Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 76:4
Thou [art] more glorious [and] excellent than the mountains of prey.
4. A difficult verse. Two renderings are grammatically possible: either, Illustrious art Thou, majestic, from the mountains of prey: or, more than the mountains of prey. The second rendering however appears to involve an unsuitable comparison, whether mountains of prey is explained to mean the strongholds of the invaders, or as a metaphor for the invaders themselves, and the first rendering is certainly preferable. It describes God either as issuing forth from mount Zion to spoil the foe (Psa 68:35); or better, as a lion returning from the mountains where he has hunted his prey. Cp. Isa 14:25, “I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot.” The fierce lion of Assyria who “filled his caves with prey, and his dens with ravin” (Nah 2:11 ff; Nah 3:1) had met his match.
The LXX has, from the eternal mountains (cp. Hab 3:6), a reading which is preferred by some commentators, and understood to mean the mountains of Zion, on which God has placed His throne.
The word rendered majestic (A.V. excellent) is applied to God in Isa 10:34: “Lebanon,” the emblem of the Assyrians, “shall fall by a majestic one ” : Isa 33:21, “There Jehovah will be with us in majesty ” : cp. the cognate word in Exo 15:11, “ majestic in holiness.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
4 6. The manifestation of God’s majesty in the discomfiture of the enemy.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou art more glorious and excellent – The word rendered glorious – na’or – is from the verb which means to shine, to give light, and the word would properly refer to a luminous or shining object – as the sun, the source of light. Hence, it means shining, splendid, glorious; and it is thus applied to the Divine Being with reference to his perfections, being like light. Compare 1Jo 1:5. The word rendered excellent, means exalted, noble, great. These words are applied here to God from the manifestation of his perfections in the case referred to.
Than the mountains of prey – The word prey as employed here – tereph – means that which is obtained by hunting; and then, plunder. It is usually applied to the food of wild beasts, beasts of prey. Here it refers to the mountains considered as the abode or stronghold of robbers and banditti, from where they sally forth in search of plunder. These mountains, in their heights, their rocks, their fastnesses, furnished safe places of retreat for robbers, and hence, they became emblems of power. It is not improbable that the hordes referred to in the psalm had their abodes in such mountains, and hence, the psalmist says that God who made those mountains and hills was superior to them in strength and power.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 4. Than the mountains of prey.] This is an address to Mount Zion. Thou art more illustrious and excellent than all the mountains of prey, i.e., where wild beasts wander, and prey on those that are more helpless than themselves. Zion was the place where GOD dwelt; the other mountains were the abode of wild beasts.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thou, O God; to whom he directeth his speech here, as also Psa 76:6-8.
Than the mountains of prey; either,
1. Than the greatest kings and emperors of the earth, which in prophetical writings are oft compared to mountains, as Psa 46:2,3; Isa 41:15; Jer 51:25; Hab 3:6. And they are called mountains of prey, because then they generally were established by tyranny, and maintained by preying upon their own subjects, or other inferior kingdoms. Or,
2. (which amounts to the same thing) Than the most powerful enemies of thy people, upon whom they used and now desired and expected to prey; such persons being oft expressed by the name of mountains, as Psa 144:5; Zec 4:7, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. ThouGod.
mountains of preygreatvictorious nations, as Assyria (Isa 41:15;Eze 38:11; Eze 38:12;Zec 4:7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. Which is to be understood not of Zion, as some interpret it; though it is true that the mountain of Zion, or the church of Christ, his kingdom and interest, shall in the latter day be more glorious and excellent than all other mountains, kingdoms, and interests; see Isa 2:2, but of God or Christ before spoken of; and so the Targum,
“bright, to be feared, art thou, O God, to be praised from the house of thy sanctuary.”
