Works Volume 4, Book · Psalm 29
The Twenty Ninth PSALM.
A Pſalm of David.
Paraphrase. The Twenty ninth Pſalm ſeems to have been compo-by David after his ſubduing the Kings and heathen people, 2 Sam. 8. the Philiſtines, Moabites, Syrians, &c. whom he therefore inviteth to the ſervice of God, and thus beſpeaketh them:
1. Give unto the Lord, ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and ‖power or empire: ſee note on Pſ. 96. b.ſtrength.
2. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his Name; worſhip the Lord in †or, his holy majeſty.the beauty of holineſs.
Paraphrase. 1, 2. O ye Governors of the heathen people, which have now experimented the power of God in ſubduing you, there is nothing ſo reaſonable to be done by you, as to come in, and make your oblations and homage to his ſanctuary, and acknowledge his ſupreme power and dominion over you; to magnifie him in all his glorious attributes, and adore him in that ſacred Majeſty, wherein he hath revealed himſelf to the world, but eſpecially to the Jews his peculiar people.
3. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters, the God of glory thundereth, the Lord is upon *or, great foreignmany waters.
Paraphrase. 3. Gods thunder in the clouds is moſt terrible over all the people in the world, when it breaks out of them, it is an emblem of his majeſtick preſence, and almighty power, by which he can ſubdue, when he pleaſeth, the moſt puiſſant or populous nations on the earth.
4. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majeſty.
Paraphrase. 4. If he ſend out theſe weapons of his, there is no poſſible reſiſting; they bring with them an awful reverence to all creatures.
5. The voice of the Lord breaketh the Cedars: yea, the Lord breaketh the Cedars of Lebanon.
Paraphrase. 5. This ſame thunder rends the ſtouteſt and talleſt Cedar… in pieces, even thoſe of Libanus, that is famous for them, (an eſſay, and evidence to all, that at his pleaſure the moſt powerful Princes are ſubdued; as was lately exemplified in the Syrians, which are near to Lebanon, and were deſtroyed by David, twenty two thouſand of them, that came out to ſuccour the King of Zobah againſt David, 2 Sam. 8.5. and became ſervants to David, v. 6.)
6. He maketh them alſo to skip like a calf, Lebanon and Syrlon like a young Unicorn.
Paraphrase. 6. Both theſe Syrians that border upon Lebanon, and all the other heathen nations near Mount Hermon, the Amorites, &c. are vanquiſht and put to flight, when he once appears to take the part of his anointed.
7. The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire.
Paraphrase. 7. His preſence and interpoſition of his power, ſignified by this terrible majeſtick meteor, tears the air, and caſts out many darts, or flaſhes of lightning with it, at once a formidable ſound and flames of fire, and withal a ſucceſſion of thoſe flames: ſuch is the dreadful power, and preſence of God againſt his enemies.
8. The voice of the Lord ſhaketh the wilderneſs; the Lord ſhaketh the wilderneſs of Kadeſh.
Paraphrase. 8. And the ſame omnipotence of his hath ingaged it ſelf for his ſervant David againſt the Moabites and Idumaeans, and utterly ſubdued and ſubjected them to him.
9. The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and diſcovereth the forreſt: and in his Temple doth every one ſpeak of his glory.
Paraphrase. 9. Puts them into that terrible fright, into which the thunder puts the hinds, when it makes them calve; drives them out of their holds, as the ſame thunder frights the beaſts of the forreſt out of their thickets. This therefore is to admoniſh all the whole world, every man living, to acknowledge his power and glorious Majeſty, and come in and worſhip him, in theſe or the like words:
10. The Lord ſitteth upon the floud; yea, the Lord ſitteth King for ever.
Paraphrase. 10. The Lord judgeth and ruleth in the clouds, and ſo he ſhall continue to do for ever, and ſubject the proudeſt nations to his Kingdom.
11. The Lord will give ſtrength unto his people; the Lord will bleſs his people with peace.
Paraphrase. 11. And for thoſe that he hath choſen and taken to himſelf, and that live conſtant and faithful in his ſervice, he will protect, and ſtrengthen them, and beſtow upon them all the proſperity and felicity in the world, ſubjecting all their enemies, and reſtoring them to a durable, laſting peace.
Annotations on Pſalm XXIX.
