Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 105:25
He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtlely with his servants.
25. He turned their heart ] The rendering of the Targ., followed in P.B.V., Whose heart turned, is grammatically possible, but A.V. is no doubt right. The Psalmist does not shrink from attributing the hostility of the Egyptians to God’s agency, because it was due to the blessings which He bestowed upon Israel; and inasmuch as it led to the Exodus, it was a link in the chain of God’s action.
to deal subtilly ] By their crafty plans for destroying Israel, Exo 1:10 ff.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
25 36. The enmity of the Egyptians to Israel, and the display of Jehovah’s power which prepared the way for the Exodus.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He turned their heart to hate his people – God turned their heart. That is, He so ordered things that they became the enemies of his people, and made it necessary that they should be removed into another land. It is not said that God did this by his direct power; or that he compelled them to hate his people; or that he in any way interfered with their will; or that he regarded this as a good in itself; or that he approved of it: but this is said in accordance with the usual representations in the Bible, where God is spoken of as having all things under his control, and where it is constantly affirmed that nothing takes place without his own proper agency and government in the matter. Nothing – not even the human will – free as it is – is independent of God; and not even the worst passions of men are outside of his plan, or independent in such a sense that he does not afford the opportunity for their development and display. Compare the notes at Isa 6:10; Isa 10:5-7, Isa 10:15.
To deal subtilly – In a fraudulent, or deceitful manner. See Exo 1:10.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 25. He turned their heart] “Their heart was turned.” So the Syriac and Arabic. After befriending the Hebrews on Joseph’s account, to whom they were so deeply indebted, finding them to multiply greatly in the land, and at last to become more powerful than the Egyptians themselves, they turned their attention to the adoption of measures, in order to prevent the Hebrews from possessing themselves of the government of the whole land; they curtailed them of their privileges, and endeavoured to depress them by all possible means, and by a variety of legal enactments. This appears to be the sole meaning of the phrase, “He turned their heart;” or, “their heart was turned.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He turned their heart to hate his people; not by putting this wicked hatred into them, which is not consistent either with the holiness of Gods nature, or with the truth of his word, and which was altogether unnecessary, because they had that and all other wickedness in them by nature; but partly, by withdrawing the common gifts and operations of his Spirit, and all other restraints and hinderances to it, and wholly leaving them to their own mistakes, and passions, and corrupt affections, which of their own accord were ready to take that course; partly, by ordering the affairs of his people in such manner as might give them occasion of hatred; and partly, by directing and governing that hatred, which was wholly in and from themselves, so as it should fall upon the Israelites rather than upon other people.
To deal subtilly with his servants; to destroy them by crafty devices; of which see Exo 1:11, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
25. turned their heartGodcontrols men’s free acts (compare 1Sa10:9). “When Saul had turned his back to go from (God’sprophet) Samuel, God turned (Margin) him another heart”(see Ex 1:8, c.). Whatever evilthe wicked man plots against God’s people, God holds bound even hisheart, so as not to lay a single plan except what God permits. ThusIsaiah (Isa 43:17) says it wasGod who brought forth the army of Pharaoh to pursueIsrael to their own destruction (Exo 4:21Exo 7:3).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He turned their heart to hate his people,…. Whom before they loved and esteemed: when Pharaoh and his servants heard of Joseph’s father and brethren, they were greatly pleased, and invited them into Egypt; and, when come, placed them in the land of Goshen; but when a new king arose, and a new generation, which knew not Joseph, the hearts of these were turned to hate them. This is said to be of the Lord: not that he put any hatred into them, there was no need of that; there is enough of that naturally in every man’s heart against good men, and all that is good: but he did not restrain that hatred, as he could have done, but suffered them to let it have vent; and moreover, he did those things which were an occasion of it, and which served to stir up their hatred; as increasing their numbers, and making them stronger and mightier than they, Ex 1:9.
