Bible Commentaries

Alphabetical Song in Praise of Those Who Fear God

The alphabetical Hallelujah Psalm 111:1-10, which celebrated the government of God, is now followed by another coinciding with it in structure ((CTYXOC) (KB), i.e., 22 στίχοι , as the Coptic version correctly counts), which celebrates the men whose conduct is ordered after the divine pattern.

As in the preceding Psalm. Psalm 112:1 here also sets forth the theme of thatwhich follows. What is there said in Psalm 112:3 concerning the righteousness ofGod, Psalm 112:3 here says of the righteousness of him who fears God: this alsostandeth fast for ever, it is indeed the copy of the divine, it is the work andgift of God (Psalm 24:5), inasmuch as God's salutary action and behaviour,laid hold of in faith, works a like form of action and behaviour to it in man,which, as Psalm 112:9 says, is, according to its nature, love. The promise in Psalm 112:4 sounds like Isaiah 60:2. Hengstenberg renders: “There ariseth in the darknesslight to the upright who is gracious and compassionate and just.” But thisis impossible as a matter of style. The three adjectives (as in Psalm 111:4,pointing back to Exodus 34:6, cf. Psalm 145:8; Psalm 116:5) are a mention of Godaccording to His attributes. חנּוּן and רחוּם nevertake the article in Biblical Hebrew, and צדּיק follows theirexamples here (cf. on the contrary, Exodus 9:27). God Himself is the light which arises in darkness for those who are sincerein their dealings with Him; He is the Sun of righteousness with wings ofrays dispensing “grace” and “tender mercies,” Malachi 4:2. The fact thatHe arises for those who are compassionate as He is compassionate, isevident from Psalm 112:5. טוב being, as in Isaiah 3:10; Jeremiah 44:17, intended ofwell-being, prosperity, טּוב אישׁ is here equivalent toאשׁרי אישׁ, which is rendered טוּביהּ דּגברא inTargumic phrase. חונן signifies, as in Psalm 37:26, Psalm 37:21, one whocharitably dispenses his gifts around. Psalm 112:5 is not an extension of thepicture of virtue, but, as in Psalm 127:5 , a promissory prospect: he will upholdin integrity (בּמשׁפּט, Psalm 72:2, Isaiah 9:7, and frequently), or rather(= בּמּשׁפּט) in the cause (Psalm 143:2, Proverbs 24:23, and frequently),the things which depend upon him, or with which he has to do; for כּלכּל, sustinere, signifies to sustain, i.e., to nourish, to sustain, i.e., endure, and also to support, maintain, i.e., carry through. This is explanatorily confirmed in Psalm 112:6: he stands, as a general thing, imperturbably fast. And when he dies he becomes the object of everlasting remembrance, his name is still blessed (Proverbs 10:7). Because he has a cheerful conscience, his heart too is not disconcerted by any evil tidings (Jeremiah 49:23): it remains נכון, erect, straight and firm, without suffering itself to bend or warp; בּטח בּה, full of confidence (passive, “in the sense of a passive state after a completed action of the person himself,” like זכוּר, Psalm 103:14); סמוּך, stayed in itself and established. The last two designations are taken from Isaiah 26:3, where it is the church of the last times that is spoken of. Psalm 91:8 gives us information with reference to the meaning of ראה בצריו; עד, as in Psalm 94:13, of the inevitable goal, on this side of which he remains undismayed. 2 Corinthians 9:9, where Paul makes use of Psalm 112:9 of the Psalm before us as an encouragement to Christian beneficence, shows how little the assertion “his righteousness standeth for ever” is opposed to the New Testament consciousness. פּזּר of giving away liberally and in manifold ways, as in Proverbs 11:24. רוּם, Psalm 112:9 , stands in opposition to the egoistical הרים in Psalm 75:5 as a vegetative sprouting up (Psalm 132:17). The evil-doer must see this, and confounded, vex himself over it; he gnashes his teeth with the rage of envy and chagrin, and melts away, i.e., loses consistency, becomes unhinged, dies off (נמס, 3d praet. Niph. as in Exodus 16:21, pausal form of נמס = נמס). How often has he desired the ruin of him whom he must now see in honour! The tables are turned; this and his ungodly desire in general come to nought, inasmuch as the opposite is realized. On יראה, with its self-evident object, cf. Micah 7:10. Concerning the pausal form וכעס, vid., Psalm 93:1. Hupfeld wishes to read תּקות after Psalm 9:19, Proverbs 10:28. In defence of the traditional reading, Hitzig rightly points to Proverbs 10:24 together with Proverbs 10:28.