LXVI. The compilers of the Psalter found no tradition of authorship attached to this Psalm, and did not themselves conjecture one, nor have we any guide towards the time of its composition beyond the tone of innocence assumed in the last part, which marks that part as belonging to a period subseque... [ Continue Reading ]
MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE. — Better, _sing aloud,_ or _shout._ ALL YE LANDS. — The margin is better.... [ Continue Reading ]
SING FORTH. — Literally, _play on the harp._ MAKE HIS PRAISE GLORIOUS. — So the LXX., but the construction is dubious. Literally, _put glory his praise,_ meaning perhaps, in parallelism with the first clause, “make the Divine glory the subject of your praise.” But the opening words of the next vers... [ Continue Reading ]
FLOOD. — Hebrew, _nâhar,_ which generally stands for the Euphrates, but here, as in Psalms 74:15, for either the Jordan or the Red Sea. THERE DID WE REJOICE. — The verb is properly _optative_ — _there_ (_i.e.,_ in those works) _let us rejoice,_ and thus rendered is more in keeping with the first ve... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS EYES BEHOLD. — Better, _his eyes keep watch on the nations._ God is, as it were, Israel’s outpost, ever on the alert to warn and defend them against surrounding nations. LET NOT... — Literally, _the rebellious, let them not exalt for themselves,_ where we may supply “horn” as in Psalms 75:4, or... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH HOLDETH... — The LXX. literally, _which putteth our soul into life, i.e.,_ keeps us alive, as the parallelism shows.... [ Continue Reading ]
NET. — The Hebrew in Ezekiel 12:13 certainly means “net,” as LXX. and Vulg. here. But Aquila, Symmachus, and Jerome prefer the usual meaning, “stronghold” (2 Samuel 5:7, &c), which is more in keeping with the other images of violence and oppression. The fortress, the hard labour, the subjection as b... [ Continue Reading ]
RIDE OVER OUR HEADS. — For the figure comp. Isaiah 51:23. WE WENT THROUGH FIRE AND WATER. — A figure of extreme danger. (Comp. Isaiah 43:2.) A WEALTHY PLACE. — The LXX. and Vulg., “to refreshment,” which is certainly more in keeping with the figures employed, and may perhaps be got out of the root... [ Continue Reading ]
UTTERED. — Literally, _opened. _... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL OFFER. — Such a holocaust could hardly have been vowed by a single person. It is the community that speaks. Besides, the ram was not a sacrifice for any individual, but particularly enjoined for the high priest (Leviticus 9:2), the head of a tribe (Numbers 7), or a Nazarite (Numbers 6:14). In... [ Continue Reading ]
COME. — Refers back to Psalms 66:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE... — Literally, _exaltation_ (_i.e., praise_) _was under my tongue,_ apparently a Hebrew idiom akin to our “on the tip of the tongue,” _i.e.,_ ready at any moment for utterance.... [ Continue Reading ]
IF I REGARD... — Rather, _if I had seen evil_ (_i.e.,_ had had it purposely in view) _in my heart, the Lord would not have heard me._ One may not “be pardoned and retain the offence.” The reference may be either to the forming of wicked schemes, or to the complacent view of wickedness in others. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO HATH NOT TURNED... — _i.e.,_ he found himself able to pray, was not silenced. Notice the _zeugma._ God had not _rejected_ his prayer nor _withdrawn_ His grace.... [ Continue Reading ]