Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 78:3
Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
3, 4. It is best to place a full stop at the end of Psa 78:2, and connect Psa 78:3-4 thus:
The things which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told to us,
We will not hide from their sons,
Telling to another generation the praises of Jehovah,
And his strength and his wondrous works that he hath done.
With line 2 cp. Psa 44:1; Jdg 6:13.
‘From our sons’ might have been expected rather than ‘from their sons’: but the pronoun their is significant. It implies that the trust was committed to the speakers by their ancestors not for themselves only but for future generations. Excellently Keble:
“The tale our fathers used to tell
We to their children owe.”
The praises of Jehovah are His praiseworthy acts. Cp. Psa 22:3; Psa 22:30-31. For wondrous works see note on Psa 71:17. Cp. Psa 145:4 ff.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Which we have heard and known – Which have been communicated to us as certain truth.
And our fathers have told us – That is, we have heard and known them by their telling us; or, this is the means by which we have known them. They have come down to us by tradition from ancient times.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. Which we have heard and known] We have heard the law, and known the facts.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
3-8. This history had beenhanded down (Exo 12:14; Deu 6:20)for God’s honor, and that the principles of His law might be knownand observed by posterity. This important sentiment is reiterated in(Psa 78:7; Psa 78:8)negative form.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Which we have heard and known,…. The change of number from “I” to “we” have made some think that the disciples of Christ are here introduced speaking; but there is no need to suppose that, since our Lord uses the same form of speech, Joh 3:11,
and our fathers have told us; this may not only regard the Jewish ancestors, from whom our Lord descended according to the flesh, and so refer to the following account of the wonderful things done for the people of Israel; but also the divine Father of Christ, from whom, as his only begotten Son that lay in his bosom, and as Mediator, and the Angel of the great council, he heard and became acquainted with the secrets and mysteries of grace, and with his Father’s mind and will; all which he declared and made known to his apostles, and in so doing used them as his friends, Joh 1:18 and so the apostles of Christ, what they had from him their everlasting Father, and who had used to call them his children, even what they had seen, and heard, and learned, they made known to others, Ac 4:20.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
3. What we have heard and known. There seems to be some discrepancy between what the Psalmist had stated in the commencement, when he said that he would speak of great and hidden matters, and what he now adds, that his subject is a common one, and such as is transmitted from one age to another by the father to the son. If it was incumbent upon the fathers to recount to their children the things here spoken of, these things ought, of course, to have been familiarly known to all the people, yea, even to those who were most illiterate, and had the weakest capacity. Where, then, it may be said, are the enigmas or dark sentences of which he has just now made mention? I answer, that these things can easily be reconciled; for although the psalm contains many things which are generally known, yet he illustrates them with all the splendor and ornaments of diction, that he may the more powerfully affect the hearts of men, and acquire for himself the greater authority. At the same time, it is to be observed, that however high may be the majesty of the Word of God, this does not prevent the benefits or advantages of it from reaching even to the unlearned and to babes. The Holy Spirit does not in vain invite and encourage such to learn from it: — a truth which we ought carefully to mark. If God, accommodating himself to the limited capacity of men, speaks in an humble and lowly style, this manner of teaching is despised as too simple; but if he rise to a higher style, with the view of giving greater authority to his Word, men, to excuse their ignorance, will pretend that it is too obscure. As these two vices are very prevalent in the world, the Holy Spirit so tempers his style as that the sublimity of the truths which he teaches is not hidden even from those of the weakest capacity, provided they are of a submissive and teachable disposition, and bring with them an earnest desire to be instructed. It is the design of the prophet to remove from the mind all doubt respecting his sayings, and for this purpose, he determines to bring forward nothing new, but such subjects as had been long well known, and received without dispute in the Church. He accordingly not only says we have heard, but also we have known. Many things are rashly spread abroad which have no foundation in truth; yea, nothing is more common than for the ears of men to be filled with fables. It is, therefore, not without cause that the prophet, after having spoken of the things which he had heard, at the same time, refers in confirmation of their truth to undoubted testimony. He adds, that the knowledge of these subjects had been communicated to the Jews by their fathers. This does not imply, that what is taught under the domestic roof is always faultless; but it is obvious, that there is afforded a more favorable opportunity of palming upon men forgeries for truth, when things are brought from a distant country. What is to be principally observed is, that all fathers are not here spoken of indiscriminately, but only those who were chosen to be God’s peculiar people, and to whom the care of divine truth was intrusted.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Psa 78:3. Which we have heard and known What we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us, Psa 78:4 we will not conceal from their sons of the next generation; relating the praises of the Lord. Mudge. This solemn charge and law, Psa 78:5 does not here mean the whole law of Moses, but that only whereby he enjoined them to deliver down the memory of God’s miracles to all generations, That they might trust in God, and not forget his wonders.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Was not the gospel preached to our fathers in type and figure, as it is now in sum and substance? See Heb 4:2 ; Gal 3:8 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 78:3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
Ver. 3. Which we have heard and known ] Hearing and seeing are the two learned senses, whereby knowledge, yea, life, entereth into the soul, Pro 2:2 ; Pro 2:10 Isa 55:3 .
And our fathers have told us
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
known = come to know.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 44:1, Psa 48:8, Exo 12:26, Exo 12:27, Exo 13:8, Exo 13:14, Exo 13:15
Reciprocal: Deu 4:9 – teach them Deu 32:7 – ask Jos 4:6 – when your Jdg 6:13 – our fathers 1Ch 16:8 – make 1Ch 17:20 – according Job 8:8 – inquire Job 13:1 – ear Job 15:18 – from their Psa 19:2 – Day unto Psa 78:5 – that they Psa 145:4 – generation Pro 22:6 – a child Isa 38:19 – the father Isa 48:6 – and will Joe 1:3 – General Luk 8:38 – saying Col 4:6 – your
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
78:3 Which we have heard and known, and our {c} fathers have told us.
(c) Who were the people of God.