Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 89:12
The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.
12. The north and the south ] The furthest extremities of the world. Cp. Job 26:7.
Tabor and Hermon ] These mountains are named, not so much to represent the West and East of the land, as because they are the grandest and most conspicuous natural features of Palestine. Tabor is described as a “strange and beautiful mountain,” towering “over the monotonous undulations of the surrounding hills,” and “so thickly studded with trees, as to rise from the plain like a mass of verdure.” In Jer 46:18 it is used as an emblem of pre-eminence. Hermon was “the image of unearthly grandeur, which nothing else but perpetual snow can give; especially as seen in the summer, when ‘the firmament around it seems to be on fire.’ ” Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, pp. 350, 404.
shall rejoice in thy name ] Better as R.V., rejoice. Nature is a revelation of its Creator, and rejoices in the fulfilment of its office. Cp. Psa 19:1; Psa 65:12-13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The north and the south, thou hast created them – All that there is in the north and in the south – in the northern and the southern sky – the constellations and the stars; and all that there is in the earth – in the regions of cold and of heat – far as they extend in either direction. The word rendered north here – tsaphon – means properly that which is hidden or dark, and was applied to the north, because the ancients regarded it as the seat of gloom and darkness. Hom. Od., ix. 25. The south, on the other hand, was regarded by them as illuminated and made bright by the beams of the sun. The word rendered south – yamyn – means literally the right hand, and was applied to the south because the ancient geographers were supposed to face the east, as now they are supposed to face the north. Compare the notes at Job 23:9.
Tabor and Hermon – That is, the west and the east – the former of these mountains being on the western side of Palestine, the other on the eastern, and both of them being objects of beauty and grandeur. The idea is, that God had control of all parts of the universe; that the world in every direction, and in every part, declared his power, and made known his greatness.
Shall rejoice in thy name – Or, do rejoice in thee. That is, They, as it were, exult in thee as their God. They are clothed with beauty, as if full of joy; and they acknowledge that all this comes from thee as the great Creator. Compare Psa 65:8, Psa 65:12; Psa 96:11-12.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. The north and the south] It is generally supposed that by these four terms all the four quarters of the globe are intended. Tabor, a mountain of Galilee, was on the west of Mount Hermon, which was beyond Jordan, to the east of the source of that river.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The north and the south; the northern and southern parts of the world, yea, even the remotest ends thereof; though not yet known to us, were made and are ruled by thee. Or possibly he may understand the northern and southern empires, and people of the world, who have from time to time annoyed and disturbed the kingdom of David and of Israel, of which this Psalm principally treats, such as Syria, Chaldea, and Assyria; which in Scripture phrase are called the north, in reference to that kingdom; and Egypt, and Ethiopia, and Arabia, which are southward from it. These, saith he, are all thy creatures, and none of them can withstand thee, if thou wilt undertake to deliver thy people. But this I only propose with submission.
Tabor and Hermon; two eminent mountains in the land of Canaan; Tabor in the west and within Jordan, Hermon on the east and without Jordan; by which he may understand either, first, The western and eastern parts of the world; and so all the four parts of the world are contained in this verse. But this may seem an uncouth and incongruous description of the east and west, partly because the north and the south here mentioned are not those parts of the land of Canaan, but of the world with respect to it; and therefore the east and west should in reason have been so too; and partly because these places were not so situated in Canaan, for Tabor was not in the west part of Canaan, but rather in the middle space between the sea and Jordan; and Hermon was not so much on the east as on the north, being indeed the northern border of the land without Jordan. Or, secondly, The several parts of the land of Canaan, both within Jordan, where Mount Tabor is; and without it, where Hermon lies. And the mountains may be named rather than the valleys, because when their fertility is expressed, the fertility of the valleys is more strongly supposed.
Shall rejoice, i.e. shall be fruitful and prosperous, and so give their inhabitants cause to rejoice. Joy and singing are oft ascribed to mountains and fields, &c., in a poetical strain.