To deal subtilly with his servants; by putting them to hard labour, and using them with great rigour, in order to weaken their strength; by commanding the midwives to kill every son that was born; and by publishing an edict, to cast every male child into the river and drown it, and so hinder the increase of them. Thus the people of God have their enemies that hate them; that are subtle and cunning, wise to do evil, full of all subtilty and wicked craft; Satan, at the head of them, has his artful methods, wiles, stratagems, and devices: but the Lord is wiser than all, and knows how to deliver his people out of the hands of all their enemies, as he did the children of Israel; of which there is an account in the following verses.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Narration of the exodus out of Egypt after the plagues that went forth over that land. Psa 105:25 tells how the Egyptians became their “oppressors.” It was indirectly God’s work, inasmuch as He gave increasing might to His people, which excited their jealousy. The craft reached its highest pitch in the weakening of the Israelites that was aimed at by killing all the male children that were born. signifies facts, instances, as in Psa 65:4; Psa 145:5. Here, too, as in Ps 78, the miraculous judgments of the ten plagues to not stand in exactly historical order. The poet begins with the ninth, which was the most distinct self-representation of divine wrath, viz., the darkness (Exo 10:21-29): sha’lach cho’shech . The former word ( ) has an orthophonic Gaja by the final syllable, which warns the reader audibly to utter the guttural of the toneless final syllable, which might here be easily slurred over. The Hiph. has its causative signification here, as also in Jer 13:16; the contracted mode of writing with i instead of may be occasioned by the Waw convers. Psa 105:28 cannot be referred to the Egyptians; for the expression would be a mistaken one for the final compliance, which was wrung from them, and the interrogative way of taking it: nonne rebellarunt, is forced: the cancelling of the , however (lxx and Syriac), makes the thought halting. Hitzig proposes : they observed not His words; but this, too, sounds flat and awkward when said of the Egyptians. The subject will therefore be the same as the subject of ; and of Moses and Aaron, in contrast to the behaviour at Me – Merbah (Num 20:24; Num 27:14; cf. 1Ki 13:21, 1Ki 13:26), it is said that this time they rebelled not against the words ( Ker, without any ground: the word) of God, but executed the terrible commands accurately and willingly. From the ninth plague the poet in Psa 105:29 passes over to the first (Exo 7:14-25), viz., the red blood is appended to the black darkness. The second plague follows, viz., the frogs (Exo 8:1-15); Psa 105:20 looks as though it were stunted, but neither has the lxx read any ( ), Ex. 7:28. In Psa 105:31 he next briefly touches upon the fourth plague, viz., the gad-fly, , lxx (Exo 8:20-32, vid., on Psa 78:45), and the third (Exo 8:16-19), viz., the gnats, which are passed over in Ps 78. From the third plague the poet in Psa 105:32, Psa 105:33 takes a leap over to the seventh, viz., the hail (Ex 9:13-35). In Psa 105:32 he has Exo 9:24 before his mind, according to which masses of fire descended with the hail; and in Psa 105:33 (as in Psa 78:47) he fills in the details of Exo 9:25. The seventh plague is followed by the eighth in Psa 105:34, Psa 105:35, viz., the locust (Ex 10:1-20), to which (the grasshopper) is the parallel word here, just as (the cricket) is in Psa 78:46. The expression of innumerableness is the same as in Psa 104:25. The fifth plague, viz., the pestilence, murrain (Exo 9:1-7), and the sixth, viz., , boils (Exo 9:8-12), are left unmentioned; and the tenth plague closes, viz., the smiting of the first-born (Exo 11:1.), which Psa 105:36 expresses in the Asaphic language of Psa 78:51. Without any mention of the institution of the Passover, the tenth plague is followed by the departure with the vessels of silver and gold asked for from the Egyptians (Exo 12:35; Exo 11:2; Exo 3:22). The Egyptians were glad to get rid of the people whose detention threatened them with total destruction (Exo 12:33). The poet here draws from Isa 5:27; Isa 14:31; Isa 63:13, and Exo 15:16. The suffix of refers to the chief subject of the assertion, viz., to God, according to Psa 122:4, although manifestly enough the reference to Israel is also possible (Num 24:2).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Israel’s Deliverance Out of Egypt. | |
25 He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants. 26 He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen. 27 They showed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. 28 He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word. 29 He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. 30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings. 31 He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts. 32 He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. 33 He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts. 34 He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillars, and that without number, 35 And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. 36 He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength. 37 He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes. 38 Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them. 39 He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night. 40 The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. 41 He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river. 42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant. 43 And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: 44 And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people; 45 That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD.
After the history of the patriarchs follows here the history of the people of Israel, when they grew into a nation.
