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Psalms 136:21 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

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21 And He gave their land for inheritance, For to the age `is' His kindness.

Cross Reference

Numbers 32:33-42 YLT

KJV ASV DARBY WEB BBE STRONG

And Moses giveth to them, to the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Reuben, and to the half of the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorite, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land by its cities, in the borders, the cities of the land round about. And the sons of Gad build Dihon, and Ataroth, and Aroer, and Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah, and Beth-Nimrah, and Beth-Haran, cities of defence, and sheepfolds. And the sons of Reuben have build Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim, and Nebo, and Baal-Meon (changed in name), and Shibmah, and they call by `these' names the names of the cities which they have built. And sons of Machir son of Manasseh go to Gilead, and capture it, and dispossess the Amorite, who `is' in it; and Moses giveth Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he dwelleth in it. And Jair son of Manasseh hath gone and captureth their towns, and calleth them `Towns of Jair;' and Nobah hath gone and captureth Kenath, and its villages, and calleth it Nobah, by his own name.

Deuteronomy 3:12-17 YLT

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`And this land we have possessed, at that time; from Aroer, which `is' by the brook Arnon, and the half of mount Gilead, and its cities, I have given to the Reubenite, and to the Gadite; and the rest of Gilead and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I have given to the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, to all that Bashan, called the land of Rephaim. `Jair son of Manasseh hath taken all the region of Argob, unto the border of Geshuri, and Maachathi, and calleth them by his own name, Bashan-Havoth-Jair, unto this day. And to Machir I have given Gilead. `And to the Reubenite and to the Gadite I have given from Gilead even unto the brook Arnon, the middle of the valley and the border, even unto Jabbok the brook, the border of the sons of Ammon, and the plain, and the Jordan, and the border, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, the salt sea, under the springs of Pisgah, at the `sun'-rising.

Joshua 12:1-7 YLT

KJV ASV DARBY WEB BBE STRONG

And these `are' kings of the land whom the sons of Israel have smitten, and possess their land, beyond the Jordan, at the sun-rising, from the brook Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the plain eastward. Sihon, king of the Amorite, who is dwelling in Heshbon, ruling from Aroer which `is' on the border of the brook Arnon, and the middle of the brook, and half of Gilead, and unto Jabok the brook, the border of the Bene-Ammon; And the plain unto the sea of Chinneroth eastward, and unto the sea of the plain (the salt sea) eastward, the way to Beth-Jeshimoth, and from the south under the springs of Pisgah. And the border of Og king of Bashan (of the remnant of the Rephaim), who is dwelling in Ashtaroth and in Edrei, and ruling in mount Hermon, and in Salcah, and in all Bashan, unto the border of the Geshurite, and the Maachathite, and the half of Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon. Moses, servant of Jehovah, and the sons of Israel have smitten them, and Moses, servant of Jehovah, giveth it -- a possession to the Reubenite, and to the Gadite, and to the half of the tribe of Manasseh. And these `are' kings of the land whom Joshua and the sons of Israel have smitten beyond the Jordan westward, from Baal-Gad, in the valley of Lebanon, and unto the mount of Halak, which is going up to Seir; and Joshua giveth it to the tribes of Israel -- a possession according to their divisions;

