Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 68:30
Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, [till every one] submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people [that] delight in war.
30. the company of spearmen ] Better as R.V., the wild beast of the reeds, i.e. the crocodile, or rather, the hippopotamus, which is described in Job 40:21 as lying “in the covert of the reed.” It is a symbolical designation of Egypt, which is mentioned either as the typical enemy of Israel, or with reference to circumstances of the time.
the multitude of Me bulls, with the calves of the people ] R.V. peoples. The kings or leaders of heathen nations, followed by their peoples as the calves of the herd follow the bulls. Cp. Jer 46:20-21, R.V. ‘Bulls’ suggests the idea of proud defiance; ‘calves’ that of comfortable security.
till every one submit himself with pieces of silver ] Lit. as R.V. marg., Every one submitting himself &c. Their proud spirits are subdued by the irresistible divine ‘rebuke’ (Psa 76:6; Isa 17:13); they prostrate themselves in the dust before the Lord of the world, and offer tribute of their wealth. Cp. Isa 60:9. This gives a fair sense, but the construction is difficult. The difficulty is avoided by the rendering of R.V., which makes the participle refer to God: Trampling under foot the pieces of silver, i.e. spurning the tribute which they bring Thee. The true meaning is however quite uncertain, and the text is very possibly corrupt. The Ancient Versions vary greatly, some of them pointing to varieties of reading. Of the host of modern emendations, one may be mentioned which only requires alteration of the vowel points: ‘Trampling under foot them that delight in silver ’; but it can hardly be pronounced satisfactory.
scatter thou &c.] The Massoretic Text reads: He bath scattered the peoples: a ‘prophetic perfect,’ realising the triumph of God over all opposition as already complete. But it suits the context better to read the imperative with LXX and Jer., scatter thou. The difference is one of vocalisation only.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Rebuke the company of spearmen – Margin, the beasts of the reeds. This is in the form of a prayer – Rebuke; but the idea is, that this would occur; and the meaning of the whole verse, though there is much difficulty in interpreting the particular expressions, is, that the most formidable enemies of the people of God, represented here by wild beasts, would be subdued, and would be made to show their submission by bringing presents – by pieces of silver, or, with tribute. Thus the idea corresponds with that in the previous verse, that kings would bring presents. The rendering in the margin here expresses the meaning of the Hebrew. It might perhaps be possible to make out from the Hebrew the sense in our common translation, but it is not the obvious meaning, and would not accord so well with the scope of the passage. On the word rendered company, which primarily means an animal, see the notes at Psa 68:10.
It is applied to an army as being formidable, or terrible, like a wild beast. The word rendered spearmen – qaneh – means a reed or cane; calamus. Compare the notes at Isa 42:3; notes at Isa 36:6. This phrase, the beast of the reeds, would properly denote a wild beast, as living among the reeds or canes that sprang up on the banks of a river, and having his home there. It would thus, perhaps, most naturally suggest the crocodile, but it might also be applicable to a lion or other wild beast that had its dwelling in the jungles or bushes on the banks of a river. Compare Jer 49:19; Jer 50:44. The comparison here would, therefore, denote any powerful and fierce monarch or people that might be compared with such a fierce beast. There is no particular allusion to Egypt, as being the abode of the crocodile, but the reference is more general, and the language would imply that fierce and savage people – kings who might be compared with wild beasts that had their homes in the deep and inaccessible thickets – would come bending with the tribute money, with pieces of silver, in token of their subjection to God.
The multitude of the bulls – Fierce and warlike kings, who might be compared with bulls. See the notes at Psa 22:12.
With the calves of the people – That is, the nations that might be compared with the calves of such wild herds – fierce, savage, powerful. Their leaders might be compared with the bulls; the people – the multitudes – were like the wild and lawless herd of young ones that accompanied them. The general idea is, that the most wild and savage nations would come and acknowledge their subjection to God, and would express that subjection by an appropriate offering.
Till every one submit himself with pieces of silver – The word here rendered submit means properly to tread with the feet, to trample upon; and then, in the form used here, to let oneself be trampled under feet, to prostrate oneself; to humble oneself. Here it means that they would come and submissively offer silver as a tribute. That is, they would acknowledge the authority of God, and become subject to him.
Scatter thou the people that delight in war – Margin, He scattereth. The margin expresses the sense most accurately. The reference is to God. The psalmist sees the work already accomplished. In anticipation of the victory of God over his foes, he sees them already discomfited and put to flight. The mighty hosts which had been arrayed against the people of God are dissipated and driven asunder; or, in other words, a complete victory is obtained. The people that delighted in war were those that had a pleasure in arraying themselves against the people of God – the enemies that had sought their overthrow.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 68:30
Scatter Thou the people that delight in war.
