Psalm 149:3

Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(3) In the dance.—Rather, as margin, with the pipe. The use of the word machôl in what was evidently a list of all the orchestral instruments used in the Temple in the next psalm, would alone be almost decisive of the meaning. But one possible derivation is certainly in favour of this rendering, as also the translation in the Syriac version by the name of a flute still found in Syria. Its connection, too, with the timbrel or drum (comp. our pipe and tabor), just as a cognate, chalîl, is connected in 1Samuel 10:5; Isaiah 5:12, points the same way. (See Bible Educator, i. p. 70, and Note to Song of Solomon 6:13.)

Timbrel.—See Exodus 15:20; Bible Educator, i. 314.

Harp.—See Psalm 33:2.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

149:1-5 New mercies continually demand new songs of praise, upon earth and in heaven. And the children of Zion have not only to bless the God who made them, but to rejoice in him, as having created them in Christ Jesus unto good works, and formed them saints as well as men. The Lord takes pleasure in his people; they should rejoice in Him. When the Lord has made sinners feel their wants and unworthiness, he will adorn them with the graces of his Spirit, and cause them to bear his image, and rejoice in his happiness for ever. Let his saints employ their waking hours upon their beds in songs of praise. Let them rejoice, even upon the bed of death, assured that they are going to eternal rest and glory.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Let them praise his name in the dance - Margin, with the pipe. The Hebrew word here - מחול mâchôl - is rendered dancing in Psalm 30:11; dance, as here, Psalm 150:4 (where also the margin has pipe); Jeremiah 31:13; Lamentations 5:15; dances, Jeremiah 31:4. It does not elsewhere occur. On the verb חול chûl, see Psalm 10:5, note; Psalm 51:5, note. Here it cannot be improper to regard it as referring to that measured tread, or solemn movement which sometimes constituted a part of worship: 2 Samuel 6:14. Such a movement cannot be proved to be wrong in worship; whether it is wise or expedient is a different matter. Customs in worship change as the customs of a people change; and that might be very proper in one stage of society, or in one period of the world, which, though not in itself wrong, might be very unadvisable in another. There was much in the Hebrew mode of worship which cannot be transferred to the forms of Christian worship without an obvious incongruity and disadvantage; and because a thing has been done, and is not in itself wrong, we should not infer that it should always be done, or that it would be always best. If people like the Shakers dance in worship, they have an undoubted right to do so, and it may be the most edifying mode of worship for them with their low notions of religion; let not others ridicule them; nor let others go to see them as they would any other "outr'e" performance from idle curiosity. Such absurdities might soon die away if they were not kept alive by the notice which they attract, and by the foolish curiosity of wiser people. There are some things which are more certain to come to an end by neglect than they could by sober argument; some things which live merely because they are ridiculed, and because they who practice them are exalted into conspicuity by their own folly, and by the idea that they are martyrs.

Let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp - On these instruments, see the notes at Isaiah 5:12; notes at Job 21:12; notes at Psalm 68:25; notes at Psalm 81:2.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3. in the dance—(Ps 30:11). The dance is connected with other terms, expressive of the great joy of the occasion. The word may be rendered "lute," to which the other instruments are joined.

sing praises—or, sing and play.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

According to the usage of that time and dispensation.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Let them praise his name in the dance,.... In a chorus of saints, joining together in their expressions of joy, by words and gestures; an ancient practice that went along with singing praises, Exodus 15:20; or rather, "with the pipe" (k), as some render it; a musical instrument used in former times in the worship of God, in this part of it, praising his name, with those that follow;

let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp; the former of these was a vessel of brass, a drum or tabret, on which they beat, perhaps like one of our kettle drums; the other was a stringed instrument of music much used, and in playing on which David was very skilful: the music of these was typical of the spiritual melody made in the heart to the Lord in singing his praises, to which there are allusions in Gospel times; though the instruments themselves are now laid aside, being only suited to the church in her infant state, when under tutors and governors; see Psalm 68:25.

(k) "cum tibia", Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Amama.

Geneva Study Bible

Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

3. in the dance] This, and not pipe (A.V. marg.), is the right rendering here and in Psalm 150:4. Dancing was a natural expression of joy among the Jews as among other nations of antiquity, in all periods of their history, on occasions of religious as well as secular festivity. Cp. Exodus 15:20; Jdg 11:34; 2 Samuel 6:14; Jeremiah 31:4; and for a description of the torch-dance, which formed part of the festivities of the Feast of Tabernacles in the later post-exilic period, see Delitzsch in the Expositor, 1886 (2), pp. 81 ff.; Hastings’ Dict. of Bible, 1. 550. Even the leading men of the city and famous teachers joined in it, and it was a current proverb that he who had not seen this joy had not seen any joy in his life.

timbrel] The tambourine, or hand drum, frequently mentioned in connexion with dances and processions (Psalm 68:25).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 3. - Let them praise his Name in the dance (comp. Psalm 150:4). (On the employment of dancing by the Hebrews as a religious exercise, and in their most solemn acts of worship, see Exodus 15:20; 2 Samuel 6:14-160. Let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. (On the toph, or "timbrel," see the comment upon Psalm 68:25). It was used to accompany a hymn of rejoicing by Miriam (Exodus 15:20), by Jephthah's daughter (Judges 11:34), and by David (2 Samuel 6:5). Psalm 149:3

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

A period, in which the church is renewing its youth and drawing nearer to the form it is finally to assume, also of inward necessity puts forth new songs. Such a new era has now dawned for the church of the saints, the Israel that has remained faithful to its God and the faith of its fathers. The Creator of Israel (עשׂיו, plural, with the plural suffix, like עשׂי in Job 35:10, עשׂיך in Isaiah 54:5, cf. עשׂו in Job 40:19; according to Hupfeld and Hitzig, cf. Ew. 256, b, Ges. 93, 9, singular; but aj, ajich, aw, are always really plural suffixes) has shown that He is also Israel's Preserver and the King of Zion, that He cannot leave the children of Zion for any length of time under foreign dominion, and has heard the sighing of the exiles (Isaiah 63:19; Isaiah 26:13). Therefore the church newly appropriated by its God and King is to celebrate Him, whose Name shines forth anew out of its history, with festive dance, timbrel, and cithern. For (as the occasion, hitherto only hinted at, is now expressly stated) Jahve takes a pleasure in His people; His wrath in comparison with His mercy is only like a swiftly passing moment (Isaiah 54:7.). The futures that follow state that which is going on at the present time. ענוים is, as frequently, a designation of the ecclesia pressa, which has hitherto, amidst patient endurance of suffering, waited for God's own act of redemption. He now adorns them with ישׁוּעה, help against the victory over the hostile world; now the saints, hitherto enslaved and contemned, exult בכבוד, in honour, or on account of the honour which vindicates them before the world and is anew bestowed upon them (בּ of the reason, or, which is more probable in connection with the boldness of the expression, of the state and mood);

(Note: Such, too (with pomp, not "with an army"), is the meaning of μετὰ δόξης in 1 Macc. 10:60; 14:4, 5, vid., Grimm in loc.))

they shout for joy upon their beds, upon which they have hitherto poured forth their complaints over the present (cf. Hosea 7:14), and ardently longed for a better future (Isaiah 26:8); for the bed is the place of soliloquy (Psalm 4:5), and the tears shed there (Psalm 6:7) are turned into shouts of joy in the case of Israel.