Worthy.Bible » Parallel » Psalms » Chapter 78 » Verse 1-72

Psalms 78:1-72 King James Version (KJV)

1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:

3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.

5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:

6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:

7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:

8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

9 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.

10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;

11 And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.

12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.

14 In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.

15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.

16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.

18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.

19 Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?

20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

21 Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;

22 Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:

23 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,

24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.

25 Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full.

26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.

27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:

28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.

29 So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;

30 They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths,

31 The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.

32 For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.

33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.

34 When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God.

35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.

36 Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.

37 For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.

38 But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.

39 For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

40 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.

42 They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.

43 How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan.

44 And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.

45 He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.

46 He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust.

47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost.

48 He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.

49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.

50 He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;

51 And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:

52 But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

53 And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

54 And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased.

55 He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

56 Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:

57 But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

59 When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:

60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;

61 And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand.

62 He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.

63 The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage.

64 Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.

65 Then the LORD awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.

66 And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.

67 Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:

68 But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.

69 And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever.

70 He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:

71 From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.


Psalms 78:1-72 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

1 [[Maschil H4905 of Asaph.]] H623 Give ear, H238 O my people, H5971 to my law: H8451 incline H5186 your ears H241 to the words H561 of my mouth. H6310

2 I will open H6605 my mouth H6310 in a parable: H4912 I will utter H5042 dark sayings H2420 of old: H6924

3 Which we have heard H8085 and known, H3045 and our fathers H1 have told H5608 us.

4 We will not hide H3582 them from their children, H1121 shewing H5608 to the generation H1755 to come H314 the praises H8416 of the LORD, H3068 and his strength, H5807 and his wonderful works H6381 that he hath done. H6213

5 For he established H6965 a testimony H5715 in Jacob, H3290 and appointed H7760 a law H8451 in Israel, H3478 which he commanded H6680 our fathers, H1 that they should make them known H3045 to their children: H1121

6 That the generation H1755 to come H314 might know H3045 them, even the children H1121 which should be born; H3205 who should arise H6965 and declare H5608 them to their children: H1121

7 That they might set H7760 their hope H3689 in God, H430 and not forget H7911 the works H4611 of God, H410 but keep H5341 his commandments: H4687

8 And might not be as their fathers, H1 a stubborn H5637 and rebellious H4784 generation; H1755 a generation H1755 that set H3559 not their heart H3820 aright, H3559 and whose spirit H7307 was not stedfast H539 with God. H410

9 The children H1121 of Ephraim, H669 being armed, H5401 and carrying H7411 bows, H7198 turned back H2015 in the day H3117 of battle. H7128

10 They kept H8104 not the covenant H1285 of God, H430 and refused H3985 to walk H3212 in his law; H8451

11 And forgat H7911 his works, H5949 and his wonders H6381 that he had shewed H7200 them.

12 Marvellous things H6382 did H6213 he in the sight H5048 of their fathers, H1 in the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 in the field H7704 of Zoan. H6814

13 He divided H1234 the sea, H3220 and caused them to pass through; H5674 and he made the waters H4325 to stand H5324 as an heap. H5067

14 In the daytime H3119 also he led H5148 them with a cloud, H6051 and all the night H3915 with a light H216 of fire. H784

15 He clave H1234 the rocks H6697 in the wilderness, H4057 and gave them drink H8248 as out of the great H7227 depths. H8415

16 He brought H3318 streams H5140 also out of the rock, H5553 and caused waters H4325 to run down H3381 like rivers. H5104

17 And they sinned H2398 yet more H3254 against him by provoking H4784 the most High H5945 in the wilderness. H6723

18 And they tempted H5254 God H410 in their heart H3824 by asking H7592 meat H400 for their lust. H5315

19 Yea, they spake H1696 against God; H430 they said, H559 Can H3201 God H410 furnish H6186 a table H7979 in the wilderness? H4057

20 Behold, he smote H5221 the rock, H6697 that the waters H4325 gushed out, H2100 and the streams H5158 overflowed; H7857 can H3201 he give H5414 bread H3899 also? can H3201 he provide H3559 flesh H7607 for his people? H5971

21 Therefore the LORD H3068 heard H8085 this, and was wroth: H5674 so a fire H784 was kindled H5400 against Jacob, H3290 and anger H639 also came up H5927 against Israel; H3478

22 Because they believed H539 not in God, H430 and trusted H982 not in his salvation: H3444

23 Though he had commanded H6680 the clouds H7834 from above, H4605 and opened H6605 the doors H1817 of heaven, H8064

24 And had rained down H4305 manna H4478 upon them to eat, H398 and had given H5414 them of the corn H1715 of heaven. H8064

25 Man H376 did eat H398 angels' H47 food: H3899 he sent H7971 them meat H6720 to the full. H7648

26 He caused an east wind H6921 to blow H5265 in the heaven: H8064 and by his power H5797 he brought in H5090 the south wind. H8486

27 He rained H4305 flesh H7607 also upon them as dust, H6083 and feathered H3671 fowls H5775 like as the sand H2344 of the sea: H3220

28 And he let it fall H5307 in the midst H7130 of their camp, H4264 round about H5439 their habitations. H4908

29 So they did eat, H398 and were well H3966 filled: H7646 for he gave H935 them their own desire; H8378

30 They were not estranged H2114 from their lust. H8378 But while their meat H400 was yet in their mouths, H6310

31 The wrath H639 of God H430 came H5927 upon them, and slew H2026 the fattest H4924 of them, and smote down H3766 the chosen H970 men of Israel. H3478

32 For all this they sinned H2398 still, and believed H539 not for his wondrous works. H6381

33 Therefore their days H3117 did he consume H3615 in vanity, H1892 and their years H8141 in trouble. H928

34 When he slew H2026 them, then they sought H1875 him: and they returned H7725 and enquired early H7836 after God. H410

35 And they remembered H2142 that God H430 was their rock, H6697 and the high H5945 God H410 their redeemer. H1350

36 Nevertheless they did flatter H6601 him with their mouth, H6310 and they lied H3576 unto him with their tongues. H3956

37 For their heart H3820 was not right H3559 with him, neither were they stedfast H539 in his covenant. H1285

38 But he, being full of compassion, H7349 forgave H3722 their iniquity, H5771 and destroyed H7843 them not: yea, many a time H7235 turned H7725 he his anger H639 away, H7725 and did not stir up H5782 all his wrath. H2534

39 For he remembered H2142 that they were but flesh; H1320 a wind H7307 that passeth away, H1980 and cometh not again. H7725

40 How H4100 oft did they provoke H4784 him in the wilderness, H4057 and grieve H6087 him in the desert! H3452

41 Yea, they turned back H7725 and tempted H5254 God, H410 and limited H8428 the Holy One H6918 of Israel. H3478

42 They remembered H2142 not his hand, H3027 nor the day H3117 when he delivered H6299 them from the enemy. H6862

43 How he had wrought H7760 his signs H226 in Egypt, H4714 and his wonders H4159 in the field H7704 of Zoan: H6814

44 And had turned H2015 their rivers H2975 into blood; H1818 and their floods, H5140 that they could not drink. H8354

45 He sent H7971 divers sorts of flies H6157 among them, which devoured H398 them; and frogs, H6854 which destroyed H7843 them.

46 He gave H5414 also their increase H2981 unto the caterpiller, H2625 and their labour H3018 unto the locust. H697

47 He destroyed H2026 their vines H1612 with hail, H1259 and their sycomore trees H8256 with frost. H2602

48 He gave up H5462 their cattle H1165 also to the hail, H1259 and their flocks H4735 to hot thunderbolts. H7565

49 He cast H7971 upon them the fierceness H2740 of his anger, H639 wrath, H5678 and indignation, H2195 and trouble, H6869 by sending H4917 evil H7451 angels H4397 among them.

