1. A Song. A Psalm. By Asaph. To the general description (mimor), there is here prefixed a more specific one (shir), which designates the composition as a song of praise or triumph. The same combination occurs above, in the title of Ps. xlviii., a composition which, as we have there seen, was probably occasioned by the victory of Jehoshaphat over the Moabites, Ammonites, and their confederates, as described in 2 Chron. xx. This agrees well with the hypothesis, conclusively maintained by Hengstenberg, that the psalm before us has relation to the same event, and that as the forty-seventh was probably sung upon the field of battle, and the forty-eighth after the triumphant return to Jerusalem, so the eighty-third was composed in confident anticipation of the victory. The points of agreement with the history will be indicated in the exposition of the several verses. After a general petition for divine help, ver. 2 (1), follows a description of the violence, craft, destructive purpose, and extensive combination of the enemies of Judah, ver. 3-9 (2-8), and then an earnest prayer for the renewal of God’s ancient deeds in similar emergencies, ver. 10-15 (9-14), •with a view to the promotion of his glory in the destruction of his irreconcilable enemies, ver. 16-19 (15-18). According to the view of the historical occasion above given, the Asaph of the title must denote some descendant of the ancient seer, as it seems to do in several of the preceding psalms. Now it happens, by a singular coincidence, that in the history (2 Chron. xx. 14), such a descendant is particularly mentioned, Jahaziel, upon whom the Spirit of the Lord came in the midst of the assembly, and prompted him to take a leading part in the preliminary movements which resulted in the triumph of Judah (ib. ver. 15-18). Compare the similar coincidence in reference to the Sons of Korah, as the authors of Ps. xlviii. p. 213.
2 (1). 0 God, he not silent, hold not thy peace, and be not still, 0 Mighty (One)! This is a general introductory petition, that God would not remain inactive and indifferent to the dangers which environed his own people. The peculiar form of expression in the first clause, let there not (be) silence to thee, is copied by Isaiah (lxii. 6, 7). The next phrase is one that has occurred repeatedly before. See Ps. xxviii. 1, xxxv. 22, xxxix. 13 (12). The third petition, be not still or quiet, rest not, has the same relation to act that the others have to w^ord or speech. The use of this divine name (7^<) involves an appeal to God’s omnipotence, as furnishing a reason for his interference. Why should He who is Almighty remain silent and inactive, when his people are in danger and his enemies apparently triumphant?
3 (2). For lo, thine enemies roar, and thy haters raise the head. The general prayer in the preceding verse is now enforced by a description of the danger, beginning with the violence and confidence of the assailants. The lo is equivalent to see there, and converts the passage into a description of a present scene. The enemies of Israel are, as usual, identified with those of God, as a reason why he should appear for their destruction. The first verb means to make a noise, and is applied to the roar of the sea in Ps. xlvi. 4 (3), as it is to the howl of dogs in Ps. lix. 7 (6), and to internal commotions in Ps. xxxix. 7 (6), xlii. 6, 12 (5, 11). Lift up the head, as a natural indication of confidence and triumph. Compare the description of a conquered people, Judges viii. 28.
4 (3). Against thy people they take crafty counsel, and consult against thy hidden ones. To the qualities of violence and arrogance, the description now adds that of treacherous cunning. The construction in the first clause is, they make (their) consultation crafty. For the meaning of the Hebrew noun see above, on Ps. xxv. 14, lv. 15 (14), lxiv. 3 (2). Thy hidden ones, those whom thou hast hidden for safe-keeping, the objects of thy merciful protection. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 5, xxxi. 21 (20).
5 (4). They have said, Come and let us destroy them from (being) a nation^ and let not the name of Israel be remembered any more. Not only were they turbulent and confident and crafty, but malignant and determined to destroy. The past tense of the first verb represents the combination as already formed. The idiomatic phrase, from a nation, is used more than once by Isaiah (vii. 8, xxiii. 1). The expression for complete extirpation in the last clause is borrowed from the curse on Amalek, Exod. xvii, 14. Israel, as the name of the chosen people, was rightfully claimed by Judah after the great schism, even while the rival kingdom still existed.
6 (5). Fur they have consulted heartily together; against thee a covenant they ratify. The word translated heartily is really a noun meaning heart, but here used to qualify the verb by adding the idea, with the heart, ex animo, cordially, heartily. The phrase rendered one heart in 1 Chron. xii. 38, is altogether different. For the meaning of the last verb, see above, on Ps. 1. 5. The preterite and future tense represent the combination as already formed and still continued.
7 (6). The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagarenes. The use of the word tents does not necessarily imply a wandering mode of life, as it may mean military tents, or be a figure for dwellings. See above, on Ps. lxxviii. 67, and compare Judges vii. 8, 1 Kings xii. 16. The Ishmaelites inhabited a part of Desert Arabia (Gen. xxv. 18), as did also the Hagarenes or Hagarites, a people driven from their lands by the tribe of Simeon in the reign of Saul. See 1 Chron. v. 10, 19-22, and compare 1 Chron. xi. 38, xxvii. 31.
8 (7). Gebal and Amnion and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre. Gebal was probably a part of Idumea. Ammon and Amalek are joined in the same manner, Judges iii. 13, as Philistia and Tyre are, Ezek. xxxviii. 13, and Philistia, Tyre, and Edom, Amos i. 6-10.
9 (8). Also Assyria was joined with them. (These) were an arm to the Sons of Lot. Selah. Assyria is put last, as the remotest and least interested in this combination against Judah. It had evidently not yet supplanted Babylonia as the dominant power of Western Asia. The last clause refers, not merely to Assyria, as the plural verb shews, but to all the confederates except the Sons of Lot, i. e. Moab and Ammon (Gen. xix. 37, 38), who are here referred to, as the authors and conductors of the expedition.
10 (9). Do to them as (thou didst) to Midian, as (to) Suera, as (to) Jabin, in the valley of the Kishon. This is a prayer for such deliverances as Israel experienced of old. The examples here selected are the victory of Gideon over the Midianites (Judges vii. viii.), and that of Deborah and Barak over Jabin and Sisera (Judges iv. v.) Between the first of these and the event which the psalm before us was designed to celebrate, there was this remarkable resemblance, that the enemies of Israel were in both cases made to destroy each other (Judges vii. 22, 2 Chron. xx. 23). Compare the allusions to the same event in Isa. ix. 4 (3), Hab. iii. 7. The Kishon is repeatedly mentioned in the history of Deborah and Barak’s triumph (Judges iv. 7, 13, v. 21).
11 (10). They were destroyed at Endor, they were dung to the earth. This refers to the second of the battles mentioned in the preceding verse. Endor is not expressly named in the history, but is known to have been in the vicinity of Tabor, which is repeatedly there mentioned (Judges iv. 6, 12, 14). The last clause derives illustration from the extraordinary fruitfulness of certain battle-fields in modern times, particularly that of Waterloo. Compare 2 Kings ix. 37, Jer. ix. 21 (22).
12 (11). Make them, (even) their nobles, like Oreb and like Zeeb; and like Zebah and like Zalmunnah all their princes. He asks not only that the masses of the enemy may fare like those of Midian, but that their chief men may be utterly destroyed as the kings and chiefs of Midian were by Gideon, See Judges vii. 25, viii. 5-21. The appeal to the historical associations of the people is greatly strengthened by this recital of familiar names. The first word properly means set or place them, i. e. put them in the same condition.
13 (12). Who have said, let us inherit for ourselves the dwellings (orpasturegrounds) of God. This relates not to the former but to the present enemies of Israel, and assigns the reason why they should experience the same fate with their predecessors. The double meaning of the word translated dwellings makes it peculiarly descriptive of the Holy Land, where God dwelt with his people, and where he fed them as a shepherd. See above, on Ps. xxiii. 3, lxv. 13 (12), kxiv. 20.
14 (13). My God, make them like the whirling chaff before the wind. Make them, literally place them, as in ver. 11. Like the whirling chaff, literally like the whirl (or whirlwind), like the chaff. See above, on Ps. lxxvii. 19 (18), and compare Isa. xvii. 13.
15 (14). As fire consumes a forest, and as a fame kindles mountains. The original construction is like a fire (which) consumes, like a flame (which) kindles. By mountains we are here to understand what covers them or grows upon them.
16 (15). So wilt thou pursue them with thy storm, and with thy tempest scare them. There is no need of translating these futures as imperatives. It is one of those cases, so frequent in Hebrew, and especially in this book, where the form of direct petition alternates with that of confident anticipation.
17 (16). Fill their face with shame, and (men) will seek thy name, Jehovah! With the first clause compare Ps. lxix. 8 (7), lxxxix. 46 (46). Some refer the last clause also to the enemies; but their destruction is still anticipated in the next verse, and to seek the name of God can hardly be expressive of a compulsory humiliation. The word translated shame is very strong, and means contempt, disgrace, or ignominy.
18 (17). They shall be shamed and terror-stricken to eternity, and blush and perish. This no doubt includes a prayer or the expression of a wish, but it also includes a strong and confident anticipation. To discard the future form is therefore at the same time weakening to the sense and destructive of a characteristic feature of the language. With the first clause compare Ps. vi. 11 (10). The word translated terror-stricken is the same that was rendered scared in ver. 16 (15). See above, on Ps. ii. 5, vi. 4 (3), xlviii. 6 (5).
19 (18). And (men) shall know that thou, whose name (/s) Jehovah, (art) alone Most High over all the earth. The reference here, as in ver. 17 (16), is not to the impression made upon the minds of those destroyed, but upon men in general considered as spectators of their fate. See above, on Ps. lix. 14 (13), and compare 1 Sam. xvii. 46, 2 Kings xix. 19, Isa. xxxvii. 16, 20. The original construction is peculiar: “ they shall know that thou —thy name Jehovah—thou alone—art Most High over all the earth.” The simple pronoun t.hoii is explained and amplified by the addition of the words, thy name Jehovah, i. e. thou who hast revealed thyself already as the self-existent and eternal God, and as the coa onant God of Israel.
