Psalms 72:11

Psa 72:11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.

Ver. 11. Yea, all kings, &c.] Of Christ this is and shall be verified without a hyperbole. Constantine, Valentinian, and Theodosius, three emperors, called themselves Christ’s vassals, as Socrates reporteth; Canutus set his crown upon the crucifix, &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.

Psa 72:11. And to him shall all kings bow (or prostrate themselves), all nations shall serve him. That the preceding verse contains only a sample of the nations over whom the Messiah was to reign, is distinctly intimated by the universal and unqualified expressions of the verse before us. The act described in the first clause is one expressive both of civil homage and religious worship. The same thing is true of the verb in the last clause, which may be applied either to the civil service of a sovereign by his subjects, or to the religious service of a deity by his worshippers. In this case, as in Psa 72:10, both were meant to be included.

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

72:11 All kings and all nations must submit to the messianic king. The hope expressed in 2:10-11 will be realized (see 96:1-3; 1 Cor 15:25) when other leaders and peoples bow before and serve this king.

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

Verse 11. All kings shall fall down before] They shall reverence him on account of his great wisdom, riches, c.

All nations shalt serve him.] All the surrounding nations. This and the preceding verses are fully explained by 1Kg 10:23-25: "King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. And all the earth sought unto Solomon to hear his wisdom. And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments and armour, and spices, horses and mules, a rate year by year." If we take these expressions to mean literally all the habitable globe, then they cannot be applied to Solomon but if we take them as they are most evidently used by the sacred writer, then they are literally true. When all the earth shall be brought to receive the Gospel of Christ, then they may be applied to him.

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

11. And all kings shall prostrate themselves before him. This verse contains a more distinct statement of the truth, That the whole world will be brought in subjection to the authority of Christ. The kingdom of Judah was unquestionably never more flourishing than under the reign of Solomon; but even then there were only a small number of kings who paid tribute to him, and what they paid was inconsiderable in amount; and, moreover, it was paid upon condition that they should be allowed to live in the enjoyment of liberty under their own laws. While David then began with his own son, and the posterity of his son, he rose by the Spirit of prophecy to the spiritual kingdom of Christ; a point worthy of our special notice, since it teaches us that we have not been called to the hope of everlasting salvation by chance, but because our heavenly Father had already destined to give us to his Son. From this we also learn, that in the Church and flock of Christ there is a place for kings; whom David does not here disarm of their sword nor despoil of their crown, in order to admit them into the Church, but rather declares that they will come with all the dignity of their station to prostrate themselves at the feet of Christ.

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.

(11) Yea, all kings shall . . .—Better, as before, Let all kings.

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

11. Yea, let all kings fall down before him,

Let all nations serve him.

The allusions to Solomon’s empire in this and the preceding verse are obvious. “All kingdoms brought presents and served Solomon.” … “All the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, … and they brought every man his present.” His alliance with Phoenicia brought him into connexion with the West; he had extensive commerce both by sea and land with the East and South; his fame brought the queen of Sheba to visit him in person. See 1Ki_4:21; 1Ki_4:34; 1Ki_10:1 ff., 1Ki_10:11; 1Ki_10:15; 1Ki_10:22; 1Ki_10:25; 1Ki_10:28-29.

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.

Yea, all kings shall fall down before him,.... Or worship him; not with a civil, but religious worship; for such worship is due to Christ, he being God equal with the Father, and so to be equally honoured; the Creator of all things, the Redeemer of his people, Head and Lord of the church, and whom the angels adore; every part of worship is to be given him; internal, which lies in the exercise of faith, hope, love, fear, &c. and external, which consists of prayer to him, praise of him, preaching in his name, and the administration of ordinances; and this worship is to be performed in the same manner as to the Father, in spirit and in truth, in righteousness and holiness, with reverence and godly fear. This is to be understood, either literally of the kings of the earth, and which will have its full accomplishment in the latter day; see Isa 49:23; or mystically of such who are made kings unto God the Father by Christ; who reign spiritually now, through the power of divine grace in their hearts; have the honour, riches, and attendance of kings, and a crown and kingdom prepared for them; and shall reign with Christ on earth, though under him, at whose feet they cast their crowns: all this shows the dignity of Christ's person and office; that he is the Prince of the kings of the earth, the firstborn of God, whom he has made higher than they, and King of kings, and Lord of lords; whose princes, and all whose subjects, are altogether kings. This passage is allowed to belong to the Messiah, both by ancient and modern Jews (g); and indeed it never was true of Solomon, nor of any other;

all nations shall serve him; which will be in the latter day; see Isa 2:2; the Jews say (h), that in the world to come, or the times of the Messiah, all the Gentiles shall be voluntary proselytes.

(g) Zohar in Gen. fol. 84. 4. Bemidbar Rabba, s. 13. fol. 209. 4. Midrash Megillat Esther, fol. 86. 2. R. Isaac Chizzuk Emunah, par. 1. p. 44. (h) T. Avodah Zarah, fol. 24. 1.

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

Yea, all kings shall fall down ... - That is, his reign will be universal. The kings and people mentioned in the previous verses are only specimens of what will occur. “All” kings - “all” nations - will do what these are represented as doing. They will submit to the Messiah; they will own him as their Lord. See the notes at Psa 2:8. Compare Isa 49:23.

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

Which cannot be said of Solomon with any truth or colour, but was unquestionably verified in Christ; of whom therefore this must be understood. For what is said 1Ki 4:21, that Solomon reigned over all kingdoms, is there limited to them that reigned from the river unto Egypt; whereas the expressions here are unlimited and universal.

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

Ver. 11. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him. Personally shall they pay their reverence, however mighty they may be. No matter how high their state, how ancient their dynasty, or far off their realms, they shall willingly accept him as their Imperial Lord.

All nations shall serve him. The people shall be as obedient as the governors. The extent of the mediatorial rule is set forth by the two far reaching alls, all kings, and all nations: we see not as yet all things put under him, but since we see Jesus crowned with glory and honour in heaven, we are altogether without doubt as to his universal monarchy on earth. It is not to be imagined that an Alexander or a Caesar shall have wider sway than the Son of God. "Every knee shall bow to him, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Hasten it, O Lord, in thine own time.

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

11. All kings… all nations—This is a summing up of all that has been said, and clearly fixes the world-dominion of the “king” here prophetically extolled.

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

Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. (comp. Isa_49:7, 23 60:3-14) This prophecy has not yet been fulfilled in the letter; but it may one day be exactly accomplished. Or it may not have been intended to be understood literally. General truths are often expressed by the sacred writers universally.

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

All nations - Which cannot be said of Solomon with any truth or colour, but was unquestionably verified in Christ,

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

fall down before him

"bow down before him" or "honor him as their king"

all nations

Here the word "nations" represents the people who live in the nations. AT: "the people who live in every nation" (See: Metonymy)

no other helper

"no one else to help him"

translationWords

nation

servant

cry

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

may all nations serve him (I Kings 10:24f.): “And all the [inhabitants of] the earth sought Solomon’s presence etc. And each one would bring his gift.”

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.