Taste and See the Lord's Goodness in Fear and Refuge

Psa 34:4-6 (Hebrew_Bible_34:5-7) The poet now gives the reason for this praise by setting forth the deliverance he has experienced. He longed for God and took pains to find Him (such is the meaning of דּרשׁ in distinction from בּקּשׁ), and this striving, which took the form of prayer, did not remain without some actual answer (ענה is used of the being heard and the fulfilment as an answer to the petition of the praying one).

The perfects, as also in Psa 34:6, Psa 34:7, describe facts, one of which did not take place without the other; whereas ויּענני would give them the relation of antecedent and consequent. In Psa 34:6, his own personal experience is generalised into an experimental truth, expressed in the historical form: they look unto Him and brighten up, i. e. , whosoever looketh unto Him (הבּיט אל of a look of intense yearning, eager for salvation, as in Num 21:9; Zec 12:10) brightens up.

It is impracticable to make the ענוים from Psa 34:3 the subject; it is an act and the experience that immediately accompanies it, that is expressed with an universal subject and in gnomical perfects. The verb נהר, here as in Isa 60:5, has the signification to shine, glitter (whence נהרה, light). Theodoret renders it: Ὁ μετὰ πίστεως τῷ θεῷ προσιὼν φωτὸς ἀκτῖνας δέχεται νοεροῦ, the gracious countenance of God is reflected on their faces; to the actus directus of fides supplex succeeds the actus reflexus of fides triumphans .

It never comes to pass that their countenances must be covered with shame on account of disappointed hope: this shall not and cannot be, as the sympathetic force of אל implies. In all the three dialects חפר (חפר) has the signification of being ashamed and sacred; according to Gesenius and Fürst (root פר) it proceeds from the primary signification of reddening, blushing; in reality, however, since it is to be combined, not with Arab.

hmr , but with chmr (cf. Arab. kfr , כפר, Arab. gfr , gmr ), it proceeds from the primary signification of covering, hiding, veiling (Arabic chafira , tachaffara , used of a woman, cf. chamara , to be ashamed, to blush, to be modest, used of both sexes), so that consequently the shame-covered countenance is contrasted with that which has a bright, bold, and free look.

In Psa 34:7, this general truth is again individualised. By זה עני (like זה סיני in Psa 68:9) David points to himself. From the great peril in which he was placed at the court of the Philistines, from which God has rescued him, he turns his thoughts with gratitude and praise to all the deliverances which lie in the past.

Psa 34:7-10 (Hebrew_Bible_34:8-11) This praise is supported by a setting forth of the gracious protection under which God’s saints continually are. The מלאך יהוה, is none other than He who was the medium of Jahve’s intercourse with the patriarchs, and who accompanied Israel to Canaan. This name is not collective (Calvin, Hupfeld, Kamphausen, and others). He, the One, encampeth round about them, in so far as He is the Captain of the host of Jahve (Jos 5:14), and consequently is accompanied by a host of inferior ministering angels; or insofar as He can, as being a spirit not limited by space, furnish protection that covers them on every side.

חנה (cf. Zec 9:8) is perhaps an allusion to מחנים in Gen 32:2. , that angel-camp which joined itself to Jacob’s camp, and surrounded it like a barricade or carrago . On the fut. consec . ויחלּצם, et expedit eos , as a simple expression of the sequence, or even only of a weak or loose internal connection, vid. , Ewald, §343, a . By reason of this protection by the Angel of God arises (Psa 34:9) the summons to test the graciousness of God in their own experience.

Tasting (γεύσαστηαι, Heb 6:4. , 1Pe 2:3) stands before seeing; for spiritual experience leads to spiritual perception or knowledge, and not vice versa. Nisi gustaveris , says Bernard, non videbis . David is desirous that others also should experience what he has experienced in order that they may come to know what he has come to know, viz. , the goodness of God.

Hence, in Psa 34:10, the call to the saints to fear Jahve (יראוּ instead of יראוּ, in order to preserve the distinction between veremini and videbunt , as in Jos 24:14; 1Sa 12:24); for whoso fears Him, possesses everything in Him. The young mature lions may sooner lack and suffer hunger, because they have no prey, than that he should suffer any want whatsoever, the goal of whose striving is fellowship with God.

The verb רוּשׁ (to lack, be poor, once by metaplasm ירשׁ, 1Sa 2:7, root רשׁ, to be or to make loose, lax), elsewhere used only of men, is here, like Psa 104:21 בּקּשׁ מאל, transferred to the lions, without כּפירים being intended to refer emblematically (as in Psa 35:17; Psa 57:5; Psa 17:12) to his powerful foes at the courts of Saul and of Achish.

Psa 34:7-10 (Hebrew_Bible_34:8-11) This praise is supported by a setting forth of the gracious protection under which God’s saints continually are. The מלאך יהוה, is none other than He who was the medium of Jahve’s intercourse with the patriarchs, and who accompanied Israel to Canaan. This name is not collective (Calvin, Hupfeld, Kamphausen, and others). He, the One, encampeth round about them, in so far as He is the Captain of the host of Jahve (Jos 5:14), and consequently is accompanied by a host of inferior ministering angels; or insofar as He can, as being a spirit not limited by space, furnish protection that covers them on every side.

חנה (cf. Zec 9:8) is perhaps an allusion to מחנים in Gen 32:2. , that angel-camp which joined itself to Jacob’s camp, and surrounded it like a barricade or carrago . On the fut. consec . ויחלּצם, et expedit eos , as a simple expression of the sequence, or even only of a weak or loose internal connection, vid. , Ewald, §343, a . By reason of this protection by the Angel of God arises (Psa 34:9) the summons to test the graciousness of God in their own experience.

Tasting (γεύσαστηαι, Heb 6:4. , 1Pe 2:3) stands before seeing; for spiritual experience leads to spiritual perception or knowledge, and not vice versa. Nisi gustaveris , says Bernard, non videbis . David is desirous that others also should experience what he has experienced in order that they may come to know what he has come to know, viz. , the goodness of God.

Hence, in Psa 34:10, the call to the saints to fear Jahve (יראוּ instead of יראוּ, in order to preserve the distinction between veremini and videbunt , as in Jos 24:14; 1Sa 12:24); for whoso fears Him, possesses everything in Him. The young mature lions may sooner lack and suffer hunger, because they have no prey, than that he should suffer any want whatsoever, the goal of whose striving is fellowship with God.

The verb רוּשׁ (to lack, be poor, once by metaplasm ירשׁ, 1Sa 2:7, root רשׁ, to be or to make loose, lax), elsewhere used only of men, is here, like Psa 104:21 בּקּשׁ מאל, transferred to the lions, without כּפירים being intended to refer emblematically (as in Psa 35:17; Psa 57:5; Psa 17:12) to his powerful foes at the courts of Saul and of Achish.

