The Lord’s Pure Words in a Generation of False Speech

Psa 12:5-6 (Heb. : 12:6-7) In Psa 12:6 the psalmist hears Jahve Himself speak; and in Psa 12:7 he adds his Amen. The two מן in Psa 12:6 denote the motive, עתּה the decisive turning-point from forebearance to the execution of judgment, and ימר the divine determination, which has just now made itself audible; cf. Isaiah’s echo of it, Isa 33:10. Jahve has hitherto looked on with seeming inactivity and indifference, now He will arise and place in ישׁע, i.

e. , a condition of safety (cf. שׂים בּחיּים Psa 66:9), him who languishes for deliverance. It is not to be explained: him whom he, i. e. , the boaster, blows upon, which would be expressed by יפיח בּו, cf. Psa 10:5; but, with Ewald, Hengstenberg, Olshausen, and Böttcher, according to Hab 2:3, where הפיח ל occurs in the sense of panting after an object: him who longs for it.

יפיח is, however, not a participial adjective = יפח, but the fut . , and יפיח לו is therefore a relative clause occupying the place of the object, just as we find the same thing occurring in Job 24:19; Isa 41:2, Isa 41:25, and frequently. Hupfeld’s rendering: “in order that he may gain breath ( respiret )” leaves אשׁית without an object, and accords more with Aramaic and Arabic than with Hebrew usage, which would express this idea by ינוּח לו or ירוח לו.

In Psa 12:7 the announcement of Jahve is followed by its echo in the heart of the seer: the words (אמרות instead of אמרות by changing the Shebâ which closes the syllable into an audible one, as e. g. , in אשׁרי) of Jahve are pure words, i. e. , intended, and to be fulfilled, absolutely as they run without any admixture whatever of untruthfulness. The poetical אמרה (after the form זמרה) serves pre-eminently as the designation of the divine power-words of promise.

The figure, which is indicated in other instances, when God’s word is said to be צרוּפה (Psa 18:31; Psa 119:140; Pro 30:5), is here worked out: silver melted and thus purified בּעליל לארץ. עליל signifies either a smelting-pot from עלל, Arab. gll , immittere , whence also על (Hitz.) ; or, what is more probable since the language has the epithets כוּר and מצרף for this: a workshop, from עלל, Arab.

‛ll , operari (prop. to set about a thing), first that which is wrought at (after the form מעיל, פּסיל, שׁביל), then the place where the work is carried on. From this also comes the Talm. בּעליל = בּעליל manifeste , occurring in the Mishna Rosh ha-Shana 1. 5 and elsewhere, and which in its first meaning corresponds to the French en effet . According to this, the ל in לארץ is not the ל of property: in a fining-pot built into the earth, for which לארץ without anything further would be an inadequate and colourless expression.

But in accordance with the usual meaning of לארץ as a collateral definition it is: smelted (purified) down to the earth. As Olshausen observes on this subject, “Silver that is purified in the furnace and flows down to the ground can be seen in every smelting hut; the pure liquid silver flows down out of the smelting furnace, in which the ore is piled up. ” For it cannot be ל of reference: “purified with respect to the earth,” since ארץ does not denote the earth as a material and cannot therefore mean an earthy element.

We ought then to read לאבץ, which would not mean “to a white brilliancy,” i. e. , to a pure bright mass (Böttch.) , but “with respect to the stannum , lead” (vid. , on Isa 1:25). The verb זקק to strain, filter, cause to ooze through, corresponds to the German seihen, seigen , old High German sihan , Greek σακκεῖν (σακκίζειν), to clean by passing through a cloth as a strainer, שׂק.

God’s word is solid silver smelted and leaving all impurity behind, and, as it were, having passed seven times through the smelting furnace, i. e. , the purest silver, entirely purged from dross. Silver is the emblem of everything precious and pure (vid. , Bähr, Symbol . i. 284); and seven is the number indicating the completion of any process ( Bibl. Psychol .

S. 57, transl. p. 71).

Psa 12:7-8 (Heb. : 12:8-9) The supplicatory complaint contained in the first strophe has passed into an ardent wish in the second; and now in the fourth there arises a consolatory hope based upon the divine utterance which was heard in the third strophe. The suffix eem in Psa 12:8 refers to the miserable and poor; the suffix ennu in Psa 12:8 (him, not: us, which would be pointed תצרנוּ, and more especially since it is not preceded by תשׁמרנוּ) refers back to the man who yearns for deliverance mentioned in the divine utterance, Psa 12:6.