I. Their affliction in Egypt (v. 25): He turned the heart of the Egyptians, who had protected them, to hate them and deal subtilely with them. God’s goodness to his people exasperated the Egyptians against them; and, though their old antipathy to the Hebrews (which we read of Gen 43:32; Gen 46:34) was laid asleep for a while, yet now it revived with more violence than ever: formerly they hated them because they despised them, now because they feared them. They dealt subtilely with them, set all their politics on work to find out ways and means to weaken them, and waste them, and prevent their growth; they made their burdens heavy and their lives bitter, and slew their male children as soon as they were born. Malice is crafty to destroy: Satan has the serpent’s subtlety, with his venom. It was God that turned the hearts of the Egyptians against them; for every creature is that to us that he makes it to be, a friend or an enemy. Though God is not the author of the sins of men, yet he serves his own purposes by them.
II. Their deliverance out of Egypt, that work of wonder, which, that it might never be forgotten, is put into the preface to the ten commandments. Observe,
1. The instruments employed in that deliverance (v. 26): He sent Moses his servant on this errand and joined Aaron in commission with him. Moses was designed to be their lawgiver and chief magistrate, Aaron to be their chief priest; and therefore, that they might respect them the more and submit to them the more cheerfully, God made use of them as their deliverers.
2. The means of accomplishing that deliverance; these were the plagues of Egypt. Moses and Aaron observed their orders, in summoning them just as God appointed them, and they rebelled not against his word (v. 28) as Jonah did, who, when he was sent to denounce God’s judgments against Nineveh, went to Tarshish. Moses and Aaron were not moved, either with a foolish fear of Pharaoh’s wrath or a foolish pity of Egypt’s misery, to relax or retard any of the plagues which God ordered them to inflict on the Egyptians, but stretched forth their hand to inflict them as God appointed. Those that are instructed to execute judgment will find their remissness construed as a rebellion against God’s word. The plagues of Egypt are here called God’s signs, and his wonders (v. 27); they were not only proofs of his power, but tokens of his wrath, and to be looked upon with admiration and holy awe. They showed the words of his signs (so it is in the original), for every plague had an exposition going along with it; they were not, as the common works of creation and providence, silent signs, but speaking ones, and they spoke aloud. They are all or most of them here specified, though not in the order in which they were inflicted. (1.) The plague of darkness, v. 28. This was one of the last, though here mentioned first. God sent darkness, and, coming with commission, it came with efficacy; his command made it dark. And then they (that is, the people of Israel) rebelled not against God’s word, namely, a command which some think was given them to circumcise all among them that had not been circumcised, in doing which the three days’ darkness would be a protection to them. The old translation follows the LXX., and reads it, They were not obedient to his word, which may be applied to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who, notwithstanding the terror of this plague, would not let the people go; but there is no ground for it in the Hebrew. (2.) The turning of the river Nilus (which they idolized) into blood, and all their other waters, which slew their fish (v. 29), and so they were deprived, not only of their drink, but of the daintiest of their meat, Num. xi. 5. (3.) The frogs, shoals of which their land brought forth, which poured in upon them, not only in such numbers, but with such fury, that they could not keep them out of the chambers of their kings and great men, whose hearts had been full of vermin, more nauseous and more noxious-contempt of, and enmity to, both God and his Israel. (4.) Flies of divers sorts swarmed in their air, and lice in their clothes, v. 31; Exo 8:17; Exo 8:24. Note, God can make use of the meanest, and weakest, and most despicable animals, for the punishing and humbling of proud oppressors, to whom the impotency of the instrument cannot but be a great mortification, as well as an undeniable conviction of the divine omnipotence. (5.) Hail-stones shattered their trees, even the strongest timber-trees in their coasts, and killed their vines, and their other fruit-trees, Psa 105:32; Psa 105:33. Instead of rain to cherish their trees, he gave them hail to crush them, and with it thunder and lightning, to such a degree that the fire ran along upon the ground, as if it had been a stream of kindled brimstone, Exod. ix. 23. (6.) Locusts and caterpillars destroyed all the herbs which were made for the service of man and ate the bread out of their mouths, Psa 105:34; Psa 105:35. See what variety of judgments God has, wherewith to plague proud oppressors, that will not let his people go. God did not bring the same plague twice, but, when there was occasion for another, it was still a new one; for he has many arrows in his quiver. Locusts and caterpillars are God’s armies; and, how weak soever they are singly, he can raise such numbers of them as to make them formidable, Joe 1:4; Joe 1:6. (7.) Having mentioned all the plagues but those of the murrain and boils, he concludes with that which gave the conquering stroke, and that was the death of the first-born, v. 36. In the dead of the night the joys and hopes of their families, the chief of their strength and flower of their land, were all struck dead by the destroying angel. They would not release God’s first-born, and therefore God seized theirs by way of reprisal, and thereby forced them to dismiss his too, when it was too late to retrieve their own; for when God judges he will overcome, and those will certainly sit down losers at last that contend with him.
