Psalms 116
Psalms 116
Psalms 116
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Psalms 116
| v.1 | H157אָהַבQal · Perfect · IndicativeH8085שָׁמַעQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.10 | H539אָמַןHiphil · Perfect · IndicativeH1696דָבַרPiel · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortativeH6031עָנָהQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.11 | H559אָמַרQal · Perfect · IndicativeH3576כָּזַבQal · Participle |
| v.12 | H7725שׁוּבHiphil · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortative |
| v.13 | H5375נָשָׂאQal · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortativeH7121קָרָאQal · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortative |
| v.14 | H7999שָׁלַםPiel · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortative |
| v.16 | H6605פָּתַחPiel · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.17 | H2076זָבַחQal · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortativeH7121קָרָאQal · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortative |
| v.18 | H7999שָׁלַםPiel · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortative |
| v.19 | H1984הָלַלPiel · Imperative · Imperative |
| v.2 | H5186נָטָהHiphil · Perfect · IndicativeH7121קָרָאQal · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortative |
| v.3 | H4672מָצָאQal · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortative |
| v.4 | H7121קָרָאQal · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortative |
| v.5 | H7355רָחַםPiel · Participle |
| v.6 | H8104שָׁמַרQal · ParticipleH1809דָּלַלQal · Perfect · IndicativeH3467יָשַׁעHiphil · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.7 | H7725שׁוּבQal · Imperative · ImperativeH1580גָּמַלQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.8 | H2502חָלַץPiel · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.9 | H1980הָלַךְHithpael · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortative |
Aspect in Hebrew is grammatical form, not tense. Perfect = completed action; Imperfect = incomplete/ongoing. Stem modifies action type (Qal=simple, Niphal=passive, Piel=intensive).
Morphology: OSHB WLC (Open Scriptures, CC BY 4.0) · STEPBible TEHMC (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0)
Response to salvation belongs in the presence of God's people.
The phrase 'our God' joins personal testimony to communal belonging.
Gratitude includes keeping one's word before YHWH.
Prayer appeals to YHWH as the revealed covenant Lord.
Thanksgiving is expressed in forms ordered toward YHWH and His sanctuary.
The worshiper depends on YHWH to rescue his life.
God responds to weakness with compassionate care.
Inclining the ear poetically portrays God’s gracious attentiveness.
God's deliverance touches tears and emotional suffering as well as bodily danger.
YHWH rescues the speaker from mortal danger, grief, and collapse.
YHWH's saving action arises from His gracious character rather than human merit.
YHWH hears the voice and supplications of His worshiper.
Calling on YHWH's name remains central from crisis through public praise.
The life and death of YHWH's covenant-loyal people are weighty before Him.
YHWH is morally right and faithful even as He shows mercy.
The cup celebrates saving acts that belong to YHWH.
Canonical development contrasts human falsehood with God's unwavering truth.
Belief remains active even under severe affliction.
YHWH loosens bonds so that liberation becomes grateful service rather than autonomous self-rule.
Canonical development frames Christian self-offering as response to God's mercies rather than payment for salvation.
Canonical development locates the believer's deepest rest and salvation in Christ.
Divine benefits precede and exceed the worshiper's response.
The passage refuses to oppose divine graciousness and righteousness.
Detailed remembrance of rescue prepares grateful public response in the verses that follow.
Even thanksgiving remains an act of calling on YHWH rather than self-sufficiency.
Human beings are unreliable as ultimate grounds of confidence.
The speaker openly acknowledges being brought low.
The speaker’s love is relationally deepened through experienced divine attentiveness.
Even faithful people die, and their death is brought under YHWH's care rather than treated as meaningless.
Rest after deliverance prepares continued walking, speaking, and worship.
Past hearing produces continued calling rather than self-sufficiency.
Calling on YHWH is the proper response to both remembered mercy and present crisis.
Calling on YHWH spans both distress and gratitude.
The worshiper attributes continued life to divine action.
Life, tears, stability, and future walking are all placed under God's care.
YHWH guards vulnerable people without promising exemption from all harm.
Deliverance becomes known through embodied communal response.
The rescued life is summoned into settled repose grounded in God's action.
Canonical development assures that death will not finally separate those who belong to the Lord.
New-covenant worship responds to Christ's sufficient sacrifice with praise, thanksgiving, and obedient service.
YHWH rescues the speaker from a condition he cannot overcome himself.
Rescued life is lived consciously before YHWH.
Faith can address the self with truth drawn from remembered divine mercy.
The rescued worshiper gladly confesses belonging under YHWH's authority.
The realm of the dead functions as a poetic horizon of mortal danger.
Distress and sorrow coexist with faith and love for God.
The worship response is located in Israel's sanctuary and covenant city.
Faith speaks and interprets experience before God and community.
Deliverance produces concrete worship and sacrifice of gratitude.
Promises made before God are fulfilled publicly and faithfully.
Voluntary promises to God carry moral seriousness and must be fulfilled lawfully.
The worshiper receives grace first and then answers with obedience and praise.
C.F. Keil & F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–91) — public domain
The Biblical World
Passages
Chapter opening: Psalms 116:1-4
Psa 116:5-9 With “gracious” and “compassionate” is here associated, as in Psa 112:4, the term “righteous,” which comprehends within itself everything that Jahve asserts concerning Himself in Exo 34:6. from the words “and abundant in goodness and truth” onwards. His love is turned especially toward the simple (lxx τὰ νήπια, cf. Mat 11:25), who stand in need of His protection and give themselves over to it.
