Psalms 91
Psalms 91
Psalms 91
Reading a chapter
What this page is: Each chapter page shows the big idea, the argument flow, key original-language terms, doctrine connections, and passage units, all in one place.
How to use it: Start with the Overview tab to get the chapter's main point. Then move to Passages to study individual units, or Language to trace key terms.
Going deeper: The Doctrines and Motifs tabs show how this chapter connects to the broader biblical story.
Psalms 91
| v.1 | H3427יָשַׁבQal · ParticipleH3885לוּןHithpolel · Imperfective |
| v.10 | H579אָנָהPual · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH7126קָרַבQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.11 | H6680צָוָהPiel · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.12 | H5062נָגַףQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.13 | H1869דָּרַךְQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH7429רָמַסQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.14 | H2836חָשַׁקQal · Perfect · IndicativeH3045יָדַעQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.2 | H559אָמַרQal · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortativeH982בָּטַחQal · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortative |
| v.4 | H5526סָכַךְHiphil · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH2620חָסָהQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.5 | H3372יָרֵאQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH5774עוּףQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.6 | H1980הָלַךְQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH7736Qal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.7 | H5307נָפַלQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH5066נָגַשׁQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.8 | H5027נָבַטHiphil · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH7200רָאָהQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.9 | H7760שׂוּםQal · Perfect · Indicative |
Aspect in Hebrew is grammatical form, not tense. Perfect = completed action; Imperfect = incomplete/ongoing. Stem modifies action type (Qal=simple, Niphal=passive, Piel=intensive).
Morphology: OSHB WLC (Open Scriptures, CC BY 4.0) · STEPBible TEHMC (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0)
God commands angels to guard His people; they remain servants under His authority.
Jesus secures forgiveness, resurrection, and inseparable love beyond every temporal threat.
Jesus refuses presumption, trusts the Father, and fulfills ultimate salvation through death and resurrection.
Knowing God's name describes relational trust in His revealed character.
Protection must be understood within God's ultimate preserving purpose rather than guaranteed temporal immunity.
God rescues and restores dignity according to His saving purpose.
God's truth and reliability function as the worshiper's shield and buckler.
The Most High and Almighty stand above every threat and created power.
The wicked receive recompense under God's judgment rather than human vengeance.
Protection includes God's companionship within affliction, not only escape from it.
Calamity, plague, stumbling, dangerous creatures, and trouble remain under God's sovereign care.
Hidden traps, disease, violence, darkness, and calamity remain under God's care.
The unit ends with God making His salvation visible to the worshiper.
The Lord Himself is the secure habitation of the worshiper.
The Lord provides personal and covenantal shelter beyond human defenses.
Length of days is satisfying fullness, not a mechanical lifespan guarantee.
The Lord promises to answer the one who calls upon Him.
Trust in God frees the worshiper from domination by terror across night and day.
C.F. Keil & F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–91) — public domain
The Biblical World
Passages
Chapter opening: Psalms 91:1-8
Psa 91:3-9 יקושׁ, as in Pro 6:5; Jer 5:26, is the dullest toned from for יקושׁ or יוקשׁ, Psa 124:7. What is meant is death, or “he who has the power of death,” Heb 2:14, cf. 2Ti 2:26. “The snare of the fowler” is a figure for the peril of one’s life, Ecc 9:12. In connection with Psa 91:4 we have to call to mind Deu 32:11 : God protects His own as an eagle with its large strong wing.
אברה is nom. unitatis , a pinion, to אבר, Isa 40:31; and the Hiph . הסך, from סכך, with the dative of the object, like the Kal in Psa 140:8, signifies to afford covering, protection. The ἅπαξ λεγ. סחרה, according to its stem-word, is that which encompasses anything round about, and here beside צנּה, a weapon of defence surrounding the body on all sides; therefore not corresponding to the Syriac sḥārtā' , a stronghold (סהר, מסגּרת), but to Syriac sabrā' , a shield.
The Targum translates צנּה with תּריסא, θυρεός, and סחרה with עגילא, which points to the round parma . אמתּו is the truth of the divine promises. This is an impregnable defence ( a ) in war-times, Psa 91:5, against nightly surprises, and in the battle by day; ( b ) in times of pestilence, Psa 91:6, when the destroying angel, who passes through and destroys the people (Exo 11:4), can do no harm to him who has taken refuge in God, either in the midnight or the noontide hours.
