Book III. LXXIII. The motive of this psalm shows itself clearly in Psalms 73:3 — perplexity at the sight of the prosperity of the wicked. Two psalms have already dealt with the question at some length, viz., Psalms 37, 49 (See _Introduction_ to those psalms.) The problem is stated here more fully, t... [ Continue Reading ]
TRULY. — See Note, Psalms 62:2. This particle often, like the Latin _at,_ introduces a rejoinder to some supposed statement. Dryden’s lines express the feeling of this opening — “Yet sure the gods are good! I would fain think so, If they would give me leave! But virtue in distress, and vice in tri... [ Continue Reading ]
SLIPPED. — Literally, _were poured out._ This metaphor for weakness and instability is obvious. Comp. “Dissolvuntur enim turn demum membra _fluuntque.”_ LUCRETIUS, iv. 920.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOOLISH. — Better, _arrogant._ WHEN I SAW. — Perhaps the conjunction is wrongly supplied, and the word “saw” here is synonymous with “envied” in the first clause. (Comp. Latin _invideo._)... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THERE ARE NO BANDS IN THEIR DEATH. — This is quite unintelligible, and does not fairly render the Hebrew, which gives, _For there are no bands to their death._ And by analogy of the derivation of _tormenta_ from _tor queo,_ we might give the Hebrew word _bands_ the sense _of pangs,_ rendering, “... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE. — Better, “Therefore pride is their necklace, And violence their mantle.” The first metaphor might have been suggested either by the fact that the rich lavished large sums on jewellery, especially necklaces (see Note, Song of Solomon 1:10), or possibly from the usual description of the... [ Continue Reading ]
STAND OUT WITH FATNESS. — Literally, _go out from fat._ Which, if referring to the appearance, is exactly the opposite to what we should expect. _Sunken in fat_ would express the idea of gross sensuality. The _eyes_ and _heart_ are evidently used as in Jeremiah 22:17, the _eyes_ as giving the outwar... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY ARE CORRUPT... — This, which is the Rabbinical rendering, is now universally abandoned in favour of another derivation of the verb. The Masoretic arrangement of the clauses may be also improved on: _“_They scoff and speak of wickedness, Of violence from their eminence they speak,” where the... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SET. — The last clause is repeated here under a figure more defined: “They have set their mouth in [not _against]_ the heavens, While their tongue walketh through the earth.” an image very expressive of a towering pride, _vaunting_ itself to the skies, and trumpeting its own praises through... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE. — The Prayer Book version has undoubtedly caught the meaning here. It plainly describes the popularity gained (the surest way) by the self-applause described in the preceding verse. This version depends on the Hebrew margin, _Therefore do the people turn hither_ (_i.e., to_ them), _and fu... [ Continue Reading ]
(11-14) The mutual relation of these verses has been the subject of many conflicting opinions. The following is the arrangement that seems preferable — “And people say, How shall God know? And does the Most High take notice of it? Lo! there are wicked men, And yet, always at ease, they amass riches... [ Continue Reading ]
IF I SAY... — Or, _If, thought I, I should reason thus, I should be faithless to the generation of thy sons._ Or, perhaps, _if it ever occurred to my mind to speak thus,_ the Hebrew often using two finite verbs to express one thought. (See, _e.g.,_ Psalms 73:8; Psalms 73:19.)... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN I THOUGHT..._ — i.e., when I reflected in order to know this_ — when I tried to think the matter out, get at the bottom of it. (For the sense of the verb, comp. Psalms 78:5; Proverbs 16:9.) IT WAS TOO PAINFUL. — See margin.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN UNDERSTOOD I... — Rather, _I considered their end._ The Temple service, with its blessings on righteousness, and stern warnings against wickedness, as they were read from the Book of the Law or from one of the prophets, or were chanted from some ancient song, gave the needed turn to the psalmis... [ Continue Reading ]
IN A MOMENT. — Literally, _in a wink._ (Comp. “In the twinkling of an eye.”)... [ Continue Reading ]
AS A DREAM. — Better, “As a man on waking (despises) his dream, So, O Lord, on rousing thyself, thou wilt Despise their shadow.” an image of the result of the Divine judgment on the vain and boastful tyrants, which may be illustrated by Henry V.’s rising with his royalty to self-respect: — “I hav... [ Continue Reading ]
GRIEVED. — Literally, _grew sour;_ or, as we say, “was soured.”... [ Continue Reading ]
FOOLISH. — Better, _brutish. _... [ Continue Reading ]
TO GLORY. — Better, _With honour,_ as LXX. and Vulg.; or _achar_ may be taken as a preposition: _Lead me_ _after honour, i.e.,_ in the way to get it. The thought is not of a reward after death, but of that true honour which would have been lost by adopting the views of the worldly, and is only to b... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE... — Or, _Besides thee I have no delight on earth. _... [ Continue Reading ]
WORKS. — Not God’s doings, but _works_ prescribed to the psalmist, messages entrusted to him; no doubt here the conclusions he had come to, or the truths that had been revealed to him, in contrast with the false opinions from which he had been freed.... [ Continue Reading ]