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Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Psalms 74:14

Leviathan. — See last note.

And gavest him... — The crocodile was eaten by the people of Elephantine (Herod. ii. 69), but there is no allusion here to that custom, nor to the Ichthyophagi mentioned by Agatharchides, nor to the Æthiopians (as in the LXX.). It is the Egyptian corpses thrown up by the Red Sea that are to be devoured (comp. Ezekiel 29:3) by the “wild beasts,” called here “people,” as the ants and conies are (Proverbs 30:25).

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See also Psalms 74:14 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse Psalms 74:14. _THE HEADS OF LEVIATHAN_] Leviathan might be intended here as a personification of the _Egyptian government_; and its _heads_, Pharaoh and his chief captains. _TO THE PEOPLE INHA...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    THOU BRAKEST THE HEADS OF LEVIATHAN IN PIECES - On the meaning of the word “leviathan,” see the notes at Job 41:1. The word is used here as descriptive of sea monsters. AND GAVEST HIM TO BE MEAT - Ga...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    Psalms 74 The Enemy in the Sanctuary _ 1. The Prayer on account of the enemy (Psalms 74:1)_ 2. The work of the enemy (Psalms 74:4) 3. Intercession for intervention ...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    LXXIV. The date may be fixed with certainty and that within narrow limits. The Jews are suffering extreme distress, but apparently by no fault of their own, for there is no confession of sin. The pers...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    PEOPLE INHABITING. inhabitants: i.e. the wild beasts....

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    Yet God's mighty works of Redemption and Creation attest His power to interpose for the deliverance of His people. Cp. Psalms 77:10 ff....

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _Thou brakest_&c. Thou didst crush … thou didst give him &c. The dead bodies of the Egyptians were cast up on the shore (Exodus 14:30) to be devoured by the wild beasts of the desert. Cp. Ezekiel 29:3...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    DRAGONS—LEVIATHAN— The Hebrew words may mean much the same; only the latter seems to express a more distinguished kind of crocodile. It is under this character that the Egyptians and their king are de...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    PSALMS 74 DESCRIPTIVE TITLE Ruthless Injuries to the Sanctuary and Oppression in the Land by an Enemy, call forth Expostulation with God for his quiescence. ANALYSIS Stanza I., Psalms 74:1-3 a, In...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. THOU BRAKEST THE HEADS OF LEVIATHAN IN PIECES, AND GAVEST HIM TO BE MEAT TO THE PEO...

  • Darby's translation notes (1890)

    74:14 leviathan, (h-9) As Job 3:8 . those (i-17) i.e. the wild beasts....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    Psalms 74, 79 seem to reflect the same historical situation, and are usually ascribed to the same author. Both were written in a time of national calamity, when the Temple was profaned (Psalms 74), an...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    LEVIATHAN] probably the crocodile, another figure for Egypt: cp. Ezekiel 29:3; Ezekiel 32:1 THE PEOPLE INHABITING THE WILDERNESS] the wild beasts of the desert....

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    Psalms 73:89 _GORDON CHURCHYARD_ KEEP YOUR PROMISE! PSALMS 74 Jesus said, "One stone will not stay on another. They will all become broken". (Ma