The “preserving for ever” is so constant, that neither now nor at any future time will they succumb to this generation. The oppression shall not become a thorough depression, the trial shall not exceed their power of endurance. What follows in Psa 12:8 is a more minute description of this depraved generation. דּור is the generation whole and entire bearing one general character and doing homage to the one spirit of the age (cf.

e. g. , Pro 30:11-14, where the characteristics of a corrupt age are portrayed). זוּ (always without the article, Ew. §293, a ) points to the present and the character is has assumed, which is again described here finally in a few outlines of a more general kind than in Psa 12:3. The wicked march about on every side (התחלּך used of going about unopposed with an arrogant and vaunting mien), when (while) vileness among ()ל the children of men rises to eminence (רוּם as in Pro 11:11, cf.

משׁל Pro 29:2), so that they come to be under its dominion. Vileness is called זלּוּת from זלל (cogn. דּלל) to be supple and lax, narrow, low, weak and worthless. The form is passive just as is the Talm. זילוּת (from זיל = זליל), and it is the epithet applied to that which is depreciated, despised, and to be despised; here it is the opposite of the disposition and conduct of the noble man, נדיב, Isa 32:8, - a baseness which is utterly devoid not only of all nobler principles and motives, but also of all nobler feelings and impulses.

The כּ of כּרם is not the expression of simultaneousness (as e. g. , in Pro 10:25): immediately it is exalted - for then Psa 12:8 would give expression to a general observation, instead of being descriptive - but כּרם is equivalent to בּרם, only it is intentionally used instead of the latter, to express a coincidence that is based upon an intimate relation of cause and effect, and is not merely accidental.

The wicked are puffed up on all sides, and encompass the better disposed on every side as their enemies. Such is the state of things, and it cannot be otherwise at a time when men allow meanness to gain the ascendency among and over them, as is the case at the present moment. Thus even at last the depressing view of the present prevails in the midst of the confession of a more consolatory hope.

The present is gloomy. But in the central hexastich the future is lighted up as a consolation against this gloominess. The Psalm is a ring and this central oracle is its jewel.

Psa 12:7-8 (Heb. : 12:8-9) The supplicatory complaint contained in the first strophe has passed into an ardent wish in the second; and now in the fourth there arises a consolatory hope based upon the divine utterance which was heard in the third strophe. The suffix eem in Psa 12:8 refers to the miserable and poor; the suffix ennu in Psa 12:8 (him, not: us, which would be pointed תצרנוּ, and more especially since it is not preceded by תשׁמרנוּ) refers back to the man who yearns for deliverance mentioned in the divine utterance, Psa 12:6.

The “preserving for ever” is so constant, that neither now nor at any future time will they succumb to this generation. The oppression shall not become a thorough depression, the trial shall not exceed their power of endurance. What follows in Psa 12:8 is a more minute description of this depraved generation. דּור is the generation whole and entire bearing one general character and doing homage to the one spirit of the age (cf.

e. g. , Pro 30:11-14, where the characteristics of a corrupt age are portrayed). זוּ (always without the article, Ew. §293, a ) points to the present and the character is has assumed, which is again described here finally in a few outlines of a more general kind than in Psa 12:3. The wicked march about on every side (התחלּך used of going about unopposed with an arrogant and vaunting mien), when (while) vileness among ()ל the children of men rises to eminence (רוּם as in Pro 11:11, cf.

משׁל Pro 29:2), so that they come to be under its dominion. Vileness is called זלּוּת from זלל (cogn. דּלל) to be supple and lax, narrow, low, weak and worthless. The form is passive just as is the Talm. זילוּת (from זיל = זליל), and it is the epithet applied to that which is depreciated, despised, and to be despised; here it is the opposite of the disposition and conduct of the noble man, נדיב, Isa 32:8, - a baseness which is utterly devoid not only of all nobler principles and motives, but also of all nobler feelings and impulses.

The כּ of כּרם is not the expression of simultaneousness (as e. g. , in Pro 10:25): immediately it is exalted - for then Psa 12:8 would give expression to a general observation, instead of being descriptive - but כּרם is equivalent to בּרם, only it is intentionally used instead of the latter, to express a coincidence that is based upon an intimate relation of cause and effect, and is not merely accidental.

