5 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. 6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. v. 4 being the speech of the Psalmist to the fellow-worshippers who are mentioned in v. 3. But the "to," which opens v. 3, has been explained in various ways. Thus we have such interpretations as "As for the holy ones.... and the illustrious ones, all my delight is in them," wherein the constructive force of " is completely ignored, and "As for the holy ones.... they are the illustrious ones in whom is all my delight," wherein awkwardly introduces the apodosis. Delitzsch arbitrarily transfers the ↑ from " to the beginning of the v., rendg., “And to the saints who are on the earth [I said] 'These are the excellent in whom is all my delight."" Ver. 4 will then merely express the inner conviction of the Psalmist, not what he has said. But this "easy improvement of the text" is really perfectly irrequisite. The old mistranslation of Day in v. 4 given by Targ. and Symm., “their idols,” is retained by Ewald, who rends. “As for the saints that are in the land, and the noble who have all my love, many are their gods, they take strange gods instead [of the true God], etc." The "saints" are assumed to be perverted to idolatry, and the Psalmist is understood to disown them, certainly as far as v. 3 is concerned, in very flattering terms. It is possible that v. 3 is to be taken in close connexion with v. 2 b and rendd. "Belonging as I do to the holy ones, etc.," v. 4 being taken separately. The variation from this interpr., adopted by Mendelssohn, "[There is nothing beyond Thee] to the saints who, etc.," is not so good. The rendg. given above appears to be less open to objection than any other. 5. a. I.e. to me Jehovah supplies the place of worldly blessings, cf. ver. 2 b. There is probably a tacit allusion to the law of the Levites in Deut. x. 9, xviii. I ; "The LORD is his inheritance," "They shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance." b. The share which the Psalmist has in Jehovah is also secured to him by Jehovah. "Maintainest:" H. DIN, tômîc, a form which it is hard to explain satisfactorily. The three chief interprr. are that it is (1) Hiph. Fut. of a Rt. ', presumedly a variation of , “lay hold of," "support." (2) Ibid. from 7', assumed to be a kindred form of Ar. 71, "to be broad"-"Thou makest broad my lot," i.e. ensurest me a spacious habitation. So Schultens, Del. (3) Partic. Kal from , of irregular formation (cf. 'D, 2 Kings viii. 21). Thus LXX. ἀποκαθίστων. 6. 6. Lit. "Yea, my inheritance is beautiful with me." nana, 7 I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. 8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. 10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. probably for '; cf. !, "my song," in Exod. xv. 12, cxviii. 14, etc.: so Hupfeld. But Ewald and others interpret it as a lengthened form of n. According to this view the form before us may be either a constr. used as absol., or an old form of the absol. termination (cf. the Arab. termin. atun). The forms machlath and n'ginath may perhaps be instanced in support of this view, cf. too n 1x. [13], cviii. [13]. for 7. b. Better "have instructed me." This hemist. is little more than an illustration of hemist. a: it is by the workings of conscience (here represented by the "reins,” as in vii. 9; Jer. xvii. 10, xx. '12) that Jehovah inspires the Psalmist with that determination to choose Him as his portion, and abhor all apostasy, of which he has made mention above. 8. "At my right hand:" i. e. set as my defender and protector; cf. cix. 31, cx. 5. 9. Rend. "was glad," "hath rejoiced." "My glory" (H. " c'bôdi)="my soul," as in vii. 5, xxx. 12, cviii. 2. LXX. here rends. by ἡ γλῶσσά μου. ΙΟ. Rend. "Because Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades: [and] Thou wilt not give up Thy saint to see the pit.” My soul: here, as constantly, nephesh denotes the seat of life. Those who interpret hemist. a as referring to the spirit, and hemist. b as referring to the flesh, have been misled by the diap@opá of LXX. and Acts xiii.; vide infra. שאול Sh'ôl, Hades, or the nether-world: the word "hell," Hölle, the "deep" or "excavated" place is etymologically exactly equivalent to but usage, which has identified "hell" with the yeeva тoû Tuрpós the place of torment, rends. it necessary to translate throughout the O. T. otherwise Thy saint, or Thy pious one (hardly "Thy beloved," as Perowne). The K'rî, 77'DП sing., is on every ground to be preferred to the C'thîb, plur., and has the support of LXX., Targ. To see the pit; not, "to see destruction” (ideîv diapßopáv, as LXX.), for n is not derived from л, "destroyed," but from , "to sink down," and here and everywhere means "the pit," or, "the grave." II Thou wilt shew me the path of life in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. "To see the pit" (cf. xlix. 9 [10]), is, as Del. observes, "the opposite of 'seeing life,' i.e. experiencing and enjoying it, Eccl. ix. 9, John iii. 36,” and thus really means to succumb to the state of the grave, i. e. death. Thus all that is implied in this v. is that the Psalmist, in that he has Jehovah at his right hand, is confident that he shall escape death, i.e. probably, the violent death with which his adversaries menace him. . S. Peter in Acts vi. 25 sqq. cites our vv. 8-11 as spoken prophetically by David with reference to the Messiah's resurrection from the grave (see Introd.). S. Paul also, in Acts xiii. 36, 37, illustrates from our ver. 10 the fact that Christ did not "see destruction," i. e. finally succumb to the destructive powers of death. The words μŋkéri μédλοντα ὑποστρέφειν εἰς διαφθοράν, ver. 34, when cfd. with οὐκ εἶδε diaplopáv of ver. 37, shew that the abiding in, not the experiencing of diapoopá is what is meant. S. Paul's argument is that the verse did not receive its true fulfilment in David's case, inasmuch as David eventually died in the usual way. It is only Christ who truly οὐκ εἶδε διαφθοράν, succumbed not finally, even at death, to the powers of destruction, and shall never be subject to them again. The stress of the argument therefore is laid on eide, which expresses the full exhaustive experience of the H. (cf. xxxiv. [13], cxxviii. 