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Psalm Eighty-three
New King James Version (NKJV)
YLT A Song
-- A Psalm of
Asaph.
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 83
A Song cf15I or Psalm of Asaph. This is the last of the
psalms that bear the name of Asaph
and some think it was written by him on
occasion of David's smiting the Philistines
Moabites
Syrians
Edomites
and
others
2 Samuel 8:1
but these did not conjunctly
but separately
fight with David
and were overcome by him; whereas those this
psalm makes mention of were in a confederacy together; and besides
the Tyrians
in David's time were in friendship with him; but are here mentioned as joining
with others against Israel
Psalm 83:7
others are of opinion that this
was prophetic delivered out with respect to future times
either to the
conspiracy of the enemies of the Jews against them in the times of the Maccabees
"Now
when the nations round about heard that the altar was built and the sanctuary
renewed as before
it displeased them very much. &c.' (1 Maccabees 5:1)
or
rather to the confederacy of the Moabites
Ammonites
and others
in the times
of Jehoshaphat
2 Chronicles 20:1
so Kimchi
Arama
and
the generality of interpreters: perhaps reference is had to the enemies of
God's people
from age to age
both in the Old and in the New Testament; R.
Obadiah understands it of the war of Gog and Magog.
Psalm 83:1 Do
not keep silent
O God! Do not hold Your peace
And do not be still
O God!
YLT
1O God
let there be no
silence to Thee
Be not silent
nor be quiet
O God.
Keep not thou silence
O God
.... Which he is thought
and said to do
when he does not answer the prayers of his people
nor plead
their cause
nor rebuke their enemies; when he does not speak a good word to
them
or one for them
or one against those that hate and persecute them;
hold not thy peace; or "be not deaf"F2אל־תחרש "ne obsurdescas"
Vatablus; "ne
surdum agas"
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator; "ne quasi surdus et
mutus sis"
Michaelis. to the cries and tears of his people
and to the
reproaches
menaces
and blasphemies of wicked men:
and be not still
O God; or "quiet"F3אל תשקט "ne quiescas"
Pagninus
Montanus
Musculus
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator
Gejerus;
"neque quietus sis"
Michaelis.
at rest and ease
inactive and
unconcerned
as if he cared not how things went; the reason follows.
Psalm 83:2 2 For behold
Your enemies
make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head.
YLT
2For
lo
Thine enemies do
roar
And those hating Thee have lifted up the head
For
lo
thine enemies make a tumult
.... Or
"a noise"F4יהמיון
"sonuerunt"
V. L. "perstrepunt"
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator
Cocceius; "strepunt"
Gejerus. : wicked men are commonly
noisy
roaring out their blasphemies against God
belching out oaths and
curses
and breathing threatenings and slaughter against the saints; especially
a numerous army of them
consisting of many people and nations
as this did;
who are called the Lord's "enemies"
being the enemies of his people
and their cause and his are one and the same; and besides
all wicked men are
enemies to God
and all that is good
in their minds
and which appears by
their actions; yea
they are enmity itself unto him:
and they that hate thee have lift up the head; are haughty
proud
and arrogant; speak loftily
and with a stiff neck; set their mouth
against heaven
and God in it; and their tongue walks through the earth
and
spares none; they exult and rejoice
as sure of victory
before the battle is
fought; such then were
and such there are
who are haters of God
hate his
being
perfections
purposes
and providences; hate his Son without a cause
and even do despite unto the Spirit of grace; hate the law and its precepts
the Gospel and its doctrines and ordinances
and the ways
worship
and people
of God
as appears by what follows.
Psalm 83:3 3 They have taken crafty
counsel against Your people
And consulted together against Your sheltered
ones.
YLT
3Against Thy people they
take crafty counsel
And consult against Thy hidden ones.