A prayer for peace
God sometimes does that in which He has no delight. Surely Thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. But God saith, As I live, I have no pleasure in . . . wicked. And yet He slays them. God can look at your state of ruin, and say, as the God of truth, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth. Now, we may not delight in that in which God does not delight. God has sanctioned and ordained war. The Bible is full of proof of this. But that does not justify war on our part, unless He commands it, as at times He does. He does not delight in it. This is clear from the miseries which follow from it, and from the promise that in the Kingdom of God war shall be no more. Still, now and here He uses it; but that does not involve our right, whenever we think we have just cause, to declare war. God uses pestilence. Shall man therefore breed and propagate it? Some engage in war who do not delight in it, whilst some who delight in it take care to keep aloof from the field of battle. Men who think war to be right under special circumstances are far from delighting in it. David was one such, for he prays, Scatter them . . . delight in war. Who are the characters delighting in war?
1. Quarrelsome men, fond of the strife and conflict of war, and of the excitement which that strife and conflict brings.
2. Restless men, weary, strange to say, of the very quietness and repose of peace.
3. Officious men, delighting to meddle with strife belonging not to them, and ready to forward their opinions by war.
4. Ambitious men, who see a path to honour and to fame–a path to their own honour and fame, or to the honour and reputation of some of their kindred–by means of war.
5. Covetous men, who hope to get gain by war.
6. Mistaken patriots, who aim at the extension of empire and increase of national honour by war.
7. Cruel men, who, setting no value upon life, delight to shed blood in war.
8. Envious men, who aim to desolate every land fairer than their own by the ravages of war.
9. Proud and revengeful men, ever ready to take offence, and who see no means of settling differences except by war.
10. Thoughtless men, infected by sympathy with the delight of others in war.
11. All who do not look upon mankind as the children of one Father in heaven, and adopt the law of love as their rule. Intelligence and benevolence (religious intelligence and Christian benevolence–light from the God who is light, and love from the God who is love) will check delight in war; and godliness and Christianity, when perfected and consummated in the human heart, in our homes, and in the high places of authority in the country, most inevitably root up all pleasure in war. Nations cannot make war except by a combination of men. In a despotic govern-meat, if one ruler delight in war, this suffices to produce it; but where the power is distributed combination is necessary. And our text is a prayer against those who delight in war. It amounts to a petition against all war, that it may cease for ever. Many are the reasons why we should deprecate it. In order to produce a thorough soldier you must, to a considerable extent, blunt and destroy the ordinary susceptibilities of human nature. Now, just look for a moment at this–just think of taking away from a man that which makes the man nearest to God, and most like God. Then look at the actual struggle–how horrible! and reflect upon all that is involved in it. For those in whose land the war rages: what untold misery is theirs. Think of the arrest of all that is useful and benevolent and religious in a country, and remember that in every case of war bitter animosity remains, and is transmitted hereafter to future generations. Observe further, that the issues of war, if they decide the might, can never, taken alone, determine the right. So that there is no lawful ground upon which we can delight in war; but on every ground we are bound, as Christians, to pray, Scatter Thou the people that have pleasure in war. Of course we know that sceptics deride the so-called power of prayer–let none of us be of their number. Struggle against the contagion of contempt for what is religious: it is easily caught, and may lie dormant within you, to show itself only when you really need to pray. But why should we pray this prayer?
I. Because God alone can prevent war. Men used to say that civilization would bring peace. But it has not done so. It is one of our false gods which our true God casts down by showing us how powerless it is to prevent this great evil of war. Nor will international intercourse prevent it. Only the love of God and of one another. Now, God represents Himself as able to do this. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprises. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong. And there are many more such words. Guided by these testimonies, oh, pray this prayer, day by day, without ceasing, until peace be restored, and peace reign over the wide earth. Cry to the Lord God of Hosts, Scatter Thou the people that delight in war. But is there nothing else to be done–to be done, I mean, with this object? Submit yourselves to the Prince of Peace, for the ejection of the war spirit from the heart. And seek to love all men for the sake of God and our Saviour. (Samuel Martin.)
War to be deprecated
1. Because it has a tendency to corrupt the dispositions and morals of a people.
2. Because it oppresses a people, and renders them more unable to bear the burdens which they are obliged to sustain.
3. Because it occasions great grief and lamentation to a people.
4. Because it spreads ruin and destruction wherever it is.
5. Because it disturbs and interrupts the worship of God.
6. Because it is diametrically opposed to the mild genius of our holy religion. (John Ralston, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 30. Rebuke the company of spearmen] chaiyath kaneh, the wild beast of the reed-the crocodile or hippopotamus, the emblem of Pharaoh and the Egyptians; thus all the Versions. Our translators have mistaken the meaning; but they have put the true sense in the margin.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Rebuke, to wit, really; humble and chastise those that will not bring presents to thee, as the kings did, Psa 68:29, till they see their error and submit themselves, as it here follows.
