16 The king is not saved by the multitude of a force. A mighty man is not delivered, By abundance of power.
And Ben-Hadad sendeth unto him, and saith, `Thus do the gods to me, and thus do they add, if the dust of Samaria suffice for handfuls for all the people who `are' at my feet.'
Thus said Jehovah: Let not the wise boast himself in his wisdom, Nor let the mighty boast himself in his might, Let not the rich boast himself in his riches,
For, not by their sword Possessed they the land, And their arm gave not salvation to them, But Thy right hand, and Thine arm, And the light of Thy countenance, Because Thou hadst accepted them.
and Jehovah sendeth a messenger, and cutteth off every mighty one of valour -- both leader and head -- in the camp of the king of Asshur, and he turneth back with shame of face to his land, and entereth the house of his god, and those coming out of his bowels have caused him to fall there by the sword.
With him `is' an arm of flesh, and with us `is' Jehovah our God, to help us, and to fight our battles;' and the people are supported by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. After this hath Sennacherib king of Asshur sent his servants to Jerusalem -- and he `is' by Lachish, and all his power with him -- against Hezekiah king of Judah, and against all Judah, who `are' in Jerusalem, saying,
and the sons of Ammon stand up, and Moab, against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to devote and to destroy, and at their finishing with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped, a man against his neighbour, to destroy.
`O our God, dost Thou not execute judgment upon them? for there is no power in us before this great multitude that hath come against us, and we know not what we do, but on Thee `are' our eyes.'
And come out unto them doth Zerah the Cushite with a force of a thousand thousand, and chariots three hundred, and he cometh in unto Mareshah, and Asa goeth out before him, and they set battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. And Asa calleth unto Jehovah his God, and saith, `Jehovah! it is nothing with Thee to help, between the mighty and those who have no power; help us, O Jehovah, our God, for on Thee we have leant, and in Thy name we have come against this multitude; O Jehovah, our God thou `art'; let him not prevail with Thee -- mortal man! And Jehovah smiteth the Cushim before Asa, and before Judah, and the Cushim flee, and Asa and the people who `are' with him pursue them even to Gerar, and there fall of the Cushim, for they have no preserving, because they have been broken before Jehovah, and before His camp; and they bear away very much spoil,
and the sons of Israel have been inspected, and supported, and go to meet them, and the sons of Israel encamp before them, like two flocks of goats, and the Aramaeans have filled the land. And there cometh nigh a man of God, and speaketh unto the king of Israel, and saith, `Thus said Jehovah, Because that the Aramaeans have said, God of hills `is' Jehovah, and He `is' not God of valleys -- I have given the whole of this great multitude into thy hand, and ye have known that I `am' Jehovah.' And they encamp one over-against another seven days, and it cometh to pass on the seventh day, that the battle draweth near, and the sons of Israel smite Aram -- a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
`And I -- lo, I am strengthening the heart of the Egyptians, and they go in after them, and I am honoured on Pharaoh, and on all his force, on his chariots, and on his horsemen; and the Egyptians have known that I `am' Jehovah, in My being honoured on Pharaoh, on his chariots, and on his horsemen.'
and Ishbi-Benob, who `is' among the children of the giant -- the weight of his spear `is' three hundred `shekels' weight of brass, and he is girded with a new one -- speaketh of smiting David, and Abishai son of Zeruiah giveth help to him, and smiteth the Philistine, and putteth him to death; then swear the men of David to him, saying, `Thou dost not go out again with us to battle, nor quench the lamp of Israel.' And it cometh to pass afterwards, that the battle is again in Gob with the Philistines, then hath Sibbechai the Hushathite smitten Saph, who `is' among the children of the giant. And the battle is again in Gob with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim, the Beth-Lehemite, smiteth `a brother of' Goliath the Gittite, and the wood of his spear `is' like a beam of weavers. And the battle is again in Gath, and there is a man of stature, and the fingers of his hands `are' six, and the toes of his feet `are' six, twenty and four in number, and he also hath been born to the giant, and he reproacheth Israel, and smite him doth Jonathan son of Shimeah, brother of David; these four have been born to the giant in Gath, and they fall by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
And David saith unto the Philistine, `Thou art coming unto me with sword, and with spear, and with buckler, and I am coming unto thee in the name of Jehovah of Hosts, God of the ranks of Israel, which thou hast reproached. This day doth Jehovah shut thee up into my hand -- and I have smitten thee, and turned aside thy head from off thee, and given the carcase of the camp of the Philistines this day to the fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth, and all the earth do know that God is for Israel. and all this assembly do know that not by sword and by spear doth Jehovah save, that the battle `is' Jehovah's, and He hath given you into our hand.' And it hath come to pass, that the Philistine hath risen, and goeth, and draweth near to meet David, and David hasteth and runneth to the rank to meet the Philistine, and David putteth forth his hand unto the vessel, and taketh thence a stone, and slingeth, and smiteth the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sinketh into his forehead, and he falleth on his face to the earth.