They have taken crafty counsel against thy people
.... The
people of Israel
hereafter named
whom God had chosen and avouched to be his
people; these they dealt subtlety with
as the king of Egypt had done with
their forefathers; and this
agreeably to their character
being the seed of
the old serpent
more subtle than any of the beasts of the field; these devised
cunning devices
formed crafty schemes for the destruction of the Lord's
people; but often so it is
that the wise are taken in their own craftiness
and their counsel is carried headlong:
and consulted against thy hidden ones; not hidden
from the Lord
and unknown unto him
though from their enemies
and unknown by
them
and so the object of their hatred and persecution; but hidden by him as
his jewels and peculiar treasure
which he takes care of; hidden under the
shadow of his wings
in the secret of his presence and tabernacle
as in a
pavilion; and therefore it was a daring piece of insolence in their enemies to
attack them: so the life of saints is said to be hid with Christ in God
which
denotes both its secrecy and safety; see Colossians 3:3
the Targum is
"against
the things hidden in thy treasures;'
meaning
the riches of the temple.
Psalm 83:4 4 They have said
“Come
and
let us cut them off from being a nation
That the name of Israel may be
remembered no more.”
YLT
4They have said
`Come
And
we cut them off from [being] a nation
And the name of Israel is not remembered
any more.'
They have said
.... Secretly in their hearts
or openly to
one another
and gave it out in the most public manner
as what they had
consulted and determined upon; see Psalm 74:8
come
and let us cut them off from being a nation; they were not
content to invade their country
take their cities
plunder them of their
substance
and carry them captives
but utterly to destroy them
root and
branch; so that they might be no more a body politic
under rule and
government
in their own land
nor have so much as a name and place in others;
this was Haman's scheme
Esther 3:8.
that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance; but this
desperate and dreadful scheme
and wretched design of theirs
took not effect;
but
on the contrary
the several nations hereafter mentioned
who were in this
conspiracy
are no more
and have not had a name in the world for many hundreds
of years; while the Jews are still a people
and are preserved
in order to be
called and saved
as all Israel will be in the latter day
Romans 11:25. So Dioclesian thought to have
rooted the Christian name out of the world; but in vain: the name of Christ
the name of Christianity
the name of a Christian church
will endure to the
end of the world; see Psalm 72:17. Compare with this Jeremiah 11:19.
Psalm 83:5 5 For they have consulted
together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You:
YLT
5For they consulted in heart
together
Against Thee a covenant they make
For they have consulted together with one consent
.... Or
"heart"F5לב "corde"
Pagninus
Montanus; "ex corde"
Tigurine version
Musculus
Gejerus;
"cordicitus"
Cocceius. ; wicked men are cordial to one another
and
united in their counsels against the people of God
and his interest: whatever
things they may disagree in
they agree in this
to oppose the cause and
interest of true religion
or to persecute the church and people of God: Herod
and Pontius Pilate are instances of this:
they are confederate against thee; or have made a covenant against
theeF6עליך ברית יכרתו "foedus adversus
te icerunt"
Tigurine version; "contra te foedus pepigerunt"
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator
Gejerus; so Musculus
Cocceius
Michaelis. ;
the covenant they had entered into among themselves
being against the Lord's
people
was against him; and such a covenant and agreement can never stand; for
there is no wisdom
nor understanding
nor counsel against the Lord
Proverbs 21:30. This the psalmist mentions
to engage the Lord in the quarrel of his people
and not be still
and act a
neutral part; since those were his enemies
and confederates against him
and
they are next particularly named.
Psalm 83:6 6 The tents of Edom and the
Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites;
YLT
6Tents of Edom
and
Ishmaelites
Moab
and the Hagarenes
The tabernacles of Edom
&c. Or the Idumeans
as the Targum; the posterity of Esau
who
with the rest that joined with them
hereafter mentioned
and made the confederate army
brought their tents with
them
pitched them
and encamped in them against Israel:
and the Ishmaelites; or Arabians
as the
Targum
who descended from Ishmael
the son of Abraham:
of Moab
and the Hagarenes; the Moabites
who sprung
from Lot by one of his daughters
in an incestuous way; and the Hagarenes are
the same with the Hagarites
1 Chronicles 5:10 who dwelt to the east of
the land of Israel
so called from Hagar
the handmaid of Abraham
but not by
him
but by another husband
after sent away from him
as Aben Ezra and Kimchi
think
or by him
supposing Hagar to be the same with Keturah
as some do: the
Targum calls them Hungarians; the Syriac version renders it Gadareans
or
Gadarenes; of which see Mark 5:1.
