12 With a strong H2389 hand, H3027 and with a stretched out H5186 arm: H2220 for his mercy H2617 endureth for ever. H5769
Wherefore H3651 say H559 unto the children H1121 of Israel, H3478 I am the LORD, H3068 and I will bring H3318 you out from under the burdens H5450 of the Egyptians, H4714 and I will rid H5337 you out of their bondage, H5656 and I will redeem H1350 you with a stretched H5186 out arm, H2220 and with great H1419 judgments: H8201
Or hath God H430 assayed H5254 to go H935 and take H3947 him a nation H1471 from the midst H7130 of another nation, H1471 by temptations, H4531 by signs, H226 and by wonders, H4159 and by war, H4421 and by a mighty H2389 hand, H3027 and by a stretched out H5186 arm, H2220 and by great H1419 terrors, H4172 according to all that the LORD H3068 your God H430 did H6213 for you in Egypt H4714 before your eyes? H5869
And it shall be when thy son H1121 asketh H7592 thee in time to come, H4279 saying, H559 What is this? that thou shalt say H559 unto him, By strength H2392 of hand H3027 the LORD H3068 brought us out H3318 from Egypt, H4714 from the house H1004 of bondage: H5650
Thy right hand, H3225 O LORD, H3068 is become glorious H142 in power: H3581 thy right hand, H3225 O LORD, H3068 hath dashed in pieces H7492 the enemy. H341
And know H3045 ye this day: H3117 for I speak not with your children H1121 which have not known, H3045 and which have not seen H7200 the chastisement H4148 of the LORD H3068 your God, H430 his greatness, H1433 his mighty H2389 hand, H3027 and his stretched out H5186 arm, H2220 And his miracles, H226 and his acts, H4639 which he did H6213 in the midst H8432 of Egypt H4714 unto Pharaoh H6547 the king H4428 of Egypt, H4714 and unto all his land; H776 And what he did H6213 unto the army H2428 of Egypt, H4714 unto their horses, H5483 and to their chariots; H7393 how he made the water H4325 of the Red H5488 sea H3220 to overflow H6687 them H6440 as they pursued H7291 after H310 you, and how the LORD H3068 hath destroyed H6 them unto this day; H3117
For they got H3423 not the land H776 in possession H3423 by their own sword, H2719 neither did their own arm H2220 save H3467 them: but thy right hand, H3225 and thine arm, H2220 and the light H216 of thy countenance, H6440 because thou hadst a favour H7521 unto them.
Awake, H5782 awake, H5782 put on H3847 strength, H5797 O arm H2220 of the LORD; H3068 awake, H5782 as in the ancient H6924 days, H3117 in the generations H1755 of old. H5769 Art thou not it that hath cut H2672 Rahab, H7294 and wounded H2490 the dragon? H8577 Art thou not it which hath dried H2717 the sea, H3220 the waters H4325 of the great H7227 deep; H8415 that hath made H7760 the depths H4615 of the sea H3220 a way H1870 for the ransomed H1350 to pass over? H5674
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 136
Commentary on Psalms 136 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
O Give Thanks unto the Lord, for He Is Good
The cry Psalms 135:3, Praise ye Jāh , for good is Jahve , is here followed by a Hodu , the last of the collection, with “for His goodness endureth for ever” repeated twenty-six times as a versus intercalaris . In the liturgical language this Psalm is called par excellence the great Hallel, for according to its broadest compass the great Hallel comprehends Ps 120-136,
(Note: There are three opinions in the Talmud and Midrash concerning the compass of the “Great Hallel,” viz., (1) Ps 136, (2) Ps. 135:4-136:26, (3) Ps 120-136.)
whilst the Hallel which is absolutely so called extends from Psalms 113:1-9 to Ps 118. Down to Psalms 136:18 the song and counter-song organize themselves into hexastichic groups or strophes, which, however, from Psalms 136:19 (and therefore from the point where the dependence on Ps 135, already begun with Psalms 136:17, becomes a borrowing, onwards) pass over into octastichs. In Heidenheim's Psalter the Psalm appears (after Norzi) in two columns (like Deut. 32), which it is true has neither tradition (vid., Ps 18) nor MSS precedent in its favour, but really corresponds to its structure.
