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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Psalm 105 Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/psalms/1051.htm" /><link href='//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Cardo&subset=greek-ext' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/psalms/105.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/psalms/105-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/commentaries/">Commentary</a> > <a href="../">Cambridge</a> > <a href="../psalms/">Psalm</a></div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../psalms/104.htm" title="Psalm 104">◄</a> Psalm 105 <a href="../psalms/106.htm" title="Psalm 106">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges</div><div class="chap">The two historical Psalms which stand at the end of Book iv. are closely related. Psalms 105 is a Psalm of thanksgiving, recapitulating the marvellous works by which Jehovah demonstrated His faithfulness to the covenant which He made with Abraham. Psalms 106 is a Psalm of penitence, reciting the history of Israel’s faithlessness and disobedience. They present, so to speak, the obverse and reverse of Israel’s history; the common prophetic theme of Jehovah’s lovingkindness and Israel’s ingratitude. They have much in common with Psalms 78, with which their author was evidently familiar; but that Psalm is distinguished by its didactic and monitory character, and it combines the two strands of thought which are here separated.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>Such a recital of the proofs of Jehovah’s faithfulness as is contained in Psalms 105 was very suitable as an encouragement to the community of the Restoration. If God had preserved the patriarchs, and made a nomad family into a strong nation, giving them possession of the land through which they wandered as strangers, He could again fulfil His purposes even through the feeble body of returned exiles (<a href="/isaiah/60-22.htm" title="A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.">Isaiah 60:22</a>). That these Psalms belong to the period after the Return from Babylon is evident, for they presuppose not only the Exile (<a href="/psalms/106-47.htm" title="Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks to your holy name, and to triumph in your praise.">Psalm 106:47</a>) but the restoration of the Temple-worship. <a href="/psalms/106-47.htm" title="Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks to your holy name, and to triumph in your praise.">Psalm 106:47</a>, which at first sight might seem to imply that no return had yet taken place, must be understood as a prayer for the completion of the restoration by the return of the Israelites from all the countries in which they were scattered. The repeated call to “give thanks to Jehovah,” to “praise Jah” corresponds exactly to the terms in which the function of the Levites is described in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles (<a href="/ezra/3-11.htm" title="And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks to the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endures for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.">Ezra 3:11</a>; <a href="/nehemiah/12-24.htm" title="And the chief of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers over against them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, ward over against ward.">Nehemiah 12:24</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/16-4.htm" title="And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel:">1 Chronicles 16:4</a>; &c.). On the other hand these Psalms are earlier than Chronicles (c. 300 b.c.). The festal anthem which the Chronicler introduces on the occasion of the translation of the Ark to Zion is a combination of <a href="/context/psalms/105-1.htm" title="O give thanks to the LORD; call on his name: make known his deeds among the people....">Psalm 105:1-15</a> (= <a href="/context/1_chronicles/16-8.htm" title="Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name, make known his deeds among the people....">1 Chronicles 16:8-22</a>) with Psalms 96 (= <a href="/context/1_chronicles/16-23.htm" title="Sing to the LORD, all the earth; show forth from day to day his salvation....">1 Chronicles 16:23-33</a>) and <a href="/psalms/106-1.htm" title="Praise you the LORD. O give thanks to the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.">Psalm 106:1</a>; <a href="/context/psalms/106-47.htm" title="Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks to your holy name, and to triumph in your praise....">Psalm 106:47-48</a> (= <a href="/context/1_chronicles/16-34.htm" title="O give thanks to the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endures for ever....">1 Chronicles 16:34-36</a>). It is certain that the Psalms stand in their original form in the Psalter, and that the anthem in Chronicles is merely a compilation; for <a href="/context/psalms/105-1.htm" title="O give thanks to the LORD; call on his name: make known his deeds among the people....">Psalm 105:1-14</a> is clearly but a portion of a connected poem, while there is an entire absence of connexion in Chron. between <span class="ital"><a href="/context/psalms/105-22.htm" title="To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom....">Psalm 105:22-23</a></span>, and between <span class="ital"><a href="/context/psalms/105-33.htm" title="He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and broke the trees of their coasts....">Psalm 105:33-34</a></span>. A theory has been advanced that the anthem is a later insertion in Chronicles, and consequently that the date of Chronicles does not fix a limit for the date of the Psalms; but this theory is improbable.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>Though there is no marked strophical arrangement in Psalms 105, there is a certain symmetry in its plan. It consists of four nearly equal divisions.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>i. The Israelites, as the seed of Abraham, the children of Jacob, are summoned to praise Jehovah for His faithfulness to His covenant with the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (<a href="/context/psalms/105-1.htm" title="O give thanks to the LORD; call on his name: make known his deeds among the people....">Psalm 105:1-12</a>).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>ii. He guarded them in their wanderings, and led Jacob into Egypt, after He had prepared the way by sending Joseph before him (<a href="/context/psalms/105-13.htm" title="When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people;...">Psalm 105:13-24</a>).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>iii. When the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites, He displayed His power in the judgements which led to their release (<a href="/context/psalms/105-25.htm" title="He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtly with his servants....">Psalm 105:25-36</a>).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>iv. He brought them out of Egypt, protected them and provided for their wants in the wilderness, and settled them in the land of Canaan, that they might serve Him by grateful obedience to His laws (<a href="/context/psalms/105-37.htm" title="He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes....">Psalm 105:37-45</a>).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-1.htm">Psalm 105:1</a></div><div class="verse">O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.</div><span class="bld">1</span>. The LXX is probably right in placing <span class="ital">Hallelujah</span> at the beginning of this Psalm instead of at the end of Psalms 104. The two companion Psalms 103, 104 will then begin and end with <span class="ital">Bless ye Jehovah</span>; and the two companion Psalms 105, 106 will begin and end with <span class="ital">Hallelujah</span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>The first verse is taken verbatim from <a href="/isaiah/12-4.htm" title="And in that day shall you say, Praise the LORD, call on his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.">Isaiah 12:4</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">O give thanks unto the Lord</span>] The LXX renders <span class="greekheb">ἐξομολογεῖσθε</span>, hence Vulg. and Jer. <span class="ital">confitemini</span>, ‘make confession,’ which may possibly be the primary meaning, from which the word derives its general sense <span class="ital">to praise</span> or <span class="ital">give thanks</span>. Psalms 106, 107, 118, 136 begin with the same invitation.