Psa 42:1 | KD | STEP | The Second Book of Psalms consists entirely of Elohimic Psalms (vid., Introduction, p. 12); for whilst in the First Book יהוה occurred 272 times and אלהים only 15 times, the relation is here reversed: אלהים occurs 164 times, and יהוה only 30 times, and in almost every instance by a departure from the customary mode of expression for reasons that lie close at hand. At the head of these Psalms written in the Elohimic style there stand seven inscribed לבני־קרח. That here as in לאסף the ל is Lamed acutoris , is made clear by the fact that none of these Psalms, as might be expected, have לדוד in addition to the name of the author. The lxx renders it τοῖς υἱοῖς Κορέ, just as it does τῷ Δαυίδ, without distinguishing the one ל from the other indicating the authorship, and even in the Talmud is similar meaning to the Lamed of לדוד is assumed. It is certainly remarkable that instead of an author it is always the family that is named, a rule from which Ps 88 (which see) is only a seeming departure. The designation “Bohmische Brüder” in the hymnology of the German church is very similar. Probably the Korahitic songs originally formed a book of themselves, which bore the title שׁירי בני קרה or something similar; and then the בני קרה of this title passed over to the inscription of each separate song of those incorporated in two groups in the Psalm-collection, just as appears also to be the case with the inscription שׁיר המעלות, which is repeated fifteen times. Or we must suppose that it had become a family custom in the circle of the singers among the Korahites to allow the individual to retreat behind the joint responsibility of family unity, and, vying together, to expiate the name of their unfortunate ancestor by the best liturgical productions. For Korah, the great-grandson of Levi, and grandson of Kehaath, is the same as he who perished by a divine judgment on account of his rebellion against Moses and Aaron (Num. 16), whose sons, however, were not involved with him in this judgment (Num 26:11). In David’s time the בני קרה were one of the most renowned families of the Levite race of the Kehathites. The kingship of the promise very soon found valiant adherents and defenders in this family. Korahites gathered together to David to Ziklag, in order to aid in defending him and his title to the throne with the sword ( ); for הקּרחים in this passage can hardly (as Bertheau is of opinion) be descendants of the קרה of the family of Judah mentioned in , but otherwise unrenowned, since that name is elsewhere, viz., in , , a Levitic family name. In Jerusalem, after the Exile, Korahites were keepers of the temple gates ( ; ), and the chronicler there informs us that even in David’s time they were keepers of the threshold of the אהל (erected over the Ark on Zion); and still earlier, in the time of Moses, in the camp of Jahve they were appointed as watchers of the entrance. They retained this ancient calling, to which allusion is made in , in connection with the new arrangements instituted by David. The post of door-keeper in the temple was assigned to two branches of the Korahite families together with one Merarite (1 Chron 26:1-19). But they also even then served as musicians in the sanctuary. Heman, one of the three precentors (to be distinguished from Heman the wise man mentioned in 1Ki 4:31), was a Korahite ( ); his fourteen sons belonged, together with the four sons of Asaph and the six sons of Ethan, to the twenty-four heads of the twenty-four divisions of the musicians (1 Chr. 25). The Korahites were also renowned even in the days of Jehoshaphat as singers and musicians; see , where a plural בּני הקּרחים (cf. Ges. §§108, 3) is formed from בני־קרה, which has as it were become smelted together as one word. Whereas in the period after the Exile there is no longer any mention of them in this character. We may therefore look for Korahitic Psalms belonging to the post-Davidic time of the kings; whereas we ought at the outset to be less inclined to find any post-exilic Psalms among them. The common feature of this circle of songs consists herein, - they delight in the praise of Elohim as the King who sits enthroned in Jerusalem, and join in the services in His temple with the tenderest and most genuine emotion. And this impress of unity which they bear speaks strongly in favour