Casting Betrayal's Burden on the Lord Who Sustains

Psa 54:1-7 is followed by another Davidic Psalm bearing the same inscription: To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments, a meditation, by David . It also accords with the former in the form of the prayer with which it opens (cf. Psa 55:2 with Psa 54:3.) ; and it is the Elohimic counterpart of the Jahve- Psa 41:1-13. If the Psalm is by David, we require (in opposition to Hengstenberg) an assignable occasion for it in the history of his life.

For how could the faithless bosom friend, over whom the complaint concerning malicious foes here, as in Psa 41:1-13, lingers with special sadness, be a mere abstract personage; since it has in the person of Judas Iscariot its historical living antitype in the life and passion of the second David? This Old Testament Judas is none other than Ahithôphel, the right hand of Absalom.

Ps 55 belongs, like Psa 41:1-13, to the four years during which the rebellion of Absalom was forming; only to a somewhat later period, when Absalom’s party were so sure of their cause that they had no need to make any secret of it. How it came to pass that David left the beginnings and progressive steps of the rebellion of Absalom to take their course without bringing any other weapon to bear against it than the weapon of prayer, is discussed on Psa 41:1-13.

Hitzig also holds this Psalm to be Jeremianic. But it contains no coincidences with the language and thoughts of Jeremiah worth speaking of, excepting that this prophet, in Psa 9:1, gives utterance to a similar wish to that of the psalmist in Psa 55:7, and springing from the same motive. The argument in favour of Jeremiah in opposition to David is consequently referred to the picture of life and suffering which is presented in the Psalm; and it becomes a question whether this harmonizes better with the persecuted life of Jeremiah or of David.

The exposition which follows here places itself - and it is at least worthy of being attempted - on the standpoint of the writer of the inscription. Psa 55:1-8 In this first group sorrow prevails. David spreads forth his deep grief before God, and desires for himself some lonely spot in the wilderness far away from the home or lurking-place of the confederate band of those who are compassing his overthrow.

“Veil not Thyself” here, where what is spoken of is something audible, not visible, is equivalent to “veil not Thine ear,” Lam 3:56, which He designedly does, when the right state of heart leaves the praying one, and consequently that which makes it acceptable and capable of being answered is wanting to the prayer (cf. Isa 1:15). שׂיח signifies a shrub (Syriac shucho , Arabic šı̂ḥ ), and also reflection and care (Arabic, carefulness, attention; Aramaic, סח, to babble, talk, discourse).

The Hiph . חריד, which in Gen 27:40 signifies to lead a roving life, has in this instance the signification to move one’s self backwards and forwards, to be inwardly uneasy; root רד, Arab. rd , to totter, whence râda , jarûda , to run up and down (IV to desire, will); raida , to shake (said of a soft bloated body); radda , to turn (whence taraddud , a moving to and fro, doubting); therefore: I wander hither and thither in my reflecting or meditating, turning restlessly from one thought to another.

It is not necessary to read ואחמיה after Psa 77:4 instead of ועהימה, since the verb הוּם = המה, Psa 42:6, 12, is secured by the derivatives. Since these only exhibit הוּם, and not הים (in Arabic used more particularly of the raving of love), ואהימה, as also אריד, is Hiph . , and in fact like this latter used with an inward object: I am obliged to raise a tumult or groan, break out into the dull murmuring sounds of pain.

The cohortative not unfrequently signifies “I have to” or “I must” of incitements within one’s self which are under the control of outward circumstances. In this restless state of mind he finds himself, and he is obliged to break forth into this cry of pain on account of the voice of the foe which he cannot but hear; by reason of the pressure or constraint (עקת) of the evil-doer which he is compelled to feel.

The conjecture צעקת (Olshausen and Hupfeld) is superfluous. עקה is a more elegant Aramaizing word instead of צרה. The second strophe begins with a more precise statement of that which justifies his pain. The Hiph . חמיט signifies here, as in Psa 140:11 ( Chethîb ), declinare : they cast or roll down evil (calamity) upon him and maliciously lay snares for him בּאף, breathing anger against him who is conscious of having manifested only love towards them.

His heart turns about in his body, it writhes (יהיל); cf. on this, Psa 38:11. Fear and trembling take possession of his inward parts; יבא in the expression יבא בי, as is always the case when followed by a tone syllable, is a so-called נסוג אחור, i. e. , it has the tone that has retreated to the penult . (Deu 1:38; Isa 7:24; Isa 60:20), although this is only with difficulty discernible in our printed copies, and is therefore (vid.

, Accentsystem , vi. §2) noted with Mercha . The fut. consec . which follows introduces the heightened state of terror which proceeds from this crowding on of fear and trembling. Moreover, the wish that is thereby urged from him, which David uttered to himself, is introduced in the third strophe by a fut. consec. (Note: That beautiful old song of the church concerning Jesus has grown out of this strophe: - Ecquis binas columbinas Alas dabit animae?

Et in almam crucis palmam Evolat citissime , etc.) “Who will give me? ” is equivalent to “Oh that I had! ” Ges. §136, 1. In ואשׁכּנה is involved the self-satisfying signification of settling down (Eze 31:13), of coming to rest and remaining in a place (2Sa 7:10). Without going out of our way, a sense perfectly in accordance with the matter in hand may be obtained for אחישׁה מפלט לי, if אחישׁה is taken not as Kal (Psa 71:12), but after Isa 5:19; Isa 60:12, as Hiph .

: I would hasten, i. e. , quickly find for myself a place which might serve me as a shelter from the raging wind, from the storm. רוּח סעה is equivalent to the Arabic rihin sâijat - in , inasmuch as Arab. s‛â , “to move one’s self quickly, to go or run swiftly,” can be said both of light (Koran, 66:8) and of water-brooks (vid. , Jones, Comm. Poes. Asiat. , ed.

Lipsiae , p. 358), and also of strong currents of air, of winds, and such like. The correction סערה, proposed by Hupfeld, produces a disfiguring tautology. Among those about David there is a wild movement going on which is specially aimed at his overthrow. From this he would gladly flee and hide himself, like a dove taking refuge in a cleft of the rock from the approaching storm, or from the talons of the bird of prey, fleeing with its noiseless but persevering flight.

Psa 54:1-7 is followed by another Davidic Psalm bearing the same inscription: To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments, a meditation, by David . It also accords with the former in the form of the prayer with which it opens (cf. Psa 55:2 with Psa 54:3.) ; and it is the Elohimic counterpart of the Jahve- Psa 41:1-13. If the Psalm is by David, we require (in opposition to Hengstenberg) an assignable occasion for it in the history of his life.

For how could the faithless bosom friend, over whom the complaint concerning malicious foes here, as in Psa 41:1-13, lingers with special sadness, be a mere abstract personage; since it has in the person of Judas Iscariot its historical living antitype in the life and passion of the second David? This Old Testament Judas is none other than Ahithôphel, the right hand of Absalom.

Ps 55 belongs, like Psa 41:1-13, to the four years during which the rebellion of Absalom was forming; only to a somewhat later period, when Absalom’s party were so sure of their cause that they had no need to make any secret of it. How it came to pass that David left the beginnings and progressive steps of the rebellion of Absalom to take their course without bringing any other weapon to bear against it than the weapon of prayer, is discussed on Psa 41:1-13.

Hitzig also holds this Psalm to be Jeremianic. But it contains no coincidences with the language and thoughts of Jeremiah worth speaking of, excepting that this prophet, in Psa 9:1, gives utterance to a similar wish to that of the psalmist in Psa 55:7, and springing from the same motive. The argument in favour of Jeremiah in opposition to David is consequently referred to the picture of life and suffering which is presented in the Psalm; and it becomes a question whether this harmonizes better with the persecuted life of Jeremiah or of David.

The exposition which follows here places itself - and it is at least worthy of being attempted - on the standpoint of the writer of the inscription. Psa 55:1-8 In this first group sorrow prevails. David spreads forth his deep grief before God, and desires for himself some lonely spot in the wilderness far away from the home or lurking-place of the confederate band of those who are compassing his overthrow.

“Veil not Thyself” here, where what is spoken of is something audible, not visible, is equivalent to “veil not Thine ear,” Lam 3:56, which He designedly does, when the right state of heart leaves the praying one, and consequently that which makes it acceptable and capable of being answered is wanting to the prayer (cf. Isa 1:15). שׂיח signifies a shrub (Syriac shucho , Arabic šı̂ḥ ), and also reflection and care (Arabic, carefulness, attention; Aramaic, סח, to babble, talk, discourse).

The Hiph . חריד, which in Gen 27:40 signifies to lead a roving life, has in this instance the signification to move one’s self backwards and forwards, to be inwardly uneasy; root רד, Arab. rd , to totter, whence râda , jarûda , to run up and down (IV to desire, will); raida , to shake (said of a soft bloated body); radda , to turn (whence taraddud , a moving to and fro, doubting); therefore: I wander hither and thither in my reflecting or meditating, turning restlessly from one thought to another.

It is not necessary to read ואחמיה after Psa 77:4 instead of ועהימה, since the verb הוּם = המה, Psa 42:6, 12, is secured by the derivatives. Since these only exhibit הוּם, and not הים (in Arabic used more particularly of the raving of love), ואהימה, as also אריד, is Hiph . , and in fact like this latter used with an inward object: I am obliged to raise a tumult or groan, break out into the dull murmuring sounds of pain.

The cohortative not unfrequently signifies “I have to” or “I must” of incitements within one’s self which are under the control of outward circumstances. In this restless state of mind he finds himself, and he is obliged to break forth into this cry of pain on account of the voice of the foe which he cannot but hear; by reason of the pressure or constraint (עקת) of the evil-doer which he is compelled to feel.

The conjecture צעקת (Olshausen and Hupfeld) is superfluous. עקה is a more elegant Aramaizing word instead of צרה. The second strophe begins with a more precise statement of that which justifies his pain. The Hiph . חמיט signifies here, as in Psa 140:11 ( Chethîb ), declinare : they cast or roll down evil (calamity) upon him and maliciously lay snares for him בּאף, breathing anger against him who is conscious of having manifested only love towards them.

His heart turns about in his body, it writhes (יהיל); cf. on this, Psa 38:11. Fear and trembling take possession of his inward parts; יבא in the expression יבא בי, as is always the case when followed by a tone syllable, is a so-called נסוג אחור, i. e. , it has the tone that has retreated to the penult . (Deu 1:38; Isa 7:24; Isa 60:20), although this is only with difficulty discernible in our printed copies, and is therefore (vid.

, Accentsystem , vi. §2) noted with Mercha . The fut. consec . which follows introduces the heightened state of terror which proceeds from this crowding on of fear and trembling. Moreover, the wish that is thereby urged from him, which David uttered to himself, is introduced in the third strophe by a fut. consec. (Note: That beautiful old song of the church concerning Jesus has grown out of this strophe: - Ecquis binas columbinas Alas dabit animae?

Et in almam crucis palmam Evolat citissime , etc.) “Who will give me? ” is equivalent to “Oh that I had! ” Ges. §136, 1. In ואשׁכּנה is involved the self-satisfying signification of settling down (Eze 31:13), of coming to rest and remaining in a place (2Sa 7:10). Without going out of our way, a sense perfectly in accordance with the matter in hand may be obtained for אחישׁה מפלט לי, if אחישׁה is taken not as Kal (Psa 71:12), but after Isa 5:19; Isa 60:12, as Hiph .

: I would hasten, i. e. , quickly find for myself a place which might serve me as a shelter from the raging wind, from the storm. רוּח סעה is equivalent to the Arabic rihin sâijat - in , inasmuch as Arab. s‛â , “to move one’s self quickly, to go or run swiftly,” can be said both of light (Koran, 66:8) and of water-brooks (vid. , Jones, Comm. Poes. Asiat. , ed.

Lipsiae , p. 358), and also of strong currents of air, of winds, and such like. The correction סערה, proposed by Hupfeld, produces a disfiguring tautology. Among those about David there is a wild movement going on which is specially aimed at his overthrow. From this he would gladly flee and hide himself, like a dove taking refuge in a cleft of the rock from the approaching storm, or from the talons of the bird of prey, fleeing with its noiseless but persevering flight.

Psa 54:1-7 is followed by another Davidic Psalm bearing the same inscription: To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments, a meditation, by David . It also accords with the former in the form of the prayer with which it opens (cf. Psa 55:2 with Psa 54:3.) ; and it is the Elohimic counterpart of the Jahve- Psa 41:1-13. If the Psalm is by David, we require (in opposition to Hengstenberg) an assignable occasion for it in the history of his life.

For how could the faithless bosom friend, over whom the complaint concerning malicious foes here, as in Psa 41:1-13, lingers with special sadness, be a mere abstract personage; since it has in the person of Judas Iscariot its historical living antitype in the life and passion of the second David? This Old Testament Judas is none other than Ahithôphel, the right hand of Absalom.

Ps 55 belongs, like Psa 41:1-13, to the four years during which the rebellion of Absalom was forming; only to a somewhat later period, when Absalom’s party were so sure of their cause that they had no need to make any secret of it. How it came to pass that David left the beginnings and progressive steps of the rebellion of Absalom to take their course without bringing any other weapon to bear against it than the weapon of prayer, is discussed on Psa 41:1-13.

Hitzig also holds this Psalm to be Jeremianic. But it contains no coincidences with the language and thoughts of Jeremiah worth speaking of, excepting that this prophet, in Psa 9:1, gives utterance to a similar wish to that of the psalmist in Psa 55:7, and springing from the same motive. The argument in favour of Jeremiah in opposition to David is consequently referred to the picture of life and suffering which is presented in the Psalm; and it becomes a question whether this harmonizes better with the persecuted life of Jeremiah or of David.