The wicked are puffed up on all sides, and encompass the better disposed on every side as their enemies. Such is the state of things, and it cannot be otherwise at a time when men allow meanness to gain the ascendency among and over them, as is the case at the present moment. Thus even at last the depressing view of the present prevails in the midst of the confession of a more consolatory hope.

The present is gloomy. But in the central hexastich the future is lighted up as a consolation against this gloominess. The Psalm is a ring and this central oracle is its jewel.

Psa 13:1-2 (Heb. : 13:2-3) The complicated question: till when, how long... for ever (as in Psa 74:10; Psa 79:5; Psa 89:47), is the expression of a complicated condition of soul, in which, as Luther briefly and forcibly describes it, amidst the feeling of anguish under divine wrath “hope itself despairs and despair nevertheless begins to hope. ” The self-contradiction of the question is to be explained by the conflict which is going on within between the flesh and the spirit.

The dejected heart thinks: God has forgotten me for ever. But the spirit, which thrusts away this thought, changes it into a question which sets upon it the mark of a mere appearance not a reality: how long shall it seem as though Thou forgettest me for ever? It is in the nature of the divine wrath, that the feeling of it is always accompanied by an impression that it will last for ever; and consequently it becomes a foretaste of hell itself.

But faith holds fast the love that is behind the wrath; it sees in the display of anger only a self-masking of the loving countenance of the God of love, and longs for the time when this loving countenance shall be again unveiled to it. Thrice does David send forth this cry of faith out of the inmost depths of his spirit. To place or set up contrivances, plans, or proposals in his soul, viz.

, as to the means by which he may be able to escape from this painful condition, is equivalent to, to make the soul the place of such thoughts, or the place where such thoughts are fabricated (cf. Pro 26:24). One such עצה chases the other in his soul, because he recognises the vanity of one after another as soon as they spring up. With respect to the יומם which follows, we must think of these cares as taking possession of his soul in the night time; for the night leaves a man alone with his affliction and makes it doubly felt by him.

It cannot be proved from Eze 30:16 (cf. Zep 2:4 בּצּהרים), that יומם like יום (Jer 7:25, short for יום יום) may mean “daily” (Ew. §313, a ). יומם does not mean this here, but is the antithesis to לילה which is to be supplied in thought in Psa 13:3 . By night he proposes plan after plan, each one as worthless as the other; and by day, or all the day through, when he sees his distress with open eyes, sorrow (יגון) is in his heart, as it were, as the feeling the night leaves behind it and as the direct reflex of his helpless and hopeless condition.

He is persecuted, and his foe is in the ascendant. רוּם is both to be exalted and to rise, raise one’s self, i. e. , to rise to position and arrogantly to assume dignity to one’s self ( sich brüsten ). The strophe closes with ‛ad - āna which is used for the fourth time.

Psa 13:1-2 (Heb. : 13:2-3) The complicated question: till when, how long... for ever (as in Psa 74:10; Psa 79:5; Psa 89:47), is the expression of a complicated condition of soul, in which, as Luther briefly and forcibly describes it, amidst the feeling of anguish under divine wrath “hope itself despairs and despair nevertheless begins to hope. ” The self-contradiction of the question is to be explained by the conflict which is going on within between the flesh and the spirit.

The dejected heart thinks: God has forgotten me for ever. But the spirit, which thrusts away this thought, changes it into a question which sets upon it the mark of a mere appearance not a reality: how long shall it seem as though Thou forgettest me for ever? It is in the nature of the divine wrath, that the feeling of it is always accompanied by an impression that it will last for ever; and consequently it becomes a foretaste of hell itself.

But faith holds fast the love that is behind the wrath; it sees in the display of anger only a self-masking of the loving countenance of the God of love, and longs for the time when this loving countenance shall be again unveiled to it. Thrice does David send forth this cry of faith out of the inmost depths of his spirit. To place or set up contrivances, plans, or proposals in his soul, viz.

