Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 14:7
Oh that the salvation of Israel [were come] out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, [and] Israel shall be glad.
7. Concluding prayer for the deliverance of Israel.
out of Zion ] The dwelling-place of Jehovah. See note on Psa 3:4.
When the Lord bringeth back &c.] Or, as R.V. marg., when the Lord returneth to the captivity of his people. At first sight these words appear to fix the date of the Psalm in the period of the Exile (Psa 126:1). Nor does the first line of the verse exclude such a view. For the exiled turned to Zion even in her desolation (Dan 6:10; 1Ki 8:44), and from thence Jehovah might be expected to restore His people. But (1) it is very probable that the phrase rendered bring back the captivity means rather restore the fortunes. This meaning suits all the passages in which it occurs, while turn the captivity does not, except in the figurative sense of restoring prosperity. See e.g. Job 42:10; Eze 16:53; Zep 2:7. And (2) even if turn the captivity is the true meaning, the phrase is used by Amos (Amo 9:14) and Hosea (Hos 6:11) long before the Babylonish Captivity.
Psa 14:7 is frequently regarded as a later liturgical addition; and certainly it does not cohere very closely with the rest of the Psalm. But some conclusion is needed. The Psalm can hardly have ended abruptly with Psa 14:6.
Jacob shall rejoice, &c.] Properly a wish or prayer (cp. Psa 13:5-6): let Jacob rejoice, and Israel be glad.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Oh that the salvation of Israel – Margin, Who will give, etc. The Hebrew literally is, Who will give out of Zion salvation to Israel? The word Israel refers primarily to the Hebrew people, and then it is used generally to denote the people of God. The wish here expressed is in view of the facts referred to in the previous verses – the general prevalence of iniquity and of practical atheism, and the sufferings of the people of God on that account. This state of things suggests the earnest desire that from all such evils the people of God might be delivered. The expression in the original, as in the margin, Who will give, is a common expression in Hebrew, and means the same as in our translation, Oh that. It is expressive of an earnest desire, as if the thing were in the hand of another, that he would impart that blessing or favor.
Out of Zion – On the word Zion, see the note at Isa 1:8. It is referred to here, as it is often, as the seat or dwelling-place of God; the place from where he issued his commands, and from where he put forth his power. Thus in Psa 3:4, He heard me out of his holy hill. Psa 20:2, the Lord … strengthen thee out of Zion. Psa 128:5, the Lord shall bless thee out of Zion. Here the phrase expresses a wish that God, who had his dwelling in Zion, would put forth his power in granting complete deliverance to his people.
When the Lord bringeth back – literally, In Yahwehs bringing back the captivity of his people. That is, the particular salvation which the psalmist prayed for was that Yahweh would return the captivity of his people, or restore them from captivity.
The captivity of his people – This is language taken from a captivity in a foreign land. It is not necessary, however, to suppose that any such literal captivity is here referred to, nor would it be necessary to infer from this that the psalm was written in the Babylonian captivity, or in any other particular exile of the Hebrew people. The truth was, that the Hebrews were often in this state (see the Book of Judges, passim), and this language came to be the common method of expressing any condition of oppression and trouble, or of a low state of religion in the land. Compare Job 42:10.
Jacob shall rejoice – Another name for the Hebrew people, as descended from Jacob, Isa 2:3; Isa 41:21; Isa 10:21; Isa 14:1; Amo 7:2; et soepe. Prof. Alexander renders this, Let Jacob exult; let Israel joy. The idea seems to be, that such a restoration would give great joy to the people of God, and the language expresses a desire that this might soon occur – perhaps expressing the idea also that in the certainty of such an ultimate restoration, such a complete salvation, the people of God might now rejoice. Thus, too, it will not only be true that the redeemed will be happy in heaven, but they may exult even now in the prospect, the certainty, that they will obtain complete salvation.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. O that the salvation] Or, more literally, Who will give from Zion salvation to Israel? From Zion the deliverance must come; for God alone can deliver them; but whom will he make his instruments?
When the Lord bringeth back] For it is Jehovah alone who can do it. Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. That is, according to Calmet, the remains of the kingdom of Israel, and those of Judah, shall be rejoined, to their mutual satisfaction, and become one people, worshipping the same God; and he has endeavoured to prove, in a dissertation on the subject, that this actually took place after the return from the Babylonish captivity.
Many of the fathers have understood this verse as referring to the salvation of mankind by Jesus Christ; and so it is understood by my old MS. Psalter, as the following paraphrase will show: Qwa sal gyf of Syon hele til Israel? qwen Lord has turned a way the captyfte of his folk, glad sal Jacob, and fayne be Israel. Qwa bot Crist that ge despyse, qwen ge wit nout do his counsaile of Syon fra heven, sal gyf hele til Israel? that es, sal saf al trew cristen men, noght als ge er that lufs noght God. And qwen our Lord has turned o way the captyfte of his folk: that es, qwen he has dampned the devel, and al his Servaundes, the qwilk tourmentes gude men, and makes tham captyfs in pyne. Then glade sal Jacob; that es, al that wirstils o gayns vices and actyf: and fayne sal be Israel: that es, al that with the clene egh of thair hert, sees God in contemplatyf lyf. For Jacob es als mikil at say als, Wrestler, or suplanter of Syn. Israel es, man seand God.
