10 Surely the wrath H2534 of man H120 shall praise H3034 thee: the remainder H7611 of wrath H2534 shalt thou restrain. H2296
And when they saw H7200 him afar off, H7350 even before he came near H7126 unto them, they conspired H5230 against him to slay H4191 him. And they said H559 one H376 to another, H251 Behold, this H1976 dreamer H1167 H2472 cometh. H935 Come H3212 now therefore, and let us slay H2026 him, and cast H7993 him into some H259 pit, H953 and we will say, H559 Some evil H7451 beast H2416 hath devoured H398 him: and we shall see H7200 what will become of his dreams. H2472
And Judah H3063 said H559 unto his brethren, H251 What profit H1215 is it if we slay H2026 our brother, H251 and conceal H3680 his blood? H1818 Come, H3212 and let us sell H4376 him to the Ishmeelites, H3459 and let not our hand H3027 be upon him; for he is our brother H251 and our flesh. H1320 And his brethren H251 were content. H8085 Then there passed H5674 by Midianites H4084 merchantmen; H582 H5503 and they drew H4900 and lifted up H5927 Joseph H3130 out of the pit, H953 and sold H4376 Joseph H3130 to the Ishmeelites H3459 for twenty H6242 pieces of silver: H3701 and they brought H935 Joseph H3130 into Egypt. H4714
And in very H199 deed H5668 for this cause have I raised thee up, H5975 for to shew H7200 in thee my power; H3581 and that my name H8034 may be declared H5608 throughout all the earth. H776 As yet exaltest H5549 thou thyself against my people, H5971 that thou wilt not let them go? H7971
The enemy H341 said, H559 I will pursue, H7291 I will overtake, H5381 I will divide H2505 the spoil; H7998 my lust H5315 shall be satisfied H4390 upon them; I will draw H7324 my sword, H2719 my hand H3027 shall destroy H3423 them. Thou didst blow H5398 with thy wind, H7307 the sea H3220 covered H3680 them: they sank H6749 as lead H5777 in the mighty H117 waters. H4325 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, H3068 among the gods? H410 who is like thee, glorious H142 in holiness, H6944 fearful H3372 in praises, H8416 doing H6213 wonders? H6382
Then H116 was Nebuchadnezzar H5020 full H4391 of fury, H2528 and the form H6755 of his visage H600 was changed H8133 against H5922 Shadrach, H7715 Meshach, H4336 and Abednego: H5665 therefore he spake, H6032 and commanded H560 that they should heat H228 the furnace H861 one H2298 seven times H7655 more H5922 than H1768 it was wont H2370 to be heated. H228 And he commanded H560 the most H2429 mighty H1401 men H1400 that were in his army H2429 to bind H3729 Shadrach, H7715 Meshach, H4336 and Abednego, H5665 and to cast H7412 them into the burning H3345 fiery H5135 furnace. H861
And G1161 when they G846 were departed, G402 behold, G2400 the angel G32 of the Lord G2962 appeareth G5316 to Joseph G2501 in G2596 a dream, G3677 saying, G3004 Arise, G1453 and take G3880 the young child G3813 and G2532 his G846 mother, G3384 and G2532 flee G5343 into G1519 Egypt, G125 and G2532 be thou G2468 there G1563 until G2193 I G302 bring G2036 thee G4671 word: G2036 for G1063 Herod G2264 will G3195 seek G2212 the young child G3813 to destroy G622 him. G846 When G1161 he arose, G1453 he took G3880 the young child G3813 and G2532 his G846 mother G3384 by night, G3571 and G2532 departed G402 into G1519 Egypt: G125 And G2532 was G2258 there G1563 until G2193 the death G5054 of Herod: G2264 that G2443 it might be fulfilled G4137 which G3588 was spoken G4483 of G5259 the Lord G2962 by G1223 the prophet, G4396 saying, G3004 Out of G1537 Egypt G125 have I called G2564 my G3450 son. G5207 Then G5119 Herod, G2264 when he saw G1492 that G3754 he was mocked G1702 of G5259 the wise men, G3097 was exceeding G3029 wroth, G2373 and G2532 sent forth, G649 and slew G337 all G3956 the children G3816 that were in G1722 Bethlehem, G965 and G2532 in G1722 all G3956 the coasts G3725 thereof, G846 from G575 two years old G1332 and G2532 under, G2736 according G2596 to the time G5550 which G3739 he had diligently enquired G198 of G3844 the wise men. G3097