50 He made H6424 a way H5410 to his anger; H639 he spared H2820 not their soul H5315 from death, H4194 but gave H5462 their life H2416 over H5462 to the pestilence; H1698

51 And smote H5221 all the firstborn H1060 in Egypt; H4714 the chief H7225 of their strength H202 in the tabernacles H168 of Ham: H2526

52 But made his own people H5971 to go forth H5265 like sheep, H6629 and guided H5090 them in the wilderness H4057 like a flock. H5739

53 And he led H5148 them on safely, H983 so that they feared H6342 not: but the sea H3220 overwhelmed H3680 their enemies. H341

54 And he brought H935 them to the border H1366 of his sanctuary, H6944 even to this mountain, H2022 which his right hand H3225 had purchased. H7069

55 He cast out H1644 the heathen H1471 also before H6440 them, and divided H5307 them an inheritance H5159 by line, H2256 and made the tribes H7626 of Israel H3478 to dwell H7931 in their tents. H168

56 Yet they tempted H5254 and provoked H4784 the most high H5945 God, H430 and kept H8104 not his testimonies: H5713

57 But turned back, H5472 and dealt unfaithfully H898 like their fathers: H1 they were turned aside H2015 like a deceitful H7423 bow. H7198

58 For they provoked him to anger H3707 with their high places, H1116 and moved him to jealousy H7065 with their graven images. H6456

59 When God H430 heard H8085 this, he was wroth, H5674 and greatly H3966 abhorred H3988 Israel: H3478

60 So that he forsook H5203 the tabernacle H4908 of Shiloh, H7887 the tent H168 which he placed H7931 among men; H120

61 And delivered H5414 his strength H5797 into captivity, H7628 and his glory H8597 into the enemy's H6862 hand. H3027

62 He gave H5462 his people H5971 over H5462 also unto the sword; H2719 and was wroth H5674 with his inheritance. H5159

63 The fire H784 consumed H398 their young men; H970 and their maidens H1330 were not given to marriage. H1984

64 Their priests H3548 fell H5307 by the sword; H2719 and their widows H490 made no lamentation. H1058

65 Then the Lord H136 awaked H3364 as one out of sleep, H3463 and like a mighty man H1368 that shouteth H7442 by reason of wine. H3196

66 And he smote H5221 his enemies H6862 in the hinder parts: H268 he put H5414 them to a perpetual H5769 reproach. H2781

67 Moreover he refused H3988 the tabernacle H168 of Joseph, H3130 and chose H977 not the tribe H7626 of Ephraim: H669

68 But chose H977 the tribe H7626 of Judah, H3063 the mount H2022 Zion H6726 which he loved. H157

69 And he built H1129 his sanctuary H4720 like high H7311 palaces, like the earth H776 which he hath established H3245 for ever. H5769

70 He chose H977 David H1732 also his servant, H5650 and took H3947 him from the sheepfolds: H4356 H6629

71 From following H310 the ewes great with young H5763 he brought H935 him to feed H7462 Jacob H3290 his people, H5971 and Israel H3478 his inheritance. H5159

72 So he fed H7462 them according to the integrity H8537 of his heart; H3824 and guided H5148 them by the skilfulness H8394 of his hands. H3709


Psalms 78:1-72 American Standard (ASV)

1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,

3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us.

4 We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, And his strength, and his wondrous works that he hath done.

5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which he commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children;

6 That the generation to come might know `them', even the children that should be born; Who should arise and tell `them' to their children,

7 That they might set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep his commandments,

8 And might not be as their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that set not their heart aright, And whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle.

10 They kept not the covenant of God, And refused to walk in his law;

11 And they forgat his doings, And his wondrous works that he had showed them.

12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13 He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through; And he made the waters to stand as a heap.

14 In the day-time also he led them with a cloud, And all the night with a light of fire.

15 He clave rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.

16 He brought streams also out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers.

17 Yet went they on still to sin against him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert.

18 And they tempted God in their heart By asking food according to their desire.

19 Yea, they spake against God; They said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

20 Behold, he smote the rock, so that waters gushed out, And streams overflowed; Can he give bread also? Will he provide flesh for his people?

21 Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth; And a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also went up against Israel;

22 Because they believed not in God, And trusted not in his salvation.

23 Yet he commanded the skies above, And opened the doors of heaven;

24 And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven.

25 Man did eat the bread of the mighty: He sent them food to the full.

26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens; And by his power he guided the south wind.

27 He rained flesh also upon them as the dust, And winged birds as the sand of the seas:

28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their habitations.

29 So they did eat, and were well filled; And he gave them their own desire.

30 They were not estranged from that which they desired, Their food was yet in their mouths,

31 When the anger of God went up against them, And slew of the fattest of them, And smote down the young men of Israel.

32 For all this they sinned still, And believed not in his wondrous works.

33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, And their years in terror.

34 When he slew them, then they inquired after him; And they returned and sought God earnestly.

35 And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their redeemer.

36 But they flattered him with their mouth, And lied unto him with their tongue.

37 For their heart was not right with him, Neither were they faithful in his covenant.

38 But he, being merciful, forgave `their' iniquity, and destroyed `them' not: Yea, many a time turned he his anger away, And did not stir up all his wrath.

39 And he remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

40 How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness, And grieve him in the desert!

41 And they turned again and tempted God, And provoked the Holy One of Israel.

42 They remember not his hand, Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;

43 How he set his signs in Egypt, And his wonders in the field of Zoan,

44 And turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, so that they could not drink.

45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; And frogs, which destroyed them.

46 He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, And their labor unto the locust.

47 He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycomore-trees with frost.

48 He gave over their cattle also to the hail, And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.

49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, Wrath, and indignation, and trouble, A band of angels of evil.

50 He made a path for his anger; He spared not their soul from death, But gave their life over to the pestilence,

51 And smote all the first-born in Egypt, The chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.

52 But he led forth his own people like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

53 And he led them safely, so that they feared not; But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

54 And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, To this mountain, which his right hand had gotten.

55 He drove out the nations also before them, And allotted them for an inheritance by line, And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

56 Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, And kept not his testimonies;

57 But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers: They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, And moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

59 When God heard `this', he was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel;

60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent which he placed among men;

61 And delivered his strength into captivity, And his glory into the adversary's hand.

62 He gave his people over also unto the sword, And was wroth with his inheritance.

63 Fire devoured their young men; And their virgins had no marriage-song.

64 Their priests fell by the sword; And their widows made no lamentation.

65 Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, Like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.

66 And he smote his adversaries backward: He put them to a perpetual reproach.

67 Moreover he refused the tent of Joseph, And chose not the tribe of Ephraim,

68 But chose the tribe of Judah, The mount Zion which he loved.

69 And he built his sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which he hath established for ever.

70 He chose David also his servant, And took him from the sheepfolds:

71 From following the ewes that have their young he brought him, To be the shepherd of Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

72 So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skilfulness of his hands. Psalm 79 A Psalm of Asaph.


Psalms 78:1-72 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

1 An Instruction of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law, Incline your ear to sayings of my mouth.

2 I open with a simile my mouth, I bring forth hidden things of old,

3 That we have heard and do know, And our fathers have recounted to us.

4 We do not hide from their sons, To a later generation recounting praises of Jehovah, And His strength, and His wonders that He hath done.

5 And He raiseth up a testimony in Jacob, And a law hath placed in Israel, That He commanded our fathers, To make them known to their sons.

6 So that a later generation doth know, Sons who are born, do rise and recount to their sons,

7 And place in God their confidence, And forget not the doings of God, But keep His commands.

8 And they are not like their fathers, A generation apostate and rebellious, A generation! it hath not prepared its heart, Nor stedfast with God `is' its spirit.

9 Sons of Ephraim -- armed bearers of bow, Have turned in a day of conflict.

10 They have not kept the covenant of God, And in His law they have refused to walk,

11 And they forget His doings, And His wonders that He shewed them.

12 Before their fathers He hath done wonders, In the land of Egypt -- the field of Zoan.

13 He cleft a sea, and causeth them to pass over, Yea, He causeth waters to stand as a heap.

14 And leadeth them with a cloud by day, And all the night with a light of fire.

15 He cleaveth rocks in a wilderness, And giveth drink -- as the great deep.

16 And bringeth out streams from a rock, And causeth waters to come down as rivers.

17 And they add still to sin against Him, To provoke the Most High in the dry place.

18 And they try God in their heart, To ask food for their lust.

19 And they speak against God -- they said: `Is God able to array a table in a wilderness?'

20 Lo, He hath smitten a rock, And waters flow, yea, streams overflow. `Also -- bread `is' He able to give? Doth He prepare flesh for His people?'

21 Therefore hath Jehovah heard, And He sheweth Himself wroth, And fire hath been kindled against Jacob, And anger also hath gone up against Israel,

22 For they have not believed in God, Nor have they trusted in His salvation.

23 And He commandeth clouds from above, Yea, doors of the heavens He hath opened.

24 And He raineth on them manna to eat, Yea, corn of heaven He hath given to them.

25 Food of the mighty hath each eaten, Venison He sent to them to satiety.

26 He causeth an east wind to journey in the heavens, And leadeth by His strength a south wind,

27 And He raineth on them flesh as dust, And as sand of the seas -- winged fowl,

28 And causeth `it' to fall in the midst of His camp, Round about His tabernacles.

29 And they eat, and are greatly satisfied, And their desire He bringeth to them.

30 They have not been estranged from their desire, Yet `is' their food in their mouth,

31 And the anger of God hath gone up against them, And He slayeth among their fat ones, And youths of Israel He caused to bend.