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>It is natural to connect these Psalms in which “Give thanks unto Jehovah” and “Praise ye Jah” (Hallelujah) recur so frequently with the function of the Levites “to praise and to give thanks” (<a href="/1_chronicles/16-4.htm" title="And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel:">1 Chronicles 16:4</a>; <a href="/ezra/3-11.htm" title="And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks to the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endures for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.">Ezra 3:11</a>; <a href="/nehemiah/12-24.htm" title="And the chief of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers over against them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, ward over against ward.">Nehemiah 12:24</a>; &c.), and to regard them as composed expressly for the service of the Second Temple.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">call upon his name</span>] Rather, proclaim his name, as in <a href="/exodus/33-19.htm" title="And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.">Exodus 33:19</a>; <a href="/context/exodus/34-5.htm" title="And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD....">Exodus 34:5-6</a>; cp. <a href="/deuteronomy/32-3.htm" title="Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe you greatness to our God.">Deuteronomy 32:3</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">make known</span> his doings among the peoples] It was Israel’s mission to proclaim to the world Jehovah’s revelation of His character made known to them in the facts of their history. Cp. <a href="/psalms/9-11.htm" title="Sing praises to the LORD, which dwells in Zion: declare among the people his doings.">Psalm 9:11</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">1–6</span>. The Israelites are summoned to proclaim to all the nations Jehovah’s mighty doings for His people, and to stir up their own hearts to praise and thanksgiving by the recollection of His marvellous works.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="2"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-2.htm">Psalm 105:2</a></div><div class="verse">Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.</div><span class="bld">2</span>. <span class="ital">sing psalms</span>] Or, make melody. Cp. <a href="/psalms/92-1.htm" title="IT IS A GOOD THING TO GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, AND TO SING PRAISES UNTO THY NAME, O MOST HIGH:">Psalm 92:1</a>, note.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">talk ye</span>] R.V. marg., <span class="ital">meditate</span>: cp. <a href="/psalms/104-34.htm" title="My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.">Psalm 104:34</a>. The primary meaning of the word is probably <span class="ital">to occupy oneself diligently with</span>: hence either <span class="ital">to meditate upon</span>, or as context and parallelism require here and in <a href="/psalms/140-5.htm" title="The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah.">Psalm 140:5</a>, <span class="ital">to speak, discourse of</span>, a meaning which the word regularly has in post-Biblical Heb.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">his wondrous works</span>] R.V., as A.V. in <span class="ital"><a href="/psalms/105-5.htm" title="Remember his marvelous works that he has done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;">Psalm 105:5</a></span>, his marvellous works. Cp. <a href="/psalms/96-3.htm" title="Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.">Psalm 96:3</a>, and see note on <a href="/psalms/9-1.htm" title="I will praise you, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will show forth all your marvelous works.">Psalm 9:1</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="3"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-3.htm">Psalm 105:3</a></div><div class="verse">Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.</div><span class="bld">3</span>. <span class="ital">Glory ye in his holy name</span>] Cp. <a href="/isaiah/41-16.htm" title="You shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and you shall rejoice in the LORD, and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.">Isaiah 41:16</a>; and see note on <a href="/psalms/103-1.htm" title="Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.">Psalm 103:1</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">let the heart</span> &c.] True devotion leads to deep inward joy which will find expression in thanksgiving. Cp. <a href="/nehemiah/8-10.htm" title="Then he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy to our LORD: neither be you sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.">Nehemiah 8:10</a>; <a href="/context/acts/2-46.htm" title="And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,...">Acts 2:46-47</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="4"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-4.htm">Psalm 105:4</a></div><div class="verse">Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.</div><span class="bld">4</span>. Two synonymous words are rendered <span class="ital">seek</span> in this verse. Both originally referred to the outward act of visiting the sanctuary, but both come to express the inward purpose of the heart as well. So far as they can be distinguished the first denotes the attitude of loving devotion, the second that of inquiry or supplication. To ‘seek Jehovah’ is the duty and the joy of the true Israelite. From His strength and presence alone can Israel derive the protection and blessing that it needs. <span class="ital">His strength</span> cannot here mean the Ark, as in <a href="/psalms/78-61.htm" title="And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand.">Psalm 78:61</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="5"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-5.htm">Psalm 105:5</a></div><div class="verse">Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;</div><span class="bld">5</span>. <span class="ital">Remember</span>] Compare the frequent injunctions in Deuteronomy (<a href="/deuteronomy/7-18.htm" title="You shall not be afraid of them: but shall well remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh, and to all Egypt;">Deuteronomy 7:18</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/8-2.htm" title="And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, and to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or no.">Deuteronomy 8:2</a>; &c.). But Israel’s history had been one long record of forgetfulness (<a href="/psalms/78-11.htm" title="And forgot his works, and his wonders that he had showed them.">Psalm 78:11</a>).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">his wonders</span>] A word often coupled with ‘signs’ (<span class="ital"><a href="/psalms/105-27.htm" title="They showed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.">Psalm 105:27</a></span>; <a href="/deuteronomy/4-34.htm" title="Or has God assayed to go and take him a nation from the middle of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?">Deuteronomy 4:34</a>; &c.) to denote the miracles of the Exodus.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">the judgments of his mouth</span>] Not the precepts of the law, but the sentence pronounced and executed upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians (<a href="/exodus/6-6.htm" title="Why say to the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:">Exodus 6:6</a>; <a href="/exodus/7-4.htm" title="But Pharaoh shall not listen to you, that I may lay my hand on Egypt, and bring forth my armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.">Exodus 7:4</a>; <a href="/exodus/12-12.htm" title="For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.">Exodus 12:12</a>).