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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 68:15 - 68:15
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This victory of Israel over the kings of the Gentiles gives the poet the joyful assurance that Zion is the inaccessible dwelling-place of Elohim, the God of the heavenly hosts. The mention of Zalmon leads him to mention other mountains. He uses the mountains of Bashan as an emblem of the hostile powers east of Jordan. These stand over against the people of God, as the mighty mountains of Bashan rising in steep, only slightly flattened peaks, to little hill-like Zion. In the land on this side Jordan the limestone and chalk formation with intermingled strata of sandstone predominates; the mountains of Bashan, however, are throughout volcanic, consisting of slag, lava, and more particularly basalt (basanites), which has apparently taken its name from Bashan (Basan).
(Note: This is all the more probable as Semitism has no proper word for basalt; in Syria it is called hag'ar aswad, “black stone.”)
As a basalt range the mountains of Bashan are conspicuous among other creations of God, and are therefore called “the mountain of Elohim:” the basalt rises in the form of a cone with the top lopped off, or even towers aloft like so many columns precipitous and rugged to sharp points; hence the mountains of Bashan are called הַר גַּבְנֻנִּים, i.e., a mountain range (for הַר, as is well known, signifies both the single eminence and the range of summits) of many peaks = a many-peaked mountain; גַּבְנֹן is an adjective like רַֽעֲנָן, אֻמְלָל. With this boldly formed mass of rock so gloomily majestic, giving the impression of antiquity and of invincibleness, when compared with the ranges on the other side of unstable porous limestone and softer formations, more particularly with Zion, it is an emblem of the world and its powers standing over against the people of God as a threatening and seemingly invincible colossus. The poet asks these mountains of Bashan “why,” etc.? רָצַד is explained from the Arabic rṣd, which, in accordance with its root Arab. rṣ, signifies to cleave firmly to a place (firmiter inhaesit loco), properly used of a beast of prey couching down and lying in wait for prey, of a hunter on the catch, and of an enemy in ambush; hence then: to lie in wait for, lurk, ἐνεδρεύειν, craftily, insidiose (whence râṣid, a lier-in-wait, tarraṣṣud, an ambush), here: to regard enviously, invidiose. In Arabic, just as in this instance, it is construed as a direct transitive with an accusative of the object, whereas the original signification would lead one to look for a dative of the object (רָצַד לְ), which does also really occur in the common Arabic. Olewejored is placed by גבננים, but what follows is not, after all, the answer: “the mountain - Elohim has chosen it as the seat of His throne,” but הָהָר is the object of the interrogative clause: Quare indiviose observatis, montes cacuminosi, hunc montem (δεικτικῶς: that Zion yonder), quem, etc. (an attributive clause after the determinate substantive, as in Psa 52:9; Psa 89:50, and many other instances, contrary to the Arabic rule of style). Now for the first time, in Psa 68:17, follows that which is boastfully and defiantly contrasted with the proud mountains: “Jahve will also dwell for ever;” not only that Elohim has chosen Zion as the seat of His throne, it will also continue to be the seat of His throne, Jahve will continue to dwell [there] for ever. Grace is superior to nature, and the church superior to the world, powerful and majestic as this may seem to be. Zion maintains its honour over against the mountains of Bashan.
Psa 68:18
Psa 68:18 now describes the kind of God, so to speak, who sits enthroned on Zion. The war-chariots of the heavenly hosts are here collectively called רֶכֶב, as in 2Ki 6:17. רִבֹּתִים (with Dechî, not Olewejored) is a dual from רִבֹּות; and this is either an abstract noun equivalent to רִבּוּת (from which comes the apocopated רִבֹּו = רִבּוּ), a myriad, consequently רִבֹּתַיִם, two myriads, or a contracted plural out of רִבֹּאחת, Ezr 2:69, therefore the dual of a plural (like הֹומֹותַיִם, לוּהֹותַיִם): an indefinite plurality of myriads, and this again doubled (Hofmann). With this sense, in comparison with which the other is poor and meagre, also harmonies the expression אַלְפֵי שִׂנְאָן, thousands of repetition (ἅπαξ λεγομ = שִׂנְיָן), i.e., thousands and again thousands, numberless, incalculable thousands; cf. the other and synonymous expression in Dan 7:10.
