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Selected Verse: Psalms 89:46 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ps 89:46	Strong Concordance	How long, LORD [03068]? wilt thou hide [05641] thyself for ever [05331]? shall thy wrath [02534] burn [01197] like fire [0784]?
	King James	How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
How long, &c.--(Compare Psa 13:1; Psa 88:14; Jer 4:4).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

How long, &c.--(Compare Psa 13:1; Psa 88:14; Jer 4:4).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
How long, Lord? - How long is this to continue? Can it be that this is to continue always? Is there to be no change for the better? Are the promises which have been made, never to be fulfilled? Compare Psa 13:1, note; Psa 77:7-9, notes. Wilt thou hide thyself for ever? - Thy favor. Wilt thou never come forth and manifest thyself as the Helper of those who trust in thee? Shall thy wrath burn like fire? - Fire which entirely consumes; fire which never ceases as long as there is anything to burn; fire which never puts itself out, but which wholly destroys that on which it preys.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
After this statement of the present condition of things the psalmist begins to pray for the removal of all that is thus contradictory to the promise. The plaintive question, Psa 89:47, with the exception of one word, is verbatim the same as Psa 79:5. The wrath to which quousque refers, makes itself to be felt, as the intensifying (vid., Psa 13:2) לנצח implies, in the intensity and duration of everlasting wrath. חלד is this temporal life which glides past secretly and unnoticed (Psa 17:14); and זכר־אני is not equivalent to זכרני (instead of which by way of emphasis only זכרני אני can be said), but אני מה־חלד stands for מה־חלד אני - according to the sense equivalent to אני מה־חדל, Psa 39:5, cf. Psa 39:6. The conjecture of Houbigant and modern expositors, זכר אדני (cf. Psa 89:51), is not needed, since the inverted position of the words is just the same as in Psa 39:5. In Psa 89:48 it is not pointed על־מה שׁוא, "wherefore (Job 10:2; Job 13:14) hast Thou in vain (Psa 127:1) created?" (Hengstenberg), but על־מה־שּׁוא, on account of or for what a nothing (מה־שׁוא belonging together as adjective and substantive, as in Psa 30:10; Job 26:14) hast Thou created all the children of men? (De Wette, Hupfeld, and Hitzig). על, of the ground of a matter and direct motive, which is better suited to the question in Psa 89:49 than the other way of taking it: the life of all men passes on into death and Hades; why then might not God, within this brief space of time, this handbreadth, manifest Himself to His creatures as the merciful and kind, and not as the always angry God? The music strikes in here, and how can it do so otherwise than in elegiac mesto? If God's justice tarries and fails in this present world, then the Old Testament faith becomes sorely tempted and tried, because it is not able to find consolation in the life beyond. Thus it is with the faith of the poet in the present juncture of affairs, the outward appearance of which is in such perplexing contradiction to the loving-kindness sworn to David and also hitherto vouchsafed. חסדים has not the sense in this passage of the promises of favour, as in Ch2 6:42, but proofs of favour; הראשׁנים glances back at the long period of the reigns of David and of Solomon. (Note: The Pasek between חראשׁנים and אדני is not designed merely to remove the limited predicate from the Lord, who is indeed the First and the Last, but also to secure its pronunciation to the guttural Aleph, which might be easily passed over after Mem; cf. Gen 1:27; Gen 21:17; Gen 30:20; Gen 42:21, and frequently.) The Asaph Ps 77 and the Tephilla Isa. 63 contain similar complaints, just as in connection with Psa 89:51 one is reminded of the Asaph Psa 79:2, Psa 79:10, and in connection with Psa 89:52 of Psa 79:12. The phrase נשׂא בחיקו is used in other instances of loving nurture, Num 11:12; Isa 40:11. In this passage it must have a sense akin to חרפּת עבדיך. It is impossible on syntactic grounds to regard כּל־רבּים עמּים as still dependent upon חרפּת (Ewald) or, as Hupfeld is fond of calling it, as a "post-liminiar" genitive. Can it be that the כל is perhaps a mutilation of כּלמּת, after Eze 36:15, as Bttcher suggests? We do not need this conjecture. For (1) to carry any one in one's bosom, if he is an enemy, may signify: to be obliged to cherish him with the vexation proceeding from him (Jer 15:15), without being able to get rid of him; (2) there is no doubt that רבּים can, after the manner of numerals, be placed before the substantive to which it belongs, Eze 32:10, Pro 31:29; Ch1 28:5; Neh 9:28; cf. the other position, e.g., Jer 16:16; (3) consequently כּל־רבּים עמּים may signify the "totality of many peoples" just as well as כּל גּוים רבּים in Eze 31:6. The poet complains as a member of the nation, as a citizen of the empire, that he is obliged to foster many nations in his bosom, inasmuch as the land of Israel was overwhelmed by the Egyptians and their allies, the Libyans, Troglodytes, and Ethiopians. The אשׁר which follows in Psa 89:52 cannot now be referred back over Psa 89:51 to חרפּת (quâ calumniâ), and yet the relative sense, not the confirmatory (because, quoniam), is at issue. We therefore refer it to עמים, and take אויביך as an apposition, as in Psa 139:20 : who reproach Thee, (as) Thine enemies, Jahve, who reproach the footsteps (עקּבות as in Psa 77:20 with Dag. dirimens, which gives it an emotional turn) of Thine anointed, i.e., they follow him everywhere, wheresoever he may go, and whatsoever he may do. With these significant words, עקּבות משׁיחך, the Third Book of the Psalms dies away.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

