Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 68:12
Kings of armies did flee apace: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil.
12. Kings of hosts do flee, do flee,
And she that tarrieth at home divideth the spoil.
Psa 68:12-14 . contain allusions to the Song of Deborah and possibly to similar poems which have not been preserved to us. Many commentators regard them as the triumphal song of the women celebrating the victory; but it is better to take them as the continuation of the poet’s description of the victory. The verses run in pairs, and Psa 68:13 is parallel to Psa 68:12. The first line paints the scene in the battle-field the pell-mell rout of the defeated kings: the second line depicts the scene at home when the warriors have returned with their spoils.
The unusual expression kings of hosts seems to be chosen with reference to the title Jehovah of hosts. Vast as their armies may be, they are powerless to resist One who has infinitely stronger armies at His command. The graphic repetition do flee, do flee recalls the form of Jdg 5:22; and the next line recalls the words of Jdg 5:30. The battle has been won; the warriors return home with their spoils; and the matron who has anxiously awaited the issue of the battle divides among her family the rich garments and ornaments taken from the enemy. Cp. Jdg 8:26; 2Sa 1:24; 2Ki 7:8; 2Ki 7:15.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Kings of armies did flee apace – Margin, as in Hebrew, did flee, did flee. This is the Hebrew mode of expressing that which is emphatic or superlative. It is by simply repeating the word. The idea is, that they fled speedily; they fled at once, and in alarm. Psa 68:12-13 are marked by DeWette as a quotation, and the language is supposed by him to be the substance of the song that was sung by the women as referred to in Psa 68:11. This supposition is not improbable. The reference is, undoubtedly, to the former victories achieved by the people of God when they went out to war; and the idea is, that when the command came, when God gave the word Psa 68:11, their foes fled in consternation.
And she that tarried at home divided the spoil – The women remaining in their homes, while the men went out to war. On them devolved the office of dividing the plunder, and of giving the proper portions to each of the victors. They would take an interest in the battle, and receive the booty, and assign the portion due to each of the brave soldiers – the more acceptable as given to them by female hands. Possibly, however, the meaning may be, that the victors would bring the plunder home, and lay it at the feet of their wives and daughters to be divided among the women themselves. The dividing of the spoils of battle after a victory was always an important act. Compare Jdg 5:30; Jos 7:21; 1Ch 26:27; Heb 7:4.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. Kings of armies did flee] Jabin and the kings of the Canaanites, who united their forces to overwhelm the Israelites.
And she] Deborah the prophetess, a woman accustomed to tarry at home, and take care of the family; she divided the spoils, and vanquished their kings.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Kings of armies; the kings of Canaan and other nations which came forth against the Israelites, accompanied with great and numerous armies.
The spoil was so much, that there was enough, not only for the proper use of those who took it, but also to be divided to their wives and children when they came home. This verse and that which follows may be taken, either,
1. For the triumphant song sung by those publishers mentioned Psa 68:11. Or,
2. For the words of David, continuing the relation of the victories granted by God to Israel ever their enemies.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. Kings of armiesthat is,with their armies.
she that . . . at homeMostlywomen so remained, and the ease of victory appears in that such,without danger, quietly enjoyed the spoils.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Kings of armies did flee apace,…. Or “they fled, they fled” y; or “they flee, they flee”. This is either the subject matter of the word “published”, the words of the publishers so saying; or the effect of the publication of the Gospel: for though some, by these kings of armies, understand the apostles either fleeing from place to place because of persecution, or running to and fro, as they interpret the words, to spread the Gospel; yet they rather intend the enemies of the Gospel, and the chief of them that opposed themselves to it; namely, Roman emperors and kings, and who fled before it; particularly at the time of the downfall of Paganism, when they fled to the mountains and hills, and called upon them to hide them from Christ, Re 6:15;
and she that tarried at home divided the spoil; the church, compared to a woman that keeps at home, Tit 2:5, who shared in the spoils token out of the hands of Satan, and from among the Gentiles, even converted souls, brought unto her. What is promised to Christ, Isa 53:12; is said of the church; she being made more than a conqueror through him, and sharing in all his victories and spoils. It denotes the certain and easy success of the Gospel ministry, attended with a divine power, and the advantages thereof to the church of Christ; this was particularly true of the church in the times of Constantine.
y “fugiebant, fugiebant”, Pagninus, Montanus; “fugerunt, fugerunt”, Tigurine version, Musculus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(12) Kings of armies did flee apace.Better, Kings of armies flee, flee. This and the two next verses wear the air of being a fragment of those ancient battle-songs sung by the women after the defeat of the foe. The fact that they have thus been torn from their original context accounts for the great obscurity which hangs over them.
And she that tarried . . .i.e., the woman keeping the house; so the Hebrew. (Comp. Jdg. 5:24, Women of the tent; and the fond anticipations of Siseras mother, Psa. 68:29.) So the Greeks called the mistress of the house . (Eur. Herc. Fur. 45.)
Though this sense thus gives a general description of war, and the women waiting eagerly for the victorious home-coming is a picture true to life, yet the next verse indicates that we must suppose a latent reference to some tribe or party who shirked the dangers of battle, and played the part of the stay-at-home.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Kings of armies That is, kings with their armies.
Did flee apace Hebrew, Shall flee, shall flee. The rout shall be total and irretrievable.
