Works Volume 4, Book 4 · Psalm 90
The Ninetieth PSALM.
A Prayer ‖or, for לof Moſes the Man of God.
Paraphrase. The Ninetieth, being the firſt of the Fourth Book of the Collection of Pſalms, is a complaint of the afflictions and ſhortneſs of life, together with a prayer for the return of mercy; compoſed either by Moſes, that †foreign the Prophet of God Chald.eminent Prophet, which in Gods ſtead governed the people of Iſrael, and conducted them out of Egypt; or elſe, as in his perſon, by ſome other, with reflexion on thoſe times wherein Moſes lived, when the children of Iſrael in the Wilderneſs were ſorely afflicted, and great multitudes of them untimely cut off for their provocations.
1. Lord, thou haſt been our †refuge, or help, or ſupportdwelling-place in all generations.
Paraphrase. 1. Bleſſed Lord, we have never had any helper but thee, any other to whom we might reſort for aid and relief, from time to time; Thou haſt been our only protector and defender: O do not now forſake and deſtroy us utterly.
2. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou *or the earth were in travail,hadſt formed the earth, and the world, even from everlaſting to everlaſting, thou art God.
Paraphrase. 2. Before any part of this world was formed by thee, thou hadſt an infinite, incomprehenſible being, a power by which this whole Orb, wherein we move, was at firſt created, and thou remaineſt immutably the ſame almighty power, and ſo ſhalt do to the end of the world: O let us thine afflicted creatures receive at this time the benefits and auſpicious effects of this thy both power and mercy.
3. Thou turneſt man to ‖a broken eſtate,deſtruction, and ſayeſt, Return ye children of men.
Paraphrase. 3. Thou art the great Ruler and moſt juſt Diſpoſer of all events; when thoſe whom thou of thine infinite power and goodneſs didſt create, fell off, and made defection from thee, 'twas then juſt with thee to puniſh them for their ſins, and return them back to the earth, that loweſt and vileſt condition, from which man was firſt brought forth by thy creative power. This was the ſentence againſt Adam, and thus thou art at this time juſtly provoked to deal with great multitudes of us.
4. For a thouſand years in thy ſight are but as yeſterday, when it is paſt, and as a watch in the night.
Paraphrase. 4. And if in the old world, ſuch as had thus offended, were permitted (ſome of them, even Adam himſelf, to whoſe ſin death was awarded by God) to live near a thouſand years after it, yet alas what is that, compared with thy infinity? Thou art without all beginning, O bleſſed Lord, moſt abſolutely eternal; a thouſand years being conſidered in thy duration, are but as a drop ſpilt and loſt in the Ocean, no more than the ſhorteſt time among men, but a day, and that paſt and gone, or but the ſixth part of that, the ſpace of four hours in the night, (ſee note on Pſal. 130. b.) which is inſenſibly paſt over in ſleep.
5. Thou ‖overfloweſt them, they ſhall be a dream in the morning as graſs is changedcarrieſt them away as with a flood, they are as a ſleep; in the morning they are as graſs which groweth up:
6. In the morning it flouriſheth and groweth up, in the evening it is cut down and withereth.
Paraphrase. 5, 6. As for us men, we are naturally frail and ſhort-lived, our whole age is inſtantly at an end by the courſe of nature: But then when thy wrath alſo breaks forth againſt us, death comes as a torrent, and ſweeps us away in the midſt of our ſtrength; our life then is but as a dream, when one awakes out of ſleep, but a phanſie at firſt, and that ſoon vaniſht; whilſt we live, we do but ſeem to live, and ſtraight death comes, and that phaſm vaniſhes. Our condition here is no more ſtable and durable than that of the flower or graſs of the field, which when it flouriſhes moſt, is ſubject to inſtant fading and withering; but if the ſythe or ſickle come, the emblem of thy judgments on ſinners, then it falls in the prime of its verdure: In the morning it is freſh and proſperous and in its growth, and the very ſame day it is cut down, and then immediately fadeth, loſeth all its verdure and beauty before the night.