The kings G935 of the earth G1093 stood up, G3936 and G2532 the rulers G758 were gathered G4863 together G1909 G846 against G2596 the Lord, G2962 and G2532 against G2596 his G846 Christ. G5547 For G1063 of G1909 a truth G225 against G1909 thy G4675 holy G40 child G3816 Jesus, G2424 whom G3739 thou hast anointed, G5548 both G5037 Herod, G2264 and G2532 Pontius G4194 Pilate, G4091 with G4862 the Gentiles, G1484 and G2532 the people G2992 of Israel, G2474 were gathered together, G4863 For to do G4160 whatsoever G3745 thy G4675 hand G5495 and G2532 thy G4675 counsel G1012 determined before G4309 to be done. G1096
And G2532 because he saw G1492 it G3754 pleased G2076 G701 the Jews, G2453 he proceeded further G4369 to take G4815 Peter G4074 also. G2532 (Then G1161 were G2258 the days G2250 of unleavened bread.) G106 And G3739 G2532 when he had apprehended G4084 him, he put G5087 him in G1519 prison, G5438 and delivered G3860 him to four G5064 quaternions G5069 of soldiers G4757 to keep G5442 him; G846 intending G1014 after G3326 Easter G3957 to bring G321 him G846 forth G321 to the people. G2992 Peter G4074 G3303 therefore G3767 was kept G5083 in G1722 prison: G5438 but G1161 prayer G4335 was G2258 made G1096 without ceasing G1618 of G5259 the church G1577 unto G4314 God G2316 for G5228 him. G846 And G1161 when G3753 Herod G2264 would G3195 have brought G4254 him G846 forth, G4254 the same G1565 night G3571 Peter G4074 was G2258 sleeping G2837 between G3342 two G1417 soldiers, G4757 bound G1210 with two G1417 chains: G254 and G5037 the keepers G5441 before G4253 the door G2374 kept G5083 the prison. G5438 And, G2532 behold, G2400 the angel G32 of the Lord G2962 came upon G2186 him, and G2532 a light G5457 shined G2989 in G1722 the prison: G3612 and G1161 he smote G3960 Peter G4074 on the side, G4125 and raised G1453 him G846 up, G1453 saying, G3004 Arise up G450 quickly. G1722 G5034 And G2532 his G846 chains G254 fell off G1601 from G1537 his hands. G5495 And G5037 the angel G32 said G2036 unto G4314 him, G846 Gird thyself, G4024 and G2532 bind on G5265 thy G4675 sandals. G4547 And G1161 so G3779 he did. G4160 And G2532 he saith G3004 unto him, G846 Cast G4016 thy garment G2440 about G4016 thee, G4675 and G2532 follow G190 me. G3427 And G2532 he went out, G1831 and followed G190 him; G846 and G2532 wist G1492 not G3756 that G3754 it was G2076 true G227 which G3588 was done G1096 by G1223 the angel; G32 but G1161 thought G1380 he saw G991 a vision. G3705 When G1161 they were past G1330 the first G4413 and G2532 the second G1208 ward, G5438 they came G2064 unto G1909 the iron G4603 gate G4439 that leadeth G5342 unto G1519 the city; G4172 which G3748 opened G455 to them G846 of his own accord: G844 and G2532 they went out, G1831 and passed on through G4281 one G3391 street; G4505 and G2532 forthwith G2112 the angel G32 departed G868 from G575 him. G846 And G2532 when Peter G4074 was come G1096 to G1722 himself, G1438 he said, G2036 Now G3568 I know G1492 of a surety, G230 that G3754 the Lord G2962 hath sent G1821 his G846 angel, G32 and G2532 hath delivered G1807 me G3165 out of G1537 the hand G5495 of Herod, G2264 and G2532 from all G3956 the expectation G4329 of the people G2992 of the Jews. G2453 And G5037 when he had considered G4894 the thing, he came G2064 to G1909 the house G3614 of Mary G3137 the mother G3384 of John, G2491 whose surname was G1941 Mark; G3138 where G3757 many G2425 were G2258 gathered together G4867 praying. G2532 G4336 And G1161 as Peter G4074 