Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 54:5
He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth.
5. He shall requite the evil unto them that lie in wait for me:
Destroy thou them in thy truth.
God will cause the evil which they are plotting to recoil upon their own heads: or, according to the K’thbh or written text ( Introd. p. li), The evil shall return &c.: cp. Psa 7:16. Enemies (A.V.) is a peculiar word found only in Psa 5:8; Psa 27:11; Psa 56:2; Psa 59:10, meaning those who lie in wait for him, like fowlers (Jer 5:26 R.V.), or a leopard for its prey (Hos 13:7). Jerome renders it insidiatores.
in thy truth ] For Thou canst not be false to Thy promise to deliver me.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He shall reward evil unto mine enemies – Margin, those that observe me. The original word here means literally to twist, to twist together; then, to press together; then, to oppress, or to treat as an enemy. The reference here is to those who pressed upon him as enemies, or who endeavored to crush him. The idea is that God would recompense them for this conduct, or that he would deal with them as they deserved.
Cut them off in thy truth – In thy faithfulness; in thy regard for what is right. This is simply a prayer, or an expression of strong confidence, that God would deal with them as they deserved, or that he would not suffer such conduct to pass without a proper expression of his sense of the wrong. There is no evidence that David in this prayer was prompted by private or vindictive feeling.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 5. He shall reward evil] Saul and his courtiers, instead of having God’s approbation, shall have his curse.
Cut them off in thy truth.] Thou hast promised to save me; these have purposed to destroy me. Thy truth is engaged in my defence; they will destroy me if permitted to live: to save thy truth, and to accomplish its promises, thou must cut them off.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In thy truth; or, for or according to thy truth; whereby thou art engaged to fulfil thy promises made to me, and thy threatenings denounced against thine and mine implacable enemies.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. He shall . . . evilor,”Evil shall return on” (Ps7:16) my enemies or watchers, that is, to do me evil (Ps6:7).
in thy truthThyverified promise.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He shall reward evil unto mine enemies,…. That eyed him as Saul did; that observed his haunts, where he resorted, and who were with him, as the Ziphites did under Saul’s direction; as the Word m here used for “enemies” signifies: the mischief they had devised for him, he believed, would be returned upon their own heads; the pit they digged they would fall into themselves; and the net they had spread for others their own feet would be taken in. This was true as of David’s enemies, so of Christ’s, the wicked Jews, who narrowly watched him to take every advantage against him;
cut them off in thy truth; root and branch, as Saul, and his family, and his courtiers, quickly were, according to the truth of promises made to David, and of threatenings unto them.
m “observatoribus meis”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Michaelis.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
5. He shall reward evil unto mine enemies As the verb ישיב , yashib, may be rendered he shall cause to return, (292) it seems to point not only at the punishment, but the kind of punishment, which would be awarded to his enemies, in the recoiling of their wicked machinations upon their own heads. Some give an optative signification to the verb, understanding the words to express a wish or prayer; but I see no reason why it should not be taken strictly in the future tense, and imagine that David intimates his certain expectation that this favor, which he had already prayed for, would be granted. It is by no means uncommon to find the prayers of the Psalmist intersected with sentences of this kind, inserted for the purpose of stimulating his faith, as here, where he announces the general truth, that God is the righteous judge who will recompense the wicked. With the view of confirming his hopes, he adverts particularly to the truth of God; for nothing can support us in the hour of temptation, when the Divine deliverance may be long delayed, but a firm persuasion that God is true, and that he cannot deceive us by his divine promises. His confidence of obtaining his request was grounded upon the circumstance that God could no more deny his word than deny himself.
(292) French and Skinner read, “May their mischief return upon those who watch me;” and observe, “that their mischief in Hebrew is the evil, and that the meaning is, the very evil which they devised against me. Compare Psa 7:16.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(5) Cut them off.Or, put them to silence.
In thy truth.Or, according to thy faithfulness.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. He shall reward evil unto mine enemies The “evil” they sought to do to me shall recoil upon themselves. God shall turn it back upon them. So the word rendered “reward” properly signifies. It is another instance of the lex talionis.
Cut them off in thy truth The optative sense, here, is to be taken in connexion with the qualifying words “thy truth.” Only in accordance with this does David invoke divine interference. Immutability and authority of law are the gist and essence of the prayer. If these fail all is lost. Prayer for the deliverance of the righteous cannot be answered without the reformation or the destruction of the wicked; that is, destruction as to their power to do evil.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 54:5. He shall reward evil unto mine enemies leshoreri, to them who, with a hostile mind, watch and observe me. This was the conduct of the Ziphites to David: they acted as Saul’s spies, and watched David, to betray him to destruction. See 1Sa 23:23. The next clause should be rendered in the future, conformable to this.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 54:5 He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth.
Ver. 5. He shall reward evil unto mine enemies ] Or, mine observers, that watch me a mischief. I shall escape out of trouble, and they shall come in my stead, Pro 11:8 .
Cut them off in thy truth
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
evil = the evil. Hebrew. ra’a’ (with Art.) App-44.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
reward: Psa 31:23, Psa 137:8, 2Ti 4:14, Rev 18:6
mine enemies: Heb. those that observe me, Psa 5:8, Psa 27:11, *marg.
cut: Psa 89:49, Psa 143:1, Psa 143:12
Reciprocal: Job 21:19 – he rewardeth Psa 56:2 – enemies Psa 59:10 – enemies Dan 6:24 – the lions
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
54:5 He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy {e} truth.
(e) According to your faithful promise for my defence.