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Psalms 83:15 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

15 So persecute H7291 them with thy tempest, H5591 and make them afraid H926 with thy storm. H5492

Cross Reference

Job 9:17 STRONG

For he breaketh H7779 me with a tempest, H8183 and multiplieth H7235 my wounds H6482 without cause. H2600

Psalms 58:9 STRONG

Before your pots H5518 can feel H995 the thorns, H329 he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, H8175 both living, H2416 and in his wrath. H2740

Job 27:20-23 STRONG

Terrors H1091 take hold H5381 on him as waters, H4325 a tempest H5492 stealeth him away H1589 in the night. H3915 The east H6921 wind carrieth him away, H5375 and he departeth: H3212 and as a storm hurleth H8175 him out of his place. H4725 For God shall cast H7993 upon him, and not spare: H2550 he would fain H1272 flee H1272 out of his hand. H3027 Men shall clap H5606 their hands H3709 at him, and shall hiss H8319 him out of his place. H4725

Psalms 11:6 STRONG

Upon the wicked H7563 he shall rain H4305 snares, H6341 fire H784 and brimstone, H1614 and an horrible H2152 tempest: H7307 this shall be the portion H4521 of their cup. H3563

Psalms 50:3 STRONG

Our God H430 shall come, H935 and shall not keep silence: H2790 a fire H784 shall devour H398 before H6440 him, and it shall be very H3966 tempestuous H8175 round about H5439 him.

Isaiah 28:17 STRONG

Judgment H4941 also will I lay H7760 to the line, H6957 and righteousness H6666 to the plummet: H4949 and the hail H1259 shall sweep away H3261 the refuge H4268 of lies, H3577 and the waters H4325 shall overflow H7857 the hiding place. H5643

Isaiah 30:30 STRONG

And the LORD H3068 shall cause his glorious H1935 voice H6963 to be heard, H8085 and shall shew H7200 the lighting down H5183 of his arm, H2220 with the indignation H2197 of his anger, H639 and with the flame H3851 of a devouring H398 fire, H784 with scattering, H5311 and tempest, H2230 and hailstones. H68 H1259

Ezekiel 13:11-14 STRONG

Say H559 unto them which daub H2902 it with untempered H8602 morter, that it shall fall: H5307 there shall be an overflowing H7857 shower; H1653 and ye, H859 O great hailstones, H417 H68 shall fall; H5307 and a stormy H5591 wind H7307 shall rend H1234 it. Lo, when the wall H7023 is fallen, H5307 shall it not be said H559 unto you, Where is the daubing H2915 wherewith ye have daubed H2902 it? Therefore thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 I will even rend H1234 it with a stormy H5591 wind H7307 in my fury; H2534 and there shall be an overflowing H7857 shower H1653 in mine anger, H639 and great hailstones H417 H68 in my fury H2534 to consume H3617 it. So will I break down H2040 the wall H7023 that ye have daubed H2902 with untempered H8602 morter, and bring H5060 it down to the ground, H776 so that the foundation H3247 thereof shall be discovered, H1540 and it shall fall, H5307 and ye shall be consumed H3615 in the midst H8432 thereof: and ye shall know H3045 that I am the LORD. H3068

Matthew 7:27 STRONG

And G2532 the rain G1028 descended, G2597 and G2532 the floods G4215 came, G2064 and G2532 the winds G417 blew, G4154 and G2532 beat upon G4350 that G1565 house; G3614 and G2532 it fell: G4098 and G2532 great G3173 was G2258 the fall G4431 of it. G846

Hebrews 12:18 STRONG

For G1063 ye are G4334 not G3756 come G4334 unto the mount G3735 that might be touched, G5584 and G2532 that burned G2545 with fire, G4442 nor G2532 unto blackness, G1105 and G2532 darkness, G4655 and G2532 tempest, G2366

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 83

Commentary on Psalms 83 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Introduction

Battle-Cry to God against Allied Peoples

The close of this Psalm is in accord with the close of the preceding Psalm. It is the last of the twelve Psalms of Asaph of the Psalter. The poet supplicates help against the many nations which have allied themselves with the descendants of Lot, i.e., Moab and Ammon, to entirely root out Israel as a nation. Those who are fond of Maccabaean Psalms (Hitzig and Olshausen), after the precedent of van Til and von Bengel, find the circumstances of the time of the Psalm in 1 Macc. 5, and Grimm is also inclined to regard this as correct; and in point of fact the deadly hostility of the ἔθνη κυκλόθεν which we there see breaking forth on all sides,

