Psalm 83 commentary

PSALM 83 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
A song. A psalm of Asaph.
I TRODUCTIO
SPURGEO , "Title. A Psalm or Song of Asaph. This is the last occasion upon
which we shall meet with this eloquent writer. The patriotic poet sings again of wars
and dangers imminent, but it is no godless song of a thoughtless nation entering
upon war with a light heart. Asaph the seer is well aware of the serious dangers
arising from the powerful confederate nations, but his soul in faith stays itself upon
Jehovah, while as a poet preacher he excites his countrymen to prayer by means of
this sacred lyric. The Asaph who penned this song was in all probability the person
referred to in 2 Chronicles 20:14, for the internal evidence referring the subject of
the Psalm to the times of Jehoshaphat is overwhelming. The division in the camp of
the confederate peoples in the wilderness of Tekoa not only broke up their league,
but led to a mutual slaughter, which crippled the power of some of the nations for
many years after. They thought to destroy Israel and destroyed each other.
Division. An appeal to God in a general manner fills Psalms 83:1-4; and then the
psalmist enters into details of the league, Psalms 83:5-8. This leads to an earnest
entreaty for the overthrow of the enemy, Psalms 83:9-15, with an expression of
desire that God's glory may be promoted thereby.
ELLICOTT, "The array of proper names in this poem seems, at first sight, to
promise an easy identification with some definite historical event. But our records
nowhere speak of a confederation composed of all the tribes enumerated here; so
that if we are to be governed by literal exactness, it is impossible to refer the psalm
to any known period of Israelite history.
We must therefore, in any case, refer the mention of so many hostile tribes as
combined in one confederacy to poetical exaggeration, and look for other indications
which may guide us to the event most probable as the origin of the poem. This is the
period of which we have a detailed and graphic account in 1 Maccabees 5. Before
this there is no period at which, even poetically, Tyre could be enumerated among
the active enemies of Israel, while the first words of this chapter are just a prose
statement of what we have here poetically described. In the fact, too, that after his
victorious progress Judas Maccabæus reviewed his troops in the great plain which
had witnessed the slaughter of Sisera’s host, and in the comparison drawn between
the conduct of the city of Ephron (1 Maccabees 5:46-49) with that of Succoth and

Penuel, towards Gideon (Judges 8:4-9), we have enough to account for the selection
of examples from the times of the judges rather than from later history. The
difficulty of the mention of Assyria, in Psalms 83:8, as occupying a subordinate part
in a confederacy with Moab and Ammon, is no greater if the psalm is referred to
this period than to any other. Syria (even if we discard the derivation of the name by
abbreviation from Assyria) might yet poetically bear the name of the older power,
and “auxiliaries out of Syria,” of whom Josephus speaks in connection with the
Maccabæan wars, would be not unnaturally in poetry described as “Assur, an arm
to the children of Lot.” The poem has a regular rhythmic form.
1 O God, do not remain silent;
do not turn a deaf ear,
do not stand aloof, O God.
BAR ES, "Keep not thou silence, O God - See the notes at Psa_28:1. The prayer
here is that in the existing emergency God would not seem to be indifferent to the needs
and dangers of his people, and to the purposes of their enemies, but that he would speak
with a voice of command, and break up their designs.
Hold not thy peace - That is, Speak. Give commaud. Disperse them by thine own
authority.
And be not still, O God - Awake; arouse; be not indifferent to the needs and
dangers of thy people. All this is the language of petition; not of command. Its rapidity,
its repetition, its tone, all denote that the danger was imminent, and that the necessity
for the divine interposition was urgent.
CLARKE, "Keep not thou silence - A strong appeal to God just as the confederacy
was discovered. Do not be inactive, do not be neuter. Thy honor and our existence are
both at stake.
GILL, "Keep not thou silence, O God,.... Which he is thought and said to do, when
he does not answer the prayers of his people, nor plead their cause, nor rebuke their
enemies; when he does not speak a good word to them, or one for them, or one against
those that hate and persecute them;
hold not thy peace; or "be not deaf" (b) to the cries and tears of his people, and to the

reproaches, menaces, and blasphemies of wicked men:
and be not still, O God; or "quiet" (c), at rest and ease, inactive and unconcerned, as if
he cared not how things went; the reason follows.
HE RY, "The Israel of God were now in danger, and fear, and great distress, and yet
their prayer is called, A song or psalm; for singing psalms is not unseasonable, no, not
when the harps are hung upon the willow-trees.
I. The psalmist here begs of God to appear on the behalf of his injured threatened
people (Psa_83:1): “Keep not thou silence, O God! but give judgment for us against those
that do us an apparent wrong.” Thus Jehoshaphat prayed upon occasion of that invasion
(2Ch_20:11), Behold, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession.
Sometimes God seems to connive at the unjust treatment which is given to his people; he
keeps silence, as one that either did not observe it or did not concern himself in it; he
holds his peace, as if he would observe an exact neutrality, and let them fight it out; he is
still, and gives not the enemies of his people any disturbance or opposition, but seems to
sit by as a man astonished, or as a mighty man that cannot save. Then he gives us leave
to call upon him, as here, “Keep not thou silence, O God! Lord, speak to us by the
prophets for our encouragement against our fears” (as he did in reference to that
invasion, 2Ch_20:14, etc.); “Lord, speak for us by the providence and speak against our
enemies; speak deliverance to us and disappointment to them.” God's speaking is his
acting; for with him saying and doing are the same thing.
JAMISO , "Psa_83:1-18. Of Asaph - (See on Psa_74:1, title). The historical occasion
is probably that of 2Ch_20:1, 2Ch_20:2 (compare Psa_47:1-9; Psa_48:1-14). After a
general petition, the craft and rage of the combined enemies are described, God’s former
dealings recited, and a like summary and speedy destruction on them is invoked.
God addressed as indifferent (compare Psa_35:22; Psa_39:12).
be not still — literally, “not quiet,” as opposed to action.
CALVI , "1O God! hold not thy peace. It is very generally agreed among
commentators, that this psalm was composed during the reign of king Jehoshaphat;
and in this opinion I readily concur. That godly king, as is well known, had to
engage in dreadful wars against multiplied hosts of enemies. Although the
Ammonites and Moabites were the originators of the principal war in which he was
engaged, yet they mustered forces not only from Syria, but also from distant
countries, and the troops thus brought together well nigh overwhelmed Judea with
their multitude. It would then appear, from the long list of enemies, here
enumerated, who had conspired together to destroy the people of God, that the
conjecture is well-founded which refers the composition of this psalm to that
occasion; (430) and sacred history informs us, that one of the Levites, under the
influence of the Spirit of prophecy, gave the king assurance of victory, (431) and
that the Levites sang before the Lord. In the midst of so great dangers, the whole
nation, as well as the holy king, must have been involved in the deepest distress;
and, accordingly, we have here a prayer full of earnestness and solicitude. These
feelings prompted the repetition of the words which occur in the very opening of the
psalm, Hold not thy peace, Keep not silence, be not still By this, the faithful would
intimate, that if God intended to succor them, it behoved him to make haste, else the

opportunity for doing so would be lost. It is unquestionably our duty to wait
patiently when God at any time delays his help; but, in condescension to our
infirmity, he permits us to supplicate him to make haste. What I have rendered,
keep not silence with thyself, is literally keep not silence to thyself, which some
translate by the paraphrase, Hold not thy peace in thy own cause, — an exposition
which is too refined to be more particularly noticed. This form of expression is
equivalent to saying, Hold not thyself in. Perhaps the particle is here superfluous, as
it is in many other places.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 1. Keep not thou silence, O God. Man is clamorous, be not thou
speechless. He rails and reviles, wilt not thou reply? On word of thine can deliver
thy people; therefore, O Lord, break thy quiet and let thy voice be heard.
Hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. Here the appeal is to EL., the Mighty
One. He is entreated to act and speak, because his nation suffers and is in great
jeopardy. How entirely the psalmist looks to God; he asks not for "a leader bold and
brave, "or for any form of human force, but casts his burden upon the Lord, being
well assured that his eternal power and Godhead could meet every difficulty of the
case.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Title. "A Song or Psalm." When the two words (Shir, Mizmor, )occur together, the
meaning seems to be, a lyric poem appointed to be sung. John Jebb.
Title. This Psalm, according to the title, was composed by Asaph. In accordance
with this, we read, in 1Ch 20:14, that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jehasiel, of
the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. This Jehasiel is probably the author
of the Psalm. Our Psalm is a true picture of the state of feeling which prevailed
throughout the people during the danger under Jehoshaphat. According to the
history of Chronicles, they praised God at that time, in the midst of their danger,
with loud voice, 2 Chronicles 20:19; and here in the title, which is an appendage to
that of Psalms 48:1-14, the Psalm is called a song of praise; and it is such in reality,
although it bears the form of a prayer, â€”a song of triumph sung before the
victory, â€”no contest, no doubt, the distress is simply committed to God. The
mention of the Amalekites among the enemies of Israel, in Psalms 83:7, renders it
impossible to come down to times later than that of Jehoshaphat. The last remains
of the Amalekites were, according to 1 Chronicles 4:43, rooted out by the
Simeonites, under Hezekiah. From that time they disappear altogether from history.
Ewald's assertion that Amalek stands here "only as a name of infamy applied to
parties well known at the time, "is to be considered as a miserable shift. The Psalm
must have been composed previous to the extension of the empire of the Assyrians
over Western Asia. For the Assyrians named last, in the eighth verse, appear here in
the very extraordinary character of an ally of the sons of Lot. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Ver. 1. Keep not thou silence, O God. In Scripture there are three reasons why the
Lord keeps silence when his people are in danger, and sits still when there is most
need to give help and assistance. One is, the Lord doth it to try their faith, as we
clearly see, Matthew 8:24, where it is said that our Lord Christ was asleep: There
arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves:
but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save
us: we perish. We read more fully in Mark 4:1-41 and Luke 8:1-56, he left them,

