PSALM LXXXIII _The psalmist calls upon God for immediate help against a_ _multitude of confederate enemies who had risen up against_ _Judah_, 1-5. _He mentions them by name_, 6-8; _shows how they were to be punished_, 9-17; _and that this was to be done for the glory of God_, 18. NOTES ON PSA... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:2. _THINE ENEMIES MAKE A TUMULT_] They are not merely the enemies of _thy people_, but they are the enemies of _thyself_, thy worship, ordinances, and laws: "They make a tumult," they _throng_ together. _THEY - HAVE LIFTED UP THE HEAD._] They have made an irruption into the land of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:3. _CONSULTED AGAINST THY HIDDEN ONES._] צפוניך _tsephuneycha, Thy hidden things; places; persons_. "The hidden things in thy treasures." - CHALDEE. "Thy holy ones." - SYRIAC. "Thy saints." - VULGATE and SEPTUAGINT; and so the _AEthiopic_ and _Arabic_. The _people of Israel_ are prob... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:4. _LET US CUT THEM OFF_] Let us exterminate the whole race, that there may not be a record of them on the face of the earth. And their scheme was well laid: _eight_ or _ten_ different nations united themselves in a firm bond to do this; and they had kept their purpose so secret that... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:5. _THEY HAVE CONSULTED TOGETHER WITH ONE CONSENT_] With a united heart, לב יחדו _leb yachdav_, Their heart and soul are in the work. _THEY ARE CONFEDERATE AGAINST THEE_] "They have made a covenant," ברית יכריתו _berith yachrithu_, "they have cut the covenant sacrifice." They have s... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:6. _THE TABERNACLES OF EDOM_] The _tents_ of these different people are seen in the grand encampment. _Tents_ are probably mentioned because it seas the custom of some of these people, particularly the _Ishmaelites_, to live a migratory or wandering life; having no fixed habitation,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:7. _GEBAL_] The _Giblites_, who were probably the persons here designed, were a tribe of the ancient inhabitants of the land of Canaan, and are mentioned as unconquered at the death of Joshua, Joshua 13:5. They are called _stone-squarers_ or _Giblites_, 1 Kings 5:18, and were of con... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:8. _ASSUR ALSO IS JOINED_] The _Ammonites_ might have got those auxiliaries from beyond the Euphrates, against Jehosphaphat, as formerly they were brought against David. See 2 Samuel 10:16. _THEY HAVE HOLPEN THE CHILDREN OF LOT._] The Ammonites, who appear to have been the chief ins... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:9. _DO UNTO THEM AS_ UNTO _THE MIDIANITES_] Who were utterly defeated by _Gideon_, Judges 7:21-7. _AS_ TO _SISERA_] Captain of the army of _Jabin_, king of Canaan, who was totally defeated by _Deborah_ and _Barak_, near Mount _Tabor_, by the river _Kishon_; and himself, after having... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:10. _PERISHED AT EN-DOR_] This refers to the defeat of the _Midianites_ by _Gideon_, who were encamped in the valley of _Jezreel_, at the foot of Mount _Gilboa_, and near to _Tabor_, Judges 6:33; Judges 7:1, and consequently in the environs of _En-dor_. There _Gideon_ attacked and de... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:11. _MAKE THEIR NOBLES LIKE OREB, AND LIKE ZEEB_] They were two of the chiefs, or generals, of the Midianites; and were slain in the pursuit of the Midianites, by the men of Ephraim; and their heads brought to _Gideon_ on the other side of Jordan. Judges 7:24-7. _YEA, ALL THEIR PRIN... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:12. _LET US TAKE TO OURSELVES THE HOUSES OF GOD IN_ _POSSESSION._] Nearly the words spoken by the confederates when they came to attack Jehoshaphat. _They come_ (says the king in address to God) _to cast us out of thy possession which thou hast given us to_ _inherit_. See 2 Chronicle... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:13. _O MY GOD, MAKE THEM LIKE A WHEEL_] Alluding to the manner of threshing corn in the east. A _large broad wheel_ was rolled over the grain on a threshing-floor, which was generally in the open air; and the grain being thrown up by a shovel against the wind the chaff was thus separ... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:14. _THE FLAME SETTETH THE MOUNTAINS ON FIRE_] This may refer to the burning of the straw and chaff, after the grain was threshed and winnowed. And as their threshing-floors were situated often on the _hills_ or _mountains_, to take the advantage of the wind, the _setting the mountai... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:15. _SO PERSECUTE THEM_] In this and the two following verses we find several awful execrations; and all this seems to be done in reference to that ancient custom, "pouring execrations on an enemy previously to battle." Of this I have already given specimens in this work; and the rea... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:16. _THAT THEY MAY SEEK THY NAME_] Let them be confounded in all their attempts on Israel; and see, so manifestly, that thou hast done it, that they may invoke thy name, and be converted to thee.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:17. _LET THEM - PERISH_] That is, in their present attempts. Some have objected to the execrations in this Psalm, without due consideration. None of these execrations refer either to their _souls_ or to their _eternal state_; but merely to their _discomfiture on their present attempt... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 83:18. _THAT MEN MAY KNOW_] That they may acknowledge, and be converted to thee. Here is no _malice_; all is _self-defence_. ANALYSIS OF THE EIGHTY-THIRD PSALM This Psalm divides itself into _four_ parts: - I. A short ejaculation, Psalms 83:1. II. A complaint against God's enemies,... [ Continue Reading ]