פּתאים, as in Pro 9:6, is a mode of writing blended out of פּתאים and פּתיים. The poet also has experienced this love in a time of impotent need. דּלּותי is accented on the ultima here, and not as in Psa 142:7 on the penult . The accentuation is regulated by some phonetic or rhythmical law that has not yet been made clear (vid. , on Job 19:17). יהושׁיע is a resolved Hiphil form, the use of which became common in the later period of the language, but is not alien to the earlier period, especially in poetry (Ps 45:18, cf.
Psa 81:6; 1Sa 17:47; Isa 52:5). In Psa 116:7 we hear the form of soliloquy which has become familiar to us from Psa 42:1; Ps 103. שׁוּבי is Milra here, as also in two other instances. The plural מנוּחים signifies full, complete rest, as it is found only in God; and the suffix in the address to the soul is ajchi for ajich , as in Psa 103:3-5. The perfect גּמל states that which is a matter of actual experience, and is corroborated in Psa 116:8 in retrospective perfects.
In Psa 116:8-9 we hear Ps 56:14 again amplified; and if we add Psa 27:13, then we see as it were to the bottom of the origin of the poet’s thoughts. מן־דּמעה belongs still more decidedly than יהושׁיע to the resolved forms which multiply in the later period of the language. In Psa 116:9 the poet declares the result of the divine deliverance. The Hithpa . אתהלּך denotes a free and contented going to and fro; and instead of “the land of the living,” Psa 27:13, the expression here is “the lands (ארצות), i.
e. , the broad land, of the living. ” There he walks forth, with nothing to hinder his feet or limit his view, in the presence of Jahve, i. e. , having his Deliverer from death ever before his eyes.
Psa 116:5-9 With “gracious” and “compassionate” is here associated, as in Psa 112:4, the term “righteous,” which comprehends within itself everything that Jahve asserts concerning Himself in Exo 34:6. from the words “and abundant in goodness and truth” onwards. His love is turned especially toward the simple (lxx τὰ νήπια, cf. Mat 11:25), who stand in need of His protection and give themselves over to it.
פּתאים, as in Pro 9:6, is a mode of writing blended out of פּתאים and פּתיים. The poet also has experienced this love in a time of impotent need. דּלּותי is accented on the ultima here, and not as in Psa 142:7 on the penult . The accentuation is regulated by some phonetic or rhythmical law that has not yet been made clear (vid. , on Job 19:17). יהושׁיע is a resolved Hiphil form, the use of which became common in the later period of the language, but is not alien to the earlier period, especially in poetry (Ps 45:18, cf.
Psa 81:6; 1Sa 17:47; Isa 52:5). In Psa 116:7 we hear the form of soliloquy which has become familiar to us from Psa 42:1; Ps 103. שׁוּבי is Milra here, as also in two other instances. The plural מנוּחים signifies full, complete rest, as it is found only in God; and the suffix in the address to the soul is ajchi for ajich , as in Psa 103:3-5. The perfect גּמל states that which is a matter of actual experience, and is corroborated in Psa 116:8 in retrospective perfects.
In Psa 116:8-9 we hear Ps 56:14 again amplified; and if we add Psa 27:13, then we see as it were to the bottom of the origin of the poet’s thoughts. מן־דּמעה belongs still more decidedly than יהושׁיע to the resolved forms which multiply in the later period of the language. In Psa 116:9 the poet declares the result of the divine deliverance. The Hithpa . אתהלּך denotes a free and contented going to and fro; and instead of “the land of the living,” Psa 27:13, the expression here is “the lands (ארצות), i.
e. , the broad land, of the living. ” There he walks forth, with nothing to hinder his feet or limit his view, in the presence of Jahve, i. e. , having his Deliverer from death ever before his eyes.
Psa 116:5-9 With “gracious” and “compassionate” is here associated, as in Psa 112:4, the term “righteous,” which comprehends within itself everything that Jahve asserts concerning Himself in Exo 34:6. from the words “and abundant in goodness and truth” onwards. His love is turned especially toward the simple (lxx τὰ νήπια, cf. Mat 11:25), who stand in need of His protection and give themselves over to it.
פּתאים, as in Pro 9:6, is a mode of writing blended out of פּתאים and פּתיים. The poet also has experienced this love in a time of impotent need. דּלּותי is accented on the ultima here, and not as in Psa 142:7 on the penult . The accentuation is regulated by some phonetic or rhythmical law that has not yet been made clear (vid. , on Job 19:17). יהושׁיע is a resolved Hiphil form, the use of which became common in the later period of the language, but is not alien to the earlier period, especially in poetry (Ps 45:18, cf.
Psa 81:6; 1Sa 17:47; Isa 52:5). In Psa 116:7 we hear the form of soliloquy which has become familiar to us from Psa 42:1; Ps 103. שׁוּבי is Milra here, as also in two other instances. The plural מנוּחים signifies full, complete rest, as it is found only in God; and the suffix in the address to the soul is ajchi for ajich , as in Psa 103:3-5. The perfect גּמל states that which is a matter of actual experience, and is corroborated in Psa 116:8 in retrospective perfects.
In Psa 116:8-9 we hear Ps 56:14 again amplified; and if we add Psa 27:13, then we see as it were to the bottom of the origin of the poet’s thoughts. מן־דּמעה belongs still more decidedly than יהושׁיע to the resolved forms which multiply in the later period of the language. In Psa 116:9 the poet declares the result of the divine deliverance. The Hithpa . אתהלּך denotes a free and contented going to and fro; and instead of “the land of the living,” Psa 27:13, the expression here is “the lands (ארצות), i.
e. , the broad land, of the living. ” There he walks forth, with nothing to hinder his feet or limit his view, in the presence of Jahve, i. e. , having his Deliverer from death ever before his eyes.