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="6"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-6.htm">Psalm 105:6</a></div><div class="verse">O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen.</div><span class="bld">6</span>. Grammatically, <span class="ital">his servant</span> may refer either to <span class="ital">Abraham</span> or to <span class="ital">seed of Abraham</span>. The parallelism is in favour of the latter construction, and the LXX and Jer. actually read <span class="ital">his servants</span>: but exact parallelism is not always maintained, and <span class="ital"><a href="/psalms/105-42.htm" title="For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.">Psalm 105:42</a></span> is decidedly in favour of connecting <span class="ital">his servant</span> with <span class="ital">Abraham</span>. For <span class="ital">Abraham</span> Chron. reads <span class="ital">Israel</span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">his chosen</span>] R.V. his chosen ones, to avoid the ambiguity of the A.V. Cp. <span class="ital"><a href="/psalms/105-43.htm" title="And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness:">Psalm 105:43</a></span>; <a href="/psalms/106-5.htm" title="That I may see the good of your chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance.">Psalm 106:5</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/4-37.htm" title="And because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought you out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;">Deuteronomy 4:37</a>; &c.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>This verse is to be connected with <span class="ital"><a href="/context/psalms/105-1.htm" title="O give thanks to the LORD; call on his name: make known his deeds among the people....">Psalm 105:1-5</a></span> : the form of address reminds the Israelites at once of their privilege and their duty.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="7"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-7.htm">Psalm 105:7</a></div><div class="verse">He <i>is</i> the LORD our God: his judgments <i>are</i> in all the earth.</div><span class="bld">7</span>. He, Jehovah, is our God] He stands in a special and peculiar relation to Israel the people of His choice: but He is no mere national Deity: <span class="ital">His judgements are in all the earth</span>; He exercises an universal rule over all nations as “the Judge of all the earth” (<a href="/genesis/18-25.htm" title="That be far from you to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from you: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?">Genesis 18:25</a>).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">7–12</span>. The theme of the Psalm. Jehovah has been true to the promise which He made to the patriarchs, to give them the land of Canaan.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="8"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-8.htm">Psalm 105:8</a></div><div class="verse">He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word <i>which</i> he commanded to a thousand generations.</div><span class="bld">8</span>. <span class="ital">He hath remembered</span>] Rather, He remembereth. The Heb. perfect here expresses a general truth guaranteed by past experience. Chron. has <span class="ital">Remember ye</span>; but the exhortation is out of place here. Jehovah’s covenant is further described as <span class="ital">the word</span> of promise <span class="ital">which he commanded</span> (cp. <a href="/psalms/111-9.htm" title="He sent redemption to his people: he has commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.">Psalm 111:9</a>), as it were enacting it as a law (cp. <span class="ital">statute, <a href="/psalms/105-10.htm" title="And confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:">Psalm 105:10</a></span>, and <a href="/psalms/2-7.htm" title="I will declare the decree: the LORD has said to me, You are my Son; this day have I begotten you.">Psalm 2:7</a>). <span class="ital">To a thousand generations</span> (<a href="/deuteronomy/7-9.htm" title="Know therefore that the LORD your God, he is God, the faithful God, which keeps covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;">Deuteronomy 7:9</a>), parallel to and synonymous with <span class="ital">for ever</span>, is to be connected with <span class="ital">He remembereth</span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>With this and the following verses comp. the promise of <a href="/context/leviticus/26-42.htm" title="Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land....">Leviticus 26:42-45</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="9"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-9.htm">Psalm 105:9</a></div><div class="verse">Which <i>covenant</i> he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac;</div><span class="bld">9, 10</span>. For the covenant with Abraham see <a href="/genesis/17-2.htm" title="And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.">Genesis 17:2</a> ff; <a href="/genesis/15-18.htm" title="In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:">Genesis 15:18</a>; and cp. the promises, <a href="/genesis/12-7.htm" title="And the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, To your seed will I give this land: and there built he an altar to the LORD, who appeared to him.">Genesis 12:7</a>; <a href="/genesis/13-14.htm" title="And the LORD said to Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now your eyes, and look from the place where you are northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:">Genesis 13:14</a> ff. The oath sworn to Abraham (<a href="/genesis/22-16.htm" title="And said, By myself have I sworn, said the LORD, for because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son:">Genesis 22:16</a>) was confirmed to Isaac (<a href="/genesis/26-3.htm" title="Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you, and to your seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father;">Genesis 26:3</a>), and to Jacob at Bethel when he was on his way to Paddan-aram (<a href="/genesis/28-13.htm" title="And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: the land where on you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed;">Genesis 28:13</a> ff.), and again in the same place on his return, after his name had been changed to Israel (<a href="/psalms/35-9.htm" title="And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation.">Psalm 35:9</a> ff.). The promise made to Abraham was renewed to Isaac and Jacob, because in their persons it was limited to a particular branch of Abraham’s descendants.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">for a law</span>] For a statute, or, decree, as in <a href="/psalms/2-7.htm" title="I will declare the decree: the LORD has said to me, You are my Son; this day have I begotten you.">Psalm 2:7</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="10"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-10.htm">Psalm 105:10</a></div><div class="verse">And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, <i>and</i> to Israel <i>for</i> an everlasting covenant:</div><A name="11"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-11.htm">Psalm 105:11</a></div><div class="verse">Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance:</div><span class="bld">11</span>. The promise was made to the patriarchs individually (‘unto <span class="ital">thee</span>’), but in them to their descendants also; hence ‘<span class="ital">your</span> inheritance.’