This psalm consists of three parts; a complaint of slanderous and malignant enemies, ver. 1-5; a prayer for the punishment of such, ver. 6-20; and a prayer for the sufferer’s own deliverance, with a promise of thanksgiving, vcr. 21-31. According to the theory repeatedly referred to, this is the second psalm of a Davidic trilogy. See above, on Ps. cviii. This psalm is remarkable on two accounts: first, as containing the most striking instances of what are called the imprecations of the psalms; and then, as having been applied in the most explicit manner to the sufferings of our Saviour from the treachery of Judas, and to the miserable fate of the latter. These two peculiarities are perhaps more closely connected than they may at first sight seem. Perhaps the best solution of the first is that afforded by the second, or at least by the hypothesis, that the Psalmist, under the direction of the Spirit, viewed the sufferings of Israel, which furnished the occasion of the psalm, as a historical type of the Messiah’s sufferings from the treachery of Judas, representing that of Judah, and that with this view he expresses his abhorrence of the crime, and acquiesces in the justice of its punishment, in stronger terms than would have been, or are elsewhere, employed in reference to ordinary criminals.
1. To the Chief Musician. By David. A Psalm. God of my praise^ he not silent. The first inscription was particularly necessary here, because the psalm might otherwise have seemed to be a mere expression of strong personal feeling. See above, on Ps. li. 1. God of my praise, i. e. the object of it, whom I delight, or am accustomed, or have cause, to praise. Be not.silent means not merely do not refuse to cnsicer, but amidst the threats and railings of my enemies, let thy voice be heard also. See above, on Ps. xxviii. 1, xxxv. 22, xxxix. 13 (12).
2. For a wicked mouth and a mouth of deceit they have opened; they have spoken against me with a tongue of falsehood. Compare Ps. xxxv. 11, lv. 4 (3). The subject of the first verb is his enemies, and not the nouns preceding, as the verb translated open is elsewhere always active. Against me, literally with me, implying that they charged him falsely to his face, a circumstance remarkably fulfilled in Christ. See Mat. xxvi. 59.
3. And with words of hatred they have compassed me, and have fought against me without cause. See above, on Ps. xxxv. 20, xxxvi. 4 (3.)
4. In return for my love they are my adversaries—and I (am) prayer. The fii-st word in Hebrew strictly means instead or in lieu of. The unusual expression at the end can only mean, I am all prayer, I do nothing but pray, which some understand to signify, I bear their persecution meekly and continue my devotions undisturbed by their calumnies and insults. But as the whole context is descriptive, not of the sufferer’s behaviour but of his enemies’, a more probable sense is, I am forced to be continually praying for protection against them and deliverance from them.
5. T/iey lay upon me evil instead of good, and hatred instead of love. The first verb literally means they set or place. Instead of the good and the love which they owed me, or in return for my kindness and love to them, as in ver. 4.
6. Appoint thou over him a wicked one, and let an adversary stand upon his right hand. The first verb in Hebrew means to place one in authority or charge over another. See Gen. xxxix. 5, xli.34. Num. i. 50, and compare Lev. xxvi. 16, Jer. xv. 3. Wicked one and adversary (Satan), although here used as appellatives or common nouns, are the very terms applied, in the later scripture to the Evil Spirit, or the Devil. See Job i. 6, ii. 1, 1 Chron. xxi. 1, Zech. iii. 1, 2. In the place last cited he stands too at the right hand of the sinner to accuse him. The change of number in the verse before us might, in conformity with usage, be explained as a mere difference of form, the ideal person denoted by the singular being really the type and representative of the whole class denoted by the plural. But the constancy with which the change, in this case, is adhered to, rather favours the conclusion, that a real individual is meant, to whom the Psalmist turns from the promiscuous crowd of his oppressors. For a similar transition, see above, on Ps. lv. 13 (12).
7. When he is tried he shall go forth guilty^ and his prayer shall Je Jbr sin. The future meaning of the second verb is determined by the form of the third, which is not apocopated, as in ver. 12, 13. When he is tried, literally, in his being tried. The next phrase simply means that he shall be condemned; the last clause, that his very prayer for mercy shall be reckoned as a new offence, a strong description of extreme judicial rigour and inexorable justice.
8. Let his days be few—his office let another take. The word translated office is a collateral derivative of the verb at the beginning of ver. 6, and means commission, charge. This expression makes it still more probable that a real individual is referred to, as the possession of a charge or office could not be common to the whole class of malignant enemies. The Septuagint version is ivtaxoirriv, oversight or supervision, corresponding exactly to the meaning of the Hebrew verb in ver. 6. This translation is retained in Acts i. 20, where the verse before us is expressly quoted by Peter as “ written in the book of Psalms,” and applied to the case of Judas Iscariot.
