《Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers – Psalms (Vol. 1)》(Charles J. Ellicott) Commentator

30 Psalm 30
Introduction

XXX.

This psalm, which is plainly an expression of thankfulness for recovery from a dangerous, and nearly fatal, sickness, does not in a single line or word bear out the title, which suggests either the dedication of the site of the future temple (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21) or of the citadel on Zion (2 Samuel 5:11), or of the rededication of the palace profaned by Absalom. On the other hand, the fact that the psalm is, in the Jewish ritual, used at the Feast of Dedication, the origin of which is to be found in 1 Maccabees 4:52 seq., suggests that the title may have been appended after the institution of that feast, in order to give an historical basis for the use of the psalm. The reason of its choice we must look for in the feelings produced by the first successes in the war of independence. After the sad period of humiliation and persecution, the nation felt as the writer of this psalm felt—as if saved from the brink of the grave. Thus the psalm is in application national, though in origin and form individual. Who the author was, it is vain to conjecture; the tone and even the language suggest Hezekiah or Jeremiah. (See Notes.) The parallelism is not strongly marked.

Verse 1

(1) Thou hast lifted me up.—The Hebrew word seems to mean to dangle, and therefore may be used either of letting down or drawing up. The cognate noun means bucket It is used in Exodus 2:19, literally of drawing water from a well; in Proverbs 20:5, metaphorically of counsel. Here it is clearly metaphorical of restoration from sickness, and does not refer to the incident in Jeremiah’s life (Jeremiah 38:13), where quite a different word is used.

Verse 3

(3) Grave.—Sheôl (See Note to Psalms 6:5.)

That I should not go down to the pit.—This follows a reading which is considered by modern scholars ungrammatical. The ordinary reading, rightly kept by the LXX. and Vulg., means from these going down to the pit, i.e., from the dead. (Comp. Psalms 28:1.)

Verse 4

(4) Sing unto . . .—Better, Play to Jehovah, ye saints of his. (See Note, Psalms 16:10.)

And give thanks.—Better, and sing praises to his holy name. (See margin.) Possibly Exodus 3:15 was in the poet’s mind. (Comp. Psalms 97:12.)

Verse 5

Verse 6

(6) And in.—Better, But as for me, in, &c. The pronoun is emphatic. The mental struggle through which the psalmist had won his way to this sublime faith is now told in the most vivid manner, the very soliloquy being recalled.

Prosperity.—Better, security.

I shall never be moved.—Better, I shall never waver.

Verse 7

(7) Lord, by thy favour—i.e., and all the while thou (not my own strength) hadst made me secure. The margin gives the literal rendering, but the reading varies between the text “to my mountain,” “to my honour” (LXX., Vulg., and Syriac), and “on mountains,” the last involving the supply of the pronoun “me.” The sense, however, is the same, and is obvious. The mountain of strength, perhaps mountain fortress, is an image of secure retreat. Doubtless Mount Zion was in the poet’s thought.

Thou didst . . .—The fluctuation of feeling is well shown by the rapid succession of clauses without any connecting conjunctions.

Verse 8

(8) I cried to thee.—The very words of “this utter agony of prayer” are given. But it is better to keep the futures in Psalms 30:8, instead of translating them as preterites, and make the quotation begin here. So Symmachus, “Then I said, I will cry to thee, O Lord,” &c

Verse 9

(9) What profit . . .—i.e., to God. For the conception of death as breaking the covenant relation between Israel and Jehovah, and so causing loss to Him as well as to them (for Sheôl had its own king or shepherd, Death) by putting an end to all religious service, comp. Hezekiah’s song; Isaiah 38:18. Comp. also Psalms 6:5, and note Psalms 88:11.) Plainly as yet no hope, not even a dim one, had arisen of praising God beyond the grave. The vision of the New Jerusalem, with the countless throngs of redeemed with harps and palms, was yet for the future.

Verse 11

(11) Thou hast turned for me.—This verse gives the answer to the prayer. Mourning is literally beating the breast, and therefore dancing forms a proper parallelism; or else, according to one derivation of the word, machôl would suggest piping. (See margin, Psalms 149:3; Psalms 150:4; see Smith’s Bible Dictionary, under “Dance;” and Bible Educator, vol. ii., p. 70; and comp. Note to Song of Solomon 6:13.)

Verse 12

(12) My glory.—The suffix is wanting in the Hebrew, and in all the older versions except LXX. and Vulg. The Chaldee versions make the word concrete and render “the nobles.” The Syriac, reading the verb in a different person, makes glory the object—“then will I sing to thee, Glory.” My glory would, as in Psalms 108:1, mean my heart. (See Note, Psalms 16:9.) Without the pronoun, we must (with Jerome) understand by “glory” renown or praise, which, as it were, itself raises songs; or it must be concrete, “everything glorious.”

31 Psalm 31
Introduction

XXXI.

This psalm is full of tantalising expressions, which raise the expectation of a satisfactory historical basis for its composition, only to disappoint by the obscurity of their allusion. On the one hand, the figures of the stronghold and rock (Psalms 31:2-3) not only suggest David as the author, but, from the mode of their introduction, at first seem to point to some definite locality, as Keilah or Ziklag (Psalms 31:7). But we are instantly transported into another circle of images and situations which recall Jeremiah and his fortunes. Moreover, the psalm oscillates between plaintive prayer and assured trust in a way to indicate that we cannot here have the experience of one single event, but the gathered sentiments of a whole lifetime; or, perhaps, which is more likely, the expression of a universal sentiment, the picture of a national situation where power was on one side and right on the other, in which the interests of religion and the discharge of religious duties were opposed by the contemptuous hostility of an idolatrous society. The enemies, at all events, who appear here are those who hate the pious Israelite because they themselves adore other gods (Psalms 31:6)—they are the wicked—their arms are recrimination, calumny, contempt, the insolence of the powerful against the humble and weak. The psalm seems, therefore, to reflect the later times of the monarchy, when the pure religion of Jehovah had to struggle against idolatrous tendencies favoured in high places. The recurrence of phrases very common in his writings show that if Jeremiah was not the author of the psalm, he was very familiar with it, or the writer of the psalm was imbued with his style. The versification is irregular.

Verse 1

(1) The words of this verse are interesting as being the last words of Xavier, and as concluding the Te Deum.

Psalms 31:1-3 occur again with slight variations in Psalms 71:1-3.

Let me never.—Literally, let me not for ever be ashamed.

Verse 2

(2) My strong rock.—Literally,

“Thou art to me for a rock of a stronghold,

For a house of fortresses to save me.”

Verse 3

(3) Rock.—As rock in this verse is selâ (LXX. and Vulg., “strength”) instead of tsûr, as in Psalms 31:2, it is better to render “for thou art my cliff fortress;” literally, cliff and fortress.

For thy name’s sake—i.e., because Thou hast this name of rock and fortress.

Lead me, and guide me.—The future is better,

“Thou wilt lead and guide me.”

To pray for protection and then stoutly affirm belief, as in Psalms 31:3, has been called illogical; but it is the logic of the heart if not of the intellect; the logic, it may be added, of every prayer of faith.

Verse 4

(4) The net.—This image is a common one in the Psalms. (Comp. Psalms 10:9, &c)

Laid privily.—Literally, hidden. Translate still by the future, thou wilt pull me out.

Verse 5

(5) I commit.—Most memorable, even among expressions of the Psalms, as the dying words of our Lord Himself (Luke 23:46), and a long line of Christian worthies. Polycarp, Bernard, Huss, Henry V., Jerome of Prague, Luther, Melancthon, are some of the many who have passed away comforted and upheld by the psalmist’s expression of trust. But death was not in his thought, it was in life, amid its troubles and dangers, that he trusted (Hebrew, deposited as a trust) his spirit (rûach, comp. Isaiah 38:16) to God. But the gift brought to the altar by the seer of old, has been consecrated anew and yet anew.

Lord God of truth.—Comp. 2 Chronicles 15:3, where, as here, there is a contrast between Jehovah and idols; but also, as in Deuteronomy 32:4, the “faithful God.”

Verse 6

(6) Lying vanities.—Literally, breath of lies (Jonah 2:8), undoubtedly idols, as the parallelism in Jeremiah 8:19 shows. It was the term adopted by the Deuteronomist (Deuteronomy 32:21) and apparently brought into use by him.

Verse 8

(8) Shut me up into the hand.—This is the exact phrase used by David (1 Samuel 23:11-12) in consulting the Divine oracle by the ephod. But this does not prove the authorship, for it was evidently a common phrase. (See 1 Samuel 24:18; 1 Samuel 26:8; 2 Kings 17:4.)

Large room.—Comp. Psalms 4:1; Psalms 18:19.

Verse 9

(9) Mine eye is consumed . . .—Comp. Psalms 6:7. It was an old idea that the eye could weep itself away. It is an actual fact that the disease glaucoma is very much influenced by mental emotions.

Belly.—Better, body—both mind and body were suffering.

Verse 10

(10) Iniquity.—Gesenius and Ewald understand, the suffering that follows on sin rather than the iniquity itself, a meaning that certainly seems to suit the context better. The LXX. and Vulg. have “poverty.”

Verse 11

(11) The adverb rendered especially seems out of place. It is therefore better to take it as a noun, in the sense of burden, a sense etymologically probable.

“Because of all mine oppressors I have become a reproach,

And to my neighbours a burden,

And a fear to my acquaintance.”

Fled.—Literally, fluttered away like frightened birds.

Verse 12

(12) Broken vessel.—A favourite image with Jeremiah (Jeremiah 19:11; Jeremiah 22:28; Jeremiah 25:34; Jeremiah 48:38), but not peculiar to him among the prophets. (Comp. Hosea 8:8, and see Introduction to this psalm.)

Verse 13

Verse 14

(14) But I.—Emphatic, in contrast to the pretended panic and in spite of the real dangers around him.

Verse 15

(15) My times are in thy hand—i.e., the vicissitudes of human life (LXX. and Vulg. have “my destinies”) are under Divine control, so that the machinations of the foe cannot prevail against one whom God intends to deliver. For the expression comp. 1 Chronicles 29:30, “the times that went over him,” Isaiah 33:6.

The sense of security in this trusting phrase may be contrasted with the feeling of danger in another Hebrew phrase, “my soul is continually in my hand,” Psalms 119:109.

Verse 16

(16) Make thy face to shine.—As in Psalms 4:6, an echo of the priestly blessing. (Numbers 6:24-26.)

Verse 18

(18) Silence.—As a different word is used from that rendered silent in Psalms 31:17, translate let the lying lips be made dumb.

Grievous.—Better, arrogant, as in 1 Samuel 2:3. (Comp. Psalms 94:4.) So in Psalms 75:5, “a stiff neck” is a neck thrown impudently back.

Proudly and contemptuously.—Literally, in pride and contempt.

Verse 19

(19) Laid up.—Better, hidden, (Heb. tsaphan; comp. Psalms 17:14; Obadiah 1:6), as a treasure for the faithful, and now brought out and displayed in the presence “of the sons of men.”

Verse 20

(20) The secret of thy presence.—Better, in the hiding-place of thy countenance, a beautiful thought and common in the Psalms, although expressed by different images. In Psalms 27:5, “the hiding-place of his tabernacle;” 61:4, “of his wings;” 91:1, “of his shadow.”

The form the same image takes in the Christian’s hope is beautifully expressed by Tennyson:

“To lie within the light of God as I lie upon your breast,

And the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest.”

Pride.—Better, rough or wrangling talk, as the parallelism shows and the LXX. confirm; and, referring back to Psalms 31:18, Gesenius renders the word “conspiracies.”

Verse 21

(21) Shewed me his marvellous kindness . . .—Better, made his kindness distinguished or manifest, referring to Psalms 31:19.

In a strong city.—Some see a reference to David’s adventures at Ziklag or Keilah; others to Jeremiah’s in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 38). It is, however, better to regard it merely as a general image of the Divine protection.

Verse 22

(22) In my haste . . .—Literally, in my fleeing away in fear. Jerome, Aquila, and Symmachus, “in my confusion.”

Verse 23

(23) Preserveth the faithful.—Or, perhaps, by rendering by the abstract instead of the concrete, keeps faith. The LXX. and Vulg. have “requireth truths.”

Verse 24

(24) Be of good courage.—Cf. Psalms 27:14.
32 Psalm 32
Introduction

Verse 1-2

(1, 2) Transgression—sin—iniquity.—The same terms used here to express the compass and heinousness of sin are found, though in different order, in Exodus 34:7. For St. Paul’s reading of this passage, see Romans 4:6-7.