of taking לבני־קרח in the sense of denoting authorship. The composer of the משׂיל, , finds himself, against his will, at a great distance from the sanctuary on Zion, the resting-place of the divine presence and manifestation, surrounded by an ungodly people, who mock at him as one forsaken of God, and he comforts his sorrowful soul, looking longingly back upon that which it has lost, with the prospect of God’s help which will soon appear. All the complaints and hopes that he expresses sound very much like those of David during the time of Absalom. David’s yearning after the house of God in ; Psa 26:1-12; 55; , finds its echo here: the conduct and outlines of the enemies are also just the same; even the sojourn in the country east of Jordan agrees with David’s settlement at that time at Mahanaim in the mountains of Gilead. The Korahite, however, as is to be assumed in connection with a lyric poem, speaks out of the depth of his own soul, and not, as Hengstenberg and Tholuck maintain, “as from the soul of David.” He merely shares David’s vexation, just as he then in prays for the anointed one. This breathes forth the same feelings, and even in other respects bears traces of the same author; cf. אל חי, ; ; משׁכּנותיך, ; ; מזבּחותיך, ; ; and the similar use of עוד, ; , cf. ; Jer 32:15. The distinguishing features of the Korahitic type of Psalm meet us in both Psalms in the most strong and vivid manner, viz., the being joyous and weeping with God’s anointed, the praise of God the King, and the yearning after the services in the holy place. And there are, it is true, thoughts that have been coined by David which we here and there distinctly hear in them (cf. Psa 42:2., , with ); but they are reproduced with a characteristic beauty peculiar to the author himself. We do not, therefore, in the least doubt that is the poem of a Korahitic Levite, who found himself in exile beyond the Jordan among the attendants of David, his exiled king. Concerning Eusebius has said: ὅτι μέρος ἔοικεν εἶναι τοῦ πρὸ αὐτοῦ δεδήλωται ἔκ τε τῶν ὁμοίων ἐν ἀμφοτέροις λόγων καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἐμφεροῦς διανοίας, and an old Midrash reckons 147 Psalms, taking together as one, just as with , Psa 32:1. The similarity of the situation, of the general impress, of the structure, and of the refrain, is decisive in favour of these Psalms, which are commonly reckoned as two, being one. The one Psalm consists of three parts: thrice his pain breaks forth into complaint, and is each time again overcome by the admonitory voice of his higher consciousness. In the depicting of the past and the future there is unmistakeable progress. And it is not until the third part ( ) that complaint, resignation, and hope are perfected by the language of confident prayer which supervenes. The unity of the Psalms is not affected by the repetition of in , since is also a repetition of . Beside an edging in by means of the refrain, the poet is also fond of such internal links of connection. The third part has thereby come to consist of thirteen lines, whereas the other two parts consist of twelve lines each. What a variegated pattern card of hypotheses modern criticism opens out before us in connection with this Psalm ( )! Vaihinger regards it as a song composed by one of the Levites who was banished by Athaliah. Ewald thinks that King Jeconiah, who was carried away to Babylon, may have composed the Psalm; and in fact, when (and this is inferred from the Psalm itself) on the journey to Babylon, he may have been detained just a night in the vicinity of Hermon. Reuss (in the Nouvelle Revue de Théologie , 1858) prefers to suppose it is one of those who were carried off with Jeconiah (among whom there were also priests, as Ezekiel). Hitzig, however, is no less decisive in his view that the author is a priest who was carried off in the direction of Syria at the time of the wars of the Seleucidae and Ptolemies; probably Onias III, high priest from 199 b.c., the collector of the Second Book of the Psalms, whom the Egyptians under the general Skopas carried away to the citadel of Paneas. Olshausen even here, as usual, makes Antiochus Epiphanes his watchword. In opposition to this positive criticism, Maurer adheres to the negative; he says: quaerendo elegantissimi carminis scriptore frustra se fatigant interpretes.

