3 I will set no vile thing before my eyes. I hate the deeds of faithless men. They will not cling to me.
"I made a covenant with my eyes, How then should I look lustfully at a young woman?
Don't lust after her beauty in your heart, Neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.
It happened at evening, that David arose from off his bed, and walked on the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look on. David send and inquired after the woman. One said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things. Revive me in your ways.
but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God can't be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.
Blessed is the man who makes Yahweh his trust, And doesn't respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
Samuel said to the people, "Don't be afraid; you have indeed done all this evil; yet don't turn aside from following Yahweh, but serve Yahweh with all your heart: and don't turn aside; for [then would you go] after vain things which can't profit nor deliver, for they are vain.
get out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us."
Beware that there not be a base thought in your heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing; and he cry to Yahweh against you, and it be sin to you.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good.
They went out from us, but they didn't belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us.
But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul.
But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, why do you turn back again to the weak and miserable elements, to which you desire to be in bondage all over again?
They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.'"
There shall cleave nothing of the devoted thing to your hand; that Yahweh may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show you mercy, and have compassion on you, and multiply you, as he has sworn to your fathers;
Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near to my house; and I will give you for it a better vineyard than it: or, if it seem good to you, I will give you the worth of it in money. Naboth said to Ahab, Yahweh forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you. Ahab came into his house sullen and angry because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers. He laid him down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, Why is your spirit so sad, that you eat no bread? He said to her, Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it please you, I will give you [another] vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give you my vineyard. Jezebel his wife said to him, Do you now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let your heart be merry: I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in his city, [and] who lived with Naboth. She wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: and set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them testify against him, saying, You did curse God and the king. Then carry him out, and stone him to death. The men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, according as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. The two men, the base fellows, came in and sat before him: and the base fellows bore witness against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did curse God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him to death with stones. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead. It happened, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead. It happened, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. The word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who dwells in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he is gone down to take possession of it. You shall speak to him, saying, Thus says Yahweh, Have you killed and also taken possession? You shall speak to him, saying, Thus says Yahweh, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your blood, even yours. Ahab said to Elijah, Have you found me, my enemy? He answered, I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh. Behold, I will bring evil on you, and will utterly sweep you away and will cut off from Ahab every man-child, and him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel: and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah for the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger, and have made Israel to sin. Of Jezebel also spoke Yahweh, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel. Him who dies of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him who dies in the field shall the birds of the sky eat. (But there was none like Ahab, who did sell himself to do that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. He did very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites did, whom Yahweh cast out before the children of Israel.) It happened, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. The word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, See you how Ahab humbles himself before me? because he humbles himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days; but in his son's days will I bring the evil on his house.
They have all gone aside. They have together become corrupt. There is none who does good, no, not one.
Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of Yahweh, And have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his ordinances were before me. I didn't put away his statutes from me. I was also blameless with him. I kept myself from my iniquity.
I have not sat with deceitful men, Neither will I go in with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evil-doers, And will not sit with the wicked.
The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit. He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
They turned again and tempted God, And provoked the Holy One of Israel.
But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, Yahweh will lead them away with the workers of iniquity. Peace be on Israel.
Don't look at the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly: In the end, it bites like a snake, And poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, And your mind will imagine confusing things. Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the midst of the sea, Or as he who lies on top of the rigging: "They hit me, and I was not hurt; They beat me, and I don't feel it! When will I wake up? I can do it again. I can find another."
For they have made ready their heart like an oven, While they lie in wait. Their baker sleeps all the night. In the morning it burns as a flaming fire. They are all hot as an oven, And devour their judges. All their kings have fallen. There is no one among them who calls to me.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 101
Commentary on Psalms 101 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
This is the “prince's Psalm,”
(Note: Eyring, in his Vita of Ernest the Pious Duke of Saxe-Gotha, v. 1601, d. 1675, relates that he sent an unfaithful minister a copy of the 101st Psalm, and that it became a proverb in the country, when an official had done anything wrong: He will certainty soon receive the prince's Psalm to read.)
or as it is inscribed in Luther's version, “David's mirror of a monarch.” Can there be any more appropriate motto for it than what is said of Jahve's government in Psalms 99:4? In respect of this passage of Psalms 99:1-9, to which Psalms 100:1-5 is the finale, Psalms 101:1-8 seems to be appended as an echo out of the heart of David. The appropriateness of the words לדוד מזמור (the position of the words is as in Psalms 24:1-10; 40; 109:1-110:7; 139) is corroborated by the form and contents. Probably the great historical work from which the chronicler has taken excerpts furnished the post-exilic collector with a further gleaning of Davidic songs, or at least songs that were ascribed to David. The Psalm before us belongs to the time during which the Ark was in the house of Obed-Edom, where David had left it behind through terror at the misfortune of Uzzah. David said at that time: “ How shall the Ark of Jahve come to me (the unholy one)?” 2 Samuel 6:8. He did not venture to bring the Ark of the Fearful and Holy One within the range of his own house. In our Psalm, however, he gives utterance to his determination as king to give earnest heed to the sanctity of his walk, of his rule, and of his house; and this resolve he brings before Jahve as a vow, to whom, in regard to the rich blessing which the Ark of God diffuses around it (2 Samuel 6:11.), he longingly sighs: “When wilt Thou come to me?!” This contemporaneous reference has been recognised by Hammond and Venema. From the fact that Jahve comes to David, Jerusalem becomes “the city of Jahve,” Psalms 101:8; and to defend the holiness of this the city of His habitation in all faithfulness, and with all his might, is the thing to which David here pledges himself.