7. For we are conſumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.
8. For thou haſt ſet our iniquities before thee, our ſecret ſins in the light of thy countenance.
Paraphrase. 7, 8. And juſt thus it is with us: Our ſins have provoked thee to cut us off in the prime and moſt flouriſhing part of our age; our open and crying ſins, theſe, as the Rector of the Univerſe▪ thou thinkeſt fit to puniſh with exciſion; and beſide theſe, many more ſecret ſins there are, unknown to men, but moſt clearly diſcernible by thee, our ſecret apoſtaſies, and in our hearts returning to Egypt, our diſlike of thy methods, thy preſiding and governing us, and preferring the ſatisfaction of our luſts before the obſervance of thy commands, and theſe alſo provoke thy wrath, call forth thy vengeance againſt us, and by this means (as with a torrent v. 5.) we are ſwept away, and conſumed in a viſible formidable manner.
9. For all our days are paſſed away in thy wrath; we †end foreignſpend our years a *thought or breath.tale that is told.
Paraphrase. 9. Thou haſt been incenſed by our Atheiſtical murmurings, thy diſpleaſure is gone out againſt us; and ſo the years that were allowed us here, and might otherwiſe have been prolonged for ſome time, are now ſuddenly cut off, our race is ended in a trice, we are ſeiſed on with a ſwift deſtruction.
10. The days of our years ‖to them are ſeve…y years,are threeſcore years and ten, and if †in vigor, eighty years, and the ſtren… of them is labour—by reaſon of ſtrength they be fourſcore years, yet is their ſtrength labour and ſorrow; for it is ſoon cut off, and we flee away.
Paraphrase. 10. The vaſt numbers of 603550. that were fit for war, and ſo were liſted at our coming out of Egypt, do all drop away one after another, thy oath being gone out againſt them, that but two of that whole number ſhall enter into Canaan, all the reſt leaving their carcaſſes in the Wilderneſs. By this means it comes to paſs, that great multitudes die before they advance to more than the ſeventieth year of their age, viz. all that were but thirty years old at their coming out of Egypt. Others that were then in their prime, about forty years old, are ſure not to out-live eighty. (And for the youth that were not numbred, thoſe that were to enter into Canaan, and ſo out-live the reſt, they have yet little joy in their life, nothing but weariſome journeys and turmoils, ſee Pſal. 78.33.) and ſo our complaint is moſt juſt, as to a vaſt multitude of us, that our age is even as nothing in reſpect of true duration, but a thought or breath, v. 9. our moſt vigorous men being cut off in their prime, and ſo there is an end of them.
11. Who knoweth the power of thine anger? *as thy fear thy wrath, or and the terror of thine in…gnation,even according to thy fear ſo is thy wrath.
12. ‖To n… ber our days, do thou ſo teach us, that we maySo teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wiſdom.
Paraphrase. 11, 12. Whilſt thus we daily cut off, the great unhappineſs of it is, that no man is careful to lay to heart theſe terrible effects of Gods heavy wrath upon us; no man is ſo far inſtructed by what he ſees daily befal multitudes of other men, as to be ſenſible of his own danger, and the ſhortneſs of his life, ſo as to live well, while he is permitted to live. Lord, be thou pleaſed to give us this grace, ſo to inſtruct us, and convince us of the ſhortneſs of our lives, that we may be brought to pay that conſtant reverence and obedience that is due to thee, and wherein true wiſdom conſiſts, there being nothing ſo unwiſe as our provoking of thee, and adventuring to be cut off in our ſins.
13. Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy ſervants.
Paraphrase. 13. And if it may be thy good pleaſure, O Lord, reverſe that ſentence of exciſion which is gone out againſt us: let it ſuffice that thy diſpleaſure hath flamed to the devouring ſo great numbers of us, and at length vouchſafe to be pacified and reconciled with us.
14. O ſatisfie us early with thy mercy, that we may rejoyce and be glad all our days.
Paraphrase. 14. We have layn very long under thy wrath, O Lord, O delay not to afford us the full ſtreams of thy mercy which we have thus long wanted and impatiently thirſted after; that ſo for the remainder of our time we may have ſome matter of ovation and rejoycing, after ſo much ſadneſs.
15. Make us glad according to the days wherein thou haſt afflicted us, and the years wherein we have ſeen evil.
Paraphrase. 15. Our afflictions and miſeries have laſted long; O let us have ſome proportion of joy to ſo much of ſorrow.
16. Let thy work appear unto thy ſervants, and thy glory unto their children.
Paraphrase. 16. O magnifie thy glorious work of grace and mercy to us and our poſterity, which is moſt properly thine, (thy acts of puniſhments being thy ſtrange works, Iſai 28.21.)
17. And let the ‖ſweetneſs foreignbeauty of the Lord our God be upon us; and eſtabliſh thou the work of our hands upon us, yea the work of our hands eſtabliſh thou it.
Paraphrase. 17. Shew forth thy loving kindneſs and light of thy countenance toward us, look graciouſly and favourably upon us, give us thy grace to direct us in all our ways, work thou in us both to will and to do, and then by thy good providence proſper our deſigns and undertakings.
Annotations on Pſalm XC.
foreignV. 1. Dwelling] From foreign to dwell, the noun foreign ordinarily ſignifies habitation, and ſo the Syriack underſtands it here rendring foreign houſe. But the Arabick uſage of the verb in another notion, for aiding or protecting, is a ſign that thus the word antiently ſignified; and ſo Deut. 33.27. the Lord foreign is thy refuge, we render it, foreign, ſhall cover thee, ſay the LXXII. and ſo indeed every houſe being a covert, the notions of houſe and refuge will well agree: and Aben Ezra, that reſolves this Pſalm was written by Moſes, proves it (among other reaſons) by this word being there uſed by Moſes in Deuteronomy. And then from that ſignification of it there, foreign may here beſt be rendred protector or helper; and ſo the Chaldee ſeem to have underſtood it, who having paraphraſed the word Lord, with ſome reflexion on that notion of the word foreign in their dialect, wherein it ſignified the Temple, O Lord, whoſe habitation of the houſe of thy Schechina or Majeſtatick preſence is in heaven, add foreign thou haſt been to us a helper. The Jewiſh Arab, which looks to the former notion, and renders it foreign, which is a place of abode, yet gives a reaſon of his verſion in a note, to this purpoſe, The meaning is, Thou haſt born (or ſupported) as much, and held our hands (or held us by the hand) and been to us as a place to bear us in our reliance on thee. To the ſame purpoſe Abu Walid, having interpreted the word foreign for an habitation, place, or place of abode, makes mention afterwards of this verſe and ſome others, in which the word might ſeem not ſo exactly to bear that ſignification, and ſaith that it is attributed as an Epithet to God, from the notion of a place, which remaining bears or ſuſtains him that is in it. Though God be the Creator both of place and time, and the deſtroyer of them, yet figuratively it is attributed to him: ſo that according to their underſtanding of it, it ſhould be literally a place, but in ſignification, a ſupport to us. Kimchi mentions another interpretation of his Fathers, who would have foreign derived from foreign an eye, as if it were, our reſpect, or whom we reſpect, on whom our eyes are ſet; but he himſelf puts for explication of it, foreign a place and refuge. The LXXII. both here and Pſal. 91.9. render it foreign, refuge, which being applied to a perſon, as 'tis here to God, muſt needs ſignifie one, from whom he that flies to him expects help, and ſo [helper] will be the beſt rendring of it.
foreignV. 2. Thou haſt formed the earth] The phraſe foreign will beſt be rendred, and thou earth wert in travail; or, taking foreign in the third perſon, foreign being moſt uſual in the faeminine gender, and the earth was in travail: ſo the Syriack ſets it more plainly foreign before the earth fell in travail. By this phraſe is poetically meant the the earths bringing forth the mountains, when from the firſt round or globular form of it, ſome parts were lifted up above the reſt, the high riſing whereof became the mountains, which therefore may be called the iſſue of the earth: and then, as they are ſaid to be brought forth in the former part of the verſe, ſo by analogy the earth muſt be ſaid to travail, and bring them forth. And this to expreſs the very firſt minute that there was time to compute from, and ſo as far as our expeſſions can go, the infinity of God. The Jewiſh Arab verſion hath reſpect to another notion of the word for beginning, and renders it by foreign before thou broughteſt forth the mountains, and beganneſt (or firſt createdſt) the habitable, with the reſt of the earth, or elſe (as, being without vowels, it may be read) before the mountains grew up, (or were brought forth) and the habitable with the reſt of the earth began.
