Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 18:26
With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward.
26. With the pure &c.] Lit. one who purifies himself, cp. 1Jn 3:3. Cp. Psa 24:4, Psa 73:1. Mat 5:8 is the N.T. commentary on the words.
and with the froward &c.] Better, as R.V., and with the perverse thou wilt shew thyself froward. The ‘perverse’ man, whose character is morally distorted, is given over by God to follow his own crooked ways, till they bring him to destruction. God must needs be at cross purposes with the wicked, frustrating their plans, and punishing their wickedness. See Lev 26:23-24; Job 5:12-13; Isa 29:9 ff.; Pro 3:34; Rom 1:28; Rev 22:11; and for an illustration camp. the history of Balaam (Num 22:20.).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
With the pure – Those who are pure in their thoughts, their motives, their conduct.
Thou wilt show thyself pure – They will find that they have to deal with a God who is himself pure; who loves purity, and who will accompany it with appropriate rewards wherever it is found.
And with the froward – The word used here – iqqesh – means properly perverse; a man of a perverse and wicked mind. It is derived from a verb – aqash – which means, to turn the wrong way, to wrest, to pervert. It would be applicable to a man who perverts or wrests the words of others from their true meaning; who prevaricates or is deceitful in his own conduct; who is not straightforward in his dealings; who takes advantage of circumstances to impose on others, and to promote his own ends; who is sour, harsh, crabbed, unaccommodating, unyielding, unkind. It is rendered perverse in Deu 32:5; Pro 8:8; Pro 19:1; Pro 28:6; froward here, and in 2Sa 22:27; Psa 101:4; Pro 11:20; Pro 17:20; Pro 22:5; and crooked in Pro 2:15. The word does not occur elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Thou wilt show thyself froward – Margin, wrestle. In the corresponding place in 2Sa 22:27 it is rendered, Thou wilt show thyself unsavory; though the same word is used in the original. In the margin in that place, as here, the word is wrestle. The original word in each place – pathal – means to twist, to twine, to spin; and then, to be twisted; to be crooked, crafty, deceitful. In the form of the word which occurs here (Hithpael), it means, to show oneself crooked, crafty, perverse. (Gesenius, Lexicon). It cannot mean here that God would assume such a character, or that he would be crooked, crafty, perverse in his dealings with men, for no one can suppose that the psalmist meant to ascribe such a character to God; but the meaning plainly is, that God would deal with the man referred to according to his real character: instead of finding that God would deal with them as if they were pure, and righteous, and merciful, such men would find that he deals with them as they are – as perverse, crooked, wicked.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 26. With the froward] ikkesh, the perverse man; he that is crooked in his tempers and ways.
Thou wilt show thyself froward.] tithpattal, thou wilt set thyself to twist, twine, and wrestle. If he contend, thou wilt contend with him. Thou wilt follow him through all his windings; thou wilt trace him through all his crooked ways; untwist him in all his cunning wiles; and defeat all his schemes of stubbornness, fraud, overreaching, and deceit.
My old Psalter has, With the wiked thow sal be wike. Here the term wicked is taken in its true original sense, crooked, or perverse. With the wiked, the perverse, thou wilt show thyself wike, i.e., perverse; from [Anglo-Saxon], to draw back, to slide. As he draws back from thee, thou wilt draw back from him. It may, as before intimated, come from [A.S.], to seek for enchantments; leaving God, and going to devils; to act like a witch: but here it must mean as above. The plain import is, “If thou perversely oppose thy Maker, he will oppose thee: no work or project shall prosper that is not begun in his name, and conducted in his fear.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Pure; free from the least mixture or appearance of unrighteousness, or unfaithfulness, or unkindness; or simply and sincerely, such as thou usest and hast promised to be to them that are such; for
purity is oft put for sincerity.
Froward, or perverse, i.e. thou wilt cross him, and walk contrary to him, as thou hast threatened, Lev 26:23,24. See also Pro 3:34. Mans perverseness here is moral and sinful, but Gods perverseness is judicial and penal.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26. frowardcontrary to.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure,…. None of Adam’s posterity are pure by nature; they are all defiled with sin; and though some are pure in their own eyes, they are far from being cleansed from their filthiness; such only are pure who are sanctified by the Spirit of God, have clean hearts created in them, and whose hearts are purified by faith in the blood of Christ; who are justified by Christ’s righteousness, and are washed from their sins in his blood; and who, in consequence of such grace, love, pureness of heart, speak a pure language, hold the mystery of faith in a pure conscience, and with a pure conversation, and live soberly, righteously, and godly: and whereas God is a pure and holy Being, his perfections, works, and word, are pure; he shows himself to be so to such persons, by providing for the honour of his purity and holiness in their redemption, sanctification, and salvation; by making all things to be pure to them; by granting them his presence, and blessing them with the vision of himself here and hereafter; see Mt 5:8; this may likewise be understood of Christ, who, in his human nature, is pure from all sin, both original and actual: he indeed took upon him the sins of his people, and bore them, and made satisfaction for them, and brought in everlasting righteousness; which being done, God has showed himself pure to him, by justifying, acquitting, and discharging him from all such sins; by accepting his righteousness, and imputing it to those for whom he wrought it;
and with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward; or “thou wrestlest” b, or wilt contend with them until they are destroyed: the same word is here used which Naphtali has his name from, Ge 30:8. The froward are such as are of perverse dispositions, and of stubborn and obstinate tempers, and whose ways are crooked and distorted; and such were the people of the Jews in the times of Moses, and of Christ,
De 32:5; and who seem here to be designed; even the Jews in Christ’s time, who were just the reverse of the above characters, were cruel and unmerciful, faithless and hypocritical, filthy and pure, disbelieved the Messiah, rejected and crucified him, were contrary to God, and to all men; and therefore God walked contrary to them, as he threatened, Le 26:27; the same as showing himself froward to them; for God is not froward and perverse in himself, nor in his ways, which are all equal, just, and pure: and though there is one and the same word used in our version, yet there are two different words in the Hebrew text; the same word that is used of the froward is not used of God; that which is used of God, as before observed, signifies wrestling, and designs God’s contending with the people of the Jews, in a way of wrath and fury, which came upon them to the uttermost, and issued in their entire ruin as a people and nation; the words here had their fulfilment in the destruction of Jerusalem.
b “eluctaris”, Junius Tremellius “colluctaris”, Aben Ezra; “reluctaris”, Gejerus; “certas”, Schmidt.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The last clause of the 26 verse, where it is said, With the perverse thou wilt show thyself perverse, seems to convey a meaning somewhat strange, but it does not imply any thing absurd; yea, rather, it is not without good reason that the Holy Spirit uses this manner of speaking; for he designs thereby to awaken hypocrites and the gross despisers of God, who lull themselves asleep in their vices without any apprehension of danger. (420) We see how such persons, when the Scripture proclaims the sore and dreadful judgments of God, and when also God himself denounces terrible vengeance, pass over all these things, without giving themselves any trouble about them. Accordingly, this brutish, and, as it were, monstrous stupidity which we see in men, compels God to invent new forms of expression, and, as it were, to clothe himself with a different character. There is a similar sentence in Lev 26:21, where God says, “And if ye walk contrary unto [ or perversely with] me, then will I also walk contrary unto [ or perversely or roughly, or at random against] you;” as if he had said, that their obstinacy and stubbornness would make him on his part forget his accustomed forbearance and gentleness, and cast himself recklessly or at random against them. (421) We see, then, what the stubborn at length gain by their obduracy; it is this, that God hardens himself still more to break them in pieces, and if they are of stone, he causes them to feel that he has the hardness of iron. Another reason which we may assign for this manner of speaking is, that the Holy Spirit, in addressing his discourse to the wicked, commonly speaks according to their own apprehension. When God thunders in good earnest upon them, they transform him, through the blind terrors which seize upon them, into a character different from his real one, inasmuch as they conceive of nothing as entering into it but barbarity, cruelty, and ferocity. We now see the reason why David does not simply attribute to God the name and office of judge, but introduces him as armed with impetuous violence, for resisting and overcoming the perverse, according as it is said in the common proverb, A tough knot requires a stout wedge.
