Paraphrase Upon the Books of the Psalms, Book 2 · Annotations
Annotations on Psalm LXXII.
V. 3. Righteousness] foreign foreignin this place is by the Lxxii. rendred foreign in righteousness, and so joyned in construction with foreign shall judge, in the beginning of the next verse; and so it must be, if the בב have any signification. But it is not unusual for this and other prepositions to be used as expletives; and accordingly the Chaldee retains it here (foreign,) whilst yet both the Syriack and Latine leave it out, and read foreign, thy righteousness, and justitiam righteousness. And so the sense is most perspicuous.
V. 5. They shall fear thee] For foreign foreignthey shall fear or reverence thee, the Lxxii. seem to have read foreign and he shall prolong (his life) and so render it foreign, he shall endure as long as the Sun; and so the Latine, & permanebit cum sole, and he shall abide with the Sun. But the Chaldee adhere to our reading of the Hebrew, and render it both by foreign they shall fear from, or be afraid of thee; and again, by foreign they shall pray before thee, and so the Syriack, foreign (from foreign to fear or adore) which the Interpreter renders, adorabunt te, shall adore thee. Then for foreign foreignwith the Sun, foreign and before, or in the presence of the Moon,] the Chaldee seems to give the true notion of it, foreign with the ascending of the Sun, and foreign before or in the presence of the light of the Moon, i. e. by day and by night, continually, foreign generation of generations, i. e. either in the nominative case, generation of generations shall fear thee, or supplying the want of the preposition ל) throughout all generations. And so the primary literal meaning is, that all posterity shall revere Solomon continually, esteem of him as of the wisest and justest Prince. But the more sublime (and that as literal) sense belonging to Christ (of whom Solomons wisdome and prosperous government was a type) will be this. That both by day and night all generations shall adore Christ, pray to him, and performe solemn service to him, and through all ages never cease to do so, while (as the Jewish Arab renders it) the Sun endureth.
V. 9. Dwell in the wilderness] From foreign a dry or desart place, is foreign foreignhere, the inhabitants of the desart: such were the Aethiopians and others, and therefore the Lxxii. have chosen to paraphrase it, foreign, the Aethiopians, as ver. 10. for foreign and foreign foreignthey read foreign Arabians and Sabaeans; by the former Scheba, with ש, noting the inhabitants of Arabia Foelix, from whence comes Gold, v. 15. by the latter, with ם, all the whole region of Arabia, Madiam, and Epha, (saith S. Hierome) which is called Saba, the Queen whereof came to Solomon 1 King. x. 1. and is called the Queen of the South Mat. xii. 42. because Arabia Felix reacheth to the South, and belongs to the Aethiopick sea, and torrid Zone, and so is stiled the Queen of the South from the ends of the earth.
V. 12. Crieth] foreign, from foreign foreignclamavit, signifies him that cries: But the LXXII. from foreign rich or powerfull, read foreign from the powerfull; but this perhaps by way of Paraphrase, because the oppression of such is it that causeth the poor to cry.
