Worthy.Bible » Parallel » Psalms » Chapter 94 » Verse 1-23

Psalms 94:1-23 King James Version (KJV)

1 O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.

2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.

3 LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?

4 How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?

5 They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage.

6 They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.

7 Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.

8 Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise?

9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?

10 He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?

11 The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.

12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;

13 That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.

14 For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.

15 But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.

16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

17 Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.

18 When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.

19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.

20 Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?

21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.

22 But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.

23 And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.


Psalms 94:1-23 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

1 O LORD H3068 God, H410 to whom vengeance H5360 belongeth; O God, H410 to whom vengeance H5360 belongeth, shew H3313 thyself.

2 Lift up H5375 thyself, thou judge H8199 of the earth: H776 render H7725 a reward H1576 to the proud. H1343

3 LORD, H3068 how long shall the wicked, H7563 how long shall the wicked H7563 triumph? H5937

4 How long shall they utter H5042 and speak H1696 hard things? H6277 and all the workers H6466 of iniquity H205 boast H559 themselves?

5 They break in pieces H1792 thy people, H5971 O LORD, H3068 and afflict H6031 thine heritage. H5159

6 They slay H2026 the widow H490 and the stranger, H1616 and murder H7523 the fatherless. H3490

7 Yet they say, H559 The LORD H3050 shall not see, H7200 neither shall the God H430 of Jacob H3290 regard H995 it.

8 Understand, H995 ye brutish H1197 among the people: H5971 and ye fools, H3684 when will ye be wise? H7919

9 He that planted H5193 the ear, H241 shall he not hear? H8085 he that formed H3335 the eye, H5869 shall he not see? H5027

10 He that chastiseth H3256 the heathen, H1471 shall not he correct? H3198 he that teacheth H3925 man H120 knowledge, H1847 shall not he know?

11 The LORD H3068 knoweth H3045 the thoughts H4284 of man, H120 that they are vanity. H1892

12 Blessed H835 is the man H1397 whom thou chastenest, H3256 O LORD, H3050 and teachest H3925 him out of thy law; H8451

13 That thou mayest give him rest H8252 from the days H3117 of adversity, H7451 until the pit H7845 be digged H3738 for the wicked. H7563

14 For the LORD H3068 will not cast off H5203 his people, H5971 neither will he forsake H5800 his inheritance. H5159

15 But judgment H4941 shall return H7725 unto righteousness: H6664 and all the upright H3477 in heart H3820 shall follow H310 it.

16 Who will rise up H6965 for me against the evildoers? H7489 or who will stand up H3320 for me against the workers H6466 of iniquity? H205

17 Unless H3884 the LORD H3068 had been my help, H5833 my soul H5315 had almost H4592 dwelt H7931 in silence. H1745

18 When I said, H559 My foot H7272 slippeth; H4131 thy mercy, H2617 O LORD, H3068 held me up. H5582

19 In the multitude H7230 of my thoughts H8312 within H7130 me thy comforts H8575 delight H8173 my soul. H5315

20 Shall the throne H3678 of iniquity H1942 have fellowship H2266 with thee, which frameth H3335 mischief H5999 by a law? H2706

21 They gather themselves together H1413 against the soul H5315 of the righteous, H6662 and condemn H7561 the innocent H5355 blood. H1818

22 But the LORD H3068 is my defence; H4869 and my God H430 is the rock H6697 of my refuge. H4268

23 And he shall bring H7725 upon them their own iniquity, H205 and shall cut them off H6789 in their own wickedness; H7451 yea, the LORD H3068 our God H430 shall cut them off. H6789


Psalms 94:1-23 American Standard (ASV)

1 O Jehovah, thou God to whom vengeance belongeth, Thou God to whom vengeance belongeth, shine forth.

2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: Render to the proud `their' desert.

3 Jehovah, how long shall the wicked, How long shall the wicked triumph?

4 They prate, they speak arrogantly: All the workers of iniquity boast themselves.

5 They break in pieces thy people, O Jehovah, And afflict thy heritage.

6 They slay the widow and the sojourner, And murder the fatherless.

7 And they say, Jehovah will not see, Neither will the God of Jacob consider.

8 Consider, ye brutish among the people; And ye fools, when will ye be wise?

9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see?

