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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 150:1 - 150:1
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The Synagogue reckons up thirteen divine attributes according to ex. Psa 34:6. (שְׁלֹשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה מִדֹּות), to which, according to an observation of Kimchi, correspond the thirteen הִלֵּל of this Psalm. It is, however, more probable that in the mind of the poet the tenfold halaluw encompassed by Hallelujah's is significative; for ten is the number of rounding off, completeness, exclusiveness, and of the extreme of exhaustibleness. The local definitions in Psa 150:1 are related attributively to God, and designate that which is heavenly, belonging to the other world, as an object of praise. קָדְשֹוּ (the possible local meaning of which is proved by the קֹדֶשׁ and קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים of the Tabernacle and of the Temple) is in this passage the heavenly הֵיכָל; and רְקִיעַ עֻזֹּו is the firmament spread out by God's omnipotence and testifying of God's omnipotence (Psa 68:35), not according to its front side, which is turned towards the earth, but according to the reverse or inner side, which is turned towards the celestial world, and which marks it off from the earthly world. The third and fourth hălalu give as the object of the praise that which is at the same time the ground of the praise: the tokens of His גְּבוּרָה, i.e., of His all-subduing strength, and the plenitude of His greatness (גֻּדְלֹו = גָּדְלֹו), i.e., His absolute, infinite greatness. The fifth and sixth hălalu bring into the concert in praise of God the ram's horn, שֹׁופָר, the name of which came to be improperly used as the name also of the metallic חֲצֹֽצְרָה (vid., on Psa 81:4), and the two kinds of stringed instruments (vid., Psa 33:2), viz., the nabla (i.e., the harp and lyre) and the kinnor (the cithern), the ψαλτήριον and the κιθάρα (κινύρα). The seventh hălalu invites to the festive dance, of which the chief instrumental accompaniment is the תֹּף (Arabic duff, Spanish adufe, derived from the Moorish) or tambourine. The eighth hălalu brings on the stringed instruments in their widest compass, מִנִּים (cf. Psa 45:9) from מֵן, Syriac menı̂n, and the shepherd's pipe, עֻגָב (with the Gimel raphe = עוּגָב); and the ninth and tenth, the two kinds of castanets (צִלְצְלֵי, construct form of צִלְצְלִים, singular צְלָצַל), viz., the smaller clear-sounding, and the larger deeper-toned, more noisy kinds (cf. κύμβαλον ἀλαλάζον, 1Co 13:1), as צלצלי שָֽׁמַע (pausal form of שֶׁמַע = שֵׁמַע, like סָתֶר in Deu 27:15, and frequently, from סֶתֶר = סֵתֶר) and צלצלי תְרוּעָה are, with Schlultens, Pfeifer, Burk, Köster, and others, to be distinguished.