Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 44:2
[How] thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; [how] thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out.
2. With thine own hand didst thou dispossess nations, and plant them in,
Didst afflict peoples, and cause them to spread abroad.
Thou with thy hand are the first words of the verse in the Heb., emphasising by their position the prominent thought of this stanza, that Israel owed its possession of Canaan not to its own courage but to Jehovah’s help. The metaphor of planting is frequently applied to the establishment of Israel in Canaan (cp. Exo 15:17; 2Sa 7:10), and it is continued in the next line, where the rendering cause them to spread abroad is commended by the usage of the word and by the parallelism. Israel is compared to a tree which struck root and spread its branches far and wide. Cp. Psa 80:8 ff, Psa 80:11. Note the artistic parallelism, the first clause in each line referring to the nations, the second to Israel.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand – The word rendered heathen means simply nations without necessarily conveying the idea of paganism, as that word is now understood. It means the nations, to wit, of the land of Canaan, or the Canaanites; and as these nations were in fact idolaters, or strangers to the true religion, the word came in time to have that idea attached to it. It is in that sense that we use the term now, though the word nations would accurately express the meaning of the original. The word rendered drive out – yarash – means properly to take, seize, or take possession of; and then, in the form here used (Hiphil), it means to cause to possess; to give possession of; and then, to take possession of, to drive out of a possession, to dispossess, to disinherit. The meaning here is, he dispossessed them of their country; he disinherited them. This, the psalmist says, God had done by his hand; that is, it was by his own power.
And plantedst them – That is, planted his people – the children of Israel. He put them in the place of those whom he had disinherited or dispossessed. The word is properly applicable to a tree, but it is also used with reference to a nation, and means that he assigned them a fixed and permanent residence. Thus we say in English, to plant a colony. Compare Amo 9:15; Jer 24:6; Jer 32:41; Psa 80:8; 2Sa 7:10.
How thou didst afflict the people – That is, the people of the land of Canaan; the nations that dwelt there. The word means to bring evil or calamity upon anyone.
And cast them out – The word used here may be taken in the sense of sending out or expelling, as in Gen 3:23; 1Ki 9:7 – and then it would be applicable to the Canaanites, as meaning that God had expelled or driven them out – as it is understood by our translators; or it may be used to denote the sending out of shoots or branches by a tree or vine, as in Psa 80:11; Jer 17:8; Eze 17:6-7 – and then it would refer here to the Israelites, and would mean that God caused them to increase; multiplied them; spread them over the land, as a vine spreads, Psa 80:8-11. The parallelism here clearly demands the latter interpretation. So it is understood by Luther, DeWette, Tholuck, and Prof. Alexander.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. Thou didst drove out the heathen] The Canaanites were as a bad tree planted in a good soil, and bringing forth bad fruit with great luxuriance. God plucked up this bad tree from the roots, and in its place planted the Hebrews as a good tree, a good vine, and caused them to take root, and fill the land.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The heathen; the Canaanites.
Plantedst them, to wit, our fathers, easily understood both from the matter, and from Psa 44:1, where they are expressed; the pronoun being referred unto the remoter antecedent, as it is Gen 10:12; 19:13; Psa 18:5, and oft elsewhere.
Cast them out: so them must be the people, or heathens. But because the comparing of this branch of the verse with the former, plantedst them, to which this answers, and with the following they, makes it more than probable that this them belongs to the fathers, this is to be otherwise rendered; either,
1. Thus, send them out, to wit, free or manumitted out of Egypt, of which this same verb is used, Exo 5:1; 12:33. And then the foregoing people are the Egyptians, not the Canaanites; which yet seems not to agree with the foregoing and following passages both which speak of the Canaanites only; nor with the order of the words in this verse, it being improper to mention their coming out of Egypt, after their being planted in Canaan. Or rather,
2. Thus, make them send or shoot forth, to wit, branches, as it is more fully expressed, Psa 80:11; Eze 17:6, where this verb is used. And this most naturally and properly follows upon and after their planting mentioned in the former clause.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. plantedst themthat is,”our fathers,” who are also, from the parallel constructionof the last clause, to be regarded as the object of “castthem out,” which meansliterally, “send” them out,or, “extend them.” Heathen and people denotethe nations who were driven out to make room for the Israelites.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[How] thou didst drive out the Heathen with thy hand,…. Of power; that is, the Canaanites, as the Targum; the seven nations which inhabited the land of Canaan before the children of Israel came into it, De 7:1;
and plantedst them: not the Canaanites elsewhere; but, as the same Targum explains it the house of Israel in their land; which, like a vine, was removed from one place, and planted in another; and the settlement of the children of Israel in the land of Canaan is frequently expressed by this metaphor, Ex 15:17 Jer 2:21;
[how] thou didst afflict the people; the Egyptians, according to Arama; rather the Canaanitish nations by wars and desolating judgments;
and cast them out; that is, the same nations out of their land; though some render this clause, “and didst send them out”; the captive Israelites, as Arama; or “didst propagate them” q; meaning the people of Israel; who being like a vine planted in the and, sent out its boughs and branches, and became very flourishing and fruitful; see
Ps 80:9; and so the Syriac version renders it, “and thou confirmedst them”; but the former sense seems best, agreeably to which is the Targum, “thou hast broken the nations, and hast consumed them”; and that all this was the Lord’s work appears by what follows.