Of the two chief opinions relative to the design of this Psalm:
1. That it refers to Absalom’s rebellion.
2. That it is a complaint of the captives in Babylon; I incline to the latter, as by far the most probable.
I have referred, in the note on Ps 14:3, to that remarkable addition of no less than six verses, which is found here in the Vulgate, the Vatican copy of the Septuagint, the AEthiopic, and the Arabic, and also in St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, Ro 3:13-18, which he is supposed to have quoted from this Psalm as it then stood in the Hebrew text; or in the version of the Seventy, from which it has been generally thought he borrowed them. That they are not interpolations in the New Testament is evident from this, that they are not wanting in any MS. yet discovered; and they exist in all the ancient versions, the Vulgate, Syriac, AEthiopic, and Arabic. Yet it has been contended, particularly by St. Jerome, that St. Paul did not quote them from this Psalm; but, being intent on showing the corruption and misery of man, he collected from different parts several passages that bore upon the subject, and united them here, with his quotation from Ps 14:3, as if they had all belonged to that place: and that succeeding copyists, finding them in Romans, as quoted from that Psalm, inserted them into the Septuagint, from which it was presumed they had been lost. It does not appear that they made a part of this Psalm in Origen’s Hexapla. In the portions that still exist of this Psalm there is not a word of these additional verses referred to in that collection, neither here nor in the parallel Psalm liii.
The places from which Jerome and others say St. Paul borrowed them are the following: –
Ro 3:13: “Their mouth is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit.” Borrowed from Ps 5:10.
“The poison of asps is under their lips.” From Ps 140:3.
Ro 3:14: “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” From Ps 10:7.
Ro 3:15: “Their feet are swift to shed blood.” From Pr 1:16, or Isa 59:7.
Ro 3:16-18: “Destruction and misery are in their ways, the way of peace they have not known, and there is no fear of God before their eyes.” From Ps 59:7; Ps 59:8.
When the reader has collated all these passages in the original, he will probably feel little satisfaction relative to the probability of the hypothesis they are summoned to support.
These verses are not found in the best copies of the Vulgate, though it appears they were in the old Itala or Antehieronymain version. They are not in the Codex Alexandrinus of the Septuagint; nor are they in either the Greek or Latin text of the Complutensian Polyglot. They are wanting also in the Antwerp and Parisian Polyglots. They are neither in the Chaldee nor Syriac versions. They are not acknowledged as a part of this Psalm by Theodoret, Chrysostom, Euthymius, Arnobius, Apollinaris, the Greek Catena, Eusebius, of Caesarea, nor Jerome. The latter, however, acknowledges that they were in his time read in the churches. I have seen no Latin MS. without them; and they are quoted by Justin Martyr and Augustine. They are also in the Editio Princeps of the Vulgate, and in all the ancient Psalters known. They are in that Psalter which I have frequently quoted, both in the Latino-Scotico-English version and paraphrase.
Of this version the following is a faithful copy, beginning with the third verse of the fourteenth Psalm: –
Al tha helddid togyher; thai er made unprofytable:
Thar es none that dos gude; thar es none til one.
A grave opynnand, es the throte of tham.
With thaire tunges trycherusly thai wroght
Venym of snakes undir the lippis of tham.
Qwhas mouth es ful of werying and bitternes:
Swyft thaire fete to spil blode.
Brekyng and wikednes in thair waies:
And the way of pees thai knew noght:
The drede of God es noght byfore the eghen of thaim.
There is a good deal of difference between this, and that version attributed to Wiclif, as it stands in my large MS. Bible, quoted in different parts of the New Testament, particularly in Ps 14:1; Ps 13:1, c. I shall give it here line for line with the above. Alle boweden aweye to gydre: thei ben maad unprofitable: There is not that doith good thing, ther is not to oon. A Sepulcre opnyng is the throote of hem: With her tungis thei diden gylinly or trecherously: The venym of eddris, that is clepid Aspis, under her lippis: The mouth of whom is ful of cursing, or worrying and bittrenesse: The feet of hem ben swift to schede out blood: Contricion or defouling to God, and infelicite or cursidnesse,
the wayes of hem; And thei knewen not the weyes of pees; The dreed of God is not bifore her ygen.
The words underlined in the above are added by the translator as explanatory of the preceding terms. It is worthy of remark that Coverdale inserts the whole of the addition in this Psalm, and Cardmarden has inserted it in his Bible, but in a letter different from the text.
It is now time to state what has been deemed of considerable importance to the authenticity of these verses; viz., that they are found in a Hebrew MS., numbered by Kennicott in his catalogue 649. It is in the public library at Leyden; contains the Psalms with a Latin version and Scholia; and appears to have been written about the end of the fourteenth century, and probably by some Christian. I shall give the text with a literal translation, as it stands in this MS., line for line with the preceding: –
An open sepulchre is their throat;
With their tongues they flatter;
The venom of the asp is under their tongue;
Whose mouth of cursing and bitterness is full;
Swift are their feet to shed blood;
An evil aspect, and an evil event, in their ways:
And the way of peace they know not.
No fear of God before their eyes.
It would be easy to criticise upon the Hebrew in this long quotation. I shall content myself with what Calmet, who received his information from others that had inspected the Leyden MS., says of this addition: “Les seavans, qui ont examine ce manuscrit, y ont remarque un Hebreu barbare en cet endroit; et des facons de parler, qui ne sentent point les siecles ou la langue Hebraique etoit en usage.” “Learned men, who have examined this MS., have remarked a barbarous Hebraism in this place, and modes of speech which savour not of those ages in which the Hebrew language was in use.”
If this be an interpolation in the Psalm, it is very ancient; as we have the testimony of Jerome, who was prejudiced against it, that it was read in all the churches in his time, and how long before we cannot tell. And that these verses are a valuable portion of Divine revelation, as they stand in Ro 3:13-18, none can successfully deny. See Rosenmuller, Kennicott, and De Rossi.
ANALYSIS OF THE FOURTEENTH PSALM
This Psalm is the practical atheist’s character, and has TWO parts: –
I. The description of the practical atheist, Ps 14:1-7.
II. A petition for the Church, Ps 14:7.
I. 1. The atheist is here noted to us by different characters: –
1. From his name, nabal, a fool, or rather a churl; no natural fool, but a sinful: a fool in that in which he should be wise.