The future יהלך is a more rhythmical and, in the signification to rage (as of disease) and to vanish away, a more usual form instead of ילך. The lxx, Aquila, and Symmachus erroneously associate the demon name שׁד with ישׁוּד. It is a metaplastic (as if formed from שׁוּד morf de) future for ישׁד, cf. Pro 29:6, ירוּן, and Isa 42:4, ירוּץ, frangetur . Psa 91:7 a hypothetical protasis: si cadant ; the preterite would signify cediderint , Ew.
§357, b . With רק that which will solely and exclusively take place is introduced. Burk correctly renders: nullam cum peste rem habebis, nisi ut videas . Only a spectator shalt thou be, and that with thine own eyes, being they self inaccessible and left to survive, conscious that thou thyself art a living one in contrast with those who are dying. And thou shalt behold, like Israel on the night of the Passover, the just retribution to which the evil-doers fall a prey.
שׁלּמה, recompense, retribution, is a hapaxlegomenon, cf. שׁלּמים, Isa 34:8. Ascribing the glory to God, the second voice confirms or ratifies these promises.
Psa 91:3-9 יקושׁ, as in Pro 6:5; Jer 5:26, is the dullest toned from for יקושׁ or יוקשׁ, Psa 124:7. What is meant is death, or “he who has the power of death,” Heb 2:14, cf. 2Ti 2:26. “The snare of the fowler” is a figure for the peril of one’s life, Ecc 9:12. In connection with Psa 91:4 we have to call to mind Deu 32:11 : God protects His own as an eagle with its large strong wing.
אברה is nom. unitatis , a pinion, to אבר, Isa 40:31; and the Hiph . הסך, from סכך, with the dative of the object, like the Kal in Psa 140:8, signifies to afford covering, protection. The ἅπαξ λεγ. סחרה, according to its stem-word, is that which encompasses anything round about, and here beside צנּה, a weapon of defence surrounding the body on all sides; therefore not corresponding to the Syriac sḥārtā' , a stronghold (סהר, מסגּרת), but to Syriac sabrā' , a shield.
The Targum translates צנּה with תּריסא, θυρεός, and סחרה with עגילא, which points to the round parma . אמתּו is the truth of the divine promises. This is an impregnable defence ( a ) in war-times, Psa 91:5, against nightly surprises, and in the battle by day; ( b ) in times of pestilence, Psa 91:6, when the destroying angel, who passes through and destroys the people (Exo 11:4), can do no harm to him who has taken refuge in God, either in the midnight or the noontide hours.
The future יהלך is a more rhythmical and, in the signification to rage (as of disease) and to vanish away, a more usual form instead of ילך. The lxx, Aquila, and Symmachus erroneously associate the demon name שׁד with ישׁוּד. It is a metaplastic (as if formed from שׁוּד morf de) future for ישׁד, cf. Pro 29:6, ירוּן, and Isa 42:4, ירוּץ, frangetur . Psa 91:7 a hypothetical protasis: si cadant ; the preterite would signify cediderint , Ew.
§357, b . With רק that which will solely and exclusively take place is introduced. Burk correctly renders: nullam cum peste rem habebis, nisi ut videas . Only a spectator shalt thou be, and that with thine own eyes, being they self inaccessible and left to survive, conscious that thou thyself art a living one in contrast with those who are dying. And thou shalt behold, like Israel on the night of the Passover, the just retribution to which the evil-doers fall a prey.
שׁלּמה, recompense, retribution, is a hapaxlegomenon, cf. שׁלּמים, Isa 34:8. Ascribing the glory to God, the second voice confirms or ratifies these promises.
Psa 91:3-9 יקושׁ, as in Pro 6:5; Jer 5:26, is the dullest toned from for יקושׁ or יוקשׁ, Psa 124:7. What is meant is death, or “he who has the power of death,” Heb 2:14, cf. 2Ti 2:26. “The snare of the fowler” is a figure for the peril of one’s life, Ecc 9:12. In connection with Psa 91:4 we have to call to mind Deu 32:11 : God protects His own as an eagle with its large strong wing.
אברה is nom. unitatis , a pinion, to אבר, Isa 40:31; and the Hiph . הסך, from סכך, with the dative of the object, like the Kal in Psa 140:8, signifies to afford covering, protection. The ἅπαξ λεγ. סחרה, according to its stem-word, is that which encompasses anything round about, and here beside צנּה, a weapon of defence surrounding the body on all sides; therefore not corresponding to the Syriac sḥārtā' , a stronghold (סהר, מסגּרת), but to Syriac sabrā' , a shield.
