Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 35:4
Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
4. Ashamed and dishonoured he they that seek my life;
Turned back and confounded be they that devise my hurt.
For that seek my life (or, soul) cp. 1Sa 20:1; &c. Let them be disappointed in their aim, repulsed with ignominy in their attack. Cp. Psa 35:26; Psa 40:14; Psa 6:10.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
4 6. Prayer for the repulse and rout of his enemies. No doubt the language might be entirely figurative, but it is more naturally explained if a literal fulfilment was at least a possibility.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Let them be confounded – That is, Let them, through Thy gracious interposition in my behalf, be so entirely overcome and subdued that they shall be ashamed that they ever made the effort to destroy me; let them see so manifestly that God is on my side that they will be covered with confusion for having opposed one who was so entirely the object of the divine protection and care. See Psa 6:10, note; Psa 25:2-3, notes. Compare the notes at Job 6:20.
That seek after my soul – My life. That seek to destroy me.
Let them be turned back – In their attempts to pursue me. Do thou interpose and turn them back.
And brought to confusion – Put to shame; or made ashamed – as they are who are disappointed and thwarted in their schemes.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 4. Let then be confounded] Let none of their projects or devices against me succeed. Blast all their designs.
The imprecations in these verses against enemies are all legitimate. They are not against the souls or eternal welfare of those sinners, but against their schemes and plans for destroying the life of an innocent man; and the holiest Christian may offer up such prayers against his adversaries. If a man aim a blow at another with a design to take away his life, and the blow would infallibly be mortal if it took place, and the person about to be slain see that by breaking the arm of his adversary he may prevent his own death, and thus save his enemy from actual murder; it is his duty to prevent this double evil by breaking the arm of the blood-thirsty man. It is on this principle that David prays against his adversaries in the first eight verses of this Psalm.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Confounded, i.e. frustrated in their wicked designs and hopes against me. Concerning this, and the like, and following imprecations, which may seem strange and severe, it must be considered,
1. That they did not proceed from any passionate or revengeful spirit in David towards his enemies, (from which how free he was, appears not only from his own words here, Psa 35:12-14, but from the whole course of his life, and the frequent instances mentioned in his history of his meek and merciful carriage to his enemies when they were in his power,) but from his zeal for God, and for piety and justice, to which they showed themselves to be constant and implacable adversaries, and by the direction of the prophetical Spirit of God wherewith he was endued, which Spirit did exactly know the condition of his enemies, and that those against whom they are levelled were hardened and incurable.
2. That they contain nothing but a prayer to God, that he would accomplish his own threatenings, and execute his own law of retaliation, of eye for eye, and tooth for tooth, and so bring upon them the evils which they designed against him; which also was of great and good use, both to glorify Gods justice, and to warn and reform other sinners by the terror of their example.
3. That they may be taken only for predictions, as hath been observed before upon the like occasion. Turned back; either,
1. Stopped or hindered in the execution of their wicked design. Or rather,
2. (which is more suitable to the context) discomfited and put to flight, as this phrase is frequently used, as Psa 9:3; 70:2; 78:9; Isa 42:17; Jer 46:5,21.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. (Compare Ps9:17).
devise my hurtpurposefor evil to me.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Let them be confounded, and put to shame, that seek after my soul,…. This petition, and what follows, which seem to be by way of imprecation, are to be considered as prophecies of what would be, and as expressions of faith that so it should be; and are not to be drawn into examples, and to be imitated by private persons; nor are they contrary to those evangelical rules, which require men to love their enemies, and pray for them; to give place to wrath, and not meditate vengeance, nor take it: and so it was with David’s enemies. Saul, who hunted after his soul or life, to take it away, was filled with shame and confusion, when David, having cut off the skirt of his garment, held it up to him; by which he was convinced that his life was in his hands, and he did not take it away, though he was seeking after his: and so it will fare with the enemies of Christ, the Jews; who sought to take away his life and did take it away, when they shall see him come in the clouds of heaven, whom they have pierced; and in like manner will it be with the enemies of all his people, whom nothing will content but their lives, when they shall see the lambs they have worried and butchered on Christ’s right hand, and they on the left; and to the sheep said, Come, ye blessed; and to them, Go, ye cursed,
Mt 25:34;
