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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 32:8 - 32:8
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It is not Jahve, who here speaks in answer to the words that have been thus far addressed to Him. In this case the person addressed must be the poet, who, however, has already attained the knowledge here treated of. It is he himself who now directly adopts the tone of the teacher (cf. Psa 34:12). That which David, in Psa 51:15, promises to do, he here takes in hand, viz., the instruction of sinners in the way of salvation. It is unnecessary to read אִיעָֽצְךָ instead of אִֽיעֲצָה, as Olshausen does; the suffix of אַשְׂכִּֽילְךָ and אֹורְךָ (for אֹורֶךָ) avails also for this third verb, to which עָלֶיךָ עֵינִי, equivalent to שָׂם עָלֶיךָ עֵינִי (fixing my eye upon thee, i.e., with sympathising love taking an interest in thee), stands in the relation of a subordinate relative clause. The lxx renders it by ἐπιστηριῶ ἐπὶ σὲ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου, so that it takes יָעַץ, in accordance with its radical signification firmare, as the regens of עיני (I will fix my eye steadfastly upon thee); but for this there is no support in the general usage of the language. The accents give a still different rendering; they apparently make עֵינִי an accus. adverb. (Since אעצה עליך עיני is transformed from איעצה עליך עיני: I will counsel thee with mine eye; but in every other instance, יָעַץ עַל means only a hostile determination against any one, e.g., Isa 7:5. The form of address, without changing its object, passes over, in Psa 32:9, into the plural and the expression becomes harsh in perfect keeping with the perverted character which it describes. The sense is on the whole clear: not constrained, but willing obedience is becoming to man, in distinction from an irrational animal which must be led by a bridle drawn through its mouth. The asyndeton clause: like a horse, a mule (פֶּרֶד as an animal that is isolated and does not pair; cf. Arab. fard, alone of its kind, single, unlike, the opposite of which is Arab. zawj, a pair, equal number), has nothing remarkable about it, cf. Psa 35:14; Isa 38:14. But it is not clear what עֶדְיֹו is intended to mean. We might take it in its usual signification “ornament,” and render “with bit and bridle, its ornament,” and perhaps at once recognise therein an allusion to the senseless servility of the animal, viz., that its ornament is also the means by which it is kept in check, unless עֲדִי, ornament, is perhaps directly equivalent to “harness.” Still the rendering of the lxx is to be respected: in camo et fraeno - as Jerome reproduces it - maxilas eorum constringere qui non approximant ad te. If עֲדִי means jaw, mouth or check, then עֶדְיֹו לִבְלֹום is equivalent to ora eorum obturanda sunt (Ges. §132, rem. 1), which the lxx expressed by ἄγξαι, constringe, or following the Cod. Alex., ἄγξις (ἄγξεις), constringes. Like Ewald and Hitzig (on Eze 16:7), we may compare with עֲדִי, the cheek, the Arabic chadd, which, being connected with גְּדוּד, a furrow, signifies properly the furrow of the face, i.e., the indented part running downwards from the inner corners of the eyes to both sides of the nose, but then by synecdoche the cheek. If `dyw refers to the mouth or jaws, then it looks as if בַּל קְרֹב אֵלֶיךָ must be translated: in order that they may not come too near thee, viz., to hurt thee (Targ., Syriac, Rashi, etc.); but this rendering does not produce any point of comparison corresponding to the context of this Psalm. Therefore, it is rather to be rendered: otherwise there is no coming near to thee. This interpretation takes the emphasis of the בל into account, and assumes that, according to a usage of the language that is without further support, one might, for instance, say: בַּל לֶכְתִּי שָׁמָּה, “I will never go thither.” In Pro 23:17, בל also includes within itself the verb to be. So here: by no means an approaching to thee, i.e., there is, if thou dost not bridle them, no approaching or coming near to thee. These words are not addressed to God, but to man, who is obliged to use harsh and forcible means in taming animals, and can only thus keep them under his control and near to him. In the antitype, it is the sinner, who will not come to God, although God only is his help, and who, as David has learned by experience, must first of all endure inward torture, before he comes to a right state of mind. This agonising life of the guilty conscience which the ungodly man leads, is contrasted in Psa 32:10 with the mercy which encompasses on all sides him, who trusts in God. רַבִּים, in accordance with the treatment of this adjective as if it were a numeral (vid., Psa 89:51), is an attributive or adjective placed before its noun. The final clause might be rendered: mercy encompasses him; but the Poel and Psa 32:7 favour the rendering: with mercy doth He encompass him.