Psalms 106:29

Psa 106:29 Thus they provoked [him] to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them.

Ver. 29. Thus they provoked him] God cannot brook men’s devices in matters of religion; he will have no other worship than what himself hath appointed.

And the plague brake in upon them] As a deluge, or as an army, very impetuously, to the destroying of twenty-four thousand persons.

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.

29. (Psa 106:29) And they provoked him by their crimes, and the plague broke out among them. The first verb means to excite both grief and indignation. Compare the use of the cognate noun in Psa 6:7, and of the verb itself in Psa 78:58. The word translated plague, like its English equivalent, has both a generic and specific meaning; that of a divine stroke or infliction in general, and that of a pestilential disease in particular. See Num 25:17-18.

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

Signifying that whatsoever man inventeth of himself to serve God by, is detestable, and provoketh his anger.

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

29. And they provoked God to anger. The prophet once more informs us, that they had been put upon their guard by another plague, in order that it might appear that God had always a strict regard for his own glory, in chastising the people; but as they were not bettered by these plagues, these chastisements were fruitless. Having formerly stated, that God’s wrath had been appeased by the prayers of Moses, he now says, that the plague had been arrested or ceased by means of the kind interposition of Phinehas. Some render the word פלל, pillel, to pray; but the other rendering, to execute justice, is more in accordance with the context; namely, that by his zeal in executing justice upon the profligates, he turned away God’s vengeance from the Israelites. He stood up therefore, that is, he rose up or interposed, when all others maintained a careless indifference. As the Jews were sensible that it was by the kind intervention of one man that the plague was now healed, their obstinacy was the less excusable in not even then ceasing to sin. We must not forget that all these things are addressed to us. For when God from time to time chastises us, and calls upon us to repent by setting before us the example of others, how few profit by his corrections! Moreover, it deserves to be noticed, that the plague ceased at the very time when Phinehas executed justice. From this we may learn, that the most effectual way to quench the fire of God’s anger, is when the sinner willingly sits in judgment upon himself for the punishment of his own transgressions; as Paul says, 1 Corinthians 11:31,

“If we would judge ourselves, verily we would not be judged of the Lord.”

And surely God confers no small honor upon us, in placing the punishment of our sins within our reach. At the same time, it must be observed, that on that occasion the plague ceased in consequence of the punishment of a single person, because the people then shrunk from the abominable wickedness to which they had been addicted.

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.

29. And they provoked (him) to anger with their doings] Again a Deuteronomic expression. Cp. Deu_4:25; Deu_9:18; Deu_31:29; Deu_32:16; Deu_32:21. ‘Inventions’ of A.V. reproduces the Vulg. adinventionibus suis.

a plague] Lit. smiting; either the slaughter of the guilty Israelites which had been enjoined (Num_25:4-5), or, as the word commonly means (Num_16:48, &c.), a divinely inflicted pestilence.

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.

Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions,.... Sin is an invention of man's: when our first parents sinned, they found out many inventions; and their posterity ever since have been inventors of evil things; and man's invention is very quick at that work. All false doctrine and false worship are of men's finding out; all idolatrous practices are their inventions, and which are here intended; see Psa 106:39. And these are very provoking to God, who is jealous of his glory, and which is taken from him hereby; and even when he forgives such sins of men, he takes vengeance on their inventions, as in this case, Psa 99:8. For it follows:

and the plague brake in upon them: like an inundation of water, and carried off four and twenty thousand persons, Num 25:9.

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

Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions - The word rendered “inventions” means properly “works; deeds;” then it is used in the sense of “evil” deeds, crimes.

And the plague brake in upon them - See Num 25:8-9. No less than twenty-four thousand fell in the plague. Num 25:9.

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

Ver. 29. Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them. Open licentiousness and avowed idolatry were too gross to be winked at. This time the offences clamoured for judgment, and the judgment came at once. Twenty-four thousand persons fell before a sudden and deadly disease which threatened to run through the whole camp. Their new sins brought on them a disease new to their tribes. When men invent sins God will not be slow to invent punishments. Their vices were a moral pest, and they were visited with a bodily pest: so the Lord meets like with its like.

Ver. 29. They provoked him to anger with their inventions. Note, that it is not said, with their deeds, but with their pursuits (studies). It is one thing simply to do a thing; it is quite another to pursue it earnestly night and day. The first may take place by chance, or through ignorance, or on account of some temptation, or violence, and that without the consent and against the inclination of the mind. But the latter is brought about in pursuance of a fixed purpose and design and by effort and forethought. We see, therefore, in this passage that the patience of God was at length provoked to anger and fury when the people sinned not merely once and again, but when the pursuit of sin grew and strengthened. Musculus.

Ver. 29. Their inventions. Their sins are here called by the name of "their inventions." And so, sure, they are; as no ways taught us by God, but of our own imagining or finding out. For, indeed, our inventions are the cause of all sins. And if we look well into it we shall find our inventions are so. By God's injunction we should all live, and his injunction is, "You shall not do every man what seems good in his own eyes" (or finds out in his own brains), but "whatsoever I command you, that shall you do." De 12:8. But we, setting light by that charge of his, out of the old disease of our father Adam ("ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil"), think it a goodly matter to be witty, and to find out things ourselves to make to ourselves, to be authors, and inventors of somewhat, that so we may seem to be as wise as God, if not wiser; and to know what is for our turns, as well as he, if not better. It was Saul's fault. God bade him destroy Amalek altogether, and he would invent a better way, to save some (forsooth) for sacrifice, which God could not think of. And it was St. Peter's fault, when he persuaded Christ from his passion, and found out a better way (as he thought) than Christ could devise. Lancelot Andrewes.

Ver. 29. Brake in upon them. The image is that of a river which has burst its barriers; see Ex 19:24. The plague is the slaughter inflicted upon the people by command of Moses; Nu 25:4-5, 8-9, 18. "The Speaker's Commentary."

Psalms 106:30*

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

Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions; or, with their doings. And the plague; rather, a Plague. brake in upon them. The judicial slaughter inflicted by command of Moses (Num_25:4-8) is called here, as it is also in Num_25:8, Num_25:9, Num_25:18, "a plague."

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