, as to the means by which he may be able to escape from this painful condition, is equivalent to, to make the soul the place of such thoughts, or the place where such thoughts are fabricated (cf. Pro 26:24). One such עצה chases the other in his soul, because he recognises the vanity of one after another as soon as they spring up. With respect to the יומם which follows, we must think of these cares as taking possession of his soul in the night time; for the night leaves a man alone with his affliction and makes it doubly felt by him.

It cannot be proved from Eze 30:16 (cf. Zep 2:4 בּצּהרים), that יומם like יום (Jer 7:25, short for יום יום) may mean “daily” (Ew. §313, a ). יומם does not mean this here, but is the antithesis to לילה which is to be supplied in thought in Psa 13:3 . By night he proposes plan after plan, each one as worthless as the other; and by day, or all the day through, when he sees his distress with open eyes, sorrow (יגון) is in his heart, as it were, as the feeling the night leaves behind it and as the direct reflex of his helpless and hopeless condition.

He is persecuted, and his foe is in the ascendant. רוּם is both to be exalted and to rise, raise one’s self, i. e. , to rise to position and arrogantly to assume dignity to one’s self ( sich brüsten ). The strophe closes with ‛ad - āna which is used for the fourth time.

Psa 13:3-4 (Heb. : 13:4-5) In contrast to God’s seeming to have forgotten him and to wish neither to see nor know anything of his need, he prays: הבּיטה (cf. Isa 63:15). In contrast to his being in perplexity what course to take and unable to help himself, he prays: ענני, answer me, who cry for help, viz. , by the fulfilment of my prayer as a real, actual answer.

In contrast to the triumphing of his foe: האירה עיני, in order that the triumph of his enemy may not be made complete by his dying. To lighten the eyes that are dimmed with sorrow and ready to break, is equivalent to, to impart new life (Ezr 9:8), which is reflected in the fresh clear brightness of the eye (1Sa 14:27, 1Sa 14:29). The lightening light, to which האיר points, is the light of love beaming from the divine countenance, Psa 31:17.

Light, love, and life are closely allied notions in the Scriptures. He, upon whom God looks down in love, continues in life, new powers of life are imparted to him, it is not his lot to sleep the death, i. e. , the sleep of death, Jer 51:39, Jer 51:57, cf. Psa 76:6. המּות is the accusative of effect or sequence: to sleep so that the sleep becomes death (lxx εἰς θάνατον), Ew.

§281, e. Such is the light of life for which he prays, in order that his foe may not be able at last to say יכלתּיו (with accusative object, as in Jer 38:5) = יכלתּי לו, Psa 129:2, Gen 32:26, I am able for him, a match for him, I am superior to him, have gained the mastery over him. כּי, on account of the future which follows, had better be taken as temporal ( quum ) than as expressing the reason ( quod ), cf.

בּמוט רגלי, Psa 38:17.

Psa 13:3-4 (Heb. : 13:4-5) In contrast to God’s seeming to have forgotten him and to wish neither to see nor know anything of his need, he prays: הבּיטה (cf. Isa 63:15). In contrast to his being in perplexity what course to take and unable to help himself, he prays: ענני, answer me, who cry for help, viz. , by the fulfilment of my prayer as a real, actual answer.

In contrast to the triumphing of his foe: האירה עיני, in order that the triumph of his enemy may not be made complete by his dying. To lighten the eyes that are dimmed with sorrow and ready to break, is equivalent to, to impart new life (Ezr 9:8), which is reflected in the fresh clear brightness of the eye (1Sa 14:27, 1Sa 14:29). The lightening light, to which האיר points, is the light of love beaming from the divine countenance, Psa 31:17.

Light, love, and life are closely allied notions in the Scriptures. He, upon whom God looks down in love, continues in life, new powers of life are imparted to him, it is not his lot to sleep the death, i. e. , the sleep of death, Jer 51:39, Jer 51:57, cf. Psa 76:6. המּות is the accusative of effect or sequence: to sleep so that the sleep becomes death (lxx εἰς θάνατον), Ew.

§281, e. Such is the light of life for which he prays, in order that his foe may not be able at last to say יכלתּיו (with accusative object, as in Jer 38:5) = יכלתּי לו, Psa 129:2, Gen 32:26, I am able for him, a match for him, I am superior to him, have gained the mastery over him. כּי, on account of the future which follows, had better be taken as temporal ( quum ) than as expressing the reason ( quod ), cf.

בּמוט רגלי, Psa 38:17.