Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 40:7
Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book [it is] written of me,
7. Then said I ] This was his answer when he became aware of God’s requirements.
Lo, I come ] Rather as R.V., Lo, I am come: (LXX. ) the servant’s response to his master’s summons (Num 22:38; 2Sa 19:20): like ‘Behold me,’ or, ‘Here I am’ (Isa 6:9). The object of the coming is not expressed, but is clear from the context.
in the volume of the book it is written of me ] Better, in a roll of a book is it prescribed to me: though the rendering of A.V., which is that of the LXX, is possible. The exact phrase ‘roll of a book’ occurs only in Jer 36:2; Jer 36:4; Eze 2:9; ‘roll’ only in Jeremiah 36; Eze 3:1-3; Zec 5:1-2; Ezr 6:2 [16] . Cp. however Isa 34:4. The context points to Deuteronomy, or at any rate the nucleus of the teaching contained in it, as the book referred to. The absence of the it article seems to emphasise the fact that a written document is referred to ( in a book, cp. Hos 8:12), rather than to single out a particular document as ‘ the book’ par excellence, as the A.V. seems to imply.
[16] ‘Roll’ in Isa 8:1 (A.V.) should be tabiet.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Then said I – In Heb 10:7, the apostle applies this to the Messiah. See the notes at that verse. This is the most simple and satisfactory interpretation of the passage. The word then in this verse means, since this is the case; or, things being thus. It does not refer to time, but to the condition of things. Since it was certain that the work needful to be done could not be accomplished by bloody offerings – the sacrifice of animals – under these circumstances I said; that is, I resolved or purposed to come.
Lo, I come – It is difficult to see how this could be applied to David; it is easy to see how it could be applied to the Messiah. When all bloody offerings under the law – all the sacrifices which men could make – did not avail to put away sin, it was true of the Messiah that he came into the world to perform a higher work that would meet the case – a lofty work of obedience, extending even unto death, Phi 2:8. This is precisely the use which the apostle makes of the passage in Heb 10:7, and this is clearly the most obvious meaning. It is in no sense applicable to David; it is fully applicable to the Messiah.
In the volume of the book – literally, in the roll of the book. See the notes at Luk 4:17. The phrase would most naturally denote the scroll of the law; but it might include any volume or roll where a record or prophecy was made. In a large sense it would embrace all that had been written at the command of God at the time when this was supposed to be spoken. That is, as spoken by the Messiah, it would include all the books of the Old Testament. See the notes at Heb 10:7.
It is written of me – It is recorded; or, there is a record made of me; to wit, in this respect, that his great delight would be to do the will of God. The proper interpretation of this expression must he, that there must be some record to be found in the book or volume referred to, which was designed to describe him in this respect, or which had an original reference to him. The meaning is not that there was a general record on the point of obedience which might be applied to him as well as to others, but that the record was intended to be applied to him, and to describe his character. This is one of the passages in the Psalms which cannot with any propriety be applied to David himself. There was no such antecedent record in regard to him; no statement in any book or volume that this would be his character. There is no promise – no intimation – in any of the books of Scripture written before the time of David that he would come to do the will of God with a view to effect that which could not be done by the sacrifices and offerings under the law.