The Targum translates צנּה with תּריסא, θυρεός, and סחרה with עגילא, which points to the round parma . אמתּו is the truth of the divine promises. This is an impregnable defence ( a ) in war-times, Psa 91:5, against nightly surprises, and in the battle by day; ( b ) in times of pestilence, Psa 91:6, when the destroying angel, who passes through and destroys the people (Exo 11:4), can do no harm to him who has taken refuge in God, either in the midnight or the noontide hours.
The future יהלך is a more rhythmical and, in the signification to rage (as of disease) and to vanish away, a more usual form instead of ילך. The lxx, Aquila, and Symmachus erroneously associate the demon name שׁד with ישׁוּד. It is a metaplastic (as if formed from שׁוּד morf de) future for ישׁד, cf. Pro 29:6, ירוּן, and Isa 42:4, ירוּץ, frangetur . Psa 91:7 a hypothetical protasis: si cadant ; the preterite would signify cediderint , Ew.
§357, b . With רק that which will solely and exclusively take place is introduced. Burk correctly renders: nullam cum peste rem habebis, nisi ut videas . Only a spectator shalt thou be, and that with thine own eyes, being they self inaccessible and left to survive, conscious that thou thyself art a living one in contrast with those who are dying. And thou shalt behold, like Israel on the night of the Passover, the just retribution to which the evil-doers fall a prey.
שׁלּמה, recompense, retribution, is a hapaxlegomenon, cf. שׁלּמים, Isa 34:8. Ascribing the glory to God, the second voice confirms or ratifies these promises.
Psa 91:3-9 יקושׁ, as in Pro 6:5; Jer 5:26, is the dullest toned from for יקושׁ or יוקשׁ, Psa 124:7. What is meant is death, or “he who has the power of death,” Heb 2:14, cf. 2Ti 2:26. “The snare of the fowler” is a figure for the peril of one’s life, Ecc 9:12. In connection with Psa 91:4 we have to call to mind Deu 32:11 : God protects His own as an eagle with its large strong wing.
אברה is nom. unitatis , a pinion, to אבר, Isa 40:31; and the Hiph . הסך, from סכך, with the dative of the object, like the Kal in Psa 140:8, signifies to afford covering, protection. The ἅπαξ λεγ. סחרה, according to its stem-word, is that which encompasses anything round about, and here beside צנּה, a weapon of defence surrounding the body on all sides; therefore not corresponding to the Syriac sḥārtā' , a stronghold (סהר, מסגּרת), but to Syriac sabrā' , a shield.
The Targum translates צנּה with תּריסא, θυρεός, and סחרה with עגילא, which points to the round parma . אמתּו is the truth of the divine promises. This is an impregnable defence ( a ) in war-times, Psa 91:5, against nightly surprises, and in the battle by day; ( b ) in times of pestilence, Psa 91:6, when the destroying angel, who passes through and destroys the people (Exo 11:4), can do no harm to him who has taken refuge in God, either in the midnight or the noontide hours.
The future יהלך is a more rhythmical and, in the signification to rage (as of disease) and to vanish away, a more usual form instead of ילך. The lxx, Aquila, and Symmachus erroneously associate the demon name שׁד with ישׁוּד. It is a metaplastic (as if formed from שׁוּד morf de) future for ישׁד, cf. Pro 29:6, ירוּן, and Isa 42:4, ירוּץ, frangetur . Psa 91:7 a hypothetical protasis: si cadant ; the preterite would signify cediderint , Ew.
§357, b . With רק that which will solely and exclusively take place is introduced. Burk correctly renders: nullam cum peste rem habebis, nisi ut videas . Only a spectator shalt thou be, and that with thine own eyes, being they self inaccessible and left to survive, conscious that thou thyself art a living one in contrast with those who are dying. And thou shalt behold, like Israel on the night of the Passover, the just retribution to which the evil-doers fall a prey.
שׁלּמה, recompense, retribution, is a hapaxlegomenon, cf. שׁלּמים, Isa 34:8. Ascribing the glory to God, the second voice confirms or ratifies these promises.
Psa 91:3-9 יקושׁ, as in Pro 6:5; Jer 5:26, is the dullest toned from for יקושׁ or יוקשׁ, Psa 124:7. What is meant is death, or “he who has the power of death,” Heb 2:14, cf. 2Ti 2:26. “The snare of the fowler” is a figure for the peril of one’s life, Ecc 9:12. In connection with Psa 91:4 we have to call to mind Deu 32:11 : God protects His own as an eagle with its large strong wing.
אברה is nom. unitatis , a pinion, to אבר, Isa 40:31; and the Hiph . הסך, from סכך, with the dative of the object, like the Kal in Psa 140:8, signifies to afford covering, protection. The ἅπαξ λεγ. סחרה, according to its stem-word, is that which encompasses anything round about, and here beside צנּה, a weapon of defence surrounding the body on all sides; therefore not corresponding to the Syriac sḥārtā' , a stronghold (סהר, מסגּרת), but to Syriac sabrā' , a shield.
