psalm-121:1-8,-proverbs-28:27-28

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 121:1-8

The song of the traveller, whose guide is Jehovah.1. Hills] RV ’mountains.’ The mountains suggest strength, and the Psalmist asks a question, ’Whence shall my help come?’ The answer is given in Psalms 121:2: ’from Him who made the mountains and all else.’ If this Ps. were sung going up to Jerusalem then the ’mountains’ may be the hills around Jerusalem, or those on which that city is built.5. Shade] i.e. shelter for defence.6. A belief in the injurious influence of the moon is an almost... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 121:1

(1) Whence.—Our version is certainly incorrect in following the LXX. and Vulg. in making whence a relative. The Hebrew word is always interrogative; even in Joshua 2:4 it is indirectly interrogative. But the margin is hardly right in making the whole verse interrogative. Render, I will lift up mine eyes to the hills. Whence comes my help? The hills are those on which Jerusalem is built, the plural being understood, as in Psalms 87:1. (See Note.) This gaze of hope does not absolutely decide the... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 121:2

(2) My help cometh . . .—Not as the superstition of the Canaanite said, from the sacred summits themselves, but from their Creator’s Lord. It is noticeable that the style, “maker of heaven and earth,” is a peculiarity of psalms which are certainly post-exile, and show how strongly the contrast with heathenism impressed the creative power of God on the Hebrew mind. When the idolater, pointing to his visible god, taunted the Israelite with having no god, the reply, that He made the heavens, and... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 121:3

(3) He will not.—The LXX. and Vulg. rightly, “may He not suffer,” &c. The Hebrew cannot be a simple negative. That it is Israel which is addressed the next verse seems to prove. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 121:4

(4) Slumber nor sleep.—This repetition, with the addition of a synonym, offers a very good instance of the step-like style supposed by many critics to give their name to these psalms. But it must be carefully noticed that there is no climax in the force of the two words, the first, if anything, being the stronger. It is used of the sleep of death (Psalms 76:5). read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 121:5

(5) Thy keeper.—Notice again how the prominent word is caught up from the preceding verse and amplified, and then again repeated, and again amplified in Psalms 121:7-8, where preserve is an unfortunate substitution by the Authorised Version.Shade.—An image of protection, and one peculiarly attractive to the Oriental. (See Numbers 14:9, margin; Psalms 91:1; Isaiah 25:4; Isaiah 32:2.)Upon thy right hand.—Some commentators combine this expression with the figure of the shadow, supposing the... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 121:6

(6) Smite thee.—The mention of shade leads to the amplification of the figure. The evil effects of sunstroke are too well known to need comment. They are often mentioned in the Bible (2 Kings 4:18; 2 Kings 4:20; Jonah 4:0; Jdt. 8:3).Nor the moon by night.—Possibly there is allusion to the belief, so common in old times, of the harmful influence of the moon’s light—a belief still recalled in the word lunacy. It is a fact that temporary blindness is often caused by moonlight. (See authorities... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 121:7-8

(7-8) Instead of preserve, read keep, the persistent dwelling on this one word making one of the chief beauties of this hymn. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 121:8

(8) Thy going out and thy coming in.—A common Hebrew expression to denote the whole of life. (See Deuteronomy 28:6, &c; comp. St. Paul’s prayer, 1 Thessalonians 5:23.) read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Psalms 121:1-8

Psalms 121:0 Dr. Blaikie, in his Life of Livingstone, tells that this Psalm and the 135th were read by him when he parted with his family and went out first as a missionary to Africa 'I remember my father and him,' writes his sister, 'talking over the prospects of Christian missions. They said that the time would come when rich and great men would think it an honour to support whole stations of missionaries, instead of spending their money on hounds and horses. On the morning of 17 November,... read more

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 121:1-8

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 121:1

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 121:2

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 121:3

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 121:4

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 121:5

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 121:6

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 121:7-8

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 121:8

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Psalms 121:1-8

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