32 With all this they have sinned again, And have not believed in His wonders.

33 And He consumeth in vanity their days, And their years in trouble.

34 If He slew them, then they sought Him, And turned back, and sought God earnestly,

35 And they remember that God `is' their rock, And God Most High their redeemer.

36 And -- they deceive Him with their mouth, And with their tongue do lie to Him,

37 And their heart hath not been right with Him, And they have not been stedfast in His covenant.

38 And He -- the Merciful One, Pardoneth iniquity, and destroyeth not, And hath often turned back His anger, And waketh not up all His fury.

39 And He remembereth that they `are' flesh, A wind going on -- and it returneth not.

40 How often do they provoke Him in the wilderness, Grieve Him in the desolate place?

41 Yea, they turn back, and try God, And the Holy One of Israel have limited.

42 They have not remembered His hand The day He ransomed them from the adversary.

43 When He set His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan,

44 And He turneth to blood their streams, And their floods they drink not.

45 He sendeth among them the beetle, and it consumeth them, And the frog, and it destroyeth them,

46 And giveth to the caterpillar their increase, And their labour to the locust.

47 He destroyeth with hail their vine, And their sycamores with frost,

48 And delivereth up to the hail their beasts, And their cattle to the burning flames.

49 He sendeth on them the fury of His anger, Wrath, and indignation, and distress -- A discharge of evil messengers.

50 He pondereth a path for His anger, He kept not back their soul from death, Yea, their life to the pestilence He delivered up.

51 And He smiteth every first-born in Egypt, The first-fruit of the strong in tents of Ham.

52 And causeth His people to journey as a flock, And guideth them as a drove in a wilderness,

53 And He leadeth them confidently, And they have not been afraid, And their enemies hath the sea covered.

54 And He bringeth them in unto the border of His sanctuary, This mountain His right hand had got,

55 And casteth out nations from before them, And causeth them to fall in the line of inheritance, And causeth the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents,

56 And they tempt and provoke God Most High, And His testimonies have not kept.

57 And they turn back, And deal treacherously like their fathers, They have been turned like a deceitful bow,

58 And make Him angry with their high places, And with their graven images make Him zealous,

59 God hath heard, and sheweth Himself wroth. And kicketh exceedingly against Israel.

60 And He leaveth the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men,

61 And He giveth His strength to captivity, And His beauty into the hand of an adversary,

62 And delivereth up to the sword His people, And with His inheritance shewed Himself angry.

63 His young men hath fire consumed, And His virgins have not been praised.

64 His priests by the sword have fallen, And their widows weep not.

65 And the Lord waketh as a sleeper, As a mighty one crying aloud from wine.

66 And He smiteth His adversaries backward, A reproach age-during He hath put on them,

67 And He kicketh against the tent of Joseph, And on the tribe of Ephraim hath not fixed.

68 And He chooseth the tribe of Judah, With mount Zion that He loved,

69 And buildeth His sanctuary as a high place, Like the earth, He founded it to the age.

70 And He fixeth on David His servant, And taketh him from the folds of a flock,

71 From behind suckling ones He hath brought him in, To rule over Jacob His people, And over Israel His inheritance.

72 And he ruleth them according to the integrity of his heart, And by the skilfulness of his hands leadeth them!


Psalms 78:1-72 Darby English Bible (DARBY)

1 {An instruction. Of Asaph.} Give ear, O my people, to my law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter riddles from of old,

3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us:

4 We will not hide [them] from their sons, shewing forth to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, and his strength, and his marvellous works which he hath done.

5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children;

6 That the generation to come might know [them], the children that should be born; that they might rise up and tell [them] to their children,

7 And that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of ùGod, but observe his commandments;

8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that prepared not their heart, and whose spirit was not stedfast with ùGod.

9 The sons of Ephraim, armed bowmen, turned back in the day of battle.

10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;

11 And forgot his doings, and his marvellous works which he had shewn them.

12 In the sight of their fathers had he done wonders, in the land of Egypt, the field of Zoan.

13 He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through; and made the waters to stand as a heap;

14 And he led them with a cloud in the daytime, and all the night with the light of fire.

15 He clave rocks in the wilderness, and gave [them] drink as out of the depths, abundantly;

16 And he brought streams out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

17 Yet they still went on sinning against him, provoking the Most High in the desert;

18 And they tempted ùGod in their heart, by asking meat for their lust;

19 And they spoke against God: they said, Is ùGod able to prepare a table in the wilderness?

20 Behold, he smote the rock, and waters gushed out, and streams overflowed; is he able to give bread also, or provide flesh for his people?

21 Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth; and fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also went up against Israel:

22 Because they believed not in God, and confided not in his salvation;

23 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and had opened the doors of the heavens,

24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them the corn of the heavens.

25 Man did eat the bread of the mighty; he sent them provision to the full.

26 He caused the east wind to rise in the heavens, and by his strength he brought the south wind;

27 And he rained flesh upon them as dust, and feathered fowl as the sand of the seas,

28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations:

29 And they did eat, and were well filled; for that they lusted after, he brought to them.

30 They were not alienated from their lust, their meat was yet in their mouths,

31 When the anger of God went up against them; and he slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.

32 For all this, they sinned still, and believed not in his marvellous works;

33 And he consumed their days in vanity, and their years in terror.

34 When he slew them, then they sought him, and returned and sought early after ùGod;

35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and ùGod, the Most High, their redeemer.

36 But they flattered him with their mouth, and lied unto him with their tongue;

37 For their heart was not firm toward him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.

38 But he was merciful: he forgave the iniquity, and destroyed [them] not; but many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his fury:

39 And he remembered that they were flesh, a breath that passeth away and cometh not again.

40 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

41 And they turned again and tempted ùGod, and grieved the Holy One of Israel.

42 They remembered not his hand, the day when he delivered them from the oppressor,

43 How he set his signs in Egypt, and his miracles in the field of Zoan;

44 And turned their rivers into blood, and their streams, that they could not drink;

45 He sent dog-flies among them, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them;

46 And he gave their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust;

47 He killed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with hail-stones;

48 And he delivered up their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to thunderbolts.

49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and distress, -- a mission of angels of woes.

50 He made a way for his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;

51 And he smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the first-fruits of their vigour in the tents of Ham.

52 And he made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock;

53 And he led them safely, so that they were without fear; and the sea covered their enemies.

54 And he brought them to his holy border, this mountain, which his right hand purchased;

55 And he drove out the nations before them, and allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

56 But they tempted and provoked God, the Most High, and kept not his testimonies,

57 And they drew back and dealt treacherously like their fathers: they turned like a deceitful bow.

58 And they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

59 God heard, and was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:

60 And he forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh, the tent where he had dwelt among men,

61 And gave his strength into captivity, and his glory into the hand of the oppressor;

62 And delivered up his people unto the sword, and was very wroth with his inheritance:

63 The fire consumed their young men, and their maidens were not praised in [nuptial] song;

64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.

65 Then the Lord awoke as one out of sleep, like a mighty man that shouteth aloud by reason of wine;

66 And he smote his adversaries in the hinder part, and put them to everlasting reproach.

67 And he rejected the tent of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim,

68 But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved;

69 And he built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he hath founded for ever.

70 And he chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:

71 From following the suckling-ewes, he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

72 And he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and led them by the skilfulness of his hands.


Psalms 78:1-72 World English Bible (WEB)

1 > Hear my law, my people. Turn your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old,

3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us.

4 We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, His strength, and his wondrous works that he has done.

5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which he commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children;

6 That the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; Who should arise and tell their children,

7 That they might set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep his commandments,

8 And might not be as their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that didn't make their hearts loyal, Whose spirit was not steadfast with God.

9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle.

10 They didn't keep God's covenant, And refused to walk in his law.

11 They forgot his doings, His wondrous works that he had shown them.

12 He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13 He split the sea, and caused them to pass through; He made the waters stand as a heap.

14 In the daytime he also led them with a cloud, And all night with a light of fire.

15 He split rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.

16 He brought streams also out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers.

17 Yet they still went on to sin against him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert.

18 They tempted God in their heart By asking food according to their desire.

19 Yes, they spoke against God. They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

20 Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, Streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Will he provide flesh for his people?"

21 Therefore Yahweh heard, and was angry. A fire was kindled against Jacob, Anger also went up against Israel,

22 Because they didn't believe in God, And didn't trust in his salvation.

23 Yet he commanded the skies above, And opened the doors of heaven.

24 He rained down manna on them to eat, And gave them food from the sky.

25 Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full.

26 He caused the east wind to blow in the sky. By his power he guided the south wind.

27 He rained also flesh on them as the dust; Winged birds as the sand of the seas.

28 He let them fall in the midst of their camp, Around their habitations.

29 So they ate, and were well filled. He gave them their own desire.

30 They didn't turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths,

31 When the anger of God went up against them, Killed some of the fattest of them, And struck down the young men of Israel.

