Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Chronicles 16:22

"[Saying], Touch not mine anointed ones, And do my prophets no harm." — 1 Chronicles 16:22 (ASV)

Saying.—Omitted in the Hebrew, as in Psalm 2:6, and perhaps at the end of 1 Chronicles 16:7, as noted above.

Mine anointed (ones).—Plural of Messiah. Abraham and Sarah were to be progenitors of kings (Genesis 17:16). (Compare Genesis 23:6.)

My prophets.—Literally, do no harm against my prophets—a construction unparalleled elsewhere.Psalms 105:0 has the usual expression, to my prophets. (See Genesis 12:20, 26 for the passages of patriarchal history to which this alludes.)

We have now reached the first “seam” in this composite ode.Psalms 105:0 naturally continues its historic proof of Jehovah’s faithfulness by referring to the sojourn in Egypt, the Exodus, the wanderings, and the occupation of Canaan. Here, however, this train of thought is abruptly broken off, and a fresh start is made in 1 Chronicles 16:23 with Psalm 96:0.

The author, or authors, who compiled this hymn of praise “strung together familiar psalms as a sort of mosaic, to give approximate expression to the festive strains and feelings of the day” (Delitzsch).