The exposition which follows here places itself - and it is at least worthy of being attempted - on the standpoint of the writer of the inscription. Psa 55:1-8 In this first group sorrow prevails. David spreads forth his deep grief before God, and desires for himself some lonely spot in the wilderness far away from the home or lurking-place of the confederate band of those who are compassing his overthrow.

“Veil not Thyself” here, where what is spoken of is something audible, not visible, is equivalent to “veil not Thine ear,” Lam 3:56, which He designedly does, when the right state of heart leaves the praying one, and consequently that which makes it acceptable and capable of being answered is wanting to the prayer (cf. Isa 1:15). שׂיח signifies a shrub (Syriac shucho , Arabic šı̂ḥ ), and also reflection and care (Arabic, carefulness, attention; Aramaic, סח, to babble, talk, discourse).

The Hiph . חריד, which in Gen 27:40 signifies to lead a roving life, has in this instance the signification to move one’s self backwards and forwards, to be inwardly uneasy; root רד, Arab. rd , to totter, whence râda , jarûda , to run up and down (IV to desire, will); raida , to shake (said of a soft bloated body); radda , to turn (whence taraddud , a moving to and fro, doubting); therefore: I wander hither and thither in my reflecting or meditating, turning restlessly from one thought to another.

It is not necessary to read ואחמיה after Psa 77:4 instead of ועהימה, since the verb הוּם = המה, Psa 42:6, 12, is secured by the derivatives. Since these only exhibit הוּם, and not הים (in Arabic used more particularly of the raving of love), ואהימה, as also אריד, is Hiph . , and in fact like this latter used with an inward object: I am obliged to raise a tumult or groan, break out into the dull murmuring sounds of pain.

The cohortative not unfrequently signifies “I have to” or “I must” of incitements within one’s self which are under the control of outward circumstances. In this restless state of mind he finds himself, and he is obliged to break forth into this cry of pain on account of the voice of the foe which he cannot but hear; by reason of the pressure or constraint (עקת) of the evil-doer which he is compelled to feel.

The conjecture צעקת (Olshausen and Hupfeld) is superfluous. עקה is a more elegant Aramaizing word instead of צרה. The second strophe begins with a more precise statement of that which justifies his pain. The Hiph . חמיט signifies here, as in Psa 140:11 ( Chethîb ), declinare : they cast or roll down evil (calamity) upon him and maliciously lay snares for him בּאף, breathing anger against him who is conscious of having manifested only love towards them.

His heart turns about in his body, it writhes (יהיל); cf. on this, Psa 38:11. Fear and trembling take possession of his inward parts; יבא in the expression יבא בי, as is always the case when followed by a tone syllable, is a so-called נסוג אחור, i. e. , it has the tone that has retreated to the penult . (Deu 1:38; Isa 7:24; Isa 60:20), although this is only with difficulty discernible in our printed copies, and is therefore (vid.

, Accentsystem , vi. §2) noted with Mercha . The fut. consec . which follows introduces the heightened state of terror which proceeds from this crowding on of fear and trembling. Moreover, the wish that is thereby urged from him, which David uttered to himself, is introduced in the third strophe by a fut. consec. (Note: That beautiful old song of the church concerning Jesus has grown out of this strophe: - Ecquis binas columbinas Alas dabit animae?

Et in almam crucis palmam Evolat citissime , etc.) “Who will give me? ” is equivalent to “Oh that I had! ” Ges. §136, 1. In ואשׁכּנה is involved the self-satisfying signification of settling down (Eze 31:13), of coming to rest and remaining in a place (2Sa 7:10). Without going out of our way, a sense perfectly in accordance with the matter in hand may be obtained for אחישׁה מפלט לי, if אחישׁה is taken not as Kal (Psa 71:12), but after Isa 5:19; Isa 60:12, as Hiph .

: I would hasten, i. e. , quickly find for myself a place which might serve me as a shelter from the raging wind, from the storm. רוּח סעה is equivalent to the Arabic rihin sâijat - in , inasmuch as Arab. s‛â , “to move one’s self quickly, to go or run swiftly,” can be said both of light (Koran, 66:8) and of water-brooks (vid. , Jones, Comm. Poes. Asiat. , ed.

Lipsiae , p. 358), and also of strong currents of air, of winds, and such like. The correction סערה, proposed by Hupfeld, produces a disfiguring tautology. Among those about David there is a wild movement going on which is specially aimed at his overthrow. From this he would gladly flee and hide himself, like a dove taking refuge in a cleft of the rock from the approaching storm, or from the talons of the bird of prey, fleeing with its noiseless but persevering flight.

Psa 55:9-16 In the second group anger is the prevailing feeling. In the city all kinds of party passions have broken loose; even his bosom friend has taken a part in this hostile rising. The retrospective reference to the confusion of tongues at Babel which is contained in the word פּלּג (cf. Gen 10:25), also in remembrance of בּלל (Gen 11:1-9), involves the choice of the word בּלּע, which here, after Isa 19:3, denotes a swallowing up, i.

e. , annihilation by means of confounding and rendering utterly futile. לשׁונם is the object to both imperatives, the second of which is פּלּג (like the pointing usual in connection with a final guttural) for the sake of similarity of sound. Instead of חמס וריב, the pointing is חמס וריב, which is perfectly regular, because the וריב with a conjunctive accent logically hurries on to בּעיר as its supplement.

The subjects to Psa 55:11 are not violence and strife (Hengstenberg, Hitzig), for it is rather a comical idea to make these personified run round about upon the city walls; but (cf. Psa 59:7, Psa 59:15) the Absalomites, and in fact the spies who incessantly watch the movements of David and his followers, and who to this end roam about upon the heights of the city.

The narrative in 2 Sam. 15 shows how passively David looked on at this movement, until he abandoned the palace of his own free will and quitted Jerusalem The espionage in the circuit of the city is contrasted with the movements going on within the city itself by the word בּקרב. We are acquainted with but few details of the affair; but we can easily fill in the details for ourselves in accordance with the ambitious, base, and craftily malicious character of Absalom.

The assertion that deceit (מרמה) and the extremest madness had taken possession of the city is confirmed in Psa 55:13 by כּי. It is not open enemies who might have had cause for it that are opposed to him, but faithless friends, and among them that Ahithophel of Giloh, the scum of perfidious ingratitude. The futures ואשּׂא and ואסּתר are used as subjunctives, and ו is equivalent to alioqui , as in Psa 51:18, cf.

Job 6:14. He tells him to his face, to his shame, the relationship in which he had stood to him whom he now betrays. Psa 55:14 is not to be rendered: and thou art, etc. , but: and thou (who dost act thus) wast , etc. ; for it is only because the principal clause has a retrospective meaning that the futures נמתּיק and נהלּך describe what was a custom in the past.

The expression is designedly אנושׁ כּערכּי and not אישׁ כערכי; David does not make him feel his kingly eminence, but places himself in the relation to him of man to man, putting him on the same level with himself and treating him as his equal. The suffix of כערכי is in this instance not subjective as in the כערכך of the law respecting the asham or trespass-offering: according to my estimation, but objectively: equal to the worth at which I am estimated, that is to say, equally valued with myself.

What heart-piercing significance this word obtains when found in the mouth of the second David, who, although the Son of God and peerless King, nevertheless entered into the most intimate human relationship as the Son of man to His disciples, and among them to that Iscariot! אלּוּף from אלף, Arabic alifa , to be accustomed to anything, assuescere , signifies one attached to or devoted to any one; and מידּא, according to the Hebrew meaning of the verb ידע, an intimate acquaintance.

The first of the relative clauses in Psa 55:15 describes their confidential private intercourse; the second the unrestrained manifestation of it in public. סוד here, as in Job 19:19 (vid. , supra on Psa 25:14). המתּיק סוד, to make friendly intercourse sweet, is equivalent to cherishing it. רגשׁ stands over against סוד, just like סוד, secret counsel, and רגשׁה, loud tumult, in Psa 64:3.

Here רגשׁ is just the same as that which the Korahitic poet calls המון חוגג in Psa 42:5. In the face of the faithless friends who has become the head of the Absalomite faction David now breaks out, in Psa 55:16, into fearful imprecations. The Chethîb is ישׁימות, desolationes ( super eos ); but this word occurs only in the name of a place (“House of desolations”), and does not well suit such direct reference to persons.

On the other hand, the Kerî ישּׁיאמות, let death ensnare or impose upon them, gives a sense that is not to be objected to; it is a pregnant expression, equivalent to: let death come upon them unexpectedly. To this ישּׁיא corresponds the חיּים of the second imprecation: let them go down alive into Hades (שׁאול, perhaps originally שׁאולה, the ה of which may have been lost beside the ח that follows), i.

e. , like the company of Korah, while their life is yet vigorous, that is to say, let them die a sudden, violent death. The drawing together of the decipiat (opprimat) mors into one word is the result of the ancient scriptio continua and of the defective mode of writing, ישּׁי, like יני, Psa 141:5, אבי, 1Ki 21:29. Böttcher renders it differently: let death crash in upon them; but the future form ישּׁי = ישׁאה from שׁאה = שׁאי is an imaginary one, which cannot be supported by Num 21:30.

Hitzig renders it: let death benumb them (ישּׁים); but this gives an inconceivable figure, with the turgidity of which the trepidantes Manes in Virgil, Aenid viii. 246, do not admit of comparison. In the confirmation, Psa 55:16 , בּמגוּרם, together with the בּקרבּם which follows, does not pretend to be any advance in the thought, whether מגור be rendered a settlement, dwelling, παροικία (lxx, Targum), or an assembly (Aquila, Symmachus, Jerome).

Hence Hitzig’s rendering: in their shrine, in their breast (= ἐν τῷ θησαυρῷ τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν, Luk 6:45), מגוּרם being short for מגוּרתם in accordance with the love of contraction which prevails in poetry (on Psa 25:5). But had the poet intended to use this figure he would have written בּמגוּרת קרבם, and is not the assertion that wickedness is among them, that it is at home in them, really a climax?

The change of the names of God in Psa 55:17 is significant. He calls upon Him who is exalted above the world, and He who mercifully interposes in the history of the world helps him.

Psa 55:9-16 In the second group anger is the prevailing feeling. In the city all kinds of party passions have broken loose; even his bosom friend has taken a part in this hostile rising. The retrospective reference to the confusion of tongues at Babel which is contained in the word פּלּג (cf. Gen 10:25), also in remembrance of בּלל (Gen 11:1-9), involves the choice of the word בּלּע, which here, after Isa 19:3, denotes a swallowing up, i.

e. , annihilation by means of confounding and rendering utterly futile. לשׁונם is the object to both imperatives, the second of which is פּלּג (like the pointing usual in connection with a final guttural) for the sake of similarity of sound. Instead of חמס וריב, the pointing is חמס וריב, which is perfectly regular, because the וריב with a conjunctive accent logically hurries on to בּעיר as its supplement.

The subjects to Psa 55:11 are not violence and strife (Hengstenberg, Hitzig), for it is rather a comical idea to make these personified run round about upon the city walls; but (cf. Psa 59:7, Psa 59:15) the Absalomites, and in fact the spies who incessantly watch the movements of David and his followers, and who to this end roam about upon the heights of the city.

The narrative in 2 Sam. 15 shows how passively David looked on at this movement, until he abandoned the palace of his own free will and quitted Jerusalem The espionage in the circuit of the city is contrasted with the movements going on within the city itself by the word בּקרב. We are acquainted with but few details of the affair; but we can easily fill in the details for ourselves in accordance with the ambitious, base, and craftily malicious character of Absalom.

The assertion that deceit (מרמה) and the extremest madness had taken possession of the city is confirmed in Psa 55:13 by כּי. It is not open enemies who might have had cause for it that are opposed to him, but faithless friends, and among them that Ahithophel of Giloh, the scum of perfidious ingratitude. The futures ואשּׂא and ואסּתר are used as subjunctives, and ו is equivalent to alioqui , as in Psa 51:18, cf.

Job 6:14. He tells him to his face, to his shame, the relationship in which he had stood to him whom he now betrays. Psa 55:14 is not to be rendered: and thou art, etc. , but: and thou (who dost act thus) wast , etc. ; for it is only because the principal clause has a retrospective meaning that the futures נמתּיק and נהלּך describe what was a custom in the past.

The expression is designedly אנושׁ כּערכּי and not אישׁ כערכי; David does not make him feel his kingly eminence, but places himself in the relation to him of man to man, putting him on the same level with himself and treating him as his equal. The suffix of כערכי is in this instance not subjective as in the כערכך of the law respecting the asham or trespass-offering: according to my estimation, but objectively: equal to the worth at which I am estimated, that is to say, equally valued with myself.

What heart-piercing significance this word obtains when found in the mouth of the second David, who, although the Son of God and peerless King, nevertheless entered into the most intimate human relationship as the Son of man to His disciples, and among them to that Iscariot! אלּוּף from אלף, Arabic alifa , to be accustomed to anything, assuescere , signifies one attached to or devoted to any one; and מידּא, according to the Hebrew meaning of the verb ידע, an intimate acquaintance.

The first of the relative clauses in Psa 55:15 describes their confidential private intercourse; the second the unrestrained manifestation of it in public. סוד here, as in Job 19:19 (vid. , supra on Psa 25:14). המתּיק סוד, to make friendly intercourse sweet, is equivalent to cherishing it. רגשׁ stands over against סוד, just like סוד, secret counsel, and רגשׁה, loud tumult, in Psa 64:3.

