Give victory to our army Why dost thou disre gard the woes of thy people The destruction wrought by pitiless foes § 147. Moab is my washpot, Upon Edom will I cast my sandal, Over Philistia If shout for victory. "Who will bring me into the fortified city ? 1oHast thou not rejected us, O Jehovah? And wilt thou not go forthi with our hosts? 12By the help of Jehovah let us do valiantly, For it is he that will tread down our adversaries. A Complaint over the Devastation of the Temple by the Enemy, Ps. 74 Ps. 74 1O God, why dost thou cast us off forever, And let thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? Direct thy footsteps to the perpetual desolations, All the evil that the enemy hath wrought in the sanctuary. f608 So the parallel in 10810 and Syr. and Targ. 8609 Cf. the parallel in 10811. The fortified city was probably Petra, the well-nigh impregnable capital of Edom. b609 Slightly revising the corrupt Heb. 16010 So Sym. and Syr. Heb. adds God. § 147 This ps. is conspicuous for its passionate feeling, its intense patriotism, and its strong faith. In 12-17 it not only reflects the thought but rises to the majestic height of the book of Job. The reference in the opening vs. to the sheep of thy pasture reveals an intimate familiarity with Ps. 23. The same figure is used in Enoch to describe the scattered Jews who were persecuted under Antiochus Epiphanes for their fidelity to the faith of their fathers. The ps. bears all the distinctive marks of the Maccabean period. It is a vivid, pathetic description of the calamities which overtook the Jews and especially the temple during the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes. As Cobb says (Bk. of Pss., 200), This psalm has the value of a historical document which may be used to confirm the story of I Mac. 4, IÎ Mac. 8, and not merely to illustrate it. The description of the defacement and destruction of the temple by the emissaries of Antiochus Epiphanes in 4-7 is closely parallel to the description in I Mac. 154, 59, and especially in 438, which states that when the Jews went to rededicate the temple they saw the sanctuary laid desolate, the altar profaned, the gates burnt, and shrubs growing in the court, as in a forest or as on one of the mountains, and the priests' chambers pulled down. The reference in 8 to the destruction of the synagogues in the land also points to a comparatively late period. The same is true of the statement in that the prophets had disappeared. The reference is closely parallel to that in I Mac. 446, which states that they laid aside the defiled stones of the altar until there should come a prophet to give an oracle concerning them. The question in 10 of how long is precisely the same as that which is dealt with concretely in Dan. 7, which comes from the midst of the same strenuous crisis. Vs. 8 voices the policy of Antiochus Epiphanes and 10 describes vividly the attitude of the heathen foes who encircled the Jews. The tendency revealed in 12 and 13 to look back to the past and draw from it inspiration for the present is another marked characteristic of the Maccabean period. The ps. was clearly written after 168 and before the rededication of the temple in 165 B.C. The evidence points to a date shortly before 165. The ps., therefore, probably comes from the same year as the encouraging messages in Dan. 7-12, and from the same circle of the Hasideans from which came the apocalypses in the book of Daniel. Like the author of Dan. 7-12, the psalmist looks not to the swords of the valiant patriots but to God for a sudden and signal deliverance. 1742 Possibly this line was inserted by a scribe, for it destroys the unity of the couplets which characterize the ps. as a whole and is unnecessary. k743 Lit., lift up thy feet, i. e., go in person to the ruins and to the desecrated temple's site. 1744 Through the similarity of the Heb. words a scribe has omitted the Heb. word for there. COMPLAINT OVER THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE "They hew away at the portalm with axes, as in a thick forest," "And now all its carved work they break down with hatchet and hammers. "They have set thy sanctuary on fire; They have defiled in the dust the dwelling place of thy name. "They have said in their heart, 'Let us destroy them altogether.' They have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land. "We see not our signs; there is no more any prophet; Neither is there among us any that knoweth how long. 10 How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach, Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name forever? When wilt thou inter pose? 11Why drawest thou back thy hand, O Jehovah ?0 Why dost thou hold back thy right hand in the midst of thy bosom? 12 Thou, O Jehovah, art our king of old, Working salvation in the midst of the earth. 