Psalm 83:7 7 Gebal
Ammon
and Amalek; Philistia
with the inhabitants of Tyre;
YLT
7Gebal
and Ammon
and
Amalek
Philistia with inhabitants of Tyre
Gebal
.... Gubleans
or Gebalites
as the Targum; the same with
Giblites
Joshua 23:5
or men of Gebal
Ezekiel 27:9 the same with Byblus: these
dwelt in Phoenicia
near Tyre
where PlinyF7Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 20.
makes mention of a place called Gabale: the Syriac version joins it with Ammon
and renders it "the border of Ammon":
and Ammon and Amalek
the Philistines
with the inhabitants of
Tyre; these are well known in Scripture
and as the enemies of Israel.
Psalm 83:8 8 Assyria also has joined
with them; They have helped the children of Lot. Selah
YLT
8Asshur also is joined with
them
They have been an arm to sons of Lot. Selah.
Assur also is joined with them
.... Before mentioned
or
Assyria
though at so great a distance from Israel
and unprovoked by them:
according to R. Joseph Kimchi
the sense is
that the Assyrians joined them
continuing in their wickedness
though their army had been destroyed by an
angel in Hezekiah's time
of which they were unmindful; but this
as his son
observes
makes this confederacy and war to be after the times of Hezekiah;
whereas it was long before it: the Targum is
"Sennacherib
king of Syria
is joined with them;'
and
so some refer this to his invasion of Judea
and besieging Jerusalem
with an
army consisting of many nations
in Hezekiah's time; but he was the principal
there
and not an auxiliary
as here:
they have holpen the children of Lot; or were
"an arm"F8היו זרוע "fuerunt brachium"
Pagniuus
Montanus;
"sunt brachium"
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator
&c. unto
them
assisted and strengthened them: these were the Moabites and Ammonites
who were the principals in the war
and the rest auxiliaries
as it appears
they were in the times of Jehoshaphat
2 Chronicles 20:1
here were ten different
nations
which joined in confederacy against the people of Israel; to which
answer the ten horns of the beast
or ten antichristian kings
who agreed to
give their kingdom to the beast
and to make war with the Lamb and his
followers
Revelation 17:12
and it may be observed
that these were on all sides of the land of Israel; the Edomites
Ishmaelites
and Amalekites
were on the south; the Moabites
Ammonites
and Hagarenes
were
on the east; the Assyrians on the north; and the Philistines
Gebalites
and
Tyrians
on the west: so that Israel was surrounded on all sides with enemies
as the Lord's people are troubled on every side
2 Corinthians 4:8
and so the Gog and Magog
army
of which some understand this
will encompass the camp of the saints
about
and the beloved city
Revelation 20:9.
Selah. See Gill on Psalm 3:2.
Psalm 83:9 9 Deal with them as with
Midian
As with Sisera
As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon
YLT
9Do to them as [to] Midian
As [to] Sisera
as [to] Jabin
at the stream Kishon.
Do unto them as unto the Midianites
.... In the times of
Gideon
who destroyed one another
trod in whose destruction the hand of the
Lord was very visible
Judges 7:20
and much in the same manner
was the confederate army of the Moabites
Ammonites
and others
destroyed in
the times of Jehoshaphat
2 Chronicles 20:20
as to Sisera
as to Jabin: Jabin was a king of
Canaan
who oppressed Israel
and Sisera was his general; the latter was slain
by a woman
Jael
the wife of Heber; and the former the hand of Israel
prevailed against
until they destroyed him
Judges 4:2
the great victory which they
obtained over them was
at the brook of Kison
or "Kishon"
Judges 4:7 with this compare 2 Chronicles 20:16.
Psalm 83:10 10 Who perished at En Dor
Who
became as refuse on the earth.
YLT
10They were destroyed at
Endor
They were dung for the ground!
