Psalms 80:13
Ver. 13. The boar out of the wood doth waste it,.... As Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, who carried the ten tribes captive; the title of this psalm in the Septuagint version is, a psalm for the Assyrian. Vitringa, on Isa 24:2 interprets this of Antiochus Epiphanes, to whose times he thinks the psalm refers; but the Jews {r} of the fourth beast in Da 7:7, which designs the Roman empire: the wild boar is alluded to, which lives in woods and forests {s}, and wastes, fields, and vineyards:
and the wild beast of the field doth devour it; as Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who carried the two tribes captive, and who for a while lived among and lived as the beasts of the field; both these, in their turns, wasted and devoured the people of Israel; see Jer 50:17. Jarchi interprets this of Esau or Edom, that is, Rome; and says the whole of the paragraph respects the Roman captivity; that is, their present one; but rather the words describe the persecutors of the Christian church in general, comparable to wild boars and wild beasts for their fierceness and cruelty; and perhaps, in particular, Rome Pagan may be pointed at by the one, and Rome Papal by the other; though the latter is signified by two beasts, one that rose out of the sea, and the other out of the earth; which have made dreadful havoc of the church of Christ, his vine, and have shed the blood of the saints in great abundance; see Re 12:3, unless we should rather by the one understand the pope, and by the other the Turk, as the Jews interpret them of Esau and of Ishmael.{r} Gloss. in T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 118. 2. {s} Homer. Odyss. xix. v. 439. Psalms 80:14Ver. 14. Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts,.... The Lord had been with his vine, the people of Israel, when he brought them out of Egypt, and planted and settled them in the land of Canaan, and made them a flourishing people; but had departed from them when he suffered the hedges about them to be broken down, and the boar and wild beast to enter and devour them; and here he is entreated to return and restore them to their former prosperity. So the Lord sometimes departs from his church and people, and hides his face from them; and may be said to return, when he manifests himself, shows his face and his favour again, and grants his gracious presence, than which nothing is more desirable; and if he, the Lord of hosts and armies, above and below, is with his people, none can be against them to their hurt; they have nothing to fear from any enemy:look down from heaven: the habitation of his holiness, the high and holy place where he dwells, and his throne is, from whence he takes a survey of men and things; where he now was at a distance from his people, being returned to his place in resentment, and covered himself with a cloud from their sight; and from whence it would be a condescension in him to look on them on earth, so very undeserving of a look of love and mercy from him:and behold; the affliction and distress his people were in, as he formerly beheld the affliction of Israel in Egypt, and sympathized with them, and brought them out of it:and visit this vine; before described, for whom he had done such great things, and now was in such a ruinous condition; the visit desired is in a way of mercy and kind providence; so the Targum,"and remember in mercies this vine;''so the Lord visits his chosen people by the mission and incarnation of his Son, and by the redemption of them by him, and by the effectual calling of them by his Spirit and grace through the ministration of the Gospel; and which perhaps may, in the mystical sense, be respected here; see Lu 1:68. Psalms 80:15Ver. 15. And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted,.... The word "Cannah" is only used in this place, and the first letter of it is larger than usual, to keep in perpetual remembrance, as is thought by some {t}, the bringing of this vine out of Egypt, and the great things done for it in the land of Israel; and the letter, being crooked, may denote the oppression of this vine by various calamities. The Targum renders the word, a branch or shoot; and Kimchi, according to the scope of the place, a plant; and observes, that others interpret it an habitation or dwelling place; and so may be understood of Jerusalem, or the temple. Aben Ezra takes it to be an adjective, and to signify "prepared" or "established", which is said of this vine, Ps 80:9. It is an Egyptian word used by the psalmist, treating of the vine brought out of Egypt, and signifies a plant; hence the ivy is by the Greeks called cenosiriv the plant of Osiris {u}; the clause carries in it a reason or argument, enforcing the above petition, taken from this vine being of the Lord's planting, as in Ps 80:8 and therefore his own honour and glory were concerned in it:and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself: meaning the same thing, and the same people whom he confirmed in the land of Canaan, and made strong for his service and glory. The word {w} translated "branch" signifies a son, as Israel was, to the Lord, son and firstborn. The Targum understands it of Christ, and paraphrases it thus,"and for the King Messiah, whom thou hast strengthened for thyself;''that is, for the sake of Christ, whom thou hast appointed to work out the salvation of thy people by his great strength, and who was to come from this vine, or descend from Israel; for the sake of him destroy it not, nor suffer it to be destroyed; and is the same with the Son of man, Ps 80:17, and so it is read in a manuscript.