After this statement of the present condition of things the psalmist begins to pray for the removal of all that is thus contradictory to the promise. The plaintive question, Psa 89:47, with the exception of one word, is verbatim the same as Psa 79:5. The wrath to which quousque refers, makes itself to be felt, as the intensifying (vid., Psa 13:2) לנצח implies, in the intensity and duration of everlasting wrath. חלד is this temporal life which glides past secretly and unnoticed (Psa 17:14); and זכר־אני is not equivalent to זכרני (instead of which by way of emphasis only זכרני אני can be said), but אני מה־חלד stands for מה־חלד אני - according to the sense equivalent to אני מה־חדל, Psa 39:5, cf. Psa 39:6. The conjecture of Houbigant and modern expositors, זכר אדני (cf. Psa 89:51), is not needed, since the inverted position of the words is just the same as in Psa 39:5. In Psa 89:48 it is not pointed על־מה שׁוא, "wherefore (Job 10:2; Job 13:14) hast Thou in vain (Psa 127:1) created?" (Hengstenberg), but על־מה־שּׁוא, on account of or for what a nothing (מה־שׁוא belonging together as adjective and substantive, as in Psa 30:10; Job 26:14) hast Thou created all the children of men? (De Wette, Hupfeld, and Hitzig). על, of the ground of a matter and direct motive, which is better suited to the question in Psa 89:49 than the other way of taking it: the life of all men passes on into death and Hades; why then might not God, within this brief space of time, this handbreadth, manifest Himself to His creatures as the merciful and kind, and not as the always angry God? The music strikes in here, and how can it do so otherwise than in elegiac mesto? If God's justice tarries and fails in this present world, then the Old Testament faith becomes sorely tempted and tried, because it is not able to find consolation in the life beyond. Thus it is with the faith of the poet in the present juncture of affairs, the outward appearance of which is in such perplexing contradiction to the loving-kindness sworn to David and also hitherto vouchsafed. חסדים has not the sense in this passage of the promises of favour, as in Ch2 6:42, but proofs of favour; הראשׁנים glances back at the long period of the reigns of David and of Solomon.

(Note: The Pasek between חראשׁנים and אדני is not designed merely to remove the limited predicate from the Lord, who is indeed the First and the Last, but also to secure its pronunciation to the guttural Aleph, which might be easily passed over after Mem; cf. Gen 1:27; Gen 21:17; Gen 30:20; Gen 42:21, and frequently.)