She that tarried at home That is, the housewife, as the words denote; she that dwelt in the house, as distinguished from the husband, who went out to battle.
Divided the spoil Shared the spoil, which, by a law of equity, fell, by distribution, to her husband. See 1Sa 30:24; and compare Jdg 5:28-30. The wealth of the enemy shall enrich the households of the victors. The language is highly martial and oriental.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 68:12. Kings of armies did flee apace In the original it is, fled away, fled away; the reduplication of the words denoting their hasty flight and utter dissipation. The kings who commanded the armies which opposed them fled with their routed forces, and were pursued and destroyed by the Israelites: And she that tarried at home divided the spoil. After the conquest of the Midianites, God ordered the prey which was taken from them to be divided into two parts, between them who went out on that expedition, and the rest of the congregation who continued in the tents, Num 31:27 and therefore this was part of the damsels’ song, that the women who had the charge of the household affairs were enriched by an equal division of the enemies’ spoils, in which their husbands and fathers had their share; and I apprehend, that it is the victory over the Midianites which is here particularly referred to. For, the Lord gave the word; avenged the children of Israel of the Midianites, Num 31:2. Kings of armies fled away; five of the Midianitish kings being routed and slain, Psa 68:8. She that tarried at home divided the spoil, according to the distribution before-mentioned, vast quantities of gold and silver being taken; to which there is a plain allusion in the next verse.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 68:12 Kings of armies did flee apace: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil.
Ver. 12. Kings of armies did flee apace ] Heb. did flee, did flee. Or, shall flee, shall flee; which one interpreteth of devils (called principalities and powers), formerly using to give oracles; but after Christ’s birth ceasing to do so. As also of Licinius and other tyrants fleeing before Constantine, the first Christian emperor. See Rev 9:11 . Antichrist is the king of locusts, and he fleeth daily before the Evangelici, the new gospellers, as he calleth them. Bellarmine complaineth, that ever since we held the Pope to be antichrist, non mode non crevit eius imperium, sed semper magis ac magis deerevit, his kingdom hath not only not increased, but more and more daily decreased (Lib. iii. de Pont. Rein., cap. 21).
And she that tarried at home divided the spoil
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Kings, &c. Verses Psa 12:13, are the words of the women.
did flee apace. The rendering of the Figure of speech Epizeuxis. Hebrew “did flee, did flee”. Compare Jdg 5:19; Jdg 7:25.
tarried at home. Compare 1Sa 30:21-25.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Their Mighty Deliverer
Psa 68:12-25
The processional march still continues. Presently Mount Zion comes in sight, and the neighboring hills are depicted as eying it enviously for its selection in preference to themselves. In Psa 68:17-18 the glad throng begins to climb the sacred slopes of Zion, amid still more triumphant strains; and in Psa 68:19, etc., the gates of the sanctuary stand wide open to welcome the festal crowds.
How great the contrast between the blackened appearance of a smoky caldron, and the lustrous sheen of a birds pinions as they flash in the sunlight! Psa 68:13. Yet that is the contrast between what we were, and what we now are. Zalmon, Psa 68:14 -perhaps a reference to the wooded hill near Shechem, mentioned in Jdg 9:48. The hostile kings were scattered as snowflakes are driven before the wind and melt in the sun. The hill Bashan, Psa 68:15, is a snow-clad summit, but Zion is greater, since God is there. In the triumphant words of Psa 68:18, the singer quotes Jdg 5:12, and they are applied in Eph 4:8 to our Lords ascension. Note the r.v. rendering of Psa 68:19 -that the Lord daily beareth our burdens. Singers, minstrels, and girls with timbrels, Psa 68:25 -all have a share in the Churchs joy.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Kings: Exo 14:25, Num 31:8, Num 31:9, Num 31:54, Jos 10:16, Jos 10:42, Jos 12:7, Jos 12:8-24, Jdg 5:19, Rev 6:15, Rev 19:17-20
did flee: she, Num 31:27, 1Sa 30:24
did flee apace: Heb. did flee
Reciprocal: Gen 14:14 – armed Deu 20:14 – the women Jos 22:8 – divide 2Sa 1:24 – General 2Sa 23:10 – and the people 2Ki 7:7 – they arose 2Ki 7:16 – spoiled the tents 2Ch 14:14 – exceeding 2Ch 20:25 – they found Psa 76:12 – He shall Isa 33:23 – the lame
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 68:12. Kings of armies The kings of the Midianites, of Canaan, and other nations, which came forth against the Israelites with numerous and powerful armies; did flee apace Hebrew, , jiddodun, jiddodun, fled away, fled away, the reduplication of this word denoting their hasty flight and utter dispersion. They fled with their routed forces, and were pursued, overtaken, and destroyed by the victorious Israelites. She that tarried at home divided the spoil The spoil was so much that there was enough, not only for the proper use of those that took it, but also to be divided to their wives and children when they came home. After the conquest of the Midianites, God ordered the prey which was taken from them to be divided between them who went out on that expedition, and the rest of the people who continued in their tents, Num 31:27; and therefore this was part of the damsels song, that the women, who had charge of the household affairs, were enriched by an equal division of the enemies spoils, in which their husbands and fathers had their share; and perhaps it is the victory over the Midianites which is here referred to.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
68:12 Kings of armies did flee apace: and {i} she that tarried at home divided the spoil.
(i) The prayer was so great, that not only the soldiers, but the women also had part of it.