Սաղմոս / Psalms - 1 |

Text:
< PreviousՍաղմոս - 1 Psalms - 1Next >


jg▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ mh▾ tb▾ armz▾ all ▾
Zohrap 1805
ԵՐԱՆԵԼՒՈՅՆ ԵՊԻՓԱՆՈՒ

Եպիսկոպոսի կիպրացւոյ՝ Յաղագս երգոց սաղմոսարանի

Զամենայն ինչ զոր ասաց հայրն մեր Աթանաս, զոր լուեալ էր նորա ՚ի հոգեկիր ծերոյն՝ բաւական համարեցաք պատմել, փոքր ՚ի շատէ, եւ դնել ՚ի տեղի առաջաբանի. քանզի հոգեխառն մտօք իմացաւ՝ որ ինչ շնորհեցաւ նմա յԱստուծոյ։ Եւ ցո՛յց ամենեցուն որք կամիցին օգտել. զի եւ մե՛ր առեալ նպաստաւորութիւն ՚ի հոգեխառնութենէ նորա, որպէս ոմանք ՚ի հոգւոյն Մովսիսի, եւ Եղիսէէ յԵղիայէ, աղօթիւք ձերովք եւ յի՛ս հանգիցէ հոգի շնորհացն Աթանասի մտանել ՚ի պատմութիւն սաղմոսացս եւ ցուցանել զբազմադէմ եւ զդժուարագիւտ միտս սաղմոսարանիս։ Արդ՝ որ ասեն թէ՝ Սաղմոս որդւոց Կորխայ, եւ կամ՝ Իմաստութիւն. զբա՛նսն զոր մարգարէանայր Դաւիթ՝ որդիքն Կորխայ դասագլուխ եղեալ զյեղանակս ձայնիցն նուագէին գեղեցկապէս, զա՛յն կոչէ Իմաստութիւն որդւոցն Կորխայ։ Իսկ որ ասեն թէ՝ Սաղմոս յԱսափ, եւ Իդիթովմ եւ յա՛յլս ուրուք, եւ նոքա առաջնորդք դասուց պարուն, որք իւրաքանչիւր նուագարանօք եւ ձայնիւք առաջնորդէին, զոր Դաւի՛թ էր ասացեալ։ Է՛ զի եւ Դաւիթ ընդ նոսա երգէր. է՛ զի զուսեալսն ՚ի Դաւթայ առանց նորա երգեալ նուագէին. եւ է՛ զի հոգի շնորհացն յերգելն նոցա հոգեխառնե՛լ, մարգարէախա՛ռն որպէս ընդ Դաւթին ասէին եւ նուագէին. զոր երանելւոյն Դաւթի ՚ի վերայ հասեալ ՚ի վարդապետութենէ Հոգւոյն Սրբոյ, եւ զանուն եւս գրէր զնոցա. այլ Դաւիթ ինքնին իսկ էր պատճառք ամենայն սաղմոսարանիս, որպէս եղէգն գրողի՝ որ թացեալ եւ ներկեալ էր շնորհօք Հոգւոյն Սրբոյ, ըստ իւրաքանչիւր դիմաց եւ առակաց երգէր եւ մարգարէանայր։ Իսկ որ ասեն թէ՝ Հանգիստ, քանզի քնարա՛ւ եւ ձայնիւ՝ եւ երբեմն կաքաւելով երգէր եւ սաղմոսէր։ Իսկ յորժամ ձայնիւ լոկ նուագէր եւ սաղմոսէր, եւ կամ առանց կաքաւելոյ քնարահարութեամբ միայն, եւ կամ միով իւիք յեղանակաւ, զա՛յն կոչէ Հանգիստ։ Իսկ որ ասէն, թէ՝ Սաղմոս յարձանագիր. ա՛յս է՝ զի արձան ո՛չ եթէ ՚ի վերայ գերեզմանաց միայն արձանագիր, այլ եւ որք ՚ի պատերազմունս յաղթութիւնս առնեն՝ կանգնեն արձանս, եւ գրեն զամենայն պատերազմացն յաղթութիւնս, որպէս եւ երանելին Դաւիթ առներ, զի որք անտեղեակք իցեն, եւ որք ո՛չ գիտիցեն զգիրս՝ յարձանագրէն իմացեալ ծանիցեն, զա՛յս նշանակէ այժմ Արձանագիրս ասելով երանելին Դաւիթ. զի որպէս յարձանի՛ գրեալ մարգարէացաւ զյաղթութիւնս Տեառն մերոյ Յիսուսի Քրիստոսի, ՚ի վերայ կարծեցեալ անպարտելի թշնամւոյն, որպէս պատմեցաւ մեզ ամենեցուն։ Եւ որ ասէ թէ՝ Սաղմոս ՚ի կատարած վասն հնծանաց, Եւթանասուն եւ երկու թարգմանիչքն՝ կատարած ասացին, եւ Ակիւղաս եւ Թէոդիտոն՝ յաղթահարութիւն ասացին. իսկ Սիմաքոս՝ յաղթութիւն ասաց. ա՛յս է՝ զոր ՚ի վախճան ժամանակաց կատարեցաւ յաղթութիւնս Քրիստոսի առ թշնամին Աստուծոյ, եւ ամենեւին ազատեալ մինչ ՚ի սպառ զազգս մարդկան ՚ի բռնութենէ Սատանայի, ա՛յս է ասելն ՚ի կատարած։ Իսկ՝ վասն հնծանացն, հնծան՝ զեկեղեցի՛ կոչեաց. քանզի եւ Տէրն ինքնին իսկ այգի՛ անուանեցաւ ասելով. Ե՛ս եմ այգի ճշմարիտ. իսկ որք հաւատով յայգւոյ յայսմանէ կթեն զմեծ խորհուրդ կազմեալ՝ մեծաւ ուրախութեամբ ճաշակեն զյօրինեալ գինին ՚ի կողահոս աղբերէն։ Իսկ որ՝ վասն ժառանգաւորին ասէ. որք զվերնագիրս մեկնեցին եւ թարգմանեցին՝ Ժառանգաւոր կոչի Բանն Աստուծոյ, ա՛յս ինքն միածին Որդի նորա, եւ միաբանեալք ընդ նմա եկեղեցի իւր՝ կոչին ժառանգաւորք. քանզի է գլուխ Քրիստոս, եւ անդամք նորա եկեղեցի՝ մարդիկ որ ըստ աստուածպաշտութեան վարեն զկեանս իւրեանց սրբութեամբ հոգւոյն. զի ասացեալ է Տեառն ՚ի սուրբ Աւետարանին. Եկայք օրհնեալք Հօր իմոյ ժառանգեցէք զարքայութիւն զպատրաստեալն ձեզ իսկզբանէ աշխարհի։

Իսկ՝ Ալէլուիա ճդ̃ սաղմոսին, ուսուցանէ օրհնել զամենեցունն Աստուած. քանզի ալէլուիա՝ Եւթանասունքն՝ գովեցէք զՏէր թարգմանեցին. իսկ Եբրայեցին թէ՝ Բարի է սաղմոս, իսկ Սիմաքոս անթարգման իսկ եթող. իսկ Թէոդիտոն թէ՝ Գովեցէք. զոր եւ երանելին Դաւիթ զաստուածահաճոյ ընթացեալ ճանապարհ. եւ թէ խոտորեցաւ գայթագղեալ, դարձեալ միւսանգամ արտասուօ՛ք հետեւեալ աստուածայնոցն օրինաց, որպէս պատմէ ՚ի ճժը̃ սաղմոսին. զի արժա՛ն է մեզ ՚ի նմանէ առնուլ տարացոյց իւրային ուրուք յարդարել ախտից դեղս. վասն զի ալէլուիա որպէս նախագոյն թարգմանեցին գովեցէք զՏէր է՝ ըստ Ելլադացւո՛ցն ձայնին. եւ արդ՝ նշանակէ ալէլու՝ գովեցէք. իսկ իա՝ զՏէր կամ զէ՛ն։

Իսկ որ ասեն՝ ե՛րգ աստիճանաց, Թէոդիտոն՝ երգ ասաց ելից, իսկ Սիմաքոս եւ Ակիւղաս՝ երգ յելս. եւ յայտնի են այսուհետեւ ելք եւ աստիճանք զգերեալ ժողովրդեանն եւ զօթեւանացն բանակետղս, զոր եւ մերձակայ բնակիչքն տխրեալ ընդ Հրէիցն ազատութիւն, միաբանեալ ՚ի պատերազմն բարբարոս հեթանոսօք ժողովեալ ընդ ինքեանս ՚ի վերայ նոցա գումարեցան, կամեցեալ անյիշատակել զնոսա։ Իսկ բոլորեցունցն Աստուած իւրայո՛ցն օգնականեաց բաւականապէս, զոր եւ երանելին Դաւիթ զյուսացեալսն ՚ի Տէր որպէս զլեառն Սիոն ո՛չ սասանեալ յաւիտեան, եւ Տէր շո՛ւրջ է զժողովրդեամբ իւրով։ Իսկ բազումք ՚ի Հրէիցն ունելով ապառո՛ւմ բարս, ընդդիմանալով աստուածային հրամանացն որ առ Կիւրոս՝ ո՛չ կամէին դառնալ. իսկ ազատեալքն եւ արձակեալքն զազգակիցսն մաղթէին հետեւել յղձալի քաղաքն Երուսաղէմ։ Եւ որպէս առ Րոբովամաւ ճեղքեցա՛ն ցեղքն, եւ մասունք տասն Յորոբովամու հետեւեցին, եւ երկո՛ւ Դաւթեան թագաւորութեանն հնազանդեցան. այժմ ՚ի դարձիս ՚ի Բաբելոնէ յառաջատեսօղ Հոգւոյն ՚ի ճլբ̃ սաղմոսին զմիաբանութիւն եւ զմիաձայնութիւն սիրել, եւ ընդ միմեանս վսեմութեամբ՝ երգէր երանելին Դաւիթ. Ահա զի՞ բարի կամ զի՞ վայելուչ, զի բնակին եղբարք ՚ի միասին։

Իսկ որ՝ անվերնագիր ասի ըստ Եբրայեցւոց, յանդգունք ոմանք եւ իրահամարձակք, վերնագրեցին զԴաւթին՝ Երեմիայի եւ Անգէի եւ Զաքարիայի՛ անուանեցին. եւ այն իսկ եղծումն վերնագրին՝ քարոզէ զվերագրելոցն զանմտութիւն. զի Երեմիաս ո՛չ երբէք վարեցաւ ընդ գերեալսն ՚ի Բաբելոն. այլ դոյզն ինչ ընդ յԵրուսաղէմ անցուցեալ աւուրս ինչ, եւ յանօրէն Հրէիցն բռնադատեալ յԵգիպտո՛ս ճանապարհորդեալ ընդ նոսա. եւ չյարմարի ասել Երեմիայի, թէ՝ Առ գետովն Բաբելացւոց նստէաք եւ լայաք. այլ նոցի՛ն իսկ գերելոցն ուսեալք զԴաւթայն երգեն, եւ պատմեն զառ ՚ի Բաբելոնի պատահումն. քանզի ո՛չ իսկ սուտ լինի երգ երից մանկանցն. ասէ. Ո՛չ գոյ ՚ի ժամանակի յայսմիկ ՚ի միջի մերում ո՛չ իշխան, ո՛չ մարգարէ, ո՛չ առաջնորդ բա՛ց ՚ի Դանիելէ։ Եւ ՚ի լնուլ եւթանասո՛ւն ամաց ՚ի Բաբելոնի առ Դարեհի՛ւ արքայիւ մարգարէանային Անգեաս եւ Զաքարիաս։

Իսկ հա̃ սաղմոսն որ ասի թէ ՚ի Սաղոմոն, վասն Սողոմոնի եւ ո՛չ մի ինչ դէմս գտանեմք ՚ի սաղմոսարանիս ասացեալ. Զի ո՛չ ՚ի ծագաց մինչեւ ՚ի ծագս երկրի թագաւորեաց. եւ. Ո՛չ յառաջ քան զարուսեակ անուն նորա. եւ. Ո՛չ ամենայն թագաւորք երկրի երկրպագեցին նմա. եւ. Ո՛չ փրկեաց զամենայն հեթանոսս։ Այլ ճշմարտիւ ասացեալ է զսաղմոսս վասն միայնոյ Որդւոյն Աստուծոյ, որ էն թագաւոր թագաւորաց եւ Աստուած ճշմարիտ, եւ. Յառաջ քան զարուսեակ անուն նորա. եւ վասն մերոյ փրկութեան մա՛րդ եղեալ կեցոյց զաշխարհ։ Զա՛յս երգէր երանելին Դաւիթ. Աստուած զիրաւունս քո արքայի տուր, եւ զարդարութիւնս քո որդւոյ թագաւորի։

Իսկ զճխգ̃ սաղմոսն Դաւթի գտի՛ յօրինակս ուրեմն, թէ ՚ի Գողիադ. զոր ո՛չ յԵբրայեցւոջն, եւ ո՛չ յա՛յլ թարգմանիչսն, եւ ո՛չ յԵւթանասնիցն եւ ո՛չ ՚ի Վեցիջեանսն. այլ զդարձէն ՚ի Բաբելոնէ յարուցելոց պատերազմողացն ՚ի վերայ Հրէիցն մարգարէանայ. զոր եւ բազումք ՚ի մարգարէիցն նոյնպէս յիշեցին. զոր եւ երանելին Դաւիթ երգէ, եւ առ բոլոր հաւատացեալս ասէ. Օրհնեալ է Տէր Աստուած իմ, որ ուսոյց զձեռս իմ ՚ի պատերազմ, գործել ձեռօք զարդարութիւն ընդդէմ սատանայական որոգայթիցն, ընդ որում ո՛չն է մարտ ընդ մարմնոյ եւ ընդ արեան. եւ զմատունսն իմ ՚ի ճակատամարտ. մատամբ դրոշմեալ զնշա՛ն խաչին ՚ի ճակատս մեր ՚ի վանումն հակառակամարտին, անմարմին Գողիադու։ Ա՛յսպէս առաք զաւանդութիւնս զայս ՚ի հարցն բանիւք եւ մտաւորութեամբ. եւ. Որպէս զմե՛ր իսկ զբանս խօսել ՚ի տուէ եւ ՚ի գիշերի. որպէս եւ շնորհեցաւ մեզ ՚ի փրկչէն մերմէ Քրիստոսէ, Ճանաչել զնա եւ զգործս նորա. եւ. Որպէս զպատկեր օրինակի առաջի աչաց ունել, եւ. Գնա՛լ ըստ պատուիրանի նորա, որ վասն մեր եղեւ մարդ, եւ. Մատնեաց զանձն իւր ՚ի մահ վասն փրկութեան մերոյ, զի զամենեսեան փրկեսցէ ՚ի մահուանէ։ Արդ՝ մի՛ լիցուք դիւրախաբք ՚ի թշնամւոյն. վասն զի առաք մեք զաւանդութիւն առհաւատչեայ ՚ի զգուշութիւն հոգեւո՛ր երգարանին։

Իսկ ՚ի ճխե̃ սաղմոսին գտի ուրեմն յօրինակս առընթերագրեալ ՚ի վերնագրին՝ Անգեայ եւ Զաքարիայ, զոր ո՛չ յԵբրայեցւոջն եւ ո՛չ յայլ թարգմանիչսն, եւ ո՛չ յԵւթանասնիցն եւ ո՛չ ՚ի Վեցիջեանսն գտի։ Օրհնե՛լ այսուհետեւ յորդորէ երանելիս Դաւիթ զամենեցունն Աստուած. զոր վերնագիրս յա՛յտ առնէ թէ՝ ալէլուիա. եւ ասէ թէ՝ Օրհնեա՛ անձն իմ զՏէր, եւ օրհնեցից զՏէր ՚ի կեանս իմ, զոր եւ Անգեա եւ Զաքարիա յետ դարձին ՚ի գերութենէն ՚ի շինելն զտաճարն ՚ի Զորաբաբիլէ, երգ առեալ նուագէին թէ՝ Շինէ՛ զԵրուսաղէմ Տէր, եւ զցրուեալսն Իսրայէլի ժողովէ։

Արդ՝ որպէս յառաջագոյն ցուցաք թէ ինքն Դաւիթ էր պատճառք ամենայն սաղմոսացս, որպէս եղէգն գրչի որ թացեալ եւ ներկեալ լինի, այսպէս եւ երանելին Դաւիթ ներկեա՛լ շնորհօք Հոգւոյն Սրբոյ առ ՚ի յերգել զերգս հոգեւոր նուագարանացս, որ ցուցանէ զտիրակա՛նն իշխանութիւն Հօր ամենեցուն, եւ սկիզբն եւ պատճառ գոլ էիցս, արմատ կենդանութեան, ուստի յառաջ եկն աղբեւրն կենաց՝ իմաստութիւնն զօրութիւնն պատկերն անայլայլելի անտեսանելւոյն Աստուծոյ. որով ընկալաք զզօրութիւն Սուրբ Հոգւոյն ՚ի ձեռն մարմնաւորութեան Որդւոյ. որում փառք յաւիտեանս. ամէն։

Եւ առանց գրոյ սաղմոսք՝ ժթ̃, եւ գրով՝ ճլա̃, եւ են այսոքիկ. Դաւթի հբ̃, Սողոմոնի՝ բ̃, Կորխայ՝ ժա̃, Ասափայ՝ ժբ̃, Մովսիսի՝ ա̃, Եթեմայ (Եմանայ)՝ ա̃, ալէլուիա՝ ժե̃, անանուն՝ ժէ̃, առանց գրոյ՝ ժթ̃. եւ են անուանք որ վերնագիր ունին, եւ ո՛չ յայտնի թէ ո՛յր են, միանգամայն՝ ճծ̃։

՚Ի հինգ մասն բաժանեն մանկունք Եբրայեցւոց զամենայն սաղմոսացն գիրս. իսկ հինգերորդն՝ ՚ի հարիւրորդէն վեցերորդէն մինչեւ ՚ի կատարած գրոցս։ Սաղմոսք Դաւթի ճծ̃. ըստ կարի սաղմոսեցին ճծ̃։ Գրոցս սաղմոսաց ա՛յսպէս է որոշողութիւն որ ՚ի ճշմարիտ օրինակաց, որպէս ոմանք կարծեցին՝ թէ ամենայն սաղմոսքն՝ Դաւթի ասացեալք, են այլ եւ այլոց մարգարէիցն՝ ՚ի սաղմոսել մարգարէացեալ։ Յաղագս որոյ ամենայն գիրքն Եբրայեցւոց ո՛չ միայն Դաւթի գրեն, այլ եւ անյա՛յտ Գիրք սաղմոսաց անուանին։ ՚Ի հինգ մասն բաժանին. են սաղմոսք որք ասին իւրաքանչիւր, Դաւթայ գրին սաղմոսք հբ̃, ՚ի Դաւիթ թ̃. Ասափայ ժբ̃, որդւոցն Կորխայ ժ̃, Իդիթոմայ ա̃, Եմանայ ա̃, Սողոմոնի բ̃, Անգէի եւ Զաքարիայի զ̃, առանց անուան ժզ̃, Մովսիսի ա̃, ալէլուիա է̃, աշտիճանաց ժգ̃[6550]։

[6550] Յօրինակին մերում զկնի առաջիկայ նախադրութեանս մակագրելոյ՝ Եպիփանու եպիսկոպոսի Կիպրացւոյ, (զոր եւ եթ ունին բազում գրչագիրք,) յաւելեալ լինի եւ այլ հատուած ինչ ճառի ՚ի վերայ սաղմոսաց, դարձեալ նմին Եպիփանու Կիպրացւոց մակագրեալ, որ սկսանի. Արդ առեալ ասէ Սամուէլ զեղջեւր եւ այլն. զոր բաց ՚ի մերմէս ունէր եւ այլ օրինակ մի՝ բայց յանուն Դաւթի փիլիսոփայի։ Արդ մեք զերկրորդիւ զայսու զանց արարեալ՝ փոխանակ նորա դիպողագոյն եւս համարեցաք՝ համեմատ այլոց գրոց յաւելեալ կարգել աստանօր զցանկ գլխակարգութեանց իւրաքանչիւր սաղմոսաց, առեալ յայլոց օրինակաց, որ պակասէր ՚ի մերումս։ Մանաւանդ զի եւ արտադրութիւն բանիցն նորա՝ ուշիմ քննողաց հաւանական իմն կարծիս տայ՝ նորին լինել գործ, որ զնախադրութիւնս եւ զցանկս անցն իւր գրոց Հնոց Կտակարանաց վայելչաբան հմտութեամբ յօրինեաց։
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
0: Название книги. Число псалмов. В еврейской Библии эта книга называется "тегиллим" или "сефер тегиллим", что значит - хваление, или книга хвалений, а в греческой Библии "yalthrion". Последним названием обозначался струнный инструмент наподобие нашей гитары, которым в древности у евреев сопровождалось большею частью исполнение песней Псалтири. Вся книга Псалтирь состоит из 151: песней, из которых первые 150: канонического достоинства, а последняя - 151: - неканонического. Каждая из этих песен, при многих частных особенностях в своем содержании и внешней форме изложения, имеет то общее со всеми другими, что предметом их обращения, источником и вдохновителем их авторов является Бог и Его многообразные свойства и дела, проявляемые во внешней природе и в жизни людей. Поэтому евр. название книги указывает на основной, внутренний характер содержания псалмов, как хвалебных песней Богу, а греч. надписание - на внешний способ исполнения их под аккомпанемент струнного инструмента.

Писатели псалмов. Все псалмы имеют цифровое обозначение но, кроме того, над многими из них встречаются названия лиц, со стоящей пред ними еврейской частицею "ле", указывающей на принадлежность этого псалма данному лицу, напр., "ле Давид", "ле Шеломо" и др. Подобные надписания означают, что данные псалмы написаны - один Давидом, другой Соломоном и т. д. Кроме Давида и Соломона, в надписаниях над псалмами встречаются еще имена Моисея, Асафа, Емана, Идифума и сынов Кореевых с предваряющею эти имена большею частью частицею "ле". Это показывает, что среди писателей Псалтири были и указанные лица.

Что писателями Псалтири были многие лица, об этом свидетельствует еще самое содержание псалмов и разнообразие в них внешней формы выражения мыслей. В псалмах, напр., встречаются указания на события до-Давидовского времени (Пс 89), Давидовского (Пс 2, 3, 4, 5: и мн. др.), допленного (Пс 90, 94: и др.) времени плена вавилонского (84, 105, 104, 136: и др.) и послепленного периода (117:, 119, 122, 124: и др.). Таким образом период времени, обнимаемый содержанием псалмов, в несколько десятков раз превышает среднюю продолжительность человеческой жизни, и одно лицо не могло быть свидетелем и изобразителем событий, указываемых Псалтирью.

Есть различие между псалмами и в характере изображения сходных предметов. Если сравнить, напр., Пс 4: с 7:9: или с 136, то нельзя не заметить, что при сходных предметах содержания (изображении врагов и своего отношения к ним) они разнятся в раскрытии этих предметов и в изображении отношений к ним авторов псалмов. В 4: Пс автор, преследуемый врагами, верит в помощь ему Бога и обращается к своим врагам с кротким увещанием одуматься, проверить мотивы своих действий и, пока не поздно, принести пред Богом покаяние и исправиться; в 7:9: Пс автор рисует свое положение безвыходным, а силу врагов непреоборимой, себя же совершенно оставленным Богом; в 136: же Пс враги вызывают в писателе чувство ненависти и жажду их гибели. Такое различие в изображении этими псалмами отношений к врагам, свидетельствующее о разнородности чувств их авторов, указывает, что писателями их были разные лица, а не одно лицо, так как последнему невозможно переживать при сходных обстоятельствах различные и даже противоположные чувства. Большое разнообразие в способах выражения мыслей и приемах письма (о чем будет подробнее указано ниже) тоже указывает на происхождение Псалтири от нескольких лиц, а не от одного писателя. Кроме того, в кн. 2: Пар (XXIX:30), мы имеем прямое указание, что во время Езекии славили Бога "словами Давида и Асафа прозорливца". По этому свидетельству за Асафом признается авторство и значение в составлении песней равное с Давидом, что указывает на признание писателями Псалтири уже не одного лица.

Существовало в древности мнение (св. Григорий Нисский, св. Амвросий Медиоланский, блаж. Иероним, св. Иоанн Златоуст и др.), которое иногда поддерживалось в позднейшее время, что Псалтирь принадлежит одному Давиду. В основание и подтверждение этого мнения указывают на то, что 1) в некоторых местах св. Писания при описании богослужения, совершаемого древними евреями, упоминается только имя Давида, как творца церковных песен (напр., 2: Пар VII:6; 1: Езд III:10); 2) в Новом Завете некоторые псалмы, не имеющие надписаний в еврейской Библии, считаются псалмами Давида, (Деян IV:26); 3) у древних евреев, равно также в первенствующей христианской церкви, принято было называть всю Псалтирь Давидовою, т. е. писанною одним Давидом. Встречающиеся же в надписаниях над псалмами имена других лиц, кроме Давида, и содержание псалмов, указывающее на времена после Давидовские, стараются объяснить в смысле указания на исполнителей, которым первоначально назначал их Давид, и даром пророчества, которым он обладал и, благодаря которому, мог предвидеть и описать события и после своего времени.

Мнение, противоположное только что приведенному, не было всеобщим и в древности. Многие отцы и учители церкви держались того взгляда на Псалтирь, что она произведение не одного лица, а нескольких (напр. Ориген, св. Афанасий Александрийский, св. Василий Вел., блаж. Иероним и др.), и это мнение среди ученых является преобладающим в настоящее время. Те же места свящ. Писания, которые выставляются защитниками первого мнения в свое подтверждение, имеют иной смысл. Напр. 2: Пар VII:6, равно также Евр IV:7: содержат в себе не определение происхождения Псалтири от Давида, не указание на имя автора этой книги, а выражают общераспространенное тогда название ее; 1-я же книга Ездры (IV:10) дает лишь общее указание на тот порядок совершения богослужения, который был установлен Давидом, и который евреями в плену не мог быть соблюдаем, теперь же, по возвращении из плена, этот устав был восстановлен во всей торжественности и полноте. Только свидетельство книги Деяний, где ее писатель, приводя изречение из 2: псалма, называет его словами "отрока Давида", дает точное указание на имя автора этого псалма, но не всей Псалтири. Объяснение же надписаний лиц других, кроме Давида, в смысле указания на первых исполнителей псалмов, произвольно; если пред этими именами, как пред именем Давида стоит частица "ле", и если псалмы с именем Давида в надписании считаются писанными именно Давидом, то по последовательности и все остальные псалмы должны считаться писанными теми лицами, имена которых стоят в надписаниях над ними. Попытка защитников первого мнения объяснить содержание псалмов, указывающих на события после Давидовского времени, даром пророчества Давида ошибочны: в содержании многих песней Псалтири встречаются черты, изображающие внешнее, случайное положение действующих лиц (Пс 136), или указание новых географических местностей (LXXI:10), чем пророчество не занимается: в сферу пророчества входит только то, что своим предметом имеет раскрытие состояния Царства Божьего на земле, предметы из области мессианской и религиозно-нравственной жизни, к чему многое в содержании Псалтири не имеет никакого отношения. Ввиду всего вышесказанного ссылка на общеустановившийся обычай называть Псалтирь Давидовою имеет другое значение: так как большинство псалмов в Псалтири принадлежит Давиду, и так как поэтический талант последнего был разнообразен и силен, то последующие писатели старались подражать ему как в содержании своих псалмов, так и во внешней форме изложения; таким образом, Давид, как внешне, так и внутренне, главенствует в Псалтири. Если же последняя называется его именем, то это нужно понимать не в буквальном, но в относительном смысле, как и книга Притчей называется Соломоновою, тогда как он написал лишь ее большую часть.

Известны имена следующих писателей псалмов: Моисей, Давид, Соломон, Асаф, Еман, Ефан, он же Идифум, и сыновья Кореевы. По времени и обстоятельствам происхождения, равно также по количеству написанных псалмов, последние распределяются между означенными лицами следующим образом: Моисею принадлежит один (89) Пс, написанный им при окончании сорокалетнего странствования по пустыне и в виду обетованной земли, в которую могло войти теперь только новое поколение людей, родившихся в пустыне, а из вышедших из Египта только те, которые при выходе не имели 20: лет. Гибель всех остальных объяснялась неверностью и оскорблением ими Иеговы во время этого странствования. Содержание псалма проникнуто чувством благодарности Богу за дарование евреям благословенной и плодородной земли, скорбью за человека, своим поведением вызывающего гнев Божий, и молитвой к Нему о снисхождении и заступничестве человека. Эти три мотива: благодарственно-скорбно-молитвенный являются преобладающими во всем последующем содержании Псалтири, являясь то в своем чистом виде, то в сочетании с другими.

Давиду по надписаниям еврейской и русской Библии принадлежат 7:3: псалма, а по греко-славянской - 87. Такое различие в количестве приписываемых Давиду псалмов объясняется тем, что при определении происхождения не надписанных именами писателей в еврейской Библии псалмов 7:0: переводчиков руководились теми преданиями, которые дошли до них от евреев относительно этих псалмов, предание же приписывало их Давиду. Но ввиду несоответствия этого предания с содержанием некоторых, приписываемых Давиду псалмов, оно не всегда может быть принято за руководство при определении писателя и обстоятельств их происхождения (напр. Пс 90, 92, 93, 94: и др.), Всех псалмов, принадлежащих Давиду, как автору, 7:3. Они следующие: из надписанных его именем в евр. Библии 7:3: псалма: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7:, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17:, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27:, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37:, 38, 39, 40, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57:, 53, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 67:, 68, 69, 7:0, 85, 100, 102, 107:, 108, 109, 121, 123, 130, 132, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, и из не надписанных в евр. Библии, но относительно которых может быть установлено происхождение их от Давида, следующие пять: 1, 2, 32, 105, 137.

Все псалмы Давида по своему содержанию представляют лирическое изложение событий его жизни, начиная с первого помазания от Самуила и кончая последними годами его царствования. Нет ни одного события, сколько-нибудь важного, на которое бы Давид не отозвался своими песнями, а таких событий его жизнь представляет большое количество и разнообразие, чем и объясняется большое количество и разнообразие его псалмов. В этом случае псалмы Давида являются богатым материалом, восполняющим собою сказания о его жизни исторических книг, занимающихся, большею частью, изложением внешней истории его жизни, а в первых заключается изображение его дум и чувств, представляющих обильный источник для характеристики духовного облика этого "сладкого певца Израилева".

Внешняя история жизни Давида общеизвестна. Из положения простого пастуха в семействе Иессея из колена Иудина он, благодаря своим талантам и подвигам, сделался народным героем, достиг короны еврейского царя и приобрел такую популярность и любовь своих подданных, что его имя и дела составили и составляют самую светлую страницу еврейской истории и предмет национальной гордости. Такое большое расстояние между двумя полюсами общественного положения (просто гражданина и коронованного царя) и исторической известности (пастуха в своей семье и национального героя) было пройдено целым рядом выдающихся подвигов и необычайных лишений, так что мало можно найти в истории человечества таких деятелей, жизнь которых представляла бы ряд превратностей, подобных пережитым Давидом.

Первая народная известность Давида начинается со времени его победного единоборства с Голиафом, богатырем Филистимским. Когда две армии - евреев и филистимлян - сошлись около долины Сокаофской, заняв горы, прилегающие к ней, то ни одна из них не решалась спуститься в долину, чтобы начать битву, так как по условиям местности это было бы одним из шансов к поражению. Поэтому обе стороны стояли в бездействии. Тогда выступил Голиаф и вызывал на единоборство с собой кого-либо из евреев; из последних никто не решался вступить с ним в битву. Голиаф в продолжение 40: дней издевался над евреями, и последние должны были молча сносить его язвительные и оскорбляющие национальное чувство насмешки. Когда Давид, принесший пищу своим братьям, услышал эти насмешки, в нем сильно заговорило желание смыть этот позор с евреев, и он вступил, по-видимому, в неравную для себя борьбу. Кончилась она победой. Имя Давида, смывшего позор с евреев, сделалось популярным и ставилось выше Саула; его всюду воспевали в народных песнях: "Саул победил тысячи, а Давид - тьмы". С этого времени в Саула вселилась зависть к Давиду, и по той мере, как росли известность и популярность последнего, основанная на целом ряде его блестящих военных подвигов, зависть Саула переходила в чувство ненависти и вызывала в последнем попытки убить Давида и целый ряд преследований. Давид спасался бегством. За время бегства Давид близко сделался известен народу со стороны кротости своего характера, искреннего благочестия, практической находчивости, военной предусмотрительности и отваги, почему, со смертью Саула, он скоро сделался царем сначала одного Иудина колена, а потом и всех двенадцати. Царствование Давида было благотворно для евреев. Он расширил пределы своего царства, обезопасил его границы победами над соседними иноземными народами, установил большую сплоченность между разрозненными и ранее враждовавшими друг с другом коленами, организовал более правильно армию, улучшил судопроизводство, уничтожив произвол в решениях представителей колен дарованием права апелляции к царю, перенес Кивот Завета из Кариаф-Иарима в Иерусалим, ввел и установил строгий порядок при совершении богослужения, придав ему нежданный до того времени характер торжественности введением правильно организованных хоров и музыки, и стал подготовлять материал для построения нового храма.

Но его царствование было омрачено и некоторыми печальными событиями. Преступление Давида с Вирсавией и убийство Урия сопровождалось семейными несчастиями: восстанием Авессалома, а впоследствии - Адонии, его сыновей. Во время первого восстания он принужден был бежать из Иерусалима и подвергаться насмешкам со стороны приверженцев своего сына. Его же народ постигла моровая язва, унесшая много жертв. Эти события, как видим, глубоко отзывались на Давиде.

Давид представляет собою натуру, богато одаренную физическими и духовными силами. Невысокого роста, плотно сложенный, белокурый и с голубыми глазами, он обладал большой мускульной силою и ловкостью, что часто еще в молодых летах проявлял в борьбе со львами, из пасти которых мог вырывать похищенных ими овец. При этом он отличался большою выносливостью и подвижностью. Частые и продолжительные преследования со стороны Саула, многочисленные военные походы и впоследствии, в зрелом возрасте, бегство от Авессалома, когда Давиду приходилось перебегать с места на место, не имея часто с собой никакого провианта, служат ярким тому подтверждением. Уменье же Давида обходиться со всеми ласково, не мстить за личные обиды (история Саула и Семея), его беспристрастие в судебных делах, любовь к нему священников, левитов и пророков, уменье сплотить в одно ранее разрозненные колена и последующая заботливость о построении храма и о богослужении, обнаруживают в нем кроткий характер, глубокое уважение к личному достоинству человека, административную прозорливость и такт, и искреннее, сердечное благочестие. Наиболее выдающимися и характерными в Давиде чертами являются - сильное развитие в нем области сердечной, области чувства и, кажется, неиссякаемый поэтический талант. Первой чертою объясняются, по-видимому, странные, иногда непрактичные действия, а иногда и прямые проступки, когда Давид щадит заведомого своего врага (Саула), или когда вступает в связь с Вирсавией, отдавшись чувству увлечения пред внешней, физической ее красотой. Но насколько искренне и мимолетно было подобное последнему чувство, настолько глубоко и продолжительно было в Давиде сознание своей греховности пред Богом и покаяние пред Ним. Последнее объяснялось возвышенностью понятий Давида о Боге и соответственным ему строгим отношением к себе. Нарушение Божественных заповедей являлось, по нему, величайшим оскорблением Всесвятого Существа, а потому вызывало в Давиде сознание полной греховности пред Ним, причем его падение казалось настолько глубоким, что подняться из него самому считал непосильным для человека. В этих случаях Давид доходил до полного отрицания за собою каких-либо хороших дел и единственным его молитвенным воззванием было: "помилуй меня, Господи, по Твоему величайшему снисхождению к человеку".

Сильным поэтическим талантом Давида объясняется обилие его песен, которыми он отзывался на все выдающиеся события личной и общественной жизни. Его поэзия, принадлежащая к роду чистой лирики, отличается многообразием своих видов. Здесь есть элегии (покаянные псалмы - 6, 31, 37:, 50: и др.), есть похвальные, приближающееся к нашим одам (17:, 18, 103, 104: и др.), есть подобие наших песен, только с религиозным сюжетом (8, 44: и др.), есть мессианско-пророческие (2, 15, 21: и др). Нельзя не отметить той особенности песен, что Давид во всех них остается верен своему телеологическому взгляду на все существующее в мире, как в жизни людей и природы, так и в области отношений Бога к человеку и человека к Богу. Весь мир, по нему, начиная с обыденного явления восхода и захода солнца, порядка смены дня и ночи, времен года, устройства неорганического, органического и животного мира и, особенно, человека, полон чарующей гармонии, разумности и красоты. Та же разумность и красота царят в отношении Бога к человеку и последнего к Богу.

Бог, оказывая ему милости и защиту в настоящем, подготовляет его к великим благам будущего через пришествие Мессии: человек же, питая постоянную и твердую веру в Бога, оказывая Ему послушание и воспитывая в себе "дух смиренный и сердце сокрушенно", тем самым включает себя в область Его великих обетований. Таким образом Давид по своим воззрениям был эстет, умеющий найти, указать и оценить красоту там, где холодный ум видит только ряд обыкновенных явлений, предметов и мыслей. Направляя дух человека к высшему миру постижения Божественной гармонии, песни Давида имели и важное общественно-политическое значение. Они знакомили подданных с воззрениями и желаниями своего государя, а потому являлись манифестами царя к своему народу, программой его царствования, где каждый знал, чего ему держаться, и что несогласно с волей его владыки.

Целый ряд превратностей, пережитых Давидом в своей жизни, никогда не ослаблял его духа, но давал, напротив, богатый материал его творческому гению. Целая серия песней составлена им при всех выдающихся событиях жизни. Так, напр., писанные им псалмы, по вызвавшим составление их событиям, могут быть распределены так: 8: Пс написан после помазания Давида Самуилом, 143: - после победы Давида над Голиафом, 7:, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17:, 21, 26, 30, 33, 34, 35, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 58, 59, 68, 69, 7:0, 107:, 108, 141: - по поводу гонений от Саула; 5, 10, 25, 40, 54, 57:, 63, 139: относятся ко времени восстания Авессалома, до бегства Давида из Иерусалима; 3, 4, 22, 24, 27:, 36, 60, 61, 62, 85, 140: - со дня бегства из Иерусалима: 1, 2, 9, 19, 20, 67:, 109, 123: написаны по поводу войн, веденных Давидом; 14, 23, 29, 121, 132, 130, 100: - по поводу перенесения Кивота Завета, при заботах о построении храма, и по поводу относящихся и сопутствующих тому обстоятельств; 6, 31, 32, 37:, 38, 50, 142: стоят в связи главным образом с преступлением Давида с Вирсавией и косвенно с восстанием Авессалома; 18, 28, 39, 102, 103, 64, 137:, 138, 144: - по поводу данных Давиду обетований от Бога и других событий его жизни.

Соломону принадлежат три псалма: 7:1, 126: и 131. Этот царь, представлявший почти полную противоположность Давиду по складу своего характера и мысли (последний - человек живого дела, общественный, лирик по характеру своих литературных трудов с преобладанием чувства над другими способностями, эстет по воззрениям, этот - человек кабинетный, мыслитель, философ - аналитик, тонкий наблюдатель с сильно развитой формальной, логической способностью построения мыслей), в молодом возрасте и в первые годы царствования, когда в человеке над холодной рассудочной стороной берет перевес чувство, заплатил дань этому последнему созданием означенных псалмов.

Может быть им руководило при выборе формы произведения желание следовать своему отцу, песни которого пленяли весь народ и вызывали много подражаний. Псалмы эти написаны: 7:1: - при восшествии на престол после молитвы гаваонской, 126: - по окончании постройки храма и 131: - по случаю перенесения Кивота Завета из скинии в храм. В этих псалмах заметен рассудочный тон изложения и более, сравнительно с Давидовыми песнями, искусственности в построении и развитии мыслей.

Имя Асафа встречается в надписании над следующими 12: псалмами: 49, 7:2, 7:3, 7:4, 7:5, 7:6, 7:7:, 7:8, 7:9, 80, 81: и 82. Под именем Асафа псалмопевца известен левит времени Давида, происходивший из племени Гирсона, сын Варахии. Вместе со своими четырьмя сыновьями он начальствовал над 4: чредами певцов Давидовых, был главным распорядителем священной музыки и пения пред скинией на Сионе. Этот современник Давида владел тоже поэтическим талантом и был творцом некоторых псалмов, которые наравне с песнями Давида вошли в церковно-общественное употребление (2: Пар XXIX:30). Насколько талант его был оригинален и ценился как современниками, так и последующими поколениями еврейского народа, видно из того, что его песни ценились так же, как и песни Давида, и его потомки, благоговея пред именем и гением своего предка, скрыли свои имена над составленными ими псалмами под именем своего родоначальника. Асаф был чрезвычайно предан Давиду и свою судьбу связал с его жизнью; поэтому понятно, что главный материал для своих песней он брал из истории и жизни Давида. Асафу, современнику Давида, принадлежат следующие пять псалмов: 49, 7:2, 7:7:, 80: и 81.

Остальные семь псалмов - 7:3, 7:4, 7:5, 7:6, 7:8, 7:9: и 82: - принадлежат потомкам Асафа (асафидам).

Все псалмы с именем Асафа отличаются тоном настойчивого увещания, обращенного к евреям для их вразумления. С этою целью автор вводит в содержание псалмов много исторического элемента и любит изображать Бога, как Всеправедного Судью. Указанием на Божественные благодеяния, оказанные в прошлом еврейской истории, писатель старается вызвать в народе чувство привязанности и благодарности к Нему, и изображенном Бога, как Судьи, устрашить в его настоящем дурном поведении и побудить к исправлению.

Еману, из племени Каафы, принадлежит 87: Пс; Ефану, иначе Идифуму, из племени Мерари, - 88: Пс. Оба эти лица были современниками Давида и певцами при вновь устроенной им скинии. Свое происхождение они ведут от известного Корея, возмутившегося при Моисее. Они были левитами и стояли, как и Асаф, во главе певцов Давидовых. В еврейской Библии они названы Езрахитянами, т. е. происходящими из потомства Зары, сына патриарха Иуды, не потому, чтобы были его прямыми потомками, а потому, что долго жили в колене Иудовом среди потомков Зары; точно также и левит Цуф (один из предков Самуила) называется ефремлянином по месту жительства в означенном колене (1: Цар I:1). Эти лица, как показывают составленные ими псалмы, были такими же самостоятельными певцами - писателями, как Асаф и Давид. Кроме того, они отличались мудростью, так что с ними сопоставляется Соломон (3: Цар IV:31). Оба псалма очень сходны по содержанию. Можно довольно точно определить время и повод их происхождения. Они были написаны, как видно из содержания, во время Давида, когда последний получил откровение о продлении своего потомства навеки и когда испытывал "поругание" от врагов. Такие обстоятельства совпадают со временем гонения от Авессалома. Означенные псалмы отличаются сильно выраженной индивидуальностью их писателей: содержание их проникнуто мрачным чувством. Очевидно, переживаемые ими обстоятельства угнетающе действовали на них и вызывали самое мрачное настроение.

Сынам Кореевым принадлежат псалмы: 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47:, 48, 83, 84: и 86, т. е. 11: псалмов. Они были потомками Корея и сохранили за собою название по имени этого предка, вероятно, в назидание себе. На их обязанности, как левитов, лежало - следить за благочестием поведения молящихся во дворе храма и за содержанием чистоты двора. Их фамилия отличалась преданностью Давиду и вместе с последним разделяла его бегство, почему в псалмах этого периода главным предметом содержания является скорбное изложение чувств от переживаемых Давидом бедствий и, во время бегства, насильственного удаления от храма. Сыновья Кореевы оставались служителями при храме во все продолжение истории еврейского народа, и на всем этом пространстве среди них находились богато одаренные натуры, оставившие после себя поэтические произведения, вошедшие в состав Псалтири.

Остальные 44: псалма (65, 66, 90-99, 101, 104-106, 110-120, 122, 124, 125, 127:-129, 133-136: и 145-151) принадлежат неизвестным писателям.

Надписания над псалмами. Все псалмы в Псалтири имеют цифровое обозначение. Кроме последнего они имеют еще другие надписания, которые могут быть распределены на следующие пять групп:

1) указывающие род песни или характер ее содержания, напр.

а) "Молитва" (Пс 16, 85, 89: и 101) указывает на просительное содержание;

б) "Хвала" (94, 144) самым названием показывает хвалебное, прославляющее Бога содержание;

в) "Учение" (31, 41, 87: и др.), т. е. в этих песнях авторы излагают свои недоумения по поводу переживаемых ими событий, свои размышления;

г) "Столпописание" евр. "миктам", греч. sthlografia. Этот термин не довольно ясен; его можно понимать или в смысле указания на ценность содержания, которое заслуживало быть написанным на столпе в память потомству, или в смысле указания на внешний, эпиграмматический способ письма.

2) Надписания, указывающие способ исполнения:

а) "Псалом", самое распространенное в Псалтири надписание, указывает на исполнение данной песни на "Псалтири", струнном инструменте, подобии гитары.

б) "Песнь" указывает на вокальное исполнение. Смешанное обозначение "псалом песни", или "песнь псалма", или "песнь псалом" указывает на то, что в первом случае главным орудием исполнения должна быть музыка, а вокальное - сопровождать ее, во втором же - наоборот.

в) "На струнных орудиях" (4, 53: и др.), т. е. "на музыкальных инструментах", означает, что данное произведение назначено или вообще для пения (слав. текст) или для игры на инструментах (русск. перев.).

г) "На осьмиструнном" (6: и 11) указывает на пение октавой, низким голосом, octavo voce.

д) "О точилех" (8; 80, 83) - в русск. переводе "на гефском орудии". Вероятно, так называлась цитра, заимствованная Давидом из филистимского города Гефа. Вместе с тем можно думать, что первое название "о точилех" указывает и на время употребления псалма при уборке винограда, для выжимания которого употребляется выдолбленное корыто с просверленными отверстиями во дне, назыв. точилом.

е) Слав. "о изменяемых" - в русск. перев. "на музыкальном орудии Шошан" (44: Пс). Славянское название указывает на переменные инструменты, которыми должен быть исполняем псалом, а русск. - на сам инструмент, похожий на лилию (шошан).

ж) Слав. "о тайных сына", - (9: Пс), в русск. "по смерти Лабена". Славянское надписание непонятно, а русское объясняют, как указание на повод написания, смерть Ахитофела. Некоторые с евр. читают: "на музыкальном орудии эламоф", причем последнее слово производят от "альма" - девица, и этот термин будет означать: петь по-девичьи, тонким голосом, сопрано. Понимают и в смысле указания пения по известной арии, начинающейся этим словом.

з) Есть еще надписания "на Махалаф", "не погуби" (56, 57:, 58: и 7:4), "при появлении зари" (21) и "о голубице, безмолвствующей в удалении" (55). Эти надписания объясняют как указания на песни, начинающиеся означенными словами, по образцу которых должны быть исполняемы указанные псалмы.

В Псалтири часто встречаются два термина: (слав. биб.) "в конец" и "села". Первое название означает вообще "для окончания", для окончательного исполнения таким способом, какой указывается другим словом надписания, напр. "в конец псалом", т. е. для окончательного исполнения на Псалтири. "Села", встречающееся в середине псалмов, означает паузу, после которой должно начаться исполнение псалма другой частью хора или на других инструментах. Эта пауза и перемена в музыкально-вокальном исполнении обыкновенно указывалась ударом в тимпан.

3) Указания на писателя или исполнителя псалма, напр., "псалом Давиду", "Асафу", "молитва Моисея" и др., где имя лица является указанием автора псалма; встречается и прямое указание на исполнителя, напр., "начальнику хора, Идифуму", т. е. для окончательного исполнения начальником хора Идифумом.

4) Указания на повод написания псалма, напр., "псалом Давиду, когда он бежал от Авессалома, сына своего" (Пс 3), "песнь при обновлении дома" (29), т. е. при выборе места для построения жертвенника (см. еще 17:, 33, 50: и др.).

5) Надписания, указывающие, на богослужебное назначение, время и место исполнения псалмов, напр., "песнь на день субботний" (91), "псалом Давиду, при окончании праздника Кущей" (28), т. е. в конце праздника Кущей и др. Есть целый отдел псалмов, надписывающихся "песнь степеней", по русск. переводу "песнь восхождения" (119, 135). Название это объясняется как указание на то, что означенные псалмы исполнялись левитами на ступенях храма во время процессии несения и освящения воды из Силоамского источника первосвященником, или (с русск.) на то, что означенные псалмы пелись евреями при возвращении из плена, из вавилонской равнины, в родную гористую Палестину; обычаем установлено также петь эти псалмы всем пилигримам при виде Иерусалима и при подъеме на гору Сион, куда они направлялись в великие праздники.

Богослужебное употребление псалмов у древних евреев и в православной церкви. Начало общественно-церковному употреблению псалмов положено Давидом при его заботах о более торжественном устройстве богослужения. Им была построена новая скиния в Иерусалиме, куда и перенесен Кивот Завета.

В первый раз Давид дал свой псалом для богослужебного исполнения по перенесении Ковчега в Иерусалим; впоследствии псалмы, составляемые им, получали такое же назначение. Кроме Давида псалмы составлялись и другими лицами, Ефаном и сыновьями Кореевыми, так что к концу его жизни количество новых богослужебных песней было очень значительным и отличалось разнообразием содержания. Порядок употребления псалмов Псалтири был установлен такой: на каждый день был назначен особый псалом, а на дни праздников: Пасхи, Пятидесятницы, Кущей и др. - особые, назначенные для них, псалмы. Так в первый день недели пелся 23: Пс, во второй - 47:, в третий - 7:1, в четвертый - 93, в пятый - 80, в шестой - 92: и в седьмой - день субботний - 91: и Молитва Моисея (89: Пс). Для указанных выше торжественных праздников были позже назначены т. наз. псалмы "галлел" или "аллилуйные" (112-117). Они же пелись и в новомесячия.

Давидом при богослужении было введено употребление музыкальных инструментов. Назначение последних было - восполнять силу голоса певцов, так что было бы неточно понимать значение их только как аккомпанемента. Все псалмы пелись в тон голоса певцов и в унисон с хорами строилась и музыкальная часть, причем как пение, так и музыка отличались громогласием, "играли пред Богом из всей силы", чтобы "громко возвещать глас радования" (1: Пар XIII:8; XV:16).

Музыкальные инструменты были довольно разнообразны: гусли, тимпаны, Псалтири, кимвалы и трубы. Их можно разделить на три рода: А) струнные, Б) духовые и В) ударные. К первым принадлежат: 1) "Кинкор", самый употребительный инструмент. Он представляет собою деревянный треугольник, натянутый в длину жилами животных. Число струн бывало 6, 10, 24: и 47; на малострунных играли смычком, а на многострунных - пальцами. 2) "Киннир", позднейший инструмент, употреблялся в дни плача, а первый - в дни веселья, 3) "Китрос" или "самбук" в форме ^ с острыми звуками. Это - киннор малых размеров, употребляемый женщинами. 4) "Симфония" - дуга с тремя струнами. 5) "Псалтирь" (более поздний инструмент, появившийся около времен плена вавилонского) - звучный ящик, по отверстию которого проводились двойные или тройные струны в числе 10; играли пальцами или смычком, 6) "Невел" отличался от киннора тем, что игра на первом зависела от видоизменения звуков одних и тех же струн, а на кинноре - от разнообразия струн. Невел - прототип испанской гитары.

Б) 1) "Керен" - роговая изогнутая труба, возвещавшая праздники, новомесячия, юбилеи. 2) Прямая труба, делавшаяся из меди, серебра или дерева. Эта труба имела более большее, чем керен, назначение в храме: она употреблялась при жертве мира и отправлении воинов на сражение. По разрушении Иерусалима евреи употребляли в память своего унижения керен, как более грубый и простой инструмент. Духовая музыка вообще была слабо развита у евреев.

В) 1) Ручной барабан в форме вазы, обтянутой кожей, по которой ударяли железными прутьями. Более всего употреблялся для танцев и веселья. 2) Наподобие нашего бубна - доска, увешанная погремушками. Употреблялся у плакальщиц. 3) "Кимвалы" - медные тарелки, ударяемые одна о другую. Были и малые кимвалы, употреблявшиеся при танцах.

Все перечисленные инструменты, имея каждый в отдельности специальное назначение, как можно думать из приведенного выше изречения кн. Пар, входили в оркестр храмовых инструментов и употреблялись при богослужении. Весь оркестр, как мы говорили, играл в унисон с хором; из содержания некоторых псалмов (41, 42, 106: и др.) видно, что у евреев было и антифонное пение, когда один хор начинал, а другой продолжал начатый псалом или повторял за ним какой-либо припев. В пении принимал участие и народ.

В христианском богослужении Псалтирь пользуется самым широким употреблением. Начало последнему было положено еще Иисусом Христом, когда Он, по совершении тайной вечери, "воспевши" пошел на гору Елеонскую (Мф XXVI:39). Пасху же Христос совершал по обычаю Иудейскому, по которому требовалось исполнение малого галлела (хвалебных псалмов 112-117). По примеру Христа и апостолы, основывая церкви и устраивая там богослужение, заповедывали употреблять Псалтирь, как лучшее средство в христианской молитве (Еф V:18-19; Кол III:16; 1: Кор XIV:15: и 26). В первые три века, о чем свидетельствуют "Постановления Апостольские" (кн. 2, гл. 59), Псалтирь являлась существенною частью всякого богослужения. В четвертом веке для удобства употребления Псалтирь была разделена на 20: кафизм (т. е. сидений, так как по окончании пения положенных псалмов, когда читались отеческие писания и жития святых, можно было сидеть, псалмы же выслушивались стоя), каждая же кафизма на три славы (слова: слава Отцу и Сыну и Св. Духу).

Настоящее употребление Псалтири в Православной Церкви определяется особым уставом о ней. По этому уставу употребление Псалтири в продолжение года разделяется на четыре периода. Первый период простирается от недели антипасхи до 22: сентября (до отдания праздника Воздвижения Креста Господня). На вечерни в субботу Светлой недели читается 1: кафизма (1-8: Пс), на утрени Фоминой недели кафизмы 2: и З (Пс 9-16: и 17:-23), в прочие воскресные дни читается еще кафизма 17: (Пс 118). На воскресных вечернях кафизм не полагается в продолжение года. За каждые шесть дней недели прочитываются остальные кафизмы: на вечерни одна, на утрени - две. На полуночницах понедельника, вторника, среды, четверга и пятницы в продолжение года читается кафизма 17:, а в субботу всегда кафизма 9: (Пс 64-69).

Второй период простирается от 22: сентября до 19: декабря. В этот период на утрени с понедельника до субботы полагаются три рядовые кафизмы, а на вечерни кафизма 18: (Пс 119-133), на утрени в воскресенье к двум рядовым кафизмам (2: и 3) присоединяется пение псалмов 134: и 135.

Третий период - от 20: декабря до сырной недели. В начале этого периода до 14: января (отдания праздника Богоявления) Псалтирь употребляется также, как и в первый период, т. е. две кафизмы на утрени и одна рядовая на вечерни. С 15: января до субботы пред неделей "о блудном сыне" полагаются три кафизмы на утрени и на вечерни кафизма 18. В воскресенье недели "блудного сына", мясопустной и сырной после псалмов полиелейных (134: и 135) поется псалом 136: - "на реках вавилонских". В мясопустную и сырную неделю на утрени полагаются две кафизмы, а на вечерни одна рядовая.

Четвертый период обнимает собою Четыредесятницу. В течение шести недель поста каждую неделю прочитывается Псалтирь два раза преимущественно на утрени и часах. В понедельник, вторник, среду, четверг и пятницу пятой недели на вечерни полагается особая кафизма на каждый день, тогда как в эти пять дней остальных недель поста на вечерни полагается кафизма 18. На страстной неделе кафизмы вычитываются до четверга на утрени и на часах; с четверга Псалтирь отлагается до субботы Фоминой недели; только в великую субботу на утрени поется кафизма 17: с припевами.

Кроме кафизм, на утреннем и вечернем богослужениях употребляются следующие псалмы: "предначинательный" 103, на вечерни - 140, 141: и 129, на повечерии малом "покаянные" - 50, 69, 142; на полуночнице повседневной Пс 50, 120: и 133; на утрени - 19: и 20, на шестопсалмии - 3, 37:, 62, 87:, 102: и 142: и хвалитные (148-150). На первом часе - Пс 5, 69: и 100, входящие в состав утреннего богослужения, на третьем - 16, 24: и 59, на шестом - 53, 54: и 90; последние два часа читаются во время совершения проскомидии; на девятом часе, входящем в состав вечернего богослужения, читаются Пс 83, 64: и 85.

В христианской Церкви псалмы читаются и поются. Пение бывает трех родов: "антифонное" на два хора или с канонархом, возглашающим часть псалма, которую хор за ним повторяет, "нотное" отличающееся разнообразием своей гармонии и мелодии, и "простое", сходное с речитативным пением. Музыка в православном богослужении не принята. Это потому, что в православном богослужении стараются выделить содержание песней, которые могут научить молящихся, музыка же инструментальная может препятствовать усвоению заключающихся в песнопениях мыслей; отсюда и задачей хора является, кроме стройного исполнения голосовой музыки, отчетливость и ясность произношения. В католической же церкви и у протестантов введена при богослужении музыка, как необходимая принадлежность храмового богослужения. Последним введением преследовалась цель не столько дать определенное содержание мысли молящегося, как у православных, сколько подействовать стройными и мелодичными звуками музыки на его настроение.

Собрание псалмов в один состав. В настоящем виде Псалтирь не могла появиться сразу. Время происхождения песней, входящих в ее состав, занимает пространство около 8: столетий, от Моисея до времени Ездры и Неемии. Это заставляет предполагать, что сначала у евреев существовали сборники некоторых псалмов, которые впоследствии были соединены вместе. На существование сборников указывает и настоящий состав Псалтири. Вся она делится на пять частей: признаком деления служит литургическое окончание, встречающееся в Псалтири 4: раза: после Пс 40: "Благословен Господь Бог Израилев от века и до века; аминь, аминь"; после Пс 7:1: "Благословен Господь Бог Израилев, един творящий чудеса, и благословенно имя славы Его вовек, и наполнится славою Его вся земля; аминь, аминь", перед Пс 7:2: есть замечание: "кончились молитвы Давида, сына Иессеева". Последние слова ясно показывают, что существовали сборники песней Давидовых, которые носили имя их автора, вероятно, в отличие от существовавших тогда сборников песней других авторов. После Пс 105: - "Благословен Господь Бог Израилев от века и до века! и да скажет весь народ: аминь, аминь". Приведенные четыре литургические окончания делят всю Псалтирь на следующие пять частей: первая вмещает в себя псалмы 1-40, вторая 41-7:1, третья 7:2-88, четвертая 89-105: и пятая 106-150. Время появления и образования этих сборников с большею вероятностью можно определить так: первый сборник появился при Давиде. Составление его вызывалось богослужебными нуждами. Давид составлял и отдавал написанные им псалмы для церковно-общественного употребления. В этом случае ему нужно было указать, какие песни и кому он назначает, когда и как их исполнять, что можно было достигнуть только собранием таких песней в один сборник. Во втором сборнике есть псалмы, принадлежащие сынам Кореевым и написанные не ранее времени царя Иосафата и не позже эпохи царя Езекии (напр., Пс 45, 46: и 47); поэтому вторая часть Псалтири могла появиться только после Давида. Собрание псалмов этой части можно относить ко временам царя Езекии, который отличался любовью к собранию священных произведений (при нем, напр., была составлена кн. Притч). Когда были составлены и присоединены к первым двум частям остальные группы псалмов, точно сказать нельзя; предполагают, напр., что третья часть Псалтири появилась тоже во время Езекии; несомненно лишь, что соединение всех частей Псалтири в один настоящий состав относится ко временам Ездры и Неемии, когда был заключен канон вообще священных ветхозаветных книг.

Деление псалмов по содержанию. Распространенность употребления Псалтири. Псалтирь есть произведение многих авторов и состоит из 150: песней, из которых каждая есть цельное и законченное лирическое произведение, написанное по известному историческому поводу и содержащее в себе раскрытие мыслей и чувств, вызванных и пережитых творцами их при данных обстоятельствах. В зависимости от разнообразия исторических обстоятельств происхождения псалмов, содержание последних отличается таким обилием мыслей и чувств, что строгое и точное деление всех псалмов по содержанию на определенные группу является невозможным. Многопредметность содержания Псалтири еще в древности обращала на себя внимание. Мы приведем несколько отзывов о Псалтири. Св. Афанасий Великий говорит: "книга псалмов, кажется мне, ясно и подробно изображает всю жизнь человеческую, все состояния духа, все движения ума, и нет ничего у человека, чего бы она не содержала в себе. Хочешь ли каяться, исповедываться, угнетает ли тебя скорбь и искушение, гонят ли тебя, или строят против тебя ковы; уныние ли овладело тобою, или беспокойство, или что-либо подобное терпишь, стремишься ли ты к преуспеванию в добродетели и видишь, что враг препятствует тебе, желаешь ли хвалить, благодарить и славословить Господа, в божественных псалмах найдешь наставление касательно этого". Св. Василий Великий пишет: "все, что есть полезного во всех книгах Св. Писания, заключает в себе книга псалмов. Она пророчествует о будущем, приводит на память события, дает законы для жизни, предлагает правила для деятельности. Словом, Псалтирь есть общая духовная сокровищница благих наставлений, и всякий найдет в ней с избытком то, что для него полезно. Она врачует и застарелые раны душевные и недавно уязвленному подает скорбь исцеления, она подкрепляет немощное, охраняет здравое и истребляет страсти, какие в жизни человеческой господствуют над душами. Псалом доставляет спокойствие души, производит мир, укрощает бурные и мятежные помыслы. Он смягчает душу гневливую и уцеломудривает любострастную. Псалом заключает дружбу, соединяет рассеянных, примиряет враждующих. Чему не научит тебя Псалтирь? Отсюда ты познаешь величие мужества, строгость правосудия, честность целомудрия, совершенство благоразумия, образ покаяния, меру терпения и всякое из благ, какое не наименуешь. Здесь есть совершенное богословие, есть пророчество о пришествии Христовом по плоти, есть угрожение судом Божиим. Здесь внушается надежда воскресения и страх мучений. Здесь обещается слава, открываются тайны. Все есть в книге псалмов, как в великой и всеобщей сокровищнице" (Твор. св. В. В. ч. 1, с. 17:7). Св. Иоанн Златоуст говорит: "в псалмах мы научаемся весьма многим полезным вещам. Давид говорит тебе и о настоящем, и о будущем, о видимых и невидимых тварях; он учит тебя и о воскресении и об Иисусе Христе, и о будущей жизни, и о покое праведных и о муках грешных; сообщает тебе и нравственное и догматическое учение. Словом, в Псалтири ты найдешь бесчисленные блага. Ты впал в искушение? Найдешь в ней самое лучшее утешение. Впал в грехи? Найдешь бесчисленные врачества. Впал в бедность или несчастье? Увидишь там много пристаней. Если ты праведник, приобретешь оттуда самое надежное подкрепление, если грешник - самое действительное утешение. Если тебя надмевают добрые дела твои, там научишься смирению. Если грехи твои повергают тебя в отчаяние, там найдешь для себя великое ободрение. Если ты имеешь на главе царский венец, или отличаешься высокою мудростью, псалмы научат тебя быть скромным. Если ты богат и славен, псалмопевец убедит тебя, что на земле нет ничего великого. Если ты поражен скорбью, услышишь утешение. Видишь ли ты, что праведные терпят бедствия наравне с грешными, получишь объяснение этого. Видишь ли ты, что некоторые здесь недостойно наслаждаются счастьем, научишься не завидовать им. Каждое слово там заключает в себе беспредельное море мыслей" (Толков. на посл. к Рим.). Св. Амвросий Медиоланский в толковании на первый псалом говорит: "Во всем писании дышит благодать Божия, но в сладкой песне псалмов дышит она преимущественно. История наставляет, закон учит, пророчествует, предвозвещает, нравоучение убеждает, а книга псалмов убеждает во всем этом и есть самая полная врачебница спасения человеческого".

Песни Псалтири, как лирические произведения, в которых авторы знакомят нас с переживаемыми ими чувствами, не всегда отличаются строго логической последовательностью изложения и выдержанностью самого тона, характера выражаемых мыслей; часто в ходе мыслей не замечается связи, встречаются неожиданные переходы от одного предмета к другому, и в одном и том же псалме печальный характер изложения переходит в радостный, и наоборот (Пс 2, 4, 8-9, 21: и мн. др.). Это отсутствие связи в ходе мыслей понятно: голос живой, непосредственной отзывчивости чувства и рассудочные требования логической связности и точности в формулировке мыслей не могут быть всегда в согласии. Кроме того, псалмы, как писанные многими лицами, отличаются большим разнообразием во внешних способах построения и выражения мыслей, в слове и в характере изображения сходных предметов (общие указания приведены выше).

Все вышесказанное говорит о том, что разделить псалмы на определенные группы, какой бы мы критерий не приняли во внимание - предметное ли содержание псалмов или внешние черты построения, - невозможно, получилось бы почти столько же частей, сколько и псалмов. Ввиду этого при делении псалмов обращают внимание на "сравнительно преобладающий" характер содержания их и в этом случае делят псалмы на 1) хвалебно-благодарственные, 2) молитвенные и 3) учительные. Выделяют, во внимание к важности содержания, еще псалмы мессианские в отдельную четвертую группу.

К первой группе принадлежат те псалмы, в которых выражается благоговение пред Богом, как Творцом и Промыслителем вселенной, благодарение за различные Его дары, ниспосланные еврейскому народу или псалмопевцу. Сюда считают входящими все псалмы с надписанием "песнь", "аллилуия", "хвала" и "во исповедание". Таких псалмов считается 55: 8, 17:, 20, 29, 32, 33, 45-47:, 64-67:, 7:4, 7:5, 80, 86, 91, 92, 94-99, 102-107:, 110, 112-117:, 121, 123, 125, 128, 133-135, 137:, 143-150.

"Молитвенными" псалмами называются те, в которых писатели их обращаются к Богу с каким-либо прошением, или с воплями о помощи и заступлении, или с выражением глубокой печали о развращении мира, или с негодованием на нечестивцев и мольбою о наказании их и т. п. Внешним отличием служат молитвенные воззвания: Господи помилуй, Господи спаси, вонми, услыши и др. Сюда принадлежат: 3-7:, 9, 12, 15, 16, 21, 24, 27:, 30, 34, 37:-40, 43, 50, 53-55, 58-60, 63, 68-7:0, 7:3, 7:6, 7:8, 7:9, 62-85, 87:, 89, 93, 101, 108, 119, 122, 129, 139-142. Псалмы 6, 31, 37:, 50, 101, 119, 142, за выражаемые в них чувства покаянного сокрушения о грехах, называются "покаянными".

"Учительными" псалмами называются такие, преобладающим содержанием которых являются размышления по поводу обстоятельств личной жизни автора или жизни народа. К ним принадлежат все псалмы с надписью "учение". Учительные псалмы следующие: 1, 2, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 19, 22, 23, 31, 35, 36, 41, 42, 48, 49, 51, 52, 57:, 61, 67:, 81, 100, 111, 118, 120, 124, 126, 127:, 130, 131, 132, 136, 138.

"Мессианскими" псалмами называются те, в которых содержится пророчество о временах новозаветных и, преимущественно, об Иисусе Христе. Эти псалмы самостоятельной группы не составляют: черты мессианские находятся в псалмах всех групп. Мессианскими считаются следующие: 23: псалма: 2, 8, 15, 19, 21, 39, 40, 44, 46, 50, 67:, 68, 7:1, 7:7:, 88, 94, 96, 101, 117:, 118, 129, 131, 142. Мессианские псалмы по способу изображения будущих времен делятся на два разряда - на пророческие и прообразовательные. Когда псалмопевцем изображаются будущие времена в простом изложении откровения, данного писателю псалма по поводу известных исторических событий, такие псалмы называются пророческими, когда же события будущего излагаются писателем в чертах исторических, уже бывших фактов, называются прообразовательными. Напр. 109: Пс изображает будущее всесветное господство Сына Божия; поводом к такому изображению послужило сообщенное Давиду откровение после одержанных им блистательных побед, это - псалом пророческий; когда же в самом историческом факте, как, напр., в прославлении Бога даже грудными младенцами по переходе евреев через Чермное море (Пс 8), заключается точное воспроизведение события будущего времени (такое же восхваление Иисуса Христа малолетними детьми при Его входе в Иерусалим), то такие псалмы называются прообразовательными.

Кроме широкого употребления в богослужении, Псалтирь пользовалась широким распространением в общественном и домашнем быту как у древних евреев, так и у христиан первых веков и в настоящее время. Так у евреев при обыкновенных пиршествах пели Пс 22, при вступлении паломников в притвор Иерусалимского храма - 29, при приближении к горе Сионской - 150, во время зажжения светильников и каждения священников - 69. Есть основание думать, что 8: Пс (см. надписание) пелся при окончании сбора винограда, а 44: - при свадебных пиршествах.

В христианском обществе первых веков, когда каждый стремился к построению жизни в духе указаний церкви и христианского учения Псалтирь заменяла собою народную песню. По свидетельству блаж. Иеронима: "у нас (христиан) все простота, и только пением псалмов нарушается молчание. Обратись куда угодно: земледелец, идущий за плугом, поет аллилуия; покрытый потом жнец, развлекается псалмами; и виноградарь, срезывающий кривым ножом виноградные ветви, поет что-либо из Давида. Это - любимые песни народа. Псалом - восклицания пастухов; псалом - припевы земледельца" (Письма к Марцелле). Св. Афанасий говорит: "на торжищах слышатся восклицания из псалмов". В русском обществе Псалтирь была настольной книгой всякого грамотного человека, по ней производилось обучение грамоте в школах, и она служила даже предметом суеверного к ней отношения: по раскрывшемуся месту из Псалтири старались угадать исход задуманного дела или найти указание, как поступить во встретившихся затруднениях. О св. Тихоне Задонском его келейник Чеботарев пишет: "В самую полночь выходил он в переднюю келию, пел тихо и умиленно псалмы святые. Замечательно, когда он бывал в мрачных мыслях, тогда он пел псалом: "Благо мне, яко смирил мя еси". Когда же в ведренных мыслях, пел: "Хвалите Господа с небес" и прочие утешительные псалмы и всегда с умиленными слезами. Никогда и никуда не ходил и не ездил он без Псалтири, но всегда при себе носил оную за пазухою, ибо она была маленькая, а наконец он всю и наизусть читал. Дорогою, куда отъезжал, он всегда читал Псалтирь, а иногда и гласно пел, и мне показывал, либо какой текст объяснит" (Пособие к чтению св. Библии свящ. Соловьева, с. 190-191). В настоящее время тоже можно встретить многих, знающих Псалтирь наизусть, и среди благочестивых людей она до сего времени читается более всех других священных книг. До сего времени сохранился древний обычаи читать над умершими Псалтирь или в продолжение сорока дней, или в 6, 9: и 40: дни после смерти.

Мы выше приводили суждение о кн. Псалтирь св. отцев, указывавших на многопредметность ее содержания и умиряющее и возвышающее действие ее на душу человека. В этом - главная причина распространенности употребления Псалтири. Кроме указанных черт, широкому употреблению Псалтири содействуют еще следующие ее особенности: искренность и простота изложения, художественность формы выражения мыслей, общность ее содержания и возвышенность предметов последнего. Писатели псалмов излагали только то, что сами чувствовали и переживали, излагали это в удобопонятной форме, а потому читатель не мог не понять содержания песней; искренность в изложении чувств заставляет читателя сочувствовать писателю и переживать прочитанное, художественность же формы изложения, когда мысли и чувства человека облекаются в яркие и сильные образы, поддерживает внимание к книге. Кроме того, Псалтирь могла сделаться общим достоянием только в том случае, когда бы из ее содержания были исключены те черты временной зависимости от обстоятельств происхождения и чисто личных воззрений авторов их, которые понятны только современникам псалмов или их авторам, но не читателю другого времени и других условий жизни. Этой-то временной зависимости, случайных черт нет в Псалтири, т. е. ее содержание в громадном большинстве псалмов отличается общечеловеческим характером и, следовательно, общедоступностью. То же обстоятельство, что главным предметом содержания Псалтири служит обращение к Богу, отрывает читателя от интересов будничной, земной жизни и возвышает его дух, удовлетворяя высшим его запросам, В этом объяснение, почему благочестивые люди и все несчастные и обездоленные - находят в Псалтири успокоение и отраду.

В еврейской, греческой и латинский Библиях именем Давида этот псалом не надписывается. Псалом не содержит указаний, по которым бы можно было узнать как писателя псалма, так время и обстоятельства его происхождения.

В содержании общо говорится о судьбе праведных и нечестивых, почему этот псалом может рассматриваться как введение ко всей Псалтири, более всего касающейся изображения судьбы праведных и нечестивых.

Во многих древнегреческих рукописях, когда кн. Деяний приводит место из настоящего второго псалма: "Сын Мой еси Ты, Аз днесь родих Тя" (Пс II:7: см. Деян XIII:33), то говорит, что оно находится в первом псалме (en tw protw yalmw). Последнее указывает, что некогда настоящий первый и второй псалмы составляли один, первый псалом, почему и писателем последнего было одно лицо с писателем настоящего второго псалма, и написан он по одинаковому с последним поводу, т. е. во время Давида, Давидом, по поводу войны его с сиро-аммонитянами (см. 2: псалом).

