Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 33:16
There is no king saved by the multitude of a host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
16. A king is not saved by a numerous host; or, by greatness of power, including other forces beside forces of soldiers. See Psa 20:7; Psa 44:3 ff.; Psa 60:11 f.; and comp. the noble expression of this truth in 1Ma 3:19 ; “The victory of battle standeth not in the multitude of an host; but strength cometh from heaven.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
16 19. The delusiveness of material resources is contrasted with Jehovah’s care for His people. The discomfiture of Pharaoh with his host and horses and chariots (Exo 14:17; Exo 15:4) may have been in the poet’s mind; and ‘saved’ again recalls Deu 33:29.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
There is no king saved by the multitude of an host – By the number of his armies. His safety, however numerous and mighty may be his forces, is in God alone. He is the great Protector, whatever means men may use to defend themselves. The most numerous and the best organized armies cannot secure a victory. It is, after all, wholly in the hands of God. A wasting sickness in a camp may defeat all the plans of war; or success in battle may depend on contingencies which no commander could anticipate or provide against. A mutiny in a camp, or a panic on the battlefield, may disconcert the best-laid schemes; or forces may come against an army that were unexpected; or storm and tempest may disarrange and frustrate the entire plan of the campaign. See Ecc 9:11.
A mighty man – A strong man; a giant – as Goliath of Gath. Strength is not the only thing necessary to secure a victory.
Is not delivered by much strength – By the mere fact that he is strong. Other things are needed to ensure success; and God has power so to arrange events that mere strength shall be of no avail.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 16. There is no king saved by the multitude of a host] Even in the midst of the most powerful and numerous army, no king is in safety unless he have God’s protection. A king is but a man, and may as easily lose his life as one of his common soldiers.
A mighty man is not delivered by much strength.] There are times in which his might can be of no avail to him: and unless the mighty, the wise, the honorable, &c., have the protection of God, there is no time in which their might may not be turned into weakness, their wisdom into folly, and their dignity into disgrace.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
King; he instanceth in these, as the most potent and uncontrollable persons in the world, and most confident of themselves and least sensible of their dependence upon God; by which he strongly proves his general proposition, of Gods powerful providence over all men.
By the multitude of an host; but only by Gods providence, who disposeth of victory and success as he pleaseth, and that frequently to the weakest and most foolish side, Ecc 9:11.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16, 17. Men’s usual reliances intheir greatest exigencies are, in themselves, useless.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
There is no king saved by the multitude of an host,…. He may be at the head of a numerous army, and yet not get the victory over a lesser one, nor escape safe, but be taken by it: there have been such instances; and if he is saved, or gets the victory, it is not owing to the multitude with him, but to the Lord, that gives salvation to kings,
Ps 144:10. Hence it appears that even such men need salvation themselves, and cannot save themselves, though they have ever so many at command, and therefore are not to be trusted in; salvation is only of the Lord;
a mighty man is not delivered by much strength; as Goliath, with his great strength, could not deliver himself out of the hands of David, a stripling; wherefore the mighty man should not glory in his might.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
It therefore follows, A king is not saved for the multitude of his host, etc By this the inspired writer means to teach us, that the safety of men’s lives depends not upon their own strength, but upon the favor of God. He names particularly kings and giants rather than others; because, as they are not of the common class of men, but of a higher condition, they appear to themselves to be beyond the reach of all danger from darts, and if any adversity befall them, they promise themselves an easy deliverance from it. In short, intoxicated with a presumptuous confidence of their own strength, they scarcely think themselves mortal. They are still more hardened in this pride by the foolish admiration of the common people, who stand amazed at the greatness of their power. If, therefore, neither a king is saved by his troops, nor a giant by his strength, when they are exposed to danger, in vain do mankind neglect the providence of God, and look around them for human help. From this it follows, that the condition, both of the strong and the weak, is miserable, until they learn to rely on the protection of God.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(16) There is no king.Better, The king doth not triumph by the greatness of his force.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16, 17. Are a corollary of the foregoing. The allusion to kings, great armies, mighty men, and the horse, which in those times was not used by the Hebrews, and generally not by the other nations except for war purposes. indicate that the occasion of the psalm was one of great deliverance from foreign war. See introduction.
