Psa 20:1-5 | KD | STEP | To is closely attached , because its commencement is as it were the echo of the prayer with which the former closes; and to is closely attached , because both Psalms refer to the same event relatively, as prayer and thanksgiving. is an intercessory psalm of the nation, and a thanksgiving psalm of the nation, on behalf of its king. It is clearly manifest that the two Psalms form a pair, being connected by unity of author and subject. They both open somewhat uniformly with a synonymous parallelism of the members, ; ; they then increase in fervour and assume a more vivid colouring as they come to speak of the foes of the king and the empire, ; ; and they both close with an ejaculatory cry to Jahve, Ps 20:10; 21:14. In both, the king is apostrophised through the course of the several verses, ; ; and here and there this is done in a way that provokes the question whether the words are not rather addressed to Jahve, ; Psa 21:10. In both Psalms the king is referred to by המּלך, Ps 20:10; ; both comprehend the goal of the desires in the word ישׁוּעה, , cf. , , ; both delight in rare forms of expression, which are found only in these instances in the whole range of Old Testament literature, viz., נדגל , נתעדד , ארשׁת , תחדהו, Psa 21:7. If, as the לדוד indicates, they formed part of the oldest Davidic Psalter, then it is notwithstanding more probable that their author is a contemporary poet, than that it is David himself. For, although both as to form of expression (cf. with ) and as to thoughts (cf. with ), they exhibit some points of contact with Davidic Psalms, they still stand isolated by their peculiar character. But that David is their subject, as the inscription לדוד, and their position in the midst of the Davidic Psalms, lead one to expect, is capable of confirmation. During the time of the Syro-Ammonitish war comes David’s deep fall, which in itself and in its consequences made him sick both in soul and in body. It was not until he was again restored to God’s favour out of this self-incurred peril, that he went to his army which lay before Rabbath Ammon, and completed the conquest of the royal city of the enemy. The most satisfactory explanation of the situation referred to in this couplet of Psalms is to be gained from 2 Sam 11-12. prays for the recovery of the king, who is involved in war with powerful foes; and gives thanks for his recovery, and wishes him a victorious issue to the approaching campaign. The “chariots and horses” ( ) are characteristic of the military power of Aram ( , and frequently), and in and we perceive an allusion to , or at least a remarkable agreement with what is there recorded.

‏ Psalms 20:1-5

Prayer for the King in Time of War

To Psa 19:1-14 is closely attached Psa 20:1-9, because its commencement is as it were the echo of the prayer with which the former closes; and to Psa 20:1-9 is closely attached Psa 21:1-13, because both Psalms refer to the same event relatively, as prayer and thanksgiving. Psa 20:1-9 is an intercessory psalm of the nation, and Psa 21:1-13 a thanksgiving psalm of the nation, on behalf of its king. It is clearly manifest that the two Psalms form a pair, being connected by unity of author and subject. They both open somewhat uniformly with a synonymous parallelism of the members, Psa 20:2-6; Psa 21:2-8; they then increase in fervour and assume a more vivid colouring as they come to speak of the foes of the king and the empire, Psa 20:7-9; Psa 21:9-13; and they both close with an ejaculatory cry to Jahve, Ps 20:10; 21:14. In both, the king is apostrophised through the course of the several verses, Psa 20:2-6; Psa 21:9-13; and here and there this is done in a way that provokes the question whether the words are not rather addressed to Jahve, Psa 20:6; Psa 21:10. In both Psalms the king is referred to by המּלך, Ps 20:10; Psa 21:8; both comprehend the goal of the desires in the word ישׁוּעה, Psa 20:6, cf. Psa 20:7, Psa 21:2, Psa 21:6; both delight in rare forms of expression, which are found only in these instances in the whole range of Old Testament literature, viz., נדגל Psa 20:6, נתעדד Psa 20:9, ארשׁת Psa 21:3, תחדהו, Psa 21:7.

