Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 8:2
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
2. Render:
Out of the mouth of children and sucklings hast thou founded strength,
Because of thine adversaries,
To quell the enemy and the avenger.
Instead of founded strength, we might render, founded a stronghold, established a defence: but the more general sense is preferable. The LXX gives a free version, ‘Thou hast perfected praise,’ and in this form the words are quoted in Mat 21:16.
The general sense is plain. Jehovah has ordained that even the feeblest representatives of humanity should be His champions to confound and silence those who oppose His kingdom and deny His goodness and providential government. The mystery of man, of a being made in the image of God to know God, is greater than the mystery of the heavens, with all their immensity and majesty, as truly as the spiritual and eternal is greater than the material and temporal. Man therefore, even in the weakness of childhood, is a witness of the existence and character of God. But how is the testimony uttered? The words must not be prosaically defined and limited. The inarticulate, unspoken testimony to its Creator borne by the mere existence of the infant with its wonderful instincts and capacities for development; the powers of reason and thought and speech; the exercise of these powers in the praise of God with the simple faith of childhood; all are included. Nor is it mere poetic fancy to say that
“Trailing clouds of glory do we come,
From God, who is our home,”
and that
“Heaven lies about us in our infancy.”
This truth was illustrated in the Hosannas of the children who welcomed the Lord on His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, while the chief priests and scribes hardened their hearts in contemptuous hostility, (Mat 21:15 ff.); but it has a wider scope than that particular instance.
The interpretation of ‘children and sucklings’ as ‘weak and humble believers’ (Mat 11:25), does not take account of the context. It may be a justifiable application of the words, but there is no hint that they are used figuratively, and it is of man as man that the Psalmist speaks here not less than in Psa 8:4 ff. Nor again must the words be understood in a general sense as the equivalent of 1Co 1:26 ff., though a part of the truth they contain illustrates the principle of divine economy there asserted.
‘Thine adversaries’ ‘the enemy and avenger’ must not be limited to the enemies of the nation by a reference to Psa 44:5; Psa 44:16. These no doubt are among the enemies of Jehovah; but all within the nation who oppose God’s purposes or question His Providence, the ‘wicked,’ the ‘scorners,’ (Psa 1:1) the ‘fools’ (Psa 14:1) are equally included. The ‘avenger’ in particular is one who usurps, in his own selfish interests, a judicial function which belongs to God alone (Deu 32:35; Nah 1:2).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Out of the mouth – This passage is quoted by the Saviour in Mat 21:16, to vindicate the conduct of the children in the temple crying, Hosanna to the Son of David, against the objections of the Pharisees and Scribes, and is perhaps alluded to by him in Mat 11:25. It is not affirmed, however, in either place, that it had an original reference to the times of the Messiah, or that it was meant, as used by the psalmist, to denote that children would be employed in the praise of God. The language sufficiently expressed the idea which the Saviour meant to convey; and the princip e or great truth involved in the psalm was applicable to the use which he made of it. The language would, perhaps, most naturally denote that infant children would give utterance to the praises of God, as the word mouth is used; but still it is not quite certain that the psalmist meant to convey that idea. It is probable, as we shall see, that he meant to say, God had conferred great honor on men – men so humble and weak that they might be compared to infants – by making them the means of overthrowing his enemies, thus showing the greatness of the divine condescension.
Babes – The word used here – olel – means properly a boy or child, and is usually connected with the word rendered sucklings, Jer 44:7; Lam 2:11. It is applied to a boy playing in the streets, Jer 6:11; Jer 9:21; asking for bread, Lam 4:4,; carried away captive, Lam 1:5; borne in the arms, Lam 2:20; and once to an unborn infant, Job 3:16. It refers here to a child, or to one who is like a child; and the idea is that those to whom it is applied were naturally unable to accomplish what was done by them, and that God had honored them, and had shown his own condescension, by making them the instruments of doing what they had done.
And sucklings – The word used here – yoneq – means a suckling, or a suckling child, a babe, Deu 32:25. It may be used literally, or employed to denote one who, in respect to strength, may be compared with a babe. The latter is probably the use made of it here.
Hast thou ordained strength – The word rendered ordained – yasad – means to found, to lay the foundation of, as of a building, Ezr 3:12; Isa 54:11. Then it means to establish, appoint, ordain, constitute, etc. The meaning here is, that in what is referred to, there was, as it were, some basis or foundation for what is called strength; that is, that what is here meant by strength rested on that as a foundation – to wit, on what was done by babes and sucklings. The word strength is rendered by the Septuagint as praise – ainon – and this is followed in the quotation in Mat 21:16. The same rendering is adopted in the Latin Vulgate and in the Syriac. The Hebrew word – oz – properly means strength, might; and the idea here would seem to be, that even from babes and sucklings – from those who were in themselves so feeble – God had taken occasion to accomplish a work requiring great power – to wit, in stilling the enemy and the avenger; that is, he had made those who were so feeble the instruments of accomplishing so great a work.
Because of thine enemies – In respect to thine enemies, or in order to accomplish something in regard to them, namely, in stilling them, as is immediately specified. The idea is, that there were those who rose up against God, and opposed his government and plans, and that God, in overcoming them, instead of putting forth his own power directly, had condescended to employ those who were weak and feeble like little children. Who these enemies were is not specified, but it is most natural to suppose that the reference is to some of the foes of the author of the psalm, who had been subdued by the prowess of his arm – by strength imparted to him, though in himself feeble as an infant.
That thou mightest still – Mightest cause to rest, or to cease. The original word – shabath – from which our word Sabbath is derived, means to rest; to lie by; to sit down; to sit still; and in the Hiphil, to cause to rest, or to cause to desist; to put an end to, Eze 34:10; Jos 22:25; Psa 46:9; Pro 18:18. Here it means to bring to an end the purposes of the enemy and the avenger; or, to cause him to desist from his designs.
The enemy – The enemy of the writer, regarded also as the enemy of God.
And the avenger – One who was endeavoring to take revenge, or who was acting as if determined to avenge some imaginary or real wrong. This, too, may refer either to some one who was seeking to revenge himself on the author of the psalm, or who, with the spirit of revenge, stood up against God, and had set himself against him.