Like the preceding Psalm, this Psalm allies itself to the Book of Deuteronomy. Psalms 136:2 and Psalms 136:3 ( God of gods and Lord of lords ) are taken from Deuteronomy 10:17; Psalms 136:12 ( with a strong hand and stretched-out arm ) from Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 5:15, and frequently (cf. Jeremiah 32:21); Psalms 136:16 like Deuteronomy 8:15 (cf. Jeremiah 2:6). With reference to the Deuteronomic colouring of Psalms 136:19-22, vid., on Psalms 135:10-12; also the expression “Israel His servant” recalls Deuteronomy 32:36 (cf. Psalms 135:14; Psalms 90:13), and still more Isaiah 40:1, where the comprehension of Israel under the unity of this notion has its own proper place. In other respects, too, the Psalm is an echo of earlier model passages. Who alone doeth great wonders sounds like Psalms 72:18 (Psalms 86:10); and the adjective “great” that is added to “wonders” shows that the poet found the formula already in existence. In connection with Psalms 136:5 he has Proverbs 3:19 or Jeremiah 10:12 in his mind; תּבוּנה , like חכמה , is the demiurgic wisdom. Psalms 136:6 calls to mind Isaiah 42:5; Isaiah 44:24; the expression is “above the waters,” as in Psalms 34:2 “upon the seas,” because the water is partly visible and partly invisible מתּחת לארץ (Exodus 20:4). The plural אורים , luces , instead of מארות , lumina (cf. Ezekiel 32:8, מאורי אור ), is without precedent. It is a controverted point whether אורת in Isaiah 26:19 signifies lights (cf. אורה , Psalms 139:12) or herbs (2 Kings 4:39). The plural ממשׁלות is also rare (occurring only besides in Psalms 114:2): it here denotes the dominion of the moon on the one hand, and (going beyond Genesis 1:16) of the stars on the other. בּלּילה , like בּיּום , is the second member of the stat. construct .
Up to this point it is God the absolute in general, the Creator of all things, to the celebration of whose praise they are summoned; and from this point onwards the God of the history of salvation. In Psalms 136:13 גּזר (instead of בּקע , Psalms 78:13; Exodus 14:21; Nehemiah 9:11) of the dividing of the Red Sea is peculiar; גּזרים (Genesis 15:17, side by side with בּתרים ) are the pieces or parts of a thing that is cut up into pieces. נער is a favourite word taken from Exodus 14:27. With reference to the name of the Egyptian ruler Pharaoh (Herodotus also, ii. 111, calls the Pharaoh of the Exodus the son of Sesostris-Rameses Miumun, not Μενόφθας , as he is properly called, but absolutely Φερῶν ), vid., on Psalms 73:22. After the God to whom the praise is to be ascribed has been introduced with ל by always fresh attributes, the ל before the names of Sihon and of Og is perplexing. The words are taken over, as are the six lines of Psalms 136:17-22 in the main, from Psalms 135:10-12, with only a slight alteration in the expression. In Psalms 136:23 the continued influence of the construction הודוּ ל is at an end. The connection by means of שׁ (cf. Psalms 135:8, Psalms 135:10) therefore has reference to the preceding “for His goodness endureth for ever.” The language here has the stamp of the latest period. It is true זכר with Lamed of the object is used even in the earliest Hebrew, but שׁפל is only authenticated by Ecclesiastes 10:6, and פּרק , to break loose = to rescue (the customary Aramaic word for redemption), by Lamentations 5:8, just as in the closing verse, which recurs to the beginning, “God of heaven” is a name for God belonging to the latest literature, Nehemiah 1:4; Nehemiah 2:4. In Psalms 136:23 the praise changes suddenly to that which has been experienced very recently. The attribute in Psalms 136:25 (cf. Psalms 147:9; Psalms 145:15) leads one to look back to a time in which famine befell them together with slavery.