Psalms 141:5

Let the righteous smite me, [it shall be] a kindness,.... Or, "smite me in kindness" (a). In love; in a loving and friendly manner, which makes reproofs the more agreeable and effectual.

Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.

Smite me, to wit, with his tongue by reproofs, as the next clause explains it, which are called wounds, . As I pray unto thee that thou wouldst keep me from sinful practices, so I beg it of all just men, that if I do transgress, or if by the arts and slanders of mine enemies any of them are made to believe that I am guilty of evil designs against Saul, or of any other wickedness, that they would freely admonish and reprove me for it. And their reproofs shall please me better than the dainties of the wicked last mentioned, . It shall be a kindness; I shall be so far from being offended with it as an act of entity or ill will, as they may suspect, that I shall esteem it an act and sign of true friendship. It shall be an excellent oil; or, it shall be as the oil of the head, as it is in the Hebrew, i.e. which is poured upon the head, as the manner was in great feasts and solemnities. Not break my head; not Inert or disturb it, but, on the contrary, shall heal and greatly refresh and delight it; which is here understood by a known figure called meiosis, whereby more is intended than is expressed, as , and oft elsewhere. In their calamities; either, 1. In the calamities of those righteous persons who reproved and censured him. So this is an evidence of what he last said, that he should take their reproofs for a kindness, because when they came into such calamities as those wherein he was involved, as all righteous men must expect sufferings at one time or other, he would not insult over them, nor censure them, but pity them, and pray for them. Or, 2. In the calamities of his enemies, of which he speaks in the next words. And so this may be added as a reason why he did so freely offer himself to the righteous to be reproved by them, if he or his cause were so bad as his enemies made them, because he was well assured that he was sincere and his cause good, and that God would bring him out of all his calamities, and bring his enemies into such calamities that they should need and desire his prayers, which also he would willingly grant to them; and then all good men would be fully satisfied of the justice of his person and cause.

Psalms 141:5 Let the righteous smite me; [it shall be] a kindness: and let him reprove me; [it shall be] an excellent oil, [which] shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also [shall be] in their calamities.Ver. 5. Let the righteous smite me, &c.] In case I do offend in word or deed, let me never want a faithful reprover, who may smite me as with a hammer (so the word signifieth), reprove me sharply, Proverbs 23:35 Zechariah 13:5 Titus 1:13, cuttingly, as the apostle’ s word importeth, yet mildly and lovingly, Galatians 6:1 Proverbs 9:8; Proverbs 19:25; Proverbs 25:12, with soft words, but hard arguments, αποτομως. It shall be a kindness] David thought the better of Nathan for so roundly reproving him, 2 Samuel 12:7-12, and made him of his counsel, 1 Kings 1:32 Peter thought the better of Paul for dealing so plainly with him at Antioch, Galatians 2:11-16, and maketh honourable mention of him, and his writings, 2 Peter 3:15-16 It is said of Gerson, that great chancellor of Paris, that nulla re alia tantopere laetaretur, quam si ab aliquo fraterne et charitative redargueretur, he rejoiced in nothing so much as in a friendly reprehension; great pity it was that none bestowed a chiding on him for being so active against John Huss and Jerome of Prague, at the council of Constance (Mr Clark’ s Martyrology). Of Queen Anne Bullen it is reported, that she was not only willing to be admonished, but required her chaplains freely and plainly to tell her of whatsoever was amiss. Her daughter, Queen Elizabeth, was well pleased with Mr Deering’ s plain dealing, who told her in a sermon that once she was tanqnam ovis, but now tanquam indomita iuvenca, as an untamed heifer; and speaking of the disorder of the times, These things are so, said he, and you sit still and do nothing, &c. It shall be an excellent oil] Heb. a head oil, such as they poured on their friends’ heads; and that was of the best. Which shall not break my head] My heart it may. Or, let him not make it fail my head, let him not cease to do me this good office daily; I shall count it a courtesy, and requite it with my best prayers for him, in his greatest necessity. For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamity] I will not curse them for their good counsel, rail at them for reproving me, or insult over them in misery as justly met withal; but pray for them, and prize them as my best friends.

