Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John Calvinthat the whole nation is represented under the tribes specified, which were at once the nearest andmost distant. 50 These conjectures 51 are probable enough, but the point is one which may be left inuncertainty, as there may have been some other reason, which it is impossible for us to discover.It has been suggested that Benjamin is called little on account of the smallness of its numbers, thetribe having been nearly exterminated for the crime of the men of Gibeah, (Judges 19:20;) butDavid would not probably have adverted to any reproach of this kind in calling them to take soprominent a part in the praises of God. 52 The inspired writers, in speaking of the tribes, often alludeto the patriarchs from whom they respectively took their origin; nor is it surprising that the posterityof Benjamin, who was the youngest of Jacob’s children, 53 should receive the designation here givento them; and the truth is, that even antecedently to the heavy stroke which befell them, they werenot numerous. Interpreters, by general consent, have considered that Benjamin is called ruler, asSaul, who was first made king in Israel, belonged to this tribe; but I cannot bring myself to thinkit probable that David would have made such an unseasonable allusion to Saul’s memory, whosegovernment is everywhere represented in Scripture as pregnant with disaster, and which was to beburied in that of his successor, whose reign is so prominently brought forward in this psalm. Themore likely conjecture is, that this title of dignity is applied in order to put honor upon a tribe, whichsome might despise for its smallness, and to intimate that the Benjamites, though few in numbers,and not possessed of great influence, formed one head in Israel as well as the rest. 54 Others maybe disposed to think that there must have been some illustrious individual in this and the two tribesmentioned along with it, or that the whole tribe had signalised itself in a recent battle. Thoughhonorable mention is made of these tribes, yet the chief place in the numbers assembled togetherat this time is assigned to the princes of Judah. Some think that the copulative is understood, andread, the princes of Judah and their congregation The Hebrew word which we translate congregationis by others translated stoning. 55 But it seems preferable to construe the words as implying that this50 Why these tribes in particular? May it be, Judah (having, instead of Reuben, succeeded to the blessing which conveyed theprivilege of having the Chief Ruler and Messiah of his line) and Benjamin ( ) the youngest? or Judah and Benjamin, as two ofthe tribes most southern and nearest to Jerusalem; and Zebulun and Naphtali, as two of the most northern and most remote? asanother way of expressing ‘from Dan to Beersheba,’ to include them all.” — Dr Lowth51 Of other conjectures the following are a specimen: “As for Zebulun and Naphtali, why their names are here added ratherthan any of the other tribes, the reason may, perhaps, best be taken from what we find prophesied of those two (Genesis 49 andDeuteronomy 33 and Judges 5.) by Jacob and Moses and Deborah, that learning and knowledge should be most eminent in thosetwo tribes. Of Naphtali it is said, (Genesis 49:21,) ‘Naphtali is a hind let loose; he giveth goodly words;’ and of Zebulun, (Judges5:14,) ‘They shall handle the pen of the writer.’” — Hammond. “It then specifies the tribes of Judah, Zebulun, and Naphtali, notas if they were the only tribes present, but as occupying, perhaps, the foremost ranks of the procession, and followed by all theother tribes.” — Walford.52 “Car David appelant yci ceux qui devoyent faire le plus grand devoir et estre les premiers a annoncer les louanges de Dieu,n’eust pas fait mention de ceste acte qui estoit ignominieux, et tendoit grandement a leur deshonneur.” — Fr.53 The Septuagint has, “There is Benjamin the younger.” He was the son of Jacob’s old age; and to this there is an allusion inthe name, which is compounded of , ben, a son, and , yamin, of days, (according to the Chaldee plural termination, , yin,)intimating that he was the son of his father’s old age, (Genesis 44:20,) and not, as is commonly said, the son of my right hand— Bythner54 “Caput tamen unum efficere.” — Lat. “Font toutesfois un chef comme les autres lignees.” — Fr.55 The word , rigmatham, here translated congregation or assembly, signifies, according to Parkhurst, a heap of stones fordefence, a bulwark of stones; and he considers it to be here applied metaphorically to the princes of Judah, who, so to speak,were the bulwark of Israel. Horsley adopts the same reading: “The princes of Judah their bulwark.” Hammond, after stating thatthe word signifies a stone, observes, that it “is here used in a metaphorical sense for a ruler or governor, as a foundation-stonewhich supports the whole building may fitly be applied to a commonwealth, and then signify the prince thereof.” In this sensethe LXX., no doubt, understood , rigmatham, who render it ἡγεμόνες αὐτων, “their governors.” “It may mean,” says Pike,in his Hebrew Lexicon, “their supreme authority, signified by stoning, a capital punishment among the Israelites, in the same21