Psa 118:1-18 | KD | STEP | What the close of says of God’s truth, viz., that it endureth for ever, the beginning of Ps 118 says of its sister, His mercy or loving-kindness. It is the closing Psalm of the Hallel , which begins with , and the third Hodu (vid., on Ps 105). It was Luther’s favourite Psalm: his beauteous Confitemini , which “had helped him out of troubles out of which neither emperor nor king, nor any other man on earth, could have helped him.” With the exposition of this his noblest jewel, his defence and his treasure, he occupied himself in the solitude of his Patmos. It is without any doubt a post-exilic song. Here too Hupfeld sweeps away everything into vague generality; but the history of the period after the Exile, without any necessity for our coming down to the Maccabean period, as do De Wette and Hitzig, presents three occasions which might have given birth to it; viz., (1) The first celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month of the first year of the Return, when there was only a plain altar as yet erected on the holy place, Ezr 3:1-4 (to be distinguished from a later celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles on a large scale and in exact accordance with the directions of the Law, Neh. 8). So Ewald. (2) The laying of the foundation-stone of the Temple in the second month of the second year, Ezr 3:8. So Hengstenberg. (3) The dedication of the completed temple in the twelfth month of the sixth year of Darius, Ezr 6:15. So Stier. These references to contemporary history have all three more or less in their favour. The first if favoured more especially by the fact, that at the time of the second Temple was the festal cry amidst which the altar of burnt-offering was solemnly compassed on the first six days of the Feast of Tabernacles once, and on the seventh day seven times. This seventh day was called the great Hosanna ( Hosanna rabba ), and not only the prayers for the Feast of Tabernacles, but even the branches of willow trees (including the myrtles) which are bound to the palm-branch ( lulab ), were called Hosannas (הושׁענות, Aramaic הושׁעני). The second historical reference is favoured by the fact, that the narrative appears to point directly to our Psalm when it says: And the builders laid the foundation of the Temple of Jahve, and the priests were drawn up there in official robes with trumpets, and the Levites the descendants of Asaph with cymbals, to praise Jahve after the direction of David king of Israel, and they sang על־ישׂראל בּהלּל וּבהודת ליהוה כּי טוב כּי־לעולם חסדּו; and all the people raised a great shout בּהלּל ליהוה, because the house of Jahve was founded . But both of these derivations of the Psalm are opposed by the fact that and assume that the Temple-building is already finished; whereas the unmistakeable allusions to the events that transpired during the building of the Temple, viz., the intrigues of the Samaritans, the hostility of the neighbouring peoples, and the capriciousness of the Persian kings, favour the third. In connection with this reference of the Psalm to the post-exilic dedication of the Temple, , too, now present no difficulty. is better understood as spoken in the presence of the now upreared Temple-building, than as spoken in the presence of the foundation-stone; and the words “unto the horns of the altar” in , interpreted in many different ways, come into the light of Ezr 6:17. The Psalm falls into two divisions. The first division (vv. 1-19) is sung by the festive procession brought up by the priests and Levites, which is ascending to the Temple with the animals for sacrifice. With the procession stands at the entrance. The second part ( ) is sung by the body of Levites who receive the festive procession. Then is the answer of those who have arrived, and the concluding song of all of them. This antiphonal arrangement is recognised even by the Talmud ( B. Pesachim 119 a ) and Midrash. The whole Psalm, too, has moreover a peculiar formation. It resembles the Mashal Psalms, for each verse has of itself its completed sense, its own scent and hue; one thought is joined to another as branch to branch and flower to flower.

‏ Psalms 118:1-18

Festival Psalm at the Dedication of the New Temple

What the close of Psa 117:1-2 says of God’s truth, viz., that it endureth for ever, the beginning of Ps 118 says of its sister, His mercy or loving-kindness. It is the closing Psalm of the Hallel, which begins with Psa 113:1-9, and the third Hodu (vid., on Ps 105). It was Luther’s favourite Psalm: his beauteous Confitemini, which “had helped him out of troubles out of which neither emperor nor king, nor any other man on earth, could have helped him.” With the exposition of this his noblest jewel, his defence and his treasure, he occupied himself in the solitude of his Patmos.

It is without any doubt a post-exilic song. Here too Hupfeld sweeps away everything into vague generality; but the history of the period after the Exile, without any necessity for our coming down to the Maccabean period, as do De Wette and Hitzig, presents three occasions which might have given birth to it; viz., (1) The first celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month of the first year of the Return, when there was only a plain altar as yet erected on the holy place, Ezr 3:1-4 (to be distinguished from a later celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles on a large scale and in exact accordance with the directions of the Law, Neh. 8). So Ewald. (2) The laying of the foundation-stone of the Temple in the second month of the second year, Ezr 3:8. So Hengstenberg. (3) The dedication of the completed temple in the twelfth month of the sixth year of Darius, Ezr 6:15. So Stier. These references to contemporary history have all three more or less in their favour. The first if favoured more especially by the fact, that at the time of the second Temple Psa 118:25 was the festal cry amidst which the altar of burnt-offering was solemnly compassed on the first six days of the Feast of Tabernacles once, and on the seventh day seven times. This seventh day was called the great Hosanna (Hosanna rabba), and not only the prayers for the Feast of Tabernacles, but even the branches of willow trees (including the myrtles) which are bound to the palm-branch (lulab), were called Hosannas (הושׁענות, Aramaic הושׁעני). ^{▼▼Vid., my Talmudic Studies, vi. (Der Hosianna-Ruf), in the Lutherische Zeischrift, 1855, S. 653-656.}