And there goeth out a man of the duellists from the camps of the Philistines, Goliath `is' his name, from Gath; his height `is' six cubits and a span,
And Jonathan saith, `Lo, we are passing over unto the men, and are revealed unto them; if thus they say unto us, `Stand still till we have come unto you,' then we have stood in our place, and do not go up unto them; and if thus they say, `Come up against us,' then we have gone up, for Jehovah hath given them into our hand, and this to us `is' the sign. And revealed are both of them unto the station of the Philistines, and the Philistines say, `Lo, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hid themselves.' And the men of the station answer Jonathan, and the bearer of his weapons, and say, `Come up unto us, and we cause you to know something.' And Jonathan saith unto the bearer of his weapons, `Come up after me, for Jehovah hath given them into the hand of Israel.' And Jonathan goeth up on his hands, and on his feet, and the bearer of his weapons after him; and they fall before Jonathan, and the bearer of his weapons is putting to death after him. And the first smiting which Jonathan and the bearer of his weapons have smitten is of about twenty men, in about half a furrow of a yoke of a field, and there is a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people, the station and the destroyers have trembled -- even they, and the earth shaketh, and it becometh a trembling of God. And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin see, and lo, the multitude hath melted away, and it goeth on, and is beaten down.
and Midian and Amalek, and all the sons of the east are lying in the valley, as the locust for multitude, and of their camels there is no number, as sand which `is' on the sea-shore for multitude. And Gideon cometh in, and lo, a man is recounting to his companion a dream, and saith, `Lo, a dream I have dreamed, and lo, a cake of barley-bread is turning itself over into the camp of Midian, and it cometh in unto the tent, and smiteth it, and it falleth, and turneth it upwards, and the tent hath fallen.' And his companion answereth and saith, `This is nothing save the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel; God hath given into his hand Midian and all the camp.' And it cometh to pass, when Gideon heareth the narration of the dream and its interpretation, that he boweth himself, and turneth back unto the camp of Israel, and saith, `Rise ye, for Jehovah hath given into your hand the camp of Midian.' And he divideth the three hundred men `into' three detachments, and putteth trumpets into the hand of all of them, and empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. And he saith unto them, `Look at me, and thus do; and lo, I am coming into the extremity of the camp -- and it hath been -- as I do so ye do; and I have blown with a trumpet -- I and all who `are' with me, and ye have blown with trumpets, even ye, round about all the camp, and have said, For Jehovah and for Gideon.' And Gideon cometh -- and the hundred men who `are' with him -- into the extremity of the camp, `at' the beginning of the middle watch (it hath only just confirmed the watchmen), and they blow with trumpets -- dashing in pieces also the pitchers which `are' in their hand; and the three detachments blow with trumpets, and break the pitchers, and keep hold with their left hand on the lamps, and with their right hand on the trumpets to blow, and they cry, `The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon.' And they stand each in his place, round about the camp, and all the camp runneth, and they shout, and flee; and the three hundred blow the trumpets, and Jehovah setteth the sword of each against his companion, even through all the camp; and the camp fleeth unto Beth-Shittah, at Zererath, unto the border of Abel-Meholah, by Tabbath. And the men of Israel are called from Naphtali, and from Asher, and from all Manasseh, and pursue after Midian. And messengers hath sent Gideon into all the hill-country of Ephraim, saying, `Come down to meet Midian, and capture before them the waters unto Beth-Barah, and the Jordan;' and every man of Ephraim is called, and they capture the waters unto Beth-Barah, and the Jordan, and they capture two of the heads of Midian, Oreb, and Zeeb, and slay Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they have slain at the wine-vat of Zeeb, and they pursue unto Midian; and the heads of Oreb and Zeeb they have brought in unto Gideon beyond the Jordan.
And Jehovah saith unto Gideon, `Too many `are' the people who `are' with thee for My giving Midian into their hand, lest Israel beautify itself against Me, saying, My hand hath given salvation to me;
and they go out, they and all their camps with them, a people numerous, as the sand which `is' on the sea-shore for multitude, and horse and charioteer very many; and all these kings are met together, and they come and encamp together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel. And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, `Be not afraid of their presence, for to-morrow about this time I am giving all of them wounded before Israel; their horses thou dost hough, and their chariots burn with fire.' And Joshua cometh, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and they fall on them; and Jehovah giveth them into the hand of Israel, and they smite them and pursue them unto the great Zidon, and unto Misrephoth-Maim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward, and they smite them, till he hath not left to them a remnant;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 33
Commentary on Psalms 33 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Praise of the Ruler of the World as Being the Defender of His People
The Davidic Maskמl, Psalms 32:1-11, is followed by an anonymous congregational song of a hymnic character, which begins just like the former closes. It owes its composition apparently to some deliverance of the nation from heathen oppression, which had resulted from God's interposition and without war. Moreover it exhibits no trace of dependence upon earlier models, such as might compel us to assign a late date to it; the time of Jeremiah, for instance, which Hitzig adopts. The structure is symmetrical. Between the two hexastichs, Psalms 33:1, Psalms 33:20, the materia laudis is set forth in eight tetrastichs.