when the ship was covered with waves, and they were rowing for their lives, their
Lord was asleep the while, and he said to them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that
you have no faith? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea,
Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Truly, the Lord
will not suffer his people to be overwhelmed, that is certain, but he will suffer them
to come very near, that the waves cover them, and fear and horror shall cover their
souls, and all to try their faith. ...
2. I find another reason in Isaiah 59:1-21, and that is, the Lord doth keep silence in
the midst of the troubles of his people, to try men's uprightness of heart. For if God
should always appear for his cause, God and his cause should have many favourites
and friends; but sometimes God leaves his cause, and leaves his people, and leaves
his gospel, and his ordinances to the wide world, to see who will plead for it and
stick to it...
3. There is a third reason: God, as it were, keeps silence in the midst of the greatest
troubles, that he may, as it were, gather the wicked into one faggot, into one bundle,
that they may be destroyed together. There is a great deal of ado to "gather the
saints" in this world; and truly there is some ado to gather the wicked. So God
withdraws himself from his people, yet he hath a hook within their hearts, he holds
them up secretly by his Spirit, that they shall not leave him; yet the world shall not
see but that God hath quite left them, and all their ordinances and his gospel and
everything; and there the wicked come together and insult, whereby God may come
upon them at once, and destroy them, as we find ten nations in the Psalm. And so in
Genesis God stirs up the nations against Abraham and his posterity, and there are
ten nations that God promised to cut off before Abraham at once, the Perizzites, and
the Jebusites, and the Canaanites, etc. So God heaps them together, and burns them
like stubble. Those that burn stubble have rakes, and they gather it to heaps, and
then they fire it. This is the way of God's keeping silence among his people, and
sitting still in the midst of their miseries, thus God gathers their enemies in heaps as
stubble, that he may burn them together. Gualter (Walter) Cradock, in "Divine
Drops." 1650.
Ver. 1. Keep not thou silence, etc. The Hebrew words have great emphasis, and
express the main causes of silenceâ€”closing the mouth, deafness of the ears, and a
tranquility maintained to such an extent as to reject all disquietude. The first clause,
let not thy mouth be closed, and thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth,
immovably, properly denotes, from the inherent force of the word jqs whose root
means to fix to and compact firmly, what is fastened with lime or daubed with
plaster...
The second clause, be not thou deaf, properly pertains to the ears, as Micah 7:16,
Their ears shall be deaf. The third, be not still, suggests the course of the thoughts of
the mind when it is brought to a state of clear tranquility, all cares and commotions
being laid aside. The word (Heb.) is properly to settle, to settle down, as when the
disturbed dregs of liquor settle down and seek the bottom, whence it is applied to
the mind when freed from a great fermentation of cares and the sediments of
anxieties and bitterness, a mind serene, clear, and refined...
Let us now see what the poet had in mind when he poured out these prayers, or
what he wished to indicate. He hinted, that the people were reduced to these earnest
entreaties, because unless God should speedily bring help to them, it might seem

that Jehovah, the God of Israel, is like the false gods, a sort of deity, either mute, or
deaf, or at his ease. Hermann Venema.
Ver. 1. Is the Lord silent? Then be not thou silent; but cry unto him till he breaks
the silence. Starke, in Lange's Bibelwerk.
Ver. 1. The reference to tumult in the following verse gives force to the earnest
appeal in this. Amidst all the tumult of gathering foes, he earnestly calls on God to
break his silence, and to speak to them in wrath. W. Wilson.
WHEDO ,"1. Keep not… silence—Hebrew, ot silence to thee. The word here
stands opposed to speaking, as one in deep thought, or indecision, as Isaiah 62:6-7,
where the word rest, in Psalms 83:7, is the same as silence in Psalms 83:6, and in this
place.
Hold not thy peace—As one that is deaf and cannot hear.
Be not still—At rest, inactive. The two former words call upon God to speak, to
cause his voice to be heard, while his enemies and Israel’s were “making a tumult;”
the latter word calls for action. God hears and then acts. “If we know that he hear
us, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” 1 John 5:15
K&D 1-4, "The poet prays, may God not remain an inactive looker-on in
connection with the danger of destruction that threatens His people. ‫י‬ ִ‫מ‬ ֳ‫י‬ ִ‫מ‬ ֳ‫י‬ ִ‫מ‬ ֳ‫י‬ ִ‫מ‬ ֳ
(with which ‫י‬ ִ‫ה‬ ְ‫י‬‫י‬ ִ‫ה‬ ְ‫י‬‫י‬ ִ‫ה‬ ְ‫י‬‫י‬ ִ‫ה‬ ְ‫י‬ is to be supplied) is the opposite of alertness; ‫שׁ‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ָ‫ח‬‫שׁ‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ָ‫ח‬‫שׁ‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ָ‫ח‬‫שׁ‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ָ‫ח‬ the
opposite of speaking (in connection with which it is assumed that God's
word is at the same time deed); ‫ט‬ ַ‫ק‬ ָ‫שׁ‬‫ט‬ ַ‫ק‬ ָ‫שׁ‬‫ט‬ ַ‫ק‬ ָ‫שׁ‬‫ט‬ ַ‫ק‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ the opposite of being agitated and
activity. The energetic future jehemajûjehemajûjehemajûjehemajûnnnn gives outward emphasis to the
confirmation of the petition, and the fact that Israel's foes are the foes of
God gives inward emphasis to it. On ‫ּאשׁ‬‫ר‬ ‫א‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ָ‫נ‬‫ּאשׁ‬‫ר‬ ‫א‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ָ‫נ‬‫ּאשׁ‬‫ר‬ ‫א‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ָ‫נ‬‫ּאשׁ‬‫ר‬ ‫א‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ָ‫,נ‬ cf. Psa_110:7. ‫ּוד‬‫ס‬‫ּוד‬‫ס‬‫ּוד‬‫ס‬‫ּוד‬‫ס‬ is here a secret
agreement; and ‫ימוּ‬ ִ‫ר‬ ֲ‫ֽע‬ַ‫י‬‫ימוּ‬ ִ‫ר‬ ֲ‫ֽע‬ַ‫י‬‫ימוּ‬ ִ‫ר‬ ֲ‫ֽע‬ַ‫י‬‫ימוּ‬ ִ‫ר‬ ֲ‫ֽע‬ַ‫,י‬ elsewhere to deal craftily, here signifies to craftily
plot, devise, bring a thing about. ָ‫יך‬ֶ‫צפוּנ‬ָ‫יך‬ֶ‫צפוּנ‬ָ‫יך‬ֶ‫צפוּנ‬ָ‫יך‬ֶ‫צפוּנ‬ is to be understood according to Psa_
27:5; Psa_31:21. The Hithpa. ‫ץ‬ ֵ‫ע‬ ָ‫י‬ ְ‫ת‬ ִ‫ה‬‫ץ‬ ֵ‫ע‬ ָ‫י‬ ְ‫ת‬ ִ‫ה‬‫ץ‬ ֵ‫ע‬ ָ‫י‬ ְ‫ת‬ ִ‫ה‬‫ץ‬ ֵ‫ע‬ ָ‫י‬ ְ‫ת‬ ִ‫ה‬ alternates here with the more ancient
Niph. (Psa_83:6). The design of the enemies in this instance has reference
to the total extirpation of Israel, of the separatist-people who exclude
themselves from the life of the world and condemn it. ‫ּוי‬ ִ‫מ‬‫ּוי‬ ִ‫מ‬‫ּוי‬ ִ‫מ‬‫ּוי‬ ִ‫,מ‬ from being a
people = so that it may no longer be a people or nation, as in Isa_7:8; Isa_
17:1; Isa_25:2; Jer_48:42. In the borrowed passage, Jer_48:2, by an
interchange of a letter it is ‫ה‬ָ ֶ‫ית‬ ִ‫ר‬ ְ‫כ‬ַ‫נ‬‫ה‬ָ ֶ‫ית‬ ִ‫ר‬ ְ‫כ‬ַ‫נ‬‫ה‬ָ ֶ‫ית‬ ִ‫ר‬ ְ‫כ‬ַ‫נ‬‫ה‬ָ ֶ‫ית‬ ִ‫ר‬ ְ‫כ‬ַ‫.נ‬ This Asaph Psalm is to be discerned in not
a few passages of the prophets; cf. Isa_62:6. with Psa_83:2, Isa_17:12 with
Psa_83:3.
BI 1-18, "Keep not Thou silence, O God: hold not Thy peace, and be not still,
O God.
An appeal to Heaven

I. A lamentable social scene (Psa_83:2-8). The scene is that of men in
tumultuous hostility both to God and His people. They appear developing all
the leading characteristics of sin.
1. Boisterous. They “make a tumult.” Sin is agitation. There is no serenity
in it, no repose.
2. Haughty.. “Have lifted up the head.” They were bold, arrogant,
defiant. The evil spirit is described by Milton as “defying the Omnipotent
to arms.” Sin intoxicates the soul with vanity and daring.
3. Intriguing (Psa_83:3). Sin works insidiously, and with all the subtilty
of the serpent. It is never open, frank, and straightforward; it is artful
and scheming.
4. Malignant (Psa_83:4). It is always in mischief. “The poison of asps,”
etc.
5. Antitheistic. “They have consulted together,” etc. It is all against God.
6. Widespread. “The tabernacles of Edom,” etc.
II. A reprehensible religious prayer. In this prayer there is—
1. A savage revenge (Psa_83:13), etc.
2. Pious abomination. Their destruction is here invoked, what for? In
order “that they may seek Thy name, O Lord.” On what principle, either
in ethics, or conscience, or sound philosophy, can such a prayer be
justified? To me, I confess, it appears to be malice, inhumanity, and
ungodliness in its worst aspect. (Homilist.)
Mental tendencies in relation to God
These words reveal two tendencies in the human mind in relation to the
Creator.
I. A necessary tendency. By this, I mean, the tendency to think of our Maker
as like unto ourselves. The psalmist here imagines Him to be silent and
inactive, two conditions Which belong to ourselves, but which are
impossible to Him. Indeed, we cannot think of God in any other way. We
invest Him with our own attributes, and thus we humanify Him. Hence, how
infinitely more glorious is the God which Christ adored and revealed, to the
God which even the best men ever had, even the prophet and the apostles.
This fact—
1. Accounts for the conflicting theologies of men.
2. Argues the necessity for following Christ. If we would reach exalted
ideas of the Great Father, we must study and imitate His Blessed Son.
II. A culpable tendency. The culpable tendency indicated here is twofold.
1. A practical ignorement of God’s unremitting communications and
activity. “Keep not thou silence, O God.” Silent! He is never silent. He
speaks in all the sounds of nature, in all the events of history, in all the
monitions of reason.