3. The mercies that accompanied this deliverance. In their bondage, (1.) They had been impoverished, and yet they came out rich and wealthy. God not only brought them forth, but he brought them forth with silver and gold, v. 37. God empowered them to ask and collect the contributions of their neighbours (which were indeed but part of payment for the service they had done them) and inclined the Egyptians to furnish them with what they asked. Their wealth was his, and therefore he might, their hearts were in his hand, and therefore he could, give it to the Israelites. (2.) Their lives had been made bitter to them, and their bodies and spirits broken by their bondage; and yet, when God brought them forth, there was not one feeble person, none sick, none so much as sickly, among their tribes. They went out that very night that the plague swept away all the first-born of Egypt, and yet they went out all in good health, and brought not with them any of the diseases of Egypt. Surely never was the like, that among so many thousands there was not one sick! So false was the representation which the enemies of the Jews, in after-ages, gave of this matter, that they were all sick of a leprosy, or some loathsome disease, and that therefore the Egyptians thrust them out of their land. (3.) They had been trampled upon and insulted over; and yet they were brought out with honour (v. 38): Egypt was glad when they departed; for God had so wonderfully owned them, and pleaded their cause, that the fear of Israel fell upon them, and they owned themselves baffled and overcome. God can and will make his church a burdensome stone to all that heave at it and seek to displace it, so that those shall think themselves happy that get out of its way, Zech. xii. 3. When God judges, he will overcome. (4.) They had spent their days in sorrow and in sighing, by reason of their bondage; but now he brought them forth with joy and gladness, v. 43. When Egypt’s cry for grief was loud, their first-born being all slain, Israel’s shouts for joy were as loud, both when they looked back upon the land of slavery out of which they were rescued and when they looked forward to the pleasant land to which they were hastening. God now put a new song into their mouth.
4. The special care God took of them in the wilderness. (1.) For their shelter. Besides the canopy of heaven, he provided them another heavenly canopy: He spread a cloud for a covering (v. 39), which was to them not only a screen and umbrella, but a cloth of state. A cloud was often God’s pavilion (Ps. xviii. 11) and now it was Israel’s; for they also were his hidden ones. (2.) For their guidance and refreshment in the dark. He appointed a pillar of fire to give light in the night, that they might never be at a loss. Note, God graciously provides against all the grievances of his people, and furnishes them with convenient succours for every condition, for day and night, till they come to heaven, where it will be all day to eternity. (3.) He fed them both with necessaries and dainties. Sometimes he furnished their tables with wild fowl (v. 40): The people asked, and he brought quails; and, when they were not thus feasted, yet they were abundantly satisfied with the bread of heaven. Those are curious and covetous indeed who will not be so satisfied. Man did eat angels’ food, and that constantly and on free-cost. And, as every bit they ate had miracle in it, so had every drop they drank: He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out, v. 41. Common providence fetches waters from heaven, and bread out of the earth; but for Israel the divine power brings bread from the clouds and water from the rocks: so far is the God of nature from being tied to the laws and courses of nature. The water did not only gush out once, but it ran like a river, plentifully and constantly, and attended their camp in all their removes; hence they are said to have the rock follow them (1 Cor. x. 4), and, which increased the miracle, this river of God (so it might be truly called) ran in dry places, and yet was not drunk in and lost, as one would have expected it to be, by the sands of the desert of Arabia. To this that promise alludes, I will give rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen,Isa 43:19; Isa 43:20.
