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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 37:23 - 37:23
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By Jahve (מִן, ἀπό, almost equivalent to ὑπό with the passive, as in Job 24:1; Ecc 12:11, and in a few other passages) are a man's steps made firm, established; not: ordered or directed (lxx, Jerome, κατευθύνεται), which, according to the extant usage of the language, would be הוּכָנוּ (passive of הֵכִין, Pro 16:9; Jer 10:23; 2Ch 27:6), whereas כּוֹנָנוּ, the Pulal of כֹּונֵן, is to be understood according to Psa 40:3. By גֶּבֶר is meant man in an emphatic sense (Job 38:3), and in fact in an ethical sense; compare, on the other hand, the expression of the more general saying, “Man proposes, and God disposes,” Pro 16:9; Pro 20:24; Jer 10:23. Psa 37:23 shows that it is the upright man that is meant in Psa 37:23: to the way, i.e., course of life, of such an one God turns with pleasure (יֶחְפָּץ pausal change of vowel for יַחְפֹּץ): supposing he should fall, whether it be a fall arising from misfortune or from error, or both together, he is not prostrated, but Jahve upholds his hand, affords it a firm point of support or fulcrum (cf. תָּמַךְ בְּ, Psa 63:9, and frequently), so that he can raise himself again, rise up again.