Psalms 48:5

Psa 48:5 They saw [it, and] so they marvelled; they were troubled, [and] hasted away.

Ver. 5. They saw it, and so they marvelled] None of them could say, as Caesar, Veni, vidi, vici, I came, I saw, I conquored, but the contrary; they no sooner saw this heaven guarded city, but their hearts misgave them; and they were ready to say, as that duke of Saxony did, who intending to make war upon the bishop of Magdeburg, and understanding that he made no great preparation for defence of himself and his territories, but sought help from heaven by fasting and prayer, Insaniat alius, said he, God bless me from such a madness as to meddle with a man who confideth in God, and committeth himself wholly to his protection.

They were troubled and hasted away] Heb. They fled with a hasty or headlong flight, being smitten with a sudden terror, such as was that of the Egyptians, when their chariot-wheels were taken off; of the Philistines, when for haste they left their gods behind them, 2Sa 5:20-21; of the Syrians, 2Ki 7:6-7, when they left all and ran for their lives; of the Assyrians, when the angel had slain a hundred eighty-five thousand in their camp, &c.

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.

Ver. 5. They saw it, and so they marvelled. They came, they saw, but they did not conquer. There was no veni, vidi, vici for them. No sooner did they perceive that the Lord was in the Holy City, than they took to their heels. Before the Lord came to blows with them, they were faint hearted, and beat a retreat. They were troubled and hasted away. The troublers were troubled. Their haste in coming was nothing to their hurry in going. Panic seized them, horses were not fleet enough; they would have borrowed the wings of the wind. They fled ignominiously, like children in a fright. Glory be to God, it shall be even thus with the foes of his church; when the Lord cometh to our help, our enemies shall be as nothing. Could they foresee their ignominious defeat, they would not advance to the attack.

Ver. 5-6. The potentates of the world saw the miracles of the apostles, the courage and constancy of the martyrs, and the daily increase of the church, notwithstanding all their persecutions; they beheld with astonishment the rapid progress of the faith through the Roman empire; they called upon their gods, but their gods could not help themselves; idolatry expired at the foot of the victorious cross. George Horne.

Ver. 5-6. See Psalms on "Ps 48:5" for further information.

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

6. (Psa 48:5). (As) they saw, so they wondered, were struck with terror, were put to flight. This verse explains what was meant by their passing in the on before it. The as, corresponding to so, which is expressed in Psa 48:9 (8), seems to be here omitted, as in Isa 55:9. As soon as they saw the holy city, or the tokens of divine protection. The last two verbs are passives. For the meaning of the first, see above, on Psa 2:5, and for that of the second, on Psa 31:23 (22). The whole verse is descriptive of a panic leading to a disorderly retreat or flight.

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

The enemies were afraid at the sight of the City.

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

(5) They saw.—A verse like Psa_46:6, vivid from the omission of the conjunctions, wrongly supplied by the Authorised Version. It has reminded commentators of Caesar’s Veni, vidi, vici.

They looked, even so were terrified, bewildered, panic-struck.

Hasted away.—Or, sprung up in alarm.

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

5. They saw; forthwith they were amazed:

They were dismayed, they made haste to flee.

Caesar’s boast, Veni, vidi, vici, was reversed. They came to Zion, they saw it, they were smitten with panic terror. Cp. Isa_33:3.

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.

Fear took hold upon them there,.... That is, either when they came up to the city, and passed by it, and saw what they did; or, as Kimchi observes, in the place where they thought to have made a great slaughter; that is, in Armageddon, Rev 16:16; so upon the slaughter of the seven thousand names of men, or men of name and renown, such as the kings here assembled, the remnant will be frightened, Rev 11:13;

and pain, as of a woman in travail; this figure is made use of elsewhere, when the destruction of Babylon and the coming of Christ are spoken of; see Isa 13:8.

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

They saw it - That is, they looked on it; they contemplated it; they were struck with its beauty and strength, and fled.

And so they marveled - It surpassed their expectations of its strength, and they saw with wonder that any attempt to conquer it was hopeless.

They were troubled - They were filled with anxiety and confusion. They even began to have apprehensions about their own safety. They saw that their preparations had been made in vain, and that all hopes of success must be abandoned.

And hasted away - They fled in confusion. The idea in the whole verse is that of a “panic,” leading to a disorderly flight. This “may” have occurred in the time of Jehoshaphat, 2 Chr. 20, when the kings of Moab, Edom, and others, came up to attack Jerusalem, though the immediate cause of their overthrow was a conflict among themselves 2Ch 20:22-25. It may have been, however, that they approached the city, and were dismayed by its strength, so that they turned away before the internal conflict occurred which ended in their ruin. But it is not “necessary” to adjust these accounts one to another, or even to suppose that this was the event referred to in the psalm, though the general ideas in it accord well with all which occurred on that occasion.

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

They saw it; they did only look upon it, but not come into it, nor shoot an arrow there, —nor cast a bank against it, as is said upon this or the like occasion, 2Ki 19:32.

So they marvelled, not so much at the structure or strength of the city, as at the wonderful works wrought by God on their behalf.

They were troubled and hasted away: see 2Ki 19:35.

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

They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away. The sight of the city, with its walls and towers (vers. 12, 13), was enough for them they recognized that the place was too strong to be attacked with any prospect of success; "marvelled," or "were amazed" (Cheyne), at its strength, and, being troubled in mind, hasted away. The unconnected verbs remind the commentators of Caesar"s famous despatch, "Vent, vidi, vici."

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

Saw it - They did only look upon it, but not come into it, nor shoot an arrow there - nor cast a bank against it, 2 Kings xix, 32. Marvelled - At the wonderful works wrought by God.

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

the kings have assembled to wage war against it in the wars of Gog and Magog.

they have passed together to war.

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.