<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">the lot</span> &c.] The Heb. <span class="ital">chĕbĕl</span> means (1) a <span class="ital">measuring-cord</span>, (2) <span class="ital">a measured portion</span> (cp. our ‘rod’): so, for your appointed inheritance. Cp. <a href="/psalms/78-55.htm" title="He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.">Psalm 78:55</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="12"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-12.htm">Psalm 105:12</a></div><div class="verse">When they were <i>but</i> a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it.</div><span class="bld">12</span>. The Psalmist emphasises the marvellousness of the Divine promise by pointing out that it was made when the patriarchs were but an insignificant clan of protected aliens, and it seemed utterly improbable that they would ever become the owners of the land.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>but a few <span class="ital">men in number</span>] Lit. <span class="ital">men of number</span>: a handful of men, easily counted. Jacob uses the same phrase of his family in <a href="/genesis/34-30.htm" title="And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, You have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.">Genesis 34:30</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">yea</span>, very <span class="ital">few</span>] The word may mean few in number, or little worth; here probably the former. Cp. <a href="/deuteronomy/7-7.htm" title="The LORD did not set his love on you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all people:">Deuteronomy 7:7</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/26-5.htm" title="And you shall speak and say before the LORD your God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:">Deuteronomy 26:5</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">strangers</span>] sojourners, foreigners under the protection of the owners of the country, without rights of citizenship. Cp. <a href="/genesis/21-23.htm" title="Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: but according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land wherein you have sojourned.">Genesis 21:23</a>; <a href="/genesis/23-4.htm" title="I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burial plot with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.">Genesis 23:4</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="13"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-13.htm">Psalm 105:13</a></div><div class="verse">When they went from one nation to another, from <i>one</i> kingdom to another people;</div><span class="bld">13</span>. <span class="ital">When they went</span> &c.] And (when) they went &c. The A.V. treats this verse as (virtually) the protasis to <span class="ital"><a href="/psalms/105-14.htm" title="He suffered no man to do them wrong: yes, he reproved kings for their sakes;">Psalm 105:14</a></span> : the R.V. places a semicolon at the end of <span class="ital"><a href="/psalms/105-12.htm" title="When they were but a few men in number; yes, very few, and strangers in it.">Psalm 105:12</a></span>, and a full stop at the end of <span class="ital"><a href="/psalms/105-13.htm" title="When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people;">Psalm 105:13</a></span>, and treats <span class="ital"><a href="/psalms/105-13.htm" title="When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people;">Psalm 105:13</a></span> as the continuation of <span class="ital"><a href="/psalms/105-12.htm" title="When they were but a few men in number; yes, very few, and strangers in it.">Psalm 105:12</a></span>. Either construction is grammatically possible, but that of the A.V. is preferable. <span class="ital"><a href="/psalms/105-12.htm" title="When they were but a few men in number; yes, very few, and strangers in it.">Psalm 105:12</a></span> emphasises the conditions under which the promise was given, and concludes the first division of the Psalms Vv13-15 describe the migrations of the patriarchs among the different nations of Canaan, the Egyptians, and the Philistines, as recorded in the Book of Genesis. In all their wanderings Jehovah guarded them from harm, reproving even kings such as Pharaoh (<a href="/genesis/12-10.htm" title="And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.">Genesis 12:10</a> ff.) and Abimelech (Genesis 20, 26) on their account.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">13–24</span>. Jehovah’s providential guidance of the patriarchs in their migrations.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="14"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-14.htm">Psalm 105:14</a></div><div class="verse">He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;</div><A name="15"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-15.htm">Psalm 105:15</a></div><div class="verse"><i>Saying</i>, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.</div><span class="bld">15</span>. Jehovah’s words. <span class="ital">Saying</span> is rightly supplied.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">Touch not</span>] The phrase is suggested by <a href="/genesis/20-6.htm" title="And God said to him in a dream, Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart; for I also withheld you from sinning against me: therefore suffered I you not to touch her.">Genesis 20:6</a>; cp. <a href="/psalms/26-11.htm" title="But as for me, I will walk in my integrity: redeem me, and be merciful to me.">Psalm 26:11</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">mine anointed</span> ones … <span class="ital">my prophets</span>] The patriarchs were not actually anointed, but the term is applied to them as bearing the seal of a Divine consecration in virtue of which their persons were sacred and inviolable. Abraham is called a prophet in <a href="/genesis/20-7.htm" title="Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for you, and you shall live: and if you restore her not, know you that you shall surely die, you, and all that are yours.">Genesis 20:7</a> as an intercessor, and the term is applied to the patriarchs generally as the recipients of Divine revelation.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">16</span> ff. The events which led to the migration of Jacob into Egypt.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="16"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-16.htm">Psalm 105:16</a></div><div class="verse">Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.</div><span class="bld">16</span>. And <span class="ital">he called</span>] So <a href="/2_kings/8-1.htm" title="Then spoke Elisha to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go you and your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn: for the LORD has called for a famine; and it shall also come on the land seven years.">2 Kings 8:1</a>; <a href="/amos/5-8.htm" title="Seek him that makes the seven stars and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night: that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:">Amos 5:8</a>; <a href="/amos/7-4.htm" title="Thus has the Lord GOD showed to me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.">Amos 7:4</a>; <a href="/amos/9-6.htm" title="It is he that builds his stories in the heaven, and has founded his troop in the earth; he that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth: The LORD is his name.">Amos 9:6</a>; <a href="/haggai/1-11.htm" title="And I called for a drought on the land, and on the mountains, and on the corn, and on the new wine, and on the oil, and on that which the ground brings forth, and on men, and on cattle, and on all the labor of the hands.">Haggai 1:11</a>. Observe the emphasis upon direct Divine agency in <span class="ital"><a href="/psalms/105-16.htm" title="Moreover he called for a famine on the land: he broke the whole staff of bread.">Psalm 105:16</a></span>,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="17"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-17.htm">Psalm 105:17</a></div><div class="verse">He sent a man before them, <i>even</i> Joseph, <i>who</i> was sold for a servant:</div><span class="bld">17</span>. The famine in the land of Canaan (<a href="/genesis/41-54.htm" title="And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.">Genesis 41:54</a>) was the instrument which He summoned to effect His purpose.