9. Let his sons be orphans and his wife a widow. He here passes from the person of the criminal to the sufferings of those dependent on him, See Exod. xx. 5.
10. And wander—wander—let his sons and beg, and seek (their food)/rom (among) their ruins. The emphatic repetition of the first verb is expressed in the English Bible, by a paraphrase, let his children be continually vagabonds. The last clause is extremely graphic, representing them as creeping forth in search of food from amidst the ruins of their habitations.
11. Let a creditor entrap all he has, and strangers plunder (the fruit of) his labour. The first noun originally means a lender, but in usage has the accessory sense of a hard creditor, an extortioner. The verb means to lay a snare for, as in Ps. xxxviii. 19 (12.) Strangers, not his natural heirs, not members of his family. See Deut. xxv. 5.
12. Let there he no one to him extending mercy, and let there be no one shewing favour to his orphans. The verb translated extend literally means draw out, prolong, and is applied to the continued indulgence both of hostile and amicable feelings. See above, on Ps. xxviii. 3, xxxvi. 11 (10), lxxxv. 6 (5). Shewing favour, exercising mercy, as in Ps xxxvii. 21.
13. Let his posterity be cut off; in the next generation, blotted out be their name. The word for posterity strictly means futurity, after part, or latter end. See above, Ps. xxxvii. 37^ 38. Cut off, literally for cutting off. The next or.after generation, as in Ps. xlviii. 14 (13). The plural pronoun their refers to the collective noun posterity.
14. Let the guilt of his fathers be remembered by Jehovah, and his mother’s sin not blotted out. This is perhaps the most fearful imprecation in the psalm, as it extends the consequences of transgression, not merely to the children, who might naturally be expected to partake of them, but to the parents. It is not to be forgotten, however, that in all such cases, the personal guilt of the implicated parties is presupposed, and not inferred from their connection with the principals. Remembered by (literally to) Jehovah, which may possibly mean brought to his remembrance, recalled to mind by another, perhaps by the accuser before mentioned.
15. Let them he before Jehovah always, and let him cut off from the earth their memory. The subject of the first clause is the guilt and sin mentioned in the verse preceding. Be/ore Jehovah, in his sight, an object of attention to him. See above, Ps. xc. 8. With the last clause compare Ps. ix. 7, (6), xxxiv. 17 (16).
16. Because that he did not remember to do mercy, and persecuted an afflicted and poor man, and one smitten in heart, to kill (him). There is an antithesis between the remember of this verse and the remembered of ver. 14. Though he did not remember mercy, G-od remembers guilt. The last phrase, to kill, denotes both the design and the extent of the malignant persecution which was deadly or to death. The object of the persecution is the psalmist himself, or the ideal person whom he represents. See ver. 22.
17. And he loved a curse, and it has come (ujwn) him; and he delighted not in blessing, and it has removed far from him. This verse contemplates the event as actually past. The optative meaning, given to the verbs in the English Bible, is as inconsistent with the form of the original as the future meaning given in the Prayer Book and the ancient versions.
18. And he has put on cursing as his garment, and it has come like water into his inside, and like oil into his bones. There is an obvious climax in this verse. That which is first described as the man’s exterior covering, is then said to be within him, first as water, then as oil or fat, first in the vessels of his body, then in his very bones. The general idea is that the curse, which he denounced and endeavoured to inflict on others, has taken possession of himself, both within and without. Compare Num. v. 22, 24, 27. The first clause admits of a different construction, which would make it descriptive of the crime and not the punishment. He put on cursing as his garment, and (now) it has come, &c. This construction introduces an antithesis, and thereby adds to the point of the sentence, and. is also recommended by the analogy of ver. 17.
19. Let it be to him as a garment (that) he wears, and for a belt let him always gird it. This is not a mere reiteration of the figure in the first clause of ver. 18, but conveys the additional idea of a habitual and constant presence. The word belt is used in the translation of the last clause, because the Hebrew word to which it corresponds is not the usual derivative of the verb that follows, but etymologically unconnected with it.
20. (Be) this the wages of my adversaries from Jehovah, and of those speaking evil against my soul. The pronoun this in the first clause refers to the whole preceding series of denunciations. The word translated wages means originally work, and secondarily the price or recompence of work or labour, and is so used in the law of Moses. See Lev. xix. 13. It is here peculiarly appropriate, because it represents the misfortunes of his enemies as the direct finit of their own misconduct. No single word in English can express this double meaning of the Hebrew. Such is their work and such their wages. The word translated adversaries is a cognate form to that used in ver. 6, and might suggest the idea of my Satans; but this would probably convey too much. From Jehovah, their reward or recompence to be expected from him, or already bestowed by him. The description in the last clause includes insult, slander, and malicious plotting.