V. 1. Ye mighty] From foreign fortitude is foreign and foreign powerful, ſtrong, of which ſee note on Pſal. 22. a. And though that word come to ſignifie many other things,foreign yet in the plural foreign is ſure the compellation of Princes, under the phraſe of [ſon of the potent or ſtrong.] Thus is Nebuchadonozar called foreign the Prince of the Nations, foreignor the ſtrong among the Nations, Ezek. 31.11. Thus foreign the Princes, we render, the mighty men of Moab, Exod. 15.15. and thoſe particularly, in the number of thoſe to whom David is ſuppoſed to ſpeak in this Pſalm, after his ſubduing them, 2 Sam. 8. ſo again, 2 Kin. 24.15. foreign the mighty of the land. The Chaldee paraphraſeth this by foreign the aſſembly of Angels, ſons of God; taking foreign for Angels. The Syriack read foreign, which is rendered filios arietum, young rams, in that notion of foreign for a ram; though as foreign in Hebrew, ſo in Chaldee, and Syriack and Arabick, foreign is the m…le of any ſort. The LXXII. at leaſt theſe Copies which we have of their Tranſlation, do (as it is not unuſual in other places) render the words twice; firſt in the vocative caſe, by way of compellation, foreign, ſons of God, and then in the accuſative, foreign, young rams, as doubtful which was to have place, and therefore ſetting down both of them: and in this the Latine and Arabick and Aethiopick follow them. But the plain ſimple rendring it by [ye mighty, or ye Princes] is moſt to be allowed of; and to thoſe this Pſalm is an invitation, that they will, being ſubdued by Gods power, come into the acknowledgment and worſhip of him.
foreignV. 2. Beauty of holineſs] Where the Hebrew reads foreign in the glory, or beauty of holineſs, from foreign to honour, or beautifie, the LXXII. read foreign, in his holy court, as if it were from foreign penetrale, thalamus, area, a cloſet, a marriage-chamber, a court; and ſo the Latine and Syriack follow them, and the Arabick, in his holy habitation: but the Chaldee have foreign in the ſplendor, or beauty of holineſs, or in the holy beauty or majeſty (as v. 4. the LXXII. render the ſame word foreign, majeſty;) meaning thereby either the Ark, which the Prieſts and Levites with their Ʋrim and Thummim carried, and where God was gloriouſly preſent, as in the place of his worſhip, (ſee Pſ. 110. note a.) or elſe the ſacred majeſty of God himſelf, ſacrâ praeditum majeſtate Jovam, ſaith Caſtellio, Jehovah indued with a ſacred majeſty, the God of heaven and earth, ſo glorious in all his attributes, that all, even heathen men, ought to give all glory and honour to him. This glory he here calls foreign the honour of his name, foreignby which his attributes are to be underſtood, his power and dominion over all, &c. which for theſe heathen Princes to acknowledge, is in effect to become his proſelytes, and ſervants.
V. 3. The voice of the Lord] That foreign voice, in Scripture-ſtyle frequently ſignifies thunder, there is no queſtion; and then there will be ſmall cauſe of doubt,foreign but that foreign the voice of the Lord here ſignifieth the ſame, when in the next words it follows, the God of glory thundereth. For this Pſalm being plainly an acknowledgment of Gods majeſtick preſence, and his thunders being in thoſe dayes, 1. the inſtruments ſignally to atteſt that, (as to Joſhua in the firſt conqueſt of Canaan, to Samuel againſt the Philiſtims, 1 Sam. 12.15. and to David alſo againſt the ſame enemies, which therefore is called Gods rebuking the heathen) and 2. the ordinary means of conveying Gods oracles to them, which therefore were ſtyled foreign the daughter of thunder, and 3. the ceremony of Gods giving the law from Sinai; it was very fit in this Pſalm to make a peculiar elogy of this Majeſtick meteor, which is done throughout the Pſalm. By analogy herewith, the waters upon which this voice is ſaid to be, and the many waters from which,foreign in the next words, he is ſaid to thunder, or to be upon them when he thunders, and the water-floods, upon which he is ſaid to fit, v. 10. are ſtill thoſe waters (Gen. 1.) above the firmament, the clouds; agreeably to Pſal. 18.11. He maketh darkneſs his ſecret place, with dark waters and thick clouds to cover him: At the brightneſs that was before him the clouds paſſed, (theſe watery clouds) hailſtones and coals of fire (the thunder ſhafts:) The Lord alſo thundered, &c. And theſe opinions and doctrines of the Jews might move the heathens, to think that they did adorare nubes, & coeli numen, adore the clouds, and that Deity of heaven, which is thus deſcribed in their Prophets to ſit and dwell there.