In regard to the meaning of this verse, which I apprehend is the key to the whole psalm, and which contains the original germ of the psalm, or the thought which suggested the train of reflection in it, the following remarks may be made:
(a) There is no evidence that it was designed to refer originally to infants, or to children of any age, as stating anything which they would do in contributing to the praise of God, or as defeating sceptics and cavillers by their instinctive recognition of Gods being and glory, as is supposed by Calvin, DeWette, Prof. Alexander, and others. What is said here to be done by babes and sucklings has reference to some mighty enemy that had been overcome, not to anything which had been effected by the influence of the recognition of God by little children. It may be doubted, also, whether there is any such instinctive admiration of his works, even by the youngest children, as would be a strong defense against those who would question the being and glory of God, as is supposed by Prof. Alexander and others; and, at all events, that is not the manifest thought in the passage.
(b) Nor does it refer merely to praise as proceeding from children, as being that by which the effect referred to is accomplished. It is true that this idea is in the translation by the Septuagint, and true that it is so quoted in Mat 21:16, and true, also, that, as quoted by the Saviour, and as originally applied, it was adapted to the end which the Saviour had in view – to silence the chief priests and Scribes, who objected to the praises and hosannas of the children in the temple, for the psalm, on any interpretation, originally meant that God would accomplish good effects by those who were feeble and weak as children, and this principle was applicable to the praises of the children in the temple. But it does not appear that it originally referred to praise, either of children or others. It was to some manifested strength or prowess, by which some enemy, or some one who was seeking revenge, was overcome by the instrumentality of those who might be compared with children on account of their feebleness. From this the psalmist takes occasion to make his reflections on the exalted honor conferred in general on a creature so weak and feeble as man, especially in the wide dominion granted him over the inferior creation.
(c) This was, not improbably, some enemy of the author of the psalm; but who it was is not mentioned. David was often, however, in the course of his life, in such circumstances as are here supposed. Might it not refer to Goliath of Gath – a mighty giant, and a formidable enemy of the people of God, overcome by David, quite a stripling – a child? Would not the language of the psalm agree with that? Was it not true that he was an enemy and an avenger, or one socking revenge? and was it not true that God had, from one who was a mere child, ordained strength to subdue him?
(d) God had, then, condescended to honor one who was in himself weak and feeble as a child – who had no power of himself to accomplish what had been done.
(e) This was great condescension on the part of God; and especially was it to be so regarded when the eye looked out – as the author of the psalm appears to have done at the time of its composition – on the starry heavens, and contemplated their greatness and grandeur. What astonishing condescension was it that he who marshalled all those hosts should bestow such honor on man!
(f) It was not, therefore, unnatural to reflect on the greatness of the honor which God had actually bestowed on man, and the dignity to which God had exalted him; and the psalmist is thus, from a particular act of his condescension, led into the beautiful train of reflections on the exalted dominion of man with which the psalm concludes. Thus understood, the psalm has no orignal reference to the Messiah, but still it contains the principle on which the apostle reasons in Heb. 2, for the dignity of man is most seen in the Redeemer, and the actual conferring of all the dignity and honor referred to in the psalm – the actual and entire subjugation of the earth to man – will be found only in the universal dominion conceded to Him. At the same time, however, there is a foundation for all that the psalmist says in respect to the honor originally conferred on man, and in his actual dominion over the inferior creation.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 8:2
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength.
The strength of feeble instrumentalities
The sudden drop from the glories of the heavens to the babble and prattle of infancy and childhood is most impressive, and gives extraordinary force to the paradox that the latters witness is more powerful to silence gainsayers than that of the former. This conviction is expressed in a noble metaphor, which is blurred by the rendering strength. The word here rather means a strength, in the old use of the term–that is, a stronghold or fortress; and the image, somewhat more daring than cold western taste finds permissible, is that out of such frail material as childrens speech, God builds a tower of strength, which, like some border castle, will bridle and still the restless enemy. There seems no sufficient reason for taking children and sucklings in any but its natural meaning, however the reference to lowly believers may accord with the spirit of the Psalm. The childrens voices are taken as a type of feeble instruments, which are yet strong enough to silence the enemy. Childhood, with no language but a cry, is, if rightly regarded in its source, its budding possibilities, its dependence, its growth, a more potent witness to a more wondrous name than are all the stars. In like manner, man is mans clearest revelation of God. The more lowly he is, the more lofty his testimony. What are all His servants words but the babbling of children who do not know half the deep things they speak? Gods strongest fortress is built of weakest stones If the two parts of the Psalm are to be kept together, the theme of the compendious first portion must be the same as that of the second, namely, the glory of God as revealed by nature and man, but most chiefly by the latter, notwithstanding and even by his comparative feebleness. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
God glorified by childrens mouths
This Psalm sings of the grandeur of God as seen in creation. Our subject is His power displayed in human weakness.
I. There is a conflict. Our text speaks of enemies. We know who they are–the seed of the serpent. We know how it began, and it goes on, on the enemys part, in the same fashion. God uses weapons, mainly, of a moral and spiritual sort. He has used, and He can and will, when needful, use others.
II. In this conflict the weapons are very singular. Out of the mouth of babes, etc. Bring hither that sweet babe. See that little mouth–it challenges a kiss: and note with joy that God may use that little mouth as His conquering weapon against the devil. I have seen many an ancient cannon upon which were moulded in bronze the words, The last argument of kings. Yes, but the gracious arguments of the King of kings are sent home by a human mouth, and that of a little child. How Satan must be angered that his craft is not met by craft. Already the testimony of feeble men has been used as the great power of God. How are these weapons used? These strangely soft, yet sharp, feeble, yet mighty weapons–how are they used?
1. They smite by prayer. Children pray and they are heard.
2. By praise, which louvers the pride of His adversaries, while they cry Hosannah! and sing the praise of Jesus name.
3. And by testimony. We never know what one childs mouth can do. Christ is the Word, but these mouths supply the voices by which it is sounded forth. The Hebrew reads, hast Thou founded strength, as if the very foundation of the Churchs strength lay in the mouths that God moves to speak.