‏ Psalms 42:1

SECOND BOOK OF THE PSALTER Ps. XLII.-LXXII.

PSALM XLII.-XLIII.

Longing for Zion in a Hostile Country

The Second Book of Psalms consists entirely of Elohimic Psalms (vid., Introduction, p. 12); for whilst in the First Book יהוה occurred 272 times and אלהים only 15 times, the relation is here reversed: אלהים occurs 164 times, and יהוה only 30 times, and in almost every instance by a departure from the customary mode of expression for reasons that lie close at hand.

At the head of these Psalms written in the Elohimic style there stand seven inscribed לבני־קרח. That here as in לאסף the ל is Lamed acutoris, is made clear by the fact that none of these Psalms, as might be expected, have לדוד in addition to the name of the author. The lxx renders it τοῖς υἱοῖς Κορέ, just as it does τῷ Δαυίδ, without distinguishing the one ל from the other indicating the authorship, and even in the Talmud is similar meaning to the Lamed of לדוד is assumed. It is certainly remarkable that instead of an author it is always the family that is named, a rule from which Ps 88 (which see) is only a seeming departure. The designation “Bohmische Brüder” in the hymnology of the German church is very similar. Probably the Korahitic songs originally formed a book of themselves, which bore the title שׁירי בני קרה or something similar; and then the בני קרה of this title passed over to the inscription of each separate song of those incorporated in two groups in the Psalm-collection, just as appears also to be the case with the inscription שׁיר המעלות, which is repeated fifteen times. Or we must suppose that it had become a family custom in the circle of the singers among the Korahites to allow the individual to retreat behind the joint responsibility of family unity, and, vying together, to expiate the name of their unfortunate ancestor by the best liturgical productions.

For Korah, the great-grandson of Levi, and grandson of Kehaath, is the same as he who perished by a divine judgment on account of his rebellion against Moses and Aaron (Num. 16), whose sons, however, were not involved with him in this judgment (Num 26:11). In David’s time the בני קרה were one of the most renowned families of the Levite race of the Kehathites. The kingship of the promise very soon found valiant adherents and defenders in this family. Korahites gathered together to David to Ziklag, in order to aid in defending him and his title to the throne with the sword (1Ch 12:6); for הקּרחים in this passage can hardly (as Bertheau is of opinion) be descendants of the קרה of the family of Judah mentioned in 1Ch 2:43, but otherwise unrenowned, since that name is elsewhere, viz., in 1Ch 9:19, 1Ch 9:31, a Levitic family name. In Jerusalem, after the Exile, Korahites were keepers of the temple gates (1Ch 9:17; Neh 11:19), and the chronicler there informs us that even in David’s time they were keepers of the threshold of the אהל (erected over the Ark on Zion); and still earlier, in the time of Moses, in the camp of Jahve they were appointed as watchers of the entrance. They retained this ancient calling, to which allusion is made in Psa 84:11, in connection with the new arrangements instituted by David. The post of door-keeper in the temple was assigned to two branches of the Korahite families together with one Merarite (1 Chron 26:1-19). But they also even then served as musicians in the sanctuary. Heman, one of the three precentors (to be distinguished from Heman the wise man mentioned in 1Ki 4:31), was a Korahite (1Ch 6:18-23); his fourteen sons belonged, together with the four sons of Asaph and the six sons of Ethan, to the twenty-four heads of the twenty-four divisions of the musicians (1 Chr. 25). The Korahites were also renowned even in the days of Jehoshaphat as singers and musicians; see 2Ch 20:19, where a plural בּני הקּרחים (cf. Ges. §§108, 3) is formed from בני־קרה, which has as it were become smelted together as one word. Whereas in the period after the Exile there is no longer any mention of them in this character. We may therefore look for Korahitic Psalms belonging to the post-Davidic time of the kings; whereas we ought at the outset to be less inclined to find any post-exilic Psalms among them. The common feature of this circle of songs consists herein, - they delight in the praise of Elohim as the King who sits enthroned in Jerusalem, and join in the services in His temple with the tenderest and most genuine emotion. And this impress of unity which they bear speaks strongly in favour of taking לבני־קרח in the sense of denoting authorship.