21. And thou, Jehovah, Lord, do with me for thy names sake, because good is thy mercy set me free. The emphatic thou at the beginning indicates a contrast between God and his oppressors. Do with me is a common English phrase meaning deal with me, dispose of me; but no such idiom exists in Hebrew, and the best authorities regard the construction as elliptical, and make it mean, do kindness (or shew mercy) to me. With the last clause compare Ps. lxiii. 4 (3), lxix. 17 (16).
22. For afflicted and poor (am) I, and my heart is wounded within me. This, though indefinite in form, is equivalent to sa}’ing, I am the afflicted and poor man whom the malignant adversary persecuted, as was said, in ver. 16. The word translated wounded strictly means pierced or perforated, a stronger expression than the one in ver. 16. With the first clause compare Ps. xl- 18 (17), lxix. 30 (29).
23. Like a shadow at its turning I am gone; I am driven away like the locust. The first comparison is the same with that in Ps. cii. 12. Our idiom enables us to imitate the phrase / am gone, a passive which in Hebrew occurs only here. The other verb is rare, but its meaning is sufficiently determined by usage. The allusion here is to the violence with which a cloud of locusts in the east is scattered by the wind. Compare Exod. X. 19, Joel ii. 20, Nah. iii. 17.
24. My knees totter from fasting, and my flesh fails from fatness. The last phrase is obscure, but seems to mean from being fat, so that it is not fat; the privative usage of the preposition being very common. The sense thus put upon the verb is justified by the analogy of Isa. lviii. 11, where an equivalent expression is applied to failing waters. Some interpreters, however, insist upon retaining the strict sense both of verb and noun, and understand the clause to mean, my flesh lies or deceives the eye, by no longer appearing as it once did, or by seeming to exist when it is gone, from oil, i. e. from want of oil, because no longer taken care of and anointed. But no construction could well be more forced and far-fetched. It may also be objected that the external use of oil was to anoint the head on festive occasions, not to fatten the person or preserve the flesh.
25. And 1 have been a reproach to them, they see me, they shake their head. A reproach, an object of contempt, as in Ps. xxii. 7 (6), xxxi. 12 (11). As to the meaning of the gesture mentioned in the last clause, see above, on Ps. xxii. 8 (7).
26. Help me, Jehovah, my God, save me, according to thy mercy. The renewed description of his sufferings, in ver. 22-25, is followed by a renewed petition for deliverance, corresponding to that in ver. 21. According to thy mercy, i. e. in proportion to its greatness and the freeness with which it is exercised.
27. And they shall know that this (is) thy hand; thou, Jehovah, hast done it. The optative construction, let them know, and the subjunctive one, that they may know, are really involved in the more exact translation, they shall know. The subject of the verb may be men in general, or the persecuting adversaries in particular, more probably the latter, because they are referred to both before and after. This is thy hand, i. e. this deliverance is the product of thy power. Compare Ps. lix. 14 (13).
28. They will curse, and thou wilt bless; they have risen up, and shall be shamed, and thy servant shall be glad. The first clause, expressed in our idiom, would be, they may curse, but thou wilt bless. Risen up, i. e. against me, a favourite expression in the Psalms. Shamed, in the pregnant sense of being disappointed, defeated, confounded. Thy servant, i. e. I, as such, in that capacity or character.
29. Clothed shall my adversaries he with confusion, and dressed, as a robe, in their shame. This is not the mere expression of a wish, like that in ver. 18, which would here be out of place, but a confident anticipation, with which he concludes the psalm. Compare Ps. kxi. 13. The word translated robe denotes a garment reaching to the feet, and expresses therefore still more strongly the idea that his foes shall be completely covered with confusion.
80. / will thank Jehovah greatly with my mouth, and in the midst of many will I praise him. He vows that his thanksgiving shall not be merely mental or domestic, but audible and public. With the last clause compare Ps. xxii. 23 (22).
31. For he will stand at the right hand of a poor (man), to save (him) from the judges of his soul. This assigns the special reason of his promised praise. The verse is in strong contrast to ver. 6 above, especially if Satan be there taken as a proper name. The right hand here is not the place of honour but of protection. A poor man, as in ver. 16, means this poor man, i. e. me a poor man. Compare Ps. xxxiv. 7 (6). The last clause is correctly paraphrased in the common version, those that condemn his soul.