Here רגשׁ is just the same as that which the Korahitic poet calls המון חוגג in Psa 42:5. In the face of the faithless friends who has become the head of the Absalomite faction David now breaks out, in Psa 55:16, into fearful imprecations. The Chethîb is ישׁימות, desolationes ( super eos ); but this word occurs only in the name of a place (“House of desolations”), and does not well suit such direct reference to persons.

On the other hand, the Kerî ישּׁיאמות, let death ensnare or impose upon them, gives a sense that is not to be objected to; it is a pregnant expression, equivalent to: let death come upon them unexpectedly. To this ישּׁיא corresponds the חיּים of the second imprecation: let them go down alive into Hades (שׁאול, perhaps originally שׁאולה, the ה of which may have been lost beside the ח that follows), i.

e. , like the company of Korah, while their life is yet vigorous, that is to say, let them die a sudden, violent death. The drawing together of the decipiat (opprimat) mors into one word is the result of the ancient scriptio continua and of the defective mode of writing, ישּׁי, like יני, Psa 141:5, אבי, 1Ki 21:29. Böttcher renders it differently: let death crash in upon them; but the future form ישּׁי = ישׁאה from שׁאה = שׁאי is an imaginary one, which cannot be supported by Num 21:30.

Hitzig renders it: let death benumb them (ישּׁים); but this gives an inconceivable figure, with the turgidity of which the trepidantes Manes in Virgil, Aenid viii. 246, do not admit of comparison. In the confirmation, Psa 55:16 , בּמגוּרם, together with the בּקרבּם which follows, does not pretend to be any advance in the thought, whether מגור be rendered a settlement, dwelling, παροικία (lxx, Targum), or an assembly (Aquila, Symmachus, Jerome).

Hence Hitzig’s rendering: in their shrine, in their breast (= ἐν τῷ θησαυρῷ τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν, Luk 6:45), מגוּרם being short for מגוּרתם in accordance with the love of contraction which prevails in poetry (on Psa 25:5). But had the poet intended to use this figure he would have written בּמגוּרת קרבם, and is not the assertion that wickedness is among them, that it is at home in them, really a climax?

The change of the names of God in Psa 55:17 is significant. He calls upon Him who is exalted above the world, and He who mercifully interposes in the history of the world helps him.

Psa 55:9-16 In the second group anger is the prevailing feeling. In the city all kinds of party passions have broken loose; even his bosom friend has taken a part in this hostile rising. The retrospective reference to the confusion of tongues at Babel which is contained in the word פּלּג (cf. Gen 10:25), also in remembrance of בּלל (Gen 11:1-9), involves the choice of the word בּלּע, which here, after Isa 19:3, denotes a swallowing up, i.

e. , annihilation by means of confounding and rendering utterly futile. לשׁונם is the object to both imperatives, the second of which is פּלּג (like the pointing usual in connection with a final guttural) for the sake of similarity of sound. Instead of חמס וריב, the pointing is חמס וריב, which is perfectly regular, because the וריב with a conjunctive accent logically hurries on to בּעיר as its supplement.

The subjects to Psa 55:11 are not violence and strife (Hengstenberg, Hitzig), for it is rather a comical idea to make these personified run round about upon the city walls; but (cf. Psa 59:7, Psa 59:15) the Absalomites, and in fact the spies who incessantly watch the movements of David and his followers, and who to this end roam about upon the heights of the city.

The narrative in 2 Sam. 15 shows how passively David looked on at this movement, until he abandoned the palace of his own free will and quitted Jerusalem The espionage in the circuit of the city is contrasted with the movements going on within the city itself by the word בּקרב. We are acquainted with but few details of the affair; but we can easily fill in the details for ourselves in accordance with the ambitious, base, and craftily malicious character of Absalom.

The assertion that deceit (מרמה) and the extremest madness had taken possession of the city is confirmed in Psa 55:13 by כּי. It is not open enemies who might have had cause for it that are opposed to him, but faithless friends, and among them that Ahithophel of Giloh, the scum of perfidious ingratitude. The futures ואשּׂא and ואסּתר are used as subjunctives, and ו is equivalent to alioqui , as in Psa 51:18, cf.

Job 6:14. He tells him to his face, to his shame, the relationship in which he had stood to him whom he now betrays. Psa 55:14 is not to be rendered: and thou art, etc. , but: and thou (who dost act thus) wast , etc. ; for it is only because the principal clause has a retrospective meaning that the futures נמתּיק and נהלּך describe what was a custom in the past.

The expression is designedly אנושׁ כּערכּי and not אישׁ כערכי; David does not make him feel his kingly eminence, but places himself in the relation to him of man to man, putting him on the same level with himself and treating him as his equal. The suffix of כערכי is in this instance not subjective as in the כערכך of the law respecting the asham or trespass-offering: according to my estimation, but objectively: equal to the worth at which I am estimated, that is to say, equally valued with myself.

What heart-piercing significance this word obtains when found in the mouth of the second David, who, although the Son of God and peerless King, nevertheless entered into the most intimate human relationship as the Son of man to His disciples, and among them to that Iscariot! אלּוּף from אלף, Arabic alifa , to be accustomed to anything, assuescere , signifies one attached to or devoted to any one; and מידּא, according to the Hebrew meaning of the verb ידע, an intimate acquaintance.

The first of the relative clauses in Psa 55:15 describes their confidential private intercourse; the second the unrestrained manifestation of it in public. סוד here, as in Job 19:19 (vid. , supra on Psa 25:14). המתּיק סוד, to make friendly intercourse sweet, is equivalent to cherishing it. רגשׁ stands over against סוד, just like סוד, secret counsel, and רגשׁה, loud tumult, in Psa 64:3.

Here רגשׁ is just the same as that which the Korahitic poet calls המון חוגג in Psa 42:5. In the face of the faithless friends who has become the head of the Absalomite faction David now breaks out, in Psa 55:16, into fearful imprecations. The Chethîb is ישׁימות, desolationes ( super eos ); but this word occurs only in the name of a place (“House of desolations”), and does not well suit such direct reference to persons.

On the other hand, the Kerî ישּׁיאמות, let death ensnare or impose upon them, gives a sense that is not to be objected to; it is a pregnant expression, equivalent to: let death come upon them unexpectedly. To this ישּׁיא corresponds the חיּים of the second imprecation: let them go down alive into Hades (שׁאול, perhaps originally שׁאולה, the ה of which may have been lost beside the ח that follows), i.

e. , like the company of Korah, while their life is yet vigorous, that is to say, let them die a sudden, violent death. The drawing together of the decipiat (opprimat) mors into one word is the result of the ancient scriptio continua and of the defective mode of writing, ישּׁי, like יני, Psa 141:5, אבי, 1Ki 21:29. Böttcher renders it differently: let death crash in upon them; but the future form ישּׁי = ישׁאה from שׁאה = שׁאי is an imaginary one, which cannot be supported by Num 21:30.

Hitzig renders it: let death benumb them (ישּׁים); but this gives an inconceivable figure, with the turgidity of which the trepidantes Manes in Virgil, Aenid viii. 246, do not admit of comparison. In the confirmation, Psa 55:16 , בּמגוּרם, together with the בּקרבּם which follows, does not pretend to be any advance in the thought, whether מגור be rendered a settlement, dwelling, παροικία (lxx, Targum), or an assembly (Aquila, Symmachus, Jerome).

Hence Hitzig’s rendering: in their shrine, in their breast (= ἐν τῷ θησαυρῷ τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν, Luk 6:45), מגוּרם being short for מגוּרתם in accordance with the love of contraction which prevails in poetry (on Psa 25:5). But had the poet intended to use this figure he would have written בּמגוּרת קרבם, and is not the assertion that wickedness is among them, that it is at home in them, really a climax?

The change of the names of God in Psa 55:17 is significant. He calls upon Him who is exalted above the world, and He who mercifully interposes in the history of the world helps him.

Psa 55:9-16 In the second group anger is the prevailing feeling. In the city all kinds of party passions have broken loose; even his bosom friend has taken a part in this hostile rising. The retrospective reference to the confusion of tongues at Babel which is contained in the word פּלּג (cf. Gen 10:25), also in remembrance of בּלל (Gen 11:1-9), involves the choice of the word בּלּע, which here, after Isa 19:3, denotes a swallowing up, i.

e. , annihilation by means of confounding and rendering utterly futile. לשׁונם is the object to both imperatives, the second of which is פּלּג (like the pointing usual in connection with a final guttural) for the sake of similarity of sound. Instead of חמס וריב, the pointing is חמס וריב, which is perfectly regular, because the וריב with a conjunctive accent logically hurries on to בּעיר as its supplement.

The subjects to Psa 55:11 are not violence and strife (Hengstenberg, Hitzig), for it is rather a comical idea to make these personified run round about upon the city walls; but (cf. Psa 59:7, Psa 59:15) the Absalomites, and in fact the spies who incessantly watch the movements of David and his followers, and who to this end roam about upon the heights of the city.

The narrative in 2 Sam. 15 shows how passively David looked on at this movement, until he abandoned the palace of his own free will and quitted Jerusalem The espionage in the circuit of the city is contrasted with the movements going on within the city itself by the word בּקרב. We are acquainted with but few details of the affair; but we can easily fill in the details for ourselves in accordance with the ambitious, base, and craftily malicious character of Absalom.

The assertion that deceit (מרמה) and the extremest madness had taken possession of the city is confirmed in Psa 55:13 by כּי. It is not open enemies who might have had cause for it that are opposed to him, but faithless friends, and among them that Ahithophel of Giloh, the scum of perfidious ingratitude. The futures ואשּׂא and ואסּתר are used as subjunctives, and ו is equivalent to alioqui , as in Psa 51:18, cf.

Job 6:14. He tells him to his face, to his shame, the relationship in which he had stood to him whom he now betrays. Psa 55:14 is not to be rendered: and thou art, etc. , but: and thou (who dost act thus) wast , etc. ; for it is only because the principal clause has a retrospective meaning that the futures נמתּיק and נהלּך describe what was a custom in the past.

The expression is designedly אנושׁ כּערכּי and not אישׁ כערכי; David does not make him feel his kingly eminence, but places himself in the relation to him of man to man, putting him on the same level with himself and treating him as his equal. The suffix of כערכי is in this instance not subjective as in the כערכך of the law respecting the asham or trespass-offering: according to my estimation, but objectively: equal to the worth at which I am estimated, that is to say, equally valued with myself.

What heart-piercing significance this word obtains when found in the mouth of the second David, who, although the Son of God and peerless King, nevertheless entered into the most intimate human relationship as the Son of man to His disciples, and among them to that Iscariot! אלּוּף from אלף, Arabic alifa , to be accustomed to anything, assuescere , signifies one attached to or devoted to any one; and מידּא, according to the Hebrew meaning of the verb ידע, an intimate acquaintance.

The first of the relative clauses in Psa 55:15 describes their confidential private intercourse; the second the unrestrained manifestation of it in public. סוד here, as in Job 19:19 (vid. , supra on Psa 25:14). המתּיק סוד, to make friendly intercourse sweet, is equivalent to cherishing it. רגשׁ stands over against סוד, just like סוד, secret counsel, and רגשׁה, loud tumult, in Psa 64:3.

Here רגשׁ is just the same as that which the Korahitic poet calls המון חוגג in Psa 42:5. In the face of the faithless friends who has become the head of the Absalomite faction David now breaks out, in Psa 55:16, into fearful imprecations. The Chethîb is ישׁימות, desolationes ( super eos ); but this word occurs only in the name of a place (“House of desolations”), and does not well suit such direct reference to persons.

On the other hand, the Kerî ישּׁיאמות, let death ensnare or impose upon them, gives a sense that is not to be objected to; it is a pregnant expression, equivalent to: let death come upon them unexpectedly. To this ישּׁיא corresponds the חיּים of the second imprecation: let them go down alive into Hades (שׁאול, perhaps originally שׁאולה, the ה of which may have been lost beside the ח that follows), i.

e. , like the company of Korah, while their life is yet vigorous, that is to say, let them die a sudden, violent death. The drawing together of the decipiat (opprimat) mors into one word is the result of the ancient scriptio continua and of the defective mode of writing, ישּׁי, like יני, Psa 141:5, אבי, 1Ki 21:29. Böttcher renders it differently: let death crash in upon them; but the future form ישּׁי = ישׁאה from שׁאה = שׁאי is an imaginary one, which cannot be supported by Num 21:30.

Hitzig renders it: let death benumb them (ישּׁים); but this gives an inconceivable figure, with the turgidity of which the trepidantes Manes in Virgil, Aenid viii. 246, do not admit of comparison. In the confirmation, Psa 55:16 , בּמגוּרם, together with the בּקרבּם which follows, does not pretend to be any advance in the thought, whether מגור be rendered a settlement, dwelling, παροικία (lxx, Targum), or an assembly (Aquila, Symmachus, Jerome).

Hence Hitzig’s rendering: in their shrine, in their breast (= ἐν τῷ θησαυρῷ τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν, Luk 6:45), מגוּרם being short for מגוּרתם in accordance with the love of contraction which prevails in poetry (on Psa 25:5). But had the poet intended to use this figure he would have written בּמגוּרת קרבם, and is not the assertion that wickedness is among them, that it is at home in them, really a climax?

The change of the names of God in Psa 55:17 is significant. He calls upon Him who is exalted above the world, and He who mercifully interposes in the history of the world helps him.

