Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 107:17
Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
17. Fools ] Many commentators think that some word is needed to express the plight of those whose restoration is to be described, and
conjecture that we should read sick ( ) instead of fools ( ). This emendation gives a good parallelism: Those who are sick by reason of their course of transgression, and bring affliction on themselves by their iniquities. But the change is unnecessary. The poet looks behind the sickness to the sin which was its cause. Folly denotes moral perversity, not mere weakness or ignorance; it leads to ruin. It is the opposite of wisdom, which leads to life. Cp. Pro 1:7, &c.; Job 5:3. Sickness is commonly regarded in the O.T. as the consequence and punishment of sin. Cp. Psa 38:5. That sickness is not necessarily a proof of sin was one of the great lessons taught in the Book of Job.
their transgression ] Lit. the way of their transgression, implying persistence in evil courses.
are afflicted ] The form of the verb conveys the meaning, bring affliction on themselves.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
17 22. A third example of Divine goodness, in the restoration of those who have been punished with sickness for their sins, based upon Job 33:19-26.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Fools, because of their transgression – Wicked people, considered as fools, because they are transgressors. Compare Psa 14:1, note; Psa 73:3, note; Psa 75:4, note. The immediate allusion here, probably, is to the Jews, who had been so wicked and so supremely foolish in violating the commands of God, and making it necessary to bring upon them as a punishment the captivity at Babylon; but the language is made general because it will with equal propriety describe the conduct of all wicked people. There is nothing more foolish than an act of wickedness; there is no wisdom equal to that of obeying God.
And because of their iniquities, are afflicted – A more literal rendering of this verse would be, Fools from the way of their transgressions (that is, by their course of transgression), and by their iniquities, afflict themselves. The idea is, that it is in the very line of their trangressions; or, that they bring it upon themselves. All punishment is in fact in the line of the offence; that is, sin leads directly to it; or, in other words, if a man treads along in the path of sin, he will come to this result – to punishment. Punishment is not arbitrary on the part of God, and it is not of the nature of a mere direct infliction from his hand. It is what people mete out to themselves, and what they might have avoided if they had chosen to do so.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 107:17-20
Fools, because of their transgression and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
The history of sundry fools
Here are four pictures, and you may find your likeness in one of the four; but, be not so unwise as to condemn yourself if you are not seen in the other three. I never went to sea, says one, this cannot picture me. I never traversed a Sahara, says another, this cannot picture me. I never was in prison in the dark, says a third, this cannot picture me. But it is possible that you have been a fool, and therefore the sick fool may picture you. When you find yourself in one of the pictures, you may conclude that, as the four are but variations of the same subject, all the four in some degree belong to you.
I. The miserable people.
1. They were fools. We call those fools who have a great want of knowledge of things which it is necessary to know. Where other men find their way, they are lost. Where other men know what to do upon very simple matters, they are quite bewildered and cannot tell how to act. He, too, is a fool who, when he does know, does not make right use of his knowledge. He is a greater fool than the former one. He understands that the only way to be saved is to believe in Christ; but he does not believe. He knows that men must repent of sin if they would find mercy; but he does not repent of sin. He knows that life is uncertain, and yet he is risking his soul upon the chances of his continuing to live. We call him a fool who hurts himself without any profit–without any justifying cause. We count the ox foolish that goes willingly to the shambles; but there are multitudes of men and women who take delight in sin; and, though every cup around them be poisoned, yet they drink of it as though it were nectar. Verily, sinners are fools! We are great fools when we think that we can find pleasure in sin, or profit in rebellion. We are great fools when we displease our God,–when our best Friend, on whom our eternal future depends, is despised, neglected, and even rejected and hated by us.
2. They were not only fools, but sinners. The text says that fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. They began with one transgression; they went on to multiplied iniquities. There was first in their heart a transgression against God; afterwards, there were found in their lives many iniquities, both towards God and towards man. Sin multiplies itself very rapidly. It grows from one to a countless multitude. What form has your sin taken? Think of it in your own heart. But, whatever form it has taken, God is able to forgive you. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.