The call contained in this hexastich is addressed to the righteous and upright, who earnestly seek to live a godly and God-pleasing life, and the sole determining rule of whose conduct is the will and good pleasure of God. These alone know God, whose true nature finds in them a clear mirror; so on their part they are joyfully to confess what they possess in Him. For it is their duty, and at the same time their honour, to praise him, and make their boast in Him. נאוה is the feminine of the adjective נאוה (formed out of נאוי ), as in Psalms 147:1, cf. Proverbs 19:10. On כּנּור (lxx κιθάρα, κινύρα ) and נבל (lxx ψαλτήριον, νάβλα, ναῦλα , etc.) vid., Introduction §II. נבל is the name given to the harp or lyre on account of its resemblance to a skin bottle or flash (root נב , to swell, to be distended), and נבל עשׂור , “harp of the decade,”' is the ten-stringed harp, which is also called absolutely עשׂור , and distinguished from the customary נבל , in Psalms 92:4. By a comparison of the asyndeton expressions in Psalms 35:14, Jeremiah 11:19, Aben-Ezra understands by נבל עשור two instruments, contrary to the tenour of the words. Gecatilia, whom he controverts, is only so far in error as that he refers the ten to holes ( נקבים ) instead of to strings. The בּ is Beth instrum ., just like the expression κιθαρίζειν ἐν κιθάραις , Revelation 14:2. A “new song” is one which, in consequence of some new mighty deeds of God, comes from a new impulse of gratitude in the heart, Psalms 40:4, and frequently in the Psalms, Isaiah 42:10, Judith 6:13, Revelation 5:9. In היטיבוּ the notions of scite and strenue, suaviter and naviter , blend. With בּתרוּעה , referring back to רננו , the call to praise forms, as it were, a circle as it closes.
Now beings the body of the song. The summons to praise God is supported (1) by a setting forth of His praiseworthiness
(Note: We have adopted the word “praiseworthiness” for the sake of conciseness of expression, in order to avoid an awkward periphrasis, in the sense of being worthy to be praised. - Tr.)
( a ) as the God of revelation in the kingdom of Grace. His word is ישׂר , upright in intention, and, without becoming in any way whatever untrue to itself, straightway fulfilling itself. His every act is an act in אמוּנה , truth, which verifies the truth of His word, and one which accomplishes itself. On אהב , equivalent to אהב הוּא , vid., Psalms 7:10; Psalms 22:29. צדקה is righteousness as conduct; משׁפּט is right as a rule of judgment and a state or condition. חסד is an accusative, as in Psalms 119:64 : misericordia Domini plena est terra (the introit for Misercordias Sunday or the second Sunday after Easter).
God's praiseworthiness ( b ) as the Creator of the world in the kingdom of Nature. Jahve's דּבר is His almighty “Let there be;” and רוח פּיו (inasmuch as the breath is here regarded as the material of which the word is formed and the bearer of the word) is the command, or in general, the operation of His commanding omnipotence (Job 15:30, cf. Job 4:9; Isaiah 34:16, cf. Psalms 11:4). The heavens above and the waters beneath stand side by side as miracles of creation. The display of His power in the waters of the sea consists in His having confined them within fixed bounds and keeping them within these. נד is a pile, i.e., a piled up heap (Arabic nadd ), and more especially an inference to harvest: like such a heap do the convex waters of the sea, being firmly held together, rise above the level of the continents. The expression is like that in Joshua 3:13, Joshua 3:15, cf. Exodus 15:8; although there the reference is to a miracle occurring in the course of history, and in this passage to a miracle of creation. כּנס refers to the heap itself, not to the walls of the storehouses as holding together. This latter figure is not introduced until Psalms 33:7 : the bed of the sea and those of the rivers are, as it were, אוצרות , treasuries or storehouses, in which God has deposited the deep, foaming waves or surging mass of waters. The inhabitants ( ישׁבי , not יושׁבי ) of the earth have cause to fear God who is thus omnipotent ( מן , in the sense of falling back from in terror); for He need only speak the word and that which He wills comes into being out of nothing, as we see from the hexaëmeron or history of Creation, but which is also confirmed in human history (Lamentations 3:37). He need only command and it stands forth like an obedient servant, that appears in all haste at the call of his lord, Psalms 119:91.
