Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 21:12
Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, [when] thou shalt make ready [thine arrows] upon thy strings against the face of them.
Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back – Margin, Thou shalt set them as a butt. The word back also is rendered in the margin shoulder. The word translated therefore means in this placer or, and the rendering therefore obscures the sense. The statement in this verse in connection with the previous verse, is, that they would not be able to perform or carry out their well-laid schemes, for or because God would make them turn the back; that is, he had vanquished them. They were going forward in the execution of their purposes, but God would interpose and turn them back, or compel them to retreat. The word rendered back in this place – shekem – means properly shoulder, or, more strictly, the shoulder-blades, that is, the part where these approach each other behind; and then the upper part of the back. It is not, therefore, incorrectly rendered by the phrase thou shalt make them turn the back. The expression is equivalent to saying that they would be defeated or foiled in their plans and purposes.
When thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings – Compare the notes at Psa 11:2. That is, when God should go forth against them, armed as a warrior.
Against the face of them – Against them; or, in their very front. He would meet them as they seemed to be marching on to certain conquest, and would defeat them. It would not be by a side-blow, or by skillful maneuver, or by turning their flank and attacking them in the rear. Truth meets error boldly, face to face, and is not afraid of a fair fight. In every such conflict error will ultimately yield; and whenever the wicked come openly into conflict with God, they must be compelled to turn and flee.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back] God can in a moment strike the most powerful and numerous army, even in the moment of victory, with panic; and then even the lame, the army which they had nearly routed, shall take the prey, and divide the spoil.
Against the face of them.] Thou shalt cause them to turn their backs and fly, as if a volley of arrows had been discharged in their faces. This seems to be the sense of this difficult verse.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Turn their back, i.e. flee away at the first sight of thee, whereby also they will be a fit mark for thine arrows. Or, thou shalt set them as a butt to shoot at, as the like phrase is used, Deu 7:10; Job 7:20; 16:12. Against the face of them; or, against them, the word
face being oft redundant.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. turn their backliterally,”place them [as to the] shoulder.”
against the face of themTheshooting against their faces would cause them to turn their backs inflight.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Therefore shall thou make them turn their back,…. Or flee and run away to private places, to hide themselves from the wrath of God and of the Lamb, though to no purpose; or “make them turn [behind thy] back”: God will turn his back upon them, and be negligent and careless of them, and not regard them when they cry in their misery and destruction. Some Jewish interpreters e understand it of their being put together on one side, in one corner, and be separate from the people of God; to which sense the Targum inclines, rendering the word for “back” the “shoulder”, which sometimes signifies unanimity and union, Zep 3:9; and thus, being all together by themselves, the wrath of God shall be poured forth upon them, and they shall be destroyed at once: so the Christians were, by the providence of God, brought out of Jerusalem before its destruction; and the saints will be called out of Babylon before its fall; and the goats, the wicked, will be separated from the righteous, and set together at Christ’s left hand; for they shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous: but the best sense of the words is, “thou shalt set them [for a] butt” or f “heap”; or, as it is in the Hebrew text, a shoulder; a butt to shoot at being so called, because it is earth heaped up like a shoulder; see Job 16:12; and to this agrees what follows:
[when] thou shalt make ready [thine arrows] upon thy strings against the face of them; that is, direct the arrows of his wrath and vengeance right against them; see Ps 7:11.
e Kimchi Ben Melech in loc. f “ponis eos metam”, Cocceius “humerum”, Pagninus, Montanus, Gejerus; “velut tumulum”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
12. For thou wilt set them as a butt. As the Hebrew word שכם, shekem, which we have rendered a butt, properly signifies a shoulder, some understand it in that sense here, and explain the sentence thus: Their heads shall be smitten with heavy blows, so that having their bodies bended, their shoulders shall appear sticking out. According to these interpreters, the subjugation of the enemies of God is here metaphorically pointed out. But there is another explanation which is more generally received even among the Jewish expositors, namely, that God will shut them up in some corner, and there keep them from doing mischief; (492) and they take this view, because the Hebrew word שכם, shekem, is often used to denote a corner, quarter, or place. As, however, the sacred writer, in the clause immediately following, represents God as furnished with a bow, ready to shoot his arrows directly in their faces, I have no doubt that, continuing his metaphor, he compares them to a butt, or mound of earth, on which it is customary to plant the mark which is aimed at, and thus the sense will flow very naturally thus: Lord, thou wilt make them as it were a butt against which to shoot thine arrows. (493) The great object which the Psalmist has in view is doubtless to teach us to exercise patience, until God, at the fit time, bring the ungodly to their end.
(492) Kimchi and others read, “Thou wilt put them into a corner;” which has been understood in this sense, “Thou wilt thrust them into a corner, and then direct thine arrows against their faces.” — See Poole’s Synopsis Criticorum.
(493) This is the view taken by Ainsworth, Castellio, Cocceius, Diodati, Dathe, Horsley, and Fry. Horsley translates the verse thus:—
“
Truly thou shalt make them a butt for thine arrows; Thou shalt take a steady aim against them.”
