8 The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.
And ye are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother;) If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you: But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech. And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother. When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel, Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech: That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the killing of his brethren. And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech. And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech. And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him? And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out. And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against thee. Now therefore up by night, thou and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the field: And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and, behold, when he and the people that is with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion. And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from lying in wait. And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men. And Gaal spake again, and said, See there come people down by the middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim. Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them. And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate. And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech. And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them. And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields, and slew them. And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt. And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith. And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done. And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women. Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower. And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull. Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A women slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.
And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD's battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son in law to the king?
And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai. In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar. And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them. If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries. And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy. And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee. Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring. And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey. The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day. The posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed.
Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets.
The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death. And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 12
Commentary on Psalms 12 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Lament and Consolation in the Midst of Prevailing Falsehood
Psalms 11:1-7 is appropriately followed by Psalms 12:1-8, which is of a kindred character: a prayer for the deliverance of the poor and miserable in a time of universal moral corruption, and more particularly of prevailing faithlessness and boasting. The inscription: To the Precentor, on the Octave, a Psalm of David points us to the time when the Temple music was being established, i.e., the time of David - incomparably the best age in the history of Israel, and yet, viewed in the light of the spirit of holiness, an age so radically corrupt. The true people of Jahve were even then, as ever, a church of confessors and martyrs, and the sighing for the coming of Jahve was then not less deep than the cry “Come, Lord Jesus!” at the present time.
This Psalms 12:1-8 together with Psalms 2:1-12 is a second example of the way in which the psalmist, when under great excitement of spirit, passes over into the tone of one who directly hears God's words, and therefore into the tone of an inspired prophet. Just as lyric poetry in general, as being a direct and solemn expression of strong inward feeling, is the earliest form of poetry: so psalm-poetry contains in itself not only the mashal , the epos, and the drama in their preformative stages, but prophecy also, as we have it in the prophetic writings of its most flourishing period, has, as it were, sprung from the bosom of psalm-poetry. It is throughout a blending of prophetical epic and subjective lyric elements, and is in many respects the echo of earlier psalms, and even in some instances (as e.g., Isaiah 12:1-6; Habakkuk 3:1) transforms itself into the strain of a psalm. Hence Asaph is called החזה in 2 Chronicles 29:30, not from the special character of his Psalms, but from his being a psalmist in general; for Jeduthun has the same name given to him in 2 Chronicles 35:15, and נבּא in 1 Chronicles 25:2. (cf. προφητεύειν , Luke 1:67) is used directly as an epithet for psalm-singing with accompaniment-a clear proof that in prophecy the co-operation of a human element is no less to be acknowledged, that the influence of a divine element in psalm-poesy.
The direct words of Jahve, and the psalmist's Amen to them, form the middle portion of this Psalm-a six line strophe, which is surrounded by four line strophes.
(Heb.: 12:2-3) The sigh of supplication, הושׁיעה , has its object within itself: work deliverance, give help; and the motive is expressed by the complaint which follows. The verb גּמר to complete, means here, as in Psalms 7:10, to have an end; and the ἁπ. λεγ . פּסס is equivalent to אפס in Psalms 77:9, to come to the extremity, to cease. It is at once clear from the predicate being placed first in the plur ., that אמוּנים in this passage is not an abstractum , as e.g., in Proverbs 13:17; moreover the parallelism is against it, just as in Proverbs 31:24. חסיד is the pious man, as one who practises חסד towards God and man. אמוּן , primary form אמוּן ( plur . אמונים ; whereas from אמוּן we should expect אמוּנים ), - used as an adjective (cf. on the contrary Deuteronomy 32:20) here just as in Proverbs 31:24, 2 Samuel 20:19, - is the reliable, faithful, conscientious man, literally one who is firm, i.e., whose word and meaning is firm, so that one can rely upon it and be certain in relation to it.
(Note: The Aryan root man to remain, abide (Neo-Persic mânden ), also takes a similar course, signifying usually “to continue in any course, wait, hope.” So the old Persic man , Zend upaman , cf. μένειν with its derivatives which are applied in several ways in the New Testament to characterise πίστις .)