Psa 116:5-9 With “gracious” and “compassionate” is here associated, as in Psa 112:4, the term “righteous,” which comprehends within itself everything that Jahve asserts concerning Himself in Exo 34:6. from the words “and abundant in goodness and truth” onwards. His love is turned especially toward the simple (lxx τὰ νήπια, cf. Mat 11:25), who stand in need of His protection and give themselves over to it.
פּתאים, as in Pro 9:6, is a mode of writing blended out of פּתאים and פּתיים. The poet also has experienced this love in a time of impotent need. דּלּותי is accented on the ultima here, and not as in Psa 142:7 on the penult . The accentuation is regulated by some phonetic or rhythmical law that has not yet been made clear (vid. , on Job 19:17). יהושׁיע is a resolved Hiphil form, the use of which became common in the later period of the language, but is not alien to the earlier period, especially in poetry (Ps 45:18, cf.
Psa 81:6; 1Sa 17:47; Isa 52:5). In Psa 116:7 we hear the form of soliloquy which has become familiar to us from Psa 42:1; Ps 103. שׁוּבי is Milra here, as also in two other instances. The plural מנוּחים signifies full, complete rest, as it is found only in God; and the suffix in the address to the soul is ajchi for ajich , as in Psa 103:3-5. The perfect גּמל states that which is a matter of actual experience, and is corroborated in Psa 116:8 in retrospective perfects.
In Psa 116:8-9 we hear Ps 56:14 again amplified; and if we add Psa 27:13, then we see as it were to the bottom of the origin of the poet’s thoughts. מן־דּמעה belongs still more decidedly than יהושׁיע to the resolved forms which multiply in the later period of the language. In Psa 116:9 the poet declares the result of the divine deliverance. The Hithpa . אתהלּך denotes a free and contented going to and fro; and instead of “the land of the living,” Psa 27:13, the expression here is “the lands (ארצות), i.
e. , the broad land, of the living. ” There he walks forth, with nothing to hinder his feet or limit his view, in the presence of Jahve, i. e. , having his Deliverer from death ever before his eyes.
Psa 116:10-14 Since כּי אדבּר does not introduce anything that could become an object of belief, האמין is absolute here: to have faith, just as in Job 24:22; Job 29:24, with לא it signifies “to be without faith, i. e. , to despair. ” But how does it now proceed? The lxx renders ἐπίστευσα, διὸ ἐλάλησα, which the apostle makes use of in 2Co 4:13, without our being therefore obliged with Luther to render : I believe, therefore I speak ; כי does not signify διὸ.
Nevertheless כי might according to the sense be used for לכן, if it had to be rendered with Hengstenberg: “I believed, therefore I spake,hy but I was very much plagued. ” But this assertion does not suit this connection, and has, moreover, no support in the syntax. It might more readily be rendered: “I have believed that I should yet speak, i. e. , that I should once more have a deliverance of God to celebrate;” but the connection of the parallel members, which is then only lax, is opposed to this.
Hitzig’s attempted interpretation, “I trust, when (כּי as in Jer 12:1) I should speak: I am greatly afflicted,” i. e. , “I have henceforth confidence, so that I shall not suffer myself to be drawn away into the expression of despondency,” does not commend itself, since Psa 116:10 is a complaining, but not therefore as yet a desponding assertion of the reality.
Assuming that האמנתּי and אמרתּי in Psa 116:11 stand on the same line in point of time, it seems that it must be interpreted I had faith, for I spake (was obliged to speak); but אדבר, separated from האמנתי by כי, is opposed to the colouring relating to the contemporaneous past. Thus Psa 116:10 will consequently contain the issue of that which has been hitherto experienced: I have gathered up faith and believe henceforth, when I speak (have to speak, must speak): I am deeply afflicted (ענה as in Psa 119:67, cf.
Arab. ‛nâ , to be bowed down, more particularly in captivity, whence Arab. 'l - ‛nât , those who are bowed down). On the other hand, Psa 116:11 is manifestly a retrospect. He believes now, for he is thoroughly weaned from putting trust in men: I said in my despair (taken from Psa 31:23), the result of my deeply bowed down condition: All men are liars (πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης, Rom 3:4).
Forsaken by all the men from whom he expected succour and help, he experienced the truth and faithfulness of God. Striding away over this thought, he asks in Psa 116:12 how he is to give thanks to God for all His benefits. מה is an adverbial accusative for בּמּה, as in Gen 44:16, and the substantive תּגּמוּל, in itself a later formation, has besides the Chaldaic plural suffix ôhi , which is without example elsewhere in Hebrew.
The poet says in Psa 116:13 how alone he can and will give thanks to his Deliverer, by using a figure taken from the Passover (Mat 26:27), the memorial repast in celebration of the redemption out of Egypt. The cup of salvation is that which is raised aloft and drunk amidst thanksgiving for the manifold and abundant salvation (ישׁוּעות) experienced. קרא בשׁם ה is the usual expression for a solemn and public calling upon and proclamation of the Name of God.
In Psa 116:14 this thanksgiving is more minutely designated as שׁלמי נדר, which the poet now discharges. A common and joyous eating and drinking in the presence of God was associated with the shelamim . נא (vid. , Psa 115:2) in the freest application gives a more animated tone to the word with which it stands. Because he is impelled frankly and freely to give thanks before the whole congregation, נא stands beside נגד, and נגד, moreover, has the intentional ah .
Psa 116:10-14 Since כּי אדבּר does not introduce anything that could become an object of belief, האמין is absolute here: to have faith, just as in Job 24:22; Job 29:24, with לא it signifies “to be without faith, i. e. , to despair. ” But how does it now proceed? The lxx renders ἐπίστευσα, διὸ ἐλάλησα, which the apostle makes use of in 2Co 4:13, without our being therefore obliged with Luther to render : I believe, therefore I speak ; כי does not signify διὸ.