The company; so this word signifies here above, Psa 68:11; 2Sa 23:11; Psa 74:19. Or, the beast, or wild beast, as this word is elsewhere used, i.e. the beasts; the singular being put for the plural: so the sense is the same.
Spear-men, Heb. of the reed, i.e. that use spears or arrows; which may be called reeds, either because in length and form they resemble reeds, or because anciently they were made of reeds. And this sense seems favoured by the last words of this verse, in which he explains this and the other metaphors of warriors. Or the reed may be taken properly; and by the beast of the reed he may understand the king of Egypt, who then was a very potent and a most idolatrous king, and a great and old enemy to the true religion, and to the people of Israel, whom therefore he desires God to rebuke and humble, that he may acknowledge the true God, which is foretold that he shall do, Psa 68:31. As for this enigmatical designation of this king, that is agreeable enough both to the usage of the prophets in such cases, and to the rules of prudence; and upon the same account the prophet Jeremiah, threatening destruction against Babylon, calls it enigmatically Sheshach, Jer 25:26; 51:41, and St. Paul calls Nero the lion, 2Ti 4:17. But then this one king, being eminent in his kind, is by a usual synecdoche put for all of them which were enemies to Gods people.
Bulls; by which he doubtless understands men of war, as the following words expound it; the great, and potent, and fierce, and furious adversaries of God, and of his church, as this word is used, Psa 22:12; Isa 34:7. And consequently
the calves must be their people or soldiers depending upon them, and joining with them in these acts of hostility against thine Israel.
Submit himself with pieces of silver: this he adds as a limitation of his request; Rebuke them, O Lord, not to utter destruction, but only till they be humbled and submit themselves, and in token thereof bring pieces of silver for presents, as was foretold, Psa 68:29. For submit himself, it is in the Hebrew cast himself down, or offer himself to be trod upon. But because this supplement may seem too large, and not necessary, the words are and may be rendered otherwise, that tread upon, or walk proudly in or with, fragments or pieces of silver, wherewith eminent captains used to adorn themselves and their very horses. And so this belongs to the bulls and calves, whose pride, and wealth, and power is described in this manner. Scatter thou, Heb. he hath scattered, i.e. he will certainly scatter, according to the prophetical style. So this may contain an answer, or his assurance of an answer, to his prayer: I prayed, Rebuke the company, &c., and God hath heard my prayer, and I doubt not will rebuke or scatter them.
That delight in war; that without any necessity or provocation, and merely out of a love to mischief and spoil, make war upon others, and upon us particularly. Now that thou hast given thy people rest, and settled the ark in its place, O Lord, rebuke all our malicious and bloody enemies, and give us assured peace, that we may worship the Lord without disturbance. And withal David may seem to utter this for his own vindication. It is true, O Lord, I have been a man of war, and therefore have lost the honour of building the temple, and am now forced to lodge the ark in a mean tabernacle, which I have erected for it; but this thou knowest, that I have not undertaken any of my wars out of wantonness, or ambition, or love to war and mischief, but only by constraint and necessity, for the just defence of myself and of thy people; and therefore do not lay my wars to my charge.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
30. The strongest nations arerepresented by the strongest beasts (compare Margin).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Rebuke the company of spearmen,…. Or, “of the reed” d; that is, men that use and fight with spears, like to reeds, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it. Aben Ezra says, that spears are so called in the Kedarene or Arabian language; and the Arabians use a sort of reed for a spear, as Mr. Castel out of Avicenna observes e, and Pliny f says they are used spears: or rather the words should be rendered, “rebuke”, restrain, destroy “the wild beast”, or “beasts of the reed” g; as the Syriac, Septuagint, and Vulgate Latin versions, and others, render it: the allusion is to such kind of creatures as lions in the thickets of Jordan; [See comments on Jer 49:19]; and the behemoth, that lies under the covert of reeds, Job 40:21; or as the crocodile in the river Nile, and other rivers of Egypt, which abounded with flags and reeds, in which such creatures lay; see Isa 19:6; perhaps the hippopotamus, or river horse, is referred to; so may design an insidious, cruel, and tyrannical prince; such an one as Pharaoh king of Egypt, Isa 27:1; a type of antichrist, and who seems to be here meant; for as Rome, for its wickedness, cruelty, and idolatry, is spiritually called Egypt, Re 11:8; so the Romish antichrist is the beast ascending out of the bottomless pit; and is an insidious creature, lies in wait to deceive, puts on the mask and visor of Christianity; has two horns, like a lamb in his ecclesiastic capacity; lies covered with the reeds of the traditions, inventions, and the doctrines of men; and teaches men to trust in the staff of a broken reed, in their own merits, and the merits of others. Jarchi interprets it of Esau, who is like to a wild boar that dwells among the reeds; and the Talmud h interprets it of a beast that dwells among reeds, and the gloss explains it of the nation of Amalek; the Turks, according to some, are meant;
