of 
 
 daily prayer, lie has perhaps conceived heavy sleep and of darkness . . . They 
 
 the idea of resurrection, but no more wake not to see their brothers, they 
 
 dares to cherish it than the speaker of recognize no more father and mother.' 
 
 Job xiv. 14. (Maspero.) 
 
 Critical Note., i f. Read ^r\Vy;V \;l'?l<^ (Hare, Kenn., Bi., Weir, 
 Che.f", Bii., Kau., Driver, &c.), and 'take DV'i or rather U'^y^ (cp. G T), 
 from /. 2. Ci). /. 30. Read ''jlp;,'^*"!. 
 
 7. i\I '•jnnti'n:]. Read Tl|?i:'rpj ; 'ni is wanted for /. 9. The con- 
 fusion was easy. See xxviii. i. 
 
 8. M TK~]^J<i "12J3 . G ws i'lvdpwno'i (l,:ii)rj6t]Tos, unphilological and 
 poor. JTITN in -xxii. 20 is corrupt. Read '7103 1^33 (Isa. xiv. 19). 
 'T'hi, however, represents not only a part of tTJ], but also 'pNi^m^ (see 
 next note). 
 
PSALM LXXXVIII. 6l 
 
 9 f. IM wb'n V23 "'i'Dn D'jIQn (I'asek at close). Driver is 
 • T -; : • : T . .. - 
 
 content with reading ^^'3^ for "'ii^Bn . Duhm remarks that neither ^'ki'Sn 
 
 nor II^^^ gives a sense, and reads ""jnion (Job xl. 13). Probably 
 ^371^;^rn would be better. But the corruption certainly lies deeper. 
 D\"lD and Q^'^tTT should have awakened thoughts of Ezek. x\.\i. 17, 
 xxxii. 20 fif., XXXV. 8, and the whole context should have suggested cxliii. 3, 
 and perhaps xxxi. i^'t- As to 'ti^SH , it has clearly come out of M^IiTTJ 
 (see on /. 7). I do not follow Duhm's objection to ')72D ; it is surely 
 right, only we must read [Dj^D'OD . to match it. A keen investigation of 
 the passages of Ezekiel referred to will show that the poet-prophet 
 alludes to a slaughter of the Jerahmeelites in early times, which was so 
 terrible that it became typical of the heaviest misfortune for fallen 
 warriors (see on xxxi. 13/?)- Taking over Thi, t'-c 7>J?2ni"', from v. 5 
 (end), read '?^<^p^T■]^ ^irjD ^l^Ii^m .—After U'bbn M gives ^2D'lD 
 ~)3.p — a weak phrase not found elsewhere. ^^Dll^j however (G gives no 
 help), is simply a corrupt fragment of a second ^l^li^HJ, which originally 
 perhaps stood in the margin as a correction of ^ti^3n . IZlp is mis- 
 written for 2")n • Read, therefore, as /. 10, 2")n '''7'^n r.23. 
 
 vT ..-:- : 
 
 12. INI l-in: TTTr3. Not Hebrew. Read -Iti'l-IJ T^''^'^ (see on 
 
 t:. ' :t. t:. ' V " •• 
 
 xxxi. 23). 
 
 13 f. M ••jnr. (". "JDii^ (edevTu lie; SO in T'. 9). Read '•JPlIlI^i!! 
 (cxliii. 6, Lam. iii. 6). — M n'l'^iipZl, as if the ocean were meant. Read 
 D"1Q'7i:2 (G S, Houb., Kenn., Gr.), to suit 'ni22- 
 
 15 f. M HD^D - Kenn. compares Ezek. xxiv. 2; so too Siegfr.- 
 Stade. But the passages are hardly parallel. Read pi3^V (Ixxxix. 6).— 
 M ^nut'i^i; highly questionable. Read ^""^Bli^ (see on xviii., /. 9). — 
 M rbb h'^y • G S express >bl^ PD^yn ; 'though B }«} have 8tn\//«X/xa 
 
 T • • ~ T T : ~ v: V 
 
 as well. A* omits it. Gr. rightly adopts this. (BJi., IXi., J"l*3^i ; 
 
 We., nn*i). 
 
 T • • 
 
 18. Duhm reads j"ini;ij'n ; cp. i^^jn^n , Iviii. 5 (K6n., § 336 w, z). 
 
 19 f. M hJ'^J^ S*?! N^D. Obscure, and against parallelism. Read 
 probably ^:2'Av"h^2i\ V3 (cp. vi. 3f.).— M Hl^l ""JT- Noun and 
 verb do not match ; ^T^^J"I would require "'ii^SJ (Jer. xxxi. 25). Merz, 
 HDyi:) '•3T- But why not HDi^l? G vaguely iiaBivrjaav. 2TS 
 connect isi with Aram. 2"T , '\o' melt.'— M ■'Ji?"''ii:.: . More suitably 
 pro (Herz). 
 
 T . 
 
 28. M r^^V'l 'pi^?» ^^ yn fViXeAjjo-zieVv (so SJ)? Or, as most 
 moderns, 'in the "land* o"f Lethe' ('where all things are forgotten,' E V, 
 cp. Job xiv. 21)? T?"^"!, however, is a an. Xey., and even if it existed, 
 and meant ' oblivion,' it would not be a good parallel to TJ^'H. Clearly 
 
62 THE PSALMS. 
 
 the riyht rcadinj,' is D^2V] V"lkSZl (cp. /. 24 and Dan. xii. 2). The >2NT 
 which opens the next chiuse, and which is metrically superfluous, may 
 have arisen out of D^J[*i^J^ > which perhaps stood in the margin. Pasek 
 follows. 
 
 29. ^2K1 lias just been explained. — ^s ^- P^j) ^s Schultens and 
 Griitz saw, should be vy (so G S presuppose). "H^jl^, I formerly 
 thought should be '^niP^'^ (Uuhm, independently, ^"ly^p). But this 
 makes the line (verse) too lony. See next note.— M ^""(Dl^ ^~l^iii?3 
 ^^^^^i . G (randvwdqv = TJ1D^^ (a supposed Imperf. of TJT*3) ? Accord- 
 ing to Herz, who adopts TJVON , (^n^oprjdqv in G also represents *]10S , 
 since in Lev. xxv. 47 this version gives aVo/jfy^ftV for TJ!^. If so, G must 
 have found HJISJ^ untranslatable. Michaelis long ago suggested J<iJl3J< 
 (cp. xxxviii. 9), which Ol., Hu., Gr., &c., favour. '^''Qi^ is, of course, 
 wrong ; ' thy terrors ' might be Tj^jni^^^Jii , though the plur. form J^lQ^hi 
 only occurs in a corrupt passage (Iv. 5). Formerly I ventured to read, 
 mSl*JT ^!2PT '*JlNii'J- It seems to me now, however, a grave cjuestion 
 
 Tt': .TT . 
 
 whether so deeply melancholy a psalm must not originally have contained 
 Some historical (or quasi-historical) references. The statement in z'. 18 
 that a mysterious something surrounds the speaker ' like water ' suggests 
 comparing such a passage as xviii. 5 f. (also xvii. 10 f., Ixix. 3-5 ?). 
 Must not IJJD come from l^i^D and y:2ii (DJ^T) from ':'N,'::m^? 
 And if so, n^lQhJ (which is surely not a synonym for 'Mkf2 , from Ass. 
 appunama^ as Frd. Del. thought \^Prol. 135 ff.]) may more plausibly be 
 corrected into *J'1S^^J than into ;i"l3J^ (see below). — •:;5 f. M's TJilH is 
 hardly right, the plur. form not being in use, while ""Jirin^iJ is a self- 
 evident error. Most read ^JIJHD^ ; a reason for the Kibbus in M is given 
 by Koriig (ii. i, p. 584, n. 2). But is this enough ? DVn~73 is no doubt 
 
 - T 
 
 possible, but is it not rather weak ? Is not Q^D3 enough qualification of 
 "•^IHD ? If historical references in the style of those in other psalms are 
 necessary, the following restoration of //. 33-37 is, at any rate, plausible: — 
 
 2irrj v:)^i ^jk ^jy 
 
 ••::-: - : . . tt 
 
 D^3-iv *'?^^< ^:n3^pn 
 
 • :- •• t: T . '. . 
 
 j"n^^^ ••riua ^iT\r\3 
 
 It is important to notice that, as in parallel cases, MXti'^ does double 
 duty, i.e. both for itself and for Pst^W ■ That ipjD and "f^Di^ are both 
 disguises of ethnics, we have seen already. nj"lE3i< {i.e. "'J133J^) would 
 seem to be, here at least, a correction of ''JIDpn (cp. G's nepua-xov 
 in xviii. 5). ''bv '" -"''''• 7 stands for ^'3'7^J ; it may equally well here 
 
PSALM LXXXIX. — I. 63 
 
 represent vilhi . In "|''jnn , easy transposition and corruption nuist be 
 assumed ; FT comes from Jl ; the final 2 should become the initial letter. 
 "•Jinni^ji is due to a scribe who wrote JllDn^'^ii (for Jm^'^jj) in error ; 
 ■♦J represents D , as often. QVn~'7D is a disguise of D"''?X,^n')"' (xliv. 23. 
 Ivi. 2). 
 
 39 f. Read ^IHh} . ^l") makes /. 39 too long. Read ''^1 ; T belongs 
 to the next word, which should be ^^l^TDI • TJIi/fTD is puzzling. Konig 
 (Synf. 312) suggests -^tH D^yT^. Ba., partly after J S, it^n D^PTQ; 
 
 • T\ : T T 
 
 the readmg "^IVHD is also found. Independently, both Herz and the 
 writer have thought of ^J^flDX^ (0 = "J) ; cp. Job xix. 14. 
 
 PSALM LXXXIX.— I. 
 
 J. ETRAMETERS. As Olsliauseii almost saw, and Bickell has expressly main- 
 tained, Ixxxix. 2-19 (excluding z'v. 4 f.) and w. 20-52 are two distinct psalms (or 
 parts of psalms). The conjecture of J. P. Peters (y B L, 1893, p. 60), that 
 z'v. 10-13 (or 15) may come from an earlier poem, written in Galilee, is a bold 
 inference from an obscure and doubtless corrupt passage {z'. 13). Bickell and 
 Duhm think that both psalms are by the same author. But they are not in the 
 same metre, and if we admit that 7'z'. 4 and 5 were inserted later as a link between 
 the two psalms, it is surely most natural to assume that originally they had no 
 connexion whatever. That pious Israel is the speaker is plain from 7'. 1 compared 
 with vv. 16-19. It is not so obvious, from the traditional text, what is the occasion 
 of the psalm. According to Baethgen, t'Z'. 2-19 are a song of praise for the 
 promise given to David, together with an eulogium of the fortunate lot of Israel, 
 who has such a mighty and gracious God. Duhm's explanation is not very 
 difterent, except that while Baethgen supposes the poet to mean in i/. 19 that the 
 Messianic king, though not yet visible, is ideally pre-existent, Duhm thinks the 
 meaning to be that the existing Asmonrean kingdom is under Vahwc's protection. 
 The truth, however, appears to be that no king at all was spoken of in the 
 original text of v. 19, and that the psalm is really an epinikion. The poet takes 
 up his position in the future, which by faith he realizes as if present (cp. Ps. ix). 
 The great foes of the Jews, called Jerahmeelites, or Ishmaelites, or Cushites, will 
 then have been overthrown, not by Israel's might, but by the prevailing right 
 hand of Yahwe. Ps. Ixxiv.^^j supplies a striking parallel to vv. 10-13 • '^oth 
 passages have been very much misunderstood. On the curious Talmudic 
 ascription of Ps. Ixxxix. to Abraham (the true ' Ezrahile,' or man from the east) 
 see Driver, Introd., p. xxxiii., note. Vv. 10-15 ^^^ treated by Gunbel, Schijpj., 
 pp. 33 f.; see also note ' on the composite character of the psalm. 
 
 Marked: of Ethan the Ezrahite {or Ashhurite ?). i 
 
 I Thy lovingkindnesses, O Yahwe ! I will sing for ever, 2 
 
 Age after age I will make known thy faithfulness. 
 For thou hast destroyed Jerahmeel in thy lovingkindness, 3 
 The sons of Ishmael thou hast bowed down in thy faith- 
 fulness. ^ 
 
 ' (For thou hast said, 'My kindness is built for ever. . .) I have made a 
 covenant with my chosen one, | I have sworn unto David my servant, | thy seed 
 will I make firm for ever, | thy throne will I build for many ages {zv. 4 f.). 
 
64 THE PSALMS. 
 
 And thy wonders became known among the Jerahmeelites,' 6 
 Yea, thy faithfuhiess in the assembly of the Cushites. 
 
 For who in Cush can encounter Yahwe, 7 
 
 10 +Or+ confront Yahwe among the sons of Jerahmeel ? — 
 A God who has proved his terribleness in Asshur and 
 
 Cusham, 8 
 
 Great is he and fearful towards all those of Ishmael. 
 
 [Thou art] Yahwe, the God of hosts (?), 9 
 
 Who is like thee (?) - -^ - 
 
 Thy lovingkindness [thou hast magnified] at the cost ot 
 
 the Jerahmeelites, 
 Thy faithfulness at the cost of the Ishmaelites. 
 
 It is thou that rulest the pride of the sea, 10 
 
 When its billows roar, it is thou that subduest them ; 
 Thou that with thy might didst crush Jerahmeel,'- 1 1 
 
 ;:o That with thy strong arm didst break down thine enemies. 
 
 Thine is Ishmael ; yea thine is Missur ; 12 
 
 Tubal and Jerahmeel, thou didst form them ; 
 It is thou that didst create Zaphon and Yaman, 13 
 
 Rehoboth and Hermon, Cusham and Rimmon. 
 
 Thine is help, with thee is might, 14 
 
 Prevailing is thy hand, triumphant thy right hand : 
 Righteousness and justice are the base of thy throne, 15 
 
 Lovingkindness and truth advance to attend thee. 
 
 Happy the people that know thy fear ! 16 
 
 30 In the light of thy face, O Yahwfe ! do they walk : 
 
 At th}' deeds they exult perpetually, 17 
 
 At thy righteousness, [O Yahwe !] do they shout for joy. 
 
 For thou art our glory, our fortress, 18 
 
 By thy favour it is that our horn becomes high ; 
 For the Jerahmeelites thou hast given over unto us, 19 
 
 Those of Cush and Ishmael we have taken. 
 
 ' Ishmaeliles. - Rehob. 
 
PSALM LXXXIX. — I. 
 
 65 
 
 I. M's text closely resembles Isa. 
 Ixiii. 7 (opening). — 3 f. IM partly su£j- 
 trests a comparison with xxxvi. 6, cxix. 
 89, but the strani^e phraseology com- 
 pels us to look deeper into the text. 
 With the revised text cp. ix. 2 ff. — 5 f. 
 
 The false reading "•/T^0^^ for ^^n^^ 
 in V. 3a went together with a theory 
 that the whole psalm (which is really 
 composite) was a poetic expansion of 
 2 S. vii. 8 ff. Cp. on lxxxix.(-'). Vv. 4 f. 
 may possibly contain, in a misread form, 
 fragments of the true text of //. 5 f. — 7. 
 
 'TJ^79 . Cp. Ixxvii. 12, 15, Ixxviii. 12, 
 Ixxxviii. II, Ex. xv. 11, Isa. xxv. I. 
 The great deeds of redemption, in the 
 l)ast and in the future (cp. Isa. /.f.), are 
 
 referred to. — 8. Sip , ' concourse, 
 multitude,' as Jer. xxxi. 8, xliv. 15, &c. 
 M's D'^Ii'lp 'p is vague ; it might 
 mean ' the assembly of the holy (Is- 
 raelites),' like Dn^DH 'p, cxlix. I, 
 cp. V'ii'lp , xxxiv. 10. This would 
 at first sight seem to be favoured by v. 8, 
 wliich, apart from the context, we should 
 certainly take to refer to the Israelites. 
 
 But WtyD in V. 6a and D"'bK ''Jl in 
 v. 6b (M) may compel interpreters to 
 explain □''ti'lp 'p , as well as TID 
 "ip , of the assembly of the angels (cp. 
 
 Job V. I, XV. 15, Dt. xxxiii. 2 f. ?, 
 Dan. iv. 14). A closer examination of 
 ihe text relieves us from these obscure 
 phrases, not the least peculiar of which 
 is D''itD5i^ for ' the heavenly ones.' 
 
 • -.T 
 
 9. t* "yy^ ' ' instruxit aciem in 
 aliquem,' Jer. 1. 9 ; so IV '3^> Jt^r- 1- 
 
 14. nj^np'? >', 2 s. X. 9, 10, 17. — 
 
 10. The inferior divine beings have 
 supplanted the bne Jerahmeel in the 
 faulty traditional text. — 11 f. Cp. on 
 /. 8, and see crit. n. ; also Ixxvi. , //. 
 23 f. — 14. Cp. Ex. XV. 20. 
 
 17. The sea. See on Ixv. 8. — 
 19. DUst crush, j"1hi31 . So Ixxii. 4, 
 
 T • • ■ ' 
 
 where the oljject of the verb is Cush, 
 as here Jerahmeel or (see crit. note) 
 Rehob. 
 
 21 ff. See on Ixxiv. 16 f. , xcv. 4 f. 
 See E71C. Bib., 'Zaphon.' ' Yaman ' 
 
 is the ]V of Gen. x. 2, Ezek. xxvii. i^. 
 TT _ , -^ 
 
 Isa. Ixvi. 19 ; it is a corruption of 
 
 7^^It2rT~1"' , but probably became the 
 
 name of a special Jerahmeelite dis- 
 trict. — Herinon and Riiinnon too, which 
 are also disguises of 'Jerahmeel,' are 
 probably districts of the Negeb. For 
 the former cp. Josh. xi. 3, 17 (the 
 scene of the events in the original form 
 of the narrative in Josh. xi. was the 
 Negeb; cp. Enc. Bib., 'Shimron'). 
 For Rimmon, cp. ' En-rimmon.' 
 
 27. So xcvii. 2/', cp. Prov. xvi. 12, 
 xxv. 5. — 28. Cp. on Ixi. 8, Ixxxv. 11. 
 
 29. Thy fear, in an objective 
 sense (xix. 10), = the precepts of the 
 religion of Yahwe. 
 
 33 f. j~nN3n , often of the divine 
 glory, as Isa. xlvi. 13, and (of the ark) 
 Ps. Ixxviii. 61, here, however, of 
 Yahwe as the pride of Israel (cp. Isa. 
 XX. 5). — Our horn. See on Ixxv. 5. — 
 35. liliDi ^s Gen. xiv. 20, Hos. xi. 8. 
 
 Critical Noks. i f. M ""ipn • Read inOH (G, Gr.). M's >S2 
 has grown out of a dittographed O {I- 3)- 
 
 3 f. Plainly znr. 3-5 in M are not in order. V. 3 justifies the state- 
 ment in V. I by a reference to a promise of everlasting favour to Israel. 
 The phraseology has points of contact with that of vv. 6 and 9. Vv. 4 
 and 5 introduce a special reference to David and the prophecy in 2 S. vii. 
 13, 16, which does not fit well into the context. Olshausen partly saw 
 the dil^culty, but Bi.(2) was the first to attain a nearly adequate solution. 
 He thought that vv. 3-5 were inserted later to link the two parts together 
 and that the two parts were really independent psalms. This solution is 
 in the main correct, but the form needs modification. V. 3 may seem to 
 II. P 
 
66 THE PSALMS. 
 
 be connected with 7-7'. 4 f. by the word nj!lV But it is at any rate (as 
 we have seen) much more closely connected with 7>v. 6, 9, and it must 
 be evident that HJH^ is wrong ; there is no parallel for the strange 
 comparison of YahwL-'s "IDH to a building. The reading n22^ is con- 
 nected with ^/T'j!! in v. 5 ; the underlying original is probably ^J!l. 
 Having the key to the Psalms in our hands, we have a right to expect a 
 reference to the Jcrahmeelite background of the Psalter. D/IP, as else- 
 where, comes from [D"']'?^Ji2^")^ and W'CiV (followed by Pasek), as 
 occasionally again, from ';?SyDIi'V Cp. on v. 38c!:. Read, — 
 
 
 [Houb.'s view deserves to be better known. He begins v. 3 with 
 D'^U't' O, and V. 4 with TD^ rr\12'i^ O- By an error, the scribe 
 inserted JHIDN after the first instead of after the second O- This is 
 plausible. ^inD and /^"l(2^i have a certain resemblance, so that jTTOK 
 might easily fall out ; a corrector might as easily supply J^1Q^i after the 
 preceding ^3 by an error. y\ — is supported by G J, and adopted by Bi.'i',. 
 Che."i, Ba., Du. Houb.'s view, however (with which Bi.'", Che.''', Du., 
 agree in essentials), is only a makeshift ; the context remains ill- 
 connected. Moreover, vv. 4f. were plainly meant to consist of trimeters, 
 but prefixing m?2hJ~0 or JTl^h} to v. ^a makes it a tetrameter. Ba.'s 
 reading, — 
 
 ' For thou hast said, " For ever shall the building of grace endure," 
 The heaven — like it thou establishest thy faithfulness,' — 
 is hardly a great improvement on the traditional text.] 
 
 7 f. M D"'QIi'. But we expect either a class-name or an ethnic. 
 Dn^DH would be a good || to D^ti^lp, but is too far removed from 
 W12iV- '\D, however, has sometimes arisen out of [D^]T'^?J7^2ti'^ and 
 l£;"7p is often miswritten for ^£!^2■ mil'' might stand, but the occurrence 
 of "^ twice over in the next couplet makes us doubt its correctness. 
 Sometimes it is a fragment of Q''t'hj;;3n")\ and that is probably the case 
 here. Thus we have two variants, "\£)'^ and 'n~V ; the latter is to be 
 preferred (two beats). Read (as /. 7)— 'Tj"'J<j':»3 ':5J<^'::2L:'^2 ^^11"% and in 
 /. 8, for WV1\) read W'^'^2. 
 
 9 f . M pnti^3, 'a poetic sing, for the already in itself poetic Dpnti' 
 (Del.). Surely not. Both here and in v. 38 'pUV comes from ^13 . 
 M npT. Read Ulp^.- ^ Q''^^* '^^3. Read ':5NVorn"' "'JIl^ (see 
 crit. note on xxix. i). 
 
 II f. M D^Z^lp nD3. Read Dt^DI -iT-i'StZ-— M HZl, adverb.? 
 G yiiyas. Read KIH 3"], Gr., Bii.— I^f TTnip. Read D'^N^DIi'^ (see 
 on Ixxvi. 12). 
 
PSALM LXXXIX. — I. 67 
 
 13-16. The material is scanty for a quatrain. In /. 13 insert ^J^^<. 
 In /. 15 ]'Dn (followed by Pasek) is an Aramaiziny an. Xey., and very 
 suspicious (but see Del., and cp. "jbrT Am. ii. 9; not correct in Is. i. 31). 
 The neighbourhood of 'Jl^i^ suggests "^IDH (so Bi.). ']'"m2""2D should 
 be DvNj^I^li'^^ ; cp. /. 12. This suggests that n\ just before, should be 
 D^/^J/'2^"^^^. But this 4th stanza, including lines i and 2. is uncertain. 
 G's 8vvaTos el, Kvpif, is no real reading. 
 
 18. M Kii:r3. Read probably jllN'^^/a (Gunkel). Gr. pi^l^a ; 
 Herz, ]ii<}^1. G Koi t6u (or tov 8e) adXov. — M DFTBIi^J^- G 7rpavvets= 
 DpTlIi'D ?' Better to read Dl^BDJH- Cp. on Ixv. 8. * 
 
 19 f. M 3n"l 7'?niD. Why '^trtD ? Experience too warns us 
 
 - T T T V 
 
 to distrust ^ilH (title of Egypt). See on Ixxxvii. 4, Ezek. xxxi. 17 f. 
 
 Read— [ani] '^S^ujn^^, r^n'22 ; nn~) is a variant to 'niV— M I^I^B. 
 
 Read probably r\i-\B (Ix. 3). ' 
 T : -T 
 
 21 f. M gives a sense which in any other context would be satis- 
 factory. Here, however, we do not expect generalities about God's 
 universal lordship. The case of Ixxiv. 16 f, xcv. 4 f , is exactly parallel. 
 Read— 
 
 T : - : T - . - ••. 
 
 22 f. In this context ]li)"i and yo"* (G, however, daXdaaas or -av = 
 Q\^'' or □■•) should be N. Arabian districts, and this consideration also 
 
 T 
 
 determines the reference of 112/1 and P/'DIPF, if both these words are 
 correctly read. But how can they be right .'* It is usual to suppose that 
 Tabor represents the west, and Hermon the east (so 01.. Del., Cooke in 
 Enc. Bib., 'Tabor'); J. P. Peters, however, takes Tabor to mean the 
 south, and Hermon the north. These views imply that Palestine, and 
 not N. Arabia, is referred to. But apart from this, how can Tabor, 
 which is in the north-central district of Palestine, be used for one of the 
 four quarters, and even coupled with Mt. Hermon? (It is not in itself 
 a high mountain, though it may strike us as such as Me approach it from 
 the south; Tabor, 2018 ft.; Hermon, 9050). 113/1, as perhaps in 
 Jer. xlvi. 18, and as "II^lD in Ezek. xxxviii. 12, should be jUIin")- 
 pSirr too may stand as a Negeb name (a popular corruption of 
 ^N;::!!")'').— M IJJi; "^lyij^.. How can this be ^ The phrase belongs 
 to Israel, not to natural objects like mountains. Nor is a good 
 parallelism produced. Read (comparing QJIi' in Ix. 8, "]li^D in cxx. 5) 
 I'lDH DI^DI- 'Rimmon' is a Xegcb name. 
 
 25. M yy\\. Read ITy.— M D^^- Read tjJSX' (Ges.). 
 
 29. M ninir^. Read TTj-ij^-i'' . TTjTiijI is less probable. 
 
 T : ' V T :• ' V T 
 
68 THE PSALMS. 
 
 31 f. M Ty;;2^3- Read probably ?J''':i>^^*:52l (cp. on cxxxviii. 2). — 
 M T0T1V Pafailelism requires ^22'y'y So Ba. ; Gr, ^j'lV Insert 
 mn^ (metre). 
 
 33 f. Read probably 1^!;l»:::T ^^nnj^3j"1""'3-— Kr. DTin is better 
 than Kt. Dnjl (cp. 7'. 25<5i). Tajiparently reads D31p. 
 
 35 f. M and G both presuppose an impossible text (cp. Ba.). To 
 take the initial ^ in mn^*? as asseverative (Grimme, OLZ, June, 1899, 
 col. 195, Wellh.) is farfetched; on Eccles. ix. 4, see Siegfried, but also 
 Haupt, in Oriental Studies {V>o%\.ox\^ 1894), p. 264, n. 3. Read probably — 
 
 ^j'? n:i3D '?^<D^-l^ ^3 
 
 T T :- • ••::-: 
 
 PSALM LXXXIX.— 2. 
 
 1 RiiMETERS. A poetic version of the promises to David and his house in 2 Sam. 
 vii. 8 ff., which serves to point the contrast of present calamity and distress. The 
 very people which the ancient revelation mentioned as the destined subject of 
 David and his house now tyrannizes over the heir of the promises, viz. pious 
 Israel. The host of Israel, which, according to another psalmist (xviii. 38 — 43), 
 was to put the armies of the aliens to flight, has been discomfited ; Israel is no 
 longer an imperial power, but a mark for the insults of his neighbours. Where is 
 God's old lovingkindness ? — Here, as elsewhere, the question arises. Does the 
 poet throw himself back imaginatively into the time of the fall of the kingdom, or 
 does he refer to some almost forgotten episode in the later period ? We need not 
 embarrass ourselves with finding out some one who could be called Vahwe's 
 anointed, whether Jehoiachin (Sellin), or Zerubbabel (Sellin, formerly), or 
 Sheshbazzar (Winckler, virtually) ; for IH^Ii'O (j'^'- 39, 52) is most probably 
 corrupt. It is possible, however, that there was a temporary revival of the Jewish 
 nationality, and that the occasion of Ps. lxxxix.(-J is the disappointment of the 
 hopes excited by this short-lived renascence. The psalm may be grouped with 
 xliv.'2) and Ixxx. Cp. introd. to Ps. Ixxx. 
 
 I 1 '^' -'• "^^ * 20 
 
 >;: * -A- * 
 
 I have sent help to a hero, 
 
 I have caused to triumph a 3'oung warrior from the people : 
 
 I have found David my servant, 21 
 
 From Jeshimon-kadesh I have drawn him, 
 Whose hand shall make peoples bow down, 22 
 
 Yea, his arm shall wound them ; 
 
 The Arabian shall not oppress him, 23 
 
 10 The son of Jerahmeel shall not afflict him ; 
 
 I will shatter his foes before him, 24 
 
 And smite down those that hate him ; 
 
 1 Then thou spakesl in a vision | To thy pious ones, and saidst. 
 
PSALM LXXXIX. — 2. 69 
 
 My faithfulness and lovingkindness shall be beside him, 25 
 Through my name shall his horn become high ; 
 I will lay his hand on Yaman, 26 
 
 His right hand on the streams. 
 
 He shall call upon me, ' Thou art my father, 27 
 
 My God, my rock of deliverance ' ; 
 
 I also will make him my firstborn, 28 
 
 20 Sovereign among earth's kings. 
 
 My kindness will I keep for him for ever, 29 
 
 My covenant shall be stedfast towards him : 
 His offspring will I make eternal, . 30 
 
 His throne as the days of heaven. 
 
 If his sons forsake my law, 31 
 
 And walk not in mine ordinances. 
 
 If they profane my statutes, 32 
 
 And keep not my commandments, 
 
 I will punish their transgression with the rod, 33 
 
 30 Their offence with strokes ; 
 
 But my lovingkindness I will not withdraw from him, 34 
 
 Nor will I become false to my troth : 
 
 My covenant I will not profane, 35 
 
 Nor alter what has passed my lips ; 
 
 One thing I have sworn by my holiness, 36 
 
 1 will never become faithless to David : 
 
 His offspring shall endure for ever, 37 
 
 And his throne as the sun before me : 
 
 The Jerahmeelites shall bow down unto him, 38 
 
 40 Cush and Ammon shall serve him. 
 
 But now thou hast spurned and rejected, 39 
 
 Thou hast vented thy fury on thy loyal one ; 
 Thou hast profaned the glory of thy servant, 40 
 
 His diadem thou hast hurled to the ground. 
 
 Thou hast broken down all his fences, 41 
 
 Thou hast brought his fortresses to ruin : 
 All that pass along the road lay him waste, 42 
 
 He is a mark for the insults of his neighbours. 
 
70 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Thou hast Hfted up the right hand of his foes, 43 
 
 50 Thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice ; 
 
 Yea, thou turnest his host backward, 44 
 
 And hast not held him up in the battle. 
 
 Thou hast removed his glorious sceptre, 45 
 
 And hurled his throne to the ground ; 
 
 Thou hast made him drunken with wine that bewilders, 46 
 Thou hast covered him with shame. ^ 
 
 Where are th}' lovingkindnesses, O Lord! 50 
 
 Which thou didst swear unto David in th}' faithfulness ? 
 O remember the contumelies of the Arabians, 51 (52) 
 
 •Forget not the insults of the Jerahmeelites.- 
 
 Subscription to Book III. 
 Blessed be Yahwe for evermore. Amen and Amen. 
 
 1-4. The opening words, though 
 of doubtful origin, state quite correctly 
 that what follows is based on 2 S. vii. 
 8-16. PTH; so in i Ch. vii. 15; 
 
 ivjn in 2 s. vii. 17. -nna = n^j, 
 
 as Ixxviii. 31, 63, Am. iv. 10. D^~in , 
 to ' cause to triumph,' cp. QTI , Ivii. 6, 
 12. Note ~1T>*, ' help' = ' victory.' 
 
 6. From Jesbliuon - kadesli, 
 
 i.e. from the wilderness vvhere David 
 wandered before the change in his 
 fortunes. Cp. i S. xiv. i, ' Behold, 
 David is in tlie wilderness of En-gedi ' 
 (rather ' En-kadcsh'). See crit. note. 
 — 7 f Cp. xviii. 39. 
 
 15 f. See on Ixxii. 8. The streams 
 are presumably the ' wadys ' of the 
 Negeb. The term is conventional ; 
 cp.' /T)D "inj (Penith = Ephrath). 
 
 19 f. My firstborn. Israel 
 (Ex. iv. 22) or Ephraim (Jer. xxxi. 9) 
 is called Yahwe's ' firstborn son.' — 
 
 Sovereign ("JV7y). Israel too is called 
 ^elyon, Dt. xxvi. 19, xxviii. i in relation 
 
 to the goy'tm, or ' nations.' — 24. As the 
 days of heaven. So Dt. xi. 21 (of the 
 duration of Israel). 
 
 35. One tblng-, nflK , indicat- 
 ing the solemnity of the statement. 
 Cp. l.xii. 12. So Del., Duhm, &c. 
 Bii. prefers ' once ' ; G a.TTaL\. 
 
 41. Here begins the psalmist's 
 complaint of the non-fulfilment of 
 Yahwe's promises. — 42. Thy loyal one, 
 i.e. pious Israel. The reference of 
 'thine anointed' (so M) is disputed. 
 According to Hitzig, the Jewish people 
 is meant. Certainly the people must 
 Ije referred to in all those passages 
 which speak of long-continued suffer- 
 ings. Moreover, in v. 51 we have 
 ' tliy servants,' and vc. 41 f are clearly 
 based on Ixxx. 13, and refer to the 
 jieople. It is quite possible for an 
 imperial people, such as Israel, ideally, 
 was, to be described as having a 
 ' diadem,' a ' sceptre,' and a ' throne ' 
 (cp. Isa. Iv. 3), and it would be only a 
 step farther to call this people Yahwe's 
 'anointed.' Still it is very doubtful 
 whether this last step was actually 
 
 ' How long wilt thou hide thy lovingkindness ? | +how long+ shall thy wrath 
 imrn like fire? || (v. 47). 
 
 - O remember the Jerahmeelites [Ishmaclites], | the contumelies of all the 
 sons of Edom. 1! The contumelies of tiie Jerahmeelites, the Ishmaelites, the 
 Asshurites. Vv. 48, 49, 50 (part). || The Cushites {v. 52). 
 
PSALM LXXXIX. — I, 2. 7I 
 
 taken. The terms ' king ' and ' anointed illusion, and that the period of national 
 
 one,' when the people of Israel are independenLC seemed to ont who lan- 
 
 refcrred to, both seem to have arisen guished under a foreign yoUe a time 
 
 tlirous^h corruption. See on xxviii. 8, of youthful vii;our which mij;ht have 
 
 Ixxxiv. 10, and see crit. note. lasted on indefinitely? At any rate, 
 
 _ J- c- I- ^ ,. the parallel line does not f.ivour this 
 
 47 f. bee precechng note. — '^K. ■ r .u •> 
 
 o , ' , ■ ^ , Ml view of the poet s meanm". 
 
 bee on Ix. 5, and cnt. note. M has '■ ° 
 
 ' thou hast shortened the days of his r a ,1 ■ .-•■on- 
 
 youth.' The meaning is not clear. 57 f- An allusion to 2 b. vii. 8 ff. ; 
 
 Can we say that there is here a pathetic cp. Isa. Iv. 3/^. "]^~TDrT , as v. 2. 
 
 Critical Notes. 1-4. M's "\y\ j"l~12~I Thi may contain fragments of 
 the true te.xt. "^^"T^orT ; so the Gk. vss. {jo'i^ oaion aov ; G's v'uns must 
 be a corruption), except S', which has to'is Trpoc()r]Tais <tov ; so too TSJ, 
 Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Baer, Ginsb. Some MSS. and many edd., however, 
 have the sing, suft'., which suits 2 S. vii. 4. Cp. on xvi. 10. — In /. 3 read 
 m2J~b'h} ")Ty Tinii (cp. ''^, -xlii. 9, xliv. 5). Most (Venema, 01., Hu., 
 Kau., Hal., Du.) change MG's ITj; into "10 (cp. 7'. 40/^). But the text- 
 reading suits m^lJ better. 
 
 6. M Vnrrtyp '''^Ip ]'01^^ (cp. Ex. xxv. 6), implying that the king 
 
 was consecrated as a priest; cp. Weinel, ZATIV, 1S98, p. 59. But 
 
 nothing is said of this in 2 S. vii. 8. Most probably in that passage (see 
 
 Crit. Bib.), as in l.xxviii. 21 f., the true text specifies by name the district 
 
 or region from which David was taken. Read V;^3'^,:2 '^ID ^V2"'::'^'0 • 
 
 • : - : •• T • • 
 
 7. Read D-^y ^"''^PO ''"''' "1'>^^ • ^'s S'BV V2r\ is not fully 
 justified by Ixxviii. 2)7- Besides, something stronger is required. — 
 8. Read U'ir\^r\ ^V'*^^^"^"^ ■ 
 
 9 f. As Herz remarks, M's S^r"'"S'? has very little sense, whatever 
 meaning we give to the verb. He would read D'CN~J>\'7 (cp. I S. xxvi. 
 19), and thinks that G's ov Trpoa-dTjaei implies a marginal gloss or a second 
 rendering of Jl'DM as Pi'^Z^i^ . which is represented by nfiua-TiSii^i in Ixii. 
 ii,ci. 3. ' Of course, the difficulty in this hypothesis is to account for 
 the third person.' I agree that ^} is dittographic, but think that we must 
 read t^il''"S'7 . l"!.^, too, should probably be ''2'^y_ (as often), and in 
 /. 10 n^lV'IZl (so in 2 S. vii. 10) should be '^N^HT ]il. 
 
 15. M ^^3,- Read IQ'H = '7Nronn"'2 ; see exeg. no:e. 
 
 T- TT ; 
 
 31. M T3hJ. Read TDS" (01., Hu., Gr., Bi., Ba., &c.). Cp. 2 S. 
 
 • T • T 
 
 vii. 17. I Chr. xvii. 13. 
 
 39 f. M's D'^iy liH*" rr")"!! is an editor's correction of a corruptly 
 written D'''?i^arn"' V/ ^iny'- ' Cp. on /. 7. The nbu which closes v. 38 
 comes from a fragment of t'NQn")'' (a correction). — For pH^'.^ IV^ 
 1DNJ read beyond doubt ]byi f^D ^miZipv ^P' °" "''• '^- ^'°^ 
 another suggestion see Jc-u'. Rd. Life, p. 109 f. Duhm is content with 
 reading 'jroXJ pnii'if I'ly^T, 'and as long as the sky lasts, it (the 
 throne) is constant.' 
 
72 THE PSALMS. 
 
 41. Read nnV\ (Gr.).— 43- ^I Hj^Hi^J . Read probably nr^n^Q 
 (and so in Lam. ii. 7), transposin;^ this word and phyJl- 2 els Kcirapiiv 
 eSojKa?, as if nnilN . Herz, rrjTlDl^ or nn':'>'J ^— ^l' jinB. Read 
 /^"1^}^J^ , as in Isa. xlii. 6 (see Cri/. Bib.). 
 
 47. M ^HD'i' ; G dirjpTTaaav. But just before, breaking down and 
 ruining is referred to. Read ^Ql^n (Ixxix. 7). Transposition ; confusion 
 of ;:: and D- 
 
 51. M iinn 11^ ; G ri]v Sioi]6iiav TTjs pOfi(f}aias avrov. Del., with 
 insufficient justification, 'the edge of his sword' ; Bil., 'with his sword 
 which is as flint.' For ~nii, Duhm ~l-iJ*2 , Gratz ■>i^^} • Both rightly 
 refer to xliv. 11, but neither sees that 12~)n has also to be corrected. 
 That Gr. should not have noticed where "^^^^^ lies hid is really strange. 
 Read ihJQil "linhJ . See xliv. \ob, i\a. 
 
 T : T 
 
 53. M i"inZ3*2 ) G diTo Kadapia-fjLov avrov (avTOv) ; A2 ttjv KadapoTTjra 
 avTov; cp. Kon., Sjni., p. 35. Read Slh HZS!^ (Herz) ; cp. Zech. vi. 13, 
 I Chr. xxix. 25, Dan. xi. 21. Less easily and less elegantly, Ba. and 
 Sellin read iT,:2 ,113^ . 
 
 T • V - 
 
 55 f. M V:2'bv ''?3'. .miiip.rT. No doubt, God may be said to 
 ' shorten days,' but in this case Vi!3l'7J7 is not a natural qualification. Gr. 
 proposes V(2l'?'yi' or ']72i'7\D ■ But the H line suggests that the corruption 
 lies deeper. Read probably r\h}?~}D l""*^ 1n"13^n (cp. Ix. 5). [G'^ roi 
 
 Bpovov avTov ; G'^ XR°'^°^! i-^- i'^/'li^ •] The H/D at the end of vv. 46 and 
 49 represents t'[N]i!3n["1^], which was probably a marginal correction 
 belonging to v. 48. [In v. 47 read probably TflCTT TTIDP. ; cp. on 
 Ixxiv. I, Ixxix. 5 (xiii. 2).] 
 
 57(^z, 59 f. M gives us these two lines in two forms {la.b.^v.'^i; 2 a.b. 
 = 7'. 52). The beginning of/. 59 is given nearly correctly in ?'. ^la ; it is 
 n-Din h}J"-lbr. In V. S2a IDT has given place to -)Ii»^^ , and J-)[l]3"in 
 has become 13~in- The beginning of /. 60 has to be recovered from 
 'pTT^^J^NIi^ in 7^ 51^. Parallelism suggests nyi^Jl ^i^ , and (omitting 
 "•p as = a dittographed f D) we can without violence extract this from 
 ["•]rrn''nNi:' . The "yj which follows '<p''112 in v. Sib, and the DMpV >» 
 V. S2b both represent JlQ'^p ; see on vi. 8, and cp. Pedes, Anal., 14, 28. 
 (Bo., Bi., B;i., Kau., partly agree; see also ST.) It remains to find out 
 what are the nouns with which ngin and jlbT'D are in construction. 
 V. 51 gives Tjn^y and Wtliy! W3r\ ; v. 52 ^"'^''iS and Tjn'li'i^- 'The 
 contumelies of thy servants' is, of course, a possible phrase, but it is not 
 so natural as ' the contumelies of thine enemies,' or rather (for D^^nP is 
 clearly the common original of *]n3y and ^^2"'TN), 'of the Arabians.' 
 If so, both D^DJ.' D^I}"! and ■]n"'Z'D must conceal some ethnic or ethnics. 
 The key to the former is supplied by D^ ^3''")*2 in xviii. 44a ; both the 
 groups of letters compared are corruptions of D^'^N^Sm*'. The key to the 
 
PSALM XC. 73 
 
 latter is identical with the key to ']2D^ in v. 13 ; both words are most 
 probably corruptions of D^'^i^O • To the couplet now restored 7'. 48, in 
 its true form, appears to be a variant, while v. 49, in its true form, is a 
 variant to part of i'. 48, and one word in ?/. 50, viz. D^ili^J^")!! . or rather, 
 DmnrX is an additional gloss on (D"1h<) Dli<~"'Jl"'?D -^ Duhm omits 
 ^pTt^ in t'. 51^ as a late insertion, and reads D'Qy/2 2"'1~'73 , and in 
 V. 5i(j ^1337 = ^n^ti';;^ c/. 52. 'The heels of thine anointed one' 
 implies, according to Duhm, that the king (Alexander Jannieus) is a 
 fugitive, nbv, like ^M^IU {v. 49), is a fragment of bii)^u)TD''. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 PSALM XC. 
 
 1 RIMETERS. Verses 1-12 are so difficult that we may do well, in forming a 
 view of the psalm, to start from verses 13-16(17). From these it is plain that, 
 unless the psalm is made up of two distinct poetic fragments, the theme of the 
 work is "S'ahwe's painful desertion of his people during a long-continued national 
 misfortune (cp. Olsh., Wellh.). It is, therefore, plain that for the psalm in its 
 present state a later editor must be held responsible. The actual incoherence is 
 indeed very great. The everlastingness of God is the subject of it'. i, 2, 4 ; the 
 perishableness of men that of z<v. 3 and 5a ; the shortness of human life that of 
 vv. 5/', 6, 10, 12. In z'v. 7-9 the misfortunes of the nation are explained as a 
 proof of the divine anger, and though this is not directly stated, we are allowed to 
 infer from the concatenation of the verses that the shortness of life itself arises 
 from the divine anger at sin. What religious poet would have written thus ? 
 Neither as a contemplation of the nature of God and of man, nor as an appeal to 
 Yahwe cfe profiindis, can Ps. xc. be pronounced a satisfactory poem ; and if we 
 look at Ps. xxxix. (which in its present form has considerable resemblance to 
 Ps. XC, but in the light of criticism becomes a composite poem, in which the 
 original part has been both manipulated and, in its tendency, modified by the 
 alterations and additions of an editor) we shall see that the solution of the problem 
 here proposed is by no means strange or unparalleled. (Cp. also onlxxxix. 48f). The 
 solution referred to is that the original psalm had a definite historical background. 
 It was an appeal of oppressed Israel to Yahwe for help and (see 6'. 15) compensation, 
 based on the close relation between itself and its God. The greatness of the 
 Jerahmeelites may be of ancient origin, but the protection of Israel by Yahwe is 
 still older. Much of the text, however, became illegible, and much perhaps failed 
 to satisfy the editor, who, therefore, recast a large part of it so as to convey a more 
 permanently valuable message. The rewritten portion contains vv. 1-12, but 
 ■w. 1-4 can with considerable probability be restored to their original form. 
 
 The following are the chief points of contact between this psalm and other 
 literary works : — 
 
 Line I : TJ^;^ . PJ^i^ , ' shelter, fortress,' xxvii. I, xxviii. 8 (?), xxxi. 3, 5, 
 xxxvii. 39, xliii. 2, Ixxi. 3 (c.t.), xci. 9 (c.t.), Deut. xxxiii. 27 (c.t.). 
 
 1 Vv. 48 f. should run thus (cp. the parallel corrections of corruptly written 
 ethnics elsewhere, e.g. in xxxix. 5), — 
 
 DHSJ "^:n~'7D j-i3"in 
 
 As in Ps. xxxix., G presupposes an already corrupt text. 
 
74 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Line 2 : "l'71 "1*77, see especially Ixxxix. 2. 
 
 3 : Antiiiuity of Jerahmeel, cp. Num. xxiv. 7, 20(i [in -'. 8, w D^<"^ 
 
 is a corruption of t'MiwrT~l\ parallel to D'ljii'2]. 
 7 f . : Cp. xciv. 4 f., and other parallels (crit. note on //. 1-8, end). 
 9 f. : Cp. xxxvii. 2, ciii. 15 f., and especially Isa. Ixiv. 5 [6], 'we all 
 
 fade as leaves.' 
 12 : 7n3J of anguish such as precedes death; cp. vi. 3 f., 11, xxx. 8, 
 
 civ. 29, lie. 
 14-16 : See crit. notes. 
 
 17-20: Cp. Gen. xlvii. 9, Job ix. 25 f., Isa. xxxv. 10. 
 22 : Cp. Joel ii. 11^. — 25. Cp. vi. 4, 5, xciv. 3. — 26. Cp. Dt. xxxii. 36, 
 
 Ex. xxxii. 12. 
 27 : "lp3Zl ; cp. xxx. 6, xlvi. 6, cxliii. 8 (not xlix. 15). 
 
 29: j"li*3^_ (for "'Q]'), again only Dt. xxxii. 7 (as here, beside jHIJ'!' , 
 
 assonance, therefore). 
 31: 7Pi3 , of Yahwe's historical 'working' for his people, as xcii. 5, 
 xcv. 9, Ixxviii. 13, cp. xliv. 2. 
 
 Prayer. Of the Jsh?nae/Ues \_Jerahmeelites\ . r 
 
 I O Lord ! thou wast our stronghold, 
 Our God age after age,' 
 
 Before thou didst exalt Jerahmeel, 2 
 
 And didst magnify Missur and Ishmael. 
 
 Mayest thou put Ishmael to flight, 3 
 
 And say, Be disappointed, ye sons of Edom ! 
 For the Jerahmeelites tread thy people down, 4 
 
 The Ishmaelites, the Arabians, and the Misrites. 
 
 Editorial (Jl. Q-22). 
 
 II Like grass which in the morning sprouts, 5, 6 
 
 10 But in the evening fades and withers, 
 
 So through thine anger we perish, 7 
 
 Through thine indignation we are affrighted. 
 
 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, 8 
 
 Our treason in front of thy countenance ; 
 Our doings are like spiders' webs, 9 
 
 Our works have been crushed like locusts. 
 
 The days of our pilgrimage have fled, 10 
 
 Our years [have been swifter] than eagles, 
 They have fled through trouble and calamity, 
 20 F()r kindness and piety are at an end. 
 
 ' Before the mountains were brought forth, 
 And thou hadst accomplished the works of the earth (z'. ia). 
 
30 
 
 PSALM XC. 75 
 
 Who can withstand the violence of thine^anger, ii 
 
 Or abide the fierceness of thy fury ? 
 
 Show the Jerahmeehtes their iniquities, 12 
 
 Yea, punish the sons of Jerahmeel. 
 
 Turn hither, O Yahwe ! how long ? 1 3 
 
 Relent over thy servants. 
 
 Satisfy us early with thy kindness, 14 
 
 That all our days we may shout with gladness. 
 
 Make us glad as many days as thou hast afBicted us, 15 
 
 As many years as we have seen misery : 
 
 Let thy doing appear to thy servants, 16 
 
 And thy magnificence to their [children's] children. 
 
 Liturgical Appendix. 
 
 Let thy brightness, O Yahwe ! be +seen+ over us, 17 
 
 The work of our hands do thou establish. 
 
 3 f. Before thou didst exalt, 
 
 &c. 'Jerahmeel,' in the haze of tradi- 
 tion, took vast proportions to the 
 Israehtes. Cp. Num. xxiv. 7, ' his 
 king shall be higher than Agag ' ; v. 20, 
 ' Anialek was the first of the nations ' 
 (see also on Am. vi. i). Cp. introd. 
 
 5. One's impression is that the N. 
 Arabians had combined to overpower 
 and oppress Israel (cp. Ixxiv., Ixxxiii., 
 xciv.). It is the purpose of destroying 
 Yahwe's people which tiiose who sang 
 these words prayed might be 'dis- 
 appointed.' 
 
 9. There is a marked change in 
 the subject, whatever. interpretation we 
 put upon vv. 1-4. ^"^n^j Del. renders 
 'sprouts again.' This is strictly correct, 
 but the emphasis is not on the succes- 
 sion of generati(jns, but on the brevity 
 of Israel's life as a community. Pro- 
 bably the writer thinks, not of j\b:)ses 
 and the Exodus, but of a more recent 
 foundation (cp. v. \Tb). He is only a 
 * supplementer,' but he sincerely feels 
 
 the much-loved commonplaces which 
 he once more repeats to edify his 
 people. 
 
 19 f. The ' trouble and calamity' 
 spoken of are the result of the prevail- 
 ing cruelty and impiety. 
 
 21-24. The N. Arabians may be 
 Yahwe's agents, but they are none the 
 less transgressors of his fundamental 
 laws, and have exceeded the limits of 
 their commission (cp. Dt. xxxii. 36, 
 Isa. xlvii. 6, li. 23). 
 
 29 f. Yahwe being a ' God of justice ' 
 (Isa. XXX. 18), a proportion can be 
 expected between happiness and misery; 
 at any rate, the latter should not exceed 
 the former, for the Israelites are Yahwe's 
 ' servants.' 
 
 31 f. t'VS ; see introd.— nirr. 
 The glory of Yahwe's self-manifestation. 
 — 34. The work of our hands, i.e. the 
 full establishment of a law-obeying, 
 righteous community. 
 
 Critical Notes. Title. r\'^'d^ has not been adequately accounted 
 for. There is so little plausibility in the view that Ps. xc. has Mosaic 
 authorship (see Hupf.-Now.), that one is bound to look farther for an 
 explanation. Saadya {ap. Neubauer, Stiidia Biblica, ii., 12) understood 
 T\^r:> as=:ni:'*J "^izb (see I Chr. xxiii. 14. cp. '"inS"'? in Chr.= X -JQ) 
 
76 THE PSALMS. 
 
 i.e. the psalm was to be sung by the bne Most;, who were at the king's 
 
 court. It is presumable, however, that the true title was one of those 
 
 current elsewhere in the Psalter, and if so, considering the title of 
 
 Ps. Ixxxix., and remembering numerous analogous corruptions in the 
 
 titles, it seems not impossible that Q^n'7J«}n"Ii'^N may be an editor's 
 
 conjectural emendation of a corrupt form of the words 'mTJ^n lD\l'? . 
 
 • • t: V T T .. : 
 
 TW*2r> may be another such emendation of the corrupt Vki'Dl or 
 
 "Wt^"!, the original of which was QVyi^T = ' marked ' (see Enc. Bib., 
 col. 3945). More probably, however, -q)^)^ TVV'l^ = bii^f^^'^, and 
 DTl'^i^n = biSOHT. Cp. on title of Ps. xcii. 
 
 1-8. The commentators have naturally found this passage {vz/. 1-4) 
 in M (with which G in the main agrees) very difficult. In vv. i, 2 two 
 ideas seem to be interwoven, to the great detriment of the sense, 
 viz. the close relation between Israel and its God, and the eternity of 
 Yahwe. In v. 3 we apparently have a statement of the perishableness 
 of man, based on Gen. iii. 19. but the phraseology is very strange, and 
 V. 2>b in particular is susceptible of more than one interpretation. V. 4 
 does not continue this subject, but goes back to that of the divine 
 eternity, which it illustrates by two figures, where one (as Duhm justly 
 remarks) would have been more effective. The position of Ps. xc. 
 between Pi. Ixxxix. and xci., xcii., xciv., leads us to suppose that Ps. xc. 
 is by no means such a vague composition as it may appear. The 
 original text must have contained references to special historical circum- 
 stances, and instead of following Duhm, who omits the words in f. i 
 concerning Yahwe's relation to Israel, we should rather omit those in 
 V. 2 concerning the eternity of Yahwe. It is noteworthy that the 
 distich in z'. 2a suggests a reminiscence of Prov. viii. 25 f., and that 
 it would be more appropriate in a description of the antiquity of the 
 divine Wisdom than in a hymn on the eternity of the divine Creator; for, 
 since both the mountains and the earth in general were created by 
 Yahwe, it is a poor thing to say that before anything had been created 
 the Lord was. This suggests that the distich referred to was not a free 
 composition of the editor, but based upon genuine material which had 
 become indistinct and obscure. Can we detect the underlying genuine 
 words ? We have a right to be hopeful, because in vv. zb, 3, and 4, 
 there are several words which, as experience shows, are very likely 
 to be corruptions of ethnic names. These words are {a) d'pIPD, which 
 in Gen. vi. 4, i S. xxvii. 8, Isa. Ixiii. 19, Ezek. xxvi. 20, Alic. v. i, is a 
 corruption of [Q"']':'X:jn~l'' ; {b) Dl^<, which can be as well Ql^< as 
 Dll^ (cp. on Ixxxix. 48) ; (t) ':'iaj~liV}, which in Mic. ii. 8 (see also on 
 I S. iv. 7) is a corruption of '^Kr^m'*; [d) ")^^\ which may be 
 illustrated by D"*"!!!;/* = D'Hny in Jer. xxii. 20, and elsewhere ; 
 {e) mT^i:;^, which is not far from QnJiD; and (/) n'?^'?, which in 
 xci. 5 (cp. xvi. 10) comes from '^hJ^mV The only solution possible 
 under these circumstances now comes into view. We must read //. 3 
 and 4 thus, — 
 
PSALM XC. 77 
 
 Y"1^} for "ITjiO, as Ixxvi. 13, &c., cp. Ixxxiii. 8 (l^ii). b2r\ for "i:;"' ; 
 cp. 73^I1j~1N , I K. xvi. 31, for Ahab's wife was really a Misrite (see 
 Cri/. Bib.). 7inil or ^J^DO (Josh. xix. 4, i S. xxx. 27) is less probable ; 
 indeed, this name itself may per/iaps come from 7Nr!!3Ii'^- We are now 
 free not only from the awkward "YV)'' and 7^^'^^^ , but also from the 
 impossible '^^Pi) V"'^^ • (^^ Prov. viii. 31 read l^ilhJ DD^^*?^ ; on 
 Job xxxviii. 12, see Duhm.) We also understand the propriety of the 
 Pasek in t'. 2n. 
 
 The closing words of 7'. 2 must have grown out of DT'lJ/*i2 , which 
 is a corrupt dittogram of 7j^Dm^ (or perhaps a corruption of a 
 marginal correction) ; they may be disregarded. The metre of lines 
 3 and 4 is now perfect. But what of lines 1 and 2 ? Since X\y'2 does 
 not mean 'refuge,' Houb. long ago proposed ]'\'^'!2 (so read in Ixxi. 3, 
 xci. 9). But this is not enough. To preserve metre and parallelism, 
 read — 
 
 ^\p^'i^ i>iy^ ^:)7S' 
 
 T - "•: T T -: 
 
 111 "I'm ^yph^ 
 
 T : •• v: 
 
 We now pass on to lines 5-8. '2.'^r\ clearly ought to have a jussive 
 force. V^1'i^ is too vague, nor can J^3T"Ij7 ('unto atoms,' Driver) be 
 safely admitted. "1^ '^^1'ik is more than probably ^MPQti^'' (cp. on 
 Ivi. 2, Jer. xvii. 16), while SDT may possibly have come from linj^ 
 
 T 
 
 (cp. ix. 4, Ivi. 10), and D~It< should no doubt be read D"!}"?- Lines 5 
 and 6 should therefore run thus, — 
 
 T •• T : • •• T 
 
 Lines 7 and 8 are more difficult. The subtlety of the first comparison 
 in M may be admitted, but, as we have seen, there is a second less 
 effective one, and even as the last stands one is surprised at a reference 
 to God's superiority to the illusion of time at this point. 7T0nh} DVD 
 may be our starting-point; why the superfluous DV ? The probability is 
 that c^7hs and QVD (D = D » D = H) are both corrupt fragments of 
 D'''7J<Qm^ , that U^y^ represents a verb (take over "2. , and read D^lif3D), 
 and that y^y should be Tjpj; ; also that ""D '7^^n^< and n>'?2 
 are corrupt repetitions of Dv^il^m\ and that 12^ ^"^"^^ mVjrhJ 
 represent DTl"!!^ and D^Hl^D respectively. We may account similarly 
 for VH"' r\}U; D/I^IT in 7'. 5 (plausible as Herz's Jl^l-ID for 'IT 
 certainly is) ; it represents not improbably Q'''^N3,^'2II^* D^liiltS, two 
 corrupt repetitions or corrections. Read, therefore, as //. 7, 8, — 
 
 "^Bv D''t22 D'bi^r2r\y''2 
 
78 THE PSALMS. 
 
 and compare the parallel lists in Ixxxiii. 6 8, and perhaps in Iv. 11 f., 16, 
 Ivi. 7 f., Ixiii. II f., xciv. 20. 
 
 gfif. A double reading- follows: («) =]'?n'' ')"^nD "^^22, (/') ipni 
 ^'^m Y^^^ • ('') ^^ apparently correct, except that T'l^nD should open 
 the clause. — M 77ir^\ surely not 'completes fading' (a 'direct-causative' 
 sense), as Kon., § 324 d3. Read probably "^^^ (xxxvii. 2) ; f was ditto- 
 graphed. Gr., bia^ .— M ^3 . Read ]3 . 
 
 14. M •IJ'Jj'^i^, 'our youthful age'.? Read ^^h^p (cp. Isa. Ixiv. 4, 
 SBOT), with'Gr., Hcrz.— M IIN^'? ; G ds (pconaiJLnv. Vague. Read 
 bi^r^b (Num. xii. 38). 
 
 15. M TTj-nnyn -133 ^J"';:^"'"':'^ ■'3. ^JD at any rate is wrong; 
 
 ' V T: V : . T "T T • T 
 
 Dl^n (133 (Jer. vii. 4) is possible, but hardly D^'^''^ 1J3, metaphorically. 
 
 - T T . T - T 
 
 The imperfect parallelism suggests corruption ; there ought to be a 
 figure in both lines. L. 16 {v. gd) is represented in G by e^eXlnofifv to. 
 err; rj^ojv cos dpdxi'r]v efJ-eXerav. In ws dp. and e/ifX. GrJitz finds a double 
 rendering of njil'I^D • This is a mistake, ws dp. (so also S) is a relic 
 of the reading ^''33^ ''"I'lpS (Isa. lix. 5), and this should be read for 
 inn2)^2 bj O in /. 15 ;*cp. Q''13i:? O in Hos. viii. 6, which, as 
 Ruben, Cri't Remarks., p. 15, shows, following E' {TTapanXrja-ias tw opd;^i'jjf 
 tVrw), should be '3^ mpS . The final D is dittographic. I^''^'' should 
 be ^y''\D}?D J and 1^3 , which springs from ')2'2 , represents the same 
 word (a dittogram). — Let us now leave the unfortunate spider (see on 
 cxl. 4, and Merx and Duhm on Job xxvii. iS), and pass on to /. 16. 
 
 16. M n:in"ir^3 ^2''2t ^Tb2- n:)n"i;23, properly 'like a rumbling, 
 
 ; " T 
 
 groaning, moaning' (see BDB). This is supposed to mean ' like a sigh,' 
 
 or (01., We.) 'like a thought.' G ep-eXeTwu {? ws 6 peXfTwv) ; J siciit scr- 
 
 monem loquens (njH?). Again corruption ; and since Herz's nprr^'^Dp 
 
 is too obscure, and we know how often the scribes split a word into two 
 
 parts and put the second part first, and we need a suitable parallel to the 
 
 spider, we may undoubtingly read D^3nn3 • Cp. Isa. xl. 22, Num. xiii. ^i 
 
 (]3 for □"'3^)1 ; see £';/(:. />V(^., ' Locust ') ; see also on xxxvii. 41. IJ^'PD 
 
 i« also wrong ; men do not bring years to an end ; years fly by necessity. 
 
 Parallelism suggests 1J'''?3,'_3 . For 'S^'W (very suspicious beside 
 
 IJ-mJti') read perhaps Vi^JJli • 
 
 17-20. V. 10 was known in our text to the writer oi Jubilees (xxiii. 
 12, 15, Charles). It consists, however, of reminiscences of Gen. xlvii. 9, 
 Job ix. 25 f., Isa. xxxv. 10. The first passage suggested the phrase 
 ^J''~1')J^ ^12'; 'J0> however, has been extruded in MG by l^jnjti', which 
 stands more correctly at the head of /. 18. 'y^ ^D^ is more fully repre- 
 sented by j~ini3.13 DJ^"' (which Pasek follows) — an untranslatable 
 phrase (if Wcllh. will pardon me). Dil2 is not a portion of DrT^."l (Du.), 
 but an editor's attempt to make sense of lin^ miswritten for in~l3 (cp. 
 
PSALMS XC. 
 
 79 
 
 Job /.c). DT3*^ and □^JlDuy are both emendations of a corrupt form 
 
 of D''1LyJD (parallel to the corruption :nj«^"'»JD in Job vii. 6). ^'?p— the 
 
 required parallel to in"12— became effaced.— M ]1hi1 bl^V DBrT^T , a 
 
 vTT t"? t : t: 
 Stilted phrase. Like DPI^ , is not D^m a corrujjtion of in"12 ? For 
 
 b!2y read '^'I'^Pl-— In 7'. lo/^ n3>'-}T_ VTt is plainly impossible, nor is 
 
 GrJitz's correction HSID^T (see iilGlVJ, xxvii. [1878] 130) satisfactory. 
 
 G has oVt (TTrj\6(v TTpavrrjs €(^' Tifidi, Kcil 7Tai8€vdr]a6fj.(da, where 7rpnvTr}s and 
 
 TTai^evO. not improbably represent two variants, viz. mjj^ and n"1D^i- 
 
 TT-: t:t. 
 
 Of these mjj^ is to be preferred as a substitute for HS^/J , while li^Tf 
 
 (apparently neglected by G) may well be a corruption of "TDn. We now 
 
 attack the improbable reading T!l • The root seems to occur in Num. xi. 
 
 31, but TJ^T can hardly stand; it is corrupt, and possibly came from 
 
 TT~ 
 
 ii'lV2, corrupted also into i'DJ- Herz's suggestion DJ is therefore 
 
 T 
 
 plausible ; but, though a little more remote, I prefer 1^^ (T and T con- 
 founded). Thus /. 20 becomes m^ri TDn Tit3J~^3 , which clearly 
 
 TT-: - •: V - T . 
 
 resembles the phraseology of xii. 2. 
 
 21 f. '^r}'^2y^ ^^Pii<y2^ "^3?^ lir PIV-^^ . a strange question. 
 For who ' knew the power of Yahwe's anger ' better than the Jews ? And 
 how enigmatical is the qualification * according to thy fear ' (Del., ' thy 
 fearfulness,' but nhJI^ in Ezek. i. i8 is questionable, see Cornill) ! Wellh. 
 would correct Ti^i«i10T into * * ^-i> \'2T, suspecting "]il to conceal 
 some word analogous to ]']; . Certainly he is right in analyzing '"lOT 
 into a verb and a noun. But he overlooks the fact that a group of 
 letters often does double duty by representing two words or a word and 
 a part of a word. Thus HO in '"lOT represents (i) '?0^ (cp. Joel ii. ii), 
 and (2) n^;) in ri~)2J ■ The parallelism is now perfect. Read b''D'^'\ 
 
 ' V t: V -\ : 
 
 23. M ^Tin ]3 ^y!2'' Jl')2'd?, ?>• 'teach us to ponder the short 
 duration of our life (cp. xxxix. 5 f.) as thy religion (Hitz.) or thy wrath 
 (Driver, Far. Fs., 269) requires,' unless indeed, with Ew., 01., Ba., Kau., 
 we take ]3 to mean ' such knowledge.' Surely most unsatisfactory. 
 For p 13^Q^ G presupposes TJ\*3''- This is certainly plausible. 
 P might be the transposed "JJ in 7.2% while ^2, if attached to ^mn, 
 would produce IJ^mil. ' Make us to know the * * of thy right hand ' 
 would be possible, if /. 24, which is certainly corrupt, could be so restored 
 as to give a parallel sense, e./;. 'the exploits of thine arm cause us to 
 see,' or 'and we will sing praise to thy name for ever.' This, however, 
 would be hopeless ; and since one or two more references to the 
 N. Arabians, underlying the present text, may well be expected, we 
 have now to ask if anything in our present text is favourable to this 
 anticipation. The answer may be given with some confidence. As 
 *J^Q^ in I S. ix. 6, and elsewhere, has arisen out of "•'^h^rwHl^ , it is even 
 more possible that p IJV.i"' represents D'''?i^*3ni^, since p may, on 
 
8o 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 the ground ot many analogies, represent "in, another fragment of 
 t'K^niV (See also on Ix. 7 ; Ixxx. 18.) We have still, it is true, to 
 emend 711^*37 , and also to show that /. 24 may legitimately be so 
 corrected as to furnish a suitable close to a short prayer against the 
 Jerahmeelites. As to mj^? , a perfectly certain emendation is im- 
 possible, because t2l7 is obviously a fragment of '?hi,'2rn\ which has 
 extruded the two opening letters of the first word. Very probably, 
 
 however, we should read Dniiij/- 
 T -: 
 
 24- M r\r2Dn 22b ^<:JJ^; Kr. ^^aJ^ but 'A 2 E' J S presuppose 
 t:t-: .t: 
 
 ^?3J^• T implies S^23 ('prophet' !). G perhaps "•jiUJ (rnvs neTTaiSev- 
 
 fjifuovs). So much is clear — that M's text cannot mean 'that we may 
 attain wisdom.' Yet if v. 12a in M is correct, the text of 7'. 12^ 
 ought to have this sense. Hence Wellh. reads for 2,2b, 327 , and 
 renders 'that we may enter the gate of wisdom.' Surely most im- 
 probable. 'Gate of wisdom '(We. compares mpn n/lS , Hos. ii. 17) 
 is not in the style of a psalmist, and 22 is a New Hebrew word 
 (Ar. l>dfi). Now that we have the key, however, the correction of 
 the faults cannot be difficult. Read probably nOfl t'^<;pm^ [^]22\ 
 That 7^2 can represent '/^}!^^")^ we have seen already (note on 
 Ixxxvii. 4). It is true, this gives us a double mention of the Jerah- 
 meelites. We might avoid this by reading ^33 ; but perhaps '1^ ''22 
 was sufficient variation to satisfy the psalmist. 
 
 31. '^vJ'D , all Vss. except Jerome's; '?j7rD , most MSS. and 
 edd.. and so Ginsb. (note sing, verb, and analogues of other passages, 
 for which see introd.). 
 
 32. Read, for metre's sake, Dil'J^ [''J3.]''?>'- Cp. ciii. 17. — 
 33- '\2^r\^i^ is merely a variant to H^'^'J/. D^2 (2 koXXos), which 
 cannot properly be applied to Yahwe (see on xxvii. 4), has possibly 
 arisen out of TjnjJ ; G has XajjLTrpoTrjs, which in Isa. Ix. 3 represents njj. 
 
 34. M adds nn23i3 ^Tl" nm*?21 ^2''bv, a dittogram (T added 
 
 •• : "T ■• -: - •• T 
 
 at end). 
 
 PSALM XCI. 
 
 1 Ri METERS. The psalmist, whose work is fitly placed as a contrast to Ps. xc, 
 describes the felicity of Israel in the Messianic age. This is made to consist in a 
 satisfied sense of justice, Israel being rewarded for his perfect trust in Yahwe by a 
 secure and glorious existence under angelic guardianship and of indefinitely long 
 duration, while his oppressors, who are not only described symbolically as serpents, 
 adders, vipers, and dragons, but realistically as Jerahmeelites, Ishmaelites, 
 Arabians, and Maacathites, are destroyed by thousands and by myriads. The 
 psalm naturally falls into three parts: (a) II. i-iS, {h)ll. 19-26, {c) II. 27-34. 
 Each of these begins with a reference to Israel's trust in Vahwe, and closes with a 
 
PSALM XCI. bl 
 
 reference U) his deliverance from his enemies ; tlie close of the tliird part. Iiowcver, 
 is expressed with more reserve than that of the two preceding parts, so as to avoid 
 leaving an unjileasing impression. The ordinary view (that the psalm is a general 
 expres>5ion of faith in a righteous and faiihful God, cp. Job v. 17 ff.) must there- 
 fore be abandoned. The psalm, like so many others, was originally full of point. 
 For Israel to enjoy his future h.n]ipiness without the assurance that this would not 
 be rudely disturbed by his restle,->s and malicious foes, would l)e impossible. For 
 devotional use we cannot but estimate the work of the later editor highly ; it has a 
 value of its own, and the best right of existence in the Church's hymnal. On the 
 reference of tlie psalm, cp. Coblenz, pp. 189 f. It is only the psalm as modified 
 by an editor which permits a doubt as to whether the pious community or the 
 individual Israelite (so Duhm) maybe supposed to be addressed. But cp. Smend, 
 ZATIV, iSSS, p. S7. 
 
 I Happy is the servant of the Most High ! I 
 
 In the Rock of Israel dotli he abide. 
 
 I say of Yahwe, +' He is+ my refuge, 2 
 
 My fortress ^ in which I trust. 
 
 ' For he will rescue thee from the sword, 3 
 
 He will deliver thee from the insults of the Arabian ; 
 With his pinions will he shelter thee, 4 
 
 And under his wings wilt thou find refuge ; 
 [For with] his favour will he encompass thee, 
 10 [And with] his faithfulness [will he crown thee]. 
 
 ' Thou wilt not fear the sword of Jerahmeel, 5 
 
 Nor dread the arrow of the Ishmaelites, 
 The Arabian who roves in the darkness, 6 
 
 The Maacathite who ravages at noonday : 
 
 ' Thousands will fall among thine adversaries, 7 
 
 Myriads among thy haters ; 
 
 Thine eye will gaze at Jerahmeel ; 8 
 
 It will behold the recompense of the Asshurites.. 
 
 ' For thou hast made Yahwe thy refuge, 9 
 
 20 Thou hast taken the Most High for thy stronghold ; 
 
 No misfortune will befall thee, 10 
 
 No calamity will come nigh thy tent. 
 
 ' For he charges his angels concerning thee 1 1 
 
 To guard thee in all thy ways. 
 
 On their hands will they bear thee, 12 
 
 Lest thy foot strike against a stone. 
 
 On serpents and vipers wilt thou tread, 13 
 
 On vipers and dragons wilt thou trample.' 
 
 My God. 
 
 II. 
 
82 THE PSALMS. 
 
 ' Because in me he takes refuge, I will free him, 14 
 
 I will make him secure because he knows my name : 
 When he calls upon me I will answer him, 15 
 
 30 Tn trouble I myself am at his side. 
 
 1 will rescue him and bring him to honour, 
 
 ***** 
 
 With prolonged days will I satisfy him, 16 
 
 And grant him to enjoy my succour.' 
 
 I. The servant . . . TMVD Jer. xlix. 35 (dl'V from '^NDm^), 
 
 indicates the priestly office of the -ffos. 11. 20. 
 
 person referred to. That person is 20. Thy stronghold. Cp. xc. 
 
 pious Israel (cp. Isa. Ixi. 6, Ex. xix. 6). i.— 23. — //is atigels. ' Vahwe's mighty 
 
 ones {gililwri/ii, ciii. 20, Joel iv. 11). 
 
 4ff. My fortress. See xviii. 2. ^o trace here of the belief in z. single 
 
 From the sword, viz. of Jerahmeel (/. angelic guardian of a nation (Dan. x. 
 
 11). — From the insidts . . . Such j^, 20). Duhm, who explains the 
 
 insults as 'Where is thy God?' (xhi. 3, psalm as belonging to the pious Is- 
 
 10, Ixxix. 10, cxv. 2). raelite, illustrates the passage by Tobit 
 
 7. With his pinions. Per- f^"^ ^^"- >''• J^ere, however, a single 
 
 haps a reminiscence of Dt. xxxii. 11. l^eavenly guardian is referred to. ^ 
 
 But cp. Ixi. 5. 25. Symbols of deadly malignity. 
 
 Cp. Iviii. 5, cxl. 4, Dt. xxxii. 33. The 
 
 9 f. See V. 13.— 1 1. The szoord of . ]Jq,^ ^^^d adder ' of M T are, as Duhm 
 
 Jerahmeel . . . For the fear inspired lemarks, 'a singular pair.' The lion 
 
 by the Jerahmeelites cp. cxxi. 6, Cant. ^^^^j ^i^g dragon, however, are combined 
 
 111. 8 (see Crtt. Btb.). The ; sword of ;„ gi^^^,)^ j,^,., ,6_ g^g ^^-^^^ ^^^^^ 
 Jerahmeel, or of 'the Arabian, was 
 
 proverbial (see Ixiv. 2l>, Ixxvi. 4, and 27. A sudden and effective transi- 
 
 Cril. Bib. on Jer. vi. 25^, Hos. ii. 20). tion, as in xlvi. 11 ; cp. xii. 6. — 29-34. 
 
 — 12. 7'he arroWy &c. Cp. Ixxvi. 4, Cp. 1. 15, 23. 
 
 Critical Notes, i. M p^by "^KP^ ^^"^ ' ^^^^ subject to ]:)i':'jn\ 
 making this warm, devotional lyric begin with a tautological maxim. 
 Grimme proposes to read 2^% and in v. 2a to point "I^^N, thus provid- 
 ing a subject for the two verbs 3t^^ and '^Jl^ . 2i^^ had already been 
 suggested by Krochmal, who attached v. i to the heading of Ps. xc, as a 
 pious ejaculation in honour of Moses. This, however, is without a 
 parallel in Jewish poetry. A step in the right direction was taken by 
 Kennicott, who proposed to prefix n^J>{ (so after him Ol., Hu., Reuss, 
 Dy., Gr., Bi., Che.'i', Kau. ; Hal. '^"'il^'N}), but this produces a tetra- 
 meter. A little more experience of the errors of the scribes would have 
 shown that '^'W'tK may underlie "y^"^ ; and if this is possible, we have no 
 alternative but to adopt the view, for no other introduction is well con- 
 ceivable (cp. xli. 2, cxii. I, cxxviii. i). It follows from this that "l/ID^ is 
 wrong, in spite of the parallelism with 7^^- No result of experience 
 is more sure than this — that the words which look the most certain are 
 often the most cjuestionable. On the analogy of the parallel passages, 
 the clause with ^Ii/^< ought to describe the class to which the 'happy 
 
PSALM XCI. 83 
 
 person belongs, and the clause with ''^Jl^ the nature of the happiness 
 which he enjoys. Either "1J1D2 or (if 2 is to be prefixed to ]vbv) "IJID 
 ought, therefore, to represent a participle. By no possibility can "IJ^D 
 have arisen out of ntOll ; it would seem then that the initial 2. must have 
 come out of the preformative of the Piel pafticiple. Read, therefore, 
 
 "T : 
 
 2. M ^^i^ 7^;i . The only strongly suspicious feature of this is Hii^ (see 
 Enc. Bib., ' Shaddai '). Remember (i) that this rare divine name only 
 occurs once again in M of the Psalter (Ixviii. 15), and that there it is 
 corrupt. Notice also (2) that v. 2 presents points of contact with xviii. 3 ; 
 we do not expect a reference in v. i to the shadow of Yahwe's wings (cp. 
 xxxvi. 8, &c.) here, whereas in t'. 4 a reference to these wings is quite 
 natural. Read 7^<"1ii'"' T13. (Isa. xxx. 29, 2 S. xxiii. 3). 
 
 3. M "i;2N ; this seems to be right. G ep^' = ">Q^^ ?— so Hu., Dy., 
 Gr., &c. But this is consequent upon the corruptions in //. i, 2. Bar- 
 hebrc-eus (Bii.), Hi., We., ~)bi^ • 
 
 4. Either ''nTlJi,';3T or ^nt'hi is an insertion ; probably the latter. 
 Thus we get a better parallelism. The writer thinks of xviii. 2 ; cp. v. 9. 
 
 5 f . Verse yi is too long and v. ^b too short for a tetrameter. We have 
 also to ask whether ' the fowler's snare ' and ' the destructive pestilence ' 
 are likely terms for the great national trouble. And altogether one may 
 have considerable doubt whether the large amount of space given in this 
 psalm (according to M G) to danger from pestilence is in the least 
 probable. In v. 5a we find TOw inDi^ , where nT*? (which again and 
 again in Pss. has grown out of another word ; cp. on xvi. 7, xlii. 9, 
 Ixxvii. 3) is certainly a corruption of t'SI^^ni'' , and in v. 6a "I^TQ for 
 "•^"^VD • It is surely plain that PISD has come from "THSQ, and natural 
 to correct this word both here and in v. 5a into QIHi'D • And what of 
 ^1p^ ? Parallelism suggests the correction T|^''iy^ , which corresponds in 
 sense and in position to "jT-U^ . JlilH "IQirj should probably be 
 '^H'^V D^Bim^ • niin is a priori likely to be corrupt (cp. on Ivii. 2). 
 G S 2 suggest I^ID (cp. xxxviii. 13) ; so Kenn., Gr., Ba., Grimme. 
 Inadequate. 
 
 9 f. M iriuJ^i rnnbT n-3'i. So 'a T J and perhaps 2 ; T has 
 ^<b"':lJ;'l i^DnJl' (cp. f, x'xxv. 2). But ninD , ' buckler,' is hard to 
 defend, and corruption from HD'*!/! (cp. Tharsi, the surname of .Simon 
 the Maccabee [S, i Mace. ii. 3J ) is improbable. G presupposes ^D^b** 
 (cp. Dt. xxxii. 10). So Whitehouse; Kenn. badly ■J"inD^- This, how- 
 ever, is not enough. Dt. xxxii. 10 suggests that, not Yahwe's truth, but 
 Yahwe himself is the subject of the verb. Note also (i) the omission 
 of 3 before HJi, (2) that we do not expect a triplet, and (3) that we have 
 
84 THE PSALMS. 
 
 already had cause to suspect H^ji in v. 13 (see note). Taking a sugges- 
 tion from that passage and from xxxii. 10, let us read — 
 
 T V : - : • -: - 
 
 II. M r\>b in3*.2- Read t^N^jn"]^ ^ID'^ (s^^ °^ ^- S)- I"'or 
 a nearly exact parallel, see Cant. iii. 8 (armed warriors, 'for fear of 
 Jerahmeel,' read t'h^DrT'T' for n'?"'?). 1115)2 in Ps. is really a confusion 
 between liini^ (3 became 3) and "inSjl . Line 12 should begin 
 irrDn iih (Wi^l^H Nb; cp. xxvii. i); the Hib fell out owing to the 
 preceding n'7^/- UDV ^iy^ needs correction ; DQV is hardly less 
 suspicious than H'?^'?- The words evidently represent some ethnic, 
 surely D^T'KritSTi^^ (two corrupt fragments). 
 
 i3f. M "131'^. Read '•^iPp. The corruption is paralleled else- 
 where.— IM "^bryj Read Tj'jJn"' (Prov. vi. 11).— M 2t3pr2 ; cp. Dt. xxxii. 24. 
 Read TiD^Br^'- The final i in 2lDpu) comes from 'r2 ; t3 from D ; p 
 from 3. Cp. jEfic. 7?zA, ' Maacah,' place-name, end. — M nti'V Read 
 I't'' (Ba.). 
 
 T 
 
 15. IM ^1^*3, followed by Pasek. Vague: also, if the speaker is 
 Israel, unsuitable. Read l^l^r.3. 
 
 16. M lj>;2^3. Read TT^hiiti'QO. Omit tT iib l''?^^, which 
 implies the wrong reading mi in v. 6. It seems to be due to liie 
 editor, who gently manipulated the relics of two marginal corrections, 
 viz. ':5XanT, represented by s"? ybi^, and Unw:i ( = D'')Wii or 
 D''n^l:'^i), represented by t:>:i>. See on /. 18. 
 
 17. M CSri ^"•J'i^Il pi. A poor parallel to /. 18. pi too is very 
 odd, and *]''J^p3 very weak. The two first words are clearly an 
 attenuated form of 7i<r.3ni''2 '^T^''- ■^°^ ^" early (partial) correction 
 see preceding note. 
 
 18. M D''3/ii^l- This might be an epithet of the Jerahmeelites (/. 17). 
 But bearing in mind xcii. 12 (corr. text), and considering that we have to 
 account for ^)1> in v. ']b, we cannot help restoring D^ll^'S. 
 
 19 f. ^Jl^^ is plainly wrong. We might read '>'7 ^TJllD^^"''D 
 (similarly Grimme) ; see /. 3. To insert /^l,2^<, with 01., Hu., Gr., 
 Kau. &c., before or after iljlN, would make a tetrameter. Merrick, 
 Lowth, Wellh., propose "jDnrj, i-c. 'as for thee, Yahwe is thy refuge'; 
 but comparing Ixxiii. 28, why not read ■^Dli'S '^ rTjl;i^"^3 .'' So Pedes, 
 Anal., 86.— M ^_^ipQ. Read Tj.n;\2 (01.,' Gr., Che."", Kau.). Cp. on 
 Ixxi. 3, xc. I. 
 
PSALM XCII. 85 
 
 27. The combinations ' lion and adder,' ' young lion and dragon ' are 
 improbable. For bn^I) G {en danlda) presupposes ^tl\. This should 
 be restored, and for 1^33 we should probably read ^~\3 or the like, 
 agreeably to G's rendering of DH^DD ''^iD in Job iv. 10 {yavpiaiia 
 8paKovTU)v), which Beer explains by a reference to Ass. kurfa, ' asp, viper.' 
 
 29. AI r)tr\ ■'2. Incredible. Read HOn ^1 (cp. //. 3, 21), with G, 
 
 ' - T . T T . 
 
 Kennicott. 
 
 PSALM XCII. 
 
 1 RIMETERS. A hymn to the faithful God who has so wondrously interposed 
 for his righteous people. So at least it appears at first sight. But the point of 
 view is only imaginative ; ' we see not yet all things put under him ' (Heb. ii. 8). 
 As in the case of other psalms (especially xlvi.-xlviii.), the descriptions of 
 triumph over Israel's foes are anticipative. Whether any minor political event, 
 fortunate for Israel but disastrous for Edomites, supplied fuel to the flame of faith, 
 we know not, nor is the supposition at all necessary. Yox Israel had learned the 
 lesson of patience; God's mill grinds slowly, and die 'end ' will come suddenly. 
 True wisdom consisted, for the pious, in ability to realize that Yahwe permits his 
 opponents to proceed to an extreme of arrogance in order to make his vengeance 
 the more strikingly complete (cp. Isa. x. 32-34), immediately after which Israel 
 will receive the righteous reward of his piety. We may, with Gratz, compare 
 Ps. Ixxiii. (cp. vv. 6 f. with Ixxiii. 22), except that the writer of our psalm yives 
 no hint of the mental agony which many believers underwent in endeavouring to 
 reach or to keep this wisdom. See also xciv. 8-10, and cp. the neighbouring 
 psalms in general. In all these psalms there has been great editorial activity in 
 the correction and adaptation of the text, and if there is really an allusion in 
 I Mace. ix. 23 to the tradidonal text of v. 8, it is clear that the text must have 
 been transformed not later than the Maccabrean period. The corruption of the 
 original title (see on &. i) led to the appropriation of this psalm to the sabbath, 
 and consequently to that of Ps. xciv. to the fourth, and of Ps. xciii. to the fifth 
 day of the week. This liturgical arrangement involved some raUier artificial 
 applications of the text. Thus the Targ. gives this title to Ps. xcii., ' Praise and 
 song which Adam the first man said upon the sabbath-day,' and even Delitzsch is 
 so far influenced as to interpret ' thy works ' (xcii. 6) of the works of creation. 
 
 Marked. Of tlie Ishinaeliks. i 
 
 I Good is it to give thatiks to Yahwe, 2 
 
 To chant praise to the name of the Most Higli, 
 To declare his lovingkindness in the sanctuary, 3 
 
 His faithfulness in the house of our God, 
 To the sound of the horn and the lute, 4 
 
 To the sweetly-sounding notes of the lyre. 
 
 For thou hast gladdened me, O Yahwe ! by thy doing, 5 
 At the works of thy hands I shout for joy. 
 How great are thy works, O Yahwe ! o 
 
 10 Exceeding deep are thy designs. 
 
 A dullard cannot discern this, 7 
 
 A fool cannot understand it. 
 
86 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 For those of Ashliur and Alaacath were in league, 8a 
 
 And all the clans of On stood in array. 
 The hosts of the Ishmaelites perished, 8^, 9 
 
 All the clans of On were scattered abroad ;' 
 
 And the castles of Jerahmeel were consumed, 11 
 
 And the palaces of Ishmael were broken in pieces ; 
 Mine eye beheld the fate of Ishmael, 12 
 
 20 It had pleasure in the fate of the clans of On. 
 
 The righteous springs up like a palm-tree, 13 
 
 Waxes tall as a cedar in Lebanon ; 
 
 By the goodness of Yah we they are safe and sound, 14 
 
 By the lovingkindness of our God they are healed. 
 
 They are still vigorous in old age. 
 
 They are full of sap and luxuriant ; 
 
 To make known that Yahwe is just. 
 
 That in m}' Rock there is no unrighteousness. 
 
 15 
 16 
 
 I f., 5 f. Cp. xxxiii. I f.— 7 f. Thou 
 hasV gladdened me, as if in answer 
 
 to the prayer in xc. 15. 7^3, of 
 Yahvve's great deeds for his people, as 
 in xc. 16 (see introd. to Ps. xc, end). 
 — The works of thy hands, synon. with 
 'thy doing'; cp. cxliii. 5. Del. ex- 
 plains of the works of creation, but the 
 reference to national foes is too marked 
 to allow this. 
 
 10 f. Thy desigjis, i.e. thy plans 
 for training and establishing thy people 
 (cp. xl. 6, Isa. Iv. 8 f.). — A dicllard, 
 
 ni^3 , as xlix. II, Ixxiii. 
 8. 
 
 UV2. Dnr3,xciv 
 
 T T .-: 
 
 22 ; cp. 
 See introd. 
 
 13 ff. The difficulties of the text are 
 really insuperable. Nevertheless, the 
 editor deserves credit for suggesting a 
 meaning which must have commended 
 itself to many readers. The old re- 
 tribution doctrine has been modified. 
 Tlie righteous, as experience shows, do 
 not always llourish. ]5ut when the 
 wicked seem to be at the height of their 
 glory we may be sure that a sudden 
 
 catastrophe is at hand (cp. xciv. 13). 
 The original text, however, referred to 
 the anticipated confederation of N. 
 Arabian peoples (under archaic de- 
 signations) against Israel. See crit. 
 note. Cp. on Ixxxiii. 6-9, xciv. II. 13 f. 
 —For Oil, see on xiv., /. 7. — The 
 castles of Jerahmeel. See on ix. 7, and 
 cp. on xlix. 12, Ixix. 26, Am. i. 12, 
 Isa. XXV. 2. 
 
 21. p^^ii. 
 
 the ' righteous 
 
 nation ' (Isa. xxvi. 2) personified. So 
 Isa. xxiv. 16, Hab. i. 4, 13, ii. 4. 
 Naturally enough, the plural soon steps 
 in (//. 23 f.). — Like a pabn-lree. Trees 
 are symbols both of the long life (Isa. 
 Ixv. 22, cp. Ps. xci. 16) and the pros- 
 perous activity (i. 3) of Vahwe's 
 lieople. The ^\rabian poet Labid has 
 a similar comparison of God's blessed 
 ones to fruit-laden palm-trees. Cp. 
 also Crit. Bib., on Num. xxiv. 6. 
 
 24. Healed, i.e. brought into a 
 condition of soundness (/. 23). Cp. 
 Kx. XV. 26, ' I am \'ahwe thy healer ' ; 
 Ps. ciii. 3, cvii. 20. 
 
 ' The hosts of the Arabians perish, | all those of Jerahmeel are scattered 
 abroad {v. 10). 
 
PSALM XCII. 87 
 
 Critical Notes. Title. JlZlli^'f QV*? (so too G) may have come from 
 Pi'T'iy^TVbV-, which represents C^Sl'^i:/"''?. See on title of Ps. xxxviii., 
 and cp. the psalm-heading, ' of Salmah.' See General Introd. 
 
 2 f. M ^rjii', -^TDn ^n^voj^. Read X2t, norr, ^J^3^:J^i, 
 
 ' :•• ' v: - ' : T .• v: : : - t v: 
 
 because of mn^'? (see on /. 3) •lJ\~t7J>{. 1 and "^ are easily confounded. 
 
 3. M npiH, nh'hii. n'l7v occurs again in xvi. 7, cxxxiv. i ; in 
 each case it is, for a special reason, suspicious. Here too it surprises us, 
 (i) because it forms a poor parallel to "1p3j and (2) because the line 
 produced by it is metrically incomplete. Cp. cxxxiv. i f. (corn text), and 
 read ^'il^'l and ^yTp)>i. n^2- 
 
 5. Read 'pn^l 'y^'W '7p2 (see on xxxiii. 2). 
 
 V T : T ' : 
 
 6. M "li2D:il "IVan "h^^. 'jn is thought to mean ' loud music ' ; but 
 see note on ix. 17, the only other supposed authority for this sense 
 Read -)i33 JltJ^i?; t'ip3 . See on cl. \b. 
 
 13-16. There is considerable difficulty here, though not of the kind 
 which strikes the superficial reader. The figurative description of the 
 wicked as ' springing up ' (HIB) and ' blossoming ' (y^^) is not what we 
 expect ; the wickedness, as Ps. xciv. shows, was very concrete. 
 ip""'"!^ DII^li'riT also stands in strange isolation ; we should at the 
 very least have to prefix 7|J<. Then, how improbable is Qliro nJlN • 
 And apart from the repetition (not found in G^), how impossible is the 
 vagueness of v. 9 ! Surely the mystery spoken of in v. 7 has a definite 
 historical reference. A probable solution of the problem can be offered. 
 Read— 
 
 T-;- . - : T . 
 
 ' •• : - T : - : •- 
 
 T T • •• : : • ..-: - 
 
 ••: - T : T : .- 
 
 This result is reached by considering vv. S, 9, 10 together. Verse 8c? gives 
 us a complete distich, but the text needs correction. Q""_P!in probably 
 comes from lltt^hi ' Asshur'=Ashhur or Geshur (see on Ixxxiii. 9). VJD 
 is a fragment of riDi^DT- I'^V ^"d 1iJ"'Ji"'T are both corruptions of 
 inU''JT'V PJ* '•'^^^S is, not certainly, but very possibly lihi '^^'^ (see 
 on xiv. 4). Next, as to vv. 8<5, 9 ; these represent another but not a 
 complete distich. The material provided is— T^TSt^'S IJ-^'ni^ ZSTWTt) 
 mn^ 'dl'yh DTID ; most unnatural. Here v. 10 gives invaluable help. 
 Omitting a dittogram, together with the inserted mn\ and correcting 
 njil ""D into ^jnO, and IIJ^ 'h')!'^~^l^ as proposed, we have— 
 
88 THE PSALMS. 
 
 We now see what Wl'D'VTT? and "]]} ^l^; must have come from, viz. 
 D^'rj^^^DIi^'' and n2hi- To the former word D'^IV 's a variant. ■':3np 
 has fallen out before ':2W^- With regard to Dlirj HnNT and d?])^ 
 mn\ the former appears to represent 1113/1^1, the latter □"•'^'Si^nT 
 (the two halves of the word transposed). 'n"l^ is a variant to pj^ ''Bt'i^- 
 For M2ii we might read "ll^l, 'shuddered.' 
 
 17- M >J"lp D•'^^■^3 D'^m ; G J, however, presuppose Dlj^l (so too 
 Hi.). D"'^i'^ is usually taken to be inaccurately written for DhiT; cp. 
 D^"1, Job xxxix. 9 f. But both /. 17 and /. 18 are suspicious, and the "• in 
 0^^}"^^ is rather to be viewed as an indication of corruption. Assuming 
 that the destruction of the enemies is still referred to, it is not only 
 possible but probable that we should read 'pXQm"' nijr.2~l}>i ^Dj^'^T (cp. 
 ix. 7, corn text). That 3 and 2, "1 and T may be confounded, is well 
 known. The final J") in ")i^ was probably once marked by a sign of 
 abbreviation. ""Jlp comes probably from Qp") {"^2 = ^), one of the 
 current mutilations of 'pj^,"Dn~l'' (cp. E. Bib., ' Rekem ').— M *pii^3 ''fbl 
 \1V^- The usage of '^7^ in Leviticus does not favour the reading of M ; 
 besides the word is elsewhere transitive (hence 01., Du. "•Jji^H). And 
 if Py~) were right, should we not recjuire ^1133, or the like ? G 2 J 
 presuppose ""ji^Jl 'my waxing old' (? Gen. xviii. 12), which is adopted 
 by Hu., Bi., Bii. It should be added that 2 also presupposes ^JtiO, for 
 he renders ij TraXaLcaa-Ls fxov w? eXala evdaXrjs. Plainly, however, '^'ijj cannot 
 be equivalent to ^roii^"]!! (Isa. v. i, 2 eXaia). Sense can only be restored 
 
 by reading ^);i22 bii};:2V'' ''''^^'^] (]^'^ ^'^^ ''-2^% as Isa. v. i, x. 27, and 
 
 elsewhere). 
 
 19 f. M ''"Tllir^l- The vss. presuppose ''")"li^3 , which Gr., Hal., Ba., 
 
 We., Du., Buhl adopt. But this is a very doubtful form (see on v. 9), and 
 
 we require here an ethnic. Read "[JSyD^^Il •— M DT^^ '^'^V D'DD^, 
 
 .. T : ■ : • •• : - t . 't- 
 
 which Hitzig attempts to account for by comparmg i Chr. .xxvii. 5, i S. 
 
 xxxi. 3. Other critics (Ley, Ba., We. and 01. ?) arbitrarily expunge 
 
 D'^yiitD as a gloss on "^^^^ DV::p2, while Duhm deletes >bv D^!2p2, and 
 
 Gratz is content to read Dlp.'^. But there is surely a better remedy. 
 
 D'^DpH and D''i^"ir:i "^b^ (cp. on xcii. 12) both represent D'^t'X^nT' : no 
 
 correction could be more abundantly justified by parallels. — .M njyiDIi^j"! 
 
 ^JT^?> an unexampled phrase. Read certainly nyTVl'I^'^D (cxix. 16, 47, 
 t: T T : -: - : • 
 
 and corr. text of 147). 
 
 23. M D v^/TX^- But were any trees planted in the temple courts ? 
 
 See on lii. 10. Besides we require an independent clause, parallel to 
 
 /. 24, not a mere subject to in^"13^ in that line. The text must be 
 
 incorrect. Read probably ID'^uL'^ ; cp. on n'!'ir)t£'', Hos. ix. 13. Continue 
 
 mn^ nvton (cp. lii. lo). 
 
 24 f. For 7li-i:^*n3 read 10113 and for innS^ read 1N31V So a 
 natural sense is recovered. — For 'jlin^^ read IIB^^ (Gr.) : cp. on Ixii. ir. 
 
PSALM XCIII. 89 
 
 PSALM XCIII. 
 
 1 RIMETERS. This is Usually regarded as one of the 'accession-psalms,' and 
 classed with Pss. xlvii. and xcv.-c, most of which, according to Prof. Priggs, were 
 originally parts of one great hymn on the theme ' Vahwe doth reign' {Messianic 
 Prophecy, ^/i,() f.; similarly Griitz). It is, however, strange that Ps. xciii. should be 
 separated from Ps. xcv., and the difficulties of the little poem are so great that one 
 is obliged to test the traditional text very strictly, in case it should have arisen by 
 editorial recasting of an older text. The result at which we arrive is certainly 
 disappointing. We should have been glad of a psalm on a perfectly new theme, 
 and if, as Hommel {Exp. T. x. 48. [1898]) suggested, it was derived from a 
 primitive Babylonian hymn to the god Ea, only those who think it essential to 
 religion to isolate Israelite literature from external influences would take offence. 
 The conjecture, however, is a gratuitous one. Nor can we even hold with Duhm 
 that the original theme (cp. the title of Ps. xciii. in G) was the victory of Yahwe, 
 at creation, over the primitive sea of chaos (a weakened form of the dragon-myth). 
 Nor can the psalm be said to commemorate the restoration of Israel and the 
 rebuilding of the temple regarded as a manifestation of Yahwe's royalty. It is, in 
 its true form, a song of praise for the humiliation of Jerahmeel, which is the first 
 act in the great drama of the final judgment. It is eschatological, and, copying 
 Isa. xxvi. I, we might well prefix to it the formula, ' In that day shall this song 
 be sung in the land of Judah.' That the editor should liave at all succeeded 
 in recasting the psalm deserves high recognition. The vagueness and obscurity 
 which envelop the psalm as it now stands is not without effectiveness. Some 
 one has called it ' an echo of Niagara.' A similar echo can be heard in xlii. 8, a 
 recast passage. The first part of the title in G (B^), referring to the peopling 
 of the earth, is in accordance with Jewish tradition {Kosh ha-shana, 1\a). Cp. 
 on Ps. xxiv. 
 
 I Yahwe [has laid low] Jerahmeel, i 
 
 [By his] chiding he has extinguished Ishmael, 
 Yahwe has destroyed Asshur. 
 
 He has also laid low Tubal and Maacath. 
 
 Cush and Edom are abolished, 2 
 
 The Jerahmeelites thou hast made to vanish. 
 
 The Jerahmeelites are desolated, 3 
 
 Consumed are the Arabians and the Ishmaelites, 4 
 
 Yahwe has shown his glory on Jerahmeel. 
 
 10 Th}' purposes are abundantly fulfilled, 5 
 
 The courts of thy house we shall enter, 
 O Yahwe ! for endless days. 
 
 1-9. The description is anticipa- 10. Parallel: Isa. xxv. i. — II. 
 
 live. Cp. ix. 5 f., and xcii. //. 13-20. Cp. xcv. 6, xcvi. 8, c. 2, 4. 
 
 Critical Notes. The difficulty of the metrical arrangement oivv. i, 2, 
 as the text stands, is obvious. The double ti^^7 in v. i is also suspicious. 
 The difficulties are largely caused by corruptions of ethnic names — 
 corruptions which are common enough elsewhere. The following may 
 approximate to the true text,— 
 
go THE PSALMS. 
 
 bi^DHT [inn] mn^' 
 
 •• T : • - . T-;- • 
 
 T T ' •• : -: 
 
 • T ' V : 
 
 In V. 1 the second \^^b , according to rule, should be bii}?l2W^- b2 
 is evidently dittographic. fl/l being of course ':'3jn, lDIDD should be 
 D^V^ (xcvi. 10). The other alterations are, in this context, very 
 probable. "jIDj") (but G &c. ]3r]) is a mutilation (see above). In z>. 2 
 1^<DD = ^^<^ ti^lD; TX;:: = DiJ^. The dlttography in V. 3 is manifest. 
 The unexplained and inexplicable DOT , like m~in3 and d'^IJ^D , is a 
 perfectly regular corruption of [□''j'^Ni^nT'- Note Paseks after the first 
 niinj and after m^pI^D • The latter word might have come from 
 D'' /NDH"!^ , but as we require a verb, we must look for the nearest 
 possible verb. Omitting Q as due perhaps to dittography, and D as 
 arising perhaps from a mistaken assumption that the preceding T was 
 abbreviated from JT) (plur. ending), we get "hp, i-e- ^'PS • In D''2") Wl2 
 and Dnnh? we have three corruptions of Q^Q.")!^. 'Vi2 is too trans- 
 parent to need comment. "^^^} = H^JJ, cp. Ex. xv. 6, 11. Note Pasek 
 after ^^Jll^, plainly a corruption of "^Mii^y (Isa. xxv. i) ; cp. Job x. 3 
 Jl^V from rqV, (Gr.) ; Ps. xxix. 2, M /T1in3, G S j-niin^- I^^lp 
 may come from D'l^n ; the idiom thus becomes more natural. Such 
 interchanges of letters are abundantly paralleled. That mSJ is wrong, 
 is very evident. 
 
 PSALM XCIV. 
 
 1 o understand the material which comes before us as Ps. xciv.we must undo the 
 work of the redactor. Reluctant as one may be to admit this, it is a perfectly 
 necessary hyjiolhesis that our Ps. xciv. is made up of two psalms, both in 
 trimeters, and both dealing with the problem of the oppression of Israel, but 
 differint; in this important respect, that while xciv. '' calls upon Yahwc for 
 immciliate vengeance, and records a moment of despairing scepticism, xciv.C- 
 
PSALM xciv. gr 
 
 rebukes the 'dullards' who fell into this error, and gives fruitful suggestions for 
 the justification of the divine dealings. The latter psalm, which may be regarded 
 as a correction of the former, also assures' Israelites that Yahvve cannot forsake 
 his people, as the continued existence of Israel provisionally shows. The true 
 believer will not give way even to the strongest temptation. Yahwe always 
 interposes in time, and the final extirpation of Israel's foes, which will be the 
 supreme and decisive theodicy, will not be refused to the prayers of the believing 
 community. According to Duhm, Ps. xciv. (as a whole) belongs to a group of 
 psalms (including Ivi. — lix., Ixxxii., cxl.) in which the party of the Sadducees and 
 the reigning Asmonx-an family are attacked, especially on the ground of their gross 
 misconduct as judges and rulers. This, however, is based on the incorrect Massoretic 
 
 text ; Duhm even lets the phrase Jliin ^D3 (j'. 20) and the not less improbable 
 
 context pass uncriticized. The fearless critic of the text of Job should not have 
 treated us so badly, and such an able exegete should have scrupled at giving this 
 annotation on D^IJ in t'. 10 (which certainly seems to prove that the foes spoken of 
 are, either in part or altogether, foreigners). 'The meaning is, not the nations or 
 the heathen, but the people, as is shown by D"Ti^ in the parallel.' Olshausen is 
 at any rate more plausible when he indicates as the occasion of Ps. xciv. the deeds 
 of violence committed by Bacchides and Alkimos according to I Mace. vii. 8 ff., ix- 
 23 ff. Cp. OP 72, where the cruel conduct of the soldiery of Artaxerxes Ochus is 
 proposed as an alternative ; also Delitzsch, p. 647, who suggests the later Persian 
 period. The psalm, however, should be explained precisely as such parallel 
 psalms as Ixxxiii. and xcii. See on Ps. Ixxxiii. 
 
 XCIV. — I. 
 
 I O God of vengeance, Yahwe, I 
 
 O God of vengeance, shine forth ! 
 
 Lift thee up, thou Judge of the earth, 2 
 
 Give their due to the traitors ! 
 
 O Yahwe ! how long shall the wicked, 3 
 
 How long shall the wicked exult ? 
 
 The Arabians speak insolently, 4 
 
 All the clans of On plot craftily. 
 
 Thy people, O Yahwe ! they crush ; 5 
 
 10 Thine inheritance they afflict ; 
 
 The widow and the orphan they sla}-, 6 
 
 The sojourners they butcher. 
 
 In league are Cush and Maacath, 20 
 
 Missur, Ishmael, and Jerahmeel ; 
 
 They are passionate against the soul of the righteous, 21 
 They plot together [against] innocent blood. 
 
 And I said, ' Yahwe doth not see, 7 
 
 Jacob's God doth not observe ; 
 
 Who will rise up for me against the Misrites ? 16 
 
 20 Who will stand forth lor nie against the clans of On ? ' 
 
9? THE PSALMS. 
 
 XCIV. — 2. 
 
 I O ye dullards among the people, be observant ! 8 
 
 ye fools, when will ye understand ? 
 
 He who stretched forth the ear, can he not hear ? 9 
 
 He who formed the eye, can he not regard ? 
 He who possesses the nations, can he not punish ? 10 
 
 Can he not teach Edom knowledge ?' 
 
 Happy the man whom thou disciplinest, O Yahwe ! 12 
 
 And teachest out of thy law, 
 
 To be quiet before evil-doers, 13 
 
 10 Until the pit be dug for the ungodly. 
 
 For Yahwe will not abandon his people, 14 
 
 He will not forsake his inheritance ; 
 
 For the righteous will 3'et trample on the Zarephathites, 1 5 
 
 And all the Ishmaelites will be cut off. 
 
 Unless Yahwe had been my help, 17 
 
 1 should have become a dweller in the Gloomy Land. 
 
 If I say, 'My foot wavers,' 18 
 
 Thy lovingkindness, O Yahwe ! holds me up. 
 When anguish within me is great, 19 
 
 20 Thy consolations delight my soul. 
 
 Let Yahwe be to me a sure retreat, 22 
 
 Let my God be my rock of refuge ; 
 
 Let him requite them for their wrong-doing, 23 
 
 And extirpate them for their wickedness.- 
 
 xciv.'i' 2. Shine fortb, ^^31(1 , 17-20. The complaint of believers 
 
 the language of theophanies (see on Y^° for a moment have lost their faith 
 
 1_ 2). (cp, on Ixxui. II tf.,cxvi. II). '\ah- 
 
 we is blind or unobservant, and there 
 
 II f. The phrases ' widow,' ' or- is no human champion of my right.' 
 phan,' ' sojourner,' are to be explained 
 symbolically. They are meant to sug- 
 gest the helpless condition of Israd. xciv.':i) i ff. A rebuke to those 
 Cp. X. 14, 18, Ixviii. 6, cxlvi. 9. who are represented by xciv.^D, //. 17- 
 
 20. It is Israel who is unobservant, 
 
 13 f. Cp. on Ixxxiii. 6, xcii. 8 f. — not Israel's God. First, the writer 
 
 15 f. 7'/ie rii:;hteoiis, innocent blood, i.e. appeals to the argument from analogy, 
 
 members of the pious Israelite com- ' God (you admit) planned and made 
 
 munity who are basely slain. the curious mechanism of hearing and 
 
 ' Yahwe will make the clans of Edom to know that they are but vanity (r. II). 
 ^ Yahwe our God will extirpate tiiem. 
 
PSALM XCIV 
 
 93 
 
 seeing; is it possible tiiat he himself is 7-10. It is douhtcd whether the 
 
 without the faculties which he gave <„,„„» /■-^"^^^ ^1 r • .l 
 
 :) HT ^ u * 1 .u • "^^" ( i-lJ) spoken of is the pious 
 
 you? Must he not hear those cries _vv ^ 
 
 and see those outrages which ye, his Israelite in general or the Israelite 
 
 creatures, see and hear ? ' It is much community. Probably Smend is right 
 
 less probable that Israel's unprincipled {ZATIV, 18S8, p. 128) in taking the 
 
 rulers are addressed (Uuhm, comparing latter view, cp. Lam. iii. i, ''^Ji^ 
 
 Ixxxii. 5, xiv. O ; ^V3. can only mean ^-»_ , , 
 
 ■^' T T -^ iJilil , where the commuinty speaks, 
 
 'in the people at large.' Then the ''\'''~ , .1 . , 
 
 psalmist passes on to Israelite theology. '^"'^ "^^e that the person who says, ' If 
 The 'nations' belong to Yahwe (Vs. ^ '^y' fy foot wavers ' &c. (//. 17 f.), 
 xlvii., &c.); can he fail to punish them \^ ^.•^^'^'7 ""^ ^^^o has learned Yahwe's 
 when they violate his holy heritage? Jovmgkindness to Israel from his law. 
 Edom in particular - for the poet ^ '^'.^ precious volume is in fact the 
 means the nations of N. Arabia, shall he "'"^'nary channel of the divine discipline 
 not learn from Yahwe that of which his or admonition ODTtD). The legal and 
 own wise men (Jer. xlix. 7) are igno- prophetic Tora both inculcate the 
 rant— the duty of reverence for Yahwe doctrine that sooner or later punish- 
 andYahwe's people? Theglossin -'. 1 1 „-,ent will overtake the wicked, who 
 (see margin) closely resembles part of ^111 fall into the very 'pit' which he 
 a gloss in Ps. ix.-x. (ix. 21, end) which ^ade for others, 
 incidentally throws light on our pas- 
 sage, because 'Jerahineel' is the 16. The Gloomy Iiand, i.e. 
 parallel to ' the nations.' Sheol (as cxv. 17). See crit. note. 
 
 Critical Notes. xciv.dJ. 4. M W^^- Read D'^l.^i (see on ix. 6).— 
 7. M i^^"'42- Read probably W'S'\V (see on lix. 8)'.— 8. M n;3hir)\ 
 G \akT](jovui. Bii., 'talk together'; BDB, 'talk proudly'; Driver, 
 ' bear themselves loftily.' All very improbable. We might read ^"13,pn^ 
 (Ixxxviii. 21, &c.), but this would be too strong. Read probably iri^j)^ 
 'deal craftily' (Ixxxiii. 4, with IID).— M ]1J< '''^PD"'??). Read probably 
 lij^ 'DJ7K~':'3 (see on xcii. 8).— 11 f. Fo^ nil read DijI^T, and for 
 DV0^J1''T read D^:)! (Gr.). The order as in Ge. n:^'??^ "and i:) are 
 never combined. 
 
 I3f. M jliirr h}D3 ^n^n^rr. G, fj.)) awTrpoa-ea-Tai a-oidpovos dvofj.lai; 
 J, nuinqiiid pai-ticeps crit tiii thronus insidiariini. WF., ' has the_ throne 
 of wickedness thee for an ally ' ; Hitz., Ba., ' can the throne of destruction 
 ally itself to thee ?' The clause itself, and each word in it, are suspicious, 
 (i) The form '^n^ cannot be satisfactorily explained; see Kon. i. 257, 
 ii. 2S4a ; Ges.*^''^, § 63 m ; Perles, Anal. 74; (2) JlTin ND3 is most 
 improbable. j~iiin 12^ (xci. 3^^) is possible, because Diiri describes 
 the nature of the ~)1"T ; this cannot be said of JllTn ND3 . ^Vhy did 
 not the writer say H/l]/ KDD ? (3) The use of ND3 for ' one seated on 
 the tribunal ' is e.xtremely awkward. (4) Verse 20, as commonly under- 
 stood, does not fit into the context ; nor is there any part of the psalm 
 where it can conveniently be placed. In such circumstances we have 
 before now found that the text disguises and distorts ethnic names. 
 Assuming this to be the case here, two names at once suggest themselves 
 in V. 20a and 6 respectively, viz. ^3 for DD, and '^hJ^^r^'^i'"' or ^N.^m^ 
 for "^D^- Two other ethnics are possible, and become even probable, 
 
94 THE PSALMS. 
 
 through their juxtaposition with groups of letters more distinctly intel- 
 ligible. The first word in 7'. 20a might come either from ^n^H (Gen. xiv. 
 3) or from ^n^irT*. The former suits the context best. Taking the J>} 
 in M's ^<DD with jniil, we get m^^^^. We may plausibly correct 
 
 this into jTjnS, ?>• TlDSVOLl]- Passing on now to /. 14, "i::> 
 
 T -: - 
 presumably comes from ~n^, i.e. HHQ (see on Ixxxiii. 8^), and the 
 
 unintelligible pJlwl^ from '^hJDm"'. Thus the whole couplet (which 
 
 probably stood between ?'. 6 and 7'. 7 till the supplementer, for editorial 
 
 purposes, put it elsewhere) should probably run (cp. xcii. /. 13), — 
 
 T-:- : T 
 
 15 f. M ^liT. Read ITill'' (see on Ivi. 6).— M lyi^rij . Read 
 M ^^irri; (Ivi. 6). 
 
 17. M '^"^!tD^^''^. 'The wickedness breaks out in words expressing 
 the usual fancy of immunity from punishment (cp. x. 11, 13), which is 
 then refuted in 7>7'. 8 ff.' (Hupfeld). The objection is that v. 8 expressly 
 refers not to those who ' crush ' and ' afflict ' Yahwe's people, but to a 
 section of that very people, that v. 10 as expressly relates to God's 
 conduct towards the nations as something which is misunderstood by the 
 unintelligent Israelites, and that 7>v. 12-15 contain the assurance that 
 Yahwe will not forsake his people, for the pit of retribution will soon be 
 dug for the wicked. Evidently there is an error in the text; for an exact 
 parallel see Ixxiii. 11. The true reading must be ~l!p j«}1 . Cp. '»jn"i:;3hJ , 
 7/. 18. 
 
 18 f. Read probably -D^l'bv D1|T"\9 •— M D'V"}^ , V.i^ 'b^B • 
 Read WT^D (xxvii. 3, Ixiv. 3), ]1J< ^^bii (see on /. 8). ' * 
 
 xciv.*-' I. Read perhaps J^J ^T3. (Bi.) ; G avpere S17. h^J would 
 fall out after 1J . 
 
 3. M y'lDJn. Read n*L3in (Gr.). Cp. Isa. ii. 16, where for_J_;bj read 
 n'iD2 (Houb."). 
 
 5. AI "ID'TT . Du., "ID^i^DH . But a recognition of God as the 
 universal Teacher is not to be expected here. According to /. 7 it is the 
 righteous Israelite whom Yahw6 ' disciplines.' Read, not liJ^n as We. 
 and Roy, p. 58, for an obvious reason (see /. 4), but liTTH. It is as the 
 possessor of the nations, not as their former, that Yahwo punishes them. 
 
 6. M DV^ D1^J IDS'jn . Neither in sense nor in form is this 
 
 - T TT ••- : - 
 
 clause satisfactory. The D''i;i of /. 5 are evidently the hostile nations 
 (as l.xxix. i,lx.xx. 9, Si'c.), but whether QliV can be limited to Israel's 
 enemies is extremely doubtful. Having regard to vv, 4, 20, we should 
 
PSALM XCIV. 
 
 95 
 
 almost certainly read Ulii (xc. 3). But the form of the clause still 
 requires amendment. There is only one remedy ; it is a perfectly 
 possible one, and it also improves the sense. Read Qij^ lQ'^^~k^'?n 
 nVI • Nearly so Wellh., but he weakens the case for l^'?^ J^^il by 
 retaining QT^} . 
 
 TT 
 
 Now as to the j^'-Zoss in v. 11. Why should any one have cared to 
 make the trivial comment, 'Yahwe knows that the devices of man are 
 but vanity'? Sense is restored by reading, D'lJ^ DiHSli^D J71^ [^HV] 
 b2'n nBH^^D- The ' devices ' of the enemy are wicked; the enemy 
 
 V T T •• • ■' 
 
 himself is vain, riQiTO is a ' constructio ad sensum.' 
 
 9. M ;?n >ryr2 ^b tO'pI^nS Very difficult, 'il^'pwnb indeed is 
 plain ; it is the lesson which the Torah constantly teaches (cp. Isa. vii, 4 
 XXX. 15). But why ^b ? and why p") ''Q\:2 ? We should expect the line 
 to describe the circumstances which make this lesson difficult to 
 practice. Line 10 suggests that these circumstances are the prosperity of 
 the wicked, for whom the ' pit ' of ruin has not yet been visibly ' duo- ' and 
 the adversity of the righteous. Read D'^lu) ''^ib '^rb, and compare 
 
 xxxix. 2. That ''J3'7 should become !2'\'7 is pal^ographically very 
 possible, and for the corruption j;~) \^'' we have a parallel in xlix. 6. 
 
 13 f. M is rendered by Driver, ' For judgment shall return unto 
 righteousness (from which it is now divorced, V2'. 20, 21)' ; by ll^jF ' For 
 in the end must judgment be given for righteousness ' ; by Duhm, ' For 
 the rule will once more turn to the righteous ' (pH^), z'-^- to the Pharisees. 
 But is such a forced expression in the psalmist's style ? Duhm's p^lJJ 
 (so S 2) is doubtless right, but much more correction is required. Read 
 D^nSlii D^n^^pHi: ni;~^3 C^^'^D = '•:£, as vli. 7, Ezek. vii. 23). G 
 agrees with M, except that tcos ov presupposes ^3 Tl^. 
 
 14. M 2b ''~}'^]'b3 VinjvJI, ' and all the upright in heart [shall go] 
 after it' [or, as Du., 'after him'], but we need a verb to correspond to the 
 verb in /. 13. Wellh. suggests 3^ ''~}p''b J■^^"lrT^<^ (cp. xxxvii. 37), but 
 the parallelism produced is insufficient. ' The text must be corrupt, and 
 on the analogy of 32':' n3 (Ixiii. i), ^b n''3^f (Ixxvi. 6), and nn" 2b 
 (Ixxxiii. 6) for DvJ^l^ri')"' we should most probably read 'b2 ^TTID"! 
 
 a^t'WQ'^v '' ''"■ 
 
 16. iiai^r^D and n:2')l both probably come from Jliro'^Cli:], If 
 nr^^^, 'silence,' were one of the synonyms for t'lJ^li^, why is it never 
 found in Job? niD^JJ, on the other hand, is common in Job, and 
 occurs four times in Pss. (M). H/^i'll occurs again, it is true, in cxv. 17, 
 apparently for b^iiV , but when one of these already corrupt passages 
 had convinced the editor that Sheol might be designated Dumah, it was 
 natural that he should introduce this supposed name into the other 
 
96 THE PSALMS. 
 
 passage. In both places G has abt]{s), which in Job xxxviii. 17 = jn^7i{. 
 non represents JIV^"? ; iOiTJJD comes from D'^dj , i-c lydri (cp. 
 error in Ixxiii. 2). 'i{, therefore, was dittographed ; or rather a badly 
 written 'iJ was corrected. 
 
 19. M ^B^ir^r. Read ""y^yi (G S, Gr.). "^^ is usually identified 
 with D'Dyii.' (Job iv. 13, XX. 2) ='a"'3i*P (i K. xviii. 21). Cp. Kon., ii. i, 
 p. 472. All very doubtful. In i K. read D'DD (Klo. ; cp. Che., /2^, x. 
 568 f. ; Jastrow, /5Z, xvii. 108 fif.). The Job passages cannot be treated 
 here. See also on cxix. 113, cxxxix. 23. 
 
 21. M \T'T ; so G; cp. Hitzig. Rather M^ (Gr.). Cp. ix. 10.— 
 23. I\I 3^i7^^ .' Rather 2l^^1 (Gr.) ; G dn-oSwcret. Omit repetition at 
 end of psalm. 
 
 PSALM XCV.— I. 
 
 I RIMETERS. Rejoicing in the recovery of its land, to which the N. Arabian 
 border-land has been added (cp. Obadiah), Israel invites its members to praise 
 Yahwc. The psalm is eschatological. 
 
 I Come, let our cries ring unto Yahwe, I 
 
 Let us acclaim the Roclv which succours us ; 
 Let us come before his face with thanksgiving, 2 
 
 Let us exult unto him with chanting •} 
 
 \\\ whose hand are the farthest parts of the land, 4 
 
 Whose are the mountain-ranges, 
 
 Whose is Jerahmeel — he made it, 5 
 
 Ishmael — his hands formed it. 
 
 Enter ye, let us worship, let us bow down, 6 
 
 10 Before Yahwb our God let us bend the knee, 
 
 For he made us and led us on — 7 
 
 The flock of his tending and his people. 
 
 5 f . Cp. Isa. viii. 9, Jcr. viii. 19. is a proof of omnipotence. N. Arabia, 
 
 The geography is archaislic. The poet otherwise Jerahmeel or Ishmael, is 
 
 has heard of the old kingdom of emphatically a mountainous land. 
 
 Meluhha (= Jerahmeel ?), of which Hence, in Ixv. 5, 6, the mention of 
 
 that of'Missur was a vassal, and which Misrim and Jerahmeel at once suggests 
 
 seems to have extended as far as a reference to mountains. 
 Midian (Wincklerj. Perhaps, however, 
 
 the mountains in the Negeb itself may il- He made us. In a special 
 
 have been regarded as relatively dis- sense (as c. 3, cxlix. 2, Isa. xlni. 21, 
 
 tant. The creation of these mountains xliv. 2, Dt. xxxii. 6, 15). 
 
 > For Yahwc is a great God, | a great king above Jerahmeel {v. 3). II 
 
PSALM XCV. — I, 2. 97 
 
 Critical Notes. Verse 3 interrupts, and seems to have been a marginal 
 note (see on xcvi. 4 f.). In /. 4, for j;nj read perhaps H'^^JJ (Du.). 
 
 5. M ''"1pn^2 ; fl "^- '^fy- 'a (.^lyviaa^n'i ; 2 fcarcornru ; J ' funda- 
 menta.' ' Lucus a non lucendo.' See Jer. xxxi. 37 (Ba.)- G, by a good 
 guess, ro Tre'para. Ba., "pm^ (Isa. viii. 9). — M Q"'"!,"! niDyij"l ■ Surely 
 □■""nn answers to the intention of the editor, who supposes a quotation 
 
 "T .... . . , „ , ^ 
 
 from Num. xxiii- 2, xxiv. 8. G, guessing again, ta v\j/r] twv optoii/. Read 
 Dnn j-li£)j-13 (cp. Isa. xi. 14). 
 
 • T : • 
 
 7 f. M D^~f • l^ead 'p^}^.^^T (cp. on Ixv. 6, l.xx.Kix. 26).— M /lli'T- 
 Read biiV'2Z^^ (cp. on Ixvi. 6). 
 
 9 f. Transpose I^Ii/J/ (pointing ^^)U),') and IJTl'^^^ • This is con- 
 firmed by c. 3, where the quotation gives the right order, and also 
 establishes our next correction, viz. !li'?nr"l for IJHJhiT . It is possible, 
 however, that when xcv.'i' and xcv.'-' were combined, the editor found 
 the incorrect reading IjrT'J^T , 'and brought us to rest' (Ex. xxxiii. 14, 
 Isa. Ixiii. 14?), and devised' a contrast between the ancient Israelites 
 whom God refused to bring to the ' rest ' of Canaan, and the pious 
 community which actually lives in Canaan, and looks forward to more 
 perfect rest when Yahwe shall interpose in its behalf. For iD^^irj Qy 
 iN^ilT read iajTT i/T'^nrp ]J^:i (so partly Bi.) ; see Ixxix. 13. 
 
 PSALM XCV.— 2. 
 
 1 Ri METERS. A warning against imitatinj; the disobedience of the forefathers. 
 Cp. the last crit. note on xciv."' 
 
 I Yahwe Elohim [speaks] ; 7^ 
 
 O that ye would hear his voice ! "id 
 
 Harden not your heart as at Meribah, 8 
 As on the day of Marisah in the wilderness, 
 
 Where your fathers tried me, 9 
 Proved me, and yet liad seen my doing. 
 
 Forty years I had a loathing 10 
 
 For ^.such+ a froward and defiant race ; 
 They were a people of erring heart, 
 10 And were ignorant oi" my \va}s, 
 
 So that I swore in mine anger, 11 
 
 Never shall they come to my resting-place. 
 
 2. Cp. Ixxxi. 9<^. — 3 f. Meribah . . xx. i (T. — 7 tf. See Num. xiv.'2r ff. 
 A/assaA. Cp. Ex. xvii. i ff. Num. 
 
 11. H 
 
gS THE PSALMS. 
 
 Critical Notes. \. M Di^Q "W , miswritten for D^'^'?^i mHV 
 Parallel cases, n'' for mriN Ixxvii. 3 ; QV and r)];' for D\"T'?hJ in Ixviii. 
 20. Prefix -13"^ (1. i).— 8. M's "1DST should be Hl^l ; the divine 
 speech comes later. Supply "lib (Ixxviii. 8). For "1113, CI gives 
 Ti) yevia (Kfivt]; T J>}13"T^ hi"1"I3 • Makeshifts which now become 
 unnecessary. 
 
 PSALM XCVI. 
 
 1 ETRAMETKRS interspersed with trimeters. The theme of xcv.fi' is resumed, 
 but the closest parallel is Ps. xxix., where, as here, the Jerahmeelites who are left 
 after the judgment are summoned to recognize their mighty and righteous 
 sovereign, Vahwe, by worship and offerings in the temples, also by recounting 
 Yahwe s glorious deeds to more distant peoples. Like its companion psalms, 
 Ps. xcvi. has been recast by an editor, so as to adapt it for later use. In its 
 adapted form it has been used in I Chr. xvi. 23-33. Cp. Isa. xlii. 10-12 (and 
 notes in Cril. Bib.). The additional verse (13) occurs again with a slight 
 alteration at the end of Ps. xcviii. As Duhm remarks, it may be derived in both 
 psalms from the temple ritual. 
 
 1 Sing to Yahwe a song that is new, i 
 
 Sing to Yahwe, all ye in the land ; 
 
 Sing to Yahwe, O ye of Ishmael, 2 
 
 Proclaim his deliverance, O ye of Jerahmeel ; 
 Tell of his glory among the nations, 3 
 
 His wonders among all the peoples. 
 
 For Yahwe is great and highly to be praised, 4 
 
 Terrible is he towards ail those of Ishmael. 
 For [to him belong] all the Jerahmeelites, 5 
 
 10 It is Yahwe who made Ishmael. 
 
 State and splendour are before him, 6 
 
 Strength and magnificence are in his sanctuary. 
 
 Ascribe to Yahwe, O ye families of the Aramites, 7 
 
 Ascribe to Yahwb glory and strength ; 
 
 Ascribe glory to Yahwe, O ye of Ishmael, 8 
 
 Bring oflFerings, and enter his courts ; 
 
 Worship Yahvv^, O Rehoboth and Cush ! 9 
 
 Exult before him, all ye in the land. 
 
 Extol Yahwe, O ye of Jerahmeel, lo 
 
 20 Yea, bend the knee, O Tubal and Maacath^ ; 
 
 ' lie will judge the peoples uprightly. 
 
PSALM XCVI. 99 
 
 Let Ishmael and Missur rejoice, ii 
 
 Let those of Jerahmeel sing praise ; 
 
 With the sound of the horn let Asshur exult, 12 
 
 Yea, with the sound of the trumpet let him shout for joy. 1 
 
 I. lyin I^V, as xcviii. i. See said that Y"li<in"7D has here (and in 
 
 » .'»-».\-,-U-v I Ml c. l) a weakened sense. The supposed 
 
 xxxni. 3.-2. yiNn /J • All ye ^ > ^ ^ 
 
 "TT T analogy of "1li'^~7D , Joel iii. i, can- 
 
 in the land' is better than 'all man- not be safely urged (see Crit. Bib.). 
 kind' (Duhm, «//^^F£//) because of ^ f_ ^p. cxlv. 3, xlviii. 2; also 
 
 the references to N. Arabian peoples ^ Cf1oss'> 1 i' 1 12 X\1 
 
 in the sequel. Israel and his new -,«.»£ _;^ V ' ^^..^ V ^' • ^jJ 1 
 
 1 X .. -vT % 1 il iN3r) , as Ixxvni. 61. 
 
 proselytes are meant. Nor can it be ' ./.,.;*." 
 
 Critical Notes. 3. M i^Ii^ 0")^ • In accordance with DV'?~DVr.D 
 in V. lb. But this, as we shall see, must be altered ; consequently 'ti' '3 
 also needs revision. With the other psalms of this group before us, it is 
 probable that IDH^ represents D'''7?^r2n")'', and that yCi^ has come from 
 D'''?Ny/2li^^ • Of these variants the latter is of course to be preferred 
 (on account of/. 4). 
 
 4- DT^DVa, hke DV DV in Ixi. 9 is a makeshift. Read 
 
 8. M D^n'7S"'7D"'71^ • This vague statement that Yahwe is terrible 
 in his superiority to all, other divinities is not probable. The wonderful 
 works spoken of in /. 6 are such as human beings have experience of. 
 
 Read D^^^<!:^^■)^"':'D"':'i' (cp. ixvi. 5). 
 
 9 f. Here and in xcvii. 7, M's DvvS should put us on our guard 
 (cp. Crit. Bib. on Isa. ii. 20). 'All the gods of the nations are idols' (the 
 rendering 'vain' is forced) is a gross tautology. Hence G substitutes 
 nn^, haiixovia. Comparing xcv. 5^, read D'''?N;2nn^"';'D w^'2-, and in 
 /. loVor Wiy^ read ^)^'^]yD'' . 
 
 13, 15. For □"ai? read 2"'D"lh^ , and for X2V read b'^^^'CiV (see on 
 xxix. I, 3). 
 
 17. AI li^lf) niTrrZl . We cannot read j"lh^n3 (cp. G) on account 
 of /. 16. Parallelism and the frequent confusion of ^"Tp and ti/lD 
 suggest ^131 jl'lQfTl. This of course determines the right reading in 
 xxix. lb. 
 
 19. M T|S*.3 mn'' Ws^l IlI^^J • The context, however, requires 
 bSQn'T'n mK^ ["/li^] ^i::??*! • For the correction of nOh< cp. xvi. 2. 
 
 20. M inmrrb'^ bir\ P^jT^NN but G 2 J read ]Dn (defectively); 
 cp. on xciii. i. Read riD^'JT bir\ ^^'y^PT'^ • Cp. on xciii. i. 
 
 • Before Vahwe, for he is come to judge the earth ; he will judge the world 
 in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness (c'. 13). 
 
100 THE PSALMS. 
 
 21. Read probably "llii^") S^J^^.'^t:?'' in^i:^V yii^ , as often, may 
 represent "ITU^; b^D (cp. xcvii. i) appears to have come from a ditto- 
 graphed bin. 
 
 22. DTI and Mihi2 (cp. Ixxxix. 12) both represent [D'']'?Sr.2n~)V 
 pyi^ may come from ^It^V . 
 
 23 f. M U"1i:^S"':'D'l n^- Read -|3V^ b')p3. -]ti^.—Ws ^ should 
 probably be r|J^ (Ivi, 10) ; so Ol., Gr., Bi., Che.^'', Du., though it may be 
 a corrupt fragment of 17^'' (written in error). Continue '^Ip^l ]31^ 
 n"12{!krr . Cp. xcviii. 6. 13/^~^iii^~'7D is strange ; we should at least 
 expect definite trees to be mentioned as representatives. 
 
 In 7'. 13 (cp. xcviii. 9) ^}J2 O is dittographed. 
 
 PSALM XCVII. 
 
 1 RIMETERS. Still the same theme — Vahwe, in fact as well as in ri;^ht, sovereign 
 of Palestine and (north) Arabia, and Arabia recognizing her sovereign with 
 acclamations. Again cp. Isa. xlii. 10-12, a passage which enables us to fill up a 
 lacuna in /. 2. The later writers were fond of descriptions of theophanies (see 
 OP, 156, 344, 353) — descriptions which have to them merely a symbolic value, 
 though the truth behind the symbol was never more firmly believed in. Literary 
 reminiscences abound in this psalm, which is one of those 'costly mosaic works' 
 too often overlooked by careless readers of Scripture (Abp. Trench on Rev. 
 iii. 1-6). 
 
 I Yahwe reigns ; let the land exult, I 
 
 Let Arabia [and Ishmael] rejoice. 
 
 Clouds and darkness are around him, 2 
 
 Righteousness and judgment are the base of his throne. 
 
 Fire consumes before him, 3 
 
 And a flame makes IshmaeU to burn ; 
 
 His lightnings illumine Tubal, 4 
 
 Missur sees it and is in terror. 
 
 The mountains melt like wax- 5 
 
 10 Before the Lord of the whole earth ; 
 
 Ishmaelites declare his righteousness, 6 
 
 And all the peoples see his glory. 
 
 Disappointed are all Arabia and Ishmael, 7 
 
 Those of Jerahmecl do homage unto him. 
 Zion heard of it and rejoiced, 8 
 
 The daughters of Judah exult. 
 
 ' His adverjaries. - Before Vahwe. 
 
PSALM XCVII. lOI 
 
 Because of thy judgments, O Yahwe ! 
 
 For thoui art sovereign over- Edom, q 
 
 20 Thou art exalted above all Jerahmeel. 
 
 Appendix. 
 Those that hate evil doth Yahwe love, * 10 
 
 He preserves the souls of his loyal ones. 
 From the hand of the wicked he rescues them. 
 
 Light rises for the righteous, 1 1 
 
 And joy for the upright in heart. 
 
 Rejoice, ye righteous ! in Yahwe, 12 
 
 And give thanks to his holy name. 
 
 Comp. the theophanies in Pss. xviii., Isa. xxxv. 2, xl. 5, lii. 10, Ixvi. 18, ivic. 
 1., Ixxvii. For //. 9-12 cp. Mic. i. 4, For //. 15 f. cp. xlviii. 12. 
 Zech. iv. 14, vi. 5, Pss. 1. 6, xcviii. 3, 
 
 Critical Notes. 2. ]M D^^") D'^h? • Both D''"'J< and WITS occur 
 in the prophets as corruptions of D^^"l^. 
 
 5 f. M ^bri- Read "^Di^n.— Before ]:^7bT\ insert nnn^p (Hare, 
 Kenn.) ; cp. Ixxxiii. 15, cvi. 18. For "y^iD read, as elsewhere, 7Sy/2Ii'^. 
 Omit Vl^i (? Dn^iD) as a gloss on '^>. 
 
 TT 
 
 7 f. Point '^^n, and for "]1N[rT] read, as elsewhere, l-iJ^. 
 
 9, II. mn^ ^JH)'? is virtually dittographic. — For D'^Dti^H read 
 D^V^^;r,!2li>^ (see 1. 6). 
 
 13 f. According to Duhm, v. ya and b is an 'absurd interpolation.' 
 ' The makers of images, who boast of the idols, will not be led to doubt 
 their position by a storm ; besides the interpolation is specially ugly 
 before ?'. jc, where the D^n'^'i^ are treated like the Qvhi ^J21 of Ps. xxix. 
 ("all gods worship him").' But experience of the disguises assumed 
 with considerable regularity by N. Arabian ethnics enables us to detect 
 another text underneath the present ' absurd ' passage. 7317 = 31^ '■> 
 
 boH) = bi^v^'^^ ; D^':'':?njn!:, D^b^':'S[3] and wrb'n. = Q'bii'2n^^. 
 
 Read therefore, 
 
 19. Omit mrP (metre) ; also yij^n"'?^, as an insertion made at the 
 same time when Q7^{ (Edom) became '^^}l2. 
 
 ' O Vahwe. - All the earth. 
 
102 THE PSALMS. 
 
 21. Read 2^^< and "Xi'liMWe., Du.). 
 
 25. Read niT or n')\ (G J S T) with Mich., Ol., Hu., Bi., Gr., Bii., 
 We., Du. 
 
 PSALM XCVIII. 
 
 Jr ENTAMETERS. Again poetical mosaic-work. Especially note coincidences with 
 Pss. xcvi., Isa. xliv. 23, xlix. 13, lii. 9, Iv. 12, lix. 16, Ixiii. 5. Cp. Stade, 
 Redai u. Abhandl., 72 (Messianic hope). 
 
 Marked. Of ^Arab-ethan. 
 
 I Sing unto Yahwe a new song, [ wondrous things has he 
 
 done ; i 
 
 His right hand has made him the victor, | his holy arm. 
 Yahwe has made known his victor}^ | * * * 2 
 
 In the sight of those of Jerahmeel | he has unveiled his 
 righteousness ; 
 
 He has remembered his lovingkindnessand his faithfulness | 
 
 to the house of Israel, 3 
 
 All the ends of the land have seen | the victory of our God. 
 Acclaim Yahwe, all ye in the land, | break into a song of 
 
 joy ; 4 
 
 ■ Sing praise to Yahwe with the lyre, | with the sound of 
 
 melody. 5 
 
 [Shout to him] with trumpet-notes, | and with sound of 
 cornets, 6 
 
 ID Raise a cry before [our God] | Yahwe the king ! 
 
 Let those of Jerahmeel sing praise, | Tubal and Ishmael ; 7 
 With lyres, with pipes, and with timbrels, I let the Jerah- 
 meelites shout for joy.^ 8 
 
 Critical Notes. Title. M has only n:2T'J, but G adds rw ^avuh. 
 Either insert TCh or omit "n^Tr^- 
 
 4. M D^ljn. The metre (which requires two beats) and the context 
 (which points to Jerahmeel) bids us, in accordance with parallels, take 
 'jn as miswritten for D^'^NQnT' Cl comes from i":^). 
 
 5. After llDn G inserts ^pP"''!', but this leaves too much for the 
 short second hemistich. The Pasek here simply separates the two V 
 In vv. 4 f. omit the first l")rjT and the second "11332 • 
 
 ' Before Yahwe, for he is come to judge the earth ; he will judgi- the world 
 with righteousness, and the peoples with uprightness {v. 9). 
 
PSALMS XCVIII. AND XCIX. IO3 
 
 9 f. Prefix ^H^bbn (cl. 3).— Insert ')2'nbii. 
 
 iia. Read Q"''?NOm^ ")iar (see on xcvi., /. 22), and continue, 
 
 '^hil^Q^"'! bnPt- D'^2^'', *2ti'"' &c. are frequently miswritten for 
 •• T : • : - s 
 
 bi^yDV^. jM implies that ' the world ' can ' thunder ' like ' the sea.' 
 
 12. M C]D"1NnrO^ niinj. in Isa. Iv. 12 it is the trees that 'clap 
 
 their hands.' This is a possible expression because branches are called 
 niD3. It could not, however, be said that the streams clapped their 
 hands. Clearly we should read r^rini ':'inQ2T nillilDn (xcviii. 5, 
 cxlix. 3, cl. 4). Either '^^'Hui = T^TT ' pipe,' or it was miswritten for 
 
 h'bn.—M Dnrr in\ Read D^'7i^on"iv 
 
 • T -- 
 
 PSALM XCIX. 
 
 JT* OUR five-line stanzas, each followed by a refrain of two words. Stanzas I and 
 3 consist entirely of tetrameters, but in stanzas 2 and 4 some lines are trimeters. 
 Few psalms, as handed down by tradition, have given more trouble to expositors 
 than this. The difficidty lies in v. 4 and vz'. 6-8. How is the opening off. 4 to 
 be rendered ? And what is the event by which the administration of justice has 
 been restored in Israel? Then, as to 7'. 6, why is -Moses called a priest? And 
 what have Aaron and Samuel to do with the legislative communications (z>. 7) 
 between Yahwe and Israel ? And what were the wicked deeds which called for 
 punishment ? According to Biithgen, the present tenses in z'v. 6, ya show that the 
 psalmist's intention is not to give merely a historical retrospect. Moses and 
 Aaron and Samuel are heroes of prayer, who live again in their spiritual descen- 
 dants, in so far as these descendants pray as believingly as their ancestors. He 
 thinks that the suffixes in tjv. 7, 8 refer to the entire category of the IQliJ 'J^Hp 
 ('callers upon his name'), i.e. the Israelites. Delitzsch, too, is of opinion that 
 v. 6c is to be understood, not only of Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, but of the 
 
 people which as mediators they represented, so that the /n7^7j7 ('evil deeds') 
 will be those of the people. These theories, however (not excluding Wellhausen's, 
 who has only one vigorous though too arbitrary correction — see on z'. 4, and 
 Duhm's, whose emendations of v. 4 and z'. 8 are far too slight), are based virtually 
 on the traditional text. 
 
 The psalm is parallel to Ps. Ixxxvii., Isa. xix. 18-25, Zech. xii., xiii. (see Cn'L 
 Bil>.), and the statement in /. 13 is in accordance with the probably correct text 
 of Isa. Ixvi. 21. The ]:>oet looks forward to the time when 'all the peoples [of 
 Palestine and N. Arabia],' i.e. all those non-Israelites who have not perished in 
 the great judgment, will have become converted to the true religion. The 
 expectation that some of the Jerahmeeliles, in particular, will not only invoke the 
 name of Yahwe, but become his priests, has a historical justification, for it is a 
 well-grounded theory that the Levites came historically from Jerahmeel (see 
 Eiic. Bill., 'Moses'). There is no occasion to bring the psalm down to the 
 period of the forcible Judaizing of the Idumaans by John Hyrcanus. 
 
 I Yahwe reigns, the peoples tremble ; i 
 
 He is throned on cherubim, the earth totters ; 
 Yahwe is a great [king] in Zion, 2 
 
 He has sovereign power over all the peoples. 
 Let them praise thy name as great and awful, 3 
 
 Holy is Yahwh. 
 
104 '^^^ PSALMS. 
 
 Jerahmeel and Zarephath thou dost love, 4 
 
 Thou hast confirmed justice [and] judgment, 
 Righteousness in Jacob thou hast carried out. 
 10 Extol Yahwe our God, 5 
 
 And do homage before his footstool. 
 Holy is Ya/nve. 
 
 j\Ien of Jerahmeel [are] among his priests, 6 
 
 Men of Ishmael among those that call on his name, 
 That call vipon Yahwe, and he himself answers them ; 
 In the valley of Arnon (?) and in the wilderness of Jerah- 
 meel 7 
 They observe his monitions and the law that he gave them. 
 Holy is Yahwe. 
 
 O Yahwe, our God ! thou dost answer them, 8 
 
 20 A God that forgives hast thou been unto them. 
 
 And [a God] that had compassion from regard to their 
 
 prayer. 
 Extol Yahwe our God. 9 
 
 And do homage before his footstool ; 
 Holy is Yahwe. 
 
 Critical Notes. 2 ff, M J^I^J^- tOlJ is not known. G (rakevBr^Td), 
 whence Du. IDb^l. (01. Jirjri;^Gr. V1::J1.)— Insert X^l^ (xlvii. 3).— 
 
 T T - T 'V V 
 
 For Qm read DIT' (cp. Ivii. 6, 12), with Bi. 
 t: t 
 
 6. The refrain should probably be TVilV li^")lp (Du.) ; cp. the closing 
 
 words in M. SIH and ^\^T^'^ are easily confounded. 
 
 7 f . M tODLl^^ "^bu T^T. Duhm omits 2nj^ '^BDt2 as an editorial 
 T : • 'v V : •• T T : • 
 
 correction, and renders ' Royal power thou hast set up.' Read rather 
 
 nSlikT b^i^2^~l^ ■) andl, i; and V , ~) and ^2 confounded, &c. Cp. 
 EtiL. Bib., ' Shaphat.'— Read :£)3l^Q1 . 
 
 13 f. ^"inST rrit^Q- The improbability of this abrupt reference to 
 Moses and Aaron, and of the representation of Moses as a priest, need 
 not be shown at length (see introd.). Hli^rj seems to be a corrupt 
 fragment of D''b^<;^!:2*^'' written too soon ; \\ir\i^, of D^':'kS::m'' (note 
 Pasek).— M ':>l<1D'i^1. Why Samuel.? Read D'''?i>?a'i'''T (two beats). 
 
 16. M Dn^by "IHT ]^y l^l2V^., most unsuitable, however we 
 may read f. "o!' 'Read 'perhaps '?4Sbm^ ~I3-Tr^31 ]i-^^} p'JV?. The 
 second half of this is safer than the former. 
 
PSALMS XCIX. AND C. IO5 
 
 21. M DD'b'^b^'^!^ Qpj> '^^ DpJ cannot be right. Herz 
 proposes "736 '2- But the difficulty remains that /. 20 says just the 
 opposite. Hi., Bii. read Un2, but this would not mean 'that passed 
 over.' Duhm emends Ullw^by^n'bV DpJT, 'but taking vengeance for 
 insuhs directed to them.' But comparing Hos. xi. 8, where for ^^3inj 
 Wellh. rightly reads ^^m (cp. S), we should rather read QniQ [/h?]'1, 
 and continue the line with DJn^BJl"/^- 
 
 PSALM C. 
 
 J. Ri METERS. A liturgical psalm, conventional in expres.sion, but no doul)t 
 sincerely felt. The persons addressed are Israel and Israel's new adherents from 
 N. Arabia. 
 
 Marked. Of 'Arab-etJian. I 
 
 I Shout unto Yahwe, all ye in the land, 
 
 Serve Yahwe with rejoicings, 2 
 
 Come in before him with cries that ring. 
 
 For Yahwe — he is our God, 3 
 
 He has made us and led us on, 
 
 His people and the flock that he tends. 
 
 Enter his gates with thanksgivings, 4 
 
 His courts with songs of praise, 
 Give thanks to him, bless his name. 
 
 10 [Praise him,] for [he] is good, 
 
 Yahwe's lovingkindness is for ever. 
 His faithfulness for all ages. 
 
 I. Y^^}^"7D• See on xcvi. i. — altered repetition of xcv. 6/', 7a, b (see 
 2. Sei~i'e, i.e. with sacrifices (Ex. iii. 12, corrected text). 
 Isa. xix. 21, 23). — 4-6. A slightly 
 
 Critical Notes. (Title.) niin'?, G th f^ofio>.('>yr](nv ; T ]2~)p b^ 
 XJinil- Most assume nnn'^ to have been suggested by min in 
 7>. 4, but 'r\ there has a perfectly general reference. But is the text 
 right ? 7 after "T1DIID ought to introduce the name of the guild or 
 company in whose custody this and other psalms were. If so, niin 
 should be a corruption of ]n'n[''], 'Jeduthun,' i.e. perhaps ]j1"•^J 2"1V- 
 
 4. Omit 1^1 (perhaps from '?hi;:3m\ a gloss ; cp. xcvi.. //. 3, 4), and 
 read ^J''^T7^i (G^'"-"^^T)_ 'Acknowledge that Yahw^ is God' is unsuitable; 
 the context shows that those addressed (an expanded Israel) know Yahwe 
 already. 
 
106 THE PSALMS. 
 
 5- ^J^3^i St'l is an editorial development out of an ill-written 
 IJ^^nn. It is useless to dispute over the rival claims of H^ (Kt.) and 
 
 1*7 (Kr.). The passage, as corrected, enables us to restore the true text 
 of xcv. ja. 
 
 lo. Prefix perhaps im7Vn (Du.), and insert ^<^^ after 2MD- Thus 
 the stanza is completed. 
 
 PSALM CI. 
 
 1 EN'TAMETERS. The VOW of a prince. Let us look at the psalm from the 
 new point of view suggested by our revision of the received text. It is parallel 
 to Pss. xlv. and Ixxii., in which the Messiah is depicted in colours derived 
 from the legendary portrait of Solomon, but more especially to the latter, in 
 which, as we have seen, it is the combined tenderness and severity of the 
 Messianic king which is eulogized — his tenderness to the righteous poor of 
 Israel, and his severity lo the N. Arabians who have oppressed them. The 
 'orphan' and the 'widow' (the terms are of course collective) form a numerous 
 class in the Jewish community ; to care for them was one of the first duties of 
 a ruler (Ixxxii. 3, Isa. i. 17). The terms, however, are also used symbolically 
 (see on x. 14) for the people of Israel, and it is possible that in /. 2 the 
 speaker may mean that he (the Messiah) will avenge the wrongs of his 
 oppressed people ; to do justice among the Jerahmeelites would of course 
 involve giving close attention to the interests of Israel. This may perhaps 
 be confirmed by the closing stanza in which, as a means of removing from 
 the holy city ' all workers of wrong,' the speaker promises (as it seems) to 
 destroy all the wicked in Jerahmeel. The rest of the psalm, however, seems 
 to refer to the character of those who are to be admitted to the king's court. 
 They are to be ideal Lsraelites, of the type described in Ps. xv. and xxiv. 3-6; 
 in particular they are to be free from the heathenish practices of N. Arabian 
 divination. 
 
 lias the present text arisen at all through manipulation? According to 
 Budde (Exp. T., Jan. 1897, pp. 202 ff.) the psalm was originally a monologue 
 of Vahwe himself, and was altered by an editor into a hymn suitable for an 
 earthly prince, as a standard of character. It is also possible to suppose that 
 it was originally intended for the perusal and edification of some contemporary 
 (post-exilic) piince, presumably one of the Maccabees — either Jonathan or 
 Simon. This view may seem to be favoured by the coincidence in expression 
 between v. 8 and I Mace. ix. 73 (cp. <'. 23), xiv. 14, 36 ; for a further con- 
 jecture see OF, 68, 80. The latter view is more plausil)le, because it does 
 not involve such arbitrary interference with the text as Budde's view, to me 
 at least, appears to do. But the two parallel psalms xlv. and Ixxii., having 
 already turned out not to be based on earlier psalms referring to a Maccaba^an 
 prince, one may well hesitate to adopt such a view here. The text is indeed 
 by no means free from corruption, but even in the form given by M it admits 
 of an easy and unforced interpretation in a Messianic sense. — Biithgen rather 
 strangely understands the speaker to be the post-exilic Jewish community ; 
 
 he takes the imperfects to be descriptive of the present ; ■'7^i Sl^Jl ^/1!^ 
 is also more easily intelligible as the longing utterance of the community 
 (cp. the promise in Ex. xx. 21). The theory, however, though held to be 
 possible by Olshausen, is unnatural ; it is best to adhere to the view expressed 
 above — i.e. the speaker is the Messiah. 
 
 0/ ''Arab-ethaii : marked. I 
 
 I Piety and justice will I practise | among the Jerahmeelites; 
 I will give heed to the cause of the orphan, | the desire 
 
 of the widow. 2 
 
PSALM CI. 
 
 107 
 
 I will go about with an honest heart | within my house ; 
 None shall present himself before me | whose speech 
 is of ruin. 
 
 The doings of magicians do I hate, | it shall not cleave 
 
 to me ; 
 [The diviners of] Ishmael and Ashhur, | the soothsaj'ers 
 
 of Jerahmeel. 
 
 He that slanders his neighbour in secret, | him will I 
 
 destroy ; 
 Whoso has a high look and a proud heart, | him will I 
 
 not sustain. 
 
 Mine eyes are on the faithful of the land | that they 
 may dwell with me ; 
 ID Whoso walks blamelessly — | he shall serve me. 
 
 None that acts deceitfully shall dwell | within my house ; 
 No speaker of his shall stand | before mine eyes. 
 
 In Jerahmeel 1 will destroy | all the wicked of the land, 
 That I may cut off from the city of Yahwe | all workers 
 of wronor. 
 
 I f. The Messianic king, like 
 Vahwe himself (Ixviii. 6), is a father 
 to the orphan. IDH and tDDti'Q. 
 however, are also required of every 
 true Israelite (Hos. xii. 7, Mic. vi. 8), 
 and the persons whom the speaker 
 refuses to admit into his household 
 are precisely those who have no "IDH 
 or IDSti'S- These moral courses the 
 Messianic king says, surely not that 
 he will ' sing,' but that he will 
 'practise' (see crit. n.). In M the 
 vow to take care of the orphan is 
 followed by an earnest appeal to 
 Yahwe to ' come ' (for the final act 
 of judgment?). Those who regard 
 the psalm as Davidic, actually com- 
 pare the speech of David in 2 S. vi. 9. 
 
 4- '?;^^'?n "im. bv'h2 (see 
 
 on xviii., //. 9-12) is a special cha- 
 
 racteristic of the oppressive rulers and 
 judges ; cp. Iviii., /. 3, Ixxxii., A 14. — 
 5 f. The abhorrence of the early 
 Judaism for soothsaying is well known. 
 Cp. Deut. xviii. 9-12, 14 ; Lev. 
 xix. 26I'. 
 
 8. A high look, &c. Cp. xviii. 28, 
 cxxxi. I. Prov. xxi. 4. — Sustain, i.e. 
 as a member of my household ; cp. 
 2 S. xix. 33. 
 
 II. JVithin my house. So the 
 ' blameless ' Job provides against trans- 
 gressions in his household (Job i. 5), 
 and so a very late psalmist makes the 
 righteous man ' visit his house con- 
 tinually to take away unrighteousness ' 
 {Ps. Sol. iii. 8; cp. f. 7).— 12. No 
 speaker of lies. See on xv., /. 4. — 
 13 f. See introd. 
 
 Critical Notes, i. ^~l''li'^^ can only be defended on the supposition 
 that the divine IDH and lDSI^/D are spoken of. But then we should 
 expect f"»lDrr and "]"'tD3X';2 • At the end of v. i we find mr2TJ< , which 
 is suspicious because it injures the metre. Presumably it has sprung 
 from ^l:^ti'^< (cp. the opposite mistake in lix. 10), which was written in 
 
I08 THE PSALMS. 
 
 the margin as a correction of n~l^'ii'>^. Otherwise we might emend 
 HT'I^h? into "inti^hi. [Diihm has a similar idea; he corrects PITti^N 
 into ^'TJZ'^{, and deletes ^"^^2T^< as an arbitrary insertion. The 
 coincidence is valuable.] 
 
 2 f. For Q\^n "["nn read Qin^ "1212 ■ Note Pasek after ^V:)::^^*. 
 • T ' V %• : T - : . 
 
 The inexplicaljle interrogative T)rj which follows comes from DJl^, 
 
 written as a correction of D^DJl • "^bii ^i^3D must come from /^2^<J^ 
 
 nj*.37i>? (cxix. 20). — Tl^^. G (R*) has rod o'Ikov a-ov. But see 7'. 7. 
 T T : - 
 
 4- ^^ n^l^H'iib (Pasek follows). Read ni^TI" (v. 6) ; ^i became 
 
 t^.— M ~)21. Read m^ (Gr.). 
 
 5 f . M D''tOD~il'li^P, a combination of difficulties. The vss. point 
 n'^y> which is the most natural course. D^tOD (G TrapajBda-fis) is usually 
 identified with D'^ZDIi^, Hos. v. 2, but the text of that passage has been 
 much misunderstood. Both for D^iOD and for □"'^li^ (rather D^tOD), and 
 for DIJID in Ezek. xxviii. 3 we should read D'^DlDIII, 'magicians' (12 
 and D confounded). The 'magicians of Misrim' (Gen. xli. 8) were cele- 
 brated. Read 'IH HTDVi^. L. 6 should run, -n^tt'^^^ '/^<PDt^^ [^QDp] 
 ':'J<ani> ••JJiy^.— anS (as n'? in Jer. ix. 25) .^t^NVJ, i.e. '!2TD> or 'HT ; 
 
 wp); and niD^ = i^nwi^ ■, ijqd = '^pvD ; );iii iD^b ^i = ':'NQn-i\ 
 
 The corrections are in accordance with analogy, and add colour to the 
 psalm. 
 
 7 f. Kt., ^Jiyi'^D (Poel,here only). Kr., ''2'^b^, an unparalleled form. 
 Should we not 'read ''2''^b^ (Prov. xxx. lo)*?— M b^')^^- G tovto) ov 
 <7vv^(Teiov = bD''tk iib ijlN." Rather '?^'pD^j} ikb ^Hk.^ Cp. on cxii. 5^. 
 
 13. M D^npuS. The morning is no doubt the time for justice (Jer. 
 xxi. 12), but why ' every morning ' ? Budde conjectures that in the original 
 form of the poem (see introd.) it was Yahwe who asserted this claim 
 comparing Job xxxviii. 12-15. Clearly the troublesome '^t' must be a 
 scribe's error. Read t'hJiDni^^, (cp. '^r.^lD from TT"!*). Cp. /. i. 
 
 PSALM CII. 
 
 J\ roMPOSiTE psalm (see crit. n. on 7'v. 12, 24-26). All three parts are 
 in trimeters, thout;h now and then tlie metre seems to be imperfect. The 
 third part reminds us of II. Isaiah; Ilitzig compares Isa. xlviii. 13, li. 16, 
 Ixvi. 2, 22, li. 6, 1. 9, xlviii. 12, xlvi. 4. But the ideas were the common 
 property of the later writers, and an early editor may well have thought that 
 edificaticm required a reference to them. In its final form Ps. cii. was 
 endowed with a finely expressed and unique heading, appropriating the work 
 to ' the sufferer, when he faints,' &c. It is natural to suppose that the 
 individual Israelite is meant, but with the 1331^ "'JN of Lam. iii. i before 
 us, we cann(jt help doubting this (cp. Smend, p. 130), and the reference in 
 cii.C and cii.'-' to the nation is, apart from the lieading, undeniable. That 
 the psalm is composite, will be clear from an inspection of the contents ; 
 
PSALM CII. — I, 
 
 109 
 
 vv. 2- 1 1, together with vv. 24, 250;, are altogether elegiac (cp. Pss. xxii., 
 Ixix.) ; ill the other parts of the psalm the writers soar above the miseries 
 of the present. As to the date of cii.C-^, it is natural to derive a suggestion 
 from Neh. i. 3, ii. 3, 13 ff., iii. 34 ff. (see OP, 70 f.) ; the walls of Jerusalem 
 may, in fact, have been broken down at more than one crisis in the ' post- 
 exilic ' period. Besides the passages referred to, it is not impossible to compare 
 I Mace. i. 31, ii. 6-14, x. 10 (cp. Beer, Geineinde-psalnieii , p. xxxix.). This, 
 however, would require to be treated in connexion with a fresh historical 
 treatment of that period, and cannot here be assumed. Kirkpatrick's view, 
 that the psalm as a literary whole belongs to the close of the Exile, is only 
 supported by the gloom of one part and the idealistic aspirations of another. 
 But the current notions respecting the 'restoration' of Israel under Cyrus 
 have received too severe a shock to permit us to hold this view. It is the 
 Messianic age to which tiie psalmist looks forward. 
 
 Prayer for the si/ffe?-er^ when he faints^ a/ui pours out his 
 
 comphiint before Yahivc. I 
 
 CII. — I. 
 
 I O Yahwe ! hear my prayer, 2 
 
 And let my cry penetrate unto thee. 
 Hide not thy face [from thy servant], 3 
 
 Guard me from those of Ishmael ; 
 Bend to me thine ear. 
 From those of Jerahmeel dehver me. 
 
 For my body is eaten up as by fire, 4 
 
 My frame is scorched througli as b}' a glowing heat, 
 My palate is parched like herbage, ; 
 
 10 My heart is dried up like [grass] ; 
 
 I am bowed down at the sound of Jerahmeel, 6 
 
 Through Ishmael my bones are crushed. 
 
 I am like a pelican (?) of the wilderness, 7 
 
 I resemble an owl of the ruins ; 
 
 I am disturbed and tremble as a bird 8 
 
 Because of the revilings of Jerahmeelites. 
 
 Mine enemies^ insult me continually, 9 
 
 TP TT ^ ^ 
 
 Yea, I eat ashes as if they were bread, 10 
 
 20 And mingle my drink with tears. 
 
 Because of thy hot wrath and indignation, 11 
 
 For thou hast taken me up and flung me away. 
 My towers Jerahmeel has destroyed, I2, 24 f. 
 
 With the arrows of the warriors my dwellings. 
 
 ' Jerahmeelites, Ishmaelites. 
 
110 THE PSALMS. 
 
 CII. — 2. 
 
 I ^Thou, O Yahvve ! wilt be enthroned for ever, 13 
 
 Thy memorial is from age to age. 
 
 Now wilt thou arise and have compassion on Zion, 14 
 
 For it is the time to have pity on her, for the set time 
 
 is come. 
 For thy servants have affection for her stones, 15 
 
 And feel tenderly towards her dust. 
 
 And the nations will fear the name of Yahwe, 16 
 
 And all the kings of the earth thy glory, 
 
 Because Yahwe has built up Zion +anew+, 17 
 
 10 And has shown himself in his glory [within her], 
 
 Has turned towards the prayer of the prisoners, 1 8 
 
 And not rejected their supplication. 
 
 Recorded shall this be for the next generation, 19 
 
 A new-born people shall praise Yahwe, 
 
 Because he has looked forth from his holy height, 20 
 
 Out of heaven- he has beheld the earth. 
 
 To hear the groaning of the prisoners, 21 
 
 To loose those that, dwelt in gloom. 
 
 The children of thy servants shall dwell ^in the land+, 29 
 
 20 Their offspring will be established before thee. 
 
 That men may rehearse the name of Yahwe in Zion, 22 
 
 And his praise in Jerusalem, 
 
 When the peoples are gathered together, 23 
 
 And the kingdoms to serve Yahwe. 
 
 CII. — 3 (an insertioii). 
 
 I Of old thou didst lay the earth's foundation, 26 
 
 And the heavens are the work of thy hands. 
 They will perish, but thou wilt continue ; 27 
 
 They all will wear out like a garment : 
 As a robe wilt thou change them, and they will pass 
 
 away, 
 But thou art +still+ He, and thy days have no end. 2,^ 
 
 ' And. - Vahwe. 
 
PSALM CII. — I, 2, 3. 
 
 Ill 
 
 (Tiile.) rh^r\; see v. za. 
 *lDy^ O ; cp. Ixi. 3 ; 2 eV tw o.Qvii.i1v 
 avT6y. Tt^t^r "ISt:;"' ; cp. xlii. 5, 
 Ixii. 9, Iv. 3, Ixiv. 2 ; also I S. i. 15. 
 
 1-6. For the phrases cp. xviii. 7, 
 Ixix. 18, xxvii. 9, xxxi. 3. A/y body, 
 D''Q"1^, as Job xl. 18, Prov. xvii. 22. 
 The vital juices of the body represent 
 tlie moral strength of the personality. 
 Whatever depresses this, may be said 
 to dry up the ' bones.' On the otlier 
 hand, Vahwe's felt presence ' makes 
 fat the bones' (Isa. Iviii. 11). For 
 'bones' our idiom requires 'body,' 
 'frame'; see on vi. 3. On the text, 
 see crit. n. 
 
 8. As by fire. Cp. Jer. xx. 9, 
 ' There is in my heart as it were a 
 burning fire shut up in my bones.' 
 To hold back a message of Vahwe to 
 others has the same effect as being 
 deprived of his inward messages of 
 peace to oneself. In both cases de- 
 struction is the consequence of a pro- 
 longation of this terrible experience. — 
 IplDD, 'like a hearth' (Del., Siegfr. 
 St.), 'like a burning mass' {BDB). 
 Kather 'like a burning glow,' as Isa. 
 
 xxxiii. 14, ub'W npiD. nni as 
 
 Ixix. 4. 
 
 9 f. Cp. xxii. 16. — ir. Cjj. xliv. 
 16 f., Iv. 4, xxxviii. 9 ODNDID), 
 li. 10 (Jn^3*7). We must not, simply 
 to justify an altogether improbable 
 text, make "'^ti'^ here, and in cix. 24 
 (M) mean ' my skin.' 
 
 13. I retain the conventional render- 
 ing ' pelican.' But see E. Bib.,'' Pelican.' 
 
 17. Cp. xlii. II. — 19 f. It is the 
 mourner's paradox — ashes his bread, 
 tears his drink (cp. xlii. 4, Ixxx. 6). 
 Cp. £. Bib., 'Mourning Customs.' — 
 22. Cp. Job xxvii. 21, XXX. 22. 
 
 23 f. The crushing calamities 
 brought upon Israel by the agency of 
 the N. Arabian foes were the con- 
 sequence of \'ahwe's rejection of his 
 people. Totvers, as xlviii. 4, 14, Am. 
 vi. 8, &c. T13J *jjn, as cxx. 4, cp. 
 cxxvii. 4. The text of lines 23, 24 
 appears to have double rejiresenta- 
 tion — in v. 12, and in 7'v. 24 f. Between 
 these comes an inserted passage (cii.<'-'), 
 in which, for sufficient reasons, v. 29 
 must be included. 
 
 CII. '2' 1-6. The fundamental idea 
 in the early Judaism — Vahwe's eternity 
 (cp. cii.(-"). For a time there may 
 not be one stone of Zion upon another, 
 Ijut Yahwe's jiurposes are eternal. The 
 ' set time ' ('7j)iQ, as Hab. ii. 3) 
 
 must have come. Can God have less 
 pity on His people than Israel has 
 for the stones of Zion ? Lines I and 
 2 accord with Lam. v. 19, where, 
 however, "]ND2 is read instead of 
 "yiDTI ; but cp. Ex. iii. 15. Lines 
 5 and 6 remind us of Neh. iii. 34, &c. 
 (but see introd.). — 7. The restoration 
 of Israel, the prelude to a general 
 adoption of the true religion. Here, 
 at least, a psalmist makes no special 
 reference to the N. Arabian peoples. 
 Cp. Isa. lix. 19, Ix. 3. The perfects 
 in OT'. 17, 18, 20 are of course future 
 or relative perfects. 
 
 II, 17. Prisoners. Cp. Ixxix. 11, 
 Ixviii. 7, &c. 
 
 13 f- pin^^ ll'? ; cp. xlviii. 14, 
 
 Ixxviii. 6.— h}-|3J W^l- Cp. 'J in civ. 
 
 30, Ezek. xxviii. 13. 
 
 15 f. Cp. Isa. Ixiii. 15; also 
 Ps. xiv. 2, xxxiii. 13. — 23 f. The 
 Messianic age is referred to (see introd., 
 and cp. Isa. xlv. 20, Ix. 3). 
 
 CII.'^> Notice the parallels in 
 II. Isaiah (xlviii. 13, cp. xliv. 24 ; 
 li. 6, cp. 1. 9). Usually the world is 
 represented as enduring for ever (Gen. 
 viii. 21 f., ix. 9 ff., Ps. cxlviii. 6). 
 It is possible to find here a reflexion 
 of the doctrine of the new heaven and 
 earth. The indirect induence of Zo- 
 roastrianism, to which this doctrine is 
 essential (cp. 0I\ 404 iL, Eiu. Bib., 
 col. 1065), was probably felt more 
 and more in the post-exilic period, so 
 that this view is quite possible, and 
 does not necessitate a Maccabrean 
 date (but cp. Charles, Eschatology, 
 p. 123, note). ^'et it is also possible 
 that the language is merely that of one 
 who is being pushed by his strong 
 belief in the divine eternity to the 
 confines of a new region of thought. 
 The idea that the appearance of Vahwe 
 Would cause the hills to melt is found 
 in Mic. i. 4, Nab. i. 5, Ps. xcvii. 5, 
 civ. 32. Of these passages Mic. i. 4 
 at any rate seems to be ancient, 
 liabylonian influence is suspected here 
 by Zimmern (AV^Z'-' , p. 560). 
 
112 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Crilical Notes. (cii." .) 3. Insert *]12^?2.— 4- 'i^D. Read 
 probably ''Jli^Ii'- The text is in disorder, and we must Ijcgin to remedy 
 this by seeking for a verb. — v "liJ DV^- We need mention of those 
 who cause the speaker's anxiety. Following the parallel of 1 S. i. 26 let 
 us take ^7 Hi as a corruption of 7^i"^ti^^> and this as a scribe's error for 
 /KyitDIi'^ ; and as elsewhere let us regard QT in QV as = Q^, the plural 
 termination. Read D''7J^>'I2Ii'"'Q (so also by preference in lix. 17, Ixix. 
 18).— ^<-|p^* DVa- Read D''?Nan-|^D (cp. on Ivi. 9).— Omit in^, a 
 dittographed 'Qm*' (and so best in Ixix. 18).— "•J^J/ read "':)i>i:'n (as 
 Ixix. 18). 
 
 7. Read ^^"lil li'KD .■)'73J^ "'3 • Cp. WV for '^'^, xxxvii. 20. The 
 T t: .. t : ••. • ' 
 
 very defective parallelism is now cured. G at any rate supports 3 for ^ 
 (wcrei /cdTTJ'os'). 
 
 9 f. For TVh'^T\ (= HZin ?) read n^lll, and insert ^2T\- which, as 
 
 T T ••. T : T • . 
 
 well as 'in, underlies HDin. Parallelism requires the insertion of 
 T^HD ; strictly, two letters of this (^ and ^) exist already in the 
 superfluous O of M (and G). 
 
 11. "'2; see preceding note. — ''J^nDli7- Read *r^yr\V (xxxv. 14, 
 xxxviii. 7). ^•Crh ^Zi^P^ followed (7'. ba) by ^DmSt bip?^. The 
 ordinary text is surely most unsatisfactory. The two pairs of words are 
 to be regarded as variants. t'pQ is better than 7DNQ, but ^QH'? is 
 preferable to \~injj^ because nearer to the original reading, which was 
 doubtless '?^}Q^'^^ (cp. on 2 S. xxi. 19). ^n^TJ^{ represents ]J<i^nv 
 The scribe mistook Q for J~l, and transposed the letters. 
 
 12. ^n'iy37 'Q'.*!' npnT- We should have expected 'my tongue 
 
 • T : • • :'' 't: T 
 
 cleaves to my gums' (cp. .xxii. 16). What we find is usually explained as 
 a reminiscence of Job xix. 20, where, however, the text is obviously in 
 some disorder (see Budde and Duhm). Read heie '^N^'Qti?'':^ '''CSIV ^3"fJV 
 li'lb, like "'ti'l':' in Ezek. xxiii. 6, comes from '^NrQ'ii'"' ; n may 
 represent X^. 
 
 15 f We expect some progress beyond the quiet melancholy 
 suggested in //. 13 f. ; something like Iv. 3-9 would be perfectly in 
 place. Linguistically and exegetically JJ1"7^ "1113 is suspicious. Why 
 ' solitary on the roof ? A timid bird shrinks from the haunts of men. 
 And does such a word as TTI^ exist elsewhere in the O.T. ? We 
 cannot appeal with confidence to Isa. xiv. 31, Hos. viii. 9, for in both 
 passages corruption is suspected. Let us take an idea from Hos. viii. 9, 
 where (see note) l'^ 1112 probably represents '?NQniV Read 
 D''?^<Q^T ^3ir':'y I li2:i3 lirrS'l '-nn~i. The changes involved 
 are quite regular. 1113 and J1J|~'?J,^ it is here assumed, have changed 
 places, i.e. when 'HI* 'IJl"*^!,' became corrupt transposition became an 
 
PSALM CII. 113 
 
 exegetical necessity. ~T"TJ is supported by T (alt.), Pesh., and Heb. 
 MSS. ; cp. Isa. xvi. 2, Prov. xxvii. 8.— ?)3;2li^2 ""^ '''?':'inQ. That the 
 first word is wrong, must be admitted. A parallel for the Pual part, with 
 suffix does not appear to have been found (cp. Kautzsch-Ges., § 116 i ; 
 Kon., Synt., §23). G S imply 'h^'Ht^, 'my praisers.' Duhm, ^^inp 
 (Poel), but would this mean 'those who mock at me'? cp. Isa. xliv. 25. 
 If the text is right, we should prefer ^';>'^n?!3, 'those that profaned me' 
 (cp. Ezek. xxviii. 9). But is it right ? 'Not only 'IHD but IJ/ltt^: ^2, 
 excites surprise. This phrase is explained by the critics, ' use my name 
 in their oaths' (cp. Isa. Ixv. 15, Jer. xxix. 22). But could the name of 
 Israel be used in imprecations of ruin except when a people was 
 referred to, and this can hardly have been a frequent occurrence ? The 
 analogy of '^^j'^'pHQ in Gen. v. 12 &c. suggests that 'hhT}'0 (cp- G) comes 
 from D''':?hiDm% and that of ':5i^l3iy in i Chr. xxiii. 16 for '?N"i;2t:' = 
 ':'hf^*D'^\ and D'lOii, i S. xiii. 18, also for '?J<yQi:^\ favour the view that 
 we should read D"'':'^^^'^!^''' D'''?SQrn\ a gloss on ''2"'1N. In other 
 words, the gloss has supplanted a line of the true text. 
 
 23 f. According to Uuhm, vt. 24 and 25a are a quotation from 
 another poem in a different metre. But how can we speak confidently of 
 metre till the text has been thoroughly examined ? All that we can say 
 at once is, that either ?'. 12 is superfluous or vi>. 24, 25a. One could 
 more easily spare the former passage, which is not only commonplace 
 but deficient in parallelism. But the Hebrew of vi'. 24, 25cj is not at all 
 smooth, whereas the psalm in general is smooth. Nor have we a clear 
 right to separate ?'. 25a from v. 25/; ; indeed, Duhm himself in his 
 German Psalnicn makes the ' quotation ' include v. 2^b. Nothing but 
 familiarity with types of textual corruption can help us. It is probable 
 (see exeg. n.) that v. 12 and v. 24 f. have sprung from the same original. 
 One can see at once that ''2/yn~bii '''^J^ HOS (v. 25) represents 
 7N^rn^ (twice), and it then becomes very probable that ^^^ both in 
 7'. 24 f. and in v. 12 represents '^^QPIIV Little less probable is it that 
 ■^'/TlTii' in 7'. 2^^ represents Tn^^Ii^Q, and that ^IIOJ in t. 12 either 
 represents this word or (preferably), in conjunction with "'JhiT (=DN1), 
 '\"nj!21X. In truth, we require both these words for parallelism, and it 
 is not impossible that 3ti'3.0 in 7'. 12 may come from ["l^jll] JJti'D ■ In 
 7'7'. 24 f. TO and ^^HQ clearly have the same original — probably 
 ^^nH, which may also underlie 7)^3 in 7'. 12. If so, Dmi "1112 (which 
 otherwise — see on Ixxii. 5, end— might represent "imH) may stand for 
 Dm3:i- It only remains to explain ti^2^hi in 7'. 12 and ^^D lUIl .12]; 
 in 7'. 24. ki'H'hJ (like ^.ti'' often) seems to represent 7^}J^3ti'^, a variant 
 to ''7^<Q^-|^ and 'J 'in 712]; may come from 1/13 ':'NDni^ MIJQIN ; 
 ■^ll, generally with some added letter or letters, several times represents 
 7N^m' (^•A''- 7")"Tn, Zech. ix. i). Read therefore as an approximation 
 II. I 
 
114 THE PSALMS. 
 
 to the true text, which at any rate is partly right, and adequately conveys 
 the original writer's meaning-, 
 
 Of course, the present form of 7'. 25/; was produced under the influence 
 of the inserted passage, 7'Z'. 26 — 28. 
 
 (CII.'"'") I. Omit 1 before rrnS (redactional). So Duhm. 3. Read 
 
 r\I^V, with Gratz. — 10. With Duhm, read ^^<1J"1 (G) and append 
 
 nznpa (metre), which easily fell out after "lllZD^-— n- M "^V"^^!^ > 
 
 G Tcov Tanfivu>v (D"'^3^?) ; 'A 2 rov (KKfKevoififvov. Gratz follows G, but a 
 
 better correction is b^'DhJ (cp. 7'. 21a). — M □D'^Sn. A repetition. 
 
 Read DJl^rm; G ti]v derjaiv avrav (cp. G, vi. lo). 
 TT • : 
 
 16. Omit the superfluous Yahwe ; lines 16 and 17 now agree 
 
 metrically.— 17. Read D''1"'DM (parallelism); cp. G.— 18. njll':2j7l ""^jI- 
 
 Read ^i^Dy^ '•JDt^ (Ixxix.'i'i)' 
 
 (CII.(3') 6. M Tj-'Jlij-^. The verb being masc, read Tj''::^'' (Duhm). 
 
 PSALM cm. 
 
 1 RIMETERS. Thanksgiving to Yahwe, whose characteristic attributes of 
 mercy and longsuffering the reversal of Israel's unhappy lot in the Messianic 
 age (here represented as past) splendidly exemplifies. The original psalm 
 appears to have been manipulated with a view to adapt it to the wants of a 
 later generation, which had nothing to fear from N. Arabians. At the same 
 time liturgical doxologies were added, perhaps in lieu of some omitted lines. 
 Psalms ciii. and civ. appear to have been used liturgically in combination. 
 Hence the closing line. The speaker, as Smend (p. 130) rightly sees, is the 
 community. So also Coblenz (pp. 68 f.). 
 
 0/ ^Arab-ethan. I 
 
 I O my soul ! bless Yahwb, 
 
 And all that is within me (bless) his holy name. 
 
 O my soul ! bless Yahwe, 2 
 
 And forget not all his benefits ; 
 
 Who has pardoned all thine iniquities, 3 
 
 And healed all thy sicknesses ; 
 
 Who has delivered thy life from the pit, 4 
 
 And crowned thee with kindness and compassion : 
 
 Who has brought thee home from the house of 
 
 Arabia, 5 
 
 10 And gathered thy survivors from Cushan. 
 
PSALM cm. 115 
 
 Righteous acts doth Yahwe perform, 6 
 
 And judgments for all that are oppressed. 
 He made known his ways vnito Moses, 7 
 
 His exploits unto the children of Israel. 
 Yahwe is full of compassion and pity, 8 
 
 Long-suffering, and plenteous in lovingkindness : 
 He will not contend perpetually, 9 
 
 Nor keep his anger for ever. 
 
 He has not dealt with us after our sins, 10 
 
 20 Nor requited us according to our iniciuities. 
 
 For as the heaven is high above the earth, 1 1 
 
 So high is his kindness over them that fear him ; 
 
 As far as the east is from the west 12 
 
 He has removed our transgressions from us. 
 
 As a father has compassion upon his sons, 13 
 
 Yahwe has compassion upon those that fear him. 
 
 For he — he knows of what we are made, 14 
 
 And bethinks him that we are but dust. 
 
 Mortal man,^ his days are as grass, 15 
 
 30 As a flower of the field, so he blossoms ; 
 
 For a wind passes over it, and it is gone, 16 
 
 And its place knows it no more. 
 
 But the lovingkindness of Yahwe is towards them 
 
 that fear him, 17 
 
 And his righteousness unto children's children. 
 Unto such as keep his ordinance, 18 
 
 And remember his behests.- 
 
 Yahwe has established his throne in heaven, 19 
 
 His dominion rules over all. 
 
 Glorify Yahwe, ye Jerahmeelites, 20 
 
 40 Ye Ishmaelites, and all Arabians ! 
 
 Liturgical addition to the adapted psalm [II. 1-3 8). 
 
 I Bless Yahwe, ye his angels, 20 
 
 Ye heroes in strength, that perform his word. 
 To hearken to the voice of his word . 
 Bless Yahwe, all his host, . 21 
 
 ' Jerahmeel. 2 -f^ ^^ them. 
 
ii6 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Ye his ministers, that perform his purpose. 
 Bless Yahwb, all his works, 
 In all places of his dominion, 
 O my soul ! bless Yahwe. 
 
 22 
 
 I. O my soul, bless Tah\<re. 
 
 Israel is the true ' son of man,' ' the 
 world's high priest,' who ' doth pre- 
 sent — The sacrifice for all' (G. Her- 
 bert). Cp. a striking passage of Philo 
 {OP, 366). — 5 ft". The national sins 
 have been pardoned ; as a pledge 
 of this, prosperity in its highest form 
 has been granted. Cp. Isa. xl. i.- — • 
 7. /iri'ii^ ; see on xvi. 10. — 9 f. House 
 
 of Arabia, rather than 'house of ser- 
 vants ;' parallel here to ' Cushan,' and 
 in Ex. xiii. 3, &c., to Misrim. See 
 crit. n., and cp. Isa. xi. 11 (note in 
 Crit. Bill.), also Ps. cvi. 47, cvii. 3. 
 The received text labours under in- 
 superable difficulties, including that of 
 explaining how the eagle ' renews its 
 youth ' differently from other birds. — 
 15 ft". Cp. on Ixxxvi. 5, 15. — 17 f. Cp. 
 
 Isa. Ivii. II, Jer. iii. 5 ("IIJO").— 
 
 21. Cp. xxxvi. 6. — 28. Cp. Ixxviii. 39, 
 Ixxxix. 48. — 29 ft". Cp. xcii. 7, Isa. xl. 
 6-8. The writer thinks specially of 
 the powers hostile to Israel. — 35 f. For 
 this limitation of the divine hesed, 
 cp. Ex. XX. 6, xxxiv. 7, Dt. vii. 9. — 
 39 f. The surviving Jerahmeelites are 
 incorporated in the community of wor- 
 shippers of Yahwe. Cp. especially 
 xxix. I, &c. (crit. note), Isa. xix. 24 f., 
 
 Ixvi. 21 {Crit. Bib.), and see following 
 note. 
 
 Addition. I. Ye his angrels. Cp. 
 
 cxlviii. 2. The reference to the angels 
 comes in well after v. 19a. At the 
 same time the original reference (?) to 
 the Jerahmeelites is also a natural 
 sequel to the declaration that Yahwe 
 from his heavenly throne rules even 
 over those who once denied his power 
 (cp. xi. 5 ff., xiv. 3). — 2. Heroes 
 (Dm^II), as in Joel. iv. (iii.) il ; 
 also of Yaliwe, xxiv. 8, Ixxviii. 65. — 
 3. To hearken, &c. Awkwardly con- 
 nected (see crit. note on /. 40, above). 
 — 4. Ail his host. Can the 'host' be 
 distinguished from the angels? 01. 
 and Gr. think of the stars (regarded 
 as animated, cp. Job xxxviii. 7) ; Bii. 
 agrees, but would add forces of nature 
 like winds and fire, civ. 4. Hitz. and 
 Del. prefer the lower angels, the 
 'heroes' of /. 2 being, as they think, 
 the archangels. The difficulty seems 
 to have arisen through the transforma- 
 tion of 'Jerahmeelites' into angels. 
 At any rate, there is no reason to 
 think that the later editor distinguished 
 between 'angels' and 'host.' By both 
 phrases he meant the divine powers 
 of the beyond, the spiritual world, 
 called by him 'heaven' (cp. OP, 314). 
 
 Critical Notes. 9, 10. (i) Our first difficulty is with TjnX'. We 
 must remember that the soul is addressed. "jHi^ , therefore, cannot be a 
 paraphrastic expression for ' thy soul,' even if, with G, we explain ' soul ' 
 here as = 'appetite' {rrjv imdv^iav a-ov). Nor can 'thy body' (S) be meant, 
 for if anything is to be called 'ornament,' it is not the body but the soul. 
 The latest suggestion is that of Nestle {ZATIV, 1899, p. 182), who 
 supposes the reading TJTiy to underlie, 2 (rr/i- eTvifiovlju aov. Field) and 
 perhaps T ; cp. civ. 33, cxlvi. 2 ? This does not help. Plainly the final 
 letter is one of those which are or may be corrupt ; otherwise why is not 
 the form of the sutifix the same as elsewhere, viz. >3 — or "'3"'— ? (2) The 
 
 next difticulty is in 2.^t3Il. \Vith p^^l'l^'n we expect 2*113, without a 
 preposition. The third {c) is the change of construction in iznTlDn , 
 and the fourth {d) the exegetical one (/. 10) mentioned above. It would 
 seem that the corruption of the text must be deeply seated ; every word, 
 
PSALMS cm. AND CIV. II7 
 
 therefore, must be scrutinized, and we must take the passage with Isa. 
 xl. 31, where the text gives a similar improbability respecting the eagle. 
 In both passages what we expect is a reference to the crowning mercy of 
 the deliverance of the Jews from a N. Arabian captivity. Suppose this 
 possibility to be a fact ; what must be the underlying text, having regard, 
 of course, to parallel cases in each case elsewhere ? The only real 
 though slight difficulty is with "^W^D , W^IV^D • lli'JD might come 
 from iyj"^;!3 (cp. Isa. xi. 11), but this key will not unlock DHti'JD . To 
 explain both words, we must trace Hi^D, D"'~ni^3 to '1'tV2 , Wl'tO, 
 which, as in so many other cases, probably came from an original li^lD , 
 □"•ti^O • How to correct the rest of both passages is clear OlID some- 
 times comes from an original 71^3)- Read in Isa., D^tt'^i^ 3")^^ T?V'^ 
 
 (a gloss), and in Ps. "^^"^i^p^ '^13 :p "^Pi? I ^'^IV ^"^^ ^"f ? • 
 
 22. For 133 read probably H^J (Hupf., Gr., Du.).— 33. dS^^D and 
 □'?U'~'^>* hoth represent (it is a common type of corruption) 7N!^m* , 
 which is probably a gloss on li^lJS (^. 29), which (cp. xxxvii. 35, Isa. xl. 
 6 {.) refers specially to the wicked. 
 
 36. Omit UDWyb (Bickell, Duhm). Metre. 
 
 39. Probably the original psalm had D"''7N::3m'' {'\i^b:2 and 'n"1^ 
 confounded, as in 2 S. xi. i). This enables us to account for IJ^^IJ (so 
 read) in t'. 20, and for the troublesome last clause of 7'. 21. — 40. ^'i^li'T' 
 i"13T '^P^l- This awkward clause may represent "731 DvNl?pTi^^ 
 
 D'3-u:. 
 
 Addition, i, 2. Altered from //. 39 f — 4. Read 1h}3^ (Du.) ; cp. 
 cxlviii. 3, Kt. 
 
 PSALM CIV. 
 
 1 KiMEiERS. To some extent a poetic version of the cosmogony in Gen. i. 
 Cp. E. Bib., 'Creation,' § 29. The historical and geographical colouring has 
 been much toned down hy the later editor. The scribes, however, were doubt- 
 less his predecessors ; i.e. he had before him a corrupt text. 
 
 I O my soul I bless Yahwe. I 
 
 O Yahwe my God ! thou art very great. 
 Thou art robed in splendour and state, 
 Wrapping thee in light as in a mantle. 2 
 
 He stretches out the heavens like a tent-curtain ; 
 He makes spacious chambers in the waters ; 3 
 
 He uses clouds for his chariot, 
 He travels upon the wings of the wind ; 
 He makes his messengers of winds, 4 
 
 10 His ministers of fire and flame. 
 
Il8 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Thou didst found the earth upon its base, 
 That it might remain unshaken for evermore. 
 Ocean covered it as with a robe, 
 On +the tops of+ mountains stood the waters ; 
 Because of thy menace they fled, 
 At the sound of thy thunder they were scared ; 
 From the mountains they went down to the plains, 
 To the place which thou hadst appointed for them ; 
 Thou hast set a bound which they may not pass over, 
 20 That they cover not the earth again. 
 
 He sends forth springs into the valleys, 
 Between the mountains flow +the streams+ ; 
 They give drink to every beast that roams, 
 To find them the wild asses long. 
 
 lO 
 
 II 
 
 Upon them the birds of heaven dwell, 12 
 
 From among the branches they sing. 
 
 To the mountains he gives drink from his chambers, 13 
 
 30 The earth has its fill from thy showers. 
 
 He causes grass to grow for the cattle, 14 
 
 And herbs for the food of men, 
 iBringing forth bread-corn from the earth, 
 And causing the wine-plant to grow in Ishmael.^ 15^0. 
 
 The trees of Yahwe have their fill, 16 
 
 The cedars of Lebanon which he planted ; 
 There the vultures build their nests, 17 
 
 On the top of the asshur-trees is their house. 
 The high mountains are for the wild goats, 18 
 
 40 The crags a refuge for the marmots. 
 
 Thou didst make the moon for +measurement of+ times, 19 
 
 To the sun thou didst appoint his going down ; 
 
 Thou makest darkness, then it is night, 20 
 
 Wherein all the beasts of the forest are astir ; 
 
 The young lions roar after their prey, 21 
 
 And seek their food from God ; 
 
 ' Bringing forth vines in Ishmael, 
 I'loducing bread -corn in Ishmael (z'. i$afi, l>). 
 
PSALM CIV. 
 
 iig 
 
 The sun rises, they withdraw themselves, 22 
 
 And lay them down in their dens. 
 
 Man goes forth to his work, 23 
 
 50 And to his labour until the evening. 
 
 How manifold are thy works, O Yahwe ! 24 
 
 In wisdom hast thou made them all. 
 The earth is full of thy mercy ; 
 
 Thou hast made the sea [and its fulness,] 25 
 
 Great and widely stretching, 
 Wherein are things that move past numbering, 
 Living creatures both small and great ; 
 
 There the dragons move along, 26 
 
 60 Leviathan whom thou hast fashioned.' 
 
 They all wait longingl}^ for thee, 27 
 
 That thou mayest give them their food in due season. 
 Thou givest it them, they gather it ; 28 
 
 Thou openest thy hand, they are richly satisfied. 
 Thou hidest thy face, [they consume away,] 29 
 
 [Thou veilest thyself,] they are terror-stricken. 
 Thou takest away their breath, they die, 
 And turn again to dust. 
 
 Thou sendest forth thy breath, they are created +afresh+, 30 
 70 And thou renewest the face of the ground. 
 
 Let the glory of Yahwe endure for ever ! 31 
 
 Let Yahwe rejoice in his works ! 
 
 Who looks on the earth, and it trembles, 32 
 
 Touches the mountains, and they smoke. 
 I will sing unto Yahwe, while life shall last ; 33 
 
 I will chant to my God, while I remain. 
 
 Sweet be my song unto him ; 34 
 
 As for me, I will rejoice in Yahwe. 
 
 Let sinners cease to cumber the earth ; 35 
 
 80 Let no wicked be therein any more ! 
 
 Addition. 
 O my soul bless Yahwe. 
 
 ' To sport witli. 
 
120 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 3. -)im lin. Cp. Job xi. 10.— 
 
 TT : "^ 
 
 4. /« /^^'/i/. A uni(]ue statement ; 
 but cp. Isa. X. 17 ('the liyht of Israel,' 
 ll'his Holy One'), Dan. vii. 9. Cp. 
 in the Avesta the fundamental idea of 
 Ahuramazda who dwells in the 'endless 
 lights,' i.e. the highest heaven. See 
 Veiididad., xix. ii8f. — 5. The heaven 
 is like a tent with its curtain (xix. 5, 
 Isa. xl. 22). — 6. //; the waters, i.e. in 
 the upper ocean (cxlviii. 4, Gen. i. 7 ; 
 strikingly parallel is Am. ix. 6). Cp. 
 E>ic. Bill., 'Creation,' §6. There 
 Yahwe, like an earthly king, has 
 
 spacious upper chambers (ilP^P) ; 
 
 cp. Jer. xxii. 14. — 7. Clouds his chariot. 
 Unlike those deities of the heathen 
 who ride on imaginary winged animals, 
 Yahwe is borne along by the clouds 
 on the 'wings of the wind.' 001 
 may involve a play upon ^TlD- — 
 9 f. On the three possible interpre- 
 tations of the Hebrew see Driver, 
 Tenses, §195, Ol/s. ; see also crit. n. 
 
 11-20. The psalmist is clearer in 
 one point than Gen. i. 9 f. He de- 
 scribes the earth as already formed 
 with mountains and valleys, invisible, 
 because covered with the primitive 
 flood (Dinj^, as Gen. i. 2), and only 
 
 waiting for the veil to be raised. 
 Gunkel {Sch'dpf. 91) observes that the 
 expressions used with reference to the 
 sea have a strong mythical colouring. 
 The Dragon which opposed the Light- 
 god, was, according to one myth, not 
 destroyed, but placed in confinement. 
 See E. Bib., ' Dragon,' § 4, and cp. 
 Prov. viii. 29, Job xxxviii. 8, Jer. 
 V. 22, xxxi. 35. 
 
 21. The vegetable life produced 
 on the third day presupposed the 
 kindly gift of springs and rivers, and 
 of rain. The former beautify the 
 valleys (rather wadys). See the de- 
 scription of Canaan (not of the Negeb) 
 in Dt. viii. 7, xi. 10 f. — 24. The wild 
 asses. When f;ir away in the desert 
 (Job .xxxix. 6), these wildest of beasts 
 long for the refreshing streams. — 
 27. Upott them, i.e. upon the trees to 
 which, in a lost couplet, the poet must 
 have referred ; note ' the branches ' in 
 /. 28. Observe that no singing-bird 
 is mentioned as such by name, not 
 even the bulbul, a songster which, as 
 Tristram says, rivals the nightingale. — 
 29. By the viountains the poet seems 
 
 to mean the highlands, where the 
 grass supplies welcome pasturage for 
 the cattle (see /. 31). 
 
 32. Herbs, It^i'. Cp. Gen. i. 
 
 II f., 29 f. ; iii. 18; ix. 3; Ex. x. 
 12-15. The term includes all vege- 
 table products. 
 
 33 f. The reference to Ishmael 
 (=Jerahmeel), i.e. the Negeb, must 
 not surprise us. In ancient times the 
 N. Arabian border-land must have 
 been brought by irrigation into a high 
 state of cultivation. In the case of 
 what is called ' Jerahmeel,' those who 
 have studied Critica Biblica may call 
 to mind the ' wheat of Maacath ' in 
 I K. v. 25, Ezek. xxvii. 17, and the 
 barley-harvest at Beth-jerahmeel in 
 Kuth i. 22 ; also, with regard to vine- 
 culture. Gen. xlix. 11, Judg. ix. 27, xv. 5; 
 Jer. xiii. 12; and in the case of Misiim 
 the definite language of Isa. xvi. 10, and 
 Ps. Ixxx. 9. Of course, there were 
 large tracts in this region (see E. Bib., 
 'Negeb') which were incapable of 
 improvement ; e.^i^. in Num. xx. 5 the 
 wilderness of Kadesh is contrasted 
 with Misrim in being ' no place of 
 seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of 
 pomegranates ' ; but this does not 
 affect our general statement. And we 
 must remember that in the early 
 'post-exilic' period Hebron in S. 
 Judah formed part of Idumixa, i.e., 
 in archaistic language, Jerahmeel. — 
 
 DH^, 'bread-corn'; so Isa. xxviii. 28, 
 
 XXX. 23. Similarly ^^\ here ' the 
 
 wine-plant,' as, in Isa. xvi. 10, Jer. 
 xl. 10, 12, it means the fruit of the 
 vine. At Damascus grapes are, equally 
 with bread, a part of the people's food 
 from August to December. 
 
 35. Trees of Tahwfe are those 
 which grow wild, especially those of 
 unusual size (so Num. xxiv. 6). — 
 Lebanon, i.e. the southern Lebanon (or 
 Gebalon). See on xxix. 5, Ixviii. 17. 
 
 37. The vultures, D"'D"13- The 
 ossifrage, or Liimmergeier, is meant. 
 Its nest is ' placed on an inaccessible 
 ledge of rocks' (see E. Bib., 'Ossi- 
 frage'). — 38. The asshitr-trees. The 
 'asshur' or 'teasshur' tree was possibly 
 the same as the 'algum,' i.e. the 
 'jerahmeel' tree. It was one of 
 those trees which were used for build- 
 ing ; cp. Lsa. Ix. 13. 
 
PSALM CIV, 
 
 121 
 
 40. Marmots. Strictly the 'hyrax 
 syriacus' (see E. Bib., 'Coney'). Cp. 
 Prov. XXX. 26. 
 
 41. Times (D"'li^1Q)- See Gen. 
 i. 14, Sirach xliii. 7 (UplH "'^QT, 
 * legal dates '). For the priority of 
 the moon, cp. 'evening and morning' 
 in Gen. i., and 'night and day' m 
 Assyrian hymns. 
 
 49. Man g-oes forth. The poet 
 with wise reticence, only hints at the 
 work of the sixth day. God might 
 declare man to be His crowning 
 work ; but an individual man could 
 not dwell on this thought (except 
 in the manner of Ps. viii.). C)bserve 
 that the poet does not share the view 
 of labour expressed in Gen. iii. 17-19. 
 
 51 ft". The psalmist breaks into 
 an admiring eulogy of God's wonders 
 upon the earth, but soon remembers 
 that the sea, with all its stirring life, 
 has been omitted. In repairing the 
 omission, he gives a tribute (cp. Job 
 xl. \(ja) to the greatest of the taiini- 
 niiii ('dragons'), to whom Gen. i. 21 
 only refers as a class (' the great 
 dragons'). The mythological character 
 of Leviathan (still clear in Job xli.) 
 
 is forgotten ; he has become merely 
 a wonderful animal. Guiikel {Sihopf. 
 57) adheres to the received text, in 
 which the words ' to sport with ' are 
 added. These words are no unworthy 
 gloss. Popular Hebrew poetry (in 
 prose and verse) admitted a sense of 
 humour in the Creator (see Job i., ii.). 
 See crit. n., and cp. E. Bib., 'Behe- 
 moth,' §3; 'Dragon'; 'Leviathan.' 
 For the Haggadic stories of Leviathan 
 see Griinbaum, ZDMG, xxxi. 274 fif. 
 
 67. Cp. cxlvi. 4, Job xxxiv. 14. — 
 70. Thou reiiewest, &c., i.e. by the 
 constant production of fresh animal 
 life. — 79 f. A discordant note might 
 be held to be forced from the writer's 
 lips by that ' disproportioned sin ' 
 which 'jarred against nature's chime ' 
 (Milton, At a Solemn Musick). Pro- 
 bably, however, the writer is thinking 
 of the N. Arabians, who to him were 
 the quintessence of wickedness ; cp. 
 on Ps. Ixxiii., and see Jewish Kdigioiis 
 Life, p. 144. — The editor makes the 
 psalm conclude as it began (/. l), 
 partly to soften the effect of the pre- 
 ceding words (K. J. Grimm, Liturgical 
 Appendices, 1 901, p. 14), partly to 
 make Ps. civ. resemble the companion 
 psalm ciii. 
 
 Critical Notes. 5. M rTlpDH ; G 6 o-reyti^wi'. The sense is not 
 clear. Read ^TflDH (H and p confounded) ; cp. Jer. xxii. 14. The || 
 passage Am. ix. 6 has njiin.— 10. M "{^th "^'^ . But TITS is fern. ; the 
 text of Job XX. 26, Jer. xlviii. 45 needs revision. Besides, VDIli'D 
 implies a plurality of agents. Read tOH^T Ii^^} (01., Bi., Du.). 
 
 --T 
 
 II. M G IDV Gunkcl {Sch'dpf., 91) IDV But t'T'. 8, 9 suggest 
 
 JTTD^ (written perhaps '"ID^)- — Read HJIDD (Gunkel). Plural not used. 
 T :-T T : 
 
 So G T J. 
 
 13. M ij~l"'D3 • But though Dinn might be masc, yii^ must be 
 fern. Hence Ba. supplies T\hv after ID'DD ; cp. Ezek. xxxi. 15. But 
 this produces a prosaic result, and spoils the metre. Besides, DIH/I too 
 is properly fem. 'A e J, Gr., Bi., We. read H/T'DD ; G, Street imD3 , 
 TO nepilioXaiov avTov. Read HJ^DS (Gu. ; Giesebrecht in GGA, 1895, 
 
 T - . 
 
 p. 596). Konig's objections are but slight {Synt., 162, n. 2). 
 
 17. AI D"*!!! "bV- Hitz. and Wellh. omit /. 17 as an unhappy 
 editorial substitute for an illegible passage. But it is better, with 
 Gunkel, to read D'~in"'?J.'Q (cp. D'^in*'?!', /• 14). D was worn down 
 into \ and then the clause was interpreted by evil. 26. 
 
122 THE PSALMS. 
 
 24. M D^JQ'i — in^li'"'. The phrase ' frangere sitim ' is not Hebrew. 
 
 G, irpoa-ht^ovraL uv. fls S('\//-ai' avTcov. Hence Herz restores IH^lil'"' i"^'- 27), 
 
 and suggests that DH^bli'* may have fallen out after QNQ^ as a dittogram 
 
 of the next word, and would point D^^i;2^• We must, at any rate^ 
 
 accept T13ii'"'> but metre forbids us to take more. G presupposes 
 
 □XD^'S Should we not read Qhii'^^':) ? 
 
 T : • 
 
 28. M Q\v<3;' Kt.; Q^UJ' Kr. D^NSP is also read. If the reading 
 
 • t't: • t t: ■ • t -: ° 
 
 is correct it is an Aram, loan-word (see BDB, s.v.). G, however, has 
 
 TTfrpwr. I.e. D^US or a''i<33 (cp. Ruben, J {2^, Apr., 1899, p. 446, n. i), 
 though J«}* gives the correction Trrfpuiv (whence Herz D'BJB, assuming 
 J3 to have fallen out as a dittogram of ]['*]2). Read probably D"'E)''i'D 
 (Isa. wii. 6). 
 
 30. M '^%^Vi2 nDQ. How can the rain be called the 'fruit of 
 Yahwe's work'? The* two words are fragments of TT"'[p'«DnQ • Cp. on 
 Ixxii. 6. 
 
 32. M j"llil3,\ This ought to mean 'tillage,' 'work' (7'. 23). 
 Neither sense is suitable in this context. Read Jl'^DhJ ; cp. h'tDn'? , 
 Gen. i. 29 f. 
 
 2) J f. Hitzig would omit 7'. 15. His other omissions, however, are 
 unjustitied, and we shall find the present omission to be equally uncalled 
 for. *p^, he says, is not, like UVh^ drawn directly 'from the earth ' ; the 
 second reference to UVh is troublesome ; and there are grammatical 
 difficulties in the construction of v. 15. These and all other important 
 objections disappear when a more thorough criticism has been applied 
 to the text. The second reference to UVh ought to have suggested that 
 7'. 15^ was a variant to v. iii,b. But if so, what are we to make of 
 7'. 15^/3? It is usually explained, 'To make the face shine with oil,' as if 
 the line were parallel to v. 14/; ('to bring forth bread-corn from the 
 earth'}. But this is unjustifiable. Had the writer meant, 'and to bring 
 forth oil which makes the face to shine,' he would have said this, for he 
 is not addicted to forced phraseology. It is true that, if he had said this 
 he would have been laughed at, seeing that, as Hitz. remarks, it was the 
 head, not the face, that was anointed. On the other hand, 'more than 
 oil' (Hitz.) is unnatural. Clearly pli'Q D'^S '?MJin'? must be corrupt, 
 and the more so because the existence of a verb, tTI^i, 'to shine,' in 
 Biblical Hebrew is problematical. And one ought to see at once (i) that 
 t'\T.in'? comes from □n'? ^}':i^^'?, (2) that UVh is a (natural) scribal 
 error, and (3) that D'^3 must be miswritten for some word corresponding 
 to ]^^ in 7'. I5<in, and meaning vine. The word required is [D'JJBJ- 
 Lastly, 1,';2'ii';t3 must also be miswritten, and experience warns us that, 
 when corrupt, ya^V regularly stands for '^J^J.V.SIi''' , which is a synonym of 
 t'Ni'^n")^ (= the Negeb). We can now turn to 7'. 15^0 and 7'. 15/'. 
 Obviously n"Jtt'^ is not what we expect here. We require H^a*, and in 
 
PSALM CIV. 123 
 
 consequence ^i'^J^J"^^t' must represent words, or a word, stating where 
 the 'wine-plant' (see exeg. note) grew. '^i'lJJ^ sometimes (see on Ivi. 2, 
 xc. 3) comes from a corrupt form of '^Si'QIi'^, which word is certainly to 
 be expected. Here, however, we have also 2,2.*? to account for, and 3./, 
 z'.e. 72. y is, according to rule, a shorter form of ^^2- 1J. therefore, must 
 have been inserted later, and the true symbol for 'Qli'"' here is 73li?J< 
 (see Crz't. Bil>. on 2 S. ii. 8) ; the second ^ is the preposition ('Qlt^^2). 
 In V. l^b "1370'' presumaljly comes from HZ'y^ (cp. Gen. i. 11 f., xl. 47). 
 Thus the alternative couplets are, — 
 
 VisrT-]D urh N'-iiin^ {a) 
 b'ii.yiy^!^2 n^^T t'i 
 
 nv};' biiyr2'^'2 unb^ 
 
 35. G has TO. $vXa ToO ireSi'oD = n';:r ''iiy (?''"TIi^ '')iV)-—37 f- M 
 
 D^nSi- Objections, (i) ' birds' in general do not build their nests in the 
 
 • t:- 
 cedars ; (2) D^~)3^ usually has a fem. verb (Kon., § 252a). The remedy 
 
 is plain. Read, not D^")Ii^2 (Gratz), but D^D"13- See exeg. note. — M 
 
 nJn*3 D^ii'in^ rn^DH. But the stork prefers chimney-tops to trees, 
 
 T •• • : T • -: 
 
 and had a tree been mentioned in ?'. 17/^ the poet would have contrived 
 
 to mention another kind of tree in a. The remedy is suggested by G, 
 
 which gives, for M's Q^ti^TIQ, ';yetroi avrui', i.e. Dli^Nn3. (Cappellus, 
 
 Critica Sacra, 286). This is right so far as ti'>tn^ is concerned. But there 
 
 is a deeper corruption to heal. TDH , like Din (Judg. i. 34), may represent 
 
 ")ini^^J<. We know of a "llIi^Kjl tree, and in Assyrian of a fragrant tree, 
 
 like a cedar, called hasiiru (Del., Ass. HIVB, 295a). See exeg. note. 
 
 Read DrCH D'^Tint:' I^^SI^. Possibly Dti^'lli'X (which Street as long 
 
 ago as 1790 took for a combination of two readings) represents (i) Qti', 
 
 (2) D^"1Ii'i^) a- marginal correction. 
 
 41 f. M nVV. Read rv'W-—^l TIV 'A 2 iyvwHiae, whence (not 
 very suitably) Ba. J^l% referring to Job xxxviii. 12, where, however, read 
 rT7T7;^V Here read 'ySiy^ (Gr., Herz, l^*-*). Herz compares the faulty 
 "'jn^nV in I S. xxi. 3.— Read ^^i J;:D (/. 47) ; so Bickell. 
 
 T 
 
 52. The stanza is incomplete. — 54. M 'ip'Jp (so Baer, Ginsb., with 
 Vss., most MSS. and edd., and Rashi ; not 1^"^ — ). The sense 'thy 
 property' is not very suitable ; nor would the plural greatly help. 
 Parallelism requires either ' thy glory ' or some attribute of God. The 
 nearest suitable word is ^nj^jn (Jer. xvi. 13). — 54. Insert ^^i^7p (metre). 
 —55. nr. Read riVV or PT't^V ■ Note Pasek. 
 
 T . T 
 
 59 f. M jli^iS. But the ships do not wait for food, nor can the 
 • t: 
 Leviathan be classed with them. Gunkel, nVJ''>? . Cp. the Silurian 
 
 poet, H. Vaughan, who calls the whale 'the shipmen's fear.' Rather 
 
124 THE PSALMS. 
 
 D^i^3r> (Ixxiv. 13. cxlviii. 7). See Enc. Bib., ' Leviathan.'— Read \T\'''t>'\ ■ 
 — M closes 7'. 26 with ill"prT'l£7'p ; G i^nai^av avTco. This overloads the 
 line. It is also improbable that this humorous expression would have 
 been used here. If, however, the metre can be stretched so far, we 
 might read l^'li^JJ? > i-c Leviathan was the prince of the sea-animals 
 (see E/ii. Bib., ' Behemoth,' §§ 2, 3). Note Pasek after this second HT • 
 
 68. IVI D")3i^ . Read probably ISV, as Job xxxiv. 15, with Budde 
 (on Job xix. 25). The D in M may be due to the influence of Dm*) . 
 
 T 
 
 76 f. M nijr^ • Read •'li::3;'3 ; cp. on xxxix. 2, cxlvi. 2.— AI '^JT'V . 
 Read probably •'"I'^cr (Gr.).— At the end, M gives n"*l'?':)rT . See Introd! 
 
 PSALM CV. 
 
 1 RIMETERS. Israel's liistory from the covenant with Abraham to the 
 entrance into the Promised Land. Cp. Ps. Ixxviii., which is here imitated. 
 Verses 1-13=1 Chr. xvi. 8-22. G places 'Hallelujah' at the head of this 
 psalm instead of at the end of Ps. civ. This seems more original. Cp. 
 Ps. cvi., and see E. Bi/>., 'Hallelujah.' (But originally 'Hallelujah' seems 
 to have been 'Of the Jerahmeelites ' ; see Introd.). 
 
 0/ the Jerahmeelites. 
 
 I Give thanks unto Yahwe, proclaim his name, I 
 
 Make known his exploits among the peoples. 
 Sing to him, chant praise to him, 2 
 
 Discourse ye of all his wonders. 
 
 Glory ye in his hoi}' name, 3 
 
 Let the heart of those rejoice that seek Yahwe ! 
 Have recourse to Yahwe and his strength, 4 
 
 Seek his face continually. 
 
 Remember the wonders that he has done. 5 
 
 10 His portents and the judgments of his mouth, 
 
 O offspring of Abraham his servant, 6 
 
 Ye children of Jacob his chosen. 
 
 He, Yahwe, is our God ; 7 
 
 His judgments are in all the earth. 
 
 He remembers his covenant for ever, 8 
 
 The word that he has sent forth, for a thousand 
 generations, — 
 
PSALM CV. 125 
 
 He whose covenant was with Abraham, 9 
 
 And whose oath was unto Isaac, 
 
 And who confirmed it to Jacob, 10 
 
 20 To Israel as an everlasting covenant.^ 
 
 When they were yet few in number, 12 
 
 And sojourners in the highlands of Maacath, 
 When they went about from nation to nation, 13 
 
 From one kingdom to another people. 
 
 He suffered no man to oppress them, 14 
 And chastised kings for their sakes, 
 
 +Saying+, ' Touch not my loyal one, 1 5 
 And do my prophet no harm.' 
 
 And he called a famine upon the land, 16 
 
 30 He broke altogether the staff of bread. 
 
 He sent a man before them ; 17 
 
 Joseph was sold to the Arabians ; 
 
 They galled his feet with fetters, 18 
 
 His soul felt pain with the iron. 
 
 Until the time that his word came to pass, 19 
 
 When the saying of Yahwe stood the test ; 
 
 The king sent and loosed him, 20 
 
 The ruler of peoples, and let him go free : 
 He made him lord of his house, 2i 
 
 40 Supreme over all his possessions, 
 
 To correct his princes at will, 22 
 
 And to chastise the ancients of Jerahmeel ; 
 So Israel came into Misrim, 23 
 
 And sojourned in the land of Jerahmeel. 
 
 And he made his people very fruitful, 24 
 
 And made them more numerous than the Misrites : 
 He turned their heart to hate his people, 25 
 
 To deal craftily with his servants. 
 
 He sent Moses his servant, 26 
 
 50 And Aaron whom he had chosen. 
 
 By his word he produced signs, 27 
 
 And portents in the land of Jerahmeel.- 
 
 ' Saying, To thee will I give the land of Kenaz, as your assigned posses- 
 sion (v. II). 2 ishmael. 
 
126 THE PSALMS. 
 
 He sent darkness, and they did not 28 
 
 See any one his fellow. 
 
 He turned their waters into blood, 29 
 
 And killed their fish. 
 
 Their stream swarmed with frogs, 30 
 
 [They came up] into the inner chamber of their king. 
 He spake, and the dog-flies came, 31 
 
 60 And gnats in all their region. 
 
 As rain he gave them hail, 32 
 
 Flaming fire in their land. 
 
 He smote their vines and their fig-trees, 33 
 
 And broke in pieces the trees of their region. 
 
 He spoke, and locusts came, 34 
 
 Cankerworms without number, 
 
 And ate up every herb in their land, 35 
 
 And consumed the fruit of their ground. 
 
 He smote every first-born in their land ; 36 
 
 70 The firstlings of all their strength ; 
 
 So he brought them forth with silver and gold, 37 
 
 Not a man stumbled among their tribes. 
 
 The Misrites rejoiced at their departing, 38 
 
 For dread of them had fallen upon them. 
 He spread out a cloud for a canopy, 39 
 
 And fire to give light by night. 
 
 They asked, and he brought quails, 40 
 
 And satisfied themVith bread of heaven. 
 He opened the rock, and waters gushea out ; 41 
 
 80 Streams coursed through the desert. 
 
 For he remembered his holy promise 42 
 
 To Abraham his servant, 
 
 And brought forth his people with joy, 43 
 
 His chosen ones with ringing cries. 
 
 And gave them the lands of the nations, 44 
 
 And they took possession of the gains of the peoples, 
 That they might keep his statutes, 45 
 
 And observe his laws. 
 
PSALM CV 
 
 127 
 
 7. Have recourse, &c. This 
 applies surely as much to Jews who 
 were ' afar off' as to those who were 
 'near' (Isa. Ivii. 19). In private 
 chambers and in synagogues experience 
 had proved, in the period of the Psalms, 
 that the divine lovingkindness radiated, 
 as it were, from Zion to any dry and 
 thirsty corner of the earth. Q'i^. Jewish 
 Religious Life, pp. 250 ff. 
 
 II. His servants. A forcible 
 reading (see crit. n.). ' Seek Yahwe, 
 inasmuch as ye are his servants.' Cp. 
 1 Chr. xvi. 13, where the reading 
 ' Israel ' instead of ' Abraham ' is still 
 more suggestive of the plural 'ser- 
 vants.' — 15 f. Cp. cxi. 5, 9. 
 
 (Gloss.) To thee 'cvill I give, &c. 
 See Gen. xiii. 14 f., xxviii. 13, xxxv. 
 12. — Kenaz. An archaic name for the 
 Negeb (see on Gen. xi. 31). 
 
 21. Tbe higrhlands of Maacatb. 
 
 ' Maacath ' is sometimes used loosely, 
 like Ashhur, as a synonym for ' Jerah- 
 meel.' Cp. on xvi. 5, Ix. 8. Observe 
 that Maacah, Absalom's mother, was 
 a Geshurite, i.e. Ashhurite ; her father 
 ■was Talmai, ben Ammihur, which is 
 corrupted from ' Ishmael, ben Jerah- 
 meel' (2 S. iii. 3, xiii. 37). The 
 psalmist has the tradition which placed 
 the wanderings of the patriarchs in 
 the Negeb. See on /. 32. 
 
