MA AKE a joyful noise unto the 2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter into his gates with thanks. 1. Lit. “Raise a shout unto Jehovah all [parts of] the earth :” a repetition of xcviii. 4 a: the second hemistich of that verse, “break out, and sing with joy (1), and raise a hymn,” is taken up in v. 2 b, "come before His Presence with [joyful] singing (7).” 3. Rend. "Know ye that Jehovah He is God: it is He that made us, and His we are, His people and the flock of His pasture [or pasturing]." In hemist. b the K'thîb or written text has 17 ), v'lô a’nachnoo, "and not we," or, as Rashi and Symm. rend. it, "when as yet we were not;” the Krî or read text i (v'lô a’nachnoo), “and His we are." The former reading is that adopted by the LXX., avròs éñoínσev ýμâs kaì ovx ýμeîs, Vulg., "et non ipsi nos,” and Syr. The latter is that of Targ., Saadia, Jerome, “ipsius nos sumus,” and Aben Ezra, who mentions, however, the old saying of the Talmudists (cf. Midrash Bereshith Rabba c. 100), that this clause contains a statement exactly opposite to that of Ezek. xxix. 3, where Pharaoh, according to Rabbinic interpretation, makes the boast "I have made myself." We have little doubt that the reading of the K'rî is the true one. For, I, the K'rî text is in the large majority of cases preferable to that of the K'thîb. 2. There are no less than fourteen other passages wherein the K'ri prescribes, as here, that is to be read for 1, and in all these the context shews the reasonableness of the prescription. The reading best preserves the parallelism and unity of thought which are the characteristics of Hebr. poetry, the 1st hemist. thus asserting the relation of Jehovah to Israel-Jehovah is our God, Creator and Preserver, in correspondence with the 2nd hemist. which depicts the converse relation of Israel to Jehovah as the people He governs and the flock He cares for. 3. These reciprocal relations are certainly the subject of the similarly worded verse 7 of Psalm xcv., "For He is our God; and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand." Now Psalm xcv. is from its general similarity of language, as well as from its liturgical purport, evinced to be the true sister-Psalm to the one before us. It is therefore a trustworthy guide to the meaning of this verse. 4. Lastly, the other reading can hardly be translated without violence to the ordinary rules of Hebr. structure. Even with the rendering of Rashi and Symm. 1 is somewhat too terse ולו giving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. and abrupt, in fact, Ty, ôd, “yet," would have to be supplied; and the rendg. of A. V. really requires "we made" to be involved in the "he made," preceding. Such a constructio praegnans is really unallow.able. 4. b. "Be thankful," or, rather, "Acknowledge your thankfulness," exactly the ἐξομολογεῖσθε of LXX. 5. a. "Mercy," rather, "goodness," or "beneficence." b. Lit. "And His faithfulness [extends] to generation and generation," i. e. to successions of generations. INTRODUCTION TO PSALM CI. A MONARCH'S PIOUS RESOLUTIONS. TITLE. "To David, a Psalm." THE spirit in which this Psalm is written is an evidence in favour of the authenticity of the traditional superscription. Just such resolves are expressed in the Psalm as we should expect from the heart of such a king as David: and, while in general style it resembles the acknowledged Davidic Psalms, in one verse the phraseology appears to connect it with a distinct period of David's life. We allude to the "When wilt Thou come unto me?" of v. 2, an ejaculation which recalls at once the occasion on which David, awed by the signal vindication of the sanctity of the Ark by the sudden death of Uzzah, exclaimed, "How shall the Ark of the LORD come to me?" 2 Sam. vi. 9. And with this part of David's life the rest of the Psalm well harmonizes. It was a period of prosperity and of promise: his youthful afflictions had long passed by; and his reign of seven and a-half years at Hebron over the tribe of Judah had developed into a sovereignty acknowledged by the whole of Israel. The fortress of Jebus had been taken, and the whole city surrounded with a wall, which connected it with the newly-captured stronghold. Hiram