(Note: Concerning the υίοὶ Βαΐάν ( Benı̂ Baijân ), 1 Macc. 5:4, the difficulty respecting which is to the present time unsolved, vid., Wetzstein's Excursus II, pp. 559f..)

as it were at a given signal, against the Jewish people, who have become again independent, and after the dedication of the Temple doubly self-conscious, is far better suited to explain the Psalm than the hostile efforts of Sanballat, Tobiah, and others to hinder the rebuilding of Jerusalem, in the time of Nehemiah (Vaihinger, Ewald, and Dillmann). There is, however, still another incident beside that recorded in 1 Macc. 5 to which the Psalm may be referred, viz., the confederation of the nations for the extinction of Judah in the time of Jehoshaphat (2 Chr. 20), and, as it seems to us, with comparatively speaking less constraint. For the Psalm speaks of a real league, whilst in 1 Macc. 5 the several nations made the attack without being allied and not jointly; then, as the Psalm assumes in Psalms 83:9, the sons of Lot, i.e., the Moabites and Ammonites, actually were at the head at that time, whilst in 1 Macc. 5 the sons of Esau occupy the most prominent place; and thirdly, at that time, in the time of Jehoshaphat, as is recorded, an Asaphite, viz., Jahaziël, did actually interpose in the course of events, a circumstance which coincides remarkably with the לאסף . The league of that period consisted, according to 2 Chronicles 20:1, of Moabites, Ammonites, and a part of the מעוּנים (as it is to be read after the lxx). But 2 Chronicles 20:2 (where without any doubt מאדם is to be read instead of מארם ) adds the Edomites to their number, for it is expressly stated further on (2 Chronicles 20:10, 2 Chronicles 20:22, 2 Chronicles 20:23) that the inhabitants of Mount Seïr were with them. Also, supposing of course that the “Ishmaelites” and “Hagarenes” of the Psalm may be regarded as an unfolding of the מעונים , which is confirmed by Josephus, Antiq . ix. 1. 2; and that Gebäl is to be understood by the Mount Seïr of the chronicler, which is confirmed by the Arab. jibâl still in use at the present day, there always remains a difficulty in the fact that the Psalm also names Amalek , Philistia , Tyre , and Asshur , of which we find no mention there in the reign of Jehoshaphat. But these difficulties are counter-balanced by others that beset the reference to 1 Macc. 5, viz., that in the time of the Seleucidae the Amalekites no longer existed, and consequently, as might be expected, are not mentioned at all in 1 Macc. 5; further, that there the Moabites, too, are no longer spoken of, although some formerly Moabitish cities of Gileaditis are mentioned; and thirdly, that אשׁור = Syria (a certainly possible usage of the word) appears in a subordinate position, whereas it was, however, the dominant power. On the other hand, the mention of Amalek is intelligible in connection with the reference to 2 Chr. 20, and the absence of its express mention in the chronicler does not make itself particularly felt in consideration of Genesis 36:12. Philistia, Tyre, and Asshur, however, stand at the end in the Psalm, and might also even be mentioned with the others if they rendered aid to the confederates of the south-east without taking part with them in the campaign, as being a succour to the actual leaders of the enterprise, the sons of Lot. We therefore agree with the reference of Psalms 83 (as also of Psalms 48:1-14) to the alliance of the neighbouring nations against Judah in the reign of Jehoshaphat, which has been already recognised by Kimchi and allowed by Keil, Hengstenberg, and Movers.