Multitude of a host Greatness of an army. The ancients relied much on numbers in an army, modern nations rely on tact and discipline.
Mighty man A hero; the word, as applied to a warrior, implies great strength and valour.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 33:16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
Ver. 16. There is no king saved by the multitude of an host ] Witness Sennacherib, Xerxes, Bajazet. Away, then, with creature confidence; it will be the ruin of all that rest in it, whether it be in men or means that they trust. See Psa 62:9-10 . See Trapp on “ Psa 69:9 “ See Trapp on “ Psa 69:10 “
A mighty man
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 33:16
Psa 33:16
JEHOVAH A BETTER DEFENDER AND PROTECTOR
THAN ANY EARTHLY POWER COULD POSSIBLY BE
(This theme is developed in Psa 33:16-19.)
“There is no king saved by the multitude of a host:
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.”
“By the multitude of a host” (Psa 33:16). This is another way of saying that no king is ever saved merely by the size of his army. Pharaoh, Sennacherib, Xerxes, Mohammed, Napoleon, Lord Ponchertrain, the Marquis De Montcalm, and countless other mighty generals illustrate the truth of this.
“A mighty man is not delivered by great strength” (Psa 33:16). Goliath of Gath might have been in David’s mind as he penned these words.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 33:16. Numbers alone will not count when arrayed on the wrong side. Gideon won in the conflict with the Midianites although he had but 300 men. But they were supported by the Lord and that outweighed all other considerations. Paul had this idea in mind in Rom 8:31.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
no king: Psa 44:3, Psa 44:6, Psa 44:7, Exo 14:17, Exo 14:18, Exo 14:28, Jos 11:4-8, Jdg 7:2, Jdg 7:12-25, 1Sa 14:8-16, 1Ki 20:10, 1Ki 20:27-29, 2Ch 14:9-13, 2Ch 20:12, 2Ch 20:23, 2Ch 32:8, 2Ch 32:9, 2Ch 32:21
mighty: Jos 14:12, 1Sa 17:4, 1Sa 17:45-49, 2Sa 21:16-22, Jer 9:23
Reciprocal: Deu 20:1 – horses Jdg 1:10 – Sheshai Jdg 7:4 – people Jdg 20:21 – destroyed 1Sa 2:9 – by strength 1Sa 17:47 – saveth not 2Sa 8:4 – chariots 1Ki 20:20 – the Syrians 1Ch 18:4 – David 1Ch 19:18 – fled before Israel 2Ch 11:1 – an hundred 2Ch 13:8 – a great multitude 2Ch 25:8 – God hath power Job 36:19 – nor all Job 39:11 – trust Psa 20:7 – Some trust Psa 127:1 – The Lord Psa 144:10 – that giveth Psa 147:10 – delighteth Ecc 9:11 – that the race Isa 31:1 – stay on horses Isa 40:30 – General Jer 46:6 – not Jer 48:14 – We Dan 11:11 – the multitude Hos 1:7 – by bow Hos 10:13 – in the Amo 2:15 – neither Mic 5:10 – that I Nah 3:10 – she carried Zec 4:6 – might Zec 10:5 – and the riders on horses shall be confounded
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 33:16-17. No king is saved by the multitude of a host But only by Gods providence, who disposeth of victory and success as he pleaseth, and that frequently to the weakest side. He instances in kings and mighty men, as the most uncontrollable persons in the world, and most confident of themselves. By which he strongly proves his general proposition of Gods powerful providence over all men. A horse is a vain thing for safety Though he be strong, Job 39:19, &c.; and fit for battle, Pro 21:31; or, for flight, if need requires. This is put for all warlike provisions, of which horses were, and are, a very considerable part. The word , sheker, here translated a vain thing, properly means a lie, signifying that it promises the help and safety which it cannot give. Neither shall he deliver any by his great strength The expressions being the same, the meaning is also the same in this and the preceding verse. After having particularized the stout man, and the horse, that is to say, the infantry and the cavalry, the strength and the swiftness of an army; and said, that neither of them could save a king; he repeats again, what he had said before in general, implying that no number of forces could do it. He then points out, in the next verses, where is the true defence and the only sure dependance of man.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
33:16 There is no {l} king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
(l) If kings and the mighty of the world cannot be saved by worldly means, but only by God’s providence, what do others have to trust in, who have not similar means?