assigned to the period towards the close of the Captivity, and by Ewald it is placed among the very latest Psalms. The style of the Psalm (as of Ps. civ., which would seem to have been written as the counterpart of Ps. ciii. and may well be by the same hand) is certainly much smoother than that of most of those Psalms which are undoubtedly Davidic. It is rather the style of the post-exilic period, jubilant, rhythmical, well suited for liturgical purposes. Moreover such retrospective glances at the history of Israel as we find in verses 7 sqq. are most common in the compositions of the later period, but are scarcely discoverable in the Psalms of David. We conclude therefore that this and the following Psalm are probably post-Davidic, and we think that in style and general features they synchronize best with the Psalms which were written at the close of the Exile. The Psalm consists of three parts. (1) vv. 1-5, in which the causes which draw forth the Psalmist's expressions of gratitude are entirely personal. (2) vv. 6—18, in which Jehovah's goodness, mercy and forbearance towards Israel and the world at large form the topic of the Poet's praises. (3) vv. 19— end, in which he calls on all the whole company of heaven to join him in lauding and magnifying the glorious name of Jehovah. I. a. forget not all his benefits: 3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; 4 Who redeemeth thy life from de "Bless," the verb bârêc, " to bless," is used in three principal senses in the Old Test. (1) To bless, or render thanks to God; the Arab. tabarraca; (2) To pray for a blessing upon, which is sometimes done by the less on behalf of the greater (as in 1 Kings i. 47), the Arab. bâraca alâ; (3) It is used of God blessing His creatures; cf. the Arab. bâraca li, phi, or alâ. O my soul:" in these words the Poet addresses himself, there being no other word in Bibl. Hebr. by which a man can address himself than by naphshî, "my soul." At the same time it must not be forgotten that in the Hebr. Scriptures, and especially in the book of Psalms, "the soul” (nephesh) is represented as that part of man's constitution which is pre-eminently open to the exhilarating or depressing influences of outward circumstances. In affliction the "soul" sinks and droops and lies as a heavy burden upon man's highest nature (xlii. 5, 6, xliii. 5); in joy the soul is inclined to undue exaltation, and at all times needs to be subdued and kept "as a weaned child" (cxxxi. 2). The Psalmist, perhaps, as a πvevμatikós, calls on his "soul" to forget herself in rising to the highest spiritual act, viz. that of blessing and praising God. struction; who crowneth thee with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. 6 The LORD executeth righteousness 66 66 b. "All that is within me," H. col-k'râbay, lit. " all my inner-parts." In like manner we find mêîm, " bowels," and c'lâyôth, “ reins,” spoken of, where we should ordinarily mention the "heart" or conscience." The word "heart," on the other hand, is used in Hebr. where we should rather speak of the "brain" or "intellect,” cf. ci. 5, note. 2. "His benefits," H. g'moolâv. The H. g'mool is a vox media denoting a requital either of good or of evil, but always middâh c'neged middâh, i.e." measure for measure," cf. cxxxvii. 8. LXX. wrongly ràs αἰνέσεις αὐτοῦ. 66 3. "Thine iniquities," rend. "thine iniquity," and cf. the expression "the sin of my soul," Mic. vi. 7. Diseases" or "infirmities," H. o'xibnn, tach’looîm, an expression which recurs in Deut. xxix. 21, Jer. xiv. 18, xvi. 4, 2 Chron. xxi. 19. The second pers. fem. suffixes êcê for êc (sing.) and ây'cî for âyic (plur.) recur in Ps. cxvi. 7, 19, Jer. xi. 15 (and 2 Kings iv. 2—7 in C'thîb). There is no necessity to regard such forms as Aramaisms, and in the Psalter they are most probably a mere poetical variation peculiar to no particular age. Here they contribute in no small degree to the lively and joyous rhythm of the first five verses of the Psalm. 4. "Thy life," cf. the expression "life of thy soul," 2 Kings ii. 2, "Destruction" or "pit," LXX. ¿@opâs, cf. xvi. 10, note. 5. "Thy mouth," H. T, edyêc. The subst. Ty a'di is generally used in the sense ornament" (cf. Jer. ii.32, Ezek. xxiii, 40), which is the meaning given to the form Dy, edyâm, in xxxii. 9 by Targ., where, however, Syr. has "their youth," and LXX. Tàs σιαγόνας αὐτῶν. This last interpretation is adopted by Hitzig and Del. both here and in xxxii., the H. a'dî being supposed to be connected with the Arab. chadd, "the cheek." "The poet tells the soul," says Del., "that God satisfies it with good, so that it, as it were, gets its cheeks full of it."(!) In the passage before us Targ. has “the days of thy old age;" Syr. "thy body," i.e. the ornament or covering of the soul, cf. n'dân, "a sword-sheath," used of the body as the covering of the spirit (Dan. vii. 15, Sanhedr. 108 a); LXX. tǹv éπiðvμíav σov; Saadia "thy food," cf. Arab. ada "nourished." It is impossible that the word "ornament" can here mean "the soul" (after the analogy of câbôd, "glory"), as Ab. Ez., Mendelssohn, Hengst. and others suppose, since the soul itself is here addressed. It might possibly denote "the and judgment for all that are oppressed. 7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. Spirit," as being superior to the soul as the soul is superior to the body. We suggest, however, that edyêc may mean "the whole duration of thy life," cf. Ty, ad, "duration," "progression of time," ny, êth (for лу, edeth) "time," and other cogn. words. A similar meaning may be assigned to edyâm in xxxii. 9, where see note. "Is renewed," lit. "shall renew itself." The word n'oorây'cî, "thy youth," being a pluralis inhumanus (i.e. not designating persons) may take a verb in fem. sing., cf. 1, xxxvii. 