(1) Ceaseth.—Intransitive, as in Psalms 7:9.The faithful.—The Vulg. and Syriac treat this word as abstract: “truth,” “faithfulness.” So Ewald; but the parallelism here, as in Psalms 31:23, requires it in the concrete. (Comp. 2 Samuel 20:19.) The Hebrew is cognate with “amen,” and Luther has “amen’s leute,” people as good as their word. read more
(2) Vanity.—So in Psalms 41:6 and Job 35:13. Literally, evil. “Falsehood” would be better. This verse may have been in St Paul’s mind (Ephesians 4:25).Flattering lips.—Literally, lips of smoothness, (Comp. Note, Psalms 5:9.)With a double heart.—Literally, with a heart and a heart. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 12:33.) “One for the Church, another for the Change; one for Sundays, another for working-days; one for the king, another for the Pope. A man without a heart is a wonder, but a man with two hearts... read more
(3) The Lord shall.—Translate, May Jehovah cut off.Proud things.—Literally, great things. Vulg., linguam magniloquam. read more
(4) With our tongue.—This is the proud saying just mentioned, and is plainly a boast of the power possessed by those who have the ear of persons in authority, and can adroitly “make the worse appear the better cause”; or being themselves in high places, can, like Angelo in Measure for Measure, defy the accusations of their victims:—“Who will believe thee, Isabel?My place in the StateWill so your accusation overweighThat you shall stifle in your own report,And smell of calumny.”But there is... read more
(5) For the oppression—i.e., on account of the oppression. Here, as in so many psalms and prophecies, we have an ancient oracle of God introduced. The poet first quotes it, and then in Psalms 12:6 contrasts its truth and genuineness with the false speeches of hypocrites.I will set.—Literally, I will set in safety; he blows at it: which may mean either, “I will ensure him of the safety for which he panteth,” or “I will set him in safety who panteth for it.” This sense is fixed by Habakkuk 2:3 :... read more
(6) As silver.—This solemn promise of Jehovah may be relied on, for His words are not like those of deceitful men—alloyed with self and falsehood—but are pure as silver seven times smelted.In a furnace.—Either a “workshop” or a “crucible,” according as derived.Of earth.—These words are difficult; they must mean either in earth, referring to the ashes in which the smelted silver falls, or as to earth, i.e., as to the alloy, or as we say, purified of the alloy.But erets is never else used for the... read more
(8) The wicked.—Gesenius translates this verse, “The wicked walk on every side like the rising of a tempest upon the sons of men.” There seems no reason to question his rendering of the word zullûth (Authorised Version, “vilest”), which is peculiar to this passage; but by comparison with Psalms 39:6; Psalms 58:7, we may render the first clause, the wicked vanish on every side; and a slight change gives for the second clause, at the rising of a tempest on the sons of men. read more
Psalms 12:5 This verse was the text of a sermon preached by Dr. Fabricius before Gustavus Adolphus, when he took Augsburg after a severe fight, in which the honour of the day was given by the king to the Scottish Brigade under Colonel Hepburn. A solemn thanksgiving was held in the principal church, and religious liberty was proclaimed in the city of the famous Confession, while the ferocious Tilly, after his defeat, returned breathing out threatenings and slaughter. John Ker. read more
Psalms 12:1-8ONE penalty of living near God is keen pain from low lives. The ears that hear God’s word cannot but be stunned and hurt by the babble of empty speech. This psalm is profoundly melancholy, but without trace of personal affliction. The psalmist is not sad for himself, but sick of the clatter of godless tongues, in which he discerns the outcome of godless lives. His plaint wakes echoes in hearts touched by the love of God and the visions of man’s true life. It passes through four... read more
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Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 12
XII.The tradition of the Davidic authorship must be discarded here. The psalm is an elegy, but not for personal suffering. It is a lament over the demoralisation of men and the corruption of social life. Neither faith nor law are left; falsehood, duplicity, and hypocrisy succeed everywhere, and the honest men are so lost in the mass of wickedness that they seem to have disappeared altogether. We find similar complaints in Micah 7:2, Isaiah 57:1, and Jeremiah 5:1. But God has not left Himself... read more