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">he brake</span> &c.] So <a href="/leviticus/26-26.htm" title="And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and you shall eat, and not be satisfied.">Leviticus 26:26</a>. Bread is the staff, i.e. support, of life (<a href="/isaiah/3-1.htm" title="For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, does take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water.">Isaiah 3:1</a>; cp. <a href="/psalms/104-15.htm" title="And wine that makes glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengthens man's heart.">Psalm 104:15</a>).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">17</span>. He had sent a man before them;<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>Joseph was sold for a slave.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>Before the famine came, God had sent Joseph into Egypt to prepare the way for their migration thither. So Joseph himself says, “God sent me before you to preserve life” (<a href="/genesis/45-5.htm" title="Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here: for God did send me before you to preserve life.">Genesis 45:5</a>; <a href="/genesis/45-7.htm" title="And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.">Genesis 45:7</a>; cp. <a href="/psalms/50-20.htm" title="You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son.">Psalm 50:20</a>), recognising that the hand of God had permitted the cruelty of his brothers in order to effect His purpose.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="18"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-18.htm">Psalm 105:18</a></div><div class="verse">Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:</div><span class="bld">18</span>. <span class="ital">Whose feet</span>] R.V. His feet. This verse is merely a poetical description of imprisonment. The narrative in Gen. does not hint that Joseph was severely treated.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">he was laid</span> in <span class="ital">iron</span>] I.e. as R.V., he was laid in (chains of) iron. But the Heb. literally means, (<span class="ital">into</span>) <span class="ital">iron entered his soul</span>; <span class="ital">and his soul</span> is not a mere equivalent for <span class="ital">he</span>, but denotes (though we have no word by which it could be rendered here) Joseph’s whole sensitive personality. He keenly felt the degradation and suffering of his unjust imprisonment. Thus the sense is substantially the same as that of the picturesque rendering of the P.B.V. which has passed into a proverbial phrase, “the iron entered into his soul[58].” This rendering, which is that of the Targ. and Vulg.[59], is defended by Delitzsch and others, but is questionable for grammatical reasons.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[58] Coverdale’s original rendering (1535) was,<span class="ital"> the yron pearsed his herte</span>. The alteration in the Great Bible (1539) was no doubt suggested by Münster’s <span class="ital">ferreum</span> (<span class="ital">vinculum</span>) <span class="ital">intravit usque ad animam eius</span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[59] According to the present text, which has <span class="ital">ferrum pertransiit animam eius</span>. But as all the mss. of the LXX have <span class="greekheb">σίδηρον διῆλθεν ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ</span>, it seems probable that <span class="ital">animam</span> is a corruption for <span class="ital">anima</span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="19"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-19.htm">Psalm 105:19</a></div><div class="verse">Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.</div><span class="bld">19</span>. Until the time that his word should come to pass<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>The promise of Jehovah tried him.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>Two different Hebrew words are rendered <span class="ital">word</span> in the A.V. It seems best to understand them both of the word or promise of Jehovah communicated to Joseph in the dreams which excited the enmity of his brethren (<a href="/genesis/37-5.htm" title="And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brothers: and they hated him yet the more.">Genesis 37:5</a> ff.). The promise of Jehovah is as it were personified as Jehovah’s agent employed to fit Joseph for his high station (cp. <a href="/psalms/119-50.htm" title="This is my comfort in my affliction: for your word has quickened me.">Psalm 119:50</a>). It tested him, purified and refined his character (<a href="/job/23-10.htm" title="But he knows the way that I take: when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.">Job 23:10</a>), as it led him through dark ways of humiliation, till the time came for him to be raised to the honour for which Providence destined him.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>By some commentators ‘his word’ has been taken to mean <span class="ital">Joseph’s</span> word, either (1) his story of his dreams (<a href="/genesis/37-5.htm" title="And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brothers: and they hated him yet the more.">Genesis 37:5</a> ff; <a href="/genesis/42-9.htm" title="And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said to them, You are spies; to see the nakedness of the land you are come.">Genesis 42:9</a>), or (2) his interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams (<a href="/genesis/41-16.htm" title="And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.">Genesis 41:16</a> ff.). But ‘his word’ is not a natural expression for Joseph’s relation of his dream, and his liberation from prison took place before his interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream was verified by the event.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="20"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-20.htm">Psalm 105:20</a></div><div class="verse">The king sent and loosed him; <i>even</i> the ruler of the people, and let him go free.</div><span class="bld">20</span>. <span class="ital">The king sent</span>. &c.] <a href="/genesis/41-14.htm" title="Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in to Pharaoh.">Genesis 41:14</a><A name="21"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-21.htm">Psalm 105:21</a></div><div class="verse">He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:</div><span class="bld">21, 22</span>. See <a href="/context/genesis/41-39.htm" title="And Pharaoh said to Joseph, For as much as God has showed you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are:...">Genesis 41:39-44</a>. Joseph, who so lately was ‘bound in prison,’ is invested with authority to imprison even princes, and in virtue of his wisdom is made the director of Pharaoh’s counsellors.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>P.B.V. <span class="ital">that he might inform</span> (i.e. instruct) <span class="ital">his princes</span> follows the LXX (Vulg.) and Jer., <span class="ital">ut erudiret principes eius</span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">senators</span>] Lit. <span class="ital">elders</span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="22"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-22.htm">Psalm 105:22</a></div><div class="verse">To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.</div><A name="23"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-23.htm">Psalm 105:23</a></div><div class="verse">Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.</div><span class="bld">23</span>. <span class="ital">Israel also</span>] So Israel; the great ancestor of the nation is still meant.