In his control of the forces of nature Jehovah's care for his people His entreaty for their loyalty Israel's disloyalty What vah would do if Israel would obey him Thou hast made known thy strength among the peoples. 15Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. 16The waters saw thee, O God; The waters saw thee, they were in travail;' 17 The clouds poured out water, The skies sent out a sound, Thine arrows also went abroad. 18 The sound of thy thunder was in the whirlwind, The earth trembled and shook, 16 The depths likewise trembled. 19Thy way, O Jehovah," was in the sea, And the prints of thy feet were not known. 20 Thou leddest thy people like a flock, By the hand of Moses and Aaron. § 174. A Lesson from Israel's Past, Ps. 817-16 Ps. 81 In distress thou didst call and I delivered thee, Hear, O people, and I will testify to thee: O Israel, if thou hadst but hearkened to me, "There would have been in the midst of thee no strange god, 10I, indeed, am Jehovah thy God, Who brought thee out of the land of Egypt. Hadst thou opened wide thy mouth, I would have filled it. "But my people hearkened not to my voice, And Israel would have nothing to do with me. 12 And so I let them go in the stubbornness of their heart, 13Oh that my people would hearkeno to me, 17716 The Heb. adds the depths likewise trembled, but this destroys the parallelism and logical development of the thought and evidently originally stood at the end of 18, where it supplies the line demanded by the context. m7718 So the Gk. MSS., Lat., and Syr. 7719 Supplying the word required by the metre and context. § 174 The teachings of this ps. are familiar to the readers of Dt. and Pr. philosophy of history which a later editor of Judg. has embodied in its framework. ably comes from the latter part of the Persian or the earlier part of the Gk. period. 8113 Slightly revising the Heb. as the context requires. It is the naïve A LESSON FROM THE PAST 14 Right soon would I subdue their enemies, And turn my hand against their adversaries. 16I would feed them also with the finest of the wheat, § 175. Jehovah the Source of all Prosperity, Ps. 127 Ps. 127 1Except Jehovah build the house, its builders' labor in vain. Except Jehovah keep the city, the watchman waketh in vain. 2It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit down late, To eat the bread of toil; so he giveth his beloved sleep. 3Lo, children are a gift from Jehovah, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Het shall not be put to shame when he speaketh with his enemies within § 176. The Prosperity of Jehovah's People, Ps. 14412-15 Ps. 144 12Our sons" are like saplings, grown tall in their youth; Of ma terial prosperity Of domestic bliss The bless ings of 13Our garners are full, affording all kinds of store; peace The sheep are bringing forth thousands and ten thousands in the fields.▾ 14Our cattle are great with young, and none miscarry; There are no goings forth to war, no outcrys in the squares. 15Happy the people, when they have it so! Happy the people when Jehovah is their God! Their P8116 Again revising the Heb. as the context requires. Heb., he will cause him to eat. 98116 So one Heb. MSS., Gk., and Lat. Heb., thee. $175 Many interpreters regard this ps. as a composite, but both stanzas illustrate the fact that in the end all of man's prosperity comes from Jehovah: house, the security of the city, and children. These represent, respectively, material, political, and domestic peace and prosperity. Instead of being composite this is conspicuous for its close literary unity. It probably comes from the Gk. period. It is one of very few examples of Heb. poetry written in a prevailing six-beat measure. 1271 Following the Gk. in revising the corrupt Heb. 1272 Most recent commentators translate in sleep, but there is no indication in the Heb. or VSS. that sleep is not the direct object which the verb demands. The idea is that sleep is a gift of Jehovah. Therefore men are foolish to reject it by rising too early or sitting up too late. t1275 Following one Gk. text in translating the verbs in this line as singular rather than as plural. § 176 This little four-beat poem is appended to a longer three-beat Maccabean hymn. It is probable that it is a fragment of a longer ps. The presence of many Aramaisms and its position in the Psalter suggest that it is a song of thanksgiving and exultation expressing the feelings of the Jews under their Maccabean rulers, when at last, as in the days of Simon, they enjoyed in peace the fruits of their many conflicts and victories. The figures of speech are vigorous and the constructions original. u14412 The editor who joined this poem to the Maccabean prayer has prefaced it by the word because. 