Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 48:5
They saw [it, and] so they marveled; they were troubled, [and] hasted away.
5. They saw; forthwith they were amazed:
They were dismayed, they made haste to flee.
Caesar’s boast, Veni, vidi, vici, was reversed. They came to Zion, they saw it, they were smitten with panic terror. Cp. Isa 33:3.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
They saw it – That is, they looked on it; they contemplated it; they were struck with its beauty and strength, and fled.
And so they marveled – It surpassed their expectations of its strength, and they saw with wonder that any attempt to conquer it was hopeless.
They were troubled – They were filled with anxiety and confusion. They even began to have apprehensions about their own safety. They saw that their preparations had been made in vain, and that all hopes of success must be abandoned.
And hasted away – They fled in confusion. The idea in the whole verse is that of a panic, leading to a disorderly flight. This may have occurred in the time of Jehoshaphat, 2 Chr. 20, when the kings of Moab, Edom, and others, came up to attack Jerusalem, though the immediate cause of their overthrow was a conflict among themselves 2Ch 20:22-25. It may have been, however, that they approached the city, and were dismayed by its strength, so that they turned away before the internal conflict occurred which ended in their ruin. But it is not necessary to adjust these accounts one to another, or even to suppose that this was the event referred to in the psalm, though the general ideas in it accord well with all which occurred on that occasion.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
They saw it; they did only look upon it, but not come into it, nor shoot an arrow there, nor cast a bank against it, as is said upon this or the like occasion, 2Ki 19:32.
So they marvelled, not so much at the structure or strength of the city, as at the wonderful works wrought by God on their behalf.
They were troubled and hasted away: see 2Ki 19:35.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
They saw [it],…. Either the city or the power of God, as Aben Ezra; or, as Jarchi, God himself going forth to fight against the nations. This refers to the power Christ will take to himself, and show forth, by reigning in his church, and protecting it, which will not only be visible to the saints, but to the nations of the world; and to the brightness of Christ’s coming in his spiritual reign, with the lustre of which antichrist will be destroyed, Re 11:17; and to the glorious state of the church, signified by the rising of the witnesses, and their standing on their feet, and ascending to heaven, which will be seen by their enemies, Re 11:11; and to the destruction of Rome, the smoke of whose burning, the kings of the earth, that have committed fornication with her, will see and lament,
Re 18:8;
[and] so their marvelled: at the glory of the church, the security of it, the power of Christ in it and over it, and at the destruction of mystical Babylon; see Isa 52:14;
they were troubled: as Herod and all Jerusalem were, upon hearing of the birth of Christ, Mt 2:3; so these kings will be, upon seeing the coming and power of Christ in the latter day, the invincibleness of his church, and their own immediate and utter ruin: this will be the time or the howling of the shepherds, both civil and ecclesiastical, when all hands will be faint, and every man’s heart will melt, Zec 11:2;
[and] hasted away: fled for fear of the great King at the head of his armies, in the defence of his church and people: and as the kings of the earth also at the destruction of Rome will flee and stand afar off, for fear of her torment, Re 18:10.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(5) They saw.A verse like Psa. 46:6, vivid from the omission of the conjunctions, wrongly supplied by the Authorised Version. It has reminded commentators of Caesars Veni, vidi, vici.
They looked, even so were terrified, bewildered, panic-struck.
Hasted away.Or, sprung up in alarm.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 48:5 They saw [it, and] so they marvelled; they were troubled, [and] hasted away.
Ver. 5. They saw it, and so they marvelled ] None of them could say, as Caesar, Veni, vidi, vici, I came, I saw, I conquored, but the contrary; they no sooner saw this heaven guarded city, but their hearts misgave them; and they were ready to say, as that duke of Saxony did, who intending to make war upon the bishop of Magdeburg, and understanding that he made no great preparation for defence of himself and his territories, but sought help from heaven by fasting and prayer, Insaniat alius, said he, God bless me from such a madness as to meddle with a man who confideth in God, and committeth himself wholly to his protection.
They were troubled and hasted away
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
were: Exo 14:25, 2Ki 7:6, 2Ki 7:7, 2Ki 19:35-37
Reciprocal: Exo 14:24 – and troubled Jos 2:24 – all the inhabitants Jos 8:20 – and they had Jdg 5:31 – So let 1Sa 28:5 – he was afraid 2Sa 10:19 – feared 2Ki 6:11 – Therefore 2Ch 14:14 – the fear Psa 65:8 – afraid Isa 13:8 – pangs
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
48:5 They saw [{f} it, and] so they marvelled; they were troubled, [and] hasted away.
(f) The enemies were afraid at the sight of the city.