2. A proneness to regard Him as indifferent to us because we are in
trouble. The psalmist seemed to think that because he and his
countrymen were in great trial, the Almighty was silent and indifferent.
How often is this the case with us all! How often we are inclined to think
in affliction that our Maker has forsaken us! (Homilist.)
BENSON, "Verse 1-2
Psalms 83:1-2. Keep not thou silence, O God — Plead for us, not by words,
but by thy actions; hold not thy peace — Hebrew, ‫תחרשׁ‬ ‫אל‬‫תחרשׁ‬ ‫אל‬‫תחרשׁ‬ ‫אל‬‫תחרשׁ‬ ‫,אל‬ al techeresh: be not, al techeresh: be not, al techeresh: be not, al techeresh: be not
deaf, to our prayers, and to the blasphemies of thine and our enemies. Be not stilldeaf, to our prayers, and to the blasphemies of thine and our enemies. Be not stilldeaf, to our prayers, and to the blasphemies of thine and our enemies. Be not stilldeaf, to our prayers, and to the blasphemies of thine and our enemies. Be not still ———— That is,That is,That is,That is,
unactive and unconcerned for us. For lo, thine enemiesunactive and unconcerned for us. For lo, thine enemiesunactive and unconcerned for us. For lo, thine enemiesunactive and unconcerned for us. For lo, thine enemies ———— They who are not only enemies toThey who are not only enemies toThey who are not only enemies toThey who are not only enemies to
us, thy people, but also to thy will, and name, and glory; make a tumultus, thy people, but also to thy will, and name, and glory; make a tumultus, thy people, but also to thy will, and name, and glory; make a tumultus, thy people, but also to thy will, and name, and glory; make a tumult ———— ‫יהמיון‬‫יהמיון‬‫יהמיון‬‫,יהמיון‬ jehemajun,, jehemajun,, jehemajun,, jehemajun,
rage and roar, like the waves of the sea, or, make a tumultuous noise, both with their tongues,rage and roar, like the waves of the sea, or, make a tumultuous noise, both with their tongues,rage and roar, like the waves of the sea, or, make a tumultuous noise, both with their tongues,rage and roar, like the waves of the sea, or, make a tumultuous noise, both with their tongues,
reproaching thee and threatening us, and with their arms. And have lifted up the headreproaching thee and threatening us, and with their arms. And have lifted up the headreproaching thee and threatening us, and with their arms. And have lifted up the headreproaching thee and threatening us, and with their arms. And have lifted up the head ———— AreAreAreAre
grown potent, and insolent, and scornful.grown potent, and insolent, and scornful.grown potent, and insolent, and scornful.grown potent, and insolent, and scornful.
COFFMA , "Verse 1
PSALM 83
A PLEA FOR GOD TO CO FOU D HIS E EMIES;
THIS IS THE LAST OF THE ASAPH PSALMS.
There is an extensive list of God's enemies given in the psalm, but the tragedy is that
Israel herself should have been numbered among them. The whole attention of her
people should have been in the direction of loyalty to God and a true exhibition of
the righteousness which His Law required of them, but, instead, there was this
constant plea for God to wreak vengeance and destruction upon their enemies. God
indeed eventually did just that very thing, but it also included the judgment and
destruction of God's enemies within Israel herself, only the righteous remnant being
spared.
This psalm naturally divides into two parts: (1) a description of the threatening
situation confronting Israel (Psalms 83:1-8); and (2) a devout prayer to God for him
to destroy his enemies, which were also the enemies of Israel (Psalms 83:9-18).
The world's scholarship is unable to determine, with any certainty, any particular

time in the whole history of Israel that fits the picture revealed here. Briggs gave the
occasion as, "During the time of ehemiah."[1] Leupold wrote that the occasion
was, "That described in 2 Chronicles 20, when Jehoshaphat was attacked by Edom,
Moab and Ammon."[2] Addis thought he had found the occasion in 1 Maccabees 5,
"In the year 165 B.C."[3] Rawlinson selected an occasion in the times of David,
described in 2 Samuel 10, and 1 Chronicles 19. "Then only do we find a record of
Asher (Assyria) helping the children of Lot (Moab and Ammon)."[4]
The group of nations here listed as enemies of Israel were, "Probably never united
for any common end."[5] The enemies mentioned here did not even exist all at the
same time. Assyria, for example was not an effective enemy of Israel till long after
the times of David; and in the times of the Maccabees, "Both Amalek and Assyria
had long previously been blotted out of the roll of nations."[6] Whatever degree of
probability may exist that any of the four occasions proposed above could be correct
appears to this writer as favoring that proposed by Rawlinson; but against that
selection is that fact that the majority of the enemies mentioned in this chapter are
not even mentioned in any of the wars, invasions, and threatenings that are
recorded in the Holy Bible.
Maclaren offered a bold solution to this difficult problem, admitting at the same
time that there were weighty objections to it, and also pointing out that there are
also weighty objections against every other proposed solution.
"The failure of all attempts to point to a period when all the allies here represented
as confederate against Israel were, or even could have been, united in assailing it,
inclines one to suppose that the enumeration here is not history, but poetic
idealization. The psalm would then be, not the memorial of a fact, but the expression
of the standing relation between Israel and the outlying heathendom."[7]
The very fact that enemies from all four directions are mentioned, enemies of
various nationalities, and enemies dating back to the times of Joshua and also in the
times of David, Jehoshaphat, and Hezekiah - all these appear to be a kind of
composite including all the enemies Israel ever had.
The picture that emerges then, is that of the entire hostile world, forgetting their
differences, and burying their mutual hatreds and animosities, in order to make
common cause against "The Israel of God." Herod and Pilate became friends in
their opposition to Christ; and here we find the equivalent of it in the Old
Testament, where all the world surrounds the Chosen of God, making common
cause against them, hating them with malicious hatred, and determined even to
exterminate them and blot out their very name from the face of the earth! This
psalm describes a situation that includes all of this.

The only reasonable alternative to Maclaren's interpretation would be to suppose
that at some period, "During the eighth or ninth centuries, Judah was in danger of
invasion by such a coalition as that named here."[8] o such occasion is known; but
considering the vast ignorance of all men about countless things that took place in
those centuries, there might well indeed have been just such an occasion as that
described here. We believe that either this or Maclaren's interpretation may be
accepted without any violation of what the sacred text actually says.
The paragraphing we have chosen is that proposed by Albert Barnes.[9]
Psalms 83:1
PRAYER FOR GOD; OT TO BE SILE T
"O God, keep not thou silence:
Hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God."
The repetition here, the rapidity of the appeals, and the whole tone of the passage
bespeak the urgency of the situation. The language here is that of petition, not of
command; and, "This passage denotes that the danger is imminent, and that the
necessity for God's intervention was urgent."[10
COKE, "Title. ‫שׁיר‬ ‫מזמור‬ ‫ףּלאס‬ Shiir mizmor lesaph.— It has been commonly
thought, that this psalm was occasioned by the confederacy mentioned 2 Chronicles
20 when it came to pass that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and
with them other, besides the Ammonites, came with Jehoshaphat to battle: But Dr.
Delaney is of opinion, that it was composed by David, when the Philistines,
confederated with these other nations, invaded him. And though only the Philistines
are mentioned in the history of that invasion, he supposes the reason of that to be,
because they were the principals, and the other nations only allies and confederates
of theirs. He thinks it improbable that Jehoshaphat should in this psalm pray to
God for such a deliverance as he had wrought for his people by Barak and Gideon,
and forget or omit all those which he had wrought by the hands of David his father.
And he observes, that in his prayer offered up in the greatest terror of his enemies,
Jehoshaphat numbers openly the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir; and
we cannot doubt, says he, that both his fears, and the occasion, called upon him to
recount the whole number of his enemies. In answer to these objections, it may be
observed, that the reason why Jehoshaphat mentioned only the children of Ammon,
Moab, and mount Seir, and no more of his enemies, might be the same with that
given in the prayer itself for mentioning them at all; viz. because of their ingratitude

to the children of Israel, who never had in the least disturbed or injured them; no,
not when the Israelites were in the greatest straits, and under the strongest
temptation to do it; i.e. when they came to take possession of the land of Canaan. As
to the first objection, there seems to be no absurdity in supposing Jehoshaphat to
mention those actions under Barak and Gideon, and not those of a later date;
because the country of the Midianites was contiguous to that of the Moabites and
Seirites: and when the Psalmist had them principally in view, because they were
principally concerned in this invasion, and for the other reason just now mentioned,
it was natural for him to pray, that they might have no better success in this
expedition than their neighbours, the Midianites, had in theirs against his ancestors,
when they were defeated by Gideon: and then we may easily conceive, that the
mention of this destruction of the Midianites might bring to his mind that other of
the Canaanites by Barak; for both these battles were fought very near the same
place: When Sisera's forces were vanquished, the chief place of action was Taanach,
a town in the half tribe of Manasseh, Judges 5:19 and the other victory over Oreb
and Zeeb, was obtained within the same half tribe, near Abel-meholah and
Bethbara, Judges 7:22; Judges 7:24. We may observe too, that the Amalekites were
with the Midianites when Gideon overcame them; and they were now with the
Moabites and Ammonites; and this might be another reason why the Psalmist
should mention them upon this occasion. And it is evident enough, that the action
under Barak is only mentioned, as it were, by the bye; and as a thing which, upon
the mention of the other, occurred to the Psalmist's mind; whereas he returns again
to the overthrow of the Midianites and Amalekites by Gideon. So that what is said
of Sisera should be read in a parenthesis, thus: "Do thou to them as formerly thou
didst to their neighbours, the Midianites, who were engaged in a like attempt
against thy people; (or as thou didst unto Sisera and Jabin, whom thou didst
overthrow near the same place;) make them, I say, and their princes like Oreb and
Zeeb, yea, make all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, those princes of Midian,
&c." In this manner the Psalmist's thoughts seem to be naturally and easily
connected.
EBC, "THIS psalm is a cry for help against a world in arms. The failure of all
attempts to point to a period when all the allies here represented as confederate
against Israel were or could have been united in assailing it, inclines one to suppose
that the enumeration of enemies is not history, but poetic idealisation. The psalm
would then be, not the memorial of a fact, but the expression of the standing relation
between Israel and the outlying heathendom. The singer masses together ancient
and modern foes of diverse nationalities and mutual animosities, and pictures them
as burying their enmities and bridging their separations, and all animated by one
tell hatred to the Dove of God, which sits innocent and helpless in the midst of them.
There are weighty objections to this view; but no other is free from difficulties even
more considerable. There are two theories which divide the suffrages of
commentators. The usual assignment of date is to the league against Jehoshaphat
recorded in 2 Chronicles 20:1-37. But it is hard to find that comparatively small
local confederacy of three peoples in the wide-reaching alliance described in the
psalm. Chronicles enumerates the members of the league as being "the children of

Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them some of the Ammonites," which
last unmeaning designation should be read, as in the LXX, "the Me’unim," and
adds to these Edom. {2 Chronicles 20:2, corrected text} Even if the contention of the
advocates of this date for the psalm is admitted, and "the Me’unim" are taken to
include the Arab tribes, whom the psalmist calls Ishmaelites and Hagarenes, there
remains the fact that he names also Philistia, Amalek, Tyre, and Asshur, none of
whom is concerned in the alliance against Jehoshaphat. It was, in fact, confined to
eastern and southeastern nations, with whom distant western tribes could have no
common interest. or is the other view of the circumstances underlying the psalm
free from difficulty. It advocates a Maccabean date. In RAPC 1 Maccabees 5:1-68 it
is recorded that the nations round about were enraged at the restoration of the altar
and dedication of the Temple after its pollution by Antiochus Epiphanes, and were
ready to break out in hostility. Cheyne points to the occurrence in Maccabees of six
of the ten names mentioned in the psalm. But of the four not mentioned, two are
Amalek and Asshur, both of which had been blotted out of the roll of nations long
before the Maccabees’ era. "The mention of Amalek," says Cheyne, "is half-
Haggadic, half-antiquarian." But what should Haggadic or antiquarian elements do
in such a list? Asshur is explained on this hypothesis as meaning Syria, which is very
doubtful, and, even if admitted, leaves unsolved the difficulty that the subordinate
place occupied by the nation in question would not correspond to the importance of
Syria in the time of the Maccabees. Of the two theories, the second is the more
probable, but neither is satisfactory: and the view already stated, that the psalm
does not refer to any actual alliance, seems to the present writer the most probable.
The world is up in arms against God’s people; and what weapon has Israel?
othing but prayer.
CO STABLE, "Verses 1-8
1. The danger of destruction83:1-8
The psalmist cried out to God to act for His people by expressing the alternatives
negatively ( Psalm 83:1). He described how Israel"s enemies had conspired to
oppose God by destroying His people. Asaph used a chiastic structure to connect
God"s interests with those of His nation ( Psalm 83:2-5). He then listed Israel"s
enemies ( Psalm 83:6-8). The Hagarites (Hagrites, IV), or descendants of Hagar,
were the Ishmaelites. Gebal is another name for Byblos, a strong town in Lebanon.
Lot"s children were the Moabites and the Ammonites.
Verses 1-18
Psalm 83
Asaph prayed that God would destroy the enemies that threatened to overwhelm
Israel, as He had done in the past. This is a psalm of national (communal)

Lamentations , and it is the last of the psalms attributed to Asaph ( Psalm 50 , 73-
83).
PULPIT, "THE psalmist makes a passionate appeal to God on behalf of Israel at a
time of great danger. A confederacy has been formed among the surrounding
nations, having for its object the destruction of Israel's nationality (Psalms 83:4).
The confederacy includes Edom, the Ishmaelites, Moab, the Hagarenes, Gebal,
Ammon, Amalek, Philistia, and Tyre (Psalms 83:6, Psalms 83:7); and it has the
support of Assyria (Psalms 83:8). Much doubt exists as to the period of Israelite
history whereto the psalm and the events it commemorates belong. The prevalent
opinion identifies the movement with that made by Moab, Ammon, and Edom, in
the reign of Jehoshaphat, whereof an account is given in 2 Chronicles 20:1-37. (So
Tholuck, De Wette, Hengstenberg, Delitzsch, Kay, Canon Cook, and Professor
Alexander.) Another view held is that the psalm belongs to the time of ehemiah,
and to the attempt then made to crash Israel by Sanballat, Geshem, and Tobiah.
More recently, Professor Cheyne has argued strongly in favour of a Maccabean
date, and endeavoured to identify the confederacy with that described in 1 Macc. 5;
which was put down by Judas Maccabaeus. A post-Captivity date is, however,
rendered impossible by the mention, among the confederates, of Amalek and
Assyria, which had both ceased to exist before the time of ebuchadnezzar. We are
thus thrown back upon the first hypothesis, unless, indeed, a suggestion may be
made that the time of David is possible, and that the occasion may be that described
in 2 Samuel 10:1-19.; 1 Chronicles 19:1-19. Then only have we a record of Asshur
helping the children of Lot (2 Samuel 10:16; 1 Chronicles 19:6, 1 Chronicles 19:16).
Metrically, the psalm divides into four strophes, three of four verses each, and one
(the last) of six.
Psalms 83:1
Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. A crisis
has come which calls for the Divine interference. If his people are to be saved, God
must no longer sit still. Compare the frequent calls on God to "arise" (Psalms 3:7;
Psalms 7:6; Psalms 44:26; Psalms 68:1, etc.).

2 See how your enemies growl,
how your foes rear their heads.
BAR ES, "For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult - Are excited; are aroused; are
moving in a wild, furious, tumultuous manner, rushing on to the accomplishment of
their designs. They come like rolling waves of the sea. See the word used here explained
in the notes at Psa_2:1, where it is rendered, in the text, “rage;” in the margin,
“tumultuously assemble.”
And they that hate thee - Thine enemies; the enemies of thy cause, and of thy
people. Who they were is specified in Psa_83:6-8.
Have lifted up the head - Have become proud; bold; confident of success, all of
which is indicated by the phrase “lifted up the head.” The head is bowed down in
penitence and trouble; pride lifts it up; boldness, confidence, and wickedness, are
indicated by its being thus lifted up.
CLARKE, "Thine enemies make a tumult - They are not merely the enemies of
thy people, but they are the enemies of thyself, thy worship, ordinances, and laws: “They
make a tumult,” they throng together.
They - have lifted up the head - They have made an irruption into the land of
Judea, and encamped at En-gedi, by the Dead Sea, 2Ch_20:1, 2Ch_20:2.
GILL, "For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult,.... Or "a noise" (d): wicked men are
commonly noisy, roaring out their blasphemies against God, belching out oaths and
curses, and breathing threatenings and slaughter against the saints; especially a
numerous army of them, consisting of many people and nations, as this did; who are
called the Lord's "enemies", being the enemies of his people, and their cause and his are
one and the same; and besides, all wicked men are enemies to God, and all that is good,
in their minds, and which appears by their actions; yea, they are enmity itself unto him:
and they that hate thee have lift up the head; are haughty, proud, and arrogant;
speak loftily, and with a stiff neck; set their mouth against heaven, and God in it; and
their tongue walks through the earth, and spares none; they exult and rejoice, as sure of
victory, before the battle is fought; such then were, and such there are, who are haters of
God, hate his being, perfections, purposes, and providences; hate his Son without a
cause, and even do despite unto the Spirit of grace; hate the law and its precepts, the
Gospel and its doctrines and ordinances, and the ways, worship, and people of God, as
appears by what follows.
HE RY, " How this confederacy is managed. The devil is at the bottom of it, and
therefore it is carried on, (1.) With a great deal of heat and violence: Thy enemies make a
tumult, Psa_83:2. The heathen rage, Psa_2:1. The nations are angry, Rev_11:18. They
are noisy in their clamours against the people whom they hope to run down with their

loud calumnies. This comes in as a reason why God should not keep silence: “The
enemies talk big and talk much; Lord, let them not talk all, but do thou speak to them in
thy wrath,” Psa_2:5. (2.) With a great deal of pride and insolence: They have lifted up
the head. In confidence of their success, they are so elevated as if they could over-top the
Most High and overpower the Almighty. (3.) With a great deal of art and policy: They
have taken crafty counsel, Psa_83:3. The subtlety of the old serpent appears in their
management, and they contrive by all possible means, though ever so base, ever so bad,
to gain their point. They areprofound to make slaughter (Hos_5:2), as if they could
outwit Infinite Wisdom. (4.) With a great deal of unanimity. Whatever separate clashing
interest they have among themselves, against the people of God they consult with one
consent (Psa_83:5), nor is Satan's kingdom divided against itself. To push on this
unholy war, they lay their heads together, and their horns, and their hearts too. Fas est
et ab hoste doceri - Even an enemy may instruct. Do the enemies of the church act with
one consent to destroy it? Are the kings of the earth of one mind to give their power and
honour to the beast? And shall not the church's friends be unanimous in serving her
interests? If Herod and Pilate are made friends, that they may join in crucifying Christ,
surely Paul and Barnabas, Paul and Peter, will soon be made friends, that they may join
in preaching Christ.
JAMISO , "thine enemies — as well as ours (Psa_74:23; Isa_37:23).
CALVI , "2For, behold! thy enemies are tumultuous. As an argument for enforcing
the prayer of the preceding verse, it is affirmed that the faithful are oppressed both
by the impetuous violence and the crafty policy of their enemies, which, to all
human appearance, rendered their escape from death utterly hopeless. When it is
said that they are tumultuous and lift up the head, the meaning is, that relying upon
their own power, they behave themselves insolently and proudly. By this conduct on
the part of their enemies, the minds of the people of God are greatly depressed, and
the only way in which they can obtain relief, is by making their moan to Him whose
continual work it is to repress the proud. When, therefore, the saints implore his
aid, it is their ordinary course to lay before him the perverseness of their enemies. It
is worthy of notice, that those who molest the Church are called the enemies of God.
It affords us no small ground of confidence that those who are our enemies are also
God’s enemies. This is one of the fruits of his free and gracious covenant, in which
he has promised to be an enemy to all our enemies, — a promise for which there is
good cause, when it is considered that the welfare of his people, whom he has taken
under his protection, cannot be assailed without an injury being, at the same the
done to his own majesty. Meanwhile, let us live at peace with all men, as much as in
us lies, and let us endeavor to practice uprightness in our whole deportment, that we
may be able confidently to appeal to God, that when we suffer at the hands of men,
we suffer wrongfully. The pride and violent assaults of our enemies may be
combined with craftiness. But when such is the case, it becomes us to yield to God
the honor which belongs to him, by resting satisfied that He can succor us; for to
break the proud who foam out their rage, and to take the crafty in their own
craftiness, is work which He has been accustomed to perform in all ages. To keep us
from thinking that we are abandoned to the snares and traps of our enemies, the

prophet here seasonably sets before us a consideration calculated to administer the
highest consolation and hope, when he calls us God’s hidden ones This expression is
understood by some as meaning that the aid and protection which God extends to
us, is not apparent to the eye of sense and reason; just as it is said elsewhere of the
life of the people of God, that it is hid, (Colossians 3:3.) But this interpretation is too
forced, and altogether inconsistent both with the scope of the passage and the
natural construction of the words. The design of them is simply to teach that we are
hidden under the shadow of God’s wings; for although to outward appearance we
lie open, and are exposed to the will of the wicked and the proud, we are preserved
by the hidden power of God. (432) Accordingly, it is said in another Psalm, (27:5,)
“In the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his
tabernacle shall he hide me.” (Psalms 27:5)
It is, however, at the same time to be observed, that none are hid under the keeping
and protection of God but those who, renouncing all dependence on their own
strength, betake themselves with fear and trembling to Him. Such as under the
influence of a flattering belief in the sufficiency of their own strength to resist,
boldly enter the conflict, and, as if devoid of all fear, wax wanton, will ultimately
suffer the consequences which result from inadequate resources. (433) We will then
best consult our own safety by taking shelter under the shadow of the Almighty,
and, conscious of our own weakness, committing our salvation to him, casting it, so
to speak, into his bosom.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 2. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult. They are by no means
sparing of their words, they are like a hungry pack of dogs, all giving tongue at
once. So sure are they of devouring thy people that they already shout over the feast.
And they that hate thee have lifted up the head. Confident of conquest, they carry
themselves proudly and exalt themselves as if their anticipated victories were
already obtained. These enemies of Israel were also God's enemies, and are here
described as such by way of adding intensity to the argument of the intercession.
The adversaries of the church are usually a noisy and a boastful crew. Their pride is
a brass which always sounds, a cymbal which is ever tinkling.
Ver. 2. For, lo. The prayer begins with the particle lo, which has not only the force
of arousing God, but also give the idea of something present, with the view of
pointing out the opportune moment for God to gird himself for the work. Hermann
Venema.
Ver. 2. Thine enemies make a tumult. The whole world is but like an army, a
brigade of men (as it were) under a general; and God is the Lord of Hosts, that is
the Lord of his armies: now when there is a tumult in an army, they complain to the
officers, to the general especially; and he must come and suppress it. Therefore,
saith he, Thou Lord of hosts, thou art general of the world; lo, there is a tumult in
the world, a mutiny. Walter Cradock.
WHEDO , "2. Tumult—Uproar, a disorderly noise. In contrast to the silence of
God, deprecated in Psalms 83:1.