The contents of the first verse refer not merely to the Psalm that follows as an announcement of its theme, but to David's whole life: graciousness and right, the self-manifestations united ideally and, for the king who governs His people, typically in Jahve, shall be the subject of his song. Jahve, the primal source of graciousness and of right, it shall be, to whom he consecrates his poetic talent, as also his playing upon the harp. חסד is condescension which flows from the principle of free love, and משׁפּט legality which binds itself impartially and uncapriciously to the rule (norm) of that which is right and good. They are two modes of conduct, mutually tempering each other, which God requires of every man (Micah 6:8, cf. Matthew 23:23 : τὴν κρίσιν καὶ τὸν ἔλεον ), and more especially of a king. Further, he has resolved to give heed, thoughtfully and with an endeavour to pursue it ( השׂכּיל בּ as in Daniel 9:13), unto the way of that which is perfect, i.e., blameless. What is further said might now be rendered as a relative clause: when Thou comest to me. But not until then?! Hitzig renders it differently: I will take up the lot of the just when it comes to me, i.e., as often as it is brought to my knowledge. But if this had been the meaning, בּדבר would have been said instead of בּדרך (Exodus 18:16, Exodus 18:19; 2 Samuel 19:12 [11]); for, according to both its parts, the expression דוך תמים is an ethical notion, and is therefore not used in a different sense from that in Psalms 101:6. Moreover, the relative use of the interrogative מתי in Hebrew cannot be supported, with the exception, perhaps, of Proverbs 23:35. Athanasius correctly interprets: ποθῶ σου τὴν παρουσίαν, ὦ δέσποτα, ἱμείρομαί σου τῆς ἐπιφανείας, ἀλλὰ δὸς τὸ ποθούμενον . It is a question of strong yearning: when wilt Thou come to me? is the time near at hand when Thou wilt erect Thy throne near to me? If his longing should be fulfilled, David is resolved to, and will then, behave himself as he further sets forth in the vows he makes. He pledges himself to walk within his house, i.e., his palace, in the innocence or simplicity of his heart (Psalms 78:72; Proverbs 20:7), without allowing himself to be led away from this frame of mind which has become his through grace. He will not set before his eyes, viz., as a proposition or purpose (Deuteronomy 15:9; Exodus 10:10; 1 Samuel 29:10, lxx), any morally worthless or vile matter whatsoever (Psalms 41:8, cf. concerning בליּעל , Psalms 18:5). The commission of excesses he hates: עשׂה is infin. constr. instead of עשׂות as in Genesis 31:28; Genesis 50:20; Proverbs 21:3, cf. ראה Genesis 48:11, שׁתו Proverbs 31:4. סטים (like שׂטים in Hosea 5:2), as the object of עשׂה , has not a personal (Kimchi, Ewald) signification (cf. on the other hand Psalms 40:5), but material signification: ( facta ) declinantia (like זדים , Psalms 19:13, insolentia ; הבלים , Zechariah 11:7, vincientia ); all temptations and incitements of this sort he shakes off from himself, so that nothing of the kind cleaves to him. The confessions in Psalms 101:4 refer to his own inward nature: לב עקּשׁ (not עקּשׁ־לב , Proverbs 17:20), a false heart that is not faithful in its intentions either to God or to men, shall remain far from him; wickedness ( רע as in Psalms 36:5) he does not wish to know, i.e., does not wish to foster and nurture within him. Whoso secretly slanders his neighbour, him will he destroy; it will therefore be so little possible for any to curry favour with him by uncharitable perfidious tale-bearing, of the wiliness of which David himself had had abundant experience in his relation to Saul, that it will rather call forth his anger upon him (Proverbs 30:10). Instead of the regularly pointed מלושׁני the Kerî reads מלשׁני , melŏshnı̂ , a Poel ( לשׁן linguâ petere , like עין oculo petere , elsewhere הלשׁין , Proverbs 30:10) with ŏ instead of ō (vid., on Psalms 109:10; Psalms 62:4) and with Chirek compaginis (vid., on Psalms 113:1-9). The “lofty of eyes,” i.e., supercilious, haughty, and the “broad of heart,” i.e., boastful, puffed up, self-conceited (Proverbs 28:25, cf. Psalms 21:4), him he cannot endure ( אוּכל , properly fut. Hoph. , I am incapable of, viz., לשׂאת , which is to be supplied as in Isaiah 1:13, after Proverbs 30:21; Jeremiah 44:22).
(Note: In both instances the Masora writes אותו ( plene ), but the Talmud, B. Erachin 15 b , had אתו before it when it says: “Of the slanderer God says: I and he cannot dwell together in the world, I cannot bear it any longer with him ( אתּו ).”)
On the other hand, his eyes rest upon the faithful of the land, with the view, viz., of drawing them into his vicinity. Whoso walks in the way of uprightness, he shall serve him ( שׁרת , θεραπεύειν , akin to עבד , δουλεύειν ). He who practises deceit shall not stay within his house; he who speaks lies shall have no continuance ( יכּון is more than equivalent to נכון ) before (under) his eyes. Every morning ( לבּקרים as in Psalms 73:14; Isaiah 33:2; Lamentations 3:23, and לבקרים , Job 7:18), when Jahve shall have taken up His abode in Jerusalem, will he destroy all evil-doers ( רשׁעי as in Psalms 119:119), i.e., incorrigibly wicked ones, wherever he may meet them upon the earth, in order that all workers of evil may be rooted out of the royal city, which is now become the city of Jahve.