III. The warriors in this warfare are very special. Babes and sucklings (Mat 11:25; 1Co 1:1-31). Such are those who proclaim Christ in the world. Our Lord would get little honour from our race if all childrens voices were hushed, and all childlike spirits with them. Scribes and Pharisees never cry Hosannah! they are so busy binding on their phylacteries, washing their hands, and devouring widows houses. The first to cry Hosannah! are the children, and the next are those who are like them. Some say, To shout and sing is childrens work; so it is, and it is ours because we are children too. Now, note
IV. That the qualification of these warriors lies in their weak side. If it lay on the strong side, we should react, Out of the mouth of men of middle age, in the prime of life; of wise old men, who have had long experience, God ordaineth strength. But no, it is Out of the mouths of babes, etc. Thus the Lord puts the adversary to a perpetual reproach. He puts a child against His giant foe, and overcomes him. Our power to serve God lies on our weak side. He uses not our greatness, but our littleness. You know what the learned men say is the weak part of some of us–they put it something like this: We regret the preachers total inability to keep abreast of the times; his incapacity for modern thought; and his want of affection for the higher culture. That is our weakness. Yes, and our strength, and therefore we glory in it. I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. If all Gods servants will come to this, they will do far more good than by the so-called culture, which is nothing but the science of growing more weeds than usual I have desired to be a little child again, and wished that I had never heard of the existence of a quibbler. We hear now-a-days much of great thinkers; we prefer to be great believers. When the Church gets back to her simple faith in Jesus, she shall be qualified for victory. She shall vanquish the world. When she has thrown aside the wooden sword of carnal reason and has taken up the true Jerusalem blade of faith in God. Then because of all this, let me plead–
V. For a loving reverence for childhood. It seems to me that in the Lords battle there is always a babe in the forefront. The child found in the ark of bulrushes crushes the power of Pharaoh; the boy David, Goliath; and the still loftier story of the battle of the Lamb opens in like manner, Unto us a Child is born, etc. Never doubt the possibility of childrens conversions. Never despise them. Do not say, Oh, they are only a parcel of boys and girls! What if they are? May they not be a better parcel than some of you? If we could get the simple trustfulness of childhood back again, it would be a great gain. Let us not undervalue the praises or the service of children. That is a sweet vein. And Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child. In the victory of the Church it is written, A little child shall lead them. This city of ours is better evangelised by our Sunday schools than by all the rest of us put together. Little Mary and Tommy come back from school, and they find that father is hardly dressed; he has not been to a place of worship, but reading the Sunday paper; he dont want any of your singing and preaching. But the children begin to sing, and when dinner is over, they talk about What teacher said, and perhaps say something about the sermon. And so the father gets more singing and preaching than he bargained for. When they go to bed, they clasp their little hands and pray for their father, and he is obliged to hear them. Thus he gets praying as well as singing. The children are missionaries. They enter where others cannot. Tommy and Mary cant be shut out. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Little children Gods stronghold for troubled men
The common interpretation is, that God uses men who are, for weakness and insufficiency, as babes. Not that He literally uses babes and sucklings. This interpretation, so common in the Church, has never found favour in the synagogue. The Rabbis have a surprising love for children. They apply to children and schools all the Scripture verses that speak of flowers and gardens. The Talmud is full of stories which indicate this love for the little ones–e.g. There was once a great drought, and the most pious men wept and prayed for rain, but none came. At length an insignificant person prayed, and instantly the heavens covered themselves with clouds, and the rain fell, Who are you, they cried, whose prayers have alone prevailed? And he answered, I am a teacher of little children. Again, When God was about to give His law to His people, He asked them whom they would offer as guarantees that they would keep it holy, and they said, Abraham. God said, Abraham has sinned; Isaac, Jacob, Moses himself, they have all sinned; I cannot accept them. Then they said, May our children be witnesses and our guarantees? And God accepted them, even as it is written. From the mouth of the little babes has He preached His empire. The literal rendering is to he preferred. This verse is quoted in the Gospel by Matthew in a way which is quite decisive of the meaning. That we should thus understand them is shown–
1. From the general drift of the Psalm. The little children trust and love and are at peace, though men be so different.
2. From sympathy and agreement in this truth, which we find in other great poets, such as Wordsworth, Trailing clouds of glory, etc.
3. From our own experience, children suggest helpful, restful thoughts. If in his origin man is so pure and so divine, must he not be capable of a Divine strength and blessedness? (Samuel Cox, D. D.)
The useful ministry of children
In the Middle Ages lived the great theologian, the great Chancellor of the University of Paris, Jean Gerson, whose whole life was spent in storms of political struggle and religious strife, and when, after his long years of turbulent battle to beard popes and burn heretics, he took refuge in the silence and solitude of a monastic cell, his one joy was to gather the little children round his bed and bid them pray, Lord, have mercy on Thy poor servant, Jean Gerson; and even the strong combative soul of Luther melted to tenderness in the presence of little ones; and it was the voice of a little girl singing a hymn on a doorstep at Weimar that dispelled the heartache of Philip Melanchthon; and the agonies of the Scotch martyr Wishart were soothed when, to the taunt that he had a devil, the voice of a little child was heard replying, You man does not speak like a man that hath a devil; and George Whitfield was cheered and encouraged when he saw the little boys and girls who had gathered around his pulpit lifting to him in pity their tearful faces when the mobs pelted him with stones and dirt. And thus to these saints, and many more, has the trustfulness and simplicity of little children been, as it was to the heart of David, a strength made perfect in weakness to still their own enemies and the enemies of God. And which of us personally has not felt from the reminiscences of his own childhood, if, indeed, a pang of shame to think that we are in some things farther from heaven than then, yet also an inspiration of hope and strength? (Dean Farrar, D. D.)