Psa 55:9-16 In the second group anger is the prevailing feeling. In the city all kinds of party passions have broken loose; even his bosom friend has taken a part in this hostile rising. The retrospective reference to the confusion of tongues at Babel which is contained in the word פּלּג (cf. Gen 10:25), also in remembrance of בּלל (Gen 11:1-9), involves the choice of the word בּלּע, which here, after Isa 19:3, denotes a swallowing up, i.

e. , annihilation by means of confounding and rendering utterly futile. לשׁונם is the object to both imperatives, the second of which is פּלּג (like the pointing usual in connection with a final guttural) for the sake of similarity of sound. Instead of חמס וריב, the pointing is חמס וריב, which is perfectly regular, because the וריב with a conjunctive accent logically hurries on to בּעיר as its supplement.

The subjects to Psa 55:11 are not violence and strife (Hengstenberg, Hitzig), for it is rather a comical idea to make these personified run round about upon the city walls; but (cf. Psa 59:7, Psa 59:15) the Absalomites, and in fact the spies who incessantly watch the movements of David and his followers, and who to this end roam about upon the heights of the city.

The narrative in 2 Sam. 15 shows how passively David looked on at this movement, until he abandoned the palace of his own free will and quitted Jerusalem The espionage in the circuit of the city is contrasted with the movements going on within the city itself by the word בּקרב. We are acquainted with but few details of the affair; but we can easily fill in the details for ourselves in accordance with the ambitious, base, and craftily malicious character of Absalom.

The assertion that deceit (מרמה) and the extremest madness had taken possession of the city is confirmed in Psa 55:13 by כּי. It is not open enemies who might have had cause for it that are opposed to him, but faithless friends, and among them that Ahithophel of Giloh, the scum of perfidious ingratitude. The futures ואשּׂא and ואסּתר are used as subjunctives, and ו is equivalent to alioqui , as in Psa 51:18, cf.

Job 6:14. He tells him to his face, to his shame, the relationship in which he had stood to him whom he now betrays. Psa 55:14 is not to be rendered: and thou art, etc. , but: and thou (who dost act thus) wast , etc. ; for it is only because the principal clause has a retrospective meaning that the futures נמתּיק and נהלּך describe what was a custom in the past.

The expression is designedly אנושׁ כּערכּי and not אישׁ כערכי; David does not make him feel his kingly eminence, but places himself in the relation to him of man to man, putting him on the same level with himself and treating him as his equal. The suffix of כערכי is in this instance not subjective as in the כערכך of the law respecting the asham or trespass-offering: according to my estimation, but objectively: equal to the worth at which I am estimated, that is to say, equally valued with myself.

What heart-piercing significance this word obtains when found in the mouth of the second David, who, although the Son of God and peerless King, nevertheless entered into the most intimate human relationship as the Son of man to His disciples, and among them to that Iscariot! אלּוּף from אלף, Arabic alifa , to be accustomed to anything, assuescere , signifies one attached to or devoted to any one; and מידּא, according to the Hebrew meaning of the verb ידע, an intimate acquaintance.

The first of the relative clauses in Psa 55:15 describes their confidential private intercourse; the second the unrestrained manifestation of it in public. סוד here, as in Job 19:19 (vid. , supra on Psa 25:14). המתּיק סוד, to make friendly intercourse sweet, is equivalent to cherishing it. רגשׁ stands over against סוד, just like סוד, secret counsel, and רגשׁה, loud tumult, in Psa 64:3.

Here רגשׁ is just the same as that which the Korahitic poet calls המון חוגג in Psa 42:5. In the face of the faithless friends who has become the head of the Absalomite faction David now breaks out, in Psa 55:16, into fearful imprecations. The Chethîb is ישׁימות, desolationes ( super eos ); but this word occurs only in the name of a place (“House of desolations”), and does not well suit such direct reference to persons.

On the other hand, the Kerî ישּׁיאמות, let death ensnare or impose upon them, gives a sense that is not to be objected to; it is a pregnant expression, equivalent to: let death come upon them unexpectedly. To this ישּׁיא corresponds the חיּים of the second imprecation: let them go down alive into Hades (שׁאול, perhaps originally שׁאולה, the ה of which may have been lost beside the ח that follows), i.

e. , like the company of Korah, while their life is yet vigorous, that is to say, let them die a sudden, violent death. The drawing together of the decipiat (opprimat) mors into one word is the result of the ancient scriptio continua and of the defective mode of writing, ישּׁי, like יני, Psa 141:5, אבי, 1Ki 21:29. Böttcher renders it differently: let death crash in upon them; but the future form ישּׁי = ישׁאה from שׁאה = שׁאי is an imaginary one, which cannot be supported by Num 21:30.

Hitzig renders it: let death benumb them (ישּׁים); but this gives an inconceivable figure, with the turgidity of which the trepidantes Manes in Virgil, Aenid viii. 246, do not admit of comparison. In the confirmation, Psa 55:16 , בּמגוּרם, together with the בּקרבּם which follows, does not pretend to be any advance in the thought, whether מגור be rendered a settlement, dwelling, παροικία (lxx, Targum), or an assembly (Aquila, Symmachus, Jerome).

Hence Hitzig’s rendering: in their shrine, in their breast (= ἐν τῷ θησαυρῷ τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν, Luk 6:45), מגוּרם being short for מגוּרתם in accordance with the love of contraction which prevails in poetry (on Psa 25:5). But had the poet intended to use this figure he would have written בּמגוּרת קרבם, and is not the assertion that wickedness is among them, that it is at home in them, really a climax?

The change of the names of God in Psa 55:17 is significant. He calls upon Him who is exalted above the world, and He who mercifully interposes in the history of the world helps him.

Psa 55:9-16 In the second group anger is the prevailing feeling. In the city all kinds of party passions have broken loose; even his bosom friend has taken a part in this hostile rising. The retrospective reference to the confusion of tongues at Babel which is contained in the word פּלּג (cf. Gen 10:25), also in remembrance of בּלל (Gen 11:1-9), involves the choice of the word בּלּע, which here, after Isa 19:3, denotes a swallowing up, i.

e. , annihilation by means of confounding and rendering utterly futile. לשׁונם is the object to both imperatives, the second of which is פּלּג (like the pointing usual in connection with a final guttural) for the sake of similarity of sound. Instead of חמס וריב, the pointing is חמס וריב, which is perfectly regular, because the וריב with a conjunctive accent logically hurries on to בּעיר as its supplement.

The subjects to Psa 55:11 are not violence and strife (Hengstenberg, Hitzig), for it is rather a comical idea to make these personified run round about upon the city walls; but (cf. Psa 59:7, Psa 59:15) the Absalomites, and in fact the spies who incessantly watch the movements of David and his followers, and who to this end roam about upon the heights of the city.

The narrative in 2 Sam. 15 shows how passively David looked on at this movement, until he abandoned the palace of his own free will and quitted Jerusalem The espionage in the circuit of the city is contrasted with the movements going on within the city itself by the word בּקרב. We are acquainted with but few details of the affair; but we can easily fill in the details for ourselves in accordance with the ambitious, base, and craftily malicious character of Absalom.

The assertion that deceit (מרמה) and the extremest madness had taken possession of the city is confirmed in Psa 55:13 by כּי. It is not open enemies who might have had cause for it that are opposed to him, but faithless friends, and among them that Ahithophel of Giloh, the scum of perfidious ingratitude. The futures ואשּׂא and ואסּתר are used as subjunctives, and ו is equivalent to alioqui , as in Psa 51:18, cf.

Job 6:14. He tells him to his face, to his shame, the relationship in which he had stood to him whom he now betrays. Psa 55:14 is not to be rendered: and thou art, etc. , but: and thou (who dost act thus) wast , etc. ; for it is only because the principal clause has a retrospective meaning that the futures נמתּיק and נהלּך describe what was a custom in the past.

The expression is designedly אנושׁ כּערכּי and not אישׁ כערכי; David does not make him feel his kingly eminence, but places himself in the relation to him of man to man, putting him on the same level with himself and treating him as his equal. The suffix of כערכי is in this instance not subjective as in the כערכך of the law respecting the asham or trespass-offering: according to my estimation, but objectively: equal to the worth at which I am estimated, that is to say, equally valued with myself.

What heart-piercing significance this word obtains when found in the mouth of the second David, who, although the Son of God and peerless King, nevertheless entered into the most intimate human relationship as the Son of man to His disciples, and among them to that Iscariot! אלּוּף from אלף, Arabic alifa , to be accustomed to anything, assuescere , signifies one attached to or devoted to any one; and מידּא, according to the Hebrew meaning of the verb ידע, an intimate acquaintance.

The first of the relative clauses in Psa 55:15 describes their confidential private intercourse; the second the unrestrained manifestation of it in public. סוד here, as in Job 19:19 (vid. , supra on Psa 25:14). המתּיק סוד, to make friendly intercourse sweet, is equivalent to cherishing it. רגשׁ stands over against סוד, just like סוד, secret counsel, and רגשׁה, loud tumult, in Psa 64:3.

Here רגשׁ is just the same as that which the Korahitic poet calls המון חוגג in Psa 42:5. In the face of the faithless friends who has become the head of the Absalomite faction David now breaks out, in Psa 55:16, into fearful imprecations. The Chethîb is ישׁימות, desolationes ( super eos ); but this word occurs only in the name of a place (“House of desolations”), and does not well suit such direct reference to persons.

On the other hand, the Kerî ישּׁיאמות, let death ensnare or impose upon them, gives a sense that is not to be objected to; it is a pregnant expression, equivalent to: let death come upon them unexpectedly. To this ישּׁיא corresponds the חיּים of the second imprecation: let them go down alive into Hades (שׁאול, perhaps originally שׁאולה, the ה of which may have been lost beside the ח that follows), i.

e. , like the company of Korah, while their life is yet vigorous, that is to say, let them die a sudden, violent death. The drawing together of the decipiat (opprimat) mors into one word is the result of the ancient scriptio continua and of the defective mode of writing, ישּׁי, like יני, Psa 141:5, אבי, 1Ki 21:29. Böttcher renders it differently: let death crash in upon them; but the future form ישּׁי = ישׁאה from שׁאה = שׁאי is an imaginary one, which cannot be supported by Num 21:30.

Hitzig renders it: let death benumb them (ישּׁים); but this gives an inconceivable figure, with the turgidity of which the trepidantes Manes in Virgil, Aenid viii. 246, do not admit of comparison. In the confirmation, Psa 55:16 , בּמגוּרם, together with the בּקרבּם which follows, does not pretend to be any advance in the thought, whether מגור be rendered a settlement, dwelling, παροικία (lxx, Targum), or an assembly (Aquila, Symmachus, Jerome).

Hence Hitzig’s rendering: in their shrine, in their breast (= ἐν τῷ θησαυρῷ τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν, Luk 6:45), מגוּרם being short for מגוּרתם in accordance with the love of contraction which prevails in poetry (on Psa 25:5). But had the poet intended to use this figure he would have written בּמגוּרת קרבם, and is not the assertion that wickedness is among them, that it is at home in them, really a climax?

The change of the names of God in Psa 55:17 is significant. He calls upon Him who is exalted above the world, and He who mercifully interposes in the history of the world helps him.

Psa 55:9-16 In the second group anger is the prevailing feeling. In the city all kinds of party passions have broken loose; even his bosom friend has taken a part in this hostile rising. The retrospective reference to the confusion of tongues at Babel which is contained in the word פּלּג (cf. Gen 10:25), also in remembrance of בּלל (Gen 11:1-9), involves the choice of the word בּלּע, which here, after Isa 19:3, denotes a swallowing up, i.

e. , annihilation by means of confounding and rendering utterly futile. לשׁונם is the object to both imperatives, the second of which is פּלּג (like the pointing usual in connection with a final guttural) for the sake of similarity of sound. Instead of חמס וריב, the pointing is חמס וריב, which is perfectly regular, because the וריב with a conjunctive accent logically hurries on to בּעיר as its supplement.

The subjects to Psa 55:11 are not violence and strife (Hengstenberg, Hitzig), for it is rather a comical idea to make these personified run round about upon the city walls; but (cf. Psa 59:7, Psa 59:15) the Absalomites, and in fact the spies who incessantly watch the movements of David and his followers, and who to this end roam about upon the heights of the city.

The narrative in 2 Sam. 15 shows how passively David looked on at this movement, until he abandoned the palace of his own free will and quitted Jerusalem The espionage in the circuit of the city is contrasted with the movements going on within the city itself by the word בּקרב. We are acquainted with but few details of the affair; but we can easily fill in the details for ourselves in accordance with the ambitious, base, and craftily malicious character of Absalom.

The assertion that deceit (מרמה) and the extremest madness had taken possession of the city is confirmed in Psa 55:13 by כּי. It is not open enemies who might have had cause for it that are opposed to him, but faithless friends, and among them that Ahithophel of Giloh, the scum of perfidious ingratitude. The futures ואשּׂא and ואסּתר are used as subjunctives, and ו is equivalent to alioqui , as in Psa 51:18, cf.

Job 6:14. He tells him to his face, to his shame, the relationship in which he had stood to him whom he now betrays. Psa 55:14 is not to be rendered: and thou art, etc. , but: and thou (who dost act thus) wast , etc. ; for it is only because the principal clause has a retrospective meaning that the futures נמתּיק and נהלּך describe what was a custom in the past.

The expression is designedly אנושׁ כּערכּי and not אישׁ כערכי; David does not make him feel his kingly eminence, but places himself in the relation to him of man to man, putting him on the same level with himself and treating him as his equal. The suffix of כערכי is in this instance not subjective as in the כערכך of the law respecting the asham or trespass-offering: according to my estimation, but objectively: equal to the worth at which I am estimated, that is to say, equally valued with myself.

What heart-piercing significance this word obtains when found in the mouth of the second David, who, although the Son of God and peerless King, nevertheless entered into the most intimate human relationship as the Son of man to His disciples, and among them to that Iscariot! אלּוּף from אלף, Arabic alifa , to be accustomed to anything, assuescere , signifies one attached to or devoted to any one; and מידּא, according to the Hebrew meaning of the verb ידע, an intimate acquaintance.