The Targum translates צנּה with תּריסא, θυρεός, and סחרה with עגילא, which points to the round parma . אמתּו is the truth of the divine promises. This is an impregnable defence ( a ) in war-times, Psa 91:5, against nightly surprises, and in the battle by day; ( b ) in times of pestilence, Psa 91:6, when the destroying angel, who passes through and destroys the people (Exo 11:4), can do no harm to him who has taken refuge in God, either in the midnight or the noontide hours.
The future יהלך is a more rhythmical and, in the signification to rage (as of disease) and to vanish away, a more usual form instead of ילך. The lxx, Aquila, and Symmachus erroneously associate the demon name שׁד with ישׁוּד. It is a metaplastic (as if formed from שׁוּד morf de) future for ישׁד, cf. Pro 29:6, ירוּן, and Isa 42:4, ירוּץ, frangetur . Psa 91:7 a hypothetical protasis: si cadant ; the preterite would signify cediderint , Ew.
§357, b . With רק that which will solely and exclusively take place is introduced. Burk correctly renders: nullam cum peste rem habebis, nisi ut videas . Only a spectator shalt thou be, and that with thine own eyes, being they self inaccessible and left to survive, conscious that thou thyself art a living one in contrast with those who are dying. And thou shalt behold, like Israel on the night of the Passover, the just retribution to which the evil-doers fall a prey.
שׁלּמה, recompense, retribution, is a hapaxlegomenon, cf. שׁלּמים, Isa 34:8. Ascribing the glory to God, the second voice confirms or ratifies these promises.
Psa 91:3-9 יקושׁ, as in Pro 6:5; Jer 5:26, is the dullest toned from for יקושׁ or יוקשׁ, Psa 124:7. What is meant is death, or “he who has the power of death,” Heb 2:14, cf. 2Ti 2:26. “The snare of the fowler” is a figure for the peril of one’s life, Ecc 9:12. In connection with Psa 91:4 we have to call to mind Deu 32:11 : God protects His own as an eagle with its large strong wing.
אברה is nom. unitatis , a pinion, to אבר, Isa 40:31; and the Hiph . הסך, from סכך, with the dative of the object, like the Kal in Psa 140:8, signifies to afford covering, protection. The ἅπαξ λεγ. סחרה, according to its stem-word, is that which encompasses anything round about, and here beside צנּה, a weapon of defence surrounding the body on all sides; therefore not corresponding to the Syriac sḥārtā' , a stronghold (סהר, מסגּרת), but to Syriac sabrā' , a shield.
The Targum translates צנּה with תּריסא, θυρεός, and סחרה with עגילא, which points to the round parma . אמתּו is the truth of the divine promises. This is an impregnable defence ( a ) in war-times, Psa 91:5, against nightly surprises, and in the battle by day; ( b ) in times of pestilence, Psa 91:6, when the destroying angel, who passes through and destroys the people (Exo 11:4), can do no harm to him who has taken refuge in God, either in the midnight or the noontide hours.
The future יהלך is a more rhythmical and, in the signification to rage (as of disease) and to vanish away, a more usual form instead of ילך. The lxx, Aquila, and Symmachus erroneously associate the demon name שׁד with ישׁוּד. It is a metaplastic (as if formed from שׁוּד morf de) future for ישׁד, cf. Pro 29:6, ירוּן, and Isa 42:4, ירוּץ, frangetur . Psa 91:7 a hypothetical protasis: si cadant ; the preterite would signify cediderint , Ew.
§357, b . With רק that which will solely and exclusively take place is introduced. Burk correctly renders: nullam cum peste rem habebis, nisi ut videas . Only a spectator shalt thou be, and that with thine own eyes, being they self inaccessible and left to survive, conscious that thou thyself art a living one in contrast with those who are dying. And thou shalt behold, like Israel on the night of the Passover, the just retribution to which the evil-doers fall a prey.
שׁלּמה, recompense, retribution, is a hapaxlegomenon, cf. שׁלּמים, Isa 34:8. Ascribing the glory to God, the second voice confirms or ratifies these promises.
Psa 91:3-9 יקושׁ, as in Pro 6:5; Jer 5:26, is the dullest toned from for יקושׁ or יוקשׁ, Psa 124:7. What is meant is death, or “he who has the power of death,” Heb 2:14, cf. 2Ti 2:26. “The snare of the fowler” is a figure for the peril of one’s life, Ecc 9:12. In connection with Psa 91:4 we have to call to mind Deu 32:11 : God protects His own as an eagle with its large strong wing.