3. These people had a third mischief about them: they were afflicted. Their affliction was the result of their folly and their transgression.
4. They had fallen into a soul-sickness (verse 18).
5. They were almost dead.
II. The merciful Lord.
1. He sent the affliction. Your sicknesses, your poverty, and your misery–oh, I bless God for them! The heavenly Father has sent this rumbling wagger to bring you home to Himself. Oh that you would but come to yourself! Oh that you would but come to Him!
2. They began to pray; and here we see the Lord again; for no one seeks after God till God has put the prayer into his heart, and breathed a new lifo into his spirit.
3. Then, as soon as ever he did pray, the Lord heard the prayer. He sent His word, and healed them, etc. So all that God has to do, in order to save us, is to send us His Word. He has done that by sending His dear Son, who is the incarnate Word. He sends us the Word in the shape of the Holy Scriptures; He sends us the Word in the preaching of His servants; but what we want most of all is to have that Word sent home by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Lord does not operate upon the symptoms, but upon the person; He does not deliver us from this sin, and that sin, and the other sin; but He takes away the old heart, out of which the sin comes, and gives a new heart, out of which there come repentance, and faith, and a change of life. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A rescue from death, with a return of praise
In these words you have–
1. The cause of this visitation, and of all the grievance he speaks of: transgression and iniquity.
2. The kind of this visitation: sickness.
3. The extremity, in two branches: Their soul abhorreth, all manner of meat; and secondly, They draw near to the gates of death.
4. The carriage of the affected and sick parties: They cry unto the Lord in their distress.
5. The remedy of the universal and great Physician: He saves them out of their distress.
6. The manner of this remedy: He sent his word and healed them; His operative and commanding word, so as it works with His command.
7. The fee that this high Commander asks for; all the tribute or reward that He expects is praise and thanksgiving. Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for His goodness, etc.
I. The quality of the persons here described. Why are wicked men fools? and Gods children, so far as they yield to their lusts?
1. For lack of discerning in all the carriage and passages of their lives.
2. A fool is led with his humour and his lust, even as the beast.
3. He is a fool that will play with edged tools, that makes a sport of sin.
4. He is a fool that knows not or forgets his end.
5. He is a fool that hurts and wounds himself.
II. The cause. Because of their transgressions, and because of their iniquities. Transgression especially hath reference to rebellion against God and His ordinances in the first table. Iniquity hath reference to the breach of the second table, against men; and both these have their rise from folly. For want of wisdom causeth rebellion against God, and iniquity against men. All breaches of Gods will come from spiritual folly. Why doth He begin with transgressions against the first table, and then iniquities, the breach of the second? Because all breaches of the second table issue from the breach of the first.
III. The extremity.
1. Fools for their transgressions are afflicted. We by our sins put a rod into Gods hand–a rod for the fools back (Pro 26:8); and when we will be fools, we must needs endure the scourge and rod in one kind or other. Those that will sin must look for a rod.
2. Their soul abhors all manner of meat. This the great Physician of heaven and earth sets down as a symptom of a sick state, when one cannot relish and digest meat. Experience seals this truth, and proves it to be true.
3. They draw near the gates of death. Death is a great commander, a great tyrant; and hath gates to sit in, as judges and magistrates used to sit in the gates.
(1) They draw near to the gates of death; that is, they were near to death; as he that draws near the gates of a city is near the city, because the gates enter into the city.
(2) Gates are applied to death for authority. They were almost in deaths jurisdiction. Death is a great tyrant. He rules over all the men in the world, over kings and potentates, and over mean men; and the greatest men fear death most.
(3) The power of death. It is the executioner of Gods justice.
IV. Their carriage in their extremity. They cried to God in their trouble. This is the carriage of man in extreme ills, if he have any fear of God in him, to pray; and then prayers are cries. They are darted out of the heart, as it were, to heaven. Extremity of afflictions doth force prayers: In their affliction they will seek Me early. When all second causes fail, then we go to God. Nature therefore is against atheism.