32 For all this they still sinned, And didn't believe in his wondrous works.

33 Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, And their years in terror.

34 When he killed them, then they inquired after him. They returned and sought God earnestly.

35 They remembered that God was their rock, The Most High God their redeemer.

36 But they flattered him with their mouth, And lied to him with their tongue.

37 For their heart was not right with him, Neither were they faithful in his covenant.

38 But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn't destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, And didn't stir up all his wrath.

39 He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes away, and doesn't come again.

40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, And grieved him in the desert!

41 They turned again and tempted God, And provoked the Holy One of Israel.

42 They didn't remember his hand, Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;

43 How he set his signs in Egypt, His wonders in the field of Zoan,

44 Turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, so that they could not drink.

45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; And frogs, which destroyed them.

46 He gave also their increase to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.

47 He destroyed their vines with hail, Their sycamore-fig trees with frost.

48 He gave over their cattle also to the hail, And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.

49 He threw on them the fierceness of his anger, Wrath, indignation, and trouble, And a band of angels of evil.

50 He made a path for his anger. He didn't spare their soul from death, But gave their life over to the pestilence,

51 And struck all the firstborn in Egypt, The chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.

52 But he led forth his own people like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

53 He led them safely, so that they weren't afraid, But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

54 He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, To this mountain, which his right hand had taken.

55 He also drove out the nations before them, Allotted them for an inheritance by line, And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

56 Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, And didn't keep his testimonies;

57 But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, And moved him to jealousy with their engraved images.

59 When God heard this, he was angry, And greatly abhorred Israel;

60 So that he forsook the tent of Shiloh, The tent which he placed among men;

61 And delivered his strength into captivity, His glory into the adversary's hand.

62 He also gave his people over to the sword, And was angry with his inheritance.

63 Fire devoured their young men; Their virgins had no wedding song.

64 Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows couldn't weep.

65 Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, Like a mighty man who shouts by reason of wine.

66 He struck his adversaries backward. He put them to a perpetual reproach.

67 Moreover he rejected the tent of Joseph, And didn't choose the tribe of Ephraim,

68 But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved.

69 He built his sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which he has established forever.

70 He also chose David his servant, And took him from the sheepfolds;

71 From following the ewes that have their young, He brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob, his people, And Israel, his inheritance.

72 So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.


Psalms 78:1-72 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

1 <Maschil. Of Asaph.> Give ear, O my people, to my law; let your ears be bent down to the words of my mouth.

2 Opening my mouth I will give out a story, even the dark sayings of old times;

3 Which have come to our hearing and our knowledge, as they were given to us by our fathers.

4 We will not keep them secret from our children; we will make clear to the coming generation the praises of the Lord and his strength, and the great works of wonder which he has done.

5 He put up a witness in Jacob, and made a law in Israel; which he gave to our fathers so that they might give knowledge of them to their children;

6 So that the generation to come might have knowledge of them, even the children of the future, who would give word of them to their children;

7 So that they might put their hope in God, and not let God's works go out of their minds, but keep his laws;

8 And not be like their fathers, a stiff-necked and uncontrolled generation; a generation whose heart was hard, whose spirit was not true to God.

9 The children of Ephraim, armed with bows, were turned back on the day of the fight.

10 They were not ruled by God's word, and they would not go in the way of his law;

11 They let his works go out of their memory, and the wonders which he had made them see.

12 He did great works before the eyes of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.

13 The sea was cut in two so that they might go through; the waters were massed together on this side and on that.

14 In the daytime he was guiding them in the cloud, and all through the night with a light of fire.

15 The rocks of the waste land were broken by his power, and he gave them drink as out of the deep waters.

16 He made streams come out of the rock; and waters came flowing down like rivers.

17 And they went on sinning against him even more, turning away from the Most High in the waste land;

18 Testing God in their hearts, requesting meat for their desire.

19 They said bitter words against God, saying, Is God able to make ready a table in the waste land?

20 See, the rock was cut open by his power, so that the water came rushing out, and overflowing streams; is he able to give us bread? is he able to get meat for his people?

21 So these things came to the Lord's ears, and he was angry; and a fire was lighted against Jacob, and wrath came up against Israel;

22 Because they had no faith in God, and no hope in his salvation.

23 And he gave orders to the clouds on high, and the doors of heaven were open;

24 And he sent down manna like rain for their food, and gave them the grain of heaven.

25 Man took part in the food of strong ones; he sent them meat in full measure.

26 He sent an east wind from heaven, driving on the south wind by his power.

27 He sent down meat on them like dust, and feathered birds like the sand of the sea,

28 And he let it come down into their resting-place, round about their tents.

29 So they had food and were full; for he gave them their desire;

30 But they were not turned from their desires; and while the food was still in their mouths,

31 The wrath of God came on them, and put to death the fattest of them, and put an end to the young men of Israel.

32 For all this they went on sinning even more, and had no faith in his great wonders.

33 So their days were wasted like a breath, and their years in trouble.

34 When he sent death on them, then they made search for him; turning to him and looking for him with care;

35 In the memory that God was their Rock, and the Most High God their saviour.

36 But their lips were false to him, and their tongues were untrue to him;

37 And their hearts were not right with him, and they did not keep their agreement with him.

38 But he, being full of pity, has forgiveness for sin, and does not put an end to man: frequently turning back his wrath, and not being violently angry.

39 So he kept in mind that they were only flesh; a breath which is quickly gone, and will not come again.

40 How frequently did they go against him in the waste land, and give him cause for grief in the dry places!

41 Again they put God to the test, and gave pain to the Holy One of Israel.

42 They did not keep in mind the work of his hand, or the day when he took them from the power of their haters;

43 How he had done his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan;

44 So that their rivers were turned to blood, and they were not able to get drink from their streams.

45 He sent different sorts of flies among them, poisoning their flesh; and frogs for their destruction.

46 He gave the increase of their fields to worms, the fruits of their industry to the locusts.

47 He sent ice for the destruction of their vines; their trees were damaged by the bitter cold.

48 Ice was rained down on their cattle; thunderstorms sent destruction among the flocks.

49 He sent on them the heat of his wrath, his bitter disgust, letting loose evil angels among them.

50 He let his wrath have its way; he did not keep back their soul from death, but gave their life to disease.

51 He gave to destruction all the first sons of Egypt; the first-fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham;

52 But he took his people out like sheep, guiding them in the waste land like a flock.

53 He took them on safely so that they had no fear; but their haters were covered by the sea.

54 And he was their guide to his holy land, even to the mountain, which his right hand had made his;

55 Driving out nations before them, marking out the line of their heritage, and giving the people of Israel their tents for a resting-place.

56 But they were bitter against the Most High God, testing him, and not keeping his laws;

57 Their hearts were turned back and untrue like their fathers; they were turned to one side like a twisted bow.

58 They made him angry with their high places; moving him to wrath with their images.

59 When this came to God's ears he was very angry, and gave up Israel completely;

60 So that he went away from the holy place in Shiloh, the tent which he had put among men;

61 And he let his strength be taken prisoner, and gave his glory into the hands of his hater.

62 He gave his people up to the sword, and was angry with his heritage.

63 Their young men were burned in the fire; and their virgins were not praised in the bride-song.

64 Their priests were put to death by the sword, and their widows made no weeping for them.

65 Then was the Lord like one awaking from sleep, and like a strong man crying out because of wine.

66 His haters were turned back by his blows and shamed for ever.

67 And he put the tent of Joseph on one side, and took not the tribe of Ephraim;

68 But he took the tribe of Judah for himself, and the mountain of Zion, in which he had pleasure.

69 And he made his holy place like the high heaven, like the earth which is fixed by him for ever.

70 He took David to be his servant, taking him from the place of the flocks;

71 From looking after the sheep which were giving milk, he took him to give food to Jacob his people, and to Israel his heritage.

72 So he gave them food with an upright heart, guiding them by the wisdom of his hands.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 78

Commentary on Psalms 78 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Introduction

The Warning-Mirror of History from Moses to David

In the last verse of Ps 77 Israel appears as a flock which is led by Moses and Aaron; in the last verse of Psalms 78 as a flock which is led by David, of a pure heart, with judicious hands. Both Psalms also meet in thoughts and expressions, just as the לאסף of both leads one to expect. Psalms 78 is called Maskı̂l , a meditation . The word would also be appropriate here in the signification “a didactic poem.” For the history of Israel is recapitulated here from the leading forth out of Egypt through the time of the Judges down to David, and that with the practical application for the present age that they should cleave faithfully to Jahve, more faithfully than the rebellious generation of the fathers. After the manner of the Psalms of Asaph the Ephraimites are made specially prominent out of the whole body of the people, their disobedience as well as the rejection of Shiloh and the election of David, by which it was for ever at an end with the supremacy of Ephraim and also of his brother-tribe of Benjamin.

