Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 119:113 - 119:113

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Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 119:113 - 119:113


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The eightfold Samech. His hope rests on God's word, without allowing itself to be led astray by doubters and apostates. סֵֽעֲפִים (the form of nouns which indicate defects or failings) are those inwardly divided, halting between two opinions (סְעִפִּים), 1Ki 18:21, who do homage partly to the worship of Jahve, partly to heathenism, and therefore are trying to combine faith and naturalism. In contrast to such, the poet's love, faith, and hope are devoted entirely to the God of revelation; and to all those who are desirous of drawing him away he addresses in Psa 119:115 (cf. Psa 6:9) an indignant “depart.” He, however, stands in need of grace in order to persevere and to conquer. For this he prays in Psa 119:116-117. The מִן in מִשִּׁבְרִי is the same as in בֹּושׁ מִן. The ah of וְאֶשְׁעָה is the intentional ah (Ew. §228, c), as in Isa 41:23. The statement of the ground of the סָלִיתָ, vilipendis, does not mean: unsuccessful is their deceit (Hengstenberg, Olshausen), but falsehood without the consistency of truth is their self-deceptive and seductive tendency. The lxx and Syriac read תַּרְעִיתָם, “their sentiment;” but this is an Aramaic word that is unintelligible in Hebrew, which the old translators have conjured into the text only on account of an apparent tautology. The reading הִשַּׁבְתָּ or חָשַׁבְתָּ (Aquila, Symmachus, and Jerome; lxx ἐλογισάμην, therefore חשׁבתי) instead of חָשַׁבְתָּ might more readily be justified in Psa 119:119; but the former gives too narrow a meaning, and the reading rests on a mistaking of the construction of השׁבית with an accusative of the object and of the effect: all the wicked, as many of them as are on the earth, dost Thou put away as dross (סִגִים( ssor). Accordingly משׁפטיך in Psa 119:120 are God's punitive judgments, or rather (cf. Psa 119:91) God's laws (judgments) according to which He judges. What is meant are sentences of punishment, as in Lev. 26, Deut. 28. Of these the poet is afraid, for omnipotence can change words into deeds forthwith. In fear of the God who has attested Himself in Exo 34:7 and elsewhere, his skin shudders and his hair stands on end.