2. His hypocrisy or cunning; he saith, but he will not have it known, it is to himself, “He saith in his heart.” He is a close, politic fool.
3. His saying, or his chief and prime principle: “There is no God.”
4. From his practice; confessing God in his words for some political advantages, yet in his works denying him. For, 1. His heart is wicked and unregenerate: “They are corrupt.” 2. He is a sinner in a high practical degree: “They have done abominable works.” 3. He performs no duty: “There is none that doeth good.” He commits sin; he omits duty.
2. The psalmist demonstrates what he said three ways; and convinces them: –
1. By the testimony of God himself; he is a witness against them. He is, 1. An eyewitness: he looks on. 2. He is in heaven, and they are continually under his notice: “He looked down from heaven.” 3. He sees the children of men, their hearts and their works. 4. And the object of his looking is to inquire after their religion: “To see if there were any that did understand and seek God.”
2. And then he gives his testimony in these general terms: “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
3. Next he accuses them of two sins of which they were especially guilty. 1. Injustice: “They eat up my people as bread.” 2. Impiety: “They call not upon the Lord.”
4. And that his testimony is true, he convinces them, 1. By the light of their own conscience: “Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?” Does not their own conscience tell them that all this is true? Do they not know this? 2. By fear and terror, the effects of an evil conscience: “There were they in great fear.” They said, There is no God; but their conscience told them that God was in the congregation of the righteous, and that they should grievously answer for their injustice and impiety. 3. By the hardness of their heart, and contempt of the good counsels of the godly. If he reproved, they mocked. If he said God was his refuge, they laughed him to scorn. “Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge.”
II. The second part of the Psalm contains a petition for the Church: –
1. He prays that God would send salvation to his people.
2. That it might be out of Zion; because Christ was anointed and set a King upon the holy hill of Zion: “O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!”
3. For then the consequence would be the great joy and happiness of all his people for their deliverance from captivity, spiritual and temporal: “When the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! These words directly and immediately concern the deliverance of the people of Israel out of that sinful and deplorable estate in which they now were; which having described in the body of the Psalm, he concludes, after his manner, with a prayer to God to hear and help them out of Zion, where the ark then was, whence God used to hear and answer his peoples prayers. But ultimately and principally they design a further, even the spiritual, redemption and salvation of all Gods Israel by the Messias, as may appear by divers considerations:
1. That the ancient Jews did thus understand it, and among others Jonathans Targum or Paraphrase on the Bible expound it thus; I do not expect Gideons salvation, which was but corporeal, nor that of Samsonbut the salvation of the Messias. With whom agrees the Targum of Jerusalem.
2. That the doctrine of Israels redemption or salvation by Christ was very well known, as to other ancient patriarchs, Joh 8:56; 1Pe 1:10-12, so particularly to David, of whom it is expressly said that he knew and foresaw this mystery, Act 2:30,31, in whose Book of Psalms there are divers and very distinct and clear prophecies of it, as we have in part seen upon Psa 2; Psa 8, and shall see more fully and evidently hereafter.
3. That David and other holy prophets, in the midst of their sad thoughts, and fears, and troubles, did usually comfort themselves with the promise and expectation of the Messias, by whom, and by whom alone, they should receive that plenary salvation for which they groaned; of which it is thought we have one instance, Gen 49:18; but we have many unquestionable instances in the prophecy of Isaiah, as Isa 7:14; 9:6, &c. And this course might be the more seasonable for David, because he speaks here of his troubles after he was settled in his kingdom, (as may be gathered from the mention of Zion, where the ark was not till that time,) and possibly of the sad and sinful state of his kingdom during Absaloms rebellion; and therefore finding himself so strangely disappointed of that peace and happiness which he confidently expected when once he came to the kingdom, and wisely and justly presaging that his children and the following generations of Israelites for the same causes were likely to meet with the same or greater calamities than this, he wearieth himself with the expression of his belief and desire of the coming of the Messias to save his people.
4. To this also suits the mention of Zion, because the prophets knew and foretold that the Messias or Deliverer should first come to Zion, and should set up his throne there, and from thence send forth his laws and edicts to the Gentile world; as is positively affirmed, Psa 2:6; 110:2; Isa 2:3; 59:20, compared with Rom 11:26, and in many other places.
5. The following words agree only to this time, wherein he speaks of bringing back the captivity of his people with the universal joy of all Jacob and Israel; which cannot agree to Davids time, wherein there was no such captivity of the people, but only a civil war and mutual slaughter, which is quite another thing; nor to the time of Israels return from Babylon, when there was no such return of all Israel, but only of Judah and Benjamin, and some few of the other tribes, and the joy which the returning Israelites then had was but low, and mixed with many fears, and dangers, and reproaches, as we see in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. And therefore they must belong to the times of the Messias, by whom this promise was fulfilled to the true Israel of God, who were brought back from that most real and dreadful, though spiritual, captivity of sin and Satan, as is declared, Luk 4:18; Eph 4:8, and shall be literally accomplished to the natural seed of Jacob or Israel according to the expectation and belief of all the Jews in their several ages, and of most Christian writers.
The captivity of his people, i.e. his captive people; captivity being oft put for captives, as Deu 21:10; 30:3; Psa 126:1,4. Or, his people from captivity, of which see the former note. Jacob, i.e. the seed or children of Jacob, as Aaron is named for his sons, 1Ch 12:27; 27:17, and David for his sons, and the like.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. captivitydenotes any greatevil.