Psa 34:7-10 (Hebrew_Bible_34:8-11) This praise is supported by a setting forth of the gracious protection under which God’s saints continually are. The מלאך יהוה, is none other than He who was the medium of Jahve’s intercourse with the patriarchs, and who accompanied Israel to Canaan. This name is not collective (Calvin, Hupfeld, Kamphausen, and others). He, the One, encampeth round about them, in so far as He is the Captain of the host of Jahve (Jos 5:14), and consequently is accompanied by a host of inferior ministering angels; or insofar as He can, as being a spirit not limited by space, furnish protection that covers them on every side.

חנה (cf. Zec 9:8) is perhaps an allusion to מחנים in Gen 32:2. , that angel-camp which joined itself to Jacob’s camp, and surrounded it like a barricade or carrago . On the fut. consec . ויחלּצם, et expedit eos , as a simple expression of the sequence, or even only of a weak or loose internal connection, vid. , Ewald, §343, a . By reason of this protection by the Angel of God arises (Psa 34:9) the summons to test the graciousness of God in their own experience.

Tasting (γεύσαστηαι, Heb 6:4. , 1Pe 2:3) stands before seeing; for spiritual experience leads to spiritual perception or knowledge, and not vice versa. Nisi gustaveris , says Bernard, non videbis . David is desirous that others also should experience what he has experienced in order that they may come to know what he has come to know, viz. , the goodness of God.

Hence, in Psa 34:10, the call to the saints to fear Jahve (יראוּ instead of יראוּ, in order to preserve the distinction between veremini and videbunt , as in Jos 24:14; 1Sa 12:24); for whoso fears Him, possesses everything in Him. The young mature lions may sooner lack and suffer hunger, because they have no prey, than that he should suffer any want whatsoever, the goal of whose striving is fellowship with God.

The verb רוּשׁ (to lack, be poor, once by metaplasm ירשׁ, 1Sa 2:7, root רשׁ, to be or to make loose, lax), elsewhere used only of men, is here, like Psa 104:21 בּקּשׁ מאל, transferred to the lions, without כּפירים being intended to refer emblematically (as in Psa 35:17; Psa 57:5; Psa 17:12) to his powerful foes at the courts of Saul and of Achish.

Psa 34:7-10 (Hebrew_Bible_34:8-11) This praise is supported by a setting forth of the gracious protection under which God’s saints continually are. The מלאך יהוה, is none other than He who was the medium of Jahve’s intercourse with the patriarchs, and who accompanied Israel to Canaan. This name is not collective (Calvin, Hupfeld, Kamphausen, and others). He, the One, encampeth round about them, in so far as He is the Captain of the host of Jahve (Jos 5:14), and consequently is accompanied by a host of inferior ministering angels; or insofar as He can, as being a spirit not limited by space, furnish protection that covers them on every side.

חנה (cf. Zec 9:8) is perhaps an allusion to מחנים in Gen 32:2. , that angel-camp which joined itself to Jacob’s camp, and surrounded it like a barricade or carrago . On the fut. consec . ויחלּצם, et expedit eos , as a simple expression of the sequence, or even only of a weak or loose internal connection, vid. , Ewald, §343, a . By reason of this protection by the Angel of God arises (Psa 34:9) the summons to test the graciousness of God in their own experience.

Tasting (γεύσαστηαι, Heb 6:4. , 1Pe 2:3) stands before seeing; for spiritual experience leads to spiritual perception or knowledge, and not vice versa. Nisi gustaveris , says Bernard, non videbis . David is desirous that others also should experience what he has experienced in order that they may come to know what he has come to know, viz. , the goodness of God.

Hence, in Psa 34:10, the call to the saints to fear Jahve (יראוּ instead of יראוּ, in order to preserve the distinction between veremini and videbunt , as in Jos 24:14; 1Sa 12:24); for whoso fears Him, possesses everything in Him. The young mature lions may sooner lack and suffer hunger, because they have no prey, than that he should suffer any want whatsoever, the goal of whose striving is fellowship with God.

The verb רוּשׁ (to lack, be poor, once by metaplasm ירשׁ, 1Sa 2:7, root רשׁ, to be or to make loose, lax), elsewhere used only of men, is here, like Psa 104:21 בּקּשׁ מאל, transferred to the lions, without כּפירים being intended to refer emblematically (as in Psa 35:17; Psa 57:5; Psa 17:12) to his powerful foes at the courts of Saul and of Achish.

Psa 34:11-14 (Hebrew_Bible_34:12-15) The first main division of the Psalm is ended; the second (much the same as in Psa 32:1-11) assumes more the tone of a didactic poem; although even Psa 34:6, Psa 34:9 have something of the didactic style about them. The poet first of all gives a direction for fearing God. We may compare Psa 32:8; Psa 51:15 - how thoroughly Davidic is the turn which the Psalm here takes!

בּנים are not children in years or in understanding; but it is a tender form of address of a master experienced in the ways of God to each one and to all, as in Pro 1:8, and frequently. In Psa 34:13 he throws out the question, which he himself answers in Psa 34:14. This form of giving impressiveness to a truth by setting it forth as a solution of some question that has been propounded is a habit with David.

Psa 14:1; Psa 24:8, Psa 24:10; Psa 25:12. In the use made of this passage from the Psalms in 1Pe 3:10-12 (= Psa 34:13 of the Psalm) this form of the question is lost sight of. To חפץ חיּים, as being just as exclusive in sense, corresponds אהב ימים, so that consequently לראות is a definition of the purpose. ימים signifies days in the mass, just as חיּים means long-enduring life.

We see from Jam 3:2. , where Psa 34:13 also, in its form, calls to mind the Psalm before us, why the poet gives the pre-eminence to the avoiding of sins of the tongue. In Psa 34:15, from among what is good peace is made prominent, - peace, which not only are we not to disturb, but which we are to seek, yea, pursue it like as the hunter pursues the finest of the herds.

Let us follow, says the apostle Paul also, Rom 14:19 (cf. Heb 12:14), after those things which make for peace. שׁלום is a relationship, harmonious and free from trouble, that is well-pleasing to the God of love. The idea of the bond of fellowship is connected with the corresponding word eiree'nee, according to its radical notion.

Psa 34:11-14 (Hebrew_Bible_34:12-15) The first main division of the Psalm is ended; the second (much the same as in Psa 32:1-11) assumes more the tone of a didactic poem; although even Psa 34:6, Psa 34:9 have something of the didactic style about them. The poet first of all gives a direction for fearing God. We may compare Psa 32:8; Psa 51:15 - how thoroughly Davidic is the turn which the Psalm here takes!