5, Lam. ii. 16, iii. 1, Eccl. ii. 1); and the Hebr. "to see the pit" would have served the Apostle's argument just as well as the ideîv diaþlopáv of LXX. The A. V. rendg., see corruption," entirely alters the character of the argument. LXX. rendgs. of ix. 15, xxxv. 7, shew that diapoopá is “destruction," not "corruption;" cf. also the rendgs. of Job xxxiii. 28 (where diapeopá is predicated of the Vuxn) and Prov. xxviii. 10. 66 II. The a. Lit. "fulness of joy is with Thy countenance," i.e. is the natural accompaniment of Thy self-manifestation. Nμerá, as in xxi. 7. b. Rend. "in Thy right hand, etc.;" in the bounteous hand of Jehovah (cf. cxlv. 16) are endless blessings, reserved for His servants. .as in xiii. I ,לנצח .i. q נצח INTRODUCTION TO PSALM XVII. APPEAL OF PERSECUTED INNOCENCE TO THE RIGHTEOUS GOD. TITLE. "A prayer, to David." FIVE Psalms, viz. xvii., lxxxvi., xc., cii., cxlii., bear the title T'phillâh, "A prayer." This Psalm has many points of resemblance both in thought and diction with other Psalms attributed to David, especially with Psalms iv., vii., x., xi., xvi. Even Hitzig admits the genuineness of the title l' Dâvîd. Ewald, however, assuming that before the time of the Captivity the Hebrews had no expectation of a future state (see ver. 15, note), assigns this Psalm, together with xvi., xlix., and others, to the period between the destruction of the kingdom and the return from the Captivity. The situation of the Psalmist, persecuted together with his followers by enemies who are eager as a ravening lion for his destruction, agrees well with the position of David in the wilderness of Maon (1 Sam. xxiii. 25 sq.). He was there hemmed in by Saul and his men, and eventually owed his escape to Saul's receiving a sudden intimation that the Philistines were invading the land. The position of this Psalm in the Psalter as immediately succeeding Ps. xvi. is most appropriate on account of the similarity of the concluding verses in each of them, wherein the Psalmist speaks with hope and confidence of joys which are in the presence of God. Another link of connexion may be found in the Psalmist's retrospective description of his nightly communion with God (xvi. 7 and xvii. 3). But we cannot agree with Delitzsch in laying stress on such common expressions as " (xvi. 1 and xvii. 8), ♫ (xvi. 5, xvii. 5), or on the form of address, (xvi. 1 and xvii. 6). The Psalm may be divided as follows: I. vv. 1-5. Prayer to God based upon David's consciousness of his own integrity. II. vv. 6-9. Appeal to God against his persecutors, based on the fact that He is known to save those that take refuge in Him. III. vv. 10-12. A description of his enemies. IV. vv. 13-end. A final appeal, and declaration of unshaken faith in God. H EAR the right, O LORD, attend prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips. 2 Let my sentence come forth from I. Cf. the opening verse of Ps. lxi. thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal. 3 Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. 4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. 5 Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not. 2. b. The rendg. of the A. V. is possibly correct, but we prefer to understand this hemist. as a declaration of God's justice, and to rend. "[For] Thine eyes do behold rightly," i.e. Thou discernest (as he goes on to say) the very thoughts of the heart, and judgest accordingly. D'WD, mêyshârîm, is best taken, in accordance with usage (cf. lviii. 1, lxxv. 2), adverbially. It may however be the accus. after the verb tech'zeynâh (cf. 1 Chron. xxix. 17). 3. "Thou hast tried me;" H. "Y, ts'raphtanî, lit. as LXX. Enúρwσás μe. “[And] shalt find nothing;" rend. "Thou didst find nothing [to find fault with]." The imperf. does not give a future signf., but merely denotes the dependence of this on the preceding verb. ha bal with the imperf. is here, as in x. 4, 6, equivalent to ?, or rather to où μý, not, as understood by Fuerst, to 5 or un prohibitive; but see xxxiv. 5, note. b. "I am purposed [that] my mouth shall not transgress." There is no rendg. of this clause which is not open to objection. If we take 'ndi, zammôthî, as a verb (milra, cf. Deut. xxxii. 41, Is. xlix. 16), meaning "I am purposed" (cf. Jer. iv. 28, Lam. ii. 17), and rend. as above, we are met by the objection that the verby is never in Bibl. Hebr. used absolutely in signf. "to transgress." If we take zammôthi as a subst. (of the form challôthê, lxxvii. 10 [11]), the rendg. "my determination shall not pass my mouth" (or my lips, according to the English idiom) is at best vapid; and the rendg. "my evil thought shall not pass my lips" is open to the objection that the first part of the verse implies that the Psalmist never harboured an evil thought. An emendation suggested by Del., that of reading 75 for ", in which case we should render, "my thoughts do not go beyond Thy commandment," obviates all difficulties. The LXX. combines this with the following verse, rendering καὶ οὐχ εὑρέθη ἐν ἐμοὶ ἀδίκια· ὅπως ἂν μὴ daλýơn tò σtóμa pov тà eрya K.T.λ., as if reading nei. 4. "Concerning," or "As for," or "With respect to:" Hebr. l, of general reference. "I have kept [me from]," A. V. rightly, with the accus. here denoting cavere ab, as in 1 Sam. xxv. 21, and possibly Job ii, 6. 5. a. "Hold up my goings in :" rend. “My steps have held fast to" comparing the first with the second hemist., it seems natural to |