ZionGod’s abode, fromwhich He revealed His purposes of mercy, as He now does by the Church(compare Psa 3:4; Psa 20:2),and which He rules and in which He does all other things for the goodof His people (Eph 1:22).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
O that the salvation of Israel [were come] out of Zion!…. By whom is meant the Messiah, the Saviour of Israel, of all the elect of God, whether Jews or Gentiles; and who is so called, because the salvation of them was put into his hands, and he undertook it; and because he is the Captain and Author of it, and it is in him, and in no other. He was to come out of Zion, out of Judea, from among the Jews; Zion being, as Kimchi observes, the head of the kingdom of Israel; see
Ro 11:26. Accordingly Christ did come of the Jews, and salvation was of them, Ro 9:4; and for his coming from hence, or for his incarnation, the psalmist most earnestly wishes: he was one of those kings, prophets, and righteous men, that desired to see the days of the Messiah, Mt 13:17. And what might move him so vehemently to wish for it, at this time, might be the sad corruption and depravity of mankind he had been describing, and the afflicted and distressed state of the saints;
when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people. The people of God are, in their unregeneracy, in a state of captivity to sin, Satan, and the law; the work of the Messiah, when he came, was to proclaim liberty to the captives, to set them free, to deliver them from their spiritual bondage: and this Christ has done; he has redeemed his people from all their sins, and from the curse of the law, and from the power of Satan, and has led captivity captive; and which has justly occasioned great joy in the redeemed ones, according to this prophecy:
Jacob shall rejoice, [and] Israel shall be glad; that is, the posterity of Jacob and Israel; not his natural, but spiritual seed, such who are the true sons of Jacob, Israelites indeed; these having faith and hope in the plenteous redemption of Christ, rejoice in the view of their interest in it; they the song of redeeming love now, and these ransomed ones will hereafter come to Zion with joy, and everlasting joy upon their heads. The Jews refer this to the times of the Messiah c.
c Baal Hatturim in Numb. xxv. 12. & Midrash Tillim in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This tristich sounds like a liturgical addition belonging to the time of the Exile, unless one is disposed to assign the whole Psalm to this period on account of it. For elsewhere in a similar connection, as e.g., in Psa 126:1-6, means to turn the captivity, or to bring back the captives. has here, – as in Psa 126:4; Psa 2:3 (followed by ), cf. Eze 47:7, the Kal being preferred to the Hiph. (Jer 32:44; Jer 33:11) in favour of the alliteration with (from to make any one a prisoner of war), – a transitive signification, which Hengstenberg (who interprets it: to turn back, to turn to the captivity, of God’s merciful visitation), vainly hesitates to admit. But Isa 66:6, for instance, shows that the exiles also never looked for redemption anywhere but from Zion. Not as though they had thought, that Jahve still dwelt among the ruins of His habitation, which indeed on the contrary was become a ruin because He had forsaken it (as we read in Ezekiel); but the moment of His return to His people is also the moment when He entered again upon the occupation of His sanctuary, and His sanctuary, again appropriated by Jahve even before it was actually reared, is the spot whence issues the kindling of the divine judgment on the enemies of Israel, as well as the spot whence issues the brightness of the reverse side of this judgment, viz., the final deliverance, hence even during the Exile, Jerusalem is the point (the kibla) whither the eye of the praying captive was directed, Dan 6:11. There would therefore be nothing strange if a psalm-writer belonging to the Exile should express his longing for deliverance in these words: who gives = oh that one would give = oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! But since also signifies metaphorically to turn misfortune, as in Job 42:10; Eze 16:53 (perhaps also in Psa 85:2, cf. Psa 14:5), inasmuch as the idea of has been generalised exactly like the German “ Elend,” exile (Old High German elilenti = sojourn in another country, banishment, homelessness), therefore the inscribed cannot be called in question from this quarter. Even Hitzig renders: “if Jahve would but turn the misfortune of His people,” regarding this Psalm as composed by Jeremiah during the time the Scythians were in the land. If this rendering is possible, and that it is is undeniable, then we retain the inscription . And we do so the more readily, as Jeremiah’s supposed authorship rests upon a non-recognition of his reproductive character, and the history of the prophet’s times make no allusion to any incursion by the Scythians.
The condition of the true people of God in the time of Absolom was really a in more than a figurative sense. But we require no such comparison with contemporary history, since in these closing words we have only the gathering up into a brief form of the view which prevails in other parts of the Psalm, viz., that the “righteous generation” in the midst of the world, and even of the so-called Israel, finds itself in a state of oppression, imprisonment, and bondage. If God will turn this condition of His people, who are His people indeed and of a truth, then shall Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad. It is the grateful duty of the redeemed to rejoice. – And how could they do otherwise!
David, after having laid down the doctrine of consolation, again returns to prayers and groanings. By this he teaches us, that although God may leave us for a long time to languish, yet we ought not to weary, or lose courage, but should always glory in him; and, again, that while our troubles continue, the most effectual solace we can have is often to return to the exercise of prayer. When he asks the question, Who shall give salvation? this does not imply, that he was looking either to the right hand or to the left, or that he turned away his eyes from God in search of another deliverer; he intends only to express the ardor of his desire, as if he had said, When will the time at length come when God will display his salvation, and make it fully manifest? By the word Sion, which he adds, he testifies that his hope is fixed on God; for Sion was the holy place from which God had promised to hear the prayers of his servants; and it was the dwelling-place of the ark of the covenant, which was an external pledge and symbol of the presence of God. He does not, therefore, doubt who would be the author of his salvation; but he asks, with a sorrowful heart, when at length that salvation will come forth which is to be expected from no other source than from God alone. The question may, however, be put, if this prayer refers to the time of Saul, how can Sion, with propriety, be named as being already the sanctuary of God? I will not deny that the Psalmist, by the spirit of prophecy, may have predicted what had not yet actually taken place; but I think it highly probable, that this psalm was not composed until the ark of the covenant had been placed on mount Sion. David, as we know, employed his leisure hours in committing to writing, for the benefit of posterity, events which had happened long before. Besides, by expressing his desire for the deliverance of Israel, we are taught that he was chiefly anxious about the welfare of the whole body of the Church, and that his thoughts were more occupied about this than about himself individually. This is worthy of being the more carefully marked when we consider, that, while our attention is engrossed with our own particular sorrows, we are in danger of almost entirely neglecting the welfare of our brethren. And yet the particular afflictions with which God visits each of us are intended to admonish us to direct our attention and care to the whole body of the Church, and to think of its necessities, just as we see David here including Israel with himself.