The Asaph Ps 77 and the Tephilla Isa. 63 contain similar complaints, just as in connection with Psa 89:51 one is reminded of the Asaph Psa 79:2, Psa 79:10, and in connection with Psa 89:52 of Psa 79:12. The phrase נשׂא בחיקו is used in other instances of loving nurture, Num 11:12; Isa 40:11. In this passage it must have a sense akin to חרפּת עבדיך. It is impossible on syntactic grounds to regard כּל־רבּים עמּים as still dependent upon חרפּת (Ewald) or, as Hupfeld is fond of calling it, as a "post-liminiar" genitive. Can it be that the כל is perhaps a mutilation of כּלמּת, after Eze 36:15, as Bttcher suggests? We do not need this conjecture. For (1) to carry any one in one's bosom, if he is an enemy, may signify: to be obliged to cherish him with the vexation proceeding from him (Jer 15:15), without being able to get rid of him; (2) there is no doubt that רבּים can, after the manner of numerals, be placed before the substantive to which it belongs, Eze 32:10, Pro 31:29; Ch1 28:5; Neh 9:28; cf. the other position, e.g., Jer 16:16; (3) consequently כּל־רבּים עמּים may signify the "totality of many peoples" just as well as כּל גּוים רבּים in Eze 31:6. The poet complains as a member of the nation, as a citizen of the empire, that he is obliged to foster many nations in his bosom, inasmuch as the land of Israel was overwhelmed by the Egyptians and their allies, the Libyans, Troglodytes, and Ethiopians. The אשׁר which follows in Psa 89:52 cannot now be referred back over Psa 89:51 to חרפּת (quâ calumniâ), and yet the relative sense, not the confirmatory (because, quoniam), is at issue. We therefore refer it to עמים, and take אויביך as an apposition, as in Psa 139:20 : who reproach Thee, (as) Thine enemies, Jahve, who reproach the footsteps (עקּבות as in Psa 77:20 with Dag. dirimens, which gives it an emotional turn) of Thine anointed, i.e., they follow him everywhere, wheresoever he may go, and whatsoever he may do. With these significant words, עקּבות משׁיחך, the Third Book of the Psalms dies away.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
How long, Lord? - The promise cannot utterly fail. When then, O Lord, wilt thou restore the kingdom to Israel?

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⁴ Circumcise [04135] yourselves to the LORD [03068], and take away [05493] the foreskins [06190] of your heart [03824], ye men [0376] of Judah [03063] and inhabitants [03427] of Jerusalem [03389]: lest my fury [02534] come forth [03318] like fire [0784], and burn [01197] that none can quench [03518] it, because [06440] of the evil [07455] of your doings [04611].

¹⁴ LORD [03068], why castest thou off [02186] my soul [05315]? why hidest [05641] thou thy face [06440] from me?

¹ To the chief Musician [05329], A Psalm [04210] of David [01732]. How long wilt thou forget [07911] me, O LORD [03068]? for ever [05331]? how long wilt thou hide [05641] thy face [06440] from me?

⁷ Will the Lord [0136] cast off [02186] for ever [05769]? and will [03254] he be favourable [07521] no more?
⁸ Is his mercy [02617] clean gone [0656] for ever [05331]? doth his promise [0562] fail [01584] for evermore [01755] [01755]?
⁹ Hath God [0410] forgotten [07911] to be gracious [02589]? hath he in anger [0639] shut up [07092] his tender mercies [07356]? Selah [05542].

¹ To the chief Musician [05329], A Psalm [04210] of David [01732]. How long wilt thou forget [07911] me, O LORD [03068]? for ever [05331]? how long wilt thou hide [05641] thy face [06440] from me?

²⁰ Thou leddest [05148] thy people [05971] like a flock [06629] by the hand [03027] of Moses [04872] and Aaron [0175].

²⁰ For they speak [0559] against thee wickedly [04209], and thine enemies [06145] take [05375] thy name in vain [07723].

