sense as ἐβασίλευσας, Rev 11:15-18. What has taken place is a prelude of the final and visible entering upon the kingdom, the announcement of which the New Testament seer there hears. God has come down to earth, and after having obtained for Himself a recognition of His dominion by the destruction of the enemies of Israel, He has ascended again in visible kingly glory. Imago conscensi a Messia throni gloriae, says Chr. Aug. Crusius, tune erat deportatio arcae faederis in sedem regni.
Verse 9
Psa 47:9 (Hebrew_Bible_47:10) In the mirror of the present event, the poet reads the great fact of the conversion of all peoples to Jahve which closes the history of the world. The nobles of the peoples (נדיבי with the twofold meaning of generosi), the “shields (i.e., the lords who are the defenders of their people) of the earth” (Hos 4:18), enter into the society of the people of the God of Abraham; πέρας αἱ πρὸς τὸν πατριάρχην Ἀβραὰμ ἔλαβον ὑποσχέσεις, as Theodoret observes. The promise concerning the blessing of the tribes of the nations in the seed of the patriarch is being fulfilled; for the nobles draw the peoples who are protected by them after themselves. It is unnecessary to read עם instead of עם with Ewald, and following the lxx and Syriac; and it is also inadmissible, since one does not say נאסף עם, but ל or אל. Even Eusebius has rightly praised Symmachus and Theodotion, because they have translated the ambiguous ἀμ by λαὸς (τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἀβραάμ), viz., as being a nominative of the effect or result, as it is also understood by the Targum, Jerome, Luther, and most of the Jewish expositors, and among modern expositors by Crusius, Hupfeld, and Hitzig: They gather and band themselves together as a people or into a people of the God of Abraham, they submit themselves with Israel to the one God who is proved to be so glorious.[1]
The conclusion (v. 11) reminds one of the song of Hannah, 1Sa 2:8. Thus universal homage is rendered to Him: He is gone up in triumph, and is in consequence thereof highly exalted (נעלה, 3rd praet., the result of consequence of the עלה in Psa 47:6). The inaccessibleness of the City of God
Psa 48:1-14 is also a song of thanksgiving for victory. It is connected with Psa 46:1-11 and Psa 47:1-9 by the fundamental thought of the exaltation of Jahve above the peoples of the earth; but is distinguished from them both in this respect, viz., that, in accordance with the favourite characteristic of Korahitic poetry, the song of thanksgiving for victory has become a song in praise of Jerusalem, the glorious and strong city, protected by God who sits enthroned in it. The historical occasion is the same. The mention of the kings points to an army of confederates; Psa 48:10 points to the gathering held in the temple before the setting out of the army; and the figurative representation of the hostile powers by the shattered ships of Tarshish does not apply to any period so well as to the time of Jehoshaphat. The points of coincidence between this Psalm (cf. Psa 48:7 with Isa 33:14; Psa 48:8 with Isa 33:21; Psa 48:13 with Isa 33:18; v. 15 with Isa 33:22), as well as Psa 46:1-11, and Isaiah do not prove that he is its author.
Psalm 48
Verses 1-8
Psa 48:1-8 (Hebrew_Bible_48:2-9) Viewed as to the nature of its subject-matter, the Psalm divides itself into three parts. We begin by considering the three strophes of the first part. The middle strophe presents an instance of the rising and falling caesural schema. Because
- ↑ It is also accented accordingly, viz., נאספו with Rebia magnum, which (and in this respect it is distinguished from Mugrash) makes a pause; and this is then followed by the supplementing clause with Zinnor, Galgal, and Olewejored.