 24. From one kingrdom. Cp. 
 cxxxv. II, 'the kingdoms of Kenaz' 
 (so read), and see Crit. Bib., on 
 Josh. xii. 7 ff. 
 
 26. Chastised kings, i.e. the 
 kings of Misrim (Gen. xii.) and of 
 Gerar (Gen. xx., xxvi.). — 27 f. My 
 loyal one. See on xvi. 10, and on the 
 reading crit. n. Abraham is more 
 especially meant ; cp. 'Abraham my 
 friend ' (Isa. xii. 8). In the || line, he is 
 
 called my prophet (cp. Gen. xx. 7) ; 
 so in Ixxxix. 20 the prophet Nathan 
 is called ' thy (Yahwe's) loyal one.' — 
 32. To the Arabians, i.e. to the 
 Misrites. Misrim is distinct from 
 the land of Kenaz (gloss on /. 20) ; 
 cp. Gen. xiii. 7, 'Whence come ye? 
 And they said. From the land of 
 Kenaz' (so read). But not less than 
 the land of Kenaz (broadly speaking, 
 the Negeb), it can be called 'Arabia' 
 (cp. /. 32) and Jerahmeel (//. 42, 50). 
 
 34. His soul, &c. Cp. ' lest he 
 tear my soul ' (vii. 3). 
 
 35. His ^ord, i.e. Joseph's in- 
 terpretation of the dreams, which was 
 also the saying (cp. m")/2K, xii. 7) 
 of Yahwe. 
 
 41 f. Princes and ancients, 
 
 virtual synonyms. The text-reading 
 (against which see crit. n.) may in- 
 volve a contemptuous allusion to the 
 ill-justified reputation of the Mi.srite 
 princes for wisdom. Cp. Isa. xix. 11, 
 but also I K. v. II {Crit. Bib.). 
 
 44. Tbe land of Jerahmeel. 
 
 See on /. 32, Ixxviii. 51. — ^45. p'ery 
 fniitful. Cp. Gen. xvii. 6. — 46. Moix 
 numerous. Cp. Ex. i. 9. — 51. Cp. 
 Ixxviii. 43, Ex. x. 2. 
 
 53. The ninth plague (Ex. x. 21 f. ) 
 is placed out of its order. See crit. n. — 
 57. Their stream. For "IK^, see on 
 Gen. xii. i. 
 
 69 f. Cp. i.xxviii. 51.— 72. v:oai:o. 
 
 The suffix should refer to Israel (Num. 
 xxiv. 2) ; a reference to Yahwe is less 
 natural. Cp. on cxxii. 4. 
 
 78. , Bread of heaven. Cp. 
 
 Ixxviii. 241^, ' corn of heaven.' — 79 f. 
 Cp. Ixxviii. 20, 15, 16. — 82. Abraham 
 his servant. So Gen. xxvi. 24. 
 
 Critical Notes. 9. Read j"Tlhj':)3J (Du.)— 11 f. Bii., atfer C, reads 
 TTQ^ ■ This is plausible because of VlTf^ in v. bb. But the object of 
 the beginning of the psalm is to glorify the patriarchs, especially 
 Abraham. It is better to keep i"lllj7, and to read il^IlB (so Du.). In 
 ?'. 43 (Vn^n2) the object is to glorify Israel, in whom 'the promise to 
 Abraham is fulfilled. 
 
 17. M jyy^ "1•i>^J produces a very prosaic clause. Read probably 
 i/nZl (Du.). — 19. Omit prht Jacob the patriarch being meant (Du.;. It 
 probably conies from a dittographed ^p^^*?. 
 
128 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Gloss (?'. II); prosaic and unmetiical (Bi., Du.) ; l^s. Ixxviii. 55 
 suggests a phrase. \'aleton's objection to the gloss-theory {ZATW, 
 1893, p. 270, note) presupposes M's text. 
 
 22. M 7\2. DHJT tOyQ3 • What does "2 mean ? ' Elsewhere 
 "almost"; here, as in'isa. i. 9, instead of tDy!2' (Hupf.). But tDJ^D in 
 Isa. I.e. is corrupt (see Cf'if. Bib.); for better instances see Lexx. Bickell, 
 yiSn "2 ; Duhm, "lyjDn "2 . Read probably JlDj^? ."in^ Dnjll. 
 
 27 f- ■'J^'QJ— TT'Ii^^. Is there a true parallelism here ? There is 
 no evidence that the prophets were anointed, except in i K. xix. 16, 
 where Elisha is represented as succeeding Elijah as Hazael succeeded 
 Benhadad ; in other words, he was as much a king as a prophet (Weinel, 
 {ZATW, 1898, p. 57). But the traditions, as we have them, do not 
 assign a prophetic-royal character to the patriarchs. 'Prophets' they 
 might be called in the sense of Gen. xx. 7, but surely not ' anointed ones,' 
 i.e. princes. We have, therefore, no choice but to suppose that here as in 
 XX. 7, xxviii. 8, Ixxxiv. 10, H^IiO has been either miswritten for, or altered 
 from, T'Dn. Read ^^<"'33— n-Dn (the sing., because God could only 
 refer to one case at a time ; Wellh.). 
 
 32. M 12yt'- Rather D''2"iy'?. thus providing a subject for ^3^ 
 {v. 18). See exeg. note.— 34. Read b]p>'l'l (S, 01., Bi., &c.), and for the 
 weak nia read n3J<3 (Ixix- 30)-— S^-M "innSl^i ; unsuitable. Read 
 
 "t T T -: T 
 
 nSliiJ- 1'he error arose from the two neighbouring verbs with suffix "1,1. 
 T t: • 
 
 41 f. ]\I ids'?. G tov TratSeCcrat, whence Herz and Duhm nD^*? . — 
 
 Read 1^'3i3 (Du.).— M D3nV Halevy, DnO^ But why the suffix? 
 
 Probably DnD' is a condensation of r\2^ QH • In vv. 23 and 27 QIl 
 
 represents DHl^ (= ':'N^nn^). Read, therefore, as /. 42, '^^}::^T ^:pn 
 
 nD*" • See exeg. note on /. 32. 
 
 44. Read nm^ V1^^3 ">^"'1- ^Pr"* i^ a corruption of Dm', which 
 
 is a correct marginal gloss on UH (see on /. 41 f., and on Ixxviii. 51). — 
 
 46. T1-i?2- Rather D''"i:i?3!3 (Du.). Note 'he turned their heart' 
 TT • • : • • 
 
 (/. 47)- 
 
 qi f. M n21 U1 ^^V ■ Hupf., Del.. Bd., ic, after G S '.'l 2 J 
 .. : . T T 
 
 read UV (cp. Ixxviii. 43). But this is not enough ; 'D'i^ ^"131 is sus- 
 picious |cp. on Ixv. 4). Read jliDS U^ i"in73 •— M D/jT . See on 
 /. 41 f. For the gloss on Dn see next note. 
 
 54. IM T"l2~T'nN ^TZ S"?! . \'arious explanations, all inadequate, 
 have been oftered. Jiickell with myself in /V.'^*, also Kautzsch in 1894, 
 cut the knot with G Sexta and S, by omitting \^^ ; in this case •11,'DM 
 will be a frequentative perfect. Hitzig, on the other hand, would read 
 Tl'Jvi' vh") • Of these two readings the former is the more adequate (cp. 
 
PSALM CV. 129 
 
 Del. ad loc), but how are we to account for J^'^ ? From our present 
 point of view, however, Yy^ K7T and IITDS are possibly corruptions of 
 bi^Drn'' and '?><J7D1i'"' ; these words may well have been marginal 
 glosses on DH in v. 27. Nothing is more common than for ^^ in "nn"* 
 to be separated from the rest of the name, and to be prefixed to a 
 corrupt form of (^ni^ as S?, while Il"TJll<, following the parallel 
 of I S. xvii. 34 (OvV. Bib.), may possibly come from T^ti'^ through 
 72Jnj< (cp. 7y^nj<, I K. xvi. 31). Can the possibility be made into a 
 probability? It can. The DH in v. 23 has an explanatory gloss ; it is 
 not improbable that the OH in f. 27 also has a gloss. Granting this, it 
 is also probable that if the writing of the original words of ?'. 28(5 became 
 indistinct, only some of the letters being clearly legible, the scribe might 
 suppose '^t^^Dti'^ '7^{i2^"T' , corruptly written according to some of the 
 extant types of corruption as ^IDi^ ["1i!2"l] 1"1Q 'i^'li to be the marginal 
 correction of v. 22)1), due to an earlier scribe. The original words were, 
 presumably, not a statement of the resultlessness of the ' sign ' of dark- 
 ness, but, as in the other poetic passages on the plagues, a description of 
 the chief feature of the particular plague. Turning to Ex. x. 21 ff., we 
 find one detail which includes the necessary X7 , and in other respects 
 too closely resembles what we must assume to have been the general 
 appearance of the original words. The words of 7/. 22,iia are ^^^'^~^it' 
 VnN~nh} ti'^hJ . These, with the exceptions that l^T has to be sub- 
 stituted for Vn^^ and that T is prefixed, we must suppose to have become 
 so far illegible that it was possible for 2"Tj~IJ^ IID N7[l] to be adopted 
 as the true reading of v. 28^, with the addition of V"! (from 1J?")) to HI . 
 But this is still not a complete explanation of the phenomena. No critic 
 has stumbled at "jli^n^T , and yet it is decidedly very questionable. How 
 is it to be rendered? The natural rendering in this context is 'and it 
 became dark' (so Ew., 01., Che.'^', Du.), and it is possible that this 
 {i.e. 'TJii^rT'T) is meant by Kt., while Kr. prefers "l^ti^ffT ; so too in Jer. 
 xvi. 13. This compels us to suppose that in later Hebrew the fem. was 
 not necessary in such cases. From our vantage-ground, however, we can 
 see that, however we point it, 'H^T is superfluous. It has simply arisen 
 out of a dittographed "JliTT, and the right reading of the couplet almost 
 
 certainly is ^J;-^-J-l^^ '^^'i^ IN") 1 ^"7^ y^n U'^W . 
 
 57 f. See Ex. vii. 28. The verb being masc, for D2i")N read Q"li»(^ 
 (Duhm).— Insert ^fy;;! (01., Du.) or -l^ir (Bi., Che.(i>)-— For □HO'^a 
 read U^112 (Briggs) ; Du., Dil ^^2^2 ■ 
 
 68. M b'y^''\ (repetition). Read ^y^ (Du.).— 73. Read T\^V (see 
 
 /. 74)-— 77- Kead t>^t (G and all vss., Del., Bi., Ba., &c.). 
 -: T 
 
 80. Read Jl^lnj ((' Truraun) ; so Gr. 
 
 II. 
 
130 THE PSALMS. 
 
 PSALM CVI. 
 
 .1 RIMETERS. A liturgical combination of prayer and praise (cvi.'i>), followed 
 by a retrospect of the early history, designed for instruction. Fv. 47 f. = 
 I Chr. XV i. 34-36. 
 
 C\I. — I. 
 
 0/ tJie Jeralimeelites. I 
 
 I Give thanks to Yahwe, for he is gracious, 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 
 Who can tell out the prowess of Yahwe, 2 
 
 And utter all his famous deeds ? 
 
 Happy are those that heed duty, 3 
 
 And practise right at all times, 
 
 That they may experience the blessings of th}^ chosen, 5 
 That they may share the joy of thy nation. 1 
 
 Remember us, O Yahwe ! with +thy+ favour towards 
 
 thy people, 4 
 
 10 Take notice of us with thy succour, 
 
 * * ■.;: * 
 
 Linking couplet. 
 
 We have sinned with our fathers, 6 
 
 We have done perversely, wickedly. 
 
 CVI. — 2. 
 
 I Our forefathers in Misrim 7 
 
 Considered not thy wonders ; 
 
 They remembered not thy many loving-kindnesses, 
 And provoked the Most High by the sea of Suph. 
 
 But he delivered them because of his name, 8 
 
 That he might make his prowess to be known : 
 He threatened the sea of Suph, and it became dry, 9 
 
 He led them through the deeps as ^-through+ the 
 wilderness. 
 
 ' Tiiat they may triunij)!! witli thine inheritance. 
 
PSALM CVI. — 2. 131 
 
 He delivered them from the hand of their hater, 10 
 
 10 He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy : 
 
 The waters covered their foes, ij 
 
 Not one of them remained. 
 
 Then they beUeved his words, 12 
 
 They sang his famous deeds. 
 
 +But+ soon they forgot his works, 13 
 
 They did not wait on for his purpose. 
 
 Lust came upon them in the wilderness, 14 
 
 And they put God to the test in the desert. 
 Then he gave them their desire, 15 
 
 20 But sent disgust into their soul. 
 
 They envied Moses in the camp, 16 
 
 And Aaron, the holy one of Yahwfe. 
 
 The earth opened, and swallowed up Dathan, 17 
 
 And covered the company of Abiram.i 
 
 They made a calf at Horeb, 19 
 
 And worshipped a molten image ; 
 
 And exchanged their glory 20 
 
 For the likeness of an ox that eats herbage. 
 
 They forgot God their deliverer, 21 
 
 30 Who had done great things in Misrim, 
 
 Wondrous things in the land of Jerahmeel, 22 
 
 Terrible things b\' the sea of Suph.- 
 
 And they rejected the desirable land, 24 
 
 They believed not his word. 
 
 But murmured in their tents, 25 
 
 They hearkened not to Yahwe's voice. 
 
 So he lifted up to them his hand, +to swear+ 26 
 
 That he would cause them to fall in the wilderness, 
 Scatter their offspring among the nations, 27 
 
 40 And winnow them in the lands. 
 
 ^ And fire kindled on their company; | The ilame set ablaze the wickid {v. 18). 
 
 - And he resolved to exterminate them, but that Moses, his chosen one, came 
 forward into the breach before him, lo turn away his wrath from destroying (z/. 23). 
 
32 THE PSALMS. 
 
 They bound themselves to Baal-peor, 28 
 
 And ate the sacrifices of the unclean, 
 
 And vexed him with their doings, 29 
 
 And a plague broke in upon them. 
 
 Then Phinehas stood forth and mediated, 30 
 
 And so the plague was stayed ; 
 
 And that was reckoned to him as merit 31 
 
 For all generations, for ever. 
 
 And they angered him by the waters of Meribah, 32 
 
 50 And it went ill with Moses on their account ; 
 
 For when they provoked Yahwe's spirit, 33 
 
 He spoke rashly with his lips.^ 
 
 They mingled themselves with the heathen, 35 
 
 And learned their works, 
 
 And served their idols, 36 
 
 So that they became a snare to them. 
 
 And they sacrificed their sons 37 
 
 And their daughters to the Shedim ; 
 
 And they shed innocent blood," 38 
 
 60 So that the land was polluted with bloodshed. 
 
 They became unclean through their works, 39 
 
 And whoresome through their doings : 
 
 Then did the anger of Yahwe burn against his people, 40 
 And he abhorred his inheritance. 
 
 And he gave them into the hand of the nations, 41 
 
 So that their haters ruled over them. 
 
 And their enemies oppressed them, 42 
 
 And they became subject to their power. 
 
 Many a time did he rescue them, 43 
 
 70 But they — they provoked him by their purpose.-' 
 
 Yet he looked upon their distress, 44 
 
 When he heard their piercing cry. 
 
 ' They did not exterminate the peoples, as Vahwe had commanded them ( t'.34). 
 
 ^ The blood of their sons and thei 
 Is of Canaan. 
 
 "* They vexed him by their iniquity. 
 
 ^ The blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the 
 idols of Canaan. 
 
8o 
 
 PSALM CVI. — I, 2. 133 
 
 He remembered for them his covenant, 45 
 
 And repented, so abundant was his kindness, 
 And made them an object of compassion 46 
 
 In the sight of all their captors. 
 
 Succour us, O Yahwe our God, 47 
 
 And gather us from among the nations, 
 That we may give thanks to thy holy name 
 And make our boast of thy famous deeds. 
 
 Doxology. 
 
 Blessed be Yahwe, Israel's God, from age to age ; 
 And let all the people say, Amen. 
 
 48 
 
 CVI.d' I. So cvii. I, cxviii. i, 
 cxxxvi. I. — 9. ]1^~) and PT^'W 
 parallel, as in Isa. xlix. 8. — The 
 ' linking couplet ' strikes a fresh 
 note; cp. I K. viii. 47, Dan. ix. f, 
 Baruch ii. 12. 
 
 CVI.<-) 4. The sea of Supb. 
 
 Commonly the ' Red Sea.' But there 
 was probably an earlier view of the 
 'sea' in connexion with a very different 
 geography of the early migration of 
 the Israelites. See E. Bib., 'Moses,' 
 §§ 10, 12, and Crit. Bib. on Ex. x. 19, 
 but cp. E. Bib., 'Red Sea.' The || 
 in Ixxviii. 17 gives, for ^ID'D^^j 
 
 n*!!i:i. — 8. nian;i3. see isa. 
 
 T. - : ~ 
 
 Ixiii. 13. The 'Jl of the yam-stiph are 
 
 spoken of in Ex. xv. 5, 8. Properly 
 mnjn is the great world-ocean, but 
 the term can be applied to any 
 perennial body of water which ' issues 
 forth' (Dt. viii. 7) from the earth. 
 Cp. on xxxiii. 7. — 12. See Ex. xiv.28. — 
 13 f. See Ex. xiv. 31, xv. i. — 16. His 
 purpose, i.e. his plan for leading them 
 safely to the Promised Land. God's 
 'purpose,' as in xxxiii. 11, Ixxiii. 24, 
 cvii. II, Isa. v. 19, xiv. 26, xxviii. 29. — 
 17. Cp. Ixxviii. 27-31, Num. xi. 4. — 
 20. See crit. n. — 23 f. Korah is not 
 named ; i.e., as in Dt. xi. 6, the 
 account of JE is used, not that of P. — 
 25. At Horeb. So Dt. ix. 8, cp. 
 Ex. xxxii. I ff. (Sinai, presumably). — 
 27. Their glory, as Jer. ii. 11. — 
 31. See on Ixxviii. 51, and cp. cv. 
 23, 27. — Gloss {v. 23) ; cp. Dt. ix. 25 f. ; 
 
 Ex. xxxii. 10 ff. ; Num. xiv. 11 ff. ; 
 ' in the breach,' as Ezek. xxii. 30. — 
 33. Alluding to the story of the 
 spies (Num. xiv. i ff.)— Hll^H yij^, 
 from Jer. iii. 19, Zech. vii. 14. — 
 35. From Dt. i. 27.-37. T» J^i^J. 
 
 So Ezek. XX. 23 ; cp. Num. xiv. 30. — 
 39 f. From Ezek. xx. 23. — 41 f. Cp. 
 Num. XXV. 2 f. ; see crit. n. The 
 luiclean, i.e. the heathen (Isa. xxxv. 8, 
 Hi. i), with special reference to objec- 
 tionable rites and usages (cp. Hos. 
 ix. 10). — 45 f. See Num. xxv. 7 f. — 
 
 Mediated, 7>'3''1, viz. by slaying the 
 
 offender in the name of Yahwe. — 
 48. Cp. ' the covenant of an ever- 
 lasting priesthood' (Num. xxv. 13). 
 
 49-52. See Num. xx. 3 ff., and 
 cp. Dt. i. 37, iii. 26. — Gloss (v. 34). 
 Cp. Ex. xxiii. 32 f., xxxiv. II-15. — 
 
 56. A snare, '^"D'SI^, as Dt. vii. 16, &c. 
 
 —58. DHii^, as Dt. xxxii. 17.— 
 
 59. Innocent blood, by oppression and 
 injustice. A common complaint (see 
 on Isa. i. 15, lix. 3, &c.). The gloss 
 is incorrect. — 69-72. The vicissitudes 
 of sin, punishment, pardon, and re- 
 lapse (see Judges). By their purpose, 
 Dn^i^H. i-e- ^y their obstinate bias 
 towards idolatry. Cp. Jer. vii. 24, 
 where JlijiyO is a variant to milTi:^ 
 (Duhm). "The glossator {v. i,zb) ex- 
 plains, Dji^^l ' by their iniquity.'— 
 The Doxology closes Book iv. of the 
 Psalter. 
 
134 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Critical Notes. CVI.'^' Arrangement nearly as Duhm's (in his 
 version he regards v. 6 as a Hnking verse). — 9 f . Read12~)3T, as Du., 
 after G 'A 2 9 E' S', which have fjLvrjcrdriTi fjfi^v ; G also (the other vss. ?) 
 1J"Tp3 , and so Du. Cp. v. 47. 
 
 CVI.<-t I, 4. Point Dni^a (so /. 30) ; read ^TCn (G 'A J T, Ba.), 
 and for DwP read p^bli^, with Venema, Ba., Kau.,'Du. ; cp. Ixxviii. 17. 
 Q^■i7^J (Houb.) is also possible. G uvafiaivovm = Dvi'. 
 
 20. M ]iji"1 unsuitable. Read J^*1T (G Trkna-u-oviw), or the like, with 
 
 T TT 
 
 Clencus, Gr., Dy., Du. ; cp. Num. xi. 20. 
 
 27. 01*1^3 is one of the 18 Tikkune Sopherim, or 'emendations of 
 the scribes,' aiid is said to stand for Hi.!!) . G^'c-^-akt^ also T (virtually), 
 and Rom. i. 23 presuppose 11123 , i.e. the Shechinah. Geiger and 
 Gratz adopt this, but see Barnes, Joiirti. of Theol. Studies, i. 387 fif. 
 
 39. For second ^sn'? read ysn'p (Ezek. xx. 23) ; so Hitz., Del., 
 Gr., Bi., Che.C, Bii., Kau.,' Hal., Du.' "^ ' 
 
 42. M D^riQ , usually explained as a contemptuous title for the idol- 
 gods, as opposed to Yahwe the ^n~'?>i (cp. Lagrange, Etudes sur les 
 religions se'/nitiques, 1903, p. 289). But there is no obvious reason for 
 such a title here ; there is no antithesis such as that in cxv. 3-8. Read 
 Q"'Ni^tD (see exeg. note). 
 
 43. Read -imD'jTDI^' ^'^^- and all vss. ; so Du. Cp. Ixxviii. 58.— 
 51. Forimi read rnh"" nil (Bi., Du.). 
 
 70. M DD'jiVIl. Pedes and Duhm iji:irn (cp. v. 13). But the 
 T T-: - , T-: - 
 
 superfluous explanatory clause D^U'^ OD"^!, or rather 'V2 ID'^VD^T 
 
 T -: - T- • : — 
 
 (O and D confounded), supports DD^i^^. 'See exeg. note. 
 
 PSALM CVII. 
 
 i RIMETERS. A composite psalm, out of which, with much insight, Duhm 
 has extracted a pleasing and symmetrical hymn, with four triplets of stanzas 
 on a uniform plan. '1 he inserted passages are duly noted below. The fact 
 (as, on metrical and other grounds, we must hold it to be) that vv. 24, 26, 27, 
 30 are later embroidery may be the true cause of the inverted Nuns (see 
 Ginsburg, Introd., 343), which bracket vv. 23-28; so Duhm. In Ps.'-'^ it 
 was remarked that the psalmist, ' to fill out his poem, included some scenes 
 not connected with that great turning-point ' (the Restoration), and that ' at 
 V. 33 the treatment becomes more meagre, the connexion less cared for, and 
 the thought less original; the refrains too are dropped.' A consistent critic 
 cannot stop here ; vv. 33-43 require to be set apart as Ps. cvii.(-' Verse 40, 
 where we again find an inverted Nun, is, however, an interpolation. In both 
 compositions a reference to the oft-repeated oppression of the N. Arabians can 
 liaidly be questioned. 
 
PSALM CVII. 135 
 
 CVII. 1. 
 
 Of the Jerahiueelites. (cvi., end) 
 
 I Give thanks to Yahvve, for he is gracious, i 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 
 +So+ let the released ones of Yahwe say, 2 
 
 Whom he has released from the hand of the foe.^ 
 
 Those who wandered in the wilderness, in the desert, 4 
 
 Who found no road to an inhabited city, 
 Who were hungry and also thirsty, 5 
 
 Whose soul fainted in them ; 
 
 Who cried to Yahwb in their strait, 6 
 
 10 And he rescued them from their distresses ; 
 
 Whom he directed by the right way, 7 
 
 That they might go to an inhabited city : 
 
 Let them give thanks to Yahwe for his kindness, 8 
 
 And for his wondrous works for the sons of men, 
 For he has satisfied the longing soul, 9 
 
 And filled the hungry soul with good. 
 
 Those who sat in darkness and gloom, 10 
 
 Prisoners of Ammon and Ishmael," 
 
 Whose heart was bowed with suffering, 12 
 
 20 Who stumbled and there was none to help ; 
 
 Who cried to Yahwe in their strait, 13 
 
 And he delivered them from their distresses ; 
 Whom he brought out of darkness and gloom, 14 
 
 And whose bonds he burst asunder : 
 
 Let them give thanks to Yahwe for his kindness. 1 5 
 
 And for his wondrous works for the sons of men, 
 For he has broken gates of bronze, 16 
 
 And has cut bars of iron asunder. 
 
 Unrighteous ones, who for their course of rebellion, 17 
 
 30 And for their iniquities suffered affliction. 
 
 Whose soul abhorred all foods, 18 
 
 And who touched the gates of +the city of+ Death ; 
 
 1 And whom he galhcrcd out of the lands, from the cast and from the 
 west, from Zaphon and from Jaman {v. 3). 
 
 2 Because they had defied the words of God, | and reviled the purpose of the 
 Most High (:'. 11). 
 
136 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Who cried to Yaliwt; in their strait, 19 
 
 And he delivered them from their distresses; 
 Whom, sending his word, he healed, 20 
 
 And whose life he snatched from the pit : 
 
 Let them give thanks to Yahwe for his kindness, 21 
 
 And for his wondrous works for the sons of men, 
 And offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, 22 
 
 40 And recount his works with resounding song. 
 
 Those who went down upon the great waters 23 
 
 In the companies of Asshur and Jerahmeel,' 
 And there arose a stormy wind, 25 
 
 And it lifted up the waves of the sea ;- 
 
 Who cried to Yahwe in their strait, 28 
 
 And he brought them out of their distresses. 
 Stilling the storm into a murmur, 29 
 
 And the waves of the sea were hushed : '^ 
 
 Let them give thanks to Yahwe for his kindness, 31 
 
 50 And for his wondrous works for the sons of men ; 
 
 Let them extol him in the assembly of the people, 32 
 
 And praise him in the conclave of the elders. 
 
 cvii. — 2 . 
 I He turned streams into a wilderness, 33 
 
 Running springs into thirsty ground ; 
 
 A fruitful land into a salt waste, 34 
 
 For the wickedness of those that dwelt therein. 
 
 He turned the wilderness into a pool of water, 35 
 
 A dry land into running springs ; 
 
 And there he made the hungry to dwell, 36 
 
 And they founded an inhabited city. 
 
 And sowed fields and planted vineyards, 37 
 
 10 Which yielded fruitful produce : 
 
 He blessed them, and they multiplied greatly, 38 
 
 And he gave them cattle in abundance. 
 
 1 1 
 
 These men saw the works of Vahwe, | and his wonders in the deep (<'. 24). 
 
 They went up to the sky, they came down to the abyss, | their soul melted 
 away in the trouble. 
 
 They danced and staggered Hke a drunkard, | and all their skill was con- 
 founded {vv. 26 f.). 
 
 They rejoiced because they were calmed, | and he led them to a roadstead 
 of ships {v. 30). 
 
PSALM CVII. 
 
 -I, 2. 
 
 137 
 
 And if they were diminished and sank low 39 
 
 Through the Misrites, and those of Jerahmeel/ 
 He made the poor safe from Amnion, 41 
 
 And made +him+ families like a flock. 
 
 The upright see it, and rejoice, 42 
 
 All unrighteousness stops its mouth. 
 
 Whoso is wise, let him observe these things, 43 
 
 20 And let them consider the lovinskindnesses of Yahwe ! 
 
 CVII.(i) 3. '> >^Mi:i. Cp. Isa. 
 Ixii. 12. — Gloss. Cp. Isa. xliii. 5 f., 
 xlix. 12. In the former passage, the 
 east and the west are first mentioned, 
 then Zaphon and Teman (N. Arabian 
 regions). In the latter, probably, 
 Jerahmeel, Zaphon, Arabia, Ishmael. 
 See crit. n. 
 
 5-9. Evidently the exiles are 
 meant (cp. Isa. xli. 17). ^tOyD/l, 
 cp. Ixxvii. 4 (note context as revised). 
 
 17-20. The land of exile is (like 
 the underworld Sheol) compared to 
 a dark, strong fortress-prison. Cp. 
 cxliii. 3/', Isa. ix. i. — 18. Ammojt, a 
 short form for 'Jerahmeel.' See 
 crit. n. — The gloss in z/. 11 is not 
 'foolish' (Du.) ; the men spoken of 
 are the Israelites, whose exile was 
 held to be the result of their un- 
 righteous courses of action. — 27. Isa. 
 xlv. 2 is fulfilled. 
 
 29-32. The sufferings of the exile 
 compared to sickness (as wften in the 
 Psalms, e.g. vi., xxxviii., xli.). See 
 also ciii. 4, and Job xxxiii. 19-26 
 (Elihu), where v. 20 closely resembles 
 our V. iSrt. — The gates of Death. .See 
 on ix. 14. 
 
 35. Sending his vrord. See 
 
 on xxxiii. 6, and cp. OP, 321. 
 
 41-48. A scene from the ex- 
 perience of post-exilic Jews (see crit. 
 n.). Those who, to save a long land- 
 journey, obtained a passage in mer- 
 chant-vessels, amidst the traders of 
 
 Asshur and Jerahmeel, i.e. of N. 
 Arabia (cp. Baruch iii. 23, ' the 
 merchants of Merran and Teman'). 
 Suddenly, as in the case of Jonah, a 
 storm arose, but through prayer to 
 the true God the storm gave place to 
 a calm. Csmpanies, as in EV of 
 Isa. xxi. 13, 'ye travelling companies 
 of Dedanim.' — There arose. "TDP^ 
 
 -T 
 
 to come forward, to appear — i.e. in 
 the case of the winds, from the 
 chamber in which they are stored 
 (Jer. X. 13). Cp. E. Bib., 'Wind,' 
 § I. — A nmrmiir, HDI^T- Cp. I K. 
 xix. 12, Job iv. 16. — Note the glosses 
 in w. 2/0 f., 30, 40. yT\ is to go 
 round and round, as in a festival- 
 dance (cp. E. Bib., 'Dance,' §2). 
 
 Vy"^^^ fron* ii- V^'^ ' ^'^ confound.' 
 A roadstead of ships, i.e. a safe road- 
 stead. Harbourage was scanty on the 
 Palestine coast. See crit. n. 
 
 CVII. (2) I i. Cp. Isa. 1. 2 ; 
 XXXV. 7. — 3. nn^D- Cp. Jer. xvii. 6, 
 
 Sirach xxxix. 23 {p<ft-i] = X\7t^ in the 
 Ileb. Sirach, as the same word = 
 
 TWht^ here).— 5 f. From Isa. xli. 18. 
 
 D^^" ^hi:iD , like Ass. vnl^t mt = 
 channels. 
 
 10. HNI^/l """IS is strange, but 
 Du.'s excisions are too bold. — The 
 insertion in v. 40 is verbatim from 
 Job xii. 2ia, 24/'. — 16. Cp. Job xxi. 11. 
 — 17. From Job xxii. 19. — 18. From 
 Job V. 16.— 19. Cp. IIos. xiv. 9. 
 
 Critical Notes. G places ' Hallelujah ' at the head of Ps. cvii. ; M, less 
 originally, at the end of cvi. ; cp. on cv., introd. — Gloss in v. 3. For 
 D^D (originally perhaps written 'Q^D) read either ]''Q*Q , ' from the 
 sotith,' with Clericus, Kenn., Mich., Hupf., Gr., Bi., Che.*", or "JD^^: , 
 
 ^ He leads captive the princes of Ishmael, | and makes them wander in a 
 pathless waste {v. 40). 
 
138 THE PSALMS. 
 
 'from Jaman' (= Jerahmeel), or □"Il'iyD. Cp. Isa. xlix. 12. where 
 D^Q may come either from ]?2^'2 , or frorn D'^IlirO (see Cr//. Bz7>.) ; also 
 on Jer. i. 14, iii. 12. 
 
 5. M riyjp. Read ^J^'n, with 01, We., Du. ; cp. vv. 10, 17, 23. 
 ryiT belongs to v. d,b (G S ; also Schnurrer, 01. (?), Gr., Bi., Che.<", 
 Du.J. 
 
 18. M ':)nnT ^J^^ ""ITS. Usually illustrated by job xxxvi. S, but 
 'bands of misery' is a very different phrase from 'misery and iron.' 
 Considering that PK sometimes {e.g. Iv. 1*1, see /"j.'-') comes from p*3y, 
 and b'\'^1 {e.g. i S. xvii. 7, Crit. Bib) from '?Sjai:'% we may plausibly 
 read SVi7D2'"'T '^^'}2 n''D»^ (see exeg. note). 
 
 19. Read j;j3'', G €'Ta7r6ii/w(9»7 (Du.).— 29. M D•'':»^^} . ReadD'''^^^; 
 the exiles are meant (cp. Isa. xlii. 22-25). See on xxxviii. 6. Neither 
 Uh'n (01., Gr., Bi., Che."', Kau., Du.) nor D''':''?Q^< (We.) is satisfactory. 
 
 41 f. 'Those that go down upon the sea in ships'? But why men- 
 tion the ships ? Q'n "'IIV is sufficient ; cp. Sirach xliii. 24 (Heb. text). 
 ' That do business in great waters ' ? But on the common theory the 
 business spoken of was transacted at the ports, not on the sea. Hence 
 Herz would read TWil'Ct or rsvh'd , ' (practising) seamanship.' A more 
 
 TT - T - 
 
 satisfactory and complete remedy for the hurts of the text is to assume 
 a reference to some neighbouring country, great in commerce. It then 
 becomes plausible to read, — 
 
 n'!^"^^^ for jIVJ^S, cp. O-//. Bib. on Jon. i. 3 ; -)Wii for •'i:'!' ; 'rn"* 
 for nD^yj (cp. on Q'^D^Jb';!D , 2 S. xi. i). Q^H either represents a ditto- 
 graphed 'n~l^, or comes from /. 44. ^ before D'^Q is editorial. 
 
 43. Read IDV^' with G J; so Ba., Kau., Du. Omit -1DN''T (from a 
 dittogr. 1,:2T;^1), for metre.— 44. v'pi!. Read Q'TJ ^^-i . 
 
 . T- T- ••- 
 
 47. M Qp*', G Kcii earrja-fv. Not free from doubt. — Gloss in ?'. 30. 
 D^JSn Tin/p , improbable (see Em: Bib., ' Haven ') ; ^^flD ought not to 
 mean ' haven,' but ' city.' Herz, acutely, QJiSn =lin • Better Q-^jJ 5]in 
 (cp. Gen. xlix. 13). HH^ and DliSH bo//i represent this. 
 
 CVII.'-'J 14. M n:!''! nyi "IliiTJ. Vague. Perles {Afia/. 85) 
 
 t: T T V •• -J 
 
 ]^iiy\ Dm Tii/f^ , ' through scanty offspring and contmuance m widow- 
 hood.' 'More'probably D'''?l<r^nTT D'^TiD^D • n)?~) and p:!"' may quite 
 well be corrupt fragments of 'nT ; for pj^ cp. IpT (Josh. xix. 46). 
 
 Gloss on /. 14 (7/. 40). Read "^SyD'^:;"* "'Tl^ HnV^. Tin (here 
 b^ n2), like T^2 is a much-worn form of 'Q'vi?** (see on Gen. xxii. 21, 
 I K. vii. 21). Now we can see the sense of the interpolation. 
 
PSALMS CVIII. AND CIX. — I. I39 
 
 PSALM CVIII. 
 
 J\, LITUKGICAI, compound of Ivii. S-12, and Ix, 7-14. Observe that Pss. Ivii. 
 and Ix. were used in their Elohistic form, for the usage of Book v. of the 
 Psalter is not Elohistic. 
 
 PSALM CIX. 
 
 JL RIMETERS. The Psalm is usually condemned on the ground of the im- 
 precations in vv. 6-20, which are more startling even than those in Ps. Ixix. 
 We should rather perhaps pity the writer of this terrible passage for the 
 extremity of the national sufferings which must have led to it. We must also 
 take notice, (l) that one of tlie worst of the imprecations in M {v. yd) is due to 
 textual corruption, and (2) that, however improbable it may seem to a 
 Western reader, it is very possible (cp. the Peshitta) that no individual was 
 intended, but the whole body of N. Arabian tyrants who treated Israel as 
 Israel now hopes that those tyrants may themselves be treated. We have 
 adequate parallels for this in Pss. lii. and Iv. Elsewhere (OP, 64 f.) it has 
 been pointed out that ' the element of true prayer [in Ps. cix.] begins with 
 the appeal to Yahwe's name in v. 21,' and that ' vv. 2-5 and 26-31 have a 
 genuine lyric note.' ' They, at least, were written under the inspiration of 
 love. It follows that the original psalm . . . was retouched and added to by 
 the author.' It is enough, however, to hold the composite character of the 
 psalm without insisting on unity of authorship. To understand the second 
 stanza of cix.(-' we should do well to study Jer. 1., li. afresh. That prophecy, 
 in its original form, was directed against the chief N. Arabian kingdom, the 
 cities of which, by just retribution, were to be destroyed by the very peoples 
 over whom the supreme king had tyrannized (see li. 27 f., and Cn'i. Bib. 
 ad loc). The inferences as to date drawn from linguistic phenomena such as 
 Q^JSyQ (cp. Eccles. v. i), and mpD 'office' (a late sense in connexion with 
 the newly organized priestly functions, Stade, ZA TW, 1885, p. 282) in v. 8, 
 and nhJDi (v. 16), will scarcely hold (see crit. notes). Ps. cix.'^' is a late, 
 imitative psalm which (see //. 22, 25) presupposes the existence of cix.(- . The 
 date of Ps. cix.'-') is at any rate earlier than that of the ' Psalms of Solomon ' 
 (as a whole), for the 4th of these psalms contains curses which, as Biithgen 
 points out, closely resemble those in our psalm. Here again, it is interesting 
 to remark, an individual — Alexander Jannieus — has been thought of (Wellh., 
 Pharisiier u. Saddttciier, 146), but here again appearances may be deceptive. 
 Dr. C. Taylor has pointed out parallels between Ps. cix. and the Book of 
 Job, and agrees with those who compare v. "][> (' Satan ' or ' a Satan ' ?) with 
 Job ii. He also thinks that in vv. 6-15 the curses used by the psalmist's 
 enemy are quoted. So already Kennicott and INIendelssohn, and more recently 
 Gratz and B. Jacob. Against it see Kirkpatrick, Psalms, 654. Of course, 
 the speaker throughout is the pious Jewish community. Cp. Smend, pp. 132 f. ; 
 Coblenz, pp. 152 ff.; Cheyne, OP, pp. 63-65 (where the age of Nehemiah is 
 suggested as the date ; cp. Neh. iv. 4f., xiii. 25). 
 
 , CIX. — I. 
 
 Deposited. Of '■Arab-e/han. Marked. i 
 
 I O God my hope ! be not silent, 
 
 For those of Jerahmeel snatch me away ; 2, 3 
 
 "Ishmael and Cusli^ surround me, 
 
 ' Asshur and. ^ Arabia. •* And Arabia of Ishmael. 
 
140 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Unprovoked they fight against me ; 
 
 Rehoboth and Maacath are at feud with me, 4 
 
 With evil do they requite me. 5 
 
 As for me, I am a sufferer and in need, 22 
 
 And my heart is in anguish within me ; 
 
 Like locusts when they settle, I am taken away, 23 
 
 10 I am gathered like the swarming locusts. 
 
 My legs totter because of Missur. 24 
 
 My flesh falls away because of Ishmael ; 
 
 Yea, I serve them as a mark for insults, 25 
 
 When they see me, they shake their heads. 
 
 Help me, O Yahwe my God ! 26 
 
 Deliver me, according to thy lovingkindness ; 
 That they may know that thy hand is here, 27 
 
 And that thou, O Yahwe ! hast done it. 
 
 They ma}' curse, but thou v/ilt bless ; 28 
 
 20 They will be^ put to shame, but thy servant will rejoice : 
 
 Those that persecute me will be clothed with disgrace, 29 
 And wrap themselves in their shame as in a mantle. 
 
 I will thank Yahwe continually with my voice, 30 
 
 And praise him in the midst of many. 
 
 For he stands at the right hand of the needy, 31 
 
 To deliver him from the judges of Ishmael. 
 
 Critical Notes, i. M Tl^rTD • Read '»ri'?rfj^ (xxxix. 8; cp. on 
 • T • : • : - 
 
 xxii. 4, Ixxi. 6, Ixxvii. 11). 
 
 2. M innD 'hv nQ"lD"''3T rt:'"1 ""S ""S • The construction is 
 
 tt-tt:.- tt-' 
 
 awkward, and is only slightly improved by reading ^^t£;"1 (Houb., &c.) 
 and rriJlD (G Tjvolxdr] ; so Du.). There is also too much material for a 
 
 - T 
 
 line, even if we omit ni^Sl^D'^SV The probability is that ""S and innS) 
 both represent an original 'IDtOn, i-c. "^JIEJtSn (cp. x. 9). ilQlQ some- 
 times represents T'J^I^n")"', and that is the case here ; as if to make this 
 doubly sure, """pp is added ; ■^^}; n,:3"ID has sprung from D"''?h}l2n~l'' • 
 The prefixed "'S is an editorial patch, ^i:?! comes from "^V^i^^^ (=~nnii'N, 
 the N. Arabian region called Ashhur or Asshur) ; this was written in 
 error for D^'?N^n")'. I' or a parallel, see on cix.'-'', /. i. Read 
 
 - disgraced and. 
 
PSALM CIX. — I. 141 
 
 3. M •'iiaiD Hiiiv nan : "^d^ ]^tb 'r\ii ^-)3.i- very 
 
 . T : T : . •• : •: 'vt : • • : • 
 
 awkward phraseology. The editor did his best with corruptions of 
 archaic names of peoples. 1121 and ""IQl represent 2~J2 or D''Z11J[7 
 (cp. Ixv. 4?) ; ip^ ]Wb comes from ^OT ':'^i;l^^^^ (cp. xxxi. 19 ?) ; 
 nh^ilt', like 'ilt^';), represents bi^y!:i'li^'^ . T^^< remains unaccounted for ; 
 the underlying word is, at any rate, superfluous. Read probably 
 
 5. M ^nnnSt nnn. Read probably j-lDyQT ninn-]. Cp. on 
 XXXV. II f., xxxviii. 19 f.— After ''JlJIDt:^^ M G add h'^SjI ^'jhtl- The 
 supposed parallels ex. 3, cxx. 7 will not bear examination. *JJ^T probably 
 comes from a dittographed ^J1 . H/Sn seems to have come from 1170, 
 which should have stood after 7'. 5. Halevy, il'^'im, merely a superficial 
 improvement. 
 
 6. M •'by 1D''t;^V Read'»':)y ^r^bt^^ (Joel iv. 4) or •':n,':)'?-Xri (Hu. 
 
 -T . T- -T : - :- . : - :- 
 
 alt., Bi., and virtually Gr). Confirmed by xxxv. 12; cp. xxxvni. 21. Hu. 
 
 prefers "^bv H'^Ii^"'! (xciv. 2, 23). The closing words of 7'. 5 (")JT Jinn) 
 
 -T .T- 
 
 are merely dittographic. 
 
 7. Read ^JX'l- ^3 ^^'^.s necessitated by the insertion of vv. 6-21, 
 
 • T : 
 when the psalm was reconstructed. 
 
 8. Read '^''n'* (Gr., Kau.). Cp. Iv. 5. 
 
 • T 
 
 9. M 7ji3 . ' Like the shadow when it stretches out ' is not a 
 probable expression. Note the || word, and read TDnS ; the same 
 corruption has occurred in Job xiv. 2. See Enc. Bib., ' Locust.' — M 
 iniiOJ3 • The key to the passage is Nah. iii. 17 (see Enc. B3., I.e.), 
 which suggests the reading inijn3 .— M ^Jl^Sn^ (Nif. 'to be made to 
 go' ?). Clearly the original must be Tinp'^J- 
 
 10. M \m3722, G (^iTivax6r]v. As if the wind had a garment, out of 
 which (Neh. V. 13) the locusts were shaken into the sea? So Bii. But 
 how improbable ! "'JlJ^lJli would not be clear enough either. One 
 
 word will do — ^ni^lJ^J- See exeg. note. 
 
 • 
 12 f. M l£?n3 . But '"2 in Kal, meaning 'to be lean,' is only post- 
 Biblical. Read probably ^l)'^); (vi. 8, xxxi. 10 f.).— Dliii;^, 'through 
 fasting,' and ]Q*,£^Q, 'through oil' (so parallelism requires, cp. G), are 
 clearly wrong. Nor can we venture to render ""Iti^Q , ' my skin ' (Bii. in 
 note, cp. on cii. 6). Comparing vi. 8/;, read ~n-^a:tD and ';)^}i^DI£^■"^D (cp. 
 on ]Dl£^ , civ. 15, cxli. 5). Gr.'s pDClti^D , 'through amazement,' would 
 not suit Wyi*2 . — M ^2lN"l (with Pasek). Read perhaps DJT • 
 
 19 f. nan is metrically superfluous.— M ^^2T> (with Pasek). G (Gr., 
 
 T •• 't 
 
142 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Ba., Kau.), \":2p, as subject of Wy^ ■ Rather read ^Q':)^^ a variant to 
 
 23. M 1^<Q. Read TD^I (Gr.) ; see on xlvi. 2. 
 : • T 
 
 26. M it^32 ^t33iyO • A weak expression ; one expects rather 
 DQH ^JD3li^- But since the persons intended are the same as in //. 2-6, 
 
 T T 
 
 it is presumable that at any rate MVii^ represents an ethnic. The truth 
 is that we have before us here a rather strong instance of transposition. 
 ''li'SJ (G rijv ■^vxr]" fJ'Ov) here, as sometimes elsewhere, represents ^QID^ 
 written backwards, and ]}2V is one of the current distortions of '^H^i^tV^ 
 (cp. on Isa. X. 27). The opening of Ps. cix."' now corresponds with its 
 close. Note by the way that KaTadicoKovTcov in the MSS. of G should be 
 
 CIX. — 2. 
 
 I Appoint judgment, O Yahvvb ! upon the wicked man, 6 
 
 Let an accuser stand at his right hand ; 
 
 When he is judged, let him come out guilty, 7 
 
 And let his remnant be counted criminal. 
 
 Let his palaces be [for] Jaman, 8 
 
 His cities let Jerahmeel take ; 
 
 Let his children become orphans, 9 
 
 And his wife [become] a widow. 
 
 Let his children be vagabonds in Ishmael, 10 
 
 10 Let them be treated with violence in their broad places; 
 
 Let the spoiler take by force all that is his, 1 1 
 
 Let foreigners plunder his wealth. 
 
 Let there be none that keeps friendship toward him, 12 
 
 None that shows pity to his orphans ; 
 
 Let extinction be the doom of his offspring, 13 
 
 In one generation let his name be effaced. 
 
 Let the guilt of his father be mentioned,^ 14 
 
 ■ And the sin of his mother — let it be not effaced. 
 
 Let them be present to Yahwe continually, 15 
 
 20 That He may extinguish his name from the earth. 
 
 [Because '■' "'" '■■ "] 16 
 
 He remembered not to show brotherly love. 
 But hunted one who was a sufferer and needy. 
 And crushed one who walked blamelessl3% 
 
 ' to Vahwe. 
 
PSALM CIX. — 2. 143 
 
 He loved cursing and chose it, 17 
 
 And took no pleasure in blessing ; 
 
 [Compassion] was far from him, 
 
 And he sought cursing, and delighted in it. 18 
 
 Then let it soak into his entrails like water, 
 30 And like oil into his bones : 
 
 Let it be to him as the garment which he dons, 19 
 
 And as the girdle which he ever girds about him. 
 
 Be these the wages of my persecutors,' 20 
 
 Of those that speak evil against me. 
 
 But thou, O Yahwe !- deliver me,^ 21 
 
 According to thy gracious kindness, rescue thou me. 
 
 Critical Notes. CIX.(-) i. M ;;i:r-| v":);; ipHlQ. TpDrr to appoint 
 to an office (Gen. xxxix. 4, Jer. i. 10, &:c.), or to bring about a plague 
 (Lev, xxvi. 16). Hupfeld thinks the appointment of a ' wicked ' or 
 ' unrighteous ' man as judge has the nature of a plague. But in /. 3 this 
 J^'ii^l appears to have the interests of justice at heart, and not to sym- 
 pathize with the yii^") when he judges. Hence Halevy emends ^^'ii'"lD. 
 But in such cases as this a mere superficial correction is useless. The 
 error probably lies in v'7i', which seems to come from "^yv , i.e. "l^y TVSTV. 
 Yahw6 is petitioned to appoint an examination of a great unnamed 
 wicked man's cause. The wicked man is the personified people of the 
 N. Arabian oppressor. See introd. 
 
 4. M rrJ^LDn'? rrrin in'pSm. Surely no psalmist could have 
 T T -: - V : • T . : 
 
 written thus. It is one thing to declare that the formal prayers of wicked 
 men are an abomination to Yahwe (Prov. xxviii. 9), and consequently that 
 this or that individual, or class of individuals, being wicked men and 
 mere formal worshippers, will not be heard (Isa. i. 15, Prov. i. 28, cp. 
 Ps. Ixvi. 19) ; it is another to utter over a man who, whether good or 
 bad, is in sore distress, a solemn desire that his prayer for mercy — this 
 time, certainly, no formal prayer — may be ineffectual. Nor can we hold 
 that the prayer of the yt^") is a petition to the judge for leniency, for how 
 could an unjust judge be imagined to be open to such a request.'' This 
 time it isa very slight change, suggested by experience of the ways of the 
 
 scribes, that suffices. Read HNIOn'? H'Tin ijlDlbSl • For the use of 
 
 T T - : V : . T .. : 
 
 'n J cp. I K. 1. 21. 
 
 5 f. AI D^JOrD VD^'TH' . We should expect V^y niiD'* (cp. on 
 
 • - : TT : . TT : •: . 
 
 Iv. 24). 'D^tOyrj here faultily as an adj., as Eccles. v. i' (Hu.). 
 
 ' Jerahmeel. " Lord. ^ for thy name's sake. 
 
144 "^^^ PSALMS. 
 
 Evidently there is some corruption, and the more so as v. %b is equally- 
 liable to suspicion. The person spoken of being either the personified 
 people of Israel's oppressors or the king of that people, it would be 
 suitable that the destruction of the cities of that king or people should be 
 referred to. Is there any possible correction of the te.\t which will give 
 that meaning ? There is. Few words in the psalms and prophecies are 
 more often corrupted than m;lQ"l^i , ' castles.' Q^tOi^O may possibly be 
 an editor's conjecture on the basis of a corruption of ^^'^J^^"1^< . To 
 complete this, we require VD^ to be a corruption of some ethnic to which 
 originally ^ was prefixed. That ]Q^ (]^^ or ]0^) was an early abbrevia- 
 tion of Vj^Qnn'' appears again and again (see e.g. Crit. Bib. on Gen. x. 2). 
 In the II line we find "ini^ , i-c. ^)XtSV\' • Late writers find no difficulty 
 in putting nearly side by side different corrupt forms of the same ethnic. 
 — M i/TTpB, his watch? office.'' punishment? Read perhaps Vni^Hp • 
 — M "^^^< • ' Read '^XQm^ • a common type of corruption. 
 
 8. Insert n;nj"l (metre).— 9. Omit );^^^ (dittogr.). For ^bi^W) 
 (scarcely =' beg') read perhaps Vi^y^^'X^^Z • 'DV^ is very often cor- 
 rupted. — M ^tifm , ' and shall seek . . ' ? G fK^^rjdrjTcoaav ; hence 
 Houb., Seeker, Horsley, Hu., Bi., Che.'", Bii., Kau. read ^ILHT ^^ '^\- 
 But the sense is still not perfect. Lam. ii. 11 f. suggests that the 
 children were described as lying, faint and overpowered, in the rchoboth 
 of the cities. Read, as /. 10, DHTlUn")! TTTk^_^ (Jer. iv. 13. Hos. x. 14). 
 
 II. M TWSy ^pJ""- According to Perles {Anal. 81) rpj is a tech- 
 nical term (cp. Aram. '^'\>\ ' percussit ')=' claim possession of a property 
 till a debt should be paid.' This needs confirmation. But even if it 
 were so, the sense does not suit the jj line. The initial J in TVWSl may 
 be dittographic. Read HD'li^ (Judg. ii. 14, Isa. xviii. 14), and for 'y read 
 p'l^y (' ace. rei,' as Mai. iii. 5). 
 
 16 f. M ini^. G /^£'a = inS; so rightly Houb., Horsley, Du.— 
 
 M DQi^ ; so Gi^ Read 'yty^, with G^^, J, so Horsley.— Read V2^< 
 T : : • T 
 
 (Du.), and omit mn"'"7hi (metre). 
 
 20 ff. M 7nD''T, better than 7113^'] (G J). Wellh. places the line 
 after v. 13, which seems to injure the structure of the poem. — G'^^ 
 wrongly avrov. — A line has fallen out (Bi.) ; Tii?i< ]_y\ followed by Pasek, 
 may belong to /. 21, but is perhaps more probably an editorial link. 
 
 24. M Dni:^':' l":^ 'r\)^'21'\- W F, ' But hunted to death the 
 
 .. ; T •• •• : • : 
 
 wretched and poor, and the broken in heart,' but We.'s critical notes pass 
 this over. S suggests TS^T^ ; so Gr., prefixing 1J». Neither D/n:.:':' 
 
PSALM CIX. — 2. 145 
 
 nor mD7 suits the parallelism ; besides the Pilel form would be too 
 strong. As to nJOJ, the existence of ^^0 is very doubtful (cp. Ges.- 
 Buhl). We might, indeed, read ^}^J (so at any rate in Isa. Ixvi. 2 for 
 HDJ); G has Karaviwyfievov, which 9 has in Prov. xvii. 22 for HNS^ 
 (mi). 'A 2 give TTfirXTjyfjievov, and 'A has the same word in Prov. i.e. 
 Hitz. and Bit. adopt this way out of the difficulty. But it is really no 
 way out. DJli;^'^ ^^'pil J^321 is no parallel to /. 23. Read probably 
 '"^l^rh ib'n ^<^T^. For J^DI, cf. xciv. 5, Prov. xxii. 22 (of judicial 
 oppression, as probably here); and for "7,28. xv. 11. 
 
 25-32. If the text is right as it stands, it must be in disorder ; any 
 of the current translations will make this clear. Street (1790) and Bi. 
 (1882) therefore attempt some transposition, but without any quite satis- 
 factory result. An inspection of the text leads us to suspect corruption. 
 The double statement respecting the penetrating character of the spirit 
 of cursing, and the double use of the figure of the garment, can hardly 
 be original. Nor will the first of the two stanzas into which the whole 
 passage on cursing should evidently fall be symmetrical, unless we sup- 
 pose that the subject of pn"im in ^'. 17 (/. 27) has fallen out of the text. 
 But all that I say on behalf of the following restoration is that the 
 changes proposed are possible, and that a quite satisfactory sense is 
 produced. 
 
 TV-::.- T T ' : •• v:v- 
 T T : • ' •• T : 
 
 T V : : v- T T ' : : • - 
 
 That ^^Un and ini', ^2b and f\l, "ilDD and ni:2n[^1], might 
 be confounded, is evident. ITDS, 'as his robe,' is, at any rate, very 
 improbable, unless indeed we suppose that the imprecation is directed 
 against a priest. 
 
 32. M HTQ • That this is an Egyptian loan-word (see BDB) is most 
 improbable. In Isa. xxiii. 10 (riTQ) and Job xii. 21 (nV/D) the text is 
 corrupt. Like X\TV2 in cvii. 30, niD and n^?D, wherever they occur, 
 are almost certainly corruptions of ^J^Dnn*. In the present case 'TW 
 may have been originally a marginal gloss on ''JJOli' ("'• 20). It seems to 
 have supplanted li;ir7, which G appears to have read in the Hebrew text 
 
 (oMTfi ^u>vr]). 
 
 33. Gr, reads r^^r\ for Jl^yS ; Jl absorbed by JINT. But if this 
 were right something more would have been said about the prayer not 
 entering the presence of God. Cp. Isa. Iviii. \b ; Prov. xxvi. 2, 
 
 35 f. Omit >3ir< and yyu ];?d':'.— M ^ntiCTVD^- Read ^y^J^tT^ ; 
 cp. on xxii. 31. — M 2^tD~'3- Read 21ID3 (Hitz., Gr.); see on Ixix. 17. 
 II. L 
 
146 THE PSALMS. 
 
 CIX.i'' 9 f . The 'settling' of the introd. ami crit. notes). -2. Ai his 
 
 locusts is again referred 10 in Nah. iii. rii^ht hand. Cp. Zech. iii. i. — 4. See 
 
 17; their 'removal' possibly in Isa. crit. note. — 7-10. A man's family is 
 
 xxxiii. 4«. They were, of course, an regarded as part of himself (cp. Ex. 
 
 article of diet to the poorer classes in xx. 5). — 17. lie mentioned, i.e. to 
 
 the East. — 11 f. Cp. vi. 8, cii. 6. — 14. Vahwc by heavenly remembrancers 
 
 Cp. xxii. 8, Job xvi. 4, Isa. xxxvii. 22. (Isa. Ixii. 6), or by 'men of God' 
 
 (i K. xvii. 18). — 29. Like water. Cp. 
 
 „,.. ,,> ,„M- . r • Num. v. 22 ff. — 33. Note the plural, 
 
 Cl.\.(-^ I. Ji^n . A faction or ,ny persecutors, ami the probable gloss, 
 
 large body of men is personified (see ' Jerahmeel ' (see crit. note). 
 
 PSALM ex. 
 
 XENTAMETEKS. Two questions have to be critically answered, (i) What was 
 the sense attributed to this psalm by the redactor who brought it into its final 
 shape? and (2) what was the original form of the psalm, and what did the 
 original writer mean by the psalm? (i) It has been shown elsewhere {OP, 
 pp. 20-29) that, if the received text is approximately correct, no other Jewish prince 
 but Simon the Maccabee can be the person addressed. This view is also held by 
 Duhm, Bickell, G. Margoliouth, and R. H. Charles, and independently both 
 Bickell and G. Margoliouth have hit upon the idea that the initial letters of vv. 
 1-4 form an acrostic conveying the name "J/'itDli' {Skiin^on), i.e. as is supposed, 
 Simon the Maccabee. In the form given to this theory by Bickell {Acade/ny, 
 April 9, 1892) it has been adopted by Duhm in his Commentary and Charles 
 in the Expositor for April, 1902, p. 252. For G. Margoliouth's theory see 
 Acadony, Feb. 20, 1892 (and elsewhere), and compare Caster's reply, Acad., 
 March 5, 1892. AV the same time Bickell put forward a similar theory for Ps. ii., 
 
 where he found {7'v. 1-4) an acrostic representing ^^^7 (/' Yannai, ' of JannKus'). 
 Such acrostics, however, ought to indicate the author ol a poem, not a personage 
 referred to in it, and for this and other reasons the acrostic theory has been 
 rejected by Konig, J. K. Zenner {Zt. f. kath. ThcoL, 1900, pp. 578-584), 
 Grimme {Psalm. -Prob., 103), and C. H. H. Wright. Nevertheless, the theory 
 that the psalm refers to Simon is extremely plausible, as long as we adhere to the 
 traditional text. It may be urged that the poet implies that his hero is about to 
 assume sovereign power, and that this exactly corresponds to the historical 
 position of Simon, who did not, it is true, claim the title of king, but lacked 
 nothing of the dignity but the name, and who by the conquest of the Acra and the 
 expulsion of its garrison (May, 142), completed the liberation of Jerusalem. It 
 may also be held that, as a kmg-priest, .Simon desired to have his name coupled 
 with that of the ideal priest-king Melchizedek, and tliat, even if only by an 
 illusion, a psalmist who traced the hand of God in Simon's successes might well 
 claim a prophetic character for his impassioned addresses to his hero. That in 
 later times the psalm (in the form in which we now have it) was regarded as 
 Messianic (see e.g. Ber. Rabba, par. 85, on Gen. xxxviii. 18), can easily be 
 understood; cp. Mark xii. 35-37 and parallels,' Acts ii. 34 f., Heb. i. 13. 
 Nor is it impossible that the redactor, if an adherent of the Maccabees, may have 
 hoped that their family would furnish to Israel a line of Messianic princes, whose 
 victories would become more and more splendid, and more and more worthy 
 to be regarded as Messianic. To these theories we will not deny plausibility. 
 And yet there is surely nothing in Ps. ex., as the text stands, which need make us 
 I hesitate to resign a belief in its Messianic import, should textual criticism require 
 
 ' On the bearing of modern criticism on these passages, see Gore, Bampton 
 J.fiturcs,\s. 198; Sanday, Bainp. Z<f</.,pp. 419 f. ; Cheyne, Bamp. Led. {Origin 
 of Psalter), pp. 34 f., and especially Aids to Criticism, pp. 391 ff., and Christian 
 Use of the Psalms, pp. 231 ff. 
 
PSALM ex. 
 
 147 
 
 this, and we even find a Jewisli opinion, meniioned by Ilm Ezra and adopted by 
 Rashi, that the hero of the psahn is Abram, whose victory over the allied kings, 
 and honourable reception by Melchizedek are recorded in Gen. xiv. 
 
 (2) Does textual criticism oppose the above-mentioned Maccabcean theory ? 
 As practised by Bickell and Duhm, it does not. Bickell, however {Acad., I.e.), is 
 too arbitrary, and supplies loo much, to be a safe guide, while Duhm is highly 
 superficial in his criticism of vv. I-4, and with regard to vv. 5-7 confesses that he 
 ' can make nothing of them,' and has derived not the least help from other 
 expositors. Clearly there is a case for a more determined effort to solve the 
 textual problems. Such an effort has been made, and the result (which is 
 scarcely doubtful) is that the original psalm was a ]:>roi5hecy of the conquest by 
 Israel of the N. Arabian border-land. The nearest parallels are Pss. ii. , Ixviii., 
 because here too we find a divine oracle jirofessedly quoted. If the text of Ps. Ix. 
 8« were correct, this psalm would be as close a parallel, but even if it is not, as 
 an expression of Israel's confident expectation of tlie overthrow of N. Arabia, we 
 may refer to it here. Ps. xviii. is also among the chief psalms with which Ps. ex. 
 may be grouped. Among prophetic parallels, the closing verses (19-21) of 
 Obadiah may especially be mentioned (see Enc. Bib., col. 3458, and Crit. Bib.). 
 It is worth while to notice that in the immediate neighbourhood of Ps. ex. we 
 have a composite psalm (cxviii.), which includes the parallel prophecy of the 
 subversion of N. Arabia in Ps. Ix. The surest restorations in the text here 
 translated are those which yield N. Arabian names. The new text of v. ^b is 
 very probable ; somewhat less so that of the closing words of v. 3. ' To his 
 servant ' in the opening clause is also open to some doubt. We might conceivably 
 read ' to Abram,' and view the psalm as a dramatically conceived prophecy of the 
 successes of Abram against the kings ((jen. xiv.), successes which might be 
 regarded as typical of Israel's future victories at the ' end of the days.' Cp. Eitc. 
 Bib., ' Psalms, Book of,' § 29. The latest text-critical study is by S. Minocchi, 
 Revue Biblique, 1903, pp. 203 i^. 
 
 Of " Arab-etha)i : marked. I 
 
 I Yahwe's oracle to his servant : | I will break Jerahmeel, 
 Until I make thine enemies | thy footstool. 
 
 Thy strong sceptre will Yahwe | stretch out from Zion ; 2 
 
 Have dominion ••' ■'■ \ in the midst of thine enemies. 
 
 Thou shalt conquer in the day of Maacath^ j on the 
 mountains of Kadesh ; 3 
 
 From Jerahmeel and from Ashhur [ [thou shalt bring thy 
 captives ?]. 
 
 Yahwe swears [to his servant], | and will not repent, 4 
 
 ' I establish thee for ever [ because of my covenant of 
 lovingkindness.' 
 
 The Lord will shatter Jerahmeel | in his day of wrath, 5 
 
 10 He will judge mighty kings | because of their pride. da 
 
 [The Lord] will shatter Ashhur | on the land of the 
 Arabians ; 63 
 
 Li the valley of Hadrach he will destroy [ Jerahmeel and 
 Ashhur. 
 
 ' Jerahmeel. 
 
148 THE PSALMS. 
 
 I. To his servant, i.e. Israel exact parallel is the phrase 'the day 
 
 (cxxxvi. 22, cp. Jer. xxx. 10, xlvi. of Midian,' Isa. ix. 3. — On the moun- 
 
 27 f., Ezek. xxxvii. 25). In ii. 7 /anw <7//v(?</i'j7^, or perhaps, 'of Cush.' 
 
 Israel is called Vahue's son, but the The idea is that the Israelites have not 
 
 diflerence between a favouied servant onl}- expelled the N. Arabian tyrants, 
 
 who understands his lord's purposes but invaded their land. Or, if we read 
 
 and a son is not great. The psalmist ' on the holy mountains ' (as Ixxxvii. I ), 
 
 places himself in imagination in the the neighbouring; peoples have as- 
 
 ' end of the days,' when Yahwe's son sembled to lay siege to Jerusalem (cp. 
 
 or favoured servant will receive the Zech. xiv. 2). — 6. Cp. cvii. 3, Isa. 
 
 fulfilment of the promises in 2 Sam. vii. xi. 11. 
 (cp. Ixxxix. 20 ft".). — Breakjerahiueel. 
 
 Similarly vv. 5, 6. Cp. ii. 9, xviii. 30, 7 f. The oath is immutable ; otherr 
 
 39, Ix. 8, Ixviii. 22, Isa. xiv. 25 (As- wise there would be no security that 
 
 shur probably = Jerahmeel), Hab. iii. Israel's newly-established empire will 
 
 13. be eternal. Cp. Ixxxix. 5, 30, 36-38, 
 
 2 S. vii. 12. — Jl^l^, as xiv. 5. See 
 
 5- The day of Maacath {i.e. crit. notes. — 12. Hadrack. See Em. 
 
 Jerahmeel or Cusham, cp. Ix. S). An Bib., s.v. 
 
 Critical Notes, i. M ''J^N/) 'to my lord,' a unique expression in 
 the Psalms. Read probably 1121^7 (see introd.); 2 and 2, J" and J^ con- 
 founded. — M ^J^;2v "y^. From a conservative point of view this is 
 inconsistent with v. 5. Apart from this, it is not natural to say, 'Sit at 
 my right hand, till I prostrate thy foes.' Read ':?J<;2m"' liuL'^} (1 in 
 'li'M became 7). "J^i^^ is a well-known popular form of 7'^{!t3^"^^. Cp. 
 /. 9. 
 
 5. M TJQy. Probably from HD^'D (cp. on pay, Ix- S). This is a 
 variant to "JTH in same verse, and since Tf, as in Ezek. xxvii. 11 (M 
 Tf'^^n), comes from 'rm^, i.e. t'Ni^ni*, and 'm* occurs, under another 
 disguise, in /. 6, we may give it the preference. — j"li"TJ, 'liberality '.'' 
 'zeal'? An "emphatic predicate'? Surely not. G, /lern o-oC ap;^?;, whence 
 Duhm, nil^ ^py, ' mit Dir ist Hoheit' (?). Read, perhaps, IBJ^I.— 
 M Tj^n ; see above.— M mnil. Read nin^ (2 J, many MSS. and 
 edd., also Hare. Houb.. 01., Hu.. Gr., Bi.— AI ^^y^. Rather l^'ip or 
 l£;i3 (see exeg. n.). 
 
 6. M nrtti'D Dm:^. The ordinary explanation is very far-fetched, 
 and Isa. xiv. 12 is no true parallel. The versions give no help at all. 
 But the remedy is clear. Qm . like QpH represents 'm^ ; irT'il* (as in 
 
 Isa. i.c) comes from -nnt:'i<. Read 'l:•^i:2^ '?N;2m'':D •— M "7^ ?y'p 
 
 TjrilT (note that 7tO is not recognized by G). It would be convenient 
 to make /TT*?* mean "young warriors' (so Ol., Del.. <S:c.). But the word 
 JITTT is rare, and the assumed meaning unsupported. G S read 
 ^^nT*?^ (cp. M, ii. 7), which Herder admits, rendering, — 
 
 Vom Schloss der Morgenriithe, wie den Thau, 
 
 Hab' ich dich niir erzeugt ; 
 
PSALM ex. 149 
 
 and so Houbigant, Kennicott, Kaulen/ N. Peters, and Minocchi. This, 
 however, is very unnatural, while the conjectures of Gratz and Bickell 
 (\n Acad., I.e.) are sadly arbitrary. It is probable that "^JD ]? merely 
 represents fragments of a dittograph of the word underlying '"T'7^ This 
 word may possibly be "^JlvJI, but is more probably T'Ki'^m"' (cp. on 710, 
 ^xxxiii. 3). [Haupt, however, in Joluis Hopkins Uni'K Circular., July> 
 1894, takes Dni!t3 '"^nd "inii'^S to be two coordinated participles from 
 Dm ' to love,' and "^TTiJ ' to seek zealously.'] 
 
 7. Insert iiio?'? (metre).— M "^sSo ^-i-im"'?!? ihSyh ^^b"^^)^^ 
 
 :-: •:- -t:- - r : •• r - 
 
 pi'ji. See introd. Objections: (i) The line is unmetrical; Duhm boldly 
 
 excises pl^"''^/!^, without any plausible reason. (2) "*J1"13."T~7^ is 
 intolerably prosaic. We have to seek for an underlying text which, after 
 becoming corrupt, could be so manipulated as to produce the traditional 
 
 text. Such a text is— ^pn nn3~b;i? D':'i;^> ^'/i:on. For r^na, 
 
 see on IQI, xlv. 5. 07!3 represents '7^}!t3^T, a correction of "TTD''~7i< 
 
 T T ' 
 
 {?/. 5) which intruded from the margin. p"T;^ is miswritten for '^DT^ (see 
 on cxliv. 2) ; the suffix ^ was probably indicated by a sign of abbrevia- 
 tion. 
 
 9. Read 'HT ^m' 'J1^5 ; "^y is redactional. For -IJ':3'' = ':'i^DnT, 
 cp- ""TD"^ 5 I S. ix. 4 ; where G (cod, B) has uiKet/x. 
 
 10. Read, probably, ani33 WDb'Z ri"* ('D from v. 5).— M i^bt2 
 
 nV"!^. Loeb {La Hit. des pauvrcs, p. 109), ^^^<3 '!D- Rather y^'dl 
 
 DJniNil; cp. xxxi. 19, xxxvi. 12, Ixxiii. 6. 
 TT-:- 
 
 11. Again read yn^V For t'^A"^ read "nt^rNt (=~nnii^S). For n:!"] 
 read ^^^7 (so D^n sometimes for D''^"iy)- 
 
 12. Read probably, "[")"Tn ?nj2 (see Crit. Bib. on Zech. ix. i) ; 
 T\iW should be /TTTi'V — p"':';? and D'^T' both represent ':'^<;2^1■' ; 
 li;j^n should be "1TZW. Compare the result produced by criticism in 
 ii. 9 and Ixviii. 22-24. 
 
