They didn’t keep God’s covenant, and refused to walk in his law.
They forgot his doings, his wondrous deeds that he had shown them.
He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
He split the sea, and caused them to pass through. He made the waters stand as a heap.
In the daytime he also led them with a cloud, and all night with a light of fire.
He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
Yet they still went on to sin against him, to rebel against the Most High in the desert.
They tempted God in their heart by asking food according to their desire.
Yes, they spoke against God. They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, and streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Will he provide meat for his people?”
Therefore Yahweh heard, and was angry. A fire was kindled against Jacob, anger also went up against Israel,
because they didn’t believe in God, and didn’t trust in his salvation.
Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven.
He rained down manna on them to eat, and gave them food from the sky.
Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full.
He caused the east wind to blow in the sky. By his power he guided the south wind.
He also rained meat on them as the dust, winged birds as the sand of the seas.
He let them fall in the middle of their camp, around their habitations.
So they ate, and were well filled. He gave them their own desire.
They didn’t turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths,
when the anger of God went up against them, killed some of their fattest, and struck down the young men of Israel.
For all this they still sinned, and didn’t believe in his wondrous works.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 26, 30, 32 10. They kept not the covenant of God. This…
10. They kept not the covenant of God. This is the reason assigned for the Ephraimites turning their backs in the day of battle; and it explains why the divine assistance was withheld from them. Others, it is true, were guilty in this respect as well as they, but the vengeance of God executed on that tribe, which by its influence had corrupted almost the whole kingdom, is purposely brought forward as a general warning. Since then the tribe of Ephraim, in consequence of its splendor and dignity, when it threw off the yoke, encouraged and became as it were a standard of shameful revolt to all the other tribes, the prophet intended to put people on their guard, that they might not suffer themselves in their simplicity to be again deceived in the same manner. It is no light charge which he brings against the sons of Ephraim: he upbraids them on account of their perfidiousness in despising the whole law and in violating the covenant. Although he employs these two words, law and covenant, in the same sense; yet, in placing the covenant first, he clearly shows that he is speaking not only of the moral law, the all-perfect rule of life, but of the whole service of God, of the truth and faithfulness of the divine promises, and of the trust which ought to be reposed in them, of invocation, and of the doctrine of true religion, the foundation whereof was the adoption. He therefore calls them covenant-breakers, because they had fallen from their trust in the promises, by which God had entered into covenant with them to be their Father. Yet he afterwards very properly adds the law, in which the covenant was sealed up, as it were, in public records. He aggravates the enormity of their guilt by the word refuse, which intimates that they were not simply carried away by a kind of thoughtless or inconsiderate recklessness, and thus sinned through giddiness, want of knowledge or foresight, but that they had purposely, and with deliberate obstinacy, violated the holy covenant of God.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv12, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 26, 30, 31, 32 He proveth that not only the posterity but also…
He proveth that not only the posterity but also their forefathers were wicked and rebellious to God.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv10–32 Psa 78:10 They kept not the covenant of God,…
Psa 78:10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;
Ver. 10. They kept not the covenant, &c.] And so betrayed themselves into the hands of divine justice, they were worthily worsted. See 2Ch 15:2.
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And refused to walk in his law] They were set upon it, and would not be ruled by their father Ephraim, or any other that counselled them to the contrary; and haply said the like to them that Archidamus did to his too daring son, Aut viribus adde aut animis adime, Either add to thy forces or abate of thy courage.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 Their disobedience was accompanied with obstinacy and contempt of…
Their disobedience was accompanied with obstinacy and contempt of God’s laws.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv10–32 They kept not the covenant of God,.... Either the…
They kept not the covenant of God,.... Either the covenant of circumcision, which was neglected during their travels through the wilderness, Jos 5:5 or the covenant made with the people of Israel at Mount Sinai, Exo 24:7 and this is to be understood not of the children of Ephraim only, but of the Israelites in general, who in many instances broke the covenant, and were not steadfast in it, Psa 78:37; see Gill on Jer 31:32.
and refused to walk in his law; the law of God, which was given forth by him, by the disposition of angels, through the hands of a mediator, Moses, as a rule of their walk and conversation; but they refused to order their conversation according to it, being unwilling to be subject to it, but despised and cast it away; a sad instance of the corruption of human nature, and the depravity of man's will, boasted of for its freedom, yet what is common, and to be observed in all mankind.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 31 Field - In the territory. Zoan - An ancient…
Field - In the territory. Zoan - An ancient and eminent city of Egypt.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv10, 12, 13, 18, 22, 24, 25, 26, 32 Verse 10. They kept not the covenant of God]…
Verse 10. They kept not the covenant of God] They abandoned his worship, both moral and ritual. They acted like the Ephraimites in the above case, who threw down their bows and arrows, and ran away.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv10, 12, 17, 21, 23, 25, 26, 30 Psa 78:10-11. They kept not the covenant of God…
Psa 78:10-11. They kept not the covenant of God — Their cowardice was the effect of their unbelief and disobedience; and refused to walk in his law — Their disobedience was accompanied with obstinacy and contempt of God’s laws. And forgat his works — Not historically, but practically. They did not so remember them as to love, and serve, and trust in that God, of whose infinite power and goodness they had had such ample experience.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv10–32 They kept not the covenant of God - The…
They kept not the covenant of God - The covenant which God had made with the entire Hebrew people. They did not maintain their allegiance to Yahweh. Compare Deu 4:13, Deu 4:23; Deu 17:2.
And refused to walk in his law - Refused to obey his law. They rebelled against him.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32 10. They kept not the covenant of God—As already…
10. They kept not the covenant of God—As already stated, they had forsaken God, and God had now forsaken them, and this was the real cause of their cowardice, which is here set down as crime. We must understand Ephraim, not exclusively, but as the leading tribe, and responsible for the day’s disasters, especially for the capture of the ark, which had been taken from Shiloh contrary to the will of God.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 10. the covenant of God] See Exo_19:5; Exo_24:3; Exo_24:7-8.
10. the covenant of God] See Exo_19:5; Exo_24:3; Exo_24:7-8.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32 (12) Field of Zoan.—See Num_13:22. It is the classical…
(12) Field of Zoan.—See Num_13:22. It is the classical “Tanis,” merely a corruption of Tsoan, i.e., low country (LXX. and Vulgate). Tanis is situated on the east bank of what was formerly called the Tanitic branch of the Nile. Between it and Pelusium, about thirty miles to the east, stretched a rich plain known as “the marshes,” or “the pastures,” or “the field” of Zoan.
The psalm now turns to the adventures in the wilderness, postponing the marvels in Egypt till Psa_78:43.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 They kept not the covenant of God. (comp. Deu_29:25…
They kept not the covenant of God. (comp. Deu_29:25 Deu_31:20 1Ki_19:10, 1Ki_19:14, etc.) And refused to walk in his law. (see Jud 2:11-13 8:33 10:10)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv10–32 Ver. 10. They kept not the covenant of God.…
Ver. 10. They kept not the covenant of God. Vows and promises were broken, idols were set up, and the living God was forsaken. They were brought out of Egypt in order to be a people separated unto the Lord, but they fell into the sins of other nations, and did not maintain a pure testimony for the one only true God.
And refused to walk in his law. They gave way to fornication, and idolatry, and other violations of the decalogue, and were often in a state of rebellion against the benign theocracy under which they lived. They had pledged themselves at Sinai to keep the law, and then they wilfully disobeyed it, and so became covenant breakers.
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Ver. 10. Walk in his law. Note, we must walk in the law of God, this is that narrow and sacred way which Christ traces before us. At Athens there was iera odov, the sacred way, by which, as Harpocratio relates, the priests of the mysteries travelled to Elusin. At Rome also there was a way which was called Via Sacra. To us also there is a way to the skies, consecrated by the footsteps of the saints. It behooves us therefore not to loiter, but to be ever on the march. Thomas Le Blanc.
Ver. 10-11. The gradations of sin: neglecting, rejecting, forgetting God. C. D.
Psalms 78:11*
Ver. 10-11. The gradations of sin: neglecting, rejecting, forgetting God. C. D.
Psalms 78:12*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 30, 32 In the daytime also He led them with a…
Psa_78:14
In the daytime also He led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
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Day and night leading
Did some man imagine this? I thank him. It was worth being born to imagine this conception of God. It is so tender, so fatherlike; it is charged to the full with inspiration of the best kind; it makes all things feel securer; it brings to the soul contributions from all quarters, contributions that increase its wealth, that improve its quality, that inspire its courage,
1. A startling statement that people were led in the daytime. Surely there is no need for leadership in the season of light. We have reason, experience, natural sagacity, human society, a thousand other ministries all operating in the daytime: what need have we for divinity, supernaturalness, providence--that higher rule which is called Divine? A very proper question, admitting of a very satisfactory reply. It is in the daytime men go most astray. Very few people go astray at night. There is a natural fear, which becomes a natural caution and restriction of liberty, and men say they had better wait until the light comes before they go out on any adventure. How tempting is the daylight I How well it would have been for some men had there been no daylight! How much there is in that daylight to excite the spirit of adventure! Yet, properly used, it is the very blessing of God, the great opportunity of life--so nearly do death and life lie together. God led His people in the daytime with a cloud. It required a poet to think of that.
2. Even the night need not shut out the light of God: all the night He led them with a light of fire. There must be night. That is strange, but true. There must be darkness. Why cannot we always have holiday, festival, noontide? If we close the Bible, we do not alter the facts of life. Better keep the Bible at hand as the deepest and wisest interpreter of all the mystery of existence. The Bible comes into the night of our experience, and says, I will set it with stars all over, so that there shall not be room to put another diamond in all the coronal; and as for this cold night, I will light a fire--not a crackling flame, but a glowing fire--and the darkness shall make it the more precious. How Providence adapts its communications to circumstances. A cloud would have been no use at night; a fire would have been wholly out of keeping with the poetry of daylight. Providence knows what is best. The fitness of things is a religious argument. There is a shaping Hand about. What is my proof of the existence of God? My own lifetime, that is a tract I never bought, and cannot sell, and the more I read it the more I pray. Providence brings with it not only a light at night-time, but a light of fire. It might have been another light, but it would not have fitted all the occasion with so exquisite an adaptation. The night is cold, so the light is of fire. Other light may glare and dazzle, gleam upon the eyes so as to hurt the vision, but oh! there are two comforts in the household fire--the warmth and the light; not a light that could be seen afar, but a light just adapted to the next step or two--and so warm, it makes the house. And the fire is the crown of the winter. It is the very centre and joy of our Christmas festivity. However far you stray away in the snow it is the fire in the house that is getting ready for you the very delight of your enjoyment. There may be more barbarism than civilization, there may be more wickedness than goodness, there may be more desert than garden; and it is not for us to explain why these things should be or how they came to be; the counsel is in heaven, and we are living from without and from above, and by and by we shall be called in to hear how it all came to pass, and how the very darkness was made into a temple, how the very wilderness was needful for the culture of our life, and how our necessity was one of our chief riches. How regularly the day comes, how regularly the night; how regularly, therefore, the cloud and the pillar of glowing, illuminating fire. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Gods unceasing care
All the night! how much is often conveyed in that word all: to have lain awake all night without one snatch of sleep; to have tossed to and fro, all night, wondering how long the hours are; these are some of the experiences of those who are familiar with this little word all in connection with night. The soul has its seasons of protracted trial, when it speaks of all night. Long-continued temptations, or depressions, or struggles, make it talk of all night. And now, that which so cheers us is the thought that there is no night too long for God. He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep; whatever may be the length of our night the Lord is unwearied through it all. Mans watching is exemplified by the disciples in Gethsemane; Gods by the pillar of fire. Could ye not watch one hour? is the record of the one; all the night is the record of the other. Is it not a blessed thought that, however much we may weary our fellow-watchers, so that one by one they drop off, by reason of the weariness of the flesh, we never weary out our God! And as God watches with us if we be wakeful, so also He watches over us if we be at rest. We never can enjoy any real repose of soul unless it be in the consciousness that God is near us, above us, manifesting Himself for us. A watchful and a watching God is the believers warrant for repose; we repose beneath, when we are sure that He watches above. And Gods watch is an undivided one--all the night. He does not take us up, where another has laid us down. We have not to do with a new watcher, who has to learn from his predecessor all the peculiarities of our condition; where we are sore; how we must be handled; what are our peculiarities; what our special needs; it is the one watcher all through. And hence may Gods people be assured of true tenderness; and consummate skill; and an anticipation of all their needs; our Divine Watcher has been too long with us not to know all we want. (P. B. Power, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv22, 25 (See Scofield "Psa 2:12")
trusted
(See Scofield "Psa 2:12")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v12 The Narrative of God’s Deeds
The Narrative of God’s Deeds
v. 12. Marvelous things did He in the sight of their fathers, before the exodus, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan, this being the residence of the Pharaohs at the time of the deliverance from Egypt, Num 14:22. The miracles performed by Moses were probably all done in or near this capital, and it is mentioned also at a later date because it was located in the most easterly portion of Egypt, in the part nearest to the land of Canaan.