The reference of the language, therefore, must be to the Messiah – to some place where it is represented or affirmed that he would come to accomplish by his obedience what could not be done by the sacrifices and oblations made under the law. Thus understood, and regarded as the language of the Messiah himself, the reference might be to all the books of the Old Testament (for all were completed before he came), and not merely to those which had been written in the time of David. But still, it is true that no such declaration, in so many words, can now be found in any of those books; and the meaning must be that this was the language which was everywhere implied respecting the Messiah; that this was the substance of the description given of him; that this characterized his work as predicted there; to wit, that when all sacrifices and offerings under the law failed; when they had all shown that they were not efficacious to put away sin, One would come to perform some higher work that would be effectual in putting away transgression, and that this work might, in the highest sense, be described as obedience, or as doing the will of God. This was true. The language and the institutions of the Old Testament contemplated him as the One who only could put away sin. The entire spirit of the Mosaic economy supposed that a Saviour would come to do the will of God by making an atonement for the sin of the world. The meaning then is, I come to do thy will in making an atonement, for no other offering would expiate sin; that I would do this, is the language of the Scriptures in predicting my coming, and of the whole spirit and design of the ancient dispensation.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. In the volume of the book] bimegillath sepher, “in the roll of the book.” Anciently, books were written on skins, and rolled up. Among the Romans, these were called volumina, from volvo, I roll; and the Pentateuch in the Jewish synagogues is still written in this way. There are two wooden rollers; on one they roll on, on the other they roll off, as they proceed in reading. One now lying before me, written on vellum, is two feet two inches in breadth and one hundred and two feet long. To roll and unroll such a MS. was no easy task, and to be managed must lie flat on a table. This contains the Pentateuch only, and is without points, or any other Masoretic distinction. The book mentioned here must be the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses; for, in David’s time no other part of Divine revelation had been committed to writing. This whole book speaks about Christ, and his accomplishing the will of God, not only in “the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent,” and “in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;” but in all the sacrifices and sacrificial rites mentioned in the law.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Then, when I understood and considered thy mind and will therein, expressed Psa 40:6.
Said I; either within myself, by a firm purpose; or unto thee by way of promise or engagement.
Lo, I come. He may seem to speak like a servant, answering to the call of his master, and signifying his readiness to obey him; in which sense it may be accommodated to David. But the servants answer is usually expressed in Scripture by another phrase, Here am I, and never to my remembrance in these words. Besides, this phrase in that sense seems not to be proper in this place, but rather, Lo, I hear, which best suits with the foregoing words, mine ears hast thou opened. But these words do most literally and truly belong to Christ, and the sense is this: Seeing thou requirest a better sacrifice than those of the law, lo, I do offer myself to come; and I will in due time come, to wit, from heaven, or in the flesh, or into the world, as this phrase is more fully expressed and explained in divers places of Scripture, and particularly Heb 10:5, where this place is explained and applied to Christ.
The two words volume and book are indifferently used
of any writing, and both words seem here to express the same thing, as may appear by comparing Jer 36, where we have the very same words; and what is called the roll or volume of a book, Jer 36:2,4, is called simply a roll or volume, Jer 36:6,20,21, and the book, Jer 36:10,13; it being usual with the Hebrews to join two words together in like manner, of which we have an instance here above, Psa 40:2, miry clay, Heb. clay of mire. Now this volume of the book, is meant, either,
1. Of the book of predestination, in which Christ was written, as being foreordained before the foundation of the world, 1Pe 1:20. But that is a secret book, not to be read by any man living, and therefore not fitly alleged as an evidence in this matter. Or,
2. Of a legal instrument, wherein the contract was drawn between God and him, wherein he did oblige himself to serve God, and to execute his will in all things; it being the manner of the Hebrews to write their contracts in a little volume or book. But,
1. We read of no such usage among the Hebrew in the contracts between master and servant, but only of the boring of the servants ear, Exo 21:6. So the foundation of this allusion is destroyed.
2. At least there was no such contract written between God and him. And if it be said that he only speaks thus by way of allusion, that is but a supposition without ground. And when the words may be properly understood as they sound, of a thing really done, why should we forsake the plain sense without necessity?
3. The phrase here used doth not agree to this sense; for then he should have said, I am written in the volume of the book, i.e. in the catalogue of thy servants; for in that case the persons or their names are constantly said to be written, as Exo 32:32,33; Psa 69:28; Dan 12:1; Luk 10:20; Heb 12:23; Rev 13:8; 20:15; 21:27, and not any thing to be written of them, as it is here. Or,
3. Of the Holy Scriptures; in which something indeed was written concerning David; namely, that he was a man after Gods own heart, 1Sa 13:14. But it must be remembered that those books were not written till after Davids death, in whose time here was no other book of Scripture extant but the five books of Moses, unless you will except the book of Job. And therefore this is meant of the law of Moses, which is commonly and emphatically called the book, and was made up in the form of a roll or volume, as the Hebrew books generally were. See Eze 3:1-3; Zec 5:1,2; Lu 4:17,20. And so this place manifestly points to Christ, and must necessarily be understood of him, and of him only, concerning whom much is said in the books of Moses, as is evident from Luk 24:27,44 Joh 5:46; Act 3:22; 26:22; 28:23. And this sense being plain, and natural, and unforced, and exactly agreeing both with the words and with the truth of the thing, and with the belief of all Christians, I see no reason why I may not acquiesce in it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. Thenin such case, withoutnecessarily referring to order of time.
