This Psalm, as has already been remarked, is a companion to the preceding one. It may well have been composed by the same poet: at any rate it belongs to the same period. It is in the main a confession of the faithlessness and ingratitude which had marked every step of Israel’s history, a confession which is the fitting preface to a prayer for the restoration of the nation. It breathes the spirit of Solomon’s prayer at the Dedication of the Temple (1 Kings 8). A similar confession is found in Nehemiah 9 : Daniel 9 and Baruch 2 should also be compared. Psalm 106:1; Psalm 106:47-48 form the conclusion of the anthem in 1 Chronicles 16:34-36.

The Psalmist begins with an invitation to praise Jehovah for His infinite mercy and goodness, for these attributes are the ground of his confidence in appealing to Him once more to save His people; and he adds a personal prayer that he may be permitted himself to rejoice in the sight of the renewed prosperity of Jehovah’s people (Psalm 106:1-5).

But Israel—and Israel of the present is one with Israel of the past—has sinned grievously (Psalm 106:6). The national history is one long record of failure to understand God’s purpose and of resistance to His Will. The Psalmist recites typical instances of their sins from the Exodus to the Entry into Canaan (Psalm 106:7-33); and referring in general terms to their subsequent history (Psalm 106:34-46) concludes with a prayer for restoration (Psalm 106:47) to which the long confession of sin is clearly intended to lead up.

Thus the historical retrospect is set in a liturgical framework. The introductory call to praise is not inappropriate, for without the acknowledgement of God’s invincible goodness the recollection of Israel’s sins would be hopelessly crushing. But the confession of those sins is the necessary condition of the removal of their punishment; and the prayer for restoration, short as it is, is obviously the goal towards which the whole Psalm is directed.

Note the author’s familiarity with Isaiah 63 and Ezekiel 20.

1. Praise ye the Lord] Heb. Hallelujah. See on Psalm 104:35. Here and elsewhere the initial Hallelujah is omitted in P.B.V., being regarded, as in LXX and Vulg., as a kind of title only.

O give thanks … for ever] A liturgical formula, found in the Psalter only in post-exilic Psalms (Psalm 107:1; Psalm 118:1; Psalm 136:1; cp. Psalm 100:5; Ezra 3:10-11; 1Ma 4:24), but in familiar use before the Exile. See Jeremiah 33:11, and note the slight difference in the form, which militates against the view that the words are an interpolation there.

good] LXX rightly χρηστός, for it is not Jehovah’s essential goodness that is meant, but His kindness and graciousness towards Israel. Cp. Isaiah 63:7.

for his mercy endureth for ever] Israel’s sin cannot exhaust Jehovah’s lovingkindness.

1–5. The Psalmist prefaces his Psalm of penitence with a call to praise Jehovah for that unfailing goodness which is the ground of Israel’s hope in its present extremity; and with a prayer that he himself may be privileged to see and share in the restoration of Jehovah’s people.

2. No human voice can adequately celebrate Jehovah’s mighty acts (Psalm 106:8; Psalm 20:6) or worthily proclaim His praises (Psalm 18:3). For the thought cp. Psalm 40:5; and note again the parallels in Isaiah 63:15 (“thy mighty acts,” R.V.), 7 (“the praises of the Lord”).

3. From the thought of the mercy and the might of Jehovah which are the ground of Israel’s hope, the Psalmist passes to the conditions of participation in the blessing for which he looks. Happy those who obey the Divine command, given in view of the near approach of Jehovah’s Advent to redeem, “Keep judgement, and do righteousness” (Isaiah 56:1): who repent, and bring forth fruits worthy of their repentance, conforming their conduct to the demands and will of God. Cp. Psalm 105:45.

he that doeth] Probably we should read they that do (עשֵׂי for עשֵׂה, with LXX and other Versions).

4, 5. The personal prayer of these verses is not out of place. It need not be regarded as the devout ejaculation of some reader, written in the margin of his copy, from which it was subsequently introduced into the text. Nor can it be regarded as the prayer of the community personified, for the speaker distinguishes himself from the community in Psalm 106:5.

It should be compared with the prayers interspersed in Nehemiah’s memoirs (Nehemiah 5:19; Nehemiah 6:14; Nehemiah 13:22; Nehemiah 13:31), and with the earnest desire of the author of Psalms 89 : (Psalm 106:46 ff.) that he may live to see the restoration. Doubtless every individual who used the Psalm would appropriate it to himself. The LXX reads ‘remember us … visit us,’ but this is probably only an assimilation to Psalm 106:6.

with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people] Lit. with (or in) the favour (or acceptance) of thy people. In Isaiah 49:8 ‘a time of acceptance’ stands in parallelism with ‘a day of salvation.’ The Psalmist prays that he personally may share in the restoration of Israel to Jehovah’s favour (Psalm 85:1) by His saving mercy.