A prophecy of the Incarnation
These words are alleged by our blessed Saviour (Mat 21:16), to prove that Christ must reign till He has subdued all His enemies under His feet. He that reads this whole Psalm would think it were nothing else but a description of mans excellency, whom God had made next to the angels in dignity, and given him dominion over all things He had made. How is that which is a description of mankind in general, a prophecy of Christ in special! The key of the interpretation of this Psalm is to be sought in the words, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, etc.
1. The meaning of the words as they stand in the Psalm. The whole drift of the Psalm is to praise and glorify God for the dignity wherewith Fie hath invested man. This glory and honour is seen in two particulars.
(1) In that God hath ordained that weak and feeble creature man to subdue and conquer His enemies.
(2) In that He hath made man the lord of all His creatures.
2. The purport of these words was fulfilled in our blessed Saviours incarnation. The devil by sin brought mankind into thraldom, and became the prince of this world, himself with his angels being worshipped and served everywhere as gods. To vanquish and exterminate this enemy, and redeem the world from this miserable thraldom, the Son of God took on Him, not the nature of angels, but the nature of weak and despicable man, that grows from a babe and suckling. And the Son of Man enables also other sons of men, His disciples and ministers, to do the like in His name.
3. This victory, as for the event, so for the manner of achieving it, is agreeable to our prophecy. Forasmuch as Christ our General nor fights, nor conquers by force of arms, but by the power of His Word and Spirit, which is the power of His mouth,” according to the text, Out of the mouth, etc. (Joseph Mede, B. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings] We have seen how our Lord applied this passage to the Jewish children, who, seeing his miracles, cried out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” Mt 21:16. And we have seen how the enemy and the avenger-the chief priests and the scribes-were offended because of these things; and as the Psalm wholly concerns Jesus Christ, it is most probable that in this act of the Jewish children the prophecy had its primary fulfilment; and was left to the Jews as a witness and a sign of the Messiah, which they should have acknowledged when our Lord directed their attention to it.
There is also a very obvious sense in which the mouths of babes and sucklings show forth the praises of God; viz., the means by which they derive their first nourishment. In order to extract the milk from the breasts of their mothers, they are obliged to empty their own mouths entirely of air, that the eternal air, pressing on the breast, may force the milk through its proper canals into the mouth of the child, where there is no resistance, the child having extracted all air from its own mouth which in this case resembles a perfectly exhausted receiver on the plate of an airpump; and the action of sucking is performed on the same principle that the receiver is exhausted by the working of the airpump. Of this curious pneumatic action the child is capable the moment it breathes; and, its strength considered, performs it as perfectly the first hour as it does in any other period of its childhood or infancy. What does all this argue? Why instinct. And pray what is instinct? You cannot tell. But here is an operation by which the pure Boylean vacuum is made; and this by an infant without any previous teaching! Do you suppose that this is an easy operation, and that it requires little skill? You are mistaken. You have done this yourself while an infant, under the sole guidance of God. Can you do it now? You are startled! Shall I tell you what appears to you a secret? There is not one in ten thousand adults, who have had their first nourishment from the breasts of their mothers who can perform the same operation again! And those who have had occasion to practise it have found great difficulty to learn that art which, in the first moment of their birth, they performed to perfection! Here is the finger of God; and here, out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, he has ordained such a strength of evidence and argument in favour of his being, his providence, and his goodness, as is sufficient to still and confound every infidel and atheist in the universe, all the enemies of righteousness, and all the vindicators of desperate and hopeless causes and systems.
The words may also be applied to the apostles and primitive preachers of the Gospel; to the simple and comparatively unlearned followers of Christ, who, through his teaching, were able to confound the wise among the Jews, and the mighty among the heathens: and in this sense our Lord uses the term babes, Mt 11:25: “I thank thee, O Father-because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes.”
We may also witness, in the experience of multitudes of simple people who have been, by the preaching of the Gospel, converted from the error of their ways, such a strength of testimony in favour of the work of God in the heart, and his effectual teaching in the mind, as is calculated to still, or reduce to silence, every thing but bigotry and prejudice, neither of which has either eyes or ears. This teaching, and these changing or converting influences, come from God. They are not acquired by human learning; and those who put this in the place of the Divine teaching never grow wise to salvation. To enter into the kingdom of heaven, a MAN must become as a little child.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Babes and sucklings; either,
1. Properly such; for there is much of Gods glory seen in infants, in their conception and strange progress from small and contemptible beginnings, in their preservation and nourishment in the dark cell of the womb, in their bringing forth and bringing up, in providing breasts and milk for them, and keeping them from innumerable dangers, from which they are utterly unable to keep themselves. But this, though it sets forth Gods praise, yet how it stills the enemy and avenger seems not clear. Or rather,
2. Metaphorically so called, babes not so much in age and years, as in disposition and condition; weak, and foolish, and contemptible, and harmless persons, who are very frequently called babes or children, as 2Ch 13:7; Pro 1:4; Ecc 10:6; Isa 3:4; Mat 18:3; Eph 4:14, &c. For such are very unfit to grapple with an enemy; and therefore when such persons conquer the most powerful and malicious enemies, it must needs exceedingly confound and silence them, and mightily advance the glory of God; as indeed it did, when such mean and obscure persons as the apostles, and ministers, and disciples of Christ were, did maintain and propagate the gospel in spite of all the wit, and power, and rage of their enemies. See 1Co 1:25,27-29. And of such babes as these Christ himself expounds this place, Mat 21:16; of which more, God willing, upon that place.
Hast thou ordained strength; or, thou hast founded (or confirmed, or established, or firmly settled, or fitted, or perfected, as it is rendered by the LXX. and vulgar Latin here, and by St. Matthew, Mat 21:16, i.e. perfectly or firmly settled) strength; by which he seems to understand either,
1. The celebration or praise of his strength or power, by comparing this with Mat 21:16; where it is rendered praise. So it is only a metonymy of the adjunct, which is most frequent in Scripture and all authors. And so the word strength seems to be taken Psa 29:1; 96:7. Or,
2. A strong and mighty kingdom; the abstract being put for the concrete, than which nothing is more frequent; even the kingdom of Christ, or his gospel, which is oft called the arm or power of God, as Psa 110:2; Isa 53:1; 1Co 1:18,24. And this kingdom being an everlasting, and invincible, and all conquering kingdom, Dan 2:44, it is no wonder it is here called strength. And this gospel or kingdom is here said to be founded or established, not by the hands or valiant actions of men of might, as other kingdoms are; but merely by the mouths of babes, &c., i.e. by the words and discourses of Christs apostles and disciples; which is justly observed and celebrated here as a wonderful work of God.