 ' Kaulen {Katholik, 1865, ii., 129-174) holds the text underlyinij Ci to be 
 the original one, viz. '^JRl^^ ''D'^'? ^TT^J^ '^ll9 "'']1l'^ ^T^^ ^'?^* 
 In Theol. Quartahchrift, Ixxx. (1898), pp. 615 ft". N. Peters considers that S 
 [iresupposes just the same Hebrew text, except that the suffix of 7^n is wanting ; 
 N'7l3 1*^ > he thinks, is an intrusive gloss on the sufiix in ^'JTTT- According 
 to him, M is based on this, gloss; SviO ('hoy,' 'youth') being taken as 
 = ':)I3 , ' dew.' 
 
150 THE PSALMS. 
 
 PSALM CXI. 
 
 1 ss. CXI. and cxii. ciie twin psalms. Both are in trimeters, both are arranged 
 alphabetically, perhaps in mder to be learned by heart. I's. cxii. is a ' sacred 
 parody' (I lengslenberg) of Ps. cxi. ; what is said in the one of God is applied in 
 the other to the pious. Probably enough they are by the same author, who knew 
 all the ordinary commonplaces of the psalmists and wise men of Israel. Ps. cxii. 
 (and originally Ps. cxi. ?) has, in G, the heading ti]s iTriarpo<f>ris 'Ayyaiov na] 
 Zj-xo-pi-ov. 
 
 Of t/ie Jenihineelites. I 
 
 I I will give thanks to Yahue with my whole heart, 
 
 In the company and assembl}- of the upright. 
 
 Great are the works of Yah we, 2 
 
 To be studied by all that delight in them. 
 
 Glorious and magnificent is his doing, 3 
 
 And his righteousness abides for ever. 
 
 A memorial has he made for his wonders ; 4 
 
 Full of pit}', compassionate is Yahwe. 
 
 Adornment has he given to those that fear him, 5 
 
 10 Of his covenant he is ever mindful. 
 
 The might of his works he has shown to his people, b 
 
 In giving them the nations for a possession. 
 
 The works of his hands are faithfulness, 7 
 
 All his behests are sure, 
 
 Remaining unshaken for ever and ever, 8 
 
 Wrought in faithfulness and uprightness. 
 
 He has sent deliverance to his people, 9 
 
 He has ordained his covenant for ever. 
 
 Holy and to be feared is his name, 
 20 The fear of Yahwe is the best part of wisdom, 10 
 
 A good discernment have all that practice it. 
 His praise abides eternally. 
 
 I. The speaker is, of course, not xii. 14). The expression is peculiar, 
 
 the community, but every religious and owing to the alphabetic arrangement, 
 patriotic Israelite. 
 
 3. His rlghteonsness. Cp. ^ I7- Deliverance ?.^. that of 
 cxii. 3, where man's righteousness is ^he L.xodus, since the legislation tol- 
 credited with the same permanence. lows. — 19. hJm^T ti'llp ; cp. xcix. 3. 
 
 4. See the singular rendering in —20. n*23ri jl"'ti•^i'^ . Similar say- 
 G ; such a plain writer as the psaln.ist ;, , ,,,,. commonplaces of the sages cf 
 would hardly have expressed himself in ; 
 that way. Israel (cp. I'rov. i. 7, ix. 10 [riTrTD 
 
 7. A memorial, viz. a constant 'H], and cp. Job xxviii. 28, Ecclus. 
 tradition (cp. Ixxviii. 3), confirmed by i. 20. ' Cp. Jacob, ZATli', 1898, 
 observances like tiie J'assover (Ex. p. 293. 
 
PSALM CXII. 151 
 
 Crtfical A'o/es. 9. M ?|"ip rendered 'good' (Prov. xxxi. 15, Mai. 
 iii. 10, Job xxiv. 5 ; cp. ^■'IlDiI, Prov. xxx. 8). The sense, however, is 
 not very good ; the || hne suggests something better than ' good.' Most 
 explain this weak word as due to the exigences of the acrostic. But 
 should we not read JllJ^StO, a deliberate distortion of j~1~IJOj~I for the 
 sake of the alphabet ? Cp. Isa. Iv. 5, Ix. 9. 
 
 13. Omit LDS'i'aT (metre). So Sievers. — 16. M "^t^ . Better •^t'' 
 (xxv. 21). So G J S T, Gr., Bii., Du. 
 
 20 f. Read ^''"J■|^^■|' (metre).— Read H-'XT (*^' J -'')• 
 
 PSALM CXII. 
 
 Of the Jerahmeelites. I 
 
 I Happy the man that fears Yahwe, 
 
 That delights continually in his commandments ! 
 
 Mighty in the land +is+^ his offspring, 2 
 
 The race of the upright is blessed. 
 
 Wealth and riches are in his house, 3 
 
 And his righteousness abides for ever. 
 
 [His] hght gleams in the darkness, 4 
 
 To tlie upright full of pity and compassion. ■- 
 Well is it with him that shows pity and lends, 5 
 
 10 He will defend his ways in the judgment. 
 
 For the righteous can never be moved, 6 
 
 Everlastingly shall he be remembered. 
 
 He fears no evil tidings, 7 
 
 Stedfast is his heart-' in Yahwe. 
 
 Unshaken is his courage, he fears not, 8 
 
 Until he looks +in triumph+ on his foes. 
 
 He has scattered — he has given to the poor, 9 
 
 His righteousness abides for ever. 
 
 His horn will be exalted gloriously ; 
 10 The wicked will see it and be grieved ; 10 
 
 He will gnash with his teeth and melt away, 
 The expectation of the wicked shall perish. 
 
 ' will be. - and riehteous. •* trustinsr. 
 
152 THE PSALMS. 
 
 2. Continually. This is no of pity and compassion is the righteous, ' 
 conventionality, as cxix. 4, 44, 117, taking this to give the reason of the 
 
 Prov. vi. 21, sufficiently show. V^H , P',""^'^^ f 'J'g^l-' ,^"^ ^1?^ "L^^^"" '.^ 
 ' ' •• T adequately given in /. 9. So then it is 
 
 as cxi. 2. best to explain 'light' as a title of 
 
 3. IWlghty. 1133, however, like Yahwe ; cp. Isa. Ix. 21, ' Yahwe . . . 
 , ^ • . an everlasting light.' Line 10 will then 
 T'Tf 'J (Ruth ii. I, &c., cp. Job xxi. 7) describe the divine character (cp. cxi. 
 m'ay mean ' rich.'-4. D'-^W^ as cxi. i . 4). See crit. note. 
 
 Sf. Corresponds to cxi. 3. Here, 9 f- Cp. xxxvii. 21. The 'judg- 
 
 , _-._.» ^i.- 1 ment ' (/. 10) is the Messianic one 
 
 however, Hplif means something ob- (j -.) 
 
 jective (so in /. 18), viz. merit, as 
 
 Ezek. xviii. 20 (Ba., cp. T, nTllDO- H- Cp. Isa. xxvi. 3 (?). IID^ ; 
 
 cp. on li. 12/''.— 19. I/is horn. See on 
 
 7 f. The promise in /. 7 is like Ixxv. 5. 
 that in Isa. Iviii. 8, lo, which is the 
 
 special reward of works of compassion. 22. l^i^PI ■ See on i. 6, and 
 
 We might, therefore, be inclined to ^^^^^ ^j^^ correspondence of Pss. i. and 
 
 omit 1 before p"'^2i , and render 'full cxii. in the first and last clauses. 
 
 Critical Notes. 1. For "TSQ I'ead l^QJ^ (as xlvi. 2, cxix. 4). — 3. Omit 
 either \^^<3 or n^H'' (metre). Similarly Sievers. 
 
 7 f. Gratz, pn^i":) (cp. S); Duhm, p>lJJ (without 1). But it has been 
 overlooked (save by Sievers) that the material in v. 4a is too much for 
 a trimeter. Sievers would omit "^li^H^, but the || passage, Isa. Iviii. 8, 
 rather suggests reading TllK and omitting D^^ti^v- This course, how- 
 ever, is not so critical as beginning /. 8 with D^lti' v and omitting pHiiT , 
 as an insertion which was required after TT1>} had become '^^^<, and 
 consequently 'U^^7 had been drawn to /. 7. 
 
 10 f. ForV")21 b^by read TDIl HO'* (cp. Job xiii. 15). To give 
 73*73^ the sense of HOV is inadmissible. H and 7 must have been con- 
 founded. — Transfer p*'!^ from t'. 6/' to v. 6a (metre). So Sievers. 
 
 14. Omit nJ03 as a gloss on p^J (Sievers). 
 
 22. For JTlJ^il read Jl^pl^ (ix- 19), Ol., Hupf., Duhm. The opposite 
 error occurs in Job vi. 8. 
 
 PSALM CXIII. 
 
 1 RIMETERS. Pss. cxiii.-cxviii. form the so-called ' Hallel ' (see £/ic-. Bid., s.v., 
 and cp. Griitz, iMGlVJ, 1879, pp. 203 f., 241 f. ; Biichler, ZATPV, 1900, pp. 
 131 ff.). Of this group of psalms, cxiii. and cxiv. form the introduction, the 
 former describing the condescension of Yahwe, the latter the wonders of the early 
 history. Ps. cxv.-cxviii. have been held (cp. OP, pp. 16-19) to reflect the 
 feelings and historical circumstances of the Maccabaan period ; this, unfor- 
 tunately, cannot be endorsed from our new critical jwint of view. Probably the 
 
 name ' Misrite Hallel' (Hi^lUQ ^b^':>r\ = ^'\'^t2r\ b^Tt) is, however, un- 
 designedly, a true statement of the origin of the Hallel. Tiie group of psalms so 
 called appears lo have been made after some event which, though not decisive, 
 confirmed the Jews in their anticipation of a final and complete deliverance from N. 
 Arabian oppression at the apprcaching close of the ))resent stage of human history. 
 
PSALMS CXIII., CXIV. 153 
 
 Of the Jerahmeelites. i 
 
 I Praise, O ye servants of Yahvve ! 
 
 Praise the name of Yahwe. 
 
 Blessed be the name of Yahwe 2 
 
 From henceforth and for ever. 
 
 From the rising of the sun to its going down 3 
 
 4.Be+ Yahwe's name praised ! 
 
 High is Yahwe above all nations, 4 
 
 His glory is above the heavens. 
 
 Who is like Yahwe our God, 5 
 
 10 That is enthroned +so+ high, 
 
 That sees +so+ low down, 6 
 
 In heaven and on earth ? 
 
 That raises the helpless out of the dust, 7 
 
 And out of the ashmound lifts the needy, 
 
 To make him sit with princes, 8 
 
 Even with the princes of the peoples ; 
 
 That gives a seat to the barren housewife, 9 
 
 That makes the children's mother joyful. 
 
 1-6. The psalmist appears to pro- /. 11. — 13-15. A quotation from i S. 
 
 vide for the admission of proselytes; ii. 8. 'Ashmound,' see on Ixviii. 14. 
 
 Israel is becoming a religious associa- The language is idealistic. At most a 
 
 tion. So cxxxv. i, cp. v. 20; so too dim foregleam of the fulfilment of i S. 
 
 Isa. Ivi. 8. Lines 5, 6 remind us of ii. 8 can have been enjoyed, and it is 
 
 Mai. i. II. — 9-12. Cp. cxxxviii. 6, Isa. not strictly necessary to suppose even 
 
 Ivii. 15. In /. 12, ' in heaven ' belongs this (cp. Stade, Akad. Redett., p. 56). 
 
 properly to /. 10, and 'on earth' to See crit. note. 
 
 Critical Notes. 15. Read ^^''li^in'? with Griitz, Nowack, Duhm. 
 G Tov Ka6i(Tai avTov. — 16. M i^JJ?. Since the 'helpless' or the 'needy' is 
 the Jewish people, read probably D^Qy, and note that ' princes of 
 peoples' still exist in the ideal or Messianic age. Cp. xlvii. 10 (?), ii. 2.— 
 18. With Duhm, read riD'I! (article in D"'Jin). 
 
 PSALM CXIV. 
 
 0/ tJic Jerahmeelites. cxiii., end. 
 
 When Israel went forth from Misrim, 1 
 
 Jacob's house from the folk of Jerahmeel, 
 Judah became his sanctuary, 2 
 
 Israel his dominion. 
 
154 THE PSALMS. 
 
 The sea saw it, and fled, 3 
 
 The stream turned backward. 
 
 The mountains skipped Hke rams, 4 
 
 The hills like voung sheep. 
 
 What ails thee, O thou sea ! that thou fleest ? 5 
 
 10 Thou stream, that thou turnest backward ? 
 
 Ye mountains, that ye skip like rams ? 6 
 
 Ye hills, like young sheep ? 
 
 Be in anguish, thou earth ! at the Lord's presence, 7 
 
 At the presence of the God of Jacob, 
 Who turns the rock into a pool of water, 8 
 
 Flint into gushing fountains. 
 
 I. nxisrlm — Jeratameel. Cp. Arabian border-land, even if that 'sea' 
 
 the parallelism in Ixxviii. 51, cv. 23, 27, could no longer be pointed to. See 
 
 cvi. 21 f. See crit. note. E. Bib., 'Red Sea.' The 'stream' 
 
 5 f. The sea-the stream. For ("li^'' , see crit. note) was also in that 
 
 the_j'(?///-.f/7//^ see on cvi. 7 ; there must region; .see Crit. Bib. on Josh. iii. — 
 
 have been a story of a ' sea ' in the N. 7 f. Cp. xviii. 8, .\xix. 6, Hab. iii. 6. 
 
 Critical Notes, i. Point D'^I^Q.— M Ty'? U^'^- O eV Aaoi" (dap^dpov 
 ('A, eT{poy\u)(T(Tov). In New Heb. Tl''? means ' to speak a foreign tongue ' 
 (Jastrow, Liw.), and in Isa. .xxxiii. 19 IJl^, which, others have suggested, 
 may be an error for Tl'l'?- Certainly the two passages must be taken 
 together. In both we expect an ethnic, not a word meaning ^ap^apo- 
 (f)avoi, and considering the passages referred to in e.xeg. n., we cannot 
 well doubt that either ':)4V};:Drn"' or ':)Ni'Qr' is the right ethnic. In cvii. 
 30 wc have found 1111*0 and in cix. 19 PTTD, words which, by the inter- 
 change of T and 1, have come to represent '7hi^n")'. ]]?^ might, by the 
 same interchange, also represent this ethnic. It is slightly more natural, 
 however, comparing ^2Vii and b')2'\, to trace it to '?^^^^'■J:i'^ and the 
 same origin must undoubtedly be assigned to Ti'TI, i-f. ]1'1T in Isa. xxxiii. 
 19 (final b- as often) having become ]. — 4. ',"2^'? {b precedes), with Gr. — 
 6. Read 'l^j'^^T (cp. on cv. 30^?), one of the boundary-streams of the 
 Ncgeb seems to be referred to. — 16. Read ^J'^VQ/, with Gr. (so G J S 
 probably). 
 
 PSALM CXV. 
 
 1 RiMETERS. This and the preceding psalm are. without any internal justifica- 
 tion, combined in G S J and some Hebrew MSS. In the Hebrew text, too, 
 there is a trace of this" practice, for the two psalms are not separated by a 
 ' Hallelujah.' Cp. on I'.s. cwi., and for tt. 4-1 i cp. cxx-xv. 15-20 (our psalm is 
 the original). The closing ' Hallelujah ' belongs properly to Fs. cxvi. (so in G). 
 
PSALM CXV. 155 
 
 I Not unto us, O Yahwe ! not unto us, i 
 
 But unto thy name give glory : 
 [Thy name, O Yahwe ! do we praise] 
 Because of thy kindness, because of thy truth. 
 
 Why do the nations say, 2 
 
 * Where, pra}-, is their God ? ' 
 
 But our God is in heaven; 3 
 
 All that he wills he does. 
 
 Their idols are silver and gold, 4 
 
 10 The handiwork of men; 
 
 Mouths have they, but they speak not; 5 
 
 Eyes have they, but they see not; 
 
 Ears have they, but they hear not, 6 
 
 Noses have they, but they smell not: 
 Their hands — they feel not, 7 
 
 Their feet — they walk not ; 
 
 [There is no breath in their mouths,] 
 They give no sound with their throats; 
 Their makers shall become like unto them, 8 
 
 20 Ever}' one that trusts in them. 
 
 Israel trusts in Yahwe ; 9 
 
 He is their help and their shield. 
 
 Aaron's house trusts in Yahwe ; 10 
 
 He is their help and their shield. 
 
 [Levi's house trusts in Yahwe- ; 
 
 He is their help and their shield.] 
 
 Those that fear Yahwe trust in Yahwe ; 11 
 
 He is their help and their shield. 
 
 Yahwe remembers us, he will bless, 12 
 
 30 He will bless the house of Israel, 
 
 He will bless the house of Aaron, 
 [He will bless the house of Levi;] 
 
 He will bless those that fear Yahwe, 13 
 
 Small as well as great. 
 
 Yahwe add to you, 14 
 
 To you and to your children ! 
 
156 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Blessed be ye of Yahwe, 15 
 
 The maker of heaven and earth ! 
 
 The heaven is Yahwe's heaven, 16 
 
 40 The earth he gave to the sons of man. 
 
 The dead praise not Yahwe, 17 
 
 Nor all those that have gone down into +the Land 
 
 of+ Gloom ; 
 But we will bless Yahwb 18 
 
 From henceforth and for ever. 
 
 I f. Cp. Dt. vii. 7 f., Ezek. xxxvi. M G three-fold) division, 'Israel,' 
 
 22 f.— 5 f. From Ixxix. 10. Here, 'house of Aaron,' 'house of Levi' 
 
 however, the question, Why do the (this from cxxxv. 20), and ' fearers ot 
 
 nations, &c., is not an utterance of Vahwe.' The range of meaning of the 
 
 complaint ; it is the opening of a con- last of these terms is disputed. In the 
 
 troversy with idolaters. But can we Psalter itself (see on xxii. 24) there is 
 
 not be more definite? Here as in „ -, r ., , ,, «v\-^» 
 
 ,, T • \, -^ ■ ^\. TVT A u- J 1 ^ evidence for a wide use of ^ ^N 1^ ; 
 
 n. Isaiah it is the N. Arabian idolaters ' ' 
 
 who are meant ; they are ' the nations '""ere, however, it is most natural to 
 
 roundabout' Israel (2 K. .xvii. 15 ; cp. suppose that proselytes are meant (cp. 
 
 on Ps. Ixxix.), and have ever been i K. vm. 41, Isa. hi. 6). This enables 
 
 noted for their idolatry (cp. i S. v. 3, "s.^o account for the mention of the 
 
 2 S- V. 21 Isa. xix. i). children of the ' fearers of Vahwe' ; in 
 
 the third generation the distinction 
 
 9-20. A piece of caustic humour, between proselytes and Jews disap- 
 
 copied in cxxxv. 15-18. The copy peared. See Bertholet, Stelliing, 181 ; 
 
 enables us to restore a line which has and on the other side, A. B. Davidson, 
 
 fallen out (/. 17 ; see cxxxv. 17*5'). For Exp. Times, 1892, pp. 491 ff. Israel, 
 
 II. 19 f. cp. 2 K. xvii. 15, Jer. ii. 5, /.f. Jewish laymen (Ezr. x. 25). 
 
 Isa. xliv. 9 f . /- T ••• c r 
 
 41-44. Cp. Isa. xxxviii. lb f. — 
 
 21 ff. Xote the four-fold (but in j^The Land oJ\ Gloom. Seeonxciv. 17. 
 
 Critical Notes. 3. Insert mH"* ^Ql^^TlN Hlij, with Dii. ; cp. 
 cxxxviii. 2. — 15 f. Read UPb T^ and Wrh /^ (Du.). — 17. See exeg. n. 
 
 V T T V T V V 
 
 — 21—28. The imperatives, as Street (1790) pointed out. do not agree 
 with the suffixes in the second part of each couplet. Read of course 
 njD2» iniOl, as G. So Duhm. For '7^<"^ti^^ G (as M in cxxxv. 19) 
 reads "li^'^ JT'Q- — 32. Insertion from cxxxv. 20. — 40. HDn. Read 
 -DID'^iJ (see on xciv. 17). 
 
 PSALM CXVL 
 
 1 RniFViHRS. A thanksgiving song of faithful Israelites at the opening of the 
 Messianic age (cp. on Ps. cxviii.), which is doubtless supposed to be at hand. 
 
 The speaker is the company of D^^^i^^ within the larger tTTp or ' congregation ' 
 
 (xxii. 23), which represents the true Isiaelitish ideal, and sometimes speaks in the 
 character of the pet)ple of Israel. It has been doubted whether the psalm is 
 perfectly consistent throughout as regards the tone and the point of time. The 
 only passage, however, in which our text suggests a change of tone is in //. 15 f., 
 where the psalmist certainly seems to imply that perfect security is still wanting 
 
PSALM CXVI. 157 
 
 (cp. cxviii. 25). Here, at any rate, the psalmist docs appear to desert the position 
 that he has imaginatively taken up at ' the end of the days.' Many have thought 
 that the psalm only becomes fully intelligible when assigned to the Maccaba.'an 
 period. The mention of the death of the Ilasidim ( = AonSoToi ? cp. i Mace. ii. 42) 
 is appealed to in favour of this. The text of v. 13, however, is highly doubtful, 
 and a study of this and the parallel psalms, in the light of a keen textual criticism, 
 suggests a different theory. From a gloss which has found its way into v. 19 we 
 infer that this is one of the psalms which came from the chief centre of Jewish 
 religion in the Negeb. In a passage of ' Isaiah' (Isa. xix. 18) which seems to 
 reflect the state of things after the so-called ' Return,' there is a reference to ' five 
 cities in the land of Misrim speaking the language of Canaan and swearing to 
 Yahwe Sebaoth, one of which was called Ir-haheres.' The latter name no doubt 
 comes from Ir-ashliur (see Crit. Bib., ad loc), and belongs to the place where 
 there was an attar to Yahwe {j\ 20). There are numerous glosses in the psalms 
 which prove that Ashhur and Jerahmeel (both archaic names) were often used 
 synonymously ; consequently, we need not doubt that this Ir-ashhur was the 
 same as Beth-jerahmeel or Gibeath-jerahmeel, a sacred city, again and again 
 referred to, where (as shown in Ps. cxxii.) there was probably a temple of Yahwe 
 more dear to many Jews than that of Jerusalem. 
 
 For the points of contact between our psalm and Pss. xviii., xxii., xxxi., 
 xxxix., Ivi., Ixii., Ixxiii., Ixxxvi., cxviii., see on vv. 3, 9, 10, II, 16, 19. G is 
 wrong in dividing the poem into two parts {I'v. 1-9 and 10-19) each preceded by 
 AA\7]\i>via, but is doubtless right in prefixing the ' Hallelujah ' (rather ' Of the 
 Jerahmeelites '), which in M closes Ps. cxv., to Ps. cxvi. i (so also T), also in 
 placing the same formula, not at the end of Ps. cxvi., but at the head of 
 Ps. cxvii. 
 
 0/ the Jerahmeelites. 
 
 I I am confident that Yahwe hears ] my suppHant cry, i 
 
 For he has leaned his ear toward me, | from mine 
 
 enemies I shall be delivered. 2 
 
 If snares of Jerahmeel have surrounded me, | if nets of 
 
 Ishmael have confronted me, 3 
 
 I will call upon Yahwe's name, | ' O Yahwe ! set free my 
 
 soul.' 4 
 
 Full of pity is Yahwe, and righteous ; | yea, our God is 
 compassionate. ;^ 
 
 Yahwe guards the simple ; | if I am brought low, he 
 succours me ; 6 
 
 Return to thy rest, O my soul, | for Yahwe has done thee 
 good. 7 
 
 For he has rescued my soul from Death, | mine eye from 
 
 tears 2 ; 8 
 
 10 I walk in Yahwe's presence | in the land of the living. 
 
 I repent that I was a dullard, | I did most foolishly ; 10 
 
 I said in mj' consternation, | ' All piety is a lie.' 1 1 
 
 ^ My foot from stumbling. 
 
158 THE PSALMS. 
 
 How can I requite Yahwe | for all the good I have received ? 1 2 
 I will raise the ensign of victor}', | and call upon Yahwe's 
 
 name.' i ^ 
 
 I will call upon Yahwe's name, | ' Set free thy pious one, 15 
 
 Yahwe, for I ana thy servant, | because of thy faithfulness.' 16 
 
 Thou hast loosed my bonds, | ■■'■ ■■'■ '■'■• 
 
 1 will offer thee a sacrifice of thanksgiving, | and call upon 
 
 Yahwe's name ; 17 
 
 My vows will 1 pay to Yahwe | before the assembly of his 18 
 people, 
 20 In the courts of Yahwe's house ^ | '■' * ■■'• ■•' 
 
 I. For the idea see Iwi. 20.— 2/;. (see note). The startling utterance 
 
 Cp. 2 S. xxii. 4^1. — 3 f. Note that this in /. 12/' is to be taken in connexion 
 
 represents the (prolmble) original with xxxix. 6, Ixii. 10, Ixxiii. 15, and, 
 
 couplet underlying xviii. 5 f. ''J1QJ2D ; of course, with parts of Job. It is not 
 
 cp. cxviii. 10 f. wonderful that the original Job was 
 
 -,,y»-.- supplemented, and that the psalni- 
 
 7- u'i^JlS here of those who passages were severely manipulated. 
 
 place no trust in their own wisdom, ,. ™».„ „_„• *• j * 
 
 1 .V, f ^ . 1 -.1 • Ar . 14- The ensig-n of victory. 
 
 and, therefore, trust miphcitly in \ah- -pj^g . ^„,ig„ > ;„ ^^is passage is not for 
 
 vve. A narro^^•er sense in xix. 5, and assembling the troops (Jer. iv. 21), but 
 
 altogether a different one in Prcv. 1. 22, to give notice of victory (Jer. 1. 2). 
 
 It is to acquaint the Jews of the Dis- 
 
 9 f. Possibly influenced by Ivi. 14 persion, and all friends and well- 
 
 (see ad loc). Cp. also Isa. xxv. 8, wishers of Israel, with the fortunate 
 
 and (for/. 10) Ps. xxvii. 13, cxviii. 17 f. turn of events in Palestine (cp. cxviii. 
 
 15). 
 
 II f. A 14^4 's one who has no ^^^ ^^^^ ^„ j^^^^j ,6.-1^. Cp. 
 
 spiritual insight ; cp. on Ixxiii. 22, xxii. 25. — Note the geographical gloss, 
 
 xcii. 7. — Line 12a comes from xxxi. 23 See introd., and crit. note. 
 
 Critical Notes, i. M ''jniinS, G rjydiTTjaa (on). First, is this the 
 right verb, and next, if it is, what is its object ? That the psalmist had 
 Ps. xviii. in his mind when he wrote t/. 3 is certain; possibly t. ib also 
 betrays reminiscences of that psalm. It is plausible therefore to assume 
 that 2^^< was substituted by the poet for the 'uncommon' Dm. In 
 this case we must either read 'TT\"i^nh} (D follows) or, transposing, read 
 yj^^Ti-ij jyy^y^ ■'/^Il^^i. Bii. prefers the former. Du. the latter course. 
 But neither here nor in xviii. 2 do we expect the verb ' I love.' There is. 
 deep corruption. Read, with Bruston and Griitz, ''inji^Kn (cp. xxvii. 
 
 13). "'"'"''' 
 
 M Snp>< Vp'^ni, 'all my life long (cp. 2 K. xx. 19) will I call.' i^ip 
 used absolutely, as iv. 2, xxii. 3, xxxiv. 7, Ixix. 4. This, however, can 
 hardly be called natural. Hupf., Du. read ^<"^p^} "• Dli^21 (see vv. 4, 
 13, 17). The construction is certainly much easier, but the connexion is 
 
 ' V. 14 is identical with z'. iS. -' In .Maacath-ishniael. 
 
PSALM CXVI. 
 
 159 
 
 Still not natural. Read perhaps ^]i}Mi "'TJ^i^ST (2 S. xxii. 4^). The 
 
 neighbourhood of 2*}~lpJ^ produced the scribe's error. So in 2 S .xxii. 7, 
 by a scribe's error. ^J~lp^} is given in two consecutive verse-members ; 
 in Ps. xviii. 7 the second verb is piU^N. ""Q^^T is a good instance of the 
 way in which some sense was extracted by editors from an imperfect 
 group of letters. 
 
 3. Read bii:}:2V' ""vp^D "^^'21^ ':'^<^3^T ^j^nn ^jin^p- This 
 
 became partly corrupted, partly assimilated to the already edited text of 
 xviii. 5, 6, by the editor. .See the Addendum on xviii. 5 f. pJ^T m^ 
 hi^!2N is a corrupt variant to the corrupt words "'JINiJD b'^ii'^ H^QT. 
 PJl^ probably comes from 'Ml'', i.e. 7^i'J^T"l^ 
 
 8. The O in the suffixes is a scribe's error ; in each case ^3 follows. 
 Similarly the initial "• in M's "irT* (an inadmissible form, see on xxviii. 7) 
 is dittographed ; ^7 precedes. 
 
 9 f . Read '^bu (G, Du.) and omit THT^i '*'7^■^"/^^^ , an insertion 
 suggested by/. 10 (Du., metre). — M Diji"1N21 • The form is no doubt 
 possible, though, as Ges. points out, miilSn is used specially of the 
 regions outside of Palestine (cp. cvi. 27). IJut • lands ' is not natural 
 here. In xxvii. 13 the phrase is Q>^n Y")N3. ; in Isa. xxxviii. n, Vn^;} 
 D'^'nn. We must read either yiSIl or J-n^■|^<2 (as Weir, Acad., 
 July I. 1873, p. 251), though mN21 would be more natural, cp. Prov. ii. 
 
 19, v. 6, XV. 24. Cp. on Ivi. 14. 
 
 II. M ^3"^^| "'3 ^jn^DJ^n ; G trria-Tevcra 8i6 (]2b) eAa'Xjjira (a guess, 
 adopted unfortunately by Duhm, cp. 2 Cor. iv. 13). One thing should 
 be certain, viz. that the ordinary ways of explaining ^Ps text are most 
 improbable. We can neither render, ' I kept my hold (upon God, even) 
 when I spoke, (saying,) I am sore afflicted,' nor ' I show faith when (thus) 
 I speak (cp. w. 5-9), and yet I (the person who speaks thus confidently) 
 have been sore afflicted' (cp. the expression of alarm in ?/. 11, M). If 
 ^"IJlDl^n is right, it would seem that "^21^i must be wrong. It would 
 be possible to read ~)DTS O 'H , ' I am confident that I shall sing 
 
 praise.' But this is not perfectly suitable to the context. We must 
 assume that both ^DJQhin and ~)21K are corrupt. The passage can 
 hardly be explained from itself ; it is doubtful whether the most 
 ingenious critic, limited to 7'. 10, would be able to detect the underlying 
 text. We must first of all correct 7'. 11, which is possible in the light of 
 our previous work on Ps. xxxix. When we have done this, we shall 
 probably recollect Ixxiii. 13-15, 22, and shall be encouraged to read, as 
 the true text of 7/. 10, 
 
 ■^^g ^js^-^3 ^rs-pn^ 
 
l6o THE PSALMS. 
 
 12. M 2T3 D'Thin"'?3. nets avdp. yj/evarrji, 'all men are liars ' (AV). 
 
 T T T T 
 
 'A J presuppose 3T3 • See, however, on Ixii. lo. That human alliances 
 were not to be trusted, was a discovery which the Jews had long since 
 made ; it was Simon the Maccabee who first renounced this conviction. 
 Something far worse must surely have risen to the lips of the psalmist 
 and his friends to produce the consternation of which he speaks ; 
 3T3 "TDrTn"/3. Here again, no doubt, it may plausibly be said that the 
 
 TT V V- T 
 
 Jews must have had such thoughts and spoken such words before. But 
 they were thoughts and words which, rejected once, returned again with 
 all their horrible plausibility, and shocked believers as though freshly 
 invented by the evil one. Cp. on xxxix. 6/^ Ixxiii. 15. 
 
 14. M nil'm'*"Di3, referring apparently to a rite 'not mentioned 
 
 elsewhere in the O.T.' (Duhm). The parallel from C/S i. i (see Cooke, 
 North-Seju. Insn-iptiotis,^. 19, cp. p. 7), suggested in PsS^\ on the basis of 
 Clermont-Ganneau, Etudes d'archeol. 07-ient.^ 1880, p. 12, is too far-fetched. 
 That D3 and DJ are liable to comparison we have seen elsewhere (see 
 on Ix. 6). — V. 14 (=7'. 18) is omitted in Ci^, and in Holmes-Parsons, 55. 
 
 15. The c/^z</ difficulty in 7', 15 is VTOn'^ nm^Srf. The old accu- 
 
 T : T - 
 
 sative ending is very improbable here. 01., Bii., Du. would read 
 n*? n/11DJ^> and explain 7 as indicating the genitive, as xxxvii. 16, 
 I S. xiv. 16. But this unusual construction with 7 is suspicious (cp. 
 Du. on xxxvii. 16), and the word nniDD itself is doubtful (see on Ixxix. 
 11). Nor is this all. How can the death of the pious be said to be 
 'precious' in Yahwe's eyes? Jeremy Taylor paraphrases, 'It is an 
 expense that God delights not in,' but in a psalm of thanksgiving we do 
 not expect such a strangely moderate statement. To suppose that 1p^ 
 occurs here alone in the primary meaning ' heavy, grave,' is too fanciful ; 
 in Ixxii. 14 ViV3 Di^~T "^p^^ means, not 'a grave thing is their blood- 
 shed ' (as if = Dn^"D"T)> but ' precious is their soul ' (see Dillm. on Gen. 
 ix. 4). The whole of %'. 15, therefore, with the possible exceptions of 
 mn"' and Vl"'Dn, labours under the suspicion of corruptness. In 
 emending it, we are helped partly by our experience elsewhere, partly 
 b\- consideration of the context. Comparing v. 4, I propose Dti^Il N"lpJ^ 
 
 ^T'DH HtD^D TWTV ■ That ^y may come from Z\ and *^ from ^ need 
 hardly be demonstrated. 
 
 16. Omit the dittographed "fl2y "'JN , and for ':yriQJ<"]2 lead 
 ^n^^< ]}!uh (see on Ixx.xvi. 16). 
 
 19- M ^BV"?^^ iirnii: . Read i^y ^Ip i:i^b ■ IJJ or u:"? 
 
 - t: T t:v - -': vv: 
 
 seems to have been dittographed ; the second l^j? became corrupt. 
 bj for 7np occurs occasionally. 
 
PSALM CXVII. l6l 
 
 20. M q'ij::;!-!^ ODina. is this right ? The address to Jerusalem 
 is unexpected, and probably, as in cxxii. 2, is due to misunderstanding. 
 We might read '1*1^ Tjin3, but this would be very poor whether for the 
 text or as a gloss. In Iv. 12 and Ixxii. 14 "J/l or "jin represents JID^D. 
 This gives the key to ODID^ , for which (as in cxxxv. 9) we should read 
 ri^)?D2. (''D=Q)- D'^Ii'l'T', as c.j^'-. in Zech. xii. 11, xiv. 14, comes from 
 7^i3^.'2ti'^ . 'In Maacath-ishmael' defines the situation of the 'house of 
 Yahwe.' See introd. 
 
 PSALM CXVII. 
 
 A. RIMETERS. On account of its brevity, many MSS. combine this with the 
 preceding or the following psalm. M closes cxvii. with ' Hallelujah'; G prefixes 
 it to cxviii. 
 
 0/ the Jerahineelites. cxvi., end. 
 
 I Praise Yahwe ! all ye nations, I 
 
 Laud him, all ye peoples (?) : 
 
 For his lovingkindness is mighty over us, 2 
 
 And Yahwe's truth endures for ever. 
 
 Critical Notes, i f. Hili^, an Aram, word (Ixiii. 4, cxiv. 4, cxivii. 12, 
 and cp. on xlvii. 10 ; Eccles. iv. 2, viii. 15 ; Hithp. in cvi. 47, i Chr. xvi. 
 35). See Kautzsch, Die Aramaismen., i. 87. — D"'Q^i only here. Should 
 
 we read rm^ ? or D^a^<'? ? or D^'^^^^ni^ ?— 3- 12: . Cp. on ciii. 11. 
 
 PSALM CXVIII. 
 
 i RIMETERS. It has long been thought plausible to hold that Ps. cxviii., 
 though not without a forward-looking Messianic element, was immediately 
 occasioned and dictated by some great public event, which mightily stirred the 
 heart of the Jewish community. Together with Ps. ex., this psalm has been 
 held to be distinguished from the other members of Book v. by the greater 
 distinctness of the historic situation, i.e. by its containing certain details which, 
 taken together, require us to assign it to the Maccabaan period (see OP, 
 pp. 16-18), and the repeated refrain, ' in the name of Yahwe, I will cut them in 
 pieces' (Reuss), or ' . . I will massacre them' (Brusten), or ' . . I will mow them 
 down' (/'5. (•' ; Driver), in vv. 10, 11, 12, has excited our pity for persecuted 
 Jewish sufferers driven to desperation. The case, however, is not so clear as 
 it formerly appeared. It is certainly not impossible that some recent event may 
 have given fresh impetus to the Messianic or idealistic tendency among the Jews. 
 But even if so, we must not limit our exegesis by a regard to this jMissibility. 
 It is most natural to assume that in zi'. 13-29 the poet of the believing com- 
 munity places himself in imagination at the happy issue of the expected crisis 
 in Israel's history. If so, the ' cry of rejoicing ' (/. 29) is that into which Israel 
 will break ' in the day that Yahwe binds up the hurt of his people' (Isa. xxx. 6, 
 cp. 29), and the thanksgiving service in the temple which is referred to in /. 38 is 
 to celebrate, not ' the return of the Jewish army from a victorious campaign ' 
 (Wellh.), but the consummation of Yahwe's past lovingkindnesses by the crowning 
 
 II. -M 
 
l62 THE PSALMS. 
 
 mercy of the great ' day of Valnve ' — the day which, in the fullest sense, ' Vahwe 
 has made ' (/. 47), The ' stone which the builders rejected ' is not the AsmonKan 
 family, but poor and aftlicted Israel. The prowess of ' the right hand of Vahwe ' 
 was not supported by a Judas or by any human warrior (cp. Isa. Ixiii. 1-6). 
 The other passages from which an inference favourable to the Maccabrean theory 
 might be drawn, assume a difierent appearance as the result of textual criticism. 
 
 D7^Q^J ^3 in particular becomes something very diflferent, and quite un- 
 suggestive of a sanguinary vengeance. — A close aftinity between our psalm and 
 Pss. cxv., cxvi., is manifest even in the traditional text. It should be added that, 
 according to an old opinion (see Targum), the psalm was intended to Ije sung by 
 different voices. This is plausible ; a dramatic character is of the very essence of 
 the ancient cults. Cp. Zenner, Die Chori^esdiige im B. der Psalnien (1896), and 
 Duhm's commentary. — On the practical bearings of the criticism of this psalm, 
 see Cheyne, Christian Use of the Psalms, pp. 249-259. 
 
 Of the Jerahmeelites. cxvii., end. 
 
 I Give thanks to Yahwe, for he is gracious, I 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 Let Israel extol him, 2 
 
 For his lovingkindess is everlasting. 
 
 Let Aaron's house extol him, 3 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 Let those that fear Yahwe extol him, 4 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 
 Out of the toils I called upon Yahwe, 5 
 
 10 ' Deliver me front those of Jerahraeel.' 
 
 Yahwe is my redeemer, I fear not ; 6 
 
 What can earth's race do to me ? 
 
 Yahw^ is my redeemer and my helper ; 7 
 
 Mine e3'e will look in triumph on my haters. 
 
 It is better to take refuge in Yahwe 8 
 
 Than to trust in man ; 
 
 It is better to take refuge in Yahwe 9 
 
 Than to trust in princes. 
 
 If all nations 1 have surrounded me, 10 
 20 On Yahwe's name do I call ; 
 
 Have they^ even surrounded me like bees, 12a 
 
 On Yahwe's name do I call ; 11b 
 
 Have theyi flamed up like a fire among thorns, izb 
 
 On Yahwe's name do I call. 12c 
 
 ' Jerahmeelites. 
 
PSALM cxviir. 163 
 
 Hard was I pushed that I might fall, 13 
 
 But Yahwe helped me. 
 
 Yahwb is my rock, my helper ; 14 
 
 He became my deliverer. 
 
 A cr}' of rejoicing and of deliverance 1 5 
 
 30 [Is heard] in the tents of the righteous, — 
 
 * The right hand of Yahwb has won preeminence ; 
 The right hand of Yahwe has exalted me.' 
 
 I shall not die, but live, 17 
 
 And recount the works of Yahwe. 
 
 Yahwe has indeed corrected me, 18 
 
 But he has not given me over to Death. 
 
 Open to me the gates of righteousness, 19 
 
 That I may enter b}- them and thank Yahwe. 
 This is the gate of Yahwe, 20 
 
 40 Righteous ones can enter by it. 
 
 I give thee thanks because thou hast answered me, 2 1 
 And hast become my deliverance. 
 
 The stone which the builders rejected 22 
 
 Is become the principal stone. 
 
 This is Yahwe's appointing, 23 
 
 Wonderful is it in our eyes. 
 
 This is the day which Yahwe has made ; 24 
 
 Exult we, rejoice we because of it. 
 
 Our redeemer is Yahwe ; he has succoured us : 25 
 
 50 Our redeemer is Yahwe ; he has prospered us.i 
 
 Make melody with dancing and with timbrels, 27 
 
 Make melody to our King, make melody. 
 
 Thou art my God, I will thank thee : 28 
 
 Thou art my God, I will extol thee. 
 
 Give thanks to Yahw^, for he is gracious ; 29 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 
 ^ Blessed in the name of Vahwc be he that enters ! 
 We bless you from Vahvve's house (v. 26). 
 
164 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 1-8. Cp. this prelude with cvii. 2, 
 cxxxvi. I, cxv. 9-1 1, Ezra iii. lO f. 
 Note the repetition of liturgical phrases. 
 
 9 f. Cp. //. 19-24. Both passages 
 resemble cxvi. //. 3, 4. — 11. Aly 
 redeemer. Similarly //. 49, 50. Deutero- 
 isaianic (Isa. xliii. 14, ivc.) ; cp. xix. 
 15, Ixxviii. 35. — 12. So Ivi. 12//. — 14. 
 So liv. 9. — 15-18. Cp. cxlvi. 3. — 
 19-24. A hypothetical orratheranticipa- 
 tive description. The enemies of Israel 
 will make a final attempt at his de- 
 struction. But prayer, not a two- 
 edged sword (cxlix. 6), will be Israel's 
 deliverance. AH nations = ' all the 
 peoples round about,' Zech. xii. 2. — 
 20. "^ D^^ ; three times in this ps. , 
 as in Ps. cxvi. — 21. Like bees. Cp. 
 Dt. i. 44 ; Isa. vii. 18/;., and see E. 
 Bib., ' Bee.' — 23. Among thorns. 
 Cp. 2 S. xxiii. 6 f. ; Isa. xxxiii. 12. 
 
 27 f. An appropriate quotation 
 from Ex. xv. 2 (cp. Isa. xii. 2). See 
 crit. n. — 29-32. Cp. xliv. 4, Ix. 14. — 
 33-36. The final inference ; Israel is 
 not doomed to extinction, but will 
 ' recount ' the wonderful works of God, 
 to whom grateful praise is acceptable 
 (cp. on vi. 6). — 37 ff. Here there 
 seems to be a change of voice. The 
 procession has reached the temple- 
 gates where a pause is made. A voice 
 from within states the conditions of 
 admission (//. 39, 40). Then the 
 former speaker (the festal procession?) 
 praises Yahwe for his deliverance. — 
 37. Gates of rii^hteousness. Two 
 explanations. (i) There are many 
 sanctuaries, but only one with a 
 righteous law. One of the chief marks 
 of Jewish heretics was that they * forgot 
 Vahwe's holy mountain,' and resorted 
 to heathen sanctuaries (Isa. Ixv, 11). 
 (2) ' Righteousness ' = ' deliverance ' ; 
 cp. Isa. Ix. \%b, ' thy wails Deliverance, 
 and thy gates Praise.' Only the 
 righteous can profit by Yahwe's 
 righteous acts. — 43 f. Cp. Jer. li. 26, 
 and see Enc. Bib., ' Corner.' Israel, 
 despised by all the powers of the 
 world, has became the great world- 
 power. The psalmist has the eye of 
 faith, and looks to the Messianic age. — 
 46. Wonderful, i.e. exceptional, mira- 
 culous. Cp. Gen. xviii. 14, ' Is any- 
 thing too wonderful (hJ73^) for Vahwc,' 
 Jer. xxxii. 17, 27. 
 
 49 f. Here the text is corrupt (see 
 
 crit. n.). It runs thus, ' I beseech, O 
 Yahwe ! pray, deliver : I beseech, O 
 "S'ahwe ! pray, deliver,' words which, 
 though unsuitable to the context (see 
 next note), seemed to a later age to be 
 an appropriate expression of Israel's 
 thankful rejoicings at the Feast of 
 Booths (Mishna, Siicca iv. 5). — Our 
 redeemer, &c. A passage of song 
 which expresses the exultation called 
 for in /. 48. For the divine title see 
 on /. II. It is naturally followed by 
 'our king' (/. 52), for it is a king's 
 duty to right the oppressed. Now that 
 (to the eye of faith) the ' day of re- 
 demption ' has come, Israel rejoices, 
 not by uttering a prayer for succour 
 and prosperity, but by acknowledging 
 the succour and prosperity actually 
 attained. It is now possible to declare, 
 with the fullest conviction, that ' his 
 lovingkindness is everlasting.' 
 
 51 f. This jubilant passage is 
 obscured by fresh textual corruption 
 (see crit. n.). Assuming the text to 
 be correct, references have been 
 supposed in v. 2'ja to the illumination 
 which gave rise to the second name of 
 the Ilanucca or Dedication-festival 
 ('the Lights '), a name which Josephus 
 {Ant. xii. 7, 7) regards as a symbol of 
 unexpected deliverance, and in b and e 
 to the processions of festal worshippers 
 carrying and shaking branches of olive, 
 palm, myrtle, &c. (Neh. viii. 15, 
 Lev. xxiii. 40; cp. i Mace. xiii. 51, 
 2 Mace. X. 7). The first reference is 
 too vague to carry weight by itself. 
 Even the second, though apparently 
 definite, is highly obscure. If the 
 members of the chorus were summoned 
 to bind themselves with branches (or, 
 as Lagarde, with 'araiJ-trees), how 
 was this to be done? Dr. J. P. 
 Peters regards v. 27 as 'a prosaically 
 arranged direction — a ritual rubric ' 
 interpolated from the margin. Surely, 
 a veiy unintelligible one. We may 
 conjecture that the direction meant 
 that a procession round the altar was 
 to be made, in the course of which the 
 horn-like projections at the corners 
 were to be touched (cp. I K. i. 50, ii. 
 28, and Plutarch's phrase, in the Life 
 of Theseus, exf^pffce irtpi rbv KfpaTwva 
 ^(»fx6v, where the context shows that 
 tiie efficacy of the dance spoken of was 
 connected with the numerous ' horns ' 
 of the altar). In spite of Konig {Styl., 
 29) I doubt whether JH here or any- 
 
PSALM CXVIII. 165 
 
 where can be held lo mean ' sacrificial and cannot by any amount of learning 
 victim.' Still the explanation here be made satisfactory (cp., however, 
 reported (see /V."' aJ loc.) is artificial, Griinbaum, ZDMG, 1886, pp. 276 ff. 
 
 Critical Notes. 3,5,7. ^<y^Q^i'' (■"nr3^<'')• Cp. cxxiv. \b, cxxix. \b. 
 Here, however, the phrase is surely too weak. Read ^•lDQi"1\ imO^il^- 
 Elsewhere too (//. 49 f., cxvi. 4, 16) XJ as well as ^2^< is due to 
 corruption. — G reads V^^lti^* T^l- 
 
 g{. The couplet is painfully vague ; "lifDn, ' the trouble which any 
 individual in the chorus may have experienced' (Duhm) ? We might 
 point l^i^S, but neither this word nor D^HiJDri is to be expected here. 
 
 Most probably "liiDH has come from D^ti^plDIl, 'the toils,' i.e. of 
 
 Jerahmeel ; cxvi., /. 3, is parallel; cp. xviii. 6. — M iT'^niDZ, Baer., 
 
 T : - : V - 
 
 Ginsb., following the Westerns ; or n^~3mD^ , according to the Easterns 
 (see Ginsb., /iitroci., pp. 385 f.). [G 2 do not recognize the second H^] 
 The former, however, is not less doubtful than the H^t'DKI^ of Jer. ii. 31, 
 even after the learned and acute explanation offered by Jastrow {ZATIV, 
 xvi. 4 fif.). The latter is only tolerable if we remove the Makkeph, so as to 
 render (01., BJi.), 'Yahwe has answered me by giving me ample room,' or 
 ' by placing me in an ample room.' But we expect some more definite 
 statement. Probably we should read, disregarding initial ^ as virtually 
 dittographic, D''[':'i<]QmL"']D '•jy^n. rT* and D"" can be confounded 
 cp. Kt. and Kr. in Prov. xx. 16). 'Ji^n ; cp. on Ixix. 14. 
 
 ir, 13. M "h. Weak. Read 'h'i^l-, on the analogy of xxvii. la. 
 
 — 13 f. M ^"liyil, 'among my helpers' (Duhm &c.), or'as my (great) 
 
 helper' (Del., Driver, &c.) ; cp. liv. 6l>, Iv. 19, Judg. v. 13, 23. Gr. reads 
 ^IT^Jl ; cp. cxlvi. 5. But the passages compared are most probably 
 
 corrupt. Read here ■'ITi'V G, 6>oi /3o»j^os-.— M ^^<^^< '•JNT; awkward 
 
 and unusual. Read nj^in ^J'J?T (cp. liv. 9). 
 
 20, 22, 24. IVI 0*^^125^ ^3 (on sufif., see Kon. i. 495, 224 ; Ges.- 
 Kau. '-''', § 26d). There is a twofold difficulty, (i) The position and 
 meaning of ^3. To prefix mentally "^DV^V^, is unnatural; Konig's 
 explanation, '(it happened that) I hewed them in pieces ' {Synf. § 382/), 
 is not less unsatisfactory. For the position of ^3j Ewald and Hupf. 
 compare [cxx. 7], cxxviii. 2, but with doubtful justice (see notes). (2) 
 The meaning of DTQhJ. ^VJH should mean either 'to cjrcumcise' or 
 ' to mow down.' But the word is not natural here. The r^fivvafxr^v of 
 G 'A, has suggested to Ew. and Hitz. ' ich wehre sie ab,' i.e. '■I repel 
 them;' but we must not justify this from the Arabic lexicon. That 
 would be a fault of method, and i)nvvufj.t]v has a difiterent origin (see 
 
l66 THE PSALMS. 
 
 below). Another error concerns the tense. Kon., Wellh., Ba. (following 
 G 'A 2 S J) suppose 'Qi«J to refer to the past, though certainly Ba. regards 
 the action as continuing into the present. Clearly the text is wrong. 
 Hupf. reads oyDN ; Duhm, 0^:5^3^. Both retain O- All this is 
 superficial. The Tj^wdfitjv uvrovi of G 'A is much better ; it represents 
 DD7ni<, ' I will strike them.' But even this is not original, (i) because 
 '3 is not accounted for, and (2) because it is God, and not man, who 
 fights and who conquers. In such a case we must look underneath the 
 traditional readings. The true reading is Dvl^^^m"'. This underlies 
 both D1!DSiJ< (cp. on cxli. 5, and Cn'L Bib. on Isa. xxviii. i) and D^OS 
 (cp. the names ^107^, 7i<''QJ7) ; it is a gloss on //. 19, 21, 23. Those 
 who surround, who surround like bees, and who flame up are ' all the 
 nations (round about),' i.e. the Jerahmeelites ortN, Arabians. See exeg. 
 n. One question still remains, if the pious Jews do not ' mow down ' or 
 ' massacre ' their enemies, what kind of action do they take ? The 
 answer will enable us to account for O- What should they do but 'call 
 on Yahwe's name? For ''^ read J<"lpSl ; cp. cxvi. 4. 
 
 21. Read DHillD ■'J")13D"DH- ^I opens v. 11 with >i13D, and 
 : • • T : 
 
 repeats this in v. 12a, whence we get D''~)3"TD. See, however, xviii. 6a. — 
 23. M IDjri. Read ^-1^11 (cp. T, \^\bl)- G has {v. 12) invKkaadv /xe 
 
 wcrel [jLtXiaaaL Krjpiov Koi e^cKavdrjaav, where Krjplov kol e^eKavd. really repre- 
 sents T1J,*II 1DJ^~Tj for T JJT) of which Kvp. kql is the equivalent, is merely a 
 misread ^J)?1 ; i.e. ^1^2,, a marginal correction of I^J^t, found its way 
 into the text of (}'s Heb. MS. beside IDJ?"!- lyT occurs nowhere in 
 Pual, and 'extinguished' is not the right sense. Houb. has already said 
 this.— Read perhaps D'^lipZ (Ba., after G). 
 
 25. Read Tl^mj nni^ (similarly Kenn., Gr. ; cp. S). G coo-^fiy 
 aveTpimr\v. Konig {Synf., § 324*^) explains M's text improbably. 
 
 27 f. Harmonized in M with the already corrupt text of Ex. xv. 2. — 
 
 M •'•Ijr. Readnii. See on xxviii. 8, xlvi. 2.— M jTir^T. Read >J-nT;;i ; 
 • T • \ t: • • t: v: 
 
 cp. xlvi. 2, Duhm, Jl~1^3il. — 30. Insert i'/^l^J, which easily fell out after 
 T : T : . 
 
 ^y^tfy^ — 32. M nr.^i'^il ; difficult and improbable. Read perhaps 
 
 T •• 
 
 ''iJl^^irr. V. -[Gb is a repetition. 
 
 46. Point JIN'^SJ (I^t. XXX. 11), with Bit. ; cp. G 'A J T.— 49 i. See 
 on //. 3, 5, 7. After M's TVIiV ^3^< (G w Kvpu) stands a Pasek. In fact, 
 these and the following words are corrupt. This accounts for the strange 
 fact that words of supplication became a formula of thanksgiving (cp. 
 Mt. xxi. 9). The true words are words of thanksgiving. They became 
 corrupt, and the formula used at the Feast of Booths was harmonized 
 
PSALMS CXVIII., CXIX. 167 
 
 with the corrupt text of the psalm from which the formula was taken. 
 Read probably — 
 
 V. 26 is a later insertion (see above). 
 
 51 f. M prefixes ^:h IK'^I mn"' I bii. This statement, 'Yahwo is 
 
 T ••••T- 
 
 God,' is very improbable ; 7ii7} or rather ^^M would be more natural. 
 
 .. T • •• 
 
 The whole clause is a miswritten form of "jnj^T HDN ^'?^», and is out of 
 place here. What follows ( 1JT Jin~1")DX) is a most amusing editorial 
 attempt to make sense of an indistinct passage. Lag. {Psnlf. Hier. 165) 
 reads D''21P2 for D\"l3y2 (Lev. xxiii. 40; cp. niiy JH, Buxtorf, 
 Lex. C/i., 1659). But in a passage so full of suspicious obscurities we 
 cannot deal with an isolated corruption ; a superficial correction throws 
 us back. Nor is it allowable to supply ^y^^l"' before ip. The analogy of 
 
 other equally strange passages justifies and requires a thorough re- 
 arrangement and correction. The fragments of the true text have been 
 conjecturally restored by the ancient editor. It is for us to apply a more 
 methodical method of conjecture to complete the fragments which a 
 trained eye can still detect in the ill-restored text. Read certainly — 
 
 • ••. : T : : - 
 
 PSALM CXIX. 
 
 JriEXAMETERS. Themc : the lilessedness of a life ordered in accordance with 
 the tdrd, i.e. with the revelation of the divine will expressed (l) in statutes, com- 
 mandments, and ordinances, (2) in judicial rewards and punishments. These two 
 forms of expression are practically one, for the rewards and punishments are 
 announced in principle, and, for the earlier period, related as facts, in the same 
 sacred book which contains the statutes and their prophetic interpretations. It is 
 a remarkably wide conception of iord, and of this our psalmist is not unconscious, 
 for he declares admiringly to Yahwe, after speaking of the expected 'end' of his 
 foes in connexion with his close study of revelation, ' Thy commandment is very 
 broad ' {v. 96). In this respect, then, it is plain that the writer cannot justly be 
 accused of narrowness of mind. That he is ojjposed to the admission of foi-eign 
 ideas into the religion of Vahwe may be admitted. The traditional text makes 
 him speak witli repugnance of unstable waverers or aKewTiKoi (so at least it 
 
 is usual to explain D'^S^Di ''. 113), hut more probably he refers to heretical 
 
 books such as are alluded to in the very late Epilogue to Ecclesiastes (Eccles. 
 xii. 12). His own deepest needs are fully satisfied by the /ord which forms the 
 kernel of the Pentateuch, and which is interpreted and expanded in the prophetic 
 writings (cp. Ezr. ix. lO f.), and his faith in its divine origin is supported by the 
 facts of the history of Israel and of the ' nations round about,' which are re- 
 corded in close connexion with the iord. More especially he is influenced by 
 Deuteronomy (cp. Kirkpatrick, Fsahiis, p. 705). Deuteronomic ideas and phrases 
 
l68 THE PSALMS. 
 
 abound ; see e.^. Dt. iv. 8 (singular righteousness of the law), v. 33 (the ' way '), 
 vi. 7 (duty of bearing witness to the law), viii. 3/; (true life), viii. 19 (national 
 existence conditional on observance of the law). But it must be added that there 
 is no imitation properly so called ; the ideas have developed in the author's 
 mind, and the phrases accordingly have assumed a fuller meaning. Nowhere too 
 has Deuteronomy such an expression as '■loving' the divinely given law. 
 Doubtless, Yahwc* is to be loved, but the 'statutes and ordinances' are viewed in 
 Deuteronomy as something outside of Yahwe, which it is right to observe as a 
 proof of 'love' to him, and not as something which represents or symbolizes 
 Yahwe, and which, being righteous and perfect like himself, is to be ' loved.' 
 As it appears to me, the psalmist has a true spiritual love for the ' law ' as 
 . representing Yahwc. It is often said that his work contains the germ of 
 Pharisaic legalism, which is commonly considered a very unspiritual thing. But 
 how much accurate knowledge have we of Pharisaic legalism ? Both the 
 evangelical and the Rabbinical evidence have, it would seem, to be studied afresh 
 with a keener and a more exacting criticism. Meantime scholars will continue 
 to follow their ])ias, or their sense of probability, and my own bias or sense of 
 probability leads me to question the still prevalent opinion very strongly (see OP, 
 p. 349)- 
 
 The arrangement of the psalm is alphabetical ; the eight lines of each stanza 
 begin with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet (cp. Lam. iii.). That the 
 
 psalmist does not speak as an individual is certain. In v. 9 the ' youth ' ("IJ^J) is 
 
 not the writer, but any young member of the community ; the writer extols the 
 tord on the ground that young men can preserve their innocence by observing it. 
 Verse lOO cannot be appealed to, being corrupt. In v. 141 it is the community that is 
 •of no account and despised,' and the expressions of vv. 147 f. represent the 
 feelings and habits of tlie most religious members of the community. And if the 
 correction of the text of v. 83a here offered hits the mark, it is plain that Israel, 
 and not any individual Israelite, is meant, for it is only Israel who can be 
 intelligibly represented as ' like Eden-jerahmeel,' a district in the Negeb which had 
 lately been so mercilessly raided and laid waste as to have become as proverbial 
 in its wasteness as Sodom in the older period. The abundance of plural class- 
 names also points in this direction — class-names which are applied partly to those 
 with whom the writer himself is associated, partly to those who are on the 
 opposite side, including among the latter faithless, paganizing Israelites. Note 
 
 also D^nii' 'princes' (f. 23, but see crit. n., 161), i.e. leading officers of the 
 
 oppressive government under which Israel lived. It must be admitted, certainly, 
 that in some verses the writer distinguishes himself from the mass of faithful 
 Israelites (see vv. 63, 74, 132). Someiimes therefore he speaks in the character 
 of the individual pious Israelite, i.e. any and every one who faithfully observes the 
 Law ; sometimes as the personified community. Not all Israelites, however, are 
 equally advanced in spirituality as himself, and his main object doubtless is to 
 propagate the type of character which seems to him the highest, especially among 
 the rising generation. 
 
 The reason why the stanzas consist of eight lines (verses) each, has been 
 discovered by D. H. Miiller {SirophenbaH 11. A'es/>onsio!t , 1898, pp. 54 ff.). The 
 psalmist had derived from a kindred psalm — the 19th — eight synonyms for the 
 conception ' Word of God,' and it occurred to him to impress these terms on his 
 readers by introducing them all into each stanza of his work. One after another 
 
 these eight terms occur in the successive lines of a stanza. They are, i. m,'^J^ = 
 
 \6yioi', 2. "IQI = A({7os, 3. Q'pn = S(Ka(ai/xaTO, 4. jn^D = eVToA,at, 5. D^tDSti'D 
 
 = KpinaTa, 6. r\T\y =: fxapTvpia, 7. Q^llpQ = iVToAo^, 8. mi/l = vd/uoj. It 
 
 sometimes happens that in the received text the same term occurs twice, which 
 involves the omission of one of the eight terms. Consequently we are justified, 
 as Midler points out, in emending the text so as to produce a complete representa- 
 tion of the terms. Cp this scholar's capital restoration in xix. 11 (\o\. i., 
 P- 79)- 
 
PSALM CXIX. 169 
 
 ALEPH. 
 
 1 Happy those that are of blameless life, that walk in Yahwe's 
 
 law ! 
 
 2 Happy those that keep his admonitions, that seek him with 
 
 their whole heart, 
 
 3 Yea, those that have not worked iniquity, but walked in 
 
 his words ! 
 
 4 Thou hast appointed thy behests to be observed continually. 
 
 5 Ah ! may my ways be firm, that I may observe thy statutes ! 
 
 6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I regard all thy com- 
 
 mandments. 
 
 7 I will thank thee with an upright heart when I have learnt 
 
 thy righteous ordinances. 
 
 8 Thy saying will I observe ; forsake me not utterly. 
 
 BETH. 
 
 9 Whereby can a youth be innocent ? In taking heed to his 
 
 path according to thy word. 
 
 10 With my whole heart do I seek thee ; let me not wander 
 
 from thy commandments. 
 
 1 1 Thy saying do I treasure within my heart, that I may not 
 
 sin against thee. 
 
 12 Blessed art thou, O Yahwe I [for thou wilt] teach me thy 
 
 statutes. 
 
 1 3 With my lips do I rehearse all the ordinances of thy mouth. 
 
 14 In the way of thine admonitions I have greater joy than in 
 
 all kinds of riches. 
 
 15 I muse upon thy behests, and regard thy paths. 
 
 16 With thy laws I solace myself ; I do not forget thy word. 
 
 GIMEL. 
 
 17 Grant to thy servant that I may live ; then will I observe 
 
 thy word. 
 
 18 Uncover mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out 
 
 of thy law. 
 
 19 A sojourner am I in the land ; hide not thy saying from me. 
 
 20 My soul cries out longingly towards thine ordinances at 
 
 all times. 
 
 21 Thou hast threatened the proud; cursed are those that 
 
 wander from thy commandments. 
 
170 THE PSALMS. 
 
 22 Roll away from me insult and contempt, for thy behests 
 
 have I kept. 
 
 23 Even if the Arabians ^ stand in array, thy servant muses 
 
 upon thy statutes. 
 
 24 Moreover thine admonitions are my solace, and thy statutes 
 
 are my counsellors. 
 
 DALETH. 
 
 25 My soul cleaves to the dust ; revive me, according to 
 
 thy word. 
 
 26 I recounted my ways, and thou didst test them (?) ; teach 
 
 me thy statutes. 
 
 27 Make me to understand the way of thy behests, so will 
 
 I muse on thy wonders. 
 
 28 My soul weeps from sadness, raise me up according to thy 
 
 promise. 
 
 29 Remove from me the way of falseness, and graciously give 
 
 me thy law. 
 
 30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness ; thine ordinances have 
 
 I not forgotten, 
 
 31 I cleave to thine admonitions; O Yahwe ! make me not 
 
 ashamed. 
 
 32 I have pleasure in the way of thy commandments, for thou 
 
 enlargest my heart. 
 
 HE. 
 
 33 Show me, O Yahwe ! the way of thy statutes ; be so gracious, 
 
 because of Jerahmeel. 
 
 34 Give me understanding, that I may keep thy law, yea, 
 
 observe it with my whole heart. 
 
 35 Make me to tread in the path of thy commandments, for 
 
 therein do I delight. 
 
 36 Incline my heart to thine admonitions, and not to Ishmael. 
 
 37 Turn away mine eyes that they see not vanity ; revive me 
 
 by thy word. 
 
 38 Confirm to thy servant thy promise, which belongs to thy 
 
 covenant. 
 
 39 Remove the insult which I dread, for thine ordinances 
 
 are good. 
 
 40 Behold, I long after thy behests ; in thy righteousness 
 
 revive me. 
 
 ' Princes. 
 
PSALM CXIX. 171 
 
 VAU. 
 
 41 And let thy kindnesses come to me, O Yahwe ! thy deli- 
 
 verance according to thy promise. 
 
 42 And I shall make answer to the insulters of Arabia, for I 
 
 trust in thy word. 
 
 43 And snatch not the word of truth from my mouth, for 
 
 I have waited for thine ordinances. 
 
 44 And I will observe thy law continually, for ever and ever. 
 
 45 And I shall walk in ample space, for 1 study thy behests. 
 
 46 And I will speak of thine admonitions before Jerahmeel, 
 
 unashamed. 
 
 47 And I will solace myself with thy commandments which 
 
 I love exceedingly, 
 
 48 And will lift up my hands toward thy statutes, and muse 
 
 upon thy statutes. 
 
 ZAIN. 
 
 49 Think on thy word to thy servant, seeing that thou hast 
 
 given me hope. 
 
 50 This is my comfort in my misery — that thy promise has 
 
 kept me in life. 
 
 51 The proud have flouted me sorely ; from thy law I have 
 
 not swerved. 
 
 52 I think on thy judgments +which are+ of old, O Yahwe ! 
 
 and get comfort. 
 
 53 Terror has seized me because of the wicked that forsake 
 
 thy law. 
 
 54 Thy statutes are the themes of my song in my lodging-place. 
 
 55 I think on thy name in Jerahmeel, and observe thy law. 
 
 56 This +good+ has been mine that I have kept thy behests. 
 
 HETH. 
 
 57 My portion, O Yahwe ! I say, is to observe thy words. 
 
 58 I entreat thy favour with my whole heart ; have pity on me, 
 
 according to thy saying. 
 
 59 I form a plan for my ways, and turn my feet towards thine 
 
 admonitions. 
 
 60 I make haste and delay not to keep thy commandments. 
 
 61 The snares of the wicked hunt me ; thy law I do not 
 
 forffet. 
 
1/2 THE PSALMS. 
 
 62 At midnight I rise to give thanks to thee because of thy 
 
 righteous ordinances. 
 
 63 I am a companion of all those that fear thee and of those 
 
 that observe thy behests. 
 
 64 Of thy lovingkindness, O Yahwe ! the earth is full ; teach 
 
 me thy statutes. 
 
 TETH. 
 
 65 Thou hast dealt well with th}' servant, O Yahwe ! according 
 
 to thy word. 
 
 66 Train me to judgment and perception, for I believe thy 
 
 commandments, 
 
 67 Before I had suffering I erred, but now I observe thy 
 
 saying. 
 
 68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thine ordinances. 
 
 69 The proud fasten lies upon me ; I, with +my+ whole heart 
 
 keep thy behests. 
 
 70 Gross like fat is their heart ; I, +however,+ take my solace in 
 
 thy law. 
 
 71 Well is me that I was afflicted, that I might learn thy 
 
 statutes. 
 
 72 The admonitions of thy mouth are worth more for me than 
 
 thousands of gold and silver. 
 
 YOD. 
 
 73 Thy hands made me and prepared me ; give me understand- 
 
 ing, that I may learn thy commandments. 
 
 74 Let those that fear thee see me and rejoice, because I have 
 
 waited for thy word. 
 
 75 I know, O Yahwe ! that thy judgments are righteous, and 
 
 that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me. 
 
 76 O let thy kindness be +present+ to comfort me, according to 
 
 thy saying to thy servant. 
 
 77 Let thy compassion come to me that I may live, for thy law 
 
 is my solace. 
 
 78 Let the proud be ashamed, for they oppress me ; as for me, 
 
 I muse on thy behests. 
 
 79 Let those of Jerahmeel be ashamed, but [let] those that 
 
 know thine admonitions [rejoice]. 
 
 80 Let my heart be blameless in thy statutes, that I be not 
 
 ashamed. 
 
PSALM CXIX. 173 
 
 81 For thy deliverance longs my soul; for thy word I wait. 
 
 82 Mine eyes long for thy saying, while I ask, When wilt thou 
 
 comfort me ? 
 
 83 For though I am become like Eden-jerahmeel, thy statutes 
 
 do I not forget. 
 
 84 How many are the days of thy servant ? When wilt thou 
 
 do judgment on my persecutors ? 
 
 85 The proud have digged pits for me, who [walk not] in 
 
 thy law. 
 
 86 All thy commandments are sure ; faithlessly they persecute 
 
 me ; help me. 
 
 87 They had almost made an end of me in the land, but I 
 
 forsook not thy behests. 
 
 88 Revive me, according to thy lovingkindness, and I will 
 
 observe the ordinance of thy mouth. 
 
 LAMED. 
 
 8q For ever art thou, O Yahwe ! thy word is fixed in heaven. 
 
 90 For all ages is thy promise ; thou didst establish it, and 
 
 it stood. 
 
 91 Jerahmeel stands +appointed+ for thy judgments ; for [he is] 
 
 thy servant. 
 
 92 Had not thy law been my solace, I should have perished in 
 
 my misery, 
 
 93 Never will I forget thy behests, for by them thou hast kept 
 
 me in life. 
 
 94 Thine am I, deliver me, for thy precepts do I study. 
 
 95 The wicked wait for me to destroy me ; +but+ to thine 
 
 admonitions I give close heed. 
 
 96 To Ishmael I see an end ; thy commandment is very broad. 
 
 MEM. 
 
 97 How I love th}' law ! it is the theme I muse upon 
 
 continually. 
 
 98 Thy commandment makes me wiser than the Arabians, for 
 
 it is mine +to study+ for ever. 
 
 99 I have more insight than the Jerahmeelite.-;, for thine 
 
 admonitions are the theme of my musing. 
 
 100 I have more understanding than the Kenizzites, for I 
 
 keep thy statutes. 
 
174 THE PSALMS. 
 
 loi I have withheld my foot from every evil path, that I may 
 heed thy word. 
 
 102 From thine ordinances I have not departed, for thou hast 
 
 taught me. 
 
 103 How smooth are thy sayings to my palate ! +sweeter+ than 
 
 honey to my mouth. 
 
 104 Through thy behests I get understanding ; therefore I hate 
 
 every false path. 
 
 NUN. 
 
 105 Thy word is a lamp to my foot, and a light to my path. 
 
 106 I have sworn, and will make it good, to observe thy 
 
 righteous ordinances. 
 
 107 I am greatly afflicted ; O Yah we ! have pit}' on me, accord- 
 
 ing to thy word. 
 
 108 The freewill offerings of my mouth do thou accept, 
 
 O Yahwe ! and teach me thine ordinances. 
 
 109 My soul is continually in my hand, but I do not forget 
 
 thy law. 
 no The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I have not erred 
 from thy behests. 
 