5. That I may see with satisfaction the prosperity of thy chosen ones (Psalm 105:6; Psalm 105:43).

thy nation] The word gôy, ‘nation,’ is not unfrequently applied to Israel, but only here and in Zephaniah 2:9 is Israel spoken of as Jehovah’s nation. In the plural it is used of heathen nations only.

thine inheritance] Cp. Deuteronomy 4:20; Deuteronomy 9:29; and for the verse generally, Psalm 33:12; “the nation whose God is Jehovah, the people he hath chosen for his inheritance.”

6. The main purpose of the Psalm is here stated;—the confession of the constant sin of Israel throughout its history. The acknowledgement that the nation does not deserve the mercy for which it prays is the primary condition of forgiveness and restoration to God’s favour. The language is borrowed from Solomon’s prayer (1 Kings 8:47); and the accumulation of synonyms expresses the manifold character of Israel’s guilt. Cp. Daniel’s confession (Daniel 9:5), and the confession of the Jews in Babylon in Bar 2:12.

We have sinned with our fathers] “This remarkable expression is not to be weakened to mean merely that the present generation had sinned like their ancestors, but gives expression to the profound sense of national solidarity, which speaks in many other places of Scripture, and rests on very deep facts in the life of nations and their individual members” (Maclaren). Cp. Leviticus 26:39-40; Jeremiah 3:25; Jeremiah 14:20.

7. Our fathers in Egypt considered not thy marvellous works: They remembered not the abundance of thy lovingkindnesses,

And were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.

Lack of insight (cp. Deuteronomy 32:28-29) had characterised Israel from the first. The ‘marvellous works’ of Jehovah (Psalm 105:2; Psalm 105:5) by which He had effected their deliverance from Egypt (Psalm 78:43 ff.; Psalm 105:27 ff.) had failed to make them understand His character and will. So short were their memories, that at the first sign of danger, they rebelled against God’s purpose to deliver them (Exodus 14:11-12). Again and again forgetfulness of past mercies is stigmatized as the source of sin. Cp. Psalm 106:13; Psalm 106:21; Psalm 78:11; Deuteronomy 32:18; and often; and Israel’s sin is described as ‘rebellion’;—obstinate resistance to the revealed Will of God. Cp. Psalm 106:33; Psalm 106:43, and Psalm 78:17, note.

The construction of the last line is suspicious, and it has been plausibly conjectured that we should read, and rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea, as in Psalm 78:17; Psalm 78:56.

7–12. The first instance of Israel’s sin; their unbelief and murmuring at the Red Sea.

8. Their conduct would have justified Jehovah in taking them at their word, and leaving them to return to Egypt, but for His name’s sake, in order to uphold His character as a God of mercy, and to make known His might to the nations of the earth (Psalm 77:14), He delivered them. Cp. Ezekiel 20:9; Ezekiel 20:14, a chapter evidently in the Psalmist’s mind: see Psalm 106:26-27.

9. He rebuked &c.] Cp. Psalm 104:7; Isaiah 50:2; Nahum 1:4.

so he led them &c.] Apparently a reminiscence of Isaiah 63:13 : cp. Isaiah 51:10.

as through a wilderness] I.e. on dry ground, Exodus 14:22. But R.V. marg. may be right in rendering pasture-land, suggesting the metaphor of a flock, Psalm 77:20.

11. See Exodus 14:28. enemies] R.V. adversaries.

12. See Exodus 14:31; Exodus 15:1. The allusion to their momentary faith and gratitude emphasises the relapse which Psalm 106:13 goes on to describe.

13. They soon forgat] Lit., They made haste (and) forgat. They had gone but three days journey from the Red Sea, when they murmured for water (Exodus 15:22 ff.); only six weeks later they were murmuring for food (Exodus 16:2 ff.); and in Rephidim again they murmured for water (Exodus 17:2 ff.). In their faithless impatience they refused to wait for God’s plan of providing for their wants.

13–15. A second instance of Israel’s sin, in murmuring for flesh.

14. A glance at yet another occasion of murmuring and its punishment The phrase and they fell a lusting, is taken from Numbers 11:4; cp. Psalm 78:29-30. They tempted God, i.e. tested Him, put Him to the proof, by questioning His will and ability to provide for them (Psalm 78:18).