That thou mightest still, i.e. silence, and confound, and conquer, either by convincing and converting them, or by destroying them.
The enemy; the enemies of God and of his people, the devil, the head of them, whose kingdom and power is abolished by this means, and all men who fight under his banner against God and Christ and his members. The avenger; which title most truly and fitly agrees, first to the devil, who being sentenced by God to eternal flames, and conquered and tormented by Christ, maketh it his great business to revenge himself, which because he cannot do upon God and Christ, he endeavours to do it upon their servants and children; and next to all these men who are his vassals and espouse his quarrel; who also are provoked, and conceive, though falsely, that they are injured by the gospel, and by the preachers, professors, and practisers of it, and therefore seek to revenge themselves of them; whereof we have an eminent instance, Rev 11:10. Compare Heb 11:37.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. So manifest are God’sperfections, that by very weak instruments He conclusively sets forthHis praise. Infants are not only wonderful illustrations of God’spower and skill, in their physical constitution, instincts, and earlydeveloped intelligence, but also in their spontaneous admiration ofGod’s works, by which they put to shame
stillor, silence menwho rail and cavil against God. A special illustration of the passageis afforded in Mt 21:16, whenour Saviour stilled the cavillers by quoting these words; forthe glories with which God invested His incarnate Son, even in Hishumiliation, constitute a most wonderful display of the perfectionsof His wisdom, love, and power. In view of the scope of Ps8:4-8 (see below), this quotation by our Saviour may be regardedas an exposition of the prophetical character of the words.
sucklingsamong theHebrews were probably of an age to speak (compare 1Sa 1:22-24;Mar 7:27).
ordainedfounded, orprepared, and perfected, which occurs in Mt21:16; taken from the Septuagint, has the same meaning.
strengthIn thequotation in the New Testament, praise occurs as the consequence oreffect put for the cause (compare Ps118:14).
avengeras in Ps44:16; one desirous of revenge, disposed to be quarrelsome, andso apt to cavil against God’s government.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings,…. Not literally such, though the Jewish writers e generally so understand it; as do some Christian interpreters, who explain it of the wonderful formation, nourishment, and growth of infants; and of the marvellous care of God in providing the breast for them; in filling it with milk, and teaching them to suck; which, being observed by men, occasion praise to God, to the confusion of atheists and infidels. But this is no other than what is common to brute creatures: rather the words are to be understood in a figurative sense. So Jarchi applies them to the priests and Levites in the temple: but it is best to interpret them of the apostles and first preachers of the Gospel; and of such who received it and professed it; who were in their own eyes, and in the eyes of the world, as babes and sucklings, Mt 11:25;
hast thou ordained strength: by which is meant the Gospel, the rod of Christ’s strength, and the power of God unto salvation; and which being made useful for the conversion of souls, is the cause of much praise and thanksgiving to God: this, by the mouths and means of the apostles and first ministers of the word, God ordained, or “founded” f, settled and established in the world, notwithstanding all the opposition made unto it; so that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it, to root it out of the world; but it will continue the everlasting Gospel;
because of thine enemies: either for the sake of subduing them, and bringing them to the obedience of Christ, that is, the elect of God, who are before conversion enemies to God and Christ; or rather for the sake of confounding the implacable enemies of God and Christ, and of the cause and interest of religion. In order to which God has made choice of instruments the most mean and despicable, 1Co 1:26; and God’s end in this more particularly is expressed in the following clause;
that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger; Satan, the enemy of mankind, the adversary of Christ personal and mystical, who is filled with envy, wrath, and malice, against Christ and his people; him, by the, means of the Gospel and the ministry of it, God has “caused to cease” g, as the word may be rendered; not as to his being, but as to his power and authority, in the Gentile world; out of which, to his great mortification, he was cast, by the mouth and ministry of babes and sucklings. These words are applied by Christ to the children in the temple, crying Hosanna to the son of David, out of whose mouths God perfected the praise of the Messiah; and by which, and Christ’s defence of them, the Scribes and Pharisees, the mortal enemies of Christ, and who wanted to revenge themselves on him, were silenced and stilled,
Mt 21:15.