 111 Thine admonitions are my heritage for ever, for they are 
 
 the joy of my heart. 
 
 112 I have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes, because of 
 
 Jerahmeel. 
 
 SAMECH. 
 
 113 Heathen books do I hate, but thy law do I love. 
 
 114 Thou art my covert and my shield; I wait on for thy word. 
 
 115 Away from me, ye evil-doers ; I will keep the command- 
 
 ments of my God. 
 
 116 Uphold me, according to thy promise, that I may live, and 
 
 let me not be disappointed of m}' hope. 
 
 1 1 7 Support me, that I may be delivered, and may solace 
 
 myself continually in thy statutes. . 
 
 118 Thou rejectest all those that wander from thy statutes, for 
 
 their device is falsehood. 
 
 119 Thou accountest all the wicked in the land as dross; 
 
 therefore I love thine admonitions. 
 
 1 20 My flesh shudders for dread of thee, and I am afraid of thy 
 
 judgments. 
 
PSALMS CXIX. 175 
 
 AVIN. 
 
 121 I have practised justice and righteousness; leave me not to 
 
 mine oppressors. 
 
 122 Pledge thy word for good ; let not the proud oppress me. 
 
 123 Aline eyes long for thy succour, 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 
 
 thine admonitions. 
 
 126 It is time for Yahwe to act ; they have made void thy law. 
 
 127 Therefore, I love thy commandments above gold, yea, 
 
 above fine gold. 
 
 128 Therefore, I observe thy behests ; every false way do I hate, 
 
 PE. 
 
 129 Marvellous are th}' admonitions ; therefore m}' soul observes 
 
 them. 
 
 130 The interpretation of thy words enlightens, gives under- 
 
 standing to the simple. 
 
 131 I open my mouth wide and pant ; +even+ so long I for thy 
 
 commandments. 
 
 132 Turn toward me, and have pit}^ upon me, according to the 
 
 right of those that love thy name. 
 
 133 Make my steps firm by thy saying, and let no wickedness 
 
 have no dominion over me. 
 
 134 Set me free from the oppression of Aram, so will I observe 
 
 thy behests. 
 
 135 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant, and teach me thy 
 
 statutes. 
 
 136 Mine eyes run down in gusliing streams, because men 
 
 observe not thy law. 
 
 SADE. 
 
 137 Righteous art thou, O Yahwe ! and just are thine 
 
 ordinances. 
 
 138 The ordinances that thou hast appointed are righteous and 
 
 very sure. 
 
 139 My zeal consumes me, because my foes have forgotten thy 
 
 word. 
 
176 THE PSALMS. 
 
 140 Thy promise is well-tried, and thy servant loves it. 
 
 141 I am of no account and despised ; thy behests I have not 
 
 forgotten. 
 
 142 Thy righteousness is everlastingly right, and thy law 
 
 is sure. 
 14^ Distress and straitness have laid hold on me ; thy com- 
 mandments are my solace. 
 
 144 Right are thine admonitions everlastingly ; give me under- 
 
 standing that I may live. 
 
 KOPH. 
 
 145 I call with +my+ whole heart ; answer me, O Yah we ! thy 
 
 statutes will I keep. 
 
 146 I call upon thee, deliver me, and I will observe thine 
 
 ordinances. 
 
 147 I arise in the twilight and cry for help, waiting on for 
 
 thy word. 
 
 148 Mine eyes forestall the night-watches, that I may muse on 
 
 thy promises. 
 
 149 Hear my voice, according to thy kindness; O Yahwe ! 
 
 revive me, according to thy justice. 
 I ;o They draw nigh that persecute me with outrages, that have 
 
 gone far from thy law. 
 151 Thou art near, O Yahwe ! and all thy commandments 
 
 are true. 
 1^2 From of old I know from thine admonitions that thou hast 
 
 founded them for ever. 
 
 KESH. 
 
 i;3 Behold my misery, and rescue me, for I do not forget 
 
 thy law. 
 I ::4 Conduct my cause, and redeem me ; according to thy word 
 
 revive me. 
 
 155 Far from the wicked is +thy+ deliverance, for they seek not 
 
 thy statutes. 
 
 156 Plenteous is thy compassion, O Yahwe! according to thy 
 
 judgments revive me. 
 
 1:57 Many are my persecutors and my foes; from thine ad- 
 monitions I have not swerved. 
 
 i:;8 I beheld the traitors, and had loathing, because they 
 observed not thy commandments. 
 
PSALM CXIX. 177 
 
 159 Behold how I love thy precepts ; revive me, Yahwe ! 
 
 according to thy lovingkindness. 
 I bo The sum of thy words is truth ; all thy righteous ordinances 
 
 are for ever. 
 
 SHIX. 
 
 161 Princes persecute me without a cause; because of thy 
 
 words my heart throbs +for jo3'+. 
 
 162 I rejoice at thy promise as one that has found great spoil. 
 
 163 Falsehood I hate and abhor ; thy statutes do I love. 
 
 164 Seven times in the day do I praise thee, because of thy 
 
 righteous ordinances. 
 
 165 Great prosperity have the lovers of thy law ; for them 
 
 there is no +stone of+ stumbling. 
 
 166 I hope for thy deliverance, O Yahwe! th}' commandments 
 
 have I done. 
 
 167 My soul has observed thine admonitions ; dearly I love them. 
 
 168 I have observed thy precepts and thine ordinances ; for all 
 
 my wa3's are before thee. 
 
 TAU. 
 
 169 Let my wail come near thy presence ; have pity on me, O 
 
 Yahwe ! according to thy word. 
 
 170 Let my supplication come before thee ; rescue me according 
 
 to thy promise. 
 
 171 Let my lips gush out with praise, because thou teachest me 
 
 th}' statutes. 
 
 172 Let my tongue sing of thy faithfulness, for all thine 
 
 admonitions are right. 
 
 173 Let thy hand be 4-present+ to help me, for I have chosen 
 
 thy behests. 
 
 1 74 I long for thy deliverance, O Yahwe ! and th)- law is my 
 
 solace. 
 
 175 Let my soul live, that it may praise thee, and let thy 
 
 judgments help me. 
 
 176 I wander; seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy 
 
 commandments. 
 
 Critical Notes. 3. For V3-II2 read Vl^ia (U. H. Miillcr, Duhni). 
 
 —4. Read D1!::t:>'? (Bi., Du.), widi l-'Qn (Gr., as .\lvi. 2).— 8. For 
 t: T : . T 
 
 •^^ipn-JlJ^ read ^riH^Nt (Mii., Du.).— 9. Read 1^>J n3r, '(Whereby 
 II. ' ' N 
 
178 THE PSALMS. 
 
 shall a youth lie innocent,' or ' obtain merit ' (the New Heb. sense). So 
 Halevy. Continue, in"}N"jn}>} lb\L'b--i2. Read 'pia^Jl ^3 , as z/. 
 171/; (Gr.).— 14. For '?y3 read ^y:2 (We., Du.).— 16. Read Tj-jHlim 
 (Mil., Du.).— 19. Read "^rinQN (Mu.). — 20. HD^:) , 'is crushed' 
 (Aram.)? 'studies' (cp. T, Prov. iv. 19; T. Jon. Dt. li. 19)? Hitz., 
 
 n?^i:i (cp. G, Prov. xvii. 22). Rather m^':i (sec on xlii. 2).— 22. Read 
 T :t t-:t 
 
 Si) (Ew., Hi., Bo., Gr., Kau., &c.), and "?|nip3 . 
 
 23rt. 'Yea, princes sit and talk together against me' (Driver). Duhm 
 thinks this absurd, and omits ^3., thus turning the hostile plotters into 
 students. But 1"131J cannot mean ' study.' ^yl^'' probably comes from 
 ^^\j>[/T<] ; 131, as in some other passages, from ^iy (3,' and "1 con- 
 founded). Un'\D is a gloss. Read 0^31^"^^ MTD-" DJl •— 24<5. G, 
 Kill al avixIBovXiai fxov Tci St(cata)/xara aov. Insert ^^pHl (so virtually Bii., 
 Kau.). This makes D^pH occur twice in one stanza, but since I^JTTJ,' 
 occurs in a, may be allowed. V. 24 is, in fact, a paraphrase of 7', 22^. — 
 25. Here and elsewhere Gr. would read ^Jjn (as t'?'. 29, 58). Cp. on v. 
 107. — 26. M '2337jT1 • If the 'ways ' which the speaker recounts are his 
 
 practices or courses of action (cp. 7'. 168/^), we expect rather Djn3P'1 
 ' •• T : . - 
 
 (cp. xxvi. 2).— 28. Read Tjrnp>^3 (Mii., Du.).— 30. U Ti'M^ . Read 
 
 ^P^HD^ S"? (G).-32. ForV-nN read nl:-|^< (We.). — 33. M n-JliiNT 
 . . - T ' T •.•:•.• T vt: V : 
 
 2pV ■ 3py is very puzzling. G here diaTravrvs, cp. T, hiT,';3J iy , 7'. 1 12 
 K31D li? (cp. Onk., Gen. iii. 15, N3"1D= Heb. 3py). In 7'. 112, how- 
 ever, (j, 81' dvTa^fi.\j/iv. J \itxQ per vestigium, but in 7'. 112 propter 
 {(Eterna)}i) rciributionein. /)Z?j5 and Ges.-Bu., 'to the end,' 'for ever'; 
 the former compares Sirach xvi. 3, where JlTZp^ = rfirTN . This sense, 
 however, is at any rate improbable in the O.T., and no one, except under 
 compulsion, would think of giving it either here or in v. 112. In both 
 places the editor has had to do his best with a corrupt text. Read here 
 probably, ':)i^?2nT 3py ^<r^^") ; cp. v. 9, xxvii. II.— 37. M ^3113. 
 Read "11313 (Mu., Du.).— 38. M "^Jlll^'p lli^N^ ; sense not clear. 
 Read probably ^jn"'13'7 lli'N.— 4i- I^ead perhaps "^JlpPT ''J^<31 (G, 
 
 Du.) ; but cp. V. 77-— 42. M 131 "'Blil. G S J '1 ^3lh . Rather 
 
 T T . : - : 
 
 21V ^Siri (cp. on 7'. 23). See xlii. 11, xliv. 17.— 43. Omit 1N.'2"117 
 y^ •• : : - 
 
 (Bi., Gr., Du.), and attach it to v. 47.-46. M DO'^D IJIJ • IMissionary 
 journeys to foreign courts 1 Read 'pSI^^ni^ lij . Cp. on DM'??< 'J, 
 cxxxviii. I. Jerahmeel may mock, may insult (7'. 42) ; Israel will persist 
 in asserting the unique merits of its 'law' (cxlvii. 20). — 47. Append 
 li^Q"lJ^ (from V. 43)— 48- Omit ''jl3rTN "WtH. (repetition from v. Al)-— 
 53. (13^ "^T . 'Of obscure origin; perhaps a development of ►^7 ' 
 
PSALM CXIX. Ijg 
 
 (Ges.-Bu.). A^ain in xi. 6, Lam. v. lo ; also in the Hebrew Sirach, 
 xliii. i6 (if it is not miswiitten for ^'tybv , "whirlwind,' see marg.). The 
 word seems to have come from /ll^^D ; the corruption probably fiiit 
 arose in xi. 6, and from thence was copied into Lam. v. lo and Ps. cxix. 
 by cultivators of literary Hebrew.— 55. M n'7^'?3 • In the night of 
 
 trouble.'' But as in Ixxvii. 8, Isa. xxvi. 9, we should probably read 
 '?^}!2^T"1''2• — tS. S presupposes ■»Jin ; cp. on -'. .?5. Wellh. adopts this. 
 — 61. Read "'JIT^. — 65. Omit 21tO, -''s an intrusion from t'. 65 (so 
 Wellh.). 
 
 68. Read Ty-[ODrD (Mii.). —70. Read TJ-ri'i;; (Mii.)— 79. iM ^2n'^ 
 ^■"NT" '*'? ; sense not clear. Cp. the corrected text of Ix. 6a, and read 
 D^'^i^^nT W2^^ ; append ^li:2'i;' (cp. cix. 28).— 83. M "niDpa 1»^JJ3 , 
 ' like a wine-skin in the smoke ' (but G 2 S J presuppose ntJZ)- 
 Sense not clear (see Hupf.). Read certainly '^'SDHT 11^3- 'Edei.' 
 
 (see on 2 K. xix. 12) was a district in the Negeb, which a N. Arabian 
 king in Hezekialrs time laid waste. Tresumably this desolation had 
 been renewed by some Arabian foe some time before the psahiiist 
 wrote. 1110^33 , like nTlJDp , comes from '?N::Dn~)"' (i2 and JO con- 
 founded).— 85. Read oS"T lDmj"12 N''? irN" (Gr.). 
 
 89. Read nnSt D'?*i:i?t> (S ; Gr.).— 90. Read "^riluJ^J (Mii., Du.j.— 
 Read Hj^JJ^S , and (with Du.) omit y~1S , a misleading insertion 
 suggested by D'O'tiO (''• 89).— 91. 'SI QPrT MD^ ■ What is the 
 
 subject? and why not DVil'lJ'? "IL'O^ is also obscure, and the 
 following clause quite unintelligible. — '^"'131* 7311 ''3 — • altogether 
 
 unintelligible. .Surely we must read [^<'l^] ^3 ':'hJ?3nT IT^V 'l'''i^BV'2b 
 
 TT^3J>. QVn and 73 both come from fragments of 'm^ ; cp. on 
 
 □Vn~73) xliv. 23, Ivi. 2. The key to the meaning of the passage will be 
 found in Hab. i. 12. The Q^DBtt^D are the interventions of the divine 
 Judge (t'T'. 52, 75, 120), which, like the Scriptures, are revelations of the 
 divine will. 
 
 94. For ^^"T|?3 read 'I'^pll ; G ^^Kalo}f^aTd aov. So Mil., Du. 
 
 96. M rnjpr'?2b- .-According to most, a aV. Xcy. = Hw^Pi, which 
 T : . T : "^ • : - 
 
 indeed Sicgfr.-Sta. would read. The meaning would be that all earthly 
 perfection is limited and perishable, whereas the divine revelation, like 
 its Giver (Job xi. 9), is unlimited and eternal. G has trui/TeXeia(s'), which 
 in Job xxvi. 10 stands for n^73n. 2 gives the strange equivalent 
 KnraaKfvrjd), which in Ezek. xxiii. 6 represents Ph^D (M JllDD). Is 
 there no way out of the quagmire of improbability? Let us look at the 
 
l80 THE PSALMS. 
 
 context. There is. The rest of the stanza is full of references to Israel's 
 danger from its foes, who are stated to be Jerahmeelites. What we 
 expect here is some significant word of faith, justifying the psalmist in 
 passing on to a somewhat ditierent mood. The word yp gives us an 
 eloquent suggestion. It reminds us of xxxix. 5, which, according to the 
 most probable view, runs, ' Make me, [I pray,] to know the end (yp) of the 
 Jerahmeelites.' This constant petition of the Jewish heart has, to our 
 psalmist at least, been answered, and it is through the written Tora (cp. 
 xciv. 12 f.) that the consolatory and uplifting assurance has come that 
 the ' end ' of the oppressors is at hand. It is, therefore, exegetically, very 
 probable that nbjD/D covers over some important ethnic. Is there 
 such an ethnic as might possibly become 'n~73 ? There is one, and 
 one only— it is '^J^^r^Ii*'' (a synonym of '7X*jn"l^). biD.is a fragment of a 
 dittographed n'?DJl , and may, therefore, be left out of account. n'?Dj~l , 
 in accordance with parallels, may represent either D73n or □'7pr)- Now 
 the well-known ethnic 72.D is an ancient popular distortion (which 
 
 attained an independent existence) of t'hiJ'QU^'' ; we also find in Ezek. 
 
 xxiii. 6 a pair of corruptions of 'QZ'^ one of which is j~l7Dn (^see Cr//. 
 
 Bib. ad loc). ^T)n is only known from Dan. \. 25 (see Crif. B//>.) where 
 
 it springs from ^r^T^ {i-e- b'ii.yUV ; cp. on t'iQn , i S. xx. 27). Read, 
 
 therefore, yp ''7T'^^■^ D''':'S'DnT''? . 
 ' '.. . . T •••::-• 
 
 98-100. Duhm thinks it ' strange that Olshausen could suppose a 
 
 reference to the teachers of a foreign faith.' ' If so,' he adds, ' who should 
 
 the grey-headed men (t'. 100) be, whom the writer surely took from Job 
 
 xxxiii. 6 ff., and who must have been as good Jews as himself?' Both 
 
 Olshausen and Duhm are wrong, but Duhm's error is the greater. The 
 
 wise men whom the writer refers to (probably by a conscious archaism) 
 
 can hardly have been religious teachers, but foreigners (N. Arabians) 
 
 they certainly were. In the chief productions of Israelitish ' wisdom ' we 
 
 find Jerahmeelite sages (see Prov.x. i,xxiv. 23, xxv. i, xxx. i, xxxi. i); cp. 
 
 also 2 S. xxiii. i.and for a brief but clear statement of N. Arabian wisdom 
 
 I K. V. 10-12 [iv. 29-31], and on all these passages see Crit. BiO.). The 
 
 opening words in 7'. 98, ?'. 99, and ?'. 100 respectively are □^3'^^'^2 , 
 
 D'':'NpnTQ , and D'-np^-— 100. Read Tj^pH (Mil.). 
 
 103. Read Tj^n'irpS" (G, Hitz., Del., Bil., A:c.).— 105. Read Tynir^i^ 
 (Mii.).— ic8. Read "^'jliikQ (Mil., Du.).— 1 11. Read probably Tl'^m (J, 
 l)u.).— 112. Read '^N^'^ni"' 3pr (see on 7-. 2,3)- 
 
 113. M D'3VD • ' The exact meaning was not even known to the 
 
 ancients. According to i K. xviii. 21 those Israelites are presumably 
 meant who vacillated between tlie religion of Yahwe and heathenism ' 
 (Bii.). But D''Si^D is corrupt (see Crit. Bib.). G's Trapai/o/^ovs suggests 
 to Griitz D"'IOD ; cp. ci. 3, where, however, again the reading is disputab'e 
 
PSALMS CXIX., CXX. l8l 
 
 (see ad loc). Metre suggests that D^Si^D has arisen by the combination 
 of two imperfectly written words. Something characteristic of heathenism 
 (cp. vv. 104, 128, 163) must be meant. A possible reading would be 
 D'Dy nSD ; cp. introd. 
 
 117. For r\];!V'i^ I'ead '^'lD)jr\'D'i^ (as vv. 16, 47). So G .S J T ; 
 Gr., Dii. ^ ' ' "' ' ' " 
 
 1 18. Read "rjnipDr.: (Mii., Du.}, and perhaps D/T'yiri (G e E' S J ), 
 
 an Aramaism. So Du.— 119. Read D2^tl ('"A 2 J ; Ba.) ; Bi., "•j'^n'^n , 
 
 T : - . • : - • 
 
 and Du., ^J13.I£'n , both following G, and omitting ]37 . 
 
 122. Al ^I3y. Rather ':]~)21 (Mii., Du,). Illl ought to occur in 
 the stanza. 
 
 128. Read 'r\']:2V T"'^P3''^3 (Nowack). Ba., Du., 'D^'bDb 
 • : - T ' V . T ' T : 
 
 T\'-\]^i (see G J), supplying Wyti from /> ; Hal. ^i^ mpD ~b2 • 
 
 130. M nnS, the pointing to indicate a derived meaning, viz. 
 ' interpretation.' Too improbable. Read "IJID (Gr.). 
 
 131. Read "TI^Nn (Gr.) ; cp. v. 40. — For "3 read ]3 . 
 
 134. Read a^^<■— 135. Read "Tiap':' (Gr.). — 137. If before the 
 T-: : TT 
 
 plural "J-IDSI^D is improbable. Read U^lf^ (We.), or -):^"» (Du.).— 
 138. Read Tj-'pn (Mii.).— 146. Read '^HlpS (AIu.). 
 
 150. Read -311 , Gr., Ba., Kau., We., Du., after G 2 S J. 
 
 155. Read nptll (Isa. lix. 11).— 15S. Read ^""jliiJ.tD (Alii.).— 160. 
 
 Read inni (C, Gr!)^and "'IDDli^^^ (G, Du.) 
 ' V T : •• : : • 
 
 163. Read rt>;^n (Mii.)— 169. Read -J^H or ^yn (Gr. ; cp. S).— 
 172. Read ^jlJI^J^ (Gr.) and ^''jlT;!? (Mu.). 
 
 176. .-\s metre shows, something must be superfluous. Bickell 
 omits O liy^" and reads -Jll^pn ; Duhm omits IQJ* H'^VD. Duhm is 
 right, but does not account for the existence of l^N Hti'D . He calls it 
 a gloss. The truth is, however, that it has arisen out of a dittographed 
 113;? Wp2 . 
 
 PSALM CXX. 
 
 Jr KNTAMETERS. An appeal of the pious communiiy, well-nigh cxliaustcd by the 
 oppression of the N. Arabians, to Israel's God. It may be grouped with cxxiii. ; 
 both psalms are a record of deepening misery imder the often petty but always 
 humiliating tyranny of the N. .^Krabian oppressors in S. Palestine. It is natural 
 to compare Ezr. iv. 4, Neh. ii. 19, iv. 7 f., passages, which to say the 
 least, are retlexiuns of history. 'False lips' reminds us of v. 10, hi. 4-6, 
 
l82 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Iv. 22, cix. 2, and (Hiitli<,'en) the I2tli of the I'sahiis of Solomon. Wlien 
 tipen violence was inipriulcnl, fraud anil cahuiiny supplied its place. Several 
 passages in I's. cxx., which admit of no safe translation, have been, it is 
 hoped, correctly restored, and the difficulty of ' Meshech ' and ' Kedar ' has 
 heen removed. Cp. , however, OP, p. 55 ; Rosenzweig, Das JalirJmndert nach 
 dem Bab. Exil, pp. 40 f. ; Coblenz, pp. 132 ff. ; Smend, p. 136. j 
 
 Afarked. Of tJie Ishmaelites. I 
 
 I Unto Yahwe in my distress | I call, and he will answer 
 
 nie. 2 
 
 Rescue me from the false lips, | frcm the deceitful 
 
 tongue.i 
 Rescue me from the warriors of Ishmael, | from the people 
 
 of Jerahmeel.- 4 
 
 Weary to exhaustion is my soul [ with a people which 
 
 hates peace ! 6 
 
 And as often as I speak for peace | they +are bent+ 
 
 on war. 7 
 
 Critical Notes, i. Read "JJl'-T (Bi.).— 2. Omit mnv— The gloss in 
 7'. 3 e.xplains H''^"! pIL't'. Cp. Mic. i. 5/'. 
 
 3. On vv. 3, 4 Duhm remarks that the expressions are wanting" in 
 naturalness. Of course, for they belong to a clever editor. ^l^H is 
 probably a corrupt fragment of ^j'^i'lirT ; D^Jl^r a corruption of ':'^^y:^::♦^ 
 (cp. \^-^=."ty::\ c.xli. 5, 2 S. i. 21, Isa. x. 27). ^^m (like ^'^HJ, 2 S. 
 xxiii. 30) and D\*Jj")l (like DjTI in i K. xix. 4 f., nQD") in Num. xxxiii. 
 18 f.) both represent '^S'^mv Read 'r\'\'' Dro ! '.rj^- -~li3i!D ''j':'^jirr. 
 — The gloss in 7'. 5 seems to give two explanations of Jerahmeel. The 
 second is the more important, because the ' Kidrai,' or Kedarites, did as 
 a fact become prominent in N. Arabia in the time of Assurbanipal. 
 O w 7Vy^ (note the improbable form) and ''S"Ti< DJ* are corruptions, 
 editorially manipulated, of ':ij<*jrnv ""jTIJ comes from Iji:) (Gen. x. 23) 
 = "ni:'il. ll^Q, as usual, = 0"^:*3. [jljjjr comes from ]r3.— 4. M 
 
 nyn^D'yi^, very awkward after jlZn. Read nV'Hr^'^i' (cxxiii. 4). 
 tt:t -- .TYrr 
 
 Point D^ (cp. /. 3).— Read D'l'?r "131i^ "Dl. ubZ' 'JJ^ comes from a 
 dittographed "^t '^y\'\U. J. P. Peters (jBL, 1884. p. 31) is content with 
 reading >3 (cp. G S 2). and illustrates the inverted position of O both 
 here and in cxxviii. 2 (but see od toe.) from Delitzsch's Ass. Gram., 
 P- 358. 
 
 ' What is Jerahmeel? and what Ibhmael? A deceitful tongue (:■. 3). 
 - Jerahmeel : Geshur, Cusham [Cushan]. Jerahmeel: Kedar (:•. 5). 
 
PSALM CXXI. 183 
 
 PSALM CXXI. 
 
 JT.EXAMETERS. Israel amidst the mountains of Judah (or perhaps of Jerahmeel) 
 waits expectantly for the messengers of good tidings (Nah. i. 15, Isa. Hi. 7). 
 The psalm may have been sung antiphonally. The change of pronoun (' my 
 help,' 'thy foot,' &c.) reminds us of the changes in the form of expression in 
 Vs. xci. , which indeed is alscj the nearest parallel to our jisalm in its ideas. 
 Smend (AT. ReL-ges'-hS'^', 420) says that in I's. cxxi. despondent and believ- 
 ing Israel are placed in contrast. This arises from his trusting the traditional 
 
 reading ]^^J73 v. \l>. There is obviou.sly no touch of despondency in the 
 psalm as presented here. Note Pt'w'^u7 hi the title ; elsewhere JlV^.'^ri- 
 Cp. '7N1D^, from ':'N;2nT, in Prov. xxxi. i {Enc. Bib. 'Lemuel'). 
 
 Marked. Of the Ishinaelites. I 
 
 1 I lift up mine eyes to the mountains; | I am sure that my 
 help is coming. 
 My help is coming from Yahwe, j the maker of heaven 
 
 and earth. 2 
 
 He cannot suffer thy foot to fail, | thy Guardian cannot 
 
 slumber ; 3 
 
 Surely he slumbers not, he sleeps not, | who is the 
 
 Guardian of Israel. 4 
 
 Yahwe is thy Guardian, Yahwe | is thy shade on thy 
 
 right hand ; 5 
 
 Cusham shall not smite thee bv day, | nor Jerahmeel 
 
 by night. 6 
 
 Yahwe will guard thee from all evil, j he will guard thy 
 
 soul ; 7 
 
 Yahwe will guard thy going out | and thy coming in 
 both now and for ever. 
 
 Critical A'o/fs. i. M n?>> N'O'' ^^**■2■ ^ ''''"■^' i'itcrpretuii:. 'If 
 the clause contains a question, the Hebrew is of the choicest, but the 
 context does not render this view very probable. If the mountains about 
 Jerusaleni symbolize the dwelling-place of Yahwe, the writer could not 
 be uncertain as to whence his help would come. But if we fall back on 
 the view that the clause is a relative one, we cannot acquit our poet of 
 writing in a rather corrupt style' (Giesebrecht, ZATW. 1881, p. 284). 
 Read >3 ^?3N^^. 
 
 6. M li'l^Iir, mv The expression, 'the moon shall not strike,' is barely 
 
184 THE PSALMS. 
 
 possible, but we cannot separate tliis passage from Isa. xlix. 10, where it 
 
 is said, '}(;;-(?/; and sun shall not strike them.' In both passages Hitzig 
 
 feels obliged to weaken the usual rendering of HDil. But can we 
 
 venture to say that sarab ' strikes ' ? The differences of the commentators 
 
 indicate great uncertainty, and if we further take into consideration 
 
 Ps. xci. 5 f. (see note) and Cant. iii. S (see C>//. L'//>.), we may be 
 
 forced to read DiiJDI jlS^li in Isa., and 0V3 Cas Ixxii. O and ':'N'.2nT in 
 T •% : - : T T ••. ■ 
 
 our psalm. (Or does ]l;:2V come from 'biy?) The danger from Jerah- 
 
 meelite aggression in the Persian period is often referred to. — For nD3^ 
 G gives (KKuvaei ae, as if TT12> (Niph. in Isa. xliii. 2, Prov. vi. 28). Herz. 
 
 PSALM CXXII. 
 
 X ENTAMETERS. Perhaps a song of returned pilgrims ; at any rate, '■Z'. I, 2, 
 6-9 are very suitable on this theory. I 'v. 3-5, however, are obscure, and so far 
 as they are translatable, we can hardly say that the contents are suitable. Why 
 should a pilgrim in post-exilic times bethink himself that formerly the 'tribes' 
 went up to Jerusalem, and that there was the chief seat of the administration 
 of justice? Or if, with Wellh., we take the perlects in rv. 4, 5 to be present 
 in sense, and ' tribes' to be an archaism, it is ' curious that Jerusalem is here ex- 
 tolled, not as the place of worship, but as the seat of judgment, and that the 
 Sanhedrin, the great council of the Jews, not the house of [Vahwe], is de- 
 clared to be the object of the pilgrimage' {^Psalnts, SBOT, p. 211), and 
 that the phrase ' house of David ' should have become, as in Zech. xii. 
 10 (?), 'a name for the government' (A7. Pi-op/i S'>'> , p. 199). It is clear, 
 however, that the text of vv. 3-5 is not in order, and, in order to get 
 further, w"e must use the experience which we have already gained l)y digging 
 below the surface of the text. Verses 3-5 are most probably a long gloss, 
 which — in its correct form — states that the city referred to in z\ 2 had been 
 rebuilt {i.e. by the Israelites) in the Negeb, that tiie tribes (of Israel) in 
 the Negeb used to ' go up ' thither on the festivals of Vahwe, and that there 
 was the seat of judgment of the ruling Davidic house. The name of the 
 city (to be read so, both in the psalm and in the gloss) was Ishmael. This 
 is a very frefjuent synonym for Jerahmeel, and refers to a city (Beth- or 
 Gil)eath-jeral)nieel) where there was a noted sanctuary and where the kings 
 of Israel frequently dwelt (cp. on i S. x. 5 ; 2 S. xv. 11, xxiv. 8). The prophets, 
 both before and after ' the Exile,' were unfavourable to the cultus here practised 
 (see Crit. Bib., part ii. passi/ii), which was devoted partly to Yahwe, partly 
 to the Jerahmeelite god, but there is nothing rash (having regard to £zek. 
 xl. I f., xlvii. 13, cp. Isa. xix. iS, and see Crit. Bil>.) in supposing that 
 psalms and otiier writings were brought to Jerusalem from such a famous 
 centre as Beth-jerahmeel or Beth-ishmael. Ps. cxxii. can scarcely be the only 
 psalm in the Psalter which, in its original form, was a psalm of b'eth-jerahmeel, 
 but it is that which can with most probability be indicated as such, and next 
 to it stand Pss. cxxv. and cxx.xiii., cxxxiv. in their earlier forms. Under the 
 hand of the redactor, both the original psalm and the explanatory gloss sustained 
 a few important alterations. • Islimael ' of course became 'Jerusalem' (the 
 two names are often confounded, but here probably the alteration was deliberate), 
 and the gloss — already corrupt in parts — was adaj^ted to the use of orthodox 
 adherents of the Jerusalem temple. How the redactor interpreted the second 
 half of -'. 3. it is impossible for any one to say. The glossator was of course 
 wrong (as the author of Prov. xxv. i was wrong) if he meant to stamp the 
 work before him as pre-exilic. There is nothing in style or ideas to distinguish 
 our psalm from those which accompany it. The large gloss in z'v. 3-5 is 
 parallel to that in Ps. cxxxiii. Even apart from this, the two psalms — cxxii. 
 an<l cxxxiii.— may fitly be grouped together, as eulogies of the sacred metropolis. 
 
PSALM CXXII. 185 
 
 Marked. Of tJic Ishmaclites. Of 'Arab-efhati. i 
 
 I I rejoiced when they said to me, | ' Let us go to the 
 
 house of Yahwe.' 
 Our feet stood | in the gates of Ishmael.i 2 
 
 Pray for the peace of Ishmael, | let those who love her 
 
 pra}- for it ! 6 
 
 Peace be within thy castles, | prosperity within thy 
 
 towers ! 7 
 
 For the sake of my brethren and neighbours ] let me be 
 
 zealous for peace within thee ! 8 
 
 For the sake of the house of Yahwe our God [ I would 
 
 seek happiness for thee. 9 
 
 Critical Notes, i. M D''"^Q^?^, ; G eVt toTs elprjKoai. ixoi. Del., Bit. 
 
 &c. see here a prelude of a Mishnic usage ; cp. y"1(i)T3, ' when one sows,' 
 
 Mishna, Pc'a ii. 6 (Kon. § 412a). But ought we to import a Mishnic 
 usage on the ground of a ^? Read Q^;:2^^21.— 2. Read nv^^r:! (Bi., 
 
 Du.; metre), and continue 7h}^rjiy^ (cp. Crit. Bib. on Zech. xii. 11, xiv. 
 14). — In the gloss (t'T'. 3-5), besides the initial correction (cp. introd.), for 
 
 iin^ nb'nizin'-y i^yj, read D^'r^Noni^ H^?^- i^^^^"" "i^i^ On'\) 
 
 and Tirr* (cp. on Ixxxiii. 6) are regular corruptions of '^N!'.;!!")''- The 
 text-reading has never yet been shown to be intelligible (' very peculiar,' 
 says Olshausen). For n''"^tD2ti' read 7j^rjni^ 'V, i-e- the tribes of 
 
 T 
 
 Israel established (partly) in Jerahmeel {i.e. the Negeb) : cp. Crit. Bib. 
 on Judg. XX. 2 (□'n'^Nn Uyj)- For '7KTi;''? r\T\V I'C'id '^'^^ Jliy ; 
 '^ in ''<^'h is ditto-jraphic. For nDl^J read '^^<V/"2tt>"'2 (cp. Crit. Bib. on 
 
 T T 
 
 Ezek. xlviii., 35) ; Oti'^ also (like ^ti^** elsewhere ; cp. the place-names 
 ^3^ and D1^^) represents 'Qli^^. Grimme's emendations and interpre- 
 tations (p. 113 f) are most unsatisfactory, niil^ for "lin^ might pass, 
 
 T\ : 
 
 but 'O du Stadt, mit welcher Juda so eng verkettet ist,' for "1J n^lJIin, 
 is surely not a good specimen of this scholar's exegesis. 
 
 3. M ?|''7^^. If this is right, we must read the next word TT^bilj^ 
 T : • '•- T 
 
 (cp. Job xii. 6) ; so Evv., Du. But the dwellings are doubly represented 
 in the next verse. Read ^'^^^^^ The phrase 'those who love her' is 
 characteristic (cp. Isa. Ixvi. 10). — Read ^^3^^{. — 4. M TJ^rTH ; 
 
 ' Islimat'l that is l)uiU in the land of ilie Jerahmeelites, whither the tribes went 
 up — the tribes of Jerahmeel, the congregation of Israel — to give thanks to the 
 name of Vahwo. For in Ishmael were the thrones for judgment, the thrones of 
 David's house {zv. 3-5). 
 
lS6 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Bii., 'before thy wall.' But parallelism is opposed. Following the 
 
 parallels of xlviii. 14. Zech. ix. 4 read Tf-'PD'n.— 5. M rTIZLlhi. '"To 
 
 • -T •• t: — : 
 
 speak peace on some one " means so to speak that he gets peace, as 
 Ixxxvii. 3' (Dii.). Is this satisfactory? Ixxxvii. 3 is corrupt. Read 
 perhaps ^*^^'~^^^. 
 
 T : TV 
 
 PSALM CXXIII. 
 
 1 KXTAMETERS. A psalm of Complaint, to be grouped with cxx. A trans- 
 position is necessary both for the sense and for the poetical structure. 
 
 Marked. Of the Ishmaelites. I 
 
 I To thee lift T up mine eyes, | O thou that art throned in 
 
 heaven ! 
 Have pity on us, O Yahwe ! have pit}- on us, for too 
 
 much I are we filled with contempt. 3 
 
 Too much is our soul filled | with the mockery of the 
 
 proud. ^ 4 
 
 Surely as the eyes of servants | +are fixed-i- on their 
 
 master, 2 
 
 As the eyes of a handmaid '■'■ ■■'■ I +are fixed+ on her 
 mistress, 
 
 So our eyes are fixed on Yahwe our God, | until he have 
 pity on us. 
 
 Critical Notes. 3. Read ;)],*'?. In the gloss TI^H (like the proper 
 names nn and \)^y) comes from '?nr"'hJ = '?N^':2^'^ D':V\S^:i':5 (so Kt.) 
 comes from D'JV^ Jiy^ ; ^V^'O'^ 'HT' (cp. Crit. Bib. on Gen. x. 2). 
 
 PSALM CXXIV. 
 
 X ENTAMKTERS. Israel's miraculous escape. The N. Arabians must have 
 made some determined efibrt to annihilate Israel. This fresh, bright lyric 
 may be grouped with Ps. cxxix. 
 
 Marked. Of tlie IsJimaelites. Of Arab-ethau. I 
 
 I ' If Yahwe had not been for us,' | let Israel sa}-, 
 
 ' If Yahwe had not been for us, | when Aram rose up 
 
 against us, 2 
 
 ' Ishmael. The mockery of the Jcrahmeelites. 
 
PSALM CXXIV. 187 
 
 They had swallowed us up alive at the kindling | of their 
 
 wrath against us, 3 
 
 The waters ^ had overwhelmed us, [ the hillows had gone 
 
 over our soul. 4 
 
 Blessed be Yahwe, who gave us not up | to the men of 
 
 insolence ! 6 
 
 Our soul escaped as a bird | from the fowler's trap. 7 
 
 The trap broke, and we | escaped [and passed on]. 
 Our help is in the name of Yahwe, | the maker of heaven 
 and earth. 
 
 Critical Notes. (Title.) G'-^i^'Ms without 'to David.' i, 3. Cp. J. 
 P. Peters, JBL, 1884, p. 32.-2. Read D~1^^ (cxviii. 6, cxix. 134).— 4. 
 M "^TJ^ ; archaistic for TJ^ ? (Kon. ii. i, p. 245). But the case would be 
 unique. Metrically, ''TJ*i in vv. 3-5 is superfluous. It is probably a 
 corruption of DThJ, a correction of D"T^J• — ^I 12^ n7nj. Such an 
 accus. form as n^nj is very improbable, in spite of n/Tl^ in c.xx. i. 
 Moreover, 7n3 is not the right word; the wild waters which sweep all 
 away, and destroy the life of the nation, should be either D^/3^ or 
 Dv3 (cp. xlii. 8). Here, D vil is best (see on xviii. 51^) ; this requires 
 ^ihi?- Griitz proposes "irhv^l or (Aram.) '^i^HQ 'gale,' ' storm,' but 
 neither here nor in Prov. xxiii. 34, xxvi. 10 is it desirable to introduce this 
 Talmudic and Aramaic word. We have still to account for the seeming 
 omission of 7'. 5. This verse consists of a part off. 4 dittographed, with 
 the addition of the strange word D'^JlTin ('T, «7r. Xfy.) ; see next note. 
 
 5. M DH'^'y:;':' =^1^. Can this be right? (i) The victims were to 
 be ' swallowed up alive ' (/. 3), and (2) the reference off the suffix is not 
 obvious. Certainly read *ilT "'i^J^}7. The two words became parted. 
 One was misread '^^',^7 {i.e. with mark of abbreviation), and retained 
 (7'. 6) with the addition of ^HtD, a corruption of a gloss in the margin ; 
 the other was misread as '11'T. and attached to the dittograph of /. 4, 
 with the addition of the article and plural ending. Now as to r|"1J0- 
 This is simply JTIH) turned round, and with TS exchanged for ID. j~)")D 
 might mean the Euphrates, but we have no occasion to interpret even 
 the gloss so as to conflict with the other historical references in the 
 Psalter. As in Jer. xiii. 1-7 (notably) and in other passages (see criticism 
 in Crit. Bib. of the passages containing mS), j"l")3 = rn3N> which was 
 the name of a district in the N. Anibian border-land, with a stream called 
 the JIIH) "l^^— 7. Add ~)2i^5"l (metre) ; cp. c.xli. \ob. 
 
 ' IVrfali (see on /. 5). 
 
THE PSALMS. 
 
 PSALM CXXV. 
 
 1 ENTAMETKRs. Another Jerahmeelite and yet Israelite psalm has been 
 adopted and transformed so as to suit orthodox worshippers at Jerusalem 
 (cp. Ps. cxxii.). The redactor has chanj;ed the place-name [Beth-]ishmael 
 into 'Jerusalem,' and added an appendix, desiring Vahwc's mercy for the 
 good and upright, and prophesying captivity for those who adhere to the 
 heterodox community at Beth-ishmael or -jerahmeel. A suljsequenf editor 
 manipulated this appendix, so as to remove the reference to Ishmael which 
 had become superfluous. The final ' peace upon Israel ' is of course liturgical 
 (as cxxviii. 6/^). So Gr., We., Jacob, K. J. Grimm. 
 
 Marked. Of the Ishmaelites. I 
 
 I Those that trust in Yahwe are Hke mount Zion, | which 
 is for ever unmoved. 
 Ishmael — the mountains are around her, | so Yahwe is 
 
 around his people.^ 2 
 
 For the sceptre of the wicked one - shall not rest | on the 
 
 lot of the righteous, 3 
 
 The sons of iniquity shall not stretch forth | their hands 
 [against] the righteous. 
 
 Appendix to revised psalm. 
 
 Deal graciously, O Yahwe ! with the good and those of 
 
 honest heart. 4 
 
 But those who err [in] the assembly of Ishmael -^ j Yahwe 
 
 will consume. 5 
 
 Peace upon Israel. 
 
 Critical Notes, i. ]T^. A very ancient corruption of ]i'ji = '^X^'QZ'''. 
 There may therefore have been a Mt. Zion at IJeth-ishmael (see on cxxii.) 
 as well as at Jerusalem. Cp. on Am. vi. i. — 2. 2Ii^' (end of v. i) and 
 D7li'lT' 'ire both possible corruptions or alterations of '.^ti'^ ; cp. introd. 
 to Ps. cxxii. Omit xh'SV — '!") nn^^?^, which is probably an interpreta- 
 tion and expansion of a misread '7hJ,':D;m''] IT-— 3- Read y^^^^\■, with 
 G S, Gr.— For "^D*? read ':5K;:3nT ; cp. on Isa. xlviii. ii. Duhm has 
 already remarked on the awkwardness of ^j'? '^r^*? instead of ]i3, and 
 Grimme (p. 115) even says that he finds ^'Q*? unintelligible, however we 
 connect it. Following S, he reads '^'\. From our point of view, ^*!D/ 
 comes from 'tSI^HT (cp. Crit. Bib. on Isa. xlviii. 11), which is a gloss 
 
 ' Both now and for ever. - Jerahmeel. 
 
 •' The doers of iniquity. 
 
PSALM CXXVI. 189 
 
 on V'i^in.— For nj"l':'W3 read nb'W ^^2. (Ixxxix. 23 ; 2 S. vii. 10), and 
 T TT tt:- : T :- •• : 
 
 to Dpnill prefix ^]^. The passage has been edited so as to suggest 
 that worshipping at the sanctuary of Beth-jerahnieel was 'iniquity.' 
 
 5. M Qni:i':':i Dm:^"'':'v Read 2b ^'^v''b^ (xciv. 15, xcvii. u &c). 
 
 Qrn2'72 comes from Dm7p;p[y]- This was written too soon, and 
 became corrupted under the influence of 2.'7, which finally had to 
 disappear as dittographic— 6. M Dfli'^Q'ppi^ □"^iSani, doubly obscure. 
 
 No satisfactory remedy is possible except on the hypothesis that the 
 writer glances at Jerahmeelite (.Samaritan ?) heterodoxy which he abhors. 
 Dr\i7 comes from blQD (cp. on cxxix. 3), which is a regular corruption 
 of byDr\i< = biiyi2^'' (see on i S. x. n, 2 S. iii. 17). p^pV might come 
 from t'h^Qn")^ ; cp. on Hpl'?!?, Prov. xxx. 15, but more probably 
 represents '77^p2. For D"'t3Dm read D''^J^nT— M □D"'':'V, 'shall cause 
 them to go' — whither? 'Cause them to perish' (Ges.-Buhl ; cp. ^7hJ, 
 xxxix. 14), is not natural. Read D?D^^-— P^i^ ^7y3"J^^^ is a gloss on 
 
 PSALM CXXVI. 
 
 1 ENTAMETERS. A contrast between the former good fortune of Israel, who 
 for a time had seemed to be alive, but who now seems prostrate in Sheol. 
 Smend (p. S6, note; and Duhm take the perfects in vz>. 1-3 to be prophetic, 
 so that the passage is virtually a Messianic prediction. J'or 'prophetic perfect,' 
 Konig {Synf., § 133) proposes the term ' Katal perspectivum,' but remarks 
 that the optatives in vv. 5 f. would be inconsistent with the 'Katal perspectivum.' 
 To the present writer, vv. I-3 seem parallel to cxxxvii. 1-3. It is a scene 
 from idealized past history that we have before us. The psalmist's mind is 
 filled with the promises of il. Isaiah and the Chronicler's idealization of the period 
 of 'the Return' (see eg. Ezra iii. ii-iv. i). 
 
 Marked. Of the Ishmaeliles. I 
 
 I When Yahwe restored Zion to life | we were as those 
 that dream. 
 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, | and our tongue 
 
 with shouts of jo}-. 2 
 
 Then was it said/ Great things Yahwe | has done for 
 
 these. 
 Great things +indeed+ Yahwe did for us ; | we were 
 
 right glad. 3 
 
 Restore us to life, O Yahwe ! | raise up Jacob's sons. 4 
 
 Those who sowed with tears | will reap with shouts 
 
 of joy. 5 
 
 ' Among the nations. 
 
igO THE PSALMS. 
 
 Weeping may a man set lurlli | who scatters his 
 
 seed, 6 
 
 With shouts of i()\- will he' return, | bearing his 
 sheaves. 
 
 5. The loss of ' as the channels in pour water on the dry ground,' he 
 
 the south-land,' i.e. ' as torrent-beds might then have continued, ' as the 
 
 in the dry Negeh are filled by the rain channels are filled with water in the 
 
 of autumn,' can only be regretted, if Negeb in time of autumn.' What we 
 
 we prefer vagueness and inaccuracy to reejuire after /. ^a is something which 
 
 distinctness and symmetry. There is will expand and explain the phrase 
 
 no parallel for describing a torrent-bed ' restore us to life,' and the phrase we 
 
 as dead. Had the poet said, ' My soul want actually underlies the existing 
 
 longeth for thee, as a thirsty land. O text. .See crit. n. 
 
 Critical Notes. i. Most read jl^nttT or T\>'y^ for TS'y't (G 
 alx\i-a\u>(Tiav). But this is not enough. Read *i'»2 Ii'^J~j^^< ''' ^H'llt^^- 
 See on xiv. 7, Ixxxv. ib.—^. Read ^J\-li:?3rnJ^ '' 1'y\'^ (orl>^n.^). 
 To take H^l^ 'is pass. part, from 3W (Grimme, p. 115) is surely 
 
 T 
 
 most unsatisfactory. 5. M ^J3I1 Dp"'^^^^• See e.xeg. n. Read Dprt 
 
 npr'^^H (cp. isa. xiix. 6a). 'sNo=3pr Dp.i ; 3:m=3pr 'J2. 
 
 7. Point "T[Ii?D (Am. ix. 13) and oniit Xii^^ as an intrusion from v. bb 
 (We., Du.). " 
 
 PSALM cxxvir". 
 
 1 HAT Ps. cxxvii. is composite was seen by Bickell (1882), J- P- Peters (1884), 
 Biithgen (1892), and Duhm (1899). Both passages are in pentameters. The 
 former is primarily addressed to the poor who preponderate in restored Jerusalem. 
 Their houses were of weak material, and easily broken through. Nor was any 
 of the towns of Judah secure from a sudden attack of the N. Arabians (cp. 
 Neh. iv. 7 ff.). Watchmen were required to call the citizens to the walls. 
 But a secondary application lay close at hand. The term 'builders' was used 
 for the secular and spiritual authorities of the Jews. Cp. Mt. xvi. 18, Acts 
 iv. II, and cp. Levy, Neuhehr. IVorterb., s.r. ^JQ. Without the blessing of 
 Him who has promised both to 'build' (Am. ix. 11) and also to 'keep watch 
 over' (cxxi. 4) His people, the .sleepless anxiety of rulers (Eccles. viii. 16) 
 is in vain. Can we say that the psalmist recalls the 'builders' to a 'wise 
 passiveness ' (= sleep)? 'So he giveth his beloved sleep,' or ' . . . in sleep?' 
 See crit. note. 
 
 Marked. Of the hhinaelites. I 
 
 I P^xcept Yaliwe build the house, | its builders labour in 
 vain. 
 Except Yahwb keep watch over the cit}', | the watchtiian 
 vainly watches. 
 
 All in vain, ye who rise up early, | who sit down late, 2 
 
 Who eat the bread of pains | from fear of Jerahmeel. 
 
PSALMS CXXVII.-', CXXVIII. IQI 
 
 Critical Notes. (Title.) See Inti'od. TV^V^l not recognized in 
 (;(^5AT) . it springs from t'Nyi^li'^'? , a correction of m'^yron. i. Omit 
 13, a fragment of a dittograpliecl VJIH- Not recognized in G. — 4. M 
 SJi^ iin^t' \r^ ]3. For ]3 (scarcely translatable) Kamphausen and 
 Che.''' read ]3^i (cp. xxxi. 23). Griitz. and Grimme, after G S J, read 
 TTHv- But what of ^JJ^i> ? Is it an Aramaism ? Improbable; and is 
 
 T • • T •• 
 
 not the interpretation ' he gives to his beloved (in) sleep,' rather strained ? 
 And would a Hebrew writer have accepted the sentmient .-^ Duhm 
 boldly omits ^yiJ as a gloss to j"1^li^ in v. 2l> ; Grimme reads *^<JIi^ 
 
 • double (gifts).' Really, t^yiD, like ^V^1'i^ sometimes {e.g. ix. 2, Ivi. 2, &c.), 
 and like ]hJ^Ii^ in Ixviii. iS, represents a common popular distortion of 
 '^i^PQIi'^- This gives us the key to the passage. ITT'? represents 
 ':'K?.2nT (cp. mn''':', xlv. i ?), and comparing Cant. iii. 8 (read inS-^ 
 TIT) we may probably trace \r? p (or O, G) to n}^"l\'D. Cp. on 
 cxxi. 6. 
 
 PSALM CXXVII.'-' 
 
 1 ENTAMETERS. A bodyguard of stalwart sons, a desirable blessing, and the 
 reward of piety (cp. cxxviii.). 
 
 I Behold sons are a heritage of Yahwe, | the fruit of the 
 
 womb is +his+ reward. 3 
 
 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, | so are sons born 
 
 in youth. ^ 
 
 Happy the man that has tilled | his quiver with them ; 
 They will not be put to shame, when they argue | with 
 enemies in the gate. 
 
 4. This presupposes a time of David they preface tlie fight by a 
 
 peace. Those who use the psalm are dispute or (Bevan ap. Kirkpatrick, 
 not themselves ^lobortan or ' warriors ; \ 1 i , • 
 
 all their fights are for justice in the P" 753) by a boastuig-match ' like the 
 
 ' gate ' (cp. Am. v. 10, 12, 15), and Jy/^/F(7iar« of the Arabs ?— Read t^^l^"' 
 here, wheu old and feeble, they need ->->^» 
 
 the support of a numerous family. Or *^"^ '^IV S° <^vi.'iz (in the main), 
 
 may we suppose that like Goliath and Duhm. 
 
 PSALM CXXVIII. 
 
 lENTA METERS. Again the blessings of the righteous in time of peace. The 
 close seems defective. 
 
192 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Marked. Of the Ishmaelites. i 
 
 I Happ3' is every one that fears Yahwe, | that walks in 
 his ways. 
 What thy hands gain thou dost eat, | happy, thou, +yea+ 
 
 fortunate. ~ 
 
 Thy wife is hke a fruitful vine | in the recesses of thy 
 
 house. 3 
 
 Thy sons like offshoots of an olive | around thy table. 
 
 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed | that fears Yahwe ! 4 
 Yahwe shall bless thee out of Zion, | -■■ ". 5 
 
 And thou shalt behold the good fortune of Ishmael | 
 
 all the days of th)- life, 
 And thou shalt see sons of th}- sons, | '■'• ■''. 6 
 
 Peace upon Israel ! 
 
 3. Probably the seclusion of women olives wliich have sprung from its 
 was a custom of the capital. — 4. In roots become ready to take its place. 
 
 □"•Jl^T 'hrW there is a double plural For the phrase cp. D"'T"l^i 'hTW 
 
 ending (cp. Ges.-K., § 125, 2a), but ^^D^*?^, Sirach 1. 12, and the possible 
 
 the sense is the same as in /TT wTW ■ reading p"T^rT "^pTW in Isa. Ixi. 3 
 
 As the parent tree decays, the young {SBOT, Isa., Heb., p. 161). 
 
 Critical Notes. 2. Omit ''D (not known to G) ; dittography. So 
 Griitz, Duhm. — 5. Omit ^3 (from a dittographed p), with Gr. — 
 7. For '1~)> read perhaps 'Q'li;^ (see on cxxii.). Duhm suggests that the 
 first nNTl may have been miswritten for "^"2^. — 9. Liturgical (cxxv. 5). 
 
 PSALM CXXIX. 
 
 X KNTAMETERS. A companion ^o Ps. cxxiv. To the pious community which 
 speaks it appears as if the long series of N. Arabian outrages was finally 
 closed, or, as he puts it, as if Yahwe ' had snapped the fetters of the wicked.' 
 Still he knows tiiat ' haters of Zion ' are not extwict, and utters an impassioned 
 prayer against them. If we ask, who the 'haters of Zion' are, the answer 
 is that like the ' wicked ' they are the N. Arabian foes, among whom Sanballat 
 and Tobiah (if these figures are historical) must be included. Cp. Neh. ii. 10. 
 
 For ^mpjiD, V. 2, used of Israel, cp. IIos. ii. 17, xi. i, Jer. ii. 2, xxii. 21, 
 
 xxxi. 19, xxxii. 30, Ezek. xvi., xxiii. 3. For v. ib, cp. cxxiv. lb (cxviii. 2a 
 is doubtful). For v. 3a it is usual to compare Isa. Ii. 23, but the parallelism 
 
 is imaginary. Jlin in vv. i f. as cxx. 6, cxxiii. 4. 
 
PSALM CXXIX. 
 
 Marked. Of the Ishviaelites. 
 
 193 
 
 I Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth up, | let 
 Israel say, 
 Greatly have they afflicted me from m}- youth up, | 3-ea, 
 
 they have prevailed against me, — 2 
 
 The sons of Jerahmeel and the Ashhurites, | the Arabians 
 
 and the Ishmaelites,i 3 
 
 +But+ Yahwe, the righteous, has snapped | the cords of the 
 
 wicked. 4 
 
 Let them have to retreat with shame — | all the haters 
 
 of Zion ! 5 
 
 Let them be as grass on the housetops | which the east 
 
 wind has scorched ; 6 
 
 With which no reaper fills his hand, | no binder of 
 
 sheaves his lap, 7 
 
 Nor do passers-by give the greeting, [ ' Yahwe's blessing 
 upon vou.' - 
 
 Critical Notes. 2. M '^'^ ^^'^'^^b D^ • But is this possible ? Again 
 and again Israel had been overpowered by its neighbours. Our doubt 
 will be confirmed by an examination of the text of v. 3. Most probably 
 ^^7 and ■''^ arc competing readings ; we have to choose between ' yet 
 they prevailed not' and ' they even prevailed against me ' (cf. the com- 
 bination of readings — ^J'^^7--in xxvii. 13). It is best to read "^^ •I'^D^ DD • 
 
 :t - 
 
 3- M DDiaya':' •\2'''^tir\ wf^h ^tTi -^iirbv (Kt.), or djI^ji'd'? 
 
 T -:-: ••.•:•.• . : :t . - "=■ t •-:-: 
 
 (Kr.). The idea of 'ploughing on the back' is peculiar. Does ^;i 
 
 really mean 'back'? BDB affirms this, and refers also to Ezek. x. 12, 
 a doubtful passage. If we had to insist on the meaning 'back' just here, 
 surely we should prefer to read ''")il~'737- But the figure presupposed by 
 
 M IS most improbable. Isa. li. 23 gives only a distant analogy ; we 
 should certainly have to alter ' ploughmen ' into ' passengers ' to make 
 it worth referring to. There are two clues to the mystery of v. 3. 
 (l) G renders fVi tqv vanuv fxov (TtKraivov 01 iifiapruikoi, i.e. for D"'Ii^"ir7 
 it reads DVIi*"! ! (-) QmjJ/Q'?, about which the ancients doubted 
 greatly, and from which moderns have been far too hasty in deriving a 
 word r\'y^t2, 'field for ploughing,' begins with a group of letters which 
 
 ' Jerahmeel. ^ We bless you in Yahwe's name, 
 
 II. O 
 
194 THE PSALMS. 
 
 sometimes represents '^NDHT' (see on cxw. 3), while the final letters 
 Dj~|T may liave come from Dm*?, which occupies a corresponding 
 position in a suspicious group of letters in cxxv. 5, where it almost 
 certainly comes from t'lDJl = '^hJ^QlfV This throws a light on the 
 D''i?ttn , which C read for □"•li'in • "1 , <is probably in some other 
 cases in the Pss., may represent D^"^^ti/^} ■ Now we can see what 
 7'. 3 is ; it is a list of the names of the chief peoples which ' afflicted' 
 Israel and ' prevailed against ' him. D^ti'in V^dn represents a ditto- 
 graphed D"'"in;:>S- ID'^INH, like imjr inxlvlii. 5, represents D''2"}r- 
 ''3:1"'?^ represents, not ^^fbv (Houb.), but '7NQnT""'2^. Read, 
 therefore, — 
 
 4. M jli^y, according to Bii, the harness of the ox. From our 
 newly-won point of view we must read ^Jl')^^ (ii. 3?). 
 
 6. M tO'' ^bu} DDI^'I)- On the versions, see note in /'i-.'", and 
 ••T -T - :'-v 
 
 Hii. ad he. The true (] had fBaudijaai (cp. Theodoret). 2 has (kkov- 
 Xijo-ai, whence Bii, 'before it shoots up in the stalk.' Von Ortenberg 
 {Tcxtkritik , 30), Wellh., and Duhm would read ^711, a niore likely word, 
 doubtless, than "^V-, 'to draw out, or off.' But DQlpIi' is equally 
 troublesome ; is not Hebrew, but Aramaic. Targ. suggests a remedy. 
 It gives two renderings, (i) y^iiH Dip ]D"T, and (2) Vi.'C:r\\> mi ^n^< 
 T^^n^inj^T n"*! TJn:. Herz, reading pnj, suggests ^t^S D^ljT^ 
 "V'y ■ I5ut n^j"1J , 'blows (upon it),' seems a better reading, and 
 suggests P)"T;t;, 'scorches"; cp. Isa. xxxvii. 27. Read ^p^^IJ DHpIi^ [So, 
 too, recently Marti, Jesaia., p. 156, 'perhaps "^ D"'"TpIi^-' Grimme 
 (1903) reads c^':)'^^! D"*lpIi^ omitting '<i)y as a gloss. J. P. Peters 
 
 (1884) d"?::'.] 
 
 - T 
 
 8. The gloss {v. Zb) is tautological, and metrically superfluous. 
 
 PSALM CXXX. 
 
 A KNTAMETERS. A lerveni appeal for the destruction of tliose enemies of the 
 ' tear of \'ahwt; ' {i.e. of true religion) — Maacah and Jerahmeel (cp. Pss. cxl., 
 cxlii.). The iron had entered into the soul of the writer of this pathetic 
 poem. A later editor, working probably on a text that was already corrupt, 
 moditied parts of it so as to make the psalm an expression of liumble faith 
 in Nahwe's covenant-love suitable for his own antl for each coming age. We 
 cannot therefore interpret this psalm in the manner of Luther and Wesley. 
 It is in its original form an appeal for help in special historical circumstances 
 (cp. OP, 54). There is no consciousness of any special sin of the pious com- 
 
PSALM CXXX. ig5 
 
 munity, but the sore troubles under which Israel still sufters prove to him 
 that there are 'unobserved sins' (cp. xix. 13) whicli have excited the divine 
 wratli. The psalmist pleads for a restoration of favour ; for further success 
 of Jerahmeel would mean the extinction of true religion. ' Who will give thee 
 thanks in Sheol ' (vi. 6). 
 
 Marked. Of the Ishmaelites. I 
 
 I Because of those of Maacah I call upon thee, O Yahwe ! | 
 
 ^ hearken to \\\y voice, 2 
 
 Attentive be thine ears | to the sound of my supplica- 
 tion ! 
 
 Didst thou keep iniquities in view, O Yahwe ! | who, O 
 
 Lord ! could stand ? 3 
 
 Make an end of Maacah and Jerahmeel | because of thy 
 
 fear. _|. 
 
 My soul waits for Yahwe, | and for his word do I hope : 5 
 
 From Misrim even to Jerahmeel | he will deliver Israel. 
 
 For with Yahwe is lovingkindness, | and plenteous 
 
 redemption, 6 
 
 And he will redeem Israel | from those of Jerahmeel.^ 
 
 2. Jli3It'p ^^JT^i • Cp. 2 Chr. is to be tempered by the recollection 
 
 vi. 40, vii. 15; Neh:\:6, II. Duhm '''^' ''^^ divine Judge who, in bis 
 
 doubtstheindebtednessof theChronicler l^^f.'^y' S'-^^^s pardon, can also, m his 
 
 fur this phrase to the writer of Ps. cxxx. ■!"' ''^' ^"^ he passage, however, 
 
 But see on Ps. cxxxii.-4. The tradi- '^ > "" ,";f^"f P'^'"' ^"^1 ^^^^ "«' ^^ 
 
 tional text is best explained as a state- "".*^^^%"°^ \ ^^^ '^"^'^"^ ^^^^^°"^ (^P- 
 
 ment that the joyful sense of forgiveness ^'^-'Z^^' '^S^, p. 662). .See cnt. n. 
 
 Critical Notes. Cp. Haupl's very bold restoration of the text, 
 Hebrnica, Jan. 1886, pp. 98-106. 
 
 I. !M D'pQiJQr^ ; cp. Ixix. 3, 15, where the word occin-s in a 
 
 figurative description of Israel's rapid approach to national extinction. 
 There is, however, no such figure here ; the speaker does not say that he 
 is 'sinking into the floods.' Indeed, from the psalm in its present form 
 we get no clear idea what the trouble was by which the speaker was 
 perturbed. The historical colouring has to be restored. Considering 
 that p'O^ again and again {c.i^. Ix. 8) represents JHD^D. we may reasonably 
 read here DTIDl'QQ ; cp. parallel psalms (xxviii., xxxi., cxvi., cxliii., and 
 
 especially cxl.). — Omit ^3TX with Duhm (metre). 
 
 ' O Lord. - Ishmael. 
 
196 THE PSALMS. 
 
 4. M i^'\^n ]yDb ntl^hu;! ^^y"''3. On the exegetlcal difficulty 
 of this passage, see above, and reference to Biithgen. (a) ^}"^^^l first 
 requires notice. Haupt (op. at.) would read J^^ITI, 'a rare synonym of 
 riKT' (/•'•■ 'religion'). Jerome {0pp., Mignc, i. 865 f., Episf. cvi.) 
 recognizes a reading ' Thira.' Griitz, ^H^i^ ; Duhm, T|21I0- Haupt's 
 word, however, is a fiction, those of Gratz and Duhm are too weak 
 What we require (see exeg. n.) is TJJIJ^T- This easily became corrupted 
 into 'Jinn and rn^H (cp. on i. 2) the former of which readings is 
 presupposed by 2 e, and may (cp. the case of G in Isa. xlii. 4) underlie 
 the traditional Septuagint rendering eveKev Tor, oi-o^iHToj a-ov (a scribe's 
 
 alteration of voanv nov'^). {/>) nn^'?Dn ; cp. IDnil, t-. 7. JllH^j'^D 
 
 T . : - V V - . : 
 
 occurs in Neh. ix. 17, Dan. ix. 9 ; n'j'D in Ixxxvi. 5 ; while n7D, 'to 
 forgive,' is common. It is odd, however, that the speaker, when in 
 such sore straits, should not directly beseech for forgiveness, and 
 the clause 'DH ^Qyl does not connect well with what follows. What 
 we expect is a petition, the ground of which would be given in '^^^ ]},^D^, 
 and if possible we desiderate an ethnic. Most probably niTt'DH 
 should be 'pMQni^ (or — ^1), and a verb with possibly another ethnic 
 underlies "It^V ^2- (^) ^^ ^^ those two words we cannot have much 
 doubt. ']Dy, as so often, represents DD^rj ; ^D may come from '73, 
 I.e. n'73. Read therefore, "?J/1S"i; ])lt2h \ 'Hl^T DDVD H^D- 
 
 5 f. This couplet (=;-'7'. 5-7<;m) has received dittographic accretions. 
 Read probably, — 
 
 . : T T :. : . : - t:'. 
 
 Line 6 alone requires justification. □^"IT^tS/rj 'more than watchmen (look 
 
 out) for the morning ' is improbable. The ellipsis of a verb is strange, nor 
 is it clear who these anxious watchmen are. G renders dni) (pvXaKfjs Trpcotas 
 Kol /xfxp' vvKTik ; J, ' a vigilia matutina usque ad vigiliam matutinam.' G's 
 rendering presupposes n>yi;;i ')p2n Di:2Z''^D- Now both -)p2 
 and nb'h are current corruptions of 7K;^nn\ while r\'^!2Vi^ niay 
 possibly come from "inii'i^. Thus, rejecting a dittogram. we get 'from 
 
 Ashhur even to Jerahmcel,' while the DH'Sli'I^S of M may (cp. ~ni£'\':3, 
 cxliii. 10) come from D"'"lJiQi^- In this case, 7n^ must represent a verb 
 meaning 'he will gatiier' or 'deliver.' Read y'?n^, and insert "Jlhi. 
 
 mn'~'^S = 'n~l^, a marginal gloss. The whole context now becomes 
 clear. The prayer in /. 4 is sure of an answer, for it is based on a ' word ' 
 of promise, viz. such a prophecy as Isa. xxvii. 12. Then, in //. 7, 8 the 
 psalmist sums up. 'For (=in fact) Yahwi's lovingkindness and his 
 
PSALMS cxxxi., cxxxir. 197 
 
 design to redeem Israel are eternal ; he will certainly redeem Israel 
 from Jerahmeelite oppression.' — .M Vni^iy b'3'2, '.''• ' from all his 
 iniquities'; 'punishments' would be arbitrary. In xxv. 22 (parallel), 
 Tjin:; 'p^TD. Read, however, D'''7^^^J^■»V0. Cp. "»m'D "pID, Ixxxvii. 7 ; 
 
 Dmjp^'?, cxxx. 4. Both these represent D v>^!2m^ . T^ has dropped 
 out before I?, or rather has become 3- 
 
 PSALM CXXXI. 
 
 1 KNTAMETERS. The speaker iirofesses his humility and self-abasement. 
 According to S (also Gratz and Haupt), the psalm refers to the high-priest 
 Jeshua. The central portion probably contained some reference to Jerahmeelite 
 oppression. The editor received it in a corrupt form, but succeeded in making 
 out of this an edifying substitute for the true text. Cp. Smend, p. 138. 
 
 Marked. Of the Jsliniaelites. Of 'Afab-cthan. i 
 
 I Not haughty ! O Yahwt-, is my heart, ] not lofty are 
 mine eyes, 
 Neither move I amidst great matters, | and things too 
 arduous for me. 
 
 , But I bowed down and quieted (?) | my soul ■•- * 2 
 
 Jerahmeel * '■' | '■'•■ '■'■'• 
 
 Hope, O Israel, for Yahwe | both now and for evermore. 
 
 Critical A'ates. 3. M S'?"D^?• This may be right (see Kon., 
 ^SSS.s"; §391^)- I^i-it Herz's suggestion of □7^^^ is plausible. — 
 M'"/T'Vi', 'I have levelled,' /.t-. 'composed'.? .Surely not. G, franeivo- 
 (f)p,;vovi' = T\')np; cp. T[''W, fi'om "'jiriDliN cxix. 30. What follows looks 
 like a series of attempts to read an ill-written '^NOm^ (7D^ corrupt, as 
 ^.(^^. in Judg. viii. 21, 26). 
 
 PS.\LM CXXXI I. 
 
 1 Ri.METERS. Two sccnes from tlie history of the temple, both psychologically 
 treated, i.e. with regard to what might be the feelings and sentiments of the 
 persons concerned. The scenes arc : — i. David's zealous preparations for the 
 Ijuilding of llie temple, and 2. the dedication, or rather (since there is no mention 
 of David's son, and 7'. 11 is plainly the reminisccnse of a later. Scripture-loving 
 age) the re-dedication of Valuvc's sanctuary, but what sanctuary? The temple 
 at Jerusalem, or that which many passages compel us to suppose to have existed 
 at Beth-jcrahmeel in the Ncgeb? The analogy of Pss. cxxii., cxxv., and cxxxiii. 
 permit, and the critical necessities of r. 6 require, a decision in favour of the 
 latter. See notes on //. 3 ff., 11, and Introduction. 
 
igS THE PSALMS. 
 
 Diilim denies the genuineness of w. 9 f., wliich he holds to be interpolated 
 from 2 Chr. vi. 41 f., only with a sUght alteration in accordance with v. 16. 
 Surely this is not the most natural view. We need not, however, suppose that the 
 Chronicler himself borrowed from our psalm. It seems probable that it was 
 a late redactor of Chronicles who introduced the passage referred to. For Dr. 
 J. P. Peters' view on Pss. cxxxii.-cxxxiv. (to which he assigns a different 
 origin from the preceding ' pilgrim-i)salms'), seeyAV-, 1894, p. 39. On Zenner's 
 view on Ps. cxxxii., see Kiinig, Stylistih, pp. 352 ff. ; I). II. Midler, Strophen- 
 baii, p. 7. 
 
 Marked. Of tlw Ishmaelites. I 
 
 '■■ he swore to Yahwe, 2 
 
 And vowed to the Steer of Jacob, 
 
 ' I will not enter the tent where I dwell, 3 
 
 Nor go up on the couch where I rest, 
 No sleep will I give to mine eyes, 4 
 
 No slumber to mine eyelids, 
 
 Until I obtain a place for Yahwe, 5 
 
 10 A habitation for the Steer of Jacob.' 
 
 Behold, ye Ishmaelites in Ephrathah,i 6 
 
 Ye Ishmaelites in the highland of Jair : 2 
 Let us enter his habitation, 7 
 
 Let us fall low before his footstool. 
 
 Arise, O Yahwe ! to take thy resting-place, 8 
 
 Thou and thy victorious ark : 
 
 May thy priests be arrayed with +\\\s\ righteousness, 9 
 And thy pious ones sing aloud ! 
 
 For the sake of thy servant David, lO 
 
 20 Do not thou repulse thy pious ones. 
 
 Yahwe has sworn-' in his faithfulness, 1 1 
 
 And from it he will not go back; 
 ' Offspring of thy body [perpetually] 
 Will I set upon th}' throne. 
 
 If thy sons observe mine ordinance, 12 
 
 And mine admonitions which I teach them. 
 As a recompense, their sons perpetually 
 Shall sit upon thy throne.' 
 
 ^ Ashhur-jcrahmeel (r'. i). " Gibeath-ishmael {r\ i). 
 