Lo, I comeI amprepared to do, c.
in the volume of thebookroll of the book. Such rolls, resembling maps, arestill used in the synagogues.
written of meor on me,prescribed to me (2Ki 22:13).The first is the sense adopted by Paul. In either case, thePentateuch, or law of Moses, is meant, and while it contains muchrespecting Christ directly, as Gen 3:15Gen 49:10; Deu 18:15,and, indirectly, in the Levitical ritual, there is nowhere anyallusion to David.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then said I,…. As in the council and covenant of peace, when and where he declared his willingness to come into the world, and make satisfaction for the sins of his people; so when the fulness of time was come for his appearance in human nature he repeated the same; for of the time of his coming into the world are these words interpreted,
Heb 10:5; when sacrifice and offering God would not have any longer continued, and when a body was prepared him, then he said,
Lo, I come; O Father; as Apollinarius, in his metaphrase, adds; that is, freely, and without compulsion; immediately, at once, without any delay; and he himself, and not another; and this not by change of place, but by assumption of nature; taking the body, or human nature, prepared for him, and uniting it to himself; to which the word “lo” is prefixed as a note of attention and admiration; the incarnation of Christ being a wonderful affair, and of the utmost moment and importance;
in the volume of the book [it is] written of me; either in the book of divine predestination, in the purposes and decrees of God, Ps 139:16; or in the book of the Scriptures; either in general, Joh 5:39
Lu 24:27; or particularly in the book of the Psalms, Ps 1:1; or rather in the book of the law, the five books of Moses, since these were the only books or volumes that were composed at the writing of this psalm; and it has respect not to De 18:15; nor De 17:18; nor Ex 21:6; but rather Ge 3:15; and seeing the coming of Christ into the world was not only appointed of God, agreed unto by Christ, but was prophesied of, and penned down in the sacred writings; therefore at the appointed time he came, freely and willingly. This book is called a volume, or roll, alluding to the manner of writing formerly; when what was written was finished, it was rolled about a stick in the manner of a cylinder; and in this form is the book of the law with the Jews to this day; [See comments on Lu 4:17].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The connection of the thoughts is clear: great and manifold are the proofs of Thy loving-kindness, how am I to render thanks to Thee for them? To this question he first of all gives a negative answer: God delights not in outward sacrifices. The sacrifices are named in a twofold way: ( a) according to the material of which they consist, viz., , the animal sacrifice, and , the meal or meat offering (including the , the wine or drink offering, which is the inalienable accessory of the accompanying mincha); ( b) according to their purpose, in accordance with which they bring about either the turning towards one of the good pleasure of God, as more especially in the case of the , or, as more especially in the case of the (in this passage ), the turning away of the divine displeasure. The fact of the and standing first, has, moreover, its special reason in the fact that specially designates the shelamm offerings, and to the province of these latter belongs the thank-offering proper, viz., the toda – shelamm offering; and that as the sacrifice of adoration ( ), which is also always a general thanksgiving ( ), is most natural, side by side with the shalemim, to him who gives thanks. When it is said of God, that He does not delight in and desire such non-personal sacrifices, there is as little intention as in Jer 7:22 (cf. Amo 5:21.) of saying that the sacrificial Tra is not of divine origin, but that the true, essential will of God is not directed to such sacrifices.
Between these synonymous utterances in Psa 40:7 and Psa 40:7 stands the clause . In connection with this position it is natural, with Rosenmller, Gesenius, De Wette, and Stier, to explain it “ears hast Thou pierced for me” = this hast Thou engraven upon my mind as a revelation, this disclosure hast Thou imparted to me. But, although , to dig, is even admissible in the sense of digging through, piercing (vid., on Psa 22:17), there are two considerations against this interpretation, viz.: (1) that then one would rather look for instead of after the analogy of the phrases , , and , since the inner sense, in which the external organs of sense, with their functions, have their basis of unity, is commonly denoted by the use of the singular; (2) that according to the syntax, , , and are all placed on the same level. Thus, therefore, it is with this very that the answer is intended, in its positive form, to begin; and the primary passage, 1Sa 15:22, favours this view: “Hath Jahve delight in whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in one’s obeying the voice of Jahve? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, to attend better than the fat of rams!” The assertion of David is the echo of this assertion of Samuel, by which the sentence of death was pronounced upon the kingship of Saul, and consequently the way of that which is well-pleasing to God was traced out for the future kingship of David. God – says David – desires not outward sacrifices, but obedience; ears hath He digged for me, i.e., formed the sense of hearing, bestowed the faculty of hearing, and given therewith the instruction to obey.
(Note: There is a similar expression in the Tamul Kural, Graul’s translation, S. 63, No. 418: “An ear, that was not hollowed out by hearing, has, even if hearing, the manner of not hearing.” The “hollowing out” meaning in this passage an opening of the inward sense of hearing by instruction.)
The idea is not that God has given him ears in order to hear that disclosure concerning the true will of God (Hupfeld), but, in general, to hear the word of God, and to obey that which is heard. God desires not sacrifices but hearing ears, and consequently the submission of the person himself in willing obedience. To interpret it “Thou hast appropriated me to Thyself ,” after Exo 21:6; Deu 15:17, would not be out of harmony with the context; but it is at once shut out by the fact that the word is not , but . Concerning the generalizing rendering of the lxx, , following which Apollinaris renders it , and the Italic (which is also retained in the Psalterium Romanum ), corpus autem perfecisti mihi; vide on Heb 10:5, Commentary, S. 460f. transl. vol. ii. p. 153.
The , which follows, now introduces the expression of the obedience, with which he placed himself at the service of God, when he became conscious of what God’s special will concerning him was. With reference to the fact that obedience and not sacrifice has become known to him as the will and requirement of God, he has said: “Lo, I come,” etc. By the words “Lo, I come,” the servant places himself at the call of his master, Num 22:38; 2Sa 19:21. It is not likely that the words then form a parenthesis, since Psa 40:9 is not a continuation of that “Lo, I come,” but a new sentence. We take the Beth, as in Psa 66:13, as the Beth of the accompaniment; the roll of the book is the Tra, and more especially Deuteronomy, written upon skins and rolled up together, which according to the law touching the king (Deu 17:14-20) was to be the vade-mecum of the king of Israel. And cannot, as synonymous with the following , signify as much as “written upon my heart,” as De Wette and Thenius render it-a meaning which, as Maurer has already correctly replied, obtains elsewhere by means of a conception that is altogether inadmissible in this instance. On the contrary, this preposition here, as in 2Ki 22:13, denotes the object of the contents; for signifies to write anything concerning any one, so that he is the subject one has specially in view (e.g., of the judicial decision recorded in writing, Job 13:26). Because Jahve before all else requires obedience to His will, David comes with the document of this will, the Tra, which prescribes to him, as a man, and more especially as the king, the right course of conduct. Thus presenting himself to the God of revelation, he can say in Psa 40:9, that willing obedience to God’s Law is his delight, as he then knows that the written Law is written even in his heart, or, as the still stronger expression used here is, in his bowels. The principal form of , does not occur in the Old Testament; it was (from , , or even ), according to current Jewish pronunciation (which Kimchi explains dual); and the word properly means (vid., on Isa 48:19) the soft parts of the body, which even elsewhere, like , which is synonymous according to its original meaning, appear pre-eminently as the seat of sympathy, but also of fear and of