The first of the relative clauses in Psa 55:15 describes their confidential private intercourse; the second the unrestrained manifestation of it in public. סוד here, as in Job 19:19 (vid. , supra on Psa 25:14). המתּיק סוד, to make friendly intercourse sweet, is equivalent to cherishing it. רגשׁ stands over against סוד, just like סוד, secret counsel, and רגשׁה, loud tumult, in Psa 64:3.

Here רגשׁ is just the same as that which the Korahitic poet calls המון חוגג in Psa 42:5. In the face of the faithless friends who has become the head of the Absalomite faction David now breaks out, in Psa 55:16, into fearful imprecations. The Chethîb is ישׁימות, desolationes ( super eos ); but this word occurs only in the name of a place (“House of desolations”), and does not well suit such direct reference to persons.

On the other hand, the Kerî ישּׁיאמות, let death ensnare or impose upon them, gives a sense that is not to be objected to; it is a pregnant expression, equivalent to: let death come upon them unexpectedly. To this ישּׁיא corresponds the חיּים of the second imprecation: let them go down alive into Hades (שׁאול, perhaps originally שׁאולה, the ה of which may have been lost beside the ח that follows), i.

e. , like the company of Korah, while their life is yet vigorous, that is to say, let them die a sudden, violent death. The drawing together of the decipiat (opprimat) mors into one word is the result of the ancient scriptio continua and of the defective mode of writing, ישּׁי, like יני, Psa 141:5, אבי, 1Ki 21:29. Böttcher renders it differently: let death crash in upon them; but the future form ישּׁי = ישׁאה from שׁאה = שׁאי is an imaginary one, which cannot be supported by Num 21:30.

Hitzig renders it: let death benumb them (ישּׁים); but this gives an inconceivable figure, with the turgidity of which the trepidantes Manes in Virgil, Aenid viii. 246, do not admit of comparison. In the confirmation, Psa 55:16 , בּמגוּרם, together with the בּקרבּם which follows, does not pretend to be any advance in the thought, whether מגור be rendered a settlement, dwelling, παροικία (lxx, Targum), or an assembly (Aquila, Symmachus, Jerome).

Hence Hitzig’s rendering: in their shrine, in their breast (= ἐν τῷ θησαυρῷ τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν, Luk 6:45), מגוּרם being short for מגוּרתם in accordance with the love of contraction which prevails in poetry (on Psa 25:5). But had the poet intended to use this figure he would have written בּמגוּרת קרבם, and is not the assertion that wickedness is among them, that it is at home in them, really a climax?

The change of the names of God in Psa 55:17 is significant. He calls upon Him who is exalted above the world, and He who mercifully interposes in the history of the world helps him.

Psa 55:9-16 In the second group anger is the prevailing feeling. In the city all kinds of party passions have broken loose; even his bosom friend has taken a part in this hostile rising. The retrospective reference to the confusion of tongues at Babel which is contained in the word פּלּג (cf. Gen 10:25), also in remembrance of בּלל (Gen 11:1-9), involves the choice of the word בּלּע, which here, after Isa 19:3, denotes a swallowing up, i.

e. , annihilation by means of confounding and rendering utterly futile. לשׁונם is the object to both imperatives, the second of which is פּלּג (like the pointing usual in connection with a final guttural) for the sake of similarity of sound. Instead of חמס וריב, the pointing is חמס וריב, which is perfectly regular, because the וריב with a conjunctive accent logically hurries on to בּעיר as its supplement.

The subjects to Psa 55:11 are not violence and strife (Hengstenberg, Hitzig), for it is rather a comical idea to make these personified run round about upon the city walls; but (cf. Psa 59:7, Psa 59:15) the Absalomites, and in fact the spies who incessantly watch the movements of David and his followers, and who to this end roam about upon the heights of the city.

The narrative in 2 Sam. 15 shows how passively David looked on at this movement, until he abandoned the palace of his own free will and quitted Jerusalem The espionage in the circuit of the city is contrasted with the movements going on within the city itself by the word בּקרב. We are acquainted with but few details of the affair; but we can easily fill in the details for ourselves in accordance with the ambitious, base, and craftily malicious character of Absalom.

The assertion that deceit (מרמה) and the extremest madness had taken possession of the city is confirmed in Psa 55:13 by כּי. It is not open enemies who might have had cause for it that are opposed to him, but faithless friends, and among them that Ahithophel of Giloh, the scum of perfidious ingratitude. The futures ואשּׂא and ואסּתר are used as subjunctives, and ו is equivalent to alioqui , as in Psa 51:18, cf.

Job 6:14. He tells him to his face, to his shame, the relationship in which he had stood to him whom he now betrays. Psa 55:14 is not to be rendered: and thou art, etc. , but: and thou (who dost act thus) wast , etc. ; for it is only because the principal clause has a retrospective meaning that the futures נמתּיק and נהלּך describe what was a custom in the past.

The expression is designedly אנושׁ כּערכּי and not אישׁ כערכי; David does not make him feel his kingly eminence, but places himself in the relation to him of man to man, putting him on the same level with himself and treating him as his equal. The suffix of כערכי is in this instance not subjective as in the כערכך of the law respecting the asham or trespass-offering: according to my estimation, but objectively: equal to the worth at which I am estimated, that is to say, equally valued with myself.

What heart-piercing significance this word obtains when found in the mouth of the second David, who, although the Son of God and peerless King, nevertheless entered into the most intimate human relationship as the Son of man to His disciples, and among them to that Iscariot! אלּוּף from אלף, Arabic alifa , to be accustomed to anything, assuescere , signifies one attached to or devoted to any one; and מידּא, according to the Hebrew meaning of the verb ידע, an intimate acquaintance.

The first of the relative clauses in Psa 55:15 describes their confidential private intercourse; the second the unrestrained manifestation of it in public. סוד here, as in Job 19:19 (vid. , supra on Psa 25:14). המתּיק סוד, to make friendly intercourse sweet, is equivalent to cherishing it. רגשׁ stands over against סוד, just like סוד, secret counsel, and רגשׁה, loud tumult, in Psa 64:3.

Here רגשׁ is just the same as that which the Korahitic poet calls המון חוגג in Psa 42:5. In the face of the faithless friends who has become the head of the Absalomite faction David now breaks out, in Psa 55:16, into fearful imprecations. The Chethîb is ישׁימות, desolationes ( super eos ); but this word occurs only in the name of a place (“House of desolations”), and does not well suit such direct reference to persons.

On the other hand, the Kerî ישּׁיאמות, let death ensnare or impose upon them, gives a sense that is not to be objected to; it is a pregnant expression, equivalent to: let death come upon them unexpectedly. To this ישּׁיא corresponds the חיּים of the second imprecation: let them go down alive into Hades (שׁאול, perhaps originally שׁאולה, the ה of which may have been lost beside the ח that follows), i.

e. , like the company of Korah, while their life is yet vigorous, that is to say, let them die a sudden, violent death. The drawing together of the decipiat (opprimat) mors into one word is the result of the ancient scriptio continua and of the defective mode of writing, ישּׁי, like יני, Psa 141:5, אבי, 1Ki 21:29. Böttcher renders it differently: let death crash in upon them; but the future form ישּׁי = ישׁאה from שׁאה = שׁאי is an imaginary one, which cannot be supported by Num 21:30.

Hitzig renders it: let death benumb them (ישּׁים); but this gives an inconceivable figure, with the turgidity of which the trepidantes Manes in Virgil, Aenid viii. 246, do not admit of comparison. In the confirmation, Psa 55:16 , בּמגוּרם, together with the בּקרבּם which follows, does not pretend to be any advance in the thought, whether מגור be rendered a settlement, dwelling, παροικία (lxx, Targum), or an assembly (Aquila, Symmachus, Jerome).

Hence Hitzig’s rendering: in their shrine, in their breast (= ἐν τῷ θησαυρῷ τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν, Luk 6:45), מגוּרם being short for מגוּרתם in accordance with the love of contraction which prevails in poetry (on Psa 25:5). But had the poet intended to use this figure he would have written בּמגוּרת קרבם, and is not the assertion that wickedness is among them, that it is at home in them, really a climax?

The change of the names of God in Psa 55:17 is significant. He calls upon Him who is exalted above the world, and He who mercifully interposes in the history of the world helps him.

Psa 55:17-23 In the third group confidence prevails, the tone that is struck up in Psa 55:17 being carried forward. Evening morning, and noon, as the beginning, middle, and close of the day, denote the day in its whole compass or extent: David thus gives expression to the incessancy with which he is determined to lay before God, both in the quiet of his spirit and in louder utterances, whatsoever moves him.

The fut. consec . ויּשׁמע connects the hearing (answer) with the prayer as its inevitable result. Also in the praet . פּדה expression is given to the certainty of faith; and בּשׁלום side by side with it denotes, with the same pregnancy of meaning as in Psa 118:5, the state of undisturbed outward and inward safety and prosperity, into which God removes his soul when He rescues him.

If we read mi - kerob , then קרב is, as the ancient versions regard it, the infinitive: ne appropinquent mihi ; whereas since the time of J. H. Michaelis the preference has been given to the pronunciation mi - kerāb : a conflictu mihi sc. parato , in which case it would be pointed מקּרב־ (with Metheg ), whilst the MSS, in order to guard against the reading with ā , point it מקּרב־.

Hitzig is right when he observes, that after the negative מן the infinitive is indicated beforehand, and that לי = עלי, Psa 27:2, is better suited to this. Moreover, the confirmatory clause Psa 55:19 is connected with what precedes in a manner less liable to be misunderstood if מקרב is taken as infinitive: that they may not be able to gain any advantage over me, cannot come near me to harm me (Psa 91:10).

For it is not until now less precarious to take the enemies as the subject of היוּ, and to take עמּדי in a hostile sense, as in Job 10:17; Job 13:19; Job 23:6; Job 31:13, cf. עם Psa 94:16, and this is only possible where the connection suggests this sense. Heidenheim’s interpretation: among the magnates were those who succoured me (viz. , Hushai, Zadok, and Abiathar, by whom the counsel of Athithopel was frustrated), does not give a thought characteristic of the Psalms.

And with Aben-Ezra, who follows Numeri Rabba 294 a , to think of the assistance of angels in connection with בּרבּים, certainly strongly commends itself in view of 2Ki 6:16 (with which Hitzig also compares 2Ch 32:7); here, however, it has no connection, whereas the thought, “as many (consisting of many) are they with me, i. e. , do they come forward and fight with me,” is very loosely attached to what has gone before.

The Beth essentiae serves here, as it does frequently, e. g. , Psa 39:7, to denote the qualification of the subject. The preterite of confidence is followed in Psa 55:20 by the future of hope. Although side by side with שׁמע, ענה presumptively has the signification to answer, i. e. , to be assured of the prayer being heard, yet this meaning is in this instance excluded by the fact that the enemies are the object, as is required by Psa 55:20 (even if Psa 55:19 is understood of those who are on the side of the poet).

The rendering of the lxx: εἰσακούσεται ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ταπεινώσει αὐτοὺς ὁ ὑπάρχων πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων, is appropriate, but requires the pronunciation to be ויעשנּם, since the signification to bow down, to humble, cannot be proved to belong either to Kal or Hiphil . But even granted that יענם might, according to 1Ki 8:35 (vid. , Keil), signify ταπεινώσει αὐτοὺς, it is nevertheless difficult to believe that ויענם is not intended to have a meaning correlative with ישׁמע, of which it is the continuation.

Saadia has explained יענם in a manner worthy of attention, as being for יענה בם, he will testify against them; an interpretation which Aben-Ezra endorses. Hengstenberg’s is better: “God will hear (the tumult of the enemies) and answer them (judicially). ” The original text may have been ויענמו ישׁב קדם. But as it now stands, וישׁב קדם represents a subordinate clause, with the omission of the הוּא, pledging that judicial response: since He it is who sitteth enthroned from earliest times (vid.

, on Psa 7:10). The bold expression ישׁב קדם is an abbreviation of the view of God expressed in Psa 74:12, Hab 1:12, cf. Deu 33:27, as of Him who from primeval days down to the present sits enthroned as King and Judge, who therefore will be able even at the present time to maintain His majesty, which is assailed in the person of His anointed one.

Psa 55:17-23 In the third group confidence prevails, the tone that is struck up in Psa 55:17 being carried forward. Evening morning, and noon, as the beginning, middle, and close of the day, denote the day in its whole compass or extent: David thus gives expression to the incessancy with which he is determined to lay before God, both in the quiet of his spirit and in louder utterances, whatsoever moves him.

The fut. consec . ויּשׁמע connects the hearing (answer) with the prayer as its inevitable result. Also in the praet . פּדה expression is given to the certainty of faith; and בּשׁלום side by side with it denotes, with the same pregnancy of meaning as in Psa 118:5, the state of undisturbed outward and inward safety and prosperity, into which God removes his soul when He rescues him.

If we read mi - kerob , then קרב is, as the ancient versions regard it, the infinitive: ne appropinquent mihi ; whereas since the time of J. H. Michaelis the preference has been given to the pronunciation mi - kerāb : a conflictu mihi sc. parato , in which case it would be pointed מקּרב־ (with Metheg ), whilst the MSS, in order to guard against the reading with ā , point it מקּרב־.

Hitzig is right when he observes, that after the negative מן the infinitive is indicated beforehand, and that לי = עלי, Psa 27:2, is better suited to this. Moreover, the confirmatory clause Psa 55:19 is connected with what precedes in a manner less liable to be misunderstood if מקרב is taken as infinitive: that they may not be able to gain any advantage over me, cannot come near me to harm me (Psa 91:10).