The composer of the משׂיל, Psa 42:1-11, finds himself, against his will, at a great distance from the sanctuary on Zion, the resting-place of the divine presence and manifestation, surrounded by an ungodly people, who mock at him as one forsaken of God, and he comforts his sorrowful soul, looking longingly back upon that which it has lost, with the prospect of God’s help which will soon appear. All the complaints and hopes that he expresses sound very much like those of David during the time of Absalom. David’s yearning after the house of God in Psa 23:1-6; Psa 26:1-12; 55; Psa 63:1-11, finds its echo here: the conduct and outlines of the enemies are also just the same; even the sojourn in the country east of Jordan agrees with David’s settlement at that time at Mahanaim in the mountains of Gilead. The Korahite, however, as is to be assumed in connection with a lyric poem, speaks out of the depth of his own soul, and not, as Hengstenberg and Tholuck maintain, “as from the soul of David.” He merely shares David’s vexation, just as he then in Psa 84:10 prays for the anointed one. This Psa 84:1-12 breathes forth the same feelings, and even in other respects bears traces of the same author; cf. אל חי, Psa 84:3; Psa 42:3; משׁכּנותיך, Psa 84:2; Psa 43:3; מזבּחותיך, Psa 84:4; Psa 43:4; and the similar use of עוד, Psa 84:5; Psa 42:6, cf. Isa 49:20; Jer 32:15. The distinguishing features of the Korahitic type of Psalm meet us in both Psalms in the most strong and vivid manner, viz., the being joyous and weeping with God’s anointed, the praise of God the King, and the yearning after the services in the holy place. And there are, it is true, thoughts that have been coined by David which we here and there distinctly hear in them (cf. Psa 42:2., Psa 84:3, with Psa 63:2); but they are reproduced with a characteristic beauty peculiar to the author himself. We do not, therefore, in the least doubt that Psa 42:1-11 is the poem of a Korahitic Levite, who found himself in exile beyond the Jordan among the attendants of David, his exiled king.

Concerning Psa 43:1-5 Eusebius has said: ὅτι μέρος ἔοικεν εἶναι τοῦ πρὸ αὐτοῦ δεδήλωται ἔκ τε τῶν ὁμοίων ἐν ἀμφοτέροις λόγων καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἐμφεροῦς διανοίας, and an old Midrash reckons 147 Psalms, taking Psa 42:1 together as one, just as with Psa 9:1, Psa 32:1. The similarity of the situation, of the general impress, of the structure, and of the refrain, is decisive in favour of these Psalms, which are commonly reckoned as two, being one. The one Psalm consists of three parts: thrice his pain breaks forth into complaint, and is each time again overcome by the admonitory voice of his higher consciousness. In the depicting of the past and the future there is unmistakeable progress. And it is not until the third part (Psa 43:1-5) that complaint, resignation, and hope are perfected by the language of confident prayer which supervenes. The unity of the Psalms is not affected by the repetition of Psa 42:10 in Psa 43:2, since Psa 42:11 is also a repetition of Psa 42:4. Beside an edging in by means of the refrain, the poet is also fond of such internal links of connection. The third part has thereby come to consist of thirteen lines, whereas the other two parts consist of twelve lines each.

What a variegated pattern card of hypotheses modern criticism opens out before us in connection with this Psalm (Psa 42:1)! Vaihinger regards it as a song composed by one of the Levites who was banished by Athaliah. Ewald thinks that King Jeconiah, who was carried away to Babylon, may have composed the Psalm; and in fact, when (and this is inferred from the Psalm itself) on the journey to Babylon, he may have been detained just a night in the vicinity of Hermon. Reuss (in the Nouvelle Revue de Théologie, 1858) prefers to suppose it is one of those who were carried off with Jeconiah (among whom there were also priests, as Ezekiel). Hitzig, however, is no less decisive in his view that the author is a priest who was carried off in the direction of Syria at the time of the wars of the Seleucidae and Ptolemies; probably Onias III, high priest from 199 b.c., the collector of the Second Book of the Psalms, whom the Egyptians under the general Skopas carried away to the citadel of Paneas. Olshausen even here, as usual, makes Antiochus Epiphanes his watchword. In opposition to this positive criticism, Maurer adheres to the negative; he says: quaerendo elegantissimi carminis scriptore frustra se fatigant interpretes.