Verses 1-4

The poet prays, may God not remain an inactive looker-on in connection with the danger of destruction that threatens His people. דּמי (with which יהי is to be supplied) is the opposite of alertness; חרשׁ the opposite of speaking (in connection with which it is assumed that God's word is at the same time deed); שׁקט the opposite of being agitated and activity. The energetic future jehemajûn gives outward emphasis to the confirmation of the petition, and the fact that Israel's foes are the foes of God gives inward emphasis to it. On נשׂא ראשׁ , cf. Psalms 110:7. סוד is here a secret agreement; and יערימוּ , elsewhere to deal craftily, here signifies to craftily plot, devise, bring a thing about. צפוּניך is to be understood according to Psalms 27:5; Psalms 31:21. The Hithpa . התיעץ alternates here with the more ancient Niph . (Psalms 83:6). The design of the enemies in this instance has reference to the total extirpation of Israel, of the separatist-people who exclude themselves from the life of the world and condemn it. מגּוי , from being a people = so that it may no longer be a people or nation, as in Isaiah 7:8; Isaiah 17:1; Isaiah 25:2; Jeremiah 48:42. In the borrowed passage, Jeremiah 48:2, by an interchange of a letter it is נכריתנּה . This Asaph Psalm is to be discerned in not a few passages of the prophets; cf. Isaiah 62:6. with Psalms 83:2, Isaiah 17:12 with Psalms 83:3.


Verses 5-8

Instead of לב אחד , 1 Chronicles 12:38, it is deliberant corde unâ , inasmuch as יחדּו on the one hand gives intensity to the reciprocal signification of the verb, and on the other lends the adjectival notion to לב . Of the confederate peoples the chronicler (2 Chr. 20) mentions the Moabites, the Ammonites, the inhabitants of Mount Seïr, and the Me(unim , instead of which Josephus, Antiq . ix. 1. 2, says: a great body of Arabians. This crowd of peoples comes from the other side of the Dead Sea, מאדם (as it is to be read in Psalms 83:2 in the chronicler instead of מארם , cf. on Psalms 60:2); the territory of Edom, which is mentioned first by the poet, was therefore the rendezvous. The tents of Edom and of the Ishmaelites are (cf. Arab. ahl , people) the people themselves who live in tents. Moreover, too, the poet ranges the hostile nations according to their geographical position. The seven first named from Edom to Amalek, which still existed at the time of the psalmist (for the final destruction of the Amalekites by the Simeonites, 1 Chronicles 4:42., falls at an indeterminate period prior to the Exile), are those out of the regions east and south-east of the Dead Sea. According to Genesis 25:18, the Ishmaelites had spread from Higâz through the peninsula of Sinai beyond the eastern and southern deserts as far up as the countries under the dominion of Assyria. The Hagarenes dwelt in tents from the Persian Gulf as far as the east of Gilead (1 Chronicles 5:10) towards the Euphrates. גּבל , Arab. jbâl , is the name of the people inhabiting the mountains situated in the south of the Dead Sea, that is to say, the northern Seïritish mountains. Both Gebâl and also, as it appears, the Amalek intended here according to Genesis 36:12 (cf. Josephus, Antiq . ii. 1. 2: Ἀμαληκῖτις , a part of Idumaea), belong to the wide circuit of Edom . Then follow the Philistines and Phoenicians, the two nations of the coast of the Mediterranean, which also appear in Amos 1:1-15 (cf. Joel 3) as making common cause with the Edomites against Israel. Finally Asshur, the nation of the distant north-east, here not as yet appearing as a principal power, but strengthening (vid., concerning זרוע , an arm = assistance, succour, Gesenius, Thesaurus , p. 433 b ) the sons of Lot, i.e., the Moabites and Ammonites, with whom the enterprise started, and forming a powerful reserve for them. The music bursts forth angrily at the close of this enumeration, and imprecations discharge themselves in the following strophe.


Verses 9-12

With כּמדין reference is made to Gideon's victory over the Midianites, which belongs to the most glorious recollections of Israel, and to which in other instances, too, national hopes are attached, Isaiah 9:3 [4], Isaiah 10:26, cf. Habakkuk 3:7; and with the asyndeton כּסיסרא כיבין ( כּסיסרא , as Norzi states, who does not rightly understand the placing of the Metheg ) to the victory of Barak and Deborah over Sisera and the Canaanitish king Jabin, whose general he was. The Beth of בּנחל is like the Beth of בּדּרך in Psalms 110:7 : according to Judges 5:21 the Kishon carried away the corpses of the slain army. ‛Endôr , near Tabor, and therefore situated not far distant from Taanach and Megiddo (Judges 5:19), belonged to the battle-field. אדמה , starting from the radical notion of that which flatly covers anything, which lies in דם , signifying the covering of earth lying flat over the globe, therefore humus (like ארץ , terra , and תבל , tellus ), is here (cf. 2 Kings 9:37) in accord with דּמן (from דמן ), which is in substance akin to it. In Psalms 83:12 we have a retrospective glance at Gideon's victory. ‛Oreb and Zeēb were שׂרים of the Midianites, Judges 7:25; Zebach and Tsalmunna‛ , their kings, Judges 8:5.