the multitude of bulls; the secular powers of the beast of Rome; the antichristian states, their kings and princes, comparable to these creatures for their great strength, power, and authority, and for their fierceness and furiousness in persecuting the people of God: these are horned creatures, the ten horns of the beast, in his civil and secular capacity, with which he pushes at the saints, casts them down, and tramples upon them; see Ps 22:13; compared with
Re 19:18;
with the calves of the people; or the people, comparable to calves for their weakness, folly, and stupidity; these are the common people under the government and influence of the kings and princes of the earth; the people, multitudes, nations, and tongues, over whom the antichristian harlot sits, rules, and reigns: this phrase shows that the whole is to be taken, not in a literal, but figurative, sense;
[till everyone] submit himself with pieces of silver; that is, rebuke them by thy word, or by thy providences, until they become sensible of their sins, repent of them, and submit themselves to Christ; and bring with them their wealth and substance, and lay it at his feet for the use of his interest, as a testification of their subjection to him: but as this is not to be expected from the persons before described, at least not from everyone of them, the words require another sense, and are to be considered as a continued description of the persons to be rebuked, and may be rendered, even everyone “that treads with pieces of silver” k; that walks proudly and haughtily, being decorated with gold and silver on their garments; so the Romish antichrist is said to be decked, his popes, cardinals, and bishops, with gold and precious stones, Re 17:4; or “everyone that humbles himself for pieces of silver” l, as the word is rendered in Pr 6:3; that lies down to be trampled upon for the sake of temporal advantage; and so it describes the parasites and flatterers of the man of sin, who crouch unto him, take his mark in their hands or foreheads, that they may be allowed to buy and sell; all these, it is desired, God would rebuke, not in love, but with flames of fire, as he will sooner or later; for when the kings of the earth are become Christians, as in Ps 68:29, God will put it into their hearts to hate the whore, and burn her flesh with fire;
scatter thou the people [that] delight in war; as antichrist, and the antichristian states, do: they take delight in making war with the saints, and in slaying of them, to whom power has been given so to do; with whose blood they have been made drunk, and have took as much pleasure in the shedding of it as a drunken man does in indulging himself to excess in liquor; but these in God’s own time shall be scattered, when Christ the Lamb shall fight against them with the sword of his mouth, and shall utterly destroy them; see Re 13:7.
d “congregationem calami”, Pagninus. e Lexic. Polyglott. col. 3376. f Nat. Hist. l. 16. c. 36. g “Feram cannae”, Montanus; “bestiam arundineti”, Cocceius; “feram vel bestiam arundinis”, Gejerus, Michaelis. h T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 118. 2. k “gloriantem se”, Montanus, Vatablus; “calcantem”, Rivet. l “Ob fragmina argenti”, Gejerus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
30. Destroy the company of spearmen Some read rebuke, but I approve of the distinction which has been noticed by those who are most skilled in the Hebrew language, that while the verb גער, gear, has this meaning when the letter ב beth, is interposed, it signifies without it to destroy. The word, חית, chayath, which I have rendered company, has been translated beast, (56) but no such sense can apply to it here. David evidently prays in this passage that God would deliver his chosen people by destroying their cruel and bloody enemies. In calling these the company of the reed or cane, (57) he does not mean to say that they are weak, but alludes to the kind of armor which they wore, and which were lances or spears. The reed grows in some countries to a tree, or at least has all the consistency of wood, and the people are in the habit of making darts from it. In the East missile weapons are commonly used in war. He compares them for their fierceness to bulls, so I have rendered the word אבירים, abbirim; for though it may be translated strong or stout persons — the congregation of the strong — it occasionally bears the other meaning; and as David adds, calves of the people, (58) it would seem evident that he uses a figure to represent the rage and fury of the enemy, and perhaps their strength, which the Israelites were wholly unequal to combat except with Divine assistance. It is not so easy to discover the meaning of the next clause in the verse, treading upon pieces of silver The Hebrew verb רפס, raphas, signifies to tread, or literally, (for it, is here in the hithpael conjugations) causing themselves to tread; and some consider that the allusion is to the arrogance and vain-glorious boasting of the enemy. Others attach exactly the opposite sense to the words, holding that they denote submission, and