“
I take,” says he, “ כונך, [the word which he translates a steady aim, ] to be a technical term of archery, to express the act of taking aim at a particular object.” In our English version it is, Therefore thou shalt make them turn their backs.” In defense of this sense of שכם, shekem, see Merrick’s Annotations. Gesenius takes the word in the same sense. Literally, “thy bow-string.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) Therefore.Literally, for thou shalt put them shoulder (pones eos dorsum, Vulg.). Upon thy strings thou shalt aim against the face of them. Ewald renders: Shalt strike them back; but the English version seems to explain rightly To give the neck of an enemy (Psa. 18:4) is a similar form of expression.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Shalt thou make them turn their back Literally, Thou shalt set them the shoulder. This may mean, thou shalt set or place them in solid ranks, shoulder to shoulder, as if to call forth their utmost strength, and to show them how little they avail against God; or, thou shalt set them as a target, when “thou shalt fit thine arrows to the string,” etc. The phrase is military, and the idea seems to be the consolidation of their troops, as if to do their utmost.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 21:12. Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, &c. For thou shalt make them as Shechem; i.e. “Thou shalt subdue them, and portion them out, as the two brothers did Shechem heretofore.” The expression became a proverb, as in Psalms 60, 108. The word arrows is not in the original, and may elegantly be omitted, as in Psa 7:12. He hath bent his bow, and fixed it; that is, fixed his arrow upon it.
REFLECTIONS.1st, David could not experience such wonderous deliverances without deep gratitude; and his people, who prayed for him, were confident that God’s salvation was the very joy of his heart; and therefore in his behalf they offer to God their sacrifice of praise for prayers granted; for blessings which prevented even desire; for dignity so eminent, to which he was advanced; for length of days in the midst of danger; and an abiding throne, though so often shaken; for great glory, honour, and majesty, bestowed from on high; for the promise of future blessings, and the experience of present exceeding great consolations.
But more peculiarly applicable are these words to the King of Glory, who, in his work of man’s redemption, was supported by the divine strength to go through the arduous task, and in the prospect of the salvation of the faithful, rejoiced with exceeding great joy in the midst of all his sufferings. To him every request was granted, whether for grace or glory, in behalf of the faithful. In him God’s preventing blessings were wonderfully manifested to the sons of men, without desert, yea, without desire. A crown of glory is the reward of his sufferings, and worthy is he to be thus exalted; death, Satan, and sin, being all subdued by him; and angels, principalities, and powers, put under him. The life which for a moment he laid down is restored for ever; Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more, and, because he lives, we shall live also. Unutterable is the glory and majesty that he has received, the government of all things in heaven and earth being committed to him. Thou hast made him most blessed for ever, or, as the Margin of our English Bibles read it, thou hast set him to be blessings for ever, to communicate eternal blessings to his faithful people, and be himself the author, procurer, and bestower of them; and, in consequence of all these things, the spirit of gladness rests upon him; and in the high approbation of God his Father, in his mediatorial work, is his everlasting delight. Note; Every faithful believer in Jesus is a king, and shall share his triumphs; be supported by the same strength; find the same gracious answers to his prayers; experience God’s preventing blessings; receive at last the crown of glory; and reign with his exalted head, happy, eternally and unutterably happy in the light of God’s countenance.
2nd, Praise for past mercies encourages confidence of present and future blessings; the priest and the people therefore express their trust, that no enemies should ever shake the stability of David’s throne; but that vengeance from God should pursue and overtake them to the uttermost; and, when this divine interposition shall appear, they promise to renew their grateful songs of praise. But we must look farther than David’s throne, and the subduing of his enemies, to the more enduring dominion of David’s Son and Lord.
1. His enemies must finally and eternally fall before him: wicked men, and wicked devils, who have hated his government, shall not escape his arm. Their mischievous devices shall not only be disappointed, whether against himself or his people, but their malice be visited in judgments terrible as just: wrath to the uttermost shall overtake them, and the furnace of hell be heated for their reception; while sharp arrows within shall pierce the conscience, and waken up the worm which never dies. Sinner, mark the end of the enemies of Christ and his kingdom; consider thy ways, and be wise.
2. The whole is ascribed to the Lord’s power; it is he who must and will exalt his own glory in the salvation of the faithful, and in the destruction of his enemies; and all our work and business will be, everlastingly to sing and praise him for his complete redemption.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 21:12 Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, [when] thou shalt make ready [thine arrows] upon thy strings against the face of them.
Ver. 12. Therefore shall thou make them turn their back ] Who faced the very heavens, and ran, as it were, full butt against thee; such was their impudence and insolence. But thy wrath shall so meet them in the teeth, wheresoever they turn, that they shall be forced to give over their chase and pursuit of thy people. Thou shall make them turn their back; Heb. their shoulder; whence some sense the words thus, Thou shalt bind them back to back, and cast them into the sea of perdition. Some read the words thus, Thou shall set them as a butt or mark to shoot at: and this agreeth best with that which followeth, Pone eos ut metam (Kimchi).
Against the face of them
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
strings = bow-strings.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Therefore: Psa 9:3, Psa 44:10, Psa 56:9
make: etc. or, set them as a butt, Job 7:20, Job 16:12, Job 16:13, Lam 3:12
back: Heb. shoulder
thou shalt: Psa 7:13, Psa 18:14, Psa 64:7
Reciprocal: Num 24:8 – pierce Job 6:4 – the arrows Psa 11:2 – make Psa 38:2 – thine Psa 45:5 – Thine Psa 144:6 – shoot out Eze 28:22 – I will
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 21:12. Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back That is, flee away at the first sight of thee. Or, thou shalt set them as a butt to shoot at, as the like phrase is used Job 7:20; Job 16:12. When thou shalt make ready thine arrows, &c., against the face of them Or, against them, the word face being often redundant. The judgments of God are called his arrows, being sharp, swift, sure, and deadly. What a dreadful situation, to be set as a mark and butt, at which these arrows are directed! View Jerusalem compassed by the Roman armies without, and torn to pieces by the animosity of desperate and bloody factions within. No further commentary is requisite upon this verse. Tremble and repent, is the inference to be drawn by every Christian community under heaven, in which appear the symptoms of degeneracy and apostacy. Horne.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
21:12 Therefore shalt thou make them {h} turn their back, [when] thou shalt make ready [thine arrows] upon thy strings against the face of them.
(h) As a mark to shoot at.