15. They complained “Our soul is dried away” (Numbers 11:6), our vitality is exhausted; but the satisfaction of their self-willed lust brought sickness and death not life and vigour, and “the graves of lust” marked the scene of their sin and its punishment.

16. the saint of the Lord] The holy one of Jehovah, specially set apart and consecrated to His service. The malcontents alleged that all the congregation were holy, and Moses answered that Jehovah would shew who were His, and who were holy (Numbers 16:3-7).

16–18. A third sin; jealousy of the authority of Moses and Aaron (Numbers 16).

17. The Psalmist follows Deuteronomy 11:6 in naming Dathan and Abiram only. Korah’s family did not perish (Numbers 26:11).

18. “A fire came out from Jehovah, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense” (Numbers 16:35). The rebels are called “these wicked men” in Numbers 16:26.

19. in Horeb] The name always given to Sinai in Deuteronomy (except Deuteronomy 33:2). The use of it seems to indicate that the narrative of Deuteronomy 9:8 ff. was in the Psalmist’s mind. Cp. notes on Psalm 106:23; Psalm 106:25; Psalm 106:29. In Horeb, “the mount of God” (Exodus 3:1), when Jehovah was revealing Himself to them (Deuteronomy 4:10 ff), they limited and materialised and degraded the idea of Deity, in defiance of the express commandment which He had given them.

19–23. A fourth sin; the worship of the calf (Exodus 32; Deuteronomy 9:8 ff.).

20. So they exchanged their glory

For the likeness of an ox that eateth grass.

Jehovah was the glory of Israel (Deuteronomy 4:6-8; Deuteronomy 10:21); and this spiritual invisible God they bartered for the likeness of an animal, such as they were forbidden to make (Deuteronomy 4:16-18; Exodus 20:4). Cp. Jeremiah 2:11.

The reading their glory is reckoned as one of the eighteen Tiqqûnç Sôpherîm[60] or ‘corrections of the scribes,’ and is said to stand for ‘his glory.’ It is disputed whether the term means that the scribes actually altered the text from motives of reverence, or held that his glory was what the Psalmist would have written, had he not purposely avoided it as an indecorous expression. It is noteworthy that some MSS of the LXX (אc.a ART) read his glory, and to this form of the text St Paul refers in Romans 1:23. The Targ. gives ‘the glory of their Lord.’

[60] See Ginsburg, Introd. to the Heb. Bible, pp. 347 ff., who holds the view that the Scribes altered the text: and Barnes in the journal of Theol. Studies, i. 387 ff., who holds that the so-called corrections are interpretations not readings.

21, 22. These verses emphasise the ingratitude of the Israelites. The land of Ham as in Psalm 105:23; Psalm 105:27 from Psalm 78:51.

23. Cp. Exodus 32:10 ff.; Numbers 14:11 ff. But the language is taken from Deuteronomy 9:25-26, where the same two words for ‘destroy’ are used as here.

stood before him in the breach] A military metaphor. Moses confronted God with intercession like the warrior who stands in the breach of the city wall to repel the enemy at the risk of his life. Cp. Ezekiel 22:30; Jeremiah 18:20.

24. They despised, or rejected (as Numbers 14:31), the pleasant land (Jeremiah 3:19; Zechariah 7:14), the delightful and desirable land of Canaan; and disbelieved Jehovah’s promise to give it them (Deuteronomy 1:32).

24–27. A fifth instance of Israel’s sin; their unbelief and cowardice on the return of the spies (Numbers 13:14).

25. But murmured in their tents] From Deuteronomy 1:27, a graphic picture of the Israelites sulking in their tents instead of boldly preparing for the march.

26. So he lifted up his hand unto them

That he would make them fall in the wilderness.

i.e. He swore solemnly. See Numbers 14:28-29; Numbers 14:32, “As I live … your carcases shall fall in the wilderness.” ‘Lifting up the hand’ to heaven is man’s gesture as he appeals to God in an oath. The phrase is transferred ‘anthropopathically’ to God. Cp. Exodus 6:8; Deuteronomy 32:40; Ezekiel 20:23.

27. And that he would scatter their seed among the nations,

And disperse them in the lands.

Almost verbatim as Ezekiel 20:23, from which the text must be corrected here. The Heb. words for make to fall and scatter are very similar (הפיץ … הפיל), and the former was accidentally repeated from Psalm 106:26. The allusion to the warnings of banishment from the land in Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 28:64 is suggested by the mention of the exclusion of the faithless Israelites from the land in Psalm 106:26.