Lifted up the head—An expression of haughtiness and confidence of victory, in
opposition to the “hanging down the head” of captives. Lamentations 2:10; Judges
8:28
COFFMA , "Verse 2
SUMMARY OF THE DA GER THREATE I G ISRAEL
"For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult;
And they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
They take crafty counsel against thy people,
And consult together against thy hidden ones.
They have said, Come, let us cut them off from being a nation;
That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
For they have consulted together with one consent;
Against thee do they make a covenant."
"They that hate thee (God) have lifted up the head" (Psalms 83:2). The hatred of the
whole evil world against God's people is due primarily to the world's rejection of the
value-judgments and strict morality of God's holy religion. The Book of umbers
reveals that it was the Decalogue and particularly its command against adultery that
outraged Moab and led to the campaign of Moab and the prophet Balaam against
Israel ( umbers 25-26).
"They take crafty counsel against thy people" (Psalms 83:3). An example of such
crafty counsel is mentioned in umbers 31:16, which refers to the crafty counsel of
Balaam to the Moabites which led to the disaster at Baal-Peor ( umbers 24-26).
"Come let us cut them off from being a nation" (Psalms 83:4). The picture of
counsels being held and of purposes being outlined in these verses raises a question
of, "Who led such maneuvers?" The answer, of course, is Satan. ot only in the
final days, when Satan shall rally Gog and Magog to make war against God's
people, but in ancient Israel (as in this chapter), and, for that matter, throughout
human history, the inveterate, implacable enemy of all righteousness is Satan. The
evil one (the devil) is very angry, "For he knoweth that he hath but a short time"
(Revelation 12:12).
History indicates clearly that many efforts have been made by satanically led
nations to destroy God's true religion. The Roman emperors attempted it; and the
prophecies reveal that other attempts will be made in the future.

Barnes pointed out that an attempt is now in progress to destroy God's church
through, prosperity, radical criticism and denial of the Bible, materialism,
humanism, (and recently by Communism). These are the phases of Satan's war
against the Truth at the present time. "Whether the Church can be destroyed by
such opposition is now before the mind of Satan."[11]
Why does not Satan attempt to destroy the church by murderous persecutions, as in
the past? The answer is simple enough; he learned by experience that the blood of
the martyrs is the seed of the church.
3 With cunning they conspire against your people;
they plot against those you cherish.
BAR ES, "They have taken crafty counsel - The one word translated “have
taken crafty” - ‫ערם‬ ‛âram - means properly to make naked; and then, to be crafty,
cunning, malignant, 1Sa_23:22. It is well rendered here, they have taken crafty counsel.
The meaning is, they have made their counsel or their consultations crafty, cunning,
artful, malignant. Instead of pursuing a course in their deliberations that would be just,
true, honorable, they have followed the reverse. On the word rendered “counsel” - ‫סוד‬
sôd - which means a couch or cushion, and hence, a divan - see Job_15:8, note; Psa_
25:14, note; Psa_64:2, note. The idea here is, that the persons referred to in the
subsequent part of the psalm (Psa_83:6-8) had been assembled in a divan, or for
consultation, and that they had there formed a malignant plan - against God and his
people - which they were now proceeding to execute.
Against thy people - For the purpose of destroying them.
And consulted against thy hidden ones - The word rendered “hidden ones” -
from the verb ‫צפן‬ tsâphan, to hide, to conceal - properly denotes that which is secret,
private, inaccessible Eze_7:22; and then, anything protected or hidden so as to be
secure. Compare the notes at Psa_27:5. It would seem here to refer to those who were so
protected by Yahweh - so inaccessible to others by reason of his guardian care - that they
would be safe.
CLARKE, "Consulted against thy hidden ones - ‫צפוניך‬ tsephuneycha, Thy

hidden things; places; persons. “The hidden things in thy treasures.” - Chaldee. “Thy
holy ones.” - Syriac. “Thy saints.” - Vulgate and Septuagint; and so the Ethiopic and
Arabic. The people of Israel are probably meant. Or perhaps the temple, the ark, and the
treasures of the temple, are intended.
GILL, "They have taken crafty counsel against thy people,.... The people of
Israel, hereafter named, whom God had chosen and avouched to be his people; these
they dealt subtlety with, as the king of Egypt had done with their forefathers; and this,
agreeably to their character, being the seed of the old serpent, more subtle than any of
the beasts of the field; these devised cunning devices, formed crafty schemes for the
destruction of the Lord's people; but often so it is, that the wise are taken in their own
craftiness, and their counsel is carried headlong:
and consulted against thy hidden ones; not hidden from the Lord, and unknown
unto him, though from their enemies, and unknown by them, and so the object of their
hatred and persecution; but hidden by him as his jewels and peculiar treasure, which he
takes care of; hidden under the shadow of his wings, in the secret of his presence and
tabernacle, as in a pavilion; and therefore it was a daring piece of insolence in their
enemies to attack them: so the life of saints is said to be hid with Christ in God, which
denotes both its secrecy and safety; see Col_3:3, the Targum is,
"against the things hidden in thy treasures;''
meaning the riches of the temple.
JAMISO , "hidden ones — whom God specially protects (Psa_27:5; Psa_91:1
SPURGEO , "Ver. 3. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people. Whatever
we may do, our enemies use their wits and lay their heads together; in united
conclave they discourse upon the demands and plans of the campaign, using much
treachery and serpentine cunning in arranging their schemes. Malice is cold blooded
enough to plot with deliberation; and pride, though it be never wise, is often allied
with craft.
And consulted against thy hidden ones. Hidden away from all harm are the Lord's
chosen; their enemies think not so, but hope to smite them; they might as well
attempt to destroy the angels before the throne of God.
Ver. 3. Thy hidden ones. This representation of God's people is worthy our notice. It
may be taken two ways. First, As referring to their safety. We often hide only to
preserve. This is the meaning of the word in the parable, with regard to the
discovery of the treasure in the field; "which, when a man hath found, he hideth it."
His aim is not to conceal but to secure; and the cause is put for the effect. Thus
God's people are hidden. He hid oah in the Ark, and the waters that drowned the
world could not find him. When his judgments were coming over the land, "Come,
my people, "saith he, "enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee:
hide thee also for a little season, until the indignation be overpast." Hence the
promise, "Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man:

thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues." Hence the
confidence expressed by David, "In the time of trouble he shall hide me in his
pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me upon a
rock." The Saviour could say, "In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me." And,
"All the saints are in his hand." They are kept by the power of God, through faith,
unto salvation. For he himself is their "refuge, "their "hiding place." They are his
hidden ones. Secondly. As intimating their concealment. This is not absolute. But it
holds in various respects and degrees. It is true with regard to the nature of the
spiritual life. Our life, says the Apostle, is hid with Christ in God; and that he refers
to its invisibleness, rather than to its safety, is obvious from the words following:
"When he who is our life shall appear, we also shall appear with him in glory."
...The heart of the believer only knows his own bitterness; and a stranger
intermeddleth not with his joy. The manna on which he feeds is hidden manna. And
no one knoweth the new name in the white stone given him, but the receiver... They
are sometimes hidden by persecution. For though this does not prevent their being
Christians, it hinders them from appearing as such; especially by secluding them
from their social and public assemblies... They are sometimes hidden by the
obscurity of their stations. ot many of the wise, and mighty, and noble are called:
but when they are called they are also exhibited. They are like cities set on hills,
which cannot be hid. A little religion in high life goes a great way, and is much
talked of, because it is so often a strange thing. But God has chosen the poor of this
world; and they are often rich in faith. Yet how is their moral wealth to be known?
How few opportunities have they for religious display or exertion! There may be the
principle of benevolence, where there is no ability to give. And the Lord seeth the
heart, but men can only judge from actions. Many who are great in the sight of the
Lord are living in cottages and hovels; and are scarcely known, unless to a few
neighbours equally obscure. They are sometimes hidden by their disposition. They
are reserved, and shrink back from notice. They are timid and self diffident. This
restrains them in religious conversation, especially as it regards their own
experience. This keeps them from making a profession of religion, and joining a
Christian church. Joseph of Arimathaea was a disciple of Jesus; but secretly, for
fear of the Jews. And icodemus, from the same cause, came to Jesus by night. They
had difficulties in their situations, from which others were free. They ought to have
overcome them; and so they did at last, but it was a day of small things with them at
first. Others are circumstanced and tried in a similar way: and we must be patient
towards all men. They are sometimes hidden by their infirmities. We would not
plead for sin; but grace may be found along with many imperfections. The
possessors have what is essential to religion in them; but not everything that is
ornamental, and lovely, and of good report. The same will also apply to errors.
Here, again, we are far from undervaluing divine truth. It is a good thing that the
heart be established with grace. But it is impossible for us to say how much
ignorance, and how many mistakes, may be found, even in the Israelites indeed, in
whom there is no guile. William Jay.
Ver. 3. The less the world knows thee, the better for thee; thou mayest be satisfied
with this one thingâ€”God knows them that are his: not lost, although hidden is the
symbol of a Christian. Frisch, in Lange's Bibelwerk.