V. 6. foreignLebanon] Two things are here to be obſerved of Lebanon. Firſt, that it was a very high mountain, and ſeems thence to have taken the name from foreign white, in reſpect of the ſnow (mentioned on Lebanon, Jer. 18.14.) that is always, even in the ſummer, white on the top of it. Thus ſaith Saint Hierome on Jerem. 50.4. Nix de Libani ſummit atibus deficere non poteſt, nec ullo, ut ominis liqueſcat, ſolis ardore ſuperatur: Snow cannot fail on the lops of Lebanon, nor is it by any heat of the Sun overcome that it ſhould melt. The Chaldee Paraphraſe, Cant. 4.11. uſeth the word foreign Olbanem, in the ſame notion, from foreign Olben, which is the Syriack formation of foreign white. And with this the name of the Alpes, thoſe very high hills, ſeems to have affinity. Album, ſaith Feſtus, quod nos dicimus, à Graeco, quod eſt foreign, eſt appellatum, Sabini tamen Alpum dixerant; unde credi poteſt nomen Alpium à candore nivium vocitatum. The word Album, white, is from Alphon, a Greek word, which the Sabines called Alpum; whence the name of the Alpes may be believed to come, ſo called from the whiteneſs of the ſnow. And ſo the Etymologicum; foreign, from the multitude of the white ſnow the name of the Alpes is taken. Thus in Crete the tops of Mount Ida, a very high mountain, are called foreign, white, on the ſame account, ſaith Theophraſtus de hiſt. Plaut. l. 4. c. 1. foreign, on the top of them there never wants ſnow. The ſecond thing to be noted of this high hill, is, the ſituation of it, that it is in Syria: foreign, ſaith Stephanus, Libanus is a mountain of Syria, p. 519.So Strabo, l. 16. There are, ſaith he, two mountains that incloſe Coelo-Syria, Libanus and Antilibanus; Damaſcus is in Libanus, Zidon in Antilibanus. By both theſe put together we may conclude, what is poetically here meant by the mention of Libanus, viz. the Kings, or chief cities of Syria, firſt ſlaughtered in great multitudes, and then ſubdued by David, 2 Sam. 8.6. With this is joyned Syrion, verſ. 6.foreign another high mountain, known alſo by the name of Hermon, and Shenir, Deut. 3.9. (which Hermon the Sidonians call Syrion, and the Ammonites call it Shenir.) So Cant. 4.8. from the top of Shenir and Hermon. From Shenir it is that the Syriac here call it Sinir: of this St. Hierome de Loc. Hebr. tells us alſo, as of Lebanon, that it was ſo high a mountain, that Snow was to be found on it in the ſummer; and therefore the Chaldee, Deut. 3.9. call it foreign, the mount of ſnow, and ſo alſo Cant. 4.8. but here foreign the mountain producing fruit in reſpect of the great fertility of the valleys, which was cauſed by the ſnow-water that came down from it. The ſnow of this mountain, ſaith S. Hierome, de loc. Heb. was carried to Tyre, and ſold there for the cooling of their wines, and was much deſired for the deliciouſneſs thereof; and in that reſpect poſſibly may by the LXXII. be here rendred foreign, the beloved (and thence by the Latine, and Arabick, and Aethiopick;) or rather becauſe foreign might by them be deduced from foreign and foreign in the notion of looking earneſtly upon, as on ones moſt beloved, from whence foreign Jeſchiron or Jeſchuron (the title of Iſrael) being by ſome *Schindl. Pentagl. p. 1832. A.learned men deduced, and convertible into foreign, by tranſpoſition of from the middle to the beginning of the word, is by the LXXII. rendred (as Syrion here) foreign, the beloved, Iſa. 44.2. and Deut. 32.15. This mountain was near unto Libanus, Pameadi imminens, ſaith ‖De loc. Hebr.St. Hieroms, hanging over the City Pameas (or Paneas, called foreign by Ptolemee) and placed at the root of Libanus. And that gives an account of the conjunction of it here with Lebanon, and being all one with Hermon and Sion, by all which 'tis called by the ſeveral nations bordering on it, the Amorites, &c. and having on the top of it, ſaith St. Hierome, De loc. Hebr. p. 414. c.Templum in…igne quod ab Ethnicis cultui habetur, a famous Temple uſed for their worſhip by the Heathens, it is here poetically ſet to denote the heathen nations lying next that mountain on the eaſt of the holy land, Ibid.(Hermon mons Amorrhaeorum, ſaith St. Hierome, &c.foreign) As for foreign he made them leap, from foreign to leap or dance (agreeable to Pſal. 114.4. the mountains foreign skipped like rams, &c.) the LXXII. that render it, Pſal. 114. foreign, leaped, do yet here render it foreign, ſhall beat to powder, Pentagl. p. 1768.1.reading it, ſaith the Learned Schindler, foreign from foreign uſed in that ſenſe, he ſhould have ſaid from foreign (which is a little more remote, foreign for foreign, as well as foreign for foreign) for that is it which he renders contudit, contrivit, beating to p…wder, from Job 40. But to me it ſeems more probable, that they ſhould uſe this word rather to paraphraſe, than to tranſlate the Hebrew; meaning thereby to ſignifie the putting thoſe nations to flight, diſſipating and ſubduing and ſo beating them ſmall, as when an Army is routed, it is beaten to pieces.
