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Selected Verse: Psalms 104:14 - American Standard
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Ps 104:14 |
American Standard |
He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, And herb for the service of man; That he may bring forth food out of the earth, |
| |
King James |
He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
so that men and beasts are abundantly provided with food.
for the service--literally, "for the culture," &c., by which he secures the results.
oil . . . shine--literally, "makes his face to shine more than oil," that is, so cheers and invigorates him, that outwardly he appears better than if anointed.
strengtheneth . . . heart--gives vigor to man (compare Jdg 19:5). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle - Out of the earth there is caused to grow every variety of food necessary for the various orders of beings that are placed upon it. The idea here is not merely that of "abundance;" it is also that of "variety:" the needs and tastes of all have been consulted in the productions of the earth. The one earth - the same earth - has been made to produce the endless varieties of food required for the creatures that have been placed on it. The word "grass" here refers to all the vegetable productions needful for cattle.
And herb for the service of man - Gen 1:29. The word "herb" here would include every green plant or vegetable; or all that the earth produces for the food of man. This, of course, refers to the earth as it came from the hand of God, and to the original arrangement, before permission was given to man to eat the flesh of animals, Gen 9:3. The word translated "service" might be rendered "culture," as if man was to cultivate it for his use, not that it was to be produced, as the food for cattle, spontaneously.
That he may bring forth food out of the earth - Hebrew, "bread." That is, that by culture he may bring forth that which would make bread. |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
In the fourth decastich the poet goes further among the creatures of the field and of the forest. The subject to להוציא is מצמיח. The clause expressing the purpose, which twice begins with an infinitive, is continued in both instances, as in Isa 13:9, but with a change of subject (cf. e.g., Amo 1:11; Amo 2:4), in the finite verb. On what is said of wine we may compare Ecc 10:19, Sir. 40:20, and more especially Isaiah, who frequently mentions wine as a representative of all the natural sources of joy. The assertion that משּׁמן signifies "before oil = brighter than oil," is an error that is rightly combated by Bttcher in his Proben and two of his "Gleanings,"
(Note: Proben, i.e., Specimens of Old Testament interpretation, Leipzig 1833, and Aehrenlese (Gleanings), referred to in the preface of these volumes. - Tr.)
which imputes to the poet a mention of oil that is contrary to his purpose in this connection wand inappropriate. Corn, wine, and oil are mentioned as the three chief products of the vegetable kingdom (Luther, Calvin, Grotius, Dathe, and Hupfeld), and are assumed under עשׂב in Psa 104:14, as is also the case in other instances where distinction would be superfluous, e.g., in Exo 9:22. With oil God makes the countenance shining, or bright and cheerful, not by means of anointing-since it was not the face but the head that was anointed (Mat 6:17), - but by the fact of its increasing the savouriness and nutritiveness of the food. להצהיל is chosen with reference to יצהר. In Psa 104:15 לבב־אנושׁ does not stand after, as in Psa 104:15 (where it is לבב־ with Gaja on account of the distinctive), but before the verb, because לבב as that which is inward stands in antithesis to פנים as that which is outside. Since the fertilization of the earth by the rain is the chief subject of the predication in Psa 104:13, Psa 104:16 is naturally attached to what precedes without arousing critical suspicion. That which satisfies is here the rain itself, and not, as in Psa 104:13, that which the rain matures. The "trees of Jahve" are those which before all others proclaim the greatness of their Creator. אשׁר־שׁם refers to these trees, of which the cedars and then the cypresses (ברושׁים, root בר, to cut) are mentioned. They are places where small and large birds build their nests and lodge, more particularly the stork, which is called the חסידה as being πτηνῶν εὐσεβέστατον ζώων (Barbrius, Fab. xiii.), as avis pia (pietaticultrix in Petronius, lv. 6), i.e., on account of its love of family life, on account of which it is also regarded as bringing good fortune to a house.
(Note: In the Merg& district, where the stork is not called leklek as it is elsewhere, but charnuk[ on account of its bill like a long horn (Arab. chrn) standing out in front, the women and children call it Arab. 'bû sa‛d, "bringer of good luck." Like the חסידה, the long-legged carrion-vulture (Vultur percnopterus) or mountain-stork, ὀρειπελαργός, is called רחם (Arab. rḥm) on account of its στοργή.)
The care of God for the lodging of His creatures leads the poet from the trees to the heights of the mountains and the hiding-places of the rocks, in a manner that is certainly abrupt and that disturbs the sketch taken from the account of the creation. הגּבהים is an apposition. יעל (Arabic wa‛il) is the steinboc, wild-goat, as being an inhabitant of יעל (wa‛l, wa‛la), i.e., the high places of the rocks, as יען, Lam 4:3, according to Wetzstein, is the ostrich as being an inhabitant of the wa‛na, i.e., the sterile desert; and שׁפן is the rock-badger, which dwells in the clefts of the rocks (Pro 30:26), and resembles the marmot - South Arabic Arab. tufun, Hyrax Syriacus (distinct from the African). By שׁפן the Jewish tradition understand the coney, after which the Peshto here renders it לחגסא (חגס, cuniculus). Both animals, the coney and the rock-badger, may be meant in Lev 11:5; Deu 14:7; for the sign of the cloven hoof (פּרסה שׁסוּעה) is wanting in both. The coney has four toes, and the hyrax has a peculiar formation of hoof, not cloven, but divided into several parts. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle - Doth God care for oxen? Yes, and there is not a beast of the field that does not share his merciful regards.
And herb for the serviee of man - Plants, esculent herbs, and nutritive grain in general; and thus he brings forth food (לחם lechem, bread) out of the earth. In the germination and growth of a grain of wheat there is a profusion of miracles. God takes care of man, and of all those animals which are so necessary to the convenience and comfort of man. |
5 And it came to pass on the fourth day, that they arose early in the morning, and he rose up to depart: and the damsel's father said unto his son-in-law, Strengthen thy heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward ye shall go your way.
3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you; As the green herb have I given you all.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food:
7 Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that have the hoof cloven: the camel, and the hare, and the coney; because they chew the cud but part not the hoof, they are unclean unto you.
5 And the coney, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you.
26 The conies are but a feeble folk, Yet make they their houses in the rocks;
3 Even the jackals draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: The daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
13 He watereth the mountains from his chambers: The earth is filled with the fruit of thy works.
16 The trees of Jehovah are filled with moisture, The cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;
13 He watereth the mountains from his chambers: The earth is filled with the fruit of thy works.
15 And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, And oil to make his face to shine, And bread that strengtheneth man's heart.
15 And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, And oil to make his face to shine, And bread that strengtheneth man's heart.
17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face;
22 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch forth thy hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.
14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, And herb for the service of man; That he may bring forth food out of the earth,
19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh glad the life; and money answereth all things.
4 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Judah, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have rejected the law of Jehovah, and have not kept his statutes, and their lies have caused them to err, after which their fathers did walk:
11 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Edom, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:
9 Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it.