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v. 13. He divided the sea and caused them to pass through, Exo 14:21; and He made the waters to stand as an heap, Exo 15:8.
v. 14. In the daytime also He led them with a cloud and all the night with a light of fire, this pillar of fire being mentioned frequently in the account of the wilderness journey, Exo 13:21-22.
v. 15. He clave the rocks in the wilderness, on two different occasions, Exo 17:5; Num 20:11, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.
v. 16. He brought streams also out of the rock, in performing the miracles just referred to, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
v. 17. And they sinned yet more against Him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness, with their continual rebellious murmurings.
v. 18. And they tempted God in their heart, Mat 15:19, by asking meat for their lust, when they declared that their soul loathed the very sight of the manna, Num 11:4-6.
v. 19. Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
v. 20. Behold, He smote the rock that the waters gushed out and the streams overflowed, giving them water in rich abundance; can He give bread also? Can He provide flesh for His people? It was a blasphemous murmuring in the face of the great miracles performed for their benefit.
v. 21. Therefore the Lord heard this and was wroth, Numbers 11; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel,
v. 22. because they believed not in God, had no faith in the covenant God, and trusted not in His salvation, the deliverance which He had promised them;
v. 23. though He had commanded the clouds from above and opened the doors of heaven,
v. 24. and had rained down manna upon them to eat and had given them of the corn of heaven, miraculous food, Joh 6:31.
v. 25. Man did eat angels’ food, so called because it came down from heaven, Psa 105:40; He sent them meat to the full, all they needed to sustain their lives by the way.
v. 26. He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven, and by His power He brought in the south wind, the exact direction of the wind therefore being southeast, Num 11:31.
v. 27. He rained flesh also upon them as dust, in great abundance, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea, a day’s journey wide around their camp and two cubits high;
v. 28. and He let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.
v. 29. So they did eat and were well filled, falling upon the quails with the greatest greed; for He gave them their own desire.
v. 30. They were not estranged from their lust, they were still indulging their desire to the full; but while their meat was yet in their mouths,
v. 31. the wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them, those physically in the best condition, and smote down the chosen men of Israel, those in the fullness of their strength, Num 11:33.
v. 32. For all this they sinned still, refusing to let the punishments of the Lord lead them to repentance, and believed not for His wondrous works, even His miracles did not succeed in bringing about a lasting change of heart in them.
v. 33. Therefore their days did He consume in vanity, literally, "He caused their days to vanish in a breath," and their years in trouble, with abrupt speed, for by His decision all the members of the nation which were forty years of age at the time of the exodus died in the wilderness.
v. 34. When He slew them, then they sought Him, making a show at outward reformation, more from fear than from conviction; and they returned and enquired early after God, Num 21:7.
v. 35. And they remembered, with a repentance of fear, that God was their Rock, Deu 32:15-37, and the high God their Redeemer, from whom alone they might expect deliverance of body and soul.
v. 36. Nevertheless, they did flatter Him with their mouth, trying to appease Him with a feigned change of heart, and they lied unto Him with their tongues.
v. 37. For their heart was not right with Him, they were not sincere in their repentance, it was not a lasting sorrow which they felt, neither were they steadfast in His covenant, they did not prove themselves faithful.
v. 38. But He, being full of compassion, of merciful patience, forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not, especially since Moses interceded for them time and again; yea, many a time turned He His anger away and did not stir up all His wrath. Cf Num 14:20.
v. 39. For He remembered that they were but flesh, weak and sinful mortals; a wind that passeth away and cometh not again, altogether evanescent.
v. 40. How oft did they provoke Him in the wilderness, with rebellion upon rebellion, and grieve Him in the desert, troubling His loving fatherly heart with their unruly behavior.
v. 41. Yea, they turned back and tempted God, testing out His kindness in a total of ten temptations, Num 14:22, and limited the Holy One of Israel, worrying, troubling, vexing Him with their rebellious conduct.
v. 42. They remembered not His hand, outstretched as it had been for their deliverance, nor the day when He delivered them from the enemy, from the oppression of the Egyptians,
v. 43. how He had wrought His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the field of Zoan,
v. 12. the psalmist now turning to a recital of the plagues which God sent upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians in order to compel them to give Israel permission to leave,
v. 44. and had turned their rivers into blood, in the first general plague, Exo 7:17, and their floods, that they could not drink.
v. 45. He sent divers sorts of flies among them, the insect pests of the fourth plague, Exo 8:21-29, which devoured them, and frogs, in the second plague, Exo 8:2, which destroyed them.
v. 46. He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, literally, "the eater," the cricket, and their labor unto the locust, in the eighth plague, Exo 10:13-15.
v. 47. He destroyed their vines, the growth of which was a very important industry in ancient Egypt, with hail, in the seventh plague, Exo 9:23-25, and their sycomore-trees, the sycomore fig-trees of the Orient, with frost, great hailstones.
v. 48. He gave up their cattle also to the hail, Exo 9:23, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts, for the play of lightning accompanying the hail was unparalled, Exo 9:22-24.
v. 49. He cast upon them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them, that is, angels bringing all these misfortunes, destroying messengers of Jehovah.