Which perished at Endor
.... Aben Ezra and Kimchi
understand this of the Midianites; but rather it is to be understood of Jabin
and Sisera
and the army under them
who perished at this place
which is
mentioned along with Taanach and Megiddo
Joshua 17:11
which are the very places
where the battle was fought between Jabin and Israel
Judges 5:19 according to JeromF9De
locis Hebraicis
fol. 88. L. and 91. E.
it was four miles from Mount Tabor to
the south
and was a large village in his days
and was near to Nain
the place
where Christ raised the widow's son from the dead
Luke 7:11.
they became as dung for the earth; being unburied
they lay
and rotted on the earth
and became dung for it; see Jeremiah 8:2
or were trodden under foot
as dung upon the earth; so the Targum
"they
became as dung trodden to the earth.'
Psalm 83:11 11 Make their nobles like Oreb
and like Zeeb
Yes
all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna
YLT
11Make their nobles as Oreb
and as Zeeb
And as Zebah and Zalmunna all their princes
Make their nobles like Oreb
and like Zeeb
.... Two
princes of Midian
who were slain
the one at the rock Oreb
and the other at
the winepress of Zeeb
so called after their names
Judges 7:25
yea
all their princes as Zebah
and as Zalmunna; kings of
Midian
slain by Gideon
Judges 8:21.
Psalm 83:12 12 Who said
“Let us take for
ourselves The pastures of God for a possession.”
YLT
12Who have said
`Let us occupy
for ourselves The comely places of God.'
Who said
.... Not the kings and princes of Midian just mentioned
but the
confederate enemies of Israel
named Psalm 83:6
to whom the like things are
wished as to the Midianites and others
because they said what follows:
let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession; not only the
temple
which was eminently the house of God
but all the habitations of the
Israelites in Jerusalem
and other places
where the Lord vouchsafed to dwell;
unless this should be ironically spoken by their enemies calling them so
because they pretended
as they reckoned it
to have and to hold them by the
gift of God; whereas
of right
they belonged to them
at least some of them:
such a claim was made by the Ammonites in the times of Jephthah
Judges 11:13
and to dispossess the
Israelites was the intention of the Ammonites and Moabites in the times of
Jehoshaphat
2 Chronicles 20:10.
Psalm 83:13 13 O my God
make them like
the whirling dust
Like the chaff before the wind!
YLT
13O my God
make them as a
rolling thing
As stubble before wind.
O my God
make them like a wheel
.... Which
as the Targum
adds
is rolled
and goes on
and rests not in a declivity; let them be as
fickle and inconstant as a wheel; being in high
let them be in slippery
places
and brought down to desolation in a moment; like a wheel set running
down hill
so let them swiftly and suddenly come to ruin; or be in all kind of
calamities
and continual troublesF11"Vide Suidam in voce"
τροχου. as the wheel is always
turning: some think there is an allusion to the wheel by which bread corn was
bruised; see Isaiah 28:28
but the wordF12כגלגל "rem in levem quae turbine circumagitur"
some in Amama; "pappos"
i.e. "lanuginem carduorum"
so
some in Grotius; "as a rolling thing"
Ainsworth. signifies a rolling
thing before the wind
as a wisp of straw or stubble
which is easily carried
away with it: Jarchi interprets it of the tops or down of thistles
which fly
off from them
and roll up
and are scattered by the wind; see Isaiah 17:13
and which agrees with what
follows:
as the stubble before the wind; which cannot stand
before it
but is driven about by it here and there; and so wicked men are
as
chaff and stubble
driven away in their wickedness
with the stormy wind of
divine wrath and vengeance
and chased out of the world
which is here
imprecated.
Psalm 83:14 14 As the fire burns the
woods
And as the flame sets the mountains on fire
YLT
14As a fire doth burn a
forest
And as a flame setteth hills on fire
As the fire burneth the wood
.... Or "forest"F13יער "sylvam"
Montanus
Tigurine version
Junius
& Tremellius
Piscator
&c. ; which is sometimes done purposely
and
sometimes through carelessness
as VirgilF14Georgic. l. 2. v. 310.
observes; and which is done very easily and swiftly
when fire is set to it;
even all the trees of it
great and small
to which an army is sometimes
compared
Isaiah 10:18
and as the flame setteth the
mountains on fire; either the mountains themselves
as Etna
Vesuvius
and
others; or rather the grass and trees that grow upon them
smitten by lightning
from heaven
which may be meant by the flame: in like manner it is wished that
the fire and flame of divine wrath would consume the confederate enemies of
Israel
above mentioned; as wicked men are but as trees of the forest
and the
grass of the mountains
or as thorns and briers
to the wrath of God
which is
poured out as fire
and is signified by everlasting burnings.