When the Lord shall have brought back the captivity of his people, In these words, David concludes, that God will not suffer the faithful to languish under continual sorrow, according as it is said in another psalm, (Psa 126:5) “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” He doubtless aims at confirming and encouraging himself and all the godly to hope for the promised deliverance. He therefore says, in the first place, that although God may delay, or at least may not make so much haste as we would wish, he will, nevertheless, show himself to be the defender of his people, by redeeming them from captivity. And, in the next place, he assuages their sorrow, by setting forth that the issue of it will be joyful, seeing it will at length be turned into gladness. The captivity, of which he makes mention, is not the Babylonish, or the dispersion of his people among the heathen nations; it rather refers to an oppression at home, when the wicked exercise dominion like tyrants in the Church. We are, therefore, taught by these words, that when such furious enemies waste and destroy the flock of God, or proudly tread it under foot, we ought to have recourse to God, whose peculiar office it is to gather together his Israel from all places whither they have been dispersed. And the term captivity, which he employs, implies, that when the wicked overthrow at their pleasure all good and lawful order in the midst of the Church, it is converted into a Babylon or Egypt. Farther, although David defers the joy of the holy people, to the time of their deliverance, yet the consolatory prospect of this should serve not only to moderate our grief, but also to mix and season it with joy.
(7) Oh that.The thoughts of the exiles turn to the Holy City as the one source of deliverance, as if Jehovahs power would only manifest itself from His hallowed abode. So Daniel looked towards Jerusalem in his prayer. (Comp. the same feeling in Isa. 40:9-10.) For the expression turn the captivity, or, to keep the Heb. idiom, turn the turning, comp. Psa. 85:1; Psa. 126:1; Hos. 6:2; Joe. 3:1. It appears, however, besides its literal reference to the exile, to have been applied proverbially to the removal of any misfortune (Job. 42:10).
7. Oh that the salvation of Israel Or, who will give the salvation of Israel. It is a form of ardent wish that by some one deliverance might be given, as Psa 55:6.
Out of Zion Here meaning the Jewish Church, as the depositary of God’s truth. The true Hebrew looked for national blessings only from this source, as the New Testament saint expects all public prosperity through the Church. Even during the exile, when Jerusalem, of which Zion was a part, was in ruins, prayer was made with the face thitherward, (1Ki 8:44; 1Ki 8:48; Dan 6:10,) and all hope of the nation was associated with its restoration. Psa 102:13; Psa 102:16; Psa 129:5. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah abundantly show this. The passage in question has also been considered Messianic, a reference to the salvation of spiritual Israel by Christ. See Isa 59:20; Rom 11:26.
When the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people To bring back the captivity is to return the captives to their own country and national rights, and is the standing formula for the returning of the Babylonian exiles, as in Psa 126:1; Jer 30:3; Joe 3:1; Zep 3:20. It is a political, implying a moral, restitution. The force and transitive form of the verb, with , ( shebooth,) captivity, admits no other sense.
Jacob shall rejoice See Psalms 126 and Hos 6:11. So shall the Church of Christ rejoice in the gathering of her converts and her full restoration. Isaiah 12; Isa 35:8-10.
‘Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!
When YHWH restores the fortunes (or ‘brings back the captivity) of his people,
Then will Jacob rejoice,
Israel will be glad.’
The psalmist finishes on a note of longing. O that Israel’s deliverance had come. This confirms that they are here seen as under some kind of misfortune. In Job 42:10 the verb ‘restores the fortunes’ clearly signifies a restoral of fortunes to Job. He is only a captive to his misery. And this fits all the other places where the verb is used. Thus it is possibly the best translation here. It could therefore refer to a period of subjection under the Philistines, or some other enemy of Israel..
But even if we translate as being in ‘captivity’, it would not necessarily mean exile. It could equally signify being in subjection in the land. So we are probably to see them as being under the iron rule of some foreign monarch, subject to tribute and in a period when they were being treated badly. ‘From Zion’ probably has in mind Mount Zion from which, speaking in an earthly way, God will act. Or the thought may be that the psalmist was looking to Zion’s king, the anointed of YHWH, to bring about the deliverance. Either way the deliverance will be of God. And that is the final certainty, that YHWH will restore His people. And then they will be glad and rejoice.
‘Brings back the captivity’, or ‘restores the fortunes’, of His people.’ See for the use of the phrase Job 42:10; Hos 6:11; Amo 9:14; Eze 16:53; Zep 2:7.
So the message of the Psalm is of God’s calling to the account the folly of the nations, both as regards Himself, and especially as revealed in their attitude towards His people, having very much in mind here His true people. The thought is that His being and nature are so obvious in the light of creation and conscience, and His people so precious, that humanly speaking, from the psalmist’s point of view, God could only question the behaviour of the world in its treatment of His people.
DISCOURSE: 510 Psa 14:7. O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
ON what occasion this psalm was written, we know not: but there are two things which render it pre-eminently worthy of our attention: the one is, that, with very little alteration, it is repeated in another psalm [Note: Psalms 53.]: and the other is, that a very considerable part of it is cited by the Apostle Paul, not for the mere purpose of illustrating any point, but for establishing that doctrine which lies at the very foundation of Christianity, the universal and total depravity of human nature [Note: Compare ver. 13. with Rom 3:10-12; Rom 3:19.]. The Psalmist has evidently been reflecting on the extreme wickedness of the human heart, in that men, for the purpose of prosecuting their evil ways without fear, would banish God himself from the universe [Note: ver. 1.], and, by impious derision, drive out all regard for piety from the world [Note: ver. 6.]. Being oppressed, and overwhelmed, as it were, with this painful contemplation, he breaks forth into this devout rapture: O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When the Lord shall bring again the captivity of Israel, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
We may conceive him in these words looking forward, not only to the times of the Messiah, but to the Messiah himself, who is frequently designated by the name of Saviour [Note: Isa 62:11. with Isa 45:21-22 and in New Testament passim.], and who, under that character, comes forth out of Zion [Note: Rom 11:26.], and is an object of desire to all nations [Note: Hag 2:7.]. But, perhaps, it is rather salvation itself that is here spoken of; and which the Psalmist contemplates,
I.
As an object of desire
And truly so it is,
1.
To the world at large
[View the state of the world, especially as it is described in the psalm before us How inexpressibly awful! And how fully is this description verified in all around us! Respecting the Heathen world, we are willing enough to acknowledge the truth of the accusation: but, respecting the Christian world, we are ready to conceive of it as exaggerated and false. But St. Paul quotes these very expressions, to prove the wickedness of all mankind: and the smallest measure of candid observation will confirm all that he has spoken. Say, then, whether salvation be not needed; and whether the Psalmists wish should not be the most ardent desire of our souls: O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! The Gospel brings precisely such a salvation as mens necessities require: and happy would it be, if its blessings were proclaimed to the utmost ends of the earth!]
2.
To every heavy-laden sinner
[Are any of you convinced of your sinful and undone state? Consider the remedy provided for you. O how precious should it be to your souls! How infinitely dearer to you than thousands of silver and gold! Great as your guilt undoubtedly is, it may all be washed away in the Redeemers blood: and, fixed as your corruptions are, they may all be rooted out by the operation of his holy Spirit on your souls. Reconciliation is made for you through the blood of the cross; so that God, from being your enemy, is ready to become your Father and your friend: and, if only you embrace the salvation offered you in the Gospel, all the glory of heaven shall be yours. Cherish, then, this holy desire: and, in reference to your own souls in particular, be constantly saying, O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!] II.
As actually attained
Salvation has been effected by the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ: and, From hence, then, we may learn, What conversion is
[Whatever mystical representations be given of it, it is simply this, a turning of us from the captivity of sin and Satan, and bringing us into the glorious liberty of the children of God. This it was for which the Saviour came into the world: and this it is which he effects, in all who are partakers of his salvation. Let any say whether it be not a proper object of desire, or whether a captive soul can ever desire it too much.]
2.
What should be our great aim in life
[The deliverance, to whomsoever it is vouchsafed, is only gradual: the flesh will yet lust against the Spirit, as well as the Spirit against the flesh; so that, to the latest hour of our lives, we shall not be able to do all that we could wish [Note: Gal 5:17.]. Even the Apostle Paul, after having served the Lord for twenty years, yet was constrained to cry, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me [Note: Rom 7:24.]? To grow then in grace should be the daily object of our ambition: and to put off the old man, and put on the new, should be the one labour of our souls: nor should we ever cease from this labour, until we have attained the full measure of the stature of Christ.]
3.
What should endear to us the thoughts of death
[Death will break all our chains, and set us at perfect liberty. Whilst here, we still are complaining that we are tied and bound with the chain of our sins. But no complaint shall ever be heard in heaven. There we shall be pure, as Christ is pure; and perfect, as our Father who is in heaven is perfect. Let us learn, then, to look on death as a friend, and to number it amongst our richest treasures [Note: 1Co 3:22.]. That it is disarmed of its sting, is no mean part of our present joy: and that it shall translate us into the immediate presence of our God, is sufficient to make us pant for its arrival, desiring to depart and to be with Christ, as far better than the happiest lot that can be enjoyed on earth [Note: Php 1:23.].]
What a blessed relief, views of Jesus and hopes in his salvation afford, to bear up the mind under the sad and heart-breaking prospect of universal corruption. Reader, what but this can relieve your soul under the consciousness of your own participation, in the universal corruption of a fallen nature? My soul what would be thy state, hadst thou not found redemption in the blood of the Lamb, and if God had not found a ransom to deliver thee from going down to the pit? See how the faithful of old longed for the coming Saviour! And how doth the whole church of Jesus now long for his second coming, without sin unto salvation.
REFLECTIONS
READER, what blessed improvements, under the Spirit’s teaching, may be drawn from the perusal of this Psalm? Surely the Holy Ghost intended it for the greatest benefit to the church: and therefore let us look up for his divine influence to be upon us, that we may gather what is his mind and will in our improvements from it. And, first, shall not the picture here drawn, of universal corruption, be blessed to our view, in the conviction of the truth, and the consciousness that we are involved equally by nature in the same melancholy ruin? If all have sinned and come short of God’s glory, all are implicated in the guilt. And it is a decided mark of grace, when a sense of our lost state hath induced a sense of our unworthiness and helplessness to our own recovery. Surely the very hope of God’s favour is begun in a consciousness of guilt, and the desire of deliverance from it. If then God, by his Holy Spirit, hath given this conviction in the heart, and put a cry there, What must I do to be saved? then the same earnest longings as holy men of old put forth for salvation to arise out of Zion, will appear in the devout breathings of our souls also, that we may be brought into a saving acquaintance with, and heart-felt enjoyment of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, thou precious Redeemer, thou, and thou only, art the salvation of our poor ruined and undone nature! Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood. Thy holy life, thy spotless death, thy perfect obedience and sacrifice, as the Surety of poor sinners, have raised up our nature from the ruins of the Fall. And therefore, Lord, we now join the petition of Old Testament saints, that the salvation by thee may be manifested to all thy people, to bring the prisoners out of prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. And oh! Lord, hasten all thy comings here in grace, and bring on the full manifestation of thyself, in thy kingdom of glory.
