Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 109:18
As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.
18. And he clad himself with cursing as with his robe,
And It came into his inward parts like water, and like oil into his bones:
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As he clothed himself with cursing like as with a garment – Moral qualities are often compared with raiment – as that in which we appear to our fellow-men. See 1Pe 5:5; Job 29:14.
So let it come into his bowels like water – Margin, within him. Hebrew, In his midst. Let it penetrate him through and through. Let no part of him be unaffected by it.
And like oil into his bones – As if oil flowed through all his bones, so let the effects of cursing pervade his whole frame. The prayer is, that his entire nature might feel the effects of cursing; that he might know to the full what he was endeavoring to bring on others.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. Let it come into his bowels like water] Houbigant thinks this is an allusion to the waters of jealousy; and he is probably right, – the bitter waters that produce the curse. See Nu 5:18.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A garment; which a man wears constantly, and that as
Like water; which when a man drinks, goes bowels, and searcheth all the inwards of his belly.
Like oil; which is more piercing than water, and being applied to outward parts, reacheth even to the bones and marrow
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment,…. He was full of it; his mouth was full of cursing and bitterness; it was visible in him, easy to be discerned; he took pride as well as pleasure in it, it was in his esteem an ornament to him, as his clothes were. The Syriac version renders it, “as armour”; as if it was a protection to him, or he thought it to be so.
So let it come into his bowels like water; the meaning is, let the wrath of God and the curse of the law come into his conscience, and make sad work there, and fill him with dread and terror, and that in great abundance, and with great force; like a flood of waters that carry all before it; or like the waters of jealousy which made the belly to swell and the thigh to rot; or the flying roll of the curse, which entering into the house of the sinner destroyed it, and all in it, Nu 5:22.
And like oil into his bones; which is more piercing and penetrating than water; and signifies the inward and quick sense he should have of his sins, and of the wrath of God for them; see Job 20:11.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Not a few interpreters translate the next two verses in the past form, he clothed himself with cursing, etc., which would be tantamount to saying that the enemy was as fond of cursing as of costly apparel, or that he clothed himself with it as with a garment, and that, like an inveterate disease, it was deeply seated in the marrow of his bones. The other interpretation is more simple, That cursing should cleave to the wicked, that it should envelop him like a cloak, gird him about as his girdle, and should even penetrate to his bones. And that no one may rashly take for an example what David here spoke by the special influence of the Holy Spirit, let him keep in mind that the Psalmist is not pleading here in reference to any personal interest, and that it is no ordinary character to whom he refers. Belonging to the number of the faithful, he would not omit the law of charity, in desiring the salvation of all men. But in this instance God elevated his spirit above all earthly considerations, stript him of all malice, and delivered him from the influence of turbulent passion, so that he might, with holy calmness and spiritual wisdom, doom the reprobate and castaway to destruction. Others, would have the phrase, he loved cursing, to mean that he purposely drew down the vengeance of God upon himself, as it were procuring destruction for himself by his open hostility to him; but this is an unnatural construction of the passage. The interpretation which I have given is preferable, That he was so addicted to mischief and wrong, that no act of justice or kindness was to be expected from him. In the meantime, let it be observed, that all the machinations of the wicked will eventually recoil upon their own heads, and that when they are raging more violently against others, then it is that the mischief, which they so eagerly desire may come upon them, falls upon themselves, even as the wind called Cecias by blowing attracts the clouds unto him.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
18. Into his bowels Hebrew, his inward parts; penetrating like oil his whole being. It is an advance upon the figure of clothing garment as an outside covering, in the previous member. The allusion is to the waters of jealousy, (Num 5:22,) “And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 109:18. Like oil into his bones These expressions admirably mark out an adhering rooted curse, which penetrated the body, as the water which one drinks, and as the oil with which one is rubbed: They have swallowed cursing like water; they are penetrated by it, as by the oil wherewith they have been anointed. Calmet. Houbigant thinks that the waters of jealousy are here meant. See Num 5:18. And Green renders it, with much seeming propriety, like marrow into his bones.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 109:18 As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.
Ver. 18. As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment ] Ut vestis commensurata corpori, as the inner garment that sticks closest to the body, and is not done off but with much ado, as he hath wrapped, and trussed up himself in cursing.
So let it come into his bowels like water
And like oil
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 109:18-20
Psa 109:18-20
“He clothed himself also with cursing as with a garment,
And it came into his inward parts like water,
And like oil into his bones
Let it be unto him as the raiment wherewith he covered himself,
And the girdle wherewith he is girdled continually.
This is the reward of mine adversaries from Jehovah,
And of them that speak evil against my soul.”
This is the conclusion of the terrible list of imprecations. The psalm now returns to the prayer of the psalmist for himself.
“These terrible maledictions need little comment. They may be left in all their awfulness and should not be extenuated nor degraded into a purely personal outburst of personal vindictiveness. They are far more noble than that. These terrible verses are a prophecy, but they are prayers too, prayers which can only be accounted for by remembering the spirit of the old dispensation.
The feelings of this writer with reference to the imprecations here persist in the conviction that there may be far more in this chapter than we have been able to fathom. It should be remembered, that, upon the testimony of the Apostle Peter, we must receive these words as given by the Spirit of God through David, and that at least the passage referred to in Act 1:16; Act 1:20 was written concerning Judas Iscariot who betrayed the Son of God.
It is altogether possible that the awful maledictions of this chapter are intended as a warning to all enemies of the Son of God, and not merely Judas alone. The prevailing notion that the “gentle Jesus” is never really going to hurt anyone is by no means accurate. A little heeded statement of Christ himself is that of Luk 19:27, “But these mine enemies that would not that I should rule over them, bring hither, and slay before me.” These enemies were the ones who “hated Christ” (Luk 19:14); and if all of the terrible maledictions of this chapter should be understood as the just and inevitable reward of all those who hate the Son of God and repudiate his benign government, then all of their offensiveness to sensitive Christian hearts is removed.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 109:18. Clothed himself is figurative, meaning the wicked man enclosed and surrounded himself with his wickedness as if it were a garment. Bowels is from a word that is defined “the center” in the lexicon, and bones is from one that means the substance of the body as a whole. If water was to saturate the inner body and oil was made to penetrate the whole body, it would be a very undesirable condition. It describes the lot that David was wishing on this wicked man.
Psa 109:19. The antecedent of it is “cursing” in Psa 109:17-18, which signifies a state of disgrace or humiliation. The thought in the present verse is that the wicked man who delighted in disgracing others should himself be disgraced. As a garment is used to cover a man and a girdle to bind him, so the Psalmist wished the wicked man to be enclosed and bound by the same kind of disgrace he had been imposing on others.
Psa 109:20. From the Lord is a phrase that shows David was not planning any personal vengeance against his enemies. His idea was that all Just punishment should come from the Lord. Paul taught the same thing in Rom 12:19 and he also cited Deu 32:35.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
As he: Psa 73:6, Job 29:14, Col 3:8, Col 3:12, 1Pe 5:5
so let: Num 5:22, Num 5:27, Job 20:12-16, Job 20:20-23, Mat 26:24, Mat 27:3-5, Act 1:18, Act 1:25
into his bowels: Heb. within him
Reciprocal: Num 22:6 – curse me 2Ch 21:15 – thy bowels fall Est 9:25 – return Psa 59:12 – cursing Psa 109:19 – as the garment Jer 24:9 – a curse Jer 43:12 – putteth Lam 3:65 – thy Eze 26:16 – clothe Eze 32:27 – but Hos 4:9 – reward them Rom 3:14 – General Jam 3:9 – therewith curse