10 He that chastiseth the nations, shall not he correct, `Even' he that teacheth man knowledge?

11 Jehovah knoweth the thoughts of man, That they are vanity.

12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Jehovah, And teachest out of thy law;

13 That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, Until the pit be digged for the wicked.

14 For Jehovah will not cast off his people, Neither will he forsake his inheritance.

15 For judgment shall return unto righteousness; And all the upright in heart shall follow it.

16 Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

17 Unless Jehovah had been my help, My soul had soon dwelt in silence.

18 When I said, My foot slippeth; Thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, held me up.

19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul.

20 Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with thee, Which frameth mischief by statute?

21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, And condemn the innocent blood.

22 But Jehovah hath been my high tower, And my God the rock of my refuge.

23 And he hath brought upon them their own iniquity, And will cut them off in their own wickedness; Jehovah our God will cut them off.


Psalms 94:1-23 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

1 God of vengeance -- Jehovah! God of vengeance, shine forth.

2 Be lifted up, O Judge of the earth, Send back a recompence on the proud.

3 Till when `do' the wicked, O Jehovah? Till when do the wicked exult?

4 They utter -- they speak an old saw, All working iniquity do boast themselves.

5 Thy people, O Jehovah, they bruise, And Thine inheritance they afflict.

6 Widow and sojourner they slay, And fatherless ones they murder.

7 And they say, `Jehovah doth not see, And the God of Jacob doth not consider.'

8 Consider, ye brutish among the people, And ye foolish, when do ye act wisely?

9 He who planteth the ear doth He not hear? He who formeth the eye doth He not see?

10 He who is instructing nations, Doth He not reprove? He who is teaching man knowledge `is' Jehovah.

11 He knoweth the thoughts of man, that they `are' vanity.

12 O the happiness of the man Whom Thou instructest, O Jah, And out of Thy law teachest him,

13 To give rest to him from days of evil, While a pit is digged for the wicked.

14 For Jehovah leaveth not His people, And His inheritance forsaketh not.

15 For to righteousness judgment turneth back, And after it all the upright of heart,

16 Who riseth up for me with evil doers? Who stationeth himself for me with workers of iniquity?

17 Unless Jehovah `were' a help to me, My soul had almost inhabited silence.

18 If I have said, `My foot hath slipped,' Thy kindness, O Jehovah, supporteth me.

19 In the abundance of my thoughts within me, Thy comforts delight my soul.

20 Is a throne of mischief joined `with' Thee? A framer of perverseness by statute?

21 They decree against the soul of the righteous, And innocent blood declare wicked.

22 And Jehovah is for a high place to me, And my God `is' for a rock -- my refuge,

23 And turneth back on them their iniquity, And in their wickedness cutteth them off; Jehovah our God doth cut them off!


Psalms 94:1-23 Darby English Bible (DARBY)

1 O ùGod of vengeances, Jehovah, ùGod of vengeances, shine forth;

2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth, render the reward to the proud.

3 How long shall the wicked, O Jehovah, how long shall the wicked triumph?

4 [How long] shall they utter [and] speak insolence -- all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?

5 They crush thy people, O Jehovah, and afflict thine inheritance;

6 They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless,

7 And say, Jah will not see, neither will the God of Jacob regard [it].

8 Understand, ye brutish among the people; and ye fools, when will ye be wise?

9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see?

10 He that instructeth the nations, shall not he correct -- he that teacheth man knowledge?

11 Jehovah knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.

12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Jah, and whom thou teachest out of thy law;

13 That thou mayest give him rest from the days of evil, until the pit be digged for the wicked.

14 For Jehovah will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance;

15 For judgment shall return unto righteousness, and all the upright in heart shall follow it.

16 Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers? who will stand for me against the workers of iniquity?

17 If Jehovah had not been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.

18 When I said, My foot slippeth, thy loving-kindness, O Jehovah, held me up.

19 In the multitude of my anxious thoughts within me thy comforts have delighted my soul.

20 Shall the throne of wickedness be united to thee, which frameth mischief into a law?

21 They band together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn innocent blood.

22 But Jehovah will be my high tower; and my God the rock of my refuge.

23 And he will bring upon them their iniquity, and will cut them off in their own evil: Jehovah our God will cut them off.


