(3) Imagine mischief.--This is the Rabbinical rendering of a word that occurs only here. The LXX. have "fall upon"; Vulg., "rush upon," a meaning supported by an Arabic root meaning to storm or assault, and is so far preferable to Aquila's and Jerome's "plot against," and Symmachus' "labour in vain," or Syriac, "act foolishly."
Ye shall be slain.--The reading varies, the Tiberian school reading the verb passive, the Babylonian, active. The latter is supported by the ancient versions. The primary meaning is given to break, and we get:
How long will ye assault a man?
(How long) will ye try to break him down,
As if he were a bowing wall, a tottering fence.
The metaphor of the falling wall is common in Eastern proverbs. "The wall is bowing," is said of a man at the point of death. "By the oppression of the headman, the people of that village are a ruined wall."
Verse 3. - How long will ye imagine mischief agaiust a man? rather, How long will ye assault (or, set upon) a man? Attack him, that is - seek to do him grievous hurt, as ye are attacking me. Ye shall be slain all of you; rather, that ye may crush him, all of you together. The hope of the conspirators under Absalom was in their united strength. As a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. The words supplied in the Authorized Version should be omitted. It is David who is viewed by his enemies as a bulged wall (see Isaiah 30:15) or a tottering fence, which it requires only a strong push to throw down.
62:1-7 We are in the way both of duty and comfort, when our souls wait upon God; when we cheerfully give up ourselves, and all our affairs, to his will and wisdom; when we leave ourselves to all the ways of his providence, and patiently expect the event, with full satisfaction in his goodness. See the ground and reason of this dependence. By his grace he has supported me, and by his providence delivered me. He only can be my Rock and my salvation; creatures are nothing without him, therefore I will look above them to him. Trusting in God, the heart is fixed. If God be for us, we need not fear what man can do against us. David having put his confidence in God, foresees the overthrow of his enemies. We have found it good to wait upon the Lord, and should charge our souls to have such constant dependence upon him, as may make us always easy. If God will save my soul, I may well leave every thing else to his disposal, knowing all shall turn to my salvation. And as David's faith in God advances to an unshaken stedfastness, so his joy in God improves into a holy triumph. Meditation and prayer are blessed means of strengthening faith and hope.
How long will ye imagine mischief against a man?.... Against a good man, as the Targum; or against any Israelite, as Kimchi; or rather he means himself, a single man, a weak man, and an innocent one; which aggravated their sin, in devising his hurt, and contriving ways to take away his life, as did Saul and his courtiers; and, Absalom, and those that were with him. R. Jonah, from the Arabic language, interprets the word here used of putting or drawing out the tongue to a great length; that is, multiplying words, as lies and calumnies, in agreement with Psalm 62:4; but Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi, explain it as we do, of devising mischief. The Targum is,
"how long do ye rage against a good man?''
Ye shall be slain all of you; this is a further aggravation of their folly, since it would issue in their own ruin; the mischief they devised for him would fall upon themselves. Some understand this , "by way of prayer"; as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech,
"may ye be slain all of you:''
there is a double reading of these words; Ben Napthali, who is followed by the eastern Jews, reads them actively, "ye shall slay"; with which agree the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions; and so the Targum,
"ye shall become murderers all of you.''
Ben Asher, who is followed by the western Jews, reads passively as we do, "ye shall be slain"; and which is approved by Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and others;
as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence; which are easily and suddenly pushed down; and so these similes denote the easy, sudden, and certain destruction of those men; see Isaiah 36:13; though some connect the words with the men against whom mischief was imagined by his enemies, who was like a bowing wall and a tottering fence; and so are expressive of his weakness, and of the easy destruction of him; and read the words, "ye shall be slain all of you", in a parenthesis; but the former sense seems best.
Ye shall be slain.--The reading varies, the Tiberian school reading the verb passive, the Babylonian, active. The latter is supported by the ancient versions. The primary meaning is given to break, and we get:
How long will ye assault a man?
(How long) will ye try to break him down,
As if he were a bowing wall, a tottering fence.
The metaphor of the falling wall is common in Eastern proverbs. "The wall is bowing," is said of a man at the point of death. "By the oppression of the headman, the people of that village are a ruined wall."
"how long do ye rage against a good man?''
Ye shall be slain all of you; this is a further aggravation of their folly, since it would issue in their own ruin; the mischief they devised for him would fall upon themselves. Some understand this , "by way of prayer"; as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech,
"may ye be slain all of you:''
there is a double reading of these words; Ben Napthali, who is followed by the eastern Jews, reads them actively, "ye shall slay"; with which agree the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions; and so the Targum,
"ye shall become murderers all of you.''
Ben Asher, who is followed by the western Jews, reads passively as we do, "ye shall be slain"; and which is approved by Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and others;
as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence; which are easily and suddenly pushed down; and so these similes denote the easy, sudden, and certain destruction of those men; see Isaiah 36:13; though some connect the words with the men against whom mischief was imagined by his enemies, who was like a bowing wall and a tottering fence; and so are expressive of his weakness, and of the easy destruction of him; and read the words, "ye shall be slain all of you", in a parenthesis; but the former sense seems best.