Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 120:6
My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
6. Too long hath my soul had her dwelling
With the haters of peace.
The sensitive ‘soul’ feels the inhumanity of their conduct.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace – This trouble is no new thing. It has been long continued, and has become intolerable. Who this was that thus gave him trouble is, of course, now unknown. It is only necessary to remark that there can scarcely be any source of trouble more bitter than that of sustaining such relations to others either in business, or in office, or by family-ties – whether by marriage or by blood – in school, in college, or in corporate bodies – as to expose us always to a quarrel: to be compelled to have constant contact with people of sour, perverse, crooked tempers, who are satisfied with nothing; who are suspicious or envious; who pervert our motives and our conduct; who misrepresent our words; who demand more than is due to them; who refuse to perform what may reasonably be expected of them; and who make use of every opportunity to involve us in difficulties with others. There are many trials in human life, but there are few which are more galling, or more hard to bear than this. The literal rendering of the passage would be, Long for her has my soul dwelt, etc. That is, long (or too long) for her good – for the welfare of my soul. It has been an injury to me; to my piety, to my comfort, to my salvation. it has vexed me, tried me, hindered me in my progress in the divine life. Nothing would have a greater tendency of this kind than to be compelled to live in the manner indicated above.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 120:6
My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
Haters of peace
What an appalling picture have we hero of unreasonable and wicked men! As they love lies, so they hate peace. Is not this the very spirit of him, who was both a liar and a murderer from the beginning? They hate that which is beloved by all the good. What holy and gentle delight is associated with the very name of peace! Peace resting upon our bosom, and soothing all its cares: peace resting upon our households, and folding all the members in one loving embrace: peace resting upon our country, and pouring abundance from her golden horn: peace resting upon all nations, and binding them together with the threefold cord of a common humanity, a common interest, and a common religion! The man who hates peace is a dishonour to the race, an enemy to his brother, and a traitor to his God. He hates Christ, who is the Prince of peace. He hates Christians, who are men of peace. Destitute of internal peace himself, and reluctant that any should possess a blessing in which he himself has no part, it is his incessant effort to sow the seeds of alienation, and to fan the flames of discord. And just as the foul bird of prey scents the battle from afar, and flees to the field of carnage, so you find the haters of peace perpetually prowling around scenes of contention, that they may lend a helping hand to the work of Satan. (N. McMichael, D. D.)
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Psa 121:1-8
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 6. My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.] A restless, barbarous, warlike, and marauding people.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
6, 7. While those who surroundedhim were maliciously hostile, he was disposed to peace. This Psalmmay well begin such a series as this, as a contrast to the promisedjoys of God’s worship.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. The God of peace, against whom their carnal minds are enmity itself; Christ, the Prince of peace, the Man, the Peace, who has made peace by the blood of his cross, whom the world hates; the sons of peace, the quiet in the land, against whom the wicked devise evil things; the Gospel of peace, which the natural man abhors as foolishness; the way of peace, pardon, and salvation by Christ, which carnal men know not, and do not approve of; and the ordinances of the Gospel, which are paths of peace. In short, some are of such restless, quarrelsome, and contentious spirits, that they hate peace with any; are like the troubled sea, that cannot rest; and cannot sleep, unless they do mischief to their fellow creatures: it is very uncomfortable living, especially living long with such. The Targum is,
“my soul hath long dwelt with Edom, hating peace;”
that is, with the Romans or Christians, who are intended; for the Jews understand this psalm of their present captivity.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
6. My soul (58) hath long dwelt with him who hateth peace. The Psalmist now shows, without figure, and, so to speak, points with the finger to those (59) whom he had before indirectly marked out by the terms Mesech and kedar, namely, the perfidious Israelites, who had degenerated from the holy fathers, and who rather wore the mask of Israelites than were the true seed of Israel. (60) He calls them haters of peace, (61) because they wilfully, and with deliberate malice, set themselves to make war upon the good and unoffending. To the same purpose he adds immediately after, that his heart was strongly inclined to seek after peace, or rather, that he was wholly devoted to it, and had tried every means in order to win their favor, but that the implacable cruelty of their disposition invariably impelled them to do him mischief. When he says, I peace, it is an abrupt, yet not an obscure expression, implying that he had not done them any injury or wrong which could give occasion for their hatred there having been always peace on his part. He even proceeds farther, asserting, that when he saw them inflamed with resentment against him, he endcavourcd to pacify them, and to bring them to a good understanding; for to speak, is here equivalent to offering conditions of peace in an amicable spirit, or to treating of reconciliation. From this it is still more apparent, how savage and brutal was the pride of David’s enemies, since they disdained even to speak with him — to speak with a man who had deserved well at their hands, and who had never in any respect injured them. We are taught by his example, that it is not enough for the faithful to abstain from hurting others: they must, moreover, study to allure them by gentleness, and to bend them to good will. Should their moderation and kindness be rejected, let them wait in patience, until God at length show himself from heaven as their protector. Let us, however, remember, that if God does not immediately stretch forth his hand in our behalf, it is our duty to bear the wearisomeness occasioned by delay, like David, whom we find in this Psalm giving, thanks to God for his deliverance, while, at the same time, as if worn out with the weariness of waiting for it, he bewails the long oppression to which he had been subjected by his enemies.
(58) My soul, for I.
(59) “ Et (par maniere de dire) monstre au doigt ceux,” etc — Fr.
(60) “ Aseavoir les Israelites desloyaux qui avoyent forligne’ des saincts Peres, et qui estoyent plustost des masques d’Israclites, que non pas une vraye semence d’Israel.” — Fr.
(61) In describing those among whom he was now living as haters of peace, and, in the next verse, as bent on war, the inspired writer probably still alludes to the Arab tribes he had specified in the 5 verse, who have, from their origin to the present hour, been eminently characterized by their hatred of peace and propensity to war. Dr. Shaw thus writes concerning these barbarous tribes as they are to be found in our own day, and their character and habits were the same at the time when this Psalm was written: “The Arabs are naturally thievish and treacherous; and it sometimes happens, that those very persons are overtaken and pillaged in the morning who were entertained the night before with all the instances of friendship and hospitality. Neither are they to be accused for plundering strangers only, and attacking almost every person whom they find unarmed and defenceless, but for those many implacable and hereditary animosities which continually subsist among them: literally fulfilling the prophecy to Hagar, that ‘Ishmael should be a wild man; his hand should be against every man, and every man’s hand against him.’”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
6. My soul hath long dwelt Literally, Much has dwelt my soul with herself, with, or near, him that hateth peace. The want of companionship congeniality with those about him compelled the psalmist inwardly to a life of introspection, self-communion, and solitude.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 120:6 My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
Ver. 6. My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace ] With Saul, that implacable tyrant, and with other barbarous and brutish persons, skilful to destroy. The very society of such (be they never so tame and civil) is tedious and unsavoury to a good soul; like the slime and filth that is congealed when many toads and other vermin join together. Long, therefore, and too long seemeth it to a saint to sojourn with such. Lord (said a certain good woman upon her death bed, and doubting of her salvation), send me not to hell among the wicked, for thou knowest I never loved their company all my life long.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
him. Some codices, with Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read “them”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
soul: Psa 57:4, 1Sa 20:30-33, Eze 2:6, Mat 10:16, Mat 10:36, Tit 3:3
Reciprocal: Psa 55:20 – at peace Pro 21:19 – better Jer 15:10 – a man Mic 2:8 – securely Hab 1:3 – General Mat 5:9 – are Heb 12:14 – Follow 1Pe 3:11 – seek