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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》