Psalm 132:2

How he sware unto the LORD, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(2) How he sware.—Literally, who sware. The expression “Mighty One of Jacob” is taken from the patriarch himself (Genesis 49:24; comp. Isaiah 1:24, &c).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

132:1-10 David bound himself to find a place for the Lord, for the ark, the token of God's presence. When work is to be done for the Lord, it is good to tie ourselves to a time. It is good in the morning to fix upon work for the day, with submission to Providence, for we know not what a day may bring forth. And we should first, and without delay, seek to have our own hearts made a habitation of God through the Spirit. He prays that God would take up his dwelling in the habitation he had built; that he would give grace to the ministers of the sanctuary to do their duty. David pleads that he was the anointed of the Lord, and this he pleads as a type of Christ, the great Anointed. We have no merit of our own to plead; but, for His sake, in whom there is a fulness of merit, let us find favour. And every true believer in Christ, is an anointed one, and has received from the Holy One the oil of true grace. The request is, that God would not turn away, but hear and answer their petitions for his Son's sake.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

How he sware unto the Lord - The solemn oath which he took that he would make this the first object; that he would give himself no rest until this was done; that he would sacrifice his personal ease and comfort in order that he might thus honor God. This oath or purpose is not recorded in the history. The fair interpretation of this would be either

(1) that these words properly expressed what was in the mind of David at the time - that is, his acts implied that this purpose was in his heart; or

(2) that this vow was actually made by David, though not elsewhere recorded. Such a vow might have been made, and the remembrance of it kept up by tradition, or it might have been suggested to the author of the psalm by direct inspiration.

And vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob - See Genesis 49:24. The God whom Jacob worshipped, and who had manifested himself so signally to him as a God of might or power.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

PSALM 132

Ps 132:1-18. The writer, perhaps Solomon (compare Ps 132:8, 9), after relating David's pious zeal for God's service, pleads for the fulfilment of the promise (2Sa 7:16), which, providing for a perpetuation of David's kingdom, involved that of God's right worship and the establishment of the greater and spiritual kingdom of David's greater Son. Of Him and His kingdom both the temple and its worship, and the kings and kingdom of Judah, were types. The congruity of such a topic with the tenor of this series of Psalms is obvious.

1-5. This vow is not elsewhere recorded. It expresses, in strong language, David's intense desire to see the establishment of God's worship as well as of His kingdom.

remember David—literally, "remember for David," that is, all his troubles and anxieties on the matter.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

He made a solemn vow, and confirmed it with an oath; which he undoubtedly did, although no mention be made of it 2 Samuel 7. Thus many historical passages which were omitted in their proper places, are afterwards recorded upon other occasions; of which examples have been formerly noted.

Of Jacob; of Israel; Jacob and Israel are frequently put for their posterity; as hath been frequently observed.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

How he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob. Whom Jacob called so, Genesis 49:24; and to whom he vowed a vow, and is the first we read of that did make one, and it was concerning the house of God, Genesis 28:17; and who had an experience of the might and power of God in protecting and defending him from his brother Esau: of this oath and vow of David no mention is made elsewhere, but no doubt they were made; see Psalm 119:106; of the Messiah's swearing, though upon another account, to whom this may be applied, see Isaiah 45:23.

Geneva Study Bible

How he sware unto the LORD, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob;

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

2. How he sware] Or, Who sware: a poetical mode of expressing the earnestness of his resolution. There is no mention of any oath or vow in the historical narrative. The fact of the translation of the Ark to Zion is recorded in 2 Samuel 6, David’s desire to build a Temple in 2 Samuel 7.

the Mighty One of Jacob] Cp. Psalm 132:5. This title, derived from Genesis 49:24, is a reminder that it was to Jehovah that David owed his victories (2 Samuel 5:12; 2 Samuel 7:1). It is used in Isaiah 49:26; Isaiah 60:16; cp. Isaiah 1:24.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - How he sware unto the Lord (see the comment on vers. 1-5). And vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob; rather, the Mighty One of Jacob (see Genesis 49:24; Isaiah 60:16). Psalm 132:2

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

One is said to remember anything to another when he requites him something that he has done for him, or when he does for him what he has promised him. It is the post-Davidic church which here reminds Jahve of the hereinafter mentioned promises (of the "mercies of David," 2 Chronicles 6:42, cf. Isaiah 55:3) with which He has responded to David's ענות. By this verbal substantive of the Pual is meant all the care and trouble which David had in order to procure a worthy abode for the sanctuary of Jahve. ענה ב signifies to trouble or harass one's self about anything, afflictari (as frequently in the Book of Ecclesiastes); the Pual here denotes the self-imposed trouble, or even that imposed by outward circumsntaces, such as the tedious wars, of long, unsuccessful, and yet never relaxed endeavours (1 Kings 5:17). For he had vowed unto God that he would give himself absolutely no rest until he had obtained a fixed abode for Jahve. What he said to Nathan (2 Samuel 7:2) is an indication of this vowed resolve, which was now in a time of triumphant peace, as it seemed, ready for being carried out, after the first step towards it had already been taken in the removal of the Ark of the covenant to Zion (2 Samuel 6); for 2 Samuel 7 is appended to 2 Samuel 6 out of its chronological order and only on account of the internal connection. After the bringing home of the Ark, which had been long yearned for (Psalm 101:2), and did not take place without difficulties and terrors, was accomplished, a series of years again passed over, during which David always carried about with him the thought of erecting God a Temple-building. And when he had received the tidings through Nathan that he should not build God a house, but that it should be done by his son and successor, he nevertheless did as much towards the carrying out of the desire of his heart as was possible in connection with this declaration of the will of Jahve. He consecrated the site of the future Temple, he procured the necessary means and materials for the building of it, he made all the necessary arrangements for the future Temple-service, he inspirited the people for the gigantic work of building that was before them, and handed over to his son the model for it, as it is all related to us in detail by the chronicler. The divine name "the mighty One of Jacob" is taken from Genesis 49:24, as in Isaiah 1:24; Isaiah 49:26; Isaiah 60:16. The Philistines with their Dagon had been made to feel this mighty Rock of Jacob when they took the sacred Ark along with them (1 Samuel 5:1-12). With אם David solemnly declares what he is resolved not to do. The meaning of the hyperbolically expressed vow in the form of an oath is that for so long he will not rejoice at his own dwelling-house, nor give himself up to sleep that is free from anxiety; in fine, for so long he will not rest. The genitives after אהל and ערשׂ are appositional genitives; Psalm 44 delights in similar combinations of synonyms. יצוּעי (Latin strata mea) is a poetical plural, as also is משׁכּנות. With תּנוּמה (which is always said of the eyelids, Genesis 31:40; Proverbs 6:4; Ecclesiastes 8:16, not of the eyes) alternates שׁנת (according to another reading שׁנת) for שׁנה. The āth is the same as in נחלת in Psalm 16:6, cf. 60:13, Exodus 15:2, and frequently. This Aramaizing rejection of the syllable before the tone is, however, without example elsewhere. The lxx adds to Psalm 132:4, καὶ ἀνάπαυσιν τοῖς κροτάφοις μου (וּמנוּחה לרקּותי), but this is a disagreeable overloading of the verse.