v. 50. He made a way to His anger, giving it free rein; He spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence, in the plague of murrain, Exo 9:6;
v. 51. and smote all the first-born in Egypt, in the final plague, Exo 12:29; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham, in the habitations where the Egyptians, the descendants of Ham, dwelled;
v. 52. but made His own people to go forth like sheep, under His protecting leadership, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock, Psa 77:20.
v. 53. And He led them on safely, so that they feared not, there was no reason for worry or fear; but the sea overwhelmed their enemies, covering them, wiping them out.
v. 54. And He brought them to the border of His Sanctuary, literally, "to the boundary of His holiness," the region or land in which His holiness was to rule, even to this mountain, which His right hand had purchased, the Holy Land itself.
v. 55. He cast out the heathen also before them, under the leadership of Joshua, and divided them an inheritance by line, Jos 13:7, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents, every family in its own home, according to the allotment.
v. 56. Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, even after they were in possession of the Promised Land with all its blessings, Jdg 2:11, and kept not His testimonies, all the regulations intended for the guidance of their conduct,
v. 57. but turned back, aside from the prescribed path, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers, they apostatized from their promised loyalty to Jehovah; they were turned aside like a deceitful bow, one which turns back and thus fails to shoot the arrow placed upon it.
v. 58. For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, the altars on the hills devoted to idolatry, and moved Him to jealousy with their graven images, with the idols to which they turned in preference to Him.
v. 59. When God heard this, He was wroth, filled with indignation, and greatly abhorred Israel, although not to the point of total rejection,
v. 60. so that He forsook the Tabernacle of Shiloh, where it had first been erected after the conquest of the country, Jos 18:1; the tent which He placed among men, where He had promised to dwell and to reveal Himself to His people, for the Tabernacle was later erected near Gibeon, apparently on the hill between this town and Nob;
v. 61. and delivered His strength, namely, the Ark of the Covenant, into captivity, by letting the Philistines capture it, 1 Samuel 4, and His glory into the enemy’s hand, 1Sa 4:21-22.
v. 62. He gave His people over also unto the sword, 1Sa 4:10; and was wroth with His inheritance, with the people which belonged to Him by virtue of their deliverance.
v. 63. The fire, namely, that of wars, consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage, no marriage anthems were intoned in their honor, for they were killed or dragged into exile during the troublous times of the judges.
v. 64. Their priests fell by the sword, Hophni and Phinehas being examples, 1Sa 4:11; and their widows made no lamentation, being kept from the customary rites of mourning by the terrors of war. But then came the change of Israel’s fortunes.
v. 65. Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, for it had seemed to Israel that He had slumbered while the heathen were enslaving His people, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine, filled with heroic courage by its proper enjoyment.
v. 66. And He smote His enemies in the hinder parts, His blows raining down upon the backs, principally of the Philistines, who at that time were the chief enemies of Israel; he put them to a perpetual reproach, the disgrace recorded 1Sa 5:6.
v. 67. Moreover, He refused the Tabernacle of Joseph, taking it away from Shiloh, in the midst of the tribe of Ephraim, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim,
v. 68. but chose the tribe of Judah, the bearer of the Messianic promise, the Mount Zion which He loved, selecting Jerusalem as the city of His central Sanctuary.
v. 69. And He built his Sanctuary like high palaces, firm as the heights of heaven, most excellent and glorious, like the earth which He hath established forever, founded most solidly.
v. 70. He chose David also His servant, the ancestor of the Messiah, and took him from the sheepfolds, 1Sa 16:11;
v. 71. from following the ewes great with young He brought him to feed Jacob, His people, and Israel, His inheritance, the children of Israel being a type of the spiritual Israel, and David a type of the great Shepherd, the Messiah Himself, Isa 40:11.
v. 72. So he fed them, as their ruler, with all care and kindness, according to the integrity of his heart, striving after ever greater understanding of their needs, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands, with the proper appreciation of all that was best for them. Herein also David prefigured the great King of the Church, whose understanding of our needs and wants resulted in our eternal redemption.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv12, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 26, 29, 31 land of Zoan
land of Zoan
This refers to the area around the city of Zoan, which was in Egypt. (See: How to Translate Names)
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translationWords
amazed
Egypt
water
light
fire
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv12, 13, 14, 17, 23, 26, 32 78:12-16 The focus shifts from Ephraim (78:9-11) to Israel…
78:12-16 The focus shifts from Ephraim (78:9-11) to Israel as a whole as the psalmist reflects on God’s power in Egypt (see 81:4-7) and in the wilderness.
78:12 The miracles are the ten plagues against Egypt that God performed during Israel’s captivity (Exod 7–12).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.