Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 75:6

"For neither from the east, nor from the west, Nor yet from the south, [cometh] lifting up." — Psalms 75:6 (ASV)

For promotion ... —The Authorized Version has rightly set aside the vowel pointing of the text here, which, like the Septuagint and Vulgate, reads:

“For not from the east, nor from the west,
Nor from the wilderness of mountains,”

This forms a sentence with no conclusion. The recurrence of parts of the verb “to lift up” in Psalm 75:4-5 and Psalm 75:7 also favors taking harîm as part of the same verb here, instead of as the noun “mountains.” That the word midbar (wilderness) might be used for “south” is supported by Acts 8:26.

Ewald thinks the four points of the compass should be completed by inserting a conjunction, and by taking “desert” and “mountains” to represent the south and north respectively. He then supplies the conclusion of the sentence from the following verse:

“For neither from east nor west,
Neither from desert nor mountains,
Comes judgment; but God is Judge.”

This agrees with 1 Samuel 2:10; but it is hardly necessary to expect such scientific accuracy regarding the points of the compass in Hebrew poetry.