V. The remedy.
1. He saved them out of their distress. God is a physician, good at all manner of sicknesses. Other physicians can cure, but they must have means. Other physicians cannot cure all manner of diseases, nor in all places, but God can cure all. He saved them out of their distress. Other physicians cannot be always present, but God is so to every one of His patients. He is a compassionate, tender, present Physician.
2. He sent His word and healed them. What word? His secret command, His will.
VI. The duty.
1. The persons who must praise God: Oh that men would praise the Lord.
2. The duty they are to perform: to praise God, to sacrifice to God, to declare His works–one main duty expressed by three terms.
3. For what they should praise Him: for His goodness. It is the spring of all, for all particular actions do come from His nature. Why is He gracious, and merciful, and longsuffering? Because He is good. This is the primitive attribute. And then another thing for which we must praise Him: for His wondrous works for the children of men.
4. The manner how this should be done: with rejoicing and singing, as the word signifies, declare His works with rejoicing. God loveth a cheerful giver (2Co 9:7), much more a cheerful thanksgiver, for cheerfulness is the very nature of thanksgiving.
VII. Helps and means to perform this duty the better.
1. Consider our own unworthiness.
2. Dwell not on second causes.
3. Consider the necessity and use of the favour we pray for.
4. Again, if we would praise God, let us every day keep a diary of His favours and blessings: what good He doth us privately, what positive blessings He bestows upon us, and what dangers He frees us from, and continues and renews His mercy every day; and publicly what benefit we have by the state we live in. (R. Sibbes.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 17. Fools because of their transgression] This is the THIRD comparison; the captivity being compared to a person in a dangerous malady. Our Version does not express this clause well: Fools midderech pisham, because of the way of their transgressions, are afflicted. Most human maladies are the fruits of sin; misery and sin are married together in bonds that can never be broken.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Fools, i.e. wicked men, whom he calls fools, because of the mischiefs which through their own folly they bring upon themselves.
Because of their transgression, Heb. because of the way of their transgression, i.e. their custom and course of sinning, as the word way is used, Psa 1:1; Pro 2:12. They did not fall into sin once or twice, as good men may do, but it was their usual practice, and therefore they are justly punished.
Afflicted with wasting sickness, as appears from Psa 107:18,20. Compare Job 33:19, &c.; Psa 39:11, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17-22. Whether the same or not,this exigency illustrates that dispensation of God according to whichsin brings its own punishment.
are afflictedliterally,”afflict themselves,” that is, bring on disease, denoted byloathing of food, and drawing
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Fools, because of their transgression,…. Or, “because of the way” h “of it”; their sinful course of life; for it is not for a single transgression they are afflicted, but for a continued series of sinning, which is a transgression of the law of God. By “fools” are meant not idiots, men devoid of common sense and natural understanding, but immoral persons; such who have no understanding of divine and spiritual things; are destitute of the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom; without the true knowledge of God himself; place their happiness in sensual enjoyments; seek only the gratification of their lust; scoff at religion, make a mock at sin, and have no concern about a future state, and the welfare of their immortal souls.
And because of their iniquities, are afflicted; or “afflict themselves”, or “find themselves afflicted” i; rather “bring affliction on themselves” k. Not that these are the only persons that are afflicted; for many truly wise, good, and gracious persons, have a large share of afflictions; though not in a way of punishment for sin, or in wrath and hot displeasure, but in a way of fatherly chastisement, and in love: nor are fools for the most part afflicted, nor so much as others; they are not in trouble and plagued as other men; which has been a stumbling to good men: however, sometimes they are afflicted in this life, and in a way of punishment for sin; and very often are but the more hardened by it; though to some it is an ordinance for good; they are awakened by it to a sense of sin, and acknowledgment of it, and to seek for pardoning grace and mercy. This is the “third” instance of persons in distress calling on the Lord, and finding relief l, and being under obligation to praise him.
