Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/4_000_t.lzh/4_052.TXT

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nacy of their wicked judges, that they would persist
· their wicked ways.
Ver. 6. I have said, ye are gods, &c.] In the law,
Exod. xxi. 6. and xxii. 28. or they were so by his ap-
pointment and commission; he constituted them judges
and magistrates, invested them with such an office, by
which they came to have this title; see Rom. xiii. 1.
and so our Lord interprets these words, that they were
gods to whom the word of God came, which gave them
a commission and authority to exercise their office,
John x. 35. or rather against whom it came, pro-
nouncing the sentence of death on them, as in vet. 7.
to which the reference is; declaring, that though they
were gods by office, yet were mortal men, and should
die. The Targum is, I said, as angels are ye ac'-
counted; and so judges and civil magistrates had need
to be as angels, and to have the wisdom of them; see
2 Sam. xiv. 20. Jarchi interprets it of angels, but ma-
gistrates are undoubtedly meant: and all of you are
children of the most High; the Targum here again
renders it," the angels of the most High :" and so Aben
Ezra explains it of them who are called the sons of
God, Job xxxviii.-7- but men in power are meant,
who, because of their eminency and dignity, their high
office, post, and place, are so called; see Gen. vi. 2.
Psal. lxxxix. 6.
Ver. 7- Butye shall die like men, &c.3 As men in
common do, to whom it is appointed to die, Heb. ix.
27. or as common men, as men in the lowest class of
life: the wise man dies as the fool, the king as the
peasanto high as the low, rich as the poor; death le-
vels and makes all alike: or as Adam, as the first man,
so Jarchi, who was lord of the whole universe; but
being in honour, abode not, but became like the beasts
that perish; sinning he died, and so all his posterity,
even those who have the greatest power and authority
on earth; see Psai. xlix. 2, 10, 12. and not only die a
corporeal death, but an eternal one, dying in their sins;

as Christ threatened the Jewish rulers, Scribes, and
Pharisees, if they believed not in him, John viii. 21,
24. andfalllike one of the princes ; or the chief of them,
SaWn, who fell like lightning from heaven, Luke x.
18. or rather as one of the giants that lived in the old
world, famous for their injustice and oppression, that
fell in the deluge, Gen. vi. 4. or any of the Heathen
princes, tyrants and oppressors, such as are men-
tioned in the following psalm, Psal. lxxxiii. 9, 10.
This may have respect to the destruction of the Jewish
nation, which is called the falling of them, Rom.
xi. 11, 12. and the words may be rendered, and ye
shall fall together, equally and alike, 0 ye princes {a};
when the Jewish state, civil and ecclesiastical, fell,
they fell with it, and together; the princes of this
world then came to nought, or were abolished, they
and their authority, as the Apostle Paul says they
should, 1 Cor. iS. 6. the sceptre then departed from
Judah, and the lawgiver from between his feet; all
rule and authority ceased among them, as Jacob fore-
told it would, Gen. xlix. 10.
Vet. 8. Arise, 0 God, &c.] These are the words
of the prophet, or of the church, whom he personares,
addressing Christ, who is God over all; that seeing
there was such a corruption and degeneracy in the
world, and such wretched perversion of justice, that
he would arise and exert himself,-and shew himself
strong on the behalf of his people:judge the earth:
who is the Judge of the whole earth, to whom all
judgment iscommitted,and whowill judge the world in
righteousness: for thou shalt inherit all nations ; which
he will do in the latter day, when he shall be King
over all the earth, and the Heathen shall be given him
for his inheritance, he being heirof all things; and uni-
versal justice will not take place in the world till that
time comes; and therefore it is to be wished and
prayed for, as by the prophet and church here.

A Song or Psalm of Asaph.

THIS is the last of the psalms that bear the name of
Asaph, and some think it was written by him on oc-
casion of David's smiting the Philistines, Moabites,
Syrians, Edomites, and others, 2 Sam. viii. 1---14. but
these did not conjunctly, but separately, fight with
David, and were overcome by him; whereas those this
rbsalm makes mention of were in a confederacy toge-
er; and besides, the Tyrians in David's time were
in friendship with him; but are here mentioned as
joining with others against Israel, ver. 7. others are of
opinion that this was prophetically delivered out with
respect to future times, either to tim conspiracy of the
enemies of the Jews against them in the times of the
Maccabees, see I Maccab. v. 1. &c. or rather to the confe-
deracy of the Moabites, Ammonites, and others, in
the times of Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xx. 1. so Kimchi,
A rama, and the generality of interpreters: perhaps refe-
rence is had to the enemies of God's people, from age
to age, both in the Old and in the New Testament;
R. Obadiah understands it of the war of Gog and
Magog.
Ver. 1. Keep not thou silence, 0 God, &c.] Which
he is thought and said to do, when he does not answer
the prayers of his people, nor plead their cause, nor re-
buke 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, 0 God; or quiet {c}, at rest and


{a} \^dxak\^ pariter; sive ex aequo, Maius apud Gataker. Cin. c. 10.
p. 292.
{b} \^vrxt-la\^ ne obsurdescas, Vatablus; ne surdum agas, Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator; ne quasi surdus & mutus sis, Michaelis.
{c} \^jqvt la\^ ne quiescas, Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus; neque quietus sis, Michaelis.