q “has autem germinare fecisti”, Tigurine version; “propagasti ipsos”, Piscator; so Ainsworth; but rejected by Gussetius, Ebr. Comment. p. 859.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2. Thou hast expelled the heathen with thy hand. This is an illustration of the preceding verse: for the inspired writer had not yet expressly referred to that work of God, the fame of which had been preserved by their fathers. He therefore now adds, that God with his own hand expelled the heathen, in order to plant in their room the children of Abraham: and that he wasted and destroyed them, that he might increase and multiply the seed of Abraham. He compares the ancient inhabitants of the land of Canaan to trees; for, from long continued possession of the country, they had, as it were, taken root in it. The sudden change, therefore, which had happened to them, was as if a man plucked up trees by the roots to plant others in their stead. But as it would not have been enough for God’s ancient people to have been planted at first in the country, another metaphor is here added, by which the faithful testify that the blessing of God had caused this chosen people to increase and multiply, even as a tree, extending it roots and its branches far and wide, gains still greater strength in the place where it has been planted. Besides, it is necessary to observe for what purpose it is that the faithful here magnify this manifestation of the grace of God. It often happens that our own hearts suggest to us grounds of despair, when we begin to conclude that God has rejected us, because he does not continue to bestow upon us the same benefits which in his goodness he vouchsafed to our fathers. But it were altogether inconsistent, that the faithful here disposing their hearts for prayer, should allow such an obstacle to prevent them from exercising the confidence which is proper in prayer. I freely admit, that the more we think of the benefits which God has bestowed upon others, the greater is the grief which we experience when he does not relieve us in our adversities. But faith directs us to another conclusion, namely, that we should assuredly believe that we shall also in due time experience some relief, since God continues unchangeably the same. There can be no reason to doubt, that the faithful now call to remembrance the things which God had formerly done for the welfare of his Church, with the view of inspiring their minds with stronger hope, as we have seen them acting in a similar manner in the beginning of the twenty-second psalm. They do not simply state the comparison, which would tend to draw a line of separation between those who have in former times been preserved by the power of God, and those who now labored and groaned under afflictions; but they rather set forth the covenant of God as the bond of holy alliance between them and their fathers, that they might conclude from this, that whatever amount of goodness the Church had at any time experienced in God pertained also to them. At first, indeed, they use the language of complaint, asking why it is that the course of God’s fatherly favor towards his people is, as it were, interrupted; but straightway they correct their mistake, and take courage from a new consideration — the consideration that God, who had adopted them as well as their fathers, is faithful and immutable. It is, however, no great wonder if the faithful, even in prayer, have in their hearts divers and conflicting affections. But the Holy Spirit, who dwells in them, by assuaging the violence of their sorrow, pacifies all their complaints and leads them patiently and cordially to obey. Moreover, when they here say that their fathers have declared to them the deliverances which God had accomplished in behalf of his Church, what the fathers did in this respect corresponds with the precept of the law, by which the fathers were commanded to teach their children. And all the faithful ought to reflect that the same charge is enjoined upon them by God even to this day. He communicates to them the doctrine of salvation, and commits it to their charge for this purpose — that they may transmit it to their posterity, and, as much as in them lies, endeavor to extend its authority, that his worship may be preserved from age to age.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) Thou . . . with thy hand.Literally, Thou, Thy hand, which may be, as in the Authorised Version, taken as accusative of instrument, or as a repeated subject.
And cast them out.This entirely misses the meaning and destroys the parallelism. The Hebrew word is that used for a treo spreading its branches out; comp. Jer. 17:8; Eze. 17:6; Eze. 31:5, and especially Psa. 80:11, a passage which is simply an amplification of the figure in this verse, viz., of a vine or other exotic, planted in a soil cleared for its reception, and there caused to grow and flourish. The pronoun them in each clause plainly refers to Israel.
Thou, with thine hand, didst dispossess the heathen,
And planted them (Israel) in.
Thou didst afflict the peoples.