Кто не поступает нечестиво, но всегда следует Закону Бога, тот блажен как дерево, посаженное при воде (1-3). Нечестивые же будут отвергнуты Богом (4-6).
Matthew Henry: Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible - 1706
We have now before us one of the choicest and most excellent parts of all the Old Testament; nay, so much is there in it of Christ and his gospel, as well as of God and his law, that it had been called the abstract, or summary, of both Testaments. The History of Israel, which we were long upon, let us to camps and council-boards, and there entertained and instructed us in the knowledge of God. The book of Job brought us into the schools, and treated us with profitable disputations concerning God and his providence. But this book brings us into the sanctuary, draws us off from converse with men, with the politicians, philosophers, or disputers of this world, and directs us into communion with God, by solacing and reposing our souls in him, lifting up and letting out our hearts towards him. Thus may we be in the mount with God; and we understand not our interests if we say not, It is good to be here. Let us consider,
I. The title of this book. It is called, 1. The Psalms; under that title it is referred to, Luke xxiv. 44. The Hebrew calls it Tehillim, which properly signifies Psalms of praise, because many of them are such; but Psalms is a more general word, meaning all metrical compositions fitted to be sung, which may as well be historical, doctrinal, or supplicatory, as laudatory. Though singing be properly the voice of joy, yet the intention of songs is of a much greater latitude, to assist the memory, and both to express and to excite all the other affections as well as this of joy. The priests had a mournful muse as well as joyful ones; and the divine institution of singing psalms is thus largely intended; for we are directed not only to praise God, but to teach and admonish ourselves and one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, Col. iii. 16. 2. It is called the Book of Psalms; so it is quoted by St. Peter, Acts i. 20. It is a collection of psalms, of all the psalms that were divinely inspired, which, though composed at several times and upon several occasions, are here put together without any reference to or dependence upon one another; thus they were preserved from being scattered and lost, and were in so much greater readiness for the service of the church. See what a good master we serve, and what pleasantness there is in wisdom's ways, when we are not only commanded to sing at our work, and have cause enough given us to do so, but have words also put in our mouths and songs prepared to our hands.
II. The author of this book. It is, no doubt, derived originally from the blessed Spirit. They are spiritual songs, words which the Holy Ghost taught. The penman of most of them was David the son of Jesse, who is therefore called the sweet psalmist of Israel, 2 Sam. xxiii. 1. Some that have not his name in their titles yet are expressly ascribed to him elsewhere, as Ps. ii. (Acts iv. 25) and Ps. xcvi. and cv. (1 Chron. xvi.) One psalm is expressly said to be the prayer of Moses (Ps. xc.); and that some of the psalms were penned by Asaph is intimated, 2 Chron. xxix. 30, where they are said to praise the Lord in the words of David and Asaph, who is there called a seer or prophet. Some of the psalms seem to have been penned long after, as Ps. cxxxvii., at the time of the captivity in Babylon; but the far greater part of them were certainly penned by David himself, whose genius lay towards poetry and music, and who was raised up, qualified, and animated, for the establishing of the ordinance of singing psalms in the church of God, as Moses and Aaron were, in their day, for the settling of the ordinances of sacrifice; theirs is superseded, but his remains, and will to the end of time, when it shall be swallowed up in the songs of eternity. Herein David was a type of Christ, who descended from him, not from Moses, because he came to take away sacrifice (the family of Moses was soon lost and extinct), but to establish and perpetuate joy and praise; for of the family of David in Christ there shall be no end.
III. The scope of it. It is manifestly intended, 1. To assist the exercises of natural religion, and to kindle in the souls of men those devout affections which we owe to God as our Creator, owner, ruler, and benefactor. The book of Job helps to prove our first principles of the divine perfections and providence; but this helps to improve them in prayers and praises, and professions of desire towards him, dependence on him, and an entire devotedness and resignation to him. Other parts of scripture show that God is infinitely above man, and his sovereign Lord; but this shows us that he may, notwithstanding, be conversed with by us sinful worms of the earth; and there are ways in which, if it be not our own fault, we may keep up communion with him in all the various conditions of human life. 2. To advance the excellencies of revealed religion, and in the most pleasing powerful manner to recommend it to the world. There is indeed little or nothing of the ceremonial law in all the book of Psalms. Though sacrifice and offering were yet to continue many ages, yet they are here represented as things which God did not desire (Ps. xl. 6, li. 16), as things comparatively little, and which in time were to vanish away. But the word and law of God, those parts of it which are moral and of perpetual obligation are here all along magnified and made honourable, nowhere more. And Christ, the crown and centre of revealed religion, the foundation, corner, and top-stone, of that blessed building, is here clearly spoken of in type and prophecy, his sufferings and the glory that should follow, and the kingdom that he should set up in the world, in which God's covenant with David, concerning his kingdom, was to have its accomplishment. What a high value does this book put upon the word of God, his statutes and judgments, his covenant and the great and precious promises of it; and how does it recommend them to us as our guide and stay, and our heritage for ever!
IV. The use of it. All scripture, being given by inspiration of God, is profitable to convey divine light into our understandings; but this book is of singular use with that to convey divine life and power, and a holy warmth, into our affections. There is no one book of scripture that is more helpful to the devotions of the saints than this, and it has been so in all ages of the church, ever since it was written and the several parts of it were delivered to the chief musician for the service of the church. 1. It is of use to be sung. Further than David's psalms we may go, but we need not, for hymns and spiritual songs. What the rules of the Hebrew metre were even the learned are not certain. But these psalms ought to be rendered according to the metre of every language, at least so as that they may be sung for the edification of the church. And methinks it is a great comfort to us, when we are singing David's psalms, that we are offering the very same praises to God that were offered to him in the days of David and the other godly kings of Judah. So rich, so well made, are these divine poems, that they can never be exhausted, can never be worn thread-bare. 2. It is of use to be read and opened by the ministers of Christ, as containing great and excellent truths, and rules concerning good and evil. Our Lord Jesus expounded the psalms to his disciples, the gospel psalms, and opened their understandings (for he had the key of David) to understand them, Luke xxiv. 44. 3. It is of use to be read and meditated upon by all good people. It is a full fountain, out of which we may all be drawing water with joy. (1.) The Psalmist's experiences are of great use for our direction, caution, and encouragement. In telling us, as he often does, what passed between God and his soul, he lets us know what we may expect from God, and what he will expect, and require, and graciously accept, from us. David was a man after God's own heart, and therefore those who find themselves in some measure according to his heart have reason to hope that they are renewed by the grace of God, after the image of God, and many have much comfort in the testimony of their consciences for them that they can heartily say Amen to David's prayers and praises. (2.) Even the Psalmist's expressions too are of great use; and by them the Spirit helps our praying infirmities, because we know not what to pray for as we ought. In all our approaches to God, as well as in our first returns to God, we are directed to take with us words (Hos. xiv. 2), these word, words which the Holy Ghost teaches. If we make David's psalms familiar to us, as we ought to do, whatever errand we have at the throne of grace, by way of confession, petition, or thanksgiving, we may thence be assisted in the delivery of it; whatever devout affection is working in us, holy desire or hope, sorrow or joy, we may there find apt words wherewith to clothe it, sound speech which cannot be condemned. It will be good to collect the most proper and lively expressions of devotion which we find here, and to methodize them, and reduce them to the several heads of prayer, that they may be the more ready to us. Or we may take sometimes one choice psalm and sometimes another, and pray it over, that is, enlarge upon each verse in our own thoughts, and offer up our meditations to God as they arise from the expressions we find there. The learned Dr. Hammond, in his preface to his paraphrase on the Psalms (sect. 29), says, "That going over a few psalms with these interpunctions of mental devotion, suggested, animated, and maintained, by the native life and vigour which is in the psalms, is much to be preferred before the saying over the whole Psalter, since nothing is more fit to be averted in religious offices than their degenerating into heartless dispirited recitations." If, as St. Austin advises, we form our spirit by the affection of the psalm, we may then be sure of acceptance with God in using the language of it. Nor is it only our devotion, and the affections of our mind, that the book of Psalms assists, teaching us how to offer praise so as to glorify God, but, it is also a directory to the actions of our lives, and teaches us how to order our conversation aright, so as that, in the end, we may see the salvation of God, Ps. i. 23. The Psalms were thus serviceable to the Old-Testament church, but to us Christians they may be of more use than they could be to those who lived before the coming of Christ; for, as Moses's sacrifices, so David's songs, are expounded and made more intelligible by the gospel of Christ, which lets us within the veil; so that if to David's prayers and praises we all St. Paul's prayers in his epistles, and the new songs in the Revelation, we shall be thoroughly furnished for this good work; for the scripture, perfected, makes the man of God perfect.
As to the division of this book, we need not be solicitous; there is no connexion (or very seldom) between one psalm and another, nor any reason discernible for the placing of them in the order wherein we here find them; but it seems to be ancient, for that which is now the second psalm was so in the apostles' time, Acts xiii. 33. The vulgar Latin joins the 9th and 10th together; all popish authors quote by that, so that, thenceforward, throughout the book, their number is one short of ours; our xi. is their x., our cxix. is their cxviii. But they divide the 147th into two, and so make up the number of 150. Some have endeavoured to reduce the psalms to proper heads, according to the matter of them, but there is often such a variety of matter in one and the same psalm that this cannot be done with any certainty. But the seven penitential Psalms have been in a particular manner singled out by the devotions of many. They are reckoned to be Ps. vi., xxxii., xxxviii., li., cii., cxxx., cxliii. The Psalms were divided into five books, each concluding with Amen, Amen, or Hallelujah; the first ending with Ps. xli., the second with Ps. lxxii., the third with Ps. lxxxix., the fourth with Ps. cvi., the fifth with Ps. cl. Others divide them into three fifties; others into sixty parts, two for every day of the month, one for the morning, the other for the evening. Let good Christians divide them for themselves, so as may best increase their acquaintance with them, that they may have them at hand upon all occasions and may sing them in the spirit and with the understanding.

This is a psalm of instruction concerning good and evil, setting before us life and death, the blessing and the curse, that we may take the right way which leads to happiness and avoid that which will certainly end in our misery and ruin. The different character and condition of godly people and wicked people, those that serve God and those that serve him not, is here plainly stated in a few words; so that every man, if he will be faithful to himself, may here see his own face and then read his own doom. That division of the children of men into saints and sinners, righteous and unrighteous, the children of God and the children of the wicked one, as it is ancient, ever since the struggle began between sin and grace, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, so it is lasting, and will survive all other divisions and subdivisions of men into high and low, rich and poor, bond and free; for by this men's everlasting state will be determined, and the distinction will last as long as heaven and hell. This psalm shows us, I. The holiness and happiness of a godly man, ver. 1-3. II. The sinfulness and misery of a wicked man, ver. 4, 5. III. The ground and reason of both, ver. 6. Whoever collected the psalms of David (probably it was Ezra) with good reason put this psalm first, as a preface to the rest, because it is absolutely necessary to the acceptance of our devotions that we be righteous before God (for it is only the prayer of the upright that is his delight), and therefore that we be right in our notions of blessedness and in our choice of the way that leads to it. Those are not fit to put up good prayers who do not walk in good ways.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
Introduction to the Book of Psalms
Section I - On the Names Given to this Book
This book is termed in Hebrew ספר תהלים Sepher Tehillim, which some learned men derive from הל hal or הלל halal, to move briskly, irradiate, shine; and translate, The Book of the Shinings forth, Irradiations, Manifestations, or Displays, namely, of Divine wisdom and love exhibited in God's dealing with his chosen people, or with particular. persons, as figures, for the time being, of what should be accomplished either in the person of Christ, or in his mystical body the Church. But as halal signifies also to praise, and praise arises from a sense of gratitude, is the expression of inward joy, and was often exhibited by brisk notes, sprightly music, etc., it may be well denominated The Book of Praises, as the major part of the Psalms have for their subject the praises of the Lord.
That the Psalms were sung in the Jewish service, and frequently accompanied by musical instruments, there is no doubt, for the fact is repeatedly mentioned; and hence the most ancient translation we have of the Psalms, viz., the Septuagint, as it stands in what is called the Codex Alexandrinus, is called Ψαλτηριον, The Psaltery, which is a species of musical instrument resembling the harp, according to the accounts given of it by some of the ancients. From this term came the Psalterium of the Vulgate, and our word Psalter, all of which are deduced from the verb ψαλλω, to sing, as the voice no doubt always accompanied this instrument, and by it the key was preserved and the voice sustained.
A Psalm is called in Hebrew מזמור mizmor, from זמר zamar, to cut off, because in singing each word was separated into its component syllables, each syllable answering to a note in the music.
General Division of the Book
The Hebrews divide the Psalms into five books, and this division is noticed by several of the primitive fathers. The origin of this division is not easily ascertained; but as it was considered a book of great excellence, and compared for its importance to the Pentateuch itself, it was probably divided into five books, as the law was contained in so many volumes. But where the divisions should take place the ancients are not agreed; and some of them divide into three fifties rather than into five parts; and for all these divisions they assign certain allegorical reasons which merit little attention.
The division of the Hebrews is as follows: -
Book I. From Psa 1:1-6 to Psa 41:1-13 inclusive.
Book II. From Psa 42:1-11 to Psalm 72 inclusive.
Book III. From Psalm 73 to Psalm 89 inclusive.
Book IV. From Psalm 90 to Psalm 106 inclusive.
Book V. From Psalm 107 to Psa 150:1-6 inclusive.
The First, Second, and Third Books end with Amen and Amen; the Fourth, with Amen and Hallelujah, the Fifth, with Hallelujah.
But the Psalms themselves are differently divided in all the Versions, and in many MSS. This is often very embarrassing to the reader, not only in consulting the Polyglots, but also in referring to theological works, whether of the Greek or Latin Church, where the Psalms are quoted; the Greek ecclesiastical writers following the Septuagint; and those of the Latin Church, the Vulgate. I shall lay a proper table of these variations before the reader, remarking first, that though they differ so much in the division of the Psalms, they all agree in the number one hundred and fifty.
A Table of the Differences in Dividing the Psalms Between the Hebrew Text and the Ancient Versions, Syriac, Septuagint, Chaldee, Arabic, Aethiopic, and Vulgate
In the above versions Psalm 9 and 10 make only Psalm 9. Hence there is one Psalm less in the reckoning as you proceed to
Psa 114:1-8, 115, which make Psa 113:1-9 in all those versions. Hence two Psalms are lost in the reckoning.
Psalm 116 is divided at Psa 116:9, the versions beginning Psalm 115 at Psa 115:10. Hence one Psalm is gained on the above reckoning.
Psalm 119 makes Psalm 118 in all the versions.
Psalm 147 they divide at Psa 147:11, and begin Psalm 147 with Psa 147:12. Here then the reckoning becomes equal, and all end alike with Psa 150:1-6. '
In the Syriac, Septuagint, Aethiopic, and Arabic, there is what they call an extra-numeral Psalm, said to have been composed by David after his victory over Goliath. A translation of this will be found at the close of these notes.
The Hebrew MSS. agree often with the versions in uniting Psalms which the common Hebrew text has separated, and thus often support the ancient versions. These things shall be considered in the course of the notes.
On the Compilation of the Book, and the Authors to whom the Psalms Have Been Attributed
After having said so much on the name and ancient divisions of this important book, it may be necessary to say something in answer to the question, "Who was the author of the Book of Psalms?" If we were to follow the popular opinion, we should rather be surprised at the question, and immediately answer, David, king of Israel! That many of them were composed by him, there is no doubt; that several were written long after his time, there is internal evidence to prove; and that many of them were written even by his contemporaries, there is much reason to believe.
That the collection, as it now stands, was made long after David's death, is a general opinion among learned men; and that Ezra was the collector and compiler is commonly believed. Indeed all antiquity is nearly unanimous in giving Ezra the honour of collecting the different writings of Moses and the prophets, and reducing them into that form in which they are now found in the Holy Bible, and consequently the Psalms among the rest. See this subject treated at large in the preface to Ezra, etc.
In making this collection it does not appear that the compiler paid any attention to chronological arrangement. As he was an inspired man, he could judge of the pieces which came by Divine inspiration, and were proper for the general edification of the Church of God.
The writer of the Synopsis, attributed to St. Athanasius, says that the friends of King Hezekiah chose one hundred and fifty Psalms out of the number of three thousand which David had composed, and that they suppressed the rest: he says farther, that this is written in the Chronicles; but it is not found in the Chronicles which we now have, though it might have been in other Chronicles which that author had seen.
That some Scriptural collections were made under the influence and by the order of Hezekiah, we learn from Pro 25:1 : 'These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied out." But whether these were employed on the writings of the father, as they were on those of the son, we cannot tell. The above authority is too slender to support any building of magnitude.
The only method we have of judging is from the internal evidence afforded by several the Psalms themselves, and from the inscriptions which many of them bear. As far as time and facts are concerned, many of them can be traced to the days of David, and the transactions which then occurred, and in which he bore so eminent a part. But there are others in which we find no note of time, and no reference to the transactions of David's reign.
As to the inscriptions, they are of slender authority; several of them do not agree with the subject of the Psalm to which they are prefixed, and not a few of them appear to be out of their places.
In one of the prologues attributed to St. Jerome, but probably of Eusebius, at the end of Vol. II. of St. Jerome's Works by Martinay, we find a table in which the whole Book of Psalms is dissected, showing those which have inscriptions, those which have none, and those to which the name of a particular person, as author, is prefixed. I shall give these in gross, and then in detail: Psalms without any name prefixed, 17; Psalms with an inscription, 133; in all 150.
These are afterwards divided into those which bear different kinds of titles, without names; and those which have names prefixed. I shall give these from the Quintuplex Psalterium, fol. Paris, 1513, as being more correct than in the edition of Jerome, by Martinay.
No Inscription 1, 2, 32, 42, 70, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 103, 115, 136, 147 18 David's 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 67, 68, 69, 85, 100, 102, 107, 109, 133, 137, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144 70 Solomon's 71, 124 2 Sons of Korah 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 83, 84, 86 10 Asaph 49, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82 12 Heman 87 1 Ethan 88 1 Moses 89 1 No Name SpecifiedA Song or PsalmA Song or PsalmA Psalm or SongA Prayer of the Afflicted 656691101 4 Hallelujah 104, 105, 106, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 116, 117, 118, 134, 135, 145, 146, 148, 149, 150 18 Psalms of Degrees 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132 13 Grand Total 150 Supping that the persons already mentioned are the authors of those Psalms to which their names are prefixed, there are still fifty-three, which, as bearing no proper name, must be attributed to uncertain authors, though ii is very probable that several of them were made by David.
The reader will observe that as the preceding enumeration is taken from the Vulgate, consequently it is not exactly the same with ours: but the rules already given at page 200, will enable him to accommodate this division to that in our common Bibles, which is the same with that in the Hebrew text.
In order to make the preceding table as correct as possible, I have carefully collated that in the Benedictine edition of St. Jerome's Works, with professedly the same table in the Quintuplex Psalter, in both of which there are several errors. In the Works, though all the numbers are given at large, as primus, decimus, centesimus, &c, yet the sum total, under each head, rarely agrees with the items above it. This was so notoriously the table in Jerome's Works, that I thought best to follow that in the Psalter above mentioned, which had been carefully corrected by Henry Stephens.
After all, this table gives but small satisfaction, when we come to collate it with the Psalms in the Hebrew text, or as they stand in our common English Bible. That nothing might be wanting, I have made an analysis of the whole from our present text, collating this with the Hebrew where I was in doubt; and by this the reader will see how greatly these tables differ from each other; and that many Psalms must now come under different arrangement, because of their different titles, from that which they had in St. Jerome's time. For instance, in St. Jerome's time there were seventy, or, as in some copies, seventy-two Psalms that had the name of David in the inscriptions; at present there are seventy-three thus inscribed in the Hebrew text.