We find similar complaints of the universal prevalence of wickedness in Micah 7:2; Isaiah 57:1; Jeremiah 7:28, and elsewhere. They contain their own limitation. For although those who complain thus without pharisaic self-righteousness would convict themselves of being affected by the prevailing corruption, they are still, in their penitence, in their sufferings for righteousness' sake, and in their cry for help, a standing proof that humanity has not yet, without exception, become a massa perdita . That which the writer especially laments, is the prevailing untruthfulness. Men speak שׁוא (= שׁוא from שׁוא ), desolation and emptiness under a disguise that conceals its true nature, falsehood (Psalms 41:7), and hypocrisy (Job 35:13), ἕκαστος πρὸς τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ (lxx, cf. Ephesians 4:25, where the greatness of the sin finds its confirmation according to the teaching of the New Testament: ὅτι ἐσμὲν ἀλλήλων μέλη ). They speak lips of smoothnesses ( חלקות , plural from חלקה , laevitates , or from חלק , laevia ), i.e., the smoothest, most deceitful language (accusative of the object as in Isaiah 19:18) with a double heart, inasmuch, namely, as the meaning they deceitfully express to others, and even to themselves, differs from the purpose they actually cherish, or even (cf. 1 Chronicles 12:33 בלא לב ולב , and James 1:8 δίψυχος , wavering) inasmuch as the purpose they now so flatteringly put forth quickly changes to the very opposite.
(Heb.: 12:4-5) In this instance the voluntative has its own proper signification: may He root out (cf. Psalms 109:15, and the oppositive Psalms 11:6). Flattering lips and a vaunting tongue are one, insofar as the braggart becomes a flatterer when it serves his own selfish interest. אשׁר refers to lips and tongue, which are put for their possessors. The Hiph . הגבּיר may mean either to impart strength, or to give proof of strength. The combination with ל , not בּ , favours the former: we will give emphasis to our tongue (this is their self-confident declaration). Hupfeld renders it, contrary to the meaning of the Hiph .: over our tongue we have power, and Ewald and Olshausen, on the ground of an erroneous interpretation of Daniel 9:27, render: we make or have a firm covenant with our tongue. They describe their lips as being their confederates ( את as in 2 Kings 9:32), and by the expression “who is lord over us” they declare themselves to be absolutely free, and exalted above all authority. If any authority were to assert itself over them, their mouth would put it down and their tongue would thrash it into submission. But Jahve, whom this making of themselves into gods challenges, will not always suffer His own people to be thus enslaved.
(Heb.: 12:6-7) In Psalms 12:6 the psalmist hears Jahve Himself speak; and in Psalms 12:7 he adds his Amen. The two מן in Psalms 12:6 denote the motive, עתּה the decisive turning-point from forebearance to the execution of judgment, and ימר the divine determination, which has just now made itself audible; cf. Isaiah's echo of it, Isaiah 33:10. Jahve has hitherto looked on with seeming inactivity and indifference, now He will arise and place in ישׁע , i.e., a condition of safety (cf. שׂים בּחיּים Psalms 66:9), him who languishes for deliverance. It is not to be explained: him whom he, i.e., the boaster, blows upon, which would be expressed by יפיח בּו , cf. Psalms 10:5; but, with Ewald, Hengstenberg, Olshausen, and Böttcher, according to Habakkuk 2:3, where הפיח ל occurs in the sense of panting after an object: him who longs for it. יפיח is, however, not a participial adjective = יפח , but the fut ., and יפיח לו is therefore a relative clause occupying the place of the object, just as we find the same thing occurring in Job 24:19; Isaiah 41:2, Isaiah 41:25, and frequently. Hupfeld's rendering: “in order that he may gain breath ( respiret )” leaves אשׁית without an object, and accords more with Aramaic and Arabic than with Hebrew usage, which would express this idea by ינוּח לו or ירוח לו .
In Psalms 12:7 the announcement of Jahve is followed by its echo in the heart of the seer: the words ( אמרות instead of אמרות by changing the Shebâ which closes the syllable into an audible one, as e.g., in אשׁרי ) of Jahve are pure words, i.e., intended, and to be fulfilled, absolutely as they run without any admixture whatever of untruthfulness. The poetical אמרה (after the form זמרה ) serves pre-eminently as the designation of the divine power-words of promise. The figure, which is indicated in other instances, when God's word is said to be צרוּפה (Psalms 18:31; Psalms 119:140; Proverbs 30:5), is here worked out: silver melted and thus purified בּעליל לארץ . עליל signifies either a smelting-pot from עלל , Arab. gll , immittere , whence also על (Hitz.); or, what is more probable since the language has the epithets כוּר and מצרף for this: a workshop, from עלל , Arab. ‛ll , operari (prop. to set about a thing), first that which is wrought at (after the form מעיל , פּסיל , שׁביל ), then the place where the work is carried on. From this also comes the Talm. בּעליל = בּעליל manifeste , occurring in the Mishna Rosh ha-Shana 1. 5 and elsewhere, and which in its first meaning corresponds to the French en effet .
