Psalm 68

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Psalm 68

1 Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.

2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

3 But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.

4 Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name Jah, and rejoice before him.

5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

6 God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

7 O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah:

8 The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

9 Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.

10 Thy congregation hath dwelt therein: thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor.

11 The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.

12 Kings of armies did flee apace: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil.

13 Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.

14 When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon.

15 The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan.

16 Why leap ye, ye high hills? this is the hill which God desireth to dwell in; yea, the Lord will dwell in it for ever.

17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.

18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.

19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

20 He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.

21 But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses.

22 The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea:

23 That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and the tongue of thy dogs in the same.

24 They have seen thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.

25 The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.

26 Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel.

27 There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.

28 Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us.

29 Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee.

30 Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war.

31 Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.

32 Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah:

33 To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice.

34 Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds.

35 O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 2

<html>May God rise; His enemies scatter Amalek and his ilk.</html>

Verse 3

<html>As smoke is driven away as it is driven away. As the smoke is driven away so will You drive [them] away. from before God From before the Ark in the days of Moses. (And it came to pass when the Ark traveled, that Moses said, “Arise, O Lord, and Your enemies will scatter.”Shem Ephraim) And when it rested, he would say, “Return, O Lord, etc.”</html>

Verse 4

<html>and they will delight with joy And this is the joy, and so will they say, “Sing to God, etc.”</html>

Verse 5

<html>praise Heb. סולו, an expression of praise. Similarly (Job 28:16): “It cannot be praised (תסלה) with the jewelry of Ophir”; (Lam. 4:2), “worth their weight (המסלאים) in fine gold.” by His name Yah By the name י-ה, which is an expression of fear, as we translate it דחילא, fear (below 118:14): “My might and my praise is the fear of the Lord (י-ה).” Likewise (Exod. 17:16): “For a hand is on the throne of the Lord (י-ה),” in the Targum: [And he said, “This is stated with an oath from below the fear of the Shechinah on the throne of His glory, etc.] Similarly (Isa. 26:4): “for in Yah the Lord,” is paraphrased by the Targum: for then You will be redeemed by the word of the fear of the Lord, the Strongest of the world.” The Psalmist says, “Praise Him, fear Him, and rejoice.” This resembles what is said elsewhere (above 2:11): “and rejoice with quaking.”</html>

Verse 6

<html>O Father of orphans And this is the praise that You shall praise before Him: the entire matter until the end of the psalm. Father of orphans Who became a father to Israel, who are orphans, as it is said (Lam. 5:3): “We were orphans without a father.” and Judge of widows Who performed the judgment of Jerusalem, concerning which it says (Lam. 1:1): “was like a widow.”</html>

Verse 7

<html>settles the solitary in a house Israel, who were spread out. He gathered together each one from the place where he was lost and settled them in a complete household and a complete nation. He takes the prisoners out at the most opportune time He took Israel out of Egypt in the month that is best suited for travelers, neither hot nor cold. but the rebellious The Egyptians. dwell in an arid land Their land remained arid and thirsty. I found [this].</html>

Verse 8

<html>when You marched When You stepped with your step. forever There You showed me that this is Your way forever: for every distress, redemption.</html>

Verse 9

<html>this is Sinai That too quaked because of the Lord God of Israel.</html>

Verse 10

<html>Generous rain You poured down This too You did for us: if we needed rain, You lifted them and poured upon us constantly rains of generosity and blessing. Your heritage, which was weary, You established When the heritage of Your land was weary and thirsty for rain, You established it [Your heritage]. I found: Your heritage which was weary Which is called your heritage, and which is weary; i.e., sometimes it is so.</html>

Verse 11

<html>Your congregation dwelt therein Heb. (חיתך). Your congregation has dwelt therein, as (II Sam. 23:11): “and the Philistines gathered together their camp (sic) into a troop (לחיה).” Another explanation: The congregation of Israel is known as the animal and the beast of the Holy One, blessed be He. You prepare with your goodness When they left Egypt, You led them around in the desert for forty years because the Canaanites rose and cut down the trees. During the interim, when they tarried in the desert, they rose and rectified it all.</html>

Verse 12

<html>The Lord will give out a word; they will announce it to a great multitude Heb. אמר, [like] מאמר, statement. He will yet roar with [His] voice to allow the hosts of the great nations to hear it. Now what is the word?</html>

Verse 13

<html>The kings of the hosts of nations will wander, yea they will wander. They will wander and be cast out of the land of Israel, and the congregation of Israel, who is the dweller of the house, will divide their spoils, as it is said (Isa. 23:18): “And her commerce and her hire shall be holy, etc.”</html>

Verse 14

<html>If you lie between the borders, etc. All this is the word. He says to them, “If you had lain between your borders and had enjoyed pleasures, this My dove, My congregation, whose feathers are covered with silver.” Now what is the silver, and what is the gold? (15) When the Almighty spreads out, etc. When the Holy One, blessed be He, explained His Torah, with which the kings are “snowed and whitened” in a land of the Shadow of Death and darkness then its feathers (dove’s feathers) were covered with the desire and yearning for the Torah and [its] Commandments. the feathers of a dove Plumes in French. and its pinions Its wings, with which it flies. with brilliant gold Heb. בירקרק חרוץ. Dunash the son of Labrat interpreted חרוּץ as gold. Therefore, the Psalmist juxtaposed it to silver, and ירקרק חרוץ is the gold brought from the land of Havilah and from the land of Cush; very good gold, neither yellow nor red. Therefore, it is called ירקרק, as (Lev. 13:42): “reddish white (לבן אדמדם),” which is neither white nor red. Therefore, it is doubled: אדמדם, ירקרק.</html>

Verse 15

<html>When… spreads out Heb. בפרש, an expression of (Deut. 22:17): “and they will spread out (ופרשו) the garment”; they clarify the matter as a new garment. kings These are the Torah scholars, as it is said (Prov. 8:15): “Kings reign with me.”</html>

Verse 16

<html>The mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan And where did He spread it out? On Mt. Sinai, which is the mountain of God and is near Bashan on the eastern side of the Jordan. the mountain of peaks The special mountain among the mountains. peaks Heb. גבננים, an expression of mountains, because of their height, as (Ezek. 16:24): “and you built for yourself a platform (גב).” Any high thing is called גַב.</html>

Verse 17

<html>Why do you lurk, you lofty mountains All this refers back to “The Lord will give out a word.” He says further to them, “Why do you lurk (תרצדון), you lofty mountains?” Why do you lurk, you lofty mountains, to destroy the mountain that God desired for His dwelling, to cause His Shechinah to rest upon it? That is the Temple Mount. Even He will dwell there forever. Its sanctity is a perpetual sanctity. After it was chosen for His dwelling, the Shechinah did not rest elsewhere. I saw in the works of Rabbi Moshe Hadarshan that רצד is “ambush” in Arabic. But Menachem (p. 166) explained תרצדוּן like תרקדוּן, you prance. That expression, too, fits the context.</html>

Verse 18

<html>God’s chariot, etc. This too refers back to the “The Lord will give forth a word,” to mention the love of His people. Even when God’s chariot of “twice ten thousand times thousands of” brilliant “sharpened” angels appeared, and the Lord was among them at Sinai with His holiness, there too, </html>

Verse 19

<html>

you, the leader of His people, Moses the son of Amram ascended on high and took captives. and also rebellious ones for Yah God to dwell Also you brought about that the Holy One, blessed be He, rested in the Tabernacle of the Torah, and you took gifts from the celestial beings to give them to the sons of men, also among a people who were rebellious and were rebelling against Him and provoking Him.</html>

Verse 20

<html>Blessed is the Lord, etc. This is part of the song mentioned above: “Sing to God.” lavishes upon us He will give us a great salvation, [greater] than any burden, as much as we can carry. (I found: every day…lavishes upon us He always behaves in this manner to us, that for every distress there is a salvation.)</html>

Verse 21

<html>God is to us the God of salvations God is our Savior, but He has many paths, i.e., kinds of death. תוצאות means, ways to death. However, He does not lay them upon us, but with them He wounds the head of His enemies.</html>

Verse 22

<html>the hairy pate The pate of Esau, who is a “hairy man,” and who always goes with his guilt.</html>

Verse 23

<html>The Lord said, “I shall restore from Bashan” For so He promised to restore us from the mighty ones of Bashan and from the islands of the sea.</html>

Verse 24

<html>In order that your foot may wade through blood When He crushes the head of the enemy, our feet will wade through their blood. תִּמְחַץ is an expression of splitting into the blood, as (Jud. 5: 26): “she split (ומחצה) and penetrated his temple,” like בָּקְעָה, she split. This is Mishnaic Hebrew: “and the pilgrims were wading (בוקעים) up to their knees in blood.” Another explanation: תִּמְחַץ The name of a vessel with which they draw wine from the pit is called מַחַץ, in Tractate Avodah Zarah (72b). from the enemies From the blood of the enemies. will have its portion Heb. מנהו, its sustenance will be, as we say (Suc. 39b): “How do we know that מן is an expression of food?” For it is written (Dan. 1: 10): “who appointed (מנה) your food, etc.”</html>

Verse 25

<html>They saw Your ways, O God That is to say, it is fitting that You save these people, for when they saw Your ways in Your sanctity in the sea, singers came first to sing before You the Song of the Sea, and after them came the minstrelsthese are the angels.</html>

Verse 26

<html>in the midst of maidens playing timbrels With Miriam and her maidens, who took the timbrel in her hand, and they said with their praise…</html>

Verse 27

<html>In congregations bless God, the Lord, from the womb of Israel Even the fetuses in their mothers’ wombs recited the Song.</html>

Verse 28

<html>There Benjamin the youngest became the ruler over them. rules over them Heb. רֹדֵם, like רֹדָם, with a “kamatz.” From there, he merited to become king because he descended first into the sea, and so did Samuel say to Saul (I Sam. 15:17): “Even if you are small in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel?” which Jonathan paraphrases: The tribe of Benjamin crossed the sea at the head of all the other tribes. the princes of Judah pelt them with stones They envy them and throw stones at them, and so do the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naftali. So, he says to him, “Your God has commanded your strength.” Another explanation: רִגְמָתָם is the equivalent of רִקְמָתָם, their embroidery, their embroidered garments, an expression of purple (ארגמן). In this way Menachem associated it (p. 161).</html>

Verse 29

<html>show this strength, O God, etc. Now the Psalmist returns to his prayer that he prayed, “Let God rise, and let His enemies scatter.” Show Your strength, O God, and strengthen Yourself, for You have wrought all these for us.</html>

Verse 30

<html>From Your Temple, which is over Jerusalem, etc. And since the kings will see the glory of Your temple, which is over Jerusalem, they will bring You a gift and a tribute.</html>

Verse 31

<html>Rebuke the people of the forest This is Ishmael [Esau], who is compared to the “boar from the forest,” which dwells among the reeds (below 80:14). the congregation of mighty bulls, among peoples like calves A people that has become fat and thick like mighty bulls among the other nations, which are merely like calves as compared to them. submitting himself for pieces of silver They do not submit themselves to any person unless he persuades them with money. he scatters peoples They scattered the tribes, as it is said: (Deut. 33:3): “Also He loves the peoples,” and they always desire battles. They want to fight with us.</html>

Verse 32

<html>Gifts will be brought (Then, when You destroy Esau and the King Messiah arises, they will bring you gifts from Egypt and from Cush.Parshandatha) Then, when You scatter the enemy, and the King Messiah arises in the future, they will bring you gifts from Egypt and from Cush. Menachem interpreted חשמנים as the name of a province, the dwellers of Hashmonah (p. 96), but the commentators interpret it as an expression of a gift.</html>

Verse 33

<html>sing to God Who showed His greatness and redeemed His people.</html>

Verse 34

<html>behold He gives forth Heb. יתן, behold He gives.</html>

Verse 36

<html>You are feared, O God, from Your Sanctuary Because You destroyed it, You are feared. If He did not show favoritism to His [own] Sanctuary, surely [He will] not [show favoritism] to the wicked of the heathens. The Midrash Aggadah explains: Do not read: מִמִּקְדָּשֶׁיךָ, “from Your Sanctuaries,” but מִמְּקֻדְּשֶׁיךָ, “from Your hallowed ones.” When the Holy One, blessed be He, executes justice upon the righteous, He is feared, elevated, and praised. Similarly, it is said (Lev. 10:3): “Through those near to me I will be sanctified.” [Also] (Exod. 29:43), “and it will be sanctified with My honor” [i.e., with My honored ones]. With the death of Aaron’s two sons (Zev. 115b). Our Rabbis, however, expounded on the entire psalm until (verse 20): “Blessed is the Lord; every day” as referring to the giving of the Torah; (verse 10) “generous rain” refers to the giving of the Torah, and (verse 11) “Your congregation dwelt therein,” means that they became engrossed in Torah (Mid. Ps. 68 with variations). But as for me I feel uncertain in explaining the expression ישבוּ as meaning that they became engrossed in Torah. Also, my heart is uneasy at explaining (verse 17) “the mountain that God desired for His dwelling” as referring to Mt. Sinai, because He did not desire it for His dwelling and [did] not [want] to dwell there forever, whereas here it is written: “Even the Lord will dwell there forever.” Likewise (verse 13): “Kings (מלכי) of hosts,” he explained as “angels (מלאכי) of hosts,” which is not the language of Scripture.</html>

Table of Contents

Psalm 68

Psalm 68

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

Verse 23

Verse 24

Verse 25

Verse 26

Verse 27

Verse 28

Verse 29

Verse 30

Verse 31

Verse 32

Verse 33

Verse 34

Verse 36