The blessedness of the righteous shown, in his avoiding every appearance of evil, Psa 1:1. In his godly use of the law of the Lord, Psa 1:2 This farther pointed out under the metaphor of a good tree planted in a good well-watered soil, Psa 1:3. The opposite state of the ungodly pointed out, under the metaphor of chaff driven away by the wind, Psa 1:4. The miserableness of sinners, and the final happiness of the godly, Psa 1:5, Psa 1:6.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
Introduction to the Psalm
Section 1. "The Title to the Book of Psalm."
The general title to the Book of Psalms in Hebrew is תהלים Tehilliym, Psalms, or more fully, תהלים ספר Sê pher Tehilliym, "Book of Psalms?" Sometimes a shorter title is used - תלים Tilliym. Other terms are used as appropriate to particular psalms, as מזמורים mizmô riym, or שׁירים shı̂ yriym, songs; or in the singular, מזמור mizmô r, and שׁיר shı̂ yr, a song. These latter titles, however, are not given to the entire collection, but to particular psalms. The former title - מזמור mizmô r - is given to Psa 3:1-8; Psa 4:1-8; Psa 5:1-12; Psa 6:1-10; Psa 8:1-9; Ps. 9; Psa 12:1-8; Psa 13:1-6; Psa 15:1-5; Psa 19:1-14; Psa 20:1-9; Psa 21:1-13; Ps. 22; Psa 23:1-6; and to 39 others, the last being Psa 143:1-12, rendered uniformly "a psalm." The latter title, שׁיר shı̂ yr, occurs in Psa 30:1-12; Ps. 45; Psa 46:1-11; and in 27 other psalms, the last being Psa 134:1-3, and is uniformly rendered "song," though it is sometimes connected with the word מזמור mizmô r, psalm, and rendered "A song and psalm," as in Psa 48:1-14; Psa 65:1-13; Ps. 66; Psa 67:1-7; Ps. 68; Ps. 69; Psa 75:1-10; Ps. 83; Psa 87:1-7; Ps. 88; and in Psa 122:1-9; Psa 123:1-4; Psa 124:1-8 it is connected with the word degrees: "A song of degrees."
The word תהלים Tehilliym is derived from the verb - הלל hâ lal, to praise, as in the word "Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah." The name is given to the general collection, because praise, more than anything else, is the characteristic of the book, and because the collection seems to have been designed to be used in the public praise or worship of God. They were all probably thus used in Hebrew worship.
The word "Psalms," as applied to the collection, we have derived from the Greek translation, the word ψαλμοὶ psalmoi, in the plural - "psalmos" (a psalm) and "psalmoi" (psalms). This word is derived from ψάλλω psallō, to touch, to twitch, to pluck - as the hair or beard; and then, to touch or twitch a string, "to twang," that is, to cause it to vibrate by touching or twitching it with the finger or with a "plectrum" (πλῆκτρον plē ktron) - an instrument for striking the strings of a lyre, as a quill. Cic. N. D., 2. 59. Hence, the word is applied to instruments of music employed in praise, and then to acts of praise in general. The noun - ψαλμός psalmos, - "psalm," means properly "a touching, twang," as of a bowstring, or of stringed instruments; then a song, as accompanying stringed instruments; and then specifically a psalm or song of praise to God. Thus, the verb - ψάλλω psallō, - is used in the New Testament as denoting "praise" in the following places: Rom 15:9, "I will confess ... and "sing" unto Thy name;" Co1 14:15, "I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding;" Eph 5:19, "Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;" Jam 5:13, "Is any merry? let him sing psalms."
The verb does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. The "noun" - ψαλμός psalmos, - is used in the New Testament in the following places as denoting psalms in general: Co1 14:26, "Every one of you hath a psalm;" Eph 5:19, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms;" Col 3:16, "Admonishing one another in psalms." In the following places it is applied in the New Testament to the Book of Psalms, considered as a collection of songs of praise; - Luk 20:42, "David himself saith in the Book of Psalms;" - Luk 24:44, "All things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me:" see the notes on that passage; - Act 1:20, "It is written in the Book of Psalms;" - Act 13:33, "It is also written in the second psalm." The word does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament.
Section 2. "The Authors of the Psalm."
The Psalms thus collected into a book are by no means the production of one poet or one age. They stretch through a long period of Jewish history, certainly from the time of Moses to the time of the return from the captivity of Babylon, and probably later, and they are modified by all the varieties incident to the peculiarities of their respective authors; to individual and national history; to the times in which they were composed. So many of them, however, are the composition of David, that it is customary to speak of them as "The Psalms of David," though it is probable that not much more than half of the psalms in the collection were written by him. Of the 150 psalms comprising the collection, according to the enumeration in the Hebrew manuscripts, not quite one half are usually ascribed to him. According to DeWette, 74; to Kennicott, 66; to DeRossi, 67; to Rosenmuller and Eichhorn, 71; and to Hengstenberg, 80. It is probable, however, that a portion of the psalms to which no name is prefixed in the title - but how great a portion it is impossible now to determine - is the production of David. Still, so many are known to have been composed by him, and he was so eminent as a poet, as to justify the language which is so frequently employed when they are called familiarly "The Psalms of David."
The following persons are mentioned in the titles as authors of psalms:
(1) One psalm Ps. 90 is ascribed to Moses. In regard to the question whether this is to be regarded as a composition of Moses, see the notes on the psalm. No other psalm in the collection is ascribed to him, though not a few specimens of his poetry are preserved in the Pentateuch. Why this was not incorporated with his other writings, or how it was preserved until it obtained a permanent place in the Book of Psalms, cannot now be determined.
(2) David occupies a prominent position as the author of many of the psalms in the collection, but, as has been remarked above, critics are divided in opinion as to the exact number that should be ascribed to him. In the Hebrew inscriptions of the Psalms, 68 are attributed to him. The difference between this number and that noted above in regard to the opinions of DeWette, Kennicott, DeRossi, Rosenmuller, Eichhorn, Hengstenberg, and others, arises from the variations in the manuscripts in respect to these inscriptions; the different value attached to these inscriptions by various critics; the fact that some psalms, though without a title in the Hebrew, are supposed to be so certainly the production of David as to make it proper to ascribe them to him; and the fact that some of the psalms ascribed to him are supposed by different writers to belong to a later period of the Jewish history than his time, and that, consequently, the title by which they are attributed to David is an error. There is every reason to suppose that some of the psalms now without a title are the composition of David, though it is not known, and cannot now be known, why they are not ascribed to him in the titles of the psalms themselves. In consequence of these facts, it is impossible now to determine with exact precision how many of the psalms are to be ascribed to David; though the number is undoubtedly so great that he is to be regarded as the principal author of the collection.
(3) Twelve of the psalms, Ps. 50; Ps. 73; Ps. 74; Psa 75:1-10; Psa 76:1-12; Ps. 77; Ps. 78; Psa 79:1-13; Ps. 80; Ps. 81; Psa 82:1-8; Ps. 83; are ascribed to Asaph. These, it will be seen, occupy a place together in the collection Ps. 63-83, with the exception of Psa 1:1-6. The reason for this arrangement cannot now be known. DeWette (Einleitung, III. iii.) supposes that, with the exception of Psa 1:1-6. and Ps. 73, these are improperly ascribed to Asaph, as, in his view, they pertain to later times of the Jewish history, Ps. 74; Psa 79:1-13 to the destruction of the temple and the city; Ps. 80 to the Exile, etc. Compare the notes on the introduction to those psalms (Ps. 74; Ps. 79; Ps. 80).
(4) Eleven of the psalms, Psa 42:1-11; Ps. 44; Ps. 45; Psa 46:1-11; Psa 47:1-9; Psa 48:1-14; Ps. 49; Psa 84:1-12; Psa 85:1-13; Psa 87:1-7; Ps. 88; are ascribed to "the sons of Korah," as the authors, or are "for the sons of Korah." See the notes to the introduction of Psa 42:1-11. It is not certain whether these were composed by "the sons of Korah," or were composed for "the sons of Korah;" that is, for the company of musicians to whom the direction of the music in the temple was confided. It is obvious, however, that if the meaning is that they were composed by "the sons of Korah," this furnishes no information as to the individual authorship of the psalms. By which one of them they were composed, or whether by more than one, of course is not indicated by a title so general. DeWette supposes that most of these psalms pertain to the times of the Exile, or to a later period. There is nothing very unique in the character of these psalms; nothing which in themselves could lead us to conclude that they were composed by those to whom they are ascribed, rather than by David or Asaph.
(5) Two psalms, Ps. 88; Ps. 89 are ascribed to a person called "The Ezrahite." One of these, Ps. 88, is ascribed to" the Ezrahite," and the other, Ps. 89, to Ethan the Ezrahite." The former of these is also reckoned among those which pertain to the "sons of Korah." Ethan and Heman were probably, however, different persons, to each of whom the name "Ezrahite" might for some reason be applied. In Kg1 4:31, they are mentioned among others as remarkable for their wisdom: "For he, Solomon, was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol." In Ch1 2:6, they are mentioned as "sons of Zerah:" "Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara." In Ch1 6:33, a Heman is mentioned as one of the "sons of the Kohathites:" "Heman, a singer, the son of Joel." So, in Ch1 15:17, he is mentioned in connection with Ethan, who is there said to be the son of Kushaiah; and in Ch1 15:19, he is mentioned as associated with Asaph and Ethan: "So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound with cymbals of brass." In Ch1 25:1, Helman is mentioned with Jeduthun, as one of those whose sons "should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals." He is there referred to as associated with Asaph. Compare Ch2 5:12; Ch2 29:13-14; Ch2 35:15. Ethan is twice mentioned - Kg1 4:31 as above, as a wise man, and Ch1 2:6, as above. Compare the notes on the introduction to Ps. 88; Ps. 89.
(6) Two of the psalms, Ps. 72 and Psa 127:1-5, are ascribed to Solomon, or are "for Solomon." See the notes on the titles to those psalms (Ps. 72; Ps. 127). It cannot be positively determined whether those psalms are his composition, or whether they were composed with reference to him or for him. The latter would seem to be the more probable opinion in regard to Ps. 72, so far as can be determined from the contents of the psalm; but still there is nothing which absolutely pRev_ents us from ascribing the two to him as the author.
(7) Fifteen of the psalms, Ps. 120-134, are entitled "Songs of Degrees." Of these, four are ascribed to David and one to Solomon. The names of the authors of the others are not mentioned. Compare the introduction to the notes on Psa 120:1-7. They are grouped together because they appear to have been used on certain special occasions, rather than from anything special in the psalms themselves.
(8) Some of the psalms are ascribed in the Septuagint translation to Jeremiah, to Ezekiel, to Haggai, and to Zechariah. As there is nothing corresponding to this in the Hebrew titles, this must have been, of course, mere conjecture or tradition.
(9) There remains a pretty large number of the collection the names of whose authors are not mentioned; and, of course, there are now no means of determining the question in regard to the authorship. Such are s. 150. These, it will be seen, are irregularly scattered through the book, though they are, for the most part, near its close.
In regard to the origin and authority of the titles to the several psalms, see section 4.
Section 3. "The Formation of the Collection and Arrangement of the Book of Psalm."
The Jewish Talmud (Cod. Berachot, 1, 9) ascribes the formation of the Psalter, or the assembling of the Book of Psalms, to David. It is unnecessary to remark that this cannot be a correct opinion, since many of the psalms are indubitably of a later date than the time of David. Most of the Christian fathers, and many critics of modern times, ascribe the collection and arrangement of the Book to Ezra, and this is now regarded as the most probable opinion; and if so the whole collection must have been formed about 450 years before Christ. But though this may be regarded as the correct opinion in regard to the completion of the whole as it now stands, yet there is evidence in the psalms themselves of the existence of smaller collections made before from which the general one was ultimately formed. By whom those smaller collections were made is not now known, nor can it be ascertained what changes may have been made in them when the general collection was formed.
The Book is divided in the Hebrew text into five minor books or collections, sufficiently marked in their character, and so indicated at the close of each as to make it every way probable that these may have been "published," so to speak, in the form of different books, or that the later were additions to the first collection or volume. This division is found also in the Septuagint version - a fact which proves that it existed as early as the year 200 b. c. These portions bear marks of being not "arbitrary" divisions made at the time when the general collection was formed, but distinct and independent collections by different persons. The grouping is not precisely accurate, that is, in the first part, the "Psalms of David" Ps. 1-41, not all the psalms of David are included; and there are a few that are not ascribed to him in the title; but still it was so complete at the time, probably, as to make it proper to regard it as a collection of "his" psalms in respect to the purpose for which that collection was made.
The first book embraces the first 41 psalms, and was, probably, a collection of David's psalms as such, although it does not embrace by any means all that he wrote, probably not all that were extant at the time when the collection was made. The "close" of this "book" is indicated by the words "Amen, and Amen," Psa 41:13. All the psalms in this collection, except Psa 1:1-6; Psa 2:1-12; Ps. 10; Ps. 33; are expressly ascribed to David, and it is every way probable that all were composed by him. In many manuscripts, in the Septuagint, and in the Latin Vulgate, the first psalm is united with the second (as are, also, in other parts of the general collection, Psa 42:1-11 and Psa 43:1-5; and Ps. 116 and Psa 117:1-2). It is probable that this collection was early made, though DeWette has endeavored to show that it could not have been until after the exile, since he supposes that Psa 14:1-7 and Ps. 44 were composed after that event. Of this, however, there is no evidence. Of course it is impossible to determine by whom this collection was made. It has been supposed by some that it was as early as the time of Hezekiah, and that it was prepared under his direction, as he is known to have ordered a collection of the proverbs of Solomon to be made and written out Pro 25:1; and as Ch2 29:30 he "commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David." (Kitto, Encyclopedia)
The second book in the general collection comprises Ps. 42-72. This collection is made up of the psalms of "the sons of Korah," Ps. 42-49; of one of the psalms of Asaph, Ps. 50; of 19 psalms of David; of two whose authors are not named; and of one inscribed "to Solomon," or "for Solomon," Ps. 72. At the end of this collection Psa 72:20 the following notice is given: "The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended;" and some have supposed that this was the close of the entire psalms preceding it, as one book or collection, Ps. 1-72. Carpzov, Introduction ii. 107. But that this was a different collection, or that there were two collections made by different persons, seems evident from the fact that Psa 53:1-6 is the same as Psa 14:1-7; with only slight variations - the variations consisting mainly in the fact that the word אלהים 'Elohiym is used as the name of God in the latter, in the place of יהוה Yahweh in the former. It cannot be supposed that a collector would have used the same psalm with such a variation in the same collection. So also Psa 70:1-5 is only a repetition of Psa 40:13-17, with only a similar change.
It may be "suggested" that these two collections may have been subsequently "united," and may have constituted as one before the more general collection was made. Thus, the natural "close" of this collection, as of the first collection Psa 41:13, would be with the words "Amen, and Amen," Psa 72:19. To the "entire" collection - the two combined - these words may have been added Psa 72:20, "The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended," meaning that "now" an entire and complete collection of the Psalms of David had been made in the "two" combined; or, that "as many had been combined for public worship as were then intended to be used in that service." This idea would not pRev_ent the supposition that there may have been at that time, in fact, other psalms of David in existence; or that they might have been subsequently introduced into the worship of God in "other" collections.
The third book Ps. 73-89 consists in part Ps. 73-83 of psalms of Asaph, and in part Ps. 84-89 of the psalms of the sons of Korah, including one of David Ps. 86. The book contains none of the psalms of David, with the exception of Ps. 86; and therefore the notice is given at the end of the second book Psa 72:20, that "the prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended." It was evidently the design of the author of the compilation at the "close" of that book not to admit in the following book any of the psalms of David; perhaps it was the intention "not" to collect anymore of the psalms of David for the purpose of public worship. Possibly, as DeWette (Einleitung, p. 21) suggests, the author of the collection in the third book put the notice at the end of the second book that David's psalms ended there, it being his intention to make a collection of another kind. when this collection was made is unknown. From Psa 85:1-13 it would seem probable that it was made as late as the return from the captivity at Babylon. That psalm may have been written by one of the company called "the sons of Korah;" or it may have been composed for their use in the sanctuary. This collection closes, like the two former, with the expressive "Amen, and Amen," Psa 89:52,
The fourth collection Ps. 90-106 is made up wholly of anonymous psalms, with the exception of Ps. 90, which is ascribed to Moses, and Psa 101:1-8; Ps. 103; which are ascribed to David. They are psalms which have almost no local references or allusions, which might, for the most part, have been composed in any country or at any period of the world; and which, in their structure and allusions, give no indication of their authors or of the circumstances which led to their composition. Their authorship, except in the three instances above mentioned, cannot now be ascertained; nor is it necessary to determine that question in order fully to understand and appreciate them. They were manifestly designed for public worship, and probably written with the intention of being so used. This book closes Psa 106:48 with the expression "Amen, Hallelujah."
The fifth and last book Ps. 107-150, is miscellaneous in its character, and seems to have been intended to be a collection of all the scattered psalms which would be proper for public worship, which had not found a place in the other collections. Part (Psa 108:1-13; Ps. 109; Psa 110:1-7; Psa 122:1-9; Psa 124:1-8; Psa 131:1-3; Psa 133:1-3; the four last being among the "Songs of Degrees," Psa 138:1-8; Ps. 139; Psa 140:1-13; Psa 141:1-10; Psa 142:1-7; Psa 143:1-12; Psa 144:1-15; Ps. 145) are ascribed to David. Part Ps. 120-134 consist of the "Songs of Degrees." The rest Ps. 107; Psa 111:1-10; Psa 112:1-10; Psa 113:1-9; Psa 114:1-8; Ps. 115; Ps. 116; Psa 117:1-2; Ps. 118; Ps. 119; Ps. 135; Ps. 136; Psa 137:1-9; Psa 146:1-10; Ps. 147; Psa 148:1-14; Psa 149:1-9; Psa 150:1-6 are anonymous. By whom, and when this last collection was made is unknown. It may without improbability, however, be supposed perhaps that it was made by the person (Ezra?) who undertook to collect into one the entire "books" already existing, and who found many psalms that had not been included by the collectors of the pRev_ious books, and who, therefore, grouped all these together in a single book, to be added in the general collection to those which had been already classified and arranged.
Section 4. "The Titles to the Several Psalm."
All the psalms, except Ps. 34, now have in the Hebrew titles or superscriptions. Some, however, reckon only 25 exceptions, as, according to their view, the phrase, "Hallelujah,"" Praise ye the Lord," occurring at the commencement of several of the psalms, is regarded by them as a title or superscription. The more correct supposition, however, undoubtedly is to regard that phrase as a part of the psalm. To each one of these exceptions the Talmud gives the name of "Orphan Psalms."
(a) The "authorship" of these titles is unknown, and cannot now be ascertained. They are found in the Hebrew; but it is not to be supposed that, so far as the "name" of the author of the psalm is concerned, or so far as they are intended to indicate the author, they were prefixed to the psalm by the authors themselves. The Psalms are not of the nature of epistles or histories, and it cannot be supposed that the author would prefix his name to a mere poem or hymn. The probability, therefore, is, that they were prefixed to the psalms as they came into common use, or by the collectors of the several books, or the collector of the entire book, either as indicating what was the common opinion on the subject of the authorship, and the occasion on which they were composed, or as an inspired record in regard to that authorship and design. The question "by whom" they were prefixed is, however, a point which cannot now be determined. If it were possible to ascertain that, it would do much to determine their authority and worth, but the estimate of their value must now be settled by some other method than this.
(b) These titles are of great "antiquity." The fact that they are found in the Hebrew manuscripts proves this, for there are no Hebrew manuscripts, however ancient, without them. They are found, with some variations, in the Septuagint; and it is thus certain that they existed before that translation was made. This point is also confirmed by the fact that the translators of the Septuagint have, in some instances, copied the Hebrew words in Greek letters, without attempting to translate them; and that, in other instances, the titles which they use are translations of the Hebrew words, and show that they must have been made from a Hebrew original. These facts, however, would not make it necessary to suppose that they had been prefixed by the writers themselves, nor would it be "necessary" to suppose that they were prefixed before the time when the psalms were collected - either the separate books, or the general collection.
(c) The "design" of these titles is either to designate the author of the psalm, or the occasion on which it was composed, or the chief singer to whom it was dedicated, and to whom it seems to have been committed to set it to appropriate music - that is, to arrange the music for a public use of the psalm; or the style of the poetry; or the instrument which was to be used; or the "tune" which was to be sung. Some of the titles simply designate the author, as in many of those ascribed to David; some describe at length the occasion on which they were written, as Ps. 18; Psa 30:1-12; Ps. 51; Psa 52:1-9; Psa 56:1-13; etc. Some combine several of these things together, the author, the occasion, the style of the poetry, the music to be used, etc., as Psa 52:1-9; Psa 53:1-6; Psa 54:1-7; Ps. 55; Psa 56:1-13. The longest and fullest of these titles is that prefixed to Psa 60:1-12; where we have the dedication to the chief musician, the name of the author, the style of the poetry, the design of the psalm, the instrument of music to be employed, and the historical occasion on which the psalm was composed.
(d) It is very difficult at this distance of time to explain the "meaning" of many of these titles, and critics have differed very materially in their conjectures on this subject. The difficulty arises in a considerable degree from our ignorance in regard to the temple-music, and to the instruments which were employed. The difficulty is the same which would exist two or three thousand years from the present time in explaining a book, now familiar, containing "tunes" of music, and a reference to the instruments of music which are now employed in the public service of God. It might be difficult, if not impossible, so to describe the exact instrument of music used as to be intelligible to a future age; and it would be obviously impossible to explain satisfactorily the "names" of many of the "tunes" which are now in common use - as "Mear," "Martin's," "Russia, "Windham," "Lenox." The difficulty, as has been remarked above, was felt even at the time when the Septuagint version was made, as in several instances the authors of that version have not attempted even to translate the title, but have expressed it in Greek letters answering to the Hebrew. Coverdale, who translated the Bible in 1535, felt the difficulty to be so great that he has omitted nearly all the titles except the names of the authors. In these notes, as far as an explanation can now be given that is satisfactory or probable, it will be offered in the exposition of the particular psalms.
(e) There has been a wide difference of opinion respecting the "authority" of these titles. Not a few modern critics, especially German critics, regard them as of no authority, and argue in respect to the authorship of the psalms, and the time and occasion on which they were composed, as if no such titles were found in the Hebrew. By most of the ancient critics they were considered as genuine, and as having equal authority with the psalms themselves. They were wholly rejected at the close of the fourth century by Theodore of Mopsuestia, one of the ablest and most judicious of the ancient interpreters. Rosenmuller, Hist. Interp. Librorum Sacrorum, P. III, p. 256. Tholuck and Hengstenberg admit their authority. The "objections" to the authority of the title are such as these:
(1) That the "subscriptions" at the close of the epistles in the New Testament are now regarded as of no historical value, and it is asked why may not the same conclusion be adopted in regard to the titles "prefixed" to the psalms?
(2) that the ancient versions, the Syriac and the Greek especially, exhibit them with great variations, often altering the Hebrew, and sometimes giving a heading where the Hebrew has none. It is asked whether these ancient translators would have taken such liberties if the titles had been considered sacred like the psalms themselves? (Kitto). - It is added on this point, that "if ever Ezra settled them, the variations in versions and manuscripts have tended since to make them doubtful." Eichhorn, "Einleitung," III, p. 490.
(3) It is argued that the titles are at variance with the contents of the psalms. Thus, it is alleged that sometimes the name of the author is incorrectly given, "as when David is named over the psalms referring to the captivity," as in Psa 14:1-7; Ps. 25; Ps. 51; Ps. 69. It is also alleged that Ps. 139 cannot be David's, since it is not free from Aramaisms. It is also said that the occasion on which a psalm was composed is not always correctly specified, as in Psa 30:1-12.
It is to be observed, however, that these writers sometimes assume that a psalm refers to the time of the exile when it would be possible to explain it on the supposition that it was composed at an earlier date; and that it is not always safe to argue from the internal evidence of a psalm against the inscription. A critic affixes his own interpretation to a psalm, and then adopts that as a basis of argument in regard to its origin; whereas often, possibly in all cases, if the inscription were assumed to be correct, it would not be difficult to explain the psalm, by fair rules of interpretation, in accordance with that supposition.
On the whole, it seems to me that these inscriptions are to be regarded as a part of the inspired record, and as having the authority of inspiration. The fact that they are found in the Hebrew - that they can be traced back to the earliest periods when we have any knowledge of the Hebrew text - that they have come down to us with that text - furnishes proof which it seems we cannot now set aside; that they are to be regarded as a part of the text, and that they should not be rejected, except as any other portion of the Hebrew text should be rejected, i. e., only when it can be demonstrated that an error has crept into the text by the fault of transcribers.
Section 5. "The General Character of the Book of Psalm."
The Psalms are mostly lyrical poetry, that is, poetry adapted to the harp or lyre; to be used in connection with instrumental music; to be "sung," not "read." Such poetry was common among the ancients, as it is among the moderns. Anacreon, Alcaeus, Stesichous, Sappho, and Horace were eminent among the ancients as "lyric" poets; and the numerous writers of "songs," sacred and secular, among the moderns, are to be ranked in the same class. The phrase "lyric poetry" now, however, is frequently applied to that species of poetry which "directly expresses the individual emotions of the poet" (Webster).
Lyric poetry is, for the most part, an expression of deep feeling, and has its foundation in feeling or emotion. It is not so much the fruit of the understanding as of the heart; not so much the creation of the imagination as the utterance of deep personal emotion. It embraces in its design and nature all kinds of feeling, and may be joyous, pensive, desponding, triumphant, according to the feelings of the author, or to the occasion, for all these utterances may be sung, or may be set to music, the varying tones of music being adapted to express them all. Hence, in the Psalms, 150 in number, and composed by a considerable variety of individuals, and on many different occasions, we have the varied feelings of trouble, anguish, fear, hope, joy, trust, thankfulness, devotion to God, penitence for sin, and the exultation of forgiveness - the heart moved, and finding vent for its feelings in words adapted to the melody of the lyre, or the musical tones of the voice. These feelings are expressed in a great variety of modes or forms, and the music was intended, doubtless, to be in accordance with these varied feelings. The Psalms, therefore, comprise compositions of the following classes or orders:
(1) Hymns in which the praise of God is the principal and leading object, as
(a) in general, God is praised as the God of nature and of men, Psa 8:1-9; Ps. 104; Ps. 145;
(b) as the God of nature and of the Hebrew people, Psa 19:1-14; Psa 29:1-11; Ps. 33; Psa 65:1-13; Psa 93:1-5; Ps. 135; Ps. 136; Ps. 147;
(c) as uniquely the God of the Hebrew people, Psa 47:1-9; Ps. 66; Psa 67:1-7; Psa 75:1-10;
(d) as the helper and deliverer of his people, Psa 46:1-11; Psa 48:1-14; Psa 75:1-10; Psa 76:1-12; Ps. 18; Psa 30:1-12; Psa 138:1-8.
(2) Psalms pertaining to the Hebrew nation; to its history; to the Divine interposition in its behalf; and to its relation to Yahweh. Ps. Ps. 78; Ps. 105; Ps. 106; Psa 114:1-8.
(3) temple psalms, or songs of Zion. Psa 5:1-12; Psa 15:1-5; Psa 24:1-10; Psa 87:1-7; Ps. 132.
(4) Psalms in relation to trial, calamity, distress, whether of individuals or of the nation. These abound, as Ps. 7; Ps. 22; Ps. 55; Psa 56:1-13; Ps. 109; Ps. 44; Ps. 74; Psa 79:1-13; Ps. 80; Psa 137:1-9; Ps. 69; Ps. 77; Ps. 102; Ps. 10; Psa 12:1-8; Psa 14:1-7; Psa 36:1-12; and many others.
(5) Religious and moral psalms, Ps. 90; Ps. 139; Psa 23:1-6; Ps. 91; Psa 121:1-8; Psa 127:1-5; Psa 128:1-6; Psa 42:1-11; Psa 43:1-5; Psa 101:1-8; Psa 131:1-3; Psa 1:1-6; Psa 133:1-3; Ps. 119:
The uniqueness of the Hebrew lyrical poetry as distinguished from the lyrical poetry of other ancient people, and from most of the lyrical poetry in modern times, is its "religion." It is lyrical poetry on subjects pertaining to religion, or to be employed in religion: as expressing religious feeling, and as designed to awaken and foster such feeling. It is intended to raise the heart and the affections toward God; to lift up the thoughts of men from the earth; to inspire confidence in God; to produce consolation as derived from God in times of trouble; to cheer and comfort man in his pilgrimage along a path of sorrow and trouble to a better abode. Much of it can be best characterized by an expression derived from the Bible itself - an expression no less remarkable for its beauty than its truthfulness - as "songs in the night" Job 35:10; songs indicating the joy that may spring up in the soul of man in times of distress and sorrow; songs that show that there "is" joy in the darkness of this world; songs which illustrate the power and the value of religion; songs with which men cheer themselves and each other in their journey toward the grave; songs which even the guilty may pour forth from hearts softened into penitence, and filled with thankfulness in the assurance of pardon.
It is most remarkable that this rich poetry should have sprung up in Palestine, and that it should have been confined to that land. It was not that the land was better adapted to lyric poetry than other lands - for in this respect it could not compare favorably with many other countries, and particularly with Greece. It was not that the events of their history had been such as peculiarly to suggest this kind of composition - for poetry adapted to the lyre or to music abounded elsewhere, and especially in Greece. It was not that the Hebrews had a more poetic imagination than other people - for theirs did not, in this respect, surpass the Greek genius, and whatever there was of poetic imagination in the character of their minds was found with equal richness in Arabia and Persia. Nor was it that their language was especiallly favorable for this kind of poetry - for in very many respects it was far inferior in this point to the Greek, and had no superiority certainly over the Arabian and Persian.
The fact that their poetry took this turn; the fact that all which they had was religious; the fact that there was literally no poetry in their language that was designed and adapted to the dance, to festive amusements, to Bacchanalian orgies, to scenes of gaiety, frivolity, and vanity; the fact that in all the lyric poetry of the Hebrews there is literally nothing in this respect that can be placed by the side of much in the Greek lyric poetry - much in Horace - much in Burns; by the side of the lyric poetry of all lands except Palestine, can be traced only to the idea that the new religion pRev_ailed there, and can be best explained on the supposition that the authors of that poetry were inspired to prepare and transmit to future times that which, in all ages, would express the feelings of true devotion, and which might be permanently employed in the praises of God. He will fail to explain the fact that such poetry is found in Palestine alone, and will fail to appreciate its true nature, who does not admit that these "sweet singers" were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
On the general character of Hebrew poetry, see the introduction to the notes on the Book of Job, Section 5. On "the origin and culture of lyric poetry among the Hebrews," it may be proper to introduce here the following remarks from DeWette's "Commentar ueber die Psalmen," Einleitung, II, pp. 6-12. I copy from the elegant translation of the introduction of DeWette, by Prof. John Torrey, in the Biblical Repository, Vol. III, pp. 450-456:
"If we follow the titles of the Psalms and the common opinion, we must suppose the lyric poetry of the Hebrews, as well as the largest portion of the Psalms themselves, a production of David and his contemporaries. The few specimens of lyric composition which we find before David scarcely enter into consideration, compared with the fertility of his own period. In the earlier history it is but occasionally that the voice of poetry is heard, as in the songs of Moses at the Red Sea, of Deborah, and of Hannah. We are surprised, after so few attempts in lyric poetry, to see so accomplished and fruitful a poet rise up all at once, with several others in his company. So rapid a progress supposes some adequate occasion, some preparatory steps. Now, if we cast our eye over the history of the times immediately preceding the age of David, we are presented with a phenomenon which seems to explain the difficulty.
It is Samuel's school of the prophets. Many, as Herder, Eichhorn, Nachtigall, and Rosenmuller, suppose that the composition of psalms was cultivated and brought to perfection in this seminary. Specious as this conjecture appears, it is hardly reconcilable with the facts of the history. It is not intimated that David, before his unction, had any connection with Samuel. The former tends his father's flock. Indeed Samuel appears to have had no acquaintance with David when he comes to anoint him, Sa1 16:6 ff. Yet, David is already a skillful minstrel, and famed for his art, Sa1 16:18; he was not, therefore, a disciple of Samuel, at least in minstrelsy. But it is well known that music and song at this period were not separated; we must therefore suppose that David was already a poet, and, as such, known and celebrated. Some time afterward, it is true, we find David in Samuel's school of the prophets, but it is only on the occasion of his flight from Saul, Sa1 19:18 ff.
It may be possible that Samuel had some acquaintance with David prior to his unction, though no mention is made of it in the account of that transaction, 1 Sam. 16. But he might have been an object of attention to the prophet without being properly his disciple; or perhaps the youth was his own instructor. Natural capacity, in connection with frequent practice, might produce the same degree of talent, to say the least, as an artificial system of instruction, like that which we may suppose to have pRev_ailed in the prophetic school. At the same time, it would be an error to imagine that lyric poetry arose among the Hebrews all at once, as if it sprung out of the ground. David's contemporaries, the women who celebrated with song and joy his victory over Goliath, practiced a species of poetry which, though rude and uncultivated, was truly lyric in its kind; their short poem, has already the form of the poetic parallelism, and an original and superior mind might easily advance from such a beginning to the highest degree of excellence.
Saul smote his thousands,
But David his ten thousands,
We find also, still earlier, in addition to the examples of Moses, Deborah, and Hannah, the practice, particularly among the women, of music and the dance, from which song certainly was not excluded. Jephthah's daughter comes out to meet her father with timbrels and dances, Jdg 11:34. At Shiloh the maidens held a yearly feast with dances, Jdg 21:21. It may be questioned whether Samson was not a minstrel, for he is called out to play before the Philistines, Jdg 16:25, which is commonly understood to refer to the dance, but excludes not the accompaniments of song and instrumental music. But even if he was not, strictly speaking, a musician and singer, yet we meet in him with the first "Mashal" poet, as we have also from the same period the masterly apologue of Jotham. Such facts, though insulated, presuppose among a people a considerably high degree of cultivation, or at least of poetical capacity.
Indeed, the song of Deborah alone proves that the poetic art was already arrived at a stage of improvement sufficient to account for the origin of the Davidian poetry. Whether a period produces one admirable poem or more is a matter of chance rather than the result of the state of culture. Besides, the times of the judges and of Samuel constituted the heroic age of the Hebrews, a period peculiarly favorable to the first beginnings and gradual improvement of poetry. 'Such times,' says Eichhorn, 'are poetical under every climate;' but I cannot add with him, 'that poetry, in this case, is like the nation, wild and heroic, breathes only in the warlike trump, and knows no field for practice but that of valor and victory with their attendant train.' The occasions which first called forth the Hebrew poets were, probably enough, connected with war; but when poetry has once sprung into life, she confines herself to no such narrow limits, and draws still other objects within her circle. With feasts of victory, sacrifices, dances, and other rites were united, which might easily have tempered the song to a tone of somewhat softer character. Even warlike songs admit of the gentler emotions, and the song of Deborah is rich in touches of amiable feeling. When it is said they sung to the trumpet, we are certainly not to understand it in the literal sense; the music of the harp, of the flute, and of the timbrel, was the accompaniment even of the songs of war, and these instruments are adapted to the softest tones. We are not then obliged to trace the origin of the sweet and amiable poetry of David's psalms exclusively to Samuel's school of the prophets.
"Unfortunately we know far too little about the prophetic school of Samuel to determine what influence it had on the cultivation of poetry. The passages relating to it are Sa1 10:5; Sa1 19:19-20. In the first of these it is undoubtedly implied that the disciples of the prophets had music among them. and their 'prophesying' (התנבא hitenabē') has been understood, not without grounds, in the sense of song, for the word נביא nâ bı̂ y' sometimes signifies poet, Exo 15:20, and נבא nibâ', to sing, Ch1 25:1 ff. We may suppose, however, that this music was employed simply as a support and accompaniment of the prophetic delivery. The prophets probably delivered their messages, in the earlier times at least, in connection with music and a vehement action and declamation approaching to a dance. The passage in Kg2 3:15 ff. is remarkable. The prophet Elisha is about to pronounce the answer of the Lord to certain inquiries of Jehoshaphat; but before he does it, he asks for a minstrel; and as the latter strikes the harp, 'the hand of Yahweh comes upon him,' and he utters his reply.
The case here, it is true, is different; the prophet does not play and sing himself, but submits to the performance of another; still it shows the constant connection of music with the prophetic office. Neither is it distinctly asserted in the passages above that the company of the prophets "sung" themselves. The word התנבא hitenabē', which is there employed, may not perhaps signify "to sing," for Saul and Saul's messengers prophecy - התנבאוּ hitenabe'û - as soon as they hear the music, without preparation or practice. Their prophesying was perhaps nothing more than a vehement action, dancing, and gesticulation, as we see from the circumstance of Saul's falling down naked. At the farthest, they might have joined in the choral song with the company of prophets. Such choral chants were perhaps sung in the school of Samuel, but only for the purposes of devotion and inspiration; and the proper design of this school was to educate youth for the prophetic office, that is, to give counsel from the Lord to a people under a theocratic government.
Samuel was a prophet, and history has preserved no remains of any poetical works of his. Is it not most probable that he was aiming to educate his disciples likewise for the prophetic office? Now, it is true that the Hebrews drew no accurate line of distinction between lyric poetry and prophetic eloquence; yet these two always differ, particularly in the mode of delivery, for the lyric poem was probably sung, while the prophetic message was only recited. Supposing, then, Samuel was employed in forming his disciples to be prophetic poets or speakers, what is more natural than to imagine that some of them might feel drawn by genius and inclination to lyric poetry, and succeed in perfecting themselves in this? Yet it lay out of the plan of the prophetic school, and was a thing quite accidental. It is hardly correct, therefore, to consider the prophetic school of Samuel simply as an institution for the cultivation of singing and poetry.
"There were other institutions which may have had an influence still more important and decided than this school of the prophets in promoting the culture of lyric poetry, especially of the religious kind. I refer particularly to those musical schools which, according to the account, Ch1 15:16 ff. were founded by David in aid of the public worship. Yet I cannot retract the unfavorable opinion I once pronounced upon these and similar narratives in the Chronicles; I must rather confirm it. Besides the reasons there alleged, which I may not repeat, it seems to me to be a circumstance particularly calculated to excite suspicion, that the psalms and fragments of psalms represented by the Chronicles to have been sung at the dedication of the tabernacle and on similar occasions can hardly have been penned by David, but belong rather to the later and less pure style of the temple poetry. The psalm which is sung, Ch1 16:8 ff, is composed Ps. 105 and Psa 96:1-13; but both are productions of a later style. If the Chronicles had presented us on this occasion with a genuine song of David, such as the elegy for which we are indebted to 2 Sam. 1; this circumstance would have contributed not a little to add weight to its authority, but the insertion of these fragments throws suspicion over the whole of the accompanying narrative. The phrase also, quoted Ch1 16:41, and elsewhere, respecting the Levites who were appointed to give thanks to the Lord, 'because his mercy endureth foRev_er,' betrays the later poetry of the temple, an example of which we have in Ps. 136, where this phrase forms a regular refrain; also Ps. 106; Ps. 107; Ps. 118; in which this phrase occurs appear to belong to a later style of poetry.
"We may imagine that a master like David would not be without companions and assistants in the poetic art; and, in fact, several of David's contemporaries are named in the titles as composers of psalms: but these notices are not always good authority. Solomon, according to the testimony of history, united in himself such richness of lyric invention with the sententious style unique to him, that in his time lyric poetry must have attained to a very high degree of perfection. 'Solomon spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were a thousand and five,' Kg1 4:32. It is singular, however, that with the exception of two which are quite uncertain, no psalms of Solomon are preserved in our present collection; nor do we find any psalm with the author's name belonging to the period after Solomon, not even one which admits of being referred with certainty and of necessity to any particular event in the history of those times; and yet such lyric poems as those of Hezekiah and of Habakkuk clearly evince, that during this period the culture of lyric composition had by no means fallen into neglect.
On the contrary, we have many psalms which, according to the results of a sound critical exegesis almost universally acknowledged, must be placed in the times of the captivity, and after the captivity; and these psalms rank, for purity of language, and for sublimity, beauty, and freshness of conception, in the highest class, and are, in no respect, inferior to the poems of David and his contemporaries, for example, Ps. 45; Ps. 74; Psa 79:1-13; Ps. 107; and many, if not all, of the Psalms of Degrees. We are here presented, then, with a singular phenomenon. The lyric poetry of the Hebrews, which was cultivated and brought to perfection in the times of David, after producing abundance of fruit, sank into a repose of nearly 500 years, and then all at once, in the most calamitous period of the state, arose again, survived another golden age, and yielded a second harvest - a phenomenon hardly corresponding with the common course of events. The singularity, however, disappears as soon as we suppose that the collection of Psalms contains several pieces, either anonymous or incorrectly named, which belong to the period extending from David to the captivity. Indeed, it is in the highest degree probable that lyric composition flourished side by side with the prophetic poetry, and that many of the prophets themselves contributed to our present collection, and might reclaim their own productions from David and others. Some of the prophets, too, are actually named by the Septuagint as authors of psalms."
Section 6. "The Imprecations in the Psalm."
Much has been written on the subject of the imprecations in the Psalms, or, as they are called, "The imprecatory psalms;" and perhaps there is no part of the Bible that gives more perplexity and pain to its readers than this; perhaps nothing that constitutes a more plausible objection to the belief that the psalms are the productions of inspired men than the spirit of Rev_enge which they sometimes seem to breathe, and the spirit of cherished malice and implacableness which the writers seem to manifest. There has been probably no explanation offered which has relieved the minds of those who are thus perplexed, or which has furnished a solution wholly satisfactory on the question how this spirit can be reconciled with the precepts of the New Testament and with the requirements of true religion. It is useless to attempt to disguise or to conceal the difficulty, and it may be admitted that most of the explanations which have been suggested leave the difficulty just where it was. Perhaps it is not possible for us to remove all such difficulty, or so to present the subject that questions may not be asked which it would be impossible to answer, and, indeed, what subject is there in mental philosophy, in natural science, in morals, or in theology, on which questions may not be asked which the human powers are not yet competent to answer? In regard to the growth of a blade of grass, questions may be asked which no chemist - no person - can answer.
With reference to the imprecations in the Psalms, it will be proper, first, to refer to some specimens of such psalms, that we may know where the difficulty lies; and then to consider in what way, if any, this difficulty may be solved.
The following are among the passages which would be referred to as belonging to that class of psalms. They are not, indeed, all that could be selected, but they are fair specimens, and there are no others that would involve any difficulty which are not found in these.

"destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against thee."

"break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness until thou find none."

"thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that might destroy them that hate me. They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the Lord, but he answered them not. Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in streets."

"give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert."

"let me not be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave."

"draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. Let them be founded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt. Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them. Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the Lord persecute them. For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul. Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall."

"let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil." 55:9 , "destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city."

55:15 , "let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick (alive, living) into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them."
58:6-10, "break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord. Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces. As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun. Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath. The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked."
59:12-15, "for the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak. Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. And at evening let them return; and let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied."
68:2 , "as smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.",
69:22-25, "let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake. Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents."
79:12 , "and render unto our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord."

"do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison: which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb; yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna ... O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind. As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; so persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O Lord. Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish."
109:6-15, "set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labor. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favor his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth."

remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones."
These are specimens of the class of psalms now under consideration, and though the number might be somewhat increased, yet these examples embrace those which are most difficult to be explained, and involve all the difficulties to be found in this class of the psalms. None could be adduced which seem to breathe a more vindictive spirit than these do; none seem to be more opposed to the spirit of the New Testament. If, therefore, a solution can be suggested that would be satisfactory in regard to these passages, it would be easy to apply the principles of such a solution to all the similar passages in the Psalms.
The inquiry then occurs in what way, if in any way, the difficulty is to be solved, or what explanations can be suggested.
On this subject the following remarks may be made:
(1) Whatever difficulty there exists is created by the Bible itself. The record is one which the sacred writers have themselves made. This fact is proof at least of candor, and of a consciousness on their part that there was "nothing" in this record which was not founded in truth, which did not really occur; that is, that these feelings actually existed in their minds. It cannot be pretended that the writers indulged in feelings which they were unwilling to record; which they were ashamed to make known. In fact, they took all the methods in their power to make them known, and to have the record perpetuated. They not only recorded them - put them in a permanent form - but they embodied them in poetry, which was to be employed in the public worship of God; which was to go down to future ages, to direct the devotions of the people of far-distant times. Moreover, if there is any condemnation of this spirit in the Bible - if there was anything wrong in this spirit - we are to remember that the condemnation is found in the very book where these expressions occur - for it is to be assumed here that, so far as the objection lies against these expressions as a part of the Bible - as a part of a pretended Rev_elation - "the Bible is one book;" the Old Testament and the New are parts of the same Rev_elation from God. The Bible, thus in making the record, should be allowed at least to be a book of candor - a book in which there is no attempt to conceal what was actually passing in the minds of the writers. There was, it may be presumed some reason for making the record which was regarded as not inconsistent with the purpose of a Rev_elation; and it was assumed also that these things would be susceptible of an explanation, which would be consistent with the claim that the Bible was a Rev_elation from God.
(2) It may be a fair subject of inquiry how much of what is charged as wrong, harsh, and vindictive, may be referred to the spirit of the age in which the Bible was composed, and in which these men lived. This remark is not made on the supposition that the principles of morals and religion change from one age to another; or that they are modified by the circumstances of men; or that the same thing is morally right in one age or country, and morally wrong in another. Truth and holiness, right and wrong, do not change, nor are they dependent on the caprices or the customs of mankind. Still, in order to know exactly what was "meant;" how much words express; what was the precise idea intended to be conveyed by language that was used - it is necessary for us to place ourselves in the circumstances, and to understand the pRev_ailing customs and habits of the people who used the language. We constantly apply these principles, insensibly it may be, when we read Homer, or when we read the records of knight-errantry, or when we endeavor to understand the poetry of any people in the earlier periods of history.
The language which a covenanter or a Puritan used may possibly have expressed no other internal emotion than would be expressed by the milder language which we should use; the rough words which the uneducated and the common use may express no different feelings than would be found to exist when the thoughts are conveyed in the smooth tones, and the courtly phrases of those in the higher walks of life. There may be as much bitter feeling beneath silk and satin as beneath a dress made of the skins of wild beasts; in the palace as in the wigwam. It may be possible that those who lived in the earlier ages of the world really meant no more by the language which they often used, and which seems to us to be so harsh, so Rev_engeful, and so savage, that we do in the milder tones which we employ, and which we now suppose to be demanded by civilization and Christianity. It is, at least, a supposable case that the people of future times may have had conveyed to them as much in the records of our literature, and of our customs, which they will find it difficult to explain consistently with their notions of refinement, civilization, and the spirit of pure religion, as we recognize in the language of the covenanters and the Puritans of Scotland and England, or in the poetic effusions of the days of David. Let us be sure that we understand precisely what they meant, and exactly how our own spirit is better than theirs, before we condemn them.
(3) Part of these passages may undoubtedly be regarded as prophetic; expressing what would be, rather than indicating any wish on the part of the author of the psalms that such things should be. In some instances, the passages might have been rendered in the future instead of the imperative mood, with no violation of the laws of the Hebrew language, or the proper principles of interpretation. Several of the passages of this kind which may properly be applied to the Messiah, are undoubtedly of this nature, and those passages are to be interpreted, when the laws of language will admit of such an interpretation, as expressive of what sinners deserve, and of what will come upon them, and not as indicating any desire on the part of the author that it should be so.
It must be admitted, however, that this consideration does by no means remove all the difficulty, nor does it in fact even diminish it. It cannot be affirmed by anyone acquainted with the Hebrew language that this solution could be applied to will the cases in reference to which the difficulty exists, and there is still an explanation needed to meet the cases which cannot be brought under this rule. In a book claiming to be inspired, the objection is, in effect, as great if there is only one such passage as if there are many. The essential difficulty is to explain it consistently with the claim to inspiration at all.
It should be conceded, further, that this explanation is one which cannot be admitted in regard to the most difficult of the passages. No man can show that they are all mere predictions of the future; no one can prove that all that is implied in these passages is a mere expression of what sin deserves, or what ought to be inflicted on transgressors. Beyond all question there is, in many cases, an expression of feeling - or desire - or wish; there is language used which implies that there would be gratification - satisfaction - pleasure - if the calamity invoked should come upon the enemies of the writer, or if the punishment should be inflicted on the wicked; there is what is of the nature of prayer, that these calamities might come, and that the wicked might be detected, arrested, punished. We cannot on any honest principles interpret these psalms without admitting this; and the objector has a right to ask how this feeling can be vindicated; how it can be reconciled with the spirit of Christianity; how it can be shown to be consistent with the belief that the psalms were inspired by the Holy Spirit. This is a fair question to ask, and it is one which a believer in the inspiration of the Bible should be held to answer.
(4) Some of the expressions referred to are a mere record of the feelings of others; of the gratification which they would feel in seeing vengeance inflicted on the guilty, even when Rev_enge should be taken in the most barbarous and savage manner. In such a case all that the inspired writer, or the Spirit of inspiration, is responsible for, is the fairness of the record, or that he has given an exact statement of the feelings which would be cherished and expressed by those who should inflict the vengeance, or who should experience gratification in seeing it. A person may describe the acts of the American savage, scalping, torturing, murdering by slow degrees women and children, or the acts of cannibals, without being responsible for any of the feelings of the savages in doing this; and the writer of history cannot assuredly be responsible for all or any of the feelings of barbarous delight which a tyrant may have in oppressing his subjects, or for the fury and hatred which leads men to pursue with vengeance their flying victims. The inspired writers who made a record of the cruelty of the sons of Jacob Gen 34:25-29; Gen 49:6-7, or of the act of David in bringing forth the people of Rabbah, and "putting them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron. and making them pass through the brick-kiln" Sa2 12:31, or the acts of Joab, Ahithophel, Absalom, Nebuchadnezzar, Ahab or Jezebel, cannot be held to be answerable for the feelings which they manifested, or the deeds which they performed, nor is it fair to infer that in making the record they approved of what was done. All that the writers can be held to be responsible for is the correctness of the record.
An instance of this kind occurs in Psa 137:8-9, "O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. "Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones." There is nothing to pRev_ent our regarding this as a statement of the actual feelings - the pleasure - the satisfaction - which they would actually feel who should wreak vengeance upon Babylon. The idea may be, and from anything that appears actually is, that such had been the pride and arrogance of Babylon, such the wrongs which she had done to other people; such her acts of cruelty and oppression - that they who should overcome, subdue, and destroy her, would have conscious satisfaction and pleasure in bringing deserved punishment on her, even in those forms which men usually regard as savage and barbarous. In this there is nothing which necessarily implies that the author of the psalms would approve of it, or that he would have done it himself. If the case is supposed even to indicate the common feelings of the Hebrew people, in view of the destruction of an enemy under which the nation had suffered so much and so long, still it may be a mere record of that feeling as a matter of fact, and the Spirit of inspiration is responsible only for a fair account of the feelings which would actually exist.
In one of the methods which have thus been indicated the difficulties in regard to a portion of what are called the "imprecatory psalms" may be removed altogether. These are solutions, however, which cannot be applied to all of them; and if there is any number, however small - if there is a single one remaining - to which these solutions cannot be applied, it must be admitted that the actual difficulty still remains, for the Psalms are to be regarded as forming one book; they have, as is fairly implied in the idea that they are inspired, one author - the Holy Spirit; and as it is a principle which must be held by all who regard the Bible as an inspired book, that one text of Scripture fairly interpreted is sufficient to establish the truth of any doctrine, so it must be admitted that a well-founded objection to a single text, fairly interpreted, as really affects the question of inspiration as though there were many passages of that character. Some other solution, therefore, must be found in order to remove the real difficulty in the case.
(5) A fifth remark, therefore, in regard to the prayers in these passages considered as invocations of vengeance or of punishment on the wicked may be suggested. The real question is, whether under any circumstance such prayers - such imprecations - can be right; and whether, if ever right, the circumstances in the Psalms were such as to make them proper.
To obtain a just view of this, several remarks are to be made.
(a) David was a magistrate; a king. He was, by the appointment of God, the civil and military ruler of the nation. His authority was not an usurped authority; nor were his acts those merely of a private man, a man individually wronged. As a king - a magistrate - he was appointed to preserve order; to maintain law; to dispense justice; to detect, arraign, and punish the guilty. As a magistrate, he represented the state; the majesty of the law; the interests of justice. As, a magistrate, an act done - an offence committed - a crime in the community, did not respect him as a man - an individual - but as appointed to administer the government and to defend the state. No one can deny that David sustained this relation to the state, and that the duty of maintaining and administering law rested supremely with him. From anything that appears, also, the remark here made is applicable to each of the cases where "imprecations" are found in the Psalms. The question, then, is, whether there is anything in the office and functions of one appointed to make and execute the laws of a land which would render such imprecations justifiable.
(b) Punishment is right. It is not wrong that a penalty should be affixed to law; it is not wrong that the penalty of a law should be inflicted; it is not wrong that pain, privation of office, imprisonment, and the loss of life itself, should follow the commission of crime. So all laws determine; so all nations have judged. It is material here to remark that this is not an arbitrary thing; that it is not a matter of individual or local feeling. It is laid in our very nature. It is found in all nations. It is acted on among all people. "There is something in our very nature, account for it as we may, which approves of punishment when properly inflicted; which approves of the appointment of a penalty for crime." If this is wrong, it is a wrong in our very nature; it is a universal wrong; it is a wrong which has gone into the enactment of all laws - for all law has a penalty. A law without a penalty would be a mockery and a farce. When a man, in accordance with a just sentence of law, is fined, imprisoned, executed, we approve of it. We feel that it is what ought to be done, and in this feeling we are conscious of no wrong. We are conscious that we are not to be blamed for approving the sentence which condemns the guilty anymore than we are for approving the sentence which acquits the innocent. The foundation of this feeling is laid in the very nature of man, and, therefore, it cannot be evil. No man feels that he is blameworthy when he thus finds himself approving of a just sentence of law; no man feels that this principle of his nature ought to be resisted or Rev_ersed, so that he would be a better man if he were conscious of the opposite feeling.
(c) In accordance with this principle, there are arrangements in every community for detecting and punishing crime. There are laws made which define crime, and designate its just penalty; there are arrangements made for arresting the guilty, and bringing them to trial; there are prisons built in anticipation that there will be men to be punished. There are courts organized for the express purpose of trying offenders; there are penalties affixed by law to different classes of crimes; there are processes prescribed in the law books for arresting. indicting, committing, arraigning, and judging those charged with a violation of law. There is a class of men whose business it is to detect and arrest offenders; there is a class whose business it is to try them; there is a class whose business it is to inflict punishment on them. Hence, we have a detective police - men whose calling it is to find out offenders; we have an array of constables, jurymen, and judges; we have sheriffs, keepers of prisons, and executioners. These arrangements are necessary in our world. Society could not do without them. No community would be safe without them. No man would feel that his life, his property, his family were secure without them. They enter into the very structure of society as it exists on earth; and if these were abolished, the world would soon be filled with anarchy, bloodshed, and crime.
(d) These are lawful, proper, and honorable employments. The business of a detective officer, of a constable, of a sheriff, of a juryman, of a judge, is as lawful as that of a farmer, a blacksmith, a school-teacher, a physician, a clergyman. No man occupies a more honorable position than the judge of a court, though it be a criminal court; no man is rendering more valuable service to his country than he whose daily business it is to detect offenders, to prosecute for crime, or to administer the laws of a nation. The constable and the judge may go to their work with as conscious a feeling that they are engaged in an honorable work as the farmer or the merchant; and the foreman of a jury who declares that a man arraigned for crime has been found guilty, and the judge who pronounces the sentence of the law, and the man who executes the sentence, may each one lie down on his bed at night as calmly as the man who during the day has been engaged in sowing seed in his field, or gathering in his harvest, or administering medicine to the sick, or preaching the Gospel. Through all that day the one may be as conscious that he has had no malice toward his fellow-men, no desire of Rev_enge, as the other. In the bosom of each one there may have been only the consciousness of a simple desire to do his duty.
(e) It is lawful and proper for such a man - a detective officer, a constable, a juryman, a judge, a keeper of a prison, a hangman - to pray. It is as proper for such a man to pray as any other man. He may pray in his closet and in his family; he may breathe forth a mental prayer when searching for a man charged with an offence, or when hearing a testimony against him, or when sitting in judgment on him, or when inflicting the penalty of the law. He may pray, as other men do, that he may be "diligent in business;" that he may be "fervent in spirit;" that he may "serve the Lord" in that calling. He may pray that he may have grace to be faithful to his trust; firm in his conduct; "successful in what he is appointed to do." But what is this? It is that the wicked - the guilty - may be brought to punishment; that they may be punished; that they may receive the due reward for their deeds. It is not malice against an individual; it is not a desire of Rev_enge; it is not the indulgence of any private feeling; it is not conduct inconsistent with the widest benevolence. The officers of justice are engaged in the very work of bringing men to punishment; and why may they not "pray" for success in the work in which they are engaged? Why may not any man who loves the cause of justice, and who desires the security and good order of a community, pray that the wicked may be checked in their career - arrested - confined - punished? Since men lawfully engage in doing the thing, why may they not lawfully pray for the Divine blessing to aid them in doing it?
It is further to be remarked that a magistrate offering such a prayer would have a very different feeling from one who was engaged in an unlawful employment. How can a man engaged in the manufacture and sale of intoxicating drinks "pray"? How can he ask for success in his work? To do this would be to pray that his neighbor, his fellow-men, near or far off, might spend their property for that which would not profit them; might waste their time, ruin their health, cut short their lives, and destroy their souls; that they might be profane, gross, offensive, beastly; that they might be a pest in the community, be led into crime, and find their home in an almshouse, a penitentiary, or an insane asylum; that their families might be beggared, and that a once peaceful home might become a hell; and that the young, the vigorous, the hopeful, the beautiful, the sons of the virtuous and the pious - might go down early to the drunkard's grave; that the hearts of wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters might be crushed and broken, because a husband, a father, a brother, had been made a drunkard.
But what fiendish malignity would there be in such a prayer as this! Hence, such men do not ask the Divine blessing on their work. But a magistrate may pray, and should pray. He may pray that he may be successful in discharging the duties of his office; in administering justice; in prosecuting for crime; and in pronouncing the sentence of the law. His prayer, in fact, is simply that justice may be done to all; that punishment may be inflicted when it is deserved; and that he may be made an instrument in the hands of God in detecting and punishing crime. At the same time this may be so far from being a vindictive and Rev_engeful spirit, that he himself may be among the most kind and humane men in a community, and when he pronounces the sentence of the law, he may be the only one in the court room that shall weep. Tears may flow fast from his eyes as he pronounces the sentence of the law, while the hardened wretch sentenced to the gallows may be wholly unmoved. It indicated no lack of feeling and no malevolent spirit when Washington signed the death-warrant of the accomplished Andre, for he did it with tears.
In the same way, and with the same spirit, a man may go forth to the defense of his country when invaded, or when one portion of it has risen up in rebellion against a lawful government. A soldier called forth to defend his country may pray; the commander of an army may pray - should pray. But the prayer of such an one may be, and should be, in the line of his duty, for success in that which he has undertaken. It will be a prayer that the enemies of his country may be overcome and subdued. It indicates no malice, no personal feeling, no spirit of Rev_enge, when he prays that the enemies of his country may be scattered as chaff before the wind; or that their counsels may be turned to foolishness; or that he may be successful in subduing them. It is a prayer for the triumph of a righteous cause; and as all his acts as a soldier tend to the destruction of the enemies of his country; as he is actually engaged in endeavoring to subdue them; as all his plans contemplate that; as he cannot be successful without that - if the employment itself is right, it cannot be wrong that he should pray for success in it; that is, that his enemies may be delivered into his hands, and that God would enable him to overcome, to scatter, to subdue them. In this view of the matter there is necessarily no feeling inconsistent with the purest benevolence when the defenders of liberty and law and right apply to themselves the language of Psa 149:1-9 : "Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the pagan, and punishments upon the people; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgment written," Psa 149:6-9.
(f) It only remains to be added, as bearing on the point here suggested, that it cannot be "demonstrated" that there is in the psalms that are called "imprecatory psalms" anymore of malice, or of a spirit of Rev_enge, than there is in the heart of a detective officer, a constable, a sheriff, a juryman, a crown lawyer, a prosecuting attorney, a judge, the keeper of a penitentiary, or an executioner, when he goes to the daily discharge of the duties of his office, and when, in his closet, or in his family, in his morning devotions, he "prays" that he may be faithful and successful in the discharge of his official duties through the day: for success in any of these duties will be in the line of prayer, and may be in answer to prayer. If the detective officer is successful in ferreting out a burglar or a counterfeiter; if a magistrate is successful in bringing him to justice; if a juryman pronounces an honest verdict finding him guilty; if an attorney is successful in prosecuting the guilty to conviction; if a judge delivers a just sentence; and if the keeper of a prison closes the massive bars and bolts on the guilty - at night, when they reflect on their work, they may regard their success in the lawful duties of the day as being as real an answer to prayer in the proper business of human life as the waving golden harvest is an answer to the prayers of the pious farmer, or the ship laden with the rich productions of the east, as she glides gallantly into port, should be regarded as an answer to the prayers of the pious merchant; and until it is proved that this may not have been all that was implied in the language of the psalmist, it should not be assumed that the imprecatory psalms breathe a vindictive spirit, or are contrary to the purest and most benevolent feelings of the human heart.
(6) There is still another solution of the difficulty which has been suggested. It is, substantially, that these expressions "are a mere record of what actually occurred in the mind of the psalmist," and are preserved to us as an illustration of human nature when partially sanctified. According to this explanation we are not required by any just view of inspiration to vindicate those feelings, or to maintain that such feelings could not occur in the case of an inspired man. One of the main objects of the Psalms is to illustrate religion as it actually exists in the minds of good men in this world; men who are not absolutely perfect, but whose best religious emotions are mingled with many imperfections. According to this view the Spirit of inspiration is no more responsible for these feelings on the part of the psalmist than it is for the acts of David, Abraham, Jacob, or Peter. The feelings - the acts - are what they are; the Spirit of inspiration is responsible for a correct record or statement in regard to these acts and feelings: a record that shall be historically and exactly true. A few remarks may explain this further.
(a) It is, then, an admitted fact that David was not a perfect man; and the same was undoubtedly true of all the writers of the Psalms. The Bible never claims that they were perfect; it makes a fair record of their faults; it lays down the general principle that none are absolutely free from sin: Kg1 8:46; Ecc 7:20; Jam 3:2; Jo1 1:8; Job 9:20. As it is everywhere declared in the Bible that no one is absolutely perfect, and as it is admitted that David, for example, was guilty of wrong acts, as in the case of Uriah - so, for the same reason, it is to be admitted that men, even the best of men, are liable to sin in thoughts and in words as well as in deeds.
(b) The proper notion of inspiration does not require us to hold that the men who were inspired were absolutely sinless. There is and must be a manifest and palpable difference between being inspired, and being personally perfect. Inspiration, in its true nature, secures a truthful record; it does not necessarily secure absolute sanctification. Indeed, inspiration has no necessary connection with sanctification; - as it is conceivable, certainly, in accordance with the common belief, that Balaam uttered true prophecies respecting the Messiah, yet no one from that fact feels bound to maintain that he was otherwise than a bad man. Livy, Gibbon, Hume, Robertson, were not perfect men, and yet it may be true that they have given a correct account of the events which they profess to record; nor do we argue that because they were faithful historians that therefore, they were perfect men, or that they never did or said anything, which, if it were recorded exactly as it occurred, would not be inconsistent with the idea of absolute perfection of character. It is, therefore, a very important principle "that inspiration secures a correct record, not that it implies or secures personal sanctification; and that if it does secure a correct record the limit of responsibility in regard to it is reached." Assuredly, the fact that David in Ps. 51 has made a true record in regard to his guiltiness in the case of Uriah, does not prove that he was right or innocent in the fact which is the subject of that record; nor if a record is a record of feelings instead of deeds does its correctness anymore justify or sanction such feelings.
(c) It was important and necessary in a Rev_elation from God, in order to meet the wants of the world, that there should be a true representation of religion as it comes in contact with the human heart; as it is in fact illustrated and manifested in the life of man, not as it might be in the life of a spotless angel. Assuming, as the Bible does everywhere, that man is depraved; that he has corrupt and evil propensities; that he has passions which by nature are uncontrollable, and that it is the design of religion to teach him how to control and govern them - what we want is an illustration of religion as it comes in contact with such a heart. If the Bible had described only the feelings and conduct of a perfect being, it would be obviously unfit for man, for it would not be adapted to his condition. As man is imperfect and sinful, a representation of religion which would leave the impression that there is no true piety except where there is absolute perfection, would be adapted only to discourage and dishearten, for it would hold up that before his mind which he would feel to be unattainable, and his own consciousness of imperfection would lead him to the painful conclusion that he had no true religion.
Hence, in the Bible, except in the solitary instance of the Savior, we have no record of the life of a perfect saint. We have a description of piety as it must always be found in the life of man: as feeble, and struggling, and doubting, and contending with evil passions; as a life of conflict, of mingled light and darkness, good and evil, happiness and sadness, cheerfulness and despondency; as a life where evil often breaks out, where there is a constant effort required to subdue it, and where there is, amidst much that seems to be otherwise, yet truly a constant progress in the soul toward perfection - a perfection not to be obtained in this life, but which is to be consummated in heaven alone. Such a record only is fitted for man; such a record only would properly represent and describe man in his present condition. In another world - in heaven - a true record of man redeemed would be a record of religion without imperfection - as it would now be of the angels.
As it is, we have now in the Bible everywhere recorded the lives of imperfect men: imperfect in their conduct; imperfect in their feelings; imperfect in their words. We have the biographies of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, of Eli, David, Hezekiah, Moses, Aaron, Josiah, James, John, Peter - all imperfect but good men; men in whose bosoms there were the strugglings between good and evil principles; in whose lives the evil principle was constantly breaking out, and over whom for the time it seemed to triumph. Hence, the painful but honest records which we have of piety in the Bible. In like manner, in order to see and understand what true piety is, as it is found in connection with human nature, it might be important that there should be such an illustration of it as we actually find in the Psalms: the honest record of what passed through the mind of a good man; of what imperfect man actually feels often, even when it is proper to characterize him as a man of God. Probably there have been few men, very few, even under the influence of the highest forms of piety, who, if they had made an honest record of what was passing in their minds at all times - of their wishes, desires, emotions; of their feelings toward their enemies, persecutors, and slanderers - would not have found that the language of the Psalms would better express their feelings in this respect than any language which they could find elsewhere; - and is it a forced or an unauthorized thought that even such men as Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Knox, and Edwards, at times when unChristian feelings seemed to have got the ascendancy in their hearts; when they were strongly tempted to give way to passion, or actually gave way to it; when they might have been led to doubt whether men with such feelings could have any true religion - may have found consolation in the fact that feelings precisely like theirs sprang up in the hearts of the inspired men who composed the Psalms, and who there made an honest record of what was actually passing in the soul, almost an actual transcript of what they themselves experienced? It need be hardly remarked that if this is a true view of the matter, we are not bound to attempt to vindicate these expressions of passion - anymore than we are the conduct of David in the matter of Uriah, or of Peter in denying his Lord.
(d) According to this view, the expressions which are used in this record are not presented for our imitation. The mere fact that they are recorded as having occurred in the lives of good men is no evidence that they are right, or are to be followed by us. "All" that occurred in the life of the Redeemer was right, and was recorded that, so far as it might be applicable to us in our circumstances, we might imitate it. If the above remarks are correct, then the record was made for other purposes than that we should imitate the conduct of those who gave expression to these feelings. Nor should the fact that such feelings actually existed in the minds of good men, or that these "imprecations" are found in their writings, be charged on religion, as if it tended to produce them, anymore than the act of adultery and murder on the part of David, or the profaneness of Peter, should be referred to as an illustration of what religion is adapted to produce in the hearts and lives of men. Religion is not responsible for these things. The responsibility is in our corrupt nature.
(e) If such is a just view of the matter, then all that "inspiration" is responsible for is, the correctness of the "record" in regard to the existence of these feelings: that is, the authors of the Psalms actually "recorded" what was passing in their own minds. They gave vent to their internal emotions. They state real feelings which they themselves had; feelings which, while human nature remains the same, may spring up in the mind of imperfect man, anywhere, and at any time. They record what other men actually feel; and in making the record, they simply give utterance to what passed through their own hearts. They do not apologize for it; they do not pause to vindicate it; they offer no word in extenuation of it - anymore than other sacred writers did when they recorded the facts about the errors in the lives of the patriarchs, of David, and of Peter.
In some of these ways it is probable that all the difficulties in regard to the "imprecations" in the Psalms may be met. They who deny the inspiration of the Psalms should be able to show that these are not proper explanations of the difficulty; or that they are not consistent with any just notions of inspiration.
Section 7. "The Practical Value of the Book of Psalm."
It is not a little remarkable that the Psalms, in the estimation of religious persons, hold substantially the same place under the clearer light of the Christian dispensation which they did under the comparatively obscure Hebrew economy, and that with all the additional light which has been imparted under the Christian Rev_elation, the Psalms have not been superseded. The "Christian" looks to the Psalms with an interest as intense as did the ancient Jew; and, as expressive of personal religious experience, as well as for the purpose of a manual for worship, the Psalms are selected by the Christian, from the whole Bible, as they were by the Jew from the books in his possession - the Old Testament. As such, they will retain their value in all times to come, nor will there ever be in our world such an advance in religious light, experience, and knowledge, that they will lose their relative place as connected with the exercises of practical piety.
How far this fact is to be regarded as a proof that the authors of the Psalms were inspired; that there was communicated to them a knowledge of the principles and workings of true piety, so in advance of their own age as to be on a level with what will be possessed in the most advanced periods of religious culture; that there must have been an influence on their minds, in composing the Psalms, beyond anything derived from mere poetic genius, is a question which must occur to all reflecting minds. It is a fair question to propose to one who doubts the inspiration of the Psalms, how he will account for this fact, consistently with his idea that the authors of the Psalms were men endowed only as other men of genius are, and with the acknowledged fact that they lived in an age when the views of truth in the world were comparatively obscure. How did it happen that a Hebrew bard, in the matter of deep religious experience and knowledge, placed himself so high as to be a guide to mankind in all coming times, after a new Rev_elation should have been introduced to the world, and after all the attainments which men would have made in the knowledge of religion and of the human heart?
The special value of the Psalms arises: (a) from the fact that they are adapted to the worship of God; (b) from the fact that they are records of deep religious experience.
(a) As adapted to the worship of God. For this many of them were originally designed in their very composition; to this the entire book seems to have been intentionally adapted by those who made the collection. It is not necessary to suppose that these sacred songs comprise the whole of the Hebrew lyrical poetry, for as we know that some of the books mentioned in the Old Testament, though inspired, accomplished their purpose and have been lost, so it may have been in regard to a portion of the lyrical poetry of the Hebrews. Many of the words of the Savior, though all that he spoke was pure truth - truth such as no other man ever spoke - truth such as the Spirit of God imparts - were lost from not having been recorded Joh 21:25, and in like manner it may have been that truths which were written may have accomplished their purpose, and have passed away. But, if there were such productions which have not come down to us, we have no reason to doubt that they were of the same general character as those which have survived, and which now constitute the Book of Psalms. Now, it is remarkable that the poetry of the Hebrews is so adapted to public worship above all other poetry, and that the poetic genius of the nation took so exclusively a religious turn.
In this respect the Hebrew lyric poetry stands by itself, and is unlike that of every other nation. Among the Greeks there are, indeed, hymns to the gods - hymns designed to be used in the worship of the gods; but this is by no means the general character of their lyric poetry. Among the Persians, the Arabs, the Romans, the Babylonians, there were doubtless such hymns; but this is not the pRev_ailing character of their lyric poetry. In the early Scotch, French, Spanish, Italian, and English poetry there are such hymns, but this is by no means the exclusive or the predominant character of the early lyric poetry of those nations. Few of all their lyric compositions can be used in the worship of the true God; nor is that which can be thus used always of the most exalted character as poetry. The composition of psalms and hymns is a separate poetic art; and though there are specimens, in the hymns in these languages, of the highest kind of lyric excellence, yet it is to be admitted that a large portion of that species of literature would scarcely be regarded as even "respectable," if it related to other subjects than religion.
Of the Hebrews, however, this is their all. They have no other poetry whatever. They have none merely amatory or pastoral which will compare with the Bucolics of Virgil, or with much of the poetry of Burns. Their poetry of the religious kind, also, is all of a high order. There is none that can be placed on the same low level with much that is found in the hymn books of most denominations of Christians - very good; very pious; very sentimental; very much adapted, as is supposed, to excite the feelings of devotion - but withal so flat, so weak, so unpoetic, that it would not, in a volume of mere poetry, be admitted to a third or fourth rank, if, indeed, it would find a place at all. It is for him who rejects the idea of "inspiration," as applied to the Book of Psalms, to account for this fact.
(b) The Book of Psalms is a record of deep religious experience. It is this which, in the estimation of religious persons in general, gives it its chief value. It is the guide of young believers; and it becomes more and more the companion, the comforter, and the counselor, as the believer moves along through the varied scenes of life, and as grey hairs come upon him, and as the infirmities, which pre-intimate the approaching close of all things, press him down. A religious man is rarely, if ever, placed in circumstances where he will not find something in the Psalms appropriate to his circumstances; where he will not find that the Hebrew sacred bard has not gone before him in the depths of religious experience. Hence, in sickness, in bereavement, in persecution, in old age, on the bed of death, the Book of Psalms becomes so invariable and so valuable a companion; and hence, not as a matter of convenience, but as supplying a want in the minds of men, and as significant of their value, the Psalms and the New Testament are so often bound together in a single volume. Hence, also, for the aged, for the sick, for those whose powers of vision fail by disease or by years, the Psalms and the New Testament are printed in large type, and bound in convenient forms, that the truths contained in these volumes may be still accessible to the saint ripening for heaven, as the light fails, and as life ebbs away. To the end of the world the Psalms in religious experience will occupy the same place which they now occupy; to the end of the world they will impart comfort to the troubled, and peace to the dying, as they have done in the ages that are past.
Section 8. "The Qualifications for Preparing a Commentary on the Psalm."
It is an undoubted fact that there have been more failures in the Commentaries on the Book of Psalms than on any other of the books of the Bible. As yet there has been no commentary that has met the wants of the Christian world; there are none, whatever anticipations may have been raised, which can be read without feelings of disappointment. For this fact there must be a cause; and that cause is probably to be found in the very peculiar qualifications needed to produce a commentary on the Psalms: - qualifications which are rarely to be found united in the same person.
A few remarks on the qualifications necessary for preparing such a commentary may explain the cause of the failures which have occurred; and may, perhaps, also explain the reason why the one now submitted to the public may be found to be an addition to the failures already existing. Every man who prepares a commentary on the Psalms will probably, at the close of his work, be sensible of a feeling of disappointment in what he had hoped, perhaps what he had expected to do, and will share fully in the feelings of his readers that what is thus submitted to the world is very far from being what a commentary on this portion of the sacred Scriptures ought to be.
The unique qualifications for preparing a commentary on the Psalms are such as the following:
(1) A knowledge of the Hebrew language, particularly as it is affected by the laws of poetry which pRev_ailed among the Hebrews. In all languages there are special rules of poetry; rules by which the sense of the words used is affected. and by which special shades of thought are expressed. In most languages, words have a "poetic" and a "prosaic" sense; and the application of the meaning of a word as used in prose to a passage in poetry might by no means express the idea which was in the mind of the poet. We learn almost insensibly, in reading a language familiar to us, to make this distinction accurately, even when we could not explain it; and we read a psalm, a hymn, a lyric song, without mistaking the meaning. But it is another thing when one undertakes to read a book of poetry in a language different from his native tongue. What is obvious to an Italian, a Frenchman, or a German, in reading poetry in his native language, becomes a matter of difficult acquisition when an Englishman attempts to read the poem.
The same thing is true in studying a dead language. It need not be said that there is a unique literature with respect to the Greek and Latin poets; and he who can read Herodotus or Livy cannot assume that he has such a full knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages as to qualify him to understand the poetry in those languages. So much depends often on rhythm, on the poetic forms of words, or on the images special to poetry, that a classical education is not complete, nor is the student qualified to apprehend the meaning of the language of a poem, or to appreciate the beauties of its thought and imagery until he has mastered this most difficult part of the rules of language. That the Hebrews, like other people, had such rules and usages, there can be no doubt, for they are to be found in all languages, and there is abundant evidence in the Hebrew poetry itself that they existed among the Jewish people. Yet, it may be doubted whether it is possible now so fully to recover the knowledge of those rules and usages as to apply them perfectly in the explanation of the poetic portions of the sacred writings. Much pertaining to the rhythm of the language, much relating to the accents, much connected with the peculiar use of words, it may be impossible now to recover. To show the difficulty of this subject in its bearing on the interpretation of the Psalms, as well as to illustrate the subject of Hebrew poetry, I may refer to the remarks of DeWette, Einleitung, vii. pp. 37-76. An elegant translation of this may be found in the Biblical Repository, vol. iii.; pp. 478-514.
(2) True piety is essential to qualify one to be an interpreter of the Psalms. This is true, in fact, in regard to the interpretation of any portion of the sacred volume. Since the Bible is a book of religion, employed in describing the nature, the power, and the influence of religion, it is obvious that correct religious feeling, or a practical acquaintance with religion, is necessary in an interpreter. The principle is substantially the same which is required in the interpretation of books on any subject. In a treatise on painting, poetry, sculpture, architecture, there will be things which could not be so well explained as by one who had a practical knowledge of these arts; and in order to the possession of a complete qualification for the interpretation of such a book, an ability to appreciate what is said on those arts must be regarded as indispensable. It is obvious that the mere knowledge of words - of philology - would not be all that would be demanded; nor would any power of explaining local allusions, laws, customs, manners, or geographical or historical references, be all that would be required. Beyond all this, there was in the mind of the writer or author that which he intended to express, and which no mere knowledge of language or of customs would be sufficient to explain. To show what the writer meant it would be obviously necessary to be able to understand him - to appreciate what he intended to say; to bring out what was in his mind; what he thought of - what he felt - what he designed to express. Hence, however valuable a work may be on the Psalms as a philological work, or as illustrating the authorship of a psalm, and the circumstances of the author in its composition, it is plain that we have not reached the main thing unless we have entered into the spirit of the author, and are qualified to understand and appreciate his own feelings in the composition.
(3) For the reason above stated, there should be in an exposition of the Psalms more than the mere possession of piety. "There should be deep religious experience." There should be an acquaintance with piety in its highest forms of rapture, and in the lowest depths of despondency, darkness, and sorrow. There is no book in the world in which there are such varied expressions of piety, in which there are such diversified forms of religious experience, as in the Book of Psalms. As the Psalms were designed for every age of the world, for persons found in every rank and condition of life, for seasons of joy and of sorrow, for childhood, youth, middle age, old age, for the ignorant and the learned, for times of sickness and of health, for private, social, domestic, and public life, for magistrates and private citizens, for war and peace, for acts of business and acts of charity, for the living and for the dying, and for those that mourn - so they were designed to form a "manual" that would illustrate religion in all these forms and relations; to be a book in which anyone, in all the varied conditions of human existence, might be sure that he would find something that would be applicable to himself. If this is so, then it is clear that in order to a good commentary on the Psalms - in order that the expositor may be able to enter into the real spirit of the work which he undertakes to explain - piety of no common order is demanded; a rich and varied religious experience is required that falls to the lot of very few of mankind. Looking simply at this qualification of a commentator on the Psalms, we may cease to be surprised that no such commentary has ever appeared as to leave nothing yet to be desired.
(4) Poetic taste is an important requisite in a commentator on the Psalms. The Psalms are poetry, and poetry of the most delicate kind. Much of the beauty of the Psalms, and much of their adaptedness to the wants of man, depends on the fact that they are poetry. This was a reason why the Spirit of God, in breathing his influence on the men who composed the Psalms, preferred that the sentiments found in them should be expressed in poetry rather that in prose, and hence, this medium was selected. Among the original endowments of the human mind, that which contemplates "poetry" as among the means of happiness; as adapted to impress truth on the mind; as fitted to arouse the soul to great efforts; as designed to fill the mind with calm, peaceful, pure, patriotic, pious emotions, is one. Possessed by men, indeed (either in the power of producing poetry or of appreciating it) in very different degrees, yet it is an endowment of man; and, being such, religion makes use of it to promote its own ends. There are those who will be moved by little besides calm argument, stern logic, severe demonstration; there are those who will be aroused only by the lofty appeals of eloquence; there are those who will be most influenced by the voice of persuasion; there are those who will be awakened from dangerous slumbers only by the denunciations of wrath; there are those in whose minds pure and joyful and holy emotions will be best excited by poetry. It is the province of "song," as such, to awaken many of the most pure and devoted feelings of piety in the human soul; and the Book of Psalms is the portion of the sacred volume by which it is designed and expected that this object will be accomplished as a permanent arrangement.
It is clear, therefore, that he cannot be completely qualified to be a commentator on the Psalms who has not himself such endowments as to appreciate the beauties of poetry; who cannot, in this respect, enter into the feelings of the sacred writer on the one hand, and into the hearts of those who are so made as to be affected by poetry on the other. One of the causes of the "failure" to produce a good commentary on the Psalms may be traced to this source. A mere philologist; a man who regards nothing as valuable but exact demonstration; a man of prosaic temperament, though he may have piety that is exalted and pure, may lack still an important qualification for entering into the true spirit of the Psalms, and for meeting the needs of those who seek for edification and comfort in this portion of the Bible.
(5) A knowledge of the human heart - of human nature - is an indispensable condition for a good commentator on the Psalms. The Psalms comprise, more than any other book in the Bible, a record of the workings of the heart. Indeed, they pertain mostly to the heart. They are not addressed, as the epistle to the Romans is, to the loftier powers of the understanding, nor do they make such appeals to the imagination as the visions of Isaiah, or the visions of John in Patmos. It is the heart which, in the Psalms, is eminently the medium of communication between the Divine Spirit and the soul. Of all parts of the Bible there is most to illustrate the human heart in the Psalms. All that there is in the heart of man is there in one way or another illustrated, and in an almost endless variety of circumstances. Joy, sorrow, penitence, gratitude, praise, despondency, sadness; love - love to God - love to man; - the feelings experienced in sickness, and on a recovery from sickness; - the anguish, the bitterness of soul, arising from the ingratitude of others; terror at the wrath of God; the dread of death; the peace which religion gives in the prospect of death; the joy of prayer; the light which comes into the soul in answer to earnest supplication; the calmness which springs from devout meditation on the character of God and his law; the light which beams upon the soul after long darkness; the effects of remembered guilt (as in Ps. 51); the feeling of despair when God seems to have forsaken us; the feelings which spring up in the heart on the reception of injuries; these are a few among the many topics which are found illustrated in the Psalms in the personal experience of the writers, and it is obvious that no one is qualified to comment on these subjects unless he has himself a knowledge of the workings of the human heart.
To be able to explain the words used; to state the origin and authorship of the Psalms, and the occasion on which they were composed; to investigate the genuineness and accuracy of the text, and to determine the value of the varied readings; to understand and explain the parallelisms, the rhythm, and the accents employed in the Psalms; to comprehend and appreciate the poetry of the Psalms; or to gather together what Jewish rabbis and the Christian fathers have written, or to transplant from Germany what has been produced under Rationalistic views of the Bible, or even what the German mind in its best workings and under the influence of true religion has produced, is not all or mainly what is demanded in a commentary on the Psalms that will meet the wants of those in our own land, or that will illustrate the Psalms in the manner that will be of most value to the great masses of the young, the sick, the bereaved, the tempted, the aged, and the desponding. A man who cannot in this varied manner enter into sympathy with the writers of the Psalms in the workings of the human heart as there illustrated, is not a man who is fully qualified to prepare a commentary on this Book. For some purposes he may, indeed, make a book that will be valuable, but not a book that will be valuable in relation to the real purpose designed to be accomplished by the Psalms - to be a guide and a comfort to believers of every station and condition, in all the varied circumstances of human life, and in all the varied and complicated workings of the human heart.
(6) It may be added that the Book of Psalms, in the main, is so plain, so easy to be understood by the great mass of readers; so expressive of the internal feelings and emotions, as to increase the difficulty in the preparation of a commentary. The Psalms are so rich; so full of meaning; so adapted to the wants of believers; they so meet the varied experiences of the people of God, and are so replete with the illustrations of piety; they so touch the deepest fountains of emotion in the soul, that, so far as most of these points are concerned, a "commentary," considered as an additional source of light, does not differ materially from a candle considered as affording additional splendor to the sun. What a man finds in the ordinary perusal of the Psalms as a book of devotion, on the subject of deep experimental piety, is so much in advance of what he will usually find in the commentary, that he turns from the attempt to explain them with a feeling of deep disappointment, and comes back to the book itself as better expressing his emotions, meeting his necessities, and imparting consolation in trial, than anything which the commentator can add. He welcomes the Book of Psalms itself as a comforter and a guide; and in the little volume sold now at so cheap a rate, or appended to his pocket Testament, the common reader of the Bible finds more that is suited to his need than he would in the voluminous commentary of Venema; in all the collections in the Critici Sacri; in the Synopsis of Poole; in the Annotations of Grotius; or in the learned expositions of DeWette - elegant as the work of DeWette is - or of Tholuck, or Hengstenberg.
When these difficulties in composing a commentary on the Psalms are considered - when a man who sits down to write one reflects on the qualifications necessary for the task - and when under the influence of these thoughts, constantly increasing in magnitude, and pressing upon him more and more as he labors for a dozen years, though at intervals, as I have done, in preparing a commentary on this portion of Scripture - whatever ardor of desire or confidence of success he may have had at the commencement of his enterprise, he will cease to wonder, as he progresses in his work, that the efforts of others to prepare a commentary heretofore have been a failure, and he will not be surprised, should his life be lengthened out to see the result of his own labors, if he finds that the world regards that at which he has toiled so long, and which he hoped might be, in some measure, worthy of the volume he has undertaken to explain, as but adding another to the long list of unsuccessful attempts to prepare a proper exposition of the Book of Psalms.

The first psalm has no title prefixed to it, which is the case, also, with many others, Ps. 10; Ps. 116; Psa 117:1-2, and others. It is now in vain to attempt to search for the cause of this omission. On the origin and authority of the titles prefixed to the Psalms, see the introduction, Section 4. Some have supposed that the reason why no title was affixed to this psalm was that the general title, "The Psalms of David," was prefixed to the whole book, and that that was a sufficient indication of the author of this the first in the series. But this is mere conjecture, and this reason would no more make proper the omission of the title to the first psalm than of any other that came under that general title. In some manuscripts (2 codices of Rossi) this psalm is not numbered; in some others (4 codices of Kennicott, and 3 codices of Rossi) it is united with the second psalm, and the two are reckoned as one.
It is, however, manifestly a distinct composition from the second psalm. It has a unity of its own, as the second has also; and there are almost no two psalms in the whole collection which might not be united with as much propriety as these. It is impossible now to ascertain the authorship of the psalm, though the common opinion is probably the correct one, that it was composed by David. But on what occasion it was written it is now equally impossible to discover. There are no historical allusions in it which would enable us to determine the occasion on which it was written, as there is nothing in it which certainly determines its authorship. The terms employed are of the most general character, and the sentiments are applicable to all times and all lands. It has all the marks of being a general introduction to the Book of Psalms, and of having been designed to express in a few sentences the substance of the entire collection, or to state the great principle which would be found to run through the whole of it - that a righteous life will be attended with prosperity and happiness, and that the life of the wicked will be followed by sorrow and ruin. This was the great principle of the Jewish theocracy; and was of sufficient importance to be stated clearly in the commencement of a book that was designed to illustrate so fully the nature and the value of true religion. Compare Deut. 27-28.
The psalm is designed to describe the blessedness or the happiness of the righteous man. This is done "literally and figuratively, positively and negatively, directly and by contrast, with respect both to his character and his condition here and hereafter." - Prof. Alexander. It is not, however, as Prof. Alexander supposes, a "picture of the truly happy man;" it is a description of the blessedness of the righteous man, in contrast with the condition of the unrighteous. The righteous man is indeed prosperous and happy; and it is one design of the psalm to show this. But it is not the happy man, as such, that is in the eye of the psalmist; it is the righteous man, and the blessedness of being righteous.
The psalm is properly made up of two parts - the blessedness of the righteous man, and the unblessedness, or, the German word, "ungluck" (DeWette), of the wicked or ungodly man.
I. The blessedness of the righteous man, Psa 1:1-3. This consists also of two minor parts:
(1) His character Psa 1:1-2, and this is described also in two forms - negatively and positively.
(a) Negatively. He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful, Psa 1:1.
(b) Positively. He delights in the law of the Lord, and he has pleasure in meditating continually on his truth, Psa 1:2.
(2) his prosperity, as the result of being righteous, Psa 1:3. His condition is compared with that of a tree planted in a well-watered place, whose leaves are always green, and whose fruit never fails; so whatever he does shall prosper.
II. The condition of the unrighteous, or the strong contrast between the unrighteous and the righteous, Psa 1:4-6. Their condition and destiny are expressed in three forms:
(1) They are like chaff which the wind drives away, Psa 1:4.
(2) They shall not be acquitted in the judgment, nor have a place among the righteous, Psa 1:5.
(3) They shall not be approved by God, but shall perish, Psa 1:6.

R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
The Psalms have been the general song of the universal Church; and in their praise, all the Fathers have been unanimously eloquent. Men of all nations find in these compositions a language at once suitable to their feelings, and expressive of their highest joys and deepest sorrows, as well as of all the endlessly varied wishes and desires of their hearts. Whether the pious believer is disposed to indulge the exalted sentiments of praise and thanksgiving towards the ALMIGHTY FATHER of his being; to pour out his soul in penitence or prayer; to bewail, with tears of contrition, past offences; to magnify the goodness and mercy of GOD; to dwell with ecstacy on the divine attributes of wisdom and omnipotence; or to rejoice in the coming of the MESSIAH, the Psalms afford him the most perfect models for expressing all his feelings.

Psa 1:1, The happiness of the godly; Psa 1:4, The unhappiness of the ungodly.

