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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 72:1 - 72:1
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The name of God, occurring only once, is Elohim; and this is sufficient to stamp the Psalm as an Elohimic Psalm. מֶלֶךְ (cf. Psa 21:2) and בֶּן־מֶלֶךְ are only used without the article according to a poetical usage of the language. The petition itself, and even the position of the words, show that the king's son is present, and that he is king; God is implored to bestow upon him His מִשְׁפָּטִים, i.e., the rights or legal powers belonging to Him, the God of Israel, and צְדָקָה, i.e., the official gift in order that he may exercise those rights in accordance with divine righteousness. After the supplicatory teen the futures which now follow, without the Waw apodoseos, are manifestly optatives. Mountains and hills describe synecdochically the whole land of which they are the high points visible afar off. נָשָׂא is used in the sense of נָשָׂא פְּרִי Eze 17:8 : may שָׁלֹום be the fruit which ripens upon every mountain and hill; universal prosperity satisfied and contented within itself. The predicate for Psa 72:3 is to be taken from Psa 72:3, just as, on the other hand, בִּצְדָקָה, “in or by righteousness,” the fruit of which is indeed peace (Isa 32:17), belongs also to Psa 72:3; so that consequently both members supplement one another. The wish of the poet is this: By righteousness, may there in due season be such peaceful fruit adorning all the heights of the land. Psa 72:3, however, always makes one feel as though a verb were wanting, like תִּפְרַחְנָה suggested by Böttcher. In Psa 72:4 the wishes are continued in plain unfigurative language. הֹושִׁיעַ in the signification to save, to obtain salvation for, has, as is frequently the case, a dative of the object. בְּנַי־אֶבְיֹון are those who are born to poverty, just like בֶּן־מֶלֶךְ, one who is born a king. Those who are born to poverty are more or less regarded, by an unrighteous government, as having no rights.