foreignV. 3. Turneſt man] The LXXII. begin this v. 3. with foreign, not, either taking the Hebrew foreign God, from the end of v. 2. and converting it into foreign not, and prefixing it to this v. 3. or elſe reading the Hebrew by way of interrogation, which they therefore think fit to interpret by the negative, wilt thou turn man, &c. by foreign, turn thou not. Which the Latine follow in the form of a prayer, Ne avertas— Turn not man to humility— The word which they render humilitatem, foreign(from the LXXII. their foreign) is in the original foreign from foreign to bruiſe or beat to pieces. By this, deſtruction, or diſſolution of parts in death▪ and the reſolution of the body to duſt, may be fitly expreſt; and accordingly the Chaldee read foreign to death: and to that the inſuing part of the Pſalm may ſeem to apply it, treating of ſhort life, and ſpeedy death; and if ſo, then to this ſenſe we muſt alſo, with the learned †in the word foreignSchindler, underſtand the immediate conſequents, foreign and ſayeſt, Return ye ſons of Adam, i. e. return to the earth, from whence Adam had his name, and from whence he firſt came, according to that of Gen. 3.19. Out of the ground waſt thou …uken, for duſt thou art, and unto duſt ſhalt thou return. So Pſal. 146.4. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth. And Eccleſ. 12.7. then ſhall the duſt return to the earth as it was. But it is poſſible that foreign may ſignifie no more than bringing low by puniſhment, and that in order to amendment, according to the importance of Pſal. 51.17. and Iſai. 57.15. and then foreign return ye ſons of men muſt be meant of returning by repentance; and thus indeed generally the Imperative foreign taken by it ſelf ſignifies. To this thoſe words of the Chaldee, which are inſerted in the beginning of the ſecond verſe, (but ſomewhat out of their place) ſeem to refer, foreign &c. When it was revealed before thee that thy people would ſin, thou preparedſt repentance; according to that tradition of the Jews, that repentance was one of the ſeven things created before the world. And thus the Arabick reads it more expreſly, in the LXXII. their form of deprecation, Bring not men back to deſtruction foreign ſince thou haſt ſaid, Come back ye children of men: he that hath promiſed to forgive upon repentance, defeats his own act of grace, if he cut off the tranſgreſſor in his ſin. Thus Jarchi interprets the bringing to deſtruction to be foreign near to death, and the returning to be foreign from evil ways. But ſtill the context ſeems to authorize the former interpretation of deſtruction, and ſpeedy returning to the earth, which is evidently the ſubject of the fifth and ſixth verſes. And for verſe the fourth, it ſeems to be the preventing of an objection, ready to offer it ſelf from the long lives of the Patriarchs, who lived near a thouſand years; but thoſe, ſaith the Pſalmiſt, are in Gods ſight, or in reſpect of his infinity, but a very unconſiderable time. The number, ſaith Jarchi, hath a peculiar reſpect to Adam, to whom God had ſaid, thou ſhalt die in the day that thou eateſt, and yet he lived nine hundred and thirty years.
V. 5. Carrieſt them away] To ſet down the ſhortneſs of mans life, the compariſon is here made between God and us: A thouſand years, which is longer than Adam or Methuſelah lived, and ſince thoſe days, as long as many ages of men, bears not the leaſt proportion with Gods eternity, v. 4. whereas (here v. 5.) mens years are preſently at an end; foreign,foreign from foreign to overflow, and ſweep, and carry away, thou (i. e. God) ſweepeſt them away, with the ſame force and ſwiftneſs that a torrent carries any thing before it, and there is no reſiſting it. And to the ſame purpoſe, in another ſimilitude,foreign foreign a ſleep ſhall they be, or, as foreign alſo ſignifies, a dream. So the Chaldee, foreign as dreamers ſhall they be. foreignTo this I ſuppoſe foreign in the morning muſt be annext (and not prefixt to the conſequents) a dream in the morning, as that is all one with a dream when one awakes, Pſal. 73.20. in the notion of vaniſhing: as a dream, when the morning comes, and the man awakes, preſently vaniſheth; ſo ſhall they vaniſh, (for to this of vaniſhing, and coming to nought, both here and Pſal. 73. the phraſe is uſed) no conſiderable matter is done by them in their lives, but a few ſlight actions, which have but the nature of dreams, and ſuddenly they die, or vaniſh, as at the coming of morning, this ſleep, or but dream as it were of life, is at an end. Both theſe expreſſions of the overflowing, and the dream, the LXXII. by ſlight changes put together into one. For foreign thou overfloweſt them, they ſeem to have read with other points foreign their flowings, and rendring the ſenſe, and not the word, tranſlate that foreign, their being turned to nothing. Then for foreign dream or ſleep, from foreign dormivit, they read foreign year, and ſo make but one ſentence of both, foreign, their years are things of nought; very full to the ſenſe, though not to the letter, and the two ſimilitudes in the