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
The Radically Distinct Lot of the Pious and the Ungodly
The collection of the Psalms and that of the prophecies of Isaiah resemble one another in the fact, that the one begins with a discourse that bears no superscription, and the other with a Psalm of the same character; and these form the prologues to the two collections. From Acts 13:33, where the words: Thou art My Son... are quoted as being found ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ ψαλμῷ, we see that in early times Ps 1:1-6 was regarded as the prologue to the collection. The reading ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ τῷ δευτέρῳ, rejected by Griesbach, is an old correction. But this way of numbering the Psalms is based upon tradition. A scholium from Origen and Eusebius says of Ps 1:1-6 and Ps 2:1-12 : ἐν τῷ Ἑβραΐκῷ συνημμένοι, and just so Apollinaris:
Ἐπιγραφῆς ὁ ψαλμὸς εὑρέθη δίχα
Ἡνωμένος δὲ τοῖς παῤ Ἑβραίοις στίχοις.
For it is an old Jewish way of looking at it, as Albertus Magnus observes: Psalmus primus incipit a beatitudine et terminatur a beatitudine, i.e., it begins with אשׁרי Ps 1:1 and ends with אשׁרי Ps 2:12, so that consequently Ps 1:1-6 and Ps 2:1-12, as is said in B. Berachoth 9b (cf. Jer. Taanith ii. 2), form one Psalm (חדא פרשׁה). As regards the subject-matter this is certainly not so. It is true Ps 1:1-6 and Ps 2:1-12 coincide in some respects (in the former יהגה, in the latter יהגו; in the former תאבד...ודרך, in the latter ותאכדו דוך; in the former אשׁרי at the beginning, in the latter, at the end), but these coincidences of phraseology are not sufficient to justify the conclusion of unity of authorship (Hitz.), much less that the two Psalms are so intimately connected as to form one whole. These two anonymous hymns are only so far related, as that the one is adapted to form the proaemium of the Psalter from its ethical, the other from its prophetic character. The question, however, arises whether this was in the mind of the collector. Perhaps Ps 2:1-12 is only attached to Ps 1:1-6 on account of those coincidences; Ps 1:1-6 being the proper prologue of the Psalter in its pentateuchal arrangement after the pattern of the Tפra. For the Psalter is the Yea and Amen in the form of hymns to the word of God given in the Tפra. Therefore it begins with a Psalm which contrasts the lot of him who loves the Tפra with the lot of the ungodly, - an echo of that exhortation, Josh 1:8, in which, after the death of Moses, Jahve charges his successor Joshua to do all that is written in the book of the Tפra. As the New Testament sermon on the Mount, as a sermon on the spiritualized Law, begins with maka'rioi, so the Old Testament Psalter, directed entirely to the application of the Law to the inner life, begins with אשׁרי. The First book of the Psalms begins with two אשׁרי Ps 1:1; Ps 2:12, and closes with two אשׁרי Ps 40:5; Ps 41:2. A number of Psalms begin with אשׁרי, Ps 32:1-11; Ps 41:1-13; Ps 112:1-10; Ps 119; Ps 128:1-6; but we must not therefore suppose the existence of a special kind of ashr-psalms; for, e.g., Ps 32:1-11 is a משׂיל, Ps 112:1-10 a Hallelujah, Ps 128:1-6 a שׁיר המעלות.
As regards the time of the composition of the Psalm, we do not wish to lay any stress on the fact that 2Chron 22:5 sounds like an allusion to it. But 1st, it is earlier than the time of Jeremiah; for Jeremiah was acquainted with it. The words of curse and blessing, Jer 17:5-8, are like an expository and embellished paraphrase of it. It is customary with Jeremiah to reproduce the prophecies of his predecessors, and more especially the words of the Psalms, in the flow of his discourse and to transform their style to his own. In the present instance the following circumstance also favours the priority of the Psalm: Jeremiah refers the curse corresponding to the blessing to Jehoiakim and thus applies the Psalm to the history of his own times. It is 2ndly, not earlier than the time of Solomon. For לצים occurring only here in the whole Psalter, a word which came into use, for the unbelievers, in the time of the Chokma (vid., the definition of the word, Prov 21:24), points us to the time of Solomon and onwards. But since it contains no indications of contemporary history whatever, we give up the attempt to define more minutely the date of its composition, and say with St. Columba (against the reference of the Psalm to Joash the proteg of Jehoiada, which some incline to): Non audiendi sunt hi, qui ad excludendam Psalmorum veram expositionem falsas similitudines ab historia petitas conantur inducere.
(Note: Vid., Zeuss, Grammatica Celtica (1853) ii. 1065. The Commentary of Columba on the Psalms, with Irish explanations, and coming from the monastery of Bobbio, is among the treasures of the Ambrosiana.)
John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 1
This psalm, though without a title, may reasonably be thought to be a psalm of David; since the next psalm, which is also without a title, is ascribed to him, Acts 4:25; and since both are joined together as one psalm by the Jews (k); See Gill on Acts 13:33; and since this is the general preface to the whole book, which is chiefly of David's penning, it is entitled, in the metaphrase of Apollinarius,
"a Song of David, the Prophet and King.''
(k) T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 9. 2.
1:11:0: Սաղմոս ՚ի Դաւիթ. Ա։1:1: Երանեալ է այր որ ո՛չ գնաց ՚ի խորհուրդս ամպարշտաց, ՚ի ճանապարհի մեղաւորաց նա ո՛չ եկաց, եւ յաթոռս ժանտից նա ո՛չ նստաւ։
1 Սաղմոս ԴաւթիԵրանելի է այն մարդը, որն ամբարիշտների խորհրդով չի շարժւում, մեղաւորների ճանապարհին ոտք չի դնում եւ յանցագործների հետ համախոհ չի լինում,
1 Երանելի է այն մարդը, Որ ամբարիշտներուն խորհուրդին մէջ չի քալեր, Ու մեղաւորներուն ճամբուն մէջ չի կենար, Եւ ծաղր ընողներուն նստած տեղը չի նստիր.
Երանեալ է այր որ ոչ գնաց ի խորհուրդս ամպարշտաց, ի ճանապարհի մեղաւորաց նա ոչ եկաց, եւ յաթոռս ժանտից ոչ նստաւ:

1:0: Սաղմոս ՚ի Դաւիթ. Ա։

1:1: Երանեալ է այր որ ո՛չ գնաց ՚ի խորհուրդս ամպարշտաց, ՚ի ճանապարհի մեղաւորաց նա ո՛չ եկաց, եւ յաթոռս ժանտից նա ո՛չ նստաւ։

1 Սաղմոս Դաւթի
Երանելի է այն մարդը, որն ամբարիշտների խորհրդով չի շարժւում, մեղաւորների ճանապարհին ոտք չի դնում եւ յանցագործների հետ համախոհ չի լինում,
1 Երանելի է այն մարդը, Որ ամբարիշտներուն խորհուրդին մէջ չի քալեր, Ու մեղաւորներուն ճամբուն մէջ չի կենար, Եւ ծաղր ընողներուն նստած տեղը չի նստիր.
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
1:11:1 Псалом Давида.Блажен муж, который не ходит на совет нечестивых и не стоит на пути грешных и не сидит в собрании развратителей,
1:1 μακάριος μακαριος blessed; prosperous ἀνήρ ανηρ man; husband ὃς ος who; what οὐκ ου not ἐπορεύθη πορευομαι travel; go ἐν εν in βουλῇ βουλη intent ἀσεβῶν ασεβης irreverent καὶ και and; even ἐν εν in ὁδῷ οδος way; journey ἁμαρτωλῶν αμαρτωλος sinful οὐκ ου not ἔστη ιστημι stand; establish καὶ και and; even ἐπὶ επι in; on καθέδραν καθεδρα seat λοιμῶν λοιμος pestilence; pest οὐκ ου not ἐκάθισεν καθιζω sit down; seat
1:1 אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי־ ʔˌašˈrê- אֶשֶׁר happiness הָ hā הַ the אִ֗ישׁ ʔˈîš אִישׁ man אֲשֶׁ֤ר׀ ʔᵃšˈer אֲשֶׁר [relative] לֹ֥א lˌō לֹא not הָלַךְ֮ hālaḵ הלך walk בַּ ba בְּ in עֲצַ֪ת ʕᵃṣˈaṯ עֵצָה counsel רְשָׁ֫עִ֥ים rᵊšˈāʕˌîm רָשָׁע guilty וּ û וְ and בְ vᵊ בְּ in דֶ֣רֶךְ ḏˈereḵ דֶּרֶךְ way חַ֭טָּאִים ˈḥaṭṭāʔîm חַטָּא sinful לֹ֥א lˌō לֹא not עָמָ֑ד ʕāmˈāḏ עמד stand וּ û וְ and בְ vᵊ בְּ in מֹושַׁ֥ב môšˌav מֹושָׁב seat לֵ֝צִ֗ים ˈlēṣˈîm לֵץ scorner לֹ֣א lˈō לֹא not יָשָֽׁב׃ yāšˈāv ישׁב sit
1:1. beatus vir qui non abiit in consilio impiorum et in via peccatorum non stetit in cathedra derisorum non seditBlessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence:
1. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
1:1. Blessed is the man who has not followed the counsel of the impious, and has not remained in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the chair of pestilence.
1:1. Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
[3] Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful:

1:1 Псалом Давида.
Блажен муж, который не ходит на совет нечестивых и не стоит на пути грешных и не сидит в собрании развратителей,
1:1
μακάριος μακαριος blessed; prosperous
ἀνήρ ανηρ man; husband
ὃς ος who; what
οὐκ ου not
ἐπορεύθη πορευομαι travel; go
ἐν εν in
βουλῇ βουλη intent
ἀσεβῶν ασεβης irreverent
καὶ και and; even
ἐν εν in
ὁδῷ οδος way; journey
ἁμαρτωλῶν αμαρτωλος sinful
οὐκ ου not
ἔστη ιστημι stand; establish
καὶ και and; even
ἐπὶ επι in; on
καθέδραν καθεδρα seat
λοιμῶν λοιμος pestilence; pest
οὐκ ου not
ἐκάθισεν καθιζω sit down; seat
1:1
אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי־ ʔˌašˈrê- אֶשֶׁר happiness
הָ הַ the
אִ֗ישׁ ʔˈîš אִישׁ man
אֲשֶׁ֤ר׀ ʔᵃšˈer אֲשֶׁר [relative]
לֹ֥א lˌō לֹא not
הָלַךְ֮ hālaḵ הלך walk
בַּ ba בְּ in
עֲצַ֪ת ʕᵃṣˈaṯ עֵצָה counsel
רְשָׁ֫עִ֥ים rᵊšˈāʕˌîm רָשָׁע guilty
וּ û וְ and
בְ vᵊ בְּ in
דֶ֣רֶךְ ḏˈereḵ דֶּרֶךְ way
חַ֭טָּאִים ˈḥaṭṭāʔîm חַטָּא sinful
לֹ֥א lˌō לֹא not
עָמָ֑ד ʕāmˈāḏ עמד stand
וּ û וְ and
בְ vᵊ בְּ in
מֹושַׁ֥ב môšˌav מֹושָׁב seat
לֵ֝צִ֗ים ˈlēṣˈîm לֵץ scorner
לֹ֣א lˈō לֹא not
יָשָֽׁב׃ yāšˈāv ישׁב sit
1:1. beatus vir qui non abiit in consilio impiorum et in via peccatorum non stetit in cathedra derisorum non sedit
Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence:
1:1. Blessed is the man who has not followed the counsel of the impious, and has not remained in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the chair of pestilence.
1:1. Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ mh▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
1. "Блажен" - синонимично выражению "счастлив". Под последним нужно разуметь как внешнее земное благополучие (сл. 3: ст.), так и награду на суде Божием, т. е. духовное блаженство, небесное. "Муж", часть вместо целого (метонимия) - вообще человек. "Нечестивый" - внутренне разобщенный с Богом, имеющий и духовно живущий настроениями, несогласными с возвышенными заповедями закона: "грешный" - упрочивающий свое дурное внутреннее настроение в соответствующих внешних поступках, "развратитель" (евр. letsim, греч. loimnw - насмешник) - не только поступающий лично дурно, но и издевающийся над праведным родом жизни. "Не ходит, не стоит, не сидит" - три степени уклонения ко злу, в виде ли внутреннего, хотя и главенствующего, но не постоянного влечения к нему ("не ходит"), или в упрочении в себе зла путем внешних поступков ("не стоит"), или в полном уклонении к нему, доходящем до внешней борьбы с божественным учением и до пропаганды своих воззрений.
Matthew Henry: Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible - 1706
1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The psalmist begins with the character and condition of a godly man, that those may first take the comfort of that to whom it belongs. Here is,
I. A description of the godly man's spirit and way, by which we are to try ourselves. The Lord knows those that are his by name, but we must know them by their character; for that is agreeable to a state of probation, that we may study to answer to the character, which is indeed both the command of the law which we are bound in duty to obey and the condition of the promise which we are bound in interest to fulfil. The character of a good man is here given by the rules he chooses to walk by and to take his measures from. What we take at our setting out, and at every turn, for the guide of our conversation, whether the course of this world or the word of God, is of material consequence. An error in the choice of our standard and leader is original and fatal; but, if we be right here, we are in a fair way to do well.
1. A godly man, that he may avoid the evil, utterly renounces the companionship of evil-doers, and will not be led by them (v. 1): He walks not in the council of the ungodly, &c. This part of his character is put first, because those that will keep the commandments of their God must say to evil-doers, Depart from us (Ps. cxix. 115), and departing from evil is that in which wisdom begins. (1.) He sees evil-doers round about him; the world is full of them; they walk on every side. They are here described by three characters, ungodly, sinners, and scornful. See by what steps men arrive at the height of impiety. Nemo repente fit turpissimus--None reach the height of vice at once. They are ungodly first, casting off the fear of God and living in the neglect of their duty to him: but they rest not there. When the services of religion are laid aside, they come to be sinners, that is, they break out into open rebellion against God and engage in the service of sin and Satan. Omissions make way for commissions, and by these the heart is so hardened that at length they come to be scorners, that is, they openly defy all that is sacred, scoff at religion, and make a jest of sin. Thus is the way of iniquity down-hill; the bad grow worse, sinners themselves become tempters to others and advocates for Baal. The word which we translate ungodly signifies such as are unsettled, aim at no certain end and walk by no certain rule, but are at the command of every lust and at the beck of every temptation. The word for sinners signifies such as are determined for the practice of sin and set it up as their trade. The scornful are those that set their mouths against the heavens. These the good man sees with a sad heart; they are a constant vexation to his righteous soul. But, (2.) He shuns them wherever he sees them. He does not do as they do; and, that he may not, he does not converse familiarly with them. [1.] He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. He is not present at their councils, nor does he advise with them; though they are ever so witty, and subtle, and learned, if they are ungodly, they shall not be the men of his counsel. He does not consent to them, nor say as they say, Luke xxiii. 51. He does not take his measures from their principles, nor act according to the advice which they give and take. The ungodly are forward to give their advice against religion, and it is managed so artfully that we have reason to think ourselves happy if we escape being tainted and ensnared by it. [2.] He stands not in the way of sinners; he avoids doing as they do; their way shall not be his way; he will not come into it, much less will he continue in it, as the sinner does, who sets himself in a way that is not good, Ps. xxxvi. 4. He avoids (as much as may be) being where they are. That he may not imitate them, he will not associate with them, nor choose them for his companions. He does not stand in their way, to be picked up by them (Prov. vii. 8), but keeps as far from them as from a place or person infected with the plague, for fear of the contagion, Prov. iv. 14, 15. He that would be kept from harm must keep out of harm's way. [3.] He sits not in the seat of the scornful; he does not repose himself with those that sit down secure in their wickedness and please themselves with the searedness of their own consciences. He does not associate with those that sit in close cabal to find out ways and means for the support and advancement of the devil's kingdom, or that sit in open judgment, magisterially to condemn the generation of the righteous. The seat of the drunkards is the seat of the scornful, Ps. lxix. 12. Happy is the man that never sits in it, Hos. vii. 5.
2. A godly man, that he may do that which is good and cleave to it, submits to the guidance of the word of God and makes that familiar to him, v. 2. This is that which keeps him out of the way of the ungodly and fortifies him against their temptations. By the words of thy lips I have kept me from the path of the deceiver, Ps. xvii. 4. We need not court the fellowship of sinners, either for pleasure or for improvement, while we have fellowship with the word of God and with God himself in and by his word. When thou awakest it shall talk with thee, Prov. vi. 22. We may judge of our spiritual state by asking, "What is the law of God to us? What account do we make of it? What place has it in us?" See here, (1.) The entire affection which a good man has for the law of God: His delight is in it. He delights in it, though it be a law, a yoke, because it is the law of God, which is holy, just, and good, which he freely consents to, and so delights in, after the inner man, Rom. vii. 16, 22. All who are well pleased that there is a God must be well pleased that there is a Bible, a revelation of God, of his will, and of the only way to happiness in him. (2.) The intimate acquaintance which a good man keeps up with the word of God: In that law doth he meditate day and night; and by this it appears that his delight is in it, for what we love we love to think of, Ps. cxix. 97. To meditate in God's word is to discourse with ourselves concerning the great things contained in it, with a close application of mind, a fixedness of thought, till we be suitably affected with those things and experience the savour and power of them in our hearts. This we must do day and night; we must have a constant habitual regard to the word of God as the rule of our actions and the spring of our comforts, and we must have it in our thoughts, accordingly, upon every occasion that occurs, whether night or day. No time is amiss for meditating on the word of God, nor is any time unseasonable for those visits. We must not only set ourselves to meditate on God's word morning and evening, at the entrance of the day and of the night, but these thought should be interwoven with the business and converse of every day and with the repose and slumbers of every night. When I awake I am still with thee.
II. An assurance given of the godly man's happiness, with which we should encourage ourselves to answer the character of such. 1. In general, he is blessed, Ps. v. 1. God blesses him, and that blessing will make him happy. Blessednesses are to him, blessings of all kinds, of the upper and nether springs, enough to make him completely happy; none of the ingredients of happiness shall be wanting to him. When the psalmist undertakes to describe a blessed man, he describes a good man; for, after all, those only are happy, truly happy, that are holy, truly holy; and we are more concerned to know the way to blessedness than to know wherein that blessedness will consist. Nay, goodness and holiness are not only the way to happiness (Rev. xxii. 14) but happiness itself; supposing there were not another life after this, yet that man is a happy man that keeps in the way of his duty. 2. His blessedness is here illustrated by a similitude (v. 3): He shall be like a tree, fruitful and flourishing. This is the effect, (1.) Of his pious practice; he meditates in the law of God, turns that in succum et sanguinem--into juice and blood, and that makes him like a tree. The more we converse with the word of God the better furnished we are for every good word and work. Or, (2.) Of the promised blessing; he is blessed of the Lord, and therefore he shall be like a tree. The divine blessing produces real effects. It is the happiness of a godly man, [1.] That he is planted by the grace of God. These trees were by nature wild olives, and will continue so till they are grafted anew, and so planted by a power from above. Never any good tree grew of itself; it is the planting of the Lord, and therefore he must in it be glorified. Isa. lxi. 3, The trees of the Lord are full of sap. [2.] That he is placed by the means of grace, here called the rivers of water, those rivers which make glad the city of our God (Ps. xlvi. 4); from these a good man receives supplies of strength and vigour, but in secret undiscerned ways. [3.] That his practices shall be fruit, abounding to a good account, Phil. iv. 17. To those whom God first blessed he said, Be fruitful (Gen. i. 22), and still the comfort and honour of fruitfulness are a recompense for the labour of it. It is expected from those who enjoy the mercies of grace that, both in the temper of their minds and in the tenour of their lives, they comply with the intentions of that grace, and then they bring forth fruit. And, be it observed to the praise of the great dresser of the vineyard, they bring forth their fruit (that which is required of them) in due season, when it is most beautiful and most useful, improving every opportunity of doing good and doing it in its proper time. [4.] That his profession shall be preserved from blemish and decay: His leaf also shall not wither. As to those who bring forth only the leaves of profession, without any good fruit, even their leaf will wither and they shall be as much ashamed of their profession as ever they were proud of it; but, if the word of God rule in the heart, that will keep the profession green, both to our comfort and to our credit; the laurels thus won shall never wither. [5.] That prosperity shall attend him wherever he goes, soul-prosperity. Whatever he does, in conformity to the law, it shall prosper and succeed to his mind, or above his hope.
In singing these verses, being duly affected with the malignant and dangerous nature of sin, the transcendent excellencies of the divine law, and the power and efficacy of God's grace, from which our fruit is found, we must teach and admonish ourselves, and one another, to watch against sin and all approaches towards it, to converse much with the word of God, and abound in the fruit of righteousness; and, in praying over them, we must seek to God for his grace both to fortify us against every evil word and work and to furnish us for every good word and work.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
1:1: Blessed is the man - This Psalm has no title, and has been generally considered, but without especial reason, as a preface or introduction to the whole book.
The word אשרי ashrey, which we translate blessed, is properly in the plural form, blessednesses, or may be considered as an exclamation produced by contemplating the state of the man who has taken God for his portion; O the blessedness of the man! And the word האיש haish, is emphatic: That man; that one among a thousand who lives for the accomplishment of the end for which God created him.
1. God made man for happiness.
2. Every man feels a desire to be happy.
3. All human beings abhor misery.
4. Happiness is the grand object of pursuit among all men.
5. But so perverted is the human heart, that it seeks happiness where it cannot be found; and in things which are naturally and morally unfit to communicate it.
6. The true way of obtaining it is here laid down.
That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly - There is a double Climax in this verse, which it will be proper to note: -
There are here three characters, each exceeding the other in sinfulness.
1. The Ungodly, רשעים reshaim from רשע rasha, to be unjust; rendering to none his due; withholding from God, society, and himself, what belongs to each. Ungodly - he who has not God in him; who is without God in the world.
2. Sinners, חטאים chattaim, from חטא chata, "to miss the mark," "to pass over the prohibited limits," "to transgress." This man not only does no good, but he does evil. The former was without God, but not desperately wicked. The latter adds outward transgression to the sinfulness of his heart.
3. Scornful, לצים letsim, from לצה latsah, "to mock, deride." He who has no religion; lives in the open breach of God's laws, and turns revelation, the immortality of the soul, and the existence of an invisible world into ridicule. He is at least a deist, and endeavours to dissolve, as Much as he can, the bonds of moral obligation in civil society. As the sinner exceeds the ungodly, so the scornful exceeds both.
The second climax is found in the words,
1. Walk
2. Stand
3. Sit
Which mark three different degrees of evil in the conduct of those persons.
Observe,
1. The ungodly man - one uninfluenced by God.
2. The sinner - he who adds to ungodliness transgression
3. The scornful - the deist, atheist, etc., who make a mock of every thing sacred.
The Ungodly man walks, the Sinner stands, and the Scornful man sits down in the way of iniquity.
Mark certain circumstances of their differing characters and conduct.
1. The ungodly man has his counsel;
2. The sinner has his way; and,
3. The scorner has his seat.
The ungodly man is unconcerned about religion; he is neither zealous for his own salvation, nor for that of others: and he counsels and advises those with whom he converses to adopt his plan, and not trouble themselves about praying, reading, repenting, etc., etc. there is no need for such things; live an honest life, make no fuss about religion, and you will fare well enough at last. Now, "blessed is the man who walks not in this man's counsel;" who does not come into his measures, nor act according to his plan.
The sinner has his particular way of transgressing; one is a drunkard, another dishonest, another unclean. Few are given to every species of vice. There are many covetous men who abhor drunkenness; many drunkards who abhor covetousness; and so of others. Each has his easily besetting sin; therefore, says the prophet, let the wicked forsake His Way. Now, blessed is he who stands not in such a man's Way.
The scorner has brought, in reference to himself, all religion and moral feeling to an end. He has sat down - is utterly confirmed in impiety, and makes a mock at sin. His conscience is seared; and he is a believer in all unbelief. Now, blessed is the man who sits not down in his Seat.
See the correspondent relations in this account.
1. He who walks according to the counsel of the ungodly will soon,
2. Stand to look on the wag of sinners; and thus, being off his guard, he will soon be a partaker in their evil deeds.
3. He who has abandoned himself to transgression will, in all probability, soon become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin; and sit down with the scorner, and endeavor to turn religion into ridicule.
The last correspondency we find is: -
1. The seat answers to the sitting of the scornful.
2. The way answers to the standing of the sinner; and
3. The counsel answers to the walking of the ungodly.
The great lesson to be learned from the whole is, sin is progressive; one evil propensity or act leads to another. He who acts by bad counsel may soon do evil deeds; and he who abandons himself to evil doings may end his life in total apostasy from God. "When lust has conceived, it brings forth sin; and when sin is finished, it brings forth death." Solomon the son of David, adds a profitable advice to those words of his father: "Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men; avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away;" Pro 4:14, Pro 4:15.
As the blessedness of the man is great who avoids the ways and the workers of iniquity, so his wretchedness is great who acts on the contrary: to him we must reverse the words of David: "Cursed is the man who walketh in the counsel of the ungodly; who standeth in the way of sinners; and who sitteth in the seat of the scornful." Let him that readeth understand.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
1:1: Blessed is the man - That is, his condition is a happy or a desirable one. The word used here, אשׁר 'esher means properly, "happiness" or "blessedness." It is found, however, only in the plural form and in the construct state, and takes the nature and force of an interjection - " O the happiness of the man!" or "O happy man!" Deu 33:29 : "happy art thou, O Israel!" Kg1 10:8 : "happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants!" Job 5:17 : "happy is the man whom God correcteth!" Psa 2:12 : "blessed are all they that put their trust in him!" See also Psa 32:1-2; Psa 33:12; Psa 34:8; Psa 40:4; Psa 41:1; Psa 65:4; Psa 84:4-5, Psa 84:12, et al., where it is rendered "blessed." The word is of the most general character, and, in itself, would embrace all that is supposed to constitute real happiness. The particular kind of blessedness referred to here, as explained in the subsequent part of the psalm, consists in the fact that he avoids the companionship of the wicked; that he has pleasure in the law of the Lord; that he will be prospered in this world; and that he will not perish at lasts. The word "man" here, also, is of the most general character, and is designed to include all people, of all times and of all conditions, who possess the character referred to. The term is applicable to the poor as well as to the rich; to the low as well as to the exalted; to the servant as well as to the master; alike to the aged, the middle-aged, and the young. All who have the character here described come under the general description of the happy man - the man whose condition is a happy and a desirable one.
That walketh not - Whose character is that he does not walk in the manner specified. Prof. Alexander renders this, "Who has not walked." But it implies more than this; it refers to more than the past. It is the characteristic of the man, always and habitually, that he does not thus walk; it has not only been true in the past, but it is true in the present, and will be true in the future. It is that which distinguishes the man. The word "walk" is often used in the Scriptures to denote a way of life or conduct - since life is represented as a journey, and man as a traveler. Psa 15:2 : "who walketh uprightly." Compare Kg1 9:4; Deu 19:9; Deu 28:9; Psa 81:12-13; Isa 33:15.
In the counsel - After the manner, the principles, the plans of this class of men. He does not take counsel of them as to the way in which he should live, but from the law of the Lord, Psa 1:2. This would include such things as these: he does not follow the advice of sinners, Sa2 16:20; Kg1 1:12; he does not execute the purposes or plans of sinners, Isa 19:3; he does not frame his life according to their views and suggestions. In his plans and purposes of life he is independent of them, and looks to some other source for the rules to guide him.
Of the ungodly - The wicked. The word used here is general, and would embrace all kinds and degrees of the unrighteous. It is not so specific, and would, in itself, not indicate as definite, or as aggravated depravity, as the terms which follow. The general sentiment here is, that the man referred to is not the companion of wicked men.
Nor standeth - This indicates more deliberation; a character more fixed and decided.
In the way - The path where they are found, or where they usually go. His standing there would be as if he waited for them, or as if he desired to be associated with them. Instead of passing along in his own regular and proper employment, he stations himself in the path where sinners usually go, and lingers and loiters there. Thus, he indicates a desire to be with them. This is often, in fact, illustrated by men who place themselves, as if they had nothing to do, in the usual situation where the wicked pass along, or where they may be met with at the corners of the streets in a great city.
Of sinners - חטאים chaṭ ṭ â'iym. This word means literally, those who miss the mark; then, those who err from the path of duty or rectitude. It is often used to denote any kind or degree of sin. It is more specific than the former word rendered "ungodly," as denoting those who depart from the path of duty; who fail in regard to the great end of life; who violate positive and known obligations.
Nor sitteth - This implies still greater deliberation and determination of character than either of the other words employed. The man referred to here does not casually and accidentally walk along with them, nor put himself in their way by standing where they are ordinarily to be found; but he has become one of them by occupying a seat with them; thus deliberately associating with them. He has an established residence among the wicked; he is permanently one of their number.
In the seat - The seat which the scornful usually occupy; the place where such men converse and sit together - as in a ball-room, or in a "club," where wicked men hold their meetings, or where infidels and scoffers are accustomed to assemble.
Of the scornful - לצים lē tsiym. This word properly means those who mock, deride, scoff; those who treat virtue and religion with contempt and scorn. Pro 1:22; Pro 3:34; Pro 9:7-8; Pro 13:1; Pro 15:12, et saepe. It denotes a higher and more determined grade of wickedness than either of the other words employed, and refers to the consummation of a depraved character, the last stage of wickedness, when God and sacred things are treated with contempt and derision. There is hope of a man as long as he will treat virtue and religion with some degree of respect; there is little or none when he has reached the point in his own character in which virtue and piety are regarded only as fit subjects for ridicule and scorn. We have here, then, a beautiful double gradation or climax, in the nouns and verbs of this verse, indicating successive stages of character. There is, first, casual walking with the wicked, or accidentally falling into their company; there is then a more deliberate inclination for their society, indicated by a voluntary putting of oneself in places where they usually congregate, and standing to wait for them; and then there is a deliberate and settled purpose of associating with them, or of becoming permanently one of them, by regularly sitting among them.
So also it is in regard to the persons with whom they associate. They are, first, irreligious men in general; then, those who have so far advanced in depravity as to disregard known duty, and to violate known obligations; and then, those who become confirmed in infidelity, and who openly mock at virtue, and scoff at the claims of religion. It is unnecessary to say that, in both these respects, this is an accurate description of what actually occurs in the world. He who casually and accidentally walks with the wicked, listening to their counsel, will soon learn to place himself in their way, and to wait for them, desiring their society, and will ultimately be likely to be feared identified with open scoffers; and he who indulges in one form of depravity, or in the neglect of religion in any way, will, unless restrained and converted, be likely to run through every grade of wickedness, until he becomes a confirmed scoffer at all religion. The sentiment in this verse is, that the man who is truly blessed is a man who does none of these things. His associations and preferences are found elsewhere, as is stated in the next verse.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
1:1: am 3560, bc 444
Blessed: Psa 2:12, Psa 32:1, Psa 32:2, Psa 34:8, Psa 84:12, Psa 106:3, Psa 112:1, Psa 115:12-15, Psa 119:1, Psa 119:2, Psa 144:15; Psa 146:5; Deut. 28:2-68, Deu 33:29; Jer 17:7; Mat 16:17; Luk 11:28; Joh 13:17; Joh 20:29; Rev 22:14
walketh: Psa 81:12; Gen 5:24; Lev 26:27, Lev 26:28; Kg1 16:31; Job 31:5; Pro 1:15, Pro 4:14, Pro 4:15; Pro 13:20; Eze 20:18; Pe1 4:3
counsel: Psa 64:2; Gen 49:6; Ch2 22:3; Job 10:3, Job 21:16; Luk 23:51
ungodly: or, wicked
standeth: Psa 26:12; Rom 5:2; Eph 6:13
way: Psa 1:6, Psa 36:4, Psa 146:9; Pro 2:12, Pro 4:19, Pro 13:15; Mat 7:13, Mat 7:14
sitteth: Psa 26:4, Psa 26:5, Psa 119:115; Jer 15:17
scornful: Pro 1:22, Pro 3:34, Pro 9:12, Pro 19:29
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
1:1
The exclamatory אשׁרי, as also Ps 32:2; Ps 40:5; Prov 8:34, has Gaja (Metheg) by the Aleph, and in some Codd. even a second by שׁ, because it is intended to be read asherê as an exception, on account of the significance of the word (Baer, in Comm. ii. 495). It is the construct of the pluralet. אשׁרים (from אשׁר, cogn.ישׁר, כּשׁר, to be straight, right, well-ordered), and always in the form אשׁרי, even before the light suffixes (Olsh. 135, c), as an exclamation: O the blessedness of so and so. The man who is characterised as blessed is first described according to the things he does not do, then (which is the chief thought of the whole Ps.) according to what he actually does: he is not a companion of the unrighteous, but he abides by the revealed word of God. רשׁעים are the godless, whose moral condition is lax, devoid of stay, and as it were gone beyond the reasonable bounds of true unity (wanting in stability of character), so that they are like a tossed and stormy sea, Is 57:20.;
(Note: Nevertheless we have not to compare רעשׁ, רגשׁ, for רשׁע, but the Arabic in the two roots Arab. rs' and rsg shows for רשׁע the primary notion to be slack, loose, in opposition to Arab. tsdq, צדק to be hard, firm, tight; as Arab. rumhun tsadqun, i.e., according to the Kamus Arab. rmh ṣlb mtı̂n mstwin, a hard, firm and straight spear. We too transfer the idea of being lax and loose to the province of ethics: the difference is only one of degree. The same two primary notions are also opposed to one another in speaking of the intellect: Arab. hakuma, wise, prop. thick, firm, stout, solid, and Arab. sachufa, foolish, simple, prop. thin, loose, without stay, like a bad piece of weaving, vid., Fleischer's translation of Samachschari's Golden Necklace pp. 26 and 27 Anm. 76. Thus רשׁע means the loose man and indeed as a moral-religyous notion loose from God, godless comp. Bibl. Psychol. p. 189. transl.].)
חטּאים (from the sing. חטּא, instead of which חטא is usually found) sinners, ἁμαρτωλοί, who pass their lives in sin, especially coarse and manifest sin; לצים (from לוּץ, as מת from מוּת) scoffers, who make that which is divine, holy, and true a subject of frivolous jesting. The three appellations form a climax: impii corde, peccatores opere, illusores ore, in accordance with which עצה (from יעץ figere, statuere), resolution, bias of the will, and thus way of thinking, is used in reference to the first, as in Job 21:16; Job 22:18; in reference to the second, דּרך mode of conduct, action, life; in reference to the third, מושׁב which like the Arabic mglis signifies both seat (Job 29:7) and assembling (Ps 107:32), be it official or social (cf. Ps 26:4., Jer 15:17). On הלך בּ, in an ethical sense, cf. Mic 6:16; Jer 7:24. Therefore: Blessed is he who does not walk in the state of mind which the ungodly cherish, much less that he should associate with the vicious life of sinners, or even delight in the company of those who scoff at religion. The description now continues with כּי אם (imo si, Ges. 155, 2, 9): but (if) his delight is, = (substantival instead of the verbal clause:) he delights (חפץ cf. Arab. chfd f. i. with the primary notion of firmly adhering, vid., on Job 40:17) in תורת ה, the teaching of Jahve, which is become Israel's νόμος, rule of life; in this he meditates profoundly by day and night (two acc. with the old accusative terminations am and ah). The perff. in Ps 1:1 describe what he all along has never done, the fut. יהגּה, what he is always striving to do; הגה of a deep (cf. Arab. hjj, depressum esse), dull sound, as if vibrating between within and without, here signifies the quiet soliloquy (cf. Arab. hjs, mussitando secum loqui) of one who is searching and thinking.
With והיה,
(Note: By the Sheb stands Metheg (Gaja), as it does wherever a word, with Sheb in the first syllable, has Olewejored, Rebia magnum, or Dech without a conjunctive preceding, in case at least one vowel and no Metheg-except perhaps that standing before Sheb compos. - lies between the Sheb and the tone, e.g., ננתּקה (with Dech) Ps 2:3, ואענהוּ Ps 91:15 and the like. The intonation of the accent is said in these instances to begin, by anticipation, with the fugitive ĕ.)
in Ps 1:3, the development of the אשׁרי now begins; it is the praet. consec.: he becomes in consequence of this, he is thereby, like a tree planted beside the water-courses, which yields its fruit at the proper season and its leaf does not fall off. In distinction from נטוּע, according to Jalkut 614, שׁתוּל means firmly planted, so that no winds that may rage around it are able to remove it from its place (אין מזיזין אתו ממקומו). In פּלגי מים, both מים and the plur. serve to give intensity to the figure; פּלג (Arab. fal'g, from פלג to divide, Job 38:25) means the brook meandering and cleaving its course for itself through the soil and stones; the plur. denotes either one brook regarded from its abundance of water, or even several which from different directions supply the tree with nourishing and refreshing moisture. In the relative clause the whole emphasis does not rest on בּעתּו (Calvin: impii, licet praecoces fructus ostentent, nihil tamen producunt nisi abortivum), but פּריו is the first, בּעתּו the second tone-word: the fruit which one expects from it, it yields (equivalent to יעשׂה it produces, elsewhere), and that at its appointed, proper time (= בּעדתּו, for עת is = עדת or עדת, like רדת, לדת, from ועד), without ever disappointing that hope in the course of the recurring seasons. The clause ועלהוּ לא יבּול is the other half of the relative clause: and its foliage does not fall off or wither (נבל like the synon. Arab. dbl, from the root בל).
The green foliage is an emblem of faith, which converts the water of life of the divine word into sap and strength, and the fruit, an emblem of works, which gradually ripen and scatter their blessings around; a tree that has lost its leaves, does not bring its fruit to maturity. It is only with וכל, where the language becomes unemblematic, that the man who loves the Law of God again becomes the direct subject. The accentuation treats this member of the verse as the third member of the relative clause; one may, however, say of a thriving plant צלח, but not הצליח. This Hiph. (from צלח, Arab. tslh, to divide, press forward, press through, vid., Ps 45:5) signifies both causative: to cause anything to go through, or prosper (Gen 34:23), and transitive: to carry through, and intransitive: to succeed, prosper (Judg 18:5). With the first meaning, Jahve would be the subject; with the third, the project of the righteous; with the middle one, the righteous man himself. This last is the most natural: everything he takes in hand he brings to a successful issue (an expression like 2Chron 7:11; 2Chron 31:21; Dan 8:24). What a richly flowing brook is to the tree that is planted on its bank, such is the word of God to him who devotes himself to it: it makes him, according to his position and calling, ever fruitful in good and well-timed deeds and keeps him fresh in his inner and outward life, and whatsoever such an one undertakes, he brings to a successful issue, for the might of the word and of the blessing of God is in his actions.
Geneva 1599
1:1 Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the (a) counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
The Argument - This book of psalms is given to us by the Holy Spirit, to be esteemed as a precious treasure in which all things are contained that bring to true happiness in this present life as well as in the life to come. For the riches of true knowledge and heavenly wisdom, are here set open for us, to take of it most abundantly. If we would know the great and high majesty of God, here we may see the brightness of it shine clearly. If we would seek his incomprehensible wisdom, here is the school of the same profession. If we would comprehend his inestimable bounty, and approach near to it, and fill our hands with that treasure, here we may have a most lively and comfortable taste of it. If we would know where our salvation lies and how to attain to everlasting life, here is Christ our Redeemer, and Mediator most evidently described. The rich man may learn the true use of his riches. The poor man may find full contentment. He who will rejoice will know true joy, and how to keep measure in it. They who are afflicted and oppressed will see what their comfort exists in, and how they should praise God when he sends them deliverance. The wicked and the persecutors of the children of God will see how the hand of God is always against them: and though he permits them to prosper for a while, yet he bridles them, so much so that they cannot touch a hair of ones head unless he permits them, and how in the end their destruction is most miserable. Briefly here we have most present remedies against all temptations and troubles of mind and conscience, so that being well practised in this, we may be assured against all dangers in this life, live in the true fear and love of God, and at length attain the incorruptible crown of glory, which is laid up for all who love the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(a) When a man has once given place to evil counsel, or to his own sin nature, he begins to forget himself in his sin, and so falls into contempt of God, which is called the seat of the scorners.
John Gill
1:1 Blessed is the man,.... This psalm begins in like manner as Christ's sermon on the mount, Mt 5:3; setting forth the praises and expressing the happiness of the man who is described in this verse and Ps 1:2. The words may be rendered, "O, the blessednesses of the man", or "of this man" (l); he is doubly blessed, a thrice happy and blessed man; blessed in things temporal and spiritual; happy in this world, and in that to come. He is to be praised and commended as a good man, so the Targum:
"the goodness, or, Oh, the goodness of the man;''
or as others,
"Oh, the right goings or happy progress, or prosperous success of the man (m),''
who answers to the following characters; which right walking of his is next observed, and his prosperity in Ps 1:3. Some have interpreted this psalm of Christ, and think it is properly spoken of him (n);
that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly: all men are by nature and practice ungodly, without God, without the true knowledge, fear, and worship of God and are at enmity against him. It is a character that belongs to God's elect as well as others, while in a state of nature; and is sometimes used illustrate the love of Christ in dying for them, and the grace of God in the justification of them, Rom 4:5. But here it describes not such who are wicked in heart and life in common only, but the reprobate part of mankind, profligate and abandoned sinners, such as Jude speaks of, Jude 1:4; and for whom the law is made, and against whom it lies, Ti1 1:9. The word (o) here used signifies such who are restless and continually in mischief; who are like the troubled sea, which cannot rest, ever casting up mire and dirt: they are always disquieted themselves, and are ever disquieting others; nor do they cease from being so till they are laid in their graves. And to these "counsel" is ascribed, which supposes capacity and wisdom; as, generally speaking, such are wise and prudent in natural and civil things, and are wise to do evil, though to do good they have no knowledge: and counsel implies consultation and deliberation; they act deliberately in sinning, they cast about in their minds, form schemes, and contrive ways and means how to accomplish their vicious purposes; and sometimes they enter into a confederacy, and consult together with one consent, and their counsel is generally against the Lord, though it does not prosper and prevail; and against his Christ, his people, truths and ordinances: it takes in both their principles and practices; and the sum of their counsel is to indulge themselves in sin, to throw off all religion, and to cast off the fear and worship of God, Job 21:14. Now "not to walk" herein is not to hearken to their counsel, to give into it, agree with it, pursue it, and act according to it; and happy is the man, who, though he may fall in the way of it, and may have bad counsel given him by ungodly men, yet does not consent to it, take it, and act upon it. This may be applied to the times of the Messiah, and the men of the age in which he lived; and the rather, since the next psalm, in which mention is made of the counsel of the ungodly, manifestly belongs unto them. The men of that generation were a set of ungodly men, who consulted against Christ to take away his life; and blessed is the man, as Joseph of Arimathea, who, though he was in that assembly which conspired against the life of Christ, did not walk in, nor consent unto, their counsel and their deeds, Lk 23:51;
nor standeth in the way of sinners; all men are sinners through Adam's disobedience, and their own actual transgressions, and such were the elect of God, when Christ died for them; and indeed are so after conversion, for no man lives without sin. But here it intends notorious sinners, who are open, bold, and daring in iniquity; the word (p) signifies such, who in shooting miss the mark, and go aside from it, as such sinners do from the law of God; proceed from evil to evil, choose their own ways, and delight in their abominations. Now their "way" is not only their "opinion", as the Syriac version renders it, their corrupt sentiments, but their sinful course of life; which is a way of darkness, a crooked path, and a road that leads to destruction and death: and happy is the man that does "not stand" in this way, which denotes openness, impudence, and continuance; who, though he may fall into this way, does not abide in it; see Rom 6:1. The Pharisees in the time of Christ, though they were not openly and outwardly sinners, yet they were secretly and inwardly such, Mt 23:28; and the way they stood in was that of justification by the works of the law, Rom 9:31, but happy is the man, as the Apostle Paul and others, who stands not in that way, but in the way Christ Jesus, and in the way of life and righteousness by him;
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful; by whom may be meant proud and haughty persons, in opposition to the humble and lowly, as in Prov 3:34; such who are proud of their natural abilities, knowledge, and wisdom, of their honours and riches, or of their own righteousness, and despise others; or such who are desperate in wickedness, of whom there is no hope; see Prov 9:7; and Deists and atheists, who scoff at divine revelation, and mock at a future state, at death, hell, and judgment, as in Is 28:14. Now happy is the man that does not sit or keep company with such persons; who comes not into their secret and into their assembly; does not associate himself with them, nor approve of their dispositions, words, principles, and actions; see Ps 26:4. Such were the Scribes and Pharisees in Christ's time; they derided him and his doctrines, scoffed at him when he hung upon the cross, and despised him and his apostles, and his Gospel; but there were some that did not join with them, to whom he, his ministers, and truths, were precious and in high esteem, and to whom he was the power and wisdom of God.
(l) "beatitudines illius viri", Montanus, Vatablus, Gejerus. (m) "Recti incessus, felices progressus, ac prosperi successus", Michaelis; so Piscator. (n) Justinian. in Octapl. Psalt, in loc. Romualdus apud Mabillon. Itinerar. Ital. p. 181. (o) "significat eos qui sine quiete et indesinenter impie degunt", Vatablus. (p) "qui longissime aberrant a scopo legis"; Gerjerus.
John Wesley
1:1 Blessed - The Hebrew words are very emphatical: O the blessedness of that man! Counsel - That doth not lead his life according to their counsel, or manner of living. Standeth - Which notes a more settled abode in it. Way - In their manner of conversation. Seat - Which notes a constant and resolved perseverance in their wicked courses. Scornful - Of those who make a mock of sin, and scoff at goodness and goodmen. Divers observe a gradation in this verse; the following clause still exceeding the former, for standing is more than walking, and sitting more than standing; and sinners in scripture use, are worse than the ungodly, and the scornful are the worst of sinners.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
1:1 The character and condition, and the present and future destiny, of the pious and the wicked are described and contrasted, teaching that true piety is the source of ultimate happiness, and sin of misery. As this is a summary of the teachings of the whole book, this Psalm, whether designedly so placed or not, forms a suitable preface. (Ps 1:1-6)
Blessed--literally, "oh, the happiness"--an exclamation of strong emotion, as if resulting from reflecting on the subject. The use of the plural may denote fulness and variety (2Chron 9:7).
counsel . . . way . . . seat--With their corresponding verbs, mark gradations of evil, as acting on the principles, cultivating the society, and permanently conforming to the conduct of the wicked, who are described by three terms, of which the last is indicative of the boldest impiety (compare Ps 26:4-5; Jer 15:17).
1:21:2: Այլ յօրէ՛նս Տեառն են կամք նորա, եւ յօրէնս նորա խորհեսցի նա ՚ի տուէ եւ ՚ի գիշերի.
2 այլ հաճոյք է ստանում Տիրոջ օրէնքներից եւ գիշեր-ցերեկ խորհում է Նրա պատուիրանների մասին:
2 Հապա անոր հաճութիւնը Աստուծոյ օրէնքին մէջ է, Եւ ցորեկ ու գիշեր անոր օրէնքին վրայ կը մտածէ։
այլ յօրէնս Տեառն են կամք նորա, եւ յօրէնս նորա խորհեսցի նա ի տուէ եւ ի գիշերի:

1:2: Այլ յօրէ՛նս Տեառն են կամք նորա, եւ յօրէնս նորա խորհեսցի նա ՚ի տուէ եւ ՚ի գիշերի.
2 այլ հաճոյք է ստանում Տիրոջ օրէնքներից եւ գիշեր-ցերեկ խորհում է Նրա պատուիրանների մասին:
2 Հապա անոր հաճութիւնը Աստուծոյ օրէնքին մէջ է, Եւ ցորեկ ու գիշեր անոր օրէնքին վրայ կը մտածէ։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
1:21:2 но в законе Господа воля его, и о законе Его размышляет он день и ночь!
1:2 ἀλλ᾿ αλλα but ἢ η or; than ἐν εν in τῷ ο the νόμῳ νομος.1 law κυρίου κυριος lord; master τὸ ο the θέλημα θελημα determination; will αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him καὶ και and; even ἐν εν in τῷ ο the νόμῳ νομος.1 law αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him μελετήσει μελεταω concerned with ἡμέρας ημερα day καὶ και and; even νυκτός νυξ night
1:2 כִּ֤י kˈî כִּי that אִ֥ם ʔˌim אִם if בְּ bᵊ בְּ in תֹורַ֥ת ṯôrˌaṯ תֹּורָה instruction יְהוָ֗ה [yᵊhwˈāh] יְהוָה YHWH חֶ֫פְצֹ֥ו ḥˈefṣˌô חֵפֶץ pleasure וּֽ ˈû וְ and בְ vᵊ בְּ in תֹורָתֹ֥ו ṯôrāṯˌô תֹּורָה instruction יֶהְגֶּ֗ה yehgˈeh הגה mutter יֹומָ֥ם yômˌām יֹומָם by day וָ wā וְ and לָֽיְלָה׃ lˈāyᵊlā לַיְלָה night
1:2. sed in lege Domini voluntas eius et in lege eius meditabitur die ac nocteBut his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night.
2. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
1:2. But his will is with the law of the Lord, and he will meditate on his law, day and night.
1:2. But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night:

1:2 но в законе Господа воля его, и о законе Его размышляет он день и ночь!
1:2
ἀλλ᾿ αλλα but
η or; than
ἐν εν in
τῷ ο the
νόμῳ νομος.1 law
κυρίου κυριος lord; master
τὸ ο the
θέλημα θελημα determination; will
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
καὶ και and; even
ἐν εν in
τῷ ο the
νόμῳ νομος.1 law
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
μελετήσει μελεταω concerned with
ἡμέρας ημερα day
καὶ και and; even
νυκτός νυξ night
1:2
כִּ֤י kˈî כִּי that
אִ֥ם ʔˌim אִם if
בְּ bᵊ בְּ in
תֹורַ֥ת ṯôrˌaṯ תֹּורָה instruction
יְהוָ֗ה [yᵊhwˈāh] יְהוָה YHWH
חֶ֫פְצֹ֥ו ḥˈefṣˌô חֵפֶץ pleasure
וּֽ ˈû וְ and
בְ vᵊ בְּ in
תֹורָתֹ֥ו ṯôrāṯˌô תֹּורָה instruction
יֶהְגֶּ֗ה yehgˈeh הגה mutter
יֹומָ֥ם yômˌām יֹומָם by day
וָ וְ and
לָֽיְלָה׃ lˈāyᵊlā לַיְלָה night
1:2. sed in lege Domini voluntas eius et in lege eius meditabitur die ac nocte
But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night.
1:2. But his will is with the law of the Lord, and he will meditate on his law, day and night.
1:2. But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
2. Характеристика праведника с положительной стороны. - "В законе Господа воля его". - "Воля" - настроение, влечение праведного к "закону Господа", не только к тому, который выражен в десятословии Моисея, но ко всему Божественному откровению. "Размышлять день и ночь" - всегда согласовать свое поведение с этим откровением, для чего необходимо всегдашнее памятование о нем (см. Втор VI:6-7).
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
1:2: But his delight is in the law of the Lord - חפצו chephtso, his will, desire, affection, every motive in his heart, and every moving principle in his soul, are on the side of God and his truth. He takes up the law of the Lord as the rule of his life; he brings all his actions and affections to this holy standard. He looketh into the perfect law of liberty; and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word; and is therefore blessed in his deed. He not only reads to gain knowledge from the Divine oracles, but he meditates on what he has read, feeds on it; and thus receiving the sincere milk of the word, he grows thereby unto eternal life. This is not an occasional study to him; it is his work day and night. As his heart is in it, the employment must be frequent, and the disposition to it perpetual.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
1:2: But his delight - His pleasure; his happiness. Instead of finding his happiness in the society and the occupations of the wicked, he finds it in the truth of God. The law or truth of God is not distasteful to him, but he so delights in it as to desire to become more and more acquainted with it, and to have its truths impressed more and more on his heart.
In the law of the Lord - The law of Yahweh - the small capitals in the translation indicating here as elsewhere that the original word is Yahweh. The word law in the Scriptures is used in a considerable variety of significations. The Hebrew word תורה tô râ h, properly means instruction, precept; and then, an injunction, command, law, in the usual sense of the word. It was applied particularly to the Pentateuch, or law of Moses (compare the notes at Luk 24:44), as containing the first written and recorded laws of God; and then the word came, in a more general sense, to be applied to all the books of the Old Testament, as being an exposition and application of the law. Here the word undoubtedly refers to the written Rev_elation of the will of God as far as it was then made known. On the same principle, however, the declaration here made would apply to any part of a divine Rev_elation; and hence, the sentiment is, that a truly pious man finds his highest delight in the Rev_ealed truths of God. This is often referred to as characteristic of true piety. Compare Psa 19:10; Psa 119:97, Psa 119:99.
And in his law - On his law, or his truth. "He doth meditate." The word used here, הגה hâ gâ h, means properly to complain, to mutter; then, to speak; then, to utter in a low complaining voice, as is often done by a person in deep meditation; hence, in the usual sense, to meditate on anything; to think of it. So Jos 1:8 : "Thou shalt meditate therein (the law) day and night." Psa 77:12 : "I meditate on all thy work." Pro 15:28 : "the heart of the righteous meditateth what to answer." The meaning here is, he thinks of it; he endeavors to understand its meaning; he has pleasure in reflecting on it. It is not a subject which he puts away from him, or in respect to which he is indifferent, but he keeps it before his mind, and has satisfaction in doing it.
Day and night - That is, continually - as day and night constitute the whole of time. The meaning is:
(a) he does this habitually, or he intentionally forms the habit of meditating on divine truth, by disciplining his mind in order that he may do it;
(b) he takes time to do it - designedly setting apart suitable portions of each day, that, withdrawn from the cares of life, he may refresh his spirit by contemplating divine truth, or may become better acquainted with God, and with his duty to him, and may bring to bear upon his own soul more directly the truths pertaining to eternal realities;
(c) he does this in the intervals of business, the moments of leisure which he may have during the day - having thus an unfailing subject of reflection to which his mind readily Rev_erts, and in which, amid the cares and toils of life, he finds relaxation and comfort; and
(d) he does it in the wakeful hours of night, when sick and tossed upon his bed, or when, for any other reason, his "eyes are held waking." Psa 63:5-6 : "my soul shall be upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night-watches." Psa 119:54 : "Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage." Compare Psa 119:23, Psa 119:43; Psa 143:5. It is probable that the psalmist had the injunction in his mind which is contained in Jos 1:8.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
1:2: But his: Psa 40:8, Psa 112:1, Psa 119:11, Psa 119:35, Psa 119:47, Psa 119:48, Psa 119:72, Psa 119:92; Job 23:12; Jer 15:16; Rom 7:22; Jo1 5:3
meditate: Psa 104:34, Psa 119:11, Psa 119:15, Psa 119:97-99; Jos 1:8; Ti1 4:15
day: Psa 88:1; Luk 2:37, Luk 18:7; Th1 2:9; Ti2 1:3
Geneva 1599
1:2 But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his (b) law doth he meditate day and night.
(b) In the holy scriptures.
John Gill
1:2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,.... Not the law of nature, which was inscribed on Adam's heart in innocence, but now greatly impaired by sin, and become very imperfect and very insufficient to make men happy, or to lead them to true felicity; nor the law of Moses, which is a fiery law, and works wrath, accuses of sin, pronounces guilty, curses and condemns to death; and therefore cannot be delighted in by a sensible sinner, unless as it is in the hands of Christ, and as fulfilled by him, who is the end of it; and as it is written on the heart of a regenerate man, who, so far as it is, delights in it after the inward man, and serves it with his spirit: but rather the Scriptures, as much and as many parts of them as were written in David's time; particularly the five books of Moses, which are called the Law and the Testimony of the Lord; which being inspired by God, were profitable and delightful to read, and to hear explained; and as they were David's delight, and the men of his council, Ps 119:24; so they were the delight of every good man, there being many things in them concerning the Messiah, his grace and kingdom; see Lk 24:44. Moreover the word here used, signifies "doctrine", and may intend the evangelic doctrine, as it does in Ps 19:7; which is a psalm concerning the doctrine of the apostles that went into all the world; and in like sense is the word used in Is 2:3; of the doctrine of the Messiah, that is, the Gospel; and is the same with the law, or doctrine of faith, in Rom 3:27. And this may be called the doctrine of the Lord, because he is the author of it; it came by him, he revealed it; and because he is the subject of it; it is concerning him, his person, office, grace, and righteousness; and so far as it was published in the times of David, it was a joyful sound, good news and glad tidings, and the delight of good men;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night; as Joshua was directed to do, and David did, Josh 1:8. This is to be understood of a diligent reading and serious consideration of it; and of the employment of the thoughts, and of deep study upon it, in order to find out the sense and meaning of it; and which is to be done constantly, every day, as often as there is leisure and opportunity for it; or, as Kimchi on the place observes, whenever a man is free from the business of life; unless this should be taken figuratively, of the day of prosperity and night of adversity, whether in things temporal or spiritual, which are each of them proper seasons to meditate in, upon the word of God and Gospel of Christ.
John Wesley
1:2 Day and night - Not seldom and slightly, but diligently, and constantly.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
1:2 law--all of God's word then written, especially the books of Moses (compare Ps 119:1, Ps 119:55, Ps 119:97, &c.).
1:31:3: Եւ եղիցի նա որպէս ծա՛ռ որ տնկեալ է ՚ի գնացս ջուրց։ Որ զպտուղ իւր ՚ի ժամու տացէ, եւ տերեւ նորա մի՛ թափեսցի. եւ զամենայն զոր ինչ արասցէ յաջողեսցի՛ նմա[6552]։ [6552] Ոմանք.Որպէս ծառն որ տնկ՛՛։ Ոմանք.Եւ զամենայն զոր ինչ եւ առնիցէ։
3 Նա նման է ջրերի հոսանքի վրայ տնկուած ծառի, որն իր պտուղը ժամանակին կը տայ, իսկ նրա տերեւը չի թափուի, ու ամէն բան, ինչ էլ որ անի, կը յաջողուի նրան:
3 Անիկա ջուրի ճամբաները տնկուած ծառի պէս պիտի ըլլայ, Որ իր ժամանակին իր պտուղը պիտի տայ. Ու անոր տերեւը պիտի չթափի, Եւ ինչ բան որ ընէ՝ պիտի յաջողի։
Եւ եղիցի նա որպէս ծառ որ տնկեալ է ի գնացս ջուրց, որ զպտուղ իւր ի ժամու տացէ, եւ տերեւ նորա մի՛ թափեսցի. եւ զամենայն զոր ինչ արասցէ` յաջողեսցի նմա:

1:3: Եւ եղիցի նա որպէս ծա՛ռ որ տնկեալ է ՚ի գնացս ջուրց։ Որ զպտուղ իւր ՚ի ժամու տացէ, եւ տերեւ նորա մի՛ թափեսցի. եւ զամենայն զոր ինչ արասցէ յաջողեսցի՛ նմա[6552]։
[6552] Ոմանք.Որպէս ծառն որ տնկ՛՛։ Ոմանք.Եւ զամենայն զոր ինչ եւ առնիցէ։
3 Նա նման է ջրերի հոսանքի վրայ տնկուած ծառի, որն իր պտուղը ժամանակին կը տայ, իսկ նրա տերեւը չի թափուի, ու ամէն բան, ինչ էլ որ անի, կը յաջողուի նրան:
3 Անիկա ջուրի ճամբաները տնկուած ծառի պէս պիտի ըլլայ, Որ իր ժամանակին իր պտուղը պիտի տայ. Ու անոր տերեւը պիտի չթափի, Եւ ինչ բան որ ընէ՝ պիտի յաջողի։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
1:31:3 И будет он как дерево, посаженное при потоках вод, которое приносит плод свой во время свое, и лист которого не вянет; и во всем, что он ни делает, успеет.
1:3 καὶ και and; even ἔσται ειμι be ὡς ως.1 as; how τὸ ο the ξύλον ξυλον wood; timber τὸ ο the πεφυτευμένον φυτευω plant παρὰ παρα from; by τὰς ο the διεξόδους διεξοδος crossroad τῶν ο the ὑδάτων υδωρ water ὃ ος who; what τὸν ο the καρπὸν καρπος.1 fruit αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him δώσει διδωμι give; deposit ἐν εν in καιρῷ καιρος season; opportunity αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him καὶ και and; even τὸ ο the φύλλον φυλλον leaf αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him οὐκ ου not ἀπορρυήσεται απορεω perplex καὶ και and; even πάντα πας all; every ὅσα οσος as much as; as many as ἂν αν perhaps; ever ποιῇ ποιεω do; make κατευοδωθήσεται κατευοδοω bring prosperity
1:3 וְֽ wᵊˈ וְ and הָיָ֗ה hāyˈā היה be כְּ kᵊ כְּ as עֵץ֮ ʕēṣ עֵץ tree שָׁת֪וּל šāṯˈûl שׁתל transplant עַֽל־ ʕˈal- עַל upon פַּלְגֵ֫י palᵊḡˈê פֶּלֶג division מָ֥יִם mˌāyim מַיִם water אֲשֶׁ֤ר ʔᵃšˈer אֲשֶׁר [relative] פִּרְיֹ֨ו׀ piryˌô פְּרִי fruit יִתֵּ֬ן yittˈēn נתן give בְּ bᵊ בְּ in עִתֹּ֗ו ʕittˈô עֵת time וְ wᵊ וְ and עָלֵ֥הוּ ʕālˌēhû עָלֶה leafage לֹֽא־ lˈō- לֹא not יִבֹּ֑ול yibbˈôl נבל wither וְ wᵊ וְ and כֹ֖ל ḵˌōl כֹּל whole אֲשֶׁר־ ʔᵃšer- אֲשֶׁר [relative] יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה yaʕᵃśˈeh עשׂה make יַצְלִֽיחַ׃ yaṣlˈîₐḥ צלח be strong
1:3. et erit tamquam lignum transplantatum iuxta rivulos aquarum quod fructum suum dabit in tempore suo et folium eius non defluet et omne quod fecerit prosperabiturAnd he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season. And his leaf shall not fall off: and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper.
3. And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also doth not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
1:3. And he will be like a tree that has been planted beside running waters, which will provide its fruit in its time, and its leaf will not fall away, and all things whatsoever that he does will prosper.
1:3. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper:

1:3 И будет он как дерево, посаженное при потоках вод, которое приносит плод свой во время свое, и лист которого не вянет; и во всем, что он ни делает, успеет.
1:3
καὶ και and; even
ἔσται ειμι be
ὡς ως.1 as; how
τὸ ο the
ξύλον ξυλον wood; timber
τὸ ο the
πεφυτευμένον φυτευω plant
παρὰ παρα from; by
τὰς ο the
διεξόδους διεξοδος crossroad
τῶν ο the
ὑδάτων υδωρ water
ος who; what
τὸν ο the
καρπὸν καρπος.1 fruit
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
δώσει διδωμι give; deposit
ἐν εν in
καιρῷ καιρος season; opportunity
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
καὶ και and; even
τὸ ο the
φύλλον φυλλον leaf
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
οὐκ ου not
ἀπορρυήσεται απορεω perplex
καὶ και and; even
πάντα πας all; every
ὅσα οσος as much as; as many as
ἂν αν perhaps; ever
ποιῇ ποιεω do; make
κατευοδωθήσεται κατευοδοω bring prosperity
1:3
וְֽ wᵊˈ וְ and
הָיָ֗ה hāyˈā היה be
כְּ kᵊ כְּ as
עֵץ֮ ʕēṣ עֵץ tree
שָׁת֪וּל šāṯˈûl שׁתל transplant
עַֽל־ ʕˈal- עַל upon
פַּלְגֵ֫י palᵊḡˈê פֶּלֶג division
מָ֥יִם mˌāyim מַיִם water
אֲשֶׁ֤ר ʔᵃšˈer אֲשֶׁר [relative]
פִּרְיֹ֨ו׀ piryˌô פְּרִי fruit
יִתֵּ֬ן yittˈēn נתן give
בְּ bᵊ בְּ in
עִתֹּ֗ו ʕittˈô עֵת time
וְ wᵊ וְ and
עָלֵ֥הוּ ʕālˌēhû עָלֶה leafage
לֹֽא־ lˈō- לֹא not
יִבֹּ֑ול yibbˈôl נבל wither
וְ wᵊ וְ and
כֹ֖ל ḵˌōl כֹּל whole
אֲשֶׁר־ ʔᵃšer- אֲשֶׁר [relative]
יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה yaʕᵃśˈeh עשׂה make
יַצְלִֽיחַ׃ yaṣlˈîₐḥ צלח be strong
1:3. et erit tamquam lignum transplantatum iuxta rivulos aquarum quod fructum suum dabit in tempore suo et folium eius non defluet et omne quod fecerit prosperabitur
And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season. And his leaf shall not fall off: and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper.
1:3. And he will be like a tree that has been planted beside running waters, which will provide its fruit in its time, and its leaf will not fall away, and all things whatsoever that he does will prosper.
1:3. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
3. Следствием внутреннего усвоения праведником закона и жизни по нему будет его внешнее благополучие и успех в делах. Как дерево, растущее при воде, имеет постоянно влагу для своего развития, а потому и бывает плодоносным, так и праведник "во всем, что он ни делает, успеет", так как ему покровительствует Бог.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
1:3: Like a tree planted - Not like one growing wild, however strong or luxuriant it may appear; but one that has been carefully cultivated, and for the proper growth of which all the advantages of soil and situation have been chosen. If a child be brought up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord, we have both reason and revelation to encourage us to expect a godly and useful life. Where religious education is neglected, alas! what fruits of righteousness can be expected? An uncultivated soul is like an uncultivated field, all overgrown with briers, thorns, and thistles.
By the rivers of water - פלגי מים palgey mayim, the streams or divisions of the waters. Alluding to the custom of irrigation in the eastern countries, where streams are conducted from a canal or river to different parts of the ground, and turned off or on at pleasure; the person having no more to do than by his foot to turn a sod from the side of one stream, to cause it to share its waters with the other parts to which he wishes to direct his course. This is called "watering the land with the foot," Deu 11:10 (note), where see the note.
His fruit in his season - In such a case expectation is never disappointed. Fruit is expected, fruit is borne; and it comes also in the time in which it should come. A godly education, under the influences of the Divine Spirit, which can never be withheld where they are earnestly sought, is sure to produce the fruits of righteousness; and he who reads, prays, and meditates, will ever see the work which God has given him to do; the power by which he is to perform it; and the times, places and opporttmities for doing those things by which God can obtain most glory, his own soul most good, and his neighbor most edification.
His leaf also shall not wither - His profession of true religion shall always be regular and unsullied; and his faith be ever shown by his works. As the leaves and the fruit are the evidences of the vegetative perfection of the tree; so a zealous religious profession, accompanied with good works, are the evidences of the soundness of faith in the Christian man. Rabbi Solomon Jarchi gives a curious turn to this expression: he considers the leaves as expressing those matters of the law that seem to be of no real use, to be quite unimportant, and that apparently neither add nor diminish. But even these things are parts of the Divine revelation, and all have their use, so even the apparently indifferent actions or sayings of a truly holy man have their use; and from the manner and spirit in which they are done or said, have the tendency to bear the observer to something great and good.
Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper - It is always healthy; it is extending its roots, increasing its woody fibres, circulating its nutritive juices, putting forth fruitbuds, blossoms, leaves, or fruit; and all these operations go on in a healthy tree, in their proper seasons. So the godly man; he is ever taking deeper root growing stronger in the grace he has already received, increasing in heavenly desires, and under the continual influence of the Divine Spirit, forming those purposes from which much fruit to the glory and praise of God shall be produced.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
1:3: And he shall be like a tree - A description of the happiness or prosperity of the man who thus avoids the way of sinners, and who delights in the law of God, now follows. This is presented in the form of a very beautiful image - a tree planted where its roots would have abundance of water.
Planted by the rivers of water - It is not a tree that springs up spontaneously, but one that is set out in a favorable place, and that is cultivated with care. The word "rivers" does not here quite express the sense of the original. The Hebrew word פלג peleg, from פלג pâ lag, to cleave, to split, to divide), properly means divisions; and then, channels, canals, trenches, branching-cuts, brooks. The allusion is to the Oriental method of irrigating their lands by making artificial rivulets to convey the water from a larger stream, or from a lake. In this way, the water was distributed in all directions. The whole land of Egypt was anciently sluiced in this manner, and it was in this way that its extraordinary fertility was secured. An illustration of the passage may be derived from the account by Maundrell of the method of watering the gardens and orchards in the vicinity of Damascus. "The gardens are thick set with fruit trees of all kinds, kept fresh and verdant by the waters of the Barady .... This river, as soon as it issues out of the cleft of the mountain before mentioned, into the plain, is immediately divided into three streams, of which the middlemost and largest runs directly to Damascus, and is distributed to all the cisterns and fountains of the ciy. The other two, which I take to be the work of art, are drawn round, the one to the right, and the other to the left, on the borders of the gardens, into which they are let out, as they pass, by little rivulets, and so dispersed over all the vast wood, insomuch that there is not a garden but has a fine, quick stream running through it." Trav., p. 122.
A striking allusion to trees cultivated in this manner occurs in Eze 31:3-4 : "Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature, and his top was among the thick boughs. The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high, with his rivers running round about his plants, and sent out his little rivers unto all the trees of the field." So Ecc 2:4 : "I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees." No particular kind of tree is referred to in the passage before us, but there are abundant illustrations of the passage in the rows of willow, oranges, etc., that stand on the banks of these artificial streams in the East. The image is that of a tree abundantly watered, and that was flourishing.
That bringeth forth his fruit in his season - Whose fruit does not fall by the lack of nutriment. The idea is that of a tree which, at the proper season of the year, is loaded with fruit. Compare Psa 92:14. The image is one of great beauty. The fruit is not untimely. It does not ripen and fall too soon, or fall before it is mature; and the crop is abundant.
His leaf also shall not wither - By drought and heat. Compare Job 8:16, note; Job 15:32, note. It is green and flourishing - a striking image of a happy and a prosperous man.
And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper - This is a literal statement of what had just been put in a figurative or poetic form. It contains a general truth, or contains an affirmation as to the natural and proper effect of religion, or of a life of piety, and is similar to that which occurs in Ti1 4:8 : "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." This idea of the effect of a life of piety is one that is common in the Scriptures, and is sustained by the regular course of events. If a man desires permanent prosperity and happiness, it is to be found only in the ways of virtue and religion. The word "whatsoever" here is to be taken in a general sense, and the proper laws of interpretation do not require that we should explain it as universally true. It is conceivable that a righteous man - a man profoundly and sincerely fearing God - may sometimes form plans that will not be wise; it is conceivable that he may lose his wealth, or that he may be involved in the calamities that come upon a people in times of commercial distress, in seasons of war, of famine, and pestilence; it is conceivable that he may be made to suffer loss by the fraud and dishonesty of other men; but still as a general and as a most important truth, a life of piety will be followed by prosperity, and will constantly impart happiness. It is this great and important truth which it is the main design of the Book of Psalms to illustrate.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
1:3: tree: Job 14:9; Isa 44:4; Jer 17:8; Eze 17:8, Eze 19:10, Eze 47:12; Rev 22:2
bringeth: Psa 92:14; Mat 21:34, Mat 21:41
shall not: Isa 27:11; Mat 13:6, Mat 21:19; Joh 15:6; Jde 1:12
wither: Heb. fade
whatsoever: Psa 128:2, Psa 129:8; Gen 39:3, Gen 39:23; Jos 1:7, Jos 1:8; Ch1 22:11; Ch2 31:21, Ch2 32:23; Isa 3:10
Geneva 1599
1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and (c) whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
(c) God's children are so moistened with his grace, that whatever comes to them, tends to their salvation.
John Gill
1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,.... Or, "for then shall he be", &c. as Alshech renders the words; and the Hebrew "vau" is often used for "then" (q). As Ps 1:1 describe the man who is blessed, this points at his blessedness, and shows and proves him to be an happy man; for he is comparable to a "tree": not to a dry tree, or a tree without fruit, or whose fruit is withered, but to a fruitful tree, a green and flourishing one; green olive tree, or a palm tree, or a cedar in Lebanon; to which David compares himself and the righteous, Ps 52:8; and here such an one is compared to a tree "planted"; not to one that grows of itself, a wild tree, a tree of the wood; but to one that is removed from its native place and soil, and planted elsewhere; and so designs such who are broken off of the wild olive tree, and are grafted into the good olive tree; who are planted in Christ Jesus, and in the church, the house of the Lord; of which transplantation the removal of Israel into Canaan's land was an emblem, Ps 80:8; and such a spiritual plantation is of God the husbandman; whose planting the saints are efficiently, Is 60:21. And it is owing to the word, the ingrafted word, Jas 1:21, which is the means of this ingrafture, and to the ministers of it instrumentally; some of whom plant, and others water, 1Cor 3:6. Moreover, the happy man before described is like a tree that is situated "by the rivers of water", or "divisions" (r) and rivulets of water; which running about the plants, make them very fruitful and flourishing; see Ezek 31:4; and which may intend the river of the love of God, and the streams of it, the discoveries and applications of it to regenerate persons; and also the fulness of grace in Christ, who is the fountain of gardens, the well of living waters and streams from Lebanon, to revive, refresh, supply, and comfort his people, Song 4:15; as well as the graces of the Spirit of God, which are near the saints, and like rivers of water flow out of them that believe in Christ, Jn 7:38; to which may be added the word and ordinances of the Gospel, which are the still waters, to which they are invited and led, and by which and with which they are greatly refreshed, and made fruitful. Arama interprets it of the waters of the law; it is best to understand it of the Gospel; see Is 55:1; it follows,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; and so appears to be a tree of righteousness, filled with the fruits of righteousness, the graces of the Spirit, and good works; which are brought forth by him under the influence of grace, as he has opportunity, and according to the measure of grace bestowed. His leaf also shall not wither; neither tree, nor fruit, nor leaf shall wither, but shall be always green; which is expressive of the saints' perseverance: the reasons of which are, they are ingrafted in Christ the true vine, and abide in him, from whom they have their sap, nourishment, and fruit, Jn 15:1; they are rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith of him; and so they hold fast the profession of it without wavering;
and whatsoever he doth shall prosper; meaning not so much in things temporal, of which Arama interprets it, for in these the good man does not always succeed, but in things spiritual: whatever he does in faith, from love, to the glory of God, and in the name of Christ, prospers; yea, those things in which he is concerned, that are adverse, and seem for the present to be against him, in the issue work for good to him: in short, such a man is blessed with grace here, and glory hereafter; and therefore must needs be an happy man.
(q) Vid. Noldii Concord. Part. Ebr. p. 308. (r) "juxta divisiones"; Musculus, Hammond; so Ben Melech.
John Wesley
1:3 Whither - His happiness is not short and transitory, but, like those trees which are continually green and flourishing.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
1:3 like a tree-- (Jer 17:7-8).
planted--settled, fast.
by--or, "over."
the rivers--canals for irrigation.
shall prosper--literally, "make prosper," brings to perfection. The basis of this condition and character is given (Ps 32:1).
1:41:4: Ո՛չ այսպէս են ամպարիշտք, եւ ո՛չ այսպէս. այլ որպէս հողմ զփոշի, զոր հոսէ՛ ՚ի վերայ երեսաց երկրի[6553]։ [6553] Ոմանք.Զի հոսէ յերեսաց երկրէ։
4 Այսպէս չեն ամբարիշտները, այսպէս չեն, այլ նման են հողմափոշու, որ հոսում է երկրի երեսին»:
4 Այսպէս չեն ամբարիշտները, Հապա մղեղի պէս՝ որ հովը կը ցրուէ։
Ոչ այսպէս են ամպարիշտք, [1]եւ ոչ այնպէս.`` այլ որպէս զփոշի զոր հոսէ հողմ [2]ի վերայ երեսաց երկրի:

1:4: Ո՛չ այսպէս են ամպարիշտք, եւ ո՛չ այսպէս. այլ որպէս հողմ զփոշի, զոր հոսէ՛ ՚ի վերայ երեսաց երկրի[6553]։
[6553] Ոմանք.Զի հոսէ յերեսաց երկրէ։
4 Այսպէս չեն ամբարիշտները, այսպէս չեն, այլ նման են հողմափոշու, որ հոսում է երկրի երեսին»:
4 Այսպէս չեն ամբարիշտները, Հապա մղեղի պէս՝ որ հովը կը ցրուէ։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
1:41:4 Не так нечестивые, [не так]: но они как прах, возметаемый ветром [с лица земли].
1:4 οὐχ ου not οὕτως ουτως so; this way οἱ ο the ἀσεβεῖς ασεβης irreverent οὐχ ου not οὕτως ουτως so; this way ἀλλ᾿ αλλα but ἢ η or; than ὡς ως.1 as; how ὁ ο the χνοῦς χνους who; what ἐκριπτεῖ εκριπτεω the ἄνεμος ανεμος gale ἀπὸ απο from; away προσώπου προσωπον face; ahead of τῆς ο the γῆς γη earth; land
1:4 לֹא־ lō- לֹא not כֵ֥ן ḵˌēn כֵּן thus הָ hā הַ the רְשָׁעִ֑ים rᵊšāʕˈîm רָשָׁע guilty כִּ֥י kˌî כִּי that אִם־ ʔim- אִם if כַּ֝ ˈka כְּ as † הַ the מֹּ֗ץ mmˈōṣ מֹץ chaff אֲֽשֶׁר־ ʔˈᵃšer- אֲשֶׁר [relative] תִּדְּפֶ֥נּוּ tiddᵊfˌennû נדף scatter רֽוּחַ׃ rˈûₐḥ רוּחַ wind
1:4. non sic impii sed tamquam pulvis quem proicit ventusNot so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind driveth from the face of the earth.
4. The wicked are not so; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
1:4. Not so the impious, not so. For they are like the dust that the wind casts along the face of the earth.
1:4. The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away:

1:4 Не так нечестивые, [не так]: но они как прах, возметаемый ветром [с лица земли].
1:4
οὐχ ου not
οὕτως ουτως so; this way
οἱ ο the
ἀσεβεῖς ασεβης irreverent
οὐχ ου not
οὕτως ουτως so; this way
ἀλλ᾿ αλλα but
η or; than
ὡς ως.1 as; how
ο the
χνοῦς χνους who; what
ἐκριπτεῖ εκριπτεω the
ἄνεμος ανεμος gale
ἀπὸ απο from; away
προσώπου προσωπον face; ahead of
τῆς ο the
γῆς γη earth; land
1:4
לֹא־ lō- לֹא not
כֵ֥ן ḵˌēn כֵּן thus
הָ הַ the
רְשָׁעִ֑ים rᵊšāʕˈîm רָשָׁע guilty
כִּ֥י kˌî כִּי that
אִם־ ʔim- אִם if
כַּ֝ ˈka כְּ as
הַ the
מֹּ֗ץ mmˈōṣ מֹץ chaff
אֲֽשֶׁר־ ʔˈᵃšer- אֲשֶׁר [relative]
תִּדְּפֶ֥נּוּ tiddᵊfˌennû נדף scatter
רֽוּחַ׃ rˈûₐḥ רוּחַ wind
1:4. non sic impii sed tamquam pulvis quem proicit ventus
Not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind driveth from the face of the earth.
1:4. Not so the impious, not so. For they are like the dust that the wind casts along the face of the earth.
1:4. The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ mh▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
4-6. Не таково положение нечестивых. Они, как "прах". Пыль, мякина, легко уносимая ветром; их внешнее положение неустойчиво и непрочно. Так как нечестивые проникнуты и живут не по заповедям Бога, то они не могут "устоять на суде" пред Ним и не могут быть там, куда собраны будут ("в собрании") праведники, так как Господь "знает" (в смысле печется, любит), а потому и награждает поведение ("путь" - деятельность, ее направление) праведных, а нечестивых губит. В данных стихах нет точного указания, какой разумеется суд Бога - на земле ли, при жизни человека или после его смерти. Но в том и другом случае остается одинаковый смысл - Господь наградит только праведных.