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    אַתָּ֣ה רִ֭צַּצְתָּ רָאשֵׁ֣י לִוְיָתָ֑ן תִּתְּנֶ֥נּוּ מַ֝אֲכָ֗ל...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    Psalms 74:1 Two periods only correspond to the circumstances described in this psalm and its companion (Psalms 79:1)-namely, the Chaldean invasion and sack of Jerusalem, and the persecution under Anti...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    “PLEAD THINE OWN CAUSE, O GOD” Psalms 74:12 Yet! Psalms 74:12, r.v. There is always some compensating and consolatory thought. God is in the background of our thought. Not only _the_ King, but _my_ K...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    This is a great complaint, but it is a complaint of faith. Hardly a gleam of light is found throughout. The singer sits in the midst of national desolation and pours out his soul to God in passionate...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    Thou brakest the heads of (k) leviathan in pieces, [and] gavest him [to be] (l) meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. (k) Which was a great monster of the sea, or whale, meaning Pharaoh. (l)...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    The Holy Ghost evidently intended by these sweet and precious verses, to teach the church, in all ages, how to adopt such arguments, in all our dealings with God, when under trial. The best thing I ca...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    Psalms 74 complains of the hostile desolation of the sanctuary, when rebuilt in the land. God's enemies, as faith here calls them, roar in the congregations. Man's ensigns, not God's, are the signs of...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    THOU BREAKEST THE HEADS OF LEVIATHAN IN PIECES,.... A large fish, generally thought to be the whale, by some the crocodile, described in Job 41:1 to which the king of Egypt or Babylon is compared, Isa...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, [and] gavest him [to be] meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. Ver. 14. _Thou brakest the heads of leviathan_] _i.e._ Of Pharaoh himself. See Is...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _Thou didst divide the sea_, &c. “The first part of this verse alludes to that marvellous act of omnipotence which divided the Red sea for Israel to pass over; the second part to the return of its wav...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    Thou brakest the heads of leviathan, the crocodile, the most powerful animal of Egypt, IN PIECES AND GAVEST HIM TO BE MEAT TO THE PEOPLE INHABITING THE WILDERNESS, food for the wilderness dwellers, th...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    PRAYER FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE CHURCH. Maschil, a didactic poem, of Asaph, a prophetic psalm, foretelling some of the afflictions which would befall the Church of God, in the Old Testament as wel...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    12-17 The church silences her own complaints. What God had done for his people, as their King of old, encouraged them to depend on him. It was the Lord's doing, none besides could do it. This provide...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    THE HEADS, i.e. the head; called _heads_, partly for the greatness of this beast, as that great monster is called _beasts_, JOB 40:20, for the same reason; and partly for the several heads or princes...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Psalms 74:14 broke H7533 (H8765) heads H7218 Leviathan H3882 gave H5414 (H8799) food H3978 people H5971 wilderness

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: The deplorable condition of God's people spread before Him with petition for deliverance. CHARACTERS: God, Asaph. CONCLUSION: The desolations of God's house cannot but grieve the believer m...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Title. _Maschil of Asaph;_ that is, instruction, as Psalms 32. The EDDA is the title of the Icelandic poem, which also signifies instruction. This mournful ode is also alleged to have been written in...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Thou brakest the heads Of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness._ LEVIATHAN We cannot certainly tell what animal is meant by leviathan, but whatever...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _O God, why hast Thou cast us off for ever?_ why doth Thine anger smoke against the sheep of Thy pasture? THE WAIL AND PRAYER OF A TRUE PATRIOT I. The wail (Psalms 74:1). 1. Some communities of men...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    PSALM PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 74:1. This psalm, a community lament, is a cry of anguish over the destruction of the temple. It recounts God’s mighty deeds in the past, especially the exodus. Past events...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 74:12 The next section recalls God’s mighty deeds from the past, in which he has worked SALVATION. These include the exodus from Egypt and the journey through the wilderness (vv....

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 74:14 LEVIATHAN here represents Egypt (see notes on Job 3:8; Isaiah 27:1)....

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    INTRODUCTION _Superscription_.—“A Maschil of Asaph,” i.e., an Instruction of Asaph, a Didactic Song by Asaph. See introduction to Psalms 1. “But _here_ we cannot have the least idea of the authorship...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION "THE misery of the Jews is here at its deepest". The psalmist describes Jerusalem as fallen into "perpetual ruins" (Psalms 74:3). The temple is violated (Psalms 74:3); its carved work is ru...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Psa 74:1-23 is one of those psalms where the psalmist again is speaking of the desolation that is come, and the apparent quietness of God in the face of the desolation. God didn't do anything to stop...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    Exodus 12:35; Exodus 12:36; Exodus 14:30; Isaiah 27:1; Job 3:8;...

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    Leviathan — Pharaoh. The people — To the ravenous birds and beasts of the desert. These creatures are significantly called the people of the wilderness, because they are the only people that inhabit i...

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