e Aben Ezra R. Moses in ibid. Kimchi, Obadiah Gaon, Ben Melech in loc. f “fundasti”, Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Cocceius, so the Targum “fundatam disposuisti”, Junius Tremellius, Rivetus. g “ad eessare faciendum”, Montanus, Vatablus, Piscator “ut facias cessare”, Gejerus so Ainsworth.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He now enters upon the proof of the subject which he had undertaken to discourse upon, (132) declaring, that the providence of God, in order to make itself known to mankind, does not wait till men arrive at the age of maturity, but even from the very dawn of infancy shines forth so brightly as is sufficient to confute all the ungodly, who, through their profane contempt of God, would wish to extinguish his very name. (133)
The opinion of some, who think that מפי, mephi, out of the mouth, signifies כפי, kephi, in the mouth, cannot be admitted, because it improperly weakens the emphasis which David meant to give to his language and discourse. The meaning, therefore, is, that God, in order to commend his providence, has no need of the powerful eloquence of rhetoricians, (134) nor even of distinct and formed language, because the tongues of infants, although they do not as yet speak, are ready and eloquent enough to celebrate it. But it may be asked, In what sense does he speak of children as the proclaimers of the glory of God? In my judgment, those reason very foolishly who think that this is done when children begin to articulate, because then also the intellectual faculty of the soul shows itself. Granting that they are called babes, or infants, even until they arrive at their seventh year, how can such persons imagine that those who now speak distinctly are still hanging on the breast? Nor is there any more propriety in the opinion of those who say, that the words for babes and sucklings are here put allegorically for the faithful, who, being born again by the Spirit of God, no longer retain the old age of the flesh. What need, then, is there to wrest the words of David, when their true meaning is so clear and suitable? He says that babes and sucklings are advocates sufficiently powerful to vindicate the providence of God. Why does he not entrust this business to men, but to show that the tongues of infants, even before they are able to pronounce a single word, speak loudly and distinctly in commendation of God’s liberality towards the human race? Whence is it that nourishment is ready for them as soon as they are born, but because God wonderfully changes blood into milk? Whence, also, have they the skill to suck, but because the same God has, by a mysterious instinct, fitted their tongues for doing this? David, therefore, has the best reason for declaring, that although the tongues of all, who have arrived at the age of manhood, should become silent, the speechless mouth of infants is sufficiently able to celebrate the praise of God. And when he not only introduces babes as witnesses and preachers of God’s glory, but also attributes mature strength to their mouth, the expression is very emphatic. It means the same thing as if he had said, These are invincible champions of God who, when it comes to the conflict, can easily scatter and discomfit the whole host of the wicked despisers of God, and those who have abandoned themselves to impiety. (135) We should observe against whom he imposes upon infants the office of defending the glory of God, namely, against the hardened despisers of God, who dare to rise up against heaven to make war upon God, as the poets have said, in olden time, of the giants. (136)
Since, therefore, these monsters, (137) with furious violence, pluck up by the roots, and overthrow whatever godliness and the fear of God (138) there is in the world, and through their hardihood endeavor to do violence to heaven itself, David in mockery of them brings into the field of battle against them the mouths of infants, which he says are furnished with armor of sufficient strength, and endued with sufficient fortitude, to lay their intolerable pride (139) in the dust. He, therefore, immediately subjoins, On account of the adversaries God is not under the necessity of making war with great power to overcome the faithful, who willingly hearken to his voice, and manifest a ready obedience, as soon as he gives the smallest intimation of his will. The providence of God, I confess, shines forth principally for the sake of the faithful, because they only have eyes to behold it. But as they show themselves willing to receive instruction, God teaches them with gentleness; while, on the other hand, he arms himself against his enemies, who never submit themselves to him but by constraint. Some take the word founded as meaning, that, in the very birth or generation of man, God lays foundations for manifesting his own glory. But this sense is too restricted. I have no doubt that the word is put for to establish, as if the prophet had said, God needs not strong military forces to destroy the ungodly; instead of these, the mouths of children are sufficient for his purpose. (140)
To put to flight. Interpreters differ with respect to the word השבית, hashebith. It properly signifies, to cause to cease; for it is in the conjugation Hiphil of the neuter verb שבת, shabath, which signifies to cease. But it is often taken metaphorically for to destroy, or to reduce to nothing, because destruction or death brings to an end. Others translate it, that thou mayest restrain, as if David meant that they were put to silence, so that they desisted from cursing or reviling God. As, however, there is here a beautiful allusion to a hostile combat, as I have a little before explained, I have preferred the military phrase, to put to flight. But it is asked, How does God put to flight his enemies, who, by their impious slanders and detractions, do not cease to strike at, and violently to rush forward to oppose all the proofs of a Divine Providence which daily manifest themselves? (141) I answer, They are not routed or overthrown in respect of their being compelled to become more humble and unassuming; but because, with all their blasphemies and canine barkings, they continue in the state of abasement and confusion to which they have been brought. To express the whole in a few words: so early as the generation or birth of man the splendor of Divine Providence is so apparent, that even infants, who hang upon their mothers’ breasts, can bring down to the ground the fury of the enemies of God. Although his enemies may do their utmost, and may even burst with rage a hundred times, it is in vain for them to endeavor to overthrow the strength which manifests itself in the weakness of infancy. A desire of revenge reigns in all unbelievers, while, on the other hand, God governs his own children by the spirit of meekness and benignity: (142) but, according to the scope of the present passage, the prophet applies this epithet, the avenger, to the despisers of God, who are not only cruel towards man, but who also burn with frantic rage to make war even against God himself.
I have now discharged the duty of a faithful interpreter in opening up the mind of the prophet. There is only one difficulty remaining, which is this, that Christ (Mat 21:16) seems to put upon this passage a different meaning, when he applies it to children ten years old. But this difficulty is easily removed. Christ reasons from the greater to the less in this manner; If God has appointed children even in infancy the vindicators of his glory, there is no absurdity in his making them the instruments of showing forth his praise by their tongues after they have arrived at the age of seven years and upwards.
(132) The doctrine proposed to be illustrated in this psalm is the excellence of God’s name, or his power, goodness, and other perfections, as manifested in his providence and government of the world; and this the Psalmist states in the first verse. He then proceeds to establish and illustrate this doctrine: 1. From the case of infants; 2. From the starry heavens; and, 3. From God’s being mindful of man, and visiting him, notwithstanding his unworthiness, sinfulness, and misery.
(133) “ Qui voudroyent que son nom fust totalement aboli de la memoire des hommes.” — Fr. “Who would wish that his name were totally extinguished from the memory of men.”
(134) “ Que Dieu, pour magnifier et exalter sa providence, n’a pas besoin de la rhetorique et eloquence de grans orateurs.” — Fr. “That God, in order to magnify and exalt his providence, has no need of the rhetoric and eloquence of great orators.”
(135) “ Et desconfire toute l’armee des meschans contempteurs de Dieu, et gens adonnez a impiete.” — Fr.
(136) “ Comme les poetes ont dit anciennement des geans.” — Fr.
(137) “ Cyclopes.” — Latin version. “ Ces monstres.” — French version.
(138) “ Et crainte de Dieu.” — Fr.
(139) “ Leur orgueil intolerable.” — Fr.
(140) “ Comme si le prophete fust dit que Dieu se sert des bouches des petis enfans, comme d’une puissante armee et bien duite a la guerre et qu’elles luy suffisent pour destruire et exterminer les meschans.” — Fr. “As if the prophet had said, God makes use of the mouths of little children as of a powerful and well-fitted army, and these suffice him to destroy and exterminate the wicked.”