Nevertheless כי might according to the sense be used for לכן, if it had to be rendered with Hengstenberg: “I believed, therefore I spake,hy but I was very much plagued. ” But this assertion does not suit this connection, and has, moreover, no support in the syntax. It might more readily be rendered: “I have believed that I should yet speak, i. e. , that I should once more have a deliverance of God to celebrate;” but the connection of the parallel members, which is then only lax, is opposed to this.
Hitzig’s attempted interpretation, “I trust, when (כּי as in Jer 12:1) I should speak: I am greatly afflicted,” i. e. , “I have henceforth confidence, so that I shall not suffer myself to be drawn away into the expression of despondency,” does not commend itself, since Psa 116:10 is a complaining, but not therefore as yet a desponding assertion of the reality.
Assuming that האמנתּי and אמרתּי in Psa 116:11 stand on the same line in point of time, it seems that it must be interpreted I had faith, for I spake (was obliged to speak); but אדבר, separated from האמנתי by כי, is opposed to the colouring relating to the contemporaneous past. Thus Psa 116:10 will consequently contain the issue of that which has been hitherto experienced: I have gathered up faith and believe henceforth, when I speak (have to speak, must speak): I am deeply afflicted (ענה as in Psa 119:67, cf.
Arab. ‛nâ , to be bowed down, more particularly in captivity, whence Arab. 'l - ‛nât , those who are bowed down). On the other hand, Psa 116:11 is manifestly a retrospect. He believes now, for he is thoroughly weaned from putting trust in men: I said in my despair (taken from Psa 31:23), the result of my deeply bowed down condition: All men are liars (πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης, Rom 3:4).
Forsaken by all the men from whom he expected succour and help, he experienced the truth and faithfulness of God. Striding away over this thought, he asks in Psa 116:12 how he is to give thanks to God for all His benefits. מה is an adverbial accusative for בּמּה, as in Gen 44:16, and the substantive תּגּמוּל, in itself a later formation, has besides the Chaldaic plural suffix ôhi , which is without example elsewhere in Hebrew.
The poet says in Psa 116:13 how alone he can and will give thanks to his Deliverer, by using a figure taken from the Passover (Mat 26:27), the memorial repast in celebration of the redemption out of Egypt. The cup of salvation is that which is raised aloft and drunk amidst thanksgiving for the manifold and abundant salvation (ישׁוּעות) experienced. קרא בשׁם ה is the usual expression for a solemn and public calling upon and proclamation of the Name of God.
In Psa 116:14 this thanksgiving is more minutely designated as שׁלמי נדר, which the poet now discharges. A common and joyous eating and drinking in the presence of God was associated with the shelamim . נא (vid. , Psa 115:2) in the freest application gives a more animated tone to the word with which it stands. Because he is impelled frankly and freely to give thanks before the whole congregation, נא stands beside נגד, and נגד, moreover, has the intentional ah .
Psa 116:10-14 Since כּי אדבּר does not introduce anything that could become an object of belief, האמין is absolute here: to have faith, just as in Job 24:22; Job 29:24, with לא it signifies “to be without faith, i. e. , to despair. ” But how does it now proceed? The lxx renders ἐπίστευσα, διὸ ἐλάλησα, which the apostle makes use of in 2Co 4:13, without our being therefore obliged with Luther to render : I believe, therefore I speak ; כי does not signify διὸ.
Nevertheless כי might according to the sense be used for לכן, if it had to be rendered with Hengstenberg: “I believed, therefore I spake,hy but I was very much plagued. ” But this assertion does not suit this connection, and has, moreover, no support in the syntax. It might more readily be rendered: “I have believed that I should yet speak, i. e. , that I should once more have a deliverance of God to celebrate;” but the connection of the parallel members, which is then only lax, is opposed to this.
Hitzig’s attempted interpretation, “I trust, when (כּי as in Jer 12:1) I should speak: I am greatly afflicted,” i. e. , “I have henceforth confidence, so that I shall not suffer myself to be drawn away into the expression of despondency,” does not commend itself, since Psa 116:10 is a complaining, but not therefore as yet a desponding assertion of the reality.
Assuming that האמנתּי and אמרתּי in Psa 116:11 stand on the same line in point of time, it seems that it must be interpreted I had faith, for I spake (was obliged to speak); but אדבר, separated from האמנתי by כי, is opposed to the colouring relating to the contemporaneous past. Thus Psa 116:10 will consequently contain the issue of that which has been hitherto experienced: I have gathered up faith and believe henceforth, when I speak (have to speak, must speak): I am deeply afflicted (ענה as in Psa 119:67, cf.
Arab. ‛nâ , to be bowed down, more particularly in captivity, whence Arab. 'l - ‛nât , those who are bowed down). On the other hand, Psa 116:11 is manifestly a retrospect. He believes now, for he is thoroughly weaned from putting trust in men: I said in my despair (taken from Psa 31:23), the result of my deeply bowed down condition: All men are liars (πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης, Rom 3:4).
Forsaken by all the men from whom he expected succour and help, he experienced the truth and faithfulness of God. Striding away over this thought, he asks in Psa 116:12 how he is to give thanks to God for all His benefits. מה is an adverbial accusative for בּמּה, as in Gen 44:16, and the substantive תּגּמוּל, in itself a later formation, has besides the Chaldaic plural suffix ôhi , which is without example elsewhere in Hebrew.