let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt; as Saul did David’s, even when he made the most specious show of affection and respect unto him, as well as when he more openly persecuted him; and more than once was he turned back with shame, and departed home; see 1Sa 24:22. The Jews, that came to apprehend Christ, together with the Roman soldiers, and who had devised and intended his hurt, went backward, and fell to the ground with shame and confusion, when, having asked them who they sought, and they had replied, told them he was the person; and how often has it been, that when wicked men have devised, deceitful matters against the members of Christ, that their counsel has been carried headlong, they have not been able to perform their enterprises; a hook has been put into their nose, and a bridle in their jaws, and they have been turned back the way they came, with shame and disgrace.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Throughout the next two strophes follow terrible imprecations. According to Frst and others the relation of and is like that of erblassen, to turn pale (cf. Isa 29:22 with Psa 34:6), and errthen, to turn red, to blush. has, however, no connection with , nor has , Arab. chfr, chmr, any connection with Arab. hmr, to be red; but, according to its radical notion, means disturbari (vid., Ps 6:11), and , obtegere , abscondere (vid., Psa 34:6). , properly “let them be made to fall back” (cf. e.g., Isa 42:17). On the figure on Psa 35:5 cf. Psa 83:14. The clauses respecting the Angel of Jahve, Psa 35:5 and Psa 35:6, are circumstantial clauses, viz., clauses defining the manner. (giving, viz., them, the push that shall cause their downfall, equivalent to or , Psa 68:28) is closely connected with the figure in Psa 35:6, and , with the figure in Psa 35:5; consequently it seems as though the original position of these two clauses respecting the Angel of Jahve had been disturbed; just as in Ps 34, the strophe and the strophe have changed their original places. It is the Angel, who took off Pharaoh’s chariot wheels so that they drave them heavily (Exo 14:25) that is intended here. The fact that this Angel is concerned here, where the point at issue is whether the kingship of the promise shall be destroyed at its very beginning or not, harmonises with the appearing of the at all critical junctures in the course of the history of redemption. , loca passim lubrica , is an intensive form of expression for rof noisserp , Psa 73:18. Just as recalls to mind Ex 15, so recalls Judg 5. In this latter passage the Angel of Jahve also appears in the midst of the conquerors who are pursuing the smitten foe, incarnate as it were in Deborah.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
4. Let those who seek my soul be confounded. David now calls upon God to take vengeance upon his enemies; and he asks not only that he would disappoint and destroy their designs, but also that he would recompense them according to their deserts. In the first place, he desires that they may be confounded and put to shame in seeing their expectation and desire fail; and then he proceeds farther, desiring that while they imagine themselves to be firmly established, and deeply rooted, they may be like chaff or stubble. As the chaff is driven with the wind, so also he desires, that, being disquieted by the secret impulse of the angel of the Lord, they may never have rest. The imprecation which follows is even more dreadful, and it is this: that wherever they go they may meet with darkness and slippery places; and that in their doubt and perplexity the angel of the Lord would pursue them. In fine, whatever they devise, and to whatever side they turn, he prays that all their counsels and enterprises may come to a disastrous termination. When he desires that they may be driven by the angel of the Lord, we learn from this that the reason why the ungodly are troubled, though no man pursues them, is, that God smites them with a spirit of amazement, and distracts them with such fears that they tremble and are troubled.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) Confounded.Comp. Psa. 35:26.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Hitherto David’s call has been for divine interference, now he prays directly against his enemies.
Confounded put to shame Two words nearly synonymous, though the latter is more intensive. They denote the utter perplexity and reproach which should follow the defeat of their plans.
Turned back and brought to confusion They shall suddenly retreat in dismay when they see God has arisen in defence of his servant.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
He Calls on God By His Angel to Drive His Enemies Back and Put Them to Flight ( Psa 35:4-6 ).
Not content with the fact that YHWH will stand with him to protect him, he calls on Him to pursue his enemies and do to them what they are trying to do to him.
Psa 35:4-8
‘ Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonour,
Who seek after my soul.
Let them be turned back and confounded,
Who devise my hurt.
Let them be as chaff before the wind,
And the angel of YHWH driving them on.
Let their way be dark and slippery,
And the angel of YHWH pursuing them.’
‘ Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonour, who seek after my soul.’ The thoughts of his enemies were concentrating on bringing him to shame and dishonour, so he calls on YHWH to do the same to them. Let them receive what they are trying to pile on him.
‘Let them be turned back and confounded, who devise my hurt.’ Notice the two parallel statements so typical of Hebrew poetry. First shame and dishonour, now turned back and confounded. The metaphor is still military. They want to hurt him, thus let they themselves therefore be hurt as they are beaten back and put to rout.