knocked at G2925 the door G2374 of the gate, G4440 a damsel G3814 came G4334 to hearken, G5219 named G3686 Rhoda. G4498 And G2532 when she knew G1921 Peter's G4074 voice, G5456 she opened G455 not G3756 the gate G4440 for G575 gladness, G5479 but G1161 ran in, G1532 and told how G518 Peter G4074 stood G2476 before G4253 the gate. G4440 And G1161 they said G2036 unto G4314 her, G846 Thou art mad. G3105 But G1161 she constantly affirmed G1340 that it was G2192 even so. G3779 Then G1161 said they, G3004 It is G2076 his G846 angel. G32 But G1161 Peter G4074 continued G1961 knocking: G2925 and G1161 when they had opened G455 the door, and saw G1492 him, G846 G2532 they were astonished. G1839 But G1161 he, beckoning G2678 unto them G846 with the hand G5495 to hold their peace, G4601 declared G1334 unto them G846 how G4459 the Lord G2962 had brought G1806 him G846 out of G1537 the prison. G5438 And G1161 he said, G2036 Go shew G518 these things G5023 unto James, G2385 and G2532 to the brethren. G80 And G2532 he departed, G1831 and went G4198 into G1519 another G2087 place. G5117 Now G1161 as soon as it was G1096 day, G2250 there was G2258 no G3756 small G3641 stir G5017 among G1722 the soldiers, G4757 what G5101 G686 was become G1096 of Peter. G4074 And G1161 when G1934 Herod G2264 had sought for G1934 him, G846 and G2532 found him G2147 not, G3361 he examined G350 the keepers, G5441 and commanded G2753 that they should be put to death. G520 And G2532 he went down G2718 from G575 Judaea G2449 to G1519 Caesarea, G2542 and there abode. G1304
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 76
Commentary on Psalms 76 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Praise of God after His Judgment Has Gone Forth
No Psalm has a greater right to follow Psalms 75:1-10 than this, which is inscribed To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments (vid., Psalms 4:1), a Psalm by Asaph, a song . Similar expressions ( God of Jacob , Psalms 75:10; Psalms 76:7; saints, wicked of the earth , Psalms 75:9; Psalms 76:10) and the same impress throughout speak in favour of unity of authorship. In other respects, too, they form a pair: Psalms 75:1-10 prepares the way for the divine deed of judgment as imminent, which Psalms 76:1-12 celebrates as having taken place. For it is hardly possible for there to be a Psalm the contents of which so exactly coincide with an historical situation of which more is known from other sources, as the contents of this Psalm confessedly (lxx πρὸς τὸν Ἀσσύριον ) does with the overthrow of the army of Assyria before Jerusalem and its results. The Psalter contains very similar Psalms which refer to a similar event in the reign of Jehoshaphat, viz., to the defeat at that time of the allied neighbouring peoples by a mutual massacre, which was predicted by the Asaphite Jahaziel (vid., on Psalms 46:1-11 and Ps 83). Moreover in Psalms 76:1-12 the “mountains of prey,” understood of the mountains of Seir with their mounted robbers, would point to this incident. But just as in Psalms 75:1-10 the reference to the catastrophe of Assyria in the reign of Hezekiah was indicated by the absence of any mention of the north, so in Psalms 76:1-12 both the שׁמּה in Psalms 76:4 and the description of the catastrophe itself make this reference and no other natural. The points of contact with Isaiah, and in part with Hosea (cf. Psalms 76:4 with Hosea 2:20) and Nahum, are explicable from the fact that the lyric went hand in hand with the prophecy of that period, as Isaiah predicts for the time when Jahve shall discharge His fury over Assyria, Isaiah 30:29, “Your song shall re-echo as in the night, in which the feast is celebrated.”
The Psalm is hexastichic, and a model of symmetrical strophe-structure.