(Note: On this word with reference to this passage of the Psalm vid., Steinschneider's Hebr . Bibliographie 1861, S. 83.)
According to this, the ל in לארץ is not the ל of property: in a fining-pot built into the earth, for which לארץ without anything further would be an inadequate and colourless expression. But in accordance with the usual meaning of לארץ as a collateral definition it is: smelted (purified) down to the earth. As Olshausen observes on this subject, “Silver that is purified in the furnace and flows down to the ground can be seen in every smelting hut; the pure liquid silver flows down out of the smelting furnace, in which the ore is piled up.” For it cannot be ל of reference: “purified with respect to the earth,” since ארץ does not denote the earth as a material and cannot therefore mean an earthy element. We ought then to read לאבץ , which would not mean “to a white brilliancy,” i.e., to a pure bright mass (Böttch.), but “with respect to the stannum , lead” (vid., on Isaiah 1:25). The verb זקק to strain, filter, cause to ooze through, corresponds to the German seihen, seigen , old High German sihan , Greek σακκεῖν ( σακκίζειν ), to clean by passing through a cloth as a strainer, שׂק . God's word is solid silver smelted and leaving all impurity behind, and, as it were, having passed seven times through the smelting furnace, i.e., the purest silver, entirely purged from dross. Silver is the emblem of everything precious and pure (vid., Bähr, Symbol . i. 284); and seven is the number indicating the completion of any process ( Bibl. Psychol . S. 57, transl. p. 71).
(Heb.: 12:8-9) The supplicatory complaint contained in the first strophe has passed into an ardent wish in the second; and now in the fourth there arises a consolatory hope based upon the divine utterance which was heard in the third strophe. The suffix eem in Psalms 12:8 refers to the miserable and poor; the suffix ennu in Psalms 12:8 (him, not: us, which would be pointed תצרנוּ , and more especially since it is not preceded by תשׁמרנוּ ) refers back to the man who yearns for deliverance mentioned in the divine utterance, Psalms 12:6. The “preserving for ever” is so constant, that neither now nor at any future time will they succumb to this generation. The oppression shall not become a thorough depression, the trial shall not exceed their power of endurance. What follows in Psalms 12:8 is a more minute description of this depraved generation. דּור is the generation whole and entire bearing one general character and doing homage to the one spirit of the age (cf. e.g., Proverbs 30:11-14, where the characteristics of a corrupt age are portrayed). זוּ (always without the article, Ew. §293, a ) points to the present and the character is has assumed, which is again described here finally in a few outlines of a more general kind than in Psalms 12:3. The wicked march about on every side ( התחלּך used of going about unopposed with an arrogant and vaunting mien), when (while) vileness among () ל the children of men rises to eminence ( רוּם as in Proverbs 11:11, cf. משׁל Proverbs 29:2), so that they come to be under its dominion. Vileness is called זלּוּת from זלל (cogn. דּלל ) to be supple and lax, narrow, low, weak and worthless. The form is passive just as is the Talm. זילוּת (from זיל = זליל ), and it is the epithet applied to that which is depreciated, despised, and to be despised; here it is the opposite of the disposition and conduct of the noble man, נדיב , Isaiah 32:8, - a baseness which is utterly devoid not only of all nobler principles and motives, but also of all nobler feelings and impulses. The כּ of כּרם is not the expression of simultaneousness (as e.g., in Proverbs 10:25): immediately it is exalted - for then Psalms 12:8 would give expression to a general observation, instead of being descriptive - but כּרם is equivalent to בּרם , only it is intentionally used instead of the latter, to express a coincidence that is based upon an intimate relation of cause and effect, and is not merely accidental. The wicked are puffed up on all sides, and encompass the better disposed on every side as their enemies. Such is the state of things, and it cannot be otherwise at a time when men allow meanness to gain the ascendency among and over them, as is the case at the present moment. Thus even at last the depressing view of the present prevails in the midst of the confession of a more consolatory hope. The present is gloomy. But in the central hexastich the future is lighted up as a consolation against this gloominess. The Psalm is a ring and this central oracle is its jewel.