Bible Commentaries

The Deliverer from Death in Waters and in a Snare

The statement “the stream had gone over our soul” of this fifth Son ofdegrees, coincides with the statement “our soul is full enough” of thefourth; the two Psalms also meet in the synonymous new formationsגּאיונים and זידונים, which also look very much asthough they were formed in allusion to contemporary history. Theלדוד is wanting in the lxx, Codd. Alex. and Vat., here as in Psalm 122:1-9, and with the exception of the Targum is wanting in general in theancient versions, and therefore is not so much as established as a point oftextual criticism. It is a Psalm in the manner of the Davidic Psalms, towhich it is closely allied in the metaphors of the overwhelming waters,Psalm 18:5, Psalm 18:17 (cf. Psalm 144:7), Psalm 69:2., and of the little bird; cf. also on לוּלי; Psalm 27:13, on אדם used of hostile men Psalm 56:12, on בּלע חיּים; Psalm 55:16, on בּרוּך ה Psalm 28:6; Psalm 31:22. This beautiful songmakes its modern origin known by its Aramaizing character, and by thedelight, after the manner of the later poetry, in all kinds of embellishmentsof language. The art of the form consists less in strophic symmetry than inthis, that in order to take one step forward it always goes back half a step. Luther's imitation (1524), “Were God not with us at this time” (Wäre Gottnicht mit uns diese Zeit), bears the inscription “The true believers'safeguard.”

It is commonly rendered, “If it had not been Jahve who was forus.” But, notwithstanding the subject that is placed first (cf. Genesis 23:13),the שׁ belongs to the לוּלי; since in the AramaizingHebrew (cf. on the other hand Genesis 31:42) לוּלי שׁ (cf. Arab. (lawlâ) (an)) signifies (nisi) (prop. nisi quod), as in the Aramaic (דּ) שׁ (לואי) לוי, o si(prop. o si quod). The אזי, peculiar to this Psalm in the OldTestament, instead of אז follows the model of the dialectic אדין, Arab. (iḏan), Syr. (hāden) (הידין, הדין). In order to beginthe apodosis of לוּלי (לוּלא) emphatically the olderlanguage makes use of the confirmatory כּי, Genesis 31:42; Genesis 43:10; herewe have אזי (well rendered by the lxx á), as in Psalm 119:92. The (Lamed) of היה לנו is (raphe) in bothinstances, according to the rule discussed above, p. 373. When men(אדם) rose up against Israel and their anger was kindled againstthem, they who were feeble in themselves over against the hostile worldwould have been swallowed up alive if they had not had Jahve for them, ifthey had not had Him on their side. This “swallowing up alive” is saidelsewhere of Hades, which suddenly and forcibly snatches away itsvictims, Psalm 55:16; Proverbs 1:12; here, however, as Psalm 124:6 shows, it is said of theenemies, who are represented as wild beasts. In Psalm 124:4 the hostile powerwhich rolls over them is likened to an overflowing stream, as in Isaiah 8:7.,the Assyrian. נחלה, a stream or river, is (Milel); it is first of allaccusative: towards the stream (Numbers 34:5); then, however, it is also usedas a nominative, like לילה, המּותה, and the like (cf. common Greek çíõçíåï); so that תה - isrelated to ת -(ה -) as נה -, מו - to ן -and ם -(Böttcher,§615). These latest Psalms are fond of such embellishments by means of adornedforms and Aramaic or Aramaizing words. זידונים is a wordwhich is indeed not unhebraic in its formation, but is more indigenous toChaldee; it is the Targum word for זדים in Psalm 86:14; Psalm 119:51, Psalm 119:78 (also in Psalm 54:5 for זרים), although according to Levy the MSS do notpresent זידונין but זידנין. In the passage before us the Targum renders: the king who is like to the proud waters (למוי זידוניּא) of the sea (Antiochus Epiphanes? - a Scholium explains οἱ ὑπερήφανοι ). With reference to עבר before a plural subject, vid., Ges. §147.

After the fact of the divine succour has been expressed, in Psalm 124:6 follows thethanksgiving for it, and in Psalm 124:7 the joyful shout of the rescued one. In Psalm 124:6 the enemies are conceived of as beasts of prey on account of theirbloodthirstiness, just as the worldly empires are in the Book of Daniel; inPsalm 124:7 as “fowlers” on account of their cunning. According to thepunctuation it is not to be rendered: Our soul is like a bird that is escaped,in which case it would have been accented בפשׁנו כצפור, but: our soul(subject with Rebia magnum) is as a bird (כּצפור as in Hosea 11:11; Proverbs 23:32; Job 14:2, instead of the syntactically more usual כּצּפור) escapedout of the snare of him who lays snares (יוקשׁ, elsewhere יקושׁ, יקוּשׁ, a fowler, Psalm 91:3). נשׁבר (with (ā) besideRebia) is 3rd praet.: the snare was burst, and we - we became free. In Psalm 124:8 (cf. Psalm 121:2; Psalm 134:3) the universal, and here pertinent thought, viz., thehelp of Israel is in the name of Jahve, the Creator of the world, i.e., in Himwho is manifest as such and is continually verifying Himself, forms theepiphonematic close. Whether the power of the world seeks to make thechurch of Jahve like to itself or to annihilate it, it is not a disavowal of itsGod, but a faithful confession, stedfast even to death, that leads to itsdeliverance.