בּנים are not children in years or in understanding; but it is a tender form of address of a master experienced in the ways of God to each one and to all, as in Pro 1:8, and frequently. In Psa 34:13 he throws out the question, which he himself answers in Psa 34:14. This form of giving impressiveness to a truth by setting it forth as a solution of some question that has been propounded is a habit with David.

Psa 14:1; Psa 24:8, Psa 24:10; Psa 25:12. In the use made of this passage from the Psalms in 1Pe 3:10-12 (= Psa 34:13 of the Psalm) this form of the question is lost sight of. To חפץ חיּים, as being just as exclusive in sense, corresponds אהב ימים, so that consequently לראות is a definition of the purpose. ימים signifies days in the mass, just as חיּים means long-enduring life.

We see from Jam 3:2. , where Psa 34:13 also, in its form, calls to mind the Psalm before us, why the poet gives the pre-eminence to the avoiding of sins of the tongue. In Psa 34:15, from among what is good peace is made prominent, - peace, which not only are we not to disturb, but which we are to seek, yea, pursue it like as the hunter pursues the finest of the herds.

Let us follow, says the apostle Paul also, Rom 14:19 (cf. Heb 12:14), after those things which make for peace. שׁלום is a relationship, harmonious and free from trouble, that is well-pleasing to the God of love. The idea of the bond of fellowship is connected with the corresponding word eiree'nee, according to its radical notion.

Psa 34:11-14 (Hebrew_Bible_34:12-15) The first main division of the Psalm is ended; the second (much the same as in Psa 32:1-11) assumes more the tone of a didactic poem; although even Psa 34:6, Psa 34:9 have something of the didactic style about them. The poet first of all gives a direction for fearing God. We may compare Psa 32:8; Psa 51:15 - how thoroughly Davidic is the turn which the Psalm here takes!

בּנים are not children in years or in understanding; but it is a tender form of address of a master experienced in the ways of God to each one and to all, as in Pro 1:8, and frequently. In Psa 34:13 he throws out the question, which he himself answers in Psa 34:14. This form of giving impressiveness to a truth by setting it forth as a solution of some question that has been propounded is a habit with David.

Psa 14:1; Psa 24:8, Psa 24:10; Psa 25:12. In the use made of this passage from the Psalms in 1Pe 3:10-12 (= Psa 34:13 of the Psalm) this form of the question is lost sight of. To חפץ חיּים, as being just as exclusive in sense, corresponds אהב ימים, so that consequently לראות is a definition of the purpose. ימים signifies days in the mass, just as חיּים means long-enduring life.

We see from Jam 3:2. , where Psa 34:13 also, in its form, calls to mind the Psalm before us, why the poet gives the pre-eminence to the avoiding of sins of the tongue. In Psa 34:15, from among what is good peace is made prominent, - peace, which not only are we not to disturb, but which we are to seek, yea, pursue it like as the hunter pursues the finest of the herds.

Let us follow, says the apostle Paul also, Rom 14:19 (cf. Heb 12:14), after those things which make for peace. שׁלום is a relationship, harmonious and free from trouble, that is well-pleasing to the God of love. The idea of the bond of fellowship is connected with the corresponding word eiree'nee, according to its radical notion.

Psa 34:11-14 (Hebrew_Bible_34:12-15) The first main division of the Psalm is ended; the second (much the same as in Psa 32:1-11) assumes more the tone of a didactic poem; although even Psa 34:6, Psa 34:9 have something of the didactic style about them. The poet first of all gives a direction for fearing God. We may compare Psa 32:8; Psa 51:15 - how thoroughly Davidic is the turn which the Psalm here takes!

בּנים are not children in years or in understanding; but it is a tender form of address of a master experienced in the ways of God to each one and to all, as in Pro 1:8, and frequently. In Psa 34:13 he throws out the question, which he himself answers in Psa 34:14. This form of giving impressiveness to a truth by setting it forth as a solution of some question that has been propounded is a habit with David.

Psa 14:1; Psa 24:8, Psa 24:10; Psa 25:12. In the use made of this passage from the Psalms in 1Pe 3:10-12 (= Psa 34:13 of the Psalm) this form of the question is lost sight of. To חפץ חיּים, as being just as exclusive in sense, corresponds אהב ימים, so that consequently לראות is a definition of the purpose. ימים signifies days in the mass, just as חיּים means long-enduring life.

We see from Jam 3:2. , where Psa 34:13 also, in its form, calls to mind the Psalm before us, why the poet gives the pre-eminence to the avoiding of sins of the tongue. In Psa 34:15, from among what is good peace is made prominent, - peace, which not only are we not to disturb, but which we are to seek, yea, pursue it like as the hunter pursues the finest of the herds.

Let us follow, says the apostle Paul also, Rom 14:19 (cf. Heb 12:14), after those things which make for peace. שׁלום is a relationship, harmonious and free from trouble, that is well-pleasing to the God of love. The idea of the bond of fellowship is connected with the corresponding word eiree'nee, according to its radical notion.

Psa 34:16-21 (Hebrew_Bible_34:17-22) The poet now recommends the fear of God, to which he has given a brief direction, by setting forth its reward in contrast with the punishment of the ungodly. The prepositions אל and בּ, in Psa 34:16 and Psa 34:17 , are a well considered interchange of expression: the former, of gracious inclination (Psa 33:18), the latter, of hostile intention or determining, as in Job 7:8; Jer 21:10; Jer 44:11, after the phrase in Lev 17:10.

The evil doers are overwhelmed by the power of destruction that proceeds from the countenance of Jahve, which is opposed to them, until there is not the slightest trace of their earthly existence left. The subjects to Psa 34:18 are not, according to Psa 107:17-19, the עשׁי רע (evil doers), since the indispensable characteristic of penitence is in this instance wanting, but the צדיקים (the righteous).

Probably the פ strophe stood originally before the ע strophe, just as in Lam 2-4 the פ precedes the ע (Hitzig). In connection with the present sequence of the thoughts, the structure of Psa 34:18 is just like Psa 34:6 : Clamant et Dominus audit = si qui (quicunque) clamant. What is meant is the cry out of the depth of a soul that despairs of itself. Such crying meets with a hearing with God, and in its realisation, an answer that bears its own credentials.

“The broken in heart” are those in whom the egotistical, i. e. , self-loving life, which encircles its own personality, is broken at the very root; “the crushed or contrite (דּכּאי, from דּכּא, with a changeable ā , after the form אילות from איּל) in spirit” are those whom grievous experiences, leading to penitence, of the false eminence to which their proud self-consciousness has raised them, have subdued and thoroughly humbled.

