Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 78:54
And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, [even to] this mountain, [which] his right hand had purchased.
54. The border of his sanctuary may mean the land of Canaan, as that in which He purposed to place His temple, and this mountain may denote Mount Zion. But it is preferable to render to his holy border, the land separate from all other lauds, to be consecrated by His Presence, and known henceforth as the Holy Land: and in the next line, to the mountain land, which &c. This is the sense in Exo 15:17, which evidently was in the poet’s mind. Cp. Deu 3:25; Isa 11:9.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary – The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate render this, to the mountain of his holiness; that is, his holy mountain. But the reference is rather to the whole land of Canaan. He brought them to the borders of that land – the land of promise – the holy land. They who came out from Egypt did not indeed enter that land, except Caleb and Joshua, but they were conveyed to its borders before all of them fell. It was true also that the people – the Hebrew people – came to the promised land, and secured its possession.
Even to this mountain – Mount Zion, for the object of the psalm was to show that the worship of God was properly celebrated there. See Psa 78:68. The meaning is not that the people who came out of Egypt actually inherited that mountain, but that their descendants – the people of God – had been put in possession of it.
Which his right hand had purchased – Had procured, or obtained possession of. That is, he had secured it by his power.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 54. The border of his sanctuary] kodsho, “of his holy place,” that is, the land of Canaan, called afterwards the mountain which his right hand had purchased; because it was a mountainous country, widely differing from Egypt, which was a long, continued, and almost perfect level.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Of his sanctuary; or, of his holiness, or his holy place i.e. the land of Canaan, which is so called, Ezr 9:8; Zec 2:12, &c., as being separated by God from all other lands for his people and service, and sanctified by his presence and dwelling in it.
This mountain; either,
1. The mountain upon which the tabernacle or temple stood. Or rather,
2. The mountainous country of Canaan, which called a land of hills and valleys, Deu 11:11. And the word mountain is oft used in Scripture for a mountainous country, as Gen 36:8; Deu 1:7; Jos 11:21.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
54. border of his sanctuaryor,”holy border”i. e., region of which
this mountain(Zion)was, as the seat of civil and religious government, therepresentative, used for the whole land, as afterwards for the Church(Isa 25:6; Isa 25:7).
purchasedor, “procuredby His right hand” or power (Ps60:5).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary,…. Of the land of Canaan, which the Lord had sanctified, and set apart for them; and of Jerusalem, the holy city, the city of the great God, and of the temple where his residence was to be; so the Targum,
“to the border of the place of the house of his sanctuary:”
even to this mountain, which his right hand purchased; the mount Moriah, on which the temple was built; this psalm being composed, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi think, after it was made known to David, by the prophet Gad, the place where the temple should be built; namely, on the very mountain, on part of which David had his palace; and this was obtained and possessed, not by the power nor through the merits of the Israelites, but through the power and goodness of God; see Ps 44:3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(54) This mountaini.e., Zion, though from its apposition to border some prefer to take it of all the mountain country of Juda.
Purchased.Rather, acquired.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
54. Border of his sanctuary The border of his holy place, that is, Canaan, so called because measured by line, limited and devoted for ever to the covenanted people for the moral ends of God’s great plan of redemption.
This mountain Either parallel to “holy place,” in the previous hemistich, or the author anticipates himself, and the phrase is to be understood of the mountains of Judah, in which were Zion and Moriah, as the religious centre of the nation. See Psa 78:68
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 78:54 And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, [even to] this mountain, [which] his right hand had purchased.
Ver. 54. And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary ] i.e. Of Judea, which country he had consecrated to himself for the place and chief seat of religion; whence it is called, the holy land. It had been a loathsome land, Ezr 9:11 , filled with filthiness from corner to corner, but now otherwise. How it was afterwards again polluted, see Isa 1:21-23 .
Even to this mountain
Which his right hand, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 78:54-64
54So He brought them to His holy land,
To this hill country which His right hand had gained.
55He also drove out the nations before them
And apportioned them for an inheritance by measurement,
And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
56Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God
And did not keep His testimonies,
57But turned back and acted treacherously like their fathers;
They turned aside like a treacherous bow.
58For they provoked Him with their high places
And aroused His jealousy with their graven images.
59When God heard, He was filled with wrath
And greatly abhorred Israel;
60So that He abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh,
The tent which He had pitched among men,
61And gave up His strength to captivity
And His glory into the hand of the adversary.
62He also delivered His people to the sword,
And was filled with wrath at His inheritance.
63Fire devoured His young men,
And His virgins had no wedding songs.
64His priests fell by the sword,
And His widows could not weep.
Psa 78:54-64 This strophe recounts the conquest and settlement of the Promised Land (cf. Gen 15:12-21). The Canaanite tribes (see SPECIAL TOPIC: PRE-ISRAELITE INHABITANTS OF PALESTINE ) were defeated and removed by God because of their sin. Tragically the same thing happens to the Israelite tribes.
Psa 78:55 b The book of Joshua, chapters 12-19, describes the divine allotment of the land to Jacob’s children.
Psa 78:56-58 These lines of poetry describe Israel’s sin and rebellion, which is all the more terrible because of all that God had done for them (cf. Luk 12:48).
1. they tempted God, Psa 78:56 a
2. they rebelled against God, Psa 78:56 a
3. they did not keep His covenant, Psa 78:56 b
4. they turned their backs to Him, Psa 78:57 a
5. they acted treacherously as their fathers did, Psa 78:57 a
6. they turned aside like a treacherous bow, Psa 78:57 b
7. they provoked Him with Canaanite idolatry, Psa 78:58 a
8. they aroused His jealousy with graven images, Psa 78:58 b
Psa 78:59-64 These verses describe what God did to Israel in light of their actions (Psa 78:56-58).
1. He was filled with wrath
2. He greatly abhorred Israel
3. He abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh (cf. 1Sa 4:11)
4. He allowed Israel to be defeated
5. He delivered Israel to the sword
6. He was filled with wrath at His inheritance
a. fire devoured the young men
b. the virgins had no wedding
c. the priests were killed
d. the widows wept
Human choices have consequences, both temporal and eternal!
Psa 78:62 His inheritance This is a parallel to His people (cf. Psa 106:40). The origin of this imagery is Deu 9:29. It, like so many other images, is family oriented.
Psa 78:63 fire See SPECIAL TOPIC: FIRE .
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
His sanctuary: i.e. Zion. See App-68.
this mountain: viz. the one in the writer’s view; not in “the memory of an exile in Babylon”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
And he: Exo 15:13, Exo 15:17, Dan 9:16-20, Dan 11:45
his right: Psa 44:3, Eph 1:14
Reciprocal: Jos 24:11 – the men 1Sa 12:8 – made them Isa 26:10 – in the Jer 2:17 – when he Jer 32:23 – possessed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
78:54 And he brought them to the border of his {h} sanctuary, [even to] this mountain, [which] his right hand had purchased.
(h) Meaning, Canaan, which God had consecrated to himself and appointed to his people.