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">the land of Ham</span>] Cp. <span class="ital"><a href="/psalms/105-27.htm" title="They showed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.">Psalm 105:27</a></span>; <a href="/psalms/78-51.htm" title="And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:">Psalm 78:51</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="24"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-24.htm">Psalm 105:24</a></div><div class="verse">And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies.</div><span class="bld">24</span>. And he made his people exceeding fruitful,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>And made them mightier than their adversaries.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>Jehovah is the subject of the sentence. The A.V. fails to bring out the connexion of the verse with <a href="/exodus/1-7.htm" title="And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.">Exodus 1:7</a>, “The children of Israel <span class="ital">were fruitful</span> … and were <span class="ital">exceeding mighty</span>.”<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="25"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-25.htm">Psalm 105:25</a></div><div class="verse">He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants.</div><span class="bld">25</span>. <span class="ital">He turned their heart</span>] The rendering of the Targ., followed in P.B.V., <span class="ital">Whose heart turned</span>, is grammatically possible, but A.V. is no doubt right. The Psalmist does not shrink from attributing the hostility of the Egyptians to God’s agency, because it was due to the blessings which He bestowed upon Israel; and inasmuch as it led to the Exodus, it was a link in the chain of God’s action.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">to deal subtilly</span>] By their crafty plans for destroying Israel, <a href="/exodus/1-10.htm" title="Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falls out any war, they join also to our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.">Exodus 1:10</a> ff.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">25–36</span>. The enmity of the Egyptians to Israel, and the display of Jehovah’s power which prepared the way for the Exodus.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="26"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-26.htm">Psalm 105:26</a></div><div class="verse">He sent Moses his servant; <i>and</i> Aaron whom he had chosen.</div><span class="bld">26</span>. <span class="ital">Moses his servant</span>] <a href="/exodus/14-31.htm" title="And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did on the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.">Exodus 14:31</a>, and often.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="27"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-27.htm">Psalm 105:27</a></div><div class="verse">They shewed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.</div><span class="bld">27</span>. <span class="ital">They shewed</span> &c.] Moses and Aaron. But the parallel passages in <a href="/psalms/78-43.htm" title="How he had worked his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan.">Psalm 78:43</a>; <a href="/exodus/10-2.htm" title="And that you may tell in the ears of your son, and of your son's son, what things I have worked in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know how that I am the LORD.">Exodus 10:2</a> (cp. <a href="/jeremiah/32-20.htm" title="Which have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even to this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and have made you a name, as at this day;">Jeremiah 32:20</a>) make it probable that we should follow most of the Ancient Versions (LXX, Aq. Symm. Syr. Jer.) in reading the singular, He set; and this agrees better with the context, as Jehovah is the subject in <span class="ital"><a href="/context/psalms/105-24.htm" title="And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies....">Psalm 105:24-26</a>; <a href="/context/psalms/105-28.htm" title="He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word....">Psalm 105:28-29</a></span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">his signs</span>] Lit. <span class="ital">the acts</span> or <span class="ital">matters of his signs</span> (cp. <span class="ital">the acts</span> or <span class="ital">matters of his wondrous works</span> in <a href="/psalms/145-5.htm" title="I will speak of the glorious honor of your majesty, and of your wondrous works.">Psalm 145:5</a>): i.e. his various signs: hardly, <span class="ital">the words</span> or <span class="ital">message of his signs</span>, “as being declarations of God’s will and command to let His people go.”<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="28"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-28.htm">Psalm 105:28</a></div><div class="verse">He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word.</div><span class="bld">28</span>. It is difficult to say why the ninth plague (<a href="/exodus/10-21.htm" title="And the LORD said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.">Exodus 10:21</a> ff.) is placed first here. Possibly, like the fifth and sixth, it was not originally mentioned, and the verse was the marginal gloss of a reader who noticed the omission, which was subsequently inserted in the text in the wrong place. If however the text is sound, perhaps the ninth plague is mentioned first, because it is regarded as the plague which wrought conviction in the minds of the Egyptians, who were already anxious that the Israelites should be allowed to depart (<a href="/exodus/10-7.htm" title="And Pharaoh's servants said to him, How long shall this man be a snare to us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: know you not yet that Egypt is destroyed?">Exodus 10:7</a>; <a href="/context/exodus/11-2.htm" title="Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver and jewels of gold....">Exodus 11:2-3</a>); though the further plague of the death of the firstborn was needed finally to convince Pharaoh. The plague of darkness was specially calculated to inspire the worshippers of the sun-god with the sense of Jehovah’s power. The next line and they rebelled not against his words confirms this interpretation. ‘They’ must refer to the Egyptians, and the allusion must be to their change of feeling towards the Israelites after the plague of darkness, described in <a href="/context/exodus/11-2.htm" title="Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver and jewels of gold....">Exodus 11:2-3</a>. Some commentators suppose that ‘they’ refers to Moses and Aaron, who did not disobey God’s commands, as they afterwards did at Meribah (<a href="/numbers/20-24.htm" title="Aaron shall be gathered to his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.">Numbers 20:24</a>; <a href="/numbers/27-14.htm" title="For you rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.">Numbers 27:14</a>), but accepted their perilous mission. Such a statement however does not seem natural in the present context. Others read <span class="ital">they observed not</span> (<span class="greekheb">שׁמרו</span> for <span class="greekheb">מרו</span>). Others follow the LXX and Syr. in omitting the negative. So in effect Coverdale (following the Zürich Bible, ‘dann sy warend seinem geheyss nit gehorsam’), <span class="ital">for they were not obedient unto his word</span>; P.B.V. <span class="ital">and they were not</span> &c. But the remark would be out of place at the point when the resistance of the Egyptians had been overcome.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">his word</span>] So the <span class="ital">Q’rç</span>; R.V. his words follows the <span class="ital">K’thîbh</span>, which is supported by the LXX, Aq., and Jer.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="29"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-29.htm">Psalm 105:29</a></div><div class="verse">He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish.</div><span class="bld">29</span>. After mentioning the crucial plague of the darkness, the Psalmist refers briefly to the other plagues, omitting however the fifth and sixth, and inverting the order of the third and fourth.