To all such Jahve is nigh, He preserves them from despair, He is ready to raise up in them a new life upon the ruins of the old and to cover or conceal their infinitive deficiency; and, they, on their part, being capable of receiving, and desirous of, salvation, He makes them partakers of His salvation. It is true these afflictions come upon the righteous, but Jahve rescues him out of them all, מכּלּם = מּכּלּן (the same enallage generis as in Rth 1:19; Rth 4:11).

He is under the most special providence, “He keepeth all his bones, not one of them ( ne unum quidem ) is broken” - a pictorial exemplification of the thought that God does not suffer the righteous to come to the extremity, that He does not suffer him to be severed from His almighty protecting love, nor to become the sport of the oppressors. Nevertheless we call to mind the literal fulfilment which these words of the psalmist received in the Crucified One; for the Old Testament prophecy, which is quoted in Joh 19:33-37, may be just as well referred to our Psalm as to Exo 12:46.

Not only the Paschal lamb, but in a comparative sense even every affliction of the righteous, is a type. Not only is the essence of the symbolism of the worship of the sanctuary realised in Jesus Christ, not only is the history of Israel and of David repeated in Him, not only does human suffering attain in connection with Him its utmost intensity, but all the promises given to the righteous are fulfilled in Him κατ ̓ ἐξοχήν; because He is the righteous One in the most absolute sense, the Holy One of God in a sense altogether unique (Isa 53:11; Jer 23:5, Zec 9:9; Act 3:14; Act 22:14).

- The righteous is always preserved from extreme peril, whereas evil (רעה) slays (מותת stronger than המית) the ungodly: evil, which he loved and cherished, becomes the executioner’s power, beneath which he falls. And they that hate the righteous must pay the penalty. Of the meanings to incur guilt, to feel one’s self guilty, and to undergo punishment as being guilty, אשׁם (vid.

, on 1Sa 14:13) has the last in this instance.

Psa 34:16-21 (Hebrew_Bible_34:17-22) The poet now recommends the fear of God, to which he has given a brief direction, by setting forth its reward in contrast with the punishment of the ungodly. The prepositions אל and בּ, in Psa 34:16 and Psa 34:17 , are a well considered interchange of expression: the former, of gracious inclination (Psa 33:18), the latter, of hostile intention or determining, as in Job 7:8; Jer 21:10; Jer 44:11, after the phrase in Lev 17:10.

The evil doers are overwhelmed by the power of destruction that proceeds from the countenance of Jahve, which is opposed to them, until there is not the slightest trace of their earthly existence left. The subjects to Psa 34:18 are not, according to Psa 107:17-19, the עשׁי רע (evil doers), since the indispensable characteristic of penitence is in this instance wanting, but the צדיקים (the righteous).

Probably the פ strophe stood originally before the ע strophe, just as in Lam 2-4 the פ precedes the ע (Hitzig). In connection with the present sequence of the thoughts, the structure of Psa 34:18 is just like Psa 34:6 : Clamant et Dominus audit = si qui (quicunque) clamant. What is meant is the cry out of the depth of a soul that despairs of itself. Such crying meets with a hearing with God, and in its realisation, an answer that bears its own credentials.

“The broken in heart” are those in whom the egotistical, i. e. , self-loving life, which encircles its own personality, is broken at the very root; “the crushed or contrite (דּכּאי, from דּכּא, with a changeable ā , after the form אילות from איּל) in spirit” are those whom grievous experiences, leading to penitence, of the false eminence to which their proud self-consciousness has raised them, have subdued and thoroughly humbled.

To all such Jahve is nigh, He preserves them from despair, He is ready to raise up in them a new life upon the ruins of the old and to cover or conceal their infinitive deficiency; and, they, on their part, being capable of receiving, and desirous of, salvation, He makes them partakers of His salvation. It is true these afflictions come upon the righteous, but Jahve rescues him out of them all, מכּלּם = מּכּלּן (the same enallage generis as in Rth 1:19; Rth 4:11).

He is under the most special providence, “He keepeth all his bones, not one of them ( ne unum quidem ) is broken” - a pictorial exemplification of the thought that God does not suffer the righteous to come to the extremity, that He does not suffer him to be severed from His almighty protecting love, nor to become the sport of the oppressors. Nevertheless we call to mind the literal fulfilment which these words of the psalmist received in the Crucified One; for the Old Testament prophecy, which is quoted in Joh 19:33-37, may be just as well referred to our Psalm as to Exo 12:46.

Not only the Paschal lamb, but in a comparative sense even every affliction of the righteous, is a type. Not only is the essence of the symbolism of the worship of the sanctuary realised in Jesus Christ, not only is the history of Israel and of David repeated in Him, not only does human suffering attain in connection with Him its utmost intensity, but all the promises given to the righteous are fulfilled in Him κατ ̓ ἐξοχήν; because He is the righteous One in the most absolute sense, the Holy One of God in a sense altogether unique (Isa 53:11; Jer 23:5, Zec 9:9; Act 3:14; Act 22:14).

- The righteous is always preserved from extreme peril, whereas evil (רעה) slays (מותת stronger than המית) the ungodly: evil, which he loved and cherished, becomes the executioner’s power, beneath which he falls. And they that hate the righteous must pay the penalty. Of the meanings to incur guilt, to feel one’s self guilty, and to undergo punishment as being guilty, אשׁם (vid.

, on 1Sa 14:13) has the last in this instance.

Psa 34:16-21 (Hebrew_Bible_34:17-22) The poet now recommends the fear of God, to which he has given a brief direction, by setting forth its reward in contrast with the punishment of the ungodly. The prepositions אל and בּ, in Psa 34:16 and Psa 34:17 , are a well considered interchange of expression: the former, of gracious inclination (Psa 33:18), the latter, of hostile intention or determining, as in Job 7:8; Jer 21:10; Jer 44:11, after the phrase in Lev 17:10.

The evil doers are overwhelmed by the power of destruction that proceeds from the countenance of Jahve, which is opposed to them, until there is not the slightest trace of their earthly existence left. The subjects to Psa 34:18 are not, according to Psa 107:17-19, the עשׁי רע (evil doers), since the indispensable characteristic of penitence is in this instance wanting, but the צדיקים (the righteous).

Probably the פ strophe stood originally before the ע strophe, just as in Lam 2-4 the פ precedes the ע (Hitzig). In connection with the present sequence of the thoughts, the structure of Psa 34:18 is just like Psa 34:6 : Clamant et Dominus audit = si qui (quicunque) clamant. What is meant is the cry out of the depth of a soul that despairs of itself. Such crying meets with a hearing with God, and in its realisation, an answer that bears its own credentials.