(Note: Tradition (Targum, Saadia, and Abulwalîd) takes שִׂנְאָן forthwith as a synonym of מלאך, an angel. So also the lxx (Jerome): χιλιάδες εὐθηνούντων (שׁנאן = שׁאנן), and Symmachus, χιλιάδες ὴχούντων (from שָׁאָה?). The stem-word is, however, שָׁנָה, just as שְׁנַיִם, Arabic thinân, ithnân, is also formed from a singular that is to be assumed, viz., שֵׁן, Arab. ṯinun (iṯnun), and this from שָׁנָה, Arab. ṯnâ (cf. בֵּן from בָּנָה, Arab. banâ).)
It is intended to give a conception of the “hosts” which Elohim is to set in array against the “kings of hosts,” i.e., the martial power of the kingdom of the world, for the protection and for the triumph of His own people. Chariots of fire and horses of fire appear in 2Ki 2:11; 2Ki 6:17 as God's retinue; in Dan 7:10 it is angelic forces that thus make themselves visible. They surround Him on both sides in many myriads, in countless thousands. אֲדֹנָי בָם (with Beth raphatum),
(Note: This is one of the three passages (the others being Isa 34:11; Eze 23:42; cf. Ew. §93, b) in which the dageshing of the opening mute of the following word is given up after a soft final consonant, when the words are connected by a conjunctive accent or Makkeph.))
the Lord is among them (cf. Isa 45:14), i.e., they are round about Him, He has them with Him (Jer 41:15), and is present with them. It now becomes clear why Sinai is mentioned, viz., because at the giving of the Law Jahve revealed Himself on Sinai surrounded by “ten thousands of saints” (Deu 33:2.). But in what sense is it mentioned? Zion, the poet means, presents to the spiritual eye now a spectacle such as Sinai presented in the earlier times, although even Sinai does not belong to the giants among the mountains:
(Note: Cf. the epigram in Sadi's Garden of Roses, “Of all mountains Sinai is the smallest, and yet the greatest in rank and worth in the estimation of God,” etc. On the words סיני בקדשׁ which follow we may to a certain extent compare the name of honour given to it in Arabic, ṭûr m‛ana, “Sinai of Pensiveness” (Pertsch, Die persischen Handschriften der Gothaer Bibliothek, 1859, S. 24).)
God halts there with His angel host as a protection and pledge of victory to His people. The conjectures בא מסיני and בם מסיני (Hitzig) are of no use to us. We must either render it: Sinai is in the sanctuary, i.e., as it were transferred into the sanctuary of Zion; or: a Sinai is it in holiness, i.e., it presents a spectacle such as Sinai presented when God by His appearing surrounded it with holiness. The use of the expression בַּקֹּדֶשׂ in Psa 68:25, Psa 77:14; Exo 15:11, decides in favour of the latter rendering.
With Psa 68:19 the Psalm changes to prayer. According to Psa 7:8; Psa 47:6, לַמָּרֹום appears to be the height of heaven; but since in Psa 68:16-18 Zion is spoken of as Jahve's inaccessible dwelling-place, the connection points to מָרֹום צִיֹּון, Jer 31:12, cf. Eze 17:23; Eze 20:40. Moreover the preterites, which under other circumstances we should be obliged to take as prophetic, thus find their most natural explanation as a retrospective glance at David's storming of “the stronghold of Zion” (2Sa 5:6-10) as the deed of Jahve Himself. But we should exceed the bounds of legitimate historical interpretation by referring לָקַחְתָּ מַתָּנֹות בָּאָדָם to the Nethı̂nim, Ezr 8:20 (cf. Num 17:6), those bondmen of the sanctuary after the manner of the Gibeonites, Jos 9:23. The Beth of באדם is not Beth substantiae: gifts consisting of men, so that these themselves are the thing given (J. D. Michaelis, Ewald), but the expression signifies inter homines, as in Psa 78:60; 2Sa 23:3; Jer 32:20. עָלִיתָ לַמָּרֹום mentions the ascending of the triumphant One; שָׁבִיתָ שֶּׁבִי (cf. Jdg 5:12), the subjugation of the enemy; לָקַחְתָּ וגו, the receiving of the gifts betokening homage and allegiance (Deu 28:38, and frequently), which have been presented to Him since He has taken possession of Zion - there He sits enthroned henceforth over men, and receives gifts like to the tribute which the vanquished bring to the victor. These He has received among men, and even (וְאַף, atque etiam, as in Lev 26:29-32) among the rebellious ones. Or does a new independent clause perhaps begin with וְאַף סֹֽורֲרִים? This point will be decided by the interpretation of the words that follow. Side by side