Psa 14:7 Oh that the salvation of Israel [were come] out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, [and] Israel shall be glad.
Ver. 7. Oh that the salvation of Israel, &c. ] This is the second part of the psalm, wherein David prayeth to God to deliver his Israel out of the hands of those atheists and oppressors. The whole Church must be remembered in our prayers, and that ancient people of God, the Jews, not forgotten (Sanhed. c. 11). Many of their Rabbis make this whole psalm a prophecy of their dispersion among the Gentiles, their oppressors; and this a prayer for their restoration. For our sins, say they, which are many, the coming of the Messiah (that salvation of Israel) is deferred, the time of his coming is sealed up, Dan 12:4 . Verum enimvero Dens nos dignabitur clarissima visione cum reducer Zionem; tunc intelligemus res ipsas prout sunt, saith Jachiades on that text; but God shall give us a clear sight of all things when he shall bring back Zion, &c. This is truth, and we must hasten that time by our heartiest wishes for that obdurate people, that a redeemer would come to them out of Zion, Rom 11:26 , that the covering cast over that people might be destroyed, Isa 25:7 , and a general joy conceived throughout all the Churches for their happy readmission.
Out of Zion NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 14:7
7O, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores His captive people,
Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.
Psa 14:7 O, that the salvation of Israel This is a title for YHWH who dwells in Zion (i.e., Mt. Moriah, the temple). Notice the parallel of YHWH in line 2.
This verse is also found in Psa 53:6, which means it may be proverbial. The LXX makes this first line a question.
restores This same verb (BDB 996, KB 1427) also can mean repent or turn back. However, in this context Israel is not called on to repent.
There is a word play between restores (BDB 996) and fortunes (BDB 986). The footnote in the NET Bible has turns with a turning (toward) his people.
Jacob. . .Israel The Patriarch Jacob had twelve children who became the twelve tribes. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel in Gen 32:22-32.
SPECIAL TOPIC: ISRAEL (THE NAME)
rejoice. . .be glad Both of these verbs denote the result of restoration. Verbs in Hebrew take their time orientation from the context. This context is future.
1. rejoice BDB 162, KB 189, Qal jussive
2. be glad BDB 970, KB 1333, Qal imperfect used in a jussive sense
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.
1. What did the fool mean by his statement, There is no God?
2. Does the OT teach that all humans are sinful?
3. What does it mean to call upon the Lord?
4. Does Psa 14:7 imply an exile?
Oh . . ! Figure of speech Epiphonema. App-6.
Zion. See App-68.
bringeth back the captivity. Figure of speech Paronomasia (App-6). See note on Deu 30:3.
Jacob . . . Israel. On these names, see notes on Gen 32:28; Gen 43:6; Gen 45:26, Gen 45:28.
Psa 14:7
Psa 14:7
“Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!
When Jehovah bringeth back the captivity of the people.
Then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.”
One of the best comments on this we have seen is that of Addis:
Here is the Messianic hope. The Psalmist anticipates a time when Yahweh will “bring back the captivity” of His people. This expression need mean no more than a radical change for the better in the state of the people. “Restore the fortune” would be an adequate translation.
“There is no need to refer the expression `bringeth back the captivity’ to the Babylonian exile. The expression here has the same meaning that it has in Job 42:10. namely, “restoring prosperity to.”
Jacob and Israel here are names that refer to the people of God.
The appearance of this Messianic promise at the end of this prophesy of the third total depravity of the race of Adam (When this was written there had already been two such hardenings.) has the utility of revealing this Psalms 14, and its twin Psalms 53, as a double prophecy of the Third Judicial Hardening of Adam’s race and God’s response to it in the First Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, bringing life and immortality to light through the gospel, and ushering in the dispensation of Christianity. This is “God’s last word to man.” “Last of all, God sent his Son” (Mat 21:37). When, once more, Satan is able to accomplish through the indifference and wickedness of mankind another situation of total hardening and depravity, our rebellious race may indeed expect the final Judgment of the Great Day.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 14:7. Captivity is from SHEBIYTH and Strong defines it, “exile; concretely, prisoners; figuratively, a former state of prosperity.” The word actually refers to a condition that existed previously, and bringing back the captivity means to bring the people back to the state of good fortune that was enjoyed before the captivity. That good fortune could have consisted in either temporal or spiritual blessings. Many prophecies in the Bible have a twofold application. The one in this verse has first a reference to the return of the Jews from Babylonian captivity. Its second application is to the Jewish nation in the return from disbelief in Christ to a state of belief in him (Rom 11:26).