In all Israel, and more especially in Judah, is Elohim known (here, according to Psalms 76:2 , participle, whereas in Psalms 9:17 it is the finite verb), inasmuch as He has made Himself known (cf. דּעוּ , Isaiah 33:13). His Name is great in Israel, inasmuch as He has proved Himself to be a great One and is praised as a great One. In Judah more especially, for in Jerusalem, and that upon Zion, the citadel with the primeval gates ( Psalms 24:7), He has His dwelling-place upon earth within the borders of Israel. שׁלם is the ancient name of Jerusalem; for the Salem of Melchizedek is one and the same city with the Jerusalem of Adonizedek, Joshua 10:1. In this primeval Salem God has סוּכּו , His tabernacle (= שׂכּו , Lamentations 2:6, = סכּתו , as in Psalms 27:5), there מעונתו , His dwelling-place, - a word elsewhere used of the lair of the lion (Psalms 104:22, Amos 3:4); cf. on the choice of words, Isaiah 31:9. The future of the result ויהי is an expression of the fact which is evident from God's being known in Judah and His Name great in Israel. Psalms 76:4 tells what it is by which He has made Himself known and glorified His Name. שׁמּה , thitherwards, in that same place (as in fact the accusative, in general, is used both in answer to the question where? and whither?), is only a fuller form for שׁם , as in Isaiah 22:18; Isaiah 65:9; 2 Kings 23:8, and frequently; Arab. ta̱mma ( tu̱mma ) and תּמּן (from תּמּה ) confirm the accusative value of the ah . רשׁפי־קשׁת (with Phe raphatum , cf. on the other hand, Song of Solomon 8:6)
(Note: The pointing is here just as inconsistent as in ילדוּת , and on the contrary מרדּוּת .))
are the arrows swift as lightning that go forth (Job 41:20-28) from the bow; side by side with these, two other weapons are also mentioned, and finally everything that pertains to war is gathered up in the word מלחמה (cf. Hosea 2:18). God has broken in pieces the weapons of the worldly power directed against Judah, and therewith this power itself (Isaiah 14:25), and consequently (in accordance with the prediction Hosea 1:7, and Isa 10, 14, Isaiah 17:1-14, 29, Isaiah 31:1-9, 33, 37, and more particularly Psalms 31:8) has rescued His people by direct interposition, without their doing anything in the matter.
The “mountains of prey,” for which the lxx has ὀρέων αἰωνίων ( טרם ?), is an emblematical appellation for the haughty possessors of power who also plunder every one that comes near them,
(Note: One verse of a beautiful poem of the Muḥammel which Ibn Dûchı̂ , the phylarch of the Beni Zumeir , an honoured poet of the steppe, dictated to Consul Wetzstein runs thus: The noble are like a very lofty hill-side upon which, when thou comest to it, thou findest an evening meal and protection (Arab. 'l - ‛š' w - ḏry ).)
or the proud and despoiling worldly powers. Far aloft beyond these towers the glory of God. He is נאור , illustris , prop. illumined; said of God: light-encircled, fortified in light, in the sense of Daniel 2:22; 1 Timothy 6:16. He is the אדּיר , to whom the Lebanon of the hostile army of the nations must succumb (Isaiah 10:34) According to Solinus ( ed. Mommsen , p. 124) the Moors call Atlas Addirim . This succumbing is described in Psalms 76:6. The strong of heart or stout-hearted, the lion-hearted, have been despoiled, disarmed, exuti ; אשׁתּוללוּ
(Note: With orthophonic Gaja , vid., Baer's Metheg-Setzung , §45.)
is an Aramaizing praet. Hithpo . (like אתחבּר , 2 Chronicles 20:35, cf. Daniel 4:16; Isaiah 63:3) with a passive signification. From Psalms 76:6 we see that the beginning of the catastrophe is described, and therefore נמוּ (perhaps on that account accented on the ult .) is meant inchoatively: they have fallen into their sleep, viz., the eternal sleep (Jeremiah 51:39, Jeremiah 51:57), as Nahum says (Nahum 3:18): thy shepherds sleep, O king of Assyria, thy valiant ones rest . In Psalms 76:6 we see them lying in the last throes of death, and making a last effort to spring up again. But they cannot find their hands, which they have lifted up threateningly against Jerusalem: these are lamed, motionless, rigid and dead; cf. the phrases in Joshua 8:20; 2 Samuel 7:27, and the Talmudic phrase, “he did not find his hands and feet in the school-house,” i.e., he was entirely disconcerted and stupefied.