WHEDO , "3. Crafty counsel—Hebrew, Craftily plotted a secret. Both the object
and the plan of execution were a secret. Avoiding all customary army routes, they
stealthily took the dangerous Bedouin trail around the south and west shores of the
Dead Sea, a route which well nigh cost Jehoram his army soon after, (2 Kings 3,)
and, ascending the mountains at Engedi, completely surprised Jehoshaphat. He had
no time to collect his army, and had no army adequate to meet the foe.
Hidden ones—Those whom God “hides in the secret of his tabernacle,” that is,
protects. Psalms 27:5
BE SO , "Verses 3-5
Psalms 83:3-5. They have consulted against thy hidden ones — That is, against thy
people Israel, as it is explained in the foregoing words, and in the next verse. They
are called God’s hidden, or secret ones, ‫,צפוניְך‬ tzepunecha, abditos tuos, to intimate
the singular care and respect which God had to them, as his peculiar treasure, (as
they are called, Exodus 19:5 ; Psalms 135:3,) whom he would hide and preserve in
the secret of his presence, and under the shadow of his wings; and withal to denote
the folly of Israel’s enemies in seeking the destruction of those whom God was
engaged and resolved to protect. They have said, Come, let us cut them off, &c. —
Whereby they have showed both their implacable rage and malice, and their great
assurance of success. They are confederate against thee — They have laid aside all
their private quarrels and animosities, and agreed together against thee.
ISBET, "‘THY HIDDE O ES’
‘They have … consulted against Thy hidden ones.’
Psalms 83:3
I. We may draw sweet and almost inexhaustible instruction from the names given to
the children of God in Scripture.—This title of the Lord’s hidden ones is full of
consolation. How many a Lazarus is there whom the world in its giddy course of
pride, or reclining in its purple luxury, disdains to feed with its superfluous crumbs!
And at times the poor sufferer himself may make his moan, ‘I am forgotten as a
dead man out of mind.’ It is so different to suffer in an amphitheatre of admiring
spectators, and to languish in solitary grief, unwitnessed and unknown. Yet is this
no unfrequent badge of discipleship. The servant is not greater than his Lord. ‘He
was despised and rejected of men.’ ‘Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it
knew Him not.’
II. You see your calling then, concealed saint, one of the Lord’s hidden ones—
hidden from the glare and glitter of the world, and the pomps and passions of life:
hidden in respect of your tears and trials, your joys and felicities: hidden as to your
true inalienable glory—a child of God, an heir of blissful immortality; a king and
priest unto our God for ever. Yes, hidden now, and many stormy waves about you;
but what a hiding-place! ‘In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in
the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me.’ Those who are admitted to the
private apartments of their sovereign, are not wont to complain of their seclusion.
And mark the next clause: ‘He shall set me up upon a rock.’ Those who are now
hidden in the clefts of the Rock of Ages, shall one day stand thereon and sing.

—Bishop E. H. Bickersteth.
Illustration
‘This psalm may be traced to that terrible crisis in the history of Judah described in
2 Chronicles 20. It was written apparently before the Hebrews had received the
assurance of victory, and when the first rumours of the confederacy were bruited
abroad. The alliance of the surrounding nations threatened the very existence of the
chosen people. Then it was that this psalm pleaded for the interposition of Jehovah,
and challenged Him to do again as He had done.’
PULPIT, "Psalms 83:3
God's hidden ones.
This name is especially applicable to Israel because of the geographical position of
their country. (Cf. umbers 23:9, "The people shall dwell alone.") They were away,
off the beaten track of the nations, shut in, and, as it were, hidden, by the deserts on
the east and south, the sea on the west, and the mountains on the north, from the
rest of the world. But the expression in the text is applicable to all God's people
everywhere and always. They are his hidden ones. And we note concerning them—
I. THE FACT—THEY ARE HIDDE .
1. Their physical life God often hides from those who would destroy it. ot always
does he do this, but often, as Peter from Herod (Acts 12:1-25.; and cf. Obadiah's
hiding of the prophets, 1 Kings 18:4). And how often God has hidden his servants in
wildernesses, glens, mountain heights, catacombs, etc.! The adversary would fain
have destroyed them all, as the wolf the sheep; but they have not all been destroyed,
the sheep yet outnumber the wolves.
2. Their spiritual life is ever a hidden one. For it resides not in themselves, but in
another, as the life of the branches is in the vine (John 15:1-27.; Colossians 3:3). The
principles that govern it are not known or understood or appreciated by the world.
Its law of self-sacrifice, meekness, etc. Except by uncertain conjecture, the world
knows nothing of its springs of action and its controlling motives. The practice of
this life is also so different from the world's life. It is meek, retiring, not loving
notoriety; it pursues a lowly and unnoticed way; it has no eye for worldly pomp, no
ear for worldly applause. It is not necessarily identified with any places, or seasons,
or forms of worship, or order of men; but whilst generally using more or less of
them, is independent of them all.
3. And this condition of God's hidden ones is of their own choice. (Ruth 2:12; Psalms
91:1; Psalms 143:9.) They love to have it so. The hidden life is, in their esteem, the
blessed, the secure, the eternal life.
4. It is God who hides them. (Cf. Psalms 31:20; John 10:28.) He does this by his

providential care and by keeping them in his own love. And the majority of them he
has hidden from men below in his own blessed presence in heaven. The Church on
earth is a little flock indeed, not absolutely, but in comparison with the vast flock in
the heavenly pastures, and there they are forever hidden from all the malice and
might of men or of the devil.
II. WHAT THIS FACT IMPLIES.
1. Their preciousness in the sight of God. Things common and cheap we do not hide,
or those for which we do not care. Jewels are hidden oftentimes, and God calls his
hidden ones his jewels (Malachi 3:17). And how could they be other than precious,
when we remember their cost!—"redeemed with the precious blood of Christ;" each
one was bought with that price. And God deems them precious, also, for their own
sakes. They can and will respond, ever more and more perfectly, to that love in the
heart of God which, like all love, yearns for response such as they only can give.
2. Their peril. God would not have hidden them as he has were they in no danger
(see text). And how perpetually did our Lord bid us "watch and pray"! The world,
the flesh, the devil, are ever bent on doing us harm. We are safe only as "our life is
hid with Christ in God"
3. Obscurity. The world knows us not, even as it knew him not. See how all but
unbroken is the absolute silence of secular history as to the birth, life, death, and
resurrection of our Lord, and as to the history of his Church, until its marvelous
growth and supernatural power compelled its attention. And still, the fame, layout,
and honour of the world are things which none of God's hidden ones may seek
(John 5:41, John 5:44).
4. Safety. (Psalms 91:1-16, the whole psalm.)
5. The love of him whose hidden ones we are.
III. TO WHAT IT SHOULD LEAD.
1. To deep love of God. Whatever God has given you, he has given and he can give
nothing like this—numbering you among his hidden ones.
2. To staying where you are. Dwell in the secret place of the Most High.
3. To having done with forebodings, murmurings, and helpless grief. Should such as
you be chargeable with such things?
4. To confession of God's love to you before your fellow men.
5. To all holy endeavours to bring others where you are.—S.C.

4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a
nation,
so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
BAR ES, "They have said, Come, and let us cut them off ... - Let us utterly
destroy them, and root them out from among the nations. Let us combine against them,
and overpower them; let us divide their land among ourselves, attaching it to our own.
The nations referred to Psa_83:6-8 were those which surrounded the land of Israel; and
the proposal seems to have been to partition the land of the Hebrews among themselves,
as has been done in modern times in regard to Poland. On what principles, and in what
proportions, they proposed thus to divide the land is not intimated, nor is it said that the
project had gone so far that they had agreed on the terms of such a division. The
formation of such a purpose, however, was in itself by no means improbable. The
Hebrew people were offensive to all the surrounding nations by their religion, their
prosperity, and the constant rebuke of tyranny and idolatry by their religious and their
social institutions. There had been enough, also, in their past history - in the
remembrance of the successful wars of the Hebrews with those very nations - to keep up
a constant irritation on their part. We are not to be surprised, therefore, that there was a
deeply-cherished desire to blot out the name and the nation altogether.
That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance - That the nation as
such may be utterly extinct and forgotten; that the former triumphs of that nation over
us may be avenged; that we may no longer have in our very midst this painful memorial
of the existence of one God, and of the demands of his law; that we may pursue our own
plans without the silent or the open admonition derived from a religion so pure and
holy. For the same reason the world has often endeavored to destroy the church; to
cause it to be extinct; to blot out its name; to make the very names Christ and Christian
forgotten among mankind. Hence, the fiery persecutions under the Roman government
in the time of the Emperors; and hence, in every age, and in every land, the church has
been exposed to persecution - originated with a purpose to destroy it as long as there
was any hope of accomplishing that end. That purpose has been abandoned by Satan
and his friends only because the result has shown that the persecution of the church
served but to spread its principles and doctrines, and to fix it more firmly in the
affections and confidence of mankind, so that the tendency of persecution is rather to
overthrow the persecutor than the persecuted. Whether it can be destroyed by
prosperity and corruption - by science - by error - seems now to be the great problem
before the mind of Satan.
CLARKE, "Let us cut them off - Let us exterminate the whole race, that there may
not be a record of them on the face of the earth. And their scheme was well laid: eight or

ten different nations united themselves in a firm bond to do this; and they had kept their
purpose so secret that the king of Judah does not appear to have heard of it till his
territories were actually invaded, and the different bodies of this coalition had assembled
at En-gedi. Never was Judah before in greater danger.
GILL, "They have said,.... Secretly in their hearts, or openly to one another, and gave
it out in the most public manner, as what they had consulted and determined upon; see
Psa_74:8,
come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; they were not content to
invade their country, take their cities, plunder them of their substance, and carry them
captives, but utterly to destroy them, root and branch; so that they might be no more a
body politic, under rule and government, in their own land, nor have so much as a name
and place in others; this was Haman's scheme, Est_3:8.
that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance; but this desperate
and dreadful scheme, and wretched design of theirs, took not effect; but, on the
contrary, the several nations hereafter mentioned, who were in this conspiracy, are no
more, and have not had a name in the world for many hundreds of years; while the Jews
are still a people, and are preserved, in order to be called and saved, as all Israel will be
in the latter day, Rom_11:25. So Dioclesian thought to have rooted the Christian name
out of the world; but in vain: the name of Christ, the name of Christianity, the name of a
Christian church, will endure to the end of the world; see Psa_72:17
HE RY, "What it is that is aimed at in this confederacy. They consult not like the
Gibeonites to make a league with Israel, that they might strengthen themselves by such a
desirable alliance, which would have been their wisdom. They consult, not only to clip
the wings of Israel, to recover their new conquests, and check the progress of their
victorious arms, not only to keep the balance even between them and Israel, and to
prevent their power from growing exorbitant; this will not serve. It is no less than the
utter ruin and extirpation of Israel that they design (Psa_83:4): “Come, let us cut them
off from being a nation, as they cut off the seven nations of Canaan; let us leave them
neither root nor branch, but lay their country so perfectly waste that the name of Israel
may be no more in remembrance, no, not in history;” for with them they would destroy
their Bibles and burn all their records. Such is the enmity of the serpent's seed against
the seed of the woman. It is the secret wish of many wicked men that the church of God
might not have a being in the world, that there might be no such thing as religion among
mankind. Having banished the sense of it out of their own hearts, they would gladly see
the whole earth as well rid of it, all its laws and ordinances abolished, all its restraints
and obligations shaken off, and all that preach, profess, or practise it cut off. This they
would bring it to if it were in their power; but he that sits in heaven shall laugh at them.
JAMISO , "from being a nation — utter destruction (Isa_7:8; Isa_23:1).
Israel — here used for Judah, having been the common name.
CALVI , "4They have said, Come and let us cut them off from being a nation. The

