Psalm 22:30

A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(30) A seed . . .—Better, Posterity shall serve Him. About Jehovah it shall be told to the (coming) generation. The article makes for this interpretation. Others, as in Psalm 87:6, understand a reference to the census; but the parallelism is against this reference. The next verse repeats the same thought in another form.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 22:30. A seed shall serve him — Christ shall not want a seed or posterity, for though the Jewish nation will generally reject him, the Gentiles shall come in their stead. It shall be accounted for a generation — That believing seed shall be reputed, both by God and men, the generation, or people of the Lord, as the Jews formerly were.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

22:22-31 The Saviour now speaks as risen from the dead. The first words of the complaint were used by Christ himself upon the cross; the first words of the triumph are expressly applied to him, Heb 2:12. All our praises must refer to the work of redemption. The suffering of the Redeemer was graciously accepted as a full satisfaction for sin. Though it was offered for sinful men, the Father did not despise or abhor it for our sakes. This ought to be the matter of our thanksgiving. All humble, gracious souls should have a full satisfaction and happiness in him. Those that hunger and thirst after righteousness in Christ, shall not labour for that which satisfies not. Those that are much in praying, will be much in thanksgiving. Those that turn to God, will make conscience of worshipping before him. Let every tongue confess that he is Lord. High and low, rich and poor, bond and free, meet in Christ. Seeing we cannot keep alive our own souls, it is our wisdom, by obedient faith, to commit our souls to Christ, who is able to save and keep them alive for ever. A seed shall serve him. God will have a church in the world to the end of time. They shall be accounted to him for a generation; he will be the same to them that he was to those who went before them. His righteousness, and not any of their own, they shall declare to be the foundation of all their hopes, and the fountain of all their joys. Redemption by Christ is the Lord's own doing. Here we see the free love and compassion of God the Father, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, for us wretched sinners, as the source of all grace and consolation; the example we are to follow, the treatment as Christians we are to expect, and the conduct under it we are to adopt. Every lesson may here be learned that can profit the humbled soul. Let those who go about to establish their own righteousness inquire, why the beloved Son of God should thus suffer, if their own doings could atone for sin? Let the ungodly professor consider whether the Saviour thus honoured the Divine law, to purchase him the privilege of despising it. Let the careless take warning to flee from the wrath to come, and the trembling rest their hopes upon this merciful Redeemer. Let the tempted and distressed believer cheerfully expect a happy end of every trial.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A seed shall serve him - A people; a race. The word used here, and rendered "seed" - זרע zera‛ - means properly "a sowing;" then, a planting, a plantation; then. seed sown - of plants, trees, or grain; and then, a generation of men - children, offspring, posterity: Genesis 3:15; Genesis 13:16; Genesis 15:5, Genesis 15:13; et al. Hence, it means a race, stock, or family. It is used here as denoting those who belong to the family of God; his children. Compare Isaiah 6:13; Isaiah 65:9, Isaiah 65:23. The meaning here is, that, as the result of the work performed by the sufferer, many would be brought to serve God.

It - To wit, the seed mentioned; the people referred to.

Shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation - The word here rendered "Lord" is not יהוה Yahweh, but אדני 'Âdônay, a word which is often used as a name of God - and should not be printed here in small capitals. Prof. Alexander renders this, it seems to me improperly, "It shall be related of the Lord to the next generation." So DeWette and Hengstenberg. But the common rendering appears to me to furnish a better signification, and to be more in accordance with the meaning of the original. According to this the idea is, that the seed - the people referred to - would be reckoned to the Lord as a generation of his own people, a race, a tribe, a family pertaining to him. They would be regarded as such by him; they would be so estimated by mankind. They would not be a generation of aliens and strangers, but a generation of his people and friends. Compare Psalm 87:6.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

30. it shall be accounted to the Lord for, &c.—or, "it shall be told of the Lord to a generation." God's wonderful works shall be told from generation to generation.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Christ shall not want a seed or posterity, Hebrews 2:13; for though the Jewish nation should generally reject and forsake him, which may seem to be here implied, Christ shall have many disciples or followers, and the Gentiles shall come in their stead. Compare this promise with that, he shall see his seed, Isaiah 53:10. Or, their

seed, i.e. the seed of the Gentile worshippers last mentioned. Christian religion shall not be the business of one age, but, as the Gentiles shall believe in Christ, so shall their posterity in succeeding generations; this being God’s usual method, to take children into covenant with their parents, of which see Deu 10:15 30:19 Psalm 69:36 Isaiah 43:5 44:3. And as when the Jews refused Christ, their children were cast out of the covenant with them; so when the Gentiles embraced the gospel covenant, their children were admitted with them.

It shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation; that believing seed shall be reputed, both by God and men, the generation, or children, or people of the Lord, as the Jews formerly were. But upon the Jews’ contempt of Christ and the gospel, the Gentiles shall come in their stead, and enjoy their titles and privileges. Compare this place with Psalm 87:5.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

A seed shall serve him,.... That is, Christ shall always have a seed to serve him in every age; a remnant according to the election of grace; see Romans 9:29; so that as the former verses speak of the amplitude of Christ's kingdom, through the calling of the Gentiles, these words and the following express the duration of it: and this "seed" either means Christ's seed; so the Septuagint version, and others that follow it, render it, "my seed"; the spiritual seed and offspring of Christ, which the Father has given him, and which shall endure for ever, Isaiah 53:10; or else the church's seed, which comes to the same thing; not the natural seed of believers, but a succession of godly men in the church, who are born in her, and nursed up at her side; see Isaiah 59:21; such shall, and do, in every age serve Christ, willingly and cheerfully, in righteousness and true holiness, without slavish fear, and yet with reverence and godly fear. The Chaldee paraphrase is, "the seed of Abraham shall serve before him"; but this seed designs not the Jews only, but the Gentiles also, and chiefly;

it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation; of his people, his children whom he accounts of, reckons, and esteems as such; or the seed shall be reckoned to the Lord, as belonging to him, "unto generation"; that is, in every generation (q), throughout all ages, to the end of time; so the Targum, "to an after generation"; or "a generation to come".

(q) "in quacunque generatione", Noldius, p. 236. No. 1076.

Geneva Study Bible

{t} A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

(t) Meaning, the prosperity which the Lord keeps as a seed to the Church to continue his praise among men.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

30. It shall be accounted &c.] i.e. as R.V. marg., It shall be counted unto the Lord for his generation. Better, however, as R.V. text, It shall be told of the Lord unto the next generation. But here again it seems best slightly to alter the text, and following the LXX to connect the first word of Psalm 22:31 with Psalm 22:30 : It shall be told of the Lord unto the generation that shall come: for (1) the generation needs the qualification which R.V. supplies by inserting next: and (2) they shall come absolutely in the sense of they shall come into being is doubtful.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 30. - A seed shall serve him. The Church is founded on a rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. So long as the world endures, Christ shall always have worshippers - a "seed" which will "serve" him. It shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. If we accept this rendering, we must understand that the seed of the first set of worshippers shall be the Lord's people for one generation, the seed of the next for another, and so on. But it is suggested that the true meaning is, "This shall be told of the Lord to generation after generation" (so Hengstenberg, Kay, Alexander, and our Revisers). Psalm 22:30

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The eating is here again brought to mind. The perfect, אכלוּ, and the future of sequence, ויּשׁתּחווּ, stand to one another in the relation of cause and effect. It is, as is clear from Psalm 22:27, an eating that satisfies the soul, a spiritual meal, that is intended, and in fact, one that is brought about by the mighty act of rescue God has wrought. At the close of Psalm 69, where the form of the ritual thank-offering is straightway ignored, ראוּ (Psalm 22:23) takes the place of the אכלוּ. There it is the view of one who is rescued and who thankfully glorifies God, which leads to others sharing with him in the enjoyment of the salvation he has experienced; here it is an actual enjoyment of it, the joy, springing from thankfulness, manifesting itself not merely in words but in a thank-offering feast, at which, in Israel, those who long for salvation are the invited guests, for with them it is an acknowledgment of the mighty act of a God whom they already know; but among the heathen, men of the most diversified conditions, the richest and the poorest, for to them it is a favour unexpectedly brought to them, and which is all the more gratefully embraced by them on that account. So magnificent shall be the feast, that all דּשׁני־ארץ, i.e., those who stand out prominently before the world and before their own countrymen by reason of the abundance of their temporal possessions (compare on the ascensive use of ארץ, Psalm 75:9; Psalm 76:10; Isaiah 23:9), choose it before this abundance, in which they might revel, and, on account of the grace and glory which the celebration includes within itself, they bow down and worship. In antithesis to the "fat ones of the earth" stand those who go down to the dust (עפר, always used in this formula of the dust of the grave, like the Arabic turâb) by reason of poverty and care. In the place of the participle יורדי we now have with ונפשׁו ( equals ואשׁר נפשׁו) a clause with ולא, which has the value of a relative clause (as in Psalm 49:21; Psalm 78:39, Proverbs 9:13, and frequently): and they who have not heretofore prolonged and could not prolong their life (Ges. 123, 3, c). By comparing Philippians 2:10 Hupfeld understands it to be those who are actually dead; so that it would mean, His kingdom extends to the living and the dead, to this world and the nether world. But any idea of a thankful adoration of God on the part of the dwellers in Hades is alien to the Old Testament; and there is nothing to force us to it here, since יורד עפר, can just as well mean descensuri as qui descenderunt, and נפשׁו dna ,tnuredne חיּה (also in Ezekiel 18:27) means to preserve his own life, - a phrase which can be used in the sense of vitam sustentare and of conservare with equal propriety. It is, therefore, those who are almost dead already with care and want, these also (and how thankfully do these very ones) go down upon their knees, because they are accounted worthy to be guests at this table. It is the same great feast, of which Isaiah, Isaiah 25:6, prophesies, and which he there accompanies with the music of his words. And the result of this evangel of the mighty act of rescue is not only of boundless universality, but also of unlimited duration: it propagates itself from one generation to another.