Psalms 94:1-23 World English Bible (WEB)

1 Yahweh, you God to whom vengeance belongs, You God to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth.

2 Rise up, you judge of the earth. Pay back the proud what they deserve.

3 Yahweh, how long will the wicked, How long will the wicked triumph?

4 They pour out arrogant words. All the evil-doers boast.

5 They break your people in pieces, Yahweh, And afflict your heritage.

6 They kill the widow and the alien, And murder the fatherless.

7 They say, "Yah will not see, Neither will Jacob's God consider."

8 Consider, you senseless among the people; You fools, when will you be wise?

9 He who implanted the ear, won't he hear? He who formed the eye, won't he see?

10 He who disciplines the nations, won't he punish? He who teaches man knows.

11 Yahweh knows the thoughts of man, That they are futile.

12 Blessed is the man whom you discipline, Yah, And teach out of your law;

13 That you may give him rest from the days of adversity, Until the pit is dug for the wicked.

14 For Yahweh won't reject his people, Neither will he forsake his inheritance.

15 For judgment will return to righteousness. All the upright in heart shall follow it.

16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will stand up for me against the evil-doers?

17 Unless Yahweh had been my help, My soul would have soon lived in silence.

18 When I said, "My foot is slipping!" Your loving kindness, Yahweh, held me up.

19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me, Your comforts delight my soul.

20 Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you, Which brings about mischief by statute?

21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, And condemn the innocent blood.

22 But Yahweh has been my high tower, My God, the rock of my refuge.

23 He has brought on them their own iniquity, And will cut them off in their own wickedness. Yahweh, our God, will cut them off.


Psalms 94:1-23 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

1 O God, in whose hands is punishment, O God of punishment, let your shining face be seen.

2 Be lifted up, O judge of the earth; let their reward come to the men of pride.

3 How long will sinners, O Lord, how long will sinners have joy over us?

4 Words of pride come from their lips; all the workers of evil say great things of themselves.

5 Your people are crushed by them, O Lord, your heritage is troubled,

6 They put to death the widow and the guest, they take the lives of children who have no father;

7 And they say, Jah will not see it, the God of Jacob will not give thought to it.

8 Give your mind to my words, you who are without wisdom among the people; you foolish men, when will you be wise?

9 Has he by whom your ears were planted no hearing? or is he blind by whom your eyes were formed?

10 He who is the judge of the nations, will he not give men the reward of their acts, even he who gives knowledge to man?

11 The Lord has knowledge of the thoughts of man, for they are only a breath.

12 Happy is the man who is guided by you, O Jah, and to whom you give teaching out of your law;

13 So that you may give him rest from the days of evil, till a hole is made ready for the destruction of the sinners.

14 The Lord will not give up his people, or take away his support from his heritage;

15 But decisions will again be made in righteousness; and they will be kept by all whose hearts are true.

16 Who will give me help against the sinners? and who will be my support against the workers of evil?

17 If the Lord had not been my helper, my soul would quickly have gone down into death.

18 If I say, My foot is slipping; your mercy, O Lord, is my support.

19 Among all my troubled thoughts, your comforts are the delight of my soul.

20 What part with you has the seat of sin, which makes evil into a law?

21 They are banded together against the soul of the upright, to give decisions against those who have done no wrong.

22 But the Lord is my safe resting-place; my God is the Rock where I am safe.

23 And he has made their evil designs come back on themselves, cutting them off in their sin; the Lord our God will put an end to them.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 94

Commentary on Psalms 94 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Introduction

The Consolation of Prayer under the Oppression of Tyrants

This Psalm, akin to Psalms 92:1-15 and Psalms 93:1-5 by the community of the anadiplosis, bears the inscription Ψαλμὸς ᾠδῆς τῷ Δαυίδ, τετράδι σαββάτου in the lxx. It is also a Talmudic tradition

(Note: According to B. Erachin 11 a , at the time of the Chaldaean destruction of Jerusalem the Levites on their pulpits were singing this 94th Psalm, and as they came to the words “and He turneth back upon them their iniquity” (Psalms 94:23), the enemies pressed into the Temple, so that they were not able to sing the closing words, “Jahve, our God, will destroy them.” To the scruple that Ps 94 is a Wednesday, not a Sunday, Psalm (that fatal day, however, was a Sunday, מוצאי שׁבת ), it is replied, it may have been a lamentation song that had just been put into their mouths by the circumstances of that time ( אלייא בעלמא דעלמא דנפל להו בפומייהו ).)

