Psalms 60:4

4. Banner The Hebrew word נס , ( nes,) which occurs only here in the psalms, denotes the military signal which was attached to a long pole and set upon conspicuous places, as city walls or high hills, as a war-signal to rally the people to arms; see Isaiah 5:26; Isaiah 18:3; Jeremiah 4:6; Jeremiah 4:21; Jeremiah 51:12; Jeremiah 51:27. It differs from דגל , ( degel,) the military standard for each of the four divisions of the twelve tribes, Numbers 2:0; and from אות , ( oth,) the ensign for a single tribe. Numbers 2:2. Isaiah repeatedly uses it as a signal for assembling the exiles for their return to Jerusalem. Isaiah 11:10; Isaiah 11:12; Isaiah 69:22; Isaiah 62:10-11. In the text it may mean a military signal for a war muster, as the root verb dagal is used, Psalms 20:5; or a token of victory and protection, which would be exactly the oriental proverbial sense, as, Song of Solomon 2:4, “his banner, ( degel,) over me was love.”

Displayed It is better to follow our English version, and take התנוסס , ( hithnoses,) as a peculiar conjugation (Hithpoel) of נסס , ( nasas,) to elevate, lift up. It cannot be derived from נוס , ( noos,) to flee, and make sense or agree with the context, for this second strophe, Psalms 60:4-8, opening with the triumphal strain, “Thou hast given a banner,” etc., is one of hope, victory, and exultation, not of retreat and dismay. There is here a total change in the tone and spirit of the psalm from the complaint, Psalms 60:1-3.

Because of the truth The Septuagint (followed by the Vulgate and Syriac, with some modern critics) reads: “Thou hast given a token to them that fear thee, to flee from before the bow.” But this takes קשׁת , ( kohshet,) truth, the same as קשׁת , ( kehsheth,) bow, which requires an exchange of the final radicals, with a new vowel pointing. This, however, is not necessary. The word, as it stands in the text, has its ground form in Proverbs 22:21, where it means truth, as also its corresponding Chaldee, ( קשׁושׂ ,) Daniel 2:47; Daniel 4:27, with the same meaning. This also requires that מפני , ( mipnee,) literally from the face of, before, be understood as indicating the reason or motive in the sense of because of, in consideration of, as in Deuteronomy 28:20; Nehemiah 4:9; Nehemiah 5:15, and in twelve other places. This makes Zechariah 9:16, a parallel passage. It also makes sense, which the other does not; for the idea of giving a banner that they might fly before the archers is absurd. By this interpretation, which is simply that of the English text, the spirit of the context is preserved, as already noticed; by the other, it is completely destroyed. “Truth,” here, must be understood in the sense of fidelity to the purpose and covenant of God to David touching his kingdom, which the allied nations had conspired to overthrow.