אברה is nom. unitatis , a pinion, to אבר, Isa 40:31; and the Hiph . הסך, from סכך, with the dative of the object, like the Kal in Psa 140:8, signifies to afford covering, protection. The ἅπαξ λεγ. סחרה, according to its stem-word, is that which encompasses anything round about, and here beside צנּה, a weapon of defence surrounding the body on all sides; therefore not corresponding to the Syriac sḥārtā' , a stronghold (סהר, מסגּרת), but to Syriac sabrā' , a shield.
The Targum translates צנּה with תּריסא, θυρεός, and סחרה with עגילא, which points to the round parma . אמתּו is the truth of the divine promises. This is an impregnable defence ( a ) in war-times, Psa 91:5, against nightly surprises, and in the battle by day; ( b ) in times of pestilence, Psa 91:6, when the destroying angel, who passes through and destroys the people (Exo 11:4), can do no harm to him who has taken refuge in God, either in the midnight or the noontide hours.
The future יהלך is a more rhythmical and, in the signification to rage (as of disease) and to vanish away, a more usual form instead of ילך. The lxx, Aquila, and Symmachus erroneously associate the demon name שׁד with ישׁוּד. It is a metaplastic (as if formed from שׁוּד morf de) future for ישׁד, cf. Pro 29:6, ירוּן, and Isa 42:4, ירוּץ, frangetur . Psa 91:7 a hypothetical protasis: si cadant ; the preterite would signify cediderint , Ew.
§357, b . With רק that which will solely and exclusively take place is introduced. Burk correctly renders: nullam cum peste rem habebis, nisi ut videas . Only a spectator shalt thou be, and that with thine own eyes, being they self inaccessible and left to survive, conscious that thou thyself art a living one in contrast with those who are dying. And thou shalt behold, like Israel on the night of the Passover, the just retribution to which the evil-doers fall a prey.
שׁלּמה, recompense, retribution, is a hapaxlegomenon, cf. שׁלּמים, Isa 34:8. Ascribing the glory to God, the second voice confirms or ratifies these promises.
Psa 91:3-9 יקושׁ, as in Pro 6:5; Jer 5:26, is the dullest toned from for יקושׁ or יוקשׁ, Psa 124:7. What is meant is death, or “he who has the power of death,” Heb 2:14, cf. 2Ti 2:26. “The snare of the fowler” is a figure for the peril of one’s life, Ecc 9:12. In connection with Psa 91:4 we have to call to mind Deu 32:11 : God protects His own as an eagle with its large strong wing.
אברה is nom. unitatis , a pinion, to אבר, Isa 40:31; and the Hiph . הסך, from סכך, with the dative of the object, like the Kal in Psa 140:8, signifies to afford covering, protection. The ἅπαξ λεγ. סחרה, according to its stem-word, is that which encompasses anything round about, and here beside צנּה, a weapon of defence surrounding the body on all sides; therefore not corresponding to the Syriac sḥārtā' , a stronghold (סהר, מסגּרת), but to Syriac sabrā' , a shield.
The Targum translates צנּה with תּריסא, θυρεός, and סחרה with עגילא, which points to the round parma . אמתּו is the truth of the divine promises. This is an impregnable defence ( a ) in war-times, Psa 91:5, against nightly surprises, and in the battle by day; ( b ) in times of pestilence, Psa 91:6, when the destroying angel, who passes through and destroys the people (Exo 11:4), can do no harm to him who has taken refuge in God, either in the midnight or the noontide hours.
The future יהלך is a more rhythmical and, in the signification to rage (as of disease) and to vanish away, a more usual form instead of ילך. The lxx, Aquila, and Symmachus erroneously associate the demon name שׁד with ישׁוּד. It is a metaplastic (as if formed from שׁוּד morf de) future for ישׁד, cf. Pro 29:6, ירוּן, and Isa 42:4, ירוּץ, frangetur . Psa 91:7 a hypothetical protasis: si cadant ; the preterite would signify cediderint , Ew.
§357, b . With רק that which will solely and exclusively take place is introduced. Burk correctly renders: nullam cum peste rem habebis, nisi ut videas . Only a spectator shalt thou be, and that with thine own eyes, being they self inaccessible and left to survive, conscious that thou thyself art a living one in contrast with those who are dying. And thou shalt behold, like Israel on the night of the Passover, the just retribution to which the evil-doers fall a prey.