31. "Like the eagle's," rend. "so that thou become like the eagle," i. e. as strong and as enduring as an eagle: cf. Is. xl. 3. The absurd fables narrated by Saadia and Augustine with regard to the eagle's "renewing its youth" are not worthy of repetition. 6. The Poet now passes on from the acknowledgment of the acts of goodness and mercy of which he has been personally the object, to the contemplation of God's goodness to all, and that as especially illustrated in His dealings with Israel. "Righteousness and judgment," these subst. are in plur. in the Hebr., cf. xi. 7, cxlvii. 20, Mic. vi. 5. 7. In answer to Moses' prayer "Make me to know, I pray Thee, Thy ways" (Exod. xxxiii. 13), and "shew me, I pray Thee, Thy glory (v. 18), "Jehovah passed before him and proclaimed 'Jehovah, Jehovah; a God gracious and merciful, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands [i.e. a thousand generations, cf. Deut. vii. 9], forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will not utterly destroy'" (Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7). To Moses God thus revealed His attributes; to "the children of Israel" He taught them in "His acts," i.e. His dealings with them. The imperf. yôdîa, "made known," denotes the frequent repetition of the act in the past, cf. xcix. 7. Though it was on one signal occasion that Jehovah actually made an open manifestation of His attributes to Moses, yet in one sense was He as continually shewing to him His way, as to Israel His works. 8. Cf. lxxxvi. 15, cxlv. 8. 9. "Will He keep His anger," Hebr. ", yittôr, cf. Jer. iii. 5, 12, and Lev. xix. 18. Though He will not cherish anger (), yet will He keep goodness for a thousand generations. With this verse cf. Is. lvii. 16. 10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. II For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. 14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are as grass: 14. "Our frame," or "our formation," LXX. тò λáoμa yμôv. Such seems to be the meaning of the H. "78", yitsrênoo, taken in connection with Gen. ii. 7, "And Jehovah, Elohim, formed (H. vayyîtser) the man [of the] dust from the ground," and with hemist. b, “He remembereth that we are dust." Yêtser stands also in many passages for "imagination," "thought;" cf. the uses of fictio and figurare. "He remembereth," H. 15, zâcoor, the pass. partic. representing a mental action which is reflexive, or in which the agent is in a sense himself acted upon; cf. bâtooah, “trusteth" (Is. xxvi. 3), Rabb. sâboor, and Chald. s'bir, "opineth;" and especially the Chald. n'hîr, "remembereth," the Lat. depon. recordari and Fr. se rappeler, &c. With this v. cf. lxxviii. 39, lxxxix. 47, Job vii. 7. 16. a. Rend. "If the wind has passed over it, then it is not." The conj. “D, cî, “that” in signif. “if," "if only," is here followed by a past tense as in Exod. xx. 25. This signif. of cî is not unusual, it may be explained by an ellipse, “[Suppose the case] that," i.e. "if." With vv. 15, 16 a, cf. xc. 5, 6 note, Job xiv. 2: with 166 cf. Job vii. 10. 17. Though one generation of mankind gives place to another, God's goodness is eternal, and extends to those who fear him in each succeeding generation. 18. Cf. Exod. xx. 6, “And doing kindness unto thousands, unto them that love Me and keep My commandments." 19-end. The range of the Psalmist's thoughts is a continually expanding circle. He begins with blessing Jehovah on his own behalf, then he passes on to the contemplation of His goodness and mercy to Israel and His consideration for the frailty of mankind, and thence his thoughts rise to the grandeur of Jehovah's Heavenly kingdom, and to the thousand times ten thousand subservient spirits that surround His throne. that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. 21 Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. 22 Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul. 19. b. "And His kingdom ruleth over all," cf. 1 Chron. xxix. 12, "and Thou rulest over all." 20. "That excel in strength," H. gibbôrê coach, i. e. "mighty in strength," as marg. LXX. rightly duvaroì loxúï. In Joel iii. II, the angels are called gibbôrîm, “mighty ones," in Ps. lxxxix. 6, b'nêêlîm, “sons of mighty ones," in lxxviii. 25, abbîrîm, "mighty ones" or "principal "Hearkening," H. lishmôa is generally understood to mean "by hearkening" or "by obeying," and laa'sôth (Gen. ii. 3) has been explained to be equiv. to "perficiendo." Lishmôa may, however, mean "so as to be obedient to," and LXX. has roû ảkoûσai, but see cxix. 9, ones." note. 21. "Ye ministers of His," cf. Dan. vii. 10, Heb. i. 14 (λectovpyıkà TVεúμатa), and civ. 4, note. 22. After calling upon the whole rational creation to bless Jehovah, the Poet reverts to his own soul and ends as he commenced, "Bless thou Jehovah, O my soul." It is supposed by some to be intentional that the expressions "bless-thou" and "bless-ye" occur respectively three times (vv. 1, 2, 22, and 20, 21, 22) in this Psalm. INTRODUCTION TO PSALM CIV. THE GOODNESS OF JEHOVAH EVINCED BY THE WORKS OF CREATION. TITLE. LXX. Toû Aavid. (Ald., Ed. and Complut. Polygl. Yaλuòs T Δ. ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου συστάσεως.) THIS beautiful Poem has been well selected as the immediate successor of Ps. ciii. If we judge from its style it would seem to be the work of the same author (see ciii. Introd.), while in subject-matter it is certainly the very counterpart of that Psalm. There it was God's dealings in the realm of grace which were the subject of a B'râcâh or doxology; here it is His dealings in the realm of nature. The account of creation in Gen. i. is as it were recast, and becomes in the Psalmist's hands an "Anthem of Natural Theology," (Neale). That God has made Himself known in the material works that surround us, J.L. P. 12 |