pain. This is the only passage in which it occurs as the locality of a mental acquisition, but also with the associated notion of loving acceptance and cherishing protection (cf. the Syriac phrase , som begau meajo , to shut up in the heart = to love). That the Tra is to be written upon the tables of the heart is even indicated by the Deuteronomion, Deu 6:6, cf. Pro 3:3; Pro 7:3. This reception of the Tra into the inward parts among the people hitherto estranged from God is, according to Jer 31:33, the characteristic of the new covenant. But even in the Old Testament there is among the masses of Israel “a people with My law in their heart” (Isa 51:7), and even in the Old Testament, “he who hath the law of his God in his heart” is called righteous (Psa 37:31). As such an one who has the Tra within him, not merely beside him, David presents himself on the way to the throne of God.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
7. Then said I, Lo! I come. By the adverb then he intimates, that he had not been a good scholar, and capable of profiting by instruction, until God had opened his ears; but as soon as he had been instructed by the secret inspirations of the Spirit, he tells us, that then his heart was ready to yield a willing and cheerful obedience. Here true obedience is very properly distinguished from a constrained and slavish subjection. Whatever service, therefore, men may offer to God, it is vain and offensive in his sight, unless at the same time they offer themselves; and, moreover, this offering of one’s self is of no value unless it be done willingly. These words, Lo! I come, ought to be observed, and likewise the words, I have delighted to do thy will; for the Hebrew word חפצתי, chaphatsti, means, I was well pleased, or, I willingly condescended. Here David indicates his readiness to yield obedience, as well as the cordial affection of his heart and persevering resolution. His language implies, that he cordially preferred the service of God to every other desire and care, and had not only yielded a willing subjection, but also embraced the rule of a pious and holy life, with a fixed and steady purpose of adhering to it. This he confirms still further in the third clause of the verse, in which he says, that the Law of God was deeply fixed in the midst of his bowels (89) It follows from this, first, that however beautiful and splendid the works of men may appear, yet unless they spring from the living root of the heart, they are nothing better than a mere pretense; and, secondly, that it is to no purpose that the feet, and hands, and eyes, are framed for keeping the Law, unless obedience begin at the heart. Moreover, it appears from other places of Scripture, that it is the peculiar office of the Holy Spirit to engrave the Law of God on our hearts. God, it is true, does not perform his work in us as if we were stones or stocks, drawing us to himself without the feeling or inward moving of our hearts towards him. But as there is in us naturally a will, which, however, is depraved by the corruption of our nature, so that it always inclines us to sin, God changes it for the better, and thus leads us cordially to seek after righteousness, to which our hearts were previously altogether averse. Hence arises that true freedom which we obtain when God frames our hearts, which before were in thraldom to sin, unto obedience to himself.
In the roll of the book As the Septuagint has made use of the word head instead of roll, (90) some have been inclined to philosophise upon this clause with so much refinement of speculation, that they have exposed themselves to ridicule by their foolish and silly inventions. But the etymology of the word במגלת, bemegilath, is the same as the Latin word volumen, (91) which we call a roll It is necessary to ascertain in what sense David claims peculiarly to himself what is common or alike to all men. Since the Law prescribes to all men the rule of a holy and upright life, it does not appear, it may be said, that what is here stated pertains to any one man or any set of men. I answer, that although the literal doctrine of the Law belongs to all men in common, yet as of itself it is dead, and only beats the air, God teaches his own people after another manner; and that, as the inward and effectual teaching of the Spirit is a treasure which belongs peculiarly to them, it is written of them only in the secret book of God, that they should fulfill his will. The voice of God, indeed, resounds throughout the whole world, so that all who do not obey it are rendered inexcusable; but it penetrates into the hearts of the godly alone, for whose salvation it is ordained. As a general, therefore, enrols the names of his soldiers, that he may know their exact number, and as a schoolmaster writes the names of his scholars in a scroll, so has God written the names of his children in the book of life, that he may retain them under the yoke of his own discipline.