Christ, who is God over all, is “bright” z, splendid, and glorious, in his divine nature, being the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person: and “excellent” in his office as Mediator, and in all his works as such; and in human nature, at he is exalted at his Father’s right hand, far above all principality, power, might, and dominion, signified here by “mountains of prey”: the kingdoms of this world, because of their eminence and strength, are compared to mountains: see Isa 41:15 and may be called “mountains of prey”, in allusion to mountains inhabited by beasts of prey, as lions and leopards; see So 4:8 because obtained and possessed by tyranny and oppression. Christ is more glorious and excellent than the kings of the earth; he is higher than they, and is King of kings; he is richer than they, the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein; he is wiser than they, by him kings reign, and princes decree justice; he is more powerful than they, and all must submit to him, and all will serve him hereafter; and his kingdom will be greater than theirs, more large and more lasting; it will be an everlasting one, and reach from sea to sea, and even to the ends of the earth.
z “illustris”, Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Junius Tremellius, Piscator “illustrior”, Tigurine, version; “splendidus”, Vatablus, Gejerus, Michaelis; “bright”, Ainsworth.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The “mountains of prey,” for which the lxx has ( ?), is an emblematical appellation for the haughty possessors of power who also plunder every one that comes near them,
(Note: One verse of a beautiful poem of the Muhammel which Ibn Duch , the phylarch of the Beni Zumeir , an honoured poet of the steppe, dictated to Consul Wetzstein runs thus: The noble are like a very lofty hill-side upon which, when thou comest to it, thou findest an evening meal and protection (Arab. ‘l – s’ w – dry ).)
or the proud and despoiling worldly powers. Far aloft beyond these towers the glory of God. He is , illustris , prop. illumined; said of God: light-encircled, fortified in light, in the sense of Dan 2:22; 1Ti 6:16. He is the , to whom the Lebanon of the hostile army of the nations must succumb (Isa 10:34) According to Solinus ( ed. Mommsen, p. 124) the Moors call Atlas Addirim . This succumbing is described in Psa 76:6. The strong of heart or stout-hearted, the lion-hearted, have been despoiled, disarmed, exuti ;
(Note: With orthophonic Gaja, vid., Baer’s Metheg-Setzung, 45.)
is an Aramaizing praet. Hithpo. (like , 2Ch 20:35, cf. Dan 4:16; Isa 63:3) with a passive signification. From Psa 76:6 we see that the beginning of the catastrophe is described, and therefore (perhaps on that account accented on the ult.) is meant inchoatively: they have fallen into their sleep, viz., the eternal sleep (Jer 51:39, Jer 51:57), as Nahum says (Nah 3:18): thy shepherds sleep, O king of Assyria, thy valiant ones rest. In Psa 76:6 we see them lying in the last throes of death, and making a last effort to spring up again. But they cannot find their hands, which they have lifted up threateningly against Jerusalem: these are lamed, motionless, rigid and dead; cf. the phrases in Jos 8:20; 2Sa 7:27, and the Talmudic phrase, “he did not find his hands and feet in the school-house,” i.e., he was entirely disconcerted and stupefied.
(Note: Dukes, Rabbinische Blumenlese, S. 191.)
This field of corpses is the effect of the omnipotent energy of the word of the God of Jacob; cf. , Isa 17:13. Before His threatening both war-chariot and horse ( – ) are sunk into motionlessness and unconsciousness – an allusion to Ex. 15, as in Isa 43:17: who bringeth out chariot and horse, army and heroes – together they faint away, they shall never rise; they have flickered out, like a wick they are extinguished.
It is farther added, (verse 4,) that God is more glorious and terrible than the mountains of prey By the mountains of prey, is meant kingdoms distinguished for their violence and extortion. We know that from the beginning, he who exercised himself most in robbery and pillage, was the man who most enlarged his borders and became greatest. The Psalmist, therefore, here compares those great kings, who had acquired large dominions by violence and the shedding of human blood, to savage beasts, who live only upon prey, and their kingdoms to mountains covered with forests, which are inhabited by beasts inured to live by the destruction of other animals. The enemies of God’s ancient people had been accustomed to make violent and furious assaults upon Jerusalem; but it is affirmed that God greatly surpassed them all in power that the faithful might not be overwhelmed with terror.