(Note: Dukes, Rabbinische Blumenlese , S. 191.)
This field of corpses is the effect of the omnipotent energy of the word of the God of Jacob; cf. וגער בּו , Isaiah 17:13. Before His threatening both war-chariot and horse ( ו - ו ) are sunk into motionlessness and unconsciousness - an allusion to Ex. 15, as in Isaiah 43:17 : who bringeth out chariot and horse, army and heroes - together they faint away, they shall never rise; they have flickered out, like a wick they are extinguished.
Nahum also (Psalms 1:6) draws the same inference from the defeat of Sennacherib as the psalmist does in Psalms 76:8. מאז אפּך (cf. Ruth 2:7; Jeremiah 44:18), from the decisive turning-point onwards, from the אז in Psalms 2:5, when Thine anger breaks forth. God sent forth His judiciary word from heaven into the midst of the din of war of the hostile world: immediately (cf. on the sequence of the tenses Psalms 48:6, and on Habakkuk 3:10) it was silenced, the earth was seized with fear, and its tumult was obliged to cease, when, namely, God arose on behalf of His disquieted, suffering people, when He spoke as we read in Isaiah 33:10, and fulfilled the prayer offered in extreme need in Isaiah 33:2.
The fact that has just been experienced is substantiated in Psalms 76:10 from a universal truth, which has therein become outwardly manifest. The rage of men shall praise Thee, i.e., must ultimately redound to Thy glory, inasmuch as to Thee, namely ( Psalms 76:1 as to syntax like Psalms 73:3 ), there always remains a שׁארית , i.e., a still unexhausted remainder, and that not merely of חמה , but of חמת , with which Thou canst gird, i.e., arm, Thyself against such human rage, in order to quench it. שׁארית חמת is the infinite store of wrath still available to God after human rage has done its utmost. Or perhaps still better, and more fully answering to the notion of שׁארית : it is the store of the infinite fulness of wrath which still remains on the side of God after human rage ( חמה ) has spent itself, when God calmly, and laughing (Psalms 2:4), allows the Titans to do as they please, and which is now being poured out. In connection with the interpretation: with the remainder of the fury (of hostile men) wilt Thou gird Thyself, i.e., it serves Thee only as an ornament (Hupfeld), the alternation of חמה and חמת is left unexplained, and תּחגּר is alienated from its martial sense (Isaiah 59:17; Isaiah 51:9, Wisd. 5:21 [20]), which is required by the context. Ewald, like the lxx, reads תּחגּך , ἑορτάσει σοι , in connection with which, apart from the high-sounding expression, שׁארית חמת ( ἐγκατάλειμμα ἐνθυμίου ) must denote the remainder of malignity that is suddenly converted into its opposite; and one does not see why what Psalms 76:11 says concerning rage is here limited to its remainder. Such an inexhaustiveness in the divine wrath-power has been shown in what has just recently been experienced. Thus, then, are those who belong to the people of God to vow and pay, i.e., (inasmuch as the preponderance falls upon the second imperative) to pay their vows; and all who are round about Him, i.e., all the peoples dwelling round about Him and His people ( כּל־סביביו , the subject to what follows, in accordance with which it is also accented), are to bring offerings (Psalms 68:30) to God, who is מורא , i.e., the sum of all that is awe-inspiring. Thus is He called in Isaiah 8:13; the summons accords with Isaiah's prediction, according to which, in consequence of Jahve's deed of judgment upon Assyria, Aethiopia presents himself to Him as an offering (Isaiah 18:1-7), and with the fulfilment in 2 Chronicles 32:23. Just so does v. 13 a resemble the language of Isaiah; cf. Isaiah 25:1-12; Isaiah 33:1; Isaiah 18:5 : God treats the snorting of the princes, i.e., despots, as the vine-dresser does the wild shoots or branches of the vine-stock: He lops it, He cuts it off, so that it is altogether ineffectual. It is the figure that is sketched by Joel 3:13, then filled in by Isaiah, and embodied as a vision in Revelation 14:17-20, which is here indicated. God puts an end to the defiant, arrogant bearing of the tyrants of the earth, and becomes at last the feared of all the kings of the earth - all kingdoms finally becomes God's and His Christ's.