h “propter viam”, Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator. i “sese adflictos sentiebant”, Michaelis. k So Tigurine version. l “Flectitur iratus voce rogante Deus”, Ovid. de Arte Amandi, l. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Others were brought to the brink of the grave by severe sickness; but when they draw nigh in earnest prayer to Him who appointed that they should suffer thus on account of their sins, He became their Saviour. (cf. e.g., Job 5:3), like (vid., Psa 14:1), is also an ethical notion, and not confined to the idea of defective intellect merely. It is one who insanely lives only for the passing hour, and ruins health, calling, family, and in short himself and everything belonging to him. Those who were thus minded, the poet begins by saying, were obliged to suffer by reason of (in consequence of) their wicked course of life. The cause of their days of pain and sorrow is placed first by way of emphasis; and because it has a meaning that is related to the past thereby comes all the more easily to express that which took place simultaneously in the past. The Hithpa. in 1Ki 2:26 signifies to suffer willingly or intentionally; here: to be obliged to submit to suffering against one’s will. Hengstenberg, for example, construes it differently: “Fools because of their walk in transgression (more than ‘because of their transgression’), and those who because of their iniquities were afflicted – all food,” etc. But beside has the assumption in its favour of being an affirmation of the cause of the affliction. In Psa 107:18 the poet has the Book of Job (Job 33:20, Job 33:22) before his eye. And in connection with Psa 107:20, (lxx), no passage of the Old Testament is more vividly recalled to one’s mind than Psa 105:19, even more than Psa 147:18; because here, as in Psa 105:19, it treats of the intervention of divine acts within the sphere of human history, and not of the intervention of divine operations within the sphere of the natural world. In the natural world and in history the word ( ) is God’s messenger (Psa 105:19, cf. Isa 55:10.), and appears here as a mediator of the divine healing. Here, as in Job 33:23., the fundamental fact of the New Testament is announced, which Theodoret on this passage expresses in words: . The lxx goes on to render it: , inasmuch as the translators derive from (Dan 6:5), and this, as elsewhere (vid., Psa 16:10), from , , which is approved by Hitzig. But Lam 4:20 is against this. From is formed a noun ( ) in the signification a hollow place (Pro 28:10), the collateral form of which, ( ), is inflected like , plur. with a retention of the substantival termination. The “pits” are the deep afflictions into which they were plunged, and out of which God caused them to escape. The suffix of avails also for , as in Gen 27:5; Gen 30:31; Psa 139:1; Isa 46:5.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Divine Goodness towards the Afflicted. | |
17 Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. 18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. 19 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. 20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. 21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Bodily sickness is another of the calamities of this life which gives us an opportunity of experiencing the goodness of God in recovering us, and of that the psalmist speaks in these verses, where we may observe,
I. That we, by our sins, bring sickness upon ourselves and then it is our duty to pray, v. 17-19. 1. It is the sin of the soul that is the cause of sickness; we bring it upon ourselves both meritoriously and efficiently: Fools, because of their transgression, are thus afflicted; they are thus corrected for the sins they have committed and thus cured of their evil inclinations to sin. If we knew no sin, we should know no sickness; but the transgression of our life, and the iniquity of our heart, make it necessary. Sinners are fools; they wrong themselves, and all against their own interest, not only their spiritual, but their secular interest. They prejudice their bodily health by intemperance and endanger their lives by indulging their appetites. This their way is their folly, and they need the rod of correction to drive out the foolishness that is bound up in their hearts. 2. The weakness of the body is the effect of sickness, v. 18. When people are sick their soul abhors all manner of meat; they not only have no desire to eat nor power to digest it, but they nauseate it, and their stomach is turned against it. And here they may read their sin in their punishment: those that doted most on the meat that perishes, when they come to be sick are sick of it, and the dainties they loved are loathed; what they took too much of now they can take nothing of, which commonly follows upon the overcharging of the heart with surfeiting and drunkenness. And when the appetite is gone the life is as good as gone: They draw near unto the gates of death; they are, in their own apprehension and in the apprehension of all about them, at the brink of the grave, as ready to be turned to destruction. 3. Then is a proper time for prayer: Then they cry unto the Lord, v. 19. Is any sick? Let him pray; let him be prayed for. Prayer is a salve for every sore.