 •* To David. 
 
PSALM CXXXII. 
 
 For Yahvve has chosen Zion, 
 30 He has desired it for his own dwelhng : 
 
 ' This is my perpetual resting-place, 
 Here will I dwell, for I desire it. 
 
 Her princes I will bless, 
 
 Her poor I will satisfy with bread, 
 
 Her priests I will array with +my+ deliverance. 
 
 Her pious ones shall sing aloud. 
 
 There will I make a horn to shoot forth for David, 
 I have prepared a lamp for mine anointed : 
 His enemies I will array with dishonour, 
 40 But upon himself shall his diadem sparkle.' 
 
 199 
 
 15 
 
 j6 
 
 17 
 
 I f. The received text has, ' Remem- 
 ber, O Yahwe ! to David all the trouble 
 that he took,' though the last word 
 (1/l1il^*) is difficult, and it is not easy 
 
 to see how David can be personally 
 rewarded at a future time for his long- 
 past exertions. May we then suppose 
 that David is to be recomjienscd in tiie 
 person of his descendant {c't. 17 f.), 
 accordini; to the later doctrine of the 
 merits of the fathers (Weber, Judische 
 Thcologie,^^^ 292) ? If the received text 
 is right, there is no better solution, but 
 how does this agree with J^^Ii'J Iti^N, 
 ' he who swore ' ? Clearl)' tlie text is 
 wrong. See crit. note. 
 
 3 ff. Swore to Yahwe. &c. 
 
 Duhm (p. 279) and Sellin {SeriiOl/aM, 
 ]). 185) lay great stress on tlie dis- 
 crepancy between the language of the 
 * vow ' here ascribed to David and the 
 statements in 2 S. vi.-vii. 2 ; the pas- 
 sage commonly adduced as an ilkistra- 
 tion (2 S. vii. 2) is rather fitted to stir 
 up doubts as to the Kiblical basis of 
 the psalmist's words. To explain this 
 difficulty, .Sellin supposes that the 
 ' David' spoken of is really Zerubbabel, 
 who was regarded for a time as the 
 Messianic king ; Duhm, that the 
 psalmist draws from ' a legend un- 
 known to us, perliaps in a life of 
 David, whicii has not come down to us, 
 at least in the part with which we are 
 concerned.' Tlie latter view seems the 
 nearer to the truth. In CriL Bib., 
 jip. 26S 'i'i. , reason is given for holding 
 that tlie place to which David brought 
 
 the ark was Beth-jerahmcel in the 
 Negeb, where (not less than at Jeru- 
 salem) the hill with the citadel was 
 called Siyyon (a corruption, most pro- 
 bably, of 'Ishmael'). The conquest 
 of this place finally secured his hold on 
 the A>geb — the ' holy land ' of the 
 
 Israelites. ' Obtain ' (^}iiQ) in /. 9 
 means ' win by conquest. '-3p^^ 1^3N- 
 So Isa. i. 34, xlix. 26, and especially 
 Gen. xlix. 24. In /. 10 the deity thus 
 designated is represented as dwelling in 
 the temple. This agrees with the view 
 that 1^3h} is more properly pointed 
 
 "I'^J^ (cp.' £nc. Bib., ' Names,' § 121) 
 and is to be rendered ' Steer ' (cp. 
 W1 n'•2^}), and that this is con- 
 
 T T .. . - 
 
 nected with the worship of Yahwe 
 under the symbolic form of a steer 
 overlaid with gold, which was specially 
 practised in the Negeb (see Crit. Bib. 
 on I K. xii. 25 ff.) ; also with the view 
 that the sanctuary ' obtained ' by David 
 was not at Jerusalem, but at Beth- 
 jerahmeel. — The ienl. In 2 S. vii. 2 
 David speaks of dwelling in a 'house 
 of cedar.' Here, he may speak as one 
 who leads the tent-life of a warrior 
 (2 S. xi. 11). 
 
 II. The critics have rightly seen 
 that this is the fundamental passage. 
 The text of M runs, ' Lo, we heard o. 
 it in Ephrathah, we found it in the fields 
 (or, field) of Jaar,' which most explain, 
 ' We heard that the ark was at Eph- 
 rathah, and (or, but) found it at Kirjath- 
 
200 
 
 THE PSALMS 
 
 iearim.' Some think Ephralhah means 
 "Ephraim, and tlial Shiloh is referred 
 to; otlicrs, reminding us (see Del.) 
 that in i Chr. ii. 50 Kirjalh-jearim is in 
 the fiimily of Ephralhah, suppose thai 
 Ephralhah was the name of the district 
 round Kirjath-jearim. The latter place, 
 it is true, is prominent in the stoiy of 
 the ark (see i S. vi. 21, vii. i f. : cp. 
 2 S. vi. 2), Inil this does nol justify ihe 
 theory that Kirjalh-jearim also bore the 
 name of Jaar or S'de Jaar. And how 
 can the fern, suffix H — be made to refer 
 
 T 
 
 to ]"1"1S , which does not occur till 
 <'. 8, and which is only exceptionally 
 (l S. iv. 17, 2 Chr. viii. 11) fern.? 
 Hence Biithgen has struck out a pecu- 
 liar view of Tiis own — ' We have heard 
 of it {i.e. of David's doings) in Eph- 
 ralhah (Iklhlehem), and spread the 
 news (mjSijin) in the region of 
 
 woods' ( = 'in Wald und Feld'). If, 
 however, we use our experience of 
 recurrent types of corruption, there 
 cannot be much doubt as to the true 
 reading and rendering. The names 
 ' Ishmael' and 'Jerahmeel' cannot be 
 mistaken, underlying three of the words 
 in M's text, and with this the undeniable 
 reference to ' Ephrathah ' is in perfect 
 harmony, ' Ephrath ' or 'Ephralhah,' 
 not less than ' Belh-lehem,' being a 
 Negeb name (see Crit. Bib. on Gen. 
 XXXV. 16, I S. i. i). We might, of 
 course, suppose 7'. 6 to be a gloss, 
 staling where the ' place for Yah we' 
 was, viz. in the Ephrathile or Jerah- 
 meelite Ishmael. But some link be- 
 tween V. 5 and V. 7 is indispensable, 
 and this link is obtained by reading as 
 proposed in crit. note. Accepting this, 
 the speaker of v. 6 is some prominent 
 Israelite who dwelt in the Negeb in the 
 post-exilic period, and who, like the 
 author of Pss. cxxii. and cxxv., was 
 devoted to the temple of Vahwe in the 
 Negeb — such a one as the writer of 
 Isa. xix. 18 (see Crit. Jiib. ad loc). 
 He summons his fellow-Israelites — 
 whom, in accordance with an archaic 
 usage, he calls ' Ishmaelites,' because 
 tiiey dwelt in Ishmael or Jerahmeel 
 {j.c. the Negeb) — to enter the m-Mly 
 /-tf5/<';Y^/ temple, and unite in prayer to 
 Yahwe to take up his abode in the 
 sanctuary. Archaizing again, he couj^les 
 with the divine name a mention of the 
 ark. As a conseciuence of the presence 
 of the numeii he expects jierfect pros- 
 perity alike for the priestly aristocracy 
 
 and the 'pious' latty. ('Righteous- 
 ness ' in V. 9fl means Yahwe's righteous 
 gift of prosperity — not 'moral inno- 
 cence,' or even ' ritual correctness.' 
 The latter interpretation would imply 
 that the psalmist made a side-hit at the 
 priests as deficient in 'righteousness,' 
 wliich is highly improbable). Lastly, 
 the speaker — as the spokesman of the 
 community — beseeches ^'ahwe not to 
 re[)ulse the l/asidini (see crit. note), out 
 of regard to the merits of David. So, 
 then, the psalmist looks forward to a 
 Messianic age, when the central spot 
 in the estimation of true Israelites shall 
 be the temple in the Negeb. See Crit. 
 Bill, on Isa. Ixvi. i f., Ezek. xl. i f., 
 xlvii. 13. 
 
 21-30. The psalmist summarizes 
 2 S. vii. 12 ff. No fresh divine oracle 
 is needed, for ' hath he said, and 
 shall he not do it ? ' But how does the 
 jisalmist understand the promise in v. 
 12? Surely his idea is that there will 
 be, nol a single Messiah, but a line of 
 Messianic kings. And the reason 
 which he offers for this expectation is 
 that Yahwe has chosen Zion for his 
 perpetual abode ; a king is the earthly 
 guardian of the divine mansion. Cp. 
 Ixxviii. 68, where the ciioice of Zion 
 precedes the choice of David. 
 
 31-40. Yahwe is the speaker. Is 
 there, then, a fresh oracle after all j* 
 No ; the passage does but restate the 
 chief particulars in the Messianic pro- 
 mise. Abundant food for the poor 
 (Joel ii. 26) ; prosperity and warlike 
 power of the Davidic house (for 
 phraseology, cp. Ixxxix. 18, 25, Ezek. 
 xxix. 21). ^^DiJ^i may allude to 
 Jar. xxiii. 5, xxxiii. 15, Zech. iii. 8, 
 vi. 12 (see Del.), ^ii^^ {v. 16) defines 
 Ihe meaning of p^^ in f. 9. Cp. Isa. 
 
 Ixi. 10. — 38. / have prepared a lamp. 
 Cp. I K. xi. 36, XV. 4, 2 K. viii. 19, 
 2 Chr. xxi. 7, Prov. xx. 20. As long 
 as the lamp shines, the family survives. 
 An l'"gyptian funerary text says, ' When 
 this tlame is prepared for him, he will 
 escape perishing for ever ; his spirit 
 will live on perpetually' (Diimichen, 
 ZA, 1883, p. 11-15; cp. Erman, ZA, 
 1882, p. 12). Cp. the Jewish custom 
 of keeping a lighted lamp in the death- 
 chamber for seven days after the 
 funeral, and the festival of lamps in the 
 Punjab, at which the souls of ancestors 
 visit the houses (Frazer, Golden Boug/i'^'' 
 ii. 176. 
 
PSALM CXXXII. 201 
 
 Critical Noks. i f. iM ij-|i3l7~'?3 Ptti 111'? mn>-")iDT. The diffi- 
 
 ••. T •• • T : : 
 
 culty of this passage as a whole has been already pointed out (see exeg. 
 note). It has now to be remarked that this is the only example of an 
 infin. Pual with suffix. And what a poor sense it gives — "all his being 
 bowed down' (or 'afflicted') ! Perles (after G S) reads ijll^^, 'his 
 humility '=' his piety.' But this is surely too rare a word, and the 
 general difficulty remains. Very probably the editor recast a marginal 
 gloss consisting of the words '?^iyQI:;"' r\^i:\ b'i^'^'HI^ ''\T\W'i^, i-c 
 Ashhur-jerahmeel, Gibeath-ishmael; ~)iZ)T = 'i:'hi , *? mH"' = '7hJ;:2m'' ; 
 
 in = 111:;^ (cp. on judg. X. i) ; im^;? = n;?^^ : ^2 r\\^-b)^v^'^'' 
 
 (cp. 7_p^J^^^) — the two last words are transposed. The whole is a double 
 gloss on //. II, 12. 'Ephrathah' is explained by 'Ashhur-jerahmeel,' 
 ' the highland of Jair ' by ' Gibeath-ishmael ' ; i.e. ' Ephrath ' was ec[uiva- 
 lent to 'Ashhur' and 'Jair' to ' Ishmael.' — 2. "^"yVI "l^i^ , 'he who 
 swore'? or 'because he swore'? Not improbably "Tu!.'^^ comes from 
 ~nc*St=:•^^^l^^^, a dittogram (see on //. i f.).— 4, 10.— M T:l^i ; see 
 exeg. n. — 11 f. Admit that the influence which on the whole dominated 
 both in the early and in the later history was N. Arabian, and all becomes 
 clear. ~)J7% of course, represents ~T'3/\ i.e. '?i<iDn~l* {c^. Cj-H. Bid. on 
 I S. xxii. 5) ; ^J1~)^^< = rnSJ^ in the Negeb (cp. i Chr. ii. 19) ; 
 m:>';:2i:? (cp. '(:2t!, cxli. 5 ; D"'J(:Dlt^, Isa. xxviii. I, 4 ; and ppDIi') comes 
 from D''':?^J^DIi'^ and mDNii::^ (cp. ]Xi%lxxvii. 21, and I^^J, Ixxviii. 12) 
 also from this word. Read — 
 
 nj"Ti3>i3 D^':'Nr!:3i:r> n:in 
 
 T T : V : • •• : : • •• . 
 
 For the second ''^V^ we should perhaps read D^t'N.'jrn* ; such a 
 repetition is most probally often due to scribes. 
 
 16. For "^Ty G erroneously presupposes TJIO (cp. on Ixxxix. 20). — 
 20. M ^n^*yi;:j. An editor of Chronicles (2 Chr. vii. .\2a ; see introd.) 
 understood z'. 10 as a petition for Solomon. Olsh. and Del. accept this 
 view. Hitzig and Hupfeld, however, think that (strange as it may seem) 
 David is meant, and Wellhausen holds that 'the "Anointed," originally 
 referring to Solomon, is applied here to Israel (cp. xxviii. 8),' and the 
 present writer thought in 1891 that here and in xxviii. 8, Ixxxiv. 10, the 
 ' Anointed ' was probably a high priest in Persian times {OP, 199,338, 
 350). The three passages referred to inust be taken together, and in 
 all of them the best sense is obtained by reading, not n^li'D. but l^DH- 
 
 21. Omit '^'\'^') (gloss), and read ^^1^.^^<21. jl^hi cannot be accus. 
 
202 THE PSALMS. 
 
 to y2'i£?J, and i^ not naturally taken as the casus adverbialis (T). 
 —23. Insert lynV («'• i-). fo'' metre.— 33. M HTi; . C (true text) tvi; 
 6i]pav (corrupted in J<, cp. \g., into x'}/J«'')- ^^"t ' nihil est in venaiione, 
 sivc iiOo, vel adversum, vel simile pauperibus.' Read nnii,' (Houb.)- 
 
 ' T V T 
 
 PSALM CXXXIII. 
 
 1 EM AMliTiiR.s. I'erhaps the most difficult of all the psalms. The exegetical 
 problems are great, and the resulting critical problem — viz. how the psalm as a 
 whole is to be understood — is proportionally great. Assuming the correctness 
 of the text it has been held, (i) that the psalm describes the pleasure and profit 
 of the meeting of Israelites at Jerusalem at the great festivals, (2) that it is an 
 admonition to those w hose constant residence at Jerusalem might lead to friction 
 (especially Zerubhabel and Jeshua). Kirkpatrick would connect the psalm with 
 is'eliemiah's efforts to re-people Jerusalem (Neh. xi. i ft".), so that it would become 
 an ideal picture of the benefits of a ' strong and united metropolis, at once the 
 religious and political centre of the country.' This is in accordance with his 
 interpretation of cxxii. 3, where he thinks it possible ' that the sight of the 
 
 restored city [T^FT^ H'^'iminii^] is to the poet's eye an emblem of the mutual 
 
 harmony of its inhabitants or of the unity of the nation.' The two psalms are no 
 doubt parallel. But the conclusion at which we have arrived respecting the text 
 of cxxii. 3 may well make us doubt any inference based on the supposed accuracy 
 of the text. When we look into the details, this critical scepticism is more than 
 justified. ' Aaron's beard ' is surely a needless importation of the ancestor of the 
 legal priests. Not less full of improbability is v. 3. Apparently the psalmist 
 mentions the points from which and to which the dew (that precious gift of 
 heaven, Deut. xxxiii. 13, 28) descends. The summit of Ilermon is one of these 
 points, the ' mountains of Zion ' are the other. Vet surely it is impossible to 
 maintain that the dew on the bare heights around Jerusalem are comparable to the 
 proverbially abundant dew on the range of Hermon. Attempts no doubt have 
 been made to explain and justify this unnatural combination (see Eiic. Bib., 
 ' Dew,' § 2(^), as well as the strange phrase ' Aaron's beard' in v. 2. But the 
 only real remedy is to criticize the text. (Iriitz, Bickell, and even Duhm have not 
 been radical enough. Nor is it enough to suggest with Land ( Theol. 7'i/dsc/irift, 
 1S72, pp. 572-575) that z'. 3 may be an interpolation due to a later pilgrim, who 
 also inserted the reference to Aaron. But the second half of f. 3 is indis[)ensable, 
 and the difficult words Qli^ and Q^TI can l)e accounted for by critical means. 
 
 T . - 
 
 What, then, is the solution of the general critical problem ? What is the 
 object and significance of the psalm in its original form ? It is a statement of the 
 blessedness of dwelling in Beth-jerahmeel — a city already highly honoured by 
 I'zekiel (see on I's. cxxii.) as the most sacred part of the Holy Land, based on the 
 ground that Yahwe had, for all ages, attached a special blessing to that spot. The 
 editor of course looked for something better. 
 
 Marked. Cft/w hhinaelites. Of 'Arab-etluxn. i 
 
 ] Behold, luiw good aiul how pleasant it is | to dwell in 
 Jerahmeel,^ 
 For there- Yahwe appointed | a blessing for ever. 3«/S, /^ 
 
 * Ishmael. Ashluir. Jerahmeel. Kena/. Hermon. Zion (;'. 2). 
 [In] Jerahmeel. 
 
PSALM CXXXIV. 203 
 
 Critical Notes. (Title.) m'? not known to C; (A*T) J T. — i. M TVlt 
 irr^'Di) D^nhi nIl^^^ Dil is awlcward, and is not recognized by Vss. 
 According to Ewald {Psalvwn), DJI strengthens in'' ; but his reference 
 to his Lchrln(c/i, § 352^, does not justify this view. Apart from this, how 
 vague the statement is ! How is it ' sweet' for brothers to live together ? 
 To suppose a reference to the 'brothers ' Zerubbabel and Jeshua (Griitz), 
 will not do. For these, it is supposed, were rivals ; we must not render 
 in'' ' in harmony.' Since there are other indications of names in 
 vv. 2 f, it is probable .that we have to read '?^^^2nT;l HIIV- Q^ni^, 
 ["^JQj), and nn^ are all regular corruptions of fragments of 'n~l^- 
 
 (Gloss.) The text refuses to yield a good sense. No wonder, because 
 the editor has had to exercise his divining faculty on a corruption of a 
 series of ethnics (partly repeated in variants), which were illustrative 
 of 'Jerahmeel' (/. 1). pt^'LD] and bv 2"IID[n] come from "TS^'i^li" : 
 ]Dir\n from -in;^l^ ; bv n^ from '?SDn~l' ; ]pT[n] and ]pT from T^ip ; 
 ;TinN% bv lT[i:r], and >3 bv from 'nT ; Vmi-t: from D^Jl^l = 
 '?^<Dn■^^ ; '?:DD from ':)^<DnT (cp. b\!l l"?. ex. 3 -, V^^b, Isa. viii. 6, see 
 Cfit. Bib.), nnn also from 'ni'' ; pDin and ]V2i are both popular 
 corruptions of 'nT* and 'D'^"", which were specially attached to 
 mountains in the Negeb. 
 
 2. Read probably nDIIl (Bi., Du.).— □'•"n is troublesome. Ub^Vb 
 is most naturally connected with niii, and Q^^n spoils the metre. As in 
 
 T • 
 
 xxxviii. 20 it springs from '^J^romv Probably a gloss on UV (from 
 "iD^='?M^r2Ii'^). UV in M does not admit of a satisfactory explanation. 
 Cp. deWette, 'D'vi;, da/ii/i, niiml. wo Briider zusammenwohnen.' 
 
 PSALM CXXXIV. 
 
 A ENi'AMETKKS. The last of the psalm.s grouped together by the common 
 
 title r\'\byi2T\ "yV- The title, if what we may regard as the best critical 
 
 theory be adopted, is as strikingly appropriate as in some other instances. 
 P'or from our point of view it is practically certain that v. lO defines the 
 situation of the ' hou.se of Yahvve ' as ' in Jerahmeel ' (see below). In other 
 words, the psalm was written for the temple of Jerahmeel (see on I's. cxxii.). 
 A chorus summons the temple-ministers to praise Vahwc, and these, by their 
 leader, respond with a priestly blessing (cp. c.wviii. 5, Num. vi. 24). The 
 ordinary view, however, is that it was written for use at the nightly vigils of 
 the Levites in the Jerusalem temple. Cp. I Chr. i\. ^t,, where, as usually 
 understood, we read of singers who were occupied 'day and night' (l)ut see 
 Cril. Bill.), also Jos. f. Ap. i. 22, Theophrastus ap. Torph. Je Abstin. ii. 26 
 (very vague, see W. R. Smith, Eiic. Bib. col. 3934, foot), and the Talmudic 
 notices in Delitzsch. But why should the night-servants of the temple be specially 
 favoured by a psalmist? Criltz has a new theory, lie boldly connects the 
 
204 THE PSALMS. 
 
 psalm wilh the jiopular rejoicing at ihe ceremony of the water-lihation at 
 the Feast o!" Booths, and brings it clown to the time of Salome Alexandra 
 
 (78 — 69 B.C.)- /Tiy?2 (z'. I*^) refers, he thinks, to the six nights of the 
 feast, during which the people remained in the temple-courts, and the Levites 
 sang the fifteen ' Stufengesilnge ' (J/GIV/, 1879, p. 241). 
 
 Marked. Of the Jshmaelites. I 
 
 I Behold, bless ye Yahwe, | all ye servants of Yahwe, 
 Who stand in the house of Yahwe ' | '■'■ * 
 
 Lift up your Itands to the sanctuary, | and bless Yahwe. 2 
 
 Yahwe bless thee out of Zion,- I " '•' 3 
 
 Critical Notes. It is highly probable that Jl')':)'''?! (/• 2) is a corrup- 
 tion of '?l«iDnT'3- For a parallel, see on xvi. 7, and, for a similar gloss, 
 see cxvi. 19. Winckler {AOF, iii. 405) reads n^':' ■mijn;^, ' beim 
 Anbruch (?) der Nachts.' Verse 3/' is apparently an interpolation from 
 cxv. 15(5 ; it is a trimeter, and therefore not wanted here. 
 
 PSALM CXXXV.'^' 
 
 I RIMETERS. An unoriginal passage (cp. cxiii. i, cxxxiv. il>). The form 
 of cxxxv. 3 makes it a necessary assumption that -jv. i, 2 form an independent 
 little psalm (so Bickell and Duhm), which is in fact a companion to the 
 preceding psalm. 
 
 Of the Jerahmeclites. i 
 
 1 Praise ye the name of Yahwe ; 
 
 Praise him, O ye servants of Yahwe ; 
 
 Ye that stand in the house of Yahwe — 2 
 
 In the courts of the house of our God. 
 
 PSALAl CXXXV.'^^ 
 
 J. KiMiCTEKS. A liturgical composition wliich received a number of additions 
 (cp. Bickell and Duhm), originally perhaps written in tlie margin. Cp. v. 
 5 wilh xciv. 3; T'. 6 wilh cxv. 3/^, Ex. xx. 4 ; z^. 7 with Jer. x. 13; v. 
 13 with Ex. iii. 15; v. 14 with Dt. xxxii. 36; vv. 15-20 with cxv. 
 4-1 1. Verses 10 and 12 seem to have been copied by the writer of Ps. 
 cxxxvi., who introduced out of his own head a reference to Sihon and to 
 Og (the two most noted hostile kings), which a later editor of Ps. cxxxv. 
 imported into our psalm. On v. \\b, .see crit. note. In /. 2 D"*^J refers 
 
 probably to the 'name' of Yahwe. In /. 16 ' Ishmael ' (= Belh-jeralimeel) 
 is the name of the place in the Negeb where there was a temple of Vahwe 
 in post-exilic times (see on Ps. cxxii.). 
 
 ' In jerahmeel. '•' The maker of heaven and earth. 
 
PSALM CXXXV. 205 
 
 I Praise Yah, for Yahwe is gracious, 3 
 
 Chant hymns to his name, for it is lovely. 
 For Yah has chosen Jacob for himself, 4 
 
 Israel ^ for his special treasure ; - 
 
 Who smote the firstborn of Miarim, 8 
 
 Both of man and of beast ; 
 
 +Who+ sent signs and portents •' 9 
 
 Upon Pir'u and all his servants ; 
 
 Who smote great nations, 10 
 
 10 And slew mighty kings,* 
 
 And gave their land ^ as an inheritance, 12 
 
 An inheritance to his people Israel. 
 
 O Yahwe! thy name is for ever; 13 
 
 O Yahwe ! thy memorial is for all ages." 
 Ma}' Yahwe bless from Zion 21 
 
 [Every one] that dwells in Ishmael. 
 
 Critical Notes. 4. >J-ljn> ^JhJ ("'• 5). like ^J-|yT"S'? In xxxi. 11, 
 Ixxxi. 6, has probably sprung from 7J<Dn")'», a gloss on '?^i"^^i'^ (/. 4). 
 
 Gloss on /. 9. Read D^"12iQ nDi'/p21 (see on cxvi. 19). Duhm also 
 finds a gloss here, but keeps the text-reading. He calls the gloss ' the 
 affected insertion of a writer who knew cxvi. 19.' 
 
 Gloss on /. 10. Read >a'^^i^■ See Enc. Bib., ' Og,' 'Sihon.' 
 
 Gloss on /. 12. Read TJp JliD^pg '?3. This penetrated into the 
 text, and received the prefix 7l . Cp. cv. 1 1 (also a gloss). 
 
 15 f. Omit closing n''l7"in with G. There are two difficulties in the 
 
 ' Jerahmeel. 
 
 ^ (For I know that) Yahwe is great, | and that our Lord is above all 
 gods. II All that he wills, he does | in the heaven and on the earth, | in the seas 
 and in all abysses ; || Who causes vapours to ascend from the end of the earth, ( 
 who makes lightnings for the rain, | who brings the winds out of his store-chambers 
 {vv. 5-7). 
 
 ^ Upon Maacath-misrim. 
 
 •* Sihon, the king of the Arammites, | and Og the king of Bashan [y. l\a). 
 
 •"' All the kingdoms of Kenaz. 
 
 ® For Yahwe will ri^ht his people, | he will relent over his servants (&. 14). 
 Verses 15-20 nearly as cxv. 4, 11. 
 
206 THE PSALMS. 
 
 text reading, (i) ]V^^3, which seems to su<^gest that Yahwc is not in 
 Zion, and (2) □'?;£^n^3. It is not usual to say that Yahwc dwells in 
 Jerusalem. Read, with Bickell (except as to the closing place-name), — 
 
 ^i'»:iD mn^ -rjin^ 
 
 PSALM CXXXVI. 
 
 1 RiMErERS. A companion to Ps. cxxxv. ; to l>oik psalms G prefixes 
 A\\r)\ovia. The refrain which appears in cxviii. 1-4, occurs here in every 
 verse. A fuller refrain is preserved in the closing verse (see note). This 
 psalm is generally called the great Hallel, though Talmud and Midrash include 
 the whole of Pss. cxx.-cxxxvi. under this title (see £/ic. Bib., ' Ilallel '). 
 Observe that Ps. cxxxvi. has served as the model of the hymn in fifteen 
 verses which appears in the Heb. text of Sirach after li. 12 — a hymn which 
 is found in no version, and is presumably of very late date. Schechter {Cam- 
 bridge Ben Sira, p. 36, Introd.) draws exaggerated critical inferences. 
 
 Of the JeraJimeelites. cxxxv., end. 
 
 I Give thanks to Yahwe, for he is good, I 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 Give thanks to the God of gods, 2 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 Give thanks to the Lord of lords, 3 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 
 To him who alone doeth great wonders, 4 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 To him who by understanding made the heavens, 5 
 
 10 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 
 To him who spread out the earth above the water, 6 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 
 To him who made great lights, 7 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting ; 
 
 The sun to rule b}' day, 8 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting ; 
 
 The moon and the stars to rule by night, 9 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 
 To him who smote the Alisrites in their firstborn, 10 
 20 For his lovingkindness is everlasting ; 
 
 And brought out Israel from the midst of them, 1 1 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting ; 
 With a mighty hand and a stretched out arm, 12 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 
PSALM CXXXVI. 207 
 
 To him who cut the sea of Suph into parts, 13 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting ; 
 And made Israel to pass through the midst of it, 14 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting ; 
 But shook off Pharaoh and his host,' 15 
 
 30 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 
 To him who led his people through the wilderness, 16 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting ; 
 
 To him who smote great kings, 17 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting ; 
 
 And slew noble kings,-' 1 8 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting ; 
 
 Who thought upon us in our abasement, 23 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting ; 
 And rescued us from our foes, 24 
 
 40 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 
 Who has given Jerahmeel for a prey, 2; 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 
 Full Refrain. 
 
 Give thanks to the God of heaven, 26 
 
 For his lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 
 3, 5. Ood of grods, Iiord of shoilcr refrain added to each stichus). 
 lords. See Dt. x. 17. — 9. By under- ^^ ^ ^-»»m i • ,- , 
 
 standmg. Cp. Prov. iii. 19.-11. The -37,39- 73t^, again only m Lccles. 
 
 7valer. Cp. 'the water under the x. 6 ; piS ' to rescue,' only in Lam. v. 
 
 earth,' Ex. xx. 4. — 13. D^lih? here 8 (but cp. on Ps. vii. 3 and cxxxviii. 
 
 only for J^^^^<^p.-I9. riu' Mi^Htes. 3); cp. Aram. plD 'to redeem.'— 
 
 c I ••• !, ^- -^>-^»^ • 43 f- The fuller refrain. Bickell 
 
 See on Ixxvni. ii. — 25. u lij, a<'ain , , 
 
 , . ^ , r'"'- ' remarks that the Syrian and Greek 
 
 only in Gen. xv. 17 (of sacnficial /-u • »■ 1 . .u r 
 
 ^ ^ Christians always put the responses of 
 
 victims).— 29. nyp, as Kx. xiv. 27. the laity at the end of strophes, and 
 — 35. Insertion from cxxxv. 11 f. (with not of stichi. 
 
 Critical Notes. 19. Point D''~lJiQ. — 29. Omit si'D'D'':;! (gloss).— 
 35. Omit V7'. 19—22 (see above) ; try singing tliese words with tlie 
 
 ' Into the sea of .Suph. 
 
 - Sihon, king of the .Vrammites, and Og the king of Bashan; and gave their 
 land as an inheritance, an inheritance to his people Israel (zv. 19-22, with the 
 shorter refrain added). 
 
208 THE PSALMS. 
 
 refrain ! — 41. A friend remarks, ' It always seems to me that the psahn 
 would be much more beautiful (from a literary point of view) without 
 •7'. 25. The poet seems to begin a new stanza or section of which the 
 continuation is lost.' In truth, no more feeble close of a psalm of 
 thanksgiving could be imagined. Now, however, that it has been shown 
 that DH"? often, and "^3 sometimes, represent a mutilated '?^<Q^T, 
 there is nothing but a prejudice against the ethnic ' Jerahmeel ' to 
 prevent us from restoring the text thus, ]2^ 7K?3m"' ]jlj. 
 
 PSALM CXXXVII. 
 
 1 ENTAMETERs. Two Sentiments glow with equal intensity in the psalmist's 
 mind— love for Israel and vindictive hatred for its foes, and Y'ahwe's foes. 
 His hatred for the latter is, however, not expressed in such revolting terms 
 as the scribes have led us to suppose ; perfect propriety of feeling from a 
 Jewish point of view is preserved. Nor is there any inconsistency in the 
 "subject of vv. 1-6 and 7, 8 ; here too tlie faults of copyists have led the 
 critics astray. In both parts of the poem the Edomites are referred to, i.e. 
 those who occupied the Jerahmeelite Negeb and the south of Judah after 
 ilie Chaldean invasion. The poem (see /. 12) might conceivably have been 
 written when Judas ' went forth and fought against the sons of Esau in the 
 land toward the south and smote Hebron and the villages thereof (i Mace, 
 v. 65). More probably, however, it is to be grouped with Lam. v., where 
 the tyranny of the Misrites and the Arabians after the invasion is described 
 by an imaginary eye-witness, and witli the ' vision of Obadiah,' to which it 
 appears to present some striking parallels. The band of post-exilic temple- 
 singers identifies itself imaginatively with those who had, as is here stated, 
 been carried captive by Edomites to the JerahmeeUte Negeb, where Yahwe 
 was not worshipped, and consequently 'songs of Yahwe' ought not to be 
 sung. These singers did not, as MT says, hang their harps on the willows ; 
 a worse fate befell them — they saw their loved instruments battered to pieces 
 because they had refused to raise the sacred song of praise for the amusement 
 of their triumphant captors.' Then the post-exilic singers (personified as an 
 individual) express their own fervent attachment to Jerusalem ; never will 
 they forget to sing the praises of Jerusalem, as in I'ss. xlviii., cxxii. (' because 
 of the house of Yahwe our God,' cxxii. 9). This view is confirmed by 
 the probably correct theory of Isa. xxi. i-io put forward in Crif. Bib., pp. 25 ff. ; 
 
 the corruption "73^ for 7l^D~13(?) =^ t'NT.Dnn' is common to both composi- 
 tions. Attempts to make this psalm exilic (Hal., REy, i. 22 f. ; Bu., New 
 World, March '93; Du. ); or contemporary with John Hyrcanus (Olsh., Beer) 
 presuppose that 'Babel' in vv. i, 8 is correct. Winckler's new and ingenious 
 theory that a Jewish captivity in Antioch under Antiochus Epiphanes is 
 
 referred to (AOF, iii. 401 ff.), is based upon the theory that D^^~1J7 (v. 2) 
 means the myrtles of Daphne near Antioch (see ' Willow,' Euc. Bib.), and 
 that D*ni^ hi V. 7 should be Dlhi (/I12 in i^v. I, 8 is consequently 
 
 emended), Winckler's reconstruction of the text is unhappy ; his historical 
 argument, therefore, however instructive, misses the mark. 
 
 G (^^ and B) prefixes t^ AauetS ; the Hexapla text adds lepe^iou. F. W. 
 Mozley boldly accepts Jeremiah's authorship {^David in the Psalms, '90, pp. 
 5 f.). Not improbably, however, the IIT'D^^ presupposed by the latter text 
 is a corruption of [D^]7NDm^[7], 'of the Jerahmeelites.* This would be a 
 natural variant to */^^^? Zl"li'7 > or whatever other N. Arabian ethnic may 
 
PSALM CXXXVII. 209 
 
 be thought to underlie the corrupt title T)"!*? (see General Introd., and 
 cp. on Ps. cxlvi.). That the latter part of the psalm {vv. 7-9) refers altogether 
 to the Edomites was seen by W. E. Barnes {Expositor, March, 1899). But 
 ' Edom ' could not possibly be called ' daughter of Babylon,' as Barnes suppo-^es 
 (p. 206). Moral kinship with Babylon and political iiependence on Babylon 
 arc insufficient explanations of such a strange title. In v. 8 and elsewhere 
 there is deep textual corruption. Nor can we separate the two parts ot the 
 psalm. If part ii. refers to the Edomites, so too does part i. 
 
 I On the heritage of Jerahmeel we wept, | remembering 
 
 Zion ; I 
 
 The Arabs in the midst thereof had beaten | our harps 
 
 to pieces. 2 
 
 For our captors had even asked of us | harp-playing 
 
 and song ; 3 
 
 ' Raise before us a Hallel, | ye harpers of Zion.' 
 
 How could we sing songs of Yahwe | on foreign ground ? 4 
 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, | me +too+ may melody 
 
 forget ! 5 
 
 May my tongue cleave to my palate, | if I remember 
 
 thee not, 6 
 
 If I raise not the Hallel to Jerusalem [ with harp-playing 
 and song. 
 
 Remember, O Yahwe ! against Edom's sons | the wicked- 
 ness of the plutiderers, 7 
 10 Who said, ' Let us cast lots | upon the sanctuaries 
 thereof.' 
 
 To thee also, O house of Jerahmeel, | the plunderers 
 
 shall come ; 8 
 
 Jacob shall uproot thee, and shall overthrow | all thy 
 palaces.' 
 
 I. The berltage of Jerahmeel. and the pious singers of Israel hanging 
 
 The occupation of S. Judah, which their harps on the trees, and refused to 
 
 adjoined the Jcralmieelitc Negeb, by discuss the improbability of a triumphal 
 
 the Edomites excited the bitterest re- feast held by the riverside (in a garden), 
 
 sentment among the Jews (see introd.). and the rebellious singers proceeding 
 
 The wrongdoing of Edom, not of solemnly to hang up their harps. 
 
 Babylon, filled the mind of the (Wellhausen banleringly asks why 
 
 psrflmist. One may regret parting they did not leave their instrumeiUs at 
 
 with the received text ; super Jlumina home.) See crit. n. 
 
 Bahylouis has become almost pro- „, .... , . 
 
 verbial. One was pleased to imagine , , ^^ ^^]l^ ^'^'J re al.at.on of the 
 
 the grand river-like canals {mhdli) of -^''•^''s (D'2~J, as Lam. v. 8, cp. 0; 
 
 Babylonia, with the luiphratcan poplars, see ' Lamentations, Book of,' Enc. Bib. ). 
 
 » O Ishmael. 
 n. P 
 
2IO THE PSALMS. 
 
 3 f. A banquet is in progress, and Jerusalem ' in compulsory exile leads 
 fresh amusements are required (cp. to weeping ; in the sacred land, to 
 Am. vi. 5), or, if the feast has a psalms like xlviii., cxxii. 
 
 religious character, the H^njl is 9. See Ezek. xxv. 12, xxxv., 
 
 demanded as a recognition of the Am. i. 11 f., Mai. i. 2-5, and especially 
 
 .sui.jeition of the Jewish god. Sonj^s of Ob. 10-16, and cp. ' Edom,' Enc. Bib. 
 
 Yahwe are psalms (2 Chr. xxix'. 27, j^ ^ cast lots, as Ob. 11. -To 
 
 I Chr. xxv 7). There being no ^j^^^ ^^j^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ j^,_ 21. -House of 
 
 sacrifices..naforeignsod(Hos. ni. 4), jerahmcel. Cp. 'house of Esau,' 
 
 there could be no psalms. (^,, 18.— ^aW; in antitheses to Edom; 
 
 7. Here ]iost-exilic sentiments are cp. Ub. 10, 17 f. — Uproot and ove7-- 
 
 expressed (see int rod.). To 'remember //^row, parallel, as lii. 7. 
 
 Critical Notes, i. M "^^^ miH^ '?;^- Why the plural ? Accord- 
 ing to Haupt {IsainJi, SBOT.^ p. 109) ' amplificative.' But 722, too is 
 open to question. It appears from v. 9 that Edom, not Babylon, was 
 the enemy referred to [Wi. also suspects "^^Zi]. Read '?^^i!p^^^ ''^!?D^~'^^- 
 So '^22 for t'}^*on"l% in Gen. x. 10 ; see ' Nimrod,' Ejic. Bib.) The con- 
 nuation is equally doubtful. Why did the Jews sit down and weep ? 
 Because the plashing of the waves soothed their grief (Del.)? Or 
 because they had prayer-houses there ? But a close inspection bids us 
 omit 1^21^^^ Dli^ nt^ = '\yD, a fragment of a dittographed '^T^'^ (not 
 IJQli'^ ; see ?'. ^a). Omit also □;), a dittogram of the QJ (so read) in 
 
 2. M '^2 ^T^n HEi'ina D^nir"':';^ if "W'bv is right, 7^2^r^2 
 
 . T IT : • T-: - 
 
 must be wrong. The willows (Euphratean poplars ?) were beside the 
 streams, not in the midst of an undefined something. If ' in the land ' 
 were mennt, we should require at least n3- The mention of bne Edom 
 in V. 7 suggests reading D''21;j^», ' Arabs ' (see above). 7J/ comes from 
 a dittographed 1^?. For '^H read ^r\r\2 {1 = 2, 'h = T\}. Wi. gives 
 hingen (?) wir,' but remarks, 'the context seems to require "they dashed 
 pieces,"' and points out that 1Jv/1 arose under the influence of 
 lJV7in, which word, however, he does not account for. 
 
 3. M W<li- Read DD (cp. on D!l in ?'. i) ; J and !£,' confounded. — 
 
 T 
 
 M ")"'li^ "'"121 ; G Xdyoiif wSwi/; i.e. 'songs.' A doubtful idiom in Pss. ; 
 see on xxxv. 20. Read D^''^^^ ilipt (Ixxxi. 3, xcviii. 5) ; this is proved 
 by the corrupt dittogram TVID iini^DIi' in M. 
 
 4. M ^lb n^2> TT\12V ^r':?bij"n- Too long for a line (verse). Bi., 
 
 T T : • "T : 
 
 therefore, rightly omits ^i^ ^")^It', but does not explain how it came in. 
 No scholar, strange to say, has questioned nn^^i', though this is not an 
 adequate parallel to ~T^ ^HQIj and though G gives vixvov. Most 
 
PSALM CXXXVII. 211 
 
 (Hu. alt., Per., Gv., Bi., Ba., Kaii., Herz) correrl '^ij"! into ^r'^'piTi' ; cf. 
 
 T M2TO ; Ci o'l unayayovres r;/x"j (?). But this produces a tautological 
 
 statement which cannot be right. Read probably H^njl ^y2ilh ^'^'^tl- 
 
 T . : ..t: : - 
 
 (On ITli' nUDID, see preceding note ; 1^*^ is clearly a repetition of 
 the preceding letters.) Tiic three words 'rm 's7 vll coalesced in M 
 into one (1J"''?'!'1/1) owing to the frequency of 7. In crs te.xl lt''7n had 
 dropped out, and G perhaps misread IJ^JS'^ as ^ID^'^JD (an easy mistake), 
 but kept TwilJl ', hence it gives Kal nl anayayiwrf s ))fjias vfivov. (Hal., 
 Che.,'" lj"''^^im , ' and (of) our dancers'; Kenn. r\r\2^ = vfivnu?). — M 
 "T'l^ip. Gr., better, "'Ttt'D (cp. G S). Best of all, ''IDTrj . 
 
 6. The text reads CjVj;) HDIDD, i.e. either FTD^'r^ (G J perhaps) or 
 n3^r\ (M)? S Saad. imply '•^nDtlTl. Ibn Ezra and Kimhi, 'let 
 my right hand forget (its art),' i. c. ' Tart de harper,' as Marot (in the 
 Huguenot Psalter) puts it. Krochmal, Herzfeld, Gr. read either '^n2P\ 
 or li^n^ri . The latter would do (Che • ), but should be followed by ^3. 
 Weir nJD V'y. Uy- proposes "^yT) ; cf. xxii. 16, where, as here, 1i)y' 
 rind p21 are combined. Ibn Ezra mentions this view, and Schultens 
 (Aniinadjierszoncs, 202) inclines to it. Nevertheless it must be wrong. 
 The physical theme is exhausted in /. 7, and we need something which 
 connects with /. 5rr. Read, certainly, nD"'3<'J ^JHB'ii^i^ (see on cl. 4). 
 ^J fell out owing to the vicinity of ^J . ^II^'^pj is also possible. 
 
 8. M ^Du^TD -^sn bv '")'"nK rhvi^ vh'Wik. what can']£!v^'\ bv 
 
 mean? Bii., 'above the highest joy which I could have.' And n'^yj^ ? 
 01., ' I esteem,' but with the remark, ' Tij'^r\ does not occur again in this 
 sense.' Bii. compares Jer. li. 50 for the form of the idiom, but there is 
 no real parallelism. Wi. renders, ' If I did (do) not return to Jerusalem 
 with the highest joy,' which is the resource of despair. Read, probably, 
 T'^r ny^rb^ "^'"'^'^ '^^Q^ ^TWiil ; bl\ ' accompanied by.' nniyU 
 misread, as in ?'. 3. 
 
 9. M D'^It'T)"' DV Dh}, 'Jerusalem's day +of misfortune+.' But 
 'days' come from the supernatural world. All that God can punish is 
 the conduct of certain persons on a fore-ordained day (cp. Ob. 11-14). 
 Read, probably, U^yytL^'n Dyii^"l (cp. Ezek. xxxix. 10, Zech. ii. 12). "\~\> 
 is a condensation of the hvo words : Q[1]^ /IhJ is a corrupt dittogram. 
 
 10. M na "TiDN7 ly n;^ n;;. something like Hab. iii. isfi, whicli 
 is clearly corrupt (We., Now.), and not what we expect here ; it is not 
 
212 THE PSALMS. 
 
 enough to read nniD'- 'I'lie latter part is certainly n'lnpD'Ln^^]- 
 ° T V : T V T : - 
 
 n>» '\')y should, perhaps, be TIB'^ ^')2V. 
 
 II f. M's text is quite impossible; but \\i.'s restoration of 7'^'. 7 f. 
 
 is admitted by himself to be prosaic, and only worthy of an interpolator. 
 
 nmji'n (G TttXatVco/jos- ; cp. G^"^^, Jer. iv. 30) is perple.xing. Kenn., 
 
 T : : - 
 Gr., We., Du. weakly correct nilil^^H (cp. S 2 T). Bi. and Du. omit 
 
 '^i^ 7'?1!2J"nX as a gloss (these glosses are mostly treacherous things'.). 
 
 Barnes has the credit of being the first to see that Edom was still 
 
 referred to, though he could not correct the text ; he explains 7^2 DD , 
 
 ' Thou moral kinswoman of Babylon,' which is impossible. Utilizing all 
 
 the relics of the true text, we should probably read thus, — 
 
 I VT •• V ' -T : ' -:~ ' : • :- 
 
 It will be seen that there has been some displacement as well as corrup- 
 tion ; the editor, in his wish to make some sense, may be responsible for 
 the displacement. -p'\::):\ Dii^lb Q."l ')J"^^^^ D'?'^'^::' n;:^N appears 
 to consist of two imperfect forms of Q^77li^n ; "J? is a dittogram. 7ii 
 ■ P/DH is probably a corruption of '?^iyQti/^ a correct gloss on ^2,1 n[^]2- 
 
 PSALM CXXXVIII. 
 
 X RIMEIEKS. The thanksgivings of the triumphant, and the prophecy of the 
 militant community. To llie first part belong stanzas 1-3 ; to the second, 
 4-7. Sniend rightly sees that the speaker is pious Israel, and that the Messianic 
 future is anticipated (p. 139). Theodore of Mopsuestia, in the Syriac epitome, 
 refers the psalm to 'the (people) returned from Babylon, which thanks God 
 for its deliverance' {ZATIV, 1S85, p. 9S). 
 
 Of 'Arab-ethaii. I 
 
 I With my whole heart, O Yahwe ! I thank lliee ; 
 
 Before Jerahnieel I chant songs to thee : 
 
 I bow down toward thy holy temple, 
 
 And give thanks to thy name, [O Yahwe !] 
 
 For thy lovingkindness and for th^- truth's sake. 
 
 For thou hast made all thy doings great ; 
 
 In Jerahmeel I called on thee, and thou answeredst me, 
 
 Thou didst rescue me from those of Ishmael. 
 
PSALM CXXXVIII. 213 
 
 10 All those of Jerahincel shall give thee thanks, 4 
 
 When they have heaid the words of th}- mouth, 
 And shall sing ui' the ways of Yahwe. 5 
 
 For great is the glory of Yahwe, — 
 
 For the haught}' and the lowly he sees, 6 
 
 And that which is high he fells from afar off. 
 
 If I walk in the midst of trouble, 7 
 
 Against mine enemies thou wilt stretch forth thy 
 
 hand. 
 Thou wilt deliver me and bring me to rest. 
 
 Yahwe will have compassion upon his servants ; 8 
 
 20 O Yahwe ! thy lovingkindness is everlasting. 
 Do not thou abandon the work of thy hands. 
 
 2. Before Jerabmeel. So Fa^rt'f", ?'.«. his manner of dealing ; cp. 
 
 cxix. 46. It is implied that, impressed Dt. xxxii. 4 (|| his work), Ps. ciii. 7 
 
 by the dealings of \'aliwe, the surviving ( |1 his doings). — 14 f. Vahwe's inspec- 
 
 Jerahmeelites will turn to Vahwc, tion is equally keen, whether an object 
 
 whom they will thank (/. 10) for his be high or low. The ' high one ' is a 
 
 compassion to Israel and to themselves. collective term for the enemies of 
 
 In fact, Jerahnieel will become a Israel; cp. Isa. x. 33, 'the high of 
 
 member of the great Israelite body (cp. stature shall be felled.' — Frow afar off, 
 
 on Ixxxvii., Isa. xix. 25). See crit. i.e. from the far-off heii^ht of heaven, 
 
 note. — 4. Cp. V. 7.-8. In Jerah- Cp. T, 'from the distant heaven he 
 
 meel. Cp. Ixxvii. 2, &c. The idea is throwsdown the lofty.' The ' stretched 
 
 that the main body of the captives out arm' (cxxxvi. 12) is super-terres- 
 
 from Judah were in N. Arabia.— 11. trial; cp. xviii. 17. See crit. note. 
 
 r/ie words of t/iy nioiit/i, i.e. ihii l.a.\v. 16-iS. Cp. xxiii. 4, 5^. The 
 
 Cp. cxix. 13, 72, SS.— 12. The 7mys oj . ,.est ' of the Messianic age is meant. 
 
 Critical Notes. i. Insert TV\TV, with Bi, Che.<", Du., after G S J T. 
 S, however, reads nilX-— 2. M D^ri/N l^J , 'before (=in defiance of) 
 the gods' (A 2 E'J, Hengst., Hu., Hi., Stade, Du.) ? 'Before God'=: 
 ' in the sanctuary ' ; cp. Ex. xxi. 6, xxii. 8 (Evv., Ol., We.) ? * Before the 
 angels' (G, Calv.) ? Observe, against i, that such a phrase seems a too 
 distinct affirmation of the real existence of the gods of the nations ; 
 against 2, that a combination of two senses of 'elvhlm in one Hne is 
 improbable, and that we should at any rate expect ^JH)'? (Josh. xxiv. i) ; 
 against 3, that there is no sure example of D^1'?^^, 'angels' (see on 
 Ixxxii. i). It is true, however, that IJJ ought to mean 'in defiance 
 of,' and that D^"^7^i ought to refer to some conquered enemies of the 
 Jews. Who, then, were the chief enemies of the later Jews ? The 
 Jerahmeelites. And, as a fact, we actually find that D^'^'^^J not un- 
 frequently covers over '7^i^^m^ The passage is thus brought into 
 accordance with /. 10 (see below). 
 
214 '1"HE PSALMS. 
 
 3. Ce inserts on t'JKovaas tu pq^ara tov o-ro/xaros /uov. Bi., Du. accept 
 this. But the sense is poor, and we do not expect the cause of the 
 thanksgiving to be mentioned just yet. A line (verse) may have fallen 
 out. — 5. Insert m^^ 
 
 7. At tiie end of v. 2. .M gives "TDlQhi. 'I'his is merely adittogram 
 of ']r):2ii in /. 6. The preceding words are T|rj'yi'~'73"'?y ph^:i7^-''^ ; 
 most unnaHwal. Clericus and Dvserinck read 'T\^!2'I} , and Hcrz pro- 
 
 ' V T 
 
 poses nri/'^iy (cp. Isa. ix. 2). But, as often, fP is a corruption of "^J ; 
 the second ^D is a dittograph ; "fr.Dti' should be ^'''ii^'J'rp (cp. /. 21).— 
 
 8. For UV2. read TO^Il (Ixwii, 3), ' in Yaman' = ' in Jcrahmeel.' 
 tt: 
 
 9. M Ty '')D323. "'jnnnjR- corrupt. Uni- 'to rage' is a most 
 unlikely root to find here. ''JlMin, in Cant. vi. 5, is also corrupt. 
 Nor can one easily accept Tj; '22- 'in my soul is strength.' Both "'"ti'BJ 
 and Tr are possible corruptions of [D^]'?Nr^3tl'\ ^ word which cer- 
 tainly suits in such a context. '~)j~) may come from ""JplS/l, miswritten 
 
 as ^:mnj~i . 
 
 10. M yiN"''^'^*^"'!?^. Hupf. remarks, 'This vague expression is, 
 of course, not to be taken historically of neighbouring kings (as the 
 Rabbis), but ideally.' But the evidence elsewhere is adverse to this 
 \'iew. Except when something in the context dissuades from such a 
 course, it is best to assume that where D07J2 are referred to, either the 
 neighbouring kings are meant, or '!2 is a corruption of D^'7N!!3n")V The 
 latter view seems the best. It is the conversion of peoples, not of kings, 
 that we expect. Y"1J< will, in this case, be an editorial insertion. — Omit 
 r]')r\'^ (metre)— perhaps from Tl'^^^'^J^'^n")'' (as elsewhere). 
 
 14 f. Omit mrT"' (sense and metre), and read ^HJl', wilii Duhm. 
 See e.xeg. note. Konig (i. 420 ff.) may be compared. 
 
 16-18. The first two slichi o{ v. 7 are too long. ''THD (if correctly 
 read) should evidently be at the end of the slan/a. First, Yahwc 
 stretches out his hand, then he saves and restores to full life. It is 
 true, "]i^D^ does not fit in well with ^mn. But is '/^^ correct ? We 
 , expect a verb, and a verb it is still easy to detect underneath I^VJ^ ; 
 it is ^T.3njD, which is no doubt a variant to ^^^nD • Frobably, how- 
 ever, the true reading is ^jnjn, with which the two other forms are 
 easily confounded (cp. on xxiii. 5). In /. 17 omit C)}^, which has sprung 
 out of a dittograi)hed n^i<}- 
 
 19. M ''1^2 ib.V- I'l-it TJJl atul iy3 ilo not go together. Read 
 
 I'l^J* Dm" ; note parallelism. 
 T T -: •• - : 
 
PSALM CXXXIX. 215 
 
 PSALM CXXXIX. 
 
 1 RIMETERS. No psalm perhaps more clearly shows the liberty taken by the 
 editors of the psalms, and the skill with which they ingrafted new ideas upon the 
 old stock. In the present instance the editor was also a poet, and ihDUgh 
 traces of the corruptness of the text upon which he w 'rked are abundant, the 
 psalm in i's present form (especially stanzas 1-6) has deservedly attracted 
 the admiration of all thoughtful readers. Ibn Ezra calls it 'very glorious,' 
 and says that 'in these five books there is nothing like it.' Erskinc of Linlalhen 
 would wish to have it before him on his deathbed. The drawback to it in the 
 minds of scholars is the debased character of the Hebrew in certain passages. 
 This, however, is solely due to textual corruption, and this corruption can to 
 some extent be healed. The following may represent something like the 
 original form of portions of the psalm. 
 
 I O Yahwc ! thou hast rooted up Zarephath, i, 2 
 
 It is thou that hast cut down Maacath ; 
 
 Ashhur and Arabia thou hast scattered, 3 
 
 All Jerahmeel thou hast subdued. 
 
 I thank thee because of thy wonders, 1 4 
 
 Terrible exceedingly are thy works, 
 
 Which thou hast performed in Zarephath, 15 
 
 Which thou hast accomplished in the land of Maacath. 
 
 O God ! how precious are thy works ! 17 
 
 10 How deep are thy purposes ! 
 
 Were I to count them, they would be more than the 
 
 +grains of+ sand, 18 
 
 Thy righteous acts and thy kindnesses towards tiie. 
 
 Shall I not hate those that hate thee, 21 
 
 And oppose those that oppose thee ? 
 
 With uttermost hatred do I hate them, 22 
 
 To me +too+ they are as enemies. 
 
 Search me out, O God ! and know my heart, 23 
 
 Prove me, and know my deeds ; 
 
 See if there be in me the way of Ishmael, 24 
 
 20 And hold me guiltless of the way of Jerahmeel. 
 
 Now as to the later phase. Taking a hint from //. 17, 18, the editor 
 appears to have produced the following. Where he did not write out of 
 his own head he had to contend with great difficuliics, having to work upon 
 a partly corrupt te.\t,or indeed in some passages on a text that was no text 
 
2l6 THE PSALMS. 
 
 at all. A still later editor effaced the references to N. Arabia and its 
 people, but it is not a matter of indifference to find out how the editor 
 and poet to whom we are mainly indebted for our 139th psalm, intended 
 it to be read. 
 
 Deposited. Marked : of ^Arab-ethan. i 
 
 1 O Yahwe ! thou hast searched me out, 
 And known me '■' ; 
 
 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, 2 
 
 Thou discernest my thoughts (?) afar off. 
 
 Thou siftest my journey and my lying down (?), 3 
 
 With all my ways thou art familiar. 
 
 For before a word is on my tongue (?), 4 
 
 Verily, O Yahwe ! thou knowest it all. 
 
 Thou hast enclosed me behind and before (?), 5 
 
 10 And laid thy hand upon me ; 
 
 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, 6 
 
 Too lofty, I cannot grasp it. 
 
 Whither shall I go from thy spirit, 7 
 
 Or whither flee from thy face ? 
 
 If I fled to Cusham, thou wouldest be there ; 8 
 
 If I went forth to Ishmael, +there+ I should find thee ; 
 
 If I dwelt in the east of Asshur, 9 
 
 And settled in the recesses of Yaman, 
 
 Even there thy hand would seize me, 10 
 
 20 Thy right hand would hold me. 
 
 And if I said ' only let Shihor overflow me, II 
 
 Let the streams of Jerahmeel swallow me up,' 
 Even Shihor could not keep +aught+ back from thee, 12 
 
 Jerahmeel would cause its streams to rise up. 
 
 For my reins thou didst create, 13 
 
 Thou didst weave me together in m^' mother's womb. 
 
 I thank thee because of thy wonders. 14 
 
 Very glorious are th}^ works. 
 
 M}' bones were not hidden from thee, 15 
 
 30 When I was made in secret, 
 
 When I was brought forth in the nelher parts of the 
 earth. 
 
PSALM CXXXIX. 217 
 
 Mine unformed substance Lhinc c^-es did see, 16 
 
 And in thy book were they all written ; 
 
 Days were formed, 
 
 And not one among them. 
 
 God ! how precious are thy thoughts (?) ! 17 
 How vast are the sums (?) of them ! 
 
 Were I to count them, they would be more than +the 
 
 grains of+ sand ; 18 
 
 1 awake, and am still with thee. 
 
 40 O that thou wouldest slay the wicked, O God, 19 
 
 And that men of blood would depart from me I 
 Who defy thee for crimes, 20 
 
 Who lift up (?) for vanity — thine adversaries. 
 
 Shall I not hate those that hate thee, 21 
 
 And oppose those that oppose thee ? 
 
 With uttermost hatred do I hate them, 22 
 
 To me +too+ they are as enemies. 
 
 Search me out, O God ! and know m}- heart, 23 
 
 Prove me, and know my thoughts (?) ; 
 50 See if there be in me any way of pain(?), 
 And lead me in the way everlasting. 
 
 Critical Notes. Let us first of ail consider the corrupt and artificial 
 second form. 
 
 I f. Certainly G helps by representing ^JP"TPW But even so the 
 
 ... T ••- 
 
 couplet is metrically insufficient. There has been mutilation. 
 
 4- r\yi a rare form, "y^ (cp. v. 17) ; ' my thoughts ' (so G S) is an 
 
 Aramaizing- interpretation. The editor, who had a bad text, may have 
 meant this. 
 
 5. /l"*!! ^y2"n "Tnhi. it is usual but unnatural to take 'IJ^ and 
 
 T ••• • : . : -IT 
 
 '3*1 (Aram, for ""ji^")) as infif. with suft'. Cp. Lag., Sonitica, i, 28. IJarth 
 {ZDMG, 1887, p. O07) renders 'T 'thou measurest, determinest with 
 precision ' (cp. TV\X) ; the Tg. implies a conne.xion with ")! " a stranger.' 
 
 The truth, however, is that the editor had before him an unintelligible 
 text. G's i^i-)(y[a(Ta^ ( = j^~ipn) seems to be a guess. 
 
 6. njlJ^DH ; a choice but here not a natural expression, which 
 would probably require after it the accus. of the person (see Job xxii. 21). 
 
 7 f. Possible but not probable; cp. xix. 4, which is equally suspicious. 
 n^S, ' every part of it,' is superfluous. 
 
2l8 THE PSALMS. 
 
 <■)■ ^JJ^Ia- Not clear, (i 2 S J imply 'jri"liJ\ Neither reading is 
 original. 
 
 II. Kt. ^''^J'?3 may bland, though >J<'?3, Kt., Judg.xiii. i8, is corrupt 
 (see C>if. /y//;.).— Read Di^in ; H was absorbed. G 2 S imply "^I^yH- 
 
 '5 f- pDK and n^^hJ are not parallel. Besides the former is an 
 incredible Aramaism. and the latter is not plain enough ((i kuto^w, a 
 guess). 15ut this is not all. The idea of a man's ascending to heaven to 
 escape (]od, is surely most absurd. We ought to take a hint from the 
 story of Jonah, who ' rose up to tlee to Tarshish from the presence of 
 Yah we ' (Jon. i. 3). Now ti^'tinn is a frequent editorial substitute for 
 "n^N (")^^I^^J), and -)r^ii (Asshur), D'uL'ID (Cusham) and ':'N*;?ai:;> 
 (Ishmacl) are virtual synonyms, meaning districts of N. Arabia. That 
 Dti'lD may be miswritten D\'2ti', and that bii^^DI^"^ may become 'p^^Jti^ 
 needs no showing, now that we are approaching Ps.cl. Read therefore in 
 
 /• 15' Dt3 D12N'~DN\ and in /. 16 ^Xrr.2'i:>"' ^^i*Sn. The later editor 
 
 T •.. T . '^ .. .. : 
 
 thought probably of Am. ix. 2. 
 
 17 f 'The wings of the dawn.'" Are we to infer the existence in 
 Hel:)rew mythology of a ' bird of the dawn?' This can hardly be. If 
 the text is at least in the main correct, we must read DIH (for inii^), 
 and accept Goldzihers view (Ne/>. Myth., 116) that /. 17 refers to the 
 rising, and /. 18 to the setting sun. The sun at any rate can be said to 
 have wings (Mai. iii. 20), and to alight in the west. This is the view 
 taken in Eiic. Bib., ' Earth, Four Quarters of But this hyperbole is 
 excessive, and it is more probable that "^TW should be po'inted 
 "inZ^^linZ'S (.\shhur in N. Arabia) ; see Crit. Bib. on Isa. xiv. 12. 
 
 Read therefore linZ'^^ '^y^^ 2Iiy^<, and in the || line, for D' nnili^n 
 
 read ]D> "'n3T3. Cp. on □VJTT n^Il^^, Gen. xlix. i. Num. xxiv. 14. 
 
 Gunkel's new rendering for /^^"^^^^ (' Grund')— see Schopf. 53— is 
 arbitrary, but it was well to question the old one. 
 
 19- ^I ""^^7^0 ' ^^■oi''<^l '^''ifl me (at its will) ' ? Parallelism suggests 
 
 ^jnpri (Cir., Du.). 
 . .. 't • 
 
 21 ff. Point T^NT (Driver, Duhm) ; 2 ihv 8e e'inco ; J si dixero.— 
 M ^J31;£;^; G KaTan-aTijo-fi /xe (cp. Gen. iii. 15). Most (Ew., Bi., Gr., 
 Che.o, Bri., Kau., We., Dr., Du.) read >J3D^ CJDID^), but ''32Dn occurs 
 in another sense in /. 26. We have also learned to distrust hyperboles. 
 It is in fact not only ^l^W but "^ZTT, and in //. 23 f. not only '*J1^*2 but 
 "IIN ny^. which requires such a correction as to bring the passage into 
 harmony with the preceding stanzas. The easiest corruption to heal is 
 n7V, which should, in accordance with a number of parallels, be 
 
PSALM CXXXIX. 219 
 
 "^i^DHlV But in what sense could ' Jeiahmeel' be here used? As the 
 name of a region it occurs in a shorter form in /. 18. It might be the 
 name of a people, but this is not at all likely in the expression of a wish 
 on the part of an Israelite. Can it be the name of a river? Let us try 
 this idea. The speaker's supposed object is to escape from Gods eye. 
 Read ■'^ybl' b^f^HI' nX"!, and in the parallel line read -|^^■TT^^ 
 ^JBtDX'**- Tbc latter reading in\olvcs two slight changes, viz. 1 for "| 
 
 and tO foi' V Tbe sense produced is perfect. 'Only let Shihor overflow 
 me, only let the streams of Jerahmeel swallow me up, and no trace of my 
 existence will meet God's eye. (Shihor and Jerahmeel are probably the 
 wadys bounding Ashhur and Jerahmeel respectively ; see Enc: Bib., 
 ' Shihor.') In v. 12 'Shihor' again appears as '\DT\i and 'Jerahmeel' as 
 n'?'^ Read— 
 
 T : ' T ••::-• 
 
 For the D^^^'' of Jerahmeel, cp. Isa. vii. 18, xxxvii. 25, &c. I'or O'lT cp. 
 
 Josh. iii. 16. The closing words of v. 12 come from "^liTl^ and VHM^ 
 (3 arbitrarily prefixed). 
 
 25 f. Hitz., W'ellh., and Duhm place ?'. 14^, /' before 7'. 13, to 
 l)roduce a better connexion ; v. 14 looks to them like the beginning of a 
 new section. Very plausible. But the editor did not so arrange it, 
 because he rewrote a passage which was really in its right place. 
 
 27 f. For \-|"''73: Ba. and We. read njl'''?33 ; cp. G S J T, which 
 presuppose 2nd person. But ' I thank thee because thou hast been 
 wonderful' is not cjuite satisfactory. Houb., Herz ^ri^TSJ- Rather 
 
 read ^'j^^<'p^r'?i^ "^y^. D'^<'7^] is a variant to msm:, which 
 should b'j D'NII^. The closing words of 7A 14, '^'^t2 DPT ""uySJ have 
 
 grown out of IND D'i<"^i: '^''''i:y}y\- 
 
 30 f. G e S presuppose TM^'-^V ; ^"1' "'npp"! , ' I \vas embroidered ' 
 
 {('nuiKiXdiji', A 2), d gives rj iiruaTuaU' l^()v^^p\^'^^^\ • Possibly the 
 
 editor who rewrote the psalm put ^int''?in. How Qp") may have come 
 
 to supplant ^t'lrr, \ve shall see later. How " the nether parts of the 
 earth ' arose, we shall also see presently. 
 
 32 flf. M \'D'pil (Pasek follows), 'my embryo,' /.t'. as 2 puts it, 
 iin6i)(f)(0Tvi' fJLc, J infoi mcDi adhiii Die. No doubt it is a corruption. The 
 
 original is probablv, not •';313, but S^^^2m^— M "\y\ nj*"" WW . Bii. 
 - t: t\ .t 
 
 would transpose, rendering v. lO thus, ' When 1 was still dough {i.e. 
 unformed), thine eyes saw me ; days were formed, and in thy Ijook arc 
 they all written, when as yet not one of them exists.' Hitz. and Del. 
 
220 THE PSALMS. 
 
 make a slii^ht iini)rovemenl by adoptin.^ tlie Kr. i'PT (referring to V^'?^ ''); 
 
 ^ iivK (v8env<Tt]<i ov^fiLtiii (inserting Tiyj "''). Let us rather leave the editor 
 
 T : v 
 in his perplexity. 
 
 36. M >St. Needless emphasis. •''?^+•D^ = D^'^'?^<•— 40. "^^Op. 
 Again only in Job xiii. 15 (corrupt), xxi\ . 14. 
 
 41 ft'. T S imply TIIDV—M TjT)D*' ; the Easterns insert M. Houb., 
 Hu., Dr., Du.. &c. point tTTi;^^- Certainly not the original reading, and 
 yet perhaps intended by the editor. E' TraptniKpavav ; G^ ipia-rai (a-re. 
 Similarly 'A 2 J.— M NWi- Ol. and most ^hi'^J .— Tir- ^o. 01., 
 
 T : T ' VT 
 
 J3ruston, Gr., Bi., Che.<". Kau., We., Du., correct "^Dp (see Ex. xx. 7). 
 Hut see the underlying text. 
 
 45. Read DDpJnSt -^^^Dip/ipaT (We.). 
 
 We now turn to the text of the supposed original poem. In the 
 rewritten psalm there are certainly some passages in which the freedom 
 of an original writer can be traced. But there are others which baffle 
 explanation unless we suppose that in this, as in other psalms, the editor 
 has recast the partly corrupt material which lay before him, the contents 
 of which were widely different from the contents of the recast and 
 expanded psalm of which he was virtually the author. 
 
 In t'. 2 of the common text we find '^!2')p^ Tl^ti'- Probably ']i; 
 comes from /lan^, and 'p represents JID^D- The 'terrible works' 
 spoken of in f. 14 (cp. Ixv. 6) are the ' work ' anticipated by a fervent 
 faith — the ultimate overthrow of the N. Arabian oppressor. The names 
 'Zarephath' and 'Maacath' also appear to underlie two troublesome 
 words ("IDD and j~)Vj"inj1) in 7'. 15. Two other ethnic names (' Ashhur' 
 and ' Arabia') are probably concealed under the two strange words ^fTlhi 
 and "*P^"1 in 7>. 3, and in restoring them to light we account for the 
 otherwise inexplicable verb /mT. Of the other verbs in //. 14 of the 
 
 T •«. 
 
 ' original psalm,' one (r\^i:\) is suggested by xliv. 3 (corrected text), 
 another (J^J/'^DH) is suggested by Ixxxi. 15, and confirmed perhaps by 
 cx.xxix. 2l>, where M's text may have come out of "^S^m^ j"13,03n, and 
 by 7'. 13, where the same origin may be assigned to (njnN~"'D) 
 ^IvJ j"l^Jp. Thus stanza 1 becomes — 
 
 r^Dy'2 ji;rij ,-tj-)n 
 
 \'crse 4 has been evolved by the editor out of 'nT' 711^ bi<i"2ti'' Tl"!^. 
 In 7'. 5 both "nriN and Ulp represent '^NrjnT' (so in Isa. ix. 11); 
 
PSALM CXXXIX. 221 
 
 whether ' bad shots ' may account for the rest of v. 5 is uncertain. Verse \'})b 
 is also uncertain ; on v. \ia see above. In v. 15 1DQ ^tyiV "THDJ hi*? 
 has probably come out of /ID^Q yiN ^Nl'jm'', which may perhaps 
 have stood in the margin as a correction of Y"1^5 DVjirfj"! H/ID (on 
 which see above). We are now able to explain the troublesome ^/I'^p"!, 
 instead of which the editor who recast the psalm (as we have seen) read 
 Tl'?';)in. The true reading probably is jl"'^3. Probably Dpi, i-c. 
 '?NDm\ stood in the margin as a gloss on PdV^ \'yt^- Read there- 
 fore as //. 7, 8, — 
 
 j-iDyo v-ihJ2 Tshzi 
 
 Between stanzas 2 and 3 comes, at least in M's text, a mass of 
 corruption, to which the editor has done his best (which is little enough) 
 to give an appearance of sense. It is v. 16, which opens with the 
 'jargon '-word '^'Chy. The text before the editor appears to have given 
 (in a very corrupt form) the following ethnics, — jlD^j'^ "T' n31ji '")^ '1^ 
 "1^ "IliJQ 'T- In Dn^, at the end of the verse, 2 may belong to the 
 same group as "T^T^{^Jb^ (under which his "^^NQni"'), and Qn may 
 contribute with ^^1 (^- i?) to represent DM'pK- 
 
 Let us now seek to explain stanza 3 {vv. 17 f.). "^^^^^ ought to mean 
 ot <f)iXoiaov (Cj); ^1 is not synonymous with ]V^"1. Nor is OIT'ti^T. ' their 
 sums' (or chiefs), natural, 'jy') m^iy be a fragment of "fS^yT^i^ (cp. 
 7'. 23), and this to be a corruption of t^'^'V^D (D became H)) and T was 
 inserted; cp. Ezek. xxxi. 5). The mysterious clause, "JjQy HlpT ^Jllk^pn, 
 has probably been produced on the basis of a corruption of ^'Diplji 
 
 W "^nom . " ' * 
 
 Corruption has also accumulated between stanzas 3 and 4. Verses 19 
 and 20 appear to have consisted originally of the scribe's ' bad shots ' at 
 the following ethnics, viz. 'tir> D■)^* 'li'^ '^Wii "1^ '"1^ IWi^ '1^ 'T* 
 '-)> '^-. '^^ 'I^^ '-)> mt^^J. Happily there is nothing fresh to mention 
 in stanza 4. and only three points in stanza 5. These are (a) ^ByT^iT 
 (7'. 23), which should probably be ^''^Vi2- See above on stanza 3 (7'. 17), 
 and cp. on xciv. 19, cxix. 113. (d) 2)iV ("''• -4)- Most (Hi., Hu., Dc., 
 Bii., Du., &.C.) render 'pain' ; cp. H^jii^rj, Isa. 1. 11. Ges. and Sicgfr.- 
 Sta., however, prefer ' idolatry ' (cp. ^2jil7, Isa. xlviii. 5). while Gr. would 
 
 read y^2- (0 o'piy, ' the ancient (way)'; cp. Jer. vi. 16. So Ol. (after 
 T). Or, ' the enduring (way),' so Del., Bii. (after G). These explana- 
 tions are makeshifts. Having before us tlie danger from Jerahmeelite 
 religious influences let us read (for 3:»'l') '?^iyQ^i/'' and (fi)f ub^y) S^i'^HT- 
 Cp. Isa. Ivii. 17, where (for l^v^n |U'3) read ':)Nj;r^i:r> ]'\);2- 
 
222 THE PSALMS. 
 
 PSALM CXL. 
 
