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Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Psalms 78

Psalms 78:1

PSALM LXXVIII _An enumeration of the principal effects of the goodness of God_ _to his people_, 1-16; _of their rebellions and punishment_, 17-33; _their feigned repentance_, 34-37; _God's compassion towards them_, 38, 39; _their backsliding, and forgetfulness of his mercy_, 40-42; _the plagu... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:2

Verse Psalms 78:2. _IN A PARABLE_] Or, I will give you _instruction_ by numerous _examples_; see Psalms 49:1, which bears a great similarity to this; and see the notes there. The term _parable_, in its various acceptations, has already been sufficiently explained; but משל _mashal_ may here mean _exa... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:4

Verse Psalms 78:4. _WE WILL NOT HIDE_ THEM] In those ancient times there was very _little reading_, because _books_ were exceedingly scarce; _tradition_ was therefore the only, or nearly the only, means of preserving the memory of past events. They were handed down from father to son by _parables_ o... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:5

Verse Psalms 78:5. _A TESTIMONY IN JACOB_] This may signify the various _ordinances, rites_, and _ceremonies_ prescribed by the law; and the word _law_ may mean the _moral_ law, or system of religious _instruction_, teaching them their duty to God, to their neighbour, and to themselves. These were... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:9

Verse Psalms 78:9. _THE CHILDREN OF EPHRAIM - TURNED BACK_] This refers to some defeat of the Ephraimites; and some think to that by the _men_ _of Gath_, mentioned 1 Chronicles 7:21. R. D. _Kimchi_ says this defeat of the Ephraimites was in the desert; and although the story be not mentioned in the... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:10

Verse Psalms 78:10. _THEY KEPT NOT THE COVENANT OF GOD_] They abandoned his worship, both _moral_ and _ritual_. They acted like the Ephraimites in the above case, who threw down their bows and arrows, and ran away.... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:12

Verse Psalms 78:12. _THE FIELD OF ZOAN._] "In campo Taneos," _Vulgate_. _Tanis_ was the capital of Pharaoh, where Moses wrought so many miracles. It was situated in the _Delta_, on one of the most easterly branches of the _Nile_. It was afterwards called _Thanis_; and from it the district was called... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:13

Verse Psalms 78:13. _HE DIVIDED THE SEA, AND CAUSED THEM TO PASS THROUGH_] The reader is requested to consult the notes on the parallel passages marked in the margin on this verse and Psalms 78:14, c., where all these miracles are largely explained.... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:18

Verse Psalms 78:18. _BY ASKING MEAT FOR THEIR LUST._] לנפשם _lenaphsham_, "for their souls," i.e., _for their lives_; for they said in their hearts that the _light bread_, the _manna_, was not sufficient to sustain their natural force, and preserve their lives. It seems, however, from the expression... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:22

Verse Psalms 78:22. _THEY BELIEVED NOT IN GOD_] After all the miracles they had seen, they were not convinced that there was a Supreme Being! and, consequently, they did _not trust in his salvation _- did not expect the _glorious rest_ which he had promised them. Their descendants in the present day... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:24

Verse Psalms 78:24. _THE CORN OF HEAVEN._] The _manna_. It fell about their camp in the form of seeds; and as it appeared to come down from the clouds, it was not improperly termed _heavenly corn_, or _heavenly grain_, דגן שמים degan shamayim. The word _shamayim_ is frequently taken to express the _... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:25

Verse Psalms 78:25. _MAN DID EAT ANGELS' FOOD_] לחם אבירים אכל איש _lechem_ _abbirim achal ish_, "Man did eat the bread of the mighty ones;" or, _each person ate_, c. They ate such bread as could only be expected at the tables of the _rich_ and _great_ the best, the most delicate food. How little d... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:32

Verse Psalms 78:32. _FOR ALL THIS THEY SINNED STILL_] How astonishing is this! They were neither _drawn_ by _mercies_, nor _awed_ by _judgments_! But we shall cease to wonder at this, if we have a thorough acquaintance with our own hearts.... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:33

Verse Psalms 78:33. _THEIR DAYS DID HE CONSUME IN VANITY_] By causing them to wander forty years in the wilderness, _vainly expecting_ an end to their labour, and the enjoyment of the promised rest, which, by their rebellions, they had forfeited.... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:34

Verse Psalms 78:34. _WHEN HE SLEW THEM_] While his judgments were upon them, then they began to humble themselves, and deprecate his wrath. When they saw some fall, the rest began to tremble.... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:35

Verse Psalms 78:35. _THAT GOD_ WAS _THEIR ROCK_] They recollected in their affliction that Jehovah was their _Creator_, and their _Father_; the _Rock_, the _Source_, not only of their _being_, but of all their _blessings_; or, that he was their sole _Protector_. _AND THE HIGH GOD THEIR REDEEMER._]... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:36

Verse Psalms 78:36. _NEVERTHELESS THEY DID FLATTER HIM WITH THEIR MOUTH_] What idea could such people have of God, whom they supposed they could thus deceive? They promised well, they called him their God, and their fathers' God; and told him how good, and kind, and merciful he had been to them. Thu... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:37

