Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 58:7
Let them melt away as waters [which] run continually: [when] he bendeth [his bow to shoot] his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.
7. as waters which run continually) R.V., restoring P.B.V., as water that runneth apace: like some torrent that rages wildly for a while when swollen by a sudden storm, and then vanishes entirely (Job 6:15 ff.).
when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows ] A cumbrous rendering of a peculiar phrase, the verb strictly applicable to the bow being used of the arrows (cp. Psa 64:3). Better as R.V., when he aimeth his arrows. But who is the subject? (1) It may be the wicked man, (as in Psa 64:3); When he aimeth his arrows, let them be as though they were cut off (R.V.), their points broken, and their power to hurt destroyed. (2) It may be God (as in Psa 7:12 f.); when He aimeth His arrows, let them (the wicked) be as it were mowed down. Cp. Psa 90:6. Neither alternative is free from serious difficulties, but the first seems preferable.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Let them melt away as waters which run continually – Let them vanish or disappear as waters that flow off, or floods that run by, and are no more seen. Perhaps the allusion here may be to the waters of a torrent that is swollen, which flow off and are lost in the sand, so that they wholly disappear. See the notes at Job 6:15-19. The prayer is, that his enemies might perish or be cut off, and that he might thus be saved from them.
When he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows – literally, he treads on his arrows. See the notes at Psa 11:2. The meaning here is, When he prepares for an attack – or, prepares to make war, as one does who bends his bow, and places his arrow on the string. The allusion here is to the enemies of David, as seeking his life.
Let them be as cut in pieces – That is, Let his arrows be as if they were cut off or blunted, so that they will produce no effect. Let them be such, that they will not penetrate and wound.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. Let them melt away as waters] Let them be minished away like the waters which sometimes run in the desert, but are soon evaporated by the sun, or absorbed by the sand.
When he bendeth his bow] When my adversaries aim their envenomed shafts against me, let their arrows not only fall short of the mark, but he broken to pieces in the flight. Some apply this to GOD. When he bends his bow against them, they shall all be exterminated.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
As waters which run continually; as waters arising from melted snow, or great showers, or some other extraordinary cause, which at first run with great force and noise, and throw down all that stands in their way, but are suddenly gone, and run away and vanish, and return no more.
When he bendeth his bow, to wit, any or every one of mine enemies, as appears from the foregoing and following words.
Is cut in pieces, i.e. like arrows broken asunder whilst a man shoots, which can do no hurt.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. which run continuallyliterally,”they shall go to themselves,” utterly depart, as rapidmountain torrents.
he bendeth . . . hisarrowsprepares it. The term for preparing a bow applied toarrows (Ps 64:3).
let them . . .piecesliterally, “as if they cut themselves off”thatis, become blunted and of no avail.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Let them melt away as waters [which] run continually,…. Let them be disheartened, and their courage fail them, and let there be no spirit left in them, Jos 7:5; or let them be unstable as water that is continually running, ever upon the flux and motion; let them never be settled, but always changing in their state and circumstances,
Ge 49:4; or let them “come to nought”, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions; which is the case of water that runs over or runs away: or “let them be despised”, as Jarchi, and the Arabic, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions; being useless and unprofitable, as water is when passed and gone: or let their ruin and destruction be as swift as the gliding water; let them be brought to desolation in a moment;
Job 24:18; and let it be irrecoverable, as water running over the cup, and scattering itself, is spilled upon the ground, and cannot be gathered up, 2Sa 14:14. The Targum is,
“let them melt in their sins as water;”
[when] he bendeth [his bow to shoot] his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces; either when the wicked man bends his bow to shoot his arrows against the righteous; when he devises, his chief against him, shoots out bitter words, and attempts to do hurt unto him; let it be as if the string of his bow and his arrows were all cut to pieces; let all his designs, words, and actions, be without effect, and let not his hand perform his enterprise: or when God bends his bow against the wicked, so Jarchi; and prepares the instruments of death for them, and ordains his arrows against the persecutors, Ps 7:12; let then his and his people’s enemies be cut off, as the tops of the ears of corn; as the word used signifies, Job 24:24. The words may be rendered, “let him (God) direct his arrows; as the tops of the ears of corn are cut off” f; so let them be.
f “concidantur, succidantur instar spicarum”, Michaelis.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(7, 8) After the types of obstinate and fierce malignity, come four striking images of the fatuity of the wicked mans projects, and his own imminent ruin. The first of these compares him to water, which, spilt on a sandy soil, sinks into it and melts away. (Comp. 2Sa. 14:14.) Perhaps a phenomenon, often described by travellers, was in the poets mind, the disappearance of a stream which, after accompanying the track for some time, suddenly sinks into the sand. The words which run continually, even if the Hebrew can bear this meaning, only weaken the figure. The verb is in the reflexive conjugation, and has to or for themselves added, and seems to be exactly equivalent to our, they walk themselves off. This certainly should be joined to the clause following. Here, too, we must suppose that the sign of comparison, khem, was dropped out by the copyist in consequence of the lm just written, and afterwards being inserted in the margin, got misplaced. We must bring it back, and read:
They are utterly gone, as when
One shoots his arrows.
This figure thus becomes also clear and striking. The arrow once shot is irrevocably gone, probably lost, fit emblem of the fate of the wicked. For the ellipse in bend (literally, tread, see Psa. 7:12), comp. Psa. 64:3, where also the action properly belonging to the bow is transferred to the arrow.
The words, Let them be as cut in pieces, must be carried on to the following verse, which contains two fresh images: So they are cut off (LXX., are weak ) as shabll melts; (as) the abortion of a woman passes away without seeing the sun. The word shabll, by its derivation (blal = to pour out) may mean any liquid or moist substance. Hence some understand a watercourse, others (LXX. and Vulg.) wax. The first would weaken the passage by introducing a bald repetition of a previous image. The second is quite intelligible. But the Talmud says shabll is a slug or shelless snail, and there may be a reference in the passage to the popular notion derived from the slimy track of the creature, that the slug dissolves as it moves, and eventually melts away. Dr. Tristram, however (Nat. Hist. Bib., p. 295), finds scientific support for the image in the myriads of snail shells found in the Holy Land, still adhering, by the calcareous exudation round the orifice, to the surface of the rock, while the animal itself is utterly shrivelled and wasted. The last image presents no difficulty either in language or form, except that the form of the noun woman is unusual.
That they may not.That this refers to the abortion which passed away without seeing the sun, is certain. The grammatical difficulty of want of concord may be got over by taking abortion as a collective noun.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Melt away as waters The allusion is to winter torrents, and the momentary streams occasioned by showers, which suddenly and totally disappear, having no permanent source of supply, so deceiving the expectation of the traveller and the shepherd as a reliance for animal use. Comp. Job 6:15-20. So deceitful and transient is the prosperity of the wicked!
He bendeth his bow Literally, he treadeth his arrows, as Psa 64:4, that is, he bends his bow by placing his foot upon it, with the arrow placed upon the string. A description of a mighty bow.
Cut in pieces Cut in two, or the head of the arrow cut off to render it powerless of effect. Thus futile as a broken arrow from the bow of the mighty shall be the plans and purposes of the haters of God.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 58:7. When he bendeth his bow, &c. When they would shoot their arrows, let them be as it were without arms. Mudge. See Psa 64:3-4.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 58:7 Let them melt away as waters [which] run continually: [when] he bendeth [his bow to shoot] his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.
Ver. 7. Let them melt away as waters ] As snowwaters before the sunbeams, quickly melted, and soon drunk in by the dry earth, Job 24:19 . In Peru, they say, there is a river called the diurnal river, or the day river, because it flows with a mighty current in the day, but in the night is dry, because it is not fed by a spring, but caused merely by the melting of the snow, which lieth on the mountains thereabouts.
When he bendeth his bow cut in pieces = cut down [like grass].
Psa 22:14, Psa 64:7, Psa 64:8, Psa 112:10, Exo 15:15, Jos 2:9-11, Jos 7:5, 2Sa 17:10, Isa 13:7
Reciprocal: 1Sa 14:16 – melted away Job 24:18 – swift Psa 64:3 – bend Dan 2:5 – ye shall
Psa 58:7. Let them melt away as waters, &c. As waters arising from melted snow, or great showers, or some other extraordinary cause, which at first run with great force and noise, and throw down all that stands in their way, but are suddenly gone, and run away, and vanish, and return no more. When he Saul, or any, or every one of mine enemies, as appears from the foregoing or following words; bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows Taking his aim at the upright in heart; let them That is, his arrows, be cut in pieces Let them be like arrows broken, while a man is shooting them. Let them fall at his feet, and never come near the mark.
58:7 Let them {f} melt away as waters [which] run continually: [when] he bendeth [his bow to shoot] his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.
(f) Considering God’s divine power, he shows that God in a moment can destroy their force of which they brag.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes