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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 26:6 - 26:6
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The poet supports his petition by declaring his motive to be his love for the sanctuary of God, from which he is now far removed, without any fault of his own. The coloured future וַֽאֲסֹבְבָה, distinct from וָאסבבה (vid., on Psa 3:6 and Psa 73:16), can only mean, in this passage, et ambiam, and not et ambibam as it does in a different connection (Isa 43:26, cf. Jdg 6:9); it is the emotional continuation (cf. Psa 27:6; Son 7:12; Isa 1:24; Isa 5:19, and frequently) of the plain and uncoloured expression אֶרְחַץ. He wishes to wash his hands in innocence (בְּ of the state that is meant to be attested by the action), and compass (Psa 59:7) the altar of Jahve. That which is elsewhere a symbolic act (Deu 21:6, cf. Mat 27:24), is in this instance only a rhetorical figure made use of to confess his consciousness of innocence; and it naturally assumes this form (cf. Psa 73:13) from the idea of the priest washing his hands preparatory to the service of the altar (Exo 32:20.) being associated with the idea of the altar. And, in general, the expression of Psa 26:6. takes a priestly form, without exceeding that which the ritual admits of, by virtue of the consciousness of being themselves priests which appertained even to the Israelitish laity (Exo 19:16). For סבב can be used even of half encompassing as it were like a semi-circle (Gen 2:11; Num 21:4), no matter whether it be in the immediate vicinity of, or at a prescribed distance from, the central point. לַשְׁמִעַ is a syncopated and defectively written Hiph., for לְהַשְׁמִיעַ, like לַשְׁמִד, Isa 23:11. Instead of לַשְׁמִעַ קֹול תֹּודָה, “to cause the voice of thanksgiving to be heard,” since השׁמיע is used absolutely (1Ch 15:19; 2Ch 5:13) and the object is conceived of as the instrument of the act (Ges. §138, 1, rem. 3), it is “in order to strike in with the voice of thanksgiving.” In the expression “all Thy wondrous works” is included the latest of these, to which the voice of thanksgiving especially refers, viz., the bringing of him home from the exile he had suffered from Absolom. Longing to be back again he longs most of all for the gorgeous services in the house of his God, which are performed around the altar of the outer court; for he loves the habitation of the house of God, the place, where His doxa, - revealed on earth, and in fact revealed in grace, - has taken up its abode. ma`own does not mean refuge, shelter (Hupfeld), - for although it may obtain this meaning from the context, it has nothing whatever to do with Arab. ‛ân, med. Waw, in the signification to help (whence ma‛ûn, ma‛ûne, ma‛âne, help, assistance, succour or support), - but place, dwelling, habitation, like the Arabic ma‛ân, which the Kamus explains by menzil, a place to settle down in, and explains etymologically by Arab. mḥll 'l-‛ı̂n, i.e., “a spot on which the eye rests as an object of sight;” for in the Arabic ma‛ân is traced back to Arab. ‛ân, med. Je, as is seen from the phrase hum minka bi-ma‛ânin, i.e., they are from thee on a point of sight (= on a spot where thou canst see them from the spot on which thou standest). The signification place, sojourn, abode (Targ. מִדֹור) is undoubted; the primary meaning of the root is, however, questionable.