Joshua 13:1-21 YLT

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And Joshua is old, entering into days, and Jehovah saith unto him, `Thou hast become aged, thou hast entered into days; as to the land, very much hath been left to possess. `This `is' the land that is left; all the circuits of the Philistines, and all Geshuri, from Sihor which `is' on the front of Egypt, and unto the border of Ekron northward, to the Canaanite it is reckoned, five princes of the Philistines, the Gazathite, and the Ashdothite, the Eshkalonite, the Gittite, and the Ekronite, also the Avim. `From the south, all the land of the Canaanite, and Mearah, which `is' to the Sidonians, unto Aphek, unto the border of the Amorite; and the land of the Giblite, and all Lebanon, at the sun-rising, from Baal-Gad under mount Hermon, unto the going in to Hamath: all the inhabitants of the hill-country, from Lebanon unto Misrephoth-Maim, all the Sidonians: I -- I dispossess them before the sons of Israel; only, cause it to fall to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee. `And now, apportion this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh,' -- with it the Reubenite, and the Gadite, have received their inheritance, which Moses hath given to them beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses servant of Jehovah hath given to them; from Aroer, which `is' on the edge of the brook Arnon, and the city which `is' in the midst of the brook, and all the plain of Medeba unto Dihon, and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorite, who reigned in Heshbon, unto the border of the Bene-Ammon, and Gilead, and the border of the Geshurite, and of the Maachathite, and all mount Hermon, and all Bashan unto Salcah; all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei; he was left of the remnant of the Rephaim, and Moses doth smite them, and dispossess them; and the sons of Israel dispossessed not the Geshurite, and the Maachathite; and Geshur and Maachath dwell in the midst of Israel unto this day. Only, to the tribe of Levi he hath not given an inheritance; fire-offerings of Jehovah, God of Israel, is its inheritance, as He hath spoken to it. And Moses giveth to the tribe of the sons of Reuben, for their families; and the border is to them from Aroer, which `is' on the edge of the brook Arnon, and the city which `is' in the midst of the brook, and all the plain by Medeba, Heshbon, and all its cities which `are' in the plain, Dibon, and Bamoth-Baal, and Beth-Baal-Meon, and Jahazah, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, and Kirjathaim, and Sibmah, and Zareth-Shahar, in the mount of the valley, and Beth-Peor, and the springs of Pisgah, and Beth-Jeshimoth, and all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorite, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses smote, with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, princes of Sihon, inhabitants of the land.

Nehemiah 9:22-24 YLT

KJV ASV DARBY WEB BBE STRONG

`And Thou givest to them kingdoms, and peoples, and dost apportion them to the corner, and they possess the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. And their sons Thou hast multiplied as the stars of the heavens, and bringest them in unto the land that Thou hast said to their fathers to go in to possess. `And the sons come in, and possess the land, and Thou humblest before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and givest them into their hand, and their kings, and the peoples of the land, to do with them according to their pleasure.

Psalms 44:2-3 YLT

KJV ASV DARBY WEB BBE STRONG

Thou, `with' Thy hand, nations hast dispossessed. And Thou dost plant them. Thou afflictest peoples, and sendest them away. For, not by their sword Possessed they the land, And their arm gave not salvation to them, But Thy right hand, and Thine arm, And the light of Thy countenance, Because Thou hadst accepted them.

Psalms 78:55 YLT

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And casteth out nations from before them, And causeth them to fall in the line of inheritance, And causeth the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents,

Psalms 105:44 YLT

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And He giveth to them the lands of nations, And the labour of peoples they possess,

Psalms 135:12 YLT

KJV ASV DARBY WEB BBE STRONG

And He gave their land an inheritance, An inheritance to Israel His people,

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 136

Commentary on Psalms 136 Matthew Henry Commentary

John Gill   Keil & Delitzsch   Robert Jamieson: Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible  

Psalm 136

The scope of this psalm is the same with that of the foregoing psalm, but there is something very singular in the composition of it; for the latter half of each verse is the same, repeated throughout the psalm, "for his mercy endureth for ever,' and yet no vain repetition. It is allowed that such burdens, or "keepings,' as we call them, add very much to the beauty of a song, and help to make it moving and affecting; nor can any verse contain more weighty matter, or more worthy to be thus repeated, than this, that God's mercy endureth for ever; and the repetition of it here twenty-six times intimates,