{t} Vid. Buxtorf. Tiberias, c. 14. {u} Plutarch de lsid. & Osir. {w} Nb le "super filium", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus; "propter filium", Junius & Tremellius, Michaelis. Psalms 80:16Ver. 16. It is burnt with fire, it is cut down,.... That is, the vine of Israel, and the branch before spoken of, alluding to a vine, and its branches; which, when become unprofitable, are cut down or cut off, and cast into the fire; see Joh 15:6, so Jerusalem and the temple were burnt with fire by Nebuchadnezzar, and afterwards by Vespasian:they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance; that is, the Israelites, signified by the vine, whose destruction was owing to the wrath of God upon them for their sins; he frowned upon them, and rebuked them in his hot displeasure, and to that their ruin was owing; others were only instruments in his hands. Some understand this as a wish or imprecation, let them that cut down the vine, and burn it with fire, perish at the rebuke of thy countenance; see Ps 68:1, so the Targum. Psalms 80:17Ver. 17. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand,.... Which some understand of the people of Israel in general, beloved, supported, and strengthened, by the Lord: and others of the then king of Israel, or Judah, the vinedresser, or keeper of the vineyard under God; praying that he might be directed, supported, and protected, by the Lord; but it seems better to understand it with R. Obadiah on the place, and Abarbinel {x} of the Messiah; and so Aben Ezra interprets it either of Israel, or of Messiah the son of Ephraim. Christ is called the "man", though as yet he was not really man, because it was purposed and promised that he should; and he had agreed to become man, and had appeared often in an human form; and it was certain that he would be incarnate: and also the man of God's "right hand", which is expressive of the power of God, because by him, who, in time, became man, even the Son of God, the world, and all things in it, were made; and by him all things are upheld in their being; by him his people were to be redeemed, and have been redeemed from all their enemies; and by him they are upheld, kept, and preserved from a final and total falling away, and will be raised at the last day: and the phrase may design the support and strength the human nature of Christ, which was weak in itself, was to have, and had, not only from its union in the Son of God, but from God the Father; who promised and gave support and strength to it, under all the sufferings endured in it: to which may be added, that this phrase is expressive of love and affection; so Benjamin had his name, which signifies the son of the right hand, from the great affection of his father; so Christ is the Son of God's love, his dear and well beloved Son; as appears by hiding nothing from him, by putting all things into his hands, and appointing him the Head and Saviour of his people, and the Judge of the world; and his love to him is a love of complacency and delight, is everlasting and unchangeable: moreover, he may be so called, because he was to be, and now is, exalted at the right hand of God, in human nature, as a Prince and Saviour, above angels, authorities, and powers, and above every name whatever: and the prayer is either that the hand of vindictive justice might not be upon the vine, or the church of God, but upon Christ their surety, who was able to bear it, and had engaged to do it; or the hand of divine power and support might be upon him, to strengthen him for the work of redemption and salvation, that so that might prosper in his hand; and the hand of love, grace, and mercy, might be turned upon his people: it is added,upon the son of man, whom thou madest strong for thyself; for the accomplishment of his purposes, promises, and covenant, for the bringing about the salvation of his own people, and for ends of his own glory: the same person is here meant as before; and his being called "the Son of Man", which is a very usual phrase for Christ in the New Testament, and which seems to be taken from hence, and from Da 7:13, shows that he could not be really from eternity, since he was to be the Son of Man, as he was, of Abraham, David, &c.{x} Mashmiah Jeshuah, fol. 81. 2. Psalms 80:18Ver. 18. So will not we go back from thee,.... From thy fear, as the Targum; or from thy service, as Kimchi; doing as above would encourage them to stand before the Lord, and worship him; which they could not do, if he marked their sins, and demanded satisfaction from them for them; but if he looked to his Son and their surety, and took it from him, this would encourage their faith and hope, and give them boldness in his presence, and attach them to his service:quicken us, and we will call upon thy name; the people of God are sometimes dead and lifeless in their frames, and in the exercise of grace and discharge of duty, and have need of the quickening influences of the Spirit and grace of God; and which are necessary to a fervent calling upon the name of the Lord in prayer, and without which none will stir up themselves so to do. Kimchi interprets this of quickening, or of raising to life, from the death of the captivity; and so Abarbinel, who thinks also that it respects the resurrection of the dead in the times of the Messiah. Psalms 80:19Ver. 19. Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts,.... This is a repetition of Ps 80:3, in which may be observed an increase of the names or titles of the Divine Being: in Ps 80:3, it is only "O God"; in Ps 80:7 "O God of hosts"; and here, "Lord God of hosts"; some have thought that the doctrine of the Trinity is here suggested; which is a better thought than that of Jarchi's, who supposes that three captivities of Israel are pointed at: but as it follows,cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved; it appears that this was the burden of their song, being in darkness and distress, that they might have the light of God's countenance, and therefore repeat it again and again.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.