5. Their entrance, at length, into Canaan (v. 44): He gave them the lands of the heathen, put them in possession of that which they had long been put in hopes of; and what the Canaanites had taken pains for God’s Israel had the enjoyment of: They inherited the labour of the people; and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. The Egyptians had long inherited their labours, and now they inherited the labours of the Canaanites. Thus sometimes one enemy of the church is made to pay another’s scores.
6. The reasons why God did all this for them. (1.) Because he would himself perform the promises of the word, v. 42. They were unworthy and unthankful, yet he did those great things in their favour because he remembered the word of his holiness (that is, his covenant) with Abraham his servant, and he would not suffer one iota or tittle of that to fall to the ground. See Deut. vii. 8. (2.) Because he would have them to perform the precepts of the word, to bind them to which was the greatest kindness he could put upon them. He put them in possession of Canaan, not that they might live in plenty and pleasure, in ease and honour, and might make a figure among the nations, but that they might observe his statutes and keep his laws,–that, being formed into a people, they might be under God’s immediate government, and revealed religion might be the basis of their national constitution,–that, having a good land given them, they might out of the profits of it bring sacrifices to God’s altar,–and that, God having thus done them good, they might the more cheerfully receive his law, concluding that also designed for their good, and might be sensible of their obligations in gratitude to live in obedience to him. We are therefore made, maintained, and redeemed, that we may live in obedience to the will of God; and the hallelujah with which the psalm concludes may be taken both as a thankful acknowledgment of God’s favours and as a cheerful concurrence with this great intention of them. Has God done so much for us, and yet does he expect so little from us? Praise you the Lord.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
25. He turned their heart, so that they hated his people The Egyptians, though at first kind and courteous hosts to the Israelites, became afterwards cruel enemies; and this also the prophet ascribes to the counsel of God. They were undoubtedly driven to this by a perverse and malignant spirit, by pride and covetousness; but still such a thing did not happen without the providence of God, who in an incomprehensible manner so accomplishes his work in the reprobate, as that he brings forth light even out of darkness. The form of expression seems to some a little too harsh, and therefore they translate the verb passively, their ( i.e., the Egyptians’) hearts were turned. But this is poor, and does not suit the context; for we see that it is the express object of the inspired writer to put the whole government of the Church under God, so that nothing may happen but according to his will. If the delicate ears of some are offended at such doctrine, let it be observed, that the Holy Spirit unequivocally affirms in other places as well as here, that the minds of men are driven hither and thither by a secret impulse, (Pro 21:1) so that they can neither will nor do any thing except as God pleases. What madness is it to embrace nothing but what commends itself to human reason? What authority will God’s word have, if it is not admitted any farther than we are inclined to receive it? Those then who reject this doctrine, because it is not very grateful to the human understanding, are inflated with a perverse arrogance. Others malignantly misrepresent it, not through ignorance or by mistake, but only that they may excite commotion in the Church, or to bring us into odium among the ignorant. Some over-timid persons could wish, for the sake of peace, that this doctrine were buried. They are surely ill qualified for composing differences. This was the very cause why in former times the doctors of the Church, in their writings, swerved from the pure and genuine truths of the gospel, and turned aside to a heathen philosophy. Whence originated the doctrine of free-will, whence that of the righteousness of works, but because these good fathers were afraid of giving occasion to evil-tongued or malignant men if they freely professed what is contained in the sacred Scriptures? And had not God, as it were by a strong hand, prevented Augustine, he would, in this respect, have been exactly like the rest. But God, so to speak, polishing him with a hammer, corrected that foolish wisdom, which rears its crest against the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, we see, affirms that the Egyptians were so wicked, that God turned their hearts to hate his people. The middle-scheme men seek to evade and qualify this statement, by saying, that his turning their hearts, denotes his permitting this; (221) or, that when the Egyptians set their hearts upon hating the Israelites, he made use of their malice, as what, so to speak, came accidentally in his way; as if the Holy Spirit, from being defective in the power of language, spoke one thing, when he meant another. If the doctrine of this text, at first sight, seem strange to us, let us remember that God’s judgments, in other places, are justly called “unsearchable,” (Rom 11:33) and “a great deep,” (Psa 36:6) Did not our capacity fail in reaching the height of them, they would not have that intricacy and mystery by which they are characterized. It is, however, to be observed, that the root of the malice was in the Egyptians themselves, so that the fault cannot be transferred to God. I say, they were spontaneously and innately wicked, and not forced by the instigation of another. In regard to God, it ought to suffice us to know, that such was his will, although the reason may be unknown to us. But the reason is also apparent, which vindicates his righteousness from every objection. If we learn and keep in mind only this small word of advice, That the revealed will of God ought to be reverently acquiesced in, we will receive, without disputation, those mysteries which offend either the proud, or such as would be over-careful to remove the difficulties, in which, according to their view, such mysteries seem to be involved. (222) The prophet next expresses the manner in which the Egyptians wrought mischief against the people of God: they did not assault them openly, that they might put them to death, but they endeavored, in the way of craft and policy, to oppress them by little and little. His expression is borrowed from Moses himself. And it is purposely used, that we may not think that the hearts of the ungodly are permitted without restraint to work our destruction. It is a consideration which ought surely to satisfy our minds, that whatever the devil and wicked men may plot against us, God nevertheless represses their attempts. But it is a double confirmation of our faith, when we hear that not only their hands are bound, but also their hearts and thoughts, so that they can purpose nothing except what God pleases.