The poet says in Psa 116:13 how alone he can and will give thanks to his Deliverer, by using a figure taken from the Passover (Mat 26:27), the memorial repast in celebration of the redemption out of Egypt. The cup of salvation is that which is raised aloft and drunk amidst thanksgiving for the manifold and abundant salvation (ישׁוּעות) experienced. קרא בשׁם ה is the usual expression for a solemn and public calling upon and proclamation of the Name of God.
In Psa 116:14 this thanksgiving is more minutely designated as שׁלמי נדר, which the poet now discharges. A common and joyous eating and drinking in the presence of God was associated with the shelamim . נא (vid. , Psa 115:2) in the freest application gives a more animated tone to the word with which it stands. Because he is impelled frankly and freely to give thanks before the whole congregation, נא stands beside נגד, and נגד, moreover, has the intentional ah .
Psa 116:10-14 Since כּי אדבּר does not introduce anything that could become an object of belief, האמין is absolute here: to have faith, just as in Job 24:22; Job 29:24, with לא it signifies “to be without faith, i. e. , to despair. ” But how does it now proceed? The lxx renders ἐπίστευσα, διὸ ἐλάλησα, which the apostle makes use of in 2Co 4:13, without our being therefore obliged with Luther to render : I believe, therefore I speak ; כי does not signify διὸ.
Nevertheless כי might according to the sense be used for לכן, if it had to be rendered with Hengstenberg: “I believed, therefore I spake,hy but I was very much plagued. ” But this assertion does not suit this connection, and has, moreover, no support in the syntax. It might more readily be rendered: “I have believed that I should yet speak, i. e. , that I should once more have a deliverance of God to celebrate;” but the connection of the parallel members, which is then only lax, is opposed to this.
Hitzig’s attempted interpretation, “I trust, when (כּי as in Jer 12:1) I should speak: I am greatly afflicted,” i. e. , “I have henceforth confidence, so that I shall not suffer myself to be drawn away into the expression of despondency,” does not commend itself, since Psa 116:10 is a complaining, but not therefore as yet a desponding assertion of the reality.
Assuming that האמנתּי and אמרתּי in Psa 116:11 stand on the same line in point of time, it seems that it must be interpreted I had faith, for I spake (was obliged to speak); but אדבר, separated from האמנתי by כי, is opposed to the colouring relating to the contemporaneous past. Thus Psa 116:10 will consequently contain the issue of that which has been hitherto experienced: I have gathered up faith and believe henceforth, when I speak (have to speak, must speak): I am deeply afflicted (ענה as in Psa 119:67, cf.
Arab. ‛nâ , to be bowed down, more particularly in captivity, whence Arab. 'l - ‛nât , those who are bowed down). On the other hand, Psa 116:11 is manifestly a retrospect. He believes now, for he is thoroughly weaned from putting trust in men: I said in my despair (taken from Psa 31:23), the result of my deeply bowed down condition: All men are liars (πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης, Rom 3:4).
Forsaken by all the men from whom he expected succour and help, he experienced the truth and faithfulness of God. Striding away over this thought, he asks in Psa 116:12 how he is to give thanks to God for all His benefits. מה is an adverbial accusative for בּמּה, as in Gen 44:16, and the substantive תּגּמוּל, in itself a later formation, has besides the Chaldaic plural suffix ôhi , which is without example elsewhere in Hebrew.
The poet says in Psa 116:13 how alone he can and will give thanks to his Deliverer, by using a figure taken from the Passover (Mat 26:27), the memorial repast in celebration of the redemption out of Egypt. The cup of salvation is that which is raised aloft and drunk amidst thanksgiving for the manifold and abundant salvation (ישׁוּעות) experienced. קרא בשׁם ה is the usual expression for a solemn and public calling upon and proclamation of the Name of God.
In Psa 116:14 this thanksgiving is more minutely designated as שׁלמי נדר, which the poet now discharges. A common and joyous eating and drinking in the presence of God was associated with the shelamim . נא (vid. , Psa 115:2) in the freest application gives a more animated tone to the word with which it stands. Because he is impelled frankly and freely to give thanks before the whole congregation, נא stands beside נגד, and נגד, moreover, has the intentional ah .
Psa 116:10-14 Since כּי אדבּר does not introduce anything that could become an object of belief, האמין is absolute here: to have faith, just as in Job 24:22; Job 29:24, with לא it signifies “to be without faith, i. e. , to despair. ” But how does it now proceed? The lxx renders ἐπίστευσα, διὸ ἐλάλησα, which the apostle makes use of in 2Co 4:13, without our being therefore obliged with Luther to render : I believe, therefore I speak ; כי does not signify διὸ.
Nevertheless כי might according to the sense be used for לכן, if it had to be rendered with Hengstenberg: “I believed, therefore I spake,hy but I was very much plagued. ” But this assertion does not suit this connection, and has, moreover, no support in the syntax. It might more readily be rendered: “I have believed that I should yet speak, i. e. , that I should once more have a deliverance of God to celebrate;” but the connection of the parallel members, which is then only lax, is opposed to this.
Hitzig’s attempted interpretation, “I trust, when (כּי as in Jer 12:1) I should speak: I am greatly afflicted,” i. e. , “I have henceforth confidence, so that I shall not suffer myself to be drawn away into the expression of despondency,” does not commend itself, since Psa 116:10 is a complaining, but not therefore as yet a desponding assertion of the reality.
Assuming that האמנתּי and אמרתּי in Psa 116:11 stand on the same line in point of time, it seems that it must be interpreted I had faith, for I spake (was obliged to speak); but אדבר, separated from האמנתי by כי, is opposed to the colouring relating to the contemporaneous past. Thus Psa 116:10 will consequently contain the issue of that which has been hitherto experienced: I have gathered up faith and believe henceforth, when I speak (have to speak, must speak): I am deeply afflicted (ענה as in Psa 119:67, cf.
Arab. ‛nâ , to be bowed down, more particularly in captivity, whence Arab. 'l - ‛nât , those who are bowed down). On the other hand, Psa 116:11 is manifestly a retrospect. He believes now, for he is thoroughly weaned from putting trust in men: I said in my despair (taken from Psa 31:23), the result of my deeply bowed down condition: All men are liars (πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης, Rom 3:4).
Forsaken by all the men from whom he expected succour and help, he experienced the truth and faithfulness of God. Striding away over this thought, he asks in Psa 116:12 how he is to give thanks to God for all His benefits. מה is an adverbial accusative for בּמּה, as in Gen 44:16, and the substantive תּגּמוּל, in itself a later formation, has besides the Chaldaic plural suffix ôhi , which is without example elsewhere in Hebrew.
The poet says in Psa 116:13 how alone he can and will give thanks to his Deliverer, by using a figure taken from the Passover (Mat 26:27), the memorial repast in celebration of the redemption out of Egypt. The cup of salvation is that which is raised aloft and drunk amidst thanksgiving for the manifold and abundant salvation (ישׁוּעות) experienced. קרא בשׁם ה is the usual expression for a solemn and public calling upon and proclamation of the Name of God.
In Psa 116:14 this thanksgiving is more minutely designated as שׁלמי נדר, which the poet now discharges. A common and joyous eating and drinking in the presence of God was associated with the shelamim . נא (vid. , Psa 115:2) in the freest application gives a more animated tone to the word with which it stands. Because he is impelled frankly and freely to give thanks before the whole congregation, נא stands beside נגד, and נגד, moreover, has the intentional ah .
Psa 116:15-19 From what he has experienced the poet infers that the saints of Jahve are under His most especial providence. Instead of המּות the poet, who is fond of such embellishments, chooses the pathetic form המּותה, and consequently, instead of the genitival construct state (מות), the construction with the Lamed of “belonging to. ” It ought properly to be “soul” or “blood,” as in the primary passage Psa 72:14.
But the observation of Grotius: quae pretiosa sunt, non facile largimur , applies also to the expression “death. ” The death of His saints is no trifling matter with God; He does not lightly suffer it to come about; He does not suffer His own to be torn away from Him by death. After this the poet goes on beseechingly: ānnáh Adonaj . The prayer itself is not contained in פּתּחתּ למוסרי - for he is already rescued, and the perfect as a precative is limited to such utterances spoken in the tone of an exclamation as we find in Job 21:16 - but remains unexpressed; it lies wrapped up as it were in this heartfelt ānnáh : Oh remain still so gracious to me as Thou hast already proved Thyself to me.
The poet rejoices in and is proud of the fact that he may call himself the servant of God. With אמתך he is mindful of his pious mother (cf. Psa 86:16). The Hebrew does not form a feminine, עבדּה; Arab. amata signifies a maid, who is not, as such, also Arab. ‛abdat , a slave. The dative of the object, למוסרי (from מוסרים for the more usual מוסרות), is used with פתחת instead of the accusative after the Aramaic manner, but it does also occur in the older Hebrew (e.
g. , Job 19:3; Isa 53:11). The purpose of publicly giving thanks to the Gracious One is now more full-toned here at the close. Since such emphasis is laid on the Temple and the congregation, what is meant is literal thank-offerings in payment of vows. In בּתוככי (as in Psa 135:9) we have in the suffix the ancient and Aramaic i (cf. Psa 116:7) for the third time.
With אנּה the poet clings to Jahve, with נגדּה־נּא to the congregation, and with בּתוככי to the holy city. The one thought that fills his whole soul, and in which the song which breathes forth his soul dies away, is Hallelujah .
Psa 116:15-19 From what he has experienced the poet infers that the saints of Jahve are under His most especial providence. Instead of המּות the poet, who is fond of such embellishments, chooses the pathetic form המּותה, and consequently, instead of the genitival construct state (מות), the construction with the Lamed of “belonging to. ” It ought properly to be “soul” or “blood,” as in the primary passage Psa 72:14.
But the observation of Grotius: quae pretiosa sunt, non facile largimur , applies also to the expression “death. ” The death of His saints is no trifling matter with God; He does not lightly suffer it to come about; He does not suffer His own to be torn away from Him by death. After this the poet goes on beseechingly: ānnáh Adonaj . The prayer itself is not contained in פּתּחתּ למוסרי - for he is already rescued, and the perfect as a precative is limited to such utterances spoken in the tone of an exclamation as we find in Job 21:16 - but remains unexpressed; it lies wrapped up as it were in this heartfelt ānnáh : Oh remain still so gracious to me as Thou hast already proved Thyself to me.
The poet rejoices in and is proud of the fact that he may call himself the servant of God. With אמתך he is mindful of his pious mother (cf. Psa 86:16). The Hebrew does not form a feminine, עבדּה; Arab. amata signifies a maid, who is not, as such, also Arab. ‛abdat , a slave. The dative of the object, למוסרי (from מוסרים for the more usual מוסרות), is used with פתחת instead of the accusative after the Aramaic manner, but it does also occur in the older Hebrew (e.
g. , Job 19:3; Isa 53:11). The purpose of publicly giving thanks to the Gracious One is now more full-toned here at the close. Since such emphasis is laid on the Temple and the congregation, what is meant is literal thank-offerings in payment of vows. In בּתוככי (as in Psa 135:9) we have in the suffix the ancient and Aramaic i (cf. Psa 116:7) for the third time.
With אנּה the poet clings to Jahve, with נגדּה־נּא to the congregation, and with בּתוככי to the holy city. The one thought that fills his whole soul, and in which the song which breathes forth his soul dies away, is Hallelujah .