There still remains another difficulty connected with this passage. The Apostle, in Heb 10:5, seems to wrest this place, when he restricts what is spoken of all the elect to Christ alone, and expressly contends that the sacrifices of the Law, which David says are not agreeable to God in comparison of the obedience of the heart, are abrogated; and when quoting rather the words of the Septuagint, (92) than those of the prophet, he infers from them more than David intended to teach. As to his restricting this passage to the person of Christ, the solution is easy. David did not speak in his own name only, but has shown in general what belongs to all the children of God. But when bringing into view the whole body of the Church, it was necessary that he should refer us to the head itself. It is no objection that David soon after imputes to his own sins the miseries which he endures; for it is by no means an uncommon thing to find our errors, by a mode of expression not strictly correct, transferred to Christ. As to the abrogation of the sacrifices that were under the Law, I answer thus: That their abrogation may be fairly inferred from the language of the prophets; for this is not like many other places in which God condemns and rejects the sacrifices which were offered by hypocrites, and which were deservedly offensive to him on account of their uncleanness: for in these God condemns the outward ceremony, on account of the abuse and corruption of it, which rendered it nothing but a vain mockery; whereas here, when the Prophet speaks of himself as one who worshipped God sincerely, and yet denies that God had pleasure in these sacrifices, it may easily be inferred, that the rudiments which God had enjoined upon his ancient people for a time had some other end in view, and were only like infantile instructions designed to prepare them for some higher state. But if their truth and substance are contained in Christ, it is certain that they have been abolished by his coming. They were indeed still in use in the time of David: and yet he admonishes us that the true service of God, even when performed without sacrifices, was perfect and complete in all its parts, and every where; and that the ceremonies are things which might be regarded as non-essential, and, as we speak, adventitious. This is worthy of being noticed, that we may know that God, even after he has removed the figures which he had commanded for a time, does not cease always to resemble himself; for in these outward services he had respect solely to men. As to this, that the Apostle, following the Septuagint, has made subservient to his own use the word body, which is not used here by David, in such an allusion there is no inconsistency; for he does not undertake expressly to unfold and explain in every point the Psalmist’s meaning: but as he had said, that by the one sacrifice of Christ all the others had been abolished, he adds at the same time that a body had been prepared for Christ, that by the offering up of it he might fulfill the will of God.
(89) This is the literal rendering of the Hebrew, and means, As dear to me as life itself; (Joh 6:38; Job 38:36.)
(90) Anciently, books did not consist, like ours, of a number of distinct leaves bound together, but were composed of sheets of parchment joined to each other, and rolled up for preservation upon wooden rollers, as our charts of geography are; and in this form are all the sacred MSS. of the Jewish synagogues to this day. The roll of the book, therefore, simply means the book itself. With respect to the reading of the Septuagint, “ Εν κεθαλίσδι βιβλίου;” — “In the head of the book;” and which Paul, in Heb 10:7, quotes instead of the Hebrew: this is an expression which the LXX. employ simply to mean the book, as in Ezr 6:2; Eze 2:9; and Eze 3:1; and not the beginning or head of the book At the extremity of the cylinder on which the Hebrew כפר, βιβλιου, book or manuscript, was rolled, were heads or knobs for the sake of convenience to those who used the MS. The knob or head, κεθαλις, is here taken as a part put for the whole Κεθαλις βιβλίου means therefore βιβλιου, or ספר, with a κεθαλις, i e. , a manuscript roll. — Stuart on Heb 10:7. Hence it is evident, that we are not to understand this phrase, the head of the book, as referring to that prophecy in Gen 3:15. As to what book is here referred to, there is some diversity of opinion among interpreters. Some understand it to be the book of the divine decrees, some the Pentateuch, and others all that was written concerning Christ “in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms.”
(91) Volumen is from volvo , I roll.