For it is not until now less precarious to take the enemies as the subject of היוּ, and to take עמּדי in a hostile sense, as in Job 10:17; Job 13:19; Job 23:6; Job 31:13, cf. עם Psa 94:16, and this is only possible where the connection suggests this sense. Heidenheim’s interpretation: among the magnates were those who succoured me (viz. , Hushai, Zadok, and Abiathar, by whom the counsel of Athithopel was frustrated), does not give a thought characteristic of the Psalms.

And with Aben-Ezra, who follows Numeri Rabba 294 a , to think of the assistance of angels in connection with בּרבּים, certainly strongly commends itself in view of 2Ki 6:16 (with which Hitzig also compares 2Ch 32:7); here, however, it has no connection, whereas the thought, “as many (consisting of many) are they with me, i. e. , do they come forward and fight with me,” is very loosely attached to what has gone before.

The Beth essentiae serves here, as it does frequently, e. g. , Psa 39:7, to denote the qualification of the subject. The preterite of confidence is followed in Psa 55:20 by the future of hope. Although side by side with שׁמע, ענה presumptively has the signification to answer, i. e. , to be assured of the prayer being heard, yet this meaning is in this instance excluded by the fact that the enemies are the object, as is required by Psa 55:20 (even if Psa 55:19 is understood of those who are on the side of the poet).

The rendering of the lxx: εἰσακούσεται ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ταπεινώσει αὐτοὺς ὁ ὑπάρχων πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων, is appropriate, but requires the pronunciation to be ויעשנּם, since the signification to bow down, to humble, cannot be proved to belong either to Kal or Hiphil . But even granted that יענם might, according to 1Ki 8:35 (vid. , Keil), signify ταπεινώσει αὐτοὺς, it is nevertheless difficult to believe that ויענם is not intended to have a meaning correlative with ישׁמע, of which it is the continuation.

Saadia has explained יענם in a manner worthy of attention, as being for יענה בם, he will testify against them; an interpretation which Aben-Ezra endorses. Hengstenberg’s is better: “God will hear (the tumult of the enemies) and answer them (judicially). ” The original text may have been ויענמו ישׁב קדם. But as it now stands, וישׁב קדם represents a subordinate clause, with the omission of the הוּא, pledging that judicial response: since He it is who sitteth enthroned from earliest times (vid.

, on Psa 7:10). The bold expression ישׁב קדם is an abbreviation of the view of God expressed in Psa 74:12, Hab 1:12, cf. Deu 33:27, as of Him who from primeval days down to the present sits enthroned as King and Judge, who therefore will be able even at the present time to maintain His majesty, which is assailed in the person of His anointed one.

Psa 55:17-23 In the third group confidence prevails, the tone that is struck up in Psa 55:17 being carried forward. Evening morning, and noon, as the beginning, middle, and close of the day, denote the day in its whole compass or extent: David thus gives expression to the incessancy with which he is determined to lay before God, both in the quiet of his spirit and in louder utterances, whatsoever moves him.

The fut. consec . ויּשׁמע connects the hearing (answer) with the prayer as its inevitable result. Also in the praet . פּדה expression is given to the certainty of faith; and בּשׁלום side by side with it denotes, with the same pregnancy of meaning as in Psa 118:5, the state of undisturbed outward and inward safety and prosperity, into which God removes his soul when He rescues him.

If we read mi - kerob , then קרב is, as the ancient versions regard it, the infinitive: ne appropinquent mihi ; whereas since the time of J. H. Michaelis the preference has been given to the pronunciation mi - kerāb : a conflictu mihi sc. parato , in which case it would be pointed מקּרב־ (with Metheg ), whilst the MSS, in order to guard against the reading with ā , point it מקּרב־.

Hitzig is right when he observes, that after the negative מן the infinitive is indicated beforehand, and that לי = עלי, Psa 27:2, is better suited to this. Moreover, the confirmatory clause Psa 55:19 is connected with what precedes in a manner less liable to be misunderstood if מקרב is taken as infinitive: that they may not be able to gain any advantage over me, cannot come near me to harm me (Psa 91:10).

For it is not until now less precarious to take the enemies as the subject of היוּ, and to take עמּדי in a hostile sense, as in Job 10:17; Job 13:19; Job 23:6; Job 31:13, cf. עם Psa 94:16, and this is only possible where the connection suggests this sense. Heidenheim’s interpretation: among the magnates were those who succoured me (viz. , Hushai, Zadok, and Abiathar, by whom the counsel of Athithopel was frustrated), does not give a thought characteristic of the Psalms.

And with Aben-Ezra, who follows Numeri Rabba 294 a , to think of the assistance of angels in connection with בּרבּים, certainly strongly commends itself in view of 2Ki 6:16 (with which Hitzig also compares 2Ch 32:7); here, however, it has no connection, whereas the thought, “as many (consisting of many) are they with me, i. e. , do they come forward and fight with me,” is very loosely attached to what has gone before.

The Beth essentiae serves here, as it does frequently, e. g. , Psa 39:7, to denote the qualification of the subject. The preterite of confidence is followed in Psa 55:20 by the future of hope. Although side by side with שׁמע, ענה presumptively has the signification to answer, i. e. , to be assured of the prayer being heard, yet this meaning is in this instance excluded by the fact that the enemies are the object, as is required by Psa 55:20 (even if Psa 55:19 is understood of those who are on the side of the poet).

The rendering of the lxx: εἰσακούσεται ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ταπεινώσει αὐτοὺς ὁ ὑπάρχων πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων, is appropriate, but requires the pronunciation to be ויעשנּם, since the signification to bow down, to humble, cannot be proved to belong either to Kal or Hiphil . But even granted that יענם might, according to 1Ki 8:35 (vid. , Keil), signify ταπεινώσει αὐτοὺς, it is nevertheless difficult to believe that ויענם is not intended to have a meaning correlative with ישׁמע, of which it is the continuation.

Saadia has explained יענם in a manner worthy of attention, as being for יענה בם, he will testify against them; an interpretation which Aben-Ezra endorses. Hengstenberg’s is better: “God will hear (the tumult of the enemies) and answer them (judicially). ” The original text may have been ויענמו ישׁב קדם. But as it now stands, וישׁב קדם represents a subordinate clause, with the omission of the הוּא, pledging that judicial response: since He it is who sitteth enthroned from earliest times (vid.

, on Psa 7:10). The bold expression ישׁב קדם is an abbreviation of the view of God expressed in Psa 74:12, Hab 1:12, cf. Deu 33:27, as of Him who from primeval days down to the present sits enthroned as King and Judge, who therefore will be able even at the present time to maintain His majesty, which is assailed in the person of His anointed one.

Psa 55:17-23 In the third group confidence prevails, the tone that is struck up in Psa 55:17 being carried forward. Evening morning, and noon, as the beginning, middle, and close of the day, denote the day in its whole compass or extent: David thus gives expression to the incessancy with which he is determined to lay before God, both in the quiet of his spirit and in louder utterances, whatsoever moves him.

The fut. consec . ויּשׁמע connects the hearing (answer) with the prayer as its inevitable result. Also in the praet . פּדה expression is given to the certainty of faith; and בּשׁלום side by side with it denotes, with the same pregnancy of meaning as in Psa 118:5, the state of undisturbed outward and inward safety and prosperity, into which God removes his soul when He rescues him.

If we read mi - kerob , then קרב is, as the ancient versions regard it, the infinitive: ne appropinquent mihi ; whereas since the time of J. H. Michaelis the preference has been given to the pronunciation mi - kerāb : a conflictu mihi sc. parato , in which case it would be pointed מקּרב־ (with Metheg ), whilst the MSS, in order to guard against the reading with ā , point it מקּרב־.

Hitzig is right when he observes, that after the negative מן the infinitive is indicated beforehand, and that לי = עלי, Psa 27:2, is better suited to this. Moreover, the confirmatory clause Psa 55:19 is connected with what precedes in a manner less liable to be misunderstood if מקרב is taken as infinitive: that they may not be able to gain any advantage over me, cannot come near me to harm me (Psa 91:10).

For it is not until now less precarious to take the enemies as the subject of היוּ, and to take עמּדי in a hostile sense, as in Job 10:17; Job 13:19; Job 23:6; Job 31:13, cf. עם Psa 94:16, and this is only possible where the connection suggests this sense. Heidenheim’s interpretation: among the magnates were those who succoured me (viz. , Hushai, Zadok, and Abiathar, by whom the counsel of Athithopel was frustrated), does not give a thought characteristic of the Psalms.

And with Aben-Ezra, who follows Numeri Rabba 294 a , to think of the assistance of angels in connection with בּרבּים, certainly strongly commends itself in view of 2Ki 6:16 (with which Hitzig also compares 2Ch 32:7); here, however, it has no connection, whereas the thought, “as many (consisting of many) are they with me, i. e. , do they come forward and fight with me,” is very loosely attached to what has gone before.

The Beth essentiae serves here, as it does frequently, e. g. , Psa 39:7, to denote the qualification of the subject. The preterite of confidence is followed in Psa 55:20 by the future of hope. Although side by side with שׁמע, ענה presumptively has the signification to answer, i. e. , to be assured of the prayer being heard, yet this meaning is in this instance excluded by the fact that the enemies are the object, as is required by Psa 55:20 (even if Psa 55:19 is understood of those who are on the side of the poet).

The rendering of the lxx: εἰσακούσεται ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ταπεινώσει αὐτοὺς ὁ ὑπάρχων πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων, is appropriate, but requires the pronunciation to be ויעשנּם, since the signification to bow down, to humble, cannot be proved to belong either to Kal or Hiphil . But even granted that יענם might, according to 1Ki 8:35 (vid. , Keil), signify ταπεινώσει αὐτοὺς, it is nevertheless difficult to believe that ויענם is not intended to have a meaning correlative with ישׁמע, of which it is the continuation.

Saadia has explained יענם in a manner worthy of attention, as being for יענה בם, he will testify against them; an interpretation which Aben-Ezra endorses. Hengstenberg’s is better: “God will hear (the tumult of the enemies) and answer them (judicially). ” The original text may have been ויענמו ישׁב קדם. But as it now stands, וישׁב קדם represents a subordinate clause, with the omission of the הוּא, pledging that judicial response: since He it is who sitteth enthroned from earliest times (vid.

, on Psa 7:10). The bold expression ישׁב קדם is an abbreviation of the view of God expressed in Psa 74:12, Hab 1:12, cf. Deu 33:27, as of Him who from primeval days down to the present sits enthroned as King and Judge, who therefore will be able even at the present time to maintain His majesty, which is assailed in the person of His anointed one.

Psa 55:17-23 In the third group confidence prevails, the tone that is struck up in Psa 55:17 being carried forward. Evening morning, and noon, as the beginning, middle, and close of the day, denote the day in its whole compass or extent: David thus gives expression to the incessancy with which he is determined to lay before God, both in the quiet of his spirit and in louder utterances, whatsoever moves him.

The fut. consec . ויּשׁמע connects the hearing (answer) with the prayer as its inevitable result. Also in the praet . פּדה expression is given to the certainty of faith; and בּשׁלום side by side with it denotes, with the same pregnancy of meaning as in Psa 118:5, the state of undisturbed outward and inward safety and prosperity, into which God removes his soul when He rescues him.

If we read mi - kerob , then קרב is, as the ancient versions regard it, the infinitive: ne appropinquent mihi ; whereas since the time of J. H. Michaelis the preference has been given to the pronunciation mi - kerāb : a conflictu mihi sc. parato , in which case it would be pointed מקּרב־ (with Metheg ), whilst the MSS, in order to guard against the reading with ā , point it מקּרב־.

Hitzig is right when he observes, that after the negative מן the infinitive is indicated beforehand, and that לי = עלי, Psa 27:2, is better suited to this. Moreover, the confirmatory clause Psa 55:19 is connected with what precedes in a manner less liable to be misunderstood if מקרב is taken as infinitive: that they may not be able to gain any advantage over me, cannot come near me to harm me (Psa 91:10).

For it is not until now less precarious to take the enemies as the subject of היוּ, and to take עמּדי in a hostile sense, as in Job 10:17; Job 13:19; Job 23:6; Job 31:13, cf. עם Psa 94:16, and this is only possible where the connection suggests this sense. Heidenheim’s interpretation: among the magnates were those who succoured me (viz. , Hushai, Zadok, and Abiathar, by whom the counsel of Athithopel was frustrated), does not give a thought characteristic of the Psalms.

And with Aben-Ezra, who follows Numeri Rabba 294 a , to think of the assistance of angels in connection with בּרבּים, certainly strongly commends itself in view of 2Ki 6:16 (with which Hitzig also compares 2Ch 32:7); here, however, it has no connection, whereas the thought, “as many (consisting of many) are they with me, i. e. , do they come forward and fight with me,” is very loosely attached to what has gone before.

The Beth essentiae serves here, as it does frequently, e. g. , Psa 39:7, to denote the qualification of the subject. The preterite of confidence is followed in Psa 55:20 by the future of hope. Although side by side with שׁמע, ענה presumptively has the signification to answer, i. e. , to be assured of the prayer being heard, yet this meaning is in this instance excluded by the fact that the enemies are the object, as is required by Psa 55:20 (even if Psa 55:19 is understood of those who are on the side of the poet).

The rendering of the lxx: εἰσακούσεται ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ταπεινώσει αὐτοὺς ὁ ὑπάρχων πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων, is appropriate, but requires the pronunciation to be ויעשנּם, since the signification to bow down, to humble, cannot be proved to belong either to Kal or Hiphil . But even granted that יענם might, according to 1Ki 8:35 (vid. , Keil), signify ταπεινώσει αὐτοὺς, it is nevertheless difficult to believe that ויענם is not intended to have a meaning correlative with ישׁמע, of which it is the continuation.