The second historical reference is favoured by the fact, that the narrative appears to point directly to our Psalm when it says: And the builders laid the foundation of the Temple of Jahve, and the priests were drawn up there in official robes with trumpets, and the Levites the descendants of Asaph with cymbals, to praise Jahve after the direction of David king of Israel, and they sang על־ישׂראל בּהלּל וּבהודת ליהוה כּי טוב כּי־לעולם חסדּו; and all the people raised a great shout בּהלּל ליהוה, because the house of Jahve was founded. But both of these derivations of the Psalm are opposed by the fact that Psa 116:19 and Psa 118:20 assume that the Temple-building is already finished; whereas the unmistakeable allusions to the events that transpired during the building of the Temple, viz., the intrigues of the Samaritans, the hostility of the neighbouring peoples, and the capriciousness of the Persian kings, favour the third. In connection with this reference of the Psalm to the post-exilic dedication of the Temple, Psa 118:19-20, too, now present no difficulty. Psa 118:22 is better understood as spoken in the presence of the now upreared Temple-building, than as spoken in the presence of the foundation-stone; and the words “unto the horns of the altar” in Psa 118:27, interpreted in many different ways, come into the light of Ezr 6:17.

The Psalm falls into two divisions. The first division (vv. 1-19) is sung by the festive procession brought up by the priests and Levites, which is ascending to the Temple with the animals for sacrifice. With Psa 118:19 the procession stands at the entrance. The second part (Psa 118:20-27) is sung by the body of Levites who receive the festive procession. Then Psa 118:28 is the answer of those who have arrived, and Psa 118:29 the concluding song of all of them. This antiphonal arrangement is recognised even by the Talmud (B. Pesachim 119 a) and Midrash. The whole Psalm, too, has moreover a peculiar formation. It resembles the Mashal Psalms, for each verse has of itself its completed sense, its own scent and hue; one thought is joined to another as branch to branch and flower to flower. Psa 118:1-18

The Hodu-cry is addressed first of all and every one; then the whole body of the laity of Israel and the priests, and at last (as it appears) the proselytes (vid., on Psa 115:9-11) who fear the God of revelation, are urgently admonished to echo it back; for “yea, His mercy endureth for ever,” is the required hypophon. In Psa 118:5, Israel too then begins as one man to praise the ever-gracious goodness of God. יהּ, the Jod of which might easily become inaudible after קראתי, has an emphatic Dagesh as in Psa 118:18, and המּצר has the orthophonic stroke beside צר (the so-called מקּל), which points to the correct tone-syllable of the word that has Dechî. ^{▼▼Vid., Baer’s Thorath Emeth, p. 7 note, and p. 21, end of note 1.}

Instead of ענני it is here pointed ענני, which also occurs in other instances not only with distinctive, but also (though not uniformly) with conjunctive accents. ^{▼▼Hitzig on Pro 8:22 considers the pointing קנני to be occasioned by Dechî, and in fact ענני in the passage before us has Tarcha, and in 1Sa 28:15 Munach; but in the passage before us, if we read במרחביה as one word according to the Masora, ענני is rather to be accented with Mugrash; and in 1Sa 28:15 the reading ענני is found side by side with ענני (e.g., in Bibl. Bomberg. 1521). Nevertheless צרפתני Psa 17:3, and הרני Job 30:19 (according to Kimchi’s Michlol, 30 a), beside Mercha, show that the pointing beside conjunctive as beside disjunctive accents wavers between a& and a4, although a4 is properly only justified beside disjunctive accents, and צוּני also really only occurs in pause.}