28. They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor] Attached themselves as devotees. The phrase is taken from Numbers 25:3. The LXX renders ἐτελέσθησαν, they were initiated; but the word does not necessarily denote this. Peor seems to have been a locality (Numbers 23:28), and Baal-peor was the particular Baal worshipped there by the Moabites.

and ate the sacrifices of the dead] See Numbers 25:2. By the dead are meant heathen gods in contrast to Jehovah, the one living and true God. Cp. Psalm 115:4 ff.; Jeremiah 10:11; Wis 13:10, “Miserable were they, and in dead things were their hopes, who called them gods which are works of men’s hands”; Wis 15:17; 1 Corinthians 12:2. Participation in the sacrificial feasts of the Moabites was an act of communion with their lifeless gods. There is no reference to ancestor worship or funeral offerings.

28–31. A sixth instance; the sin of participating in the abominations of Moabite worship.

29. And they provoked (him) to anger with their doings] Again a Deuteronomic expression. Cp. Deuteronomy 4:25; Deuteronomy 9:18; Deuteronomy 31:29; Deuteronomy 32:16; Deuteronomy 32:21. ‘Inventions’ of A.V. reproduces the Vulg. adinventionibus suis.

a plague] Lit. smiting; either the slaughter of the guilty Israelites which had been enjoined (Numbers 25:4-5), or, as the word commonly means (Numbers 16:48, &c.), a divinely inflicted pestilence.

30. Then stood up Phinehas] Cp. Numbers 25:7; and for ‘stood,’ Numbers 16:48.

and executed judgment] So rightly Jerome, diiudicavit. P.B.V. prayed follows the Syr. and Targ.; but this is not the regular meaning of the form of the verb, and does not agree with the history.

and so the plague was stayed] From Numbers 25:8.

31. The zeal of Phinehas was an act of faith. He was a true son of Abraham (Genesis 15:6): and his reward was “the covenant of an everlasting priesthood” (Numbers 25:12-13).

32. They angered him] Another Deuteronomic word (Deuteronomy 9:7-8; Deuteronomy 9:22). The object of the verb is not expressed, but is certainly not Moses but Jehovah as in Psalm 106:29.

at the waters of strife] Rather, of Meribah (Numbers 20:13). The word became a proper name (Psalm 95:8).

so that it went ill &c.] The people’s unbelief was the cause of the impatience and presumption, for which Moses was punished by exclusion from Canaan. Cp. Deuteronomy 1:37; Deuteronomy 3:26.

32, 33. A seventh sin; the murmuring at Meribah (Numbers 20:1-13). It is perhaps placed last as a climax, because in this case Moses was involved by Israel’s sin. The faith and patience of the leader who had endured so long gave way at last.

33. Because they were rebellious against his spirit,

And he spake rashly with his lips.

The cause of Jehovah’s anger and Moses’ punishment was the rebellion of the Israelites against the guidance of God’s spirit, and the rash utterance of Moses which was its consequence. Moses’ speech “Hear now, ye rebels! out of this cliff must we fetch you water?” and his striking the rock when he was commanded to speak to it, indicates that his sin consisted in impatience and want of faith.

The usage of the verb and the parallel of Isaiah 63:10 are decisive in favour of taking his spirit to mean God’s spirit not Moses’ spirit: and though the term rebellion is applied to the conduct of Moses and Aaron in Numbers 20:24, they were rebellious must here refer to the Israelites and not to them, as Aaron has not been mentioned. Psalm 106:33 a will thus be parallel to Psalm 106:32 a, and 33 b to 32 b.

34. They did not destroy the peoples,

As Jehovah had commanded them.

For the command so often repeated see Exodus 23:32-33; Exodus 34:12 ff.; Deuteronomy 7:2 ff.: and for the neglect of it, Jdg 1:21; Jdg 1:27; Jdg 1:29 ff., Jdg 2:1 ff.

34–39. The continued disobedience of Israel even after the Entry into Canaan. Neglecting the command to exterminate the Canaanites they became infected by their abominations.

35. But mingled themselves with the nations (R.V.), by matrimonial alliances (Ezra 9:2) and intercourse generally (Jdg 3:5-6).

36. which were &c.] And they became a snare unto them, as they had been forewarned, Exodus 23:33, &c. P.B.V. which turned to their own decay = which proved their ruin.