wickedness of these hostile powers is aggravated from the circumstance, that it was
their determined purpose utterly to exterminate the Church. This may be restricted
to the Ammonites and Moabites, who were as bellows to blow up the flame in the
rest. But the Hagarenes, the Syrians, and the other nations, being by their
instigation affected with no less hatred and fury against the people of God, for
whose destruction they had taken up arms, we may justly consider this vaunting
language as uttered by the whole of the combined host; for having entered into a
mutual compact they rushed forward with rival eagerness, and encouraged one
another to destroy the kingdom of Judah. The prime agent in exciting such cruel
hatred was doubtless Satan, who has all along from the beginning been exerting
himself to extinguish the Church of God, and who, for this purpose, has never
ceased to stir up his own children to outrage. The phrase, to cut them off from being
a nation, signifies to exterminate them root and branch, and thus to put an end to
them as a nation or people. That this is the meaning is more clearly evinced from the
second clause of the verse, Let the name of Israel be no more remembered The
compassion of God would in no small degree be excited by the circumstance that
this war was not undertaken, as wars commonly have been, to bring them, when
conquered, under the power of their enemies; but the object which the cruelty of
their enemies aimed at was their entire destruction. And what did this amount to
but to an attempt to overthrow the decree of God on which the perpetual duration
of the Church depends.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 4. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a
nation. Easier said than done. Yet it shows how thorough going are the foes of the
church. Theirs was the policy of extermination. They laid the axe at the root of the
matter. Rome has always loved this method of warfare, and hence she has gloated
over the massacre of Bartholomew, and the murders of the Inquisition.
That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. They would blot them out
of history as well as out of existence. Evil is intolerant of good. If Israel would let
Edom alone yet Edom cannot be quiet, but seeks like its ancestor to kill the chosen
of the Lord. Men would be glad to cast the church out of the world because it
rebukes them, and is thus a standing menace to their sinful peace.
Ver. 4. That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. This desperate
and dreadful scheme, and wretched design of theirs, took not effect; but, on the
contrary, the several nations hereafter mentioned, who were in this conspiracy, are
no more, and have not had a name in the world for many hundreds of years; whilst
the Jews are still a people and are preserved, in order to be called and saved, as all
Israel will be in the latter day, Romans 11:25. So Diocletian thought to have rooted
the Christian name out of the world; but in vain. John Gill.
WHEDO , "4. Let us cut them off from being a nation—This shows that it was not
an incursion for plunder merely, but a deep political scheme, based on the old
hatred indulged against the Hebrews by the idolatrous nations, and on the tributary
relation to them which many of the nations had held since the days of David.
Jehoshaphat also had directly committed himself to a war with Syria by the affair of
Ramoth-gilead, 1 Kings 22.

Israel—The title here seems to apply to the whole Hebrew family. In this counsel for
the extinction of Israel, (Psalms 83:5,) Asshur, that is, Assyria, (Psalms 83:8,) was
joined. Moab seems to have been the chief instigator, for which the judgments of
God were afterward revisited upon that people. See Jeremiah 48:2
5 With one mind they plot together;
they form an alliance against you—
BAR ES, "For they have consulted together with one consent - Margin, as in
Hebrew, heart. There is no division in their counsels on this subject. They have one
desire - one purpose - in regard to the matter. Pilate and Herod were made friends
together against Christ Luk_23:12; and the world, divided and hostile on other matters,
has been habitually united in its opposition to Christ and to a pure and spiritual religion.
They are confederate against thee - literally, “They cut a covenant against thee;”
that is, they ratify such a covenant, compact, league - referring to the manner in which
bargains and agreements were ratified by cutting in pieces a victim sacrificed on such
occasions; that is, by giving to such a transaction the solemnity of a religious sanction.
Gen_15:10; Jer_34:18-19. See Bochart, Hieroz. i. 35. The meaning here is, that they had
entered into this agreement in the most solemn manner, under the sanctions of religion.
CLARKE, "They have consulted together with one consent - With a united
heart, ‫יחדו‬ ‫לב‬ leb yachdav, Their heart and soul are in the work.
They are confederate against thee - “They have made a covenant,” ‫יכריתו‬ ‫ברית‬
berith yachrithu, “they have cut the covenant sacrifice.” They have slain an animal,
divided him in twain, and passed between the pieces of the victim; and have thus bound
themselves to accomplish their purpose.
GILL, "For they have consulted together with one consent,.... Or "heart" (e);
wicked men are cordial to one another, and united in their counsels against the people of
God, and his interest: whatever things they may disagree in, they agree in this, to oppose
the cause and interest of true religion, or to persecute the church and people of God:
Herod and Pontius Pilate are instances of this:
they are confederate against thee; or have made a covenant against thee (f);

the covenant they had entered into among themselves, being against the Lord's people,
was against him; and such a covenant and agreement can never stand; for there is no
wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord, Pro_21:30. This the psalmist
mentions to engage the Lord in the quarrel of his people, and not be still, and act a
neutral part; since those were his enemies, and confederates against him, and they are
next particularly named.
HE RY, " He here gives an account of the grand alliance of the neighbouring nations
against Israel, which he begs of God to break, and blast the projects of. Now observe
here,
1. Against whom this confederacy is formed; it is against the Israel of God, and so, in
effect, against the God of Israel. Thus the psalmist takes care to interest God in their
cause, not doubting but that, if it appeared that they were for God, God would make it to
appear that he was for them, and then they might set all their enemies at defiance; for
whom then could be against them? “Lord,” says he, “they are thy enemies, and they hate
thee.” All wicked people are God's enemies (the carnal mind is enmity against God), but
especially wicked persecutors; they hated the religious worshippers of God, because they
hated God's holy religion and the worship of him. This was that which made God's
people so zealous against them - that they fought against God: They are confederate
against thee, Psa_83:5. Were our interest only concerned, we could the better bear it;
but, when God himself is struck at, it is time to cry, Help, Lord. Keep not thou silence, O
God! He proves that they are confederate against God, for they are so against the people
of God, who are near and dear to him, his son, his first-born, his portion, and the lot of
his inheritance; he may truly be said to fight against me that endeavours to destroy my
children, to root out my family, and to ruin my estate. “Lord,” says the psalmist, “they
are thy enemies, for they consult against thy hidden ones.” Note, God's people are his
hidden ones, hidden, (1.) In respect of secresy. Their life is hid with Christ in God; the
world knows them not; if they knew them, they would not hate them as they do. (2.) In
respect of safety. God takes them under his special protection, hides them in the hollow
of his hand; and yet, in defiance of God and his power and promise to secure his people,
they will consult to ruin them and cast them down from their excellency (Psa_62:4), and
to make a prey of those whom the Lord has set apart for himself, Psa_4:3. They resolve
to destroy those whom God resolves to preserve.
JAMISO , "they have consulted — with heart, or cordially.
together — all alike.
CALVI , "5For they have consulted with the heart together. The multiplied hosts
which united their powers together to oppose the Church of God and to effect her
overthrow, are here enumerated. As so many nations, formed into one powerful
confederacy, were bent on the destruction of a kingdom not greatly distinguished by
its power, the miraculous aid of God was indispensably necessary for the
deliverance of a people who, in such extremity, were altogether unable to defend
themselves. In circumstances apparently as hopeless good king Asa gave utterance
to that truly magnanimous reflection:
“Lord, it is nothing with thee to help whether with many, or with them that have no
power: help us, O Lord our God! for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against
this multitudes”

(1 Chronicles 14:11.)
The same Spirit who inspired that pious king with such invincible fortitude dictated
this psalm for the benefit of the whole Church, to encourage her with unhesitating
confidence to betake herself to God for aid. And in our own day he sets before us
these words, in order that no danger or difficulty may prevent us from calling upon
God. When the whole world may conspire together against us, we have as it were a
wall of brass for the defense of Christ’s kingdom in these words, “Why do the
heathen rage?” etc., (Psalms 2:1.)
It will be in no small degree profitable to us to contemplate this as an example in
which we have represented to us, as in a mirror what has been the lot of the Church
of God from the beginning. This, if rightly reflected upon, will keep us at the present
day from being unduly dejected when we witness the whole world in array against
us. We see how the Pope has inflamed the whole world against us with diabolical
rage. Hence it is, that in whatever direction we turn our eyes, we meet with just so
many hostile armies to destroy us. But when we have once arrived at a settled
persuasion that no strange thing happens to us, the contemplation of the condition
of the Church in old time will strengthen us for continuing in the exercise of
patience until God suddenly display his power, which is perfectly able, without any
created aid, to frustrate all the attempts of the world.
To remove from the minds of the godly all misgivings as to whether help is ready to
be imparted to them from heaven, the prophet distinctly affirms that those who
molest the Church are chargeable with making war against God, who has taken her
under his protection. The principle upon which God declares that he will be our
helper is contained in these words,
“He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye,”
(Zechariah 2:8.)
And what is said in another psalm concerning the patriarchs, is equally applicable
to all true believers,
“Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm,”
(Psalms 105:15.)
He will have the anointing with which he has anointed us to be, as it were, a buckler
to keep us in perfect safety. The nations here enumerated did not avowedly make
war against him; but as, when he sees his servants unrighteously assaulted, he
interposes himself between them and their enemies to bear the blows aimed at them,
they are here justly represented as having entered into a league against God The
case is analogous to that of the Papists in the present day. If any were to ask them,
when they hold consultations for the express purpose of accomplishing our
destruction, Whether they were stronger than God? they would immediately reply,
That they had no intention whatever of assaulting heaven in imitation of the giants
of old. But God having declared that every injury which is done to us is an assault