(141) “ Lesquels par leurs mesdisances et detractions plenes de sacrilege ne cessent de heurter et choquer impetueusement encontre tout ce en quoy la providence de Dieu se manifeste journellement.” — Fr.
(142) “ De douceur et benignite.” — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) Babes and sucklings.Better, young children and sucklings. A regular phrase to describe children from one to three years old (1Sa. 15:3; 1Sa. 22:19). The yonek, or suckling, denotes an earlier stage of the nursing period (which, with Hebrew mothers, sometimes extended over three years, 2Ma. 7:27, and on Talmudic authority could not be less than two years) than the lel, which is applied to children able to play about on the streets (Jer. 9:21; Lam. 4:4). (See Dr. Ginsburg on Eastern Manners and Customs: Bible Educator, i. 29.)
Ordained strength . . .At the first glance, the LXX. translation, as quoted in Mat. 21:16 (see Note, New Testament Commentary), Thou hast perfected praise, seems to be correct, from a comparison with Psa. 29:1, where strength translates the same Hebrew word, and plainly means homage. This expresses, doubtless, part of the thought of the poet, that in a childs simple and innocent wonder lies the truest worship; that God accomplishes the greatest things and reveals His glory by means of the weakest instrumentsa thought which was seized upon by our Lord to condemn the want of spirituality in the scribes and Pharisees. But the context, speaking the language of war, seems to demand the primitive meaning, stronghold or defence. The truth which the Bible proclaims of the innate divinity of man, his essential likeness to God, is the principal subject of the poet; and in the princely heart of innocence of an unspoilt child he sees, as Wordsworth saw, its confirmation. Trailing clouds of glory do we come, From God who is our home. Such a proof is strong even against the noisy clamour of apostate men, who rebel against the Divine government, and lay upon God the blame of their aberration from His order. His merry babbling mouth provides a defence of the Creator against all the calumnies of the foe (Ewald). Others think rather of the faculty of speech, and the wonder and glory of it.
The avenger.Properly, him who avenges himself.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. Out of the mouth of babes The Hebrew denotes a child in general, whether infant proper, or, more commonly, one that can “ask bread,” (Lam 4:4,) or play in the street, (Jer 6:11; Jer 9:21.)
Sucklings A child under three years, the period of nursing by Hebrew mothers. 2Ma 7:27 .
Ordained Literally, laid the foundation, shows clearly the children here meant are able to speak, and receive some elemental knowledge. Compare Mat 11:25.
Strength We must retain the sense of power, might, and not praise, as some interpreters, but which the Hebrew will not bear. The antithesis, the apparent paradox, lies between the proverbial impotence of children and their being chosen of God to oppose and overthrow the powers of this world. See Mat 21:16. This is not to be taken figuratively, as in 1Co 1:27, but literally; childhood’s faith and piety shall confound infidelity.
That thou mightest still That thou mightest cause to cease, or put to silence.
Enemy and the avenger “Those meant are the fierce and calumniating opponents of revelation.” Delitzsch. The “avenger” is one that is inspirited to cursing and vengeance. This verse implies a knowledge of human enmity against God, and of the divine ways with men, which indicate an experienced age in the author.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 8:2. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, &c. The first and most natural signification of these words is an allusion to the case of David himself; who, in comparison of Goliath, was but a mere child; and God’s enabling him to gain a complete victory over this gigantic champion, was not only a proper punishment for his defiance of the armies of the living God, but likewise sufficient to make the whole army of the Philistines adore the omnipotence of the God of Israel in reverential silence. Our Saviour applies it to himself, Mat 21:16., and it may with great propriety be applied to the first preachers of the Gospel; who, though ignorant, illiterate, and void either of power or interest, triumphed over the wisdom of the wise, and put to silence the cavils of the subtle: though some imagine that this quotation was applied by Christ to children, literally such; yet it is plain, that the Scribes and Pharisees were not offended so much at the people, as at their expressions: When they cried Hosanna to the Son of David, they were displeased, and said unto Jesus, Hearest thou what these say? i.e. “How they ascribe the power of salvation to thee, who art but a mere man? Is that acclamation, Hosanna, which signifies save now, and is often used in our addresses to God, fit to be given to thee?” Our Saviour replies, “Yes: for have ye not read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength? and though, in this low and abject state, I appear as a man, and seem, in my present condition, to be as incapable of such power as a sucking child is of the greatest enterprise; yet am I to save my faithful disciples, and to subdue the enemies of my mission, according to the sense of that prophetic passage.” Though the Evangelist cites these verses according to the Septuagint version, Thou hast perfected praise; yet it is most probable that our Saviour used the Hebrew phrase, which renders the sense clearer; and, though the persons crying Hosanna are called children in our version, yet it is most likely that they were grown persons; for they were the persons or multitude who conducted Jesus to Jerusalem. The Greek word which we render children, is generally applied to menial servants of all ages; and in Mat 14:2 it is applied to Herod’s courtiers, or servants. See Mede’s Discourses, and 2Ki 2:23.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The best of all comments on this blessed verse is what Jesus himself hath given, Mat 21:15-16 . And as in the person of our glorious Head, so in the instance of all his redeemed, how is the praise of Jehovah perfected, when babes in Christ are brought out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son? How is the accursed enemy and the avenger overthrown and discomfited in the instance of every poor sinner made willing in the day of God’s power. Here surely the prey is taken from the mighty, and the lawful captive delivered. Isa 49:24-25 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 8:2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
Ver. 2. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings ] For whom God hath filled two bottles of milk against they come into the world; and in whose birth sustenance, and wonderful protection (for Puerilitas est periculorum pelagus ), but especially in their holy and religious education, much of God’s providence, power, and goodness is clearly seen and set forth to the conviction of the vilest atheists. So that, besides the earth and the heavens, we have very infants preachers of God’s praises, and more effectual orators than ever were Isocrates, Demosthenes, Pericles, &c.; so our Saviour understands it, Mat 21:9 , where the children sang hosanna when the Pharisees were silent. It is sometimes seen, that
Ipsa Deo blandos fundant cunabula flores.