Hebrew. The ſame again is ſuccinctly expreſt by a third ſimilitude, foreign As graſs is or ſhall be changed, foreignor paſs away, (viz. the verdure and beauty of it.) The Hebrew foreign ſignifies to alter the thing, or the place, to change, or to paſs away. The Jewiſh Arab renders it foreign, which in the ordinary uſe of the word ſignifies paſſeth away: and ſo is fitly applied to the graſs. When that begins to fade, to loſe its freſh green colour, 'tis then ſaid to change and paſs away; foreign, paſs away, ſay the LXXII. and Latine, but the Chaldee foreign as the graſs which is cut down foreign they ſhall be changed, i. e. loſe their verdure, and wither, and ſo paſs. To this of the graſs the whole ſixth verſe belongs alſo, where we have another diſtant notion of foreign. In the morning foreign they ſhall flouriſh, foreignforeign and (not paſs away, or fade, or change from better to worſe, but, in a good ſenſe) change to the better, ſpring, and grow, is renewed, ſaith Abu Walid: ſo that ſame word foreign ſignifies alſo to ſpring, or ſprout out, Job 14.7. There is hope unto a tree, if it be cut down, that it will ſprout out again. The Hebrew hath foreign, the Chaldee foreign, ſprout out, the LXXII. foreign, reflouriſh. So Iſai. 40.31. They that wait on the Lord foreign ſhall (we render it) renew their ſtrength, but the Chaldee foreign— ſhall add or increaſe in ſtrength, and be renewed to their youth foreign as a ſprout that grows: and ſo the conſequents interpret it, they ſhall mount up with wings as Eagles— And ſo ſure 'tis here, foreign and it ſhall increaſe or grow, ſaith the Chaldee. And the uſing it here in this ſo different ſenſe from that of v. 5. is not without example, but poetical and elegant, oft obſervable in theſe books, in this very Pſalm, where foreign is v. 3. in the notion of a year, but v. 5. of a ſleep or dream; Yet the Jewiſh Arab taketh foreign and foreign in the ſame ſenſe in both places, and thus paraphraſes the whole paſſage, So haſt thou ſet them, or conſtituted them (the years foregoing) as if they flowed, and were as a ſleep, and we in our morning are as graſs that paſſeth away. For in the morning bloſſoming it paſſeth away, and in its evening is dry, and is broken. Abu Walid rendring the latter is renewed, declareth not his opinion of the former which he ſubjoyneth to it. And then it follows,foreign In the evening foreign it ſhall be cut down foreign and be dried up or wither. In one and the ſame day it thus alters its fate, it is florid and thriving, ſprouting out and growing in the morning; and before the end of that very day, it is cut down, and withers inſtantly.
foreignV. 9. As a tale] foreign (from foreign to ſpeak, and that either with the tongue or heart) ſignifies either a thought or ſpeech, and being here uſed to expreſs the ſhorteſt duration imaginable, it may moſt probably ſignifie a thought, as that which alone is quicker than a word is ſpoken. When the Latines would expreſs the greateſt ſwiftneſs, they do it by dicto citius, and this Caſtellio hath choſen to make uſe of here, finimus annos noſtros dicto citius, foreignwe end (ſo foreign literally ſignifies) our years ſooner than one can ſpeak; and that ſure is as ſoon as one can think, If this be not it, then it muſt be remembred that foreign ſignifies alſo gemitus and halitus, a ſigh and a breath, and accordingly the Chaldee render it here, foreign as the vapour or breath of the mouth in winter; agreeable to which is the definition of our life in Saint James, ch. 4.14. What is our life? It is even a vapour, that appears for a little while, but afterward vaniſheth. The LXXII. here read foreign, our years as a ſpider have meditated; and the Latine, ſicut aranea meditabuntur, or (as the conformity with the Greek exacts) meditabantur, did meditate, reading for the noun foreign the verb foreign, and for foreign by a light change of מ into ט, foreign which the learned Schindler mentions (from foreign to ſpin) as all one with the Chaldee foreign or foreign a ſpider. For this the learned Hugo Grotius hath a more remote conjecture, ſuppoſing them for foreign to have read foreign, the word which is uſed for a ſpider, Prov. 30.28. But beſides that foreign is very diſtant from foreign (nothing but מ common to them) there would, in that ſuppoſed reading, be nothing to anſwer the Greek foreign, and though that alſo may be conceived to have been by them added by way of ſupply to an Ellipſis (as ſometimes it is) yet ſtill that makes the conjecture the more remote, which hath two ſuch difficulties in it. Meanwhile their meaning, in theſe words, though ſomewhat obſcure, may probably be this, Our years as a ſpider have meditated, or exerciſed themſelves, or been imployed, viz. in weaving ſuch webbs as the next broom ſweeps away; our age is ſpent in fruitleſs ſlight labours, which preſently come to nothing. And ſo this they might take for no inconvenient paraphraſe of our years as a breath, or thought, which they found in the Hebrew, referring the foreign we have finiſhed or ended to the former part of the period.