 1 RiMr.iKRs AND TETRAMKTERS. Isiacl supplicates for vengeance upon its 
 foes. The chronologically precise datings of Olshausen and Hitzig lack sound 
 basis. The foes are the N. Arabians, but there is an artificiality about the whole 
 poem which detracts from its liistoric.il value. The Arabian opjiression may have 
 gone on, but though the Jews may have had good grounds for complaint, the times 
 were not as rritiial &•> a first reading of this psalm might suggest. Evidently the 
 psalm is late, but wc cannot corroborate this by arguments drawn from the plural 
 
 D^Di^n, T7'. 2, 5, or from ^Di'J, v. lo (Griitz, reading DiHDl^, 'their tabic'), 
 
 T ■ : 
 
 or from jmsmQ, J'. 12, anymore than we can argue for the existence of an 
 
 ancient substratum from the three ' Selahs ' (fr. 4, 6, 9), which certainly owe 
 their origin to corruption of the te.xt. Note also in this connexion the dis- 
 appearance of the suffix in 1Q as a result of textual criticism. On form of psalm, 
 cp. D. H. Miiller, Slrophenbait, 61 ff. ; Duhm and Grimme agree. 
 
 Deposited. Marked : of ^Arab-etlian 
 
 I Rescue me, O Yahwe ! from Aram, 
 
 From Asshur and from Cusham preserve me. 
 
 For the}' plan evil actions in the heart, 
 
 The}' stir up wars continually', 
 
 Ishmael, Maacath, and Cush, 
 
 Those of Rehoboth and of Zarephath.^ 
 
 Rescue me, O Yahwe ! from Aram, 
 From Asshur and from Cusham preserve me, 
 For they plan to thrust my feet, 
 10 The traitors have hidden snares for me, 1 
 
 Those of Jerahmeel and of Zarephath, 
 Those of Cush and of Ishmael. 
 
 I say unto Yahw^, Thou art my God : 
 
 Hear, O Yahwb ! my suppliant voice ! 
 
 O Yahwe,- my delivering Rock ! ; 
 
 Destroy Ishmael as in the day of Cushan. 
 
 Rescue me, O Yahwb ! from Aram [and from] Asshur, < 
 
 From Ishmael, and from Maacath, and from Jerahmeel.'^ 
 
 Those of Jerahmeel shall give way, 11, I: 
 
 20 Asshur and Cusham, and Ishmael and Zarephath ! 
 
 ' Jerahmeel. " O Lord. 
 
 ' Asshur, Lshmael, Zarephathites, and Cushites. 
 
PSALM CXI,. 223 
 
 For Yahwe will plead the cause of the sufferer, 13 
 
 The right of the poor [he will maintain]. 
 Verily the righteous will give thanks to thy name, 14 
 
 The upright will be satisfied with thy countenance. 
 
 I, 5' 9- Aram, Asshur. As usual, 16. 7'he d'ay of Citshan. Cp. ' the day 
 
 the southern Aram (= Jerahnieel) antl of Midian," Isa. i\. 3. l'ossil>ly Othniel's 
 
 Asshur (=Ashhur, and Cleshur) are victory over ' Cushan-risliathaim ' (see 
 
 meant. — 4. They stir up wars. Strictly F.nc. Bib. s. v.) is meant, or some 
 
 speaking, this is inconsistent with other great battle in which the N. 
 
 the description of the treachery of the Arabian foe was defeated. .See critical 
 
 foes in //. 9 f. ; cp. Ps. cxx.— 10. note. — 19. Cp. on xi. 6. — 24. Cp. 
 
 Cp. ix. 16, xxxi. 5, Ivii. 7, Ixiv. 6. — xvii. 15. 
 
 Critical Notes, i f., 7 f. These two couplets were evidently meant 
 to agree (see also on //. 17 f.). "'JTiJ/l is miswritten (see on Ixi. 8) for 
 ^J');:3lt'n- Consequently ''T\12V , which opens v. 5, should be ''j:i^rT. 
 For □1^JQ read Q~)^i'3. ^"1 and t^^'h} together represent ■1•^Z'^< ; 
 
 D'*Dl!3n comes from D'vi^^rjT (cp. on xviii. 49). 
 
 T ••. . 
 
 4. Read DViTt'D (G, Kenn.), and nj^ with Ol., Gr. .S:c. (cp. hi. 7, 
 lix. 4). 
 
 5 f. 'Sharpened their tongue like a serpent'? 'Poison of *'? 
 VJ^JlSi:^ ought to warn us (cp. on xvii. i, 4) ; "^"^b-, too, may represent 
 '^'My^Sli'"' (see on Isa. xi. 15). 
 
 : T-:- •• T : • 
 
 • T : : • : 
 
 n'?D, at the end of 7'?'. 4, 6, 9, as often, represents 'l^i^/'^irTT . 'The 
 meaning of QVii^Dy is uncertain' (Duhni) ; more than uncertain! It 
 must be admitted, however, that '<U^'23y! (for ZniiOP). presupposed by T 
 (so Merx and Gr.), is ingenious. .See Enc. Bib., ' Spider.' 
 
 7 f. n"'D comes from D"^^<^:5 ; yiVS and ^n^)XC) from nVii^r^Q .— M 
 D^i^il- Read 0^33, (see on xciv. 2). 
 
 II f. f^rom D"'':'2m to n'^D (7'. 6) is a collection of corrupt ethnics,— 
 
 '■)'• b\?iyi^'^'' D''^3 '1^ 'i:i /i3"i^ '^kSomv g's ror? ttoo-iV i^ov also 
 
 comes from t'N?Drn^. Read therefore — 
 
 15 f. For Tj7 read, probably, 12J (see on xxviii. 8). — M nj"ni2D 
 ^li^J^n'?, -I choice, but here not a very natural expression. Read 
 
224 THK PSALMS. 
 
 bayyV" Dntn. bUlW and bi^yr^TV^ are sometimes confounded 
 
 (like '^XIK'' and Dy^^Tl")- — ^I p'p^ D^''2, 'on the day of armour'? 
 
 Read Vji^S DT3. See exeg. note. 
 T \ : 
 
 17 f. M ^''TK!D. G dni} tJ)? iinOvyiUis ; 'A f'ntnodrjfjLaTa ; 2 rar «7ri- 
 dv^ias ; T ■'J^D") ; J desida-ia. The double irregularity need not here 
 be discussed. The reference to the 'suppliant voice' leads us to expect 
 a repetition of the prayer for rescue from Aram, and the other words in 
 V. 9, including n'^D, are very possible corruptions of ethnics. In no 
 other way can pDJl~'?N Xyi2i\ be e.xplained ; QQt is an impossible aV. 
 Aty. ; and how can li^l"!'' mean ' (for) they would exalt themselves ' ? 
 
 T 
 
 On the vss., see Bathgen. Read — 
 
 V. 10, as all agree, is most obscure. But, to an experienced eye, every 
 word in it is clearly a corruption of an ethnic ; for ''^DD, cp. the familiar 
 corruptions •<2i:''' and 'DU" (for '''))X};!m:^)- The ethnics are— "nt^'J^ 
 D^Ii'DI DTIS"^'^ '7^<iO'^^, a catalogue which exhibits the scribe's learn- 
 ing, but has no place in the poem. 
 
 19. Kt. tlO^;::*; better, as Kr., Vt^DlDV DH''':'^ and ^■h^'i, both 
 represent D^t'Nl^m^ (D and D confounded) ; both are scribes' attempts 
 to get sense out of a miswritten and perhaps dittographed TTIV (The 
 conjecture ITID^ or "inp^ [Kenn., Hu., Gr., Ba., (S:c.] is derived from 
 
 xi. 6, which, however [see note], is corrupt). What follows is most 
 improbable in itself and metrically excessive. D7^D'^ Ii^N2 simply 
 represents D''':'^*;^l"2U'^ a variant to D"'':'SDm"'. Similarly j-n-),'::nD3 
 l!31p''~'?2 (who can venture to defend TTD ?) represents other attempts of 
 a scribe to make sense of a miswritten Tf")^ ; we therefore disregard it. 
 Read D^'rNrjn"!^ VtOIDV 
 
 20. We also make no ubc of the opening words of v. 12, for they 
 simply represent jlSlIi '?^<rJ^-|^ '7W:2i:'\ which is dittographic. What 
 the psalmist wrote most probably was TStH'^^ '?W;'2X'"T UVys "SW^- 
 Of these four names, a is represented by li^^J^+l'l, ''' by DDH, f by 
 
 i:iv::^ (cp. wrv^)^ d by '?^<rQ^''• 
 
 22. Insert IDS'*^'"' (metre). 24. M 'S2.V^ . Read ipZl'li'^ (Schorr, 
 Geiger, Kroch., Gr.). 
 
PSALM CXLI. 225 
 
 PSALM CXLI. 
 
 i HE same subject continued. The original psalm (in trimeters) was rewritten 
 by an editor. There is nothin|j, if we have in the main rightly restored it, 
 which suggests a specially late date. It is only v. a,b and v. 7 which have 
 appeared to favour a date in the Greek period, but these passages are not 
 safe enough to appeal to ; indeed, the strong probdbility is that the points 
 to which critics have referred are solely due to textual corruption (cp. on 
 Ps. xvi.). The 'scattering' of an Israelitish host mentioned in /. 8 of the 
 'original psalm' may have been an event in the period wiiich preceded the 
 arrival of Nehemiah at Jerusalem. Coblenz (p. 190) remarks that the cor- 
 ruptness of the text makes it hard to decide whether the community or an 
 individual is the speaker ; he inclines, however, to the second view, interpreting 
 P^"?f>j in V. 5 not of God (as Bii., after Hengstenberg), but of any righteous 
 
 friend (as Del.). Biithgen takes the other view, basing this on the intelligible 
 part of the psalm — though v. 5a is surely not so clear as this scholar supposes. 
 He also approves Theodore's reference of the psalm to circumstances of the 
 p]xile. Duhm finds no clear indications of date; as usual he makes the speaker 
 an individual. If, however, Ecclus. xxii. 27 is really dependent on Ps. cxli. 3, 
 it would seem that the psalm must have been written or rewritten before 
 the composition of the original Ecclesiasticus. We may (probably) with 
 general accuracy, and even with some approach to accuracy of detail, restore 
 the original psalm thus, — 
 
 I O Yahwe ! I call upon thee, attend unto me ; i 
 Listen to my voice when I call unto thee. 
 
 Cause the Pelethites to bow down before me, 2 
 
 Destroy Jerahmeel and Zarephath. 3 
 
 O Yahwe ! in thy lovingkindness correct me, 5 
 Let not Asshur deal with me as guilty ! 
 
 For the Pelethites and Zarephathites shout in triumph, 6 
 
 For the Ishmaelites have scattered our host. 7 
 
 For unto thee, O Yahwe ! mine eyes ^.are raised-t- ; 8 
 10 In thee do I trust, forsake not my soul. 
 
 Preserve me from Jerahmeel and from Cush, 9 
 From the plots of the Asshuritcs and the Arabians. 
 
 This psalm of highly wrought feeling was modified by the redactor, 
 much as Ps. xvi. and other parallel psalms were modified. Corrup- 
 tion too suggested (in vi'. 4-7) some strange and at first sight striking 
 ideas — only the form of expression is so odd that the commentators are 
 to blame for assigning the ideas and the form of expression to the 
 psalmist. Apart from this spurious originality the psalm was greatly 
 weakened by being rewritten. On the text, cp. Grimme, Ps.-probleme, 
 pp. 126 f. 
 
 Marked. Of 'Arab-ethan. i 
 
 I O Yahwb ! I call upon thee, attend unto me ; 
 Listen to my voice when I call unto thee. 
 Let my prayer stand +as+ a sweet smoke before thee, 2 
 
 The lifting up of my hands +as+ the evening oblation. 
 II. Q 
 
226 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Set a watch(?), O Yahwe ! upon my mouth, 3 
 
 A guard(?) on the door(?) of my hps. 
 
 IncHne not my heart to any evil thing, 4 
 
 Presumptuously to commit actions in wickedness, 
 
 With men(?), workers of wrong, 
 lo And may I not eat of their dainties(?) ! 
 
 Let the righteous smite me in lovingkindness(?), and 
 
 correct me, 5 
 
 The oil of the wicked — let it not moisten my liead. 
 
 For yet — my prayer is in their misfortunes(?). 
 
 Their judges are thrown down into the hands of the rock, 6 
 
 And will hear my words, for they are sweet. 
 
 As when one ploughs and cleaves in the earth, 7 
 
 Our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol. 
 
 For unto thee, O Yahwe ! mine eyes +are raised+, 8 
 
 In thee do I trust, pour not out my soul. 
 20 Preserve me from the hands of the snare of those who 
 
 set gins for me, 9 
 
 And +from+ the gins of the workers of wrong. 
 
 Let the wicked fall into his own nets, 
 
 While I at the same time pass on. 
 
 The most secure corrections of the manipulated text are in lines 
 I and 12. In /. i H'^i^in should be n2"'t:'pn. Winckler's root WT\ 
 ' to give heed' {AOF'^^^ i. 50) has questionable grounds. 
 
 In /. 12 (7/. 5) G has i'Xaiov 8e (ifxapTiaXov /xi) AiTrai-tirco r))v K€(f)a\T]v /xov, 
 i.e. ^t'^l W^^'b^ V^~^ \'C)V^■ The reading Dn\':3^y in v. 7!) pre- 
 supposed by G'' and S (see Bii.) is surely a mere guess. In 7'. 3 note the 
 words 7r\72V, TV^I^, and '^1, which have not been satisfactorily 
 justified. 
 
 Turning now to the ' original ))salm,' we dwell first on //. 3, 4. 
 Evidently the gentle, poetic prayer in 7'. 2 is not the true successor of the 
 impassioned appeal in v. i. Nor is this prayer itself quite free from 
 difficulty; JTIDp is not a perfect parallel to 31^ jlTOD, and then- 
 why mention the evening at all? "JIDD, as in xciii. i, may come from 
 I'^IDn, and the puzzling JlltOp niay have the same origin. ^jn'73n, 
 both here and in 7'. 5, seems to come from ^"173 (Pelethite = Zare- 
 phathite ; see Kfic. Bib. ' Pclclliite.') — /'. 2b is an editorial work, based 
 on a corruption of yy^ b'^t^PH^ btUVCW -, three ethnics, or rather two 
 (TFT being simply a variant to 'li;'), combined. "'SD (cp. Crit. Bib. on 
 '^D-S, Gen. xxi. 22) and JHTOD (from \t2TV\) both represent '?N^:mV 
 
PSALMS CXLI., CXLII. 227 
 
 V. 3 has grown out of D^'l^i'] 'PITT 'D1V'^ nT") 'r^TV' Sl'niVD. 
 Metre requires two of the ethnics to be chosen ; we naturally choose 
 ' Jerahmeel ' and 'Zarephath.' — V. 4 is useless, having been evolved out of 
 
 D^bi^on-i^ 'nn^ 'dv -)Wi^ 'm^ 'm^ an;? iv^X^) 'ni^ ':'j<Qnn% 
 
 in the middle of which is inserted the gloss pS"vPD- Note the two 
 Legarmehs and the Pasek. In v. ^a ^JQ/H^ (cp. on cxviii. iO(^) comes 
 from DvhJ'Om*, a gloss properly belonging to z'. 4. 
 
 V. 5a comes from 'bii "^r^ii O^V^t]] ^JHOh ^70112 mn^ 
 
 ^iV^ty_ (for ]'2*:; cp. on civ. 15); r-. s^ from QMEii'^ii DT\^^ lyn^"^. 
 
 Notice that TDn and p"TU are liable to confusion. It is very possible, 
 however, and even probable, that pH^ (Pasek follows) is a corruption 
 of ^"HDl^nj ; at any rate, the sense requires this reading. 
 
 In T'. 6 lIDI^SIi'j and Dn'DSti' both probably come from DTlS^ii ; 
 ^"2 comes from n")^; V^D and ipDI^^I from bi^V^T^'' • o' HDi^ 
 from 7j<^m^; T2i'J from ]f2^ ■ This is merely a scribe's catalogue, 
 and forms no part of the poem. In :-. 7a, ^^2 < PIT'S) (once more cp. 
 '?D''3), and yp31, all come from fragments of 7i<;^n~lV yiN^ comes 
 from in^, or from jlSl^i; t'. 7^ represents Q^'^X;;,^::;^ ^J^*2i: n)3 '3- 
 
 In 7'. 8 *JTl^ is superfluous ; ~)}?D probably comes from 2'i}?D (Gr.). 
 In V. 9 nS ■'T'^D with >b, comes from ^hi::^?!")''::, Wp" from' ;^13;21, 
 /ni^^pai (we expect ""VpD) from Jli3li^rT?3;:2l. In t'. loa the editor has 
 done his best with two miswritten forms of Dv^^.'!^^'T', followed by 
 P"*pi^-l=Q^-n^^}. In z'. lob in"' and ip ''D3^J both possibly represent 
 '!'^<^2m^ ; m^^J^ comes from D^3"13?- As the conclusion of /. 12 
 D''3i;?1 Dmt^'h} is preferable to ]^^^ "hV^- 
 
 PSALM CXLII. 
 
 1 RIMETERS. A more plaintive cry for help. Theodore's assignment of 
 this psalm to the captive people in Babylon has still more justification than 
 even Batligen, who favours this view, supposes. It is indeed Israel which 
 languishes in prison (cp. Isa. xlii. 7), surely not an Israelite leader, as Hitzig, 
 Delitzsch, and Duhm, or the psalmist hmiself, as Coblenz (p. 184) would 
 have it. But the place of cajitivity was not Babylon but Jerahmeel (cp. on 
 cxxxvii. l). Like Ps. Ixxvii. {v. 2), our psalm puts this fact in the forefront; 
 'in Jerahmeel unto Yahwe I cry ' (v. 2). Other parallel passages : v. 3a, cp. 
 cii. I ; V. 4a, cp. Ixxvii. 4 ; v. ^/), cp. Job xi. 20 ; v. 6c, cp. xvi. 5, Ixxiii. 26, 
 cxix. 57 ; V. 8a, cp. Isa. xlii. 7. 
 
 Deposited. Of'Arab-e/hafi. \_0f David ^ when he -ivas in /er.ih/neei.'] 
 
 A prayer. I 
 
 ] III Jerahmeel unto Yahvvfe I cry, 2 
 
 In Jerahmeel unto Yahwe I make supplication ; 
 I pour out before him my complaint, 3 
 
 Before him my trouble I declare. 
 
228 THE PSALMS. 
 
 For my spirit within me is astonished, 4 
 
 But thou knowest my desire. 
 
 In the path wherein I am wont to go, 
 
 [The JerahmeeHtes] have hidden snares for me. 
 
 I look on the right hand, and gaze, 5 
 
 10 [And on the left,] but there is none to take heed of me ; 
 All retreats are cut off from me. 
 There is none that cares for my life. 
 
 I cry unto thee, O Yahwe ! 6 
 
 I say. Thou art my refuge, 
 
 My portion in the land of the living. 
 
 Hearken, [O Yahwe !] to my cry, 7 
 
 For, [as for me,] I am brought very low ; 
 Rescue me from ni}' pursuers, 
 20 For they are too mighty for me. 
 
 Bring my soul out of prison, 8 
 
 That I may give thanks to thy name ; 
 The righteous will make their boast of me. 
 Because thou dealest bountifully with me. 
 
 Critical Notes. Title, m^^ro and d'^I^ (i S. xxii. i) both re- 
 present '?i<Dn"l^ . See Crit. Bib. on x S. xxii. i. 
 
 I f. M tblp- Read '?^<D^■T'n (as iii. 5, Ixxvii. 2). 
 
 5 f. Read HOrin ^3 (Ixxvii. 4). and (for ^na^JlJ) 'n^^^.0• 
 
 8. Insert D^'^'SDHI^ which was probably written corruptly in a 
 form resembling ^7 nS (cp. on cxli. 9). 
 
 9 f. Point iD''3n and HNT (Bii.). GST express the first person. 
 In /. ro insert '?^<D•^:r^. 
 
 17 f. Perhaps insert TWTV and >JJ^. Grimme, Tljnj")~'?N- 
 
 23. For in^'^D^ ('surround,' as enemies) read perhaps TlhJSJT (Gr.). 
 
 PSALM CXLIII. 
 
 i RIMETERS and dimeters. Familiar complaints and petitions of pious 
 Israel recast. Cp. e.g. v. 3 with vii. ba, xxxi. 13 (?), ixxxviii. 4-7, Lam. iii. 6 ; 
 V. 6 with Ixiii. 5 and 2 ; v. "jb with xxviii. i, Ixxxviii. 5 ; v. 10,7, cp. xxv. 4 f. ; v. 
 \oh (leading of the divine spirit), cp. Neh. ix. 20; v. 11, cp. cxix. 25, 37, 40, &c. 
 Theodore, as we might expect, refers the psalm to the captive people in Babylon 
 {ZATIV, 1885, p. 90). Cp. introd. to Ps. cxlii., and note the probable reading 
 ' out of the land of Missur ' (/. 30). 
 
PSALM CXLIII. 22g 
 
 Marked: of ''Arab-cthan. I 
 
 I O Yahwc ! hear my prayer, 
 
 Give ear to my supplication ; 
 
 In thy faithfulness answer me, 
 
 In thy righteousness [rescue me].i 
 
 For the Arabian has pursued ni}' soul, 3 
 
 Has crushed to the ground my life ; 
 
 He has made me to dwell in dark places, 
 
 As the dead Jerahmeelites, 
 
 So that my spirit is astonished within me, 4 
 
 10 My heart in the midst of me is appalled ; 
 
 I remember the days of old, 5 
 
 I meditate upon all thy doing. 
 
 I muse upon the work of thy hands, 
 
 I spread out my hands unto thee ; 6 
 
 I long as a thirsty land 2 
 
 For thee, O God ! 
 
 Make haste to answer me, O Yahwe, 7 
 
 Hide not thy countenance from me, 
 
 [Lest, if thou spurn me,] I resemble 
 20 Those that have gone down to the pit. 
 
 Satisfy me early with thy lovingkindness, 8 
 
 For in thee do I trust ; 
 
 Make me to know the way that T sliould go. 
 
 For I lift up my soul inito thee. 
 
 Rescue me from the Arabian, O Yahwe ! 9 
 
 For thee do I long : 
 
 Teach me to do thy will, 10 
 
 For thou art my God. 
 
 Let thy good spirit lead me 
 30 Out of the land of Missur, O Yahwe ! 
 
 For thy name's sake revive me, 1 1 
 
 In thy righteousness. 
 
 Bring my soul out of distress, 
 
 And in th}' righteousness suppress mine enemies, 12 
 
 And destroy all those that afflict m}^ soul, 
 
 For I am thy servant. 
 
 ' And enter not into judgment with thy servant, for none that lives can be 
 righteous before thee (z'. 2). 
 * My spirit pines. 
 
230 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Critical Notes. 4. Parallelism and metre suggest the insertion of 
 
 ^. M Tii^ (Pasek follows). Read "•HI* (xxvii. 2 &c.).— F. 2 is 
 
 .. • T~: 
 
 omitted, because hardly metrical, and not exactly consistent with i\ i, 
 
 which appeals to Vahwe's righteousness (see, however, Ba. and Du.). 
 
 S f. M D'^ir -ri'IlD. Read ':'^i;::^T -/I^DD (asxxxi. I3,lxxxviii.6). 
 Read nar^m (lxxvii/4. cxUi. 4). nQni<i has been restored in Iv.^s, 
 Ixxiii. z\a. 
 
 i: f. M ""^33 (Pasek follows;. Read ""i^ElDDJ- So again in /. 26 
 (for ^TDD)- Tfn nn'^D in v. 7, which is metrically superfluous, may 
 be a gloss on TISDDJ- Tb'O (7'. 6, end), as often, comes from DM'?>i- 
 
 19. Insert (from xxviii. I) ""^Qr^ "^VX}.^ '*?" 
 
 21. Read "J^^aTn (Cir., Che. -, Du.i. 
 
 25. Read ^IIJ'D (cp. on /. 5).— 26. M ^D^DB, surely not reflexive. 
 G KaTk^vyov — ^'pioi- Read ''r)3DD2. which accounts for both readings. 
 Gr., "'/T'lp; Bachm., Pa. 'jTBH ; 'too arbitrary. 
 
 30. M lii:^'':^ V"^^?^- '^^'^^ probably ivjr:: V'}.^^"2• 
 
 34. M Tj-npnZll. Read TypTj^l. Here a^ain we see that pi2i 
 and ion are liable to confusion. 
 
 PSALM CXLIV.— I. 
 
 i KiMiiTEKS. A coml)i nation of passages chiefly from Ps. xviii., but also from 
 Pss. xxxiii. and civ. relative to divine deliverance from trouble, and an application 
 of these to pious Israel's sufferings from their treacherous N. Arabian (not Syrian) 
 enemies {v. 11). The parallel passages are — v. i, cp. xviii. 35, 46 f. ; v. 2, cp. 
 xviii. 3, 48; V. 5flr, cp. xviii. io« ; v. 5/', cp. civ. 32/'; v. 6, cp. xviii. 15; v. 7, 
 cp. xviii. 17; V. 9, cp. xxxiii. 2 f ; 7'. 10, cp. xviii. 51. 
 
 Of 'Arab-ethaii. I 
 
 I Blessed be Yalnve my Rock, 
 
 [Exalted be God my succour,] 
 
 Who trains my hands tc^ war. 
 
 My fingers to battle ; 
 
 My righteousness, my fortress,' mine a53-lum, 2 
 
 My shield, he in whom I take refuge ; 
 
 * * * *p 
 
 Who crushes the peoples beneath me.- 
 
 ' My sure retreat. 
 
 - Vahwc I what is man that thou shouldest notice him? 
 
 Frail man, that thou shouldest value him? 
 
 Man is like a breath, 
 
 His days arc as a shadow that passes away {vv. 3 f.>. 
 
PSALM CXLIV. — I, 2. 23 I 
 
 O Yahwe ! bow the heavens, and come down, 5 
 
 10 Touch the mountains, that they smoke, 
 
 Hurl forth lightnings and scatter them, 6 
 
 Shoot out thine arrows and affright them. 
 Reach forth thy hand from high heaven, 7 
 
 [Draw me] out of the vast waters ; 
 
 * * * * 
 
 O Yahwe ! I will sing a new song unto thee, 9 
 
 With lute and horn will I play unto thee, 
 (The God) who gave succour to his king, 10 
 
 20 Who rescued David his servant. 
 
 From the sword of Jerahmeel rescue thou me, 1 1 
 
 Deliver me from the hand of foreigners, 
 
 Whose mouth speaks falsehood. 
 
 And whose contract is a contract of lies.' 
 
 PSALM CXLIV.— 2. 
 
 1 RIMETERS. A fragment dcscrihing the felicity of the people that worships 
 \'ahwe. Cp. cxxvii.*-), cxxviii. How came the fragment here? I'robably by 
 mere accident. The passage had to be preserved, and at the end of this 
 composite psahn there seemed to be a suitable place. According to most, it 
 
 was linked to the preceding psalm by "lii^hJ- Possibly the editor meant vi.- to 
 
 understand 'I will sing unto thee (-'. 9) because/ &c., making vv. 12-15 virtually 
 
 the 'new song' spoken of, but 'A 2 E' J give "l^S the sense of 'in order that.' 
 
 Cp. Kon., Synt., § 396^. The truth, however, probal)ly is that ")l^^} = l^tt^J* 
 
 (the N. Arabian Asshur), a gloss on i'. 11. 
 
 I Our sons are as newly planted saplings, iz 
 
 Full-grown, in youthful age ; 
 Our daughters, as fruitful (vines) 
 Maturing berries of a cluster(?). 
 
 [All] our stores are full, 13 
 
 Suppl3'ing both oil and corn, 
 Our sheep increasing by thousands. 
 And tens of thousands in our fields. 
 
 No breaking-in of Ishmaelites, 14 
 
 10 No cry of woe in our streets. 
 
 Happy the people that is in such a case, 1 5 
 
 Happy the people whose God is Yahwe ! 
 
 1 Asshur. 
 
232 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Critical Notes, (cxliv.'^')- -• SLip])licd by Diilim from xviii. 46^. 
 
 5. M ^Ipn. Krochm.. Gr., Che." "•JDH. Rather ''plii (see on 
 xviii. i). Confusion of IDH and p"i:i (n for p, D for iJ).— Omit '•^^Or^, 
 a variant to ^niVia-— Read *:d'?3DT (see on xviii. 3).— 8. M lliH. 
 Read perhaps S3ipn ; see on xviii. 48.— M ''Dy. Read '"-qj?, i.e. 
 D^Qy (xviii. 48). So some MSS. and 'A J T S, but G tov XooV /xou. 
 
 The insertion after t'. 2 reminds us of viii. 5, Job viii. 9, xiv. 2. 
 
 9. Read W'^y^t), with Wellh., Duhm.— 11. Read D'*p121 (Gr.) ; so 
 • - T '. t: 
 
 xviii. 15. — 13. Read T|~T\ with vss., and not a few MSS. (Ba., We., Du.) 
 
 14. All that follows DT1DD in ''• 7, except DO! D'DQ, is erroneously 
 repeated from v. 11. 13efore '") '}2 read ''Jli^Q (see xviii. 17), with 
 
 Duhm.— 18. Read 13ili^T ^"213. (see on xxxiii. 2l>). 
 T : V •• : 
 
 19 f. □o'?Q probably comes from "^j^]^, and this from S'^'^T^ (see 
 xviii. 51). — n^"1 Il~)nD is an unparalleled phrase which, like TT 
 n^Vn (Jer. xlvi. 16 &c.), comes from '^NDDl"' 2111^. Attach this to 
 ^2iJ9 (cp. G), and begin /. 22 with ^jy:inV 
 
 (cxliv.'-'). I. T27J^ should probably be printed ■^;^^*, a gloss (see 
 introd., p. 231). — M J1^1T3 . '\ seems to have much puzzled the ancients ; 
 G for' instance renders KiKaKhunria-iiivai, deriving from VT 'brilliance.' 
 Most moderns, ' as corner-pillars ' (continuing, ' carved in palace-fashion '). 
 But 'pillars' is arbitrary, and what right have we to think of Caryatides 
 in palaces known to the psalmist ? Comparing cxxviii. 3, Isa. xvii. 6, 
 read JinM-— M byr\ FYIII^ r\^21£ini2- For 'HD ('striped'.? 
 
 • : T •• • : - ,T \ : 
 
 ' hewn ' ?) G gives TTfjHKfKoaixrjfifvm. lUit the text of the whole passage 
 
 needs to be revised. Read perhaps '''}2^'^ ''Zl-)_y JliiO^Hp. On [O^n 
 cp. Del. on Cant. ii. 13 ; for "^"^ 'J^? cp. Num. xiii. 22, D''3J;i7 '?i3^hJ. 
 
 5. Insert "^3 (with Bi.), which easily fell out after S3\-f or '?Di:;j<.— 
 M IJ^ITD, G T« Tdfie'ia ovTwi/ (the required sense). Such a word as 1TQ 
 {BDB iic, \/ niT) is unknown. Wellh., ^I^JiQ, 'our foods"? Herz, 
 ^J''f2DNt (Dt. xxviii. 8, Prov. iii. 10). ~]rbi>i ]-1D- G (S) « tovtov els 
 T(WTo = 'r\r7i^ 7]-]'2 ; cp. Ixxv. 9, G S. Surely a bad guess. ]V2 is 
 
 probably fiom ]'0t ; ]T from |[:i]1. Read ^T'^K T?*^*0 ; cp. Dt. xi. 
 14. 
 
 9. M prefixes to 7'. 5 D'^3DQ ^riJl'?*^. ^^bii for r]'7^^i>— the 
 masc. as tieniis epiea-ni/m {XX. vii. 13)? — 'pQ ' burdened '—with what? 
 with loads (T, Kimhi) ? with flesh {C, iraxt'ii) ? with the fruit of the womb 
 (Ge., Ew., Hi., We. with.?)? All equally impossible. Can the text be 
 
PSALMS CXLIV. — 2, CXLV. 233 
 
 right ? Besides, why should the kine have less space than the sheep ? 
 (Grimme's reading 1^13 l'l^< is a poor makeshift). The word which first 
 reveals its secret is D'''^Z1DD. for b2D, like ':5QD, is a possible corruption 
 of '^'NyQi:;^ (cp. on Ixxxi. 7^) : ^bii, too, sometimes romes from 
 ^^i^OCnT], and ^^ often represents an original D- The T in '3')'?K may 
 come from "1, unless indeed it is an interpretative insertion. Thus we 
 get D^t'Wrjti;^ D^'?NQn"1\ These two words are alternatives. Most 
 probably either TTT' or ':21V'' should stand after yiD "|'»^}. These words 
 too have exercised the older interpreters. But followed by iimiJ ^i^ it 
 is difficult for a modern scholar to doubt ; Y"13 means a breaking-in of 
 foes into the land or into a city. ' There is no breaking-in of Ishmaelites ' 
 records the fact tliat Ishmaelite raids were both before and after the 
 Exile one of the chief dangers of the southern Israelites.— But what of 
 JlNiiV (Vi^*)) ? ' Probably = > IVii^,' says Olshausen; but the explanation 
 of "> 'J is not so easy. Metrically either 'DID ''?^^ or Jli^iJT* V^*"' '^ 
 superfluous ; our previous criticism leads to the decision that it is the 
 latter which is intrusive, and, if so, it seems plain that D^?2JV V^^^ ^^^ 
 grown out of a dittographed nm^ ^"'^J^• 
 
 PSALM CXLV. 
 
 1 RIMETERS. An alphabetical psalm, of which one distich (that beginning 
 with Nun) is wanting in M ; see on v. 13. It is unoriginal, but well sums 
 up the Jewish conception of the character of Yahwe ; hence, before praying, 
 said R. Jeshua ben Levi, repeat Ps. cxlv. It has an affinity with the next 
 psalm (v. 14); cp. vv. i, 13 (Yahwe as king) with cxlvi. 10; vv. 14, 20 with 
 
 cxlvi. 8f. ; V. 15a with cxlvi. 5 (l^tt') ; v. 1$^ vvith cxlvi. 7. nyTlD (G 0, 
 alvfois ; 'A, vnfTiaii ; 2, ti/xvos ; T, J^J^rT^li^lD) nowhere else occurs in a 
 heading, though D^^rT/l is the title of the v/hole Book (see .ilso on Ixxii. 20). 
 
 I I will extol thee, my God, my King, I 
 
 And bless thy name for ever and ever. 
 
 Every day will I bless thee. * 2 
 
 And praise thy name for ever and ever. 
 
 Great is Yahwe, and highly to be praised, 3 
 
 And his greatness is unsearchable. 
 
 One generation shall laud thy works to another, 4 
 
 They shall declare thy mighty acts. 
 
 Of thy glorious brightness shall they speak, 5 
 
 10 Of thy wonders shall they discourse ; 
 
 The might of thy terrible acts shall they utter, 6 
 
 Thy great deeds shall they rehearse. 
 
234 THE PSALMS. 
 
 The recital of thy plenteous goodness they shall pour 
 
 forth, 7 
 
 And shout for joy at thy righteousness. 
 
 Full of pity and compassionate is Yahwe, 8 
 
 Long-suffering, and of great lovingkindness. 
 
 Good is Yahwe to all [who wait for him], 9 
 
 And his compassion is over all who take refuge in him. 
 All who take refuge in thee give thanks to thee, O 
 
 Yahwe, lo 
 
 20 And thy loyal ones bless thee. 
 
 The glory of thy kingdom do they utter, 1 1 
 
 Of thy might is their talk. 
 
 To make known to men Yahwe's mighty acts, 1 2 
 
 And the brilliant glory of his kingdom. 
 
 Thy kingdom is a kingdom for all ages, 13 
 
 And thy dominion lasts for all generations. 
 
 Faithful is Yahwe in all his ways. 
 
 And full of lovingkindness in all his works. 
 
 Yahwu upholds all those who have fallen, 14 
 
 30 And lifts up all those ^vho are bowed down. 
 
 The eyes of all wait upon thee, 15 
 
 And thou givest them their food in due season. 
 
 Thou openest thy hand, 16 
 
 And fillest all that lives with favour. 
 
 Righteous is Yahwe in all his ways, 17 
 
 And full of lovingkindness in all his works. 
 
 Yahwe is nigh unto all those who call upon him, 18 
 
 All those who call upon him in truth. 
 
 He will fulfil the desire of those that fear him, 19 
 
 40 He will hear their cry, and will succour them. 
 
 Yahwe preserves all those who love him, 20 
 
 But all the wicked he will destroy. 
 
 My mouth shall speak the praise of Yahwe, 21 
 
 And let all flesh bless his holy name.' 
 
 • For ever and ever. 
 
PSALMS CXLV., CXLVI. 235 
 
 I. Cp. x\x. 2, V. 3.-5. Cp. xlviii. 2. iii. 33, iv. 31.— 30. ^pT, so cxlvi. S ; 
 
 -9. Cp. /. 24. -1 3. TT2i:2-21, as common in Aramaic.-3i f. As civ. 27. 
 
 , ... ^ = ~ — "^A. liljn, either 'with Vahwe's fa- 
 
 xxxi. 20, Isa. Ixin. 7.— V^3n> ^^ •'^'^■- 3. ''^ ' t 
 
 liN. S.-15 r. See ciii. S, Ex. xxxiv. 6.- vour,' or 'with each one'.s desire.' But 
 
 a pronommal siimx can more easily be 
 
 Compassio)!a(e(n\n'y),cp.on Ixxxvi. 15 dispensed with in the former case (cp. 
 
 (Babylonian affinity). — 25 f. Cj). Dan. v. 13, Dt. xxxiii. 23). 
 
 Cri/ica/ Notes. i. M ']"7:2r\ ^rht^- Read ^3^:j 'bii, (G). H is 
 dittographic— 9 f. Read, probably, ■^li^Z) IIl) ; ^-^i^ superfluous '^^T^ 
 may be from a ditto-r. ni-— ?^I '"^4"^"! • ^^^^^^ ^"^^T. (^ ^' ^^^""•' 
 Bi., Ba., Che.i, Kau.. We.)— M nn^Ii'N • Read T\'''V^ (G S. Kenn., 
 virtually Gr.). 
 
 12. Read ^Mi"?!-) or T|>J-|iyi:) (Kt.), with Kau.— AI nDlBDSt • 
 Read nSD' ((■ S, 'virtually Gr.)! 
 
 17 ff. Insert Vlf^ (Bi-)- G. nui vnofie'vovcri. Cf. Lam. vii. 25. — 
 Read, probably. ' jlhlH^ (/•<'• H- '.!). Four times again in this 
 psalm there is a transition from the address to Yahwe to the mention 
 of Yahwc in the third person {-en: 3, 8, 14, 17). So Perles {Ami/. 16), 
 Konig (T/i. LBlatt, Oct. 23, '96, cp. Styl. 748), and Duhm. The Tetra- 
 grammaton was represented by '^ ; cp. G, Judg. xix. 18. Kut G S J give 
 the 2nd sing. masc. sutfix. 
 
 27 f. Insert Vrp*^ ^'^'^ I'DHT Vima '^ ]*.2SJ (Grot., CappelK, 
 Ew.. Bi., (Jr.. Kau.). Repetition abounds in this psalm. 
 
 31, 11. Insert T\r\)^ (G, Bi., Bii.) . 
 
 T - 
 
 44. Omit lyT Ziysyh (Bi.). Litin-gical amplification. 
 
 PSALM CXLVI. 
 
 1 KIMETERS. The suhject is tlie essence of Vahwe's being— his creative might, 
 his lovingkindncss (including justice), his eternity as king of Israel. The con- 
 nexion of this psalm with I's. cxiv. has been noted. Their common tone of praise 
 led to the grouping of Ps. cxlvi. with Pss. cxlvii.-cl., which were admitted into 
 the daily Jewish morning prayer. At an earHer time Pss. cxlvi. -cxlviii. may 
 perhaps have formed an independent group by themselves. At any rate, this is 
 favoured by the fact that in G P.ss. cxlvi.-cxlviii. (observe that, according 
 to the numeration of G, Ps. cxlvii. becomes two psalms) have the heading, 
 AAATjAouia. ^ K-y^aiox) Ka\ Zaxapt'ou. What G's addition to KKKi\\ovia. means 
 is no doubt uncertain. Docs it mean that Haggai and Zechariah actually wrote 
 these psalms (together with Pss. cxii., cxxxviii., cxxxix.) ? or may we include 
 
 ''jn and n^lDT among the words which cover over ethnic names of N. Arabia? 
 
 If so, ' of the Hagrites and the Ashhurites ' (.see General Introd.) will be a not 
 imsuitable variant to 'of the Jerahmeelitcs' (transformed, not improbably, into 
 
 n^ l/zH). Cp. on Ps. cxxxvii. Note that v. 4 appears to be quoted in 
 I Mace. ii. 63. 
 
2j6 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Of the Jerahmee/ifes.. \ 
 
 I Praise Yahwe, O my soul, 
 
 I will praise Yahwb while I live, 2 
 
 I will chant to my God while I remain. 
 
 Put not your trust in princes, 3 
 
 In one of earth's race who cannot deliver ; 
 When breath fails, he becomes earth again, 4 
 
 And all his schemings vanish. 
 
 Happy he whose help is the God of Jacob, 5 
 
 10 Whose hope is in Yahwe his God, 
 
 Who made heaven and earth, 6 
 
 The sea and all that is therein ! 
 
 Yahwe watches over children. 
 
 He gives bread to the hungry ; 7/^ 
 
 Yahwe looses those that are bound, 7<r 
 
 He executes judgment for the oppressed ; "ja 
 
 Yahwe opens the eyes of the blind, Sa 
 
 Yahwe raises those that are bowed down ; %b 
 
 Yahwe watches over the sojourners, 9^ 
 
 20 He makes to stand the orphan and the widow ; 9^ 
 
 Yahwe loves the righteous, 8r 
 
 But the way of the wicked he destroys. 9^ 
 
 Yahwe shall reign for ever, 10 
 +Yea,+ thy God, O Zion ! from age to age. 
 
 I. A slight variation of the opening were exposed from barbarous captors of 
 
 words of Ps. civ. — 3 f. Cp. civ. 33. — cities (see e.g. Hos. x. 14). Matt. 
 
 5 f. Cp. cxviii. 8 f. — 7 f. Cp. civ. 29, xviii. 10 is hardly parallel. — 19 f. See 
 
 1 Macc.ii.63(seecrit.n.). — \-}^. Children. on xciv. 6, and cp. Bcrlholet, Siellung, 
 
 Because of the danger to whicii chikhen 182. 
 
 Critical AWc.s: 4. jM ni^n. Read "-TT^yB (see on civ. 33/').— 
 7 f. With Griinme read 2V^^ mi NiJD , and omit the useless DV2 
 Minn, reading "nQJ^T . See I iMacc. ii. 63, and cp. Bickell, Z/. / i^af/i. 
 77/rr;/., 1886, p. 365. I5i. and Du. omit imi J^aj"1 altogether; so Che.<"» 
 inserting ^3, which, however, is not enoiiyh to produce a clear trimeter. 
 
 — M Vnii^Ii'i^ . An imaginary word. Read V/lji^t'n (Eccles. vii. 
 T : V T : • 
 
 25, 27, 29, sing. ; 29, plur.). A similar correction is required in Jon. i. 6. 
 C, ot SttiXoyto-^ot avTMv.—g. The 3 in "l~lTyil may he ditlographed. 
 
PSALMS CXLVI., CXLVII. — I. 237 
 
 13- M Dt'ip'? r\'2i^ ~)i2''^n, against parallelism; note that the other 
 parts, have no article. Read, probably. D^'?'?iy~jni^ irS^i^ niiT ; H is 
 a fragment of HIIIV 
 
 20. I\I "Tliy ; G, acaXi7/i\//-fT«t, recognizing the same word here as in 
 cxlvii. 6 (note). Read, probably, TQP^ Herz, "^jni^ ; GrJitz, ")]];>. 
 
 22. M Jlljr*, 'he makes crooked'? Read n"^y^ (Lam. iii. 9'. G, 
 ti(f>nvLf7. — 24. G S J omit the superfluous n''l7/n (so cxlvii.-cxli.x.) 
 
 PSALM CXLVIL— I. 
 
 1 RIMETERS. A call to the people to praise Yahwe for his goodness to Israel 
 and to tiie earth. Observe (i) how the thoughts of what we may call nature and 
 of Israel are interwoven, and (2) how immediate is Yahwe's relation to each 
 sphere of activity. In separating vv. i-ii from the rest of Ps. cxlvii. (in M) we 
 follow the example of G (cp. on I's. cxvi.). The division is at least a probable 
 one. Certainly z'v. 12, 13 serve the same purpose as vv. i, 2 ; note also that a 
 plurality of persons is addressed in w. i-ii, but the collective personality of 
 'Jerusalem' or ' Zion ' in z'v. 12-20. As to parallel passages, cp. t'. I with 
 cxxxv. 3, xxxiii. I ; z/. 2^ with Isa. Ivi. S (time of Nehemiali ?) ; 7'. 3 with Isa. 
 Ixi. I ; z>v. 4 f. with Isa. xl. 26, 28 ; ?: 6 with cxlvi. 7-9 ; v. 9 with cxlv. 15, 
 Job xxxviii. 41 (unless with Bateson Wright we read 3"iy7) ; v. 10 with 
 xxxiii. 16 f. Heading in G as in cxlvi. (see introd.). 
 
 0/ the Jeraluucelites. I 
 
 I Praise Yah, for [Yahwe] is good,i 
 
 Chant hymns [to] our God, for he is gracious. 
 Yahwe is the builder of Jerusalem, 2 
 
 He collects the outcasts of Israel ; 
 
 He who heals the broken in heart, 3 
 
 And binds up their wounds : 
 
 He counts the number of the stars, 4 
 
 And gives names to them all. 
 
 Great is our Lord and plenteous in power, 5 
 
 10 His understanding is incalculable. 
 
 Yahwe makes the sufferers to stand, 6 
 
 But abases the wicked to the ground. 
 
 Sing ye to Yahwe with thanksgiving, 7 
 
 Chant to our God with the lyre. 
 
 Who covers the heavens with clouds, 8 
 
 Who prepares rain for the earth,^ 
 
 * Praise is seemly. - Who makes the mountains to shoot forth grass. 
 
238 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Who gives to the beast his food, 9 
 
 To the young ravens who cry to him. 
 His pleasure is not in the strength of a horse, 10 
 
 20 His dehght is not in the armour of a man ; 
 
 Yahwe's delight is in those that fear him, 11 
 
 In those that wait for his lovingkindness. 
 
 Critical Notes, i f. The text of M is in disorder. Ci gi\es TV '^T^ 
 twice over, which seems right ; one is the heading. It is possible to 
 read i"lQT (cp. xlvii. 7), continuing '^)f^ (Bi., Che.'", Du.). G pre- 
 supposes n~)?2T nni:D, continuing Tb7\r\ TV^yV'^ irrt'^N':'. But, then, 
 '^ '^ T : • T T ■ : T . : .... 
 
 how shall we account for mN3? The affinity between the closing psalms 
 
 T T 
 
 of praise suggests correcting //. i f. on the model of cxxxv. 3, and 
 reading — 
 
 So far Kautzsch nearly agrees. Metre, however, bids us go further, and 
 suggests that the closing words in M, viz. H'^nn mhJJ , are a c^uotation 
 from xxxiii. i, where certainly they are much more suitable than here. 
 They are probably a gloss on "yvj^ ^3, inserted after TVTV in /. i had 
 become effaced in the primary codex. 
 
 II. M nipD, G «i'«Ao/x/j(ii/wi'. Read probably "TVOy^ (see on cxlvi. 9). 
 Herz, ")^^^<^J. — Read D'^i^, the special term for righteous Israelites as 
 opposed to wicked foreigners (i\. 6, 13). 
 
 16. M reads (7/. U) T^in DHn PfQiian, and G's Heb. te.xt added 
 
 • T • T - • : - - 
 
 Dli^n rnili^"? ^ii^yi ; both insertions from civ. 14, except that Qnn 
 
 is substituted for nDnn^— 18. Insert 'h (G Gr.).— 20. M pi^. By 
 itself it is strange ; if it were Vt'J'lQ 7p (Am. ii. 1 5) no objection could be 
 taken. Gratz P^JZl ; rather pll)2Il. Sword and shield are needless to 
 the servant of Yahwe ('my shield,' xviii. 3). 
 
 PSALM CXLVII.— 2. 
 
 i KIMKTERS. .\ summons to Jerusalem based on similar grounds to that in 
 cxlvii.'" Heading in G as in cxlvii."', from which we may at least adopt 
 
 in'!'7n> or rather the underlying D^'^NDm^A As to parallels, comp. v. 12 
 with cxlix. 2.b; v. \\a with Isa. Ix. 17^; r-. 14A with Ixxxi. 17; v. 15 with 
 Isa. Iv. 10 f. ; V. 16 with Ecchis. xHii. 17 f., Ileb. text (comparison of snow 
 to lightning-flashes, and of hoar-frost to salt); v. 17 with Job xxxvii. 10; 
 w. 19 f. with Dl. iv. 7 f. 
 
PSALMS CXLVII. — 2, CXLVIII. 239 
 
 Of the Jcrahincelites. 
 
 I Laud Yahwe, O Jerusalem ! 12 
 
 Praise thy God, O Zion ! 
 
 For he has strengthened the bars of thy gates, 13 
 
 And has blessed thy sons within thee. 
 
 He who has set thy borders in security, 14 
 
 +And+ [from] JerahmeeP has delivered thee ; 
 
 Who sends his commandment to the earth — 15 
 
 Very swiftly runs his word. 
 
 Who plucks out snow like wool, 16 
 
 10 Who scatters hoar-frost like ashes ; 
 
 He throws down his ice like a coverlet, 17 
 
 By reason of his frost the waters stand still. 
 
 He sends his word and melts them ; 18 
 
 Let him blow with his wind, the waters flow. 
 
 He ueclared his word to Jacob, 19 
 
 His statutes and laws to Israel. 
 
 He has not done so to any of the nations, 20 
 
 His laws he teaches them not. 
 
 Crifical Notes. 6. Correct in accordance with Ixxxi. 17. — 9. M ]Jljn 
 a miserable || to ~)-TE)''- Read pjlirT. — 10. M D^P33, 'like pieces of 
 bread,' DflV omitted, as in Job xxxi. 17 &c. ? 'Ice' instead of 'hail- 
 stones ' ? Surely not. The parallelism shows that real ice is meant. 
 Read probably nnSCp'2 (n/ HBlO 'to spread out'), Ruth iii. 15, Isa. iii. 
 
 22 ; written perhaps '3lDQ-— 12. M ib^ "'.^ ij~!"ip "l^- An in- 
 
 -:- • t't ••: . 
 
 tolerably naive exclamation. Derenbourg {ZA TIV, 1885, p. 163), ^ibP^ ^D 
 (cp. Job xxxvii. 10). But if we keep ^J37, this will mean, 'the waters 
 resist his frost ' (cp. Ixxviii. 8). Read therefore iJllpO ; D fell out after 
 
 t't. , 
 
 D^n9. together with the final letters of the two next words, and ^^3/ was 
 inserted to make sense. Similarly Duhm. Now we get a contrast to 
 /. 13.— 18. M D^ri"''':'!! D''tDDi:>Q"l- Read D^^T""?:! VtaD;:'DT (with G). 
 
 r: - ' T : ' ".-tt:. 
 
 So Kau., Du., and partly Bii. 
 
 PSALM CXLVIIL 
 
 1 RIMETERS. An expansion and continuation of ciii. 20-22 ; cp. also the 
 ' Song of the Three Children.' Nature finds a voice through its high priest 
 Israel, and Yahwc's vassals, the kings of the earth, join ((or reasons not here 
 expressed) in a representative procession, chanting hymns to the only 'exalted ' 
 name. The parallelism of 'kings' and 'judges of the earth' recalls ii. 10 
 in its later form (M G). 
 
 1 Maacath. 
 
240 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Of the Jerahineelitei. I 
 
 I Praise Yahwc froni the heavens, 
 
 Praise him in the heights. 
 
 Praise ye him, all his angels, 2 
 
 Praise him, all his host. 
 
 Praise ye him, sun and moon, 3 
 
 Praise him, all ye shining stars. 
 
 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, 4 
 
 And ye waters ahove the heavens ; 
 
 Let them praise the name of Yahwe, 5 
 
 10 For he commanded and they were created. 
 
 And he gave them a station for ever and ever, 6 
 
 He appointed a law which they cannot transgress. 
 
 Praise Yahwe from the earth, 7 
 
 Ye dragons and all ocean -floods ; 
 
 Fire and hail, snow and ice, 8 
 
 Storm-wind fulfilling his word ; 
 
 Mountains and all hills, 9 
 
 Fruit-trees and all cedars ; 
 
 Wild beasts and all cattle, 10 
 
 20 Creeping things and birds that fly ; 
 
 Kings of the earth and all peoples, 1 1 
 
 Princes and all judges of the earth, 
 
 Young men and also maidens, 12 
 
 Old men beside boys ; 
 
 Let them praise the name of Yahwe, 13 
 
 For his name alone is exalted ; ' 
 
 Let them chant with the lyre to our God, 14 
 
 Songs of praise have all his loyal ones.- 
 
 4. Cp. Josh. V. 13-15, I K. x.\ii. 19. V. 22, also Jer. xxxi. 35 f., xxxiii. 25. 
 
 — 7. Heavens of heavens, as Dt. x. 14, See crit. note. — 14. Dragons, as Gen. 
 
 I K. viii. 27, 2 Chr. ii. 5. The hii;liest i. 21. See on Ixxiv. 13. — 15. It is 
 
 heavens are meant, the Bal)ylonian heavenly fire that is meant, accompanied 
 
 ' heaven of Anu.' — 12. Cp. civ. 9, Jer. by hail (Ex. ix. 24). 
 
 ' His majesty is above earth and heaven. 
 - The sons of Israel, the people of Jacob. 
 
PSALMS CXLVIIII., CXLIX. 24I 
 
 Critical Notes. 2. Read Ti>J3Ji i^^-), ;^s in ciii. 21. Kr. was 
 
 T : 
 
 (unnecessarily) suggested by the plural \eib (cp. Schrader, Jahrb. f. 
 prot. TJteoI., 1876, p. 316).— 8. Omit 'W)^ (Giimme; metreV— 9. After 
 *3 (". S presuppose \1^1 "IQM ^^'^ from xxxiii. 9. 
 
 • V- - T 
 
 12. Read IIDJ?'' with 01.. 15i.. Che. ", Bii., We.. Kau., Du.— 15. M 
 "^VJ^pT J/l£^, 'snow and smoke' (or, 'vapour')? G K/n'o-ToXXoy ; 
 similarly S J. Read JT^pl. 
 
 26. M adds Q\2i:n V"^^< '''>V mn, an editorial pardphra-e of lyV^ 
 XW- Duhm retains this in the text with Vl^DH '^d'? 7bT\T\ as the 
 parallel line. But the parallelism is not at all good, and this view goes 
 together with the assumption that %'. \^,a and r are a distich which has 
 come in from the margin, has no relation to the contents of the psalm, 
 and differs stylistically from its present context. But how came such a 
 distich into the margin? If it was an illustrative note, what is the 
 passage which it can have been meant to illustrate? The truth is that 
 the case is analogous to that of cxlvi. 6/; and other passages, where 
 fragments of the original texts have been worked up conjecturally by the 
 editor. Rend (comparing cxlix. 3) irnt'N['?] ~li)D"2] "lIDT, to which 
 'n 7D7 'jl forms a parallel. The closing words have also, not un- 
 naturally, puzzled the critics. What can iHHp UV '-"ean ? 'The people 
 of his neighbour ' (or ' relative')? G and J render as if the)- read Q^' 
 
 17 ^np. V3np Di' (Riehm, Gr., Ba.) is an improvement, but far from 
 "T T ': - 
 
 adequate ; ^~lp is altogether unnatural here. Plainly there is corruption, 
 and as plainly '"It^;^ "»33 needs as its parallel (3pr^) Hipl'"' QV- 
 
 PSALM CXLIX. 
 
 1 KIMETKKS. Israel gives tlianks to its divine Creator and King. Contrast- 
 ing with Ps. cxlviii., this psalm concedes no part in tlie general concert of 
 praise to the kings of 'the nations,' who are only here mentioned as the 
 unwilling fettered subjects of Vahwe's ' pious ones.' Many think that the 
 
 Q^T'Dn ^"^"0 of "'• I i^ the avva.-ya>Yh ' kaiZoiuiv of I Mace. ii. 41. .Surely 
 some unusual stimulus must have been needed to draw the 'pious' from the 
 ternple or the student's chamber to the field of battle {vv. 6-8). Hence as 
 early as the time of Theodore our psalm was assigned to the Maccabaian period. 
 Tlieodore, however, found a reference in vv. 4-9 to the struggles which fol- 
 lowed the return from the Exile — slruj^gles of which we liave, it would appear, 
 a very incomplete tradition. There is perhaps no suflicienl reason for separat- 
 ing Ps. cxlix. from I'ss. ii. and Ixxxiii., and other similar works, which are not 
 necessarily oi a Maccaba:an date. The psalm is Messianic in the wider 
 sense ; the ' vengeance ' spoken of in v. 7 is eschatological (cp. Isa. I\i. 2, 
 Ixiii. 4, &c.). 
 
 II. K 
 
242 Jill-: PSAI.MS. 
 
 Of the Jcrahiiicclitcs. I 
 
 I Sing unto Yahwc a new song, 
 
 His praise in the assembly of the pious. 
 
 Let Israel rejoice in his maker, 2 
 
 Let the children of Zion exult in their king. 
 
 Let them praise his name with the pipe, 3 
 
 Let them chant to liim witii timbrel and lyre. 
 
 For Yah we delights in his people, 4 
 
 The afflicted he adorns with victory. 
 
 Let them triumph at the glory of the pious, 5 
 
 10 Let them shout for joy at the blow to the Cushites, 
 
 Chants of praise to God in their throats, 6 
 
 Two-edged swords in their hands, 
 
 To execute vengeance on the nations, 7 
 
 Punishments on the peoples ; 
 
 To bind their kings with chains, 8 
 
 Their honoured ones with fetters of iron ; 
 
 To execute upon them the doom that is written, 9 
 
 An honour is this for all his pious ones. 
 
 I. A new soniT. Seu vul. i., p. overthrew of nil opponents of Yahwe 
 
 13S (on xxxiii. 3). — 3. His maker. mmX his people. Cp. Isa. .\xxiv. 2, 5 ; 
 
 Cp. xcv. 6, c. 3. — 10. The Cushites. Ixiii. 1-6. — 17. That is written. See 
 
 The crusliing defeat ((13:2) of the N. -^-S- ^^- ^'''- 2 (relative to the Rehoboth- 
 
 Aral.ian foe (so often prayed for, and '^f J /''"" Ashhunles, &c. ; see Crit. 
 
 now accomplished) was typical of the J^i'-)- 
 
 Critical iWotes. 5. '?"in'J i-^ cither niiswritlen for '?"''7n, or a synonym 
 for that word. So cl. 4.-8. Read D'^^JJ? (as before').— 9. M D'^l'DPT 
 TIQDjI. '33 is very variously explained. If correct, the word plainly 
 needs a complement ; 311333 or "^ 11333 \vould be clear, but 11333 
 is not clear. Jul. Bohmer is of opinion that ' used absolutely as here, '3 
 can only be a term for God' {Das lublisehe 'Im Nanien^' p. 48 ; cp. Exp. 
 7\, April 1903, pp. 334 ii.'^). liut what sound evidence is there for such a 
 use of 1133 •'' I he text must tiicrcfore be questioned, especially when 
 in the parallel line we find an e(|ually obscure word, which even Bohmer 
 questions. The simplest remedy is to transpose, readin.t; Dn^DH 11333- 
 This fits in with a very probable correction of 'li^Q'tT- The alternative 
 is to read 11J33 (cp. on xxx. 13) ; but note nj3 in ?'. 3, 
 
 ' Cp. Jij^p. 7'., M.-iy, lip. 3S2 ft. ; July, pp. 4S7 f : .\ug., pp. 526 f. (Konig). 
 
PSALMS CXLIX., CL. 243 
 
 10. M DmZl3'I'rj~'?P, 'upon iheir beds' y Cp. Ixxvii. 7, Job xxxv. 
 T : : ■ - 
 
 10 (songs in the night), but the text is disputed. Hohmer's doubts are 
 well founded. Read D'iy3 DSQ"'?!^ ; transposition.— 1 1. M ni^^i"). 
 Plural form ? or (Barth), singular? If pku"., cp. the sing, from QDl") (but 
 Kaer DQII), Ixvi. 17, but the text is doubtful. Read probably Jlil^QT. 
 
 PSALM CL. 
 
 1 RIMETKKS. 'The finale of the spirilual concert: angels and men praise 
 Yaliwe.' Cp. i's. cxlviii. 
 
 Of i/ie JeraluiueUtes. I 
 
 I Praise God in his sanctuary, 
 
 Praise him in his strong firmament ; 
 
 Praise him for his mighty deeds, 2 
 
 Praise liim according to his manifold greatness ; 
 
 Praise him with the blast of the horn, 3 
 
 Praise him with harp and lyre ; 
 
 Praise him with timbrel and pipe, 4 
 
 Praise him with the sweet notes of the flute ; 
 
 Praise him with cymbals of Ishmael, 5 
 
 10 Praise him with cymbals that clang ; 
 
 Let everything that has breath praise Yah ! 6 
 
 Praise Yah ! [Praise Yah !] 
 
 I. His sanctuary; the heavenly instruments for tlie Levites. The men- 
 
 or llie earthly? The parallelism and tion of the cymbals seems to have ex- 
 
 cxlviii. I favour the former view (so hausted the psalmist's list of instruments, 
 
 Del., Du.). See, however, Ba.'s note. for the 'cymbals of Ishmael ' (see crit.n.) 
 
 — 5-10. The horn was for the priests; were presumably those which gave the 
 
 the limbrel for the women ; the other loudest sound. 
 
 Critical Notes. 7. '^IflD ; see on cxlix. 3.-8. M ^JJTI D^.DQI1- 
 
 T \ : . . : 
 
 D"*2D, like ^JO in xlv. 9, is surely corrupt, the meaning 'harp-strings ' 
 being quite imaginary, and suitable in neither of the passages in which 
 D^3?D (^JO in xlv. 9 being, it is said, = '"'J^) can be supposed to occur. 
 Re.\d here np'»yp:i. See Sirach xl. 9, Heb., and cp. on Ixxxi. 3<5, xcii. 4, 
 and Nestle, Marginalien, p. 10 (with remark in Crit. Bib. on 2 S. xxiii. 
 i). .\ late Hebrew usage need not surprise us. 
 
244 '^^''■' r-SALMS. 
 
 <■)• M y'^'iZ^'^y^*^^^. Most explain ' with clear-sounding cymbals ' ; 
 KV, however, 'with loud cyinl)als,' no doubt because of i Chr. xvi. 5. 
 But is yi^SIi^O certainly right in that passage ? Kautzsch produces an 
 excellent sense by virtually reading IVOD D"'i-*\'2ti'D ; but what right has 
 he to do this? Experience of the many corrupt forms of 7S3^rjli^' 
 suggests that both yr^tt^ and p^i^^^ro may come from that ethnic name 
 {,":2V* jj and 'l^li^^ ''j"l'?l»rO). As the story of Hiram shows (see Crit. 
 Bib. on I K. vii. 13 f.. 46), the working of copper was a speciality of the 
 Ishmaelite or Jerahmeelite neighbours of the Jews. 
 
 I 2. Possibly the ' Hallelujah ' at the close of this psalm (M G) forms 
 a part of the text, and should be repeated to complete the verse. 
 
 END OF \Ol. II. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 '^ TJu Roman numerals refer to pages of the Introduction. 
 
 Arabia, Nortli, in history, xiii. ff., 
 
 xvii. fif. 
 
 in eschalology, i. 4, 121, tVc. 
 
 its products, ii. 120, 244 
 
 Artaxerxes Oclius, xxv., Ixii.; ii. 91 
 Assyrian and Babylonian words and 
 
 usages compared, i. 1 1 , 93, lOO, 148, 
 
 225, 247, 312; ii. 85, 182 
 
 Baliel, meaning of, xvii., xi\. ; ii. 208, 
 
 210 
 Babylonian influences, xxiii. 
 Baca-trees, riddle of, ii. 57 
 Barnes, Dr. W. E., ii. 209 
 Bethel, the southern, ii. 16 
 Belh-ishmael , supposed temple of, xix . fT. ; 
 
 ii. 157, 184, 197, 202, 204 
 Bible-study in early [udaism, i. 2 ; ii. 
 
 167 
 Briggs, Dr. (',. A., xli. 110/ c ', Iv. ff.; 
 
 ii. 89 
 — Miss E., xli. note- ' 
 Budge, Dr- E. A. W., controverted by 
 
 Winckler, xiv. nole^ (where 'Jan.' 
 
 should be ' April ') 
 
 Cai''ii\ ITIES, scenes of the, xvi., i. 184 ; 
 
 ii. 208, 227 
 Carchemish, mina of, i. 201 
 Charles, R. H. (on Pss. xlix., Ixxiii.), 
 
 xxxiv., i. 317 
 Chronicler, relation of, to Psalms, ix. f. 
 Conversion of nations, xii.; ii. 103, &c. 
 Critica Biblica, xv. f., xlii., I. note '"', 
 
 lix., Ixix. note ^ (wiiere add 'also 
 
 Josh, and Juilg."), Ixxi.; i. loi ; ii. 
 
 208 
 
 Davison, Prof., xiii. note ' 
 Deniers, see Rknegades 
 
 Driver, Dr. S. K., Ixii. note ' ; ii. 3, 1 1, 
 
 13, 161, 201 
 Duhm, B., xi., xxxii., Ixiii., Ixvii. f., 
 
 i- l^Z^ 319; >'• 18, 89, 91, &c. 
 
 Eden-jekah.mkei,, destruction of, ii. 
 
 i68,"i79 
 Ephrathah, situation of, ii. 200 
 Ezekiel, on new temple, xx. note • 
 
 Gladstonk, W. E., on Captivity, xvii. 
 God, Israel's, his glory in pardoning, xii. 
 
 name of, lix. f. 
 
 Gray, Dr. G. B., xxxiii. 
 Grimme, H., xlviii. note ', Ixvii.; Ixxi. 
 Gunkel, H., xvii., Ixx.; i. 297, 333 ff.; 
 ii. 63 
 
 Hereticai. books, referred to, ii. 167 
 
 Hogg, Prof. H. W., xiv. 
 
 Ilommel, F., on a Babylonian psalm, 
 
 xxiv. ; on the S. Asshur, xiv. note ' ; 
 
 on ' Bir ' as a name of Yahwe, i. 8 
 
 Janps'-Kus, Ale.xander, ixiii.; i. 3, 284, 
 
 294 ; ii. 73, 139 
 Jerahmeel, traditional antiquity of, ii- 75 
 
 KaU'IZSCH, E., liii. f., ii. 238 
 Konig, E., X., xli., Ixvi. note '; i. 
 282, ..\:c. 
 
 Lagarde, p. de, xliv., lix., i. i, 9, 
 105, 294, &c. ; ii. 164, &c. 
 
 Lebanon, name and reference of, ques- 
 tioned, i. 123, 288 
 
 Legalism, not unspirilual, ii. 168 
 
 Leviathan, i. 334 ; ii. 121 
 
 Metre, Hebrew, Ixvi. f. , Ixix. 
 
246 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Mother-church of Jerusalem, ii. 56, 213 
 Musical instruments, ii. 243 f. 
 Mythology in Psahns, i. 25, 76, 333 f. ; 
 ii. 121 
 
 Neubauer, Ad., xxxiv. f. 
 
 Pasek, importance of, Ixviii. 
 Perfect, precative, i. 28; ii. 50 
 Psalmists, the organs of a society, xviii., 
 
 Ixv. f. 
 Psalms, of Asaph, xxxix., xlii. 
 
 — contents of, xxvi.-xxxii. 
 
 — of David, xxxv. 
 
 — of Korah, xxxvi., xlv. 
 
 — Maccabrean, l\i. f. , i. 198, &c. 
 
 — royal, xxxii. 
 
 — Solomonic, xxxvi. 
 
 — of the 'steps,' xxxix. 
 
 Psalter, Sahidic, Ixxi. (add reference to 
 Budge's publication of portions), 
 i. 165. 
 
 Rahab, riddle of, ii. 57 
 
 Renegades, hatred of Jewish, i. 29, 31, 
 
 45, 48 f.. Ill, 215 ff., 226 f., 317, 
 
 319; ii. 2 
 
 Sanuay, Dr. W., xxxv., Ivi. note ^ 
 Scepticism, early Jewish, xiii.; i. 170, 
 
 317 ; ii. 90 f- 
 Selak, origin of, xl. f., xlviii. 
 Shenazzar and Sheshbazzar, xix. 
 Shimron, the southern, xx. 
 Sievers, E., Ixvii. note " 
 Sirach, referred to, lix., Ixii., Ixvi. ; 
 
 i. 1865 ii. 178, 206, 225 
 Smend, R., ix. note ', Ixv. note '; 
 
 ii. 50 
 Smith, Prof. Robertson, xxv. note ^, 
 
 xxxvi., Iv. note"^, Ixii., Ixx., i. 194, 
 
 284 
 ' Son of God,' in Ps. ii,, i. 50 
 
 Technical terms in text, xxxviii. ft'. 
 Temple-ministers, xvii., xxi. note •*, 
 xxii., xxxiv. ff. 
 
 ViNDiCTiVENESS, xi.; ii. 139 
 
 WellhauSEN, Jul., Ixi., Ixiii., Ixxi.; 
 ii. 56, 209, &c. 
 
 Zoroastrianism, references to, xxiii. f., 
 i. 49, 225 ; ii. 120 
 
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