Commentary on Psalms Volume 2 John Calvin
COMMENTARY ON PSALMS - VOLUME 2 to take it for arrows. Even birds are sometimes metaphorically so called, on account of their swiftness; and flying is attributed to arrows in Psalm 91:6
It is farther added, (verse 4th,) that God is more glorious and terrible than the mountains of prey By the mountains of prey, is meant kingdoms distinguished for their violence and extortion. We know that from the beginning, he who exercised himself most in robbery and pillage, was the man who most enlarged his borders and became greatest. The Psalmist, therefore, here compares those great kings, who had acquired large dominions by violence and the shedding of human blood, to savage beasts, who live only upon prey, and their kingdoms to mountains covered with forests, which are inhabited by beasts inured to live by the destruction of other animals. The enemies of God's ancient people had been accustomed to make violent and furious assaults upon Jerusalem; but it is affirmed that God greatly surpassed them all in power that the faithful might not be overwhelmed with terror.
5. The stout-hearted were spoiled, The power of God in destroying his enemies is here exalted by another form of expression. The verb,אשתוללו eshtolelu, which we translate were spoiled, is derived from,שללshalal, and the letter,אaleph, is put instead of the letter,הhe. 751 Some translate, were made fools; 752 but this is too forced. I, however, admit that it is of
"The Hebrew[ ,רשףhere rendered arrows,] signifies fire, Job 5:7, where 'sparks that fly upward' are poetically expressed by' ,רשף בניthe sons of the fire.' By metaphor it is applies to an 'arrow' or 'dart' shot out of a bow, and, by the swiftness of the motion, supposed to be inflamed. See Cant. 8, 6, where of love it is said, (not the coals, but) 'the arrows thereof are arrows of fire,' it shoots, and wounds, and burns a man's heart, inflames it vehemently by wounding it. The poetical expression will best be preserved by retaining some trace of the primary sense in the rendering of it — 'fires or lightnings of the bow,' i e., those hostile weapons which are most furious and formidable, as fire shot out from a bow." — Hammond Parkhurst renders "glittering flashing arrows," or rather, "fiery, or fire-bearing arrows;" such as, it is certain, were used in after times in sieges and in battles; the βελη πεπυρωμενα of the Greeks, to which Paul alludes in Ephesians 6:16, and the phalarica of the Romans, which Servius (on Virgil, Æn. lib. 9, 5, 705) describes as a dart or javelin with a spherical leaden head, to which combustible matter was attached, which being set on fire, the weapon was darted against the enemy; and when thrown by a powerful hand, it killed those whom it hit, and set fire to buildings. Walford has, "fiery arrows." "The arrows," says he, "are described as fiery, to denote either the rapidity of their motion, or that they were tinged with some poisonous drugs to render them more deadly."
The verb is in the praet. hithpahel; and it has,אaleph, instead of,הhe, according to the Chaldaic language, which changes,הthe Hebrew characteristic of hiphil and hithpahel intoא
As the verb signifies, has plundered, spoiled; and as it is here in the praet. hithpahel, which generally denotes reciprocal action, that is, acting on one's self, it has been here rendered by some, despoiled themselves of mind, were mad, furious. Hammond reads, "The stout-hearted have despoiled or disarmed themselves." The Chaldee paraphrase is, "They have cast away their weapons."
JOHN CALVIN
the same import, as if it had been said, that they were deprived of wisdom and courage; but we must adhere to the proper signification of the word. What is added in the second clause is to the same purpose, All the men of might have not found their hands 753 that is to say, they were as incapable of fighting as if their hands had been maimed or cut off. In short, their strength, of which they boasted, was utterly overthrown. The words, they slept their sleep, 754 refer to the same subject; implying that whereas before they were active and resolute, their hearts now failed them, and they were sunk asleep in sloth and listlessness. The meaning, therefore, is, that the enemies of the chosen people were deprived of that heroic courage of which they boasted, and which inspired them with such audacity; and that, in consequence, neither mind, nor heart, nor hands, none either of their mental or bodily faculties, could perform their office. We are thus taught that all the gifts and power which men seem to possess are in the hand of God, so that he can, at any instant of time, deprive them of the wisdom which he has given them, make their hearts effeminate, render their hands unfit for war, and annihilate their whole strength. It is not without reason that both the courage and power of these enemies are magnified; the design of this being, that the faithful might be led, from the contrast, to extol the power and working of God. The same subject is farther confirmed from the statement, that the chariot and the horse were cast into a deep sleep at the rebuke of God 755 This implies, that whatever activity characterised these enemies, it was rendered powerless, simply by the nod of God. Although, therefore, we may be deprived of all created means of help, let us rest contented with the favor of God alone, accounting it all-sufficient, since he has no need of great
",מצאו לא ידיהםmay be rendered have not found their hands, i e., have not been able to use them for resistance, for the offending others, or even for their own defense." — Hammond The Chaldee paraphrase is, "They could not take their weapons in their hands," i e., they could not use their hands to manage their weapons. In the Septuagint, the reading is, εὕρον οὐδὲν ταῖς χερσιν αὐτῶν; "they found nothing with their hands," i e., they were able to do nothing with them: the vast army of Assyrians, the most warlike and victorious then in the world, achieved nothing, but "returned with shame to face to their own land," (2 Chronicles 32:21.)
"They slept their sleep." "They slept, but never waked again." — Hammond. There may be here a direct allusion to the catastrophe which befell the Assyrian army during the night, when, as they were fast asleep in their tents, a hundred and eighty-five thousand of them were at once slain, Isaiah 37:36.
The chariot and horse may be put poetically for charioteers and horsemen. Chariots formed a most important part of the array in the battles of the ancients. See Judges 4:3. Instead of "both the chariot and the horse," Horsley reads, "both the rider and the horse." "It is not improbable," says he, "that the pestilence in Sennacherib's army might seize the horses as well as the men, although the death of the beasts is not mentioned by the sacred historian."