Formerly we interpreted Psalm 22:31 "a seed, which shall serve Him, shall be reckoned to the Lord for a generation;" taking יספּר as a metaphor applying to the census, 2 Chronicles 2:16, cf. Psalm 87:6, and לדּור, according to Psalm 24:6 and other passages, as used of a totality of one kind, as זרע of the whole body of those of the same race. But the connection makes it more natural to take דור in a genealogical sense; and, moreover, with the former interpretation it ought to have been לדּור instead of לדּור. We must therefore retain the customary interpretation: "a seed (posterity) shall serve Him, it shall be told concerning the Lord to the generation (to come)." Decisive in favour of this interpretation is לדּור with the following יבאוּ, by which דור acquires the meaning of the future generation, exactly as in Psalm 71:18, inasmuch as it at once becomes clear, that three generations are distinctly mentioned, viz., that of the fathers who turn unto Jahve, Psalm 22:30, that of the coming דור, Psalm 22:31, and עם נולד, to whom the news of the salvation is propagated by this דור, Psalm 22:31 : "They shall come (בּוא as in Psalm 71:18 : to come into being), and shall declare His righteousness to the people that shall be born, that He hath finished." Accordingly זרע is the principal notion, which divides itself into (יבאו) דור and עם נולד; from which it is at once clear, why the expression could be thus general, "a posterity," inasmuch as it is defined by what follows. עם נולד is the people which shall be born, or whose birth is near at hand (Psalm 78:6); the lxx well renders it: λαῷ τῷ τεχθησομένῳ (cf. Psalm 102:19 עם נברא populus creandus). צדקתו is the dikaiosu'nee of God, which has become manifest in the rescue of the great sufferer. That He did not suffer him to come down to the very border of death without snatching him out of the way of his murderous foes and raising him to a still greater glory, this was divine צדקה. That He did not snatch him out of the way of his murderous foes without suffering him to be on the point of death - even this wrathful phase of the divine צדקה, is indicated in Psalm 22:16, but then only very remotely. For the fact, that the Servant of God, before spreading the feast accompanying the shelamim (thank-offering) in which He makes the whole world participants in the fruit of His suffering, offered Himself as an asham (sin-offering), does not become a subject of prophetic revelation until later on, and then under other typical relationships. The nature of the עשׂה, which is in accordance with the determinate counsel of God, is only gradually disclosed in the Old Testament. This one word, so full of meaning (as in Psalm 52:11; Psalm 37:5; Isaiah 44:23), implying the carrying through of the work of redemption, which is prefigured in David, comprehends everything within itself. It may be compared to the לעשׂות, Genesis 2:3, at the close of the history of the creation. It is the last word of the Psalm, just as τετέλεσται is the last word of the Crucified One. The substance of the gospel in its preparatory history and its fulfilment, of the declaration concerning God which passes from generation to generation, is this, that God has accomplished what He planned when He anointed the son of Jesse and the Son of David as mediator in His work of redemption; that He accomplished it by leading the former through affliction to the throne, and making the cross to the latter a ladder leading up to heaven.