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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 15:3 - 15:3
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The distich which contains the question and that containing the general answer are now followed by three tristichs, which work the answer out in detail. The description is continued in independent clauses, which, however, have logically the value of relative clauses. The perff. have the signification of abstract presents, for they are the expression of tried qualities, of the habitual mode of action, of that which the man, who is the subject of the question, never did and what consequently it is not his wont to do. רָגַל means to go about, whether in order to spie out (which is its usual meaning), or to gossip and slander (here, and the Piel in 2Sa 19:28; cf. רָכַל, רָכִיל). Instead בַּלְשֹׁנֹו we have עַל־לְּשֹׁנֹו (with Dag. in the second ל, in order that it may be read with emphasis and not slurred over),
(Note: Vid., the rule for this orthophonic Dag. in the Luther. Zeitschrift, 1863, S. 413.)
because a word lies upon the tongue ere it is uttered, the speaker brings it up as it were from within on to his tongue or lips, Psa 16:4; Psa 50:16; Eze 36:3. The assonance of לְרֵעֵהוּ רָעָה is well conceived. To do evil to him who is bound to us by the ties of kindred and friendship, is a sin which will bring its own punishment. קָרֹוב is also the parallel word to רֵעַ in Exo 32:27. Both are here intended to refer not merely to persons of the same nation; for whatever is sinful in itself and under any circumstances whatever, is also sinful in relation to every man according to the morality of the Old Testament. The assertion of Hupfeld and others that נָשָׂא in conjunction with חֶרְפָּה means efferre = effari, is opposed by its combination with עַל and its use elsewhere in the phrase נשׁא חרפה “to bear reproach” (Psa 69:8). It means (since נשׁא is just as much tollere as ferre) to bring reproach on any one, or load any one with reproach. Reproach is a burden which is more easily put on than cast off; audacter calumniare, semper aliquid haeret.
In Psa 15:4 the interpretation “he is little in his own eyes, despised,” of which Hupfeld, rejecting it, says that Hitzig has picked it up out of the dust, is to be retained. Even the Targ., Saad., Aben-Ezra, Kimchi, Urbino (in his Grammar, אהל מועד) take נבזה בעיניו together, even though explaining it differently, and it is accordingly accented by Baer נִמְאָס | נִבְזֶה בְּעֵ ינָיו (Mahpach, Asla Legarme, Rebia magnum).
(Note: The usual accentuation בְּעיניו נמאס | נבזה forcibly separates בעיניו from נבזה to which according to its position it belongs. And Heidenheim's accentuation נבזה בעיניו נמאס is to be rejected on accentuological grounds, because of two like distinctives the second has always a less distinctive value than the first. We are consequently only left to the one given above. The MSS vary.)
God exalts him who is קָטָן בְּעֵינָיו, 1Sa 15:17. David, when he brought up the ark of his God, could not sufficiently degrade himself (נָקֵל), and appeared שָׁפָל בְּעֵנָיו, 2Sa 6:22. This lowliness, which David also confesses in Psa 131:1-3, is noted here and throughout the whole of the Old Testament, e.g., Isa 57:15, as a condition of being well-pleasing before God; just as it is in reality the chief of all virtues. On the other hand, it is mostly translated either, according to the usual accentuation, with which the Beth of בעיניו is dageshed: the reprobate is despised in his eyes (Rashi, Hupf.), or in accordance with the above accentuation: despised in his eyes is the reprobate (Maurer, Hengst., Olsh., Luzzatto); but this would say but little, and be badly expressed. For the placing together of two participles without an article, and moreover of similar meaning, with the design of the one being taken as subject and the other as predicate, is to be repudiated simply on the ground of style; and the difference among expositors shows how equivocal the expression is.
On the other hand, when we translate it: “despicable is he in his own eyes, worthy to be despised” (Ges. §134, 1), we can appeal to Psa 14:1, where הִשְׁהִיתוּ is intensified just in the same way by הִתְעִיבוּ, as נִבְזֶה is here by נִמְאָס; cf. also Gen 30:31; Job 31:23; Isa 43:4. The antithesis of Psa 15:4 to Psa 15:4 is also thus fully met: he himself seems to himself unworthy of any respect, whereas he constantly shows respect to others; and the standard by which he judges is the fear of God. His own fear of Jahve is manifest from the self-denying strictness with which he performs his vows. This sense of נִשְׁבַּע לְהָרַע is entirely misapprehended when it is rendered: he swears to his neighbour (רַע = רֵעַ), which ought to be לְרֵעֵנוּ, or: he swears to the wicked (and keeps to what he has thus solemnly promised), which ought to be לָרָע; for to what purpose would be the omission of the elision of the article, which is extremely rarely (Psa 36:6) not attended to in the classic style of the period before the Exile? The words have reference to Lev 5:4 : if any one swear, thoughtlessly pronouncing לְהָרַע אֹו לְהֵיטִיב, to do evil or to do good, etc. The subject spoken of is oaths which are forgotten, and the forgetting of which must be atoned for by an asham, whether the nature of the oath be something unpleasant and injurious, or agreeable and profitable, to the person making the vow. The retrospective reference of להרע to the subject is self-evident; for to injure another is indeed a sin, the vowing and performance of which, not its omission, would require to be expiated. On לְהָרַע = לְהָרֵעַ vid., Ges. §67, rem. 6. The hypothetical antecedent (cf. e.g., 2Ki 5:13) is followed by וְלֹא יָמִר is an apodosis. The verb הֵמִיר is native to the law of vows, which, if any one has vowed an animal in sacrifice, forbids both changing it for its money value (הֶֽחֱלִיף) and exchanging it for another, be it טֹוב בְרָע אֹו־רַע בְּטֹוב, Lev 27:10, Lev 27:33. The psalmist of course does not use these words in the technical sense in which they are used in the Law. Swearing includes making a vow, and לֹא יָמִר disavows not merely any exchanging of that which was solemnly promised, but also any alteration of that which was sworn: he does not misuse the name of God in anywise, לַשָּׁוְא.
In Psa 15:5 the psalmist also has a passage of the Tôra before his mind, viz., Lev 25:37, cf. Exo 22:24; Deu 23:20; Eze 18:8. נָתַן בְּנֶשֶׁךְ signifies to give a thing away in order to take usury (נֶשֶׁךְ( yrusu ekat ot r from נָשַׁךְ to bite, δάκνειν) for it. The receiver or demander of interest is מַשִּׁיךְ, the one who pays interest נָשׁוּךְ, the interest itself נֹשֵׁךְ. The trait of character described in Psa 15:5 also recalls the language of the Mosaic law: שֹׁחַד לֹא לָקָח, the prohibition Exo 23:8; Deu 16:19; and עַל־נָקִי, the curse Deu 27:25 : on account of the innocent, i.e., against him, to condemn him. Whether it be as a loan or as a gift, he gives without conditions, and if he attain the dignity of a judge he is proof against bribery, especially with reference to the destruction of the innocent. And now instead of closing in conformity with the description of character already given: such a man shall dwell, etc., the concluding sentence takes a different form, moulded in accordance with the spiritual meaning of the opening question: he who doeth these things shall never be moved (יִמֹּוט fut. Niph.), he stands fast, being upheld by Jahve, hidden in His fellowship; nothing from without, no misfortune, can cause his overthrow.