maketh inquisition for = inquireth concerning. them: i.e. those named in Psalms 9:10 . forgetteth not. Compare Psalms 9:18 and Psalms 10:11 , Psalms 10:12 . cry = outcry. humble = oppressed. Compare Psalms 9:18 with Psalms 10:12 , Psalms 10:17 . read more
Psalms 9:12. When he maketh inquisition for blood— To make inquisition for blood, as we hinted on Psalms 5:0 is not to inquire after blood spilled, but to sit as inquisitor or judge on all capital crimes, where the blood of the offender is due to justice. Them, refers to the humble or afflicted, who follow after, and whose cry or supplication is contained in the two next verses. read more
12. for blood—that is, murders (Psalms 5:6), including all the oppressions of His people. maketh inquisition—(compare Genesis 9:5). He will avenge their cause. read more
1. Praise for righteous judgment 9:1-12This first section speaks of God as the righteous Judge in whom the afflicted may hope. read more
Psalms 9The Septuagint translators combined Psalms 9, 10 into one psalm, even though they are separate in the Hebrew text. Consequently, from this psalm through Psalms 147, the numbering of the psalms in the Roman Catholic versions of the Bible differs from the numbering in the Protestant versions. The Roman Catholic versions follow the Septuagint (Greek) and Vulgate (Latin) versions, whereas the Protestant versions follow the Hebrew Bible. Twice the Septuagint translators combined or... read more
David closed this pericope of praise (Psalms 9:1-12), by appealing to the afflicted and oppressed, to praise God and testify to others about God’s care of them. The NIV and marginal NASB reading "avenges bloodshed" (Psalms 9:12) more clearly expresses David’s thought than "requires blood" (cf. Genesis 9:5). read more
Psalms 9, 10 are combined in LXX, and there is certainly a real, though obscure, relationship between them. The two together form one ’acrostic,’ the vv. beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, though in both Pss. there is a gap in the arrangement. The subject matter of the two Pss., however, does not suggest that we have in tbem the two halves of what was originally a single Ps. Psalms 9 is distinctly national and Psalms 10 as distinctly personal, and though both may be... read more
(12) When.—Better, for he maketh inquisition; literally, the seeker of bloods: i.e., “the avenger of blood.” The allusion is to the goel, the nearest relative of the murdered man, who must, according to Oriental custom, avenge him. The verbs are better in the past, “remembered,” “forgot not.”Them—i.e., the sufferers to be mentioned now.Humble.—This follows the Hebrew margin. Better here, the afflicted. In the Hebrew the two readings give two forms from the same root, generally taken to have,... read more
Psalms 9:10 The name of God always means, in the Bible, the nature and character of God. Our religion in its very essence necessarily depends upon our conception of the nature and character of our God. Your idea of God, your belief about what He is in nature and character, is bound to colour all your relations to Him. I might, of course, say a great deal about the conception of God which is given to us in the Christian revelation, but for the many things that might be said I shall just now... read more
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Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Psalms 9:1-20
Psalms 9-10 God fights for the oppressedIn Psalms 9:0 and 10 we meet another kind of Hebrew verse, the acrostic. (Other acrostics are Psalms 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119 and 145.) In an acrostic the first word of each verse (or stanza) begins with a different letter of the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet, moving in order, so to speak, ‘from A to Z’. The acrostic in this case moves unbroken through Psalms 9:0 and 10, indicating that originally they probably formed one psalm. The absence of a heading to... read more