John Baptist sprang in the womb for joy of Jesus. Jerome writeth of Paula, that noble matron, that she rejoiced in nothing more than this, That she heard her niece Paula sing Hallelujah in her cradle, In cunis balbutienti lingua Halleluiah cantare (Hier.). Bellarmine tells us, out of Theodoret, that the children of Samosatena, playing with at tennis in the midst of the market, did solemnly cast it into the fire, because it had but touched the foot of the ass whereon Lucius the heretical bishop rode. The children of Merindal so posed and answered one another, in matters of religion, before the persecuting bishop of Cavaillon, that a religious man that stood by said unto the bishop, I must needs confess that I have often been at the disputation of the doctors in Sorbon, but yet I never learned so much as I have done by hearing these young children (Acts and Mon. fol. 865). When Mr Blecter, the bishop’s chaplain, told Mr Wiseheart, the Scotch martyr, that he had a devil in him, and the spirit of error; a child that stood by answered him, saying, A devil cannot speak such words as yonder man speaketh. At the burning of John Laurence at Colchester, as he was sitting in the fire (for stand he could not, he had been so hardly used in the prison), the young children came about the fire, and cried, Lord, strengthen thy servant, and keep thy promise. Here was strength out of the mouths of little ones, taught early to speak the language of Canaan. Sed vae, vae parentibus illis (saith Polanus on the text), But woe, woe to those parents who make their children (whom God would have to be witnesses of his majesty) witnesses of their impiety, pride, and vanity.
That thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Out of, &c. Quoted in Mat 21:16.
babes. Referring to his own youth. A still more definite reference to 1Sa 17:14, 1Sa 17:33, 1Sa 17:42, 1Sa 17:55, 1Sa 17:56.
ordained = appointed. Hebrew. yasad.
strength. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Subject) for the praise due for what is put forth by it.
enemies = adversaries.
enemy = foe.
avenger = the revenger.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Out: Mat 11:25, Mat 21:16, Luk 10:21, 1Co 1:27
ordained: Heb. founded
strength: Psa 84:5-7, Isa 40:31, Amo 5:9, 2Co 12:9, 2Co 12:10
still: Psa 4:4, Psa 46:10, Exo 11:7, Exo 15:16, Jos 2:9-11, 1Sa 2:9, Isa 37:20-29, Isa 37:36-38, Hab 2:20
the enemy: Psa 44:16
Reciprocal: 2Ki 22:1 – eight years old Ezr 8:21 – for our little ones Psa 9:6 – O thou Psa 13:2 – enemy Psa 148:12 – young men
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
21:16These envious men called the attention of Jesus to the cries of the children as if to suggest that he stop the disturbance, but in reality as an expression of their displeasure caused by their envy. The quotation Jesus made is in Psalms 8:2, and in both places the words babes and suck-lings have about the same meaning. Both mean small children but the first denotes those who are somewhat the older of the two. The simple, childlike trust that a little one shows in the existence and goodness of God is one of the sweetest things that can be seen in this world. Even those still young enough to be feeding at the breast will manifest characteristics that can be explained only by the fact that they are the handiwork of a gracious Creator.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Psa 8:2. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Children in age, and children in power and knowledge, persons comparatively ignorant and foolish, weak and contemptible, but simple, humble, and teachable; thou hast ordained strength Hebrew, , jissadta gnoz, literally, hast founded, or constituted strength, hast laid a foundation for effecting, and hast actually effected, great and important purposes. Bishop Patrick, Dr. Hammond, Dr. Dodd, and some others think that there is an allusion in these words to the case of David himself, who, though but a mere child, in comparison of Goliath, yet, being assisted by the power of God, gained a complete victory over that gigantic champion; which was not only a proper punishment of his proud boastings, and defiance of the armies of the living God, but likewise sufficient to make the whole army of the Philistines acknowledge and adore the omnipotence of the God of Israel in reverential silence, at the same time that it discomfited and put them to flight. Our Lord, however, applies the words to little children in the temple, and to the poor and the illiterate people, who, being simple, teachable, and unprejudiced, acknowledged Jesus for the Messiah, and cried, Hosannah to the son of David, when the learned scribes, and self-righteous, self- sufficient Pharisees, despised and rejected him. The passage may also be applied, and, probably, was primarily intended to be applied, to the apostles and first preachers of the gospel, who, though looked upon but as babes, unlearned and ignorant men, Act 4:13, mean and despicable, destitute both of power and interest; yet triumphed over all the wisdom of the wise and the power of the mighty; and overthrew the devils kingdom, as the walls of Jericho were thrown down by the sounding of rams horns. Thus the gospel, called the arm of the Lord, and the rod of his strength, has wrought wonders in different ages, not out of the mouths of philosophers or orators, or by means of politicians or statesmen, but by persons viewed by the world as babes in literature and human attainments, and who actually lay under very great disadvantages. And the power of God still brings to pass great things in his church by very weak and unlikely instruments; and confounds the noble, wise, and mighty, by the base, and weak, and foolish things of the world, that no flesh may glory in his presence, but the excellence of the power may the more evidently appear to be of God, and not of man, 1Co 1:27-28. Because of thine enemies Because they are insolent and haughty; that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger Mightest put them to silence and put them to shame; and so be justly avenged on the avengers: see Act 4:14; Act 6:10. The devil is the great enemy and avenger, and by the preaching of the gospel he was in a great measure stilled, his oracles were silenced, the advocates of his cause were confounded, and unclean spirits themselves not suffered to speak.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
8:2 Out of the mouth {a} of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
(a) Though the wicked would hide God’s praises, yet the very babes are sufficient witnesses of the same.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
In addition to the earth and the heavens, even the weakest human beings bring praise to their Creator. David’s point was that even small children acknowledge and honor God, whereas older, more sophisticated adults often deny Him (cf. Mat 21:16). God has chosen to use the weak things of this world to correct the strong (cf. 1Co 1:27). Reportedly the young child of an atheist couple once asked his parents, "Do you think God knows we don’t believe in Him?"