II. That it is by the power and mercy of God that we are recovered from sickness, and then it is our duty to be thankful. Compare with this Job 33:18; Job 33:28. 1. When those that are sick call upon God he returns them an answer of peace. They cry unto him and he saves them out of their distresses (v. 19); he removes their griefs and prevents their fears. (1.) He does it easily: He sent his word and healed them, v. 20. This may be applied to the miraculous cures which Christ wrought when he was upon earth, by a word’s speaking; he said, Be clean, Be whole, and the work was done. It may also be applied to the spiritual cures which the Spirit of grace works in regeneration; he sends his word, and heals souls, convinces, converts, sanctifies them, and all by the word. In the common instances of recovery from sickness God in his providence does but speak, and it is done. (2.) He does it effectually: He delivereth them out of their destructions, that they shall neither be destroyed nor distressed with the fear of being so. Nothing is too hard for that God to do who kills and makes alive again, brings down to the grave and raises up, who turneth man almost to destruction, and yet saith, Return. 2. When those that have been sick are restored they must return to God an answer of praise (Psa 107:21; Psa 107:22): Let all men praise the Lord for his goodness, and let those, particularly, to whom God has thus granted a new life, spend it in his service; let them sacrifice with thanksgiving, not only bring a thank-offering to the altar, but a thankful heart to God. Thanksgivings are the best thank-offerings, and shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock. And let them declare his works with rejoicing, to his honour and for the encouragement of others. The living, the living, they shall praise him.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
17 Fools are afflicted on account of the way of their transgression. He comes to another species of chastisement. For as he observed above, that those were given over to captivity who refused to yield obedience to God, so now he teaches that others have been visited by God with disease, as the fruit of their transgressions. And when the transgressor shall find that it is God who is administering correction to him, this will pave the way for his arriving at the knowledge of his grace.
He denominates those fools, who, thoughtlessly giving themselves up to sensuality, bring destruction upon themselves. The sin which they commit is not the result of ignorance and error only, but of their carnal affections, which depriving them of proper understanding, cause them to devise things detrimental to themselves. The maxim, that the fear of God is wisdom, must never be lost sight of. Hence it plainly follows, that they who shake off the yoke of God, and surrender themselves to Satan and sin, are the victims of their own folly and fury. And as constituting a principal ingredient of this madness, the prophet employs the term deletion or transgression; and subsequently he adds iniquities; because it happens that when once a man departs from God, from that moment he loses all self-control, and falls from one sin into another. But it is not of the distempers which commonly prevail in the world to which a reference is made in this passage, but to those which are deemed fatal, and in which all hope of life is abandoned, so that the grace of God becomes the more conspicuous when deliverance from them is obtained. When a man recovers from a slight indisposition, he does not so plainly discern the effects of God’s power, as when it is put forth in a wonderful and notable manner to bring back some from the gates of death, and restores them to their wonted health and rigour. He says, therefore, that they are preserved from many corruptions, which is equivalent to his saying, that they are delivered from as many deaths. To this purport are the following words of the prophet, in which he says, that they approach the gates of death, and that they loathe all food We have already adverted to their calling upon God, namely, that when men are reduced to the greatest straits, they, by thus calling upon God for aid, acknowledge that they would be undone unless he wonderfully interposed for their deliverance.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) Foolsi.e., infatuated in wickedness. (Comp. the noun foolishness in Psa. 38:5 with the same ethical sense; and comp. Job. 5:3 and the frequent connection of folly with sin in the book of Proverbs.) Another Hebrew word is used in the same way (Psa. 14:1).