that the enemy would bring pieces of silver in token of subjection. (59) But how could we suppose that David would pray for the destruction of enemies who were already subdued, and paying tribute in the character of suppliants? To this it has been said in reply, that enemies may retain their animosity in all its force within their own breasts, ready to vent itself in rebellion upon the first opportunity, although when deprived of arms they cannot display it openly, and that this is especially true of the enemies of the Church, whose antipathies are virulent, ever breaking forth afresh so soon as an occasion offers. But I see no necessity for doing violence to the words of the Psalmist, and would take them in their plain acceptation, as meaning that the enemy in their pride trampled upon pieces of silver. The reference may be to attachments of silver upon their sandals, as the Eastern nations were always proverbial for their luxury. (60) What immediately follows by no means favors the sense we have formerly adverted to, scatter the people who delight in war, where he hints that they sought groundless occasions for quarrel and tumult, and gratuitously attacked such as were disposed for peace. When we find David, after all the victories he had gained, still commending himself and his people to the protection of God, it should teach us to abandon the hope of ever seeing the Church placed in a state of perfect tranquillity in this world, exposed, as it is, to a succession of enemies raised up by the malice of Satan, and designed by God for the trial and exercise of our patience. In comparing their enemies to the beasts here mentioned, and taking notice that they delighted in war, it was no doubt his intention to influence the minds of the people of God to the contrary dispositions of clemency and mercy, as being that frame of spirit in the exercise of which they might expect to receive the Divine assistance. The more violently their enemies raged, and the more lawless their attempts might prove, they had only the more reason to expect the interposition of God, who humbles the proud and the mighty ones of this world. Such being the character of God, let us learn from this prayer of David to resort to him with confidence when the objects at any time of unmerited persecution, and to believe that he is able to deliver us at once from all our enemies.
(56) Instead of the company of spearmen, the greater number of modern critics consider the wild beast of the reeds as the most correct translation; and this is understood by many to represent the Egyptian people and government under the emblem of the hippopotamus or river-horse, the behemoth of Scripture. This animal — which is a quadruped of enormous size, of prodigious strength, fierce and cruel in its disposition, and whose skin is so impenetrable that no arrows can pierce it — shelters and reposes itself among the tall reeds which skirt in abundance the banks of the Nile, (Job 40:21.) It is a very appropriate emblem of the Egyptian power, in the height of its greatness so formidable, and the inveterate enemy of Israel. And that the Psalmist here refers to it has been thought the more probable, from his mentioning, in the clause immediately following, the bulls and calves of the people, these animals having been honored and worshipped as deities by that degenerate and superstitious nation. Or, the wild beast of the reeds may, as is supposed by others, denote the same power under the representation of the crocodile, to which the characteristics of the hippopotamus, now specified, are equally applicable. By this ferocious and truculent animal Pharaoh king of Egypt is represented in Eze 29:3; and in Psa 74:14. This, it would appear, was anciently employed as an emblem of Egypt. On a medal which the Emperor Augustine caused to be struck after he had completely reduced this powerful kingdom, Egypt is represented by the figure of a crocodile bound with a chain to a palm-tree, with the inscription, Nemo antea relegavit . Dathe, however, rejects the opinion, that the crocodile, and under it the King of Egypt, is pointed at; and observes, that David cultivated peace with the King of Egypt, and that, in verse 31, the Egyptians are commemorated as worshippers of the true God. He supposes that the wild beast of the reeds may be an epithet applied to the lion, who is accustomed to haunt places where reeds grow, and that under this image the King of Syria may be referred to, with whom David carried on lengthened and bloody wars, as is abundantly evident from sacred history. Dr Lowth also supposes that the lion is meant, (see his Lectures on Sacred Poetry, volume 1, p. 135;) and the same view is adopted by Schnurrer, Rosenmuller, and others.
(57) The original term is קנה, kane; hence the English word cane
(58) While by the multitude of bulls some understand powerful leaders, by the calves of the people they understand the mass of the people, undistinguished for rank or power, and particularly the young men. But others, as Bishop Horne, suppose, that by the calves of the people is meant the idol-calves of the Egyptians, their Apis, Osiris, etc., whom they made the objects of their religious worship. Horsley reads, “The assembly of those who place their strength in the calves;” that is, as he explains it, “The people of Egypt, who worshipped calves, and trusted in them as their gods.”
