Psalm 58:6-11 ESV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 58:6-11

In these verses we have, I. David's prayers against his enemies, and all the enemies of God's church and people; for it is as such that he looks upon them, so that he was actuated by a public spirit in praying against them, and not by any private revenge. 1. He prays that they might be disabled to do any further mischief (Ps. 58:6): Break their teeth, O God! Not so much that they might not feed themselves as that they might not be able to make prey of others, Ps. 3:7. He does not say, ?Break... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 58:6

Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth ,.... From the description of the wicked, the psalmist passes to imprecations on his enemies; whom he represents as cruel and bloodthirsty, and as being stronger than he; and therefore he applies to God, who could, as he sometimes did, smite his enemies on the cheekbone, and break the teeth of the ungodly; which is done by taking the power and instruments of hurting from them: and it may be by "their teeth in their mouth" may be meant their malicious... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 58:7

Let them melt away as waters which run continually ,.... Let them be disheartened, and their courage fail them, and let there be no spirit left in them, Joshua 7:5 ; or let them be unstable as water that is continually running, ever upon the flux and motion; let them never be settled, but always changing in their state and circumstances, Genesis 49:4 ; or let them "come to nought", as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions; which is the case of water that runs over or runs away: or... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 58:8

As a snail which melteth, let everyone of them pass away ,.... As a snail when it comes out of its shell liquefies, drops its moisture, and with it makes a "path", from whence it has its name שבלול , in the Hebrew language; and so the Targum here, "as the snail moistens its way;' which moistness it gradually exhausts, and melts away, and dies: so the psalmist prays that everyone of his enemies might die in like manner. Some think reference is had to the snail's putting out its... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 58:9

Before your pots can feel the thorns ,.... Which is soon done; for as dry thorns make a great blaze, so they give a quick heat; the pots soon feel them, or the water in them soon receives heat from them. From imprecations the psalmist proceeds to prophesy, and foretells the sudden destruction of wicked men, which would be before a pot could be heated with a blaze of thorns. The Targum is, "before the wicked become tender, they harden as the thorn:' that is, they never become tender, or... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 58:10

The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance ,.... Before imprecated and foretold; the punishment inflicted by the Lord, to whom vengeance belongs, in a way of vindictive wrath; for what befalls the wicked in an afflictive way is in wrath, and as a vengeance upon them: and as the judgments of God are sometimes manifest, are to be seen, they are observed by the righteous, who rejoice at them; not as evils and miseries simply considered, nor from a private affection; but as the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 58:11

So that a man shall say ,.... Any man, and every man, especially, that is observing, wise, and knowing; he shall conclude, from such a dispensation of things, from God's dealing with the wicked after this manner: verily, there is a reward for the righteous ; or "fruit" F11 פרי "fructus", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c.; for them: they have the fruits of divine love, the blessings of an everlasting covenant; and the fruit of Christ, the tree of life, which is sweet unto their... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 58:6

Break their teeth - He still compares Saul, his captains, and his courtiers, to lions; and as a lion's power of doing mischief is greatly lessened if all his teeth be broken, so he prays that God may take away their power and means of pursuing their bloody purpose. But he may probably have the serpents in view of which he speaks in the preceding verse; break their teeth - destroy the fangs of these serpents, in which their poison is contained. This will amount to the same meaning as above.... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 58:7

Let them melt away as waters - Let them be minished away like the waters which sometimes run in the desert, but are soon evaporated by the sun, or absorbed by the sand. When he bendeth his bow - When my adversaries aim their envenomed shafts against me, let their arrows not only fall short of the mark, but he broken to pieces in the flight. Some apply this to God. When he bends his bow against them, they shall all be exterminated. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 58:8

As a snail which melteth - The Chaldee reads the verse thus: "They shall melt away in their sins as water flows off; as the creeping snail that smears its track; as the untimely birth and the blind mole, which do not see the sun." The original word שבלול shablul , a snail, is either from שביל shebil , a path, because it leaves a shining path after it by emitting a portion of slime, and thus glaring the ground; and therefore might be emphatically called the pathmaker; or from ישב ... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 58:6-11

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 58:6

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 58:7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 58:8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 58:9

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 58:10

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 58:11

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 58:6

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 58:7

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 58:8

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