king of Tyre had sent him materials and artificers, and he had built himself a palace, and established himself in "the City of David." But good fortune had not as yet rendered David callous to religious principle. His first care was to find a fit resting-place within the capital for the sacred Ark of God; and his zeal in the fulfilment of this intention is tempered, as we find from 2 Sam vii. 18-29, with prayerfulness and humility. It was just at such a time as this that we can most readily imagine the royal Poet to have penned the pious resolutions which are the theme of this Psalm. Strikingly must the reflection have suggested itself to the humble supplicant of 2 Sam. vii. that he who had been set apart by Divine command to rule over so great a nation as Israel, "whom God went to redeem for a people to Himself” (2 Sam. vii. 23), who had so recently had yet greater promises conveyed to him by prophecy (2 Sam. vii. 8—17), must requite the Divine favours, by a life worthy of his position and prerogatives. Accordingly in this " Mirror of a Monarch" (as the Psalm is entitled in Luther's Version), David declares his resolve to order his own private life in all innocence and uprightness of heart. Further, also, he determines so to rule his people with firmness and equity that Zion may be worthy to be called the "City of the LORD," v. 8, the place which He has desired to be His dwelling for ever. An entirely different view of the Psalm has been taken by the LXX. After the preface of vv. 1, 2 a, all the verbs are expressed in the Præt. or Imperfect Tenses. This alteration (which is reproduced in the Vulg. Psalter) of course entirely alters the character of the Psalm; the writer is thus represented as asserting the uprightness of his past conduct as rendering him worthy that the LORD should come to him. But if such had been the Psalmist's meaning, the verbs in the original, or at all events an overwhelming majority of them, would have been in the Præt., not in the Future (cf. Ps. vii.). This interpretation is therefore quite unsubstantial. I WILL sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing. 2 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. 3 I will set no wicked thing before I. Rend. "Of kindness and justice will I sing: to Thee, Jehovah, will I address my hymn." Kindness, chesed (see lxxxvi. 2, note) and justice, mishpat (see lxxxix. 14, note), the two mutually complementary qualities so necessary in a ruler, are the subject of his song. There appears no need to suppose with Perowne that the "kindness" and "justice" are here Divine attributes. In using the phrase "Of kindness and justice will I sing," the Poet merely makes his own intention of practising these virtues the theme of song (Ab. Ez.). But (hemist 6) inasmuch as they are virtues which cannot be attained in perfection by unaided human effort, he addresses his Psalm to Jehovah, the source of every good and perfect gift. With this verse cf. Mic. vi. 8, Prov. xvi. 12. 2. The Ps. now takes the form of a vow or earnest resolution. David declares how he will first endeavour to conform himself to the Divine law of perfection, and then to reform his kingdom. mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. a. Rend. “I will take good heed to the way of integrity.” For bown, hascîl b', in the sense "to take good heed to," cf. Dan. ix. 13. "O when wilt Thou come unto me?" is an ejaculatory prayer, expressing the Psalmist's longing after God's presence and support. God had promised in Exod. xx. 24, “ In all places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and bless thee." David, fearful and anxious with regard to the introduction of the Ark into his city, had exclaimed, "How shall the Ark of the LORD come to me?” (2 Sam. vi. 9). Now he is striving to become less unworthy of so great an honour and longing for the time when, by the resting of the Ark in the city of David, God should “record His Name” there "and come unto him and bless him." "When?" H. n mâthay, an interrogative. Some, however, connect this clause with that succeeding, thus, "When Thou shalt come to me," or "When it [viz. the way of integrity] shall come to me," [then]" will I walk in the integrity of my heart within my house," supporting this use of mâthay by a doubtful instance in Prov. xxiii. 