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Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Psalms 12:5

Verse Psalms 12:5. For the oppression of the poor] This seems to refer best to the tribulations which the poor Israelites suffered while captives in Babylon. The Lord represents himself as looking on and seeing their affliction; and, hearing their cry, he determines to come forward to their help.

Now will I arise] I alone delivered them into the hands of their enemies, because of their transgressions; I alone can and will deliver them from the hands of their enemies; and the manner of their deliverance shall show the power and influence of their God.

From him that puffeth at him.] Here is much interpolation to make out a sense. Several of the versions read, "I will give him an open salvation." My work shall be manifest.

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See also Psalms 12:5 in other biblical comments:

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    FOR THE OPPRESSION OF THE POOR - That is, on account of the wrong done to the poor in the manner specified above - by the abuse of the power of speech. On account of the slanders uttered against them,...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    Psalms 12 _ 1. The arrogance of the wicked in the last days (Psalms 12:1)_ 2. Then Jehovah will act and deliver His people (Psalms 12:5) Psalms 1

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    XII. A PRAYER OF FAITHFUL JEWS AGAINST THE ARROGANT TONGUE OF THE UNGODLY. Psalms 12:1_._ The godly man ceaseth (see Psalms 4:1). The wicked acknowledge no responsibility for their words: they say, T...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    POOR. wretched. Hebrew. _ain_. See note on Proverbs 6:11. SAITH THE LORD. let Jehovah say. FROM HIM THAT PUFFETH AT HIM. let him [the oppressed] despise it [the oppression], HIM. it: i.e. the oppre...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    Render: Because of the spoiling of the poor, because of the groaning of the needy. Cp. Exodus 2:24. _Now will I arise_&c. Cp. Isaiah 33:10. The moment for action has at length come. _I will set him_&...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    The Psalmist hears God's answer, and affirms its trustworthiness....

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    NOW WILL I ARISE, SAITH THE LORD— The beauty and energy of this fine prosopopoeia, must be felt by every reader. Nothing can be more poetical and expressive. Houbigant renders the last clause, _I will...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    PSALMS 12 DESCRIPTIVE TITLE General Corruption, Evidenced by Sin of the Tongue, Impels to Prayer and Calls Forth a Divine Answer. ANALYSIS In Stanzas I. and II. (Psalms 12:1-4), the Petitioner Desc...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    _FOR THE OPPRESSION OF THE POOR, FOR THE SIGHING OF THE NEEDY, NOW WILL I ARISE, SAITH THE LORD; I WILL SET HIM IN SAFETY FROM HIM THAT PUFFETH AT HIM._ The Lord answers the complaint and prayer of f...

  • Darby's translation notes (1890)

    12:5 puff. (k-30) Lit. 'one puffeth.' see Psalms 10:5 ....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    BOOK 1 The Pss. in this book are probably among the earliest in the Psalter, and include most of those generally regarded as Davidic. They seem to have existed separately as an early hymn-book, which,...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    NOW WILL I ARISE] God's time for interposition always arrives sooner or later. The Psalmist pictures the proper moment as having come. _From him that_ PUFFETH, etc.] RV 'at whom they puff.'...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    Psalms 1:41 _GORDON CHURCHYARD_ Words in boxes are from the Bible. The notes explain some of the words with a *star by them. Tap the * before a word to show an explanation. The translated Bible tex...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    FOR THE OPPRESSION — _i.e._, on account of the oppression. Here, as in so many psalms and prophecies, we have an ancient oracle of God introduced. The poet first quotes it, and then in Psalms 12:6 con...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    _[Psalms 12:6]_ מִ שֹּׁ֥ד עֲנִיִּים֮ מֵ אַנְקַ֪ת...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    Psalms 12:1 ONE penalty of living near God is keen pain from low lives. The ears that hear God's word cannot but be stunned and hurt by the babble of empty speech. This psalm is profoundly melancholy,...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    GOD OUR REFUGE AND DEFENSE Psalms 11:1; Psalms 12:1 The first of these is a debate between fear and faith, and dates from Saul's persecutions. Timid friends, anxious for David's safety, urged him to...

