Page:04.BCOT.KD.PoeticalBooks.vol.4.Writings.djvu/1203

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to be expected with לכן, the poet confirms it with כי by that which is surely to be expected.

Verse 3


The pressure of the worldly power, which now lies heavily upon the holy land, will not last for ever; the duration of the calamity is exactly proportioned to the power of resistance of the righteous, whom God proves and purifies by calamity, but not without at the same time graciously preserving them. “The rod of wickedness” is the heathen sceptre, and “the righteous” are the Israelites who hold fast to the religion of their fathers. The holy land, whose sole entitled inheritors are these righteous, is called their “lot” (גורל, κλῆρος = κληρονομία). נוּח signifies to alight or settle down anywhere, and having alighted, to lean upon or rest (cf. Isa 11:2 with Joh 1:32, ἔμεινεν). The lxx renders οὐκ ἀφφήσει, i.e., לא ינּיח (cf. on the other hand יניח, He shall let down, cause to come down, in Isa 30:32). Not for a continuance shall the sceptre of heathen tyranny rest upon the holy land, God will not suffer that: in order that the righteous may not at length, by virtue of the power which pressure and use exercises over men, also participate in the prevailing ungodly doings. שׁלח with Beth: to seize upon anything wrongfully, or even only (as in Job 28:9) to lay one's hand upon anything (frequently with על). As here in the case of עולתה, in Psa 80:3 too the form that is the same as the locative is combined with a preposition.

Verses 4-5


On the ground of the strong faith in Psa 125:1. and of the confident hope in Psa 125:3, the petition now arises that Jahve would speedily bestow the earnestly desired blessing of freedom upon the faithful ones, and on the other hand remove the cowardly lit. those afraid to confess God and those who have fellowship with apostasy, together with the declared wicked ones, out of the way. For such is the meaning of Psa 125:4. טובים (in Proverbs alternating with the “righteous,” Pro 2:20, the opposite being the “wicked,” רשׁעים, Pro 14:19) are here those who truly believe and rightly act in accordance with the good will of God,[1] or, as the parallel

  1. The Midrash here calls to mind a Talmudic riddle: There came a good one (Moses, Exo 2:2) and received a good thing (the Tôra, Pro 4:2) from the good One (God, Psa 145:9) for the good ones (Israel, Psa 125:4).