Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 78:59
When God heard [this], he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:
59. Cp. Psa 78:21. and greatly abhorred Israel ] Better, and utterly rejected Israel. Israel here can hardly mean Ephraim only, as some commentators hold; for neither sin nor punishment was limited to Ephraim, and the sanctuary of Shiloh, though in Ephraimite territory, was the sanctuary of all Israel.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
59 64. Once more therefore God punished them for their sins, abandoning them to their enemies and even suffering the Ark to be captured.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
When God heard this – literally, God heard; that is, he understood this; he was acquainted with it. He heard their prayers addressed to false gods; he heard their praises sung in honor of idols.
He was wroth – This is language taken from the common manner of speaking among people, for language derived from human conceptions and usages must be employed when we speak of God, though it may be difficult to say what is its exact meaning. The general sense is that his conduct toward them was as if he was angry; or was that which is used by a man who is displeased.
And greatly abhorred Israel – The idea in the word rendered abhorred is that of rejecting them with abhorrence; that is, the reference is not merely to the internal feeling or emotion, but to the act which is the proper accompaniment of such an internal feeling. He cast them off; he treated them as not his own. The addition of the word greatly shows how intense this feeling was; how decided was his aversion to their conduct.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Heard, i.e. perceived or understood, as hearing is oft used, as Gen 11:7; 41:15, &c. It is spoken of God after the manner of men.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
59, 60. heardperceived (Ge11:7).
abhorredbut notutterly.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
When God heard this,…. Their building high places, and sacrificing on them, their making and worshipping graven images, and the language which such actions spoke; who also heard what they said to their idols, when they paid their devotion to them, acknowledging them to be their gods; he took notice of and observed all this, for nothing could pass his all seeing eye and hearing ear; and who acted as a righteous Judge, first heard, and then proceeded to give and execute the sentence; by which he let them know that he did hear and observe what they said and did:
he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel; not his remnant among them, according to the election of grace, which he in all ages had; for this would be contrary to his everlasting love, which always continues; to the immutability of his nature, who changes not; to his Word, who says, fury is not in me; and to his oath, who hath sworn that he will not be wroth with his people: he may indeed, and does, abhor their sins, but not their persons; he may seem to them and others, in the dispensations of his providence, to be wroth with them and abhor them; but does not in reality. This is to be understood of the bulk of the people in general, and is to be explained and illustrated by those several instances of his displeasure with them in the times of the judges; when his anger waxed hot against them for their idolatries and other sins, and he delivered them up into the hands of their enemies, Jud 3:7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
59 God heard it, and was wroth. The prophet again shows that God, when he found that no good resulted from his long-suffering, which the people abused, yea, even treated with mockery, and perverted as an encouragement to greater excess in sinning, at length proceeded to inflict severe punishments upon them. The metaphor, which he borrows from earthly judges, is frequently to be met with in the Scriptures. When God is said to hear, it is not meant that it is necessary for him to make inquisition, but it is intended to teach us that he does not rush forth inconsiderately to execute his judgments, and thus to prevent any from supposing that he ever acts precipitately. The amount of what is stated is, that the people continued so pertinaciously in their wickedness, that at length the cry of it ascended to heaven; and the very weight of the punishment demonstrated the aggravated nature of the offense.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
59. When God heard A judicial hearing is intended. The cry of their sins had come before him, and judgment could no longer be delayed. See 1Sa 2:12-36
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
God may be said to hear when the cry of a sinful land comes up before him for judgment. So in the case of Cain’s murdering his brother: The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. Gen 4:10 . And as in judgment, so in mercy; when the Lord would heal a barren land, made barren for the wickedness of them that dwell therein, he is said to hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth. The earth wants the rain, and crieth to the heavens for it; but the heavens cannot send it, until the Lord commands. Hos 2:21-22 . God’s forsaking Shiloh is an awful example of what sinful nations, professing, but not possessing, godliness, may tremble to behold. The covenant in Christ is eternal; but the gospel, which proclaims that covenant, is as a candlestick in God’s house, a moveable, that may be taken from one nation and given to another, for the wickedness of a land or people. Lord, grant, if it be thine heavenly will, that this our sinful land may never, never lose the light of thy divine word to the latest posterity!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 78:59 When God heard [this], he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:
Ver. 59. When God heard this ] Sin crieth aloud in God’s ears, though it be never so closely and cunningly carried.
And greatly abhorred Israel
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
When God heard this, He. There is no “When” in the Hebrew Render: “God heard this, and He was wroth”
heard. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
God Raises up His Shepherd David
Psa 78:59-72
This paragraph continues the history of the Judges, and tells the story of what befell after the battle in which Elis sons were slain. See 1Sa 4:1-22. It is difficult to estimate the despair which that disaster caused, because Israel seemed the light-bearer of the world. What hope was there for mankind, if its lamp of testimony was extinguished!
It inspires great confidence, however, to read in Psa 78:65 of Gods awakening. The language, of course, is highly metaphorical, because He neither slumbers nor sleeps. But there have been many times in the history of the Church when He has seemed to be indifferent. Sin and evil have held undisputed sway. Then a time of revival has suddenly set in. Some David or Daniel, some Athanasius or Augustine, some Wycliffe or Luther, some Spurgeon or Moody, has been brought from an obscure family-one of the least of the thousands of Judah-and he has led the host of God with unerring accuracy and success. Even at this hour, amid the sheepfolds or the far-spreading acres of the Western world, God is probably training the ardently looked-for leaders of His Church.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
God: Psa 11:4, Psa 14:2-5, Gen 18:20, Gen 18:21
greatly: Psa 106:40, Lev 20:23, Lev 26:44, Lam 2:7, Zec 11:8
Reciprocal: Lev 26:11 – abhor Lev 26:30 – my soul Num 11:10 – the anger Deu 32:19 – And when 1Sa 2:32 – an enemy Psa 89:38 – and Jer 2:7 – ye defiled Jer 12:7 – have forsaken Jer 14:19 – utterly Jer 23:33 – I Eze 23:18 – then Amo 6:8 – I abhor Zec 8:2 – I was jealous