(59) In Bagster’s interlinear version, the rendering is, “ shall be each submitting itself with pieces of silver.” Wheatland and Silvester translate,
“
Till each submiss, from hostile acts shall cease, And with the tribute-silver sue for peace.”
(60) Various other explanations have been given of the words, מתרפס ברצי-כסף, mithrappes beratsey-kaseph, rendered by Calvin, treading with their feet upon pieces of silver, and by which critics have been much perplexed. “Berlin translates the words ‘ calcantem frusta argenti,’ which he explains by ‘ pavimentum argento tessellatum.’ De Rossi explains the words thus, ‘Who advance with laminae of silver under their horses’ hoofs.’ Immanuel Ben Solomon, whose Scholia on select passages of the Psalms were published by De Rossi, gives the following explanation. ‘ Dicit [vates scil.] quod Deus disperdit nationes, quae volunt malum inferre Israeli, et coetum taurorum, seu reges illustriores, ut reges Assyriae et Babylonis, quorum quisque conculcat frusta argentea; i e. , incedunt cum lamina aurea sub pedibus suis ob multitudinem divitiarum suarum.’” — Rogers ’ Book of Psalms, volume 2, p. 223. Dr Geddes’ version is:
“
The assemblage of the potent lords of nations, Who tread on tiles of silver;”
and he supposes that the poet alludes to the floors in the palaces of the Oriental kings, which were paved with silver. Dr Jubb renders the phrase, “who excite themselves with fragments of silver;” and considers the allusion to be to the dancing of the Egyptians before their idol-calves, with the tinkling instruments called Sistra. That they were accustomed to dance before these idols is evident from Exo 32:6, where we are taught that the people of Israel, in imitation of the Egyptian idolatry, rose up to shout and dance before the golden calf; for such is the meaning of the words, “they rose up to play,” as appears from Exo 32:17. And that they used the sistrum in religious feasts, Herodotus informs us in the second book of his History. The words, pieces of silver, according to Jubb, signify the little loose pieces of metal with which the sistrum was hung round, which produced the jingling noise when the instrument was played upon. This description fits the Egyptians; and that it really belongs to them may be inferred, with some degree of probability, from the following verse, where it is said, “Princes shall come out of Egypt,” as if the subjugation of this nation, imprecated in the preceding verse, were here supposed complete. Tucker has here a very good remark. “David,” says he, “invokes the Messiah to bring down the power of Egypt; but in his abhorrence of their idolatry, deigns not to designate them except in the most contemptuous terms. He says not, Rebuke the assembly of those who worship bulls and calves, and dance round altars to the sound of instruments of silver, but he classes the people on a par with the idols which they worshipped, — ‘the assembly of bulls and calves, who dance to bits (or pieces) of silver.’”
“
The sistrum was of an oval figure, or a dilated semicircle, in the shape of a shoulder-belt, with brass wires across, which played in holes wherein they were stopped by their flat heads. The performer played on it by shaking the sistrum in cadence, and thereby the brass wires made a shrill and loud noise.” — Mant.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(30) Rebuke . . .See margin, which (if we change beasts to beast) gives the right rendering. So LXX. and Vulgate. The beast of the reed is undoubtedly symbolical of Egypt, whether it be the crocodile or the hippopotamus.
Bulls . . . calves.These are possibly emblems respectively of the strong and the weakthe princes and the common people. (Comp., for a somewhat similar description of the Egyptians, Psa. 76:5-6.) But a slight emendation suggested by Grtz gives the herd of bulls despisers of the people, a reading quite in keeping with the ordinary use of this figure. (See Psa. 22:12; Jer. 1:11.) The figure in connection with the bull-worship of Egypt is especially significant.
Till every one submit.This clause still waits for a satisfactory explanation. The Authorised Version is intelligible, but grammatically indefensible. The LXX. are undoubtedly right in taking the verb as a contracted infinitive preceded by a negative particle (comp. Gen. 27:1), and not as a participle. The meaning submit or humble (Pro. 6:3) is only with violence deduced from the original meaning of the verb, which (see Dan. 7:7) means to stamp like a furious animal. One cognate is used (Eze. 34:18) of a herd of bulls fouling the pasture with their feet, and another means to tread. The form of the verb here used might mean to set oneself in quick motion, which is the sense adopted by the LXX. in Pro. 6:3. Hence we get rebuke . . . from marching for pieces of silver, the meaning being that a rebuke is administered not only to Egypt, but also to those Jews who took the pay of Egypt as mercenaries, and oppressed the rest of the community, a sense in keeping with the next clause.