Verse 3

(3) When I kept.—He describes his state of mind before he could bring himself to confess his sin (the rendering of the particle ki by when, comp. Hosea 11:1, is quite correct). Like that knight of story, in whom

“His mood was often like a fiend, and rose

And drove him into wastes and solitudes

For agony, who was yet a living soul,”

this man could not live sleek and smiling in his sin, but was so tortured by “remorseful pain” that his body bore the marks of his mental anguish, which, no doubt, “had marr’d his face, and marked it ere his time.”

My bones waxed old.—For this expression comp. Psalms 6:2.

Verse 4

(4) Thy hand was heavy.—The verb, as in “kept silence” in Psalms 32:3, is properly present—the agony is still vividly present.

My moisture.—The Hebrew word is found only once besides (Numbers 11:8), where the Authorised Version has “fresh oil;” the LXX. and Vulg., “an oily cake.” Aquila has “of the breast of oil,” reading the word erroneously. Here both LXX. and Vulg. seem to have had a different reading, “I was turned to sorrow while the thorn was fixed in.” Symmachus translates somewhat similarly, but by “to destruction” instead of “to sorrow.” Aquila, “to my spoiling in summer desolation.” These readings, however, mistake the lamed, which is part of the word, for a preposition. Gesenius connects with an Arabic root, to suck, and so gets the meaning juice or moisture.

Into the drought of summer.—This is the best rendering of the Hebrew, though it might be either “as in summer dryness” or “with summer heat.” Some understand literally a fever, but it is better to take it figuratively of the soul-fever which the whole passage describes.

Verse 5

(5) I acknowledged.—The fact that this verb is future, as also “I will confess” in the next clause, as well as the requirements of the passage, uphold Hupfeld’s suggestion that “I said” has changed its place, and should be replaced at the beginning of the verse. (Comp. Psalms 73:15, and Note.) The sense is,

“I said, ‘I will acknowledge my sin unto thee,

And I did not hide mine iniquity.

(I said) ‘I will confess my transgression unto Jehovah,

And thou forgavest the guilt of my sin.”

Verse 6

(6) For this—i.e., for this cause.

Shall every one.—Better, let every one.

In a time . . .—See margin. The expression, “time of finding,”’ is, of course, elliptical. The Authorised Version explains by Isa. Iv. 6; but Isaiah 45:8 would suggest that “forgiveness” or “acceptance” is the word to be supplied. More probably still some general word, as “goal” or “object,” is required, the phrase being rendered by the LXX., “in the appointed time;” by the Vulg., “opportune.”

Surely.—This adds emphasis to the statement, whether we render after Proverbs 13:10, “only unto him,” or as in Authorised Version. “He—the godly—is the man whom, when the floods rise, they shall not harm.” The floods may either be an image of Divine judgment, as in Nahum 1:8, or of temptation and trial, as in Matthew 7:24-27.

Verse 8

(8) I will guide thee with mine eye.—The Hebrew may be rendered either “I will advise—with mine eye upon thee,” or “I will fix mine eye upon thee,” which is the translation by the LXX., and to be preferred. This verse changes so abruptly to the first person that it is better, with most of the old interpreters and, among moderns, with Ewald, Hitzig, and Reuss, to suppose them the words of deliverance that sound so sweet in the psalmist’s ears.

Verse 9

(9) Whose mouth.—Here the text has evidently suffered, and the exact meaning is lost. There are also verbal difficulties. The word translated “mouth” elsewhere (except Psalms 103:5, where see Note) means “ornament,” and the literal rendering of the text as it stands is, with bit and bridle his ornament to hold, not approaching to thee. This may mean that the animal is harnessed, either “that it may not approach,” or “because without harness it will not approach.” In either case the general application is the same. Horses and mules can only be rendered obedient by restraints that are unworthy of a rational creature. The LXX. and Vulg. have “jaws” instead of “mouth,” and Ewald follows them, and renders the last clause, “of those who approach thee unfriendly.”
33 Psalm 33
Introduction

XXXIII.

This is a hymn of praise to Jehovah, as at once Almighty Creator and Ruler of the universe, and the Protector of His chosen people. It was plainly for liturgical use, and beyond this, as even the compilers of the collection left it anonymous, it is useless to inquire into its authorship or date. All that we see clearly is that faith in the protection of Jehovah and not in material force, that which we regard as the traditional faith of Israel, had by this time been firmly implanted. Both in rhythm, which is fine and well sustained, and subject this psalm bears a close relation to Psalms 147

Verse 1

(1) Rejoice.—A common hymnic word, meaning properly to “shout,” or “sing for joy.”