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">he turned</span> &c.] The first plague, <a href="/exodus/7-14.htm" title="And the LORD said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, he refuses to let the people go.">Exodus 7:14</a> ff., <a href="/exodus/7-21.htm" title="And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.">Exodus 7:21</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="30"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-30.htm">Psalm 105:30</a></div><div class="verse">Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings.</div><span class="bld">30</span>. <span class="ital">Their land</span> &c.] R.V. Their land swarmed with frogs. The second plague, <a href="/exodus/8-1.htm" title="And the LORD spoke to Moses, Go to Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus said the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.">Exodus 8:1</a> ff.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="31"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-31.htm">Psalm 105:31</a></div><div class="verse">He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, <i>and</i> lice in all their coasts.</div><span class="bld">31</span>. He spake, and there came swarms of flies (R.V.): the fourth plague, <a href="/exodus/8-20.htm" title="And the LORD said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; see, he comes forth to the water; and say to him, Thus said the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.">Exodus 8:20</a> ff., cp. <a href="/psalms/78-45.htm" title="He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.">Psalm 78:45</a> : and lice (or <span class="ital">sand-flies</span> or <span class="ital">fleas</span>) in all their borders: the third plague, <a href="/exodus/8-16.htm" title="And the LORD said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out your rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.">Exodus 8:16</a> ff., not mentioned in Psalms 78.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">their coasts</span>] I.e. their borders.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="32"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-32.htm">Psalm 105:32</a></div><div class="verse">He gave them hail for rain, <i>and</i> flaming fire in their land.</div><span class="bld">32, 33</span>. The seventh plague, of hail accompanied by thunder and lightning, <a href="/exodus/9-13.htm" title="And the LORD said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus said the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.">Exodus 9:13</a> ff., <a href="/context/exodus/9-25.htm" title="And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field....">Exodus 9:25-26</a>; cp. <a href="/context/psalms/78-47.htm" title="He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost....">Psalm 78:47-48</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="33"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-33.htm">Psalm 105:33</a></div><div class="verse">He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts.</div><A name="34"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-34.htm">Psalm 105:34</a></div><div class="verse">He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number,</div><span class="bld">34, 35</span>. The eighth plague, <a href="/exodus/10-1.htm" title="And the LORD said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might show these my signs before him:">Exodus 10:1</a> ff.; <a href="/psalms/78-46.htm" title="He gave also their increase to the caterpillar, and their labor to the locust.">Psalm 78:46</a>. The Heb. word <span class="ital">yĕlĕq</span>, R.V. cankerworm, as A.V. in <a href="/joel/1-4.htm" title="That which the palmerworm has left has the locust eaten; and that which the locust has left has the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm has left has the caterpillar eaten.">Joel 1:4</a>, is not used in Exodus. It probably denotes the locust in its larva state.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="35"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-35.htm">Psalm 105:35</a></div><div class="verse">And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground.</div><span class="bld">35</span>. And ate up all the herbage in their land,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>And ate up the fruit of their ground.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>The Heb. word for ‘herbage’ is not confined to grass, but includes vegetable growth generally with the exception of trees (<a href="/psalms/104-14.htm" title="He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;">Psalm 104:14</a>).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="36"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-36.htm">Psalm 105:36</a></div><div class="verse">He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength.</div><span class="bld">36</span>. The tenth and last plague, <a href="/exodus/11-1.htm" title="And the LORD said to Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more on Pharaoh, and on Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.">Exodus 11:1</a> ff. As in <a href="/psalms/78-51.htm" title="And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:">Psalm 78:51</a>, the firstborn are described as the beginning, or firstlings of all their strength. Cp. <a href="/genesis/49-3.htm" title="Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:">Genesis 49:3</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/21-17.htm" title="But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he has: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.">Deuteronomy 21:17</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="37"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-37.htm">Psalm 105:37</a></div><div class="verse">He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and <i>there was</i> not one feeble <i>person</i> among their tribes.</div><span class="bld">37</span>. So he brought them forth with silver and gold:<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>And there was none that stumbled among his tribes.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>Israel marched out like a victorious army, with spoils which were virtually the reward of their long compulsory service (<a href="/context/exodus/12-35.htm" title="And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:...">Exodus 12:35-36</a>); like a host of warriors in which none are faint or weary (<a href="/isaiah/5-27.htm" title="None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the lace of their shoes be broken:">Isaiah 5:27</a>).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>his <span class="ital">tribes</span>] Jehovah’s tribes (<a href="/psalms/122-4.htm" title="Where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, to the testimony of Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.">Psalm 122:4</a>) rather than Israel’s (<a href="/numbers/24-2.htm" title="And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came on him.">Numbers 24:2</a>).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">37–45</span>. The Exodus, the miracles of the wilderness, and the settlement in Canaan.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="38"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-38.htm">Psalm 105:38</a></div><div class="verse">Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them.</div><span class="bld">38</span>. Cp. <a href="/exodus/12-33.htm" title="And the Egyptians were urgent on the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.">Exodus 12:33</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">for the fear</span> &c.] For dread of them had fallen upon them. Cp. <a href="/exodus/15-16.htm" title="Fear and dread shall fall on them; by the greatness of your arm they shall be as still as a stone; till your people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which you have purchased.">Exodus 15:16</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="39"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-39.htm">Psalm 105:39</a></div><div class="verse">He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.</div><span class="bld">39</span>. <a href="/context/exodus/13-21.htm" title="And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:...">Exodus 13:21-22</a>; <a href="/context/exodus/14-19.htm" title="And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:...">Exodus 14:19-20</a>. But here the cloud is regarded as a canopy to shelter them from the burning rays of the sun in the desert, rather than as a protection from the Egyptians. Cp. <a href="/context/isaiah/4-5.htm" title="And the LORD will create on every dwelling place of mount Zion, and on her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for on all the glory shall be a defense....">Isaiah 4:5-6</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="40"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-40.htm">Psalm 105:40</a></div><div class="verse"><i>The people</i> asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.</div><span class="bld">40</span>. The people <span class="ital">asked</span>] The Heb. verb is in the sing., but with LXX Jer. Syr. Targ. we should read the plural, They asked. See Exodus 16, and cp. <a href="/psalms/78-18.htm" title="And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.">Psalm 78:18</a> ff. The murmuring of the Israelites is not mentioned, because the Psalmist’s object is to point to God’s goodness, not to Israel’s faithlessness.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">the bread of heaven</span>] The manna: cp. <a href="/context/psalms/78-24.htm" title="And had rained down manna on them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven....">Psalm 78:24-25</a>; <a href="/nehemiah/9-15.htm" title="And gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promised them that they should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them.">Nehemiah 9:15</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="41"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-41.htm">Psalm 105:41</a></div><div class="verse">He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places <i>like</i> a river.</div><span class="bld">41</span>. <span class="ital">the rock</span>] In Rephidim, <a href="/exodus/17-1.htm" title="And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.">Exodus 17:1</a> ff. A different word (‘cliff’) is used in <a href="/numbers/20-8.htm" title="Take the rod, and gather you the assembly together, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak you to the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock: so you shall give the congregation and their beasts drink.">Numbers 20:8</a> ff. The language is borrowed from <a href="/context/psalms/78-15.htm" title="He split the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths....">Psalm 78:15-16</a>; <a href="/psalms/78-20.htm" title="Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?">Psalm 78:20</a> : cp. <a href="/isaiah/41-18.htm" title="I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the middle of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.">Isaiah 41:18</a>; <a href="/isaiah/48-21.htm" title="And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he split the rock also, and the waters gushed out.">Isaiah 48:21</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="42"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-42.htm">Psalm 105:42</a></div><div class="verse">For he remembered his holy promise, <i>and</i> Abraham his servant.</div><span class="bld">42</span>. The Psalmist returns to his theme, <span class="ital"><a href="/psalms/105-8.htm" title="He has remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.">Psalm 105:8</a></span>. Faithfulness to His promise was God’s motive for redeeming Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">his holy promise</span>] Lit., his holy word (<span class="ital"><a href="/psalms/105-8.htm" title="He has remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.">Psalm 105:8</a></span>): the sacred promise which cannot be broken.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">and Abraham his servant</span>] Or, with A. his servant (<span class="ital"><a href="/psalms/105-9.htm" title="Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac;">Psalm 105:9</a></span>). Cp. <a href="/exodus/2-24.htm" title="And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.">Exodus 2:24</a>. But the A.V. may be right.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="43"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-43.htm">Psalm 105:43</a></div><div class="verse">And he brought forth his people with joy, <i>and</i> his chosen with gladness:</div><span class="bld">43</span>. <span class="ital">with gladness</span>] With jubilant singing, the rejoicing on the shores of the Red Sea, Exodus 15. But the language is a reminiscence of the prophecies of the Exodus from Babylon, <a href="/isaiah/35-10.htm" title="And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy on their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.">Isaiah 35:10</a>; <a href="/isaiah/51-11.htm" title="Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy shall be on their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.">Isaiah 51:11</a>; <a href="/isaiah/55-12.htm" title="For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.">Isaiah 55:12</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="44"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-44.htm">Psalm 105:44</a></div><div class="verse">And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people;</div><span class="bld">44</span>. And he gave them the lands of the nations,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>And they took possession of the labour of the peoples.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>See <a href="/context/deuteronomy/6-10.htm" title="And it shall be, when the LORD your God shall have brought you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you great and goodly cities, which you built not,...">Deuteronomy 6:10-11</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="45"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/105-45.htm">Psalm 105:45</a></div><div class="verse">That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD.</div><span class="bld">45</span>. The object of God’s favour to Israel was<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>That they might keep his statutes,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>And observe his laws,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>and obedience was the condition of their retaining these blessings. Cp. <a href="/psalms/78-7.htm" title="That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:">Psalm 78:7</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/4-1.htm" title="Now therefore listen, O Israel, to the statutes and to the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers gives you.">Deuteronomy 4:1</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/4-40.htm" title="You shall keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days on the earth, which the LORD your God gives you, for ever.">Deuteronomy 4:40</a>; <a href="/context/deuteronomy/26-17.htm" title="You have avouched the LORD this day to be your God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to listen to his voice:...">Deuteronomy 26:17-18</a>; and the terms in which the purpose of Abraham’s call is described in <a href="/genesis/18-19.htm" title="For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him.">Genesis 18:19</a> (R.V.).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">Praise ye the Lord</span>] This Hallelujah is omitted by the LXX and Syr.; see note on <a href="/psalms/104-35.htm" title="Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless you the LORD, O my soul. Praise you the LORD.">Psalm 104:35</a> : but the recital of God’s mercies fitly concludes with a call to praise.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. 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