⁵¹ Wherewith thine enemies [0341] have reproached [02778], O LORD [03068]; wherewith they have reproached [02778] the footsteps [06119] of thine anointed [04899].

⁵² Blessed [01288] be the LORD [03068] for evermore [05769]. Amen [0543], and Amen [0543].

⁶ All the fowls [05775] of heaven [08064] made their nests [07077] in his boughs [05589], and under his branches [06288] did all the beasts [02416] of the field [07704] bring forth their young [03205], and under his shadow [06738] dwelt [03427] all great [07227] nations [01471].

¹⁶ Behold, I will send [07971] for many [07227] fishers [01771] [01728], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], and they shall fish [01770] them; and after [0310] will I send [07971] for many [07227] hunters [06719], and they shall hunt [06679] them from every mountain [02022], and from every hill [01389], and out of the holes [05357] of the rocks [05553].

²⁸ But after they had rest [05117], they did [06213] evil [07451] again [07725] before [06440] thee: therefore leftest [05800] thou them in the hand [03027] of their enemies [0341], so that they had the dominion [07287] over them: yet when they returned [07725], and cried [02199] unto thee, thou heardest [08085] them from heaven [08064]; and many [07227] times [06256] didst thou deliver [05337] them according to thy mercies [07356];

⁵ And of all my sons [01121], (for the LORD [03068] hath given [05414] me many [07227] sons [01121],) he hath chosen [0977] Solomon [08010] my son [01121] to sit [03427] upon the throne [03678] of the kingdom [04438] of the LORD [03068] over Israel [03478].

²⁹ Many [07227] daughters [01323] have done [06213] virtuously [02428], but thou excellest [05927] them all.

¹⁰ Yea, I will make many [07227] people [05971] amazed [08074] at thee, and their kings [04428] shall be horribly [08178] afraid [08175] for thee, when I shall brandish [05774] my sword [02719] before them [06440]; and they shall tremble [02729] at every moment [07281], every man [0376] for his own life [05315], in the day [03117] of thy fall [04658].

¹⁵ O LORD [03068], thou knowest [03045]: remember [02142] me, and visit [06485] me, and revenge [05358] me of my persecutors [07291]; take me not away [03947] in thy longsuffering [0639] [0750]: know [03045] that for thy sake I have suffered [05375] rebuke [02781].

¹⁵ Neither will I cause men to hear [08085] in thee the shame [03639] of the heathen [01471] any more, neither shalt thou bear [05375] the reproach [02781] of the people [05971] any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations [01471] to fall [03782] any more, saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069].

¹¹ He shall feed [07462] his flock [05739] like a shepherd [07462]: he shall gather [06908] the lambs [02922] with his arm [02220], and carry [05375] them in his bosom [02436], and shall gently lead [05095] those that are with young [05763].

¹² Have I conceived [02029] all this people [05971]? have I begotten [03205] them, that thou shouldest say [0559] unto me, Carry [05375] them in thy bosom [02436], as a nursing father [0539] beareth [05375] the sucking child [03243], unto the land [0127] which thou swarest [07650] unto their fathers [01]?

¹² And render [07725] unto our neighbours [07934] sevenfold [07659] into their bosom [02436] their reproach [02781], wherewith they have reproached [02778] thee, O Lord [0136].

⁵² Blessed [01288] be the LORD [03068] for evermore [05769]. Amen [0543], and Amen [0543].

¹⁰ Wherefore should the heathen [01471] say [0559], Where is their God [0430]? let him be known [03045] among the heathen [01471] in our sight [05869] by the revenging [05360] of the blood [01818] of thy servants [05650] which is shed [08210].

² The dead bodies [05038] of thy servants [05650] have they given [05414] to be meat [03978] unto the fowls [05775] of the heaven [08064], the flesh [01320] of thy saints [02623] unto the beasts [02416] of the earth [0776].

⁵¹ Wherewith thine enemies [0341] have reproached [02778], O LORD [03068]; wherewith they have reproached [02778] the footsteps [06119] of thine anointed [04899].

