23 Who remembered H2142 us in our low estate: H8216 for his mercy H2617 endureth for ever: H5769
The LORD H3068 maketh poor, H3423 and maketh rich: H6238 he bringeth low, H8213 and H637 lifteth up. H7311 He raiseth up H6965 the poor H1800 out of the dust, H6083 and lifteth up H7311 the beggar H34 from the dunghill, H830 to set H3427 them among princes, H5081 and to make them inherit H5157 the throne H3678 of glory: H3519 for the pillars H4690 of the earth H776 are the LORD'S, H3068 and he hath set H7896 the world H8398 upon them.
For he shall deliver H5337 the needy H34 when he crieth; H7768 the poor H6041 also, and him that hath no helper. H5826 He shall spare H2347 the poor H1800 and needy, H34 and shall save H3467 the souls H5315 of the needy. H34 He shall redeem H1350 their soul H5315 from deceit H8496 and violence: H2555 and precious H3365 shall their blood H1818 be in his sight. H5869
Many H7227 times H6471 did he deliver H5337 them; but they provoked H4784 him with their counsel, H6098 and were brought low H4355 for their iniquity. H5771 Nevertheless he regarded H7200 their affliction, H6862 when he heard H8085 their cry: H7440 And he remembered H2142 for them his covenant, H1285 and repented H5162 according to the multitude H7230 of his mercies. H2617
And say, H559 Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD H3069 unto Jerusalem; H3389 Thy birth H4351 and thy nativity H4138 is of the land H776 of Canaan; H3669 thy father H1 was an Amorite, H567 and thy mother H517 an Hittite. H2850 And as for thy nativity, H4138 in the day H3117 thou wast born H3205 thy navel H8270 was not cut, H3772 neither wast thou washed H7364 in water H4325 to supple H4935 thee; thou wast not salted H4414 at all, H4414 nor swaddled H2853 at all. H2853 None eye H5869 pitied H2347 thee, to do H6213 any H259 of these unto thee, to have compassion H2550 upon thee; but thou wast cast out H7993 in the open H6440 field, H7704 to the lothing H1604 of thy person, H5315 in the day H3117 that thou wast born. H3205 And when I passed H5674 by thee, and saw H7200 thee polluted H947 in thine own blood, H1818 I said H559 unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, H1818 Live; H2421 yea, I said H559 unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, H1818 Live. H2421 I have caused H5414 thee to multiply H7233 as the bud H6780 of the field, H7704 and thou hast increased H7235 and waxen great, H1431 and thou art come H935 to excellent H5716 ornaments: H5716 thy breasts H7699 are fashioned, H3559 and thine hair H8181 is grown, H6779 whereas thou wast naked H5903 and bare. H6181 Now when I passed H5674 by thee, and looked H7200 upon thee, behold, thy time H6256 was the time H6256 of love; H1730 and I spread H6566 my skirt H3671 over thee, and covered H3680 thy nakedness: H6172 yea, I sware H7650 unto thee, and entered H935 into a covenant H1285 with thee, saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD, H3069 and thou becamest mine. Then washed H7364 I thee with water; H4325 yea, I throughly washed away H7857 thy blood H1818 from thee, and I anointed H5480 thee with oil. H8081 I clothed H3847 thee also with broidered work, H7553 and shod H5274 thee with badgers' skin, H8476 and I girded H2280 thee about with fine linen, H8336 and I covered H3680 thee with silk. H4897 I decked H5710 thee also with ornaments, H5716 and I put H5414 bracelets H6781 upon thy hands, H3027 and a chain H7242 on thy neck. H1627 And I put H5414 a jewel H5141 on thy forehead, H639 and earrings H5694 in thine ears, H241 and a beautiful H8597 crown H5850 upon thine head. H7218 Thus wast thou decked H5710 with gold H2091 and silver; H3701 and thy raiment H4403 was of fine linen, H8336 H8336 and silk, H4897 and broidered work; H7553 thou didst eat H398 fine flour, H5560 and honey, H1706 and oil: H8081 and thou wast exceeding H3966 beautiful, H3302 and thou didst prosper H6743 into a kingdom. H4410
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.