Psalms of Solomon

Historical printed page 639

᾿ ' THE PSALMS OF SOLOMON 6. 5—7. 9 When he passes through rivers and the tossing of the seas, he shall not be dismayed. 6 (4) He ariseth from his sleep, and blesseth the name of the Lord: When his heart is at peace, he singeth to the name of his God, (5) And he entreateth the Lord for all his house. 8 And the Lord heareth the prayer of every one that feareth God, (6) And every request of the soul that hopes for Him doth the Lord accomplish. 9 Blessed is the Lord, who showeth mercy to those who love Him in sincerity. VIL. Of Solomon. Of turning. 7 « Make not Thy dwelling afar from us, Ὁ God ; Lest they assail us that hate us without cause. 2 For Thou hast rejected them, O God ; Let not their foot trample upon Thy holy inheritance. 3 Chasten us Thyself in Thy good pleasure ; But give (us) not up to the nations; 4 For, if Thou sendest pestilence, Thou Thyself givest it charge concerning us ; (5) For Thou art merciful, And wilt not be angry to the point of consuming us. 5 (6) While Thy name dwelleth in our midst, we shall find mercy ; 6 And the nations shall not prevail against us. (7) For Thou art our shield, 7 And when we call upon Thee, Thou hearkenest to us; 8 For Thou wilt pity the seed of Israel for ever And Thou wilt not reject (them) : (9) But we (shall be) under Thy yoke for ever, And (under) the rod of Thy chastening. 9 (10) Thou wilt establish us in the time that Thou helpest us, Showing mercy to the house of Jacob on the day wherein Thou didst promise (to help them). 7. When his heart is at peace, lit. ‘in the stability (or ‘ prosperity’, cp. iv. 17) of his heart’, %, perhaps, 125 mbwa; cp. ΩΣ, Ps. xxx. 7 (6). his God. 5S ‘the Lord’. 7 6. This line was perhaps originally preceded by a parallel line. he entreateth. Cp. ii. 24. 8. God. 3S ‘him’. 8, 9. The lines of v. 8 are obvious parallels, and should not be placed in separate distichs (as by Kit.). Verse 9 is an isolated stichos, such as occurs at the end of other Psalms; see ii. 41, iv. 29, ν. 22, ix. 20, x. 9, xi. 9 ¢, XVii. 51 ὦ. Cp. the rather different conclusions in the canonical Psalms, xli. 13, Ixxxix. 52, cxxv. 5 ¢, cxxviii. 6 ὁ, and the mobo that concludes several Psalms. VII. TirLe. Of turning. The title may indicate that the subject of the Psalm is the restoration of the people by God to oe (cp. v. 9). Less probably the word expresses the turning of the people in repentance to God. 1a, CL uv. 0. 14, they ... that hate us without cause. In view of line a, and vv. 34,64, it is probable that foreigners are intended (cp. Lam. iii. 52). In another connexion the words might denote a Jewish party, as they perhaps do in Ps. xxxv. 19, lxix. 5. 2. For. The force of ® was, perhaps ‘ nay, but’. Let not their foot. 5S ‘in order that their foot might not ’. trample upon. Used of the profane intrusion of foreign soldiery in ii. 2 ; of the irreverent approach of Jewish worshippers in Isa. i. 12. 3, 4. The argument is: We have sinned and deserve chastisement (cp. v. 8 4); but let us be chastised directly by God, who even in wrath remembers mercy (τ. 5, cp. ii. 24-7), not by pitiless men. Cp. 2 Sam. xxiv. 13-15, also 4 Esdras v. 30, Ecclus. ii. 18. 4. pestilence. (ἃ S ‘death’; but θάνατος here, as in 2 Sam. xxiv. 13-15, probably rendered 1131, ‘pestilence’. 6. the nations. So 9 ; & ‘nation’. our shield. (τ lit. ‘he who holds a shield over us’ ; but in O.T. ὑπερασπιστής is generally = 122 ‘shield’, or Nyd ‘refuge’. % here ‘ our strength’ (cp. Ps. xxvii. 1, Pesch.). 7. And when we call ... Thou hearkenest. (ἃ ‘And we shall call . . . and Thou wilt hearken’. 82, d. The prayer of v. 3 will have been granted. 639