The old Asaphic origin of the Psalm has been contested: - (1) Because Psalms 78:9 may be referred to the apostasy of Ephraim and of the other tribes, that is to say, to the division of the kingdom. But this reference is capriciously imagined to be read in Psalms 78:9. (2) Because the Psalm betrays a malice, indeed a national hatred against Ephraim, such as is only explicable after the apostasy of the ten tribes. But the alienation and jealousy between Ephraim and Judah is older than the rupture of the kingdom. The northern tribes, in consequence of their position, which was more exposed to contact with the heathen world, had already assumed a different character from that of Judah living in patriarchal seclusion. They could boast of a more excited, more martial history, one richer in exploit; in the time of the Judges especially, there is scarcely any mention of Judah. Hence Judah was little thought of by them, especially by powerful Ephraim, which regarded itself as the foremost tribe of all the tribes. From the beginning of Saul's persecution of David, however, when the stricter principle of the south came first of all into decisive conflict for the mastery with the more lax principle of the Ephraimites, until the rebellion of Jeroboam against Solomon, there runs through the history of Israel a series of acts which reveal a deep reft between Judah and the other tribes, more especially Benjamin and Ephraim. Though, therefore, it were true that a tone hostile to Ephraim is expressed in the Psalm, this would not be any evidence against its old Asaphic origin, since the psalmist rests upon facts, and, without basing the preference of Judah upon merit, he everywhere contemplates the sin of Ephraim, without any Judaean boasting, in a connection with the sin of the whole nation, which involves all in the responsibility. Nor is Psalms 78:69 against Asaph the contemporary of David; for Asaph may certainly have seen the building of the Temple of Solomon as it towered upwards to the skies, and Caspari in his Essay on the Holy One of Israel ( Luther. Zeitschrift , 1844, 3) has shown that even the divine name קדושׁ ישׂראל does not militate against him. We have seen in connection with Psalms 76:1-12 how deeply imbued Isaiah's language is with that of the Psalms of Asaph. It cannot surprise us of Asaph is Isaiah's predecessor in the use of the name “the Holy One of Isreal.” The fact, however, that the writer of the Psalm takes the words and colours of his narration from all five books of the Pentateuch, with the exception of Leviticus, is not opposed to our view of the origin of the Pentateuch, but favourable to it. The author of the Book of Job, with whom in Psalms 78:64 he verbally coincides, is regarded by us as younger; and the points of contact with other Psalms inscribed “by David,” “by the sons of Korah,” and “by Asaph,” do not admit of being employed for ascertaining his time, since the poet is by no means an unindependent imitator.

The manner of representation which characterizes the Psalm becomes epical in its extension, but is at the same time concise after the sententious style. The separate historical statements have a gnome-like finish, and a gem-like elegance. The whole falls into two principal parts, vv. 1-37, vv. 38-72; the second part passes over from the God-tempting unthankfulness of the Israel of the desert to that of the Israel of Canaan. Every three strophes form one group.


Verses 1-11

The poet begins very similarly to the poet of Ps 49. He comes forward among the people as a preacher, and demands for his tפra a willing, attentive hearing. תּורה is the word for every human doctrine or instruction, especially for the prophetic discourse which sets forth and propagates the substance of the divine teaching. Asaph is a prophet, hence Psalms 78:2 is quoted in Matthew 13:34. as ῥηθὲν διὰ τοῦ προφήτου .

(Note: The reading διὰ Ἠσαΐ́ου τοῦ προφήτου is, although erroneous, nevertheless ancient; since even the Clementine Homilies introduce this passage as the language of Isaiah.)

He here recounts to the people their history מנּי־קדם , from that Egyptaeo-Sinaitic age of yore to which Israel's national independence and specific position in relation to the rest of the world goes back. It is not, however, with the external aspect of the history that he has to do, but with its internal teachings. משׁל is an allegory or parable, παραβολή , more particularly the apophthegm as the characteristic species of poetry belonging to the Chokma , and then in general a discourse of an elevated style, full of figures, thoughtful, pithy, and rounded. חידה is that which is entangled, knotted, involved, perlexe dictum . The poet, however, does not mean to say that he will literally discourse gnomic sentences and propound riddles, but that he will set forth the history of the fathers after the manner of a parable and riddle, so that it may become as a parable, i.e., a didactic history, and its events as marks of interrogation and nota-bene's to the present age. The lxx renders thus: ἀνοίξω ἐν παραβολαῖς τὸ στόμα μου, φθέγξομαι προβλήματα ἀπ ̓ ἀρχῆς . Instead of this the Gospel by Matthew has: ἀνοίξω ἐν παραβολαῖς τὸ στόμα μου, ἐρεύξομαι κεκρυμμένα ἀπὸ καταβολῆς ( κόσμου ), and recognises in this language of the Psalm a prophecy of Christ; because it is moulded so appropriately for the mouth of Him who is the Fulfiller not only of the Law and of Prophecy, but also of the vocation of the prophet. It is the object-clause to נכחד , and not a relative clause belonging to the “riddles out of the age of yore,” that follows in Psalms 78:3 with אשׁר , for that which has been heard only becomes riddles by the appropriation and turn the poet gives to it. Psalms 78:3 begins a new period (cf. Psalms 69:27; Jeremiah 14:1, and frequently): What we have heard, and in consequence thereof known, and what our fathers have told us (word for word, like Psalms 44:1; Judges 6:13), that will we not hide from their children (cf. Job 15:18). The accentuation is perfectly correct. The Rebı̂a by מבניהם has a greater distinctive force than the Rebı̂a by אחרון ( לדור ); it is therefore to be rendered: telling to the later generation (which is just what is intended by the offspring of the fathers) the glorious deeds of Jahve, etc. The fut. consec . ויּקם joins on to אשׁר עשׂה . Glorious deeds, proofs of power, miracles hath He wrought, and in connection therewith set up an admonition in Jacob, and laid down an order in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, viz., to propagate by tradition the remembrance of those mighty deeds (Exodus 13:8, Exodus 13:14; Deuteronomy 4:9, and other passages). להודיעם has the same object as והודעתּם in Deuteronomy 4:9; Joshua 4:22. The matter in question is not the giving of the Law in general, as the purpose of which, the keeping of the laws, ought then to have been mentioned before anything else, but a precept, the purpose of which was the further proclamation of the magnalia Dei , and indirectly the promotion of trust in god and fidelity to the Law; cf. Psalms 81:5., where the special precept concerning the celebration of the Feast of the Passover is described as a עדוּת laid down in Joseph. The following generation, the children, which shall be born in the course of the ages, were to know concerning His deeds, and also themselves to rise up ( יקוּמוּ , not: come into being, like the יבאוּ of the older model-passage Ps 22:32) and to tell them further to their children, in order that these might place their confidence in god ( שׂים כּסל , like שׁית מחסה in Psalms 73:28), and might not forget the mighty deeds of God (Psalms 118:17), and might keep His commandments, being warned by the disobedience of the fathers. The generation of the latter is called סורר וּמרה , just as the degenerate son that is to be stoned is called in Deuteronomy 21:18. הכין לבּו , to direct one's heart, i.e., to give it the right direction or tendency, to put it into the right state, is to be understood after Psalms 78:37, 2 Chronicles 20:33, Sir. 2:17.