But didst make them to spread.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. With thy hand By the direct interposition of thy power.
Plantedst them That is, the Hebrew people. The figure is borrowed from Exo 15:17, and is often used: Psa 80:8; Isa 5:1-7. It denotes a fixed abode, as opposed to a wandering or nomadic life.
Afflict the people The nations of Canaan. The word signifies to do evil to. By their corrupt and cruel practices they had forfeited their right to the land. God gave them warning to depart, and many did, as Procopius informs us, spreading themselves over Northern Africa.
Cast them out This may apply to the Canaanitish nations. But the verb often means, in a good sense, to enlarge, to send forth, to make free, and thus may better apply to Israel, who enlarged, or sent forth, his root and branch. This accords withthe figure of planting just used, and with Psa 80:11, “She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.” It also better preserves the antithetic parallelism. Thus Conant:
“Thou, with thy hand, didst dispossess the heathen,
And them thou plantedst;
Didst crush peoples,
And them thou didst extend.”
Or Bishop Mant:
“Thy hand the people forth didst cast,
And Jacob plant instead,
Thy hand the stranger tribes didst waste,
And make thine Israel spread.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 44:2. How thou didst afflict, &c. How thou didst enfeeble the nations, and spread them;our fathers, Psa 44:1. That is, madest them shoot forth their roots and branches, which they were enabled to do by enfeebling their enemies, as they were first planted in the place from whence they were removed. See Mudge and Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 44:2 [How] thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; [how] thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out.
Ver. 2. How thou didst drive out the heathen ] i.e. The Canaanites. These God, the great proprietary of all, supplanted, after that they had for a long time grown there as trees, and abounded with all kind of sensual delights, till they had filled the land from one end to the other with their uncleanness, Ezr 9:11 .
How thou didst afflict (or break in pieces) the people, and cast them out] Or, cause them (the Israelites) to spread and propagate (so Mollerus readeth it), as the vine sendeth out her branches.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
heathen = nations: i.e. the Canaanites.
them: thy People Israel.
people = peoples: i.e. the Canaanites.
cast them out = spread them about (as a vine, Isa 5); “them” referring to Israel in both clauses.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
drive out: Psa 78:55, Psa 80:8, Psa 105:44, Psa 135:10-12, Psa 136:17-22, Exo 15:17, Exo 15:19, Exo 34:11, Deu 7:1, Jos 10:42, Jos 11:23, Jos 21:43, Neh 9:22-27
how thou didst afflict: etc. Or, rather, “how thou didst afflict the peoples (of Canaan), and madest them (the Hebrews) to shoot forth;” for shalach is to send forth in any manner, and is applied to a vine spreading its roots, etc. Psa 89:9, Eze 17:6, Jer 17:8, and this sense is parallel with plantedst in the former line. Exo 23:28, Num 13:32, Jos 10:11, Jos 24:12, 1Sa 5:6, 1Sa 5:7
Reciprocal: Num 14:42 – General Deu 4:38 – drive Deu 31:3 – thy God Jos 3:10 – drive out from Jos 23:3 – And ye Jdg 6:9 – drave them Jdg 11:24 – whomsoever 1Sa 30:23 – who hath 2Sa 23:12 – the Lord 1Ch 17:9 – plant 1Ch 17:21 – by driving 2Ch 20:7 – drive out Neh 9:24 – thou subduedst Psa 10:16 – heathen Psa 48:8 – As we Psa 94:10 – chastiseth Psa 111:6 – that he Psa 136:21 – General Psa 145:4 – generation Jer 2:21 – Yet I Jer 11:17 – that Jer 32:23 – possessed Jer 46:15 – the Lord Act 7:45 – whom Heb 11:33 – through
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 44:2-3. How thou didst drive out the heathen, &c. The seven nations of the Canaanites out of Canaan, and settled in their stead thy people Israel, whom thou didst transplant thither from Egypt. Didst afflict the people The heathen; and cast them out. They got not the land, &c., by their own sword That is, by their arms or valour. But thy right hand, &c., and the light of thy countenance Thy favour, as the next words explain it; thy gracious and glorious presence, which went along with them. The many complete victories which Israel obtained over the Canaanites, under the command of Joshua, were not to be attributed to themselves; nor could they claim the glory of them. They were neither owing to their own merit nor their own light, but to Gods favour and power engaged for them; without which all their own efforts and endeavours would have been fruitless.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
44:2 [How] thou didst drive out the {b} heathen with thy hand, and plantedst {c} them; [how] thou didst afflict the {d} people, and
(e) cast them out.
(b) That is, the Canaanites.
(c) That is, our fathers.
(d) Of Canaan.
(e) That is, our fathers.