(Note: The Syriac Hexapla has (Hosea 10:14) צלמנע instead of שׁלמן , a substitution which is accepted by Geiger, Deutsch. Morgenländ. Zeitschr . 1862, S. 729f. Concerning the signification of the above names of Midianitish princes, vid., Nöldeke, Ueber die Amalekiter , S. 9.)

The pronoun precedes the word itself in שׁיתמו , as in Exodus 2:6; the heaped-up suffixes ēmo ( êmo ) give to the imprecation a rhythm and sound as of rolling thunder. Concerning נסיך , vid., on Psalms 2:6. So far as the matter is concerned, 2 Chronicles 20:11 harmonizes with Psalms 83:13. Canaan, the land which is God's and which He has given to His people, is called נאות אלהים (cf. Psalms 74:20).


Verses 13-16

With the אלהי , which constrains God in faith, the “thundering down” begins afresh. גּלגּל signifies a wheel and a whirling motion, such as usually arises when the wind changes suddenly, then also whatever is driven about in the whirling, Isaiah 17:13.

(Note: Saadia, who renders the גּלגּל in Psalms 77:19 as an astronomical expression with Arab. 'l - frk , the sphere of the heavens, here has professedly Arab. kâlgrâblt , which would be a plural from expanded out of Arab. grâbı̂l , “sieves” or “tambourines;” it is, however, to be read, as in Isaiah 17:13, Codex Oxon ., Arab. kâlgirbâlt . The verb Arab. garbala , “to sift,” is transferred to the wind, e.g., in Mutanabbi (edited with Wahidi's commentary by Dieterici), p. 29, l. 5 and 6: “it is as though the dust of this region, when the winds chase one another therein, were sifted,” Arab. mugarbalu (i.e., caught up and whirled round); and with other notional and constructional applications in Makkarı̂ , i. p. 102, l. 18: “it is as though its soil had been cleansed from dust by sifting,” Arab. gurbilat (i.e., the dust thereof swept away by a whirlwind). Accordingly Arab. girbâlat signifies first, as a nom. vicis , a whirling about (of dust by the wind), then in a concrete sense a whirlwind, as Saadia uses it, inasmuch as he makes use of it twice for גּלגּל . So Fleischer in opposition to Ewald, who renders “like the sweepings or rubbish.”)

קשׁ (from קשׁשׁ , Arab. qšš , aridum esse ) is the cry corn-talks, whether as left standing or, as in this instance, as straw upon the threshing-floor or upon the field. Like a fire that spreads rapidly, laying hold of everything, which burns up the forest and singes off the wooded mountain so that only a bare cone is left standing, so is God to drive them before Him in the raging tempest of His wrath and take them unawares. The figure in Psalms 83:15 is fully worked up by Isaiah, Isaiah 10:16-19; לחט as in Deuteronomy 32:22. In the apodosis, Psalms 83:16, the figure is changed into a kindred one: wrath is a glowing heat ( חרון ) and a breath ( נשׁמה , Isaiah 30:33) at the same time. In Psalms 83:17 it becomes clear what is the final purpose towards which this language of cursing tends: to the end that all, whether willingly or reluctantly, may give the glory to the God of revelation. Directed towards this end the earnest prayer is repeated once more in the tetrastichic closing strain.


Verse 17-18

The aim of the wish is that they in the midst of their downfall may lay hold upon the mercy of Jahve as their only deliverance: first they must come to nought, and only by giving Jahve the glory will they not be utterly destroyed. Side by side with אתּה , v. 19 a , is placed שׁמך as a second subject (cf. Psalms 44:3; Psalms 69:11). In view of Psalms 83:17 וידעוּ (as in Psalms 59:14) has not merely the sense of perceiving so far as the justice of the punishment is concerned; the knowledge which is unto salvation is not excluded. The end of the matter which the poet wishes to see brought about is this, that Jahve, that the God of revelation ( שׁמך ), may become the All-exalted One in the consciousness of the nations.