13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength; Thou crushedst the heads of the sea-monsters in the waters, 14Thou crushedst the heads of the leviathant in pieces; Thou gavest him as food to the people of the wilderness," 15 It is thou who didst cleave out springs and brooks," It is thou who didst dry up mighty rivers. 16The day is thine, the night also is thine; It is thou who didst prepare the luminary and the sun. 17Thou didst fix all the boundaries of the earth; It is thou who didst make both summer and winter. 18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Jehovah, 20Look on the fat ones, for they, indeed, are full;” The dark places of the earth are abodes of violence. · The evidence of thy power in the natural world Arise and vindicate by the over throw of the wicked 21Oh let not the oppressed turn away abashed; Let the poor and needy ever praise thy name. m 745 So Lat. (lit., top of portal), supported in part by Gk. Lit., as the entrance upwards. D745 Lit., thicket of trees. 7411 Supplying the word back demanded by the sense of the context. P7411 Correcting the Heb. as the context and parallelism require. 97412 Again slightly restoring the text. 7412 So Gk. 7413 Apparently not a reference to the overthrow of the Egyptians in the waters of the Red Sea but to the conquest of Tehom, the primeval monster, and to the work of creation. t7414 Cf. Job 38. u7414 I. e., the jackals. Cf. 6310, 729. RV, inhabiting the wilderness. 7415 A reference to Jehovah's power over nature, as illustrated, e. g., by the opening of the rock in order to provide water, Ex. 176, Nu. 208. w 7416 I. e., the moon, as Gk. x7419 I. e., the defenceless people of Israel. y 7420 Heb., look to the covenant; but this is apparently due to a slight corruption of the Heb. which has been restored as Duhm suggests. 7420 I. e., of booty, hence the figure fat, which means arrogant and corrupt. The dark places may be the caves to which the Maccabean refugees fled and where many were slain. Fate of Jehovah's people May he speedily deliver them 22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause, Remember how the impious man reproacheth thee continually, 23 Forget not the clamor of those who are hostile to thee, Nor the din of thine opponents which continually ascendeth. § 148. Prayer for Deliverance from the Hands of Cruel Persecutors, Ps. 79 Ps. 79 10 God, the nations are come into thine inheritance, Thy holy temple have they defiled, They have laid Jerusalem in heaps. 2They have given the corpses of thy servants The flesh of thy pious ones to the wild beasts; "How long, O Jehovah, wilt thou be angry? ❝Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not, § 148 According to its superscription this ps. was included in a collection of Asaph pss. It has been assigned by different scholars to two different periods: the Bab. exile and the Maccabean struggle. There is practically no doubt, however, that it comes from the later crisis. In contents and point of view it is closely parallel to 74. The opening description of the desecration of the temple and of the slaughter of the faithful Jews is very similar to the account of Antiochus Epiphanes's merciless persecutions in II Mac. 82-4. There is no suggestion of such a slaughter when the Babylonians captured Jerusalem. Their treatment of the conquered people appears to have been characterized by their usual judicial fairness. The atrocities here described are also directed not so much against the Jews as against Jehovah and his temple. Vs. 11 implies that the prisoners were unjustly condemned to death, as in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes. The warlike, vindictive spirit that finds expression in 6. 12 is characteristic of the Maccabean period. The persecuted saints in 2 are, without reasonable doubt, the Hasideans, who later rallied about Judas. Vss. 4, 5 indicate that the author had in mind not the petty party persecutions under the hellenizing high priest Alcimus but the attacks and taunts of the hostile nations in the early days of the Maccabean struggle. The absence of any references to Judas or to the rededication of the temple indicate that it was written before 165. Like 74, it voices the feelings of the faithful about 167-166 B.C., when the persecutions of Antiochus were at their height. This is one of the few pss. quoted in the first book of Maccabees. Vss. 2 and 3 are cited as written in the scriptures and are used to describe the slaughter of certain Hasideans by the perfidious Alcimus. If 79 was an early ps. it doubtless would have been spoken of as a ps. of David. The absence of such a tradition implies that it was known to be the work of a comparatively recent writer but of a poet whose words had already gained a certain degree of authority. The quotation in I Mac. 717 is condensed and incomplete. It reads: b793 Supplying the them, implied by the context, from the quotation from this passage in I Mac. 717. 796, 7 An echo of Jer. 1025. For nations or heathen in Jer. 1025 has families. Influenced by the quotation from the earlier dirge, the metre here changes from the three to the five-beat measure. tion. d796 Supplying Jehovah, required by the metre. 