  • 1. That God's mercies to his people are thus repeated and drawn, as it were, with a continuando from the beginning to the end, with a progress and advance in infinitum.
  • 2. That in every particular favour we ought to take notice of the mercy of God, and to take favour we ought to take notice of the mercy of God, and to take notice of it as enduring still, the same now that it has been, and enduring for ever, the same always that it is.
  • 3. That the everlasting continuance of the mercy of God is very much his honour and that which he glories in, and very much the saints' comfort and that which they glory in. It is that which therefore our hearts should be full of and greatly affected with, so that the most frequent mention of it, instead of cloying us, should raise us the more, because it will be the subject of our praise to all eternity. This most excellent sentence, that God's mercy endureth for ever, is magnified above all the truths concerning God, not only by the repetition of it here, but by the signal tokens of divine acceptance with which God owned the singing of it, both in Solomon's time (2 Chr. 5:13, when they sang these words, "for his mercy endureth for ever,' the house was filled with a cloud) and in Jehoshaphat's time (when they sang these words, God gave them victory, 2 Chr. 20:21, 22), which should make us love to sing, "His mercies sure do still endure, eternally.' We must praise God,
    • I. As great and good in himself (v. 1-3).
    • II. As the Creator of the world (v. 5-9).
    • III. As Israel's God and Saviour (v. 10-22).
    • IV. As our Redeemer (v. 23, 24).
    • V. As the great benefactor of the whole creation, and God over all, blessed for evermore (v. 25, 26).

Psa 136:1-9

The duty we are here again and again called to is to give thanks, to offer the sacrifice of praise continually, not the fruits of our ground or cattle, but the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name, Heb. 13:15. We are never so earnestly called upon to pray and repent as to give thanks; for it is the will of God that we should abound most in the most pleasant exercises of religion, in that which is the work of heaven. Now here observe,

  • 1. Whom we must give thanks to-to him that we receive all good from, to the Lord, Jehovah, Israel's God (v. 1), the God of gods, the God whom angels adore, from whom magistrates derive their power, and by whom all pretended deities are and shall be conquered (v. 2), to the Lord of lords, the Sovereign of all sovereigns, the stay and supporter of all supports; v. 3. In all our adorations we must have an eye to God's excellency as transcendent, and to his power and dominion as incontestably and uncontrollably supreme.
  • 2. What we must give thanks for, not as the Pharisee that made all his thanksgivings terminate in his own praise (God, I thank thee, that I am so and so), but directing them all to God's glory.
    • (1.) We must give thanks to God for his goodness and mercy (v. 1): Give thanks to the Lord, not only because he does good, but because he is good (all the streams must be traced up to the fountain), not only because he is merciful to us, but because his mercy endures for ever, and will be drawn out to those that shall come after us. We must give thanks to God, not only for that mercy which is now handed out to us here on earth, but for that which shall endure for ever in the glories and joys of heaven.
    • (2.) We must give God thanks for the instances of his power and wisdom. In general (v. 4), he along does great wonders. The contrivance is wonderful, the design being laid by infinite wisdom; the performance is wonderful, being put in execution by infinite power. He alone does marvellous things; none besides can do such things, and he does them without the assistance or advice of any other. More particularly,
      • [1.] He made the heavens, and stretched them out, and in them we not only see his wisdom and power, but we taste his mercy in their benign influences; as long as the heavens endure the mercy of God endures in them, v. 5.
      • [2.] He raised the earth out of the waters when he caused the dry land to appear, that it might be fit to be a habitation for man, and therein also his mercy to man still endures (v. 6); for the earth hath he given to the children of men, and all its products.
      • [3.] Having made both heaven and earth, he settled a correspondence between them, notwithstanding their distance, by making the sun, moon, and stars, which he placed in the firmament of heaven, to shed their light and influences upon this earth, v. 7-9. These are called the great lights because they appear so to us, for otherwise astronomers could tell us that the moon is less than many of the stars, but, being nearer to the earth, it seems much greater. They are said to rule, not only because they govern the seasons of the year, but because they are useful to the world, and benefactors are the best rulers, Lu. 22:25. But the empire is divided, one rules by day, the other by night (at least, the stars), and yet all are subject to God's direction and disposal. Those rulers, therefore, which the Gentiles idolized, are the world's servants and God's subjects. Sun, stand thou still, and thou moon.

Psa 136:10-22

The great things God for Israel, when he first formed them into a people, and set up his kingdom among them, are here mentioned, as often elsewhere in the psalms, as instances both of the power of God and of the particular kindness he had for Israel. See Ps. 135:8, etc.