V. 10. Threeſcore years] In this verſe what is ſaid of the age of man, that it is but foreign ſeventy, foreignor at moſt foreign eighty years, is thought by moſt to belong to later ages than that of Moſes, by whom the Pſalm is ſuppoſed to have been compoſed. The period of life is indeed by Solon thus ſet, foreign, the term of a mans life is ſeventy years, ſaith Herodotus of him, Lib. 11. and ſo Laertius in his life, foreign, Solon ſaith ſeventy years are the term of mans life. But in Moſes's time it was ſure much larger, Moſes himſelf was 120. years old, and his eye was not dim, nor his natural force of vigor abated, Deut. 34.7. and was eighty years old when God made him Captain of his people, as Aaron likewiſe was eighty three before he was made High-Prieſt, Exod. 7.7. which is evidence enough, that that age of eighty was not an extreme decrepit age at that time. This hath made many reſolve that this Pſalm was of a far later date than that of Moſes. But with how little reaſon they have thus reſolved, will ſoon be made manifeſt, and the difficulties of this verſe ſufficiently cleared, by remembring the ſubject matter of the whole Pſalm, the afflictions, and ſhortneſs of life, not abſolutely to all at that time, but peculiarly foreign to them that are there ſpoken of;foreign foreign to or among them ſaith the Syriack, foreign, the LXXII. the Latine in ipſis, in or among them, i. e. to the children of Iſrael in the deſert, when for their murmurings and other provocations which they were guilty of, Gods wrath and oath was gone out againſt them, that of all that were numbred of them at their coming out of Egypt, not one, ſave only Caleb and Joſhua, Numb. 14.29, 30. Deut. 1.35. no not Moſes himſelf, Deut. 32.52. Numb. 17.13. ſhould enter into Canaan. This oath of Gods was to be exactly performed in the ſpace of forty years, (whilſt they wandred in the Wilderneſs from place to place, without any houſe or city to dwell in) the whole number of thoſe that were then numbred, all the males from twenty years old and upward that were able to go forth to war, except only thoſe two, were conſumed. How great that number was, appears by the liſt appointed to be made, Numb. 1.3. ſix hundred thouſand, and three thouſand and five hundred and fifty, Numb. chap. 1. verſ. 32. Of this number then, all that were but twenty years old were ('tis evident) cut off before they exceeded the ſixtieth year of their age; of all that were but thirty years old, none out-lived the ſeventieth year; of all that were forty, none, ſave only thoſe two out-lived his eightieth. And of theſe that exceeded not forty, and were not under twenty at the coming out of Egypt, who conſequently, all but two, died before they attained to eighty years, certainly the number muſt be very great, probably near three hundred thouſand, it being unlikely, that the number from forty to the age of diſcharge from war, ſhould do much more than equal that from twenty to forty; and conſequently the reaſon of the complaint very conſiderable in that age, beyond any other age of thoſe times, that without any Epidemical diſeaſe, ſo vaſt a number ſhould die before eighty years old. This I ſuppoſe the meaning of the addition here foreign and if in vigor, fourſcore years. foreign is a ſtrong man, and foreign ordinarily uſed for a warlike perſon, and foreign 2 King. 18.20. ſtrength for war; and the prime age for ſuch was about or under forty years old. Thoſe then that at their numbring were not above forty years old, might poſſibly live to fourſcore, but falling (all but two of them) in the Wilderneſs in the forty years ſpace, they cannot be imagined to have ſurvived that age. And for all others, thoſe under twenty years old, that were not numbred at the coming out of Egypt becauſe of their youth, the next part of the period ſeems to