שׁלּמה, recompense, retribution, is a hapaxlegomenon, cf. שׁלּמים, Isa 34:8. Ascribing the glory to God, the second voice confirms or ratifies these promises.
Psa 91:3-9 יקושׁ, as in Pro 6:5; Jer 5:26, is the dullest toned from for יקושׁ or יוקשׁ, Psa 124:7. What is meant is death, or “he who has the power of death,” Heb 2:14, cf. 2Ti 2:26. “The snare of the fowler” is a figure for the peril of one’s life, Ecc 9:12. In connection with Psa 91:4 we have to call to mind Deu 32:11 : God protects His own as an eagle with its large strong wing.
אברה is nom. unitatis , a pinion, to אבר, Isa 40:31; and the Hiph . הסך, from סכך, with the dative of the object, like the Kal in Psa 140:8, signifies to afford covering, protection. The ἅπαξ λεγ. סחרה, according to its stem-word, is that which encompasses anything round about, and here beside צנּה, a weapon of defence surrounding the body on all sides; therefore not corresponding to the Syriac sḥārtā' , a stronghold (סהר, מסגּרת), but to Syriac sabrā' , a shield.
The Targum translates צנּה with תּריסא, θυρεός, and סחרה with עגילא, which points to the round parma . אמתּו is the truth of the divine promises. This is an impregnable defence ( a ) in war-times, Psa 91:5, against nightly surprises, and in the battle by day; ( b ) in times of pestilence, Psa 91:6, when the destroying angel, who passes through and destroys the people (Exo 11:4), can do no harm to him who has taken refuge in God, either in the midnight or the noontide hours.
The future יהלך is a more rhythmical and, in the signification to rage (as of disease) and to vanish away, a more usual form instead of ילך. The lxx, Aquila, and Symmachus erroneously associate the demon name שׁד with ישׁוּד. It is a metaplastic (as if formed from שׁוּד morf de) future for ישׁד, cf. Pro 29:6, ירוּן, and Isa 42:4, ירוּץ, frangetur . Psa 91:7 a hypothetical protasis: si cadant ; the preterite would signify cediderint , Ew.
§357, b . With רק that which will solely and exclusively take place is introduced. Burk correctly renders: nullam cum peste rem habebis, nisi ut videas . Only a spectator shalt thou be, and that with thine own eyes, being they self inaccessible and left to survive, conscious that thou thyself art a living one in contrast with those who are dying. And thou shalt behold, like Israel on the night of the Passover, the just retribution to which the evil-doers fall a prey.
שׁלּמה, recompense, retribution, is a hapaxlegomenon, cf. שׁלּמים, Isa 34:8. Ascribing the glory to God, the second voice confirms or ratifies these promises.
Psa 91:3-9 יקושׁ, as in Pro 6:5; Jer 5:26, is the dullest toned from for יקושׁ or יוקשׁ, Psa 124:7. What is meant is death, or “he who has the power of death,” Heb 2:14, cf. 2Ti 2:26. “The snare of the fowler” is a figure for the peril of one’s life, Ecc 9:12. In connection with Psa 91:4 we have to call to mind Deu 32:11 : God protects His own as an eagle with its large strong wing.
אברה is nom. unitatis , a pinion, to אבר, Isa 40:31; and the Hiph . הסך, from סכך, with the dative of the object, like the Kal in Psa 140:8, signifies to afford covering, protection. The ἅπαξ λεγ. סחרה, according to its stem-word, is that which encompasses anything round about, and here beside צנּה, a weapon of defence surrounding the body on all sides; therefore not corresponding to the Syriac sḥārtā' , a stronghold (סהר, מסגּרת), but to Syriac sabrā' , a shield.
The Targum translates צנּה with תּריסא, θυρεός, and סחרה with עגילא, which points to the round parma . אמתּו is the truth of the divine promises. This is an impregnable defence ( a ) in war-times, Psa 91:5, against nightly surprises, and in the battle by day; ( b ) in times of pestilence, Psa 91:6, when the destroying angel, who passes through and destroys the people (Exo 11:4), can do no harm to him who has taken refuge in God, either in the midnight or the noontide hours.
The future יהלך is a more rhythmical and, in the signification to rage (as of disease) and to vanish away, a more usual form instead of ילך. The lxx, Aquila, and Symmachus erroneously associate the demon name שׁד with ישׁוּד. It is a metaplastic (as if formed from שׁוּד morf de) future for ישׁד, cf. Pro 29:6, ירוּן, and Isa 42:4, ירוּץ, frangetur . Psa 91:7 a hypothetical protasis: si cadant ; the preterite would signify cediderint , Ew.