“The broken in heart” are those in whom the egotistical, i. e. , self-loving life, which encircles its own personality, is broken at the very root; “the crushed or contrite (דּכּאי, from דּכּא, with a changeable ā , after the form אילות from איּל) in spirit” are those whom grievous experiences, leading to penitence, of the false eminence to which their proud self-consciousness has raised them, have subdued and thoroughly humbled.

To all such Jahve is nigh, He preserves them from despair, He is ready to raise up in them a new life upon the ruins of the old and to cover or conceal their infinitive deficiency; and, they, on their part, being capable of receiving, and desirous of, salvation, He makes them partakers of His salvation. It is true these afflictions come upon the righteous, but Jahve rescues him out of them all, מכּלּם = מּכּלּן (the same enallage generis as in Rth 1:19; Rth 4:11).

He is under the most special providence, “He keepeth all his bones, not one of them ( ne unum quidem ) is broken” - a pictorial exemplification of the thought that God does not suffer the righteous to come to the extremity, that He does not suffer him to be severed from His almighty protecting love, nor to become the sport of the oppressors. Nevertheless we call to mind the literal fulfilment which these words of the psalmist received in the Crucified One; for the Old Testament prophecy, which is quoted in Joh 19:33-37, may be just as well referred to our Psalm as to Exo 12:46.

Not only the Paschal lamb, but in a comparative sense even every affliction of the righteous, is a type. Not only is the essence of the symbolism of the worship of the sanctuary realised in Jesus Christ, not only is the history of Israel and of David repeated in Him, not only does human suffering attain in connection with Him its utmost intensity, but all the promises given to the righteous are fulfilled in Him κατ ̓ ἐξοχήν; because He is the righteous One in the most absolute sense, the Holy One of God in a sense altogether unique (Isa 53:11; Jer 23:5, Zec 9:9; Act 3:14; Act 22:14).

- The righteous is always preserved from extreme peril, whereas evil (רעה) slays (מותת stronger than המית) the ungodly: evil, which he loved and cherished, becomes the executioner’s power, beneath which he falls. And they that hate the righteous must pay the penalty. Of the meanings to incur guilt, to feel one’s self guilty, and to undergo punishment as being guilty, אשׁם (vid.

, on 1Sa 14:13) has the last in this instance.

Psa 34:16-21 (Hebrew_Bible_34:17-22) The poet now recommends the fear of God, to which he has given a brief direction, by setting forth its reward in contrast with the punishment of the ungodly. The prepositions אל and בּ, in Psa 34:16 and Psa 34:17 , are a well considered interchange of expression: the former, of gracious inclination (Psa 33:18), the latter, of hostile intention or determining, as in Job 7:8; Jer 21:10; Jer 44:11, after the phrase in Lev 17:10.

The evil doers are overwhelmed by the power of destruction that proceeds from the countenance of Jahve, which is opposed to them, until there is not the slightest trace of their earthly existence left. The subjects to Psa 34:18 are not, according to Psa 107:17-19, the עשׁי רע (evil doers), since the indispensable characteristic of penitence is in this instance wanting, but the צדיקים (the righteous).

Probably the פ strophe stood originally before the ע strophe, just as in Lam 2-4 the פ precedes the ע (Hitzig). In connection with the present sequence of the thoughts, the structure of Psa 34:18 is just like Psa 34:6 : Clamant et Dominus audit = si qui (quicunque) clamant. What is meant is the cry out of the depth of a soul that despairs of itself. Such crying meets with a hearing with God, and in its realisation, an answer that bears its own credentials.

“The broken in heart” are those in whom the egotistical, i. e. , self-loving life, which encircles its own personality, is broken at the very root; “the crushed or contrite (דּכּאי, from דּכּא, with a changeable ā , after the form אילות from איּל) in spirit” are those whom grievous experiences, leading to penitence, of the false eminence to which their proud self-consciousness has raised them, have subdued and thoroughly humbled.

To all such Jahve is nigh, He preserves them from despair, He is ready to raise up in them a new life upon the ruins of the old and to cover or conceal their infinitive deficiency; and, they, on their part, being capable of receiving, and desirous of, salvation, He makes them partakers of His salvation. It is true these afflictions come upon the righteous, but Jahve rescues him out of them all, מכּלּם = מּכּלּן (the same enallage generis as in Rth 1:19; Rth 4:11).

He is under the most special providence, “He keepeth all his bones, not one of them ( ne unum quidem ) is broken” - a pictorial exemplification of the thought that God does not suffer the righteous to come to the extremity, that He does not suffer him to be severed from His almighty protecting love, nor to become the sport of the oppressors. Nevertheless we call to mind the literal fulfilment which these words of the psalmist received in the Crucified One; for the Old Testament prophecy, which is quoted in Joh 19:33-37, may be just as well referred to our Psalm as to Exo 12:46.

Not only the Paschal lamb, but in a comparative sense even every affliction of the righteous, is a type. Not only is the essence of the symbolism of the worship of the sanctuary realised in Jesus Christ, not only is the history of Israel and of David repeated in Him, not only does human suffering attain in connection with Him its utmost intensity, but all the promises given to the righteous are fulfilled in Him κατ ̓ ἐξοχήν; because He is the righteous One in the most absolute sense, the Holy One of God in a sense altogether unique (Isa 53:11; Jer 23:5, Zec 9:9; Act 3:14; Act 22:14).

- The righteous is always preserved from extreme peril, whereas evil (רעה) slays (מותת stronger than המית) the ungodly: evil, which he loved and cherished, becomes the executioner’s power, beneath which he falls. And they that hate the righteous must pay the penalty. Of the meanings to incur guilt, to feel one’s self guilty, and to undergo punishment as being guilty, אשׁם (vid.

, on 1Sa 14:13) has the last in this instance.

Psa 34:16-21 (Hebrew_Bible_34:17-22) The poet now recommends the fear of God, to which he has given a brief direction, by setting forth its reward in contrast with the punishment of the ungodly. The prepositions אל and בּ, in Psa 34:16 and Psa 34:17 , are a well considered interchange of expression: the former, of gracious inclination (Psa 33:18), the latter, of hostile intention or determining, as in Job 7:8; Jer 21:10; Jer 44:11, after the phrase in Lev 17:10.

The evil doers are overwhelmed by the power of destruction that proceeds from the countenance of Jahve, which is opposed to them, until there is not the slightest trace of their earthly existence left. The subjects to Psa 34:18 are not, according to Psa 107:17-19, the עשׁי רע (evil doers), since the indispensable characteristic of penitence is in this instance wanting, but the צדיקים (the righteous).

Probably the פ strophe stood originally before the ע strophe, just as in Lam 2-4 the פ precedes the ע (Hitzig). In connection with the present sequence of the thoughts, the structure of Psa 34:18 is just like Psa 34:6 : Clamant et Dominus audit = si qui (quicunque) clamant. What is meant is the cry out of the depth of a soul that despairs of itself. Such crying meets with a hearing with God, and in its realisation, an answer that bears its own credentials.