His praiseworthiness ( c ) as the irresistible Ruler in the history of men. Since in 2 Samuel 15:34; 2 Samuel 17:14, and frequently, הפר עצה is a common phrase, therefore heepiyr as in Psalms 89:34, Ezekiel 17:19, is equivalent to הפר (Ges. §67, rem. 9). The perfects are not used in the abstract, but of that which has been experienced most recently, since the “new song” presupposes new matter. With Psalms 33:11 compare Proverbs 19:21. The עצת of God is the unity of the “thoughts of His heart,” i.e., of the ideas, which form the inmost part, the ultimate motives of everything that takes place. The whole history of the world is the uninterrupted carrying out of a divine plan of salvation, the primary object of which is His people, but in and with these are included humanity at large.
Hence the call to praise God is supported (2) by a setting forth of that which His people possess in Him. This portion of the song is like a paraphrase of the אשׁרי in Deuteronomy 33:29. The theme in Psalms 33:12 is proved in Psalms 33:13 by the fact, that Jahve is the omniscient Ruler, because He is the Creator of men, without whose knowledge nothing is undertaken either secretly or openly, and especially if against His people. Then in Psalms 33:16 it is supported by the fact, that His people have in Jahve a stronger defence than the greatest worldly power would be. Jahve is called the fashioner of all the hearts of men, as in Zechariah 12:1, cf. Proverbs 24:12, as being their Maker. As such He is also the observer of all the works of men; for His is acquainted with their origin in the laboratory of the heart, which He as Creator has formed. Hupfeld takes יחד as an equalisation ( pariter ac ) of the two appositions; but then it ought to be וּמבין (cf. Psalms 49:3, Psalms 49:11). The lxx correctly renders it καταμόνας , singillatim . It is also needless to translate it, as Hupfeld does: He who formed, qui finxit ; for the hearts of men were not from the very first created all at one time, but the primeval impartation of spirit-life is continued at every birth in some mysterious way. God is the Father of spirits, Hebrews 12:9. For this very reason everything that exists, even to the most hidden thing, is encompassed by His omniscience and omnipotence. He exercises an omniscient control over all things, and makes all things subservient to the designs of His plan of the universe, which, so far as His people are concerned, is the plan of salvation. Without Him nothing comes to pass; but through Him everything takes place. The victory of the king, and the safety of the warrior, are not their own works. Their great military power and bodily strength can accomplish nothing without God, who can also be mighty in the feeble. Even for purposes of victory ( תּשׁוּעה , cf. ישׁוּעה , Psalms 21:2) the war-horse is שׁקר , i.e., a thing that promises much, but can in reality do nothing; it is not its great strength, by which it enables the trooper to escape ( ימלּט ) . “The horse,” says Solomon in Proverbs 21:31, “is equipped for the day of battle, but התּשׁוּעה לה , Jahve's is the victory,” He giveth it to whomsoever He will. The ultimate ends of all things that come to pass are in His hands, and - as Psalms 33:18. say, directing special attention to this important truth by הנּה - the eye of this God, that is to say the final aim of His government of the world, is directed towards them that fear Him, is pointed at them that hope in His mercy ( למיחלים ). In Psalms 33:19, the object, לחסדּו , is expanded by way of example. From His mercy or loving-kindness, not from any acts of their own, conscious of their limited condition and feebleness, they look for protection in the midst of the greatest peril, and for the preservation of their life in famine. Psalms 20:8 is very similar; but the one passage sounds as independent as the other.
Accordingly, in this closing hexastich, the church acknowledges Him as its help, its shield, and its source of joy. Besides the passage before us, חכּה occurs in only one other instance in the Psalter, viz., Psalms 106:13. This word, which belongs to the group of words signifying hoping and waiting, is perhaps from the root חך (Arab. ḥk' , ḥkâ , firmiter constringere sc. nodum ), to be firm, compact, like קוּה from קוה , to pull tight or fast, cf. the German harren (to wait) and hart (hard, compact). In Psalms 33:20 we still hear the echo of the primary passage Deuteronomy 33:29 (cf. Deuteronomy 33:26). The emphasis, as in Psalms 115:9-11, rests upon הוּא , into which בּו , in Psalms 33:21, puts this thought, viz., He is the unlimited sphere, the inexhaustible matter, the perennial spring of our joy. The second כּי confirms this subjectively. His holy Name is His church's ground of faith, of love, and of hope; for from thence comes its salvation. It can boldly pray that the mercy of the Lord may be upon it, for it waits upon Him, and man's waiting or hoping and God's giving are reciprocally conditioned. This is the meaning of the כּאשׁר . God is true to His word. The Te Deum laudamus of Ambrose closes in the same way.