Scatter.The verb, as pointed, means hath scattered, but the LXX. support the alteration to the imperative which the context demands.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
30. Rebuke the company of spearmen Literally, Rebuke the wild beast of the reed, or cane-brake. This is commonly supposed to be an Egyptian phrase, the beast of the reed denoting the crocodile, and symbolizing the Egyptian tyrant. But it is more in harmony with both the connexion from Psa 68:11, and the historic age of the psalm, to suppose the imagery to be purely Hebrew. The banks of the Jordan, especially north, in the valley of Huleh, (Waters of Merom,) abounded in thick cane-brakes, where the wild beasts from Lebanon found a covert, and the lion lurked for his prey. The lion or wild beast of the cane-brake, symbolizes a northern enemy, probably Syria.
The multitude of the bulls Literally, (preserving the figure,) The herd of the strong ones; but wild bulls are intended, which also frequented Huleh, Hermon, and Bashan. See on Psa 22:12; Psa 50:13; Isa 34:7; Jer 50:11, where the same word is translated “bulls,” a fit emblem of powerful and pitiless kings who make war for conquest and plunder.
Calves of the people Either an emblem of “wild mercenary troops of all kinds of people,” (Furst,) or of young, wanton, and untamed princes, from whose power this deprecatory prayer pleads deliverance. See the figure, Jer 31:18; Hos 4:16; Psa 29:6. Scatter thou the people, etc. Better, Thou hast scattered, or put to flight. The verb is in the past tense, not imperative; the deed is done, God has already given the victory. This is exegetical of the preceding imagery, and comprehends all; a large advance from “rebuke,” in the first member of the verse.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 68:30. Rebuke the company of spearmen So our translators, though they have placed in the margin the beast of the reeds. The beast of the reeds is the crocodile or river-horse, which both lay among the reeds that grew on the banks of the Nile: and as it is a very proper description of the Egyptian tyrant, the meaning will be, that God would repress his power, and preserve his own people from being overrun and destroyed by it. See Boch. Hieroz. lib. 3: p. 985 and Lowth’s Prelections, p. 73. 8vo. The Psalmist adds, [Rebuke] the multitude of the bulls, i.e. according to Bishop Patrick’s explanation, their great numbers of captains, as furious as bulls; the original word abbiir, signifying strong, robust, and being applicable to men, bulls, horses, and all strong and furious animals:-With the calves of the people; i.e. according to the learned Bishop, soldiers, as insolent as young heifers;Till every one submit himself with pieces of silver, as we render the next clause; or “become tributary to his power.” I would observe, says Dr. Chandler, for the further explication of this part of the verse, that the persons meant are figuratively described by the objects of their idolatrous worship. The Egyptian king is the beast of the reeds, or the crocodile, which was sacred in some parts of Egypt. The congregation of bulls, are his princes and nobles, who worshipped the bull, together with the calves, which were held sacred by the people, or the people who worshipped them; and the description of this people, who worshipped those calves is, “They severally trampled on the ground;” namely, by walking in procession, or dancing to the sound of their silver sistrums, which made a tinkling noise in honour of these vituline deities. I shall express the sense in the words of the learned and ingenious Mr. Merrick:
The beast, that from his reedy bed, On Nile’s proud bank uplifts the head, Rebuke indignant, nor the throng Forget, from whose misguided tongue, The heifer, and the grazing steer, The offer’d vow unconscious hear; While to the silver’s tinkling sound Their feet in solemn dance rebound. See Apul. Metam. lib. 2: p. 371.
But, continues Dr. Chandler, may not the word trampling be referred to God? Rebuke the beasts of the reeds, trampling on the pieces of silver; so calling with contempt their images or idols, which were plated over with beaten pieces of silver; referring to what God is said to have done to the idols of Egypt, Exo 12:12.; Num 33:4. So that the meaning of the words is, “Rebuke and break the power of the Egyptian crocodile, his princes, and nobles, who pay homage to their bulls; and all his people, who stupidly worship their calves, and dance in honour of them to the tinkling sounds of instruments and bells: trample under foot their silver-plated idols, and utterly disperse the people who delight in war.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 68:30 Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, [till every one] submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people [that] delight in war.
Ver. 30. Rebuke the company of spearmen ] Or, lancemen; Heb. the beast of the reeds; that is, say some, voluptuous persons that wallow in wealth, plenty, and pleasure, Job 40:21 , Sicut Pontifices, Cardinales, Episcopi et horum satellites. as Popes, cardinals, bishops and their underlings. Behemoth lieth in the fens, which Gul. Parisiensis applieth to the devil in sensual hearts; reeds grow not but in fat and moist places: but they do better who render it the rout, or crew, of the cane; that is, men that bear reeds or canes, whereof spears, arrows, and lances were wont to be made; these men, or rather beasts, cruel, savage, and bloody, rebuke, that is, repress.
