Bible Commentaries

Hallelujah to God the One True Helper

The Psalter now draws to a close with five Hallelujah Psalms. This firstclosing Hallelujah has many points of coincidence with the foregoingalphabetical hymn (compare אחללה in Psalm 146:2 with Psalm 145:2;שׂברו in Psalm 146:5 with Psalm 145:15; “who giveth bread to the hungry” in Psalm 146:7 with Psalm 145:15.; “who maketh the blind to see” in Psalm 146:8 with Psalm 145:14; “Jahvereigneth, etc.,” in Psalm 146:10 with Psalm 145:13) - the same range of thought betrays oneauthor. In the lxx Psalm 146:1 (according to its enumeration fourPsalms, viz., Psalm 145:1, Psalms 147 being split up into two) have theinscription ÁÁêáéÆá÷áñéwhich is repeated fourtimes. These Psalms appear to have formed a separate Hallel, which isreferred back to these prophets, in the old liturgy of the second Temple. Later on they became, together with Psalm 149:1, an integral part of thedaily morning prayer, and in fact of the פסוקי דזמרה, i.e., of the mosaic-work of Psalms and other poetical pieces that was incorporated in themorning prayer, and are called eve in Shabbath 118b Hallel,

(Note: Rashi, however, understands only Psalm 148:1-14 and Psalm 150:1-6 by פסוקי דזמרה in that passage.)

but expressly distinguished from the Hallel to be recited at the Passover and other feasts, which is called “the Egyptian Hallel.” In distinction from this, Krochmal calls these five Psalms the Greek Hallel. But there is nothing to oblige us to come down beyond the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. The agreement between 1 Macc. 2:63 ( ἔστρεψεν εἰς τὸν χοῦν αὐτοῦ καὶ ὁ διαλογισμὸς αὐτοῦ ἀπώλετο ) and Psalm 146:4 of our Psalm, which Hitzig has turned to good account, does not decide anything concerning the age of the Psalm, but only shows that it was in existence at the time of the author of the First Book of Maccabees, - a point in favour of which we were not in need of any proof. But there was just as much ground for dissuading against putting confidence in princes in the time of the Persians as in that of the Grecian domination.

Instead of “bless,” as in Psalm 103:1; Psalm 104:1, the poet of this Psalm says “praise.” When he attunes his sole to the praise of God, he puts himself personally into this mood of mind, and therefore goes on to say “I will praise.” He will, however, not only praise God in the song which he is beginning, but כּחיּי (vid., on Psalm 63:5), fillling up his life with it, or בּעודי (prop. “in my yet-being,” with the suffix of the noun, whereas עודנּי with the verbal suffix is “I still am”), so that his continued life is also a constant continued praising, viz., (and this is in the mind of the poet here, even at the commencment of the Psalm) of the God and Kings who, as being the Almighty, Eternal, and unchangeably Faithful One, is the true ground of confidence. The warning against putting trust in princes calls to mind Psalm 118:8. The clause: the son of man, who has no help that he could afford, is to be understood according to Ps 60:13. The following לאדמתו shows that the poet by expression בּן־אדם combines the thoughts of Genesis 2:7 and Genesis 3:19. If his breath goes forth, he says, basing the untrustworthiness and feebleness of the son of Adam upon the inevitable final destiny of the son of Adam taken out of the ground, then he returns to his earth, i.e., the earth of his first beginning; cf. the more exact expression אל־עפרם, after which the εἰς τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ of the lxx is exchanged for εἰς τὸν χοῦν αὐτοῦ in 1 Macc. 2:63: On the hypothetical relation of the first future clause to the second, cf. Psalm 139:8-10, Psalm 139:18; Ew. §357, b. In that day, the inevitable day of death, the projects or plans of man are at once and forever at an end. The ἅπ. λεγ עשׁתּנת describes these with the collateral notion of the subtleness and magnitude.

Man's help is of no avail; blessed is he (this is the last of the twenty-fiveאשׁרי of the Psalter), on the contrary, who has the God of Jacob (שׁאל like שׁיהוה in Psalm 144:15) as Him in whom is his succour(בּעזרו with Beth essentiaevid., on Psalm 35:2) - he, whose confidence(שׂבר as in Psalm 119:116) rests on Jahve, whom he can by faith call hisGod. Men often are not able to give help although they might be willing todo so: He, however, is the Almighty, the Creator of the heavens, the earth,and the sea, and of all living things that fill these three (cf. Nehemiah 9:6). Meneasily change their mind and do not keep their word: He, however, is Hewho keepeth truth or faithfulness, inasmuch as He unchangeably adheresto the fulfilling of His promises. שׁמר אמת is in formequivalent substantially to שׁמר חסד and שׁמר הבּרית. And that which He is able to do as being theAlmighty, and cannot as being the Truthful One leave undone, is alsoreally His mode of active manifestation made evident in practical proofs:He obtains right for the oppressed, gives bread to the hungry, andconsequently proves Himself to be the succour of those who suffer wrongwithout doing wrong, and as the provider for those who look for theirdaily bread from His gracious hand. With השּׁמר, the onlydeterminate participle, the faithfulness of God to His promises is made especially prominent.

The five lines beginning with Jahve belong together. Each consists of three words, which in the main is also the favourite measure of the lines in the Book of Job. The expression is as brief as possible. התּיר is transferred from the yoke and chains to the person himself who is bound, and פּקח is transferred from the eyes of the blind to the person himself. The five lines celebrate the God of the five-divisioned Tôra, which furnishes abundant examples for these celebrations, and is directed with most considerate tenderness towards the strangers, orphans, and widows in particular. The orphan and the widow, says the sixth line, doth He recover, strengthen (with reference to עודד see Psalm 20:9; Psalm 31:12). Valde gratus mihi est hic Psalmus, Bakius observes, ob Trifolium illud Dei: Advenas, Pupillos, et Viduas, versu uno luculentissime depictum, id quod in toto Psalterio nullibi fit. Whilst Jahve, however, makes the manifold sorrows of His saints to have a blessed issue, He bends (יאוּת) the way of the wicked, so that it leads into error and ends in the abyss (Psalm 1:6). This judicial manifestation of Jahve has only one line devoted to it. For He rules in love and in wrath, but delights most of all to rule in love. Jahve is, however, the God of Zion. The eternal duration of His kingdom is also the guarantee for its future glorious completion, for the victory of love. Hallelujah!