Verse Psalms 78:37. _THEIR HEART WAS NOT RIGHT_] When the _heart_ is _wrong_, the _life_ is _wrong_; and because their heart was not right with God, therefore they were not faithful in his covenant.... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:38

Verse Psalms 78:38. _BUT HE_, BEING _FULL OF COMPASSION_] Feeling for them as a _father_ for his children. _FORGAVE_ THEIR _INIQUITY_] יחפר _yechapper_, made an _atonement_ for their iniquity. _AND DID NOT STIR UP ALL HIS WRATH._] Though they often grieved his Spirit, and rebelled against him, yet... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:39

Verse Psalms 78:39. _HE REMEMBERED THAT THEY_ WERE BUT _FLESH_] Weak mortals. He took their feeble perishing state always into _consideration_, and knew how much they needed the whole of their state of _probation_; and therefore he bore with them to the uttermost. How merciful is God! _A WIND THAT... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:41

Verse Psalms 78:41. _LIMITED THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL._] The _Chaldee_ translates, "And the Holy One of Israel they signed with a sign." The Hebrew word התוו _hithvu_ is supposed to come from the root תוה _tavah_, which signifies to _mark_; and hence the letter ת _tau_, which in the ancient Hebrew cha... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:47

Verse Psalms 78:47. _HE DESTROYED THEIR VINES WITH HAIL_] Though the _vine_ was never plentiful in Egypt, yet they have some; and the wine made in that country is among the most delicious. The _leaf_ of the vine is often used by the Egyptians of the present day for wrapping up their mince-meat, whic... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:49

Verse Psalms 78:49. _BY SENDING EVIL ANGELS_] This is the first mention we have of _evil angels_. There is no mention of them in the account we have of the plagues of Egypt in the Book of Exodus, and what they were we cannot tell: but by what the psalmist says here of their operations, they were th... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:54

Verse Psalms 78:54. _THE BORDER OF HIS SANCTUARY_] קדשו _kodsho_, "of his holy place," that is, the _land of Canaan_, called afterwards _the_ _mountain_ which _his right hand had purchased_; because it was a _mountainous country_, widely differing from Egypt, which was a long, continued, and almost... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:57

Verse Psalms 78:57. _THEY WERE TURNED ASIDE LIKE A DECEITFUL BOW._] The eastern bow, which when at rest is in the form of a [curved figure 'C'], must be _recurved_, or _turned the contrary way_, in order to be what is called _bent_ and _strung_. If a person who is unskilful or weak attempt to _recu... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:60

Verse Psalms 78:60. _HE FORSOOK THE TABERNACLE OF SHILOH_] The Lord, offended with the people, and principally with the _priests_, who had profaned his holy worship, gave up his ark into the hands of the Philistines. And so true it is that he _forsook the tabernacle_ _of Shiloh_, that he never retu... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:63

Verse Psalms 78:63. _THEIR MAIDENS WERE NOT GIVEN TO MARRIAGE._] הוללו _hullalu_, were not celebrated with marriage songs. It is considered a calamity in the east if a maiden arrives at the age of _twelve years_ without being _sought_ or _given in marriage_.... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:64

Verse Psalms 78:64. _THEIR PRIESTS FELL BY THE SWORD_] Hophni and Phinehas, who were slain in that unfortunate battle against the Philistines in which the ark of the Lord was taken, 1 Samuel 4:11. A Chaldee _Targum_ on this passage says, "In the time in which the ark of the Lord was taken by the Ph... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:65

Verse Psalms 78:65. _THEN THE LORD AWAKED_] He seemed as if he had totally disregarded what was done to his people, and the reproach that seemed to fall on himself and his worship by the capture of the ark. _LIKE A MIGHTY MAN_] כגבור _kegibbor, like a hero that shouteth by_ _reason of wine_. One wh... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:66

Verse Psalms 78:66. _HE SMOTE HIS ENEMIES IN THE HINDER PART_] This refers to the _hemorrhoids_ with which he afflicted the Philistines. See the note on 1 Samuel 5:6.... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:69

Verse Psalms 78:69. _HE BUILT HIS SANCTUARY LIKE HIGH PALACES_] כמו רמים _kemo ramim_, which several of the _Versions_ understand of the _monoceros_ or _rhinoceros_. The temple of God at Jerusalem was the _only one_ in the land, and stood as _prominent_ on Mount Zion as the horn of the unicorn or rh... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:71

Verse Psalms 78:71. _FROM FOLLOWING THE EWES_] Instances of this kind are not unfrequent in the ancient Greek and Roman history. _Croesus_ said that _Gyges_, who was the first of his race, was a _slave_, and rose to _sovereignty_, succeeding his predecessor, _of whose sheep he_ _had been the pastor_... [ Continue Reading ]

Psalms 78:72

Verse Psalms 78:72. _SO HE FED THEM_] Here David is mentioned as _having_ _terminated his reign_. He _had_ fed the people, _according to the_ _integrity of his heart_, for that was ever disposed to do the will of God in the administration of the kingdom: and his _hand_ being _skilful_ in war, he alw... [ Continue Reading ]

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