that it was the Wednesday song in the Temple liturgy ( τετράδι σαββάτου = ברביעי בשׁבת ). Athanasius explains it by a reference to the fourth month (Jeremiah 39:2). The τῳ Δαυίδ , however, is worthless. It is a post-Davidic Psalm; for, although it comes out of one mould, we still meet throughout with reminiscences of older Davidic and Asaphic models. The enemies against whom it supplicates the appearing of the God of righteous retribution are, as follows from a comparison of Psalms 94:5, Psalms 94:8, Psalms 94:10, Psalms 94:12, non-Israelites, who despise the God of Israel and fear not His vengeance, Psalms 94:7; whose barbarous doings, however, call forth, even among the oppressed people themselves, foolish doubts concerning Jahve's omniscient beholding and judicial interposition. Accordingly the Psalm is one of the latest, but not necessarily a Maccabaean Psalm. The later Persian age, in which the Book of Ecclesiastes was written, could also exhibit circumstances and moods such as these.


Verses 1-3

The first strophe prays that God would at length put a judicial restraint upon the arrogance of ungodliness. Instead of חופיע (a less frequent form of the imperative for הופע , Ges. §53, rem. 3) it was perhaps originally written הופיעה (Psalms 80:2), the He of which has been lost owing to the He that follows. The plural נקמות signifies not merely single instances of taking vengeance (Ezekiel 25:17, cf. supra Psalms 18:48), but also intensively complete revenge or recompense (Judges 11:36; 2 Samuel 4:8). The designation of God is similar to אל גּמלות in Jeremiah 51:56, and the anadiplosis is like Psalms 94:3, Psalms 94:23, Psalms 93:1, Psalms 93:3. הנּשׂא , lift Thyself up, arise, viz., in judicial majesty, calls to mind Psalms 7:7. השׁיב גּמוּל is construed with על (cf. ל , Psalms 28:4; 59:18) as in Joel 3:4. With גּאים accidentally accord ἀγαυός and κύδεΐ γαίων in the epic poets.


Verses 4-7

The second strophe describes those over whom the first prays that the judgment of God may come. הבּיע (cf. הטּיף ) is a tropical phrase used of that kind of speech that results from strong inward impulse and flows forth in rich abundance. The poet himself explains how it is here (cf. Psalms 59:8) intended: they speak עתק , that which is unrestrained, unbridled, insolent (vid., Psalms 31:19). The Hithpa . התאמּר Schultens interprets ut Emiri (Arab. 'mı̂r , a commander) se gerunt ; but אמיר signifies in Hebrew the top of a tree (vid., on Isaiah 17:9); and from the primary signification to tower aloft, whence too אמר , to speak, prop. effere = effari , התאמּר , like התימּר in Isaiah 61:6, directly signifies to exalt one's self, to carry one's self high, to strut. On ודכּאוּ cf. Proverbs 22:22; Isaiah 3:15; and on their atheistical principle which ויּאמרוּ places in closest connection with their mode of action, cf. Psalms 10:11; Psalms 59:8 extrem . The Dagesh in יּהּ , distinct from the Dag . in the same word in Psalms 94:12, Psalms 118:5, Psalms 118:18, is the Dag. forte conjunct. according to the rule of the so-called דחיק .


Verses 8-11

The third strophe now turns from those bloodthirsty, blasphemous oppressors of the people of God whose conduct calls forth the vengeance of Jahve, to those among the people themselves, who have been puzzled about the omniscience and indirectly about the righteousness of God by the fact that this vengeance is delayed. They are called בערים and כסילים in the sense of Psalms 73:21. Those hitherto described against whom God's vengeance is supplicated are this also; but this appellation would be too one-sided for them, and בּעם refers the address expressly to a class of men among the people whom those oppress and slay. It is absurd that God, the planter of the ear ( הנּטע , like שׁסע in Leviticus 11:7, with an accented ultima , because the praet. Kal does not follow the rule for the drawing back of the accent called נסוג אחור ) and the former of the eye (cf. Psalms 40:7; Exodus 4:11), should not be able to hear and to see; everything that is excellent in the creature, God must indeed possess in original, absolute perfection.

(Note: The questions are not: ought He to have no ear, etc.; as Jerome pertinently observes in opposition to the anthropomorphites, membra tulit, efficientias dedit .)