§357, b . With רק that which will solely and exclusively take place is introduced. Burk correctly renders: nullam cum peste rem habebis, nisi ut videas . Only a spectator shalt thou be, and that with thine own eyes, being they self inaccessible and left to survive, conscious that thou thyself art a living one in contrast with those who are dying. And thou shalt behold, like Israel on the night of the Passover, the just retribution to which the evil-doers fall a prey.
שׁלּמה, recompense, retribution, is a hapaxlegomenon, cf. שׁלּמים, Isa 34:8. Ascribing the glory to God, the second voice confirms or ratifies these promises.
Psa 91:3-9 יקושׁ, as in Pro 6:5; Jer 5:26, is the dullest toned from for יקושׁ or יוקשׁ, Psa 124:7. What is meant is death, or “he who has the power of death,” Heb 2:14, cf. 2Ti 2:26. “The snare of the fowler” is a figure for the peril of one’s life, Ecc 9:12. In connection with Psa 91:4 we have to call to mind Deu 32:11 : God protects His own as an eagle with its large strong wing.
אברה is nom. unitatis , a pinion, to אבר, Isa 40:31; and the Hiph . הסך, from סכך, with the dative of the object, like the Kal in Psa 140:8, signifies to afford covering, protection. The ἅπαξ λεγ. סחרה, according to its stem-word, is that which encompasses anything round about, and here beside צנּה, a weapon of defence surrounding the body on all sides; therefore not corresponding to the Syriac sḥārtā' , a stronghold (סהר, מסגּרת), but to Syriac sabrā' , a shield.
The Targum translates צנּה with תּריסא, θυρεός, and סחרה with עגילא, which points to the round parma . אמתּו is the truth of the divine promises. This is an impregnable defence ( a ) in war-times, Psa 91:5, against nightly surprises, and in the battle by day; ( b ) in times of pestilence, Psa 91:6, when the destroying angel, who passes through and destroys the people (Exo 11:4), can do no harm to him who has taken refuge in God, either in the midnight or the noontide hours.
The future יהלך is a more rhythmical and, in the signification to rage (as of disease) and to vanish away, a more usual form instead of ילך. The lxx, Aquila, and Symmachus erroneously associate the demon name שׁד with ישׁוּד. It is a metaplastic (as if formed from שׁוּד morf de) future for ישׁד, cf. Pro 29:6, ירוּן, and Isa 42:4, ירוּץ, frangetur . Psa 91:7 a hypothetical protasis: si cadant ; the preterite would signify cediderint , Ew.
§357, b . With רק that which will solely and exclusively take place is introduced. Burk correctly renders: nullam cum peste rem habebis, nisi ut videas . Only a spectator shalt thou be, and that with thine own eyes, being they self inaccessible and left to survive, conscious that thou thyself art a living one in contrast with those who are dying. And thou shalt behold, like Israel on the night of the Passover, the just retribution to which the evil-doers fall a prey.
שׁלּמה, recompense, retribution, is a hapaxlegomenon, cf. שׁלּמים, Isa 34:8. Ascribing the glory to God, the second voice confirms or ratifies these promises.
This Song-Psalm for the Sabbath-day was the Sabbath-Psalm among the week’s Psalms of the post-exilic service (cf. pp. 18, 211); and was sung in the morning at the drink-offering of the first Tamîd lamb, just as at the accompanying Sabbath-musaph-offering (Num 28:9.) a part of the song Deut. 32 (divided into six parts) was sung, and at the service connected with the Mincha or evening sacrifice one of the three pieces, Exo 15:1-10, Exo 15:11-19, Num 21:17-20 (B.
Rosh ha-Shana 31 a ). 1 Macc. 9:23 is a reminiscence from Psa 92:1-15 deviating but little from the lxx version, just as 1 Macc. 7:17 is a quotation taken from Ps 89. With respect to the sabbatical character of the Psalm, it is a disputed question even in the Talmud whether it relates to the Sabbath of the Creation (R. Nehemiah, as it is taken by the Targum) or to the final Sabbath of the world’s history (R.
Akiba: the day that is altogether Sabbath; cf. Athanasius: αἰνεῖ ἐκείνην τὴν γενησομένην ἀνάπαυσιν). The latter is relatively more correct. It praises God, the Creator of the world, as the Ruler of the world, whose rule is pure loving-kindness and faithfulness, and calms itself, in the face of the flourishing condition of the evil-doers, with the prospect of the final issue, which will brilliantly vindicate the righteousness of God, that was at that time imperceptible to superficial observation, and will change the congregation of the righteous into a flourishing grove of palms and cedars upon holy ground.
