Psalms 78:55

Psa 78:55 He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

Ver. 55. He cast out the heathen also before them] i.e. In their sight, and for their sake.

He divided them an inheritance by line] Not a material line, but mathematical, saith an interpreter; whereby we may perceive that the way of making maps was anciently in use among the Hebrews (Geneb.).

And made the tribes of Israel, &c.] Notwithstanding all their former provocations. "See that none render evil for evil to any man, but ever follow" (by God’s example) "that which is good, both among yourselves and toward all men," 1Th 5:15.

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.

55. (Psa 78:55) And drove out before them nations, and assigned them by measure (as) a heritage, and caused to dwell in their tents the tribes of Israel. Before them, literally from their face or presence. Nations, whole nations, not mere armies, much less individuals. Assigned them, literally made them fall, by lot or otherwise, a common expression for the distribution and allotment of the land. See Num 34:2. The pronoun (them) refers to the nations, put for their possessions, and especially their territory. The word translated measure means primarily a measuring line, but then the portion of land measured. Hence we may also read, assigned them as (or for) a hereditary portion. In the last clause, their tents means of course those of the Canaanites, not of the Israelites themselves, which would make the clause unmeaning.

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

55. He expelled the heathen from before them; and made them to fall into their part of the inheritance. These words are an explanation of the concluding sentence of the preceding verse: they describe the manner in which the land of Canaan was acquired, plainly intimating that the Israelites were not such a warlike race, nor those heathen nations so cowardly, as to render it an easy matter for the former to vanquish the latter, and that it would have been impossible for the former to have expelled the latter from the country, had they not been led on to victory under the conduct of God, and been aided by his power. Besides, it would have been unlawful for them to have taken possession of the country, had it not been the will of God that the first inhabitants should be deprived of it, and that strangers should be established in it in their room.

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.

55. And he drove out the nations before them,

And allotted them for the portion of their inheritance:

i.e. distributed the land of the Canaanites among the Israelites by lot. Cp. Jos_23:4; Psa_105:11.

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.

Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God,.... After the death of Joshua, and in the times of the judges, by worshipping and serving the gods of the nations, and forsaking the Lord their God, who had done such great things for them, Jdg 2:11,

and kept not his testimonies; the laws of God, which testified and declared his mind and will; nor observed his word and ordinances, which testified of his grace, and of the way of salvation by Jesus Christ.

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

He cast out the heathen also before them - literally, the nations. The idea of their being pagan, in the sense which is now attached to that word, is not in the original. The word is one which would be applied to any nation, without reference to its religion. These nations were, indeed, pagans according to the present use of that term, but that idea is not necessarily in the Hebrew word.

And divided them an inheritance by line - Divided to his people an inheritance by a measurement of the land. That is, the land was partitioned out among the tribes, by a survey, fixing their limits and boundaries. See Jos 13:7; 18; 19.

And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents - To dwell securely and quietly, no longer roaming from place to place, but having a fixed habitation and a home.

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

Ver. 55. He cast out the heathen also before them, or "he drove out the nations." Not only were armies routed, but whole peoples displaced. The iniquity of the Canaanites was full; their vices made them rot above ground; therefore, the land ate up its inhabitants, the hornets vexed them, the pestilence destroyed them, and the sword of the tribes completed the execution to which the justice of long provoked heaven had at length appointed them. The Lord was the true conqueror of Canaan; he cast out the nations as men cast out filth from their habitations, he uprooted them as noxious weeds are extirpated by the husbandman.

And divided them an inheritance by line. He divided the land of the nations among the tribes by lot and measure, assigning Hivite, Perizzite, and Jebusite territory to Simeon, Judah, or Ephraim, as the case might be. Among those condemned nations were not only giants in stature, but also giants in crime: those monsters of iniquity had too long defiled the earth; it was time that they should no more indulge the unnatural crimes for which they were infamous; they were, therefore, doomed to forfeit life and lands by the hands of the tribes of Israel. The distribution of the forfeited country was made by divine appointment; it was no scramble, but a judicial appointment of lands which had fallen to the crown by the attainder of the former holders.

And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. The favoured people entered upon a furnished house: they found the larder supplied, for they fed upon the old corn of the land, and the dwellings were already builded in which they could dwell. Thus does another race often enter into the lot of a former people, and it is sad indeed when the change which judgment decrees does not turn out to be much for the better, because the incomers inherit the evils as well as the goods of the ejected. Such a case of judicial visitation ought to have had a salutary influence upon the tribes; but, alas, they were incorrigible, and would not learn even from examples so near at home and so terribly suggestive.

None.

Ver. 55. Divine supplanting. He supplants the fallen angels in heaven. One nation of earth by another (see all history). The thoughts and affections of the heart in regeneration, etc. Isa 55:13. C. D.

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

55. Having reached the border of the sacred territory, the psalmist now passes rapidly over the settlement of the tribes, and hastens to his ultimate object, the moral causes of the removal of the ark and tabernacle from Shiloh to Zion.

Divided them an inheritance by line—The idea is, that God had originally determined everything involving the national destiny by his own sovereign authority, casting out the heathen and giving their land to Israel; dividing their tribal and family inheritances by accurate measurement. See the history, (Joshua 12-21,) and compare Psa_44:1-3; Psa_135:12. Should not, therefore, so grave a matter as the location of the ark and tabernacle be subject to his sovereign will?

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

He cast out the heathen also before them. (comp. Exo_34:24 Deu_7:1 1Ki_21:26 Psa_44:2, etc.) "They get not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but God"s right hand, and his arm, and the light of his countenance". (Psa_44:3) And divided them an inheritance by line. The measuring line, which was employed in parcelling out territory, is intended. (comp. Jer_31:39 Amo_7:17) Joshua"s division of the land (Joshua 15-19) among the tribes is specially pointed at. And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents; i.e. in the tents of the heathen the abodes of the Hivites, Hittites, Amorites, Porizzites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.

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

He drove out...from before them the seven nations.

in their tents of the nations.

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.