(221) “Chrysostom says that he turned is the same as he permitted to turn. See his note on the verse.” — Phillips.
(222) “ Ou ceux qui veulent estre trop prudens pour remedier aux inconvenions, ce leur semble.” — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(25) Turned their heart.So the hardening of Pharaohs heart is throughout the historical narrative ascribed to Jehovah. (Comp. Isa. 6:9-10; Mar. 4:12, &c.)
Deal subtilly.The reference is to the murdering of the male children (Exo. 1:10 : Come and let us deal wisely with them).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
25. He turned their heart God turned the heart of the Egyptians against Israel, not by a direct agency, but by being the occasion. The great increase of the Hebrews, which was of God, excited their jealousy, and brought on the oppression and persecutions which prepared Israel to leave Egypt without regret. Exo 1:10, seq. Thus God often drops bitterness into our cup when we could not otherwise be weaned from it.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 105:25 He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants.
Ver. 25. He turned their heart to hate ] Men’s hearts are in God’s hands, and he formeth and fashioneth their opinions of and affections to others at his pleasure, yet without sin.
To deal subtilly with his servants
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 105:25-36
25He turned their heart to hate His people,
To deal craftily with His servants.
26He sent Moses His servant,
And Aaron, whom He had chosen.
27They performed His wondrous acts among them,
And miracles in the land of Ham.
28He sent darkness and made it dark;
And they did not rebel against His words.
29He turned their waters into blood
And caused their fish to die.
30Their land swarmed with frogs
Even in the chambers of their kings.
31He spoke, and there came a swarm of flies
And gnats in all their territory.
32He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33He struck down their vines also and their fig trees,
And shattered the trees of their territory.
34He spoke, and locusts came,
And young locusts, even without number,
35And ate up all vegetation in their land,
And ate up the fruit of their ground.
36He also struck down all the firstborn in their land,
The first fruits of all their vigor.
Psa 105:25-36 As Psa 105:8-15 reflects the Patriarchal period and Psa 105:16-24 reflects the Joseph experience, Psa 105:25-36 reflects the Exodus.
Psa 105:25 He turned their heart to hate His people As God hardened Pharaoh’s heart toward Moses’ requests, He hardened the people of Egypt toward the Jews. Following I have included my unpublished notes on Exo 4:21.
Exo 4:21 but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go God informs Moses that though in the presence of great light, the Hebrews will believe, but Pharaoh will not be convinced. This passage, and ones similar to it, have caused tremendous problems to western theologians. We must allow this to speak in its original context and not bring to this passage questions that it was never intended to ask or to explicate. In the ANE, and particularly in Israel, God was the source of all things (cf. Job 2:10; Eccl. 3:28 Isa 45:7; Isa 54:16; Lam 3:37; Eze 14:9; Amo 3:6 b). Therefore, the Jews saw no problem in God hardening Pharaoh’s heart or in Pharaoh hardening his own heart. It is only in light of further NT revelation about mankind’s need to respond to God that the problem of God’s sovereignty and mankind’s free will becomes a mysterious paradox for the church. It is best to affirm both truths than it is to magnify one over the other. The best place in the Bible to ascertain the relationship between these two is Romans 9 on the sovereignty of God and Romans 10 on the free will of mankind. In Exodus Pharaoh is described as being hardened in three ways.