797 So the original in Jer. 1025. Heb., he devours. 1798 Or former sins. Vs. might refer to sins of either the earlier or of the present generaThe idea that one generation suffered for those of earlier generations was repeatedly taught in the O.T., e. g., Ex. 205, Dt. 2815, Jer, 1111, Lam. 57, and rests upon a basis of practical experience. DELIVERANCE FROM CRUEL PERSECUTORS Let thy compassion speedily come to meet us, for we are brought very low. 10Why should the heathen keep saying, 'Where is their God?" Let the avenging of the shed blood of thy servants be known among the "Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thy face, O Lord, Their reproach, wherewith they have cast reproach upon thee, O Lord. 13So we thy people and sheep of thy pasturem will thank thee forever; We will rehearse to generation after generation the praise due thee. § 149. Prayer That God Will Rescue and Reunite His People, Ps. 80 Ps. 80 10 Shepherd of Israel, hear! Thou who leadest" Joseph like a flock; 2Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, And come thou to us for our salvation. 30 God of hosts," restore us, And avenge their wrongs Rise and gather thy scat tered tribe Cause thy face to shine, that we may be saved. 40 Jehovah of hosts, how long Wilt thou be wroth while thy people pray? 5Wilt thou feed them with the bread of tears, "Make us the butt of our neighbors, While our enemies make us their derision ?r 70 God of hosts, restore us, Cause thy face to shine, that we may be saved. 8798 I. e., let Jehovah in his mercy quickly deliver us. The figure is that of messengers coming to meet those in need. b799 Lit., cover. 17910 A scribe has evidently expanded this line by adding in our sight. 17911 Adding O Lord, required to complete the measure. k 7911 Lit., save over, cause to remain alive. 17911 Lit., sons of death. m 7913 This last vs. may be a liturgical addition. It is an echo of 23, which this later psalmist evidently interpreted as a communal rather than individual ps. § 149 This ps., like 110 and 101, is a valuable historical document. The boar in 13, which has ravaged the vine Israel, transplanted by Jehovah from Egypt, is, beyond reasonable doubt, Antiochus Epiphanes. The man of thy right hand, the son of the man whom Jehovah hath strengthened for himself, is probably Judas Maccabeus. The poet in the opening stanza reveals his familiarity with Ezek. and in 8-11 with the late traditions regarding the kingdom of David. He hopes, like Ezek., for a union of the Heb. tribes and a restoration of the ancient glories. n 801 Correcting traditional Heb. vocalization. •803 So Syr. Heb. omits hosts, but cf. 7. P804 Heb. insets God, but the form is ungrammatical, indicating that the word is not original. How long before thou wilt restore Our pros perity? Thy tender care for Israel in the past Its present devastation Save thy vine Uphold thy people Petition that Jeho vah arise in defence of his servant Thou broughtests a vine out of Egypt; Thou didst drive out the nations and plantedst it. "Thou didst clear the way before it, And it took root and filled the land. 12Why hast thou broken down its walls, 140 God of hosts, restore us; Look down from heaven and behold; Give heed to this thy vine, 15 And the stock which thy right hand hath planted." 17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, Quicken thou us and we will call on thy name. 190 Jehovah, God of hosts, restore us; Let thy face shine, that we may be saved. III IMPRECATORY PSALMS Pss. 35, 58, 109, 129, 83, 137 § 150. A Cry for Vengeance, Ps. 35 Ps. 35 'Plead thou, O Jehovah, my cause; fight them who fight me. 2Take hold of shield and buckler and stand up for my help. 808 Lit., liftest up. t8011 I. e., extended from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River, the traditional bounds of the Heb. empire under David. u 8015 A scribe, by mistake, has introduced 17b here and then repeated it in its original position. 8016 As it stands, the Heb. lacks consistency. The translation given above is based on a slightly different vocalization of the traditional Heb. 8016 I. e., because their wanton act meets the divine disapproval. Imprecatory Psalms.-The imprecatory pss. are not the highest products of Israel's faith. They are rather a survival of the ancient belief that a curse had a certain potency in itself. Under the influence of this belief the old Assyr. kings called down a curse upon any one who in future § 150 This is a typical imprecatory ps. It evidently voices the woes and the problems of the faithful in the Judean community in the days preceding the appearance of Nehemiah. The foes are apparently the arrogant, impious Jews who had cast off all pity or sense of justice. 1351 So eight Heb. MSS. and Syr. Trad. Heb., with those who contend with me. The Heb. word means contend in the law courts. |