Psalms 64:7-8 - Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Bible Study & Commentary

Verses 7-8

(7, 8) The meaning of these verses is clear. In the moment of their imagined success, their deeply-laid schemes just on the point of ripening, a sudden Divine retribution overtakes the wicked, and all their calumnies, invented with such cunning, fall back on their own heads. But the construction is most perplexing. The text presents a tangled maze of abrupt clauses, which, arranged according to the accents, run: And God shoots an arrow, sudden are their wounds, and they make it (or him) fall on themselves their tongue. The last clause seems to pronounce the law which obtains in Divine judgment. While God orders the retribution it is yet the recoil of their own evil on the guilty. In these cases,

“We still have judgment here, that we but teachBloody instructions, which, being taught, returnTo plague the inventor; this evenhanded justiceCommends the ingredients of our poisoned chaliceTo our own lips.”

SHAKSPEARE: Macbeth.

Flee away.—The verb (nâdad) properly means to flutter the wings like a bird (Isaiah 10:14).

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

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Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

Charles John Ellicott, compiler of and contributor to this renowned Bible Commentary, was one of the most outstanding conservative scholars of the 18th century. He was born at Whitwell near Stamford, England, on April 25, 1819. He graduated from St. John's College, Cambridge, where other famous expositors like Charles Simeon and Handley Moule studied. As a Fellow of St. John's, he constantly lectured there. In 1847, Charles Ellicott was ordained a Priest in the Church of England. From 1841 to 1848, he served as Rector of Pilton, Rutlandshire. He became Hulsean Professor of Divinity, Cambridge, in 1860. The next three years, 1861 to 1863, he ministered as Dean of Exeter, and later in 1863 became the Lord Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol.Conspicuous as a Bible Expositor, he is still well known for his Critical and Grammatical Commentaries on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians and Philemon. Other printed works include Modern Unbelief, The Being of God, The History and Obligation of the Sabbath.This unique Bible Commentary is to be highly recommended for its worth to Pastors and Students. Its expositions are simple and satisfying, as well as scholarly. Among its most commendable features, mention should be made of the following: It contains profitable suggestions concerning the significance of names used in Scripture.... Show more

This unique Bible Commentary is to be highly recommended for its worth to Pastors and Students. Its expositions are simple and satisfying, as well as scholarly. Among its most commendable features, mention should be made of the following: It contains profitable suggestions concerning the significance of names used in Scripture.... Show more

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