belong to them, foreign and the ſtrength of them is labour and ſorrow. foreignBy foreign (from foreign ſtrong) Aben Ezra and Rabbi Solomon underſtand the ſtrength of youth, i. e. of the beſt of mans age, the ſtrength, or firmneſs that is in, or to a man in thoſe days. And thus it may ſignifie Synecdochically (as by the Youth of the nation we mean in ordinary ſtile) thoſe under twenty years old. The LXXII. reads foreign, which the Latine renders, Quod amplius eorum, the overplus of them, taking foreign in the notion of foreign from foreign multitude; ſo Abu Walid, reading foreign, doth yet render it, the overplus, what exceeds of them. And thus the ſenſe will well bear, the overplus of them, that is the youth that were not numbred; and to this the Chaldee and Syriack ſeem to refer, who both render it foreign and the increaſe of them, not plerique ipſorum, the moſt of them, as the tranſlator of the Syriack renders, but the increaſe of them, i. e. of the Iſraelites, viz. their little ones, Num. 14.31. which God there promiſed to bring into the land of Canaan, when all that were numbred, ſhould fall in the Wilderneſs, v. 29, 30. Of theſe therefore it is added, that though they were not ſo ſhort-lived, yet for that while they had little comfort of their lives; though they ſurvived and entred into Canaan, Numb. 14.31. yet all the ſpace of the forty years in the Wilderneſs, it was moſt true of them what here follows, their life for that ſpace was foreign hard travail or moyl, foreignthe LXXII. duly renders it foreign, laſſitude, or weariſome toyl; foreign and ſorrow or labour, foreignforeign, ſay the LXXII. dolor the Latine, both joyned to expreſs the weariſomneſs of their tedious deſart-marches. This later paſſage ſeems to be here ſet in a parentheſis, (to give ſome account of the overplus, thoſe that were not numbred, as well as the former words did of thoſe that were) for not to them, but the former belongs the concluſion of the verſe, with the cauſal particle in the front; foreign — for it is ſuddenly cut off,foreign and we flee away; ſo to all them it was that were numbred at the coming out of Egypt, ſave only to Caleb and Joſhua, in the ſpace of forty years their carcaſſes fell all and every of them in the Wilderneſs, and ſo they were foreign mowed graſs, or ſtubble, cut up by the roots, (ſo the word ſignifies from foreign to pluck up) and like ſtubble before the wind, or a rolling thing before the whirl-wind, Iſa. 17.13. they fled away. The Jewiſh Arab reads, when the harveſt is nigh, we flee, ſo taking it from foreign. If it be deduced from foreign it may then be compared with the Arabick foreign or foreign to paſs along, and ſo R. Solomon renders it by foreign. But to the reſt this cannot be applied, who did ſurvive in Canaan, and were not thus cut off. This the LXXII. have much transformed, foreign, and ſo after them the Latine, for manſuetude is come upon us, and we ſhall be ſtricken. How they came thus to render the words, is not, that I find, taken notice of by any. That which ſeems to me moſt probable is, that the Greek copies are corrupt, and that their original reading was, not foreign, or foreign, as now we have it, but foreign, it is early gone and we ſhall be ſmitten. For ſo foreign and foreign which ſignifies to cut off, foreignſignifies alſo to paſs and go away, and ſo might probably be rendred foreign, is gone away; and foreign celeriter, foreignquickly, might as fitly be rendred foreign, early, as that is frequently uſed for quickly, (ſee v. 14.) and ſo the Chaldee here adds in the end of the verſe, foreign in the morning, to expreſs the ſwiftneſs of the flight. And then for foreign from foreign to flee, foreignthey ſeem to have deduced it from foreign to ſmite, changing the ע into נ, and ſo to have rendred it foreign, and we ſhall be ſmitten.