In thy name; in or by thy favour, and the fruits thereof.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. rejoice in thy namepraiseThy perfections by their very existence.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Ver. 12 The north and the south, thou hast created them,…. The two extreme parts of the world, the northern and southern poles, whether inhabited or uninhabited, are created by the Lord, to answer some purpose or another; see Job 26:7.
Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name; Tabor was a mountain in the western part of Galilee, in the tribe of Zebulun, Jos 19:12. This mountain, according to Mr. Maundrell a, stands by itself in the plain of Esdraelon, about 1200 to 1800 yards within the plain; it has a plain area at top, most fertile and delicious, of an oval figure, extended about six hundred yards in breadth, and twice that in length; this area is enclosed with trees on all parts, except towards the south, in which there are in several places cisterns of good water. It is generally thought to be the mountain Christ was transfigured upon before his disciples; and if so, it might then be said to rejoice in his name, when he appeared in so glorious a form upon it; Moses and Elias talking with him, and a voice from the excellent Glory declaring him his beloved Son; and especially the disciples rejoiced in his name there and then, who could say, It is good for us to be here, Mt 17:1. Hermon was a mountain called by the Sidonians Sirion, and by the Amorites Shenir, De 3:8 and was in the east; and so Mr. Maundrell b, speaking of Tabor, says, not many miles eastward you see Mount Hermon, at the foot of which is seated Nain, famous for our Lord’s raising the widow’s son there, Lu 7:11, there was an Hermon near Mount Tabor, thought likely to be here meant; but, be these mountains where and what they may, they were no doubt very high and fruitful ones, clothed with fruitful trees and grass, and covered with flocks; which made the proprietors and all the beholders rejoice in the goodness, wisdom, and power of God: the Targum in the king’s Bible gives the four quarters very truly,
“the desert of the north, and the inhabitants of the south, thou hast created; Tabor on the west, and Hermon on the east, praise in thy name.”
a Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 113, 114, Ed. 7. b Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 115, Ed. 7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(12) Tabor and Hermon.Introduced not only as standing roughly for west and east, but for their prominence and importance in the landscape. (Comp. Hos. 5:1.)
Shall rejoice.Better, sing for joy.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Tabor and Hermon Not the “Little Hermon,” south of Tabor, as some have supposed, but the celebrated spur of Anti-Lebanon of that name, both mentioned poetically as representative mountains, the former for its beauty, the latter for its grandeur. These shall rejoice shout for joy leading the anthem of the mountains in Jehovah’s praise for his glorious deeds toward his people.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 89:12. Tabor and Hermon These two famous mountains of Judea, the first on the west, and the second on the east of it, are here put for the eastern and western quarters of the world. Shall rejoice in thy name, is a figurative and poetical expression, signifying, “They shall afford matter for thy praise, who enrichest them by thy bountiful providence.” We may render it, The east and the west.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 89:12 The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.
Ver. 12. Tabor and Hermon ] That is, the west and east of Judaea, but put here for the west and east of the world. Judaea was the world of the world, as Athens the Greece of Greece, as Solon the epitome of Athens.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Tabor and Hermon. West and east of the Holy Land; and, with north and south, completing the four points of the compass.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
north: Job 26:7
Tabor: Jos 19:22, Jdg 4:6, Jdg 4:12
Hermon: Psa 133:3, Deu 3:8, Deu 3:9, Jos 12:1
rejoice: Psa 65:12, Psa 65:13, Isa 35:1, Isa 35:2, Isa 49:13, Isa 55:12, Isa 55:13
Reciprocal: Gen 1:1 – God Jos 11:3 – Hermon Jos 19:12 – Chislothtabor Jdg 8:18 – Tabor 1Sa 10:3 – Tabor Job 38:18 – General Psa 89:16 – name Jer 46:18 – Tabor
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
89:12 The north and the south thou hast created them: {k} Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.
(k) Tabor is a mountain west from Jerusalem, and Hermon to the East, so the prophet signifies that all parts and places of the world will obey God’s power for the deliverance of his Church.