In this prospect Psa 92:12 and Psa 91:8 coincide, just as God is also called “the Most High” at the beginning of these two Psalms. But that the tetragrammaton occurs seven times in both Psalms, as Hengstenberg says, does not turn out to be correct. Only the Sabbath-Psalm (and not Ps 91) repeats the most sacred Name seven times. And certainly the unmistakeable strophe-schema too, 6.
6. 7. 6. 6, is not without significance. The middle of the Psalm bears the stamp of the sabbatic number. It is also worthy of remark that the poet gains the number seven by means of an anadiplosis in Psa 92:10. Such an emphatic climax by means of repetition is common to our Psalm with Psa 93:3; Psa 94:3; Psa 96:13.
Psa 92:1-3 The Sabbath is the day that God has hallowed, and that is to be consecrated to God by our turning away from the business pursuits of the working days (Isa 58:13.) and applying ourselves to the praise and adoration of God, which is the most proper, blessed Sabbath employment. It is good, i. e. , not merely good in the eyes of God, but also good for man, beneficial to the heart, pleasant and blessed.
Loving-kindness is designedly connected with the dawn of the morning, for it is morning light itself, which breaks through the night (Psa 30:6; Psa 59:17), and faithfulness with the nights, for in the perils of the loneliness of the night it is the best companion, and nights of affliction are the “foil of its verification. ” עשׂור beside נבל (נבל) is equivalent to נבל עשׂור in Psa 33:2; Psa 144:9 : the ten-stringed harp or lyre.
הגּיון is the music of stringed instruments (vid. , on Psa 9:17), and that, since הגה in itself is not a suitable word for the rustling ( strepitus ) of the strings, the impromptu or phantasia playing (in Amo 6:5, scornfully, פּרט), which suits both Psa 9:17 (where it is appended to the forte of the interlude) and the construction with Beth instrumenti .
Psa 92:1-3 The Sabbath is the day that God has hallowed, and that is to be consecrated to God by our turning away from the business pursuits of the working days (Isa 58:13.) and applying ourselves to the praise and adoration of God, which is the most proper, blessed Sabbath employment. It is good, i. e. , not merely good in the eyes of God, but also good for man, beneficial to the heart, pleasant and blessed.
Loving-kindness is designedly connected with the dawn of the morning, for it is morning light itself, which breaks through the night (Psa 30:6; Psa 59:17), and faithfulness with the nights, for in the perils of the loneliness of the night it is the best companion, and nights of affliction are the “foil of its verification. ” עשׂור beside נבל (נבל) is equivalent to נבל עשׂור in Psa 33:2; Psa 144:9 : the ten-stringed harp or lyre.
הגּיון is the music of stringed instruments (vid. , on Psa 9:17), and that, since הגה in itself is not a suitable word for the rustling ( strepitus ) of the strings, the impromptu or phantasia playing (in Amo 6:5, scornfully, פּרט), which suits both Psa 9:17 (where it is appended to the forte of the interlude) and the construction with Beth instrumenti .
Psa 92:4-6 Statement of the ground of this commendation of the praise of God. Whilst פּעל is the usual word for God’s historical rule (Psa 44:2; Psa 64:10; Psa 90:16, etc.) , מעשׂי ידיך denotes the works of the Creator of the world, although not to the exclusion of those of the Ruler of the world (Psa 143:5). To be able to rejoice over the revelation of God in creation and the revelation of God in general is a gift from above, which the poet thankfully confesses that he has received.
The Vulgate begins Psa 92:5 Quia delectasti me , and Dante in his Purgatorio , xxviii. 80, accordingly calls the Psalm il Salmo Delectasti ; a smiling female form, which represents the life of Paradise, says, as she gathers flowers, she is so happy because, with the Psalm Delectasti , she takes a delight in the glory of God’s works. The works of God are transcendently great; very deep are His thoughts, which mould human history and themselves gain from in it (cf.
Psa 40:6; Psa 139:17. , where infinite fulness is ascribed to them, and Isa 55:8, where infinite height is ascribed to them). Man can neither measure the greatness of the divine works nor fathom the depth of the divine thoughts; he who is enlightened, however, perceives the immeasurableness of the one and the unfathomableness of the other, whilst a אישׁ־בּער, a man of animal nature, homo brutus (vid.
, Psa 73:22), does not come to the knowledge (לא ידע, used absolutely as in Psa 14:4), and כּסיל, a blockhead, or one dull in mind, whose carnal nature outweighs his intellectual and spiritual nature, does not discern את־זאת (cf. 2Sa 13:17), id ipsum , viz. , how unsearchable are God’s judgments and untrackable His ways (Rom 11:33).