Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 96:4 - 96:4

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Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 96:4 - 96:4


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Confirmation of the call from the glory of Jahve that is now become manifest. The clause Psa 96:4, as also Psa 145:3, is taken out of Psa 48:2. כל־אלהים is the plural of כָּל־אֱלֹוהַּ, every god, 2Ch 32:15; the article may stand here or be omitted (Psa 95:3, cf. Psa 113:4). All the elohim, i.e., gods, of the peoples are אֱלִילִים (from the negative אַל), nothings and good-for-nothings, unreal and useless. The lxx renders δαιμόνια, as though the expression were שֵׁדִים (cf. 1Co 10:20), more correctly εἴδωλα in Rev 9:20. What Psa 96:5 says is wrought out in Isa 40, Isa 44, and elsewhere; אלילים is a name of idols that occurs nowhere more frequently than in Isaiah. The sanctuary (Psa 96:6) is here the earthly sanctuary. From Jerusalem, over which the light arises first of all (Isa. 60), Jahve's superterrestrial doxa now reveals itself in the world. הֹוד־וְהָדָר is the usual pair of words for royal glory. The chronicler reads Psa 96:6 עֹז וְחֶדְוָה בִּמְקֹמֹו, might and joy are in His place (הֶדְוָה( ecalp siH ni era yoj d a late word, like אַֽחֲוָה, brotherhood, brotherly affection, from an old root, Exo 18:9). With the place of God one might associate the thought of the celestial place of God transcending space; the chronicler may, however, have altered במקדשׁו into במקמו because when the Ark was brought in, the Temple (בית המקדשׁ) was not yet built.