Psalms 78:9

Psalms 78:9, which comes in now in the midst of this description, is awkward and unintelligible. The supposition that “the sons of Ephraim” is an appellation for the whole of Israel is refuted by Psalms 78:67. The rejection of Ephraim and the election of Judah is the point into which the historical retrospect runs out; how then can “the sons of Ephraim” denote Israel as a whole? And yet what is here said of the Ephraimites also holds good of the Israelites in general, as Psalms 78:57 shows. The fact, however, that the Ephraimites are made specially conspicuous out of the “generation” of all Israel, is intelligible from the special interest which the Psalms of Asaph take in the tribes of Joseph, and here particularly from the purpose of practically preparing the way for the rejection of Shiloh and Ephraim related further on. In Psalms 78:10 and Psalms 78:11 the Ephraimites are also still spoken of; and it is not until Psalms 78:12, with the words “in sight of their fathers,” that we come back again to the nation at large. The Ephraimites are called נושׁקי רומי־קשׁת in the sense of נושׁקי קשׁת רומי קשׁת ; the two participial construct forms do not stand in subordination but in co-ordination, as in Jeremiah 46:9; Deuteronomy 33:19; 2 Samuel 20:19, just as in other instances also two substantives, of which one is the explanation of the other, are combined by means of the construct, Job 20:17, cf. 2 Kings 17:13 Kerî . It is therefore: those who prepare the bow, i.e., those arming themselves therewith ( נשׁק as in 1 Chronicles 12:2; 2 Chronicles 17:17), those who cast the vow, i.e., those shooting arrows from the bow (Jeremiah 4:29), cf. Böttcher, §728. What is predicated of them, viz., “they turned round” ( הפך as in Judges 20:39, Judges 20:41), stands in contrast with this their ability to bear arms and to defend themselves, as a disappointed expectation. Is what is meant thereby, that the powerful warlike tribe of Ephraim grew weary in the work of the conquest of Canaan (Judg. 1), and did not render the services which might have been expected from it? Since the historical retrospect does not enter into details until Psalms 78:12 onwards, this especial historical reference would come too early here; the statement consequently must be understood more generally and, according to Psalms 78:57, figuratively: Ephraim proved itself unstable and faint-hearted in defending and in conducting the cause of God, it gave it up, it abandoned it. They did not act as the covenant of God required of them, they refused to walk ( ללכת , cf. ללכת , Ecclesiastes 1:7) within the limit and track of His Tôra, and forgot the deeds of God of which they had been eye-witnesses under Moses and under Joshua, their comrades of the same family.


Verses 12-25

It is now related how wonderfully God led the fathers of these Ephraimites, who behaved themselves so badly as the leading tribe of Israel, in the desert; how they again and again ever indulged sinful murmuring, and still He continued to give proofs of His power and of His loving-kindness. The (according to Numbers 13:22) very ancient Zoan ( Tanis ), ancient Egyptian Zane , Coptic G'ane , on the east bank of the Tanitic arm of the Nile, so called therefrom - according to the researches to which the Turin Papyrus No. 112 has led, identical with Avaris (vid., on Isaiah 19:11)

(Note: The identity of Avaris and Tanis is in the meanwhile again become doubtful. Tanis was the Hyksos city, but Pelusium = Avaris the Hyksos fortress; vid., Petermann's Mittheilungen , 1866, S. 296-298.)

- was the seat of the Hyksos dynasties that ruled in the eastern Delta, where after their overthrow Rameses II, the Pharaoh of the bondage, in order to propitiate the enraged mass of the Semitic population of Lower Egypt, embraced the worship of Baal instituted by King Apophis. The colossal sitting figure of Rameses II in the pillared court of the Royal Museum in Berlin, says Brugsch ( Aus dem Orient ii. 45), is the figure which Rameses himself dedicated to the temple of Baal in Tanis and set up before its entrance. This mighty colossus is a contemporary of Moses, who certainly once looked upon this monument, when, as Ps 78 says, he “wrought wonders in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.” The psalmist, moreover, keeps very close to the Tôra in his reproduction of the history of the Exodus, and in fact so close that he must have had it before him in the entirety of its several parts, the Deuteronomic, Elohimistic, and Jehovistic. Concerning the rule by which it is appointed ‛ā'sa phéle , vid., on Psalms 52:5. The primary passage to Psalms 78:13 (cf. נוזלים Psalms 78:16) is Exodus 15:8. נד is a pile, i.e., a piled up heap or mass, as in Psalms 33:7. And Psalms 78:14 is the abbreviation of Exodus 13:21. In Psalms 78:15. the writer condenses into one the two instances of the giving of water from the rock, in the first year of the Exodus (Ex. 17) and in the fortieth year (Num. 20). The Piel יבקּע and the plural צרים correspond to this compression. רבּה is not an adjective (after the analogy of תּהום רבּה ), but an adverb as in Psalms 62:3; for the giving to drink needs a qualificative, but תהמות does not need any enhancement. ויּוצא has ı̂ instead of as in Psalms 105:43.

The fact that the subject is continued in Psalms 78:17 with ויּוסיפוּ without mention having been made of any sinning on the part of the generation of the desert, is explicable from the consideration that the remembrance of that murmuring is closely connected with the giving of water from the rock to which the names Massah u - Merı̂bah and Merı̂bath - Kadesh (cf. Numbers 20:13 with Numbers 27:14; Deuteronomy 32:51) point back: they went on ( עוד ) winning against Him, in spite of the miracles they experienced. למרות is syncopated from להמרות as in Isaiah 3:8. The poet in Psalms 78:18 condenses the account of the manifestations of discontent which preceded the giving of the quails and manna (Ex. 16), and the second giving of quails (Num. 11), as he has done the two cases of the giving of water from the rock in Psalms 78:15. They tempted God by unbelievingly and defiantly demanding ( לשׁאל , postulando , Ew. §280, d ) instead of trustfully hoping and praying. בּלבבם points to the evil fountain of the heart, and לנפשׁם describes their longing as a sensual eagerness, a lusting after it. Instead of allowing the miracles hitherto wrought to work faith in them, they made the miracles themselves the starting-point of fresh doubts. The poet here clothes what we read in Exodus 16:3; Numbers 11:4., Psalms 21:5, in a poetic dress. In לעמּו the unbelief reaches it climax, it sounds like self-irony. On the co-ordinating construction “therefore Jahve heard it and was wroth,” cf. Isaiah 5:4; Isaiah 12:1; Isaiah 50:2; Romans 6:17. The allusion is to the wrath-burning at Taberah (Tab'eera), Numbers 11:1-3, which preceded the giving of the quails in the second year of the Exodus. For it is obvious that Psalms 78:21 and Numbers 11:1 coincide, ויתעבר ואשׁ here being suggested by the ותבער־בם אשׁ eht yb d of that passage, and אף עלה being the opposite of ותשׁקע האשׁ in Psalms 78:2. A conflagration broke out at that time in the camp, at the same time, however, with the breaking out of God's anger. The nexus between the anger and the fire is here an outward one, whereas in Numbers 11:1 it is an internal one. The ground upon which the wrathful decree is based, which is only hinted at there, is here more minutely given in Psalms 78:22 : they believed not in Elohim (vid., Numbers 14:11), i.e., did not rest with believing confidence in Him, and trusted not in His salvation, viz., that which they had experienced in the redemption out of Egypt (Exodus 14:13; Exodus 15:2), and which was thereby guaranteed for time to come. Now, however, when Taberah is here followed first by the giving of the manna, Psalms 78:23-25, then by the giving of the quails, Psalms 78:26-29, the course of the events is deranged, since the giving of the manna had preceded that burning, and it was only the giving of the quails that followed it. This putting together of the two givings out of order was rendered necessary by the preceding condensation (in Psalms 78:18-20) of the clamorous desire for a more abundant supply of food before each of these events. Notwithstanding Israel's unbelief, He still remained faithful: He caused manna to rain down out of the opened gates of heaven (cf. “the windows of heaven,” Genesis 7:11; 2 Kings 7:2; Malachi 3:10), that is to say, in richest abundance. The manna is called corn (as in Psalms 105:40, after Exodus 16:4, it is called bread) of heaven, because it descended in the form of grains of corn, and supplied the place of bread-corn during the forty years. לחם אבּירים the lxx correctly renders ἄρτον ἀγγέλων ( אבּירים = גּבּרי כח , Psalms 103:20). The manna is called “bread of angels” (Wisd. 16:20) as being bread from heaven (Psalms 78:24, Psalms 105:40), the dwelling-place of angels, as being mann es - semâ , heaven's gift, its Arabic name, - a name which also belongs to the vegetable manna which flows out of the Tamarix mannifera in consequence of the puncture of the Coccus manniparus , and is even at the present day invaluable to the inhabitants of the desert of Sinai. אישׁ is the antithesis to אבירים ; for if it signified “every one,” אכלוּ would have been said (Hitzig). צידהּ as in Exodus 12:39; לשׂבע as in Exodus 16:3, cf. Psalms 78:8.