Saadia has explained יענם in a manner worthy of attention, as being for יענה בם, he will testify against them; an interpretation which Aben-Ezra endorses. Hengstenberg’s is better: “God will hear (the tumult of the enemies) and answer them (judicially). ” The original text may have been ויענמו ישׁב קדם. But as it now stands, וישׁב קדם represents a subordinate clause, with the omission of the הוּא, pledging that judicial response: since He it is who sitteth enthroned from earliest times (vid.

, on Psa 7:10). The bold expression ישׁב קדם is an abbreviation of the view of God expressed in Psa 74:12, Hab 1:12, cf. Deu 33:27, as of Him who from primeval days down to the present sits enthroned as King and Judge, who therefore will be able even at the present time to maintain His majesty, which is assailed in the person of His anointed one.

Psa 55:17-23 In the third group confidence prevails, the tone that is struck up in Psa 55:17 being carried forward. Evening morning, and noon, as the beginning, middle, and close of the day, denote the day in its whole compass or extent: David thus gives expression to the incessancy with which he is determined to lay before God, both in the quiet of his spirit and in louder utterances, whatsoever moves him.

The fut. consec . ויּשׁמע connects the hearing (answer) with the prayer as its inevitable result. Also in the praet . פּדה expression is given to the certainty of faith; and בּשׁלום side by side with it denotes, with the same pregnancy of meaning as in Psa 118:5, the state of undisturbed outward and inward safety and prosperity, into which God removes his soul when He rescues him.

If we read mi - kerob , then קרב is, as the ancient versions regard it, the infinitive: ne appropinquent mihi ; whereas since the time of J. H. Michaelis the preference has been given to the pronunciation mi - kerāb : a conflictu mihi sc. parato , in which case it would be pointed מקּרב־ (with Metheg ), whilst the MSS, in order to guard against the reading with ā , point it מקּרב־.

Hitzig is right when he observes, that after the negative מן the infinitive is indicated beforehand, and that לי = עלי, Psa 27:2, is better suited to this. Moreover, the confirmatory clause Psa 55:19 is connected with what precedes in a manner less liable to be misunderstood if מקרב is taken as infinitive: that they may not be able to gain any advantage over me, cannot come near me to harm me (Psa 91:10).

For it is not until now less precarious to take the enemies as the subject of היוּ, and to take עמּדי in a hostile sense, as in Job 10:17; Job 13:19; Job 23:6; Job 31:13, cf. עם Psa 94:16, and this is only possible where the connection suggests this sense. Heidenheim’s interpretation: among the magnates were those who succoured me (viz. , Hushai, Zadok, and Abiathar, by whom the counsel of Athithopel was frustrated), does not give a thought characteristic of the Psalms.

And with Aben-Ezra, who follows Numeri Rabba 294 a , to think of the assistance of angels in connection with בּרבּים, certainly strongly commends itself in view of 2Ki 6:16 (with which Hitzig also compares 2Ch 32:7); here, however, it has no connection, whereas the thought, “as many (consisting of many) are they with me, i. e. , do they come forward and fight with me,” is very loosely attached to what has gone before.

The Beth essentiae serves here, as it does frequently, e. g. , Psa 39:7, to denote the qualification of the subject. The preterite of confidence is followed in Psa 55:20 by the future of hope. Although side by side with שׁמע, ענה presumptively has the signification to answer, i. e. , to be assured of the prayer being heard, yet this meaning is in this instance excluded by the fact that the enemies are the object, as is required by Psa 55:20 (even if Psa 55:19 is understood of those who are on the side of the poet).

The rendering of the lxx: εἰσακούσεται ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ταπεινώσει αὐτοὺς ὁ ὑπάρχων πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων, is appropriate, but requires the pronunciation to be ויעשנּם, since the signification to bow down, to humble, cannot be proved to belong either to Kal or Hiphil . But even granted that יענם might, according to 1Ki 8:35 (vid. , Keil), signify ταπεινώσει αὐτοὺς, it is nevertheless difficult to believe that ויענם is not intended to have a meaning correlative with ישׁמע, of which it is the continuation.

Saadia has explained יענם in a manner worthy of attention, as being for יענה בם, he will testify against them; an interpretation which Aben-Ezra endorses. Hengstenberg’s is better: “God will hear (the tumult of the enemies) and answer them (judicially). ” The original text may have been ויענמו ישׁב קדם. But as it now stands, וישׁב קדם represents a subordinate clause, with the omission of the הוּא, pledging that judicial response: since He it is who sitteth enthroned from earliest times (vid.

, on Psa 7:10). The bold expression ישׁב קדם is an abbreviation of the view of God expressed in Psa 74:12, Hab 1:12, cf. Deu 33:27, as of Him who from primeval days down to the present sits enthroned as King and Judge, who therefore will be able even at the present time to maintain His majesty, which is assailed in the person of His anointed one.

Psa 55:17-23 In the third group confidence prevails, the tone that is struck up in Psa 55:17 being carried forward. Evening morning, and noon, as the beginning, middle, and close of the day, denote the day in its whole compass or extent: David thus gives expression to the incessancy with which he is determined to lay before God, both in the quiet of his spirit and in louder utterances, whatsoever moves him.

The fut. consec . ויּשׁמע connects the hearing (answer) with the prayer as its inevitable result. Also in the praet . פּדה expression is given to the certainty of faith; and בּשׁלום side by side with it denotes, with the same pregnancy of meaning as in Psa 118:5, the state of undisturbed outward and inward safety and prosperity, into which God removes his soul when He rescues him.

If we read mi - kerob , then קרב is, as the ancient versions regard it, the infinitive: ne appropinquent mihi ; whereas since the time of J. H. Michaelis the preference has been given to the pronunciation mi - kerāb : a conflictu mihi sc. parato , in which case it would be pointed מקּרב־ (with Metheg ), whilst the MSS, in order to guard against the reading with ā , point it מקּרב־.

Hitzig is right when he observes, that after the negative מן the infinitive is indicated beforehand, and that לי = עלי, Psa 27:2, is better suited to this. Moreover, the confirmatory clause Psa 55:19 is connected with what precedes in a manner less liable to be misunderstood if מקרב is taken as infinitive: that they may not be able to gain any advantage over me, cannot come near me to harm me (Psa 91:10).

For it is not until now less precarious to take the enemies as the subject of היוּ, and to take עמּדי in a hostile sense, as in Job 10:17; Job 13:19; Job 23:6; Job 31:13, cf. עם Psa 94:16, and this is only possible where the connection suggests this sense. Heidenheim’s interpretation: among the magnates were those who succoured me (viz. , Hushai, Zadok, and Abiathar, by whom the counsel of Athithopel was frustrated), does not give a thought characteristic of the Psalms.

And with Aben-Ezra, who follows Numeri Rabba 294 a , to think of the assistance of angels in connection with בּרבּים, certainly strongly commends itself in view of 2Ki 6:16 (with which Hitzig also compares 2Ch 32:7); here, however, it has no connection, whereas the thought, “as many (consisting of many) are they with me, i. e. , do they come forward and fight with me,” is very loosely attached to what has gone before.

The Beth essentiae serves here, as it does frequently, e. g. , Psa 39:7, to denote the qualification of the subject. The preterite of confidence is followed in Psa 55:20 by the future of hope. Although side by side with שׁמע, ענה presumptively has the signification to answer, i. e. , to be assured of the prayer being heard, yet this meaning is in this instance excluded by the fact that the enemies are the object, as is required by Psa 55:20 (even if Psa 55:19 is understood of those who are on the side of the poet).

The rendering of the lxx: εἰσακούσεται ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ταπεινώσει αὐτοὺς ὁ ὑπάρχων πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων, is appropriate, but requires the pronunciation to be ויעשנּם, since the signification to bow down, to humble, cannot be proved to belong either to Kal or Hiphil . But even granted that יענם might, according to 1Ki 8:35 (vid. , Keil), signify ταπεινώσει αὐτοὺς, it is nevertheless difficult to believe that ויענם is not intended to have a meaning correlative with ישׁמע, of which it is the continuation.

Saadia has explained יענם in a manner worthy of attention, as being for יענה בם, he will testify against them; an interpretation which Aben-Ezra endorses. Hengstenberg’s is better: “God will hear (the tumult of the enemies) and answer them (judicially). ” The original text may have been ויענמו ישׁב קדם. But as it now stands, וישׁב קדם represents a subordinate clause, with the omission of the הוּא, pledging that judicial response: since He it is who sitteth enthroned from earliest times (vid.

, on Psa 7:10). The bold expression ישׁב קדם is an abbreviation of the view of God expressed in Psa 74:12, Hab 1:12, cf. Deu 33:27, as of Him who from primeval days down to the present sits enthroned as King and Judge, who therefore will be able even at the present time to maintain His majesty, which is assailed in the person of His anointed one.

To Ps 55, which is Psa 56:7 gives utterance to the wish: “Oh that I had wings like a dove,” etc. , no Psalm could be more appropriately appended, according to the mode of arrangement adopted by the collector, than Psa 56:1-13, the musical inscription of which runs: To the Precentor, after “The silent dove among the far off,” by David, a Michtam. רחקים is a second genitive, cf.

Isa 28:1, and either signifies distant men or longiqua , distant places, as in Psa 65:6, cf. נעימים, Psa 16:6. Just as in Psa 58:2, it is questionable whether the punctuation אלם has lighted upon the correct rendering. Hitzig is anxious to read אלם, “Dove of the people in the distance;” but אלם, people, in spite of Egli’s commendation, is a word unheard of in Hebrew, and only conjectural in Phoenician.

Olshausen’s אלם more readily commends itself, “Dove of the distant terebinths. ” As in other like inscriptions, על does not signify de (as Joh. Campensis renders it in his paraphrase of the Psalms [1532] and frequently): Praefecto musices, de columba muta quae procul avolaverat ), but secundum ; and the coincidence of the defining of the melody with the situation of the writer of the Psalm is explained by the consideration that the melody is chosen with reference to that situation.

The lxx (cf. the Targum), interpreting the figure, renders: ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ τοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων (from the sanctuary) μεμακρυμμένου, for which Symmachus has: φύλου ἀπωσμένου. The rendering of Aquila is correct: ὑπὲρ περιστερᾶς ἀλάλου μακρυσμῶν. From Ps 55 (Psa 56:7, cf. Psa 38:14) we may form an idea of the standard song designated by the words יונת אלם רחקים; for Ps 55 is not this song itself, and for this reason, that it belongs to the time of Absalom, and is therefore of later date than Psa 56:1-13, the historical inscription of which, “when the Philistines assaulted him in Gath” (cf.

בּידם, 1Sa 21:14), carries us back into the time of Saul, to the same time of the sojourn in Philistia to which Ps 34 is assigned. Psa 56:1-13 exhibits many points of the closest intermingling with the Psalms of this period, and thus justifies its inscription. It is a characteristic possessed in common by these Psalms, that the prospect of the judgment that will come upon the whole of the hostile world is combined with David’s prospect of the judgment that will come upon his enemies: Psa 56:8; Psa 7:9; Psa 59:6 (12).

The figure of the bottle in which God preserves the tears of the suffering ones corresponds to the sojourn in the wilderness. As regards technical form, Psa 56:1-13 begins the series of Davidic Elohimic Michtammı̂m , Psa 56:1. Three of these belong to the time of Saul. These three contain refrains, a fact that we have already recognised on Psa 16:1 as a peculiarity of these “favourite-word-poems.

” the favourite words of this Psa 56:1-13 are (באלהים אהלל דבר)ו and לי (אדם) מה־יּעשׂה בשׂר. Psa 56:1-4 אלהים and אנושׁ, Psa 56:2 (Psa 9:20; Psa 10:18), are antitheses: over against God, the majestic One, men are feeble beings. Their rebellion against the counsel of God is ineffective madness. If the poet has God’s favour on his side, then he will face these pigmies that behave as though they were giants, who fight against him מרום, moving on high, i.

e. , proudly (cf. ממּרום, Psa 73:8), in the invincible might of God. שׁאף, inhiare , as in Psa 57:4; לחם, as in Psa 35:1, with ל like אל, e. g. , in Jer 1:19. Thus, then, he does not fear; in the day when (Ges. §123, 3, b) he might well be afraid (conjunctive future, as e. g. , in Jos 9:27), he clings trustfully to (אל as in Psa 4:6, and frequently, Pro 3:5) his God, so that fear cannot come near him.

He has the word of His promise on his side (דּברו as e. g. , Psa 130:5); בּאלהים, through God will he praise this His word, inasmuch as it is gloriously verified in him. Hupfeld thus correctly interprets it; whereas others in part render it “in Elohim do I praise His word,” in part (and the form of this favourite expression in Psa 56:11 is opposed to it): “Elohim do I celebrate, His word.

” Hitzig, however, renders it: “Of God do I boast in matter,” i. e. , in the present affair; which is most chillingly prosaic in connection with an awkward brevity of language. The exposition is here confused by Psa 10:3 and Psa 44:9. הלּל does not by any means signify gloriari in this passage, but celebrare ; and באלהים is not intended in any other sense than that in Ps 60:14.

בּטח בּ is equivalent to the New Testament phrase πιστεύειν ἐν. לא אירא is a circumstantial clause with a finite verb, as is customary in connection with לא, Psa 35:8, Job 29:24, and עב, Pro 19:23.

