Psalms 148:14

Israel's special ground for praise.

And he nath lifted up a horn for his people] He has once more given to Israel dignity and power. For the metaphor cp. Psalms 75:4; Psalms 89:17; Psalms 89:24; Psalms 92:10, note.

The rendering of P.B.V., he shall exalt, is that of the LXX, ὑψώσει, and is adopted by some critics. But the tense expresses accomplished fact more naturally than confident anticipation.

the praise of all his saints Lit. a praise for all his beloved; best taken in apposition to the preceding clause to mean that this national restoration is a theme of praise for all the members of the covenant people. The words may however be in apposition to the subject of the verb, and refer to Jehovah: He … who is the praise&c.: cp. Deuteronomy 10:21, "He is thy praise." So the LXX, paraphrased in P.B.V., "all his saints shall praise him."

a people near unto him Jehovah was -near" to Israel (Deuteronomy 4:7; Psalms 145:18); and Israel, as "a kingdom of priests" (Exodus 19:6), stood in a unique relation of nearness to Jehovah. Cp. Psalms 65:4, note; Numbers 16:5; Jeremiah 30:21. That relation, which seemed to have been interrupted by the Exile, has now been restored: Jehovah once more dwells in the midst of His people in the city of His choice.

This verse is quoted verbatim in the Hebrew text of Sir 51:12 (15). See p. 777.