If, as the לדוד indicates, they formed part of the oldest Davidic Psalter, then it is notwithstanding more probable that their author is a contemporary poet, than that it is David himself. For, although both as to form of expression (cf. Psa 21:12 with Psa 10:2) and as to thoughts (cf. Psa 21:7 with Psa 16:11), they exhibit some points of contact with Davidic Psalms, they still stand isolated by their peculiar character. But that David is their subject, as the inscription לדוד, and their position in the midst of the Davidic Psalms, lead one to expect, is capable of confirmation. During the time of the Syro-Ammonitish war comes David’s deep fall, which in itself and in its consequences made him sick both in soul and in body. It was not until he was again restored to God’s favour out of this self-incurred peril, that he went to his army which lay before Rabbath Ammon, and completed the conquest of the royal city of the enemy. The most satisfactory explanation of the situation referred to in this couplet of Psalms is to be gained from 2 Sam 11-12. Psa 20:1-9 prays for the recovery of the king, who is involved in war with powerful foes; and Psa 21:1-13 gives thanks for his recovery, and wishes him a victorious issue to the approaching campaign. The “chariots and horses” (Psa 20:8) are characteristic of the military power of Aram (2Sa 10:18, and frequently), and in Psa 21:4 and Psa 21:10 we perceive an allusion to 2Sa 12:30-31, or at least a remarkable agreement with what is there recorded. Psa 20:1-5 (Hebrew_Bible_20:2-6) Litany for the king in distress, who offers sacrifices for himself in the sanctuary. The futures in Psa 20:2, standing five times at the head of the climactic members of the parallelism, are optatives. ימלּא, Psa 20:6, also continues the chain of wishes, of which even נרננה (cf. Psa 69:15) forms one of the links. The wishes of the people accompany both the prayer and the sacrifice. “The Name of the God of Jacob” is the self-manifesting power and grace of the God of Israel. יעקב is used in poetry interchangeably with ישראל, just like אלהים with יהוה. Alshêch refers to Gen 35:3; and it is not improbable that the desire moulds itself after the fashion of the record of the fact there handed down to us. May Jahve, who, as the history of Jacob shows, hears (and answers) in the day of distress, hear the king; may the Name of the God of Jacob bear him away from his foes to a triumphant height. שׂגּב alternates with רומם (Psa 18:49) in this sense. This intercession on the behalf of the praying one is made in the sanctuary on the heights of Zion, where Jahve sits enthroned. May He send him succour from thence, like auxiliary troops that decide the victory. The king offers sacrifice. He offers sacrifice according to custom before the commencement of the battle (1Sa 13:9., and cf. the phrase קדּשׁ מלחמה), a whole burnt-offering and at the same time a meat or rather meal offering also, מנחות; ^{▼▼This, though not occurring in the Old Testament, is the principal form of the plural, which, as even David Kimchi recognises in his Lexicon, points to a verb מנח (just as שׂמלות, גּבעות, שׁפחות point to שׂמל, גּבע, שׂפח); whereas other old grammarians supposed נחה to be the root, and were puzzled with the traditional pronunciation menachôth, but without reason.} for every whole offering and every shelamim - or peace-offering had a meat-offering and a drink-offering as its indispensable accompaniment. The word זכר is perfectly familiar in the ritual of the meal-offering. That portion of the meal-offering, only a part of which was placed upon the altar (to which, however, according to traditional practice, does not belong the accompanying meal-offering of the מנחת נסכים, which was entirely devoted to the altar), which ascended with the altar fire is called אזכּרה, μνημόσυνον (cf. Act 10:4), that which brings to remembrance with God him for whom it is offered up (not “incense,” as Hupfeld renders it); for the designation of the offering of jealousy, Num 5:15, as “bringing iniquity to remembrance before God” shows, that in the meal-offering ritual זכר retains the very same meaning that it has in other instances. Every meal-offering is in a certain sense a מנחת זכּרון a esnes . Hence here the prayer that Jahve would graciously remember them is combined with the meal-offerings.

As regards the ‛olah, the wish “let fire from heaven (Lev 9:24; 1Ki 18:38; 1Ch 21:26) turn it to ashes,” would not be vain. But the language does not refer to anything extraordinary; and in itself the consumption of the offering to ashes (Böttcher) is no mark of gracious acceptance. Moreover, as a denominative from דּשׁן, fat ashes, דּשּׁן means “to clean from ashes,” and not: to turn into ashes. On the other hand, דּשּׁן also signifies “to make fat,” Psa 23:5, and this effective signification is applied declaratively in this instance: may He find thy burnt-offering fat, which is equivalent to: may it be to Him a ריח ניחח [an odour of satisfaction, a sweet-smelling savour]. The voluntative ah only occurs here and in Job 11:17 (which see) and Isa 5:19, in the 3 pers.; and in this instance, just as with the cohortative in 1Sa 28:15, we have a change of the lengthening into a sharpening of the sound (cf. the exactly similar change of forms in 1Sa 28:15; Isa 59:5; Zec 5:4; Pro 24:14; Eze 25:13) as is very frequently the case in מה for מה. The alteration to ידשּׁנה or ידשׁנהּ (Hitzig) is a felicitous but needless way of getting rid of the rare form. The explanation of the intensifying of the music here is, that the intercessory song of the choir is to be simultaneous with the presentation upon the altar (הקטרה). עצה is the resolution formed in the present wartime. “Because of thy salvation,” i.e., thy success in war, is, as all the language is here, addressed to the king, cf. Psa 21:2, where it is addressed to Jahve, and intended of the victory accorded to him. It is needless to read נגדּל instead of נדגּל, after the rendering of the lxx megaluntheeso'metha. נדגּל is a denominative from דּגל: to wave a banner. In the closing line, the rejoicing of hope goes back again to the present and again assumes the form of an intercessory desire.