Psalms 112
112
PSALM 112
Common Meter: 8,6,8,6
1Praise ye the Lord. The man is bless'd
that fears the Lord aright,
He who in his commandements
doth greatly take delight.
2His seed and offspring powerful
shall be the earth upon:
Of upright men blessed shall be
the generation.
3Riches and wealth shall ever be
within his house in store;
And his unspotted righteousness
endures for evermore.
4Unto the upright light doth rise,
though he in darkness be:
Compassionate, and merciful,
and righteous, is he.
5A good man doth his favour shew,
and doth to others lend:
He with discretion his affairs
will guide unto the end.
6Surely there is not any thing
that ever shall him move:
The righteous man's memorial
shall everlasting prove.
7When he shall evil tidings hear,
he shall not be afraid:
His heart is fix'd, his confidence
upon the Lord is stay'd.
8His heart is firmly stablished,
afraid he shall not be,
Until upon his enemies
he his desire shall see.
9He hath dispers'd, giv'n to the poor;
his righteousness shall be
To ages all; with honour shall
his horn be raised high.
10The wicked shall it see, and fret,
his teeth gnash, melt away:
What wicked men do most desire
shall utterly decay.
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Psalms 112
112
Psalm 112#sn Psalm 112. This wisdom psalm lists some of the benefits of living a godly life. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
1 Praise the Lord!
How blessed is the one#tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The individual is representative of a larger group, called the “godly” in vv. 3-4. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in the following verses. who obeys#tn Heb “fears.” the Lord,
who takes great delight in keeping his commands.#tn Heb “in his commands he delights very much.” The words “in keeping” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Taking delight in the law is metonymic here for obeying God’s moral will. See Ps 1:2.
2 His descendants#tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.” will be powerful on the earth;
the godly#tn Heb “His seed will be mighty on the earth, the generation of the godly.” The Hebrew term דוֹר (dor, “generation”) could be taken as parallel to “offspring” and translated “posterity,” but the singular more likely refers to the godly as a class. See BDB 189-90 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people. will be blessed.
3 His house contains wealth and riches;
his integrity endures.#tn Heb “stands forever.”
4 In the darkness a light#tn In this context “light” symbolizes divine blessing in its various forms (see v. 2), including material prosperity and stability. shines for the godly,
for each one who is merciful, compassionate, and just.#tn Heb “merciful and compassionate and just.” The Hebrew text has three singular adjectives, which are probably substantival and in apposition to the “godly” (which is plural, however). By switching to the singular, the psalmist focuses on each individual member of the group known as the “godly.” Note how vv. 5-9, like vv. 1-2a, use the singular to describe the representative godly individual who typifies the whole group.
5 It goes well for the one#tn Heb “man.” who generously lends money,
and conducts his business honestly.#tn Heb “he sustains his matters with justice.”
6 For he will never be upended;
others will always remember one who is just.#tn Heb “for an eternal memorial a just [one] will be.”
7 He does not fear bad news.
He#tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition and emotions (see Ps 108:1). is confident; he trusts#tn The passive participle בָּטֻחַ [בָּטוּחַ] (batuakh [batuakh]) expresses a state that results from the subject’s action. See Isa 26:3. in the Lord.
8 His resolve#tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition. is firm; he will not succumb to fear
before he looks in triumph on his enemies.
9 He generously gives#tn Heb “he scatters, he gives.” to the needy;
his integrity endures.#tn Heb “stands forever.”
He will be vindicated and honored.#tn Heb “his horn will be lifted up in honor.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17).
10 When the wicked#tn The Hebrew text uses the singular; the representative wicked individual is in view as typifying the group (note the use of the plural form in v. 10). see this, they will worry;
they will grind their teeth in frustration#tn Heb “his teeth he will gnash.” In Pss 35:16 and 37:12 this action is associated with a vicious attack. and melt away;
the desire of the wicked will perish.#tn This could mean that the desires of the wicked will go unfulfilled. Another possibility is that “desire” refers by metonymy to the object desired and acquired. In this case the point is that the wicked will lose what they desired so badly and acquired by evil means (see Ps 10:3).
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