Psalms 68:6

God setteth the solitary in families,.... Which the Jewish writers generally understand of an increase of families, with children in lawful marriage; see Psalms 113:9; an instance of which we have in

God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land. God setteth the solitary - i:e., those destitute of human help (Psalms 25:16).

Setteth the solitary in families; such as were single and solitary he blesseth with a wife and children, as he did Abraham. Houses are oft put for posterity, as . Bringeth out those which are bound with chains; he setteth captives and prisoners at liberty, as he did the Israelites, &c. The rebellious; those who rebel against God, as the Egyptians did. Dwell in a dry land; are deprived of all true comfort, and plagued with manifold calamities.

Psalms 68:6 God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry [land].Ver. 6. God setteth the solitary in families] i.e. He blesseth them with issue. See Psalms 113:9, and so he doth the Church, Isaiah 54:1, in these days of the gospel especially. He bringeth out those which are bound in chains] As he did Peter, Acts 12:7, Paul and Silas, Acts 16:25-26 Some read it thus, He bringeth out those which are bound, in commoditates, into places where they may live commodiously and cheerfully. As on the other side, The rebellious dwell in a dry land] In locis torridis, aridis, exsuccis et siticulosis, in dry and desert countries, where they are destitute of God’ s blessing and his soul refreshing comforts. The Hebrew word signifieth a bleak or white soil, such as is all Egypt where the Nile arriveth not, viz. a whitish sand, bearing no grass, but two little weeds, of which they make glass. Where the river watereth is a black mould, so fruitful, say travellers, as they do but throw in the seed, and have four rich harvests in less than four months. Hence Egypt is called the world’ s granary.

(6) Solitary . . .—This might refer to the childless (comp. Psalms 113:9), but it is better, in connection with the next clause, to think of the exiles scattered and dispersed, and who are by the Divine arm brought home. With chains.—The Hebrew word is peculiar to this passage, and is derived by the Rabbis from a root meaning to bind. Modern scholars give “to prosper” as the meaning of the root, and render, he bringeth the captives into prosperity.But.—Literally, only.Rebellious.—As in Psalms 66:7; stubborn, refractory.In a dry land.—Or, desert.It is natural, remembering the connection between the imagery of Psa 68:4 and parts of the great prophet of the Return, to refer its expressions to those who were left behind in Babylon when the restoration took place. (7–10) We come now to the first of three unmistakable historic retrospects—the rescue from Egypt, the conquest of Canaan, and the establishment of Jerusalem as the political and religious capital. In these patriotic recollections the poet is naturally inspired by the strains of former odes of victory and freedom. The music especially of Deborah’s mighty song (Judges 5), which, directly or indirectly, coloured so much of later Hebrew poetry (see Deuteronomy 33:2; Habakkuk 3) is in his ears throughout. Wentest forth . . . didst march.—The parallel clauses as well as the words employed have, in the sound and sequence, a martial tread. The latter word, “didst march,” is peculiar to Judges 5, Habakkuk 3, and this psalm. Even Sinai itself.—Better, this Sinai. (See Note, Judges 5:5, where the clause completing the parallelism, here omitted, is retained, and shows us that the predicate to be supplied here is melted.) “The mountain melted from before Jehovah, This Sinai from before Jehovah, God of Israel.” The demonstrative “this Sinai” appears more natural if we suppose the verse, even in Deborah’s song, to be an echo or fragment of some older pieces contemporary with the Exodus itself. Such fragments of ancient poetry actually survive in some of the historical books—e.g., Numbers 21:17-18; Exodus 15:1-19.

Verse 6. The solitary in families] יחדים yechidim, the single persons. Is not the meaning, God is the Author of marriage; and children, the legal fruit of it, are an inheritance from him?

6. God maketh the solitary to dwell in a house; He bringeth out prisoners into prosperity; But the stubborn dwell In a parched land. The verse describes general principles of God’s dealings with men, yet with special allusion to the establishment of Israel in Canaan, to their liberation from the bondage of Egypt, and to the fate of the rebels in the wilderness: and again, if the Ps. is rightly placed in the Exile, to the second Exodus from Babylon, and the reestablishment of the Israelites in their ancient home, while the faithless and rebellious part of the people will be left in the dreary and inhospitable heathen land, unwatered by the streams of divine grace (Psalms 63:1). Rebellious or stubborn has been understood by some to refer to the heathen, but the usage of the word (which is applied to the ‘stubborn and rebellious son’ in Deuteronomy 21:18; Deuteronomy 21:20) suggests rather that refractory Israelites are meant, as in Psalms 78:8. Stubborn rebellion against Jehovah’s will was characteristic of the whole course of Israel’s history; and it is hinted not obscurely that as of old the rebels perished in the wilderness instead of entering Canaan, so now the murmurers in Babylon, of whom it is plain from Isaiah 40-66 (e.g. Psalms 65:2) that there were many, will be left there to their fate. The solitary or desolate (Psalms 25:16) are the homeless and friendless. Cp. Isaiah 58:7; and (though the word is different) Lamentations 1:1.

God setteth the solitary in families - Margin, as in Hebrew, in a house.

6. Setteth the solitary in families—This is not necessarily restricted to conjugal life, but is a direct expression of sympathy for those who, by providential causes, are bereft of kindred and thrown out as waifs upon society.