Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 80:8
(8) Thou hast brought.—The verb is to be taken as a historic present, “Thou bringest.” It is a verb used both of horticulture (Job 19:10) and, like the word “planted” in the next clause, of breaking up and removing a nomadic encampment, “pulling out the tent-pins, and driving them in.,,The vine (or vineyard), as an emblem of Israel, is so natural and apt that we do not wonder to find it repeated again and again in the Old Testament, and adopted in the New. Probably Isaiah 5:1-7 was the parent... read more
John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 80:1-19
This Ps. is an appeal to God to save His people from the adversities that have come upon them, and have made them the laughing stock of their enemies (Psalms 80:1-7). Their past history is recalled under the figure of a vine, once flourishing, but now wasted by wild beasts and fire (Psalms 80:8-16). Special prominence is given to the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin (Psalms 80:2). The Ps. was probably written at least after the fall of the northern kingdom (721 b.c., 2 Kings 17:5-6; 2... read more