14413 The Heb. word is usually translated streets, but Briggs is undoubtedly right in maintaining that in the present context it has the meaning fields or pastures. Character and effect of Jehovah's law Prayer for guid ance in keep ing the law Aleph II THE VALUE OF THE LAW Pss. 197-14, 119 § 177. The Excellency and Potency of Jehovah's Law, Ps. 197-14 Ps. 19 "The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the life,b The commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes, The judgments of Jehovah are true and righteous altogether, 12 Who can discern his errors; cleanse me from secret faults, 13 And from presumptuous sins restrain thy servant; let them not have dominion over me; Then shall I be perfect and cleared from great transgression. 14Let the words of my mouth be acceptable, and the meditation of my heart, In thy sight, O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer. § 178. The Duty and Blessedness of Studying the Law, Ps. 119 Ps. 119 1Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who follow Jehovah's law; 2Happy are they who observe his decrees, who seek him whole heartedly; § 177 This ps. in praise of the law was appropriately joined with the noble poem in praise of God's glory as revealed in the heavens. Cf. § 92. Like Ps. 119, which it closely resembles in theme and vocabulary, it has in the first stanza at least a regular five-beat measure which appropriately expresses that passionate love and enthusiasm which filled the heart of the psalmist. The language is that of the late priestly school. The law and the ritual are the central forces in Israel's life. The ps. was evidently written after the priestly reformation of Nehemiah and Ezra. Apparently the priestly law has been enforced long enough to develop an intense love and appreciation of it. The ps., therefore, may be dated some time during the Gk. period. It was well adapted for use in the synagogue and for purposes of practical instruction. It is a signal demonstration of the fact that the Jewish law, instead of being regarded as a burden, was considered a blessing, Jehovah's best gift to his loyal worshippers. a197 In this context the Heb. word torah is evidently used in the technical sense as a description of the priestly teachings embodied in the Heb. scriptures. b197 The Heb. idiom means, literally, restores physical vigor. e198 I. e., Jehovah's will and character as revealed through Israel's teachers and through the experiences of the nation and of the individual. It was through the cumulative experience of the race that the simple-that is, the inexperienced-were to be made wise. d199 This is probably here used as a technical definition of the laws which dealt especially with worship. Cf. Ps. 3411 199 The Heb. term here translated judgments is a technical designation of the typical civil, social, and ceremonial laws such as are found in Ex. 21-23. 1913 Many translators favor the rendering, also restrain thy servant from the presumptuous. In this case the reference would be to the arrogant rulers and would accord well with the latter part of the line, but it introduces a note not found elsewhere in the ps.; furthermore, it is not supported by the succeeding line. Therefore the current translation is adopted. §178 This ps. is the longest, most elaborate, most artificial poem in the Psalter. It has twenty-two divisions corresponding to the letters of the Heb. alphabet and eight succeeding lines begin with the same letter of the alphabet. In this respect it is akin to Lam. 3, which has three #1192 Lit., testimonies, but in this ps., as in Dt. 620, it is clearly equivalent to decrees or ordinances. THE DUTY OF STUDYING THE LAW "Yea, they commit no iniquity, they walk in his ways. "It is thou who hast given thy precepts, that they may be zealously kept. "Oh that my ways were established, to observe thy statutes! "Then I shall never be ashamed, when I have regard to all of thy commandments. "I give thanks to thee with uprightness of heart, learning thy just judgments. "Thy laws do I keep, O Jehovah, forsake me not utterly. 'Whereby shall a young man keep his way pure? By observing thy word. Beth 10 With all my heart I seek thee, let me not wander from thy commands. "Within my heart, that I may not sin against thee, I store up thy word;i 12 Blessed be thou, O Jehovah! Teach me thy statutes. 13 With my lips I recount all the righteous judgments of thy mouth; 14In the way of thy decrees I rejoice, as much as in all riches; 15I meditate on thy decrees, and I attentively regard thy ways; 16In thy statutes I take delight, I forget not thy words. 17Deal kindly with thy servant that I may live, and that I may keep thy word; Gimel 18 Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. 19A sojourner am I on the earth, hide not from me thy commands; 20 My soul is in exile in its longings at all times for thy judgments. 21Thou rebukest the proud, the accursed, who err from thy commands. 