The constructions is a pregnant one (as in Psa 22:22; Psa 28:1; Psa 74:7; 2Sa 18:19; Ezr 2:62; 2Ch 32:1): He answered me by removing me to a free space (Psa 18:20). Both lines end with יהּ; nevertheless the reading במּרחביה is attested by the Masora (vid., Baer’s Psalterium, pp. 132f.), instead of בּמּרחב יהּ. It has its advocates even in the Talmud (B. Pesachim 117 a), and signifies a boundless extent, יה expressing the highest degree of comparison, like מאפּליה in Jer 2:31, the deepest darkness. Even the lxx appears to have read מרחביה thus as one word (εἰς πλατυσμόν, Symmachus εἰς εὐρυχωρίαν). The Targum and Jerome, however, render it as we do; it is highly improbable that in one and the same verse the divine name should not be intended to be used in the same force of meaning. Psa 56:1-13 (Psa 56:10; Psa 56:5, Psa 56:12) echoes in Psa 118:6; and in Psa 118:7 Psa 54:1-7 (Psa 54:6) is in the mind of the later poet. In that passage it is still more clear than in the passage before us that by the Beth of בּעזרי Jahve is not meant to be designated as unus e multis, but as a helper who outweighs the greatest multitude of helpers. The Jewish people had experienced this helpful succour of Jahve in opposition to the persecutions of the Samaritans and the satraps during the building of the Temple; and had at the same time learned what is expressed in Psa 118:7-8 (cf. Psa 146:3), that trust in Jahve (for which חסה ב is the proper word) proves true, and trust in men, on the contrary, and especially in princes, is deceptive; for under Pseudo-Smerdis the work, begun under Cyrus, and represented as open to suspicion even in the reign of Cambyses, was interdicted. But in the reign of Darius it again became free: Jahve showed that He disposes events and the hearts of men in favour of His people, so that out of this has grown up in the minds of His people the confident expectation of a world-subduing supremacy expressed in Psa 118:10.

The clauses Psa 118:10, Psa 118:11, and Psa 118:12, expressed in the perfect form, are intended more hypothetically than as describing facts. The perfect is here set out in relief as a hypothetical tense by the following future. כּל־גּוים signifies, as in Psa 117:1, the heathen of every kind. דּברים (in the Aramaic and Arabic with )ז are both bees and wasps, which make themselves especially troublesome in harvest time. The suffix of אמילם (from מוּל = מלל, to hew down, cut in pieces) is the same as in Exo 29:30; Exo 2:17, and also beside a conjunctive accent in Psa 74:8. Yet the reading אמילם, like יחיתן Hab 2:17, is here the better supported (vid., Gesenius, Lehrgebäude, S. 177), and it has been adopted by Norzi, Heidenheim, and Baer. The כּי is that which states the ground or reason, and then becomes directly confirmatory and assuring (Psa 128:2, Psa 128:4), which here, after the “in the name of Jahve” that precedes it, is applied and placed just as in the oath in 1Sa 14:44. And in general, as Redslob has demonstrated, כּי has not originally a relative, but a positive (determining) signification, כ being just as much a demonstrative sound as ד, ז, שׁ, and ת (cf. ἐκεῖ, ἐκεῖνος, κει'νος, ecce, hic, illic, with the Doric τηνεί, τῆνος). The notion of compassing round about is heightened in Psa 118:11 by the juxtaposition of two forms of the same verb (Ges. §67, rem. 10), as in Hos 4:18; Hab 1:5; Zep 2:1, and frequently. The figure of the bees is taken from Deu 1:44. The perfect דּעכוּ (cf. Isa 43:17) describes their destruction, which takes place instantly and unexpectedly. The Pual points to the punishing power that comes upon them: they are extinguished (exstinguuntur) like a fire of thorns, the crackling flame of which expires as quickly as it has blazed up (Psa 58:10). In Psa 118:13 the language of Israel is addressed to the hostile worldly power, as the antithesis shows. It thrust, yea thrust (inf. intens.) Israel, that it might fall (לנפּל; with reference to the pointing, vid., on Psa 40:15); but Jahve’s help would not suffer it to come to that pass. Therefore the song at the Red Sea is revived in the heart and mouth of Israel. Psa 118:14 (like Isa 12:2) is taken from Exo 15:2. עזּי (in MSS also written עזּי) is a collateral form of עזּי (Ew. §255, a), and here signifies the lofty self-consciousness which is united with the possession of power: pride and its expression an exclamation of joy. Concerning זמרת vid., on Psa 16:6. As at that time, the cry of exultation and of salvation (i.e., of deliverance and of victory) is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of Jahve - they sing - עשׂה חיל (Num 24:18), practises valour, proves itself energetic, gains (maintains) the victory. רוממה is Milra, and therefore an adjective: victoriosa (Ew. §120 d), from רמם = רוּם like שׁומם from שׁמם. It is not the part. Pil. (cf. Hos 11:7), since the rejection of the participial Mem occurs in connection with Poal and Pual, but not elsewhere with Pilel (רומם = מרומם from רוּם). The word yields a simpler sense, too, as adject. participle Kal; romēmā́h is only the fuller form for ramā́h, Exo 14:8 (cf. rā́mah, Isa 26:11). It is not its own strength that avails for Israel’s exultation of victory, but the energy of the right hand of Jahve. Being come to the brink of the abyss, Israel is become anew sure of its immortality through Him. God has, it is true, most severely chastened it (יסּרנּי with the suffix anni as in Gen 30:6, and יהּ with the emphatic Dagesh, which neither reduplicates nor connects, cf. Psa 118:5, Psa 94:12), but still with moderation (Isa 27:7.). He has not suffered Israel to fall a prey to death, but reserved it for its high vocation, that it may see the mighty deeds of God and proclaim them to all the world. Amidst such celebration of Jahve the festive procession of the dedication of the Temple has arrived at the enclosure wall of the Temple.