(92) The Septuagint here reads, “ Σῶμα δὲ κατηρτίσω μοι ” — “But a body hast thou prepared [or fitted] for me.” This reading is widely different from that of our Hebrew Bibles; and, to account for it, critics and commentators have had recourse to various conjectures: nor is the subject without considerable difficulty. Some think that the Septuagint has been corrupted, and others the Hebrew. Grotius is of opinion, and he is followed by Houbigant, that the original reading of the Septuagint was ἄκουσμα, auditum, which afterwards, in the process of transcription, had been changed into σῶμα; while Drs Owen and Hammond think that the original reading was ὠτία, ears It is conjectured by Kennicott that the Hebrew text has been changed from אז גות, az gevah, then a body, into אזנום, aznayim, ears; a conjecture which meets with the approbation of Dr Lowth, Dr Adam Clarke, and Dr Pye Smith. But it goes far to support the accuracy of the Hebrew text as it now stands, that the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate versions agree with it, and that in all the MSS. collated by Kennicott and De Rossi there is not a single variation. With respect to the Apostle’s quoting from the Septuagint instead of the Hebrew, it is sufficient to say, that he did so because the Septuagint was then in common use. And it is worthy of observation, that his argument does not depend on the word, σῶμα δὲ κατηρτίσω μοι : his design is to show the insufficiency of the legal sacrifices, and to establish the efficacy of Christ s obedience unto death; and his argument would be equally complete had these words been omitted: for it is not made to depend on the manner of the obedience. — See Archbishop Secker’s able Dissertation on the subject in the Appendix to Merrick’s Notes on the Psalms; and Stuart on Heb 10:5, and Excursus 20.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Then said I.This rendering, which follows the LXX. and Vulg., and is adopted in the Epistle to the Hebrews, must be abandoned. The Hebrew means, Lo! I come, bringing the book written for me, which no doubt refers to the Law, which in the person of the poet, Israel here produces as warrant for its conduct. Some see a particular allusion to the discovery of the Book of Deuteronomy in Josiahs reign. But if the conjecture of Grtz be accepted (see preceding Note), the reference will be rather to the Levitical regulation of sacrifice. Shouldest thou require burnt-offering and sin-offering, then I say, Lo! I bring the book in which all is prescribed me, i.e., I have duly performed all the rites ordained in the book.
The rendering written on me, i.e., on my heart and mind, might suit the contents of the book, but not the roll itself.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Then said I Christ still speaks, (see Psa 40:6.) The language is slightly historic, but passes over into the typically predictive. “Then” is emphatic. With David it was after the revelation and spiritual discernment of the insufficiency of animal sacrifice to atone for his crimes. With Christ it points to the date when, “ , coming into the world, he said,” etc. Heb 10:5. In David’s agony of repentance he had obtained deeper views of sin. He had passed beyond the reach of atonement under the law, but with a “crushed and contrite heart” appealed to a higher power and provision of pardon. See on Psa 51:16. In these depths, but especially after his conscious restoration, he was lifted up to the spiritual height of antitypical vision to behold the “one offering” to which animal sacrifice could only point. His “ears being now opened” to receive a profounder subjective sense of law and sin, he obtains also a clearer ectypal view of the true atoning Sacrifice. But this faint trace of historic application falls far below the energy and dignity of the style, which finds its fulness of import only in Christ. Lo,
I come
Volume of the book The roll of the book, that is, the Torah, or law of Moses. Its general import, not any particular passage, is here alluded to. See Luk 24:44. Books anciently were written on skins, or papyrus, and rolled, not bound, as now.
It is written of me See Deu 18:15, and compare Luk 24:27; Joh 1:45; Joh 5:46-47; Act 3:22
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 40:7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book [it is] written of me,
Ver. 7. Then said I, Lo, I come ] Christ became obedient even to the death, yea, that of the cross, Phi 2:8 . Christ’s people also are a willing people, Psa 110:3 , their obedience is prompt and present, ready and speedy, without delays and consults, Psa 119:60 , without capitulation and security, Isa 56:6 .
In the volume of the book
It is written of me
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Then said I: i.e. at Incarnation, when He “came into the world” (Heb 10:5).
volume of the book = scroll, that is to say, the book. Genitive of Apposition, and Figure of speech Pleonasm (App-6) = the book of the law (App-47).
it is written = it is prescribed. Compare 2Ki 22:13.
of me = for me. Joseph and Mary should have remembered what was “written” (Luk 2:49).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Lo: Heb 10:7-9
in the: Gen 3:15, Luk 24:27, Luk 24:44, Joh 5:39, Act 10:43, 1Co 15:3, 1Co 15:4, 1Pe 1:10, 1Pe 1:11, Rev 19:10
Reciprocal: Lev 4:31 – a sweet Ezr 6:1 – rolls Jer 36:2 – a roll Zec 2:10 – lo Mat 3:15 – for Mar 1:2 – written Joh 5:30 – because Joh 6:27 – for him Joh 6:38 – not Heb 9:9 – that could Heb 9:11 – Christ
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE SELF-CONSECRATION OF MESSIAH
Then said I, Lo, I come.