The poet then points to the extra-Israelitish world and calls God יסר גּוים , which cannot be made to refer to a warning by means of the voice of conscience; יסר used thus without any closer definition does not signify “warning,” but “chastening” (Proverbs 9:7). Taking his stand upon facts like those in Job 12:23, the poet assumes the punitive judicial rule of God among the heathen to be an undeniable fact, and presents for consideration the question, whether He who chasteneth nations cannot and will not also punish the oppressors of His church (cf. Genesis 18:25), He who teacheth men knowledge, i.e., He who nevertheless must be the omnipotent One, since all knowledge comes originally from Him? Jahve - thus does the course of argument close in Psalms 94:11 - sees through ( ידע of penetrative perceiving or knowing that goes to the very root of a matter) the thoughts of men that they are vanity. Thus it is to be interpreted, and not: for they (men) are vanity; for this ought to have been כּי הבל המּה , whereas in the dependent clause, when the predicate is not intended to be rendered especially prominent, as in Ps 9:21, the pronominal subject may precede, Isaiah 61:9; Jeremiah 46:5 (Hitzig). The rendering of the lxx (1 Corinthians 3:20), ὅτι εἰσὶ μάταιοι (Jerome, quoniam vanae sunt ), is therefore correct; המּה , with the customary want of exactness, stands for הנּה . It is true men themselves are הבל ; it is not, however, on this account that He who sees through all things sees through their thoughts, but He sees through them in their sinful vanity.


Verses 12-15

The fourth strophe praises the pious sufferer, whose good cause God will at length aid in obtaining its right. The “blessed” reminds one of Psalms 34:9; Psalms 40:5, and more especially of Job 5:17, cf. Proverbs 3:11. Here what are meant are sufferings like those bewailed in Psalms 94:5., which are however, after all, the well-meant dispensations of God. Concerning the aim and fruit of purifying and testing afflictions God teaches the sufferer out of His Law (cf. e.g., Deuteronomy 8:5.), in order to procure him rest, viz., inward rest (cf. Jeremiah 49:23 with Isaiah 30:15), i.e., not to suffer him to be disheartened and tempted by days of wickedness, i.e., wicked, calamitous days (Ew. §287, b ), until (and it will inevitably come to pass) the pit is finished being dug into which the ungodly falls headlong (cf. Psalms 112:7.). יּהּ has the emphatic Dagesh , which properly does not double, and still less unite, but requires an emphatic pronunciation of the letter, which might easily become inaudible. The initial Jod of the divine name might easily lose it consonantal value here in connection with the preceding toneless ,

(Note: If it is correct that, as Aben-Ezra and Parchon testify, the וּ , as being compounded of o ( u ) + i , was pronounced ü like the u in the French word pur by the inhabitants of Palestine, then this Dagesh , in accordance with its orthophonic function, is the more intelligible in cases like תיסרנו יּה and קראתי יּה , cf. Pinsker, Einleitung , S. 153, and Geiger, Urschrift , S. 277. In קומו צּאו , Genesis 19:14; Exodus 12:31, קומו סּעו , Deuteronomy 2:24, Tsade and Samech have this Dagesh for the same reason as the Sin in תשׁביתו שּׁאור , Exodus 12:15 (vid., Heidenheim on that passage), viz., because there is a danger in all these cases of slurring over the sharp sibilant. Even Chajug' (vid., Ewald and Dukes' Beiträge , iii. 23) confuses this Dag. orthophonicum with the Dag. forte conjunctivum .)

and the Dag . guards against this: cf. Psalms 118:5, Psalms 118:18. The certainty of the issue that is set in prospect by עד is then confirmed with כּי . It is impossible that God can desert His church - He cannot do this, because in general right must finally come to His right, or, as it is here expressed, משׁפּט must turn to צדק , i.e., the right that is now subdued must at length be again strictly maintained and justly administered, and “after it then all who are upright in heart,” i.e., all such will side with it, joyously greeting that which has been long missed and yearned after. משׁפּט is fundamental right, which is at all times consistent with itself and raised above the casual circumstances of the time, and צדק , like אמת in Isaiah 42:3, is righteousness (justice), which converts this right into a practical truth and reality.


