Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 10:18
To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.
18. So justice will be done to the orphan ( Psa 10:14) and the downtrodden (Psa 9:9); that mortal man which is of the earth may be terrible no more: may no more insolently defy God, and do violence to men. Cp. Psa 9:19-20; Psa 37:35, note.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
To judge the fatherless – That is, to vindicate the orphan; to rescue him from the hand of those who would oppress and wrong him. In other words, the psalmist prays that God would manifest himself in his real and proper character as the vindicator of the fatherless (see the note at Psa 10:14), or of those who are represented by the fatherless – the feeble and the helpless.
And the oppressed – Those who are downtrodden, crushed, and wronged. See the note at Psa 9:9.
That the man of the earth – literally, the man from the earth; that is, that man springing from the earth, or created of the dust Gen 2:7 – man frail, short-lived, feeble – should no more set up an unjust authority, trample on the rights of his fellow-worms, or suppose that he is superior to his fellow-creatures.
May no more oppress – Margin, terrify. The original word means properly to terrify, to make afraid; that is, in this place, to terrify by his harsh and oppressive conduct. It is to be observed here that the original word – arats – has a very close resemblance in sound to the word rendered earth – ‘erets – and that this is commonly supposed to be an instance of the figure of speech called paronomasia, when the words have the same sound, but are of different significations. It is not certain, however, that there is in this case any designed resemblance, but it is rather to be supposed that it was accidental. In regard to the prayer in this verse, it may be proper to observe that there is always occasion to utter it, and will be until the Gospel shall pervade the hearts of all men. One of the most common forms of wickedness in our world is oppression – the oppression of the fatherless, of the poor, of the dependent – the oppression of the subjects of government, and the oppression of the slave. One of the most affecting things in regard to this is, that it is done by a man made from the earth, – a child of dust – a creature composed of clay – of no better mould than others, and soon to return to the dust from which he was taken. Yet frail and weak man strives to feel that he is better than those clothed with a skin not colored like his own, or those born in a more bumble condition of life; and, in defiance of all the laws of God, and all the rights of his fellow-men, he crushes and grinds them to the earth. For such sins God will interpose, and he will yet show himself to be the helper of the fatherless and the oppressed. May He hasten the day when oppression and wrong shall cease in the world!
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. That the man of the earth may no more oppress.] I believe the Hebrew will be better translated thus: “That he may not add any more to drive away the wretched man from the land.” Destroy the influence of the tyrant; and let him not have it again in his power to add even one additional act of oppression to those which he has already committed.
How many for the sake of their religion, and because they would serve God with a pure conscience, have, by wicked lords, proud and arrogant land owners, been driven off their farms, turned out of their houses, deprived of their employments, and exposed to wretchedness! While they served the devil, and were regardless of their souls, they had quiet and peaceable possession; but when they turned to the Lord, and became sober and industrious, attended the means of grace, read their Bible, and were frequent in prayer, then the vile man of the earth drove them from their dwellings! In the sight of such Philistines, piety towards God is the highest of crimes. What a dreadful account must these give to the Judge of the fatherless and the oppressed!
ANALYSIS OF THE TENTH PSALM
This Psalm divides itself into three parts: –
I. A complaint against the enemies of the godly.
II. A narration of the enemies’ malice.
III. A petition to be delivered from them.
I. 1. He complains of God’s absence, which is quickened by the question, 1. “Why standest thou afar off?” 2. “Why hidest thou myself in times of trouble?” Ps 10:1.
II. He complains of the enemies: “The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor.”
These he describes by eight characters: –
1. Insolence, pride, and the effect, persecution of good men. Having acquired dignity, places of honour, and riches, they become persecutors, they conspire to oppress good men. “Let them be taken in their own devices,” Ps 10:2. Amen.
2. The wicked man glories in mischief which is a sign of extreme malice: “The wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire,” Ps 10:3.
3. He applauds and encourages others in their rapine and spoil, to which they are moved by their covetousness: “He blesseth the covetous,” Ps 10:3.
4. He contemns God and man. 1. MAN. He never thinks of being called to an account: God’s “judgments are out of his sight, and he puffs at his enemies.” 2. GOD. Him he reverences not: “He will not seek after God; neither is he in all his thoughts,” Ps 10:4-5.
5. He lives in profane security: “He saith in his heart, I shall never be moved; I shall never be in adversity;” I am elevated beyond the reach of misfortune, Ps 10:6.
6. He is full of falsehood and deceit: “His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and fraud.” He will not stick at an oath. He will curse himself; and take God to witness in his exactions, that he is doing nothing but what is right, Ps 10:7.
7. He is cruel. See the 9th and 10th verses, where he is compared to a thief, an archer, an assassin, a lion, c. He is bad in heart, Ps 10:6 in tongue, Ps 10:7; in work, Ps 10:8; Ps 10:10: – he is altogether bad.