²¹ And they said [0559] one [0376] to another [0251], We are verily [061] guilty [0818] concerning our brother [0251], in that [0834] we saw [07200] the anguish [06869] of his soul [05315], when he besought [02603] us, and we would not hear [08085]; therefore is this distress [06869] come [0935] upon us.

²⁰ And Leah [03812] said [0559], God [0430] hath endued [02064] me with a good [02896] dowry [02065]; now [06471] will my husband [0376] dwell [02082] with me, because I have born [03205] him six [08337] sons [01121]: and she called [07121] his name [08034] Zebulun [02074].

¹⁷ And God [0430] heard [08085] the voice [06963] of the lad [05288]; and the angel [04397] of God [0430] called [07121] to Hagar [01904] out of heaven [08064], and said [0559] unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar [01904]? fear [03372] not; for God [0430] hath heard [08085] the voice [06963] of the lad [05288] where he is.

²⁷ So God [0430] created [01254] man [0120] in his own image [06754], in the image [06754] of God [0430] created [01254] he him; male [02145] and female [05347] created [01254] he them.

⁴² O LORD [03068] God [0430], turn not away [07725] the face [06440] of thine anointed [04899]: remember [02142] the mercies [02617] of David [01732] thy servant [05650].

⁴⁹ Lord [0136], where are thy former [07223] lovingkindnesses [02617], which thou swarest [07650] unto David [01732] in thy truth [0530]?

¹⁴ Lo, these are parts [07098] of his ways [01870]: but how little [08102] a portion [01697] is heard [08085] of him? but the thunder [07482] of his power [01369] who can understand [0995]?

¹⁰ Hear [08085], O LORD [03068], and have mercy [02603] upon me: LORD [03068], be thou my helper [05826].

¹ A Song [07892] of degrees [04609] for Solomon [08010]. Except the LORD [03068] build [01129] the house [01004], they labour [05998] in vain [07723] that build [01129] it: except the LORD [03068] keep [08104] the city [05892], the watchman [08104] waketh [08245] but in vain [07723].

¹⁴ Wherefore do I take [05375] my flesh [01320] in my teeth [08127], and put [07760] my life [05315] in mine hand [03709]?

² I will say [0559] unto God [0433], Do not condemn [07561] me; shew [03045] me wherefore thou contendest [07378] with me.

⁴⁸ What man [01397] is he that liveth [02421], and shall not see [07200] death [04194]? shall he deliver [04422] his soul [05315] from the hand [03027] of the grave [07585]? Selah [05542].

⁵ Behold, thou hast made [05414] my days [03117] as an handbreadth [02947]; and mine age [02465] is as nothing before thee: verily every [03605] man [0120] at his best state [05324] is altogether [03605] vanity [01892]. Selah [05542].

⁵¹ Wherewith thine enemies [0341] have reproached [02778], O LORD [03068]; wherewith they have reproached [02778] the footsteps [06119] of thine anointed [04899].

⁶ Surely every man [0376] walketh [01980] in a vain shew [06754]: surely they are disquieted [01993] in vain [01892]: he heapeth up [06651] riches, and knoweth [03045] not who shall gather [0622] them.

¹⁴ From men [04962] which are thy hand [03027], O LORD [03068], from men [04962] of the world [02465], which have their portion [02506] in this life [02416], and whose belly [0990] thou fillest [04390] with thy hid [06840] treasure: they are full [07646] of children [01121], and leave [03240] the rest [03499] of their substance to their babes [05768].

² How long shall I take [07896] counsel [06098] in my soul [05315], having sorrow [03015] in my heart [03824] daily [03119]? how long shall mine enemy [0341] be exalted [07311] over me?

⁵ How long, LORD [03068]? wilt thou be angry [0599] for ever [05331]? shall thy jealousy [07068] burn [01197] like fire [0784]?

⁴⁷ Remember [02142] how short [02465] my time is: wherefore hast thou made [01254] all men [01121] [0120] in vain [07723]?