with an infinitive with לְ expressing a purpose, the one following noun (here a twofold name) has the assumption against it of being the subject. Is יה אלהים then consequently the object, or is it an apostrophe? If it be taken as the language of address, then the definition of the purpose, לשׁכן, ought, as not being suited to what immediately precedes, to refer back to עלית; but this word is too far off. Thus, therefore, the construction of יה אלהים with לשכן, as its object, is apparently intended (Ewald, Hupfeld): and even the rebellious are to dwell (Ges. §132, rem. 1) with Jāh Elohim descend and dwell; the Syriac version: and even the rebellious will (“not” is probably to be crossed out) dwell before God (יעמדון קדם אלהא); and Jerome: insuper et non credentes inhabitare Dominum Deum. Thus Theodoret also understands the versions of the lxx and of Aquila: “Thou hast not regarded their former disobedience, but notwithstanding their rebellion hast Thou continually been gracious to them ἕως αὐτοὺς oikeetee'rion oikei'on ape'feenas.” The expression, however, sounds too grand to have “the rebellious ones” as its subject, and more particularly in view of Psa 68:7. Hence we take וְאַף סֹֽורֲרִים with בָּאָדָם: and even among rebellious ones (hast Thou received gifts), or: and even rebellious ones (give Thee); and לִשְׁכֹן as a clause denoting the purpose, followed by the subject (as e.g., in 2Sa 19:20): in order that Jāh Elohim may dwell, i.e., continue to dwell (as in Psa 68:17, cf. Isa 57:15).
The first half of the Psalm ends here. With the words Jāh Elohim the Psalm has reached a summit upon which it takes its rest. God has broken forth on behalf of His people against their enemies, and He now triumphs over and on behalf of men. The circumstance of Elohim arising is the raise of the final glory, and His becoming manifest as Jāh Elohim is its zenith. Paul (Eph 4:8) gathers up the meaning of Psa 68:19, without following the lxx, in the following manner: ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αιχμαλωσίαν καὶ ἔδωκε δόματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Might he perhaps have had the Targum, with which the Syriac version agrees, in his mind at the time: יְחַבְתָּא לְהֹון מַתְנָן לִבְנֵי נְשָׂא? He interprets in the light and in the sense of the history that realizes it. For the ascension of Elohim in its historical fulfilment is none other than the ascension of Christ. This latter was, however, as the Psalm describes it, a triumphal procession (Col 2:15); and what the Victor has gained over the powers of darkness and of death, He has gained not for His own aggrandisement, but for the interests of men. It is מַתָּנֹות בָּאָדָם, gifts which He now distributes among men, and which benefit even the erring ones. So the apostle takes the words, inasmuch as he changes ἔλαβες into ἔδωκε. The gifts are the charismata which come down from the Exalted One upon His church.
(Note: In this respect Ps 68 is the most appropriate Psalm for the Dominica Pentecostes, just as it is also, in the Jewish ritual, the Psalm of the second Shabuoth day.)
It is a distribution of gifts, a dispensing of blessing, which stands related to His victory as its primary cause; for as Victor He is also the possessor of blessing, His gifts are as it were the spoils of the victory He has gained over sin, death, and Satan.
(Note: Just so Hölemann in the second division of his Bibelstudien (1861); whereas to Hormann (Schriftbeweis, ii. 482ff.) the New Testament application of the citation from the Psalm is differently brought about, because he refers neither ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν nor κατέβη εἰς τὰ κατώτερα μέρη τῆς γῆς to the descent of the Lord into Hades.)
The apostle is the more warranted in this interpretation, since Elohim in what follows is celebrated as the Lord who also brings out of death. This praise in the historical fulfilment applies to Him, who, as Theodoret observes on Psa 68:21, has opened up the prison-house of death, which for us had no exit, and burst the brazen doors, and broken asunder the iron bolts,
(Note: Just so that portion of the Gospel of Nicodemus that treats of Christ's descent into Hades; vis. Tischendorf, Evangelia Apocryph. (1853), p. 307.)
viz., to Jesus Christ, who now has the keys of Death and of Hades.