‘Let them be as chaff before the wind, and the angel of YHWH driving them on.’ Indeed he wants them to be like the chaff, the outer husk, from the grain which is taken up by the wind and carried away as the grain is tossed up into the wind by the winnowing fork. No, he wants more than that, not just a wind from the Lord but the mighty Angel of YHWH Himself. Let Him drive them on as chaff before the wind.
The idea of the Angel of YHWH occurs throughout the Old Testament as descriptive of God’s ‘other self’. He acts in God’s Name, yes even is God, and yet He also communicates with God. See Gen 16:7; Gen 16:9; Gen 16:11; Gen 16:13; Gen 21:17; Gen 22:11; Gen 22:15; Exo 23:20; Exo 23:23; Jdg 2:1; Jdg 2:4; Jdg 6:12; Jdg 6:20; Jdg 6:22; Jdg 13:9-21; Isa 63:9; Zec 1:11-13; Zec 3:1). Along with ‘the Spirit of God’ He is an expression of the triunity of God. It was He Who had driven the Canaanites out of Canaan (Exo 23:20). Who more suitable then to be the One Who will ‘drive on’ his enemies now?
‘Let their way be dark and slippery, and the angel of YHWH pursuing them.’ Having driven them on he wants the Angel to pursue them like an avenging angel, as they slither and slide over the wet mountain passes, or on the steep limestone slopes, as the night draws in. If it was David speaking he had probably often seen the enemy in such a case. Being blown away like chaff, and slithering on the wet passes as they scurry to make their escape, indicates the uselessness and helplessness that he wants them to feel. This may have in mind the literal trouncing of his enemies in battle, or it may be metaphorical for their trouncing in court. It can apply to any situation where God’s people are facing an enemy, and God renders the enemy helpless.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 35:4. Let them be confounded, &c. They shall blush and be ashamedThey shall be turned back, &c. We should render in the future all the following verses; which our translation puts in the optative mood, and consequently gives them too much the appearance of an imprecatory and revengeful spirit. See the note on Psa 5:10.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
When the prayer is thus expressed in faith, let the opposers of Christ and his church be confounded, and ashamed, and turned back; it is in other words, they shall be so brought to ruin and confusion. And who will not recollect in this place how exactly this prediction was fulfilled in the garden, when the band came to apprehend Christ, and fell to the ground backward? Joh 18:5-6 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 35:4 Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
Ver. 4. Let them be confounded and put to shame ] Here David beginneth his imprecations; which yet non maledicens dixit sed vaticinantis more praedixit, saith Theodoret, he doth not utter as cursing, but as prophesying rather. If we shall at any time take upon us thus to imprecate (as we may in some cases), we must see to it, first, that our cause be good. Secondly, that we do it not out of private revenge; but merely for the glory of God. Thirdly, ut ne voculam quidem nisi nobis praeeunte Dei, non carnis, spiritu effundamus, that we utter not a syllable this way but by the guidance of God’s good Spirit.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
confounded: Psa 35:26, Psa 31:17, Psa 31:18, Psa 40:14, Psa 40:15, Psa 70:2, Psa 70:3, Psa 71:24
that: Psa 38:12, 1Sa 23:23, 1Ki 19:10, Eze 13:19, Mat 27:1
turned: Psa 129:5, Isa 37:29, Jer 46:5, Joh 18:6
Reciprocal: Psa 17:9 – deadly enemies Psa 35:8 – Let destruction Psa 53:5 – thou hast Psa 63:9 – seek Psa 71:13 – Let them be Psa 83:17 – General Psa 143:3 – the enemy Jer 17:18 – confounded Jer 18:23 – forgive Lam 1:13 – he hath turned
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 35:4. Let them be confounded That is, frustrated and disappointed in their wicked designs and hopes against me. Or, they shall be disappointed: for this and the following verses, to Psa 35:9, may be considered as a prediction of the ruin and destruction which were about to come on the enemies of David, and on those of the Messiah and his church. Accordingly, Dr. Waterland renders them all in the future, whereas our translation by putting them in the optative mood, has given them too much the appearance of imprecations, dictated by an implacable and revengeful spirit: Let them be turned back, or, they shall be turned back, that is, stopped, or hindered in their wicked designs, or discomfited and put to flight.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
He asked God to rout his enemies and humiliate them. He wished God would blow them away like chaff and remove their stability so they would fall. The Angel of the Lord is the leader of God’s heavenly army, the pre-incarnate Christ (cf. Psa 34:7). David wanted Him to do to his enemies what they intended to do to him. This is in keeping with how God usually deals with the wicked.