Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 57
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Psalms 57
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Psalms 57
"Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me; For my soul taketh refuge in thee: Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I take refuge, Until [these] calamities be overpast." — Psalms 57:1 (ASV)
Trusts. — Better, has taken refuge. The future tense of the same verb occurs in the next clause.
Shadow of your wings. — See Note, Psalms 17:8.
Until these calamities. — Danger of destruction gives the feeling of the Hebrew better than “calamities.”
"I will cry unto God Most High, Unto God that performeth [all things] for me." — Psalms 57:2 (ASV)
Peformeth all things for me. —Literally, completes for me, which may be explained from the analogy of Psalms 138:8. But as the Septuagint and Vulgate have “my benefactor” (reading gomçl for gomçr), we may adopt that emendation.
"He will send from heaven, and save me, [When] he that would swallow me up reproacheth; Selah God will send forth his lovingkindness and his truth." — Psalms 57:3 (ASV)
He shall send ... —The selah in the middle of this verse is as much out of place as in Psalm 55:19. The Septuagint places it after Psalm 57:2. The marginal correction of the second clause is decidedly to be adopted; the word “reproach” is used here in the sense of “rebuke.” For the verb “send,” used absolutely, compare to Psalm 18:16.
"My soul is among lions; I lie among them that are set on fire, Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword." — Psalms 57:4 (ASV)
Them that are set on fire. —Rather, greedy ones (literally, lickers) in apposition to lions. The verse expresses the insecurity of the poet, who, his dwelling being in the midst of enemies, must go to sleep every night with the sense of danger all around him. (See Septuagint) How grandly the refrain in Psalm 57:8 rises from such a situation.
"They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down: They have digged a pit before me; They are fallen into the midst thereof themselves. Selah" — Psalms 57:6 (ASV)
A net. For this image, so common in Hebrew hymns, see Psalm 9:15 and following, and for that of the pit, see Psalm 7:15 and following.
My soul is bowed down. The verb rendered this way is transitive everywhere else. Therefore, the Septuagint and Vulgate have here, And have pressed down my soul. Despite the grammar, Ewald alters “my soul” to “their soul.” But no conjecture of this kind restores the parallelism, which is hopelessly lost here. We expect:
They have prepared a net for my steps;
They are caught in it themselves.
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