  • 1. He brought them out of Egypt, v. 10-12. That was a mercy which endured long to them, and our redemption by Christ, which was typified by that, does indeed endure for ever, for it is an eternal redemption. Of all the plagues of Egypt, none is mentioned but the death of the first-born, because that was the conquering plague; by that God, who in all the plagues distinguished the Israelites from the Egyptians, brought them at last from among them, not by a wile, but with a strong hand and an arm stretched out to reach far and do great things. These miracles of mercy, as they proved Moses's commission to give law to Israel, so they laid Israel under lasting obligations to obey that law, Ex. 20:2.
  • 2. He forced them a way through the Red Sea, which obstructed them at their first setting out. By the power he has to control the common course of nature he divided the sea into two parts, between which he opened a path, and made Israel to pass between the parts, now that they were to enter into covenant with him; see Jer. 34:18. He not only divided the sea, but gave his people courage to go through it when it was divided, which was an instance of God's power over men's hearts, as the former of his power over the waters. And, to make it a miracle of justice as well as mercy, the same Red Sea that was a lane to the Israelites was a grave to their pursuers. There he shook off Pharaoh and his host.
  • 3. He conducted them through a vast howling wilderness (v. 16); there he led them and fed them. Their camp was victualled and fortified by a constant series of miracles for forty years; though they loitered and wandered there, they were not lost. And in this the mercy of God, and the constancy of that mercy, were the more observable because they often provoked him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert.
  • 4. He destroyed kings before them, to make room for them (v. 17, 18), not deposed and banished them, but smote and slew them, in which appeared his wrath against them, but his mercy, his never-failing mercy, to Israel. And that which magnified it was that they were great kings and famous kings, yet God subdued them as easily as if they had been the least, and weakest, and meanest, of the children of men. They were wicked kings, and then their grandeur and lustre would not secure them from the justice of God. The more great and famous they were the more did God's mercy to Israel appear in giving such kings for them. Sihon and Og are particularly mentioned, because they were the first two that were conquered on the other side Jordan, v. 19, 20. It is good to enter into the detail of God's favours and not to view them in the gross, and in each instance to observe, and own, that God's mercy endureth for ever.
  • 5. He put them in possession of a good land, v. 21, 22. He whose the earth is, and the fulness thereof, the world and those that dwell therein, took land from one people and gave it to another, as pleased him. The iniquity of the Amorites was now full, and therefore it was taken from them. Israel was his servant, and, though they had been provoking in the wilderness, yet he intended to have some service out of them, for to them pertained the service of God. As he said to the Egyptians, Let my people go, so to the Canaanites, Let my people in, that they may serve me. In this God's mercy to them endureth for ever, because it was a figure of the heavenly Canaan, the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Psa 136:23-26

God's everlasting mercy is here celebrated,

  • 1. In the redemption of his church, v. 23, 24. In the many redemptions wrought for the Jewish church out of the hands of their oppressors (when, in the years of their servitude, their estate was very low, God remembered them, and raised them up saviours, the judges, and David, at length, by whom God gave them rest from all their enemies), but especially in the great redemption of the universal church, of which these were types, we have a great deal of reason to say, "He remembered us, the children of men, in our low estate, in our lost estate, for his mercy endureth for ever; he sent his Son to redeem us from sin, and death, and hell, and all our spiritual enemies, for his mercy endureth for ever; he was sent to redeem us, and not the angels that sinned, for his mercy endureth for ever.'
  • 2. In the provision he makes for all the creatures (v. 25): He gives food to all flesh. It is an instance of the mercy of God's providence that wherever he has given life he gives food agreeable and sufficient; and he is a good housekeeper that provides for so large a family.
  • 3. In all his glories, and all his gifts (v. 26): Give thanks to the God of heaven. This denotes him to be a glorious God, and the glory of his mercy is to be taken notice of in our praises. The riches of his glory are displayed in the vessels of his mercy, Rom. 9:23. It also denotes him to be the great benefactor, for every good and perfect gift is from above, from the Father of lights, the God of heaven; and we should trace every stream to the fountain. This and that particular mercy may perhaps endure but a while, but the mercy that is in God endures for ever; it is an inexhaustible fountain.