Psa 7:13-17 | KD | STEP | (Hebrew_Bible_7:12-14) If God will in the end let His wrath break forth, He will not do it without having previously given threatenings thereof every day, viz., to the ungodly, cf. ; Mal 1:4. He makes these feel His זעם beforehand in order to strike a wholesome terror into them. The subject of the conditional clause אם־לא ישׁוּב is any ungodly person whatever; and the subject of the principal clause, as its continuation in shows, is God. If a man (any one) does not repent, then Jahve will whet His sword (cf. ). This sense of the words accords with the connection; whereas with the rendering: “forsooth He (Elohim) will again whet His sword” (Böttch., Ew., Hupf.) ישׁוּב, which would moreover stand close by ילטושׁ (cf. e.g., ), is meaningless; and the אם־לא of asseveration is devoid of purpose. Judgment is being gradually prepared, as the fut . implies; but, as the perff . imply, it is also on the other hand like a bow that is already strung against the sinner with the arrow pointed towards him, so that it can be executed at any moment. כּונן of the making ready, and הכין of the aiming, are used alternately. לו, referring to the sinner, stands first by way of emphasis as in ; , and is equivalent to אליו, Eze 4:3. “Burning” arrows are fire-arrows (זקּים, זיקות, malleoli ); and God’s fire-arrows are the lightnings sent forth by Him, ; Zec 9:14. The fut . יפעל denotes the simultaneous charging of the arrows aimed at the sinner, with the fire of His wrath. The case illustrated by Cush is generalised: by the sword and arrows the manifold energy of the divine anger is symbolised, and it is only the divine forbearance that prevents it from immediately breaking forth. The conception is not coarsely material, but the vividness of the idea of itself suggests the form of its embodiment.

‏ Psalms 7:13-17

Psa 7:11-13 (Hebrew_Bible_7:12-14) If God will in the end let His wrath break forth, He will not do it without having previously given threatenings thereof every day, viz., to the ungodly, cf. Isa 66:14; Mal 1:4. He makes these feel His זעם beforehand in order to strike a wholesome terror into them. The subject of the conditional clause אם־לא ישׁוּב is any ungodly person whatever; and the subject of the principal clause, as its continuation in Psa 7:14 shows, is God. If a man (any one) does not repent, then Jahve will whet His sword (cf. Deu 32:41). This sense of the words accords with the connection; whereas with the rendering: “forsooth He (Elohim) will again whet His sword” (Böttch., Ew., Hupf.) ישׁוּב, which would moreover stand close by ילטושׁ (cf. e.g., Gen 30:31), is meaningless; and the אם־לא of asseveration is devoid of purpose. Judgment is being gradually prepared, as the fut. implies; but, as the perff. imply, it is also on the other hand like a bow that is already strung against the sinner with the arrow pointed towards him, so that it can be executed at any moment. כּונן of the making ready, and הכין of the aiming, are used alternately. לו, referring to the sinner, stands first by way of emphasis as in Gen 49:10; 1Sa 2:3, and is equivalent to אליו, Eze 4:3. “Burning” arrows are fire-arrows (זקּים, זיקות, malleoli); and God’s fire-arrows are the lightnings sent forth by Him, Psa 18:15; Zec 9:14. The fut. יפעל denotes the simultaneous charging of the arrows aimed at the sinner, with the fire of His wrath. The case illustrated by Cush is generalised: by the sword and arrows the manifold energy of the divine anger is symbolised, and it is only the divine forbearance that prevents it from immediately breaking forth. The conception is not coarsely material, but the vividness of the idea of itself suggests the form of its embodiment. Psa 7:14-17 (Hebrew_Bible_7:15-18) This closing strophe foretells to the enemy of God, as if dictated by the judge, what awaits him; and concludes with a prospect of thanksgiving and praise. Man brings forth what he has conceived, he reaps what he has sown. Starting from this primary passage, we find the punishment which sin brings with it frequently represented under these figures of הדה and ילד (הוליד, חבּל, חיל), זרע and קצר, and first of all in Job 15:35. The act, guilt, and punishment of sin appear in general as notions that run into one another. David sees in the sin of his enemies their self-destruction. It is singular, that travail is first spoken of, and then only afterwards pregnancy. For חבּל signifies, as in Sol 8:5, ὠδίνειν, not: to conceive (Hitz.). The Arab. ḥabila (synonym of ḥamala) is not to conceive in distinction from being pregnant, but it is both: to be and to become pregnant. The accentuation indicates the correct relationship of the three members of the sentence. First of all comes the general statement: Behold he shall travail with, i.e., bring forth with writhing as in the pains of labour, און, evil, as the result which proceeds from his wickedness. Then, by this thought being divided into its two factors (Hupf.) it goes on to say: that is, he shall conceive (concipere) עמל, and bear שׁקר. The former signifies trouble, molestia, just as πονηρία signifies that which makes πόνον; the latter falsehood, viz., self-deception, delusion, vanity, inasmuch as the burden prepared for others, returns as a heavy and oppressive burden upon the sinner himself, as is said in Psa 7:17; cf. Isa 59:4, where און instead of שׁקר denotes the accursed wages of sin which consist in the unmasking of its nothingness, and in the undeceiving of its self-delusion. He diggeth a pit for himself, is another turn of the same thought, Psa 57:7; Ecc 10:8. Psa 7:16 mentions the digging, and Psa 7:16 the subsequent falling into the pit; the aorist ויּפּל is, for instance, like Psa 7:13, Psa 16:9; Psa 29:10. The attributive יפעל is virtually a genitive to שׁחת, and is rightly taken by Ges. §124, 3, a as present: in the midst of the execution of the work of destruction prepared for others it becomes his own. The trouble, עמל, prepared for others returns upon his own head (בּראשׁו, clinging to it, just as על־ראשׁו signifies descending and resting upon it), and the violence, חמס, done to others, being turned back by the Judge who dwells above (Mic 1:12), descends upon his own pate (קדקדו with o by q, as e.g., in Gen 2:23). Thus is the righteousness of God revealed in wrath upon the oppressor and in mercy upon him who is innocently oppressed. Then will the rescued one, then will David, give thanks unto Jahve, as is due to Him after the revelation of His righteousness, and will sing of the name of Jahve the Most High (עליון as an appended name of God is always used without the art., e.g., Psa 57:3). In the revelation of Himself He has made Himself a name. He has, however, revealed Himself as the almighty Judge and Deliverer, as the God of salvation, who rules over everything that takes place here below. It is this name, which He has made by His acts, that David will then echo back to Him in his song of thanksgiving.