Because of their transgressions.Better more literally, because of way of transgression, or, their course of sin, indicating a settled habit.
Are afflicted . . .Properly, brought (or bring) affliction on themselves. LXX. and Vulgate, were humbled; and some understand afflict themselvesi.e., grieve for their sins. This would explain the distaste for food in the next verse equally well as actual sickness. But the analogy of the other stanzas is not in favour of indicating repentance before the emphatic then they cry, &c.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(17-22) The sick.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17-22. These verses form the third strophe, with Psa 107:19; Psa 107:21, for the double refrain. Israel’s sufferings are here set forth by severe sickness.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
17. Fools The word denotes one who is thoughtless, inconsiderate, slack, and at the same time perverse. The ethical notion does not exclude intellect, but only a just foresight of consequences. One who lives only for present gratification. Psa 14:1
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The next section treats of those who foolishly bring misery upon themselves by willful indulgence in sin.
v. 17. Fools because of their transgression, v. 18. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat, v. 19. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, v. 20. He sent His Word and healed them, v. 21. Oh, that men, v. 22. And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Psa 107:17. Fools because of their transgression The foolish, who depart from his way, and are brought low by their iniquities.Ver. 18. Whose soul loatheth all manner of food, and who draw near to the gates of death.Ver. 19. When these cry unto the Lord, &c. Green. The reader will observe throughout the whole translation of this psalm, a very irregular interchange of tenses; which it may be sufficient to have noted once, and to add, that in general the verbs should be translated in the present tense.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Under another similitude, the Psalmist here sets forth the miseries of our fallen nature, in order to display the benignity and compassion of Heaven in our recovery. When sin entered into the world, sickness and death followed. Jesus the Son of God came to bear our sickness, and to carry our sorrows. And he by his own death hath overcome death, and by taking out the sting of death, which is sin, hath brought his people to the right of inheritance in that happy climate, where the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. Isa 33:24 . Hence a new occasion ariseth for praising the divine mercy in Jesus.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 107:17 Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
Ver. 17. Fools because of their transgression ] Propter viam defectionis sum, by means of their defection, their departing away from the living God, through an evil heart of unbelief, Heb 3:12 .
And because of their iniquities
Are afflicted
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 107:17-22
17Fools, because of their rebellious way,
And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.
18Their soul abhorred all kinds of food,
And they drew near to the gates of death.
19Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses.
20He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.
21Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!
22Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And tell of His works with joyful singing.
Psa 107:17 were afflicted This is a metaphor about a sickness unto death. However, this verbal form is a reflexive, not a passive, and it should be translated they afflicted themselves (BDB 776, KB 853, Hithpael imperfect). It has been said that we do not break God’s laws but that we break ourselves on God’s laws. There is much truth in this statement about God’s moral universe.
Psa 107:18 This is a way of speaking about a loss of appetite brought on by severe illness. In this verse Sheol is described as a fortress or city with gates (cf. Job 38:17). Quite often Sheol is personified or metaphoricalized in several different ways, but obviously we are speaking about death. See SPECIAL TOPIC: Where Are the Dead?
Psa 107:19 The phrase is repeated in Psa 107:6; Psa 107:13; Psa 107:19; Psa 107:28. It is reminiscent of the period of the Judges.
Psa 107:20 He sent His word and healed them Notice here the Hebrew emphasis on the power of the spoken word. Much like Genesis 1, God spoke and it was accomplished. This same emphasis on the power of the word of God can be seen in Isa 55:11. In the OT, when God spoke, His words became an independent, self-fulfilling existence.
The noun destructions (lit. pits, BDB 1005) is a rare root and is found in only three places in the OT.
1. here
2. Pro 28:10
3. Lam 4:20
It could refer to
1. the schemes and plans of enemies (animal traps)
2. death (Sheol as the pit)
Psa 107:21 This phrase is repeated in Psa 107:8; Psa 107:15; Psa 107:21; Psa 107:31. See full note at Psa 107:8.