“The broken in heart” are those in whom the egotistical, i. e. , self-loving life, which encircles its own personality, is broken at the very root; “the crushed or contrite (דּכּאי, from דּכּא, with a changeable ā , after the form אילות from איּל) in spirit” are those whom grievous experiences, leading to penitence, of the false eminence to which their proud self-consciousness has raised them, have subdued and thoroughly humbled.

To all such Jahve is nigh, He preserves them from despair, He is ready to raise up in them a new life upon the ruins of the old and to cover or conceal their infinitive deficiency; and, they, on their part, being capable of receiving, and desirous of, salvation, He makes them partakers of His salvation. It is true these afflictions come upon the righteous, but Jahve rescues him out of them all, מכּלּם = מּכּלּן (the same enallage generis as in Rth 1:19; Rth 4:11).

He is under the most special providence, “He keepeth all his bones, not one of them ( ne unum quidem ) is broken” - a pictorial exemplification of the thought that God does not suffer the righteous to come to the extremity, that He does not suffer him to be severed from His almighty protecting love, nor to become the sport of the oppressors. Nevertheless we call to mind the literal fulfilment which these words of the psalmist received in the Crucified One; for the Old Testament prophecy, which is quoted in Joh 19:33-37, may be just as well referred to our Psalm as to Exo 12:46.

Not only the Paschal lamb, but in a comparative sense even every affliction of the righteous, is a type. Not only is the essence of the symbolism of the worship of the sanctuary realised in Jesus Christ, not only is the history of Israel and of David repeated in Him, not only does human suffering attain in connection with Him its utmost intensity, but all the promises given to the righteous are fulfilled in Him κατ ̓ ἐξοχήν; because He is the righteous One in the most absolute sense, the Holy One of God in a sense altogether unique (Isa 53:11; Jer 23:5, Zec 9:9; Act 3:14; Act 22:14).

- The righteous is always preserved from extreme peril, whereas evil (רעה) slays (מותת stronger than המית) the ungodly: evil, which he loved and cherished, becomes the executioner’s power, beneath which he falls. And they that hate the righteous must pay the penalty. Of the meanings to incur guilt, to feel one’s self guilty, and to undergo punishment as being guilty, אשׁם (vid.

, on 1Sa 14:13) has the last in this instance.

Psa 34:16-21 (Hebrew_Bible_34:17-22) The poet now recommends the fear of God, to which he has given a brief direction, by setting forth its reward in contrast with the punishment of the ungodly. The prepositions אל and בּ, in Psa 34:16 and Psa 34:17 , are a well considered interchange of expression: the former, of gracious inclination (Psa 33:18), the latter, of hostile intention or determining, as in Job 7:8; Jer 21:10; Jer 44:11, after the phrase in Lev 17:10.

The evil doers are overwhelmed by the power of destruction that proceeds from the countenance of Jahve, which is opposed to them, until there is not the slightest trace of their earthly existence left. The subjects to Psa 34:18 are not, according to Psa 107:17-19, the עשׁי רע (evil doers), since the indispensable characteristic of penitence is in this instance wanting, but the צדיקים (the righteous).

Probably the פ strophe stood originally before the ע strophe, just as in Lam 2-4 the פ precedes the ע (Hitzig). In connection with the present sequence of the thoughts, the structure of Psa 34:18 is just like Psa 34:6 : Clamant et Dominus audit = si qui (quicunque) clamant. What is meant is the cry out of the depth of a soul that despairs of itself. Such crying meets with a hearing with God, and in its realisation, an answer that bears its own credentials.

“The broken in heart” are those in whom the egotistical, i. e. , self-loving life, which encircles its own personality, is broken at the very root; “the crushed or contrite (דּכּאי, from דּכּא, with a changeable ā , after the form אילות from איּל) in spirit” are those whom grievous experiences, leading to penitence, of the false eminence to which their proud self-consciousness has raised them, have subdued and thoroughly humbled.

To all such Jahve is nigh, He preserves them from despair, He is ready to raise up in them a new life upon the ruins of the old and to cover or conceal their infinitive deficiency; and, they, on their part, being capable of receiving, and desirous of, salvation, He makes them partakers of His salvation. It is true these afflictions come upon the righteous, but Jahve rescues him out of them all, מכּלּם = מּכּלּן (the same enallage generis as in Rth 1:19; Rth 4:11).

He is under the most special providence, “He keepeth all his bones, not one of them ( ne unum quidem ) is broken” - a pictorial exemplification of the thought that God does not suffer the righteous to come to the extremity, that He does not suffer him to be severed from His almighty protecting love, nor to become the sport of the oppressors. Nevertheless we call to mind the literal fulfilment which these words of the psalmist received in the Crucified One; for the Old Testament prophecy, which is quoted in Joh 19:33-37, may be just as well referred to our Psalm as to Exo 12:46.

Not only the Paschal lamb, but in a comparative sense even every affliction of the righteous, is a type. Not only is the essence of the symbolism of the worship of the sanctuary realised in Jesus Christ, not only is the history of Israel and of David repeated in Him, not only does human suffering attain in connection with Him its utmost intensity, but all the promises given to the righteous are fulfilled in Him κατ ̓ ἐξοχήν; because He is the righteous One in the most absolute sense, the Holy One of God in a sense altogether unique (Isa 53:11; Jer 23:5, Zec 9:9; Act 3:14; Act 22:14).

- The righteous is always preserved from extreme peril, whereas evil (רעה) slays (מותת stronger than המית) the ungodly: evil, which he loved and cherished, becomes the executioner’s power, beneath which he falls. And they that hate the righteous must pay the penalty. Of the meanings to incur guilt, to feel one’s self guilty, and to undergo punishment as being guilty, אשׁם (vid.

, on 1Sa 14:13) has the last in this instance.

Psa 34:22 (Hebrew_Bible_34:23) The order of the alphabet having been gone through, there now follows a second פ exactly like Psa 25:22. Just as the first פ, Psa 25:16, is פּנה, so here in Psa 34:17 it is פּני; and in like manner the two supernumerary Phe's correspond to one another - the Elohimic in the former Psalm, and the Jehovic in this latter.

This Psalms 35 and Ps 34 form a pair. They are the only Psalms in which the name מלאך יהוה is mentioned. The Psalms that belong to the time of David’s persecution by Saul are the Psalms which are more especially pervaded by such retrospective references to the Tôra. And in fact this whole Psalm is, as it were, the lyrical expansion of that which David expresses before Saul in 1Sa 24:15.

