The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 2 — Section 167

810). More rcoently, ProfCBeor Ohcyne hu wii.h one oon■ent (comp. ver. 8). They are argned strongly in favonr of a Maooaboan confederate agalmt thee ; literally, have entered into a OOt!mant again«t theti. A date, And endCBvoured to identify the con- formal treaty aeenia t.o be intended. federecy with that deBCribed in I Meoo. v., Ver. 6.-The tabernaole■ of Edom. Edorn wLioh wu pnt down by Judas M8008bmne. we.e alwaye among the bitterest of leroel's A post-Capth;ty date is, however, rendered enemies, and naturally took a po.rt in impossible by the mention, among the con- almost every comhination that was made federutes, of Amnlek and Aasyri&., which against them. Though sometimes subju- gated (2 Sam. viii 14; l Kings xi. 15, 16), he.d both ceased t.o exist before the time it continued hostile during the whole of Nebuchadnezzar. We are thue thrown period of lsre.elite aod Jewish history. back upon the fin!l hypothesis, unles.,, in- Hence the constant denunciatione of the deed, a suggestion me.y be me.de that the prophets (Illa. xL 14; Jer. xxviL 3; xli.L time of David is possible, and that the 7-22; Ezek. uv. 12-14; Joel iii. 19; Amos ix. 12; Obad. 6-18; Jllo.l. i. 4). And ,-ccasion may be that deecribed in 2 Sam. the Iahm.aelites. The lshmaelites were the x.; l Chron. xiL Then only have we a chief inhabit.ants of Northern Arabia (Gen. record of Asshnr helping the children of :c:v. 13-18). They do not often appear Lot (2 8am. L 16; l Chron. riL 6, 16), among Israel's enemies. Of llloab. M1Jab, Metrically, the psalm dividea into fonr on the contrary, is a persistent adversary (see Numb. xxii. 6; Jndg. iii. 12--30; 1 strophe.s, three of four verses each, and one Sam. xiv. 47; 2 Sam. viii. 2; 2 Kings i. l; (the last) of BiL iii. 4-27; uvi. 2; 2 Chron. xx. 1-10). And the Hagarenes. The " Hagarenes," Ver. 1.-Xesp not thou ailenee, 0 God: or "Ha.gariteB," are only mentioned here hold not thy peace, an.d be not Btill, 0 God. and in 1 Chron. v. 10, 19-22. They were A cri~is has come which calls for the Divine probably a branch of the Ishmaelites, named interference. If his peo1,le are t.o be saved, after Hagar, Ishmacl's mother (Gen. :u:v. God mnsi no longer •it sLilL Compare the 12). Their name occurs among those of frequent ca.llJI on God to "arise" (PIIB. iii AramJean tribes in the Assyrian inscrip- 7; vii 6; :div. 26; h:viii 1, etc.). tions. Yer. 2.-!'or, lo, thine enemies; i.e. Ver. 7.--4ebal There is no reason to I.-rael's enemies, who are also •· thine ene- doubt that the Pliarnician town of the name, mies" (see the comment on Ps. h:xri 15). mentioned in Ezek. xxvii 9, e.nd alluded tu lltake a tmnnlt; 1iterally, make a roaring, in Josh. xiii 5 and 1 Kings v. 18, is meant. like the roaring of the sea (comp. P&. xlvi. A wnthern Gebe.1, in the vicinity of Edom, 3; Isa. xvii 12). And they that b3te thee is a fiction. Gebal was one of the most (compare "the haters of the Lord," in Ps. important of the Phamician cities from 1.J:ui. 15), Rave lifted up the head; i.e. the time of She.lmaneser II. (B.c. 828-810) raised themselves up against thee-taken a to that of Nebuchadnezzar (B.c. 635-560); menacing attitude (comp. Jndg. viii 28). see the author's • History of Phcenicia,' Ver. 3.-They have ta.ken crafty COllil5el p. 79. And AmmOll. Ammon, like Moab, against thy people. Boch a widespread was e. perpetual enemy of the Jewish people confederacy as that dei,cribed. below (vers. from their entrance into Palestine to the 6--8J cannot have been formed without time of the Maccabees. And Amalek. The JDuch secret consultation aod plottin;. Amalekites, on the contrary, disappear And col15nlted age.inst thy hidden ones ; from history from the time of tLeir de- i.e. "those whom thou hidest in th,:, covert struction by the Simeonites in the reign of of thy presence from the plottings of man" Heit:kiah (1 Chron. v. 42, 43). The Philis- (Ps. n:ri 20, Revised Version; comp. Ps. tine■. Persistent ene,P1ies, like Eilom, Moab, ::u:rii. 5). and Ammon (sec 1 Mace. v. 66). With the Ver. 4.-They have l&id, Cerna, and let i.nha.bita.nt■ of Tyre. Tyre, in early times, 11! cut them off from beiog a r.ation. was friendly to Lira.cl (2 Sam. v. 11 ; 1 Kings Ti,is was the general object of Israel's v. 1-18; ix. 26-28), e.nd is not elsewhere enc:mies at all times (2 Kings xxiv. 2; 2 mcntionc,d es hoetile until the reign of Chron. XL 11 ; Ps. cuniii. 7; 1 Mace. iii Uzziah (Amos i. 9). She rejoiced, however, <l5; v. 2J, aod thus does not help much when Jernse.lem we., destroyed (Ezek. towards determining the date of the occa- uvi.2). sion here; spoken of. That the name of Ver. 8.-Al■u e.lso ii joined wit.h them. Israel may be no !!lore in remellibrance This is the climax. .AJ!syria,-the great (comp. Exod. xvii J4; Deut. xuii 26; ew1,ire-the mobt important of all the PIii! :uxiv. lG; cix. l:;), kingdoms of the earll.1-has joined the Ver. 5.-l'or the, have connlted tofether petty natioDB npon lsre.el'• border, and I'll, LXXXllI, 1-18.] THE BOOK OF PSALMS,