Psa 107:22 This verse emphasizes temple worship in Jerusalem, as does Psa 107:23. It is possible that Psa 107:2 a also reflects a temple activity.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fools = the Perverse, depending on their own wisdom, which is foolishness with God (1Co 1:20-25). Compare Pro 1:7; Pro 12:15; Pro 14:3, Pro 14:9; Pro 15:5; Pro 27:22.
transgression. Hebrew. pasha’. App-44.
iniquities. Hebrew. ‘avah. App-44. Not the same word as in Psa 107:42.
are afflicted = bring affliction on themselves.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 107:17-22
Psa 107:17-22
THE METAPHOR OF FOLLY AND SIN-SICKNESS
“Fools because of their transgression,
And because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
Their soul abhorreth all manner of food;
And they draw near unto the gates of death.
Then they cry unto Jehovah in their trouble,
And he saveth them out of their distresses.
He sendeth his word and healeth them,
And delivereth them from their destructions.
Oh that men would praise Jehovah for his lovingkindness,
And for his wonderful works to the children of men!
And let them offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And declare his works with singing.”
The first word, “fools,” is the key to this paragraph. The “sickness” here referred to is a moral and ethical sickness resulting from the consummate wickedness of the Chosen People which led to God’s consigning them to captivity.
“Fools” (Psa 107:17). “This refers not to intellectual feebleness, but to moral perversity. All sin is folly; and nothing is so insane as to do wrong.
The metaphor here is that of a sick person, Israel being the patient, but the emphasis is not upon the nature of the sickness; “It is upon the cause of it, which is sin. A sick man compared to one in health is an apt figure indeed of the weak, captive, humiliated, suffering Israel as contrasted with the 600,000 fighting men that came out of Egypt. “The propriety of this comparison can scarcely be questioned.
Psa 107:19; Psa 107:21 are another recurrence of the double refrain as in Psa 107:6 and Psa 107:8; Psa 107:13 and Psa 107:15, and in Psa 107:28 and Psa 107:31. Also, there is the declaration that stands between them.
“He sendeth his word and healeth them, and delivereth them from their destructions” (Psa 107:20). This is the declaration mentioned above. Not that God’s Word was designed to cure them from some disease, but for the purpose of saving the people from being destroyed in Babylon.
“And let them offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and declare his works with singing.” The great factor in these stanzas is that of sin. “These stanzas define sin as disobedience (Psa 107:11; Psa 107:17) and show its temporal (Psa 107:10), personal (Psa 107:12) and eternal (Psa 107:18) results. The offering of sacrifice, as commanded here, is related to this, “Because only in connection with redemption from sin does the psalm enjoin sacrifice. In the New Testament, we are told what such a sacrifice is. “It is the fruit of our lips which make confession to his name” (Heb 13:15); also our sacrifices are called the “calves of our lips” (Hos 14:2).
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 107:17. This verse teaches that men may bring affliction or other evil conditions on themselves. One who thus works transgression and iniquity is a fool.
Psa 107:18. By such an evil manner of life as described in the preceding verse, these foolish men developed a depraved or deranged appetite. They became so abnormal that they loathed all kinds of food. They had carried on after that manner so long they had been brought unto the gates of death.
Psa 107:19. Some men never call upon God unless they are in trouble. Strict justice would say that all such people should be ignored. But God is merciful as well as just, and when a soul in trouble appeals to Him sincerely he is never turned down.
Psa 107:20. There are conditions that need curing that are spiritual and not physical. The Lord’s means of healing all such is his word. Psa 107:21. This is the same as Psa 107:15.
Psa 107:22. Animal and other material sacrifices were good and were required under the law. But the immaterial kind also is required and the same agrees with the teaching of the New Testament. (Heb 13:16.)