Psa 40:7
I. When did Christ say these words?To what date does then refer? No numbers can reckon up the ages back, and no mind can fathom the depth of that eternity past since Christs advent-note was first heard, when the decree was written in that volume, and that act of our Lords dedication of Himself for man took place. For ever and for ever he said, I come. The word translated I come literally means I am come. So that, in the language that is used here, there is the very mystery of the eternal, omnipresent now which makes Godhead. It is always past; it is always present; it is always future. I come.
II. In the archives of eternity the mystery has stood for ages.Lo, I come. Our first parents had scarcely fallen before it met them in the sacrifice of the daily altar. It was shadowed in the law of Moses; it was the note of the Angel in the wilderness, the Angel of the Church, the Lord Jesus. John the Baptist heard it in the desert, and the heavenly host sang it on the hills of Bethlehem. Every day and every hour it is heard in every believers soul; and stretching on now to greater things yet to come, it is the clear trumpet-note of the whole Churchs hope, Lo, I come.
III. The words carry with them another truth: Wherever there is difficulty, wherever there is sin, or sorrrow, or need, in proportion as the difficulty, sin, sorrow, need, become extreme, there Jesus comes. It is not one, but a long series of advents, Jesus coming nearer to us and we, as we are drawn, coming a little nearer to Him, day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. It is so the work is done, and it is so that the union becomes established between a sinner and Christ, that union which can never be broken for ever and for ever.
Rev. James Vaughan.
Illustration
The fortieth psalm, being subjectively Messianic, gives us the inner meaning of the Passion. It is, so to speak, the theological counterpart of the twenty-second. The twenty-second gives us the Atonement in the realm of fact, the fortieth in the realm of idea. The former speaks of the Crucifixion of the Body in the sight of man, the latter of the Crucifixion of the Will in the sight of God.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Psa 40:7. Then When I understood and considered thy mind and will therein expressed, Psa 40:6, I said within myself, by a firm purpose; or unto thee, by way of promise, or engagement, Lo, I come If these be considered as the words of a servant, answering to the call of his master, and signifying his readiness to obey him, they may be accommodated to David. But they much more literally and truly belong to Christ, and the sense is, Seeing thou requirest a better sacrifice than those of the law, lo, I offer myself to come, and I will in due time come into the world, as this phrase is explained in divers places of Scripture, and particularly Heb 10:5, where this place is expressly applied to Christ. In the volume of the book These two words, volume and book, are used of any writing, and both express the same thing. Now this volume of the book is the law of Moses, which is commonly and emphatically called the book, and was made up in the form of a roll or volume, as the Hebrew books generally were. And so this place manifestly points to Christ, concerning whom much is said in the books of Moses, as is evident from Luk 24:27; Luk 24:44; Joh 5:46; Act 3:22; and Act 26:22; and Act 28:23. And this sense being plain and natural, and unforced, and exactly agreeing both with the words, and with the truth of the thing, and with the belief of all Christians, there can be no good reason why we should not acquiesce in it.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
40:7 {g} Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book [it is] written of me,
(g) When you had opened my ears and heart, I was ready to obey you, being assured that I was written in the book of your elect for this end.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Because God had been so good to David, the psalmist yielded his life as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1-2). As the Lord’s anointed king, David was responsible to follow the directions handed on to him in the scroll of the Mosaic Law. Because God had captured his affections, David could say the Law was in his heart, not just in his hands. He delighted to do God’s will rather than just doing it out of obligation.
In Heb 10:5-7, the writer of that epistle quoted Psa 40:6-8 concerning Jesus Christ’s attitude at His incarnation. The sacrifices of the Mosaic system could never satisfy God’s high demands. They only removed sin temporarily and expressed worship superficially. The offering that fully satisfied God was the willing self-sacrifice of the sinless Son of Man. Jesus Christ offered Himself to God as David did, as he expressed in this psalm.