(4) Thou art . . .Better, Splendid art thou, glorious one, from the mountains of prey. The construction is somewhat doubtful and favours Hupfelds emendation (nora, i.e., to be feared, as in verses 8 and 13, instead of noar, i.e., glorious). Certainly the comparative of the Authorised Version is to be abandoned. The poets thought plainly proceeds from the figure of Psa. 76:2. The mountains are the mountains of prey of the Lion of Judah. True, a different image, as so frequently in Hebrew poetry, suddenly interrupts and changes the picture. The hero appears from the battle shining in the spoils taken from the foe.
4. Mountains of prey The verse is elliptical and obscure, but literally the words would seem to mean, mountains where beasts of prey abounded and held high carnival. Son 4:8. Others suppose the reference is to mountains whose rocky dens offered a retreat for robbers where they could bestow their plunder, and from which they issued forth. In either case the metaphor is easily deduced. The language is applicable to the haughty invaders who had spread terror throughout the nation, making it a war of plunder as well as of conquest, and who, probably, had stored their spoils in fortified high places, here called “mountains of prey” equal to plunder mountains. Stanley supposes reference is made to the “armory” of the “house of the forest of Lebanon” on Zion, where were displayed the shields of mighty men. See Son 4:4; Isa 22:8. Hammond takes the idea to be, that God is more glorious in power and majesty than the strong mountain fortifications where the enemy made his rendezvous. Either sense might be accepted, though the first seems most natural.
Psa 76:4. Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey The meaning of this verse is, that Jehovah, who sendeth help to his people from Mount Sion, is superior to the gods of the mountains, under whose protection the despoilers of the earth make their depredations. From the powerful assistance which Jehovah afforded his people from Mount Sion, the Assyrians called him, the God of the hills, and not of the vallies: see 1Ki 20:23. Green. Houbigant renders it, thou art more radiant than light; thou art higher than the eternal mountains; and Mudge, Thou shonest forth glorious from the mountains of prey. It seems very doubtful what these mountains of prey were. See Psa 29:9. The common sense given to the passage is, “Thou, O Sion, art far more impregnable, through the defence of God, than the mountains upon which the Assyrians had fortified themselves, and from which their soldiers made frequent excursions to ravage the country.” Slept their sleep, in the next verse, means, so as never to awake again: (see 2Ki 20:21.) and found their hands, or arms, signifies, are enabled to strike a stroke.
If this be an address to the church, it is a lovely and a just one: Zion is glorious and excellent in her Redeemer’s view; Son 1:15 . But the cause of all this loveliness is from himself. Eze 16:14 .
Psa 76:4 Thou [art] more glorious [and] excellent than the mountains of prey.
Ver. 4. Thou art more glorious and excellent ] Or, more bright and magnificent. Glorious God was before, but now more glorious by this late deliverance, illuminating his people with his marvellous light.
Than the mountains of prey NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 76:4-7
4You are resplendent,
More majestic than the mountains of prey.
5The stouthearted were plundered,
They sank into sleep;
And none of the warriors could use his hands.
6At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
Both rider and horse were cast into a dead sleep.
7You, even You, are to be feared;
And who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry?
Psa 76:4-7 This strophe continues the military imagery.
Psa 76:4
NASBresplendent. . .majestic
NKJVglorious and excellent
NRSV, TEVglorious. . .majestic
NJBradiant. . .renowned
JPSOAresplendent. . .glorious
These two terms describe YHWH.
1. The first (BDB 21) may be another term related to thunder bolt (cf. Psa 78:48) of Psa 76:3, emphasizing a luminous aspect (i.e., light) to YHWH’s presence, like the Shekinah Cloud of the Exodus.