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

    Out of a consciousness of the terrible evil of his times, the worshiper cries to Jehovah for help. The failure of godly men and faithful souls is always the gravest peril which can threaten a nation o...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    (d) For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will (e) set [him] in safety [from him that] puffeth at him. (d) The Lord is moved with the compl...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    What a blessed relief is here found in divine strength against human deceitfulness; and with what sweetness doth this verse come in to comfort every sorrowful soul, that is sighing and crying for the...

  • James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary

    _GOOD CHEER FOR BAD TIMES_ ‘Now will I arise, saith the Lord.’ Psalms 12:5 I. TIMES WERE BAD.—All society was tainted. Truth was nowhere: falseness everywhere. Men’s hearts were double. Flattering...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    5._Because of the spoiling of the needy. _David now sets before himself as matter of consolation, the truth that God will not suffer the wicked thus to make havoc without end and measure. The more eff...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    Such is the general basis of the godly man's confidence and walk; but they are not insensible to the evil, but can present it to the Lord. This is the subject of Psalms 12, "Help, Jehovah, for the god...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    FOR THE OPPRESSION OF THE POOR,.... The servants and people of God, who, for the most part, are poor in a temporal sense, and are all of them, and always, so in a spiritual sense, standing continually...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set [him] in safety [from him that] puffeth at him. Ver. 5. _For the oppression of the poor_] Wh...

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

    _For the oppression of the poor_ Because the poor that put their trust in me, and send up their prayers to me for help, are thus oppressed; _now will I arise, saith the Lord_ Speedily, sooner than the...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    For the oppression of the poor, those in misery and distress, FOR THE SIGHING OF THE NEEDY, NOW WILL I ARISE, SAITH THE LORD, as the almighty Avenger of wrong; I WILL SET HIM, the poor and downtrodden...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    PRAYER FOR GOD'S PROTECTION OF HIS CHURCH. This psalm again shows a prophetical strain; it is applicable throughout to the little flock, the poor, small crew of the Christian Church, in its many vici...

  • Marginal Notes in the King James Version (1611)

    PUFFETH AT HIM: Or, would ensnare him...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    FOR THE OPPRESSION OF THE POOR; oppressed by Saul through the instigation and artifices of his fawning courtiers. NOW; speedily, sooner than they imagine or expect. _From him that puffeth at him_, i.e...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Psalms 12:5 oppression H7701 poor H6041 sighing H603 needy H34 arise H6965 (H8799) says H559 (H8799) LORD...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    ‘Because of the oppression of the poor, Because of the sighing of the needy, Now will I arise, says YHWH, I will set him in the safety that he pants for.' But they should recognise that YHWH sees a...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Psalms 12:1. _Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men._ The Psalm speaks of a very discouraging time, and records a very dreary fact, but the psalm...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Psalms 12:1. _Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men._ One might have thought that David still lived among us, his cry is so timely, so exactly tr...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: A prayer for help against oppressors. CHARACTERS: God, David. CONCLUSION: The believer is commonly tempted to think that because trouble has lasted long, it will last always, but if he wil...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Psalms 12:1. _Help, Lord; for the godly,_ Hebrews חסיד _chasid,_ the merciful _man ceaseth._ The true reading is preferable, because it joins piety with usefulness. In this manner David is thought to...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, with the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him._ THE POOR SET IN SAFETY God’s family in all age...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth._ --This, according to the title, is one of David’s Psalms; but there is nothing in the circumstances, so far as we know them, of his history, which can lead us...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    PSALM PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 12:1. This is a community lament, describing a time when liars are in positions of authority. ⇐...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 12:5 True Israelites will not oppress the POOR and NEEDY but will care for them (see Deuteronomy 15:11;...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    INTRODUCTION “This, according to the title, is one of David’s psalms, but there is nothing in the circumstances, so far as we know them, of his history which can lead us to associate the psalm with an...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION ANOTHER Davidical psalm, both according to the title and to the general opinion of critics; said (like Psalms 6:1.) to be "upon Sheminith"—an expression of uncertain meaning. It consists of...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    The chief musician upon octaves, the psalm of David. Psalms 12:1-8. Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men (Psalms 12:1). Remember when Elijah sai...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    Ecclesiastes 4:1; Ecclesiastes 5:8; Exodus 2:23; Exodus 2:24; Exodus 3:7

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    Puffeth — From him that despises him, and hopes to destroy him with a puff of breath....

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