37. unto devils) Better, demons (LXX Syr. Targ. Jer.). From Deuteronomy 32:17, “they sacrificed unto demons, which were no god,” the only other passage in the O.T. where the word shçdîm occurs. “In Assyrian, shîdu is the name of the divinities represented by the bull-colossi, so often found in the front of Assyrian palaces, who were regarded apparently not as gods properly so called, but as subordinate spirits, demi-gods or genii, invested with power for good or evil.” Etymologically the Heb. word may mean lords, but the precise idea attached to it cannot now be determined. Most probably it “denotes some kind of subordinate spirit or demi-god.” Driver on Deuteronomy 32:17.

38. Human sacrifices, the horror of which was intensified by the tender age of the victims and their relation to the offerers, are mentioned as the climax of the abominations of the Canaanites (Deuteronomy 12:31; Deuteronomy 18:9-10), and of the Israelites who copied their ways (Ezekiel 16:20-21; Ezekiel 20:31).

the land was polluted with blood] Cp. Numbers 35:33-34; and for the thought of the defilement of a land by the sins of its inhabitants see Leviticus 18:24 ff.; Isaiah 24:5; Jeremiah 3:1-2; Jeremiah 3:9. The Canaanites had been condemned to extermination for their enormities; but Israel failed to take warning from their fate.

39. So they were defiled in their works,

And went a whoring in their doings.

As the relation of Israel to Jehovah is expressed by the figure of marriage (Hosea 2:2 ff., and often), the abandonment of Jehovah for other gods is described as infidelity to the marriage vow. Cp. Exodus 34:15-16; Deuteronomy 31:16 : &c.

40. So Jehovah’s anger was kindled against Israel, a standing formula in the Book of Judges (Jdg 2:14; Jdg 2:20, &c.; cp. Deuteronomy 7:4; &c.), and he abhorred his inheritance.

40–46. The alternations of chastisement, pardon, restoration, and relapse in the course of Israel’s history. As in Nehemiah 9:26 ff., the primary reference is to the period of the judges; but doubtless the verses are intended to be a summary survey of the characteristics of the whole course of Israel’s history, leading up to the prayer for restoration in Psalm 106:47.

41. the heathen] The nations (R.V.) in contrast to Israel, Jehovah’s people.

43. but they provoked him &c.] But they were rebellious in their counsel. Self-will was their bane, as before (Psalm 106:13) when they would not wait for Jehovah’s counsel. The verbs are frequentative: repeated deliverances were met by repeated rebellion (Jdg 2:16-17).

and were brought low] The Heb. verb closely resembles that in Leviticus 26:39, “they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity,” and in Ezekiel 24:23; Ezekiel 33:10, passages which were doubtless in the Psalmist’s mind. The change may have been intentional, or it may be due to a scribe’s error.

45. Cp. Leviticus 26:41-42.

repented] Cp. Psalm 90:13.

46. He made them also to be pitied &c.] In answer to Solomon’s prayer, 1 Kings 8:50. Cp. Nehemiah 1:11; Daniel 1:9.

47. This prayer is the point to which the long confession of national sin, from Psalm 106:6 onward, has been leading up. ‘We have sinned, often and grievously; we are bearing the just punishment of our sins; but we confess our guilt; Thy lovingkindness is inexhaustible, once more bring us to our own land, that we may fulfil the purpose of our calling.’

to give thanks &c.] For Jehovah’s praise is the end and object of Israel’s existence. Cp. Isaiah 43:21; Psalm 22:3, note.

48. Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel,

From eternity even to eternity.

And all the people shall say, Amen,

Hallelujah.

The liturgical direction “and all the people shall say, Amen, Hallelujah” seems to imply that the doxology here is not a mere mark of the end of the Fourth Book, but was actually sung at the close of the Psalm. This was the usage in the time of the Chronicler, for in 1 Chronicles 16 he prefixes the words, “and say ye,” to Psalm 106:35-36 (= Psalm 106:47-48 here), and turns the direction into a statement, “and all the people said, Amen, and praised Jehovah.” This doxology then, as Robertson Smith points out (OTJC.2, p. 196), differs in character from the doxologies at the close of the first three books. It is a part of the Psalm and not an addition by the collector of the Psalter. For the use of similar doxologies cp. 1 Chronicles 29:10; Nehemiah 9:5. It came however to be regarded as marking the end of a fourth book, although Psalms 106, 107 are closely connected together, and the division of the fourth and fifth books does not correspond to any difference of source or character, as is the case in the other books. Cp. Introd. p. liv.