Psalms 70:3

Psa 70:3 Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.

Ver. 3. Let them be turned back for a reward] Vel sicut per insidias vel supplantationem, more athletarum, a עקב, Let them be supplanted, defeated.

That say, Aha, aha] Augustine rendereth it, Euge, Euge, that is, Well done; and giveth this note upon it, Plus persequitur lingua adulatoris quam manus interfectoris, The tongue of a flatterer may mischief a man more than the hand of a murderer. The apostle, Heb 11:37, ranketh their tempting and flattering promises among their bloody deeds, their rising tongues with their terrifying jaws.

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.

4. (Psa 70:3). They shall turn back on account of their shame, i.e. retreat from their assault on me confounded and ashamed—those saying, Aha, aha! See above, on Psa 40:15. For the strong expression, they shall be desolate, we have a milder one borrowed from Psa 6:10. The only other variation consists in the omission of the unimportant phrase to me.

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

Hereby we are taught not to mock at others in their misery, lest the same fall on our own necks.

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

Verse 3. That say, Aha, aha.] האה האה heach! heach! a note of supreme contempt. See on Ps 40:15.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Let them be turned back] Let them turn back, retreating after their ignominious repulse (Psa_70:2). Cp. Psa_6:10. The reading of Psa_40:15 is let them be desolate. The difference probably arose out of a confusion between the letters m and b (ישמו—ישבו), but may be due to intentional alteration. for a reward of their shame] Better as R.V., by reason of their shame, being foiled in their malicious plans.

Aha, aha] An exclamation of malicious pleasure at another’s misfortune. Cp. Psa_35:21; Psa_35:25. The text of Psa_40:15 reads ‘that say unto me’; and so the LXX here, from which it has passed through the Vulg. into the P.B.V., ‘that cry over me.’

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.

Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame,.... In Psa 40:15 it is, "let them be desolate"; which seems to respect their land and houses, here their persons; See Gill on Psa 40:15;

that say; in Psa 40:15 it is added, "to me"; not to his people, but himself,

aha, aha: rejoicing at his calamity and distress. The Targum is,

"we are glad, we are glad;''

See Gill on Psa 40:15, and compare with this Eze 25:3.

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

Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame - The only change which occurs in this verse is the substitution of the milder phrase “Let them be turned back,” for “Let them be desolate.” See the notes at Psa 40:15.

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

Ver. 3. Let them be turned back. This is a milder term than that used in Psalm 40, where he cries, "let them be desolate." Had growing years matured and mellowed the psalmist's spirit? To be "turned back, "however, may come to the same thing as to be "desolate; " disappointed malice is the nearest akin to desolation that can well be conceived.

For a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha. They thought to shame the godly, but it was their shame, and shall be their shame for ever. How fond men are of taunts, and if they are meaningless ahas, more like animal cries than human words, it matters nothing, so long as they are a vent for scorn and sting the victim. Rest assured, the enemies of Christ and his people shall have wages for their work; they shall be paid in their own coin; they loved scoffing, and they shall be filled with it--yea, they shall become a proverb and a byword for ever.

Ver. 3. Aha, aha. In describing his human foes, our Saviour represents them as saying to him, Aha, aha. These exclamations are ebullitions of exulting insolence. They can escape from the lips of those only who are at once haughty and cruel, and insensible to the delicacies and decorum of demeanour. Doubtless, they would be the favourite expressions of the rude rabble that accompanied the traitor in his ignoble campaign against Incarnate Love, and of the rude aristocratic mob that held over the Apostle of Heaven the mockery of an ecclesiastical trial, and of the larger, more excited, and more rancorous multitude that insultingly accompanied him to the cross, and mocked him, and wagged their heads at him, and railed upon him as he meekly, but majestically, hung on the accursed tree. The prescient Saviour would, no doubt, catch in his ears the distant mutter of all the violent and ruthless exclamations with which his foes were about to rend the air; and, amid these heartless and sneering ejaculations, he could not but feel the keen and poisoning edge of the malevolent and hilarious cry, Aha, aha. O miracle of mercy! He who deserved the hallelujahs of an intelligent universe, and the special hosannas of all the children of men, had first to anticipate, and then to endure from the mouths of the very rebels whom he came to bless and to save, the malicious taunting of Aha, aha. James Frame.

Ver. 3.

I. Who are these who cry "shame"?

II. What master do they serve?

III. What shall their wages be?

Psalms 70:4*

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

3. Turned—A different and softer word than “turned” in Psa_70:2, without the strengthening word “backward” attached, as there. But the same sense of military, or at least, judicial, defeat, or forcible turning back from their evil purpose, is intended. The scope, and the law of parallelism, require it, and the use of the word Psa_6:10, justifies it. In Psa_40:15, a stronger word is used, שׁמם, shamem, literally, to be struck dumb with amazement at the wasting judgment.

Aha, Aha—The words express a taunting exultation over a fallen enemy, (Psa_35:21; Eze_25:3; Eze_26:2; Eze_36:2;) or contempt of an unconquered enemy, (Job_39:25;) or any shallow joy. Isa_44:16

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

Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame. Psa_40:15 has, "Let them be desolate," but this difference seems to arise from a corruption. That say, Aha, aha! Psa_40:15 has, "that say to me, Aha, aha!" which is better.

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