The multitude of the bulls
With the calves of the people
With pieces of silver
That delight in war
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the company of spearmen = the wild beasts of the reeds.
The multitude of the bulls = the herd of mighty oxen. Compare Jer 46:20, Jer 46:21.
people = peoples.
pieces of silver: i.e. tribute money.
Scatter Thou. So it should read with Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, but Hebrew text reads “He hath scattered”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rebuke: 2Sa 8:1-18, 2Sa 10:1-19, 2Ch 14:1-15, 2Ch 20:1-37, Isa 37:1-38
company of spearmen: or, beasts of the reeds, Jer 51:32, Jer 51:33
multitude: Psa 22:12, Psa 22:13, Isa 34:7, Jer 50:11
every: Psa 2:12, Psa 18:44, 2Sa 8:2, 2Sa 8:8-11
scatter thou: or, he scattereth, Psa 68:14
delight: Psa 120:7, Rom 7:22, Jam 4:1
Reciprocal: 1Ch 16:29 – bring 1Ch 18:2 – brought gifts Ezr 7:15 – the silver Psa 66:3 – through Psa 89:10 – scattered Psa 92:9 – scattered Psa 110:5 – strike Isa 45:14 – The labour Isa 60:9 – thy sons Eze 39:18 – of bullocks Mic 4:3 – and rebuke Jam 4:7 – Submit
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 68:30. Rebuke, &c. Chastise those that will not bring presents unto thee till they see their error and submit themselves. It is a prophetical prayer against the enemies of the Israelitish Church. The company of spearmen The reading in the margin, The beasts of the reeds; or, as , chajath kaneh, is still more literally rendered, the beast, or wild beast of the reed, seems preferable here to this which our translators have placed in the text. For although the word , rendered congregation, Psa 68:10, may signify a company, (see the note there,) it does not appear that there is any sufficient authority for translating , spearmen, the word properly signifying a reed. The LXX. render the clause, , rebuke the beasts of the reed. By the wild beast (or beasts) of the reeds, says Dr. Horne, after Poole, Chandler, Lowth, and several other learned men, is to be understood the Egyptian power, described by its emblem, the crocodile, or river-horse, creatures living among the reeds of the Nile. In consistency with this interpretation, by the calves of the people, or of the nations, as he translates it, he understands the objects of worship among the Egyptians, their Apis, Osiris, &c., around which the congregation of the mighty (Hebrew, , gnadath abbirim, rendered in our text, the multitude of the bulls) assembled to worship. There is, however, one considerable objection to this interpretation. As David was not now attacked by the Egyptians, nor about to make war upon them, it does not seem likely that he should so particularly advert to them, or pray so pointedly against them, on this occasion. Some enemy, however, of great power, and fierce as a wild beast, was, no doubt, intended. Bishop Patrick, who refers us to 2Sa 8:3, evidently thought that Hadadezer, king of Zobah, and the Syrians were meant. His paraphrase on the clause is, Destroy that fierce prince, who, like a wild beast out of the forest, comes against us, with a great number of captains as furious as bulls, and of soldiers as insolent as young heifers. Till every one submit himself Hebrew, , mithrappes, literally, casts himself down, or offers himself to be trod upon. The same word bears the same sense Pro 6:3. With pieces of silver Bringing pieces of silver by way of tribute, or in token of subjection. This sense of the clause seems to connect best with the context, although, it must be acknowledged, the original text is very obscure, and is capable of several different interpretations, as learned men have shown: see Chandler, Lowth, Dodd, and Horne. Which interpretations it would require more room to state than can be spared in this work. Scatter Hebrew, , bizzar, he hath scattered; that is, according to the prophetic style, He will certainly scatter; the people that delight in war That without any necessity or provocation, and merely out of love of mischief and spoil, make war upon others, and particularly upon us. The sense of the verse upon the whole is, Now that thou hast given thy people rest, and settled the ark in its place, O Lord, rebuke all our malicious and bloody enemies, and give us assured peace, that we may worship thee without disturbance. Thus the Christian Church, says Dr. Horne, through faith in the power of her Lord, risen from the dead, and ascended into heaven, prays for the confusion of her implacable enemies, who delight in opposing the kingdom of Messiah.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
68:30 Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, [till every one] {a} submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people [that] delight in war.
(a) He desires that the pride of the mighty may be destroyed, who were accustomed to garnishing their shoes with silver, and therefore for their glittering pomp thought themselves above all men.