8 The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he. Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight. Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not. They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind. And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet. But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight. And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see? His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself. These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him. Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner. He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes? He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples? Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.
And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 146
Commentary on Psalms 146 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Hallelujah to God the One True Helper
The Psalter now draws to a close with five Hallelujah Psalms. This first closing Hallelujah has many points of coincidence with the foregoing alphabetical hymn (compare אחללה in Psalms 146:2 with Psalms 145:2; שׂברו in Psalms 146:5 with Psalms 145:15; “who giveth bread to the hungry” in Psalms 146:7 with Psalms 145:15.; “who maketh the blind to see” in Psalms 146:8 with Psalms 145:14; “Jahve reigneth, etc.,” in Psalms 146:10 with Psalms 145:13) - the same range of thought betrays one author. In the lxx Psalms 146:1 (according to its enumeration four Psalms, viz., Psalms 145:1, Psalms 147 being split up into two) have the inscription Ἀλληλούια. Ἀγγαίου καὶ Ζαχαρίου , which is repeated four times. These Psalms appear to have formed a separate Hallel, which is referred back to these prophets, in the old liturgy of the second Temple. Later on they became, together with Psalms 149:1, an integral part of the daily morning prayer, and in fact of the פסוקי דזמרה , i.e., of the mosaic-work of Psalms and other poetical pieces that was incorporated in the morning prayer, and are called eve in Shabbath 118 b Hallel ,
(Note: Rashi, however, understands only Psalms 148:1-14 and Psalms 150:1-6 by פסוקי דזמרה in that passage.)
but expressly distinguished from the Hallel to be recited at the Passover and other feasts, which is called “the Egyptian Hallel.” In distinction from this, Krochmal calls these five Psalms the Greek Hallel. But there is nothing to oblige us to come down beyond the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. The agreement between 1 Macc. 2:63 ( ἔστρεψεν εἰς τὸν χοῦν αὐτοῦ καὶ ὁ διαλογισμὸς αὐτοῦ ἀπώλετο ) and Psalms 146:4 of our Psalm, which Hitzig has turned to good account, does not decide anything concerning the age of the Psalm, but only shows that it was in existence at the time of the author of the First Book of Maccabees, - a point in favour of which we were not in need of any proof. But there was just as much ground for dissuading against putting confidence in princes in the time of the Persians as in that of the Grecian domination.
Instead of “bless,” as in Psalms 103:1; Psalms 104:1, the poet of this Psalm says “praise.” When he attunes his sole to the praise of God, he puts himself personally into this mood of mind, and therefore goes on to say “I will praise.” He will, however, not only praise God in the song which he is beginning, but כּחיּי (vid., on Psalms 63:5), fillling up his life with it, or בּעודי (prop. “in my yet-being,” with the suffix of the noun, whereas עודנּי with the verbal suffix is “I still am”), so that his continued life is also a constant continued praising, viz., (and this is in the mind of the poet here, even at the commencment of the Psalm) of the God and Kings who, as being the Almighty, Eternal, and unchangeably Faithful One, is the true ground of confidence. The warning against putting trust in princes calls to mind Psalms 118:8. The clause: the son of man, who has no help that he could afford, is to be understood according to Ps 60:13. The following לאדמתו shows that the poet by expression בּן־אדם combines the thoughts of Genesis 2:7 and Genesis 3:19. If his breath goes forth, he says, basing the untrustworthiness and feebleness of the son of Adam upon the inevitable final destiny of the son of Adam taken out of the ground, then he returns to his earth, i.e., the earth of his first beginning; cf. the more exact expression אל־עפרם , after which the εἰς τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ of the lxx is exchanged for εἰς τὸν χοῦν αὐτοῦ in 1 Macc. 2:63: On the hypothetical relation of the first future clause to the second, cf. Psalms 139:8-10, Psalms 139:18; Ew. §357, b . In that day, the inevitable day of death, the projects or plans of man are at once and forever at an end. The ἅπ. λεγ . עשׁתּנת describes these with the collateral notion of the subtleness and magnitude.
Man's help is of no avail; blessed is he (this is the last of the twenty-five אשׁרי of the Psalter), on the contrary, who has the God of Jacob ( שׁאל like שׁיהוה in Psalms 144:15) as Him in whom is his succour ( בּעזרו with Beth essentiae , vid., on Psalms 35:2) - he, whose confidence ( שׂבר as in Psalms 119:116) rests on Jahve, whom he can by faith call his God. Men often are not able to give help although they might be willing to do so: He, however, is the Almighty, the Creator of the heavens, the earth, and the sea, and of all living things that fill these three (cf. Nehemiah 9:6). Men easily change their mind and do not keep their word: He, however, is He who keepeth truth or faithfulness, inasmuch as He unchangeably adheres to the fulfilling of His promises. שׁמר אמת is in form equivalent substantially to שׁמר חסד and שׁמר הבּרית . And that which He is able to do as being the Almighty, and cannot as being the Truthful One leave undone, is also really His mode of active manifestation made evident in practical proofs: He obtains right for the oppressed, gives bread to the hungry, and consequently proves Himself to be the succour of those who suffer wrong without doing wrong, and as the provider for those who look for their daily bread from His gracious hand. With השּׁמר , the only determinate participle, the faithfulness of God to His promises is made especially prominent.
The five lines beginning with Jahve belong together. Each consists of three words, which in the main is also the favourite measure of the lines in the Book of Job. The expression is as brief as possible. התּיר is transferred from the yoke and chains to the person himself who is bound, and פּקח is transferred from the eyes of the blind to the person himself. The five lines celebrate the God of the five-divisioned Tôra, which furnishes abundant examples for these celebrations, and is directed with most considerate tenderness towards the strangers, orphans, and widows in particular. The orphan and the widow, says the sixth line, doth He recover, strengthen (with reference to עודד see Psalms 20:9; Psalms 31:12). Valde gratus mihi est hic Psalmus , Bakius observes, ob Trifolium illud Dei: Advenas, Pupillos, et Viduas, versu uno luculentissime depictum, id quod in toto Psalterio nullibi fit . Whilst Jahve, however, makes the manifold sorrows of His saints to have a blessed issue, He bends ( יאוּת ) the way of the wicked, so that it leads into error and ends in the abyss (Psalms 1:6). This judicial manifestation of Jahve has only one line devoted to it. For He rules in love and in wrath, but delights most of all to rule in love. Jahve is, however, the God of Zion. The eternal duration of His kingdom is also the guarantee for its future glorious completion, for the victory of love. Hallelujah!