2. The second (BDB 15) may refer to YHWH’s superiority among all gods (idols), which is alluded to in Psa 76:7 (cf. 1Ch 16:25; Psa 89:7; Psa 96:4).
NASB, NKJV,
JPSOAthe mountains of prey
NRSV, REB,
LXXthe everlasting mountains
NJBthe mountain of booty
NETyou descend from the hills where you killed your prey
Obviously this is a difficult phrase to interpret. The UBS Text Project (p. 330) gives the NRSV option a C rating (considerable doubt). This imagery may be the focus of Hab 3:6. UBS suggests the NRSV or NJB options. The NET Bible sees it as a metaphor of a lion.
Psa 76:5 the stouthearted This term (BDB 7 construct BDB 524) implies a stubborn, anti-God attitude (cf. Isa 46:12). This characterizes the invaders who will be
1. killed (i.e., sleep, as a metaphor for death)
2. plundered (BDB 1021, KB 1531, Hithpoel perfect)
because they were so afraid they could not fight (i.e., use their hands).
NASB, NKJVplundered
NRSVstripped of their spoil
TEVstripped of all they had
NJBtaken from them (used as verb for Psa 76:4 b)
LXXwere troubled
REB, JPSOAdespoiled
PESHITTAwere dismayed
This rare form (Hithpolel) is defined by KB (1531) as to be robbed. BDB (1021) defines it as spoiled. The invaders wanted to despoil God’s city/temple, but were despoiled themselves.
Psa 76:6 At Your rebuke YHWH’s powerful voice wins victories (cf. Psa 80:16), as it creates (cf. Genesis 1; Job 26:5-11; Psa 18:7-15; Psa 104:5-9). His voice is an idiom of His will in the world. He speaks, it is done!
It is possible the rebuke (BDB 172) may refer to (1) a lion’s roar from Psa 76:4 b. The JPSOA sees Psa 76:2 as referring to a lion’s den (uses Job 38:39-40 as a reference) or (2) a battle cry.
O God of Jacob This is a title that focuses on YHWH’s promises and covenant with the Patriarchs.
Both rider and horse were cast in a dead sleep This is terminology from the splitting of the Red Sea for Israel’s escape, but its closure on the elite Egyptian military unit (cf. Exo 14:28; Exo 14:30; Exo 15:1; Exo 15:21). This same imagery is found in Jeremiah’s description of the defeat of Babylon (cf. Jer 51:21).
It is possible that Psa 76:6 is restating Psa 76:5. If so, sleep is the warriors’ inability to perform their skills (i.e., limp hands), not a reference to death, which is often described as sleep (cf. Deu 31:16; 2Sa 7:12; 1Ki 1:21; Job 7:21).
The OT often speaks of God’s causing people to not understand by using sleep, seeing, hearing (i.e., Deu 29:4; Psa 69:23; Isa 6:9-10; Isa 29:10; Mic 3:6).
Psa 76:7 to be feared This may refer to
1. the enemies of the covenant God and His people
2. the idols of the nations (cf. Psa 89:7; Psa 96:4; 1Ch 16:25)
who may stand in Your presence This is court scene imagery, usually associated with the end-time (cf. Ezr 9:15; Psa 130:3; Nah 1:6; Mal 3:2; Rev 6:17). God’s people will be able to stand before Him on that day (i.e., Luk 21:36; Jude 1:24-25).
mountains of prey. The great mountain (Zion) which had become a prey: i.e. a prey seized, as in next verse; the mighty men bad become a spoil, or been plundered.
Psa 76:4-6
Psa 76:4-6
“Glorious art thou, and excellent, more than mountains of prey.
The stouthearted are made a spoil, They have slept their sleep;
And none of the men of might have found their hands.
At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob,
Both chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.”
“More than mountains of prey” (Psa 76:4). There is some uncertainty of the meaning here. Delitzsch explained it as, “An appellation for haughty possessors of worldly power.
“They have slept their sleep … and none … have found their hands” (Psa 76:5). Briggs translated this verse this way:
“The stouthearted slept their last sleep,
And the men of war did not find spoil.