V. 16. Handfull] foreign foreigna small quantity of corne (from foreign minutus est) is in all the copies of the Lxxii. rendred foreign, and from thence by the vulgar Latine firmamentum, by the Arabick and Aethiopick in like manner,foreign without any mention of corne or any thing to render foreign. The Chaldee read foreign (from foreign, which signifies both fulcivit and comedit) the food or fulciment of bread. i. e. bread for food, or for refection and strengthening; and the Syriack foreign plenty of corne; all varied much from the literal importance of the Hebrew. The reason of this variation as to all those that follow the Lxxii. is evidently the same, either having an eye to the Chaldee foreign in the notion of fulcimentum, as that agrees with the phrase elsewhere used, the staffe of bread; or more probably a mistake in the copies of foreign firmamentum for foreign a handfull, for so foreign regularly signifies, and so foreign a hand 1 King. xviii. 44. is rendred by the Chaldee foreign the palme of the hand, and so in Syriack foreign is the sole of the foot, and among the Rabbines is applied both to hand and foot, foreign the palme of the hand, foreign the sole of the foot. This therefore is the most probable meaning of the place, foreign there shall be a handfull of corne, and that sown (so foreign in the earth, noteth) foreign on the head, i. e. top of the hills, the most stony, dry, and barren platt; and yet foreign the fruit thereof, that which comes from this handfull, in this barrenest soile, foreign shall shake like Libanus, i. e. like the trees of Libanus, whose tallness causeth a great noise, when they are shaken with the wind. And this resemblance signifies the great growth of this corne, which makes it liable to the wind, and being shaken by it, it makes a noise like the tallest trees on the top of an hill. An excellent poetical description of the greatest plentifulness, when a handfull of corne sown on the barrenest soile, shall yet bring forth so prosperously. And this the Chaldee and Syriack were, it seems, willing to express by periphrasis, and not literally, and so only mention, the one, the bread that comes from it, for food, the other, the plenty of the corne, without mention of the small proportion of the seed it springs from. This R. Obad: Gaon applies to the Messias (as Aben Ezra, Midras Tehilin and he, doe the whole Psalme) saying that he is the foreign, beginning like an handfull of wheat, but afterwards shall grow into a multitude, like the herb of the field: see Jo. xii. 24. Abu Walid in his rendring it may seem singular, unless the like mystical use be made of it: He makes the words thus to sound, He shall be a pure piece of justice upon the earth, or there shall be, or let there be from him, a…solute justice in the earth: Upon the top of the mountains let his fruit encrease, (viz. his children or progeny) like Lebanon, i. e. as the trees of Lebanon, which proverbially signify a great multitude. The Jewish Arab renders it to this purpose, God make him as fruitfull corne in his countrey on the top of its mountains, and make him rich fruit, as Lebanon, &c. taking foreign (as Abu Walid doth) for [let him be] or [he shall be,] not [there shall be;] and rendring foreign let him be rich, as if it were foreign by transposition of letters, but that Abu Walid rejects.
V. 17. As long as the Sun] What foreign foreignbefore, or at the faces, or in the presence of the Sun,] signifies, will be learnt from what was said note b. of foreign, before, or in the presence of the Moon (i. e. in the night time,) and proportionably to continue foreign before the Sun, must be to live, to survive, to flourish in opposition to perishing, which is exprest by not seeing the sun. And this is appliable to names, to memories, as well as to persons: the names of good men foreign foreign(from foreign a sonne) shall descend upon their children, i. e. continue successively before the Sun, i. e. live, and prosper; and the names of evil men die and perish. The LXXII. literally enough, render it, foreign shall continue before the sunne; and so the Syriack, foreign is before the sunne. But the Jewish Arab, in agreement with his notion of v. 5. till the heavens vanish.
V. 17. Men shall be blessed] foreign foreignthey shall be blessed in him,] is no more than, men shall bless themselves in him, i. e. when they will bless any man, they shall use this forme, let him be blessed as Solomon was. Thus we see the phrase explained Gen. xLviii. 20. In thee shall Israel blesse, saying, God make thee as Ephraim; where to bless in any man, or any name,] is to pray that he may be as that man, wise as Solomon, a peaceable and happy ruler as Solomon, &c. (see more of this phrase note on Gal. iii. c.) The Interpreters generally joyne it with the nominative case that follows, [all nations shall be blessed in him;] and so it may well be: but it may also be set absolutely, they shall be blest, i. e. men shall bless themselves in or by him, and then, foreign all nations shall bless him, or proclaim him blessed. The Chaldee renders it foreign all nations shall be blessed in his righteousness, or purity; merito, saith the Latine interpreter of the Targum, which though it have a primary sense in application to Solomon, thus; All nations shall bless themselves in this or or the like forme, God make thee as pious, just, blameless, excellent a person as Solomon was; yet it must be allowed a much more eminent notion, in reference to Christ, that all Christians shall desire to imitate his divine patterns, and bless and pray for one another, in that forme, God indow thee with some degree of those virtues, which were eminently observable in Christ.