Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 69:26
For they persecute [him] whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
26. For they persecute &c.] They had no commission to aggravate the sufferings of one who was already smitten with the rod of chastisement by God Himself. We think of Job and his friends (Job 19:21-22), and of the Suffering Servant of Jehovah (Isa 53:4). Cp. Isa 47:6.
they talk to the grief ] R.V., they tell of the sorrow, or as marg., the pain. The LXX and Syr. represent a reading which suits the parallelism better: “ they add to the sorrow.”
him whom thou hast smitten ] The plural of the next line suggests the rendering those whom &c., which the Heb. admits: but the A.V. follows the Ancient Versions in giving the singular.
those whom thou hast wounded ] Cp. Psa 109:22, “my heart is wounded within me.” Note that the Psalmist is not alone in his suffering.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten – That is, instead of pitying one who is afflicted of God, or showing compassion for him, they add to his sorrows by their own persecutions. The psalmist was suffering as under the hand of God. He needed sympathy from others in his trials. Instead of that, however, he found only reproaches, opposition, persecution, calumny. There was an entire want of sympathy and kindness. There was a disposition to take advantage of the fact that he was suffering at the hand of God, to increase his sorrows in all ways in which they could do it.
And they talk to the grief of those – What they say adds to their sorrow. They speak of the character of those who are afflicted; they allege that the affliction is the punishment of some crime which they have committed; they take advantage of any expressions of impatience which they may let fall in their affliction to charge them with being of a rebellious spirit, or regard it as proof that they are destitute of all true piety. See the notes at Psa 41:5-8. It was this which added so much to the affliction of Job. His professed friends, instead of sympathizing with him, endeavored to prove that the fact that he suffered so much at the hand of God demonstrated that he was a hypocrite; and the expressions of impatience which he uttered in his trial, instead of leading them to sympathize with him, only tended to confirm them in this belief.
Whom thou hast wounded – literally, as in the margin, thy wounded. That is, of those whom thou hast afflicted. The reference is to the psalmist himself as afflicted by God, while, at the same time, he makes the remark general by saying that this was their character; this was what they were accustomed to do.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Smitten; which is an act of barbarous cruelty and inhuman malice. They talk; reproaching them with and insulting and triumphing in their calamities.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26. Though smitten of God (Isa53:4), men were not less guilty in persecuting the sufferer (Ac2:23).
talk to the griefinrespect to, about it, implying derision and taunts.
woundedor, literally,”mortally wounded.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For they persecute [him] whom thou hast smitten,…. Meaning the Messiah, who was not only smitten and scourged by men, but was stricken and smitten of God; according to his determinate counsel and foreknowledge, and agreeably to his will and plea sure; with the rod of his justice for the satisfaction of it; for the sins of his people, whose surety he was. Him the Jews followed with reproaches and calumnies; pursued after his life, and persecuted him unto death; and which was the cause of their ruin and destruction; see 1Th 2:15;
and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded; or, “of thy wounded ones” l; not wounded by him, but wounded for his sake, on his account, and for their profession of faith in his son Jesus Christ. These, as they were led to the slaughter, had trial of cruel mockings, which aggravated their sufferings, and were very grieving to them; especially such talk as reflected upon their dear Redeemer, for whose sake they were put to death.
l “vulneratorum tuorum”, Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Musculus; so Ainsworth.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
26. For they have persecuted him whom thou hast smitten. He brings forward the crime with which they were chargeable, to make it manifest that they richly deserved such dreadful punishments. Some explain the verse in this way: “These enemies, O Lord! not content with the strokes which thou hast inflicted, have exercised their cruelty upon a wretched man, who had already been wounded by thy hand.” And as it is the dictate of humanity to succor the afflicted, he who treads down the oppressed most assuredly betrays the brutal cruelty of his disposition. Others reject this exposition, whether upon sufficient ground I know not, observing that David, properly speaking, was not stricken or wounded by the hand of God, it being of the violent rage of his enemies that he complains through the whole of the psalm. Accordingly, they have recourse to a subtle interpretation, and view David as meaning that his enemies wickedly pretended that they had just cause against him, and boasted of being the ministers of God, whose office it was to execute punishment upon him as a wicked person. This is a pretext under which the wicked generally shield themselves, and by which they are led to think that they may lawfully do what they please against those who are in misery, without ever being called to account for it. Thus we find this purpose of the wicked expressed in another place,
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Come let us persecute him, for God hath forsaken him; for there is none to deliver him,” (Psa 71:11.)
