Psalms 53

This Psalm is another recension of Psalms 14. Elôhîm (God), is substituted for Jehovah (A.V. Lord) in accordance with the usage of this book; and in Psalms 53:1-4; Psalms 53:6 there are a few variations which hardly affect the sense; but Psalms 53:5 differs widely from the corresponding Psalms 53:5-6 of Psalms 14. It is a disputed question whether this difference is due to corruption of the text or to intentional change. On the one hand the curious similarity of the Hebrew letters is in favour of the view that the text here is a conjectural restoration of characters which had become partially obliterated: but on the other hand it is possible that some later editor intentionally altered the original text in order to adapt the Psalm to his purpose by introducing a fresh historical reference, probably, as we shall see, to the destruction of Sennacherib’s army. At first sight Psalms 53:6 seems to bring the date of the Psalm down to the Exile. It might be a liturgical addition made in the time of the Exile, but even if this is not the case (and the occurrence of the verse in both recensions points to its being an original part of the Psalm) its language, as will be shewn in the notes, is not decisive. The Psalmist traces the deep and universal corruption of mankind to its source in their failure to seek after God (Psalms 53:1-3). He illustrates this corruption by the cruel treatment to which ‘the people of Jehovah’ have been subjected; and points to some signal interposition by which Jehovah has proved His care for them and refuted the denial of His Providence (Psalms 53:4-5). The Psalm concludes with a prayer that He will gladden Israel with a full deliverance (Psalms 53:6). It is commonly supposed that the Psalmist is describing the depravity of his own age and his own country. But at least in Psalms 53:1-3 it is of mankind at large (the sons of men, Psalms 53:2) that he is speaking. His words recall the great examples of corruption in the primeval world, in the days before the Flood, at Babel, in Sodom; and in this recension at any rate, it is clear that ‘my people’ in Psalms 53:4 must mean the nation of Israel, and not the poor but godly folk within the nation, while the ‘workers of iniquity’ must mean foreign invaders, not tyrannical Israelite magnates, for Psalms 53:5 can refer to nothing less than some great national deliverance from a foreign enemy. In the notes on Psalms 14 the view is taken that Psalms 53:4-5 were originally meant to refer to the oppression of Israel in Egypt and the deliverance at the Red Sea, as a great typical instance of defiant antagonism to Jehovah and of His intervention on behalf of His people; and they seem to have been remodelled here to introduce a reference to the invasion of Judah by the Assyrians and the miraculous destruction of Sennacherib’s host. The title runs: For the chief Musician: set to Mahalath. Maschil of David. Mahalath (cp. the title of Psalms 88) may mean sickness, and is best explained as the initial word of some well-known song, to the melody of which the Psalm was set; rather than as denoting a mournful style of music or some kind of instrument. The LXX could only transliterate the word as unintelligible.

Psalms 53:1-3

1–3. The universal depravity of mankind, and its cause.

Psalms 53:2

2. For a while God as it were overlooked the growing corruption. At length He ‘looked down’ (Psalms 33:13-14). So in the yet simpler language of the Pentateuch He is said to have ‘come down to see’ the wickedness of Babel and Sodom (Genesis 11:5; Genesis 18:21; and note the use of ‘look down’ in the latter narrative though in a different connexion, Psalms 18:16). Were not these typical examples of human corruption in the Psalmist’s mind? God (in Psalms 14:2 Jehovah) looked down … to see if there were any that did understand (or deal wisely, R.V. marg., for the verb often includes the idea of right action), that did seek after God.

Cp. Psalms 9:10. The use of God, not Jehovah, in Psalms 14 as well as here, is significant. It is of mankind in general, not of Israel, that the Psalmist is speaking. God made Himself known through the voice of conscience and in the works of creation, but men would not follow the light of conscience or read the book of nature. See Acts 14:17; Acts 17:27; and especially Romans 1:19 ff.

Psalms 53:3

3. The result of His investigation. Every one of them had gone back (Psalms 44:18) from following God (in Psalms 14:3 turned aside from the path of right): together had they become tainted, a word which in Arabic means to go bad or turn sour, but in Heb. is used only in a moral sense, here and in Job 15:16. On the interpolation in the P.B.V. of Psalms 14 after Psalms 53:3 see note there.

Psalms 53:4-5

4, 5. The corruption of mankind exemplified in their treatment of God’s people; and His Providence demonstrated in the deliverance of them.

Psalms 53:5

5. There points to some signal instance in which panic terror and overwhelming calamity overtook the ‘workers of iniquity’ who came to devour the people of God. They were seized with a supernaturally inspired terror, where there was no natural cause for panic. Cp. 1 Samuel 14:15; 2 Kings 7:6; 2 Kings 19:7; 2 Kings 19:35. for God hath scattered &c.] The bones of Israel’s enemies lie bleaching on the plain, where their bodies were left unburied (Ezekiel 6:5). This cannot be an anticipation of some further defeat. It must rather be an allusion to some historic event; and it at once suggests the annihilation of Sennacherib’s great army. Probably the text was intentionally altered in this recension in order to introduce a reference to the most famous example in later times of the discomfiture of worldly arrogance venturing to measure its strength with Jehovah. against thee] The people of God are addressed. thou hast put them to shame] Cp. 2 Kings 19:20 ff. hath despised them] R.V. rejected them, as the word is often rendered elsewhere. But despised better expresses the contempt for the enemies of His people which is meant. Cp. Judges 9:38; Isaiah 33:8. In their folly they said in their heart, ‘There is no God’ (cp. 2 Kings 18:35); and this catastrophe which they are powerless to avert is His answer to their blasphemy. Cp. Psalms 2:4-5. For the widely different reading of Psa 14:5-6 see notes there.

Psalms 53:6

6. Concluding prayer for the full restoration of Israel. Some commentators have regarded this as a liturgical addition, but its presence in both recensions is in favour of its originality. It forms an appropriate conclusion to the Ps., and the recollection of past deliverance in Psalms 53:5 naturally passes into a prayer for further restoration. the salvation of Israel] Lit. salvations, victory and deliverance full and complete. (Psalms 14:7 has the singular.) Zion is Jehovah’s dwelling-place, the centre from which He exercises His earthly sovereignty. when God bringeth back &c.] Or, as R.V. marg., returneth to the captivity &c. For God Psalms 14:7 has Jehovah. At first sight these words seem to fix the date of the Psalm in the period of the Exile (Psalms 126:1). Nor does the phrase out of Zion exclude such a view. The exiles turned to Zion even in her desolation (Daniel 6:10; 1 Kings 8:44), and from thence Jehovah might be expected to restore His people. But (1) it is very probable that the phrase rendered bring back the captivity means rather turn the fortunes[26].

This meaning suits all the passages in which the phrase occurs, while turn the captivity does not, except in the figurative sense of restoring prosperity. See e.g. Job 42:10; Ezekiel 16:53; Zephaniah 2:7. And (2) even if turn the captivity is the original meaning, the phrase is used by Amos (Amos 9:14) and Hosea (Hosea 6:11) long before the Babylonian Captivity. In the time of Hezekiah the words might refer to the recent fall of the Northern Kingdom. [26] Lit. turn a turning, the word sh’bϋth being derived from shϋb ‘to turn’ or ‘return,’ not from shβbβh, ‘to take captive.’ The regular word for the Babylonian captivity is gτlβh, ‘exile.’then shall Jacob rejoice] Properly a wish or prayer (cp. Psalms 13:5-6): let Jacob rejoice, and Israel be glad.