Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 56:7
Shall they escape by iniquity? in [thine] anger cast down the people, O God.
7. Shall they escape by iniquity? ] Or, In spite of iniquity shall they escape? When their conduct is so inhuman, shall they escape the judgement? Less probable is the rendering of R.V. marg. (for the thought of which cp. Isa 28:15), They think to escape by iniquity. But the phrase is obscure, and the emendation palls for pallt adopted by many critics deserves consideration: Weigh unto them (i.e. pay them, cp. Psa 58:2) according to their iniquity.
in thine anger &c.] In anger bring down peoples, O God: humble them by judgement. Cp. Psa 55:23; Isa 63:6. This prayer, it is said, is unsuitable for an individual: it must be the voice of the congregation demanding the humiliation of its proud oppressors. But here, as in Psa 7:6 ff., the appeal for a particular judgement is absorbed in the desire for a general judgement of the world.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Shall they escape by iniquity? – This expression in the original is very obscure. There is in the Hebrew no mark of interrogation; and a literal rendering would be, By iniquity (there is) escape to them; and, according to this, the sense would be, that they contrived to escape from just punishment by their sins; by the boldness of their crimes; by their wicked arts. The Septuagint renders it, As I have suffered this for my life, thou wilt on no account save them. Luther, What they have done evil, that is already forgiven. DeWette reads it, as in our translation, as a question: Shall their deliverance be in wickedness? Probably this is the true idea. The psalmist asks with earnestness and amazement whether, under the divine administration, people can find safety in mere wickedness; whether great crimes constitute an evidence of security; whether his enemies owed their apparent safety to the fact that they were so eminently wicked. He prays, therefore, that God would interfere, and show that this was not, and could not be so.
In thine anger cast down the people, O God – That is, show by thine own interposition – by the infliction of justice – by preventing the success of their plans – by discomfiting them – that under the divine administration wickedness does not constitute security; in other words, that thou art a just God, and that wickedness is not a passport to thy favor.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. Shall they escape by iniquity?] Shall such conduct go unpunished? Shall their address, their dexterity in working iniquity, be the means of their escape? No. “In anger, O God, wilt thou cast down the people.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Shall they escape by iniquity? shall they secure themselves by such injurious and malicious practices, whereby they do not only vex me, but provoke and despise thee? Shall they have success instead of the punishments which thou hast threatened, and they have deserved? God forbid. But the words may be read without an interrogation,
By their iniquity they hope to escape; or, they do escape at present; but, Lord, do not suffer them thus to escape.
Cast down: this is opposed to their present exaltation and triumphs over poor David, and to their hopes and confidence of safety and success.
The people, i.e. these people of whom I am speaking, to wit, my malicious and wicked enemies, as well those followers of Saul, as these Philistines, amongst whom I now am.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. Shall they escape? &c.orbetter, “Their escape is by iniquity.”
cast . . . peoplehumblethose who so proudly oppose Thy servant.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Shall they escape by iniquity?…. Shall such iniquity as this, or persons guilty of it, go unpunished, or escape righteous judgment, and the vengeance of God? No; and much less shall they escape by means of their iniquity; by their wicked subtlety, or by any evil arts and methods made use of, by making a covenant with death, and an agreement with hell; or escape because of their iniquity; or be delivered because of the abominations done by them, as they flatter themselves, Jer 7:10. Some understand these words, not as referring to the escape of David’s enemies, but of himself; and render them, either by way of petition, “because of iniquity”, the iniquity of his enemies before described, “deliver [me] from them”; or “deliver them” z, meaning his heels they marked, and his soul they waited for: or by way of assertion or interrogation, “because of iniquity” there shall be; or shall there be “a deliverance to them?” a his heels and his soul; or from them, his enemies. Though others choose to render the words thus; “because of [their] iniquity”, there shall be “a casting of them away” b by the Lord, and from his presence, with loathing and contempt, as sons of Belial; reprobate silver, rejected of the Lord; which agrees with what follows:
in [thine] anger, cast down the people, O God; Saul’s courtiers, or the servants of Achish king of Gath, or both, who were in high places, but slippery ones; and such are sometimes brought down to destruction in a moment, by that God from whom promotion comes; who putteth down one, and sets up another, and which he does in wrath and anger.