Verses 26-37

Passing over to the giving of the quails, the poet is thinking chiefly of the first occasion mentioned in Ex. 16, which directly preceded the giving of the manna. But the description follows the second: יסּע (He caused to depart, set out) after Numbers 11:31. “East” and “south” belong together: it was a south-east wind from the Aelanitic Gulf. “To rain down” is a figurative expression for a plentiful giving of dispensing from above. “Its camp, its tents,” are those of Israel, Numbers 11:31, cf. Exodus 16:13. The תּעוה , occurring twice, Psalms 78:29-30 (of the object of strong desire, as in Psalms 21:3), points to Kibroth - hattaavah , the scene of this carnal lusting; הביא is the transitive of the בּוא in Proverbs 13:12. In Psalms 78:30-31 even in the construction the poet closely follows Numbers 11:33 (cf. also זרוּ with לזרא , aversion, loathing, Numbers 11:20). The Waw unites what takes place simultaneously; a construction which presents the advantage of being able to give special prominence to the subject. The wrath of God consisted in the breaking out of a sickness which was the result of immoderate indulgence, and to which even the best-nourished and most youthfully vigorous fell a prey. When the poet goes on in Psalms 78:32 to say that in spite of these visitations ( בּכל־זאת ) they went on sinning, he has chiefly before his mind the outbreak of “fat” rebelliousness after the return of the spies, cf. Psalms 78:32 with Numbers 14:11. And Psalms 78:33 refers to the judgment of death in the wilderness threatened at that time to all who had come out of Egypt from twenty years old and upward (Numbers 14:28-34). Their life devoted to death vanished from that time onwards בּהבל , in breath-like instability, and בּבּהלה , in undurable precipitancy; the mode of expression in Psalms 31:11; Job 36:1 suggests to the poet an expressive play of words. When now a special judgment suddenly and violently thinned the generation that otherwise was dying off, as in Numbers 21:6., then they inquired after Him, they again sought His favour, those who were still preserved in the midst of this dying again remembered the God who had proved Himself to be a “Rock” (Deuteronomy 32:15, Deuteronomy 32:18, Deuteronomy 32:37) and to be a “Redeemer” (Genesis 48:16) to them. And what next? Psalms 78:36-37

(Note: According to the reckoning of the Masora this Psalms 78:36 is the middle verse of the 2527 verses of the Psalter (Buxtorf, Tiberias , 1620, p. 133).)

tell us what effect they gave to this disposition to return to God. They appeased Him with their mouth, is meant to say: they sought to win Him over to themselves by fair speeches, inasmuch as they thus anthropopathically conceived of God, and with their tongue they played the hypocrite to Him; their heart, however, was not sincere towards Him ( עם like את in Psalms 78:8), i.e., not directed straight towards Him, and they proved themselves not stedfast ( πιστοί , or properly βέβαιοι ) in their covenant-relationship to Him.


Verses 38-48

The second part of the Psalm now begins. God, notwithstanding, in His compassion restrains His anger; but Israel's God-tempting conduct was continued, even after the journey through the desert, in Canaan, and the miracles of judgment amidst which the deliverance out of Egypt had been effected were forgotten. With והוּא in Psalms 78:38

(Note: According to B. Kiddushin 30 a , this Psalms 78:38 is the middle one of the 5896 פסוקין , στίχοι , of the Psalter. According to B. Maccoth 22 b , Psalms 78:38, and previously Deuteronomy 28:58-59; Deuteronomy 29:8 [9], were recited when the forty strokes of the lash save one, which according to 2 Corinthians 11:24 Paul received five times, were being counted out to the culprit.)

begins an adversative clause, which is of universal import as far as ישׁהית , and then becomes historical. Psalms 78:38 expands what lies in רחוּם : He expiates iniquity and, by letting mercy instead of right take its course, arrests the destruction of the sinner. With והרבּה (Ges. §§142, 2) this universal truth is supported out of the history of Israel. As this history shows, He has many a time called back His anger, i.e., checked it in its course, and not stirred up all His blowing anger (cf. Isaiah 42:13), i.e., His anger in all its fulness and intensity. We see that Psalms 78:38 refers to His conduct towards Israel, then Psalms 78:39 follows with the ground of the determination, and that in the form of an inference drawn from such conduct towards Israel. He moderated His anger against Israel, and consequently took human frailty and perishableness into consideration. The fact that man is flesh (which not merely affirms his physical fragility, but also his moral weakness, Genesis 6:3, cf. Genesis 8:21), and that, after a short life, he falls a prey to death, determines God to be long-suffering and kind; it was in fact sensuous desire and loathing by which Israel was beguiled time after time. The exclamation “how oft!” Psalms 78:40, calls attention to the praiseworthiness of this undeserved forbearance.

But with Psalms 78:41 the record of sins begins anew. There is nothing by which any reference of this Psalms 78:41 to the last example of insubordination recorded in the Pentateuch, Numbers 35:1-9 (Hitzig), is indicated. The poet comes back one more to the provocations of God by the Israel of the wilderness in order to expose the impious ingratitude which revealed itself in this conduct. התוה is the causative of תּוה = Syriac tewā' , תּהא , to repent, to be grieved, lxx παρώξυναν . The miracles of the tie of redemption are now brought before the mind in detail, ad exaggerandum crimen tentationis Deu cum summa ingratitudine conjunctum (Venema). The time of redemption is called יום , as in Genesis 2:4 the hexahemeron. שׂים אות (synon. עשׂה , נתן ) is used as in Exodus 10:2. We have already met with מנּי־צר in Psalms 44:11. The first of the plagues of Egypt (Exodus 7:14-25), the turning of the waters into blood, forms the beginning in Psalms 78:44. From this the poet takes a leap over to the fourth plague, the ערב (lxx κυνόμυια ), a grievous and destructive species of fly (Exodus 8:20-32), and combines with it the frogs, the second plague (Exodus 8:1-15). צפרדּע is the lesser Egyptian frog, Rana Mosaica , which is even now called Arab. ḍfd‛ , ḍofda . Next in Psalms 78:46 he comes to the eighth plague, the locusts, חסיל (a more select name of the migratory locusts than ארבּה ), Ex 10:1-20; the third plague, the gnats and midges, כּנּים , is left unmentioned in addition to the fourth, which is of a similar kind. For the chastisement by means of destructive living things is now closed, and in Psalms 78:47 follows the smiting with hail, the seventh plague, Ex 9:13-35. חנמל (with pausal , not , cf. in Ezekiel 8:2 the similarly formed החשׁמלה ) in the signification hoar-frost ( πάχνη , lxx, Vulgate, Saadia, and Abulwalîd), or locusts (Targum כּזוּבא = חגב ), or ants (J. D. Michaelis), does not harmonize with the history; also the hoar-frost is called כּפוּר , the ant נּמלה (collective in Arabic neml ). Although only conjecturing from the context, we understand it, with Parchon and Kimchi, of hailstones or hail. With thick lumpy pieces of ice He smote down vines and sycamore-trees ( Fayum was called in ancient Egyptian “the district of the sycamore”). הרג proceeds from the Biblical conception that the plant has a life of its own. The description of this plague is continued in Psalms 78:48. Two MSS present לדּבר instead of לבּרד ; but even supposing that רשׁפים might signify the fever-burnings of the pestilence (vid., on Habakkuk 3:5), the mention of the pestilence follows in Psalms 78:50, and the devastation which, according to Exodus 9:19-22, the hail caused among the cattle of the Egyptians is in its right place here. Moreover it is expressly said in Exodus 9:24 that there was conglomerate fire among the hail; רשׁפים are therefore flaming, blazing lightnings.


