Psa 93:1 | KD | STEP | Side by side with those Psalms which behold in anticipation the Messianic future, whether it be prophetically or only typically, or typically and prophetically at the same time, as the kingship of Jahve’s Anointed which overcomes and blesses the world, there are others in which the perfected theocracy as such is beheld beforehand, not, however, as an appearing ( parusia ) of a human king, but as the appearing of Jahve Himself, as the kingdom of God manifest in all its glory. These theocratic Psalms form, together with the christocratic, two series of prophecy referring to the last time which run parallel with one another. The one has for its goal the Anointed of Jahve, who rules out of Zion over all peoples; the other, Jahve sitting above the cherubim, to whom the whole world does homage. The two series, it is true, converge in the Old Testament, but do not meet; it is the history that fulfils these types and prophecies which first of all makes clear that which flashes forth in the Old Testament only in certain climaxes of prophecy and of lyric too (vid., on ), viz., that the parusia of the Anointed One and the parusia of Jahve is one and the same. Theocracy is an expression coined by Josephus. In contrast with the monarchical, oligarchical, and democratic form of government of other nations, he calls the Mosaic form θεοκρατία, but he does so somewhat timidly, ὡς ἂν τις εἴποι βιασάμενος τὸν λόγον [c. Apion . ii. 17]. The coining of the expression is thankworthy; only one has to free one’s self from the false conception that the theocracy is a particular constitution. The alternating forms of government were only various modes of its adjustment. The theocracy itself is a reciprocal relationship between God and men, exalted above these intermediary forms, which had its first manifest beginning when Jahve became Israel’s King ( , cf. ), and which will be finally perfected by its breaking through this national self-limitation when the King of Israel becomes King of the whole world, that is overcome both outwardly and spiritually. Hence the theocracy is an object of prediction and of hope. And the word מלך is used with reference to Jahve not merely of the first beginning of His imperial dominion, and of the manifestation of the same in facts in the most prominent points of the redemptive history, but also of the commencement of the imperial dominion in its perfected glory. We find the word used in this lofty sense, and in relation to the last time, e.g., in ; , and most unmistakeably in ; Psa 19:6. And in this sense יהוה מלך is the watchword of the theocratic Psalms. Thus it is used even in ; but the first of the Psalms beginning with this watchword is -5. They are all post-exilic. The prominent point from which this eschatological perspective opens out is the time of the new-born freedom and of the newly restored state. Hitzig pertinently says: “This Psalm is already contained in nuce in of the preceding Psalm, which surely comes from the same author. This is at once manifest from the jerking start of the discourse in (cf. ), which resolves the thought into two members, of which the first subsides into the vocative יהוה.” The lxx ( Codd. Vat. and Sin .) inscribes it: Εἰς τὴν ἡμέρην τοῦ προσαββάτου, ὅτε κατῴκισται ἡ γῆ, αἶνος ᾠδῆς τῷ Δαυίδ. The third part of this inscription is worthless. The first part (for which Cod. Alex. erroneously has: τοῦ σαββάτου) is corroborated by the Talmudic tradition. was really the Friday Psalm, and that, as is said in Rosh ha-shana 31 a , ומלך עליהן (בשׁשׁי) על שׁם שׁגמר מלאכתו, because God then (on the sixth day) had completed His creative work and began to reign over them (His creatures); and that ὅτε κατῴκισται ( al . κατῴκιστο) is to be explained in accordance therewith: when the earth had been peopled (with creatures, and more especially with men).

‏ Psalms 93:1

The Royal Throne above the Sea of the Peoples

Side by side with those Psalms which behold in anticipation the Messianic future, whether it be prophetically or only typically, or typically and prophetically at the same time, as the kingship of Jahve’s Anointed which overcomes and blesses the world, there are others in which the perfected theocracy as such is beheld beforehand, not, however, as an appearing (parusia) of a human king, but as the appearing of Jahve Himself, as the kingdom of God manifest in all its glory. These theocratic Psalms form, together with the christocratic, two series of prophecy referring to the last time which run parallel with one another. The one has for its goal the Anointed of Jahve, who rules out of Zion over all peoples; the other, Jahve sitting above the cherubim, to whom the whole world does homage. The two series, it is true, converge in the Old Testament, but do not meet; it is the history that fulfils these types and prophecies which first of all makes clear that which flashes forth in the Old Testament only in certain climaxes of prophecy and of lyric too (vid., on Psa 45:1), viz., that the parusia of the Anointed One and the parusia of Jahve is one and the same.

Theocracy is an expression coined by Josephus. In contrast with the monarchical, oligarchical, and democratic form of government of other nations, he calls the Mosaic form θεοκρατία, but he does so somewhat timidly, ὡς ἂν τις εἴποι βιασάμενος τὸν λόγον [c. Apion. ii. 17]. The coining of the expression is thankworthy; only one has to free one’s self from the false conception that the theocracy is a particular constitution. The alternating forms of government were only various modes of its adjustment. The theocracy itself is a reciprocal relationship between God and men, exalted above these intermediary forms, which had its first manifest beginning when Jahve became Israel’s King (Deu 33:5, cf. Exo 15:18), and which will be finally perfected by its breaking through this national self-limitation when the King of Israel becomes King of the whole world, that is overcome both outwardly and spiritually. Hence the theocracy is an object of prediction and of hope. And the word מלך is used with reference to Jahve not merely of the first beginning of His imperial dominion, and of the manifestation of the same in facts in the most prominent points of the redemptive history, but also of the commencement of the imperial dominion in its perfected glory. We find the word used in this lofty sense, and in relation to the last time, e.g., in Isa 24:23; Isa 52:7, and most unmistakeably in Rev 11:17; Psa 19:6. And in this sense יהוה מלך is the watchword of the theocratic Psalms. Thus it is used even in Psa 47:9; but the first of the Psalms beginning with this watchword is Psa 93:1-5. They are all post-exilic. The prominent point from which this eschatological perspective opens out is the time of the new-born freedom and of the newly restored state.

Hitzig pertinently says: “This Psalm is already contained in nuce in Psa 92:9 of the preceding Psalm, which surely comes from the same author. This is at once manifest from the jerking start of the discourse in Psa 93:3 (cf. Psa 92:10), which resolves the thought into two members, of which the first subsides into the vocative יהוה.” The lxx (Codd. Vat. and Sin.) inscribes it: Εἰς τὴν ἡμέρην τοῦ προσαββάτου, ὅτε κατῴκισται ἡ γῆ, αἶνος ᾠδῆς τῷ Δαυίδ. The third part of this inscription is worthless. The first part (for which Cod. Alex. erroneously has: τοῦ σαββάτου) is corroborated by the Talmudic tradition. Psa 93:1-5 was really the Friday Psalm, and that, as is said in Rosh ha-shana 31 a, ומלך עליהן (בשׁשׁי) על שׁם שׁגמר מלאכתו, because God then (on the sixth day) had completed His creative work and began to reign over them (His creatures); and that ὅτε κατῴκισται (al. κατῴκιστο) is to be explained in accordance therewith: when the earth had been peopled (with creatures, and more especially with men).