Psalms 62:3

How long will ye imagine mischief against a man?.... Against a good man, as the Targum; or against any Israelite, as Kimchi; or rather he means himself, a single man, a weak man, and an innocent one;

How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. How long will ye imagine mischief against a man?

Ye, mine enemies, to whom now he turneth his speech. Against a man, i.e. against me, a man like yourselves, whom common humanity obligeth you to pity; a single man, who is no fit match for you; a poor, contemptible, miserable, and impotent creature, as the word man is oft used, as 82:7, &c., a dead dog, or a flea, or a partridge, as upon the same account he calleth himself, 26:20, whom you cannot thus pursue without reflecting disparagement upon yourselves, as he there saith. Ye shall be slain all of you; the mischief which you design for me shall fall upon your own heads. And accordingly Saul and the generality of these men were slain, 1 Samuel 31. As a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence, i.e. as suddenly and easily overthrown as these are.

Psalms 62:3 How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall [shall ye be, and as] a tottering fence.Ver. 3. How long will ye imagine mischief against a man?] What though I am but a man, and in your eyes a mean despicable creature; yet know ye, that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself, Psalms 4:3, where David bespeaketh his enemies with like sharpness as here for their malice and madness against him. The Hebrew word rendered imagine is found only here: the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin render it, How long will ye rush against a man? επιτιθεσθε, Irruitis. Austin, Quosque apponitis super hominem? sc. onera et opprobria, How long lay you load of injuries and indignities upon me? Ye shall be slain all of you] Or, will ye be murdered? Will ye run upon the pikes? Are you ambitious of your own ruin? As a bowing wall shall ye be] Borne down by the weight of your own wickedness. As a bulging wall standeth not long, and as a rotten hedge, if but trod on, breaketh under a man; so shall ye be suddenly destroyed, and with little ado. Thus he threatened his enemies, the proudest of them, being himself gotten upon the rock that was higher than he, Psalms 61:2.

(3) Imagine mischief.—This is the Rabbinical rendering of a word that occurs only here. The LXX. have “fall upon”; Vulg., “rush upon,” a meaning supported by an Arabic root meaning to storm or assault, and is so far preferable to Aquila’s and Jerome’s “plot against,” and Symmachus’ “labour in vain,” or Syriac, “act foolishly.” Ye shall be slain.—The reading varies, the Tiberian school reading the verb passive, the Babylonian, active. The latter is supported by the ancient versions. The primary meaning is given to break, and we get: How long will ye assault a man? (How long) will ye try to break him down, As if he were a bowing wall, a tottering fence. The metaphor of the falling wall is common in Eastern proverbs. “The wall is bowing,” is said of a man at the point of death. “By the oppression of the headman, the people of that village are a ruined wall.”

Verse 3. How long will ye imagine mischief] The original word, תהותתו tehothethu, has been translated variously; rush upon, rage against, stir yourselves up, thrust against: the root is התת hathath or התה hathah, to rush violently upon, to assault. It points out the disorderly riotous manner in which this rebellion was conducted. As a bowing wall - a tottering fence.] Ye are just ready to fall upon others, and destroy them; and in that fall yourselves shall be destroyed: "Ye shall be slain the whole of you."

3. How long] For the indignant remonstrance cp. Psalms 4:2, noting also the connexion of that verse with Psalms 62:4; Psalms 62:7; Psalms 62:9 of this Psalm. God is on his side; they cannot harm him; how long will they persist in the futile attempt? will ye imagine mischief against a man?] This rendering, adopted from Jewish authorities by the scholars upon whom Coverdale largely relied, and passing on from him to the later versions, rests upon an impossible derivation. Render with R.V., following LXX and Vulg., will ye set upon a man. The corresponding Arabic word is said to be still used in Damascus in the sense of ‘to intimidate,’ ‘to threaten with violence.’ ye shall be slain] This is the reading of R. Aaron ben Asher, a famous Jewish scholar of the 10th century, whose authority was generally followed in the West. But the reading of his rival, R. Moses ben Naphtali, which makes the verb active (the difference is one of vowel points only) suits the context better. Render with R.V., that ye may slay him, or better still, returning to the primary meaning of the verb in connexion with the metaphor of the next line, Battering him, all of you, Like a toppling wall, like a tottering fence. The blows of calamity have already taken effect, and they are eager to complete his ruin. Wycliffe gives a graphic rendering of the Vulg.; ‘a wal bowid, and a wal of stoon with out morter cast down.’ “The metaphor of the falling wall is common in Eastern proverbs. ‘The wall is bowing,’ is said of a man at the point of death. ‘By the oppression of the headman the people of that village are a ruined wall.’ ” (Aglen.) all of you] In contrast to ‘a man’; fur though the Psalmist was not alone (Psalms 62:8) he was the principal object of attack. Cp. 2 Samuel 17:1 ff.

How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? - The original word here rendered “imagine mischief,” from התת hâthath, occurs only in this place.

3. How long will ye imagine mischief—He addresses the leaders of the rebellion. The Hebrew word translated “imagine mischief” occurs nowhere else, and its derivation has been variously understood.