35. But such a rendg., if admissible there, is here quite unnecessary, and only robs the verse of much of its force and beauty. b. Rend. "I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart." H.-Dna, cf. lxxviii. 72, where it is said that David tended Israel his flock, bona, "in the integrity of his heart." "Within my house,” i. e. in his private and domestic life. The LXX. rends. the verb by an imperfect, dɩeñopevóμny, and, as if understanding the grounds of David's prayer to be his past, instead of his intended, righteousness of life, rends. in like manner all the succeeding futures by imperfects or aorists. A different division of these two vv. is also adopted by the LXX., the Psalm opening thus-(1) Ελεος καὶ κρίσιν ᾄσομαί σοι, Κύριε. (2) Ψαλῶ καὶ συνήσω ἐν ὁδῷ ἀμώμῳ· πότε ἥξεις πρός με ; διεπορευόμην ἐν ȧKakia K.T.λ. The Targ., recalling Ps. xxxii. 8, wrongly rends. the first words of v. 2, "I will make thee wise in a perfect path." 3. David here declares that he will neither harbour wicked intentions, nor commit evil deeds. a. "To set before the eyes" to set before one as an end or as a pattern. "Wicked thing," lit. "matter of belial.” Obs. that the H. Sy b'liyyaal is not a proper name in the Old Test. as rendd. in Vulg. and A.V. it simply means "worthlessness," "vileness," or "wickedness" in the abstract, and is compounded of blî, "without," and ôl, "yoke," or yaal, "usefulness." In the New Test. the term appears once, viz. in 2 Cor. vi. 15, where (like a'baddôn in Rev. ix. II: see J. L. P. II 4 A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person. 5 Whoso privily slandereth his neigh bour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. lxxxviii. II, note) it has become personified, and has taken the form Beλíap. See notes on xviii. 4 and xli. 8. This is the rendg. of b. "The work of them that turn aside." Kimchi and Ewald. H. D'-nwy a'sôh-sêtîm. is certainly an infin. constr. for a'sôth, as in Gen. 1. 20, Prov. xxi. 3. Sêtîm, however (spelt here with D; but in Hos. v. 2 with W, as are also the roots sâtâh and sat in every other passage in which they occur), seems here to mean declinationes, delicta (cf. the form zêdîm, “presumptuous acts," in xix. 13 [14]): and the best rendg. seems to be "doing acts of obliquity I hate." The LXX. inaccurately ToloÛVTAS Tapaẞáσeis épíonoa. Similarly, Targ., "I hate evil-doers and those who decline from the commandments." "It shall not cleave to me," refers exclusively to this "doing acts of obliquity." The Hebrew student should notice the use of the Olehveyored (ôleh v'yôrêd) as the chief distinctive accent in this verse and in vv. 5, 6, 7. To this accent the Ethnach is subordinate, and we must divide these verses accordingly. 4. If the second hemist. be rendd. as in A.V., then "a froward heart" may be taken to mean “a man of a froward heart," in accordance with the usage noticed in xc. 5. But the H. yra may mean either "a wicked person" or "wickedness," and it seems best to adopt here the latter rendg., connecting the whole verse with David's purposes of self-discipline already expressed, not with the determinations with regard to his subjects in vv. 5-8. Rend., therefore, "A froward heart shall depart from me: wickedness I will not know;" the latter verb being here equiv. to "take pleasure in," as in Ps. i. 6, "Jehovah knows the way of the righteous." 5. Having declared that it is his firm determination to purify his own heart and life from every thing that offendeth, the royal Psalmist goes on to form the resolution of clearing his court of all sycophants, and proud and ambitious persons. a. "Whoso privily slandereth." The H. "ɔɔ m'lôsh'nî (C'thib), • m'lashni or m'loshni (K'rî), is a partic. rendered constructive by a yod nôsepheth, i. e. an additional î, cf. the forms ôs'rî, Gen. xlix. II, shổ cnî, Deut. xxxiii. 16, ôz3bî, Zech. xi. 17. If the C'thib text be adopted, the partic. is that of the Poêl voice, formed regularly: if the K'rî, m'lash'ni will be an irregular form of the Piêl Partic. and m'lashsh'ni; m'loshnî an abbreviated form of the Poêl, like dor'shoo = |