(5) The difficulties of the psalm thicken here. Render, Let a righteous man smite me, it is a kindness; and let him reprove me, it is oil for the head: my head shall not refuse it though it continue; yet my prayer is against their wickedness.The word rendered “smite” is that used of Jael’s “hammer strokes “(Judges 5:26). (Comp. Isaiah 41:7.) The Hebrew for “reprove” is probably used in a judicial sense, as in Genesis 31:37; Isaiah 2:4; Proverbs 24:25, &c. The greatest obscurity attaches to the word rendered above “refuse,” but in the Authorised Version “break,” probably because in Psalms 33:10 (“ bring to none effect”) it is in parallelism with “break.” The LXX. and Vulg. take it as meaning “anoint,” rendering (from a different text to ours) “let not oil of a wicked man anoint my head.” If we might adopt this reading it would remove the difficulty of this part of the verse, and give an excellent parallelism: “A righteous man may smite me in mercy and reprove me, but let not a wicked man’s oil anoint my head;” i.e., I would welcome reproof from the righteous, but reject even the festive oil offered by the wicked. For the rendering “wickednesses,” instead of “calamities,” comp. Job 20:12; Psalms 94:23. For the sense of “although” given to the conjunction, see Exodus 13:17. The suffix “their” refers back, of course, to the ungodly in Psalms 141:4. The “oil for the head” (comp. Psalms 45:7) is a natural emblem of festivity, and the whole sentiment of the passage is tolerably clear. Rather than join in the wicked mirth of a profane banquet, the poet would be the object of continued rebuke and chastisement from one of the godly—his prayer meanwhile still rising for protection against the allurements held out to tempt him. We probably have sketched here the actual condition of many a Levite between the apostate and the loyal part of the nation.

Verse 5. Let the righteous smite me] This verse is extremely difficult in the original. The following translation, in which the Syriac, Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic, and Arabic nearly agree, appears to me to be the best: "Let the righteous chastise me in mercy, and instruct me: but let not the oil of the wicked anoint my head. It shall not adorn (יני yani, from נוה navah) my head; for still my prayer shall be against their wicked works." The oil of the wicked may here mean his smooth flattering speeches; and the psalmist intimates that he would rather suffer the cutting reproof of the righteous than the oily talk of the flatterer. If this were the case, how few are there now-a-days of his mind! On referring to Bishop Horsley, I find his translation is something similar to my own: - Let the just one smite me, let the pious remove me. Let not the ointment of the impious anoint my head. But still I will intrude in their calamities.

5. Let the righteous smite me, it shall be kindness: And let him reprove me, it shall be as oil for the head; Let not my head refuse it: But still let my prayer be against their evil doings. From the prayer of Psa 141:4 it is clear that the Psalmist had felt the seductiveness of worldly luxury, and apparently (cp. Psalms 141:9) godless men had been endeavouring to entice him to cast in his lot with them. On the other hand it would seem that he had been tempted to resent the correction and reproof of the godly, possibly not always offered in the most conciliatory way. He therefore prays that he may welcome correction as kindness, and reproof as the “ointment and perfume” which “rejoice the heart” (Proverbs 27:9), alluding no doubt to the oil with which his head would have been anointed at the banquets of the wicked (Amos 6:6). Smite is of course a metaphor for severe correction. Cp. Proverbs 27:6, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” The Book of Proverbs insists constantly on the value of reproof, which the wise man welcomes and the fool resents (Proverbs 3:11 f.; Proverbs 13:18; Proverbs 15:5; Proverbs 15:31-32; Proverbs 28:23), and the duty of neighbourly reproof is enjoined in the Law (Leviticus 19:17). Cp. Ecclesiastes 7:5. The last line is obscure, and the text is possibly corrupt, but the general sense may be, ‘Let me not resent reproof, and associate with the wicked, but let me continue to pray against (or, in the midst of) their evil deeds.’ Neglecting the Heb. accents we might render, Let not my head refuse it, but again! (i.e. let him repeat his reproofs), and let my prayer be against their evil deeds.

Let the righteous smite me - This verse is exceedingly difficult and obscure (compare the margin); and there have been almost as many different opinions in regard to its meaning as there have been commentators on the psalm.

5. Let the righteous smite me—This is preferred to the “dainties” of the wicked, Psalms 141:4. Smiting, here, literally means beating as with a hammer, as Judges 5:26, Psalms 74:6; sharp reproof, as it is called in the next line.