Verse 2

(2) Harp.—Heb., khinnôr (LXX. and Vulg., “cithara”), most probably a trigon or three-cornered harp, such as may be seen sculptured in Egyptian bas-reliefs. The number of strings probably varied, as different accounts are given. (See Bible Educator, .)

With the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.—Properly, as LXX. and Vulg., “with the ten-stringed psaltery.” (See 1 Samuel 10:5.) Evidently a more elaborate instrument than the khinnôr, and with greater capacities. (See Bible Educator, 1:70, and art. “Psaltery” in Smith’s Biblical Dictionary.) From the Greek psalterion comes the title “psalter” for the Book of Psalms. By its derivation it meant an instrument played with the fingers. The word was in use in old English:

“And before hem went minstrels many one,

As harpes, pipes, lutes, and sautry.”

CHAUCER: The Flower and the Leaf, 237.

Verse 3

(3) A new song.—This expression occurs in Psalms 96:1; Psalms 98:1; Psalms 149:1; Isaiah 42:10; Judith 16:13, and was adopted in Revelation 5:9; Revelation 14:3. The term apparently marked the revival of national psalmody after the Captivity. “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare . . . Sing unto the Lord a new song” (Isaiah 42:9-10).

Play skilfully with a loud noise.—The latter words represent a Hebrew expression of common hymnic use, describing the full choral effect when instruments and voices were joined in the service of the sanctuary (Psalms 95:1; Psalms 100:1, &c). Some, however, limit it (after Leviticus 25:9) to the trumpet accompaniment, and render—

“Strike the harp deftly for him,

Amid the blare of trumpets.”

Verse 4

(4) Right.—The first inspiring cause of praise for a faithful Israelite is the righteousness of the God of the Covenant. But the pregnant expression, “word of Jehovah,” naturally leads him on from the thought of its truth to the thought of its power, and in Psalms 33:6-7 we have praise of the creative act of the Almighty.

Verse 6

(6) The breath of his mouth.—This is plainly only a synonym for word. (Comp. Isaiah 11:4, where “breath of his lips” is used for the Divine sentence of judgment upon the heathen.)

Verse 7

(7) As an heap.—The image explains itself (so we speak of waves “mountains high “) without reference to the passage either of the Red Sea or the Jordan. Still less is there a comparison to heaps of corn, some think, since storehouses in the next clause are not necessarily barns, but reservoirs. But the LXX., Vulg., and all ancient interpreters read nôd (“a skin”), instead of nêd (“a heap”), and make the reference to the rain, the clouds being considered as bottles. With this comp. Job 38:37.

Verse 10

(10) The Lord bringeth.—The thought now passes on to the irresistible rule of Jehovah. His counsel stands for all generations, and being righteous as well as eternal, frustrates the counsel and thoughts of the heathen, while His chosen people (Psalms 33:12) rest in stable peace under the Theocracy. (Comp. Acts 5:38.) The word devices in Psalms 33:10 should be thoughts, as in Psalms 33:11, or, better in both, purposes.

Psalms 33:12 is the pivot, as it were, on which the whole psalm turns, and was doubtless sung in full chorus.

Verse 15

Verse 16

(16) There is no king.—Better, The king doth not triumph by the greatness of his force.

Verse 17

(17) Safety.—Better, victory. (Comp. Habakkuk 3:8.) The allusion is to the war-horse.

Verses 20-22

(20-22) Hope—wait—trust.—The Hebrew language was naturally rich in words expressive of that attitude of expectancy which was characteristic of a nation whose golden age was not in the past, but in the future—a nation for which its great ancestor left in his dying words so suitable a motto—

“I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord,”

and which, while itself held back outside the promised land of the hope of immortality, was to be the birth-race of the great and consoling doctrine that alone could satisfy the natural craving expressed by the moralist in the well-known line—

“Man never is, but always to be, blest;”

and by the Christian apostle—

“For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.”
34 Psalm 34
Introduction

XXXIV.

