Psalms 72:14

Psa 72:14 He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.

Ver. 14. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence] Those two noted engines of all mischief to the poor, viz. privy deceit (usury, the Septuagint and Vulgate render it) and open violence, επιβουλη και επιβολη, fraud and force, craft and cruelty.

And precious shall their blood be in his sight] He shall be very tender of their lives, that they be not causelessly cast away, either in times of peace or war. Precious also in the sight of the Lord Christ is the death of his saints, his martyrs, Psa 116:15.

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 72:14. From oppression and from violence he will redeem their soul, and precious shall their blood be in his eyes (or sight). This last is an idiomatic expression of the idea, that a person sets such a value on the life of another that he will not suffer it to be destroyed. See below, on Psa 116:15, and compare 1Sa 26:21, 2Ki 1:14

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

Though tyrants pass not to shed blood, yet this godly king shall preserve his subjects from all kind of wrong.

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

Verse 14. From deceit and violence] Because they are poor and uneducated, they are liable to be deceived; and because they are helpless, they are liable to oppression; but his equal justice shall duly consider these cases; and no man shall suffer because he is deceived, though the letter of the law may be against him.

And precious shall their blood be] If the blood or life of such a person shall have been spilt by the hand of violence, he shall seek it out, and visit it on the murderer, though he were the chief in the land. He shall not be screened, though he were of the blood royal, if he have wilfully taken away the life of a man.

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

(14) And precious . . .—The parallelism shows the meaning. The life of his people is dear to the king, and he therefore protects them from violence.

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

14. deceit] Oppression (R.V.) or fraud (R.V. marg.). The word occurs elsewhere only in Psa_10:7; Psa_55:11.

and precious &c.] He will not suffer it to be shed with impunity. Cp. for the phrase Psa_116:15; 1Sa_26:21; 1Ki_1:13-14; and see Psa_9:12. P.B.V. dear means ‘costly’ or ‘precious.’

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.

He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence,.... From all the secret and open designs and efforts of their enemies; "from deceit", and deceitfulness of sin and its lusts, so as that they shall not be finally hardened and destroyed by it; from the deceitfulness of the old serpent the devil, and all his cunning wiles and stratagems; and from false teachers, who lie in wait to deceive, and who would, if possible, deceive the very elect, but shall not: and from "violence"; from the violent and tyrannical power of sin, so as that it shall not have the dominion over them; from the rage and fury of the men of the world, which is overcome by him; and from Satan, the strong man armed, who is stronger than they; from him the devouring lion, who will not be able to snatch them out of Christ's hands;

and precious shall their blood be in his sight; so that he either prevents the shedding of it, or, when shed, avenges it; and dear are such persons to him; and very acceptable is the sacrifice of their lives for his sake, who have the honour to suffer martyrdom for him; see Psa 116:15.

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

He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence - He will rescue their lives; that is, he will deliver them from the hands of men who practice deceit, or who are dishonest and unjust - and from the hands of those who oppress. This is stating in another form the idea that his reign would be one of equity, protecting the rights of the poor, and delivering the oppressed.

And precious shall their blood be in his sight - That is, so precious that he will not permit it to be shed unjustly, but will come to their rescue when their life is in danger; or, that - being shed - he will regard it as so valuable that he will not permit it to go unavenged. He will never be indifferent to their safety, or their reputation.

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

Deceit and violence; the two ways whereby the souls or lives of men are usually destroyed.

Precious shall their blood be in his sight; he will not be prodigal of the lives of his subjects, casting them away merely to gratify his own revenge, or covetousness, or insatiable desire of enlarging his empire, as earthly kings commonly do, but, like a true father of his people, will tenderly preserve them, and severely avenge their blood upon those who shall shed it.

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

Ver. 14. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence. These two things are the weapons with which the poor are assailed: both law and no law are employed to fleece them. The fox and the lion are combined against Christ's lambs, but the Shepherd will defeat them, and rescue the defenceless from their teeth. A soul hunted by the temptations of Satanic craft, and the insinuations of diabolical malice, will do well to fly to the throne of Jesus for shelter.

And precious shall their blood be in his sight. He will not throw away his subjects in needless wars as tyrants have done, but will take every means for preserving the humblest of them. Conquerors have reckoned thousands of lives as small items; they have reddened fields with gore, as if blood were water, and flesh but manure for harvests; but Jesus, though he gave his own blood, is very chary of the blood of his servants, and if they must die for him as martyrs, he loves their memory, and counts their lives as his precious things.

Ver. 14. And precious shall their blood be in his sight. The Angolani so despised their slaves that they would sometimes give as many as twenty-two for one hunting dog... But Christ prefers the soul of one of his servants to the whole world, since he died that it might be made more capable of entering into eternal felicity. For breaking one goblet the Roman cast his slave into the pond to be devoured by the muraenae. But the Son of God came down from heaven to earth to deliver mankind, his vile, ungrateful, faithless servants, from the pangs of the serpent, like the golden fleece, and save them as Jonah from the whale. Is not their blood precious in his sight? Thomas Le Blanc.

Ver. 14. The martyr's hope in life and comfort in death. G. Rogers.

Ver. 14 (last clause). The martyr's blood.

I. Seen of God when shed.

II. Remembered by him.

III. Honoured by being a benefit to the church.

IV. Rewarded especially in heaven.

Psalms 72:15*

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

14. Deceit and violence— “Under the terms craft and violence the psalmist comprehends all kinds of misdealing; for a man in doing harm is either a lion or a fox: for some rage with open force, and others creep to misdealing insidiously and by stealthy arts.”—Calvin.

Precious shall their blood be—How true of the reign of Christ, our king and avenger! See Psa_116:15. He will requite innocent blood. Mat_23:34-36; Rev_18:20; Rev_18:24; Rev_19:2. Christ is identified with his saints in joy or suffering. Mat_10:40; Act_9:4-5

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

He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence. Messiah"s especial tenderness towards the poor and lowly is a main feature in all descriptions of his kingdom, (see Isa_11:4 Isa_29:19 Isa_41:17, etc.) and was emphasized by our Lord when he came upon earth. (Mat_11:5 Luk_4:18) And precious shall their blood be in his sight. Worth, therefore, a mighty ransom. (comp. Psa_116:15)

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

Deceit and violence - The two ways whereby the lives of men are usually destroyed. Precious - He will not be prodigal of the lives of his subjects, but like a true father of his people, will tenderly preserve them, and severely avenge their blood upon those who shall shed it.

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

redeem

Heb. "goel," Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield "Isa 59:20").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

From blows and from robbery Heb. מתוך ומחמס, from blows and from robbery. I found [the following]: מִתּוֹךְ is an expression of “his innermost midst (תּוֹךְ),” men of plots, who plot iniquity, as (Prov. 29:13): “a man of deep thoughts (תככים).”

he will redeem their soul through the justice and righteousness that he will perform for them.

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.