Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 80:13

Charles Ellicott Commentary

Psalms 80:13

1819–1905
Anglican
Charles Ellicott
Charles Ellicott

Charles Ellicott Commentary

Psalms 80:13

1819–1905
Anglican
SCRIPTURE

"The boar out of the wood doth ravage it, And the wild beasts of the field feed on it." — Psalms 80:13 (ASV)

Boar. —This is the sole mention of the wild boar in Scripture. But it must not therefore be inferred that it was rare in Palestine. (See Tristram’s Nat. Hist. Bib., p. 54.) The writer gives a sad picture of the ravage a herd of them will make in a single night. Compare:

“In vengeance of neglected sacrifice,
On Oencus’ fields she sent a monstrous boar,
That leveled harvests and whole forests tore.”
HOMER: Iliad (Pope’s Translation).

Wild beast. —It seems natural, at first, to take this beast as the emblem of some particular power or oppressor, as the crocodile is of Egypt, the lion of Assyria, etc. But the general term—literally, that moving in the field ()—makes against such an identification.