8. He is a close atheist: “He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten; he hideth his face, and will never see it:” which is the cause of his cruelty, falsehood, security, c., Ps 10:11.
III. The THIRD part is a petition to be freed from the wicked man: “Arise, O Lord, lift up thy hand, forget not the humble,” Ps 10:12. To induce God thus to act, he uses two arguments:-
1. That thereby God would assert his own glory. For why should the wicked be suffered thus to blaspheme? “Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? He hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it,” Ps 10:13.
2. The second argument is taken from God’s nature and work. 1. In punishing wicked men. 2. In defending the helpless. “Surely thou hast seen it for thou beholdest mischief and spite to requite it,” c., Ps 10:14.
Then he returns to his prayer, and enforces his second argument taken from the justice and office of God:
1. That he would deprive the wicked of his power and strength: “Break thou the arm of the wicked – seek out his wickedness till thou find none,” Ps 10:15. Let none escape-let them appear no more.
2. That he would hear and defend the righteous. Be to thy people what thou hast been in times past. 1. “The Lord is King for ever and ever.” 2. He had expelled the Canaanites before them: “The heathen are perished out of the land.” 3. “Thou hast heard the desire of the humble,” Ps 10:16-17.
Upon which he concludes with profession of strong confidence:-
1. “Thou wilt prepare the heart of the humble.”
2. “Thou wilt cause thine ear to hear.” 1. To the safety of the oppressed: “To judge the fatherless and the poor,” Ps 10:18. 2. To the ruin of the oppressor: “That the man of the earth may no more oppress” that he may have neither power nor influence left by which he may be a plague to the upright, or a supporter of infidelity, Ps 10:18.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To judge, i.e. to defend them, and give sentence for them, and against their enemies, as this word is used, Deu 32:36; Psa 7:8; 135:14.
The man of the earth, i.e. earthly and mortal men, who are made of the dust, and must return to it, such as the oppressors of thy people are; who yet presume most audaciously and madly to contend with thee their Maker and Judge. Therefore it is time for thee to repress such insolency, and to show how unable they are to stand before thee.
May no more oppress, to wit, the fatherless last mentioned.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
To judge the fatherless and the oppressed,…. That is, God will cause his ear to hear the cries of his people, so as to avenge the wrongs done to the fatherless, and them that are oppressed by the man of sin; see Re 11:18;
that the man of the earth may no more oppress: or “terrify” p, the dear children of God, and faithful witnesses of Christ, as he has done; for by “the man of the earth” is not meant carnal worldly men in general, “the wicked of the earth”, as the Targum renders it; who are so called because their original is from the earth, and they dwell in earthly tabernacles, and shall return to the earth again, and are earthly minded men, and have much of this world’s things; and are therefore sometimes called the men and children of this world, and who, generally speaking, are oppressors of the saints; and who shall cease to be so in the latter day, when the kingdom shall be given to the saints of the most High; but particularly the man of sin, the Romish antichrist, seems intended, who is the beast that is risen up out of the earth, Re 13:11; and so the words may be rendered here, “the man out of the earth” q; whose kingdom and government is an earthly one, and is supported by the kings of the earth, and with earthly power and grandeur, and with earthly views and worldly ends: he has been the great oppressor and terrifier of the poor people of God; but when Christ comes to avenge them on him, he will no more oppress, he will be taken and cast alive into the lake of fire; see Re 13:10. The words may be rendered according to the accents thus, “to judge the fatherless and the oppressed; he shall not add any more”: for there is an “athnach” which makes a proposition “under” , “any more”: and the sense is, God shall so thoroughly avenge the injuries of the fatherless and the oppressed, that there will be no need to add thereunto or repeat the vengeance, it will be an utter destruction; and then follows another distinct end of causing his ear to hear, namely, “to shake terribly the man of the earth”, or “to shake terribly man from off the earth” r, the man of sin, as before; see Isa 2:19; or, as Jarchi interprets the words, “to beat and break in pieces”; that is, antichrist and his kingdom; so Montanus.
p “perterrefacere”, Piscator; “terrere”, Musculus, Vatablus; so Ainsworth. q “homines de terra”, Pagninus, Montanus. r So Jarchi from Aben Ezra.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
18. That thou mayest judge. Here the Psalmist applies the last sentence of the preceding verse to a special purpose, namely, to prevent the faithful, when they are unjustly oppressed, from doubting that God will at length take vengeance on their enemies, and grant them deliverance. By these words he teaches us, that we ought to bear with patience and fortitude the crosses and afflictions which are laid upon us, since God often withholds assistance from his servants until they are reduced to extremity. This is, indeed, a duty of difficult performance, for we would all desire to be entirely exempted from trouble; and, therefore, if God does not quickly come to our relief, we think him remiss and inactive. But if we are anxiously desirous of obtaining his assistance, we must subdue our passion, restrain our impatience, and keep our sorrows within due bounds, waiting until our afflictions call forth the exercise of his compassion, and excite him to manifest his grace in succouring us.
That the man who is of earth may no more terrify them. David again commends the power of God in destroying the ungodly; and he does it for this purpose, – that in the midst of their tumultuous assaults we may have this principle deeply fixed in our minds, that God, whenever he pleases, can bring all their attempts to nothing. Some understand the verb ארף, arots, which we have translated to terrify, as neuter, and read the words thus, — that mortal man may be no more afraid. But it agrees better with the scope of the passage to render it transitively, as we have done. And although the wicked prosper in their wicked course, and lift up their heads above the clouds, there is much truth in describing them as mortal, or men liable to many calamities. The design of the Psalmist is indirectly to condemn their infatuated presumption, in that, forgetful of their condition, they breathe out cruel and terrible threatenings, as if it were beyond the power of even God himself to repress the violence of their rage. The phrase, of earth, contains a tacit contrast between the low abode of this world and the height of heaven. For whence do they go forth to assault the children of God? Doubtless, from the earth, just as if so many worms should creep out of the crevices of the ground; but in so doing, they attack God himself, who promises help to his servants from heaven.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(18) Oppressed.See Psa. 9:9. Gods choice acquaintances are humble men.Leighton.
That the man.Literally, that may not continue to terrify (or defy) mere man from the earth, which may mean that mere mortals may have to confess their weakness in comparison with God. But Psa. 9:20, where the same word is used, indicates that it is here used in a contemptuous sense of the heathen. That the nations from the earth (i.e., spread over the earth) may know themselves to be but men, and no longer defy Israel and Israels God.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. Man of the earth Man, ( ), enosh,) frail man, as in Psa 9:19-20, is not here designated as simply made of earth, but as having his abode here, and choosing this world as his portion. See note on Psa 17:14.
Oppress The word commonly means to affright, terrify, and the sentence may read: “That frail man of the earth shall not continue to terrify.” This is in harmony with the wish expressed Psa 9:19-20. Let not man continue to be a terror to his fellow man, but let God appear for judgment, and let all fear him.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
REFLECTIONS
READER, let you and I pause over this divine Psalm. Whether it be the blessed Mediator, as man’s surety, thus pleading concerning his own afflictions, and the afflictions of his people, under the hidings of the Father’s countenance; or whether it be the cries of his church, or any individual of the church, thus pleading before the throne; in either sense, we may feelingly remark how heavy, and how grievous the burthen, when exercised saints are under the double distress of the persecutions of the ungodly, and the frowns or hidings of the Lord. “How long, O Lord, how long?” is the cry of his poor, needy, and sorrowful ones, when the enemy triumphs, and our God conceals his face.
But reader, even here, and under the deepest soul-sorrow, let us take comfort, that their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. We cannot run with them to the same excess of riot; we cannot think, much less speak, lightly of our God. They are, as the Apostle speaks, covetous, proud, boasters, implacable, unmerciful. Their wine is the wine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall; their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. Precious Lord Jesus we thank thee for thy distinguishing tokens of grace, even when our souls are most afflicted, and when the enemy triumphs.
Lastly, Reader, under all your exercises, look to Jesus, and never, never forget that the Lord is King forever and ever; and the Heathen are perished out of his land. Yet a little while, and the ungodly shall be cut down as the grass, and be withered even as the green herb; while the righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree, and spread abroad as the cedar in Lebanon. Blessed Jesus! in thy light we shall see light. There is a rest that remaineth for the people of God. Into that rest, which is thyself, thou wilt ere long bring all thy people, and thy ransomed shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads, and they shall obtain joy and gladness; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 10:18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.
Ver. 18. To judge the fatherless, &c ] The Vulgate hath it, to judge for the fatherless and for the oppressed. It is one thing (saith Austin) to judge the fatherless and another thing to judge for him; this latter is to pass sentence on his side; which God, the righteous Judge, will be sure to do without writhing or warping; for he hath all that is required of a judge originally and eminently, viz. wisdom, justice, courage, constance, and power.
That the man of the earth may no more oppress
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
oppressed. Compare Psa 9:9.
the man of the earth. Spoken of above as the “lawless one”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
judge: Psa 10:14, Psa 72:4, Psa 82:3, Psa 94:1-6, Isa 11:4, Luk 18:7, Luk 18:8
the man: Psa 17:14, Luk 16:25, 1Co 15:47, 1Co 15:48, Phi 3:18, Phi 3:19
oppress: or, terrify
Reciprocal: Exo 21:26 – General Exo 22:23 – I will surely Lev 25:14 – General 2Sa 18:19 – avenged him Job 20:19 – Because Psa 7:9 – Oh Psa 12:7 – this Psa 13:2 – enemy Psa 68:5 – A father Psa 71:2 – incline Psa 140:12 – the Lord Psa 146:7 – executeth Ecc 5:8 – regardeth Jam 5:16 – The effectual
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
10:18 {l} To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.
(l) God helps when man’s help ceases.