39<\/strong>. For<\/em> &c.] And he remembered &c. Flesh<\/em> denotes the frailty of human nature, including moral as well as physical weakness: a wind<\/em> &c. symbolises the transitoriness of human life. Cp. Psa 56:4<\/span>; Psa 103:14<\/span> ff.; Gen 6:3<\/span>; Job 7:7<\/span> ff.<\/p>\n For he remembered that they were but flesh – <\/B>That they were human; that they were weak; that they were prone to err; that they were liable to fall into temptation. In his dealings with them he took into view their fallen nature; their training; their temptations; their trials; their weaknesses; and he judged them accordingly. Compare Psa 103:14<\/span>. So it was with the Saviour in his treatment of his disciples, The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak, Mat 26:41<\/span>. God will judge people as they are; he will not in his judgments forget that they are people, and that they are weak and feeble. People often judge their fellow-men with much more harshness, with much less allowance for their infirmities and weaknesses, than God shows in his dealings with mankind. And yet such are the very people who are most ready to blame God for his judgments. If God acted on the principle and in the manner according to which they act, they could hope for no mercy at his hand. It is well for them that there is not one like themselves on the throne of the universe.<\/P> A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again – <\/B>Which blows by us, and is gone forever. What a striking description is this of man! How true of an individual! How true of a generation! How true of the race at large! God remembers this when he thinks of people, and he deals with them accordingly. He is not harsh and severe, but kind and compassionate. To man, a being so feeble – to the human race, so frail – to the generations of that race, so transitory, so soon passing off the stage of life – he is ever willing to show compassion. He does not make use of his great power to crush them; he prefers to manifest his mercy in saving them.<\/P> <\/p>\n Psa 78:39<\/span><\/p>\n For He remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The frailty of human nature<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Flesh; not granite, iron, or even oak, but a sentient, weak, constantly-dissolving organism.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Wind.<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> Mysterious. We know not whence it cometh, or whither it goeth.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> Fleeting. Wind is a rapid wave of air that rolls over you and is gone. A vapour, a shadow, wind, such are the symbols of life.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>He will not require from us more than we are able to render.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>He will not lay upon us more than we are able to endure. (Homilist.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 39<\/span>. He remembered that they<\/B><\/I> were but <\/B>flesh<\/B><\/I>] Weak mortals. He took their feeble perishing state always into consideration<\/I>, and knew how much they needed the whole of their state of probation<\/I>; and therefore he bore with them to the uttermost. How merciful is God!<\/P> <\/P> A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.<\/B><\/I>] I believe this to be a bad translation, and may be productive of error; as if when a man dies his being were ended, and death were an eternal sleep. The original is, ruach holech velo<\/I> yashub<\/I>: and the translation should<\/I> be, “The spirit goeth away, and it doth not return.” The present life is the state of probation; when therefore the flesh<\/I>-the body<\/I>, fails, the spirit<\/I> goeth away into the eternal world, and returneth not hither again. Now God, being full of compassion, spared them, that their salvation might be accomplished before they went into that state where there is no change<\/I>; where the pure are pure still, and the defiled are defiled still. All the Versions<\/I> are right; but the polyglot translator of the Syriac<\/I>, [Syriac] rocho<\/I>, has falsely put ventus<\/I>, wind, instead of spiritus<\/I>, soul or spirit. The Arabic<\/I> takes away all ambiguity: [—Arabic—] “He remembered that they were flesh; and a spirit which, when it departs, does not again return.” The human being is composed of flesh and spirit, or body and soul; these are easily separated, and, when separated, the body turns to dust, and the spirit returns no more to animate it in a state of probation. Homer<\/I> has a saying very like that of the psalmist: – <\/P> ,<\/P> ‘ , .<\/P> IL. ix., ver., 408.<\/P> “But the soul of man returns no more; nor can it be acquired nor caught after it has passed over the barrier of the teeth.”<\/P> <\/P> Pope<\/I> has scarcely given the passage its genuine meaning: – <\/P> “But from our lips the vital spirit fled<\/P> Returns no more to wake the silent dead.”<\/P> And the Ossian-like<\/I> version of Macpherson<\/I> is but little better: “But the life of man returns no more; nor acquired nor regained is the soul which once takes its flight on the wind<\/I>.” What has the wind<\/I> to do with the of the Greek poet?<\/P> <\/P> Several similar sayings may be found among the Greek poets; but they all suppose the materiality<\/I> of the soul.<\/P> <\/p>\n Flesh; <\/B>which here notes either, <\/P> 1. The corruption of their natures, which was perpetually inclining them to sin, and consequently exposing them to Gods wrath, which must needs have consumed them utterly and speedily, if God had let loose his anger upon them. See the same argument used to a like purpose Gen 8:21<\/span>. Or rather, <\/P> 2. The frailty or infirmity of their natures, as the next clause interprets this; which is such, that if I should not restrain my wrath, I should quickly cut off the body of this wicked people, and their children with them, whom I have promised to carry into Canaan, Num 14:31<\/span>. <\/P> A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again; <\/B>that are quickly cut off; and when once they are dead, they never return to this life. <\/P> <\/p>\n 39. a wind . . . again<\/B>literally,”a breath,” thin air (compare Psa 103:16<\/span>;Jas 4:14<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n For he remembered that they [were but] flesh<\/strong>,…. Or “children of flesh”, as the Targum; poor, frail, weak, mortal creatures, unable to bear the weight of his displeasure, the stroke of his hand, and the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his wrath; that they must be crushed before him, and would sink, and fail, and die; see Ps 103:14<\/span>, or that they were naturally sinful and corrupt, prone to evil, easily drawn into sin; it was what their depraved natures inclined unto; they were impotent to that which is good, and unable to withstand temptations to evil; all which was taken notice of and considered by the Lord in his condescending goodness, and therefore he dealt gently with them; see Ge 6:3<\/span>,<\/p>\n a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again<\/strong>; such is the life of man; it may be fitly compared to the wind, which moves swiftly, and, passing on, loses its strength and subsides; so the life of man is quickly gone, his days move swiftly on, he dies, and returns not again to his former state, to a mortal life; and though the spirit returns to the body again, yet not till the resurrection; and then not of itself, but by the power of God; see Job 7:7<\/span>.<\/p>\n 39. And he remembered that they were flesh. Another reason is now brought forward why God had compassion on the people, which is, his unwillingness to try his strength against men who are so constituted as to live only for a short period in this world, and who then quickly pass away; for the forms of expression here used denote the frailty by which the condition of men is made miserable. Flesh and spirit are frequently contrasted in the Scriptures; not only when flesh means our depraved and sinful nature, and spirit the uprightness to which the children of God are born again; but also when men are called flesh, because there is nothing firm or stable in them: as it is said in Isaiah, (Isa 31:3<\/span>,) “Egypt is flesh, and not spirit.” In this passage, however, the words flesh and spirit are employed in the same sense — flesh meaning that men are subject to corruption and putrefaction; and spirit, that they are only a breath or a fleeting shadow. As men are brought to death by a continual wasting and decay, the people are compared to a wind which passes away, and which, of its own accord, falls and does not return again. When we have run our race, we do not commence a new life upon the earth; even as it is said in Job, <\/p>\n “<\/p>\n For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?” (Job 14:7<\/span>) <\/p>\n The meaning, then, as we may now clearly perceive, is, that God, in the exercise of his mercy and goodness, bare with the Jews, not because they deserved this, but because their frail and transitory condition called forth his pity and induced him to pardon them. We shall afterwards meet with an almost similar statement in Psa 103:13<\/span>, where God is represented as being merciful to us, because he sees that we are like grass, and that we soon wither and become dry like hay. Now, if God find in us nothing but misery to move him to compassion, it follows that it is solely his own pure and undeserved goodness which induces him to sustain us. When it is affirmed that men return not, when they have finished the course of their life in this world, it is not meant to exclude the hope of a future resurrection; for men are contemplated only as they are in themselves, and it is merely their state on earth which is spoken of. With respect to the renovation of man to the heavenly life, it is a miracle far surpassing nature. In the same sense it is said, in another place, “His spirit goeth forth, and returneth not,” (Wis 16:14<\/span>\ud83d\ude09 language which implies that men, when they are born into the world, do not bring with them the hope of future restoration, which must be derived from the grace of regeneration. <\/p>\n (39) And whats a life? A blast sustained with clothing:<\/p>\n Maintained with food, retained with vile self-loathing; Psa 78:39 For he remembered that they [were but] flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.<\/p>\n Ver. 39. For he remembered that they were but flesh<\/strong> ] i.e.<\/em> Frail and feeble, full of sin and misery., see <\/em> Gen 6:3 altogether unable to grapple with God’s wrath. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A wind that passeth away, &c.<\/strong> ] Et in suis reciprocationibus evanescens.<\/em> For winds neither return thither whence they blow, nor yet pass from one coast to another, but are wasted in the middle of the world, by the force of the sun and by their own motion, as Aristotle concludeth in his discourse concerning metaphors. Now, what is man (saith Nazianzen) but soul and soil, breath and body, a puff of wind the one, a pile of dust the other, no solidity in either?<\/p>\n He remembered. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. Compare “They forgat”, Psa 78:11. <\/p>\n flesh. Compare Gen 6:3; Gen 8:21. Psa 103:14-16. <\/p>\n A wind. Hebrew. ruach. App-9. <\/p>\n For he: Psa 103:14-16, Gen 6:3, Joh 3:6 <\/p>\n a wind: Or, as the Hebrew rooach holaich welo yashoov may be rendered, “the spirit goeth away and returneth not again.” To this purpose the Arabic, “He remembered that they were flesh; and a spirit which when it departs, returneth not again.” The human being is composed of flesh and spirit, or body and soul: these are easily separated, and when separated, the body turns to dust, and the spirit returns no more to animate the body in a state of probation. Job 7:7, Job 7:16, Jam 4:14 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Psa 90:10 – for Isa 57:16 – I will not<\/p>\n Psa 78:39. For he remembered they were but flesh He considered the corruption of their nature, which inclined them to evil, and was pleased to make that a reason for his sparing them. See the same argument used to a like purpose, Gen 8:21. Or, rather, flesh here signifies the frailty and infirmity of their nature, as the next clause seems to interpret this. He considered how weak, and frail, and short-lived they were, and that they could not continue long, but would die of themselves, and moulder into dust; and that if he did not restrain his wrath, but proceeded to destroy any considerable number of them, the whole nation must soon become extinct, and the promises to Abraham and the other patriarchs fail of accomplishment. A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again That are quickly cut off, and when once they are dead never return to this life.<\/p>\n For he remembered that they [were but] flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. 39. For &c.] And he remembered &c. Flesh denotes the frailty of human nature, including moral as well as physical weakness: a wind &c. symbolises the transitoriness of human life. Cp. Psa 56:4; Psa 103:14 ff.; Gen 6:3; … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 78:39”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15164\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>The frailty of human nature impressively described. Two terms are used–<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The frailty of human nature Divinely remembered. This being so–<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
<\/P>
<\/P> Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Then, weary of itself, away to nothing.
QUARLES: Emblcms.
<\/em><\/p>\nFuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"