To Ps 55, which is Psa 56:7 gives utterance to the wish: “Oh that I had wings like a dove,” etc. , no Psalm could be more appropriately appended, according to the mode of arrangement adopted by the collector, than Psa 56:1-13, the musical inscription of which runs: To the Precentor, after “The silent dove among the far off,” by David, a Michtam. רחקים is a second genitive, cf.

Isa 28:1, and either signifies distant men or longiqua , distant places, as in Psa 65:6, cf. נעימים, Psa 16:6. Just as in Psa 58:2, it is questionable whether the punctuation אלם has lighted upon the correct rendering. Hitzig is anxious to read אלם, “Dove of the people in the distance;” but אלם, people, in spite of Egli’s commendation, is a word unheard of in Hebrew, and only conjectural in Phoenician.

Olshausen’s אלם more readily commends itself, “Dove of the distant terebinths. ” As in other like inscriptions, על does not signify de (as Joh. Campensis renders it in his paraphrase of the Psalms [1532] and frequently): Praefecto musices, de columba muta quae procul avolaverat ), but secundum ; and the coincidence of the defining of the melody with the situation of the writer of the Psalm is explained by the consideration that the melody is chosen with reference to that situation.

The lxx (cf. the Targum), interpreting the figure, renders: ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ τοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων (from the sanctuary) μεμακρυμμένου, for which Symmachus has: φύλου ἀπωσμένου. The rendering of Aquila is correct: ὑπὲρ περιστερᾶς ἀλάλου μακρυσμῶν. From Ps 55 (Psa 56:7, cf. Psa 38:14) we may form an idea of the standard song designated by the words יונת אלם רחקים; for Ps 55 is not this song itself, and for this reason, that it belongs to the time of Absalom, and is therefore of later date than Psa 56:1-13, the historical inscription of which, “when the Philistines assaulted him in Gath” (cf.

בּידם, 1Sa 21:14), carries us back into the time of Saul, to the same time of the sojourn in Philistia to which Ps 34 is assigned. Psa 56:1-13 exhibits many points of the closest intermingling with the Psalms of this period, and thus justifies its inscription. It is a characteristic possessed in common by these Psalms, that the prospect of the judgment that will come upon the whole of the hostile world is combined with David’s prospect of the judgment that will come upon his enemies: Psa 56:8; Psa 7:9; Psa 59:6 (12).

The figure of the bottle in which God preserves the tears of the suffering ones corresponds to the sojourn in the wilderness. As regards technical form, Psa 56:1-13 begins the series of Davidic Elohimic Michtammı̂m , Psa 56:1. Three of these belong to the time of Saul. These three contain refrains, a fact that we have already recognised on Psa 16:1 as a peculiarity of these “favourite-word-poems.

” the favourite words of this Psa 56:1-13 are (באלהים אהלל דבר)ו and לי (אדם) מה־יּעשׂה בשׂר. Psa 56:1-4 אלהים and אנושׁ, Psa 56:2 (Psa 9:20; Psa 10:18), are antitheses: over against God, the majestic One, men are feeble beings. Their rebellion against the counsel of God is ineffective madness. If the poet has God’s favour on his side, then he will face these pigmies that behave as though they were giants, who fight against him מרום, moving on high, i.

e. , proudly (cf. ממּרום, Psa 73:8), in the invincible might of God. שׁאף, inhiare , as in Psa 57:4; לחם, as in Psa 35:1, with ל like אל, e. g. , in Jer 1:19. Thus, then, he does not fear; in the day when (Ges. §123, 3, b) he might well be afraid (conjunctive future, as e. g. , in Jos 9:27), he clings trustfully to (אל as in Psa 4:6, and frequently, Pro 3:5) his God, so that fear cannot come near him.

He has the word of His promise on his side (דּברו as e. g. , Psa 130:5); בּאלהים, through God will he praise this His word, inasmuch as it is gloriously verified in him. Hupfeld thus correctly interprets it; whereas others in part render it “in Elohim do I praise His word,” in part (and the form of this favourite expression in Psa 56:11 is opposed to it): “Elohim do I celebrate, His word.

” Hitzig, however, renders it: “Of God do I boast in matter,” i. e. , in the present affair; which is most chillingly prosaic in connection with an awkward brevity of language. The exposition is here confused by Psa 10:3 and Psa 44:9. הלּל does not by any means signify gloriari in this passage, but celebrare ; and באלהים is not intended in any other sense than that in Ps 60:14.

בּטח בּ is equivalent to the New Testament phrase πιστεύειν ἐν. לא אירא is a circumstantial clause with a finite verb, as is customary in connection with לא, Psa 35:8, Job 29:24, and עב, Pro 19:23.

To Ps 55, which is Psa 56:7 gives utterance to the wish: “Oh that I had wings like a dove,” etc. , no Psalm could be more appropriately appended, according to the mode of arrangement adopted by the collector, than Psa 56:1-13, the musical inscription of which runs: To the Precentor, after “The silent dove among the far off,” by David, a Michtam. רחקים is a second genitive, cf.

Isa 28:1, and either signifies distant men or longiqua , distant places, as in Psa 65:6, cf. נעימים, Psa 16:6. Just as in Psa 58:2, it is questionable whether the punctuation אלם has lighted upon the correct rendering. Hitzig is anxious to read אלם, “Dove of the people in the distance;” but אלם, people, in spite of Egli’s commendation, is a word unheard of in Hebrew, and only conjectural in Phoenician.

Olshausen’s אלם more readily commends itself, “Dove of the distant terebinths. ” As in other like inscriptions, על does not signify de (as Joh. Campensis renders it in his paraphrase of the Psalms [1532] and frequently): Praefecto musices, de columba muta quae procul avolaverat ), but secundum ; and the coincidence of the defining of the melody with the situation of the writer of the Psalm is explained by the consideration that the melody is chosen with reference to that situation.

The lxx (cf. the Targum), interpreting the figure, renders: ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ τοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων (from the sanctuary) μεμακρυμμένου, for which Symmachus has: φύλου ἀπωσμένου. The rendering of Aquila is correct: ὑπὲρ περιστερᾶς ἀλάλου μακρυσμῶν. From Ps 55 (Psa 56:7, cf. Psa 38:14) we may form an idea of the standard song designated by the words יונת אלם רחקים; for Ps 55 is not this song itself, and for this reason, that it belongs to the time of Absalom, and is therefore of later date than Psa 56:1-13, the historical inscription of which, “when the Philistines assaulted him in Gath” (cf.

בּידם, 1Sa 21:14), carries us back into the time of Saul, to the same time of the sojourn in Philistia to which Ps 34 is assigned. Psa 56:1-13 exhibits many points of the closest intermingling with the Psalms of this period, and thus justifies its inscription. It is a characteristic possessed in common by these Psalms, that the prospect of the judgment that will come upon the whole of the hostile world is combined with David’s prospect of the judgment that will come upon his enemies: Psa 56:8; Psa 7:9; Psa 59:6 (12).

The figure of the bottle in which God preserves the tears of the suffering ones corresponds to the sojourn in the wilderness. As regards technical form, Psa 56:1-13 begins the series of Davidic Elohimic Michtammı̂m , Psa 56:1. Three of these belong to the time of Saul. These three contain refrains, a fact that we have already recognised on Psa 16:1 as a peculiarity of these “favourite-word-poems.

” the favourite words of this Psa 56:1-13 are (באלהים אהלל דבר)ו and לי (אדם) מה־יּעשׂה בשׂר. Psa 56:1-4 אלהים and אנושׁ, Psa 56:2 (Psa 9:20; Psa 10:18), are antitheses: over against God, the majestic One, men are feeble beings. Their rebellion against the counsel of God is ineffective madness. If the poet has God’s favour on his side, then he will face these pigmies that behave as though they were giants, who fight against him מרום, moving on high, i.

e. , proudly (cf. ממּרום, Psa 73:8), in the invincible might of God. שׁאף, inhiare , as in Psa 57:4; לחם, as in Psa 35:1, with ל like אל, e. g. , in Jer 1:19. Thus, then, he does not fear; in the day when (Ges. §123, 3, b) he might well be afraid (conjunctive future, as e. g. , in Jos 9:27), he clings trustfully to (אל as in Psa 4:6, and frequently, Pro 3:5) his God, so that fear cannot come near him.

He has the word of His promise on his side (דּברו as e. g. , Psa 130:5); בּאלהים, through God will he praise this His word, inasmuch as it is gloriously verified in him. Hupfeld thus correctly interprets it; whereas others in part render it “in Elohim do I praise His word,” in part (and the form of this favourite expression in Psa 56:11 is opposed to it): “Elohim do I celebrate, His word.

” Hitzig, however, renders it: “Of God do I boast in matter,” i. e. , in the present affair; which is most chillingly prosaic in connection with an awkward brevity of language. The exposition is here confused by Psa 10:3 and Psa 44:9. הלּל does not by any means signify gloriari in this passage, but celebrare ; and באלהים is not intended in any other sense than that in Ps 60:14.

בּטח בּ is equivalent to the New Testament phrase πιστεύειν ἐν. לא אירא is a circumstantial clause with a finite verb, as is customary in connection with לא, Psa 35:8, Job 29:24, and עב, Pro 19:23.

To Ps 55, which is Psa 56:7 gives utterance to the wish: “Oh that I had wings like a dove,” etc. , no Psalm could be more appropriately appended, according to the mode of arrangement adopted by the collector, than Psa 56:1-13, the musical inscription of which runs: To the Precentor, after “The silent dove among the far off,” by David, a Michtam. רחקים is a second genitive, cf.

Isa 28:1, and either signifies distant men or longiqua , distant places, as in Psa 65:6, cf. נעימים, Psa 16:6. Just as in Psa 58:2, it is questionable whether the punctuation אלם has lighted upon the correct rendering. Hitzig is anxious to read אלם, “Dove of the people in the distance;” but אלם, people, in spite of Egli’s commendation, is a word unheard of in Hebrew, and only conjectural in Phoenician.

Olshausen’s אלם more readily commends itself, “Dove of the distant terebinths. ” As in other like inscriptions, על does not signify de (as Joh. Campensis renders it in his paraphrase of the Psalms [1532] and frequently): Praefecto musices, de columba muta quae procul avolaverat ), but secundum ; and the coincidence of the defining of the melody with the situation of the writer of the Psalm is explained by the consideration that the melody is chosen with reference to that situation.

The lxx (cf. the Targum), interpreting the figure, renders: ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ τοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων (from the sanctuary) μεμακρυμμένου, for which Symmachus has: φύλου ἀπωσμένου. The rendering of Aquila is correct: ὑπὲρ περιστερᾶς ἀλάλου μακρυσμῶν. From Ps 55 (Psa 56:7, cf. Psa 38:14) we may form an idea of the standard song designated by the words יונת אלם רחקים; for Ps 55 is not this song itself, and for this reason, that it belongs to the time of Absalom, and is therefore of later date than Psa 56:1-13, the historical inscription of which, “when the Philistines assaulted him in Gath” (cf.

בּידם, 1Sa 21:14), carries us back into the time of Saul, to the same time of the sojourn in Philistia to which Ps 34 is assigned. Psa 56:1-13 exhibits many points of the closest intermingling with the Psalms of this period, and thus justifies its inscription. It is a characteristic possessed in common by these Psalms, that the prospect of the judgment that will come upon the whole of the hostile world is combined with David’s prospect of the judgment that will come upon his enemies: Psa 56:8; Psa 7:9; Psa 59:6 (12).

The figure of the bottle in which God preserves the tears of the suffering ones corresponds to the sojourn in the wilderness. As regards technical form, Psa 56:1-13 begins the series of Davidic Elohimic Michtammı̂m , Psa 56:1. Three of these belong to the time of Saul. These three contain refrains, a fact that we have already recognised on Psa 16:1 as a peculiarity of these “favourite-word-poems.

” the favourite words of this Psa 56:1-13 are (באלהים אהלל דבר)ו and לי (אדם) מה־יּעשׂה בשׂר. Psa 56:1-4 אלהים and אנושׁ, Psa 56:2 (Psa 9:20; Psa 10:18), are antitheses: over against God, the majestic One, men are feeble beings. Their rebellion against the counsel of God is ineffective madness. If the poet has God’s favour on his side, then he will face these pigmies that behave as though they were giants, who fight against him מרום, moving on high, i.

e. , proudly (cf. ממּרום, Psa 73:8), in the invincible might of God. שׁאף, inhiare , as in Psa 57:4; לחם, as in Psa 35:1, with ל like אל, e. g. , in Jer 1:19. Thus, then, he does not fear; in the day when (Ges. §123, 3, b) he might well be afraid (conjunctive future, as e. g. , in Jos 9:27), he clings trustfully to (אל as in Psa 4:6, and frequently, Pro 3:5) his God, so that fear cannot come near him.

He has the word of His promise on his side (דּברו as e. g. , Psa 130:5); בּאלהים, through God will he praise this His word, inasmuch as it is gloriously verified in him. Hupfeld thus correctly interprets it; whereas others in part render it “in Elohim do I praise His word,” in part (and the form of this favourite expression in Psa 56:11 is opposed to it): “Elohim do I celebrate, His word.

” Hitzig, however, renders it: “Of God do I boast in matter,” i. e. , in the present affair; which is most chillingly prosaic in connection with an awkward brevity of language. The exposition is here confused by Psa 10:3 and Psa 44:9. הלּל does not by any means signify gloriari in this passage, but celebrare ; and באלהים is not intended in any other sense than that in Ps 60:14.

בּטח בּ is equivalent to the New Testament phrase πιστεύειν ἐν. לא אירא is a circumstantial clause with a finite verb, as is customary in connection with לא, Psa 35:8, Job 29:24, and עב, Pro 19:23.