1. God hardened his heart, Exo 4:21; Exo 7:3; Exo 9:12; Exo 10:1; Exo 10:20; Exo 10:27; Exo 11:10; Exo 14:4; Exo 14:8 (cf. Rom. 9:34)
2. Pharaoh hardened his own heart, Exo 8:15; Exo 8:32; Exo 9:34
3. his heart was hardened but with no mention of the source, Exo 7:13-14; Exo 7:22; Exo 8:19; Exo 9:7; Exo 9:35
It is also interesting to note that three different verbs are used to describe this hardening.
1. to be strong in the sense of callous, Exo 4:21; Exo 7:13; Exo 7:22; Exo 8:19; Exo 9:12; Exo 9:35; Exo 10:20; Exo 10:27; Exo 11:10; Exo 14:4; Exo 14:8
2. to be heavy and, therefore, lack of responsiveness, Exo 7:14; Exo 8:15; Exo 8:32; Exo 9:7; Exo 9:34; Exo 10:1
3. to be hard, Exo 7:3
However, all of these seem to be used in a synonymous relationship. The Bible emphatically teaches that each of us is personally responsible for our actions, including Pharaoh and Judas Iscariot.
Psa 105:26 The account of YHWH calling Moses and sending him back to Egypt is recorded in Exodus 3-4.
The need for Aaron is explained in Exo 4:10-17.
1. Exo 4:10, Moses’ excuse
2. Exo 4:11-12, YHWH’s answer
3. Exo 4:13, Moses’ continuing refusal
4. Exo 4:14-16, YHWH’s answer to send Aaron to speak for him
Psa 105:27 the land of Ham The Hebrews recognized that the Egyptians were ancient brothers. Ham is also mentioned in Psa 78:51; Psa 106:22. This speaks of the unity of mankind. See full notes at Genesis 10.
Psa 105:28-36 This describes the plagues (cf. Exodus 7-11). However, this is only a partial list. It starts with the 9th, then the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 3rd, 7th, 8th, and 10th.
Psa 105:28 And they did not rebel against His words The LXX and Peshitta leave out the negative. This is followed by NRSV and REB. However, the MT has the negative and the UBS Text Project gives its inclusion a B rating (some doubt). The interpretive issue is, who is they.
1. MT – Moses and Aaron
2. LXX – the Egyptians, especially Pharaoh
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
He turned. Compare Exo 1:10; Exo 4:21.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
He turned: Gen 15:13, Exo 9:16, Exo 10:1, Deu 2:30, Rom 9:17-19
to hate: Exo 1:11-14, Exo 1:16, Exo 2:23, Act 7:19
Reciprocal: Gen 37:18 – conspired Exo 1:9 – the people Exo 1:10 – wisely Exo 1:22 – Every son Exo 4:21 – I will harden Exo 14:5 – and the heart Pro 21:1 – The king’s Jer 2:3 – all that Act 7:17 – the people Rev 17:17 – put
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 105:25. He turned their heart to hate his people Not by putting hatred to his people into their hearts, which would not have been consistent, either with the holiness of his nature, or with the truth of his word; and which was altogether unnecessary, because they, like the rest of mankind, were corrupt by nature, and had the seeds of that, and all other evils, in their hearts; but by withdrawing the influences of that Holy Spirit, which they had long grieved, and done despite unto, and leaving them to their own mistakes, passions, and corrupt inclinations, which, of their own accord, were to take that course. Through this their innate depravity and wickedness it was, that Gods goodness to his people, in increasing their numbers and prospering their affairs, exasperated the Egyptians more and more against them; and though their old antipathy to the Hebrews (of which we read Gen 43:32; Gen 46:34) had been laid asleep for a while, yet now it revived and broke out with more violence than ever. Formerly, they hated them because they despised them, now, because they feared them. They dealt subtly with them Used crafty counsels, and set their wits to work to find out ways and means to weaken and waste them, and prevent their increase. They made their burdens heavy, and their lives bitter; and slew their male children as soon as they were born, and took every method they could think of entirely to destroy them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
105:25 {n} He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants.
(n) So it is in God, either to move the hearts of the wicked to love or to hate God’s children.