The critical opinion as to the authorship of this Psalm is closely allied with that respecting the author of Ps 40 and 69 to which Ps 35 is nearly related; cf. Psa 35:21, Psa 35:27 with Psa 40:16. ; Psa 35:13 with Psa 69:11. ; whereas the relation of Ps 71 to Ps 35 is decidedly a secondary one. Hitzig conjectures it to be Jeremiah; but Psa 35:1 are appropriate in the lips of a persecuted king, and not of a persecuted prophet.

The points of contact of the writings of Jeremiah with our Psalm (Jer 18:19. , Jer 23:12; Lam 2:16), may therefore in this instance be more safely regarded as reminiscences of an earlier writer than in Ps 69. Throughout the whole Psalm there prevails a deep vexation of spirit (to which corresponds the suffix מו-, as in Ps 59; Psa 56:1-13; Psa 11:1-7; Psa 17:1-15; 22; Psa 64:1-10) and strong emotion; it is not until the second part, where the poet describes the base ingratitude of his enemies, that the language becomes more clam and transparent, and a more quiet sadness takes the place of indignation and rage.

Each of the three parts opens with a cry for deliverance; and closes, in the certain assumption that it will take place, with a vow of thanksgiving. The divisions cannot therefore be mistaken, viz. , Psa 35:1, Psa 35:11, Psa 35:19. The relative numbers of the stichs in the separate groups is as follows: 6. 6. 5. 5. 7. 7. 5. 6. 6. 6. 5. There are only a few Psalms of David belonging to the time of Saul’s persecution, which, like Ps 22, keep within the limits of deep inward grief; and in scarcely a single instance do we find him confining himself to the expression of the accursed fate of his enemies with prophetic certainty, as that which he confidently expects will be realised (as, e.

g. , in Psa 7:13-17). But for the most part the objective announcement of punishment is swallowed up by the force of his inmost feelings, and changed into the most importunate prayer (as in Psa 7:7; Psa 17:13, and frequently); and this feverish glow of feeling becomes still more harshly prominent, when the prayer for the revelation of divine judgment in punishment passes over into a wish that it may actually take place.

In this respect Ps 7, 35, 69, 109 form a fearful gradation. In Ps 109, the old expositors count as many as thirty anathemas. What explanation can we give of such language coming from the lips and heart of the poet? Perhaps as paroxysms of a desire for revenge? His advance against Nabal shows that even a David was susceptible of such feelings; but 1Sa 25:32. also shows that only a gentle stirring up of his conscience was needed to dissuade him from it.

How much more natural-we throw out this consideration in agreement with Kurtz - that the preponderance of that magnanimity peculiar to him should have maintained its ascendancy in the moments of the highest religious consecration in which he composed his Psalms! It is inconceivable that the unholy fire of personal passion could be here mingled with the holy fire of his love to God.

It is in fact the Psalms more especially, which are the purest and most faithful mirror of the piety of the Old Testament: the duty of love towards one’s enemies, however, is so little alien to the Old Testament (Exo 23:4. , Lev 19:18; Pro 20:22; Pro 24:17; Pro 25:21. , Job 31:29.) , that the very words of the Old Testament are made use of even in the New to inculcate this love.

And from Ps 7, in its agreement with the history of his conduct towards Saul, we have seen that David was conscious of having fulfilled this duty. All the imprecatory words in these Psalms come, therefore, from the pure spring of unself-seeking zeal for the honour of God. That this zeal appears in this instance as zeal for his own person or character arises from the fact, that David, as the God-anointed heir of the kingdom, stands in antagonism to Saul, the king alienated from God; and, that to his mind the cause of God, the continuance of the church, and the future of Israel, coincide with his own destiny.

The fire of his anger is kindled at this focus (so to speak) of the view which he has of his own position in the course of the history of redemption. It is therefore a holy fire; but the spirit of the New Testament, as Jesus Himself declare sin Luk 9:55, is in this respect, nevertheless, a relatively different spirit from that of the Old. That act of divine love, redemption, out of the open fountain of which there flowed forth the impulse of a love which embraces and conquers the world, was then as yet not completed; and a curtain then still hung before eternity, before heaven and hell, so that imprecations like Psa 69:20 were not understood,even by him who uttered them, in their infinite depth of meaning.

Now that this curtain is drawn up, the New Testament faith shrinks back from invoking upon any one a destruction that lasts לעולם; and love seeks, so long as a mere shadow of possibility exists, to rescue everything human from the perdition of an unhappy future-a perdition the full meaning of which cannot be exhausted by human thought. In connection with all this, however, there still remains one important consideration.

The curses, which are contained in the Davidic Psalms of the time of Saul’s persecution, are referred to in the New Testament as fulfilled in the enemies of Jesus Christ, Act 1:20; Rom 11:7-10. One expression found in our Psalm, ἐμίσησάν με δωρεάν (cf. Psa 69:5) is used by Jesus (Joh 15:25) as fulfilled in Him; it therefore appears as though the whole Psalm ought to be, or at least may be, taken typically as the words of Christ.

But nowhere in the Gospels do we read an imprecation used by Jesus against His own and the enemies of the kingdom of God; David’s imprecations are not suited to the lips of the Saviour, nor do the instances in which they are cited in the New Testament give them the impress of being His direct words: they are treated as the language of prophecy by virtue of the Spirit, whose instrument David was, and whose work the Scriptures are. And it is only in this sense that the Christian adopts them in prayer.

For after the pattern of his Lord, who on the cross prayed “Father forgive them,” he desires that even his bitterest enemies may not be eternally lost, but, though it be only when in articulo mortis , that they may come to their right mind. Even the anathemas of the apostle against the Judaising false teachers and against Alexander the smith (Gal 1:9; Gal 5:12; 2Ti 4:14), refer only to temporal removal and chastisement, not to eternal perdition.

They mark the extreme boundary where, in extraordinary instances, the holy zeal of the New Testament comes in contact with the holy fervour of the Old Testament.

Psa 35:1-3 The psalmist begins in a martial and anthropomorphical style such as we have not hitherto met with. On the ultima-accentuation of ריבה, vid. , on Psa 3:8. Both את are signs of the accusative. This is a more natural rendering here, where the psalmist implores God to subjugate his foes, than to regard את as equivalent to עם (cf. Isa 49:25 with ib . Psa 27:8; Job 10:2); and, moreover, for the very same reason the expression in this instance is לחם, (in the Kal , which otherwise only lends the part .

לחם, Psa 56:2. , to the Niph . נלחם) instead of the reciprocal form הלּחם. It is usually supposed that לחם means properly vorare , and war is consequently conceived of as a devouring of men; but the Arabic offers another primary meaning: to press close and compact ( Niph . to one another), consequently מלחמה means a dense crowd, a dense bustle and tumult (cf.

the Homeric κλόνος). The summons to Jahve to arm, and that in a twofold manner, viz. , with the מגן for warding off the hostile blow and צנּה (vid. , Ps 5:13) which covers the body like a testudo - by which, inasmuch as it is impossible to hold both shields at the same time, the figure is idealised - is meant to express, that He is to make Himself felt by the foes, in every possible way, to their own confounding, as the unapproachable One.

The ב of בּעזרתי (in the character of help turned towards me) is the so-called Beth essentiae , as in Exo 18:4; Pro 3:26; Isa 48:10 ( tanquam argentum ), and frequently. הריק has the same meaning as in Exo 15:9, cf. Gen 14:14, viz. , to bring forth, draw forth, to draw or unsheath (a sword); for as a sword is sheathed when not in use, so a spear is kept in the δουροδόκη ( Odyss .

i. 128). Even Parchon understands סגר to mean a weapon; and the word σάγαρις, in Herodotus, Xenophon, and Strabo, a northern Asiatic, more especially a Scythian, battle-axe, has been compared here; but the battle-axe was not a Hebrew weapon, and סגר, which, thus defectively written, has the look of an imperative, also gives the best sense when so taken (lxx σύγκλεισον, Targ.

וּטרוק), viz. , close, i. e. , cut off, interclude scil. viam . The word has Dechî , because לקראת רדפי, “casting Thyself against my persecutors,” belongs to both the preceding summonses. Dachselt rightly directs attention to the similar sequence of the accents in Psa 55:19; Psa 66:15. The Mosaic figure of Jahve as a man of war (אישׁ מלחמה, Exo 15:3; Deu 32:41.)

is worked out here with brilliant colours, under the impulse of a wrathful spirit. But we see from Psa 35:3 what a spiritual meaning, nevertheless, the whole description is intended to convey. In God’s intervention, thus manifested in facts, he would gladly hear His consolatory utterance to himself. The burden of his cry is that God’s love may break through the present outward appearance of wrath and make itself felt by him.

Psa 35:1-3 The psalmist begins in a martial and anthropomorphical style such as we have not hitherto met with. On the ultima-accentuation of ריבה, vid. , on Psa 3:8. Both את are signs of the accusative. This is a more natural rendering here, where the psalmist implores God to subjugate his foes, than to regard את as equivalent to עם (cf. Isa 49:25 with ib . Psa 27:8; Job 10:2); and, moreover, for the very same reason the expression in this instance is לחם, (in the Kal , which otherwise only lends the part .

לחם, Psa 56:2. , to the Niph . נלחם) instead of the reciprocal form הלּחם. It is usually supposed that לחם means properly vorare , and war is consequently conceived of as a devouring of men; but the Arabic offers another primary meaning: to press close and compact ( Niph . to one another), consequently מלחמה means a dense crowd, a dense bustle and tumult (cf.

the Homeric κλόνος). The summons to Jahve to arm, and that in a twofold manner, viz. , with the מגן for warding off the hostile blow and צנּה (vid. , Ps 5:13) which covers the body like a testudo - by which, inasmuch as it is impossible to hold both shields at the same time, the figure is idealised - is meant to express, that He is to make Himself felt by the foes, in every possible way, to their own confounding, as the unapproachable One.

The ב of בּעזרתי (in the character of help turned towards me) is the so-called Beth essentiae , as in Exo 18:4; Pro 3:26; Isa 48:10 ( tanquam argentum ), and frequently. הריק has the same meaning as in Exo 15:9, cf. Gen 14:14, viz. , to bring forth, draw forth, to draw or unsheath (a sword); for as a sword is sheathed when not in use, so a spear is kept in the δουροδόκη ( Odyss .

i. 128). Even Parchon understands סגר to mean a weapon; and the word σάγαρις, in Herodotus, Xenophon, and Strabo, a northern Asiatic, more especially a Scythian, battle-axe, has been compared here; but the battle-axe was not a Hebrew weapon, and סגר, which, thus defectively written, has the look of an imperative, also gives the best sense when so taken (lxx σύγκλεισον, Targ.

וּטרוק), viz. , close, i. e. , cut off, interclude scil. viam . The word has Dechî , because לקראת רדפי, “casting Thyself against my persecutors,” belongs to both the preceding summonses. Dachselt rightly directs attention to the similar sequence of the accents in Psa 55:19; Psa 66:15. The Mosaic figure of Jahve as a man of war (אישׁ מלחמה, Exo 15:3; Deu 32:41.)

is worked out here with brilliant colours, under the impulse of a wrathful spirit. But we see from Psa 35:3 what a spiritual meaning, nevertheless, the whole description is intended to convey. In God’s intervention, thus manifested in facts, he would gladly hear His consolatory utterance to himself. The burden of his cry is that God’s love may break through the present outward appearance of wrath and make itself felt by him.

Psa 35:4-8 Throughout the next two strophes follow terrible imprecations. According to Fürst and others the relation of בּושׁ and חפר is like that of erblassen , to turn pale (cf. Isa 29:22 with Psa 34:6), and erröthen , to turn red, to blush. בושׁ has, however, no connection with בוץ, nor has חפר, Arab. chfr, chmr , any connection with Arab. hmr , to be red; but, according to its radical notion, בּושׁ means disturbari (vid.

, Ps 6:11), and חפר, obtegere, abscondere (vid. , Psa 34:6). יסּגוּ, properly “let them be made to fall back” (cf. e. g. , Isa 42:17). On the figure on Psa 35:5 cf. Psa 83:14. The clauses respecting the Angel of Jahve, Psa 35:5 and Psa 35:6 , are circumstantial clauses, viz. , clauses defining the manner. דּחה (giving, viz. , them, the push that shall cause their downfall, equivalent to דּחם or דּחם, Psa 68:28) is closely connected with the figure in Psa 35:6 , and רדפם, with the figure in Psa 35:5 ; consequently it seems as though the original position of these two clauses respecting the Angel of Jahve had been disturbed; just as in Ps 34, the ע strophe and the פ strophe have changed their original places.

It is the Angel, who took off Pharaoh’s chariot wheels so that they drave them heavily (Exo 14:25) that is intended here. The fact that this Angel is concerned here, where the point at issue is whether the kingship of the promise shall be destroyed at its very beginning or not, harmonises with the appearing of the מלאך ה at all critical junctures in the course of the history of redemption.

חלקלקּות, loca passim lubrica , is an intensive form of expression for חלקות rof noisserp, Psa 73:18. Just as דּחה recalls to mind Ex 15, so רדפם recalls Judg 5. In this latter passage the Angel of Jahve also appears in the midst of the conquerors who are pursuing the smitten foe, incarnate as it were in Deborah.