The clause, “none have found their hands” in the New English Bible is rendered, “the men cannot lift a hand.” The Septuagint (LXX) reads, “have found nothing in their hands.” Rawlinson gave the meaning as, “They cannot even move a hand.” Such various attempts to give the meaning of an admittedly difficult verse should not concern us very much, because, what is being described here, according to Delitzsch, is, “A field of corpses, the effect of the omnipotent energy of the word of the God of Jacob.
“Both chariot and horse … into a dead sleep” (Psa 76:6). Of course, no chariot ever went to sleep. The chariot here, by a figure of speech, refers to charioteer, just as the horse also includes the rider. Sudden death overcame the whole army.
“Cast into a deep sleep” (Psa 76:6). “The sleep here is the sleep of death as distinguished from natural sleep.
“One word from the sovereign lips of the God of Jacob, and all the noise of the camp is hushed, and we look upon a field of the dead, lying in awful stillness, dreamlessly sleeping their long slumber.
A GLIMPSE OF THE ETERNAL JUDGMENT DAY
We have previously quoted from Lord Byron’s poem, but here are a few more lines of it:
“And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide.
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail.
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 76:4. Here is another indication of the militant mind of David. Among the things he appreciated was the capturing of those who were arrayed against him. He compared such a result to a mountain covered with creatures destined to become victims.
Psa 76:5. Stouthearted were those who thought they were very brave in conflict. They had become a “prey” to the strength of God and had been put to sleep or rendered unable to move a hand further in combat with the Lord’s forces.
Psa 76:6. Horse and chariot again refers to war action. Into a dead sleep denotes they had been put completely out of action in battle.
mountains: Jer 4:7, Eze 19:1-4, Eze 19:6, Eze 38:12, Eze 38:13, Dan 7:4-8, Dan 7:17-28
Reciprocal: Psa 18:3 – who Son 4:8 – from the lions’ Dan 7:3 – beasts Rev 7:9 – a great
Psa 76:4. Thou O God, to whom he is thought to direct his speech here, as also Psa 76:6, art more glorious, &c., than the mountains of prey Than the greatest kings and empires of the earth, which in the prophetical writings are often compared to mountains. And they are called mountains of prey, because then they were generally established by tyranny, and maintained by preying on their own subjects, or other inferior kingdoms: or, which amounts to the same thing, than the most powerful enemies of thy people, upon whom they used, and now expected, to prey. Or, as some think, the psalmist asserts here that Jehovah, who sent help to his people from mount Zion, was superior to the idol gods of the mountains, under whose protection the despoilers of the earth made their depredations. Thus the powerful assistance which Jehovah afforded his people from mount Zion, caused the Syrians to call him the God of the hills, and not of the valleys, 1Ki 20:23. But the words may be considered as an apostrophe to mount Zion, and then the sense is, Thou, O Zion, art infinitely more glorious and excellent, and far more impregnable, through the favour and protection of God, than the mountains upon which the Assyrians had fortified themselves, and from which their soldiers made frequent excursions, and ravaged the country; more safe and secure, through the defence of the Almighty, than the arm of flesh and the instruments of war could render the kingdoms of the earth, which set themselves against Zion; and which, for their tyranny, and cruelty, and the ravages committed by them, are likened to those mountains, where beasts of prey, with similar dispositions, rove, and roar, and devour. Horne.
76:4 Thou [art] more glorious [and] excellent than {c} the mountains of prey.
(c) He compares the kingdom full of extortion and rapine to the mountains that are full of ravening beasts.
2. The justice of God’s judgment 76:4-10
The description of God as resplendent pictures Him as radiating light. He illuminates and glorifies by His presence. He is also more majestic than the mountains of Israel that contained an abundance of wild game animals. God’s defeat of Israel’s enemies was so overwhelming that they appeared anesthetized (cf. Isa 37:36).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)