Psalms 106:26

Psa 106:26 Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness:

Ver. 26. Therefore he lifted up his hand] i.e. He solemnly swore, as Num 14:30, or he was fetching his full blow at them.

To overthrow them in the wilderness] Which also befell them according to their own wicked wish. Let men false heed of wishing evil to themselves, lest God say Amen to it.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26. (Psa 106:26) And he lifted his hand to them, to make them fall in the wilderness. The first phrase does not mean, he raised his hand; against them, or to strike them, but as the ancient gesture of swearing. See Num 14:28; Num 14:30, Deu 1:34; Deu 2:14. The last clause contains the oath itself, or what he swore, to wit, that he would make them fall, slay them, in the wilderness. See Num 14:29; Num 14:32.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

106:26-27 God’s judgment when Israel refused to obey was death and exile (Num 14:26-30). The occasion for these severe judgments seems to have been disobeying God’s word (Ps 106:24-25) and provoking the Lord’s wrath (106:28-46).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That is, he sware. Sometimes also it meaneth, to punish.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

26. And he lifted up. He describes another example of the vengeance of God, the recollection of which ought to have been deeply seated in their hearts, so that cherishing a constant fear of him, they might watch over themselves with the utmost solicitude. No good having ensued from all this, it is obvious that the madness of that people was incurable. At that time God did restrain his anger, in that he did not disperse their offspring throughout various parts of the earth; but his threatening of itself ought to have sufficed for the subduing of their pride, had they not been incorrigible. To lift up the hand is in this passage susceptible of two meanings. In Scripture God is frequently said to lift up his hand to inflict punishment. But as it is generally admitted that the prophet is here speaking of swearing, with this opinion I most readily coincide. The practice of lifting up the hand, as if they would have called God down from heaven, was a solemn usual rite among them, accompanying an oath; and is therefore improperly applied to God, whose sublimity rises above all things, and who, as the apostle says, cannot swear by a greater than himself, (Hebrews 6:13) In employing it, therefore, it must be understood that he borrows it from the common customs which prevail among men. Had not the Holy Land been preserved to the people by the prayers of Moses, awful indeed would their dispersion have been.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(26) Lifted up his hand.—Not to strike, but to give emphasis to the oath pronounced against the sinners. (See Exo_6:8, margin; Deu_32:40; comp. Psa_144:8.) The substance of the oath here referred to is given in Num_14:28-35.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26. So he lifted up his hand unto them

That he would make them fall in the wilderness.

i.e. He swore solemnly. See Num_14:28-29; Num_14:32, “As I live … your carcases shall fall in the wilderness.” ‘Lifting up the hand’ to heaven is man’s gesture as he appeals to God in an oath. The phrase is transferred ‘anthropopathically’ to God. Cp. Exo_6:8; Deu_32:40; Eze_20:23.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore he lifted up his hand against them,.... A gesture used in swearing, Gen 14:22. So the Targum understands it here,

"and he lifted up his hand with an oath, because of them:''

and so it is interpreted by Aben Ezra, Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech; and agrees with Num 14:28. The same gesture was used by the Heathens in swearing, as by Latinus (s). Or he lifted up his hand, in a way of judgment, to strike the blow; and which, when it lights on man with the indignation of his anger, falls heavy; see Isa 26:11. To overthrow them in the wilderness; as he did all the murmuring generation that came out of Egypt, all but Caleb and Joshua; all from twenty years and upwards, their carcasses fell in the wilderness; there they were wasted, consumed, and died, Num 14:32.

(s) "----Tenditque ad sidera dextram--Terram, mare, sidera juro", Virg. Aeneid. 12.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Therefore he lifted up his hand against them - Num 14:27-33. He resolved to cut them off, so that none of them should reach the promised land.

To overthrow them in the wilderness - literally, to cause them to “fall.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He lifted up his hand; he sware, as this phrase is commonly used, as Gen 14:22; Deu 32:40; Neh 9:15; Rev 10:5,6; of this dreadful and irrevocable sentence and oath of God, see Num 14.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 26. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness. He swore in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest; he commenced his work of judgment upon them, and they began to die. Only let God lift his hand against a man and his day has come; he falls terribly whom Jehovah overthrows.

To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. Foreseeing that their descendants would reproduce their sins, he solemnly declared that he would give them over to captivity and the sword. Those whose carcases fell in the wilderness were, in a sense, exiles from the land of promise, and, being surrounded by many hostile tribes, they were virtually in a foreign land: to die far off from their father's inheritance was a just and weighty doom, which their rebellions had richly deserved. Our own loss of fellowship with God, and the divisions in our churches, doubtless often come to us as punishments for the sins out of which they grow. If we will not honour the Lord we cannot expect him to honour us. Our captains shall soon become captives, and our princes shall be prisoners if we forget the Lord and despise his mercies. Our singing shall be turned into sighing, and our mirth into misery if we walk contrary to the mind of the Lord.

Psalms 106:27*

see Exposition of Verse 26

see Notes of Verse 26

see Hints of Verse 26

Psalms 106:28*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

26. He lifted up his hand—In form of making oath, as in Deu_32:40; Gen_14:22. In the passage alluded to, (Num_14:30,) for “I sware,” the Hebrew is, I lifted up my hand.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore he lifted up his hand against them. (comp. Num_14:30, marginal rendering) The phrase is used with reference to the uplifting of the hand width accompanied an oath. To overthrow them in the wilderness. (see Num_14:29, Num_14:32, Num_14:37) The death in the wilderness of the entire generation which had set out from Egypt, save only Joshua and Caleb, is the "overthrow" intended.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lifted up - He swear. Of this dreadful and irrevocable oath of God, see Num. xiv, 11, 12.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

raised his hand

The word "his" refers to Yahweh. Also, it was custom to raise a hand when swearing an oath.

scatter their descendants ... in foreign lands

These two phrases have basically the same meaning and are used together for emphasis. AT: "and that he would make their descendants live in foreign lands" (See: Parallelism)

scatter

This means to disperse or spread out something.

translationWords

oath

die

descend

nation

alien

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

He raised His hand with an oath.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.