V. 11. foreignThy fear] All difficulty will be removed from this verſe, if only the כ in foreign may be taken, as an expletive, unſignificant, for then the words will lie plainly thus, who knows the power of thy thy anger, foreign and thy terror or terribleneſs of thy wrath? Thus the Syriack have taken it, rendring foreign by foreign and the terror. Thus to know the force and terror of Gods wrath, is to diſcern the cauſe of it, our ſins, and to be truly affected with it, ſo as to prevent it by ſeaſonable reformation. This is the interpretation of knowledge in Scriptureſtile, as 'tis uſed for ſpiritual prudence, and practice proportionable to our knowledge. And this the Chaldee have paraphraſtically and more largely expreſt, foreign— Who is be that knoweth to avert the ſtrength of thy anger, but the juſt who fear thee and appeaſe thy fury? The rendring the particle כ as, כor according to, ſeems not here ſo facile or agreeable; for by that according to thy fear, ſignifying our fear of God, 'tis certain that Gods wrath is not proportioned to our fear of him. And that our fear of God ſhould ſignifie our want of that fear, to which only his wrath is apportioned, is very remote and without example. Aben Ezra would have it to ſignifie the ſame with thoſe words of the Law, Levit. 10.3. I will be ſanctified in all them that come nigh me, viz. that Gods anger is encreaſed according to our knowledge of him, and ſo Jarchi, and Kimchi. But ſeeing the knowledge of God is oft ſeparated from obedience to him, but the fear of God in the ſacred ſtyle is not ſo ſeparable, and therefore they that know God, and ſo only approach him may incur his higheſt diſpleaſure, but they that fear God cannot be imagined to do ſo; therefore I cannot adhere to that notion. Yet if the former ſhall ſeem remote, then I ſhall propoſe this third, that the phraſe foreign as thy fear thy wrath, ſhall bear proportion with that way of ſpeaking, Judg. 8.21. foreign as a man, his ſtrength; which proverbial form may probably have been transferr'd to other things, and then the meaning here may be, that Gods wrath is equal to what men fear or apprehend of it; God affrights not with vain, empty terrors, but will really inflict on impenitent ſinners to the utmoſt of his threats, or of what they can apprehend, or expect. This may not improbably be the meaning of the phraſe. Yet the context ſeems better to accord with the other, the prayer following, So teach us, being fitly oppoſed to the former complaint, that no man takes notice, or lays to heart the terribleneſs of Gods wrath, in cutting off ſo many daily before their eyes. And therefore of that only I have taken notice in the paraphraſe. For indeed that which follows in our books, as the beginning of v. 12.foreign foreign to number our days, will beſt be adjoyned to this v. 11. and ſo the LXXII. joyn foreign— (only for foreign our days, they ſeem to have read foreign thy right hand, and ſo render it foreign.) If thus we ſet it, the ſenſe will be moſt current in the firſt way of intepretation, Who knows the power of thine anger, &c. — to number, i. e. ſo knows the power of Gods anger, and terror of his indignation, as thereby to be moved, or to learn to number his days, i. e. to look upon his life as ſhort and fading (for ſo we number that which is ſhort, pauperis eſt numerare pecus, the poor man, that hath but a few cattel, may number them, the flocks of the rich are innumerable) and accordingly to ſpend it the more to his eternal advantages. The asking the queſtion foreign Who knows? foreignſignifies a ſtrong negation, and complaint, that no man knows, they fall every day, and no man conſiders it ſo (in the example of others) as to number his own days, or apply it to his own benefit or amendment. And then follows a prayer to God foreign Do thou ſo teach us or make us know, foreignthat we may apply— or as that phraſe may better be rendred, foreign that we may bring an underſtanding heart; ſo foreign an underſtanding ſpirit, Exod. 28.3. and Iſai. 11.2. and in many other places: and then by that will be ſignified that knowing the terribleneſs of Gods wrath, the want of which was matter of complaint, v. 11. And ſo this is a facile and obvious rendring of theſe two verſes. Yet it is not amiſs to mention other deſcants. The Jewiſh Arab ſeems not to take foreign v. 11. for wrath, but (according to an Arabick uſe of that word) for conſideration, and ſo goes in his interpretation far different from others, thus, foreign &c. And who knows the power of thy wrath, ſo as to conſider thy fear? As the number (or according to the numbring) of our age which is known, that we might bring an heart of wiſdome, or wiſe heart. Adding in a note, that the meaning is, that our days are numbred and known, and if we did continually know (or acknowledge) the power of thy wrath, and puniſhment, as we acknowledge that our days and ages are fading, we would come before thee with a wiſe heart, and by repentance turn unto thee. foreign he ſeems to take not for the Imperative, but for the preterperfect tenſe paſſive. Abu Walid takes that in another ſenſe, and thus interprets it, According to the meaſure of our age, ſo diſcipline (or chaſtiſe) us, exceed not meaſure in chaſtiſing us, becauſe our age is ſhort, &c. and he compares it with Job 7.19. How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone? &c. But this Kimchi in his Roots ſeems not to like of. R. Moſes, mentioned by Aben Ezra, thus makes the meaning, He that knows the force of thy wrath, and knows how to number our days, the truth is known to him.