Oh: etc. Heb. Who will give, etc. Psa 53:6
Reciprocal: Gen 49:18 – General 1Ch 16:35 – Save us Job 42:10 – turned Psa 18:49 – will I give thanks Psa 25:22 – General Psa 28:9 – Save Psa 85:1 – thou hast Psa 106:5 – rejoice Psa 106:47 – Save us Psa 126:2 – Then was Psa 134:3 – bless thee Isa 46:13 – shall not tarry Jer 31:7 – O Jer 33:7 – will cause Eze 16:53 – bring Joe 3:1 – when Zep 3:14 – shout Rom 11:26 – There Rev 20:11 – I saw
Psa 14:7. O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion These words, considered in connection with the context, do not appear to be intended of any mere temporal salvation of Israel, whether from the rebellion of Absalom, or any other calamity brought upon them as a punishment of their sins. They rather seem directly and immediately to refer to the deliverance of that people from those corrupt principles and practices which the psalmist describes and laments in the preceding part of the Psalm. This is evidently the salvation which he has first in his view, and which he prays might come out of Zion, where the ark then was, where God was wont, in an especial manner, to manifest his presence, and whence he was supposed to hear and answer his peoples prayers. The words, however, have certainly a further design: they ultimately and principally respect the spiritual redemption and salvation of all Gods Israel by the Messiah. Thus the ancient Jews understood them, as appears from Jonathans Targum, or paraphrase, which expounds the passage in this manner, with which agrees the Targum of Jerusalem. We know the ancient patriarchs and prophets in general, and David in particular, well understood, and firmly believed, the doctrine of Israels redemption and salvation by the Messiah; and ardently expected, nay, and comforted themselves under their troubles, with the expectation of this great event, which they termed the consolation of Israel. And thus David seems to have comforted himself now in this dark time of ignorance and vice, of infidelity and sin, which he here deplores. To this also agrees the mention of Zion, because the prophets knew and foretold that the Messiah, or Deliverer, should first come to Zion, and should set up his throne there, and from thence send forth his laws and edicts to the Gentile world; as is positively affirmed, Psa 2:6; Psa 110:2; Isa 2:3; Isa 59:20, compared with Rom 11:26, and in many other places. To this may be added, that the following words agree only to this event, in which he speaks of bringing back the captivity of the Lords people, with the universal joy of Jacob and Israel; which cannot agree to Davids time, wherein there was no such captivity of the people, but only a civil war and mutual slaughter, which is quite another thing, nor to the time of the Jews return from Babylon, when there was no such return of all Israel, but only of a part of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and some few of the other tribes; and the joy which the returning Jews then had was but low, and mixed with many fears, and dangers, and reproaches, as we see in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. And therefore these words of the psalmist must belong to the times of the Messiah, by whom this promise was fulfilled to the true Israel of God, who were delivered from that most dreadful of all captivities, the captivity of sin and Satan, as is declared Luk 1:68-75; Luk 4:18; Eph 4:8. And they shall be literally accomplished to the natural seed of Jacob, or Israel, according to the expectation and belief of all the Jews in their several ages, and of most Christian writers. The Redeemer shall come to Zion by his Word and Spirit, by his gospel and his grace, as he before came in the flesh, and shall turn away all ungodliness from Jacob. For this time of universal reformation the psalmist longs and prays now in the time of universal corruption; as if he had said, Those will be glorious times, as the present are melancholy ones; for then Jacob, that is, the seed of Jacob, shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. The triumphs of the king of Zion will be the joy of Zions children. And at the second coming of Christ, finally to extinguish the dominion of sin and Satan, this salvation will be completed, which, as it is the hope, so will it be the joy, of every true Israelite.
14:7 Oh that the salvation of {f} Israel [were come] out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, [and] Israel shall be glad.
(f) He prays for the whole Church whom he is assured God will deliver: for no one else but he can do it.
3. David’s longing for God’s kingdom 14:7
In the context, the enemy of God’s people is all the ungodly of the world from the beginning of history. David longed for God to save His people from these wicked antagonists. Zion was the place where the ark of the covenant and the Lord resided. David spoke of God Himself delivering His people from all their godless enemies. When David wrote, the godly were captive to the wicked in the sense that the wicked were devouring them (Psa 14:4). Nevertheless the psalmist was confident that the Lord would deliver Israel from the wicked. When He did, Israel would rejoice and be glad. Premillenarians believe this will take place when Jesus Christ returns to earth and sets up His righteous rule for 1,000 years (cf. Zep 3:14-16; Mat 6:10; Rom 11:26-27; Rev 20:1-6). [Note: See Allen, Rediscovering Prophecy, pp. 129-49.]
The time is coming when God will put down all wickedness and judge all the ungodly. That revelation helps His people maintain hope as they continue to experience the antagonism and persecution of those who choose to disregard God.
"The intent of Psalms 14 is to counter the temptation that humankind can manage the world in ways better than Yahweh’s way (cf. Isa 55:8-9). The alternative of the haughty ones is to reorder life’s good for their own benefit at the expense of the vulnerable ones (cf. Eze 34:20-24). The psalm asserts and guarantees that life will not be so easily reorganized. God’s will endures. God has made the world with some built-in protections for the weak against the strong, and that must not be mocked (cf. Isa 10:12-14)." [Note: Brueggemann, p. 45.]
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
THE BLESSINGS OF SALVATION
Realizing in his mind the object of his desire, the Psalmist proceeds to view it,
Already has it produced great joy in the world
[To a great extent has the captivity of Gods Israel been turned. Thousands and millions, both of Jews and Gentiles, have been delivered from the power of Satan, by whom they were once led captive at his will. And what joy the deliverance occasioned, we well know. On the day of Pentecost. not less than three thousand, who had been pricked to the heart with a sense of sin, were, by the glad tidings of the Gospel, enabled to eat their bread with gladness and singleness of heart, blessing and praising God. And to this hour do all who hear the joyful sound experience the same holy feeling in their souls. Tell me, ye who have ever been released from the bonds of sin and Satan, have ye not been constrained to say, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour? Yes, in every place where the Gospel comes, and in every bosom where it is received, is the oil of joy given in the stead of mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.]
But what joy will it not excite, when it shall prevail to its full extent?
[There is a period yet future, when the Gospel shall be conveyed to all nations, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Then shall the dominion of Satan be altogether broken, and the whole race of mankind be brought to serve the living God. What joy shall prevail over the face of the whole earth! Truly the descriptions given of it by the Psalmist will fall infinitely short of the reality [Note: Psa 98:1-9.] for heaven itself will then appear to have come down upon the earth [Note: Rev 21:2-4.], and all the glorified saints to have descended to swell the chorus of the redeemed [Note: Rev 20:4.].]
1.
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)