Psa 116:15-19 From what he has experienced the poet infers that the saints of Jahve are under His most especial providence. Instead of המּות the poet, who is fond of such embellishments, chooses the pathetic form המּותה, and consequently, instead of the genitival construct state (מות), the construction with the Lamed of “belonging to. ” It ought properly to be “soul” or “blood,” as in the primary passage Psa 72:14.
But the observation of Grotius: quae pretiosa sunt, non facile largimur , applies also to the expression “death. ” The death of His saints is no trifling matter with God; He does not lightly suffer it to come about; He does not suffer His own to be torn away from Him by death. After this the poet goes on beseechingly: ānnáh Adonaj . The prayer itself is not contained in פּתּחתּ למוסרי - for he is already rescued, and the perfect as a precative is limited to such utterances spoken in the tone of an exclamation as we find in Job 21:16 - but remains unexpressed; it lies wrapped up as it were in this heartfelt ānnáh : Oh remain still so gracious to me as Thou hast already proved Thyself to me.
The poet rejoices in and is proud of the fact that he may call himself the servant of God. With אמתך he is mindful of his pious mother (cf. Psa 86:16). The Hebrew does not form a feminine, עבדּה; Arab. amata signifies a maid, who is not, as such, also Arab. ‛abdat , a slave. The dative of the object, למוסרי (from מוסרים for the more usual מוסרות), is used with פתחת instead of the accusative after the Aramaic manner, but it does also occur in the older Hebrew (e.
g. , Job 19:3; Isa 53:11). The purpose of publicly giving thanks to the Gracious One is now more full-toned here at the close. Since such emphasis is laid on the Temple and the congregation, what is meant is literal thank-offerings in payment of vows. In בּתוככי (as in Psa 135:9) we have in the suffix the ancient and Aramaic i (cf. Psa 116:7) for the third time.
With אנּה the poet clings to Jahve, with נגדּה־נּא to the congregation, and with בּתוככי to the holy city. The one thought that fills his whole soul, and in which the song which breathes forth his soul dies away, is Hallelujah .
Psa 116:15-19 From what he has experienced the poet infers that the saints of Jahve are under His most especial providence. Instead of המּות the poet, who is fond of such embellishments, chooses the pathetic form המּותה, and consequently, instead of the genitival construct state (מות), the construction with the Lamed of “belonging to. ” It ought properly to be “soul” or “blood,” as in the primary passage Psa 72:14.
But the observation of Grotius: quae pretiosa sunt, non facile largimur , applies also to the expression “death. ” The death of His saints is no trifling matter with God; He does not lightly suffer it to come about; He does not suffer His own to be torn away from Him by death. After this the poet goes on beseechingly: ānnáh Adonaj . The prayer itself is not contained in פּתּחתּ למוסרי - for he is already rescued, and the perfect as a precative is limited to such utterances spoken in the tone of an exclamation as we find in Job 21:16 - but remains unexpressed; it lies wrapped up as it were in this heartfelt ānnáh : Oh remain still so gracious to me as Thou hast already proved Thyself to me.
The poet rejoices in and is proud of the fact that he may call himself the servant of God. With אמתך he is mindful of his pious mother (cf. Psa 86:16). The Hebrew does not form a feminine, עבדּה; Arab. amata signifies a maid, who is not, as such, also Arab. ‛abdat , a slave. The dative of the object, למוסרי (from מוסרים for the more usual מוסרות), is used with פתחת instead of the accusative after the Aramaic manner, but it does also occur in the older Hebrew (e.
g. , Job 19:3; Isa 53:11). The purpose of publicly giving thanks to the Gracious One is now more full-toned here at the close. Since such emphasis is laid on the Temple and the congregation, what is meant is literal thank-offerings in payment of vows. In בּתוככי (as in Psa 135:9) we have in the suffix the ancient and Aramaic i (cf. Psa 116:7) for the third time.
With אנּה the poet clings to Jahve, with נגדּה־נּא to the congregation, and with בּתוככי to the holy city. The one thought that fills his whole soul, and in which the song which breathes forth his soul dies away, is Hallelujah .
Psa 116:15-19 From what he has experienced the poet infers that the saints of Jahve are under His most especial providence. Instead of המּות the poet, who is fond of such embellishments, chooses the pathetic form המּותה, and consequently, instead of the genitival construct state (מות), the construction with the Lamed of “belonging to. ” It ought properly to be “soul” or “blood,” as in the primary passage Psa 72:14.
But the observation of Grotius: quae pretiosa sunt, non facile largimur , applies also to the expression “death. ” The death of His saints is no trifling matter with God; He does not lightly suffer it to come about; He does not suffer His own to be torn away from Him by death. After this the poet goes on beseechingly: ānnáh Adonaj . The prayer itself is not contained in פּתּחתּ למוסרי - for he is already rescued, and the perfect as a precative is limited to such utterances spoken in the tone of an exclamation as we find in Job 21:16 - but remains unexpressed; it lies wrapped up as it were in this heartfelt ānnáh : Oh remain still so gracious to me as Thou hast already proved Thyself to me.
The poet rejoices in and is proud of the fact that he may call himself the servant of God. With אמתך he is mindful of his pious mother (cf. Psa 86:16). The Hebrew does not form a feminine, עבדּה; Arab. amata signifies a maid, who is not, as such, also Arab. ‛abdat , a slave. The dative of the object, למוסרי (from מוסרים for the more usual מוסרות), is used with פתחת instead of the accusative after the Aramaic manner, but it does also occur in the older Hebrew (e.
g. , Job 19:3; Isa 53:11). The purpose of publicly giving thanks to the Gracious One is now more full-toned here at the close. Since such emphasis is laid on the Temple and the congregation, what is meant is literal thank-offerings in payment of vows. In בּתוככי (as in Psa 135:9) we have in the suffix the ancient and Aramaic i (cf. Psa 116:7) for the third time.