Psalm 83:15 15 So pursue them with Your
tempest
And frighten them with Your storm.
YLT
15So dost Thou pursue them
with Thy whirlwind
And with Thy hurricane troublest them.
So persecute them with thy tempest
.... Pursue them with thy
fury
follow them with thy vengeance; cause it to fall upon them like a mighty
tempest:
and make them afraid with thy storm; God has his storms and
tempests of wrath and vengeance
which he sometimes causes to fall upon wicked
men in this life
to their inexpressible terror
and with which he takes them
out of this world; and he has still more horrible ones to rain upon them
hereafter: see Job 27:20.
Psalm 83:16 16 Fill their faces with
shame
That they may seek Your name
O Lord.
YLT
16Fill their faces [with]
shame
And they seek Thy name
O Jehovah.
Fill their faces with shame
.... For their sins
or
rather through disappointment
not being able to put their desperate and deep
laid schemes into execution: or "with lightness"F15קלון Heb. "levitate"
Piscator; so Ainsworth. ;
instead of a weight of honour and glory upon them
let them be despised. R.
Joseph Kimchi renders it
"fill their faces with fire"; let their
faces be as if they were on fire
as men's faces are
who are put to an
exceeding great blush
or are most sadly confounded and ashamed:
that they may seek thy name
O Lord; not they themselves
who
are filled with shame; for it is imprecated
that they be ashamed
and troubled
for ever
and so as to perish
Psalm 83:17 but others; for the words may
be supplied
as in Psalm 83:18 "that men may seek thy
name
or that thy name may be sought": the judgments of God upon wicked
men are sometimes the means of arousing others
and putting them upon seeking
the Lord
his face
and his favour; that God would be merciful to them
pardon
their iniquities
avert judgments from them
and preserve them from threatened
calamities; and this is a good end
when answered; see Isaiah 26:9.
Psalm 83:17 17 Let them be confounded and
dismayed forever; Yes
let them be put to shame and perish
YLT
17They are ashamed and
troubled for ever
Yea
they are confounded and lost.
Let them be confounded and troubled for ever
.... As long
as they are in this world
and to all eternity in another; a dreadful portion
this:
yea
let them be put to shame
and perish; wholly and
eternally
in soul and body
for evermore.
Psalm 83:18 18 That they may know that
You
whose name alone is the Lord
Are the Most High
over all the earth.
YLT
18And they know that Thou --
(Thy name [is] Jehovah -- by Thyself
) [Art] the Most High over all the earth!
That men may know that thou
whose name alone is Jehovah
.... Or
"that thou
thy name alone is Jehovah"F16כי אתה שמך
"quod nomen tuum"
Pagninus
Montanus
Musculus.
a self-existent
Being
the Being of beings
the everlasting I AM
the immutable God; for this
name is expressive of the being
eternity
and unchangeableness of God
who is
and was
and is to come
invariably the same
Revelation 1:4 which is to be understood
not to the exclusion of the Son or Spirit
who are with the Father the one
Jehovah
Deuteronomy 6:4
and to whom this name is
given; see Exodus 17:6
compared with 1 Corinthians 10:9
Isaiah 6:8 compared with Acts 28:25
but to the exclusion of all
nominal and fictitious deities
the gods of the Heathens; and the being and
perfections of God are known by the judgments he executes
Psalm 9:16
art the most High over all the earth; or
and that thou art
&c.F17"Quod tu
inquam
sis altissimus"
Michaelis.
being the Maker and the Possessor of it
and
the sovereign Lord of its inhabitants
doing in it what seems good in his
sight; see Genesis 14:22
for the accents require two
propositions in the text: the HeathensF18Pansan. Boeotica sive
l.
9. p. 555. give the title of most high to their supreme deity: the Targum is
"over
all the inhabitants of the earth.'
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》