foreignV. 8. Kadeſh] The wilderneſs of Kadeſh was a …aſt deſet in Arabia, in part whereof the Iſraelites wandered ſo many years, that part wherein is the city of Kadeſh. Of that City it appears by Numb. 20.16. that it is ſituate in the utmoſt of the borders of the Edomites. (The wilderneſs of Zin in which that is, v. 1. and … 27.14. is this wilderneſs of Kadeſh, Numb. 33.36. Zin which is Kadeſh.) It borders alſo upon the Moabites; and accordingly, Jud. 11. from Kadeſh the Iſraelites are ſaid to have ſent (as to the Edomites, v. 17. ſo) to the King of Moab, in the end of the verſe, for his conſent to paſs through their land; and neither of them conſenting, they went along through the wilderneſs (this wilderneſs of Kadeſh, or Zin, called alſo here by the Chaldee, Recham) and comp…ſt the land of Edom, and of Moab, and pitched on the other ſide of Arnon, the border of Moab, v. 18. This wilderneſs therefore of Kadeſh is here very fit to ſignifie poetically the Kings or people both of the Edomites and Moabites, both which were terribly ſhaken, i. e. ſubdued by him, 2 Sam. 8. Moab he ſmote— caſting them down to the ground, and ſo the Moabites became Davids ſervants, v. 2. and he put garriſons throughout all Edom, and all they of Edom became Davids ſervants, verſ. 14.
V. 9. To calve] As foreign from foreign to be moved, foreignor ſhaken with griefs or fear, ſignifies the ſubduing and ſubjecting the Moabites, v. 8. ſo from that there is another Synecdoebical ſignification of the word, for pangs of travail or bringing forth; and ſo in Hiphil foreign ſignifies to force, or make bring forth: and in this notion the Chaldee underſtands foreign here,foreign applyed to the Hinds, that the voice of the Lord, i. e. the thunder, makes them bring forth their young ones. For thus it is obſerved of that beaſt, that through the hardneſs of the womb they bring forth with much difficulty; but that the noiſe of thunder affrighting them, the womb opens, and they bring forth preſently. This ſeems to be the meaning of the LXXII. alſo, that render it foreign, preparing the binds, viz. to bring forth. This is here ſet poetically to expreſs the great conſternation that the Moabites and Edomites (intimated in the former verſe) were in.
V. 10. The floud] That foreign, foreignfrom foreign to wither, ſignifies a floud of waters, or deluge, that layes all waſt, is certain. Such was that in Noahs time, vulgarly, and by way of eminence thus ſtiled, foreign the deluge: and of that the Chaldee underſtands this place, God, ſay they, foreign in the generation of the deluge ſat in judgment, and the LXXII. foreign, God ſhall make the deluge to be inhabited, or make the world habitable after it: foreign called back the deluge, ſaith the Syriack; reſtrained it, ſaith the Arabick (rendering foreign ſits, in the notion of foreign habitavit.) And thus it may properly be underſtood here, (the only place where the word is uſed, ſave in the ſtory of Noah) as reflecting on the great judgments of God on the old heathen ſinful world, which he ſtill continues (although not in the ſame way of execution) upon the heathen Princes, Davids and his enemies. But it is alſo poſſible, that as [waters] and many waters] ſignifie no more then the clouds, (ſee note c.) ſo here the floud, which is ſtill but a multitude of waters, may be taken for thoſe waters above the firmament, the clouds, or watery meteors, which when they were let looſe upon the old world, the windows of heaven were ſaid to be opened. But theſe withall very fit, poetically to ſignifie the armies of David and Gods enemies, which alſo, if not repreſt lay waſt as a flood, and come in like a deluge. So a flood of mighty waters ſignifies, Iſa. 28.2. and the enemies coming in like a flood, Iſa. 59.19. See Jer. 46.7, 8. and 47.2. Dan. 9.26. and 11.22. Am. 9.5. Nah. 1.8. And in the like, though nor the ſame ſtyle, David ſpeaks of his enemies, Pſal. 6….2. and Pſal. 124.4. And then Gods ſitting on them, will be his judging and executing puniſhments upon them, i. e. theſe heathen people here formerly mentioned.