Verses 49-59

When these plagues rose to the highest pitch, Israel became free, and removed, being led by its God, into the Land of Promise; but it continued still to behave there just as it had done in the desert. The poet in Psalms 78:49-51 brings the fifth Egyptian plague, the pestilence (Exodus 9:1-7), and the tenth and last, the smiting of the first-born ( מכּת בּכרות ), Exodus 11:1, together. Psalms 78:49 sounds like Job 20:23 (cf. below Psalms 78:64). מלאכי רעים are not wicked angels, against which view Hengstenberg refers to the scriptural thesis of Jacobus Ode in his work De Angelis, Deum ad puniendos malos homines mittere bonos angelos et ad castigandos pios usurpare malos , but angels that bring misfortune. The mode of construction belongs to the chapter of the genitival subordination of the adjective to the substantive, like אשׁת רע , Proverbs 6:24, cf. 1 Samuel 28:7; Numbers 5:18, Numbers 5:24; 1 Kings 10:15; Jeremiah 24:2, and the Arabic msjdu 'l - jâm‛ , the mosque of the assembling one, i.e., the assembling (congregational) mosque, therefore: angels (not of the wicked ones = wicked angels, which it might signify elsewhere, but) of the evil ones = evil, misfortune-bringing angels (Ew. §287, a ). The poet thus paraphrases the המּשׁחית that is collectively conceived in Exodus 12:13, Exodus 12:23; Hebrews 11:28. In Psalms 78:50 the anger is conceived of as a stream of fire, in Psalms 78:50 death as an executioner, and in 50 c the pestilence as a foe. ראשׁית אונים (Genesis 49:3; Deuteronomy 21:17) is that which had sprung for the first time from manly vigour ( plur. intensivus ). Egypt is called חם as in Ps 105 and Psalms 111:1-10 according to Genesis 10:6, and is also called by themselves in ancient Egyptian Kemi , Coptic Chêmi, Kême (vid., Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride , ch. 33). When now these plagues which softened their Pharaoh went forth upon the Egyptians, God procured for His people a free departure, He guided flock-like ( כּעדר like בּעדר , Jeremiah 31:24, with Dag. implicitum ), i.e., as a shepherd, the flock of His people (the favourite figure of the Psalms of Asaph) through the desert, - He led them safely, removing all terrors out of the way and drowning their enemies in the Red Sea, to His holy territory, to the mountain which ( זה ) His right hand had acquired, or according to the accents (cf. supra , p. 104): to the mountain there ( זה ), which, etc. It is not Zion that is meant, but, as in the primary passage Exodus 15:16., in accordance with the parallelism (although this is not imperative) and the usage of the language, which according to Isaiah 11:9; Isaiah 57:13, is incontrovertible, the whole of the Holy Land with its mountains and valleys (cf. Deuteronomy 11:11). בּחבל נחלה is the poetical equivalent to בּנחלה , Numbers 34:2; Numbers 36:2, and frequently. The Beth is Beth essentiae (here in the same syntactical position as in Isaiah 48:10; Ezekiel 20:41, and also Job 22:24 surely): He made them (the heathen, viz., as in Joshua 23:4 their territories) fall to them (viz., as the expression implies, by lot, בגורל ) as a line of inheritance, i.e., (as in Psalms 105:11) as a portion measured out as an inheritance. It is only in Psalms 78:56 (and not so early as Psalms 78:41) that the narration passes over to the apostate conduct of the children of the generation of the desert, that is to say, of the Israel of Canaan. Instead of עדוריו from עדוּת , the word here is עדוריו from עדה (a derivative of עוּד , not יעד ). Since the apostasy did not gain ground until after the death of Joshua and Eleazar, it is the Israel of the period of the Judges that we are to think of here. קשׁת רמיּה , Psalms 78:57, is not: a bow of slackness, but: a bow of deceit; for the point of comparison, according to Hosea 7:16, is its missing the mark: a bow that discharges its arrow in a wrong direction, that makes no sure shot. The verb רמה signifies not only to allow to hang down slack (cogn. רפה ), but also, according to a similar conception to spe dejicere , to disappoint, deny. In the very act of turning towards God, or at least being inclined towards Him by His tokens of power and loving-kindness, they turned (Jeremiah 2:21) like a vow that misses the mark and disappoints both aim and expectation. The expression in Psalms 78:58 is like Deuteronomy 32:16, Deuteronomy 32:21. שׁמע refers to their prayer to the Ba(a4lim (Judges 2:11). The word התעבּר , which occurs three times in this Psalm, is a word belonging to Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 3:26). Psalms 78:59 is purposely worded exactly like Psalms 78:21. The divine purpose of love spurned by the children just as by the fathers, was obliged in this case, as in the former, to pass over into angry provocation.


Verses 60-72

The rejection of Shiloh and of the people worshipping there, but later on, when the God of Israel is again overwhelmed by compassion, the election of Judah, and of Mount Zion, and of David, the king after His own heart. In the time of the Judges the Tabernacle was set up in Shiloh (Joshua 18:1); there, consequently, was the central sanctuary of the whole people, - in the time of Eli and Samuel, as follows from 1 Samuel 1:1, it had become a fixed temple building. When this building was destroyed is not known; according to Judges 18:30., cf. Jeremiah 7:12-15, it was probably not until the Assyrian period. The rejection of Shiloh, however, preceded the destruction, and practically took place simultaneously with the removal of the central sanctuary to Zion; and was, moreover, even previously decided by the fact that the Ark of the covenant, when given up again by the Philistines, was not brought back to Shiloh, but set down in Kirjath Jearמm (1 Samuel 7:2). The attributive clause שׁכּן בּאדם uses שׁכּן as השׁכּין is used in Joshua 18:1. The pointing is correct, for the words to not suffice to signify “where He dwelleth among men” (Hitzig); consequently שׁכּן is the causative of the Kal , Leviticus 16:16; Joshua 22:19. In Psalms 78:61 the Ark of the covenant is called the might and glory of God ( ארון עזּו , Psalms 132:8, cf. כבוד , 1 Samuel 4:21.), as being the place of their presence in Israel and the medium of their revelation. Nevertheless, in the battle with the Philistines between Eben-ezer and Aphek, Jahve gave the Ark, which they had fetched out of Shiloh, into the hands of the foe in order to visit on the high-priesthood of the sons of Ithamar the desecration of His ordinances, and there fell in that battle 30,000 footmen, and among them the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests (1 Sam. 4). The fire in Psalms 78:63 is the fire of war, as in Numbers 21:28, and frequently. The incident mentioned in 1 Samuel 6:19 is reasonably (vid., Keil) left out of consideration. By לא הוּלּלוּ (lxx erroneously, οὐκ ἐπένθησαν = הוללוּ = הילילוּ ) are meant the marriage-songs (cf. Talmudic הלּוּלא , the nuptial tent, and בּית הלוּלים the marriage-house). “Its widows (of the people, in fact, of the slain) weep not” (word for word as in Job 27:15) is meant of the celebration of the customary ceremony of mourning (Genesis 23:2): they survive their husbands (which, with the exception of such a case as that recorded in 1 Samuel 14:19-22, is presupposed), but without being able to show them the last signs of honour, because the terrors of the war (Jeremiah 15:8) prevent them.

With Psalms 78:65 the song takes a new turn. After the punitive judgment has sifted and purified Israel, God receives His people to Himself afresh, but in such a manner that He transfers the precedence of Ephraim to the tribe of Judah. He awakes as it were from a long sleep (Psalms 44:24, cf. Psalms 73:20); for He seemed to sleep whilst Israel had become a servant to the heathen; He aroused Himself, like a hero exulting by reason of wine, i.e., like a hero whose courage is heightened by the strengthening and exhilarating influence of wine (Hengstenberg). התרונן is not the Hithpal . of רוּן in the Arabic signification, which is alien to the Hebrew, to conquer, a meaning which we do not need here, and which is also not adapted to the reflexive form (Hitzig, without any precedent, renders thus: who allows himself to be conquered by wine), but Hithpo . of רנן : to shout most heartily, after the analogy of the reflexives התאונן , התנודד , התרועע . The most recent defeat of the enemy which the poet has before his mind is that of the Philistines. The form of expression in Psalms 78:66 is moulded after 1 Samuel 5:6. God smote the Philistines most literally in posteriora (lxx, Vulgate, and Luther). Nevertheless Psalms 78:66 embraces all the victories under Samuel, Saul, and David, from 1 Samuel 5:1-12 and onwards. Now, when they were able to bring the Ark, which had been brought down to the battle against the Philistines, to a settled resting-place again, God no longer chose Shiloh of Ephraim, but Judah and the mountain of Zion, which He had loved (Psalms 47:5), of Benjamitish-Judaean (Joshua 15:63; Judges 1:8, Judges 1:21) - but according to the promise (Deuteronomy 33:12) and according to the distribution of the country (vid., on Psalms 68:28) Benjamitish - Jerusalem.

(Note: According to B. Menachoth 53 b , Jedidiah (Solomon, 2 Samuel 12:25) built the Temple in the province of Jedidiah (of Benjamin, Deuteronomy 33:12).)

There God built His Temple כּמו־רמים . Hitzig proposes instead of this to read כּמרומים ; but if נעימים , Psalms 16:6, signifies amaena , then רמים may signify excelsa (cf. Isaiah 45:2 הדוּרים , Jeremiah 17:6 חררים ) and be poetically equivalent to מרומים : lasting as the heights of heaven, firm as the earth, which He hath founded for ever. Since the eternal duration of heaven and of the earth is quite consistent with a radical change in the manner of its duration, and that not less in the sense of the Old Testament than of the New (vid., e.g., Isaiah 65:17), so the לעולם applies not to the stone building, but rather to the place where Jahve reveals Himself, and to the promise that He will have such a dwelling-place in Israel, and in fact in Judah. Regarded spiritually, i.e., essentially, apart from the accidental mode of appearing, the Temple upon Zion is as eternal as the kingship upon Zion with which the Psalm closes. The election of David gives its impress to the history of salvation even on into eternity. It is genuinely Asaphic that it is so designedly portrayed how the shepherd of the flock of Jesse (Isai) became the shepherd of the flock of Jahve, who was not to pasture old and young in Israel with the same care and tenderness as the ewe-lambs after which he went ( עלות as in Genesis 33:13, and רעה ב , cf. 1 Samuel 16:11; 1 Samuel 17:34, like משׁל בּ and the like). The poet is also able already to glory that he has fulfilled this vocation with a pure heart and with an intelligent mastery. And with this he closes.

From the decease of David lyric and prophecy are retrospectively and prospectively turned towards David.