22Take away from me reproach and contempt, for I have kept thy decrees; 23 Though princes sit and talk against me, thy servant doth meditate on thy statutes; 24 Yea, thy decrees are my delight, they are the men of my counsel. lines beginning with each letter of the alphabet. Many of the lines also rhyme at the end. The original measure, which has been at points obscured through scribal additions or omissions, was a regular five-beat. Here, even more than in the other acrostic pss., the parallelism of thought is sacrificed to artificial form. Briggs, in his translation of this ps., has sought by an elaborate transposition of vss. and rearrangement of material to restore a certain parallelism in each succeeding couplet. But even if these radical emendations be accepted, it must be admitted that the parallelism of thought is still incomplete. The author of this ps. was an early Pharisee or Hasidean who refers repeatedly to the persecutions which he had experienced at the hands of the proud and treacherous apostates who constantly deride and oppress him. It is evident that he was a man of prominence in the community about whom rallied those who were faithful to the law. The indications all point to the earlier part of the Maccabean period as the date of this ps. Its aim was to set forth the value of the law and of the rewards which came from faithfully observing its commands. In this respect it is a valuable historical document, for it expresses the feelings and the devotion of many of the Jews during the earlier part of the Maccabean struggle who preferred death rather than give up their law. It is also a confession of faith. Its acrostic form suggests that it was written so that it might be memorized and recited by the candidates for membership in the scribal order, if not by all faithful Jews. The eight lines under each letter of the alphabet were probably intended to correspond to the eight synonyms for the law which constantly recur throughout the pss. Some commentators have gone so far as to restore these whenever they do not occur in each section, and it is not impossible that their absence at many points in the present text is due to scribal errors. Duhm's statement that this ps. is the emptiest production that ever blackened paper' is, of course, extreme. Its artificial character has resulted, as was practically inevitable, in a large amount of repetition. There is also little trace of logical progress in the thought. The chief emphasis is not upon life and deeds but upon belief and form. The moral and social teachings of the earlier prophets have largely disappeared. Devotion to God and abstract devotion to the law have taken the place of love and service to one's fellow men. Aside from certain lines which possess a beauty and charm of their own, the value of the ps. as a whole is chiefly historical in that it represents the point of view and beliefs of early scribal Pharisaism. h1198 Supplying O Jehovah, as the measure demands. 1119 Slightly changing the order of the Heb. words as the measure and logical sense require. 11913 Supplying, for metrical reasons, the word righteous, suggested by a variant reading of the Syr. Daleth He Vau Zayin 25 My soul cleaveth unto the dust, revive me as thou hast promised.< 26 My ways have I told and thou hast answered me; teach me thy statutes; 33Interpret to me thy statutes, O Jehovah, and I will faithfully keep them;m 41Let thy lovingkindness" bring me thy salvation as thou hast promised; 43Snatch not away the word of truth" from my mouth, for I hope for thy judgment. 44I will keep thy law continually, forever and ever, 45 And I will walk in a path that is broad, for I study thy precepts; 46 And I will speak of thy testimonies before kings, and I will know no shame. 47I will find my delight in thy commands, which I love exceedingly.a 48I will lift up my hands to thy commands,' and I will meditate on thy statutes. 49 Remember thy promises to thys servant, for which thou causedst me to hope. 50This is my comfort in mine affliction, that thou hast quickened me as thou didst promise. 51The proud scorn me exceedingly, but I have not swerved from thy law. 52I remember thy judgments from of old, O Jehovah, and comfort myself. 53 Burning rage hath seized me because of the wicked, they who have forsaken thy law. 54Thy statutes have become my songs in the house of my sojourning. 55I remember by night thy name," and I keep thy law. 56This hath become my portion, for I keep thy precepts. k11925. 28 Lit., according to thy word. 111930 Changing one Heb. letter, which gives a reading strongly supported by the parallelism. m 11933 Lit., I will keep it every step. 11937 Lit., from regarding vanity. 11941 So Gk. P11943 Omitting with Syr. the superfluous adverbial phrase utterly. 11947 Adding with the Gk. the word exceedingly, required to complete the line. 11948 Omitting the phrase which I love, which was probably added by mistake from the preceding line. $11949 So one Gk. text and Theod., supported by the context. t11953 Cf. Briggs, Pss., II, 425, a burning wind from. u 11955, 64 Omitting Jehovah, which destroys the measure. |