z “ob iniquitatem eorum eripe me”, Schmidt; “illos”, Gejerus; “ipsis”, De Dieu. a “Ipsis est liberatio”, Cocceius; “evasio erit eis?” Pagninus, Vatablus; “ereptio erit eis?” Piscator. b “Abjectio erit iis”, Hammond.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
7. After their mischief they think to escape. The beginning of this verse is read by some interrogatively, Shall they escape in their iniquity? (333) But there is no necessity for having recourse to this distant meaning. It is much better to understand the words in the sense which they naturally suggest when first read, That the wicked think to escape in their iniquity, but that God will cast them down. He alludes to the fact that the ungodly, when allowed to proceed without interruption in their evil courses, indulge the idea that they have a license to perpetrate the worst wickedness with impunity. In these our own times, we see many such profane characters, who display an unmeasured audacity under the assurance that God’s hand can never reach them. They not only look to go unpunished, but found their hopes of success upon their evil deeds, and encourage themselves to farther wickedness, by cherishing the opinion that they will contrive a way of escape from every adversity. David has no sooner stated this vain confident persuasion of the wicked, than he refutes it by an appeal to the judgment of God, declaring his conviction that, however proudly they might exalt themselves, the hour of vengeance would come when God would cast down the peoples He makes use of the plural number, to fortify his mind against fear, when he reflected upon the array of his enemies. Let us remember, when our enemies are many, that it is one of the prerogatives of God to cast down the people, and not one nation of foes merely, but the world.
(333) French and Skinner read, “Shall they escape after their wickedness?“ and observe, that the Hebrew is, “Is there escape for them?“ the meaning being, that they assuredly will not escape, because of their wickedness.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Shall they . . .Literally, upon iniquity escape to them; the meaning of which is by no means clear. The ancient versions do not help us. If we adopt a slight change of reading, viz., palles for pallet, the meaning will be clear, for iniquity thou wilt requite them.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Shall they escape by iniquity Shall they escape because of (as the reward of) iniquity? Here was the point of his concern, lest the wicked, despite their evil doing, should slide away and escape justice, and their success embolden men in sin, and the righteous lose faith in moral government. The fearful question seems negatived instantly, and he adds:
In anger cast down the people The “anger” of God is always to be understood of his moral displeasure at sin, coupled with his judicial purpose to punish it. The violence with which he would have the sentence executed, (“cast down,” bring down with violence,) is for the end that men may see that their downfall was a divine judgment, and not due to mere secondary causes. “People,” here, is in the plural, (peoples,) and in this form, according to usage, applies to the Gentile nations.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 56:7. Shall they escape by iniquity? As much as to say, by way of admiration: “Strange! that their iniquity should deliver them.” He adds therefore, In anger bring down, O Lord, this people: “Shew [or, thou shalt shew] thy displeasure to their crimes, by inflicting the just punishment on them.” Chandler. Mudge renders the first clause, Their refuge is in vanity.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 56:7 Shall they escape by iniquity? in [thine] anger cast down the people, O God.
Ver. 7. Shall they escape by iniquity? ] q.d. No, let them never think it, their sin will surely find them out, as cunning as they are; and since they are so foolhardy as to walk upon iniquity’s fireworks, let them look to be blown up; and they shall have my prayers to that purpose.
In thine anger cast down, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
iniquity. Hebrew. ‘aven.
people = peoples. (No Art.)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
escape: Psa 94:20, Psa 94:21, Ecc 8:8, Isa 28:15, Jer 7:10, Hab 1:13
in thine: Psa 55:9, Psa 55:15, Psa 55:23, Jer 10:25, Jer 18:19-23
Reciprocal: Psa 49:5 – heels Rom 2:3 – that thou shalt
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 56:7. Shall they escape by iniquity Shall they secure themselves by such injurious and malicious practices, whereby they do not only vex me, but provoke and despise thee? Shall they have success instead of the punishments which thou hast threatened, and they have deserved? But the words may be read without an interrogation, By their iniquity they hope to escape; or, they do escape, namely, at present: but, Lord, do not suffer them thus to escape. In thine anger cast down the people That is, these people of whom I am speaking, namely, my malicious and wicked enemies, as well those followers of Saul, as these Philistines among whom I now am. This request is opposed to their present exultation and triumphs over him, and to their hopes and confidence of safety and success.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
56:7 Shall {f} they escape by iniquity? in [thine] anger cast down the people, O God.
(f) They not only think to escape punishment, but the more wicked they are, the more impudent they grow.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
He asked God to bring them down and not let them escape. Because God hates wickedness, the psalmist trusted that He would punish the wicked.