Psa 52:8-9 | KD | STEP | The gloomy song now brightens up, and in calmer tones draws rapidly to a close. The betrayer becomes like an uprooted tree; the betrayed, however, stands firm and is like to a green-foliaged olive ( ) which is planted in the house of Elohim ( ), that is to say, in sacred and inaccessible ground; cf. the promise in Isa 60:13. The weighty expression כּי עשׂית refers, as in Ps 22:32, to the gracious and just carrying out of that which was aimed at in the election of David. If this be attained, then he will for ever give thanks and further wait on the Name, i.e., the self-attestation, of God, which is so gracious and kind, he will give thanks and “wait” in the presence of all the saints. This “waiting,” ואקוּה, is open to suspicion, since what he intends to do in the presence of the saints must be something that is audible or visible to them. Also “hoping in the name of God” is, it is true, not an unbiblical notional combination ( ); but in connection with שׁמך כי טוב which follows, one more readily looks for a verb expressing a thankful and laudatory proclamation (cf. Ps 54:8). Hitzig’s conjecture that we should read ואחוּה is therefore perfectly satisfactory. נגד חסידיך does not belong to טוב, which would be construed with בּעיני htiw deurtsnoc , and not נגד, but to the two votive words; cf. ; , and other passages. The whole church (Psa 22:23., Psa 40:10.) shall be witness of his thankfulness to God, and of his proclamation of the proofs which God Himself has given of His love and favour. Elohimic Variation of the Jahve - and , which are most closely related by occasion, contents, and expression, are separated by the insertion of , in which the individual character of , the description of moral corruption and the announcement of the divine curse, is generalized. also belongs to this series according to its species of poetic composition; for the inscription runs: To the Precentor, after Machalath, a Maskı̂l of David . The formula על־מחלת recurs in with the addition of לענּות. Since Ps 88 is the gloomiest of all the Psalms, and , although having a bright border, is still also a dark picture, the signification of מחלה, laxness (root חל, opp . מר), sickness, sorrow, which is capable of being supported by , must be retained. על־מחלת signifies after a sad tone or manner ; whether it be that מחלת itself (with the ancient dialectic feminine termination, like נגינת, ) is a name for such an elegiac kind of melody, or that it was thereby designed to indicate the initial word of some popular song. In the latter case מחלת is the construct form, the standard song beginning מחלת לב or some such way. The signification to be sweet (Aramaic) and melodious (Aethiopic), which the root חלי obtains in the dialects, is foreign to Hebrew. It is altogether inadmissible to combine מחלת with Arab. mahlt , ease, comfort (Germ. Gemächlichkeit , cf. mächlich , easily, slowly, with mählich , by degrees), as Hitzig does; since מחל, Rabbinic, to pardon, coincides more readily with מחה, , Psa 51:11. So that we may regard machalath as equivalent to mesto , not piano or andante . That the two texts, and , are “vestiges of an original identity” (Hupfeld) is not established: is a later variation of -7. The musical designation, common only to the earlier Psalms, at once dissuades one from coming down beyond the time of Jehoshaphat or Hezekiah. Moreover, we have here a manifest instance that even Psalms which are composed upon the model of, or are variations of Davidic Psalms, were without any hesitation inscribed לדוד. Beside the critical problem, all that remains here for the exegesis is merely the discussion of anything peculiar in the deviations in the form of the text.

‏ Psalms 52:8-9

The gloomy song now brightens up, and in calmer tones draws rapidly to a close. The betrayer becomes like an uprooted tree; the betrayed, however, stands firm and is like to a green-foliaged olive (Jer 11:16) which is planted in the house of Elohim (Psa 90:14), that is to say, in sacred and inaccessible ground; cf. the promise in Isa 60:13. The weighty expression כּי עשׂית refers, as in Ps 22:32, to the gracious and just carrying out of that which was aimed at in the election of David. If this be attained, then he will for ever give thanks and further wait on the Name, i.e., the self-attestation, of God, which is so gracious and kind, he will give thanks and “wait” in the presence of all the saints. This “waiting,” ואקוּה, is open to suspicion, since what he intends to do in the presence of the saints must be something that is audible or visible to them. Also “hoping in the name of God” is, it is true, not an unbiblical notional combination (Isa 36:8); but in connection with שׁמך כי טוב which follows, one more readily looks for a verb expressing a thankful and laudatory proclamation (cf. Ps 54:8). Hitzig’s conjecture that we should read ואחוּה is therefore perfectly satisfactory. נגד חסידיך does not belong to טוב, which would be construed with בּעיני htiw deurtsnoc , and not נגד, but to the two votive words; cf. Psa 22:26; Psa 138:1, and other passages. The whole church (Psa 22:23., Psa 40:10.) shall be witness of his thankfulness to God, and of his proclamation of the proofs which God Himself has given of His love and favour. Elohimic Variation of the Jahve - Psa 14:1-7

Psa 52:1-9 and Psa 53:1-6, which are most closely related by occasion, contents, and expression, are separated by the insertion of Psa 53:1-6, in which the individual character of Psa 52:1-9, the description of moral corruption and the announcement of the divine curse, is generalized. Psa 53:1-6 also belongs to this series according to its species of poetic composition; for the inscription runs: To the Precentor, after Machalath, a Maskı̂l of David. The formula על־מחלת recurs in Psa 88:1 with the addition of לענּות. Since Ps 88 is the gloomiest of all the Psalms, and Psa 53:1-6, although having a bright border, is still also a dark picture, the signification of מחלה, laxness (root חל, opp. מר), sickness, sorrow, which is capable of being supported by Exo 15:26, must be retained. על־מחלת signifies after a sad tone or manner; whether it be that מחלת itself (with the ancient dialectic feminine termination, like נגינת, Psa 61:1) is a name for such an elegiac kind of melody, or that it was thereby designed to indicate the initial word of some popular song. In the latter case מחלת is the construct form, the standard song beginning מחלת לב or some such way. The signification to be sweet (Aramaic) and melodious (Aethiopic), which the root חלי obtains in the dialects, is foreign to Hebrew. It is altogether inadmissible to combine מחלת with Arab. mahlt, ease, comfort (Germ. Gemächlichkeit, cf. mächlich, easily, slowly, with mählich, by degrees), as Hitzig does; since מחל, Rabbinic, to pardon, coincides more readily with מחה, Psa 51:3, Psa 51:11. So that we may regard machalath as equivalent to mesto, not piano or andante.

That the two texts, Psa 14:1-7 and Psa 53:1-6, are “vestiges of an original identity” (Hupfeld) is not established: Psa 53:1-6 is a later variation of Psa 14:1-7. The musical designation, common only to the earlier Psalms, at once dissuades one from coming down beyond the time of Jehoshaphat or Hezekiah. Moreover, we have here a manifest instance that even Psalms which are composed upon the model of, or are variations of Davidic Psalms, were without any hesitation inscribed לדוד.

Beside the critical problem, all that remains here for the exegesis is merely the discussion of anything peculiar in the deviations in the form of the text.