PSALM LXVIII _The psalmist calls upon God to arise, bless his people, and_ _scatter his enemies_, 1-3; _exhorts them to praise him for has greatness, tenderness,_ _compassion, and judgments_, 4-6; _describes the grandeur of his march when he went forth in the_ _redemption of his people_, 7, 8;... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:4. _EXTOL HIM THAT RIDETH UPON THE HEAVENS BY HIS NAME JAH_] "Extol him who sitteth on the throne of glory, in the ninth heaven; YAH is his name; and rejoice before him." - _Targum_. בערבות baaraboth, which we render _in the high heavens_, is _here_ of doubtful signification. As it... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:6. _THE SOLITARY IN FAMILIES_] יחדים _yechidim_, the _single_ _persons_. Is not the meaning, God is the Author of marriage; and children, the legal fruit of it, are an inheritance from him?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:7. _O GOD, WHEN THOU WENTEST FORTH_] This and the following verse most manifestly refer to the passage of the Israelites through the wilderness.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:9. _DIDST SEND A PLENTIFUL RAIN_] גשם נדבות _geshem nedaboth_, a _shower of liberality_. I believe this to refer to the _manna_ by which God refreshed and preserved alive the weary and hungry Israelites.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:10. _THY CONGREGATION HATH DWELT THEREIN_] חיתך _chaiyathecha, thy living creature_; τα ζωα, _Septuagint; animalia,_ _Vulgate_; so all the Versions. Does not this refer to the _quails_ that were brought to the camp of the Israelites, and _dwelt_, as it were, _round about it_? And was... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:11. _GREAT_ WAS _THE COMPANY OF THOSE THAT PUBLISHED IT._] המבשרות צבא רב _hammebasseroth tsaba rab_; "Of the female preachers there was a great host." Such is the literal translation of this passage; the reader may make of it what he pleases. Some think it refers to the _women_ who,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:12. _KINGS OF ARMIES DID FLEE_] _Jabin_ and the kings of the Canaanites, who united their forces to overwhelm the Israelites. _AND SHE_] Deborah the prophetess, a _woman_ accustomed to _tarry at_ _home_, and take care of the family; she divided the spoils, and vanquished their kings... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:13. _THOUGH YE HAVE LIEN AMONG THE POTS_] The prophet is supposed here to address the tribes of _Reuben_ and _Gad_, who remained in their _inheritances_, occupied with _agricultural,_ _maritime_, and _domestic affairs_, when the other tribes were obliged to go against _Jabin_, and t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:15. _THE HILL OF GOD_ IS AS _THE HILL OF BASHAN_] This and the following verse should be read thus: "Is Mount Bashan the craggy mount, Mount Bashan, the mount of God? Why envy ye, ye craggy mounts? This is the mount of God in which he has desired to dwell." The _Targum_ countenances... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:16. _WHY LEAP YE, YE HIGH HILLS?_] "God said, Why leap ye, ye high hills? It is not pleasing to me to give my law upon high and towering hills. Behold, Mount Sinai is low; and the WORD of the Lord has desired to place on it the Divine majesty. Moreover, the Lord dwells for ever in th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:17. _THE CHARIOTS OF GOD_ ARE _TWENTY THOUSAND_] רבתים אלפי שנאן _ribbothayim alpey shinan_, "two myriads of thousands doubled." Does not this mean simply _forty thousand_? A myriad is 10,000; two myriads, 20,000; these doubled, 40,000. Or thus: 10,000 + 10,000 + 20,000 = 40,000. The... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:18. _THOU HAST ASCENDED ON HIGH_] When the ark had reached the top of Sion, and was deposited in the place assigned for it, the singers joined in the following chorus. This seems to be an allusion to a _military triumph_. The conqueror was placed on a very elevated chariot. _LED CAP... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:19. _BLESSED_ BE _THE LORD_, WHO _DAILY LOADETH US_] With benefits is not in the text. Perhaps it would be better to translate the clause thus: "Blessed be Adonai, our Prop day by day, who supports us." Or, "Blessed be the Lord, who supports us day by day." Or as the _Vulgate, Septu... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:20. _THE ISSUES FROWN DEATH._] The _going out_ or _exodus_ from _death _- from the land of Egypt and house of bondage. Or the expression may mean, Life and death are in the hand of God. "He can create, and he destroy.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:21. _THE HAIRY SCALP_] קדקד שער _kodkod sear_. Does this mean any thing like the Indian _scalping_? Or does it refer to a _crest_ on a _helmet_ or _headcap_? I suppose the latter.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:22. _FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA_] All this seems to speak of the defeat of the Egyptians, and the miraculous passage of the Red Sea.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:23. _THAT THY FOOT MAY BE DIPPED IN THE BLOOD_] God will make such a slaughter among his enemies, the Amorites, that thou shalt walk over their dead bodies; and beasts of prey shall feed upon them.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:24. _THEY HAVE SEEN THY GOINGS_] These kings of the Amorites have seen thy terrible majesty in their discomfiture, and the slaughter of their subjects.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:25. _THE SINGERS WENT BEFORE_] This verse appears to be a description of the procession.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:26. _BLESS YE GOD_] This is what they sung.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:27. _THERE_ IS _LITTLE BENJAMIN_] This is a description of another part of the procession.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:28. _THY GOD HATH COMMANDED_] This and the following verses is what they sung.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:30. _REBUKE THE COMPANY OF SPEARMEN_] חית קנה _chaiyath_ _kaneh, the wild beast of the reed_-the _crocodile_ or _hippopotamus_, the emblem of Pharaoh and the Egyptians; thus all the _Versions_. Our translators have mistaken the meaning; but they have put the true sense in the _margin... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:31. _ETHIOPIA SHALL SOON STRETCH OUT HER HANDS UNTO GOD._] This verse had its literal fulfilment under Solomon, when Egypt formed an alliance with that king by his marriage with Pharaoh's daughter; and when the queen of Sheba came to Jerusalem to hear the wisdom of Solomon. But as t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:32. _SING UNTO GOD_] All the inhabitants of the earth are invited to sing unto God, to acknowledge him as their God, and give him the praise due to his name.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:33. _RIDETH UPON THE HEAVENS_] He who manages the heavens, directing their course and influence, he formed every orb, ascertained its motion, proportioned its solid contents to the orbit in which it was to revolve, and the other bodies which belong to the same system. As an able and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:34. _HIS STRENGTH_ IS _IN THE CLOUDS._] This refers to the bursting, rattling, and pounding of thunder and lightning; for all nations have observed that this is an irresistible agent; and even the most enlightened have looked on it as an especial manifestation of the power and sovere... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 68:35. _O GOD_, THOU ART _TERRIBLE OUT OF THY HOLY PLACES_] The sanctuary and heaven. Out of the former he had often shone forth with consuming splendour; see the case of Korah and his company: out of the latter he had often appeared in terrible majesty in storms, thunder, lightning, c.... [ Continue Reading ]