But I am rather of opinion that the Psalmist applies the term smitten to the man whom God intended to humble as one of his own children; so that in the very chastisement or correction, there was engraven a mark of God’s paternal love. And he employs the expression, the wounded of God, almost in the same sense in which Isa 26:19 speaks of the dead of God, the prophet thereby denoting those who continue under the Divine guardianship, even in death itself. This cannot be extended to all men in general, but is exclusively applicable to true believers, whose obedience God puts to the test by means of afflictions. If from this the wicked take occasion to persecute the righteous with greater severity, it is not to be wondered at if they involve themselves in heavier damnation. Upon seeing such examples set before them, the manner in which they should have reasoned with themselves is this,
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If these things are done in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” (Luk 23:31.)
But from their becoming more and more hardened, it is evident that the pride and insolence which they manifest against the children of God proceed from contempt and hatred of true religion. The Hebrew word יספרו, yesapperu, which is usually translated they will recount, I would interpret differently. It properly signifies to number, and may, therefore, be properly enough translated to add to or increase, (90) giving here the meaning, That the persons spoken of, by adding misery to misery, raised grief to its utmost height.
(90) This is the translation given by the LXX., who read, προσέθηκαν, “they added to;” and similar is that of the Syriac, Vulgate, Arabic, and Æthiopic versions, and of the learned Castellio, who reads, “ Sauciorum tuorum numerum adaugentes,” “increasing the number of thy wounded.” “ ספר,” says Hammond, “signifies to number, and of that we know addition is one sort.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(26) They talk . . .Better, and respecting the pain of thy pierced ones, they talk. (For the construction of this verb talk, see Psa. 2:7.) We naturally think of Isa. 53:4, and of the Cross.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. They persecute whom thou hast smitten Such is their cruelty to man and their impiety to God. David acknowledges the hand of God in his affliction; but this does not justify the excessive cruelty of his enemies.
They talk Not their acts only, but their words, aggravate the sorrow of one already suffering under the strokes of divine chastisement.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 69:26. And they talk to the grief And they add to the pain. See Bishop Hare, and the LXX.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 69:26 For they persecute [him] whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
Ver. 26. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten ] Christ was “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted,” Isa 53:4 . Him they persecuted to the death, and abused, when he was at the greatest under, with bitter taunts and Satanical sarcasms; so the pagans and Papists dealt by the dying martyrs; and so profane persons and malicious miscreants do still by God’s poor afflicted; falling as cursed curs upon the dog that is worried; and as when a deer is shot the rest of the herd push him out of their company: so here. Now, if it could be said of Mithridates, that he hated such as maliciously persecuted virtue forsaken of fortune; much more may we think doth God abhor such cruel criminals as are here spoken of. See Isa 47:6 Oba 1:1 Zec 1:15 .
And they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
those whom Thou hast wounded = Thy wounded ones.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
For: Psa 109:16, 2Ch 28:9, Job 19:21, Job 19:22, Zec 1:15, 1Th 2:15
whom: Isa 53:4, Isa 53:10, Zec 13:7
they talk: Mar 15:28-32
those: etc. Heb. thy wounded
Reciprocal: Jdg 16:25 – sport 2Sa 16:5 – cursed Job 16:2 – miserable Job 19:28 – Why Job 24:12 – wounded Job 30:13 – they set forward Isa 47:6 – wroth Mar 15:29 – they Luk 23:35 – derided Phi 1:16 – supposing
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 69:26. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten Christ was he whom God had smitten, for it pleased the Lord to bruise him, and he was esteemed stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted, Isa 53:4-5; and him the Jews persecuted with a rage which reached up to heaven, crying, Away with him; crucify him, crucify him. And the psalmist is here assigning the cause of the forementioned calamities inflicted on them; namely, that, instead of mourning and sympathizing with him, when the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all, they, by reproaches and blasphemies, aggravated his sufferings to the uttermost; and afterward continued to persecute his disciples in the same manner.