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
His Wonders in the Deep
Psa 107:17-32
Sickness yields the third type of suffering. Emphasis is laid on the cause of the suffering, which in the view of the writer is transgression and sin. We shall be justified, therefore, in confining our view of this section to the pain which is directly traceable to wrong-doing. Men ruin their health by evil courses, and the sinner drags down his punishment with his own hands. The portals of death had already opened to receive the sick men, but before they passed through they cried to Jehovah, and though their voice was feeble, they were heard. May we not make our own application of Psa 107:20, by referring it to that Word of God through whom Gods love and healing came to sinners in the days of his flesh?
The storm at sea is the next tableau. We have the sudden gale, the high waves, the ship now on the crest and then in the trough; the terror of the crew; the failure of the helm; the desperation of the sailors; and finally the voice of God above and through the storm. The sudden subsidence of the tempest is a grateful change to the sailors and the crew; and what gladness is theirs when they reach the harbor which they had longed for but had never thought to see again! Such is life, and such will be, by Gods mercy our coming into harbor. Safe into the haven guide!
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Fools: This is the third comparison; the captives being compared to persons in a dangerous malady, as the consequences of their own sins. Psa 14:1, Psa 92:6, Pro 1:22, Pro 7:7, Pro 7:22
because: Psa 38:1-8, Num 11:33, Num 11:34, Num 12:10-13, Num 21:5-9, Isa 57:17, Isa 57:18, Jer 2:19, Lam 3:39
Reciprocal: 2Ki 18:12 – they obeyed not Job 5:2 – the foolish Job 33:20 – his life Psa 30:2 – and Psa 103:3 – healeth Isa 38:9 – writing Jer 4:18 – Thy way Jer 5:25 – General Mic 6:13 – I make Luk 5:20 – Man Luk 6:17 – to be
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 107:17-22. Fools That is, wicked men whom he calls fools, because through their own sin and folly they wrong themselves, and act against their own interest; not only their spiritual, but their secular interest; they often even prejudice their bodily health by their intemperance, and endanger their lives by indulging their appetites and fleshly lusts, as well as bring upon themselves many other evils and miseries: because of their transgressions Hebrew, , because of the way of their transgressions, that is, their custom and course of sinning, as the word way is often used; are afflicted With wasting sickness, as appears from Psa 107:18; Psa 107:20. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat They not only have no desire for it, nor power to digest it, but they nauseate it; nay, they loathe and detest the very sight and smell of that which should nourish and support them; in which case, if not relieved, they must waste away, and soon draw near to the gates of death. But from those dreadful gates the power of God can snatch them, when they are just about to enter them. To an infirm and emaciated body he can restore health; strength, and beauty; for diseases are his ministers and messengers; they visit us at his command, and at his command they retire, and we recover again. Now here, namely, in the recovery of men from sickness, we have a third image of the benefits conferred on our nature by the Redeemer. The mind of man, we must remember, by reason of sin, is not less subject to infirmities than his body; these infirmities reduce him to a state of languor and listlessness; he finds himself incapable of action, indisposed for the reception of divine truths, without taste for knowledge, or inclination for virtue; he even nauseates the book of God, and the bread of heaven; and the life of faith is in great danger. But the case is not desperate, while there is breath enough left to call in, by prayer, the Physician of spirits. The most inveterate malady gives place to his efficacious medicines; appetite revives, health returns, and the believer is reinstated in the vigour and beauty of holiness. Let all, who have been thus healed and saved from destruction, either of body or soul, acknowledge to Jehovah his mercy, and his wonders wrought for the children of Adam; let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. Horne.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
107:17 {g} Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
(g) They who have no fear of God, by his sharp rods are brought to call on him, and so find mercy.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Third, when God’s people were sick because of their sins and they cried out to Him, He restored them to health (cf. Mat 9:1-8). The reference to God’s Word having a part in their healing (Psa 107:20) shows that spiritual nourishment plays a vital part in physical restoration (cf. Deu 8:3; Mat 4:4; Jas 5:14-16). Such salvation should move God’s people to make sacrifices to express their gratitude and to tell other people about the Lord’s goodness.