История еврейского народа представляет много фактов, показывающих, что и при земной жизни, когда Господь является судьей человека, Он карает нечестивых. Но так как землею не ограничивается существование человека, то и конечный суд над ним будет произведен в последний день, т. е. на страшном суде (ср. Мф III:12; 1: Кор VI:2).

Matthew Henry: Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible - 1706
4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Here is, I. The description of the ungodly given, v. 4. 1. In general, they are the reverse of the righteous, both in character and condition: They are not so. The LXX. emphatically repeats this: Not so the ungodly; they are not so; they are led by the counsel of the wicked, in the way of sinners, to the seat of the scornful; they have no delight in the law of God, nor ever think of it; they bring forth no fruit but grapes of Sodom; they cumber the ground. 2. In particular, whereas the righteous are like valuable, useful, fruitful trees, they are like the chaff which the wind drives away, the very lightest of the chaff, the dust which the owner of the floor desires to have driven away, as not capable of being put to any use. Would you value them? Would you weigh them? They are like chaff, of no worth at all in God's account, how highly soever they may value themselves. Would you know the temper of their minds? They are light and vain; they have no substance in them, no solidity; they are easily driven to and fro by every wind and temptation, and have no stedfastness. Would you know their end? The wrath of God will drive them away in their wickedness, as the wind does the chaff, which is never gathered nor looked after more. The chaff may be, for a while, among the wheat; but he is coming whose fan is in his hand and who will thoroughly purge his floor. Those that by their own sin and folly make themselves as chaff will be found so before the whirlwind and fire of divine wrath (Ps. xxxv. 5), so unable to stand before it or to escape it, Isa. xvii. 13.
II. The doom of the ungodly read, v. 5. 1. They will be cast, upon their trial, as traitors convicted: They shall not stand in the judgment, that is, they shall be found guilty, shall hang down the head with shame and confusion, and all their pleas and excuses will be overruled as frivolous. There is a judgment to come, in which every man's present character and work, though ever so artfully concealed and disguised, shall be truly and perfectly discovered, and appear in their own colours, and accordingly every man's future state will be, by an irreversible sentence, determined for eternity. The ungodly must appear in that judgment, to receive according to the things done in the body. They may hope to come off, nay, to come off with honour, but their hope will deceive them: They shall not stand in the judgment, so plain will the evidence be against them and so just and impartial will the judgment be upon it. 2. They will be for ever shut out from the society of the blessed. They shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous, that is, in the judgment (so some), that court wherein the saints, as assessors with Christ, shall judge the world, those holy myriads with which he shall come to execute judgment upon all, Jude 14; 1 Cor. vi. 2. Or in heaven. There will be seen, shortly, a general assembly of the church of the first-born, a congregation of the righteous, of all the saints, and none but saints, and saints made perfect, such a congregation of them as never was in this world, 2 Thess. ii. 1. The wicked shall not have a place in that congregation. Into the new Jerusalem none unclean nor unsanctified shall enter; they shall see the righteous enter into the kingdom, and themselves, to their everlasting vexation, thrust out, Luke xiii. 27. The wicked and profane, in this world, ridiculed the righteous and their congregation, despised them, and cared not for their company; justly therefore will they be for ever separated from them. Hypocrites in this world, under the disguise of a plausible profession, may thrust themselves into the congregation of the righteous and remain undisturbed and undiscovered there; but Christ cannot be imposed upon, though his ministers may; the day is coming when he will separate between the sheep and the goats, the tares and the wheat; see Matt. xiii. 41, 49. That great day (so the Chaldee here calls it) will be a day of discovery, a day of distinction, and a day of final division. Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, which here it is sometimes hard to do, Mal. iii. 18.
III. The reason rendered of this different state of the godly and wicked, v. 6. 1. God must have all the glory of the prosperity and happiness of the righteous. They are blessed because the Lord knows their way; he chose them into it, inclined them to choose it, leads and guides them in it, and orders all their steps. 2. Sinners must bear all the blame of their own destruction. Therefore the ungodly perish, because the very way in which they have chosen and resolved to walk leads directly to destruction; it naturally tends towards ruin and therefore must necessarily end in it. Or we may take it thus, The Lord approves and is well pleased with the way of the righteous, and therefore, under the influence of his gracious smiles, it shall prosper and end well; but he is angry at the way of the wicked, all they do is offensive to him, and therefore it shall perish, and they in it. It is certain that every man's judgment proceeds from the Lord, and it is well or ill with us, and is likely to be so to all eternity, accordingly as we are or are not accepted of God. Let this support the drooping spirits of the righteous, that the Lord knows their way, knows their hearts (Jer. xii. 3), knows their secret devotions (Matt. vi. 6), knows their character, how much soever it is blackened and blemished by the reproaches of men, and will shortly make them and their way manifest before the world, to their immortal joy and honour. Let this cast a damp upon the security and jollity of sinners, that their way, though pleasant now, will perish at last.
In singing these verses, and praying over them, let us possess ourselves with a holy dread of the wicked man's portion, and deprecate it with a firm and lively expectation of the judgment to come, and stir up ourselves to prepare for it, and with a holy care to approve ourselves to God in every thing, entreating his favour with our whole hearts.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
1:4: The ungodly are not so - The Vulgate and Septuagint, and the versions made from them, such as the Ethiopic and Arabic, double the last negation, and add a clause to the end of the verse, "Not so the ungodly, not so; they shall be like the dust which the wind scatters away from the face of the earth." There is nothing solid in the men; there is nothing good in their ways. They are not of God's planting; they are not good grain; they are only chaff, and a chaff that shall be separated from the good grain when the fan or shovel of God's power throws them up to the wind of his judgments. The manner of winnowing in the eastern countries is nearly the same with that practiced in various parts of these kingdoms before the invention of winnowing machines. They either throw it up in a place out of doors by a large wooden shovel against the wind; or with their weights or winnowing fans shake it down leisurely in the wind. The grain falls down nearly perpendicularly; and the chaff, through its lightness, is blown away to a distance from the grain.
An ungodly man is never steady; his purposes are abortive; his conversation light, trifling, and foolish; his professions, friendships, etc., frothy, hollow, and insincere; and both he and his works are carried away to destruction by the wind of God's judgments.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
1:4: The ungodly are not so - literally, "Not thus the wicked." For the word ungodly, see the notes at Psa 1:1. The statement that the "wicked are not so," is a general statement applicable alike to their character and destiny, though the mind of the author of the psalm is fixed immediately and particularly on the difference in their destiny, without specifying anything particularly respecting their character. It is as true, however, that the ungodly do walk in the counsel of the wicked, and stand in the way of sinners, and sit in the seat of the scornful, as it is that the righteous do not; as true that they do not delight in the law of the Lord, as it is that the righteous do; as true that the wicked are not like a tree planted by the channels of water, as it is that the righteous are. This passage, therefore, may be employed to show what is the character of the ungodly, and in so applying it, what was before negative in regard to the righteous, becomes positive in regard to the wicked; what was positive, becomes negative. Thus it is true:
(a) that the wicked do walk in the counsel of the ungodly; do stand in the way of sinners; do sit in the seat of the scornful;
(b) that they do not delight in the law of the Lord, or meditate on his word; and
(c) that they are not like a tree planted by the waters, that is green and beautiful and fruitful.
Both in character and in destiny the ungodly differ from the righteous. The subsequent part of the verse shows that, while the general truth was in the mind of the writer, the particular thing on which his attention was fixed was, his condition in life - his destiny - as that which could not be compared with a green and fruitful tree, but which suggested quite another image.
But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away - When the wheat was winnowed. This, in Oriental countries, was commonly performed in the open field, and usually on an eminence, and where there was a strong wind. The operation was performed, as it is now in our country, when a fan or fanning-mill cannot he procured, by throwing up the grain as it is threshed with a shovel, and the wind scatters the chaff, while the grain falls to the ground. See the notes at Mat 3:12.
This very naturally and appropriately furnished an illustration of the destiny of the wicked. Compared with the righteous, they were like the worthless chaff driven away by the wind. The image is often found in the Scriptures. See Job 21:18, note; Isa 17:13, note. Compare also Psa 35:5; Isa 29:5; Isa 41:15; Dan 2:35; Hos 13:3. The idea here is, that the wicked are in no respect like the green and fruitful tree referred to in Psa 1:3. They are not like a tree in any respect. They are not even like a decaying tree, a barren tree, a dead tree, for either of these would suggest some idea of stability or permanency. They are like dry and worthless chaff driven off by the wind, as of no value to the farmer - a substance which he is anxious only to separate wholly from his grain, and to get out of his way. The idea thus suggested, therefore, is that of intrinsic worthlessness. It will be among other things, on this account that the wicked will be driven away - that they are worthless in the universe of God - worthless to all the purposes for which man was made. At the same time, however, there may be an implied contrast between that chaff and the useful grain which it is the object of the farmer to secure.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
1:4: like: Psa 35:5; Job 21:18; Isa 17:13, Isa 29:5; Hos 13:3; Mat 3:12
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
1:4
The ungodly (הרשׁעים, with the demonstrative art.) are the opposite of a tree planted by the water-courses: they are כּמּץ, like chaff (from מוּץ to press out), which the wind drives away, viz., from the loftily situated threshing-floor (Is 17:13), i.e., without root below, without fruit above, devoid of all the vigour and freshness of life, lying loose upon the threshing-floor and a prey of the slightest breeze-thus utterly worthless and unstable. With על־כּן an inference is drawn from this moral characteristic of the ungodly: just on account of their inner worthlessness and instability they do not stand בּמּשׁפּט. This is the word for the judgment of just recompense to which God brings each individual man and all without exception with all their words (Eccles 12:14), - His righteous government, which takes cognisance of the whole life of each individual and the history of nations and recompenses according to desert. In this judgment the ungodly cannot stand (קוּם to continue to stand, like עמד Ps 130:3 to keep one's self erect), nor sinners בּעדת צדיקים. The congregation (עדה( noi = ‛idah, from ועד, יעד) of the righteous is the congregation of Jahve (עדת ה), which, according to its nature which is ordained and inwrought by God, is a congregation of the righteous, to which consequently the unrighteous belong only outwardly and visibly: ου ̓ γὰρ πάντες οἱ ἐξ Ἰσραήλ οὗτοι Ἰσραήλ, Rom 9:6. God's judgment, when and wheresoever he may hold it, shall trace back this appearance to its nothingness. When the time of the divine decision shall come, which also separates outwardly that which is now inwardly separate, viz., righteous and unrighteous, wheat and chaff, then shall the unrighteous be driven away like chaff before the storm, and their temporary prosperity, which had no divine roots, come to a fearful end. For Jahve knoweth the way of the righteous, יודע as in Ps 37:18; Mt 7:23; Ti2 2:19, and frequently. What is intended is, as the schoolmen say, a nosse con affectu et effectu, a knowledge which is in living, intimate relationship to its subject and at the same time is inclined to it and bound to it by love. The way, i.e., the life's course, of the righteous has God as its goal; God knows this way, which on this very account also unfailingly reaches its goal. On the contrary, the way of the ungodly תּאבד, perishes, because left to itself, - goes down to אבדּון, loses itself, without reaching the goal set before it, in darkest night. The way of the righteous only is דּרך עולם, Ps 139:24, a way that ends in eternal life. Ps 112:1-10 which begins with אשׁרי ends with the same fearful תאבד.
Geneva 1599
1:4 (d) The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
(d) Though the wicked seem to prosper in this world, yet the Lord drives them down that they shall not rise nor stand in the company of the righteous.
John Gill
1:4 The ungodly are not so,.... They are not as the good man is; their manner and course of life are different; they walk in the counsel of ungodly men, like themselves, and take counsel against the Lord, his Anointed, and his people: they stand in the way of sinners, and steer their conversation according to the course of the world, and sit in the seat of the scornful; laugh at divine revelation, lampoon the Scriptures, deride good men, make a jest of religion and a future state: they have no delight in the law of the Lord, they cast it away from them, and despise it; and are so far from a constant meditation on it, that they never read it, nor so much as look into it, nor is it ever in their thoughts. They are not like to a tree, as described in Ps 1:3, if they are like to trees, it is to dry trees, and not green ones, to trees without any sap, moisture, and verdure, and which are only fit fuel for the fire; to the trees of the wood, to wild olive trees; to trees on an heath, in a desert, in parched land, and not to trees by rivers of water, but to trees that have no root, and are without fruit, Jude 1:12. And though they may be in a seeming prosperous condition for a time, may be in great power, riches, and honour, and spread themselves like a green bay tree; yet suddenly they are cut down as the grass, and wither as the green herb; and even their outward prosperity destroys them; so that not anything they have or do in the issue prospers: and therefore they are not blessed or happy as the good man is; yea, they are wretched and miserable, nay, cursed; they are cursed now, and will be hereafter; they are cursed in their basket and store, their blessings are curses to them; the law pronounces them cursed; and they will hear, "go ye cursed", at the day of judgment, see Mt 25:41. The Vulgate Latin, Septuagint, and Arabic versions, repeat the words "not so", and read "not so the ungodly, not so:" which seems to be done for the confirmation of the truth of it:
but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away; they are like chaff, which has no root, moisture, greenness, nor fruitfulness; they have nothing in them solid and substantial; they are destitute of all that is good; are vain and empty; without the knowledge of God and Christ; without faith in Christ and love to him; and are sensual, not having the Spirit, his graces and fruits: they are like chaff for lightness, vain in their imaginations, light in their principles, frothy in their words, and unstable in all their ways: they are never long in any position, unsettled, disquieted, and tossed to and fro; and there is no peace unto them: they are like chaff, useless and unprofitable, nothing worth, fit only for everlasting burnings, which will be their case. For when Christ will gather his wheat, the righteous, which are of value, into his garner, the heavenly glory, he will burn the chaff, the wicked, with unquenchable fire. They are now like chaff, driven and carried about with every wind of doctrine, with divers and strange doctrines, and entertain every light and airy notion; and are easily drawn aside and carried away by the force of their own lusts, and with every temptation of Satan, who works effectually in then: and particularly they are like chaff before the wind of terrible judgments and calamities in this life, and of the awful judgment hereafter, when they will be driven away from the presence of the Lord into everlasting destruction. The metaphor is often used in this sense; see Job 21:17; and denotes the secret, sudden, sure, and easy ruin of the ungodly, which comes upon them like a whirlwind, in an instant, which they cannot avoid; and they can no more stand before God and against him, than chaff before the wind. It follows,
John Wesley
1:4 Ungodly - Their condition is far different. Chaff - They are restless and unquiet: their seeming felicity, hath no firm foundation, but quickly vanishes and flees away as chaff before the wind.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
1:4 not so--either as to conduct or happiness.
like the chaff--which, by Eastern modes of winnowing against the wind, was utterly blown away.
1:51:5: Վասն այսորիկ ո՛չ յարիցեն ամպարիշտք ՚ի դատաստան, եւ ո՛չ մեղաւորք ՚ի խորհուրդս արդարոց։
5 Ուստի ամբարիշտները չեն դիմանայ դատաստանին, ոչ էլ մեղաւորները կը լինեն արդարների հաւաքի մէջ,
5 Ասոր համար ամբարիշտները դատաստանի մէջ պիտի չկրնան կենալ, Ո՛չ ալ մեղաւորները՝ արդարներուն ժողովին մէջ։
Վասն այսորիկ ոչ յարիցեն ամպարիշտք ի դատաստան, եւ ոչ մեղաւորք ի խորհուրդս արդարոց:

1:5: Վասն այսորիկ ո՛չ յարիցեն ամպարիշտք ՚ի դատաստան, եւ ո՛չ մեղաւորք ՚ի խորհուրդս արդարոց։
5 Ուստի ամբարիշտները չեն դիմանայ դատաստանին, ոչ էլ մեղաւորները կը լինեն արդարների հաւաքի մէջ,
5 Ասոր համար ամբարիշտները դատաստանի մէջ պիտի չկրնան կենալ, Ո՛չ ալ մեղաւորները՝ արդարներուն ժողովին մէջ։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
1:51:5 Потому не устоят {В славянском переводе: Сего ради не воскреснут...} нечестивые на суде, и грешники в собрании праведных.
1:5 διὰ δια through; because of τοῦτο ουτος this; he οὐκ ου not ἀναστήσονται ανιστημι stand up; resurrect ἀσεβεῖς ασεβης irreverent ἐν εν in κρίσει κρισις decision; judgment οὐδὲ ουδε not even; neither ἁμαρτωλοὶ αμαρτωλος sinful ἐν εν in βουλῇ βουλη intent δικαίων δικαιος right; just
1:5 עַל־ ʕal- עַל upon כֵּ֤ן׀ kˈēn כֵּן thus לֹא־ lō- לֹא not יָקֻ֣מוּ yāqˈumû קום arise רְ֭שָׁעִים ˈršāʕîm רָשָׁע guilty בַּ ba בְּ in † הַ the מִּשְׁפָּ֑ט mmišpˈāṭ מִשְׁפָּט justice וְ֝ ˈw וְ and חַטָּאִ֗ים ḥaṭṭāʔˈîm חַטָּא sinful בַּ ba בְּ in עֲדַ֥ת ʕᵃḏˌaṯ עֵדָה gathering צַדִּיקִֽים׃ ṣaddîqˈîm צַדִּיק just
1:5. propterea non resurgent impii in iudicio neque peccatores in congregatione iustorumTherefore the wicked shall not rise again in judgment: nor sinners in the council of the just.
5. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
1:5. Therefore, the impious will not prevail again in judgment, nor sinners in the council of the just.
1:5. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous:

1:5 Потому не устоят {В славянском переводе: Сего ради не воскреснут...} нечестивые на суде, и грешники в собрании праведных.
1:5
διὰ δια through; because of
τοῦτο ουτος this; he
οὐκ ου not
ἀναστήσονται ανιστημι stand up; resurrect
ἀσεβεῖς ασεβης irreverent
ἐν εν in
κρίσει κρισις decision; judgment
οὐδὲ ουδε not even; neither
ἁμαρτωλοὶ αμαρτωλος sinful
ἐν εν in
βουλῇ βουλη intent
δικαίων δικαιος right; just
1:5
עַל־ ʕal- עַל upon
כֵּ֤ן׀ kˈēn כֵּן thus
לֹא־ lō- לֹא not
יָקֻ֣מוּ yāqˈumû קום arise
רְ֭שָׁעִים ˈršāʕîm רָשָׁע guilty
בַּ ba בְּ in
הַ the
מִּשְׁפָּ֑ט mmišpˈāṭ מִשְׁפָּט justice
וְ֝ ˈw וְ and
חַטָּאִ֗ים ḥaṭṭāʔˈîm חַטָּא sinful
בַּ ba בְּ in
עֲדַ֥ת ʕᵃḏˌaṯ עֵדָה gathering
צַדִּיקִֽים׃ ṣaddîqˈîm צַדִּיק just
1:5. propterea non resurgent impii in iudicio neque peccatores in congregatione iustorum
Therefore the wicked shall not rise again in judgment: nor sinners in the council of the just.
1:5. Therefore, the impious will not prevail again in judgment, nor sinners in the council of the just.
1:5. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
1:5: Therefore the ungodly shall not stand - This refers to the winnowing mentioned in the preceding verse. Some of the versions have, The ungodly shall not arise in the judgment - they shall have no resurrection, except to shame and everlasting contempt. But probably the meaning is, When they come to be judged, they shall be condemned. They shall have nothing to plead in their behalf. That the impious were never to have any resurrection, but be annihilated, was the opinion of several among the Jews, and of some among Christians. The former believe that only the true Israelites shall be raised again; and that the souls of all others, the Christians not excepted, die with their bodies. Such unfounded opinions are unworthy of refutation.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
1:5: Therefore - Because they are thus worthless.
The ungodly - See the notes at Psa 1:1. The wicked in general; the wicked of any kind or degree.
Shall not stand - Compare the notes at Psa 1:1. The idea is, that they will not be found among those who are acquitted by the Judge, and approved by him. The idea seems to be derived from the act of standing up to be tried, or to receive a sentence.
In the judgment - The Aramaic Paraphrase renders this, "in the great day" - understanding it of the day of judgment. The Septuagint and Vulgate render it, "the wicked shall not rise - ἀναστήσονται anastē sontai - resurgent - in judgment." Most of the Jewish interpreters, following the Aramaic Paraphrase, understand this as referring to the last judgment. Rosenmuller, in loc. The truth stated, however, seems to be more general than that, though that is probably included. The meaning is, that they would not share the lot of the righteous: in all places, and at all times, where character is determined, and where the divine estimate of human character is manifested, it would be found that they could not stand the trial, or abide the result, so as to have a place with the righteous. Their true character would in all such cases be shown, and they would be treated like the chaff that is driven away. This would be true alike in those situations of trial in the present life when character is determined, and at the last judgment, when the sentence will be pronounced which will determine the final doom of mankind.
Nor sinners - See the notes at Psa 1:1.
In the congregation of the righteous - Be reckoned or regarded as belonging to the righteous. That is, in all the places where the righteous, as such, are assembled, they will have no place: where they assemble to worship God; where they meet as his friends; where they unitedly participate in his favor; when, in the last day, they shall be gathered together to receive their reward, and when they shall be assembled together in heaven. The sinner has no place in the congregations of the people of God.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
1:5: shall: Psa 5:5, Psa 24:3; Luk 21:36; Jde 1:15
sinners: Psa 26:9; Mal 3:18; Mat 13:49, Mat 25:32, Mat 25:41, Mat 25:46
Geneva 1599
1:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the (e) judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
(e) But tremble when they see God's wrath.
John Gill
1:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,.... Neither in temporal judgment, when God comes forth in a way of wrath and sore displeasure; for who can stand before him when he is angry? what are chaff and stubble, thorns and briers, to consuming fire? nor in the last and great day of judgment, so the Targum and Kimchi interpret the words; for that day will burn like an oven the wicked, who will be as stubble, and leave neither root nor branch, Mal 4:1, when the great day of the Lamb's wrath is come, who will be able to stand? Rom 6:16; there will be no standing for the wicked when he appears; they will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, to take their trial and hear their sentence, 2Cor 5:10; but they shall not stand in the same place with the righteous, not at Christ's right hand, but at his left; they shall not stand with an holy confidence, with intrepidity, and without shame, as the blessed man will; they will not stand, but fall in judgment; they will not be acquitted and discharged, but be condemned to everlasting punishment, Mt 25:30; and this sense the Targum on the place expresses, "the ungodly shall not be justified in the great day"; the Vulgate Latin and Septuagint versions render the words, "the ungodly shall not rise again in judgment"; from whence some have concluded there will be no resurrection of the wicked: which seems, to be the sense of Kimchi and other Jewish writers; who assert that the souls of the wicked perish with their bodies at death, and that the latter rise not, contrary to Eccles 12:7; but that the wicked will, rise may be concluded from the justice of God, which requires that the bodies which have sinned should be punished; and from the general judgment of good and bad, and from the account of the punishment of hell, which will be inflicted on the body as well as on the soul: besides, the contrary doctrine is a licentious one, and is calculated to harden wicked men in their sins, and is directly repugnant to the assertions of Christ, and the Apostle Paul, Jn 5:28; nor has it any foundation in this text, even admitting such a version; which does not absolutely affirm that the wicked shall not rise again, but that they shall not rise again in, judgment, in the first resurrection, the resurrection of the just, and so as to be acquitted and discharged, but they shall rise to the resurrection of damnation;
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; who are made righteous by the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, and have a work of grace and holiness wrought in them; and who, under the influence of grace, live soberly, righteously, and godly; these are the same with the blessed man, Ps 1:1; and who at the day of judgment will be perfectly holy, and free from all sin; and they will be all gathered together by the holy angels; the dead saints will be raised, the living ones will be changed, and both will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and will make up one general assembly and church of the firstborn; and among these, and in this assembly, there will not be a single sinner; there are now sinners in Zion, foolish virgins with the wise, chaff and tares among Christ's wheat, and wolves and goats among his sheep; but then there will be an eternal separation, and no mixing together any more.
John Wesley
1:5 Not stand - Not endure the trial. Judgment - In the great and general judgment of the world.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
1:5 stand in the judgment--be acquitted. They shall be driven from among the good (Mt 25:45-46).
1:61:6: Քանզի ճանաչէ՛ Տէր զճանապարհս արդարոց, ճանապարհք ամպարշտաց կորիցեն։ Տունք. զ̃։[6554][6554] ՚Ի վախճանի իւրաքանչիւր սաղմոսաց՝ ուր օրինակս մեր առնէ գումարութիւն տանց եւ գոբղայից, ոմանք իսպառ զանց առնեն, եւ ոմանք զտունս եւ եթ նշանակեն. թէպէտ եւ ամենեքեան զբաժանումն Սաղմոսագրոցս ՚ի յութ կանոնս եւ ՚ի յիսուն եւ վեց գոբղայս առանձինն ծաղկազարդ դրօշմամբ ՚ի գլխագրութիւնս նոցին յայտ առնեն։
6 քանզի Տէրը գիտէ արդարների ճանապարհները, իսկ ամբարիշտների ճանապարհները կորստեան են տանում:
6 Վասն զի Տէրը կը ճանչնայ արդարներուն ճամբան, Բայց ամբարիշտներուն ճամբան պիտի կորսուի։
Քանզի ճանաչէ Տէր զճանապարհս արդարոց, ճանապարհք ամպարշտաց կորիցեն:

1:6: Քանզի ճանաչէ՛ Տէր զճանապարհս արդարոց, ճանապարհք ամպարշտաց կորիցեն։ Տունք. զ̃։[6554]
[6554] ՚Ի վախճանի իւրաքանչիւր սաղմոսաց՝ ուր օրինակս մեր առնէ գումարութիւն տանց եւ գոբղայից, ոմանք իսպառ զանց առնեն, եւ ոմանք զտունս եւ եթ նշանակեն. թէպէտ եւ ամենեքեան զբաժանումն Սաղմոսագրոցս ՚ի յութ կանոնս եւ ՚ի յիսուն եւ վեց գոբղայս առանձինն ծաղկազարդ դրօշմամբ ՚ի գլխագրութիւնս նոցին յայտ առնեն։
6 քանզի Տէրը գիտէ արդարների ճանապարհները, իսկ ամբարիշտների ճանապարհները կորստեան են տանում:
6 Վասն զի Տէրը կը ճանչնայ արդարներուն ճամբան, Բայց ամբարիշտներուն ճամբան պիտի կորսուի։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
1:61:6 Ибо знает Господь путь праведных, а путь нечестивых погибнет.
1:6 ὅτι οτι since; that γινώσκει γινωσκω know κύριος κυριος lord; master ὁδὸν οδος way; journey δικαίων δικαιος right; just καὶ και and; even ὁδὸς οδος way; journey ἀσεβῶν ασεβης irreverent ἀπολεῖται απολλυμι destroy; lose
1:6 כִּֽי־ kˈî- כִּי that יֹודֵ֣עַ yôḏˈēₐʕ ידע know יְ֭הוָה [ˈyhwāh] יְהוָה YHWH דֶּ֣רֶךְ dˈereḵ דֶּרֶךְ way צַדִּיקִ֑ים ṣaddîqˈîm צַדִּיק just וְ wᵊ וְ and דֶ֖רֶךְ ḏˌereḵ דֶּרֶךְ way רְשָׁעִ֣ים rᵊšāʕˈîm רָשָׁע guilty תֹּאבֵֽד׃ tōvˈēḏ אבד perish
1:6. quoniam novit Dominus viam iustorum et iter impiorum peribitFor the Lord knoweth the way of the just: and the way of the wicked shall perish.
6. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the wicked shall perish.
1:6. For the Lord knows the way of the just. And the path of the impious will pass away.
1:6. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish:

1:6 Ибо знает Господь путь праведных, а путь нечестивых погибнет.
1:6
ὅτι οτι since; that
γινώσκει γινωσκω know
κύριος κυριος lord; master
ὁδὸν οδος way; journey
δικαίων δικαιος right; just
καὶ και and; even
ὁδὸς οδος way; journey
ἀσεβῶν ασεβης irreverent
ἀπολεῖται απολλυμι destroy; lose
1:6
כִּֽי־ kˈî- כִּי that
יֹודֵ֣עַ yôḏˈēₐʕ ידע know
יְ֭הוָה [ˈyhwāh] יְהוָה YHWH
דֶּ֣רֶךְ dˈereḵ דֶּרֶךְ way
צַדִּיקִ֑ים ṣaddîqˈîm צַדִּיק just
וְ wᵊ וְ and
דֶ֖רֶךְ ḏˌereḵ דֶּרֶךְ way
רְשָׁעִ֣ים rᵊšāʕˈîm רָשָׁע guilty
תֹּאבֵֽד׃ tōvˈēḏ אבד perish
1:6. quoniam novit Dominus viam iustorum et iter impiorum peribit
For the Lord knoweth the way of the just: and the way of the wicked shall perish.
1:6. For the Lord knows the way of the just. And the path of the impious will pass away.
1:6. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
1:6: The Lord knoweth - יודע yodea approveth the way, "aloweth the way", Coverdale, of the righteous, צדיקים tsaddikim, from צדק tsadak, to give even weight; the men who give to all their due; opposed to רשעים reshaim, Psa 1:1, they who withhold right from all; see above. Such holy men are under the continual eye of God's providence; he knows the way that they take; approves of their motives, purposes, and works, because they are all wrought through himself. He provides for them in all exigencies, and defends them both in body and soul.
The way of the ungodly shall perish - Their projects, designs and operations, shall perish; God's curse shall be on all that they have, do, and are. And in the day of judgment they shall be condemned to everlasting fire in the perdition of ungodly men. The wicked shall perish at the presence of the Lord. Reader take warning!
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
1:6: For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous - This is given as a reason why the wicked would not stand in the judgment with the righteous. The reason is, that the Lord, the great Judge, fully understands the character of those who are his friends, and can discriminate between them and all others, whatever pretences others may make to that character. Only those whom God approves, and loves, as his friends, will be able to stand in the day when the great decision shall be made. No one can impose on him by any mere pretensions to piety; no one can force his way to his favor, or to the rewards of the just, by power; no one can claim this in virtue of rank and station. No one can be admitted to the favor of God, and to the rewards of heaven, whose character is not such that it will bear the scrutiny of the Omniscient eve. Compare the notes at Ti2 2:19. Man may be deceived in judging character, but God is not. When it is said that "the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous," the word "way" seems to be used to denote the whole of life - the manner of living (Notes, Psa 1:1), and hence, the whole character. Perhaps there is included also the idea that the Lord knows the result of their manner of life - the issue to which it leads - and that, therefore, he can properly judge the righteous and assign them to that place in the future world, to wit, heaven, to which their actions tend.
But the way of the ungodly shall perish - The way or manner in which the ungodly live shall tend to ruin; their plans, and purposes, and hopes, shall come to nought. Their course, in fact, tends to destruction. None of their plans shall prosper in regard to religion: none of their hopes shall be fulfilled. In this, as in all other respects, they stand in strong contrast with the righteous, alike in this world and the world to come.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
1:6: knoweth: Psa 37:18-24, Psa 139:1, Psa 139:2, Psa 142:3; Job 23:10; Nah 1:7; Joh 10:14, Joh 10:27; Ti2 2:19
way: Psa 112:10, Psa 146:9; Pro 14:12, Pro 15:9; Mat 7:13; Pe2 2:12
Geneva 1599
1:6 For the LORD (f) knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
(f) Approves and prospers, in the same way that to not know is to reprove and reject.
John Gill
1:6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous,.... The way in which he walks by faith, which is in Jesus Christ; the way in which he goes to the Father, and carries to him his sacrifices of prayer and praise, which meet with acceptance through him; the way in which he seeks for and expects justification, pardon, and salvation, namely, through the blood, righteousness, and sacrifice of Christ: and also it may denote his course, his walk and conversation; for the righteous man is a follower of God, he takes up the cross and follows after Christ: he walks not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, according to the rule of the word, and as becomes the Gospel of Christ: and this way of his in every sense the Lord "knows"; not merely as he is omniscient, for by his omniscience his eyes are upon the ways of all men; he knows the way of the wicked as well as the way of the righteous; but the sense is, that the Lord approves of and is well pleased with his way of faith and holiness; he knows this person, so as to love him and take delight and pleasure in him; his countenance beholds him with a smile; he is well pleased with him in Christ and for his sake, on whose account he has respect to him and to his offerings, to his service and duty, to his ways and works; and hence he is a blessed man, is in a happy situation, and all he does prospers, for he and his ways please the Lord: and hence also it is that neither he nor his way shall perish; the way he is in leads to everlasting life, and he being a follower of the Lord in a way pleasing to him, he shall never perish, but have eternal life;
but the way of the ungodly shall perish; for his way is a wicked way, the way of sinners, Ps 1:1; it leads to destruction and death, and all that walk in it shall perish; for if is a way the Lord knows not, does not approve of, he abhors it; wherefore the man that continues in it will be unhappy, wretched, and miserable to all eternity. These last words therefore show the reason of the happiness of one sort of men, and the unhappiness of the other; and prove and confirm the same: the Lord knows, approves of, loves, and delights in the one; he does not approve of and delight in the other.
John Wesley
1:6 Knoweth - He approves, loves, and delights in them, and therefore will recompence them. Perish - All their designs and courses shall come to nothing, and they shall perish with them.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
1:6 knoweth the way--attends to and provides for them (Ps 101:6; Prov 12:10; Hos 13:5).
way of the wicked--All their plans will end in disappointment and ruin (Ps 37:13; Ps 146:8; Prov 4:19).