This psalm consists of a string of pious sayings of a proverbial kind, all beautiful in themselves, but combined with no art beyond the alphabetical arrangement, and even this, as in Psalms 25, not strictly carried out. A common authorship with that psalm is marked by the same omission of the Vau stanza, and by the completion of the number 22 by an extra Pe stanza at the end. Certainly the composition is of a time far later than David, and the inscription (see Note) is of no historic value. A late, even an Aramaic origin, is indicated by the meaning of nahar in Psalms 34:5, and possibly by the fact that the Pe stanza must have originally preceded that beginning with Ayin—an error due to the common Aramaic tendency to interchange Ayin and Tsadde. But beyond this there is nothing by which to appropriate the psalm to any particular period, still less to any particular event or individual, and it reads more like a gnomic composition expressive of the faith of the pious community than as the outpouring of individual feeling.

Title.—There seems little doubt that this title was suggested by the form of the word rendered “taste” in Psalms 34:8, taamû, reminding the compiler of taamô (“his behaviour,” 1 Samuel 21:13), combined with that of tithhalêl (“shall boast,” Psalms 34:2), with uithholêl (“he is mad,” 1 Samuel 21:14). At least no other conjecture can account for an inscription so entirely foreign to the contents of the psalm, and containing besides an historical blunder in the king’s name (the margin corrects it).

Verse 2

Verse 5

(5) Were lightened.—The Hebrew verb means properly “to flow,” but by a natural process, as in the common phrases “streams of light,” “floods of light,” acquired in Aramaic the sense of “shining.” Such must be its meaning in Isaiah 60:5, almost the echo of the thought in the psalm, the thought of a reflex of the Divine glory lighting up the face of those who in trouble seek God. (Theodoret has “He who approaches God, receives the rays of intellectual light.”) We naturally think of the dying Stephen.

As to the construction, the subject must either be supplied from Psalms 34:2, or it must be general. The LXX. and Vulg. avoid the difficulty by changing to the second person.

Verse 6

(6) This poor man.—Better, this sufferer—i.e., either the writer, or Israel personified.

Verse 7

(7) The angel of the Lord is an expression which has given rise to much discussion. From comparison with other passages it may be (1) any commissioned agent of God, as a prophet (Haggai 1:13). (2) One of the celestial court (Genesis 22:11). (3) Any manifestation of the Divine presence, as the flame in the bush (Exodus 3:2), the winds (Psalms 35:5-6; Psalms 104:4). (4) Jehovah Himself, as in the phrase “the angel of his presence” (Isaiah 63:9). It may very well be, therefore, that the psalmist uses it here in a general sense for the Divine manifestation of protection. We thus avoid the difficulty in the image of one angel encamping round the sufferer, which other commentators try to avoid by supposing angel to mean either a troop of angels, or captain or chief of an angelic army. But for this difficulty, we should connect the psalmist's words immediately with the well-known incident in Jacob's life at Mahanaim, or with the story of Elisha and “the horses and chariots of fire” round about him. We certainly must not let go the beautiful thought that round God's elect—

“The spangled hosts keep watch in squadrons bright.”

Verse 8

(8) Taste.—Comp. Hebrews 6:4 ; 1 Peter 2:3.

Verse 10

Verse 11

(11) Come, ye children . . .—A common proverbial style. See Proverbs 1:8, and passim. (Comp. also 1 John 2:1, &c)

Verse 12

(12) Desireth life.—Better, the man delighting in life. These gnomic sayings are echoes from the book of Proverbs. (See especially Proverbs 4:23.)

Verse 14

(14) And do good.—Negative goodness is not sufficient. Practical good must be added.

Verse 15

(15) The eyes.—A verse quoted in 1 Peter 3:12. (See New Testament Commentary). This psalm had a deep hold on the national mind. With the expression, “his ears to their cry,” we may compare the phrase, “to have a person's ear.”

Verse 16

(16) To cut off.—Notice the fear, so intense and recurring to the Semitic mind, of the extinction of race. (Comp. Psalms 21:10; Job 18:17, &c)

This verse, according to the sense, should certainly change places with Psalms 34:15. This would disarrange the acrostic, bringing pe before ayin; but, as in Lamentations 2, 3, 4 the same sequence of letters occurs, we are led to the conclusion that the order of the alphabet was not definitely or invariably fixed in respect of these two letters, a license intelligible enough when we remember that tsadde, which follows pe, was often interchanged with ayin, which precedes it.

Verse 20

(20) Broken.—See John 19:36, N. Test. Commentary.

Verse 21

(21) Desolate.—Better (as in margin), shall be found guilty, or condemned.

Verse 22

(22) Redeemeth.—Comp. Psalms 25:22, which begins with the same letter, out of its place, and the same word.