upon him, we may, as from a watch-tower, behold in the distance by the eye of faith
the approach of that destruction of which the votaries of Antichrist shall have at
length the sad and melancholy experience.
The expression, to consult with the heart, is by some explained, to deliberate with
the greatest exertion and earnestness of mind. Thus it is quite common for us to say,
that a thing is done with the heart which is done with earnestness and ardor of
mind. But this expression is rather intended to denote the hidden crafty devices
complained of a little before.
Some interpreters refer the tents of Edom to warlike furniture, and understand the
words as meaning, that these enemies came well equipped and provided with tents
for prolonging the war; but the allusion seems rather to be to the custom which
prevailed among those nations of dwelling in tents. It is, however, a hyperbolical
form of expression; as if it had been said, So great was their eagerness to engage in
this war, that they might be said even to pluck their tents from the places where they
were pitched.
I do not intend to enter curiously into a discussion concerning the respective nations
here named, the greater part of them being familiarly known from the frequency
with which they are spoken of in the sacred Scriptures. When it is said that Assur
and the rest were an arm to the sons of Lot, this is evidently an additional
aggravation of the wickedness of the sons of Lot. It would have been an act of
unnatural cruelty for them to have aided foreign nations against their own kindred.
But when they themselves are the first to sound the trumpet, and when of their own
suggestion they invite the aid of the Assyrians and other nations to destroy their
own brethren, ought not such barbarous inhumanity to call forth the deepest
detestation? Josephus himself records, that the Israelites had passed through their
borders without doing them any harm, sparing their own blood according to the
express command of God. When the Moabites and Ammonites then knew that their
brethren the Jews spared them, remembering that they were of the same blood, and
sprung from one common parentage, ought they not also to have reciprocated so
much kindness on their part as not to have embarked in any hostile enterprise
against them? But it is, as it were, the destiny of the Church, not only to be assailed
by external enemies, but to suffer far greater trouble at the hands of false brethren.
At the present day, none are more furiously mad against us than counterfeit
Christians.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 5. For they have consulted together with one consent. They are
hearty and unanimous in their designs. They seem to have but one heart, and that a
fierce one, against the chosen people and their God.
They are confederate against thee. At the Lord himself they aim through the sides of
his saints. They make a covenant, and ratify it with blood, resolutely banding
themselves together to war with the Mighty God.
Ver. 5. For they have consulted together with one consent. Margin, as in Hebrew,
heart. There is no division in their counsels on this subject. They have one desire â€”

one purpose â€”in regard to the matter. Pilate and Herod were made friends
together against Christ (Lu 23:12); and the world divided and hostile in other
matters, has been habitually united in its opposition to Christ and to a pure and
spiritual religion. Albert Barnes.
Ver. 5. They have consulted together with one consent, etc. To push on this unholy
war, they lay their heads together, and their horns, and their hearts too. Fas est et
ab hoste doceri. Do the enemies of the church act with one consent to destroy it? Are
the kings of the earth of one mind to give their power and honour to the beast? And
shall not the church's friends be unanimous in serving her interests? If Herod and
Pilate are made friends that they may join in crucifying Christ, sure Paul and
Barnabas, Paul and Peter, will soon be made friends, that they may join in
preaching Christ. Matthew Henry.
Ver. 5. They have consulted together, etc. Though there may fall out a private
grudge betwixt such as are wicked, yet they will all agree and unite against the
saints: if two greyhounds are snarling at a bone, yet put up a hare between them,
and they will leave the bone, and follow after the hare; so, if wicked men have
private differences amongst themselves, yet if the godly be near them, they will leave
snarling at one another, and will pursue after the godly. Thomas Watson.
Ver. 5. They are confederate against thee. "They have made a covenant,
"vtyrkytyrk berith yachriths, "they have cut the covenant sacrifice." They have
slain an animal, divided him in twain, and passed between the pieces of the victim;
and have thus bound themselves to accomplish their purpose. Adam Clarke.
K&D 5-8, "Instead of ‫ד‬ ָ‫ח‬ ֶ‫א‬ ‫ב‬ ֵ‫,ל‬ 1Ch_12:38, it is deliberant corde unâ, inasmuch as ‫ו‬ ָ ְ‫ח‬ַ‫י‬
on the one hand gives intensity to the reciprocal signification of the verb, and on the
other lends the adjectival notion to ‫ב‬ ֵ‫.ל‬ Of the confederate peoples the chronicler (2 Chr.
20) mentions the Moabites, the Ammonites, the inhabitants of Mount Seïr, and the Me
(unim, instead of which Josephus, Antiq. ix. 1. 2, says: a great body of Arabians. This
crowd of peoples comes from the other side of the Dead Sea, ‫ּם‬‫ד‬ ֱ‫ֽא‬ ֵ‫מ‬ (as it is to be read in
Psa_83:2 in the chronicler instead of ‫ם‬ ָ‫ר‬ ֲ‫ֽא‬ ֵ‫,מ‬ cf. on Psa_60:2); the territory of Edom,
which is mentioned first by the poet, was therefore the rendezvous. The tents of Edom
and of the Ishmaelites are (cf. Arab. ahl, people) the people themselves who live in tents.
Moreover, too, the poet ranges the hostile nations according to their geographical
position. The seven first named from Edom to Amalek, which still existed at the time of
the psalmist (for the final destruction of the Amalekites by the Simeonites, 1Ch_4:42.,
falls at an indeterminate period prior to the Exile), are those out of the regions east and
south-east of the Dead Sea. According to Gen_25:18, the Ishmaelites had spread from
Higâz through the peninsula of Sinai beyond the eastern and southern deserts as far up
as the countries under the dominion of Assyria. The Hagarenes dwelt in tents from the
Persian Gulf as far as the east of Gilead (1Ch_5:10) towards the Euphrates. ‫ל‬ ָ‫ב‬ְ, Arab.
jbâl, is the name of the people inhabiting the mountains situated in the south of the Dead
Sea, that is to say, the northern Seïritish mountains. Both Gebâl and also, as it appears,
the Amalek intended here according to Gen_36:12 (cf. Josephus, Antiq. ii. 1. 2:
ᅒµαληκሏτις, a part of Idumaea), belong to the wide circuit of Edom. Then follow the

Philistines and Phoenicians, the two nations of the coast of the Mediterranean, which
also appear in Amo_1:1-15 (cf. Joel 3) as making common cause with the Edomites
against Israel. Finally Asshur, the nation of the distant north-east, here not as yet
appearing as a principal power, but strengthening (vid., concerning ַ‫ּוע‬‫ר‬ְ‫,ז‬ an arm =
assistance, succour, Gesenius, Thesaurus, p. 433b) the sons of Lot, i.e., the Moabites and
Ammonites, with whom the enterprise started, and forming a powerful reserve for them.
The music bursts forth angrily at the close of this enumeration, and imprecations
discharge themselves in the following strophe.
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
of Moab and the Hagrites,
BAR ES, "The tabernacles of Edom - The tents of Edom; meaning here, the
dwellers in those tents, that is, the Edomites. The word tabernacles or tents does not
necessarily imply that the nation then led a wandering life, for the word came to signify
in process of time a dwelling-place, or a habitation. The Edomites were not, in fact, a
roving and wandering people, but a people of fixed boundaries. In early periods,
however, like most ancient people, they doubtless dwelt in tents. Edom, or Idumea, was
south of Palestine. See the notes at Isa_11:14.
And the Ishmaelites - The descendants of Ishmael. They dwelt in Arabia Deserta.
Of Moab - On the situation of Moab, see the notes at Isa_15:1-9. It was on the
southeast of Palestine.
And the Hagarenes - The Hagarenes were properly Arabs, so called from Hagar, the
handmaid of Abraham, the mother of Ishmael. Gen_16:1; Gen_25:12. As connected with
the Ishmaelites they would naturally join in this alliance.
CLARKE, "The tabernacles of Edom - The tents of these different people are
seen in the grand encampment. Tents are probably mentioned because it seas the
custom of some of these people, particularly the lshmaelites, to live a migratory or
wandering life; having no fixed habitation, but always abiding in tents. Their posterity
remain to the present day, and act and live in the same manner.
Hagarenes - These people dwelt on the east of Gilead; and were nearly destroyed in
the days of Saul, being totally expelled from their country, 1Ch_5:10, but afterwards
recovered some strength and consequence; but where they dwelt after their expulsion by
the Israelites is not known.

GILL, "The tabernacles of Edom, &c. Or the Idumeans, as the Targum; the
posterity of Esau, who, with the rest that joined with them, hereafter mentioned, and
made the confederate army, brought their tents with them, pitched them, and encamped
in them against Israel:
and the Ishmaelites; or Arabians, as the Targum, who descended from Ishmael, the
son of Abraham:
of Moab, and the Hagarenes; the Moabites, who sprung from Lot by one of his
daughters, in an incestuous way; and the Hagarenes are the same with the Hagarites,
1Ch_5:10 who dwelt to the east of the land of Israel, so called from Hagar, the handmaid
of Abraham, but not by him, but by another husband, after sent away from him, as Aben
Ezra and Kimchi think, or by him, supposing Hagar to be the same with Keturah, as
some do: the Targum calls them Hungarians; the Syriac version renders it Gadareans, or
Gadarenes; of which see Mar_5:1.
HE RY, " Who they are that are drawn into this confederacy. The nations that
entered into this alliance are here mentioned (Psa_83:6-8); the Edomites and
Ishmaelites, both descendants from Abraham, lead the van; for apostates from the
church have been its most bitter and spiteful enemies, witness Julian. These were allied
to Israel in blood and yet in alliance against Israel. There are no bonds of nature so
strong but the spirit of persecution has broken through them. The brother shall betray
the brother to death. Moab and Ammon were the children of righteous Lot; but, as an
incestuous, so a degenerate race. The Philistines were long a thorn in Israel's side, and
very vexatious. How the inhabitants of Tyre, who in David's time were Israel's firm allies,
come in among their enemies, I know not; but that Assur (that is, the Assyrian) also is
joined with them is not strange, or that (as the word is) they were an arm to the children
of Lot. See how numerous the enemies of God's church have always been. Lord, how are
those increased that trouble it! God's heritage was as a speckled bird; all the birds round
about were against her (Jer_12:9), which highly magnifies the power of God in
preserving to himself a church in the world, in spite of the combined force of earth and
hell.
JAMISO , "tabernacles — for people (Psa_78:67).
they — all these united with the children of Lot, or Ammonites and Moabites
(compare 2Ch_20:1).
SPURGEO , "Ver. 6. The tabernacles of Edom. earest of kin, yet first in enmity.
Their sire despised the birthright, and they despise the possessors of it. Leaving
their rock built mansions for the tents of war, the Edomites invaded the land of
Israel.
And the Ishmaelites. A persecuting spirit ran in their blood, they perpetuated the
old grudge between the child of the bondwoman and the son of the freewoman.
Of Moab. Born of incest, but yet a near kinsman, the feud of Moab against Israel
was very bitter. Little could righteous Lot have dreamed that his unhallowed seed
would be such unrelenting enemies of his uncle Abraham's posterity.
And the Hagarenes â€”perhaps descendants of Hagar by a second husband.

Psalm 83 commentary

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