Verses 16-19

In the fifth strophe the poet celebrates the praise of the Lord as his sole, but also trusty and most consolatory help. The meaning of the question in Psalms 94:16 is, that there is no man who would rise and succour him in the conflict with the evil-doers; ל as in Exodus 14:25; Judges 6:31, and עם (without נלחם or the like) in the sense of contra , as in Psalms 55:19, cf. 2 Chronicles 20:6. God alone is his help. He alone has rescued him from death. היה is to be supplied to לוּלי : if He had not been, or: if He were not; and the apodosis is: then very little would have been wanting, then it would soon have come to this, that his soul would have taken up its abode, etc.; cf. on the construction Psalms 119:92; Psalms 124:1-5; Isaiah 1:9, and on כּמעט with the praet . Psalms 73:2; Psalms 119:87; Genesis 26:10 (on the other hand with the fut . Psalms 81:15). דּוּמה is, as in Psalms 115:17, the silence of the grave and of Hades; here it is the object to שׁכנה , as in Psalms 37:3, Proverbs 8:12, and frequently. When he appears to himself already as one that has fallen, God's mercy holds him up. And when thoughts, viz., sad and fearful thoughts, are multiplied within him, God's comforts delight him, viz., the encouragement of His word and the inward utterances of His Spirit. שׁרעפּים , as in Psalms 139:23, is equivalent to שעפּים , from שׂעף , סעף , Arab. š‛b , to split, branch off ( Psychology , S. 181; tr. p. 214). The plural form ישׁעשׁעוּ , like the plural of the imperative in Isaiah 29:9, has two Pathachs , the second of which is the “independentification” of the Chateph of ישׁעשׁע .


Verses 20-23

In the sixth strophe the poet confidently expects the inevitable divine retribution for which he has earnestly prayed in the introduction. יחברך is erroneously accounted by many (and by Gesenius too) as fut. Pual = יחבּרך = יחבּר עמּך , a vocal contraction together with a giving up of the reduplication in favour of which no example can be advanced. It is fut. Kal = יחברך , from יחבּר = יחבּר , with the same regression of the modification of the vowel

(Note: By means of a similar transposition of the vowel as is to be assumed in תּאהבוּ , Proverbs 1:22, it also appears that מדוּבּין = מוּסבּין (lying upon the table, ἀνακείμενοι ) of the Pesach-Haggada has to be explained, which Joseph Kimchi finds so inexplicable that he regards it as a clerical error that has become traditional.)

as in יחנך = יחנך in Genesis 43:29; Isaiah 30:19 (Hupfeld), but as in verbs primae gutturalis , so also in כּתבם , כּתבם , inflected from כּתב , Ew. §251, d . It might be more readily regarded as Poel than as Pual (like תּאכלנוּ , Job 20:26), but the Kal too already signifies to enter into fellowship (Genesis 14:3; Hosea 4:17), therefore (similarly to יגרך , Psalms 5:5) it is : num consociabitur tecum . כּסּא is here the judgment-seat, just as the Arabic cursi directly denotes the tribunal of God (in distinction from Arab. 'l - ‛arš , the throne of His majesty). With reference to הוּות vid., on Psalms 5:10. Assuming that חק is a divine statute, we obtain this meaning for עלי־חק : which frameth (i.e., plots and executes) trouble, by making the written divine right into a rightful title for unrighteous conduct, by means of which the innocent are plunged into misfortune. Hitzig renders: contrary to order, after Proverbs 17:26, where, however, על־ישׁר is intended like ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης , Matthew 5:10. Olshausen proposes to read יגוּרוּ (Psalms 56:7; Psalms 59:4) instead of יגודּוּ , just as conversely Aben-Ezra in Psalms 56:7 reads יגודּוּ . But גּדד , גּוּד , has the secured signification of scindere, incidere (cf. Arab. jdd , but also chd , supra , p. 255), from which the signification invadere can be easily derived (whence גּדוּד , a breaking in, invasion, an invading host). With reference to דּם נקי vid., Psychology , S. 243 (tr. p. 286): because the blood is the soul, that is said of the blood which applies properly to the person. The subject to יגודו are the seat of corruption (by which a high council consisting of many may be meant, just as much as a princely throne) and its accomplices. Prophetic certainty is expressed in ויהי and ויּשׁב . The figure of God as משׂגּב is Davidic and Korahitic. צוּר מחסּי צוּר is explained from Psalms 18:2. Since השׁיב designates the retribution as a return of guilt incurred in the form of actual punishment, it might be rendered “requite” just as well as “cause to return;” עליהם , however, instead of להם (Psalms 54:7) makes the idea expressed in Psalms 7:17 more natural. On ברעתם Hitzig correctly compares 2 Samuel 14:7; 2 Samuel 3:27. The Psalm closes with an anadiplosis, just as it began with one; and אלהינוּ affirms that the destruction of the persecutor will follow as surely as the church is able to call Jahve its God.