With אנּה the poet clings to Jahve, with נגדּה־נּא to the congregation, and with בּתוככי to the holy city. The one thought that fills his whole soul, and in which the song which breathes forth his soul dies away, is Hallelujah .
Psa 117:1-2 The thanksgiving Psalm ending in Hallelujah is followed by this shortest of all the Psalms, a Hallelujah addressed to the heathen world. In its very brevity it is one of the grandest witnesses of the might with which, in the midst of the Old Testament, the world-wide mission of the religion of revelation struck against or undermined the national limitation.
It is stamped by the apostle in Rom 15:11 as a locus classicus for the fore-ordained ( gnadenrathschlussmässig ) participation of the heathen in the promised salvation of Israel. Even this shortest Psalm has its peculiarities in point of language. אמּים (Aramaic אמיּא, Arabic umam ) is otherwise alien to Old Testament Hebrew. The Old Testament Hebrew is acquainted only with אמּות as an appellation of Ismaelitish of Midianitish tribes.
כּל־גּוים are, as in Psa 72:11, Psa 72:17, all peoples without distinction, and כּל־האמּים all nations without exception. The call is confirmed from the might of the mercy or loving-kindness of Jahve, which proves itself mighty over Israel, i. e. , by its intensity and fulness superabundantly covering (גּבר as in Psa 103:11; cf. ὑπερεπερίσσευσε, Rom 5:20, ὑπερεπλεόνασε, 1Ti 1:14) human sin and infirmity; and from His truth, by virtue of which history on into eternity ends in a verifying of His promises.
Mercy and truth are the two divine powers which shall one day be perfectly developed and displayed in Israel, and going forth from Israel, shall conquer the world.
What the close of Psa 117:1-2 says of God’s truth, viz. , that it endureth for ever, the beginning of Ps 118 says of its sister, His mercy or loving-kindness. It is the closing Psalm of the Hallel , which begins with Psa 113:1-9, and the third Hodu (vid. , on Ps 105). It was Luther’s favourite Psalm: his beauteous Confitemini , which “had helped him out of troubles out of which neither emperor nor king, nor any other man on earth, could have helped him.
” With the exposition of this his noblest jewel, his defence and his treasure, he occupied himself in the solitude of his Patmos. It is without any doubt a post-exilic song. Here too Hupfeld sweeps away everything into vague generality; but the history of the period after the Exile, without any necessity for our coming down to the Maccabean period, as do De Wette and Hitzig, presents three occasions which might have given birth to it; viz.
, (1) The first celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month of the first year of the Return, when there was only a plain altar as yet erected on the holy place, Ezr 3:1-4 (to be distinguished from a later celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles on a large scale and in exact accordance with the directions of the Law, Neh. 8). So Ewald. (2) The laying of the foundation-stone of the Temple in the second month of the second year, Ezr 3:8.
So Hengstenberg. (3) The dedication of the completed temple in the twelfth month of the sixth year of Darius, Ezr 6:15. So Stier. These references to contemporary history have all three more or less in their favour. The first if favoured more especially by the fact, that at the time of the second Temple Psa 118:25 was the festal cry amidst which the altar of burnt-offering was solemnly compassed on the first six days of the Feast of Tabernacles once, and on the seventh day seven times.
This seventh day was called the great Hosanna ( Hosanna rabba ), and not only the prayers for the Feast of Tabernacles, but even the branches of willow trees (including the myrtles) which are bound to the palm-branch ( lulab ), were called Hosannas (הושׁענות, Aramaic הושׁעני). The second historical reference is favoured by the fact, that the narrative appears to point directly to our Psalm when it says: And the builders laid the foundation of the Temple of Jahve, and the priests were drawn up there in official robes with trumpets, and the Levites the descendants of Asaph with cymbals, to praise Jahve after the direction of David king of Israel, and they sang על־ישׂראל בּהלּל וּבהודת ליהוה כּי טוב כּי־לעולם חסדּו; and all the people raised a great shout בּהלּל ליהוה, because the house of Jahve was founded .
But both of these derivations of the Psalm are opposed by the fact that Psa 116:19 and Psa 118:20 assume that the Temple-building is already finished; whereas the unmistakeable allusions to the events that transpired during the building of the Temple, viz. , the intrigues of the Samaritans, the hostility of the neighbouring peoples, and the capriciousness of the Persian kings, favour the third.
In connection with this reference of the Psalm to the post-exilic dedication of the Temple, Psa 118:19-20, too, now present no difficulty. Psa 118:22 is better understood as spoken in the presence of the now upreared Temple-building, than as spoken in the presence of the foundation-stone; and the words “unto the horns of the altar” in Psa 118:27, interpreted in many different ways, come into the light of Ezr 6:17.
The Psalm falls into two divisions. The first division (vv. 1-19) is sung by the festive procession brought up by the priests and Levites, which is ascending to the Temple with the animals for sacrifice. With Psa 118:19 the procession stands at the entrance. The second part (Psa 118:20-27) is sung by the body of Levites who receive the festive procession. Then Psa 118:28 is the answer of those who have arrived, and Psa 118:29 the concluding song of all of them.
This antiphonal arrangement is recognised even by the Talmud ( B. Pesachim 119 a ) and Midrash. The whole Psalm, too, has moreover a peculiar formation. It resembles the Mashal Psalms, for each verse has of itself its completed sense, its own scent and hue; one thought is joined to another as branch to branch and flower to flower.