Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 59:15

Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied.

Let them wander up and down for meat – Let them be like dogs that wander about for food, and find none. The idea is, that they would not find him, and would be then as dogs that had sought in vain for food.

And grudge if they be not satisfied – Margin, If they be not satisfied, then they will stay all night. The marginal reading is most in accordance with the Hebrew. The sentence is obscure, but the idea seems to be that they would not be satisfied – that is, they would not obtain that which they had sought; and, like hungry and disappointed dogs, they would be compelled to pass the night in this miserable and wretched condition. The word which our translators have rendered grudge – from lun – means properly to pass the night; then, to abide, to remain, to dwell; and then, in Hiphil, to show oneself obstinate and stubborn – from the idea of remaining or persisting in a bad cause; and hence, the word sometimes means to complain: Num 14:29; Exo 17:3. It has not, however, the signification of grudging, though it might mean here to murmur or complain because they were disappointed. But the most natural meaning is that which the word properly bears – that of passing the night, as referring to their wandering about, disappointed in their object, and yet still hoping that they might possibly obtain it. The anticipated feeling in the mind of the psalmist is that which he would have in the consciousness of his own safety, and in the pleasure of knowing that they must sooner or later find out that their victim had escaped.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Wander up and down for meat, to get a livelihood. And grudge if they be not satisfied: when their bodies are hungry, let their minds be discontented. Or, as others render the words, and lodge, or be forced to lodge, all night, when they are not satisfied. Let them go to their rest with an empty stomach.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

15. grudge if, &c.literally,”they shall stay all night,” that is, obtain nothing.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Let them wander up and down for meat,…. Like hungry dogs;

and grudge if they be not satisfied; or murmur and howl as dogs when hungry, and can find nothing to eat; or “when they shall not be satisfied, and shall lodge” z; when they shall get nothing to satisfy their hungry appetite, and shall go to bed without a supper, and lie all night without food. The Targum is,

“they shall wander about to seize the prey to eat, and will not rest till the are satisfied, and will lie all night;”

that is, in quest of prey.

z “nec satiati cubabunt”, Tigurine version; “famelici pernoctabunt”, Michaelis.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(15) Let them wander.This verse is variously understood. The margin gives the rendering of most modern scholars; but what does it mean by They will pass the night? To say they will not go away unsatisfied seems poor. Ewalds conjecture, They will satisfy themselves forsooth, and remain, i.e., die, seems strained. The slightest change in the vowel-points gives the interpretation adopted by the LXX., Vulg., Jerome, Luther, &c: If not satisfied they will growl, which admirably suits the context.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

15. Let them wander Or, they shall wander. The metaphor of hungry dogs prowling about the city for some offal to alleviate their hunger, but finding nothing, is here carried out to illustrate that God would punish these conspirators through their own bloodthirsty passions, by withholding the object of their desire and defeating their deadly schemes. Thus sin becomes an instrument of its own punishment.

Grudge The Hebrew word should here take its more usual sense of to tarry, lodge, continue. The sense is: “If these hungry dogs, prowling for food, be not satisfied, they will continue all night, even to exhaustion, in their fruitless search.” This completes the metaphor, and finishes the picture of their wretchedness.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Psa 59:15 Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied.

Ver. 15. Let them wander up and down for meat ] Sicut mendici de ostio ad ostium faciunt, as beggars do from door to door, saith Kimchi.

And grudge if they be not satisfied ] Murmur against God and men, howling against heaven, as hungry wolves, Isa 8:21 . Others understand it thus, Let them run to and fro for meat, that is, to devour me, as Psa 27:2 ; but surely they shall not be satisfied, but miss their design, though they tarry all night, watching for me.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

wander = prowl about.

grudge: or, stay all night.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

wander: Psa 109:10, Job 15:23, Job 30:1-7, Isa 8:21

for meat: Heb. to eat, Deu 28:48, Deu 28:53-58, 2Ki 6:25-29, Lam 4:4, Lam 4:5, Lam 4:9, Lam 4:10, Lam 5:9, Mat 24:7, Mat 24:8

grudge: etc. or, if they be not satisfied, then they will stay all night

if: Isa 56:11, Mic 3:5

Reciprocal: 1Sa 19:11 – sent messengers 2Sa 15:20 – go up and down Psa 37:25 – nor his seed Psa 55:10 – Day Jam 5:9 – Grudge not

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge