Psalm 148

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:1

(1) From the heavens . . . in the heights.—Some would render ye of the heavens, but the parallelism is in favour of the Authorised Version. “Heavens” and “heights” in this verse, and “angels” and “hosts” in the next, are analogously parallel. The heights contain the heavens (comp. Job 16:19; Job 25:2), as the hosts embrace the angels or messengers of God (Joshua 5:14); the larger term being in such case placed synthetically last. The prepositions thus keep their full meaning. From the heavens,... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:4

(4) Heavens of heavens.—See Psalms 68:33, and references. Before passing downwards to the earth the invocation pauses to combine all the heights, which have been before addressed in the expression which denotes their position relatively to the earth; the highest heaven of all, and then the world of water which, in the Hebrew conception of the Cosmos, was supposed to be the foundation, while itself rests on the firmament or heavenly vault. (See Psalms 104:3.) read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:6

(6) Stablished.—Literally, made to stand, i.e., set them up.He hath made . . .—Rather, he hath made an ordinance, and will not transgress it. This is more obvious and natural than to supply a new subject to the second verb, “and none of them transgress it.” This anticipates, but only in form, the modern scientific doctrine of the inviolability of natural order. It is the imperishable faithfulness of God that renders the law invariable. See the remarkable passages, Jeremiah 31:36; Jeremiah... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:7

(7) Earth·—The invocation now passes downwards, and the first sound of terrestrial praise is to come, according to the order of Creation in Genesis 1:0, from the sea-monsters (for which see Note, Psalms 74:13; Psalms 91:13), the “deeps” being added to include all great waters in which such creatures are found. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:8

(8) Fire.—Lightning, as in Psalms 18:12; Psalms 105:32. where it is also found with “hail.”Vapours.—The same Hebrew word in Genesis 19:28 and Psalms 119:83 is rendered “smoke,” and from the use of the cognate verb is certainly connected with “burning.” Hence we probably have here the figure chiasmus (fire and hail, snow and smoke), the smoke answering to the fire, as the snow to the hail. On the other hand, from Psalms 18:8; Psalms 144:5, it is plain that the driving mists of a storm were... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:9

(9) Mountains, and all hills.—The invocation now alights on the crests of the highest mountains, and passes downward to the lower hills where vegetable life begins.Fruitful trees.—Rather, fruit trees; the fruit-bearing tree being representative of one division of the vegetable world, planted and reared by man, the cedars of the other, which are (Psalms 104:16) of God’s own plantation. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:10

(10) So here we have wild animals and domesticated animals. (See Note, Psalms 50:10.)Creeping things.—This seems to include all the smaller creatures that move on the ground, in contrast with the birds that fly above it. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:11

(11) All people.—And now the whole animate and inanimate universe having been summoned, man takes his place as leader of the choir; and here the poet’s language is couched so as to include all, all ranks and nations, of every age, and each sex. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:13

(13) Excellent.—Rather, exalted. As in Isaiah 12:4. So LXX. and Vulg.Above the earth and heaven.—There is a fine artistic touch in the order of the words in this. All heaven and earth have been summoned to the chorus of praise, of Him who is now declared to be above earth and heaven. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:14

(14) He hath . . .—Render, and he hath raised a horn for his people. Praise is for all His saints, for the sons of Israel, a people near Him.The raising of the horn evidently implies some victory, or assurance of victory, which, no doubt, gave the first impulse for this song of praise. (See Introduction). For the figure see Note, Psalms 75:4-5.The verse is a repetition of a frequent statement of the Psalms. While poetically all the universe, inanimate as well as animate, all men, heathen as... read more

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:1

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:4

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:6

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:7

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:8

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:9

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:10

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:11

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:13

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 148:14

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