(420) “ Qui s’endorment en leurs vices sans rien craindre.” — Fr.
(421) “ Comme s’il disoit que leur obstination et opiniastrete sera cause que luy de son coste oubliant sa moderation et douceur accoustumee, se jettera le tors et a travers contre eux.” — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(26) Froward . . . froward.The use of this one word to render two different Hebrew terms is so far correct, as they both come from roots meaning primarily to twist. Both are combined in Pro. 8:8, froward (margin, twisted) or perverse, and both are contrasted with righteousness. Plainly the metaphor might apply-either to the character itself, twisted round, awry, perverse, or to the line of conduct pursued, bent, crooked, or wrong, the opposite of straight, or right. Froward =from ward (opposite to toward), seems to have more of the latter idea, but may combine botha disposition turned away from good. The poet therefore says, God will turn away from those who turn away from him, a thought which even with the Christian revelation we must admit true, for still it is true that
He that shuts love out, in turn shall be
Shut out from love.TENNYSON.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.” Psa 18:26
God is to us what we are to God. This is the explanation of all difficulty, and it is also the secret of all spiritual growth. It is in harmony with what Christ says, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” The pure mind finds purity everywhere. The corrupt mind everywhere finds corruption. Man is mirrored by all nature. If we go into the Bible with the heart of a little child, we shall come out of it rich with flowers and fruits. If we go into the Bible in a merely critical spirit, for the express purpose of finding fault, we shall return from our studies loaded with discrepancies, difficulties, mysteries, and objections of every kind. Let the pure mind review the way of Providence in history, and everywhere it will find indications of purpose, discipline, and ultimate harmony and sanctification. Let the mere faultfinder read any history, and he will grow indignantly eloquent upon the inequalities of life, and upon the consequent favouritism of God. The word “froward” may be regarded as meaning twisted or perverse. The froward mind is twisted round, is crooked, is directly opposed to the whole idea of being straight or upright. What can such a mind see in nature, in history, or in revelation, but something that reflects itself? The lesson to us is to keep our minds in a right condition. To bring the mind into a right condition the heart must be first put into right relation to God. The heart governs the mind. We not only lose the blessings of divine revelation by having a froward mind, we lose all the teachings of life, all the benefits of trustful communion, and all the repose of perfect confidence in each other’s sincerity. A perverted mind is a suspicious mind. Suspicion never enriched the soul with a single thought. Suspicion inflicts deadly injustice on all upon whom it falls. Not only, therefore, is there a religious bearing to this text, there is a personal and social bearing, a family and commercial bearing, a natural and artistic bearing. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. When the mind is pure, all nature will become of kindred quality.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Psa 18:26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.
Ver. 26. With the pure, &c. ] Cum candido candide agere soles. The pure shall have all that heart can wish.
And with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the forward = the perverse. Hebrew. ‘ikesh.
forward = a wrestler, or contender.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
froward: Psa 109:17-19, Lev 26:23, Lev 26:24, Lev 26:27, Lev 26:28, Pro 3:34, Rom 2:4-6, Rom 2:9, Jam 2:13
show thyself froward: or, wrestle
Reciprocal: 2Sa 22:27 – show thyself unsavoury 2Ch 19:11 – the Lord Job 5:13 – of the froward Psa 25:10 – the paths Psa 